GERALD CLEAVER & VIOLET HOUR - Live At Firehouse 12 (Sealed) (CD)

HARD BOP! Drummer Gerald Cleaver has been unfairly pigeonholed as a free jazz player for much of his career, though his efforts as a bandleader and composer provide much more than that. Cleaver’s musical output has always bridged the divide between the structured and the free. Appropriately, his band Violet Hour was named for that time of day where it isn’t quite day and not quite night, a perfect metaphor for Cleaver’s music that hovers between jazz traditions. On his new recording, Violet Hour Live at Firehouse 12, Cleaver reconvenes this allstar ensemble for a rare performance and live recording at the New Haven, Connecticut venue.