Tony Bennett: Steppin' Out With My Baby
Among the stars slouching through the first four seasons of MTV Unplugged—the popular cable series where normally amplified rock or rap artists performed all-acoustic sets—were 10,000 Maniacs, Aerosmith, LL Cool J, Pearl Jam and Nirvana. Naturally the fifth season would include Tony Bennett. SAY WHAT? You know, Tony Bennett, the crooner who left his heart in San Francisco (1962). His strictly acoustic and stylish black-&-white "Steppin' Out With My Baby" video (1993) scored in MTV rotation, so why not give the kid a shot? At 67, the jazzy, snazzy Bennett was out of place, but delightfully in step.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · irving berlin covers · jazz vocals · steppin out with my babyHank Mobley: Venus De Mildew
Welcome, children, to today's tour of the Louvre. Here you see a world-famous sculpture, the Venus Di Mildew, depicting the ancient Greek goddess of mold. You'll notice that her arms are missing. That is of course what happens when you bite your nails. Just teasing! Actually, the sculptor, an American named Monsieur Shorter, removed them after learning that his patron, Monsieur Mobley, spent most of his money on a new 1966 Cadillac DeVille, and could only afford part of the sculptor's fee. Nevertheless, experts now consider Mobley's "Venus De Mildew" among the funkiest treasures in 1960s antiquities. Needless to say, it is priceless.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazz · blue noteStan Kenton: City of Glass
"You're not supposed to understand it," Stan Kenton advised. "You experience it with your subconscious." Audiences, though, lacked his psychoanalytic insight. City of Glass' 1948 premiere reduced the Chicago Civic Opera House to stunned silence. An all-dissonance analogue to the "all-glass" architecture then redefining urban skylines, Bob Graettinger's modernistic magnum opus ironically suffered the fate of historic landmarks in the bulldozer's path: prompt demolition. Kenton never again publicly performed City of Glass in its atonal entirety, conceding: "It's very advanced music, and the average person can't take too much of it." Fortunately, Jazz.com visitors aren't average, and never shrink from challenges.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · big bandMindi Abair: Bloom
In previously reviewing Mindi Abair's "As Good As It Gets" (2002) and "Make a Wish" (2004), we lamely struggled with such categories as adult-alternative-crossover/nouveau-club-electronica/titanium-trendy/ trip-hop-techno-pop. Frankly, none of that does her justice. And it gives us a headache. So screw the labels. Let's just say this woman makes dynamite records. Sure, there're elements of club and electronica. And techno-pop isn't far off the mark. Plus, crossover goes without saying. But adult-alternative may be misleading, and trip-hop is simply wrong. Moreover, who knows what "titanium-trendy" even means? As far as we're concerned, reviewers who get hung up on labels are anagrammatically Anal. Right, Alan?
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: smooth jazzAntoine Hervé: Africa
It may sound at first like an African melody played on some kind of kalimba, but in fact Antoine Hervé plays this piece on the piano – both inside it as well as on the keyboard – while an electronic device that creates the strangest of atmospheres processes the sound. The interplay between the various repetitive voices quickly becomes fascinating, and the improvisation emerges from this maze in a very original way. More than a solo and not quite an orchestra, this may sound quite experimental, but it creates sheer beauty.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · solo pianoSylvain Luc: A Night in Tunisia
Sylvain Luc has been one of the new wonders of jazz guitar in France for the last 15 years, and his Trio Sud has him playing with two other great musicians and good friends. It takes that to follow his guitar on its inventive forays through rhythms and harmony, with a constant attention to melody. Here, he never strays far from the song's theme, yet plays with it in a way that brings new surprise every few bars. Incredibly long phrases, chords sequences whose rhythm varies endlessly, little countermelodies – this is imagination at its best, with an almost acoustic sound that lets the fantastic technique speak for itself without the help of any electric device.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · a night in tunisia · dizzy gillespie covers · france · guitarChick Corea: The Loop
Chick Corea begins this pretty waltz in a very classical manner, and it acquires more bounce when the bass and drums come in. Vitous has a typically melodic solo, and Haynes's drumming is as intelligently supportive as ever. Corea displays a beautiful touch, and his accentuations and rhythmic approach give this tune a distinctive mark that the composition itself may have lacked in less clever hands.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1980s jazz · ecm · piano trioGianluca Petrella: Mood Indigo
