The Jazz.com Blog
April 30, 2008 · 0 comments
The Best Jazz Tracks for April
If I told you that Nicholas Payton had decided to feature the song “Chinatown” on his new CD (Into the Blue), you might think that the celebrated New Orleans trumpeter was revisiting Louis Armstrong’s classic 1931 recording of “Chinatown, My Chinatown.” But in this instance, Payton has taken a surprising tack, choosing to tackle instead the film noir theme song from the movie Chinatown.
This haunting Jerry Goldsmith theme is one of the great soundtrack melodies, and I am surprised that more jazz artists haven’t covered it over the years. The harmonic progression has a curious flavor, starting darkly in a minor key but with surprising moments where a passing breeze hints at a major tonality. The whole composition is tinged with a bittersweet ambiance that the trumpeter captures perfectly. This is Raymond Chandleresqe jazz, and Payton’s performance is the kind of track you will want to replay as soon as it’s finished. This stylized performance has been selected as Song of the Day at jazz.com, and the full review by Ralph Miriello can be found here.
Below are links to reviews of each of the tracks featured as Song of the Day during the last month. For a complete list of all the Songs of the Day since the launch of the jazz.com site, click here.
Songs of the Day (April 2008):
Nicholas Payton: Chinatown
Meddy Gerville: Di Amwin
Marilyn Scott: Every Time We Say Goodbye
The Brubeck Brothers: Good Question
Stanley Jordan: A Place in Space
Brad Mehldau: The Very Thought of You
Drew Gress: True South
Rosey: Who Am I
Rave Tesar: The Vision
Avery Sharpe: Fly with the Wind
Jason Kao Hwang: Cloud Call
Ketil Bjørnstad & Terje Rypdal: The Sea V
Marilyn Mazur & Jan Garbarek: Joy Chant
Tobias Gebb & Trio West: How Deep Is the Ocean?
Kurt Rosenwinkel: Chords
Hendrik Meurkens: Hot and Stuffy
Russ Nolan: Naima
Marcus Miller: Blast!
Tal Wilkenfeld: Serendipity
Miguel Zenón: Camarón
Grand Pianoramax: Tempest
Irvin Mayfield & Ellis Marsalis: Yesterday
Karrin Allyson: Estrada do Sol
This blog entry posted by Ted Gioia.
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