Nick Maclean Quartet feat Brownman Ali
RITES OF ASCENSION (2017)
3X 'GOLD' Global Music Award Winner
"Rites Of Ascension is one of the best [recordings] I have heard this year (and I receive about 60 + per month). Well above average, and that Brownman Ali is just fantastic and sure rings a bell for me! Nick Maclean's compositions and renditions of Herbie's stuff is of the highest standard."
- Richard Therien at CIBL Radio-Montréal 101,5 FM
This album, the debut release from the Nick Maclean Quartet, represents a modern re-imagining of the spirit of Herbie Hancock's primordial 60's quartet. Not to be confused with a "tribute" recording, this record has a character of its own, while being an homage to Hancock's influence on Maclean both as pianist and composer. The depth of the synergistic connectivity between all 4 hand-picked members of Maclean's quartet are a cornerstone to the ensemble's sound and group dynamic. Thus its completion represents Maclean's examination of the modern jazz ethos with all the intriguing challenges, opportunities and possibilities that go with it.
This contemplative and often thrilling quartet's explorations of modern, original repertoire is led by fast-rising piano star NICK MACLEAN -- a 10x Global Music Award winner, a Toronto Independent Music Award winner, and one of the most in-demand young jazz piano players in Toronto -- this contemplative yet thrilling quartet delivers jazz between the two poles of thoughtful introspection and powerhouse conveyance, taking influences from Herbie Hancock's primordial 1960's Blue Note era recordings, while paying tribute to some of the greatest improvisers in jazz history.
Maclean's quartet heavily features one of Canada's most provocative improvising trumpet players -- BROWNMAN ALI, heralded as "Canada's preeminent jazz trumpet player" by New York City's Village Voice. Recognized as an internationally acclaimed jazz iconoclast, he currently splits his time between Brooklyn, NY & Toronto, Canada and is a 2x National Jazz Award winner. This jazz veteran is best known globally as the last trumpet player with the legendary jazz-hip-hop group GURU's JAZZMATAZZ, having replaced Donald Byrd in that seminal ensemble. Ali & Maclean stand shoulder to shoulder with two of Toronto's top-tier rhythm section players: JESSE DIETSCHI on bass and TYLER GOERTZEN on drums. The synergy of the 4 is always palpable in concert.
released October 31, 2017
Nick Maclean - piano
Brownman Ali - trumpet
Jesse Dietschi - bass
Tyler Goertzen - drums
recorded by Jeremy Darby and Julian Decorte at Canterbury Studios
mixed by Josh Bowman at Bowman Sound
mastered by Nick Blagona at Psychotropic Studios
produced by Brownman Ali
cover art by Dean Shu
liner notes by Dave Restivo
AWARDS & ACCOLADES
– 2018 ‘Top 5 albums of Spring 2018’
Global Music Awards for 'Rites of Ascension'
– 2018 3X 'Gold' Global Music Award winner
'Rites of Ascension' in ‘jazz’, ‘album’, and ‘instrumental’ categories
– 2018 ‘Ringer of the Week’
Jazz Weekly Magazine
– 2018 CJSF's 'Julian Award of Excellence’ nominee
for ‘Rites of Ascension'
VIDEOS
Nov 30, 2017
Interview with Joe Dimino on 'Neon Jazz'
Oct 19, 2017
"Rites Of Ascension ... here’s a hot CD by a Canadian-based jazz group playing four pieces by Herbie Hancock mixed in with a plethora of original tunes by the leader (Nick Maclean) and trumpeter Brownman Ali... this band is like a tonic; they wake you up and put some pep in your step! An outstanding album, one that should put the Maclean Quartet firmly on the musical map. No two ways about it, the Nick Maclean Quartet has staked out its claim in the jazz world and intends to stick around."
- Lynn Rene Bayley, The Art Music Lounge
Oct 31, 2017
"Nick Maclean's "Rites Of Ascension" is nicely twisted and baked! A fresh look at Herbie Hancock classics and delicious new original themes all presented with taste and virtuosity. No safety net here, everyone is living on the edge. Nick's playing and writing is sublime, Brownman sounds ferocious and the rhythm section is an unstoppable force. This is truly jazz at it’s adventurous best. I love the music these guys make. You will too."
- Bruce Cassidy, Blood Sweat & Tears alumni, EVI world authority
Oct 17, 2023
"A young lion piano man you can't argue with, it doesn't take any thought to do a tribute to Herbie Hancock set but it does take being an old soul to it like he was there when things older than him were created. A well deserved award winner in many jazz and music circles, Maclean leads his crew into the untamed wilds of really doing right rather than just showing up. A smoking set that sounds and feels like the real thing, this forward into the past set -- where most of the songs are originals -- is a first class doozy. Killer stuff throughout."