After starting with a sonic jungle that Ellington may have approved, the quartet launches into a post- modern "Mood Indigo" full of playful irony and respect for the spirit of Duke's "jungle period." The vocal qualities of Petrella's trombone are a highlight, and Bearzatti's clarinet follows in the same vein, while the rhythm team briskly marks the beat. These young Italians' reinterpretation of this classic is original and highly enjoyable.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · ellington covers · italy · mood indigoJohn Taylor: Fantasy
Playing a muffled rhythm on the strings with his left hand, John Taylor develops a melody with his right. It catches your ear immediately by its rough tones and brisk tempo. Taylor is not here to play Mr. Nice Guy. When his left hand strikes the keyboard and phrases virtuoso streaks parallel to the right hand before returning to the strings, it gives the tune its full harmonic dimension. It emphasizes the raw atmosphere that the pianist, as a sculptor of sounds, has decided to explore. This solo is really carved in stone, and revels in the somber beauty of its multiple facets.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · solo pianoCharlie Johnson: You Ain't the One
This recording offers one of the very few aural glimpses we have of this fabled and pioneering Harlem big band. The composition, by Charlie Johnson and Arthur Porter and arranged by Benny Carter (one of his first on record) is an insouciant melody with a hip lyric almost irresistibly tossed off here by Monette Moore (with some engaging fiddling by Edgar Sampson behind her). Perhaps the thing most will remember about this recording is the stabbing, biting trumpet of Jabbo Smith, then only 19 years old and with so much to say musically. But we also should not ignore the inventive drumming of the little-recorded George Stafford. Uneasiness pervades, however, due to the band’s rushing the tempo. In just over three minutes, they pick up about 24 beats per minute by the end of the performance, a tendency heard also on their equally fine recording of “Charleston is the Best Dance After All.”
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1920s jazz · big band · harlemMarty Ehrlich: Waltz
The problem with 3/4 modal tunes is not only that there are a lot of them, but that you must improvise in a very original way if you don't want to sound corny. Here Ehrlich manages to be convincing, partly because his bass clarinet is a rather rare instrument, but also because he has great partners and leaves them lots of room. Formanek takes a long, interesting solo, Drummond is refined and swinging, and Caine's voicings get the best out of the rather predictable chords.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · modal jazz[em]: Another Mr. Lizard
This German cooperative trio is definitely becoming one of the most interesting European piano trios. On its second record it displays an impressive ease with original compositions by its three members, and the present track by pianist Wollny is a good case in point. Tight interaction, as in the opening melodic unison between piano and drums over a bowed bass drone, twisted melody that never fails to swing, attention to the sound quality of each instrument that attracts your ear by playing in the chords, out of them and around them with a taste for surprise that never sounds conceited. These three young musicians are a delight to listen to.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · act · germany · piano trioJohn Surman: Fide et Amore
This duet between two great musicians, whose musical vision bridges the Atlantic and reaches the universal, is more than a quarter century old yet doesn't show a single wrinkle. That's because the lyricism of Surman's baritone sax and the beautiful chords of DeJohnette's electric piano can touch listeners from everywhere, anytime. This poised melody, with its repetitive twists and controlled horn shrieks, is simply beautiful, and conveys the essential.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1980s jazz · ecmStan Getz & Bill Evans: Funkallero
In this rare studio encounter between two of the era's most lyrical and romantic improvisers, we find an uncharacteristically aggressive Stan Getz. Perhaps the infectious restlessness of the rhythm section of bassist Ron Carter and the energetic Elvin Jones on drums is the accelerant that lights Getz's fire. Evans is less introspective than usual, but defers to the powerhouse performances of Jones and Getz, who spur each other on to new heights of excitement. While Evans may have been a bit uncomfortable with the seemingly inexhaustible energy of the dynamic Jones, the pianist's tune makes a perfect vehicle for Jones and Getz to strut their stuff. In particular, Jones's solo in the song's waning minute is pure napalm. And certainly the drummer stirred something in Getz's soul. The scorching inventiveness from Getz's steroidal infused saxophone, elevated to a new level of spontaneity and drive, is what makes the session so special. This piece is like gasoline in a can on a hot summer day – incendiary.
