Blues In Blueprint

CN4120 2026-03-20

Track List

Old Stack O’Lee Blues - 4:41
Twisted Blues - 4:10
One for My Baby (And One More for The Road) - 4:40
Hutch - 3:26
Lawns - 4:17
The 5:30PM Dive Bar Rendez Vous - 4:03
Ramblin’ - 3:46
Blues in Blueprint - 4:17
The Double Nickel - 4:17
The Bass Speaks - 3:36
Groovy Globy - 3:51
Abide With Me - 3:55

Musicians

Clovis Nicolas - bass
Larry Goldings - piano
Carl Allen - drums

With Blues in Blueprint, bassist and composer Clovis Nicolas releases his fifth album for Sunnyside Records and takes on a singular artistic challenge: to perform an entire program of blues—or blues-related—music, exploring the many ways this foundational form continues to shape jazz. Deeply embedded in the music’s DNA, the blues here is not treated as a constraint, but as a point of departure.

Nicolas deliberately emphasizes diversity of form, groove, tempo, and stylistic lineage, drawing from multiple jazz eras to create a coherent, flowing, and engaging program. The album’s subtitle, “12 Variations on the Blues,” reflects this ambition: each piece offers a distinct blueprint, revealing a different structural or emotional facet of the blues tradition.

For this project, Nicolas assembled an exceptional trio featuring Larry Goldings, heard here in a rare appearance on acoustic piano, and the ever-swinging Carl Allen on drums. Recorded in New York by engineer James Farber, the trio brings together three musicians united by deep listening, elegance, and a shared sense of swing. Nicolas completes the trio as bassist and leader, anchoring the music with warmth, clarity, and melodic authority.