- Chris Spector, The Midwest Record (Illinois, USA)
Nov 17, 2017
Article in the Waterloo Record about the Nick Maclean Quartet feat Brownman Ali's album release performance.
May 31, 2017
"Pianist and composer Nick Maclean, 26 years old at the time of this recording, is in very much the spirit of Hancock, which is to say that this album is very much about Maclean's artistic voice (and those of his carefully chosen colleagues)... inspired by Hancock while also presenting a highly individual and distinct evolution from the source material."
- Dave Restivo, Canadian Jazz piano giant
Dec 01, 2017
"Nick Maclean is a new star shot on the Canadian jazz sky. A talent, which - if the gods want - can become one of the decade's most distinguished jazz names in the world, internationally...Maclean and his quartet establishes a distinctive sound; plays (four) numbers of Hancock, but with their own very distinctive approach and sound; and adds six originals that qualitatively match Hancocks. And here's an album and a whole that contains both a pondus and thoughtfulness, a power and a delicate sense of mind. The quartet thus stands as a strong collective; an orchestra, with its own voice in the ocean of voices. And of course thanks to the band leader, Nick Maclean, but also thanks to, among other things, trumpetist, Brownman Ali, who really makes a statement!"
- Ivan Rod (Denmark)
Nov 16, 2017
"From Canada comes this updated soul jazz in the vein of the Blue Note acid jazz compilations. Fresh and youthfully joyful reworkings of three Herbie Hancock standards lead the disc off before we settle into several of pianist Maclean's own compositions. Key to the sound is the gloriously expressive trumpeter Brownman Ali, who contributes one of his own tunes here, the funky "Madness of Nero", as well as producing."
- Hobart Taylor, KUCI 88.9FM (California, USA)
Nov 28, 2017
"Maclean's foursome delivers jazz between the two poles of thoughtful introspection and powerhouse conveyance, taking influences from Herbie Hancock's primordial 1960's Blue Note era recordings featuring Freddie Hubbard, while simultaneously paying apt tribute to some of the greatest improvisers in jazz history."
- Memphis Marty, The Jazz Music Blog (Australia)
Dec 20, 2017
"Rites Of Ascension is one of the best [recordings] I have heard this year (and I receive about 60 + per month). Well above average, and that Brownman Ali is just fantastic and sure rings a bell for me! Nick Maclean's compositions and renditions of Herbie's stuff is of the highest standard. Bring them to Montreal please!"
- Richard Therien at CIBL Radio-Montréal 101,5 FM
Nov 17, 2017
"…a series of high-energy originals and re-imagined Hancock tunes in an album that just demands to be in your long-term collection…"
- Dick Metcalf, Improvijazzation Nation
Jan 24, 2018
"Mr. Maclean worships at the altar of originality. And while a trill or triplet here and a glittering arpeggio there may conjure shade of Herbie Hancock, the music is remarkably fresh and original… His writing is idiomatic and his playing reflects wonderful use of musical metaphor. His right hand caresses the keys with bright articulation and often dazzles with fluid runs and vaunted arpeggios. And he uses his left hand to ply unusual chord combinations and always seems to spur his right hand to maintain a dynamic momentum. It goes without saying that his music is extremely songful in the first instance."
- Raul da Gama, Toronto Music Report (Toronto, Canada)
Jan 21, 2018
"Maclean’s trajectory can only be upward… Personal expression and fun are the hallmarks of Nick Maclean’s music and both are in abundance here."
- Peter Wockner, Jazz and Beyond (Australia)
Feb 15, 2018
"Pianist Nick MacLean delivers a tribute to Herbie Hancock’s 60s Blue Note with a collection of interpretations and originals."
- George Harris, Jazz Weekly
Dec 17, 2017
"All the music, including the original pieces by the bandmembers, comes out of a mid ’60s “inside-outside” zone where traditional rhythms—blues and hard bop—serve as the foundation for complex harmonic and melodic exploration. It’s an approach that’s lost none of its potency in the 50-plus years since players like Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Andrew Hill, and others began stretching the boundaries of acoustic jazz in 1963-64."
- Phil Freeman, Stereogum
Feb 10, 2018
"Expect hard-swinging modern jazz, leavened by ballads and blues: very much in the tradition, but with a modern twist."
- OttawaJazzScene.ca
Feb 20, 2018
"The covers are fresh and Maclean’s original work allows further expression of his identity. The quartet is a tight unit and Ali’s melodies are crisp with rich tone. We enjoyed the entire set and kept it in our rotation for several weeks. It’s still in the changer!"
- D. Oscar Groomes, O's Place Jazz Newsletter