March 31, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazz · funkallero · tenor saxSonny Stitt & Sal Salvador: Loose Walk
"Loose Walk" begins with Sonny Stitt in mid-solo. No, the musicians did not forget the opening. Filmmaker Bert Stern left it on the cutting-room floor for his documentary of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960). And since this is the Original Soundtrack, that's all we get. It's a shame because, judging from his extant three choruses, Stitt was hotter than the noonday sun.Guitarist Sal Salvador fared better than his co-star. Sal's 8-chorus solo is intact. (Assuming that the two frontline players took solos of equal length, which is usually the case during such loosely organized jams, that means nearly two-thirds of Stitt's solo is missing.) Except for his 1952-53 stint with Stan Kenton's New Concepts of Artistry in Rhythm, Salvador maintained a low profile throughout a career that spanned five decades, spent mostly in New England. But, as he shows here, Sal was a fine technician who could execute single-note lines with grace and imagination.
The head—heard only at track's end—was previously recorded by Clifford Brown & Max Roach as "The Blues Walk" (1955). According to Verve's 2000 reissue thereof, the tune originated with altoist Chris Woods, who recorded it in 1952; issued years later, it was wryly titled "Somebody Done Stole My Blues." In honor of Sonny Stitt, perhaps this track should also be retitled: "Somebody Done Stole My Solo."
March 30, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · guitar · jazz on a summer's day · newport jazz fesitval · soundtrackIrvin Mayfield & Ellis Marsalis: Yesterday
Paul McCartney's melody always sounds plaintive, but especially so when you know the story behind this track. Mayfield's session came close to being destroyed in the midst of Hurricane Katrina. But he preserved the original mixes on his iPod. Yet a larger tragedy loomed: the trumpeter lost his father, Irvin Mayfield, Sr., in the floods following Katrina. This talented musician and jazz educator has channeled his grief into rebuilding efforts, including an ambitious plan to help New Orleans' devastated library system. His recording, dedicated to Mayfield Sr. and the other victims of Katrina, is a moving tribute by an artist who has done more than almost any other jazz player of his generation for his home town. And how fitting that he is accompanied by Ellis Marsalis, the great patriarch of the New Orleans jazz revival of recent decades.
March 30, 2008 · 1 comment
Tags: beatles covers · trumpet · yesterdayThelonious Monk: Blue Monk (live at Newport, 1958)
The most frequently criticized sequence in Jazz on a Summer's Day, Bert Stern's documentary of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival, is Thelonious Monk's performance of "Blue Monk." Like Jimmy Giuffre before him, Monk repeats a tune he'd played on the previous year's CBS telecast The Sound of Jazz. Monk even sports the same bamboo-framed sunglasses outdoors in July as he'd worn in the TV studio the prior December.The criticism, though, is never directed at Monk, but rather at the filmmaker for relegating the pianist to background music for distracting aerial shots of the America's Cup trials, filmed by Stern leaning out of a rented Piper Cub over the waters off Newport and proving once again Damon Runyon's timeless axiom that viewing a yacht race is like watching grass grow. Even more annoying than the lumbering boats, however, is the fact that much of Monk's solo is obscured by a nautical sportscaster jabbering from his perch on the bridge of the U.S. Destroyer William R. Rush, strategically deployed at taxpayer expense within 200 yards of the starting line. (Did they fear a British Royal Navy sub might torpedo Columbia, the ultimately victorious New York Yacht Club entry?)
Unfortunately for purists, the original soundtrack CD provides not a pristine "Blue Monk," but a badly mangled compromise. In the process of mercifully stripping the inane prattle from this track, 16 bars of Monk's solo have been mislaid! In lieu of the movie's seven choruses, the CD contains a choppy five and two-thirds choruses—which ain't exactly what God had in mind when He gave Moses the 12-bar blues. Consequently, among the more than two dozen recordings of "Blue Monk" that its composer left us, this track in its present form must rank near the bottom. This criticism, though, is not directed at Thelonious, but towards those who treat his legacy with such disrespect.
