“Producer Terri Lyne Carrington follows up her Grammy-winning, all-female The Mosaic Project by offering a fresh take on the classic trio recording Money Jungle - the session released 50 years ago that teamed pianist Duke Ellington, bassist Charles Mingus and drummer Max Roach…The hard-swinging ‘Money Jungle’ includes sound clips on the state of capitalism from Martin Luther King Jr., Bill and Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, while the mellow ‘Rem Blues/Music’ has Shea Rose reciting a poem comparing music to a seductive woman and Herbie Hancock quoting Ellington’s observations on the clash between jazz creativity and commerce.”
Associated Press
“In February 1963, Duke Ellington released Money Jungle, a trio album employing fellow strong personalities Charles Mingus and Max Roach. The drummer and educator Terri Lyne Carrington is celebrating its 50th anniversary by releasing her rescoring of it. Christian McBride and Gerald Clayton occupy the all-important bass and piano chairs, respectively; they're joined by additional guests like Clark Terry (!), Lizz Wright and Tia Fuller.”
Jazz Albums To Look Out For In 2013 / NPR’s A Blog Supreme
“As Ellington did in 1963, drummer Carrington and her musical mates counter-state the soul-numbing imperative of money as the be-all and end-all of human life. Money Jungle uses the symbolic action of groove, improvisation and free play within musical form…This significant addition to Carrington’s body of work has the overall feel of a tapestry that affirms life through weaving arrangements containing blues, jazz, fusion, Afro-Cuban and even world music approaches. Her two originals (and a ballad beauty by Clayton) fit in the mix perfectly.”
NY Daily News
“Duke Ellington said ‘a drum is a woman.’ And the Grammy winning, Boston-area born drummer Terri Lyne Carrington is living proof of Ellington’s dictum. So it’s only fitting that Carrington who’s gigged with everyone from Dianne Reeves to Esperanza Spalding, and was Arsenio Hall’s drummer, would put her sepia-tinged spin on Ellington’s legendary 1963 Money Jungle LP, which featured jazz immortals drummer Max Roach, and bassist Charles Mingus. Fifty years later, Carrington, pianist Gerald Clayton and bassman Christian McBride add their tantalizing, tantric two cents to the Ellingtonian mix, with special guest trumpeter Clark Terry, flutist/saxophonist Tia Fuller vocalist Lizz Wright, and Herbie Hancock. Give the drummer some!”
EBONY.com
“Carrington infuses contemporary musical influences into the tunes to give them a more modern feel, and includes several guest appearances.” ***
DownBeat
“[Carrington] reveals the pervasive nature the blues in the original album’s compositions and intent, and underscores how their importance resonates in jazz’s present tense. And nothing brings the blues like money – especially the lack of it. But Ellington himself stated that ‘... the music will be there when the money is gone.’ Amen.”
All Music
“Overall, the leader cooks underneath; lighting a fire that truly ignites the trio.”
Jazz Inside Magazine
“…many of the older pieces now sound current while the new originals sound as if they could have been performed 50 years ago.”
Jazziz
“The bottom line is this, if you liked Mosaic Project, then you will love Money Jungle which may be one of the most impressive releases to look forward to in the coming year.”
@CriticalJazz
“The Berklee prof drummer releases Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue (Concord; February 5), an anniversary tribute to the 1963 Ellington-Mingus-Roach collaboration Money Jungle that's also a statement on current fiscal affairs.”
Boston Phoenix
“Like its inspiration. Terri Lynn Carrington’s Money Jungle is more a trio project than an album of the drummer. She, bassist Christian McBride and the ever-developing pianist Gerald Clayton created a powerful joint project in the same way Duke Ellington, drummer Max Roach and bassist Charles Mingus did to the original in 1963. Making this even more a homage to the original is the photo on the last page of the CD notes. It is a mimic of the cover of the Ellington album.”
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Carrington — and Ellington — would probably object to putting any dollar figure on this music. So let’s call it priceless.”
