Darrell Grant celebrating the 25th anniversary of ‘Black Art’: Photos, Video

Darrell Grant released Black Art, his first album on the Criss Cross label, in 1994.

At the time he was the pianist in the Tony Williams Quintet, and making a strong statement on his own steam.

In The New York Times, Peter Watrous put Black Art in his Top 10 for the year, writing: “Mr. Grant, a pianist, has assembled an album featuring Christian McBride on bass, and Brian Blade on drums, that is conceived from the rhythm section’s point of view, with all sorts of challenging tempos and textures. The trumpeter Wallace Roney turns in what may be his most exciting playing on record.”

Grant, now a veteran bandleader and composer, has been revisiting the music of Black Art with a younger crew: trumpeter Marquis Hill, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer Kendrick Scott.