March 30, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · blue monk · jazz on a summer's day · newport jazz fesitval · piano trio · soundtrackGeorge Russell: Manhattan
George Russell's album-length tribute to New York City remains a major work of the period and one of his most important projects. This track opens with Jon Hendricks and drums extolling the city, and then Russell begins his exploration of "Manhattan," the only explicit statement of the melody being his use of the song's first five notes. Solos are by Brookmeyer, Brookmeyer and Rehak alternating, and Evans (how wonderful to hear him in a large ensemble setting this early in his career). Then a most extraordinary thing happens. From out of a transition by the band, John Coltrane sings out in a solo so arresting that the rest of the track (which has a Farmer solo later) is almost anticlimactic. Coltrane requested a break in the session to go over the chord changes, and the result is gripping and powerful. Trane later told Russell that he didn't like this solo. Amazing!!! (For the musically inclined, the full story of this solo can be found in Russell's textbook Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization.)
March 30, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · big band · manhattan · richard rodgers coversBill Holman: You Go to My Head
By 1958, Bill Holman was a composing/arranging heavyweight, and the second album of big band music under his own name contains several masterpieces. "You Go to My Head" is an excellent example of re-composition using a short, improvised-sounding riff. A four-note phrase frames a presentation that begins with the melody being broken up and explored by the saxes, while the brass play the riff as underpinning—all with minimal rhythmic support. Eventually the whole band takes off, swinging both melody and riff leading up to solos by Charlie Mariano and Stu Williamson. An uneasy transition leads to the leader's solo. The whole thing ends with similar uneasiness, but we have been on quite a journey. That riff may have gone to Holman's head, but by the end it has been thoroughly explored. The setting of the song sounds as if it had been made up on the spot, which is part of Willis's compositional gift. This track is one of his greatest achievements.
March 30, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · big band · west coast jazz · you go to my headMarcus Miller: Bruce Lee
Marcus Miller's Silver Rain is caught in a jazz no-man's-land. That's the place in between Smooth Jazz and fusion. There is no way someone who likes the former is going to enjoy the latter and vice versa. So, although the multitalented Miller displays exceptional ability on every cut on this album, I find myself gagging on the smooth stuff and digging the fusion stuff. But because the tunes seem to alternate between the two worlds, I can't make my way through the whole album. I am sure the rest likewise vacillates. Two distinct albums would have been a better artistic and commercial choice, in my humble opinion.Lucky for me that "Bruce Lee" is the CD's second cut. Miller says the title is a tribute to the martial arts superstar's ability to improvise. Miller's bass is way up in the mix on this funk-jazz piece. The sound is a bit dry, but the fun and engaging riff at the center of the tune is not. Strangely, at first I mistook it for the theme of the Boston Legal TV show. But some guy named Danny Lux wrote that. Miller's string-slapping and overdubbed synth parts on top of the band's funk groove will have you moving in your seat. Miller's solo is a robust statement. That is one hard-biting sound he manages to get. A bed of electronic ambience is laid out for Albright's solo. The opening
March 29, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · bass · funk · fusionJimmy Giuffre: The Train and The River (live at Newport, 1958)
On its face, the Jimmy Giuffre 3 playing their signature contrapuntal folk-jazz opus "The Train and The River" seems an oddly low-key opener for Jazz on a Summer's Day (1960), Bert Stern's documentary of the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival. For that matter, Giuffre's drummerless chamber jazz seemed as ill-suited to the NJF's open-air park on a balmy summer afternoon as a string quartet at Yankee Stadium. Yet the filmmaker's instinct proved canny. By not showing the musicians until two minutes into the performance, Stern not only teases us with an appealing tune underneath his main titles, but actually builds suspense as to when or even if the players will appear onscreen. Finally they do, and in close-up at that—so close up, in fact, that guitarist Jim Hall goes unseen until the track concludes and he rises to take a bow. Otherwise, Stern holds a single shot of Giuffre bobbing and weaving with his tenor sax, as Bob Brookmeyer hovers behind him in a supporting role, for a remarkable 2½ minutes.Rendering this piece on the previous year's CBS telecast The Sound of Jazz, Giuffre's trio consisted of clarinet/sax, guitar and bass. Six months later, the bass had been replaced by valve trombone, creating one of the most unusual instrumentations in jazz history. While the audio on this 2004 CD is erratic (it sounds better on the actual movie soundtrack), anyone wishing to concentrate on the music can do so sans artsy images of reflections in marina water. With or without pictures, "The Train and The River" is one of the finest 1950s jazz compositions, and this live performance on the 4th of July glitters like the first sparklers at twilight.
