Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy - Onward and Upward

[jazzy_dave]

Master drummer Ralph Peterson continues to advance the continuum of his late mentor Art Blakey on Onward & Upward, his ambitious and expansive 25th release as a leader. On this historical release, due out September 18th, Peterson brings together 14 former Jazz Messengers and three Legacy Messengers to write a new page in the Jazz Messenger songbook.

Last year, Ralph Peterson and the Messenger Legacy released their first recording Legacy: Alive Volume 6 at the Side Door. With Bill Pierce, Brian Lynch, Bobby Watson, Geoffrey Keezer, Essiet Essiet and with Peterson in the drum chair, Legacy went on to receive worldwide acclaim and was regarded as one of the top releases of the year. Onward & Upward continues this trajectory. Says Peterson: “‘Onward and Upward’ is a phrase I got from my Rutgers Trumpet Professor and mentor Bill Fielder. This project, for me, is the natural and necessary next step in keeping alive one of the most important musical and bandleader producing legacies in American music history. It felt like a conclave for a group of artists that is finite and distinctive. The spirit of Buhaina was present and felt by everyone.”