Shifting Times by Paradigm Shift featuring Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Printup, Joe Locke

Paradigm Shift consists of organist Gerry Youngman, guitarist Melvin Henderson, and drummer Ted Poor. Their debut recording adds several American guests used in various combinations. Clifford Brown's "Sandu" is reworked into a funky soul-jazz setting, utilizing expressive solos by trombonist Wycliffe Gordon and trumpeter Marcus Printup, and adding a tasty George Benson-like solo by Henderson. Virtuoso vibraphonist Joe Locke is at the forefront of the light but breezy take of "Yesterdays," with the trio coolly percolating behind him. Youngman's "Half a World Away" is lightly swaggering funk, showcasing Printup (on both open and muted horn) and Henderson. Stevie Wonder's "Big Brother" is adapted successfully into a jazz-funk, featuring Locke and Gordon in a very accessible adaptation. The trio finally saves a pair of originals just for themselves, including "Simplistic Blues" (which is more engaging than its title makes it sound), though the rather pedestrian drumming in "Why Not Scrambled" gives it a cheesy flavor. Overall, this is a good start to a promising jazz band.

AllMusic Review by Ken Dryden

What is a Paradigm Shift? Think of a Paradigm Shift as a change from one way of thinking to another. It's a revolution, a transformation, a sort of metamorphosis. It just does not happen, but rather it is driven by agents of change.

Melvin Henderson, Gerry Youngman, and Ted Poor make up the band Paradigm Shift, and they have something to say with their first album. "It is our aim to create music that is original and that will draw people because of what it is, not what it resembles. The music is the gateway. It is the means in which we earn the right to speak to a crowd which would not otherwise listen."

Paradigm Shift worked together for years developing their own sound and touring the USA before recording this CD. To make a stronger impact with their debut album in the jazz world they invited their long time companions Wycliffe Gordon, Marcus Printup and Joe Locke to join them in the studio. The result is an amazing recording by some of today’s hottest jazz musicians.

Marcus Edward Printup (born January 24, 1967) is an American jazz trumpeter who attended the University of North Florida Jazz Studies program and went on to work with Betty Carter, The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra, Tim Hagans, and the great pianist Marcus Roberts, who introduced him to Wynton Marsalis. In 1993, Printup became a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.