March 29, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · folk jazz · jazz on a summer's day · newport jazz festival · soundtrackFred Wisdom: We Should Fight
On Words of Wisdom, vocalist/guitarist Fred Wisdom has surrounded himself with some damn fine jazz musicians. Despite the fact that bass man Bassman and drummer Bashford have suspicious surnames, they are a solid rhythm section. Altoist Bowden is also a strong participant.If Words of Wisdom were strictly an instrumental album, this would be very good music. But Wisdom's soulful voice, sounding like the jazzier/reggae side of Sting with a slight head cold, is mesmerizing. It raises the performance level several notches. His lyrics and composing are nothing earth-shattering, but they are direct and effective. Ruddick's piano chords introduce expressive Wisdom's vocals. "We Should Fight" hints at a swing number to usher in Bowden's flourishes. The hint turns into reality as the midsection evolves into straight swinging jazz. Ruddick's piano playing is sublime. Bowden opens up. Wisdom's world-weary blues via reggae vocals reenter to bring the piece to a pleasing end.
I have some words of wisdom for you. Check this cat out.
March 29, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · jazz vocalsMiroslav Vitous: Bamboo Forest
The accomplished and imaginative bassist and Czech expatriate Miroslav Vitous was a moving force in the early annals of the fusion movement in the United States. As a teenager while still in Czechoslovakia, he was in The Junior Trio with future superstar Jan Hammer. In the U.S., he played with Chick Corea and Dave Holland and was a founding member of Weather Report. His prowess was already well established when he released a landmark fusion record, Infinite Search, in 1969. (Later, the album would re-released with minor changes but a new title, Mountain in the Clouds.) Despite Vitous's artistic and a certain amount of commercial success stateside, he decided to move back to Europe, and has spent most of his time teaching, composing and occasionally playing at jazz festivals.In 2003, Vitous released Universal Syncopations, a reunion of sorts. Vitous's former leader Chick Corea and Infinite Search cohorts John McLaughlin and Jack DeJohnette make appearances. Saxophonist Jan Garbarek, the featured soloist on "Bamboo Forest," was also an important past collaborator. "Bamboo Forest" is a beautiful ballad. Vitous and DeJohnette expertly handle the upbeat rhythm. Vitous's sound is a studied full and deep reverberation against fine wood. Garbarek's playing is light but meaningful. Vitous shows off some prodigious chops and expert timekeeping during a solo turn. Garbarek continues to flutter away. This is nothing like fusion or progressive jazz. It is just good modern jazz with a flowing melody played by three very knowing musicians.
Reviewer's Note: Vitous and his old friend and Czech mate Jan Hammer have both written tunes named "Bamboo Forest." My cursory research seems to find no bamboo forest in Czechoslovakia to write about. Is this a coincidence or collusion? This should be investigated.
March 29, 2008 · 1 comment
Tags: 2000s jazz · bass · ecmShankar: Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi
The Indian violin virtuoso Shankar seems to suffer a chronic identity crisis. Over the years, he has been variously credited as Lakshminarayanan Shankar, L. Shankar, or Shankar. Recently he changed his stage name and now answers to Shenkar. While there may be good reasons for this, it sure is confusing. Shenkar has had identity issues with his musical persona as well. In India, he was one of the greatest young classical Indian violinists. He traveled to the U.S. in 1969 and discovered jazz music. This led him to co-found the groundbreaking Indo-jazz outfit Shakti. Then he fell in love with pop music and recorded the Frank Zappa-produced album Touch Me There, one of the most ill-advised pop records ever released. Shankar found a modicum of success as a sunglasses-wearing sidekick to rock star Peter Gabriel before embarking on a really strange but interesting musical path that continues to this day."Ragam-Tanam-Pallavi" is side one of Who's To Know, his greatest artistic achievement to date. I love Indian music, but I approach it as a Westerner. There are many elements it shares with jazz, and this track is certainly a fusion. Still, I would rather listen to Indian music than spend time learning about its technical rudiments. From time to time, I will study aspects of the music to gain further understanding. But in the end, my enjoyment is totally visceral. So I choose to ignore the fact that Shenkar informs us that for this piece, he created a new Tala cycle based, in the first part, on 5½ beats per cycle and, in the second part, on 4½ beats. Pardon my French, but it's all Greek to me. What I do know is that Shenkar's invention and mastery of the unique double violin, and the rhythmic magic of tabla maestro Zakir Hussain, keep me totally engaged for 22:11. My Indian friends assure me I would find the performance even more brilliant if I were able to listen as an Indian. Although I find that hard to believe, it does make me jealous.