Aspen Times
“Terri Lyne Carrington’s Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue CD masterfully permeates Ellington’s original 1962 album with breathtaking passion and aggression… Because of its driving swing and instrumental bravura, as well as its refreshing confidence in reviewing and reviving a part of jazz’s distant past, Terri Lyne Carrington’s Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue is so far one of the BEST Duke Ellington revival albums of 2013.”
San Diego County News
“Saying that someone whose career spans three decades has a bright future ahead of him or her may sound misguided, but in Carrington’s case, that statement may be spot on. If Mosaic Project and now Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue speak to the creativity that bubbles just beneath her surface at this stage in her career, then the world had better pay attention. To take a line from ‘Rem Blues/Music,’ ‘Music is a woman who’s true; no matter how well you know her, there’s always more to learn…’”
Examiner.com
“Carrington’s drumming is tempered when it needed to be and furious when it needed to be, however while her performance was typically outstanding, it was her prowess as a producer and arranger (as it was on The Mosaic Project) that gave the album its uniqueness. Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue is not a tribute as much as it is a revisit to a time and mind set of a people who wanted change. It is an application of those emotions to the context of society today, and it came right on time.”
iRock Jazz
“…Money Jungle is Carrington’s best record, and its banner cry is shaped by the drummer’s self-assurance as much as her astounding rhythm team that’s in synch with the material and grooves.” ****1/2
ICON Monthly
“From the opening bars of the title track, Carrington asserts her independence, adding the spoken intro ‘You have to create problems to create profits’ over a furious percussion solo to both recontextualize Ellington’s Money Jungle for a contemporary audience and serve as a cautionary tale about money taking control of our lives. This device is repeated in a coda, where economic-related excerpts of speeches from Martin Luther King, Jr., Bill Clinton and Barack Obama are layered into the mix, then suddenly fizz out in a burst of static…it’s easy to appreciate Carrington’s vision for the project and give it a glowing recommendation.”
Black Grooves
“…as a contemporary jazz album, Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue is a pleasing follow-up to Carrington’s Grammy winning The Mosaic Project. While you’d never mistake it for Public Enemy, it is food (and music) for thought.”
emusic
“Like the best percussionists, Carrington keeps the music moving ever forward, but otherwise stays out of the way, ceding the spotlight to Clayton, whose smooth fingers make the melodies sparkle…there’s a joy in Carrington’s interpretations that makes this record one worth hearing.”
The Big Takeover
“While Carrington, Clayton, and McBride owe a great deal stylistically to the original Money Jungle artists, their own unique styles add to the freshness of the interpretations. Clayton combines facileness and dexterity with an expressive pianistic style. McBride is a renowned virtuoso and composer in his own right. Carrington herself is an inventive and skilled drummer, making full use of the rhythmic innovations pioneered since the ’60s...Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue is a worthy tribute by some of the sharpest and thoughtful artists on the scene.”
BlogCritics
“Once again, Carrington throws herself into the breach. Her version of the Ellington/Mingus/Roach classic is a modern tour de force, using today’s headlines to prove that jazz can predict the future.”
Examiner.com
“Drummer and composer Terri Lyne Carrington won a Grammy for her 2011 album, The Mosaic Project, and though its successor features fewer star guests and its idiomatic range is narrower, it’s just as elegantly constructed and dynamically performed.”
Atlanta Black Star
“A new sensibility is offered on original Ellington compositions…Terri Lyne Carrington has demonstrated an intriguing approach with this re-designed interpretation.”
Audiophile Audition
“Drummer Terri Lyne Carrington has good taste in bassists, and her new album Money Jungle: Provocative in Blue is more evidence of that as she recruited Christian McBride to lay down the low end…McBride is in full swing on the album with blistering solos and unstoppable groove. The interplay between Carrington, McBride, and pianist Gerald Clayton forms the foundation for the project.”
NoTreble
“Overall, the music is genuinely creative with no processed, over-saturated ingredients that pollute the musical genius of Ellington. If you enjoyed Mosaic Project, then you’ll absolutely love Money Jungle: Provocative In Blue.”
Sounds of Timeless Jazz