“He was quite a guy, my dad,” says Tbone, who now plays the London Chop House just as his father had a generation ago. “Definitely my greatest musical influence in life.”

Following in his father’s musical steps, Tbone is a true son of the jazz age. He has played with many of Detroit’s great band leaders. Fans of Detroit Music Factory recording group Planet D Nonet know Tbone as the band’s featured singer and trombone soloist, but he has also shared stages with such prominent jazz, blues and R&B luminaries as Earl King, Sir Mac Rice, Pinetop Perkins and Eddie Palmieri.

Tbone’s discography spans dozens and dozens of recording projects, but his 2019 release on Detroit Music Factory, “Back in Your Own Backyard,” marks the first time he’s the featured artist on a full-length CD. He’s joined on the record by his longtime musical partner and fellow Detroit Music Factory recording artist, drummer RJ Spangler, as well as the RJ Spangler Quartet, and a number of guest artists.

The tracks on “Back in Your Own Backyard” are a selection of pre-WWII jazz and transitional rhythm and blues tunes. They’re not the most famous tunes, but they’re some of the most moving. This isn’t Gershwin or Cole Porter; these are tunes from the dark corners of “The Great American Songbook,” or as Tbone likes to call them, “the non-standard standards.”

Many of the tunes on “Back in Your Own Backyard” were curated for their powerful lyrics, and “Room With a View of the Blues” is no exception. It’s a song that Tbone performed regularly with one of the world’s great soul and bluesmen, the late Johnny Adams. It’s a song that speaks to the loneliness of finding yourself in a place where you’re not with another person, and the longing for that missing connectedness. The lyrics are heavy with a sense of loss, and Tbone’s interpretation is fraught with honesty and emotion.

The paired down arrangement on the track is decidedly bluesy. The horns are simple and the solos, as any good blues tune should, feature guitar and piano.
Perhaps one of the reasons “Back in Your Own Backyard” hits you in all the right places is that Tbone draws on the strengths of the musicians on the record.
“It’s not just about ‘what can you play for me,’” he says of the sessions and the session players, “but ‘what ideas can you contribute to the success of the track?’ Everybody had great suggestions. It was very collaborative.”

On the tune “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying,” Tbone and alto saxophone player Keith Kaminski do a great job working together to come up with a three-part expansion on Louis Jordan’s original intro. With the alto saxophone playing that familiar melody, Kaminski’s arrangement voices it down through the section with the trumpet playing the second voice and the tenor sax playing the third.

The album’s lone instrumental is “Petite Fleur” by legendary New Orleans clarinetist Sidney Bechet. Chris Tabaczyski’s metal clarinet does a beautiful job of mimicking the brightness of the soprano saxophone Bechet was known to play. The arrangement features a fluid musical conversation between Tabaczyski and Tbone, each in turn playing the melody, while the other plays harmony around him, always in the open space, never on top. Then each time they came to a big turnaround, they played in two-part harmony. The effect is an exotic and plaintiff mood; dual like the light at twilight.

Tbone’s performance throughout the record is much like his live performances. Behind the trombone, he connects with his audience through his soulful phrasing and sense of swing. When he steps out as a singer, he breaks down the distance between the music and the listener with a vocal delivery that imbues the lyrics with personal meaning. When he sings, he feels it, and so do you.

“My perspective is from live performance,” he says. “It’s what I’ve done my whole life. My main concern as an artist is to be emotionally honest and authentic. When you do that, people get it. They understand the music.”
While the music of “Back in Your Own Backyard” was written nearly a hundred years ago, Tbone finds energy in a growing number of younger listeners. He points out that the live music scene in New Orleans is filled with music lovers in their 20s and 30s that are really engaged with pre-war jazz from a deep cultural understanding.

“Young people are really digging reaching back in time,” says Tbone. “Because it’s jazz, there’s still freshness and spontaneity in the experience. It’s still being performed live so they’re able to appreciate it for the artistry that it is.”

The post Tbone Paxton w/ RJ Spangler Quintet CD Release Party appeared first on Cliff Bell's.

The two are cornerstone members of the Planet D Nonet, and as such, have toured to 11 states, released as many CDs and garnered 7 Detroit Music Awards. Now they have offer this stripped-down project – just four musicians, with a new CD about to drop next month nationally!

Tbone and RJ have performed in New Orleans and backed singers from there on their tours up north like Johnny Adams, Earl King & Edde Bo for many years, so the music of NOLA is always prominent in their performances; from trad-jazz to R&B. The Great American Songbook: Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington & the Harlem Jive of Fats Waller as well as the proto jump/swing of Louis Jordan are also a big part of each performance. Add some gut-bucket trombone & RJ’s experience with blues, swing and world jazz on drums and you have an idea what to expect at their shows.

Matt LoRusso on guitar & Jeff Cuny on string bass

The post Tbone Paxton & RJ Spangler appeared first on Cliff Bell's.

Tbone and RJ have performed in New Orleans and backed singers from there on their tours up north like Johnny Adams, Earl King & Edde Bo for many years, so the music of NOLA is always prominent in their performances; from trad-jazz to R&B. The Great American Songbook: Johnny Mercer, Hoagy Carmichael, Duke Ellington & the Harlem Jive of Fats Waller as well as the proto jump/swing of Louis Jordan are also a big part of each performance. Add some gut-bucket trombone & RJ’s experience with blues, swing and world jazz on drums and you have an idea what to expect at their shows. They are favorites at festivals, art fairs, jazz clubs, brew pubs, private parties as well as libraries.

Matt LoRusso will be on guitar, Jeff Cuny  will be on string bass, Sean Perlmutter will be on drums.

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Matt LoRusso on guitar & Jeff Cuny on bass.

http://rjspangler.com/rjtbone.php

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Assembled especially for this occasion, TCH is a collection of talents from some of the finest traditional jazz groups in Michigan, including trombonist Terry Kimura (Marge’s Bar Band), trumpeter/vocalist Matt Collar (Carl Cafagna’s Creole Kitchen), saxophonist Chris Tabaczynski (Easy Street Jazz Band), guitarist Mike Harrington (Aston Neighborhood Pleasure Club), and drummer Van Hunsberger (Phil Ogilvie’s Rhythm Kings).

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