March 29, 2008 · 1 comment
Tags: 1980s jazz · ecm · fusion · india · violinBireli Lagrene: Inferno
Much has been expected of Bireli Lagrene. He was playing Django Reinhardt's repertoire at age 8. By the time he was 12, he was touring Europe and being hailed as the next Django. He decided to take that Gypsy style in a jazz and jazz fusion direction. Over the years, he has played with many great musicians. On Inferno, he finds himself with stars of the second wave of fusion that hit the beaches in the 1980s."Inferno," recorded when Bireli was 21, is a Gypsy-boogie fusion number, if I may be so descriptive. Victor Bailey's repeating bassline is so perfect it almost sounds looped. There is just enough variation in it to prove otherwise. Over Bailey's never-ending groove and occasional lush chords from Carter, Lagrene's solo comes at you in bursts, full of chorused blues and rapid jagged scalar runs. Moerlen and Café throw in the kitchen sink for contrast, though nothing too heavy. The liner notes indicate that Bill Evans (sax) donates some dulcet tones, but I cannot hear him.
"Inferno" isn't quite an inferno, and the theme could have been developed a bit more. But for what it is – a showcase for some '80s fusion chops – it stands up well 20 years later. On the whole, Lagrene has lived up to expectations. In this fickle world, that is not such an easy thing.
March 29, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1980s jazz · fusion · guitarGinger Baker: Rain and the Rhinoceros
Despite Ginger Baker's place in rock history as the drummer for uber-supergroup Cream, many fans have seen him as just some heavy-handed plodder who was in the right place at the right time. But people who believe that have not been paying attention. Baker has done quite a few projects over the years that are kilometers away from the power trio bashing of Cream and his other rock excursions with Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Army. "Rain and the Rhinoceros" from Unseen Rain is a perfect example. With bassist Hellborg and pianist Johansson, Baker creates a hypnotic spell. His drumming is quasi-martial, never veering out of formation. It has no highs or lows. It is just there like life's rhythm itself. It is devoid of melody, of course, but is the melody just the same. The whole album is that way. Ginger is more than a thrasher. He is a thinker. You should consider discovering this side of Baker.
March 29, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · drums · fusion · piano trioOrnette Coleman: Bird Food
Being highly influenced by melody and lyricism is usually not a disadvantage, except when listening to the music of a pioneer like Ornette Coleman, who defied the conventions of standard musical logic and created his own path for musical expression. On "Bird Food," one can viscerally sense the intense sympathetic action/reaction of the musicians who make up this "free" playing group. Each member, a talented artisan in his own right, is seamlessly connected to the thoughts of his fellow musicians as if by some gossamer, translucent spinal chord that spreads vibrant energy to the players while never really confining them to the limited motions of homo erectus. In this piece, Coleman plays his plastic alto in homage to Charlie "Bird" Parker without ever imitating. His coincidental lines with the pocket trumpet of cohort Don Cherry mimic the Dizzy/Parker melodies of the past, but only briefly and only as a starting point. Charlie Haden's roaming basslines and Billy Higgins's dancing drums drive the tune through its winding twists and turns. Cherry's solo is a playful exploration that might have put a smile on Diz's face – or maybe not. Coleman, at times free-swinging with only hints of melodic direction, explores the reaches of his mind on this serpentine journey yet magically never loses Haden or Higgins, who communicate in an almost telepathic way. In the liner notes for this song, Coleman says that Bird would have understood the direction he was taking, breaking free of what had come before. Some did; others still don't. Stirring music nonetheless.
March 29, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · alto sax · charlie parker tributesDavid Finck: Four Flags
In the span of 2½ minutes, David Finck & Co. show how effortless it can be for fine musicians to make a concise statement of musical beauty and do so with brilliant economy. Here on "Four Flags," the superb rhythm section of bassist Finck, drummer La Barbera and pianist Ranier propel the group at breakneck speed to allow for artful yet economical solos. Before the solos begin, the group wails in synchronous unity during the song's initial statement. A soaring Jeremy Pelt then delivers an especially impressive, Hubbard-like, penetratingly lyrical trumpet solo. Vibist Joe Locke follows with a swinging foray that is both undulating and definitive in its attack. Bob Sheppard's bellowing tenor makes a tight and dramatic entrance with a deep and silky tone. Returning to its unanimity, the group concludes in a concise and punctuated manner. A short journey that speaks volumes.
