Newborn born again on latest jazz releases

Musical families run deep in Memphis. Soul has the Thomases and the Hodges; rock, the Dickinsons and the Selvidges. Jazz begins and ends, of course, with the Newborns: bandleader father Phineas and sibling titans of talent Phineas Jr. on piano and Calvin on guitar.

As the living upholder of his namesake's legacy, Calvin Newborn, now in his 70s, still bops with breezy, quicksilver phrasing, a perfect match for the sobriquet Flying Calvin (taken from an early '50s photo of him leaping in air mid-solo at the Flamingo Room).

For someone who has made a career backing the likes of Earl Hines, Lionel Hampton, Wild Bill Davis, Jimmy Forrest, Charles Mingus, Freddie Roach and others, Newborn can also be a stellar session leader, as evinced on these two albums -- in stores on Tuesday -- for Memphis-based indie Yellow Dog Records.

The most recent of the two, New Born, was cut last year at Sam Phillips Recording Service and finds the guitarist in a comfortable, knowing spot between bebop and the Beale Street blues. With a Bluff City cast that features pianist Donald Brown and organist Charlie Wood, Newborn glides through eight small combo tunes including such standout originals as "The Streetwalker's Stroll" (note Herman Green in top flute-blowing form) and the deep groovin' "After Hours Blues." A choice cover of the Billy Strayhorn standard "Lush Life" becomes the profound centerpiece, however, with Newborn in contemplative solo mode for much of the tune, as heart-stilling a Zen moment as he's ever recorded.

Also available is Up City, a welcome reissue of the album Newborn put out on his own Omnifarious label in 1998, then titled Flying Calvin... Up City. Again backed by a group of stellar Memphis folks, Newborn splits the sessions into philosophical halves: tasty organ trio tunes with drummer Tom Lonardo and keyboardist Tony Thomas (who has his own exquisite solo record, Understatement, coming soon) vs. bigger band, Big Apple-made settings with A-list accompaniment by trumpeter/arranger Bill Mobley, saxman Bill Easley, bassist Jamil Nasser, late pianist Charles Thomas, and drummer Tony Reedus. Anyone who knows a thing or two about Mid-South jazz knows the above group of folks is as good as it gets. The results don't disappoint.

Thanks to these top-notch releases, Newborn will hopefully get the recognition he's long deserved. Consider them the rebirth of one cool cat.