March 28, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · bassKarrin Allyson: Estrada do Sol
On her Imagina CD, Karrin Allyson uncovers some of the lesser known gems from the oeuvre of Antonio Carlos Jobim. In his best known songs, this composer assimilated the Impressionist influences of Ravel and Debussy and gave them a distinctive Brazilian twist, and on "Estrada do Sol" we see the Erik Satie side of this seminal tunesmith. No, this song is not as well known as the bossa hits, but Allyson still needs to live up to the formidable predecessors who have recorded it, such as Nara Leão and Gal Costa. She hits the mark in this languid rendition. Allyson's Portuguese sounds credible to this Yankee - and she doesn't fall back into English as on many of the other tracks on this release. Above all, her tone captures just the right dose of saudade.
March 28, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: brazil · jazz vocals · jobim coversTribal Tech: Torque
Fusion musicians were selling tons of records in the early '70s. But sales fell to a trickle by the end of the decade. Many fusion musicians, and the labels that controlled them, went overboard in attempting to prove they were the fastest and loudest. Sure the fusion movement was about virtuosity and rock-like volume. But if musicians didn't understand subtlety, nuance or even jazz history, they were not producing compelling music. Things became even worse when it was learned that through studio trickeration, almost anybody could play faster than the speed of light without any missed notes. So fusion music as we had known it just flamed out. Strangely, it was replaced by Smooth Jazz. (Pardon me while I gag.) Smooth Jazz was really fusion music with all of its edges rounded off.There was a second brief fusion wave in the '80s. Scott Henderson and Gary Willis, the founders of Tribal Tech, rode that wave. They and such artists as Allan Holdsworth, Chick Corea, Bill Evans (sax), Jonas Hellborg, Dennis Chambers and others enjoyed a modicum of commercial success playing fusion during this time. Though this revival never caught on to the degree of a total jazz-rock comeback, it has maintained a low buzz to the present day.
"Torque" is by far the best cut on the album. Blues-funk in nature, it kicks ass right out of the gate. If you eliminated Henderson's wrenching guitar, the band would sound like Weather Report. But why do that? Much of the Weather Report sound comes from keyboardist Kinsey, who plays full-bodied twisted chords in stops and starts. Drummer Covington and bassist Willis are in lockstep. Henderson shoots out shards of glass during his solo. Kinsey adds a classic synthesizer solo. This is an impressive fusion power ballad whether it was played in the '70s, '90s or now.
March 28, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · fusionChick Corea: Matrix
Before Chick Corea became a big shot in the world of fusion (which ensured him enough popularity to keep his houses packed when he returned to acoustic groups), he made the terrific trio record Now He Sings, Now He Sobs, from which “Matrix” sprang. It’s a 61⁄2-minute crash course in the buildup and release of tension (which, heck, is what jazz is all about). The format is predictable – theme, piano solo, bass solo, drum solo, and the big finish – but within those confines are some glorious moments, particularly in the opening solo. “Matrix” is a fast song with rapid changes, and Corea navigates it adeptly. (Of course, he did write it.) After stating the theme twice, he gets right to it, digging around in the chords and unearthing spontaneous ideas. It’s enough to make one wish Corea never got involved with his electric groups.
March 27, 2008 · 1 comment
Tags: piano trioDuke Ellington (featuring Paul Gonsalves): Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue
(Editor's note: Duke Ellington introduced this tune at Newport ’56 by stating the following: “And now we would like to play some of our 1938 vintage Diminuendo in Blue and Crescendo in Blue. These are separated by an interlude by Paul Gonsalves.” Little did Duke know what an understatement this would become. E.N.)
The legendary 27-chorus solo by Paul Gonsalves on Diminuendo in Blue during the Ellington band’s performance at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1956 nearly caused a riot! The relentless intensity, inventiveness, and swing is a marvel to listen to and behold.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: big band · tenor saxAlan Pasqua, Dave Carpenter & Peter Erskine: Con Alma
(Editor's Note: This recent trio release, a reunion of the group previously heard on Badlands and Live at Rocco, was released on Fuzzy Music, Peter’s independent record label. According to www.fuzzymusic.com, “many artists find themselves dipping into rich cultural pools of musical styles, beliefs and realities that do not fit into the large, corporate/record company way of thought or aesthetics. The only way to make some of this music available was to start our own company. Fuzzy Music® has been created and is offered to you in a spirit of creativity and conscience, with our promise to strive earnestly to find and produce the best quality music we know how.” E.N.)
Hey, you never know when you might run into a jazz critic on a desert island… “Here’s some fresh water, HEY have you heard my latest CD?” Alan Pasqua and Dave Carpenter are 2 of my favorite musicians to play with; Alan’s arrangement of this Dizzy Gillespie classic is ingenious, and I actually like what I played on this. The sound of the recording is really good, too. Pardon my immodesty for including it.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: con alma · dizzy gillespie coversCount Basie: Counter Block
This performance by the Basie band took place during a late-night gig at a Disc Jockeys of America convention on May 31, 1959. The dance for 2000+ people started at 2 a.m. and ended at 7 a.m. (Basie’s band had been booked at Birdland that week. The band flew to Miami late at night, played the gig and then returned to NYC after the gig in time for their scheduled performance at Birdland that evening.) Thad Jones wrote this tune, and you can hear the genesis of the band he shared with Mel Lewis a few years later. It's fascinating to listen to Sonny Payne play this; like the whole band, he swings like crazy. Other tracks are all great, especially those with singer Joe Williams. A wonderful album.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · big bandMiles Davis: The Duke
(Editor's note: Miles Ahead was the first Miles Davis/Gil Evans collaboration for the Columbia label, with the extraordinary Porgy and Bess and Sketches of Spain soon to follow. As Peter suggests, however, their initial teamwork here was a complete musical triumph. E.N.)
My favorite composition of Dave Brubeck’s, realized to perfection by Gil Evans’s writing, Miles’s playing and the band’s accompaniment. This is a perfect song, in tribute to Duke Ellington. “The Duke” seems to say it all.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazzMiles Davis: Blue in Green
(Editor's note: Bill Evans was the ideal addition to the Davis group for the modal concentration of Kind of Blue. Having personally studied with George Russell and therefore familiar with his Lydian Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization, he and Miles collaborated on some of the most celebrated jazz ever recorded. E.N.)
This album is on everyone’s desert island list. I spoke with Jimmy Cobb recently, and he said that the thing that most struck him about Kind of Blue as of late is that he’s “the only one left.” "Blue in Green" set a new standard for poetry and patience in music.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: blue in greenStan Kenton: La Guera Baila
I love the entire Cuban Fire Suite. In fact, I love all of the music that Johnny Richards wrote for the Kenton band. This album represents one of the first and finest fusions of jazz and Afro-Cuban music. This ballad features wonderful solos. Mel Lewis’s drumming throughout is, as always, perfect. My professor from college, George Gaber, plays timpani on several tracks of the album. For power combined with lyricism, this is hard to beat.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · afro-cuban · big bandWeather Report: The Juggler
(Editor's note: The seventh Weather Report record and the first featuring Jaco Pastorius as a full-time member of the group, Heavy Weather is filled with memorable material, from “Birdland” to “Havona” to “Palladium” to this Zawinul classic, “The Juggler.” E.N.)
This tune’s brilliance was recently revealed to me by Alex Acuña: the drum rhythms are from Peru ~ this is Alex’s favorite cut from Heavy Weather. I love it, too, in part because it is a marvelous yin to the rest of the album’s yang. Heavy Weather is so great, in part, because of the presence of this tune. Joe Zawinul was a great, great composer.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · fusionJohn Coltrane: Resolution
(Editor's note: A musical and spiritual journey completed on a single December day, A Love Supreme is the apex of instrumental storytelling in jazz. Note the classic tension-building use of block chords at the conclusion of Tyner’s solo that lead to Coltrane’s sublime re-arrival. E.N.)
There are no words to describe this milestone in art, except for John Coltrane, McCoy Tyner, Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazz · impulse · tenor saxChick Corea: Matrix
(Editor's note: Awarded the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999, Now He Sings, Now He Sobs was the first, and most celebrated, collaboration between Corea, Vitous and Haynes. They can also be heard performing as a trio on Trio Music (1981) and Trio Music: Live in Europe (1984). E.N.).
This album was the original “postcard from the future” recording for me. Roy Haynes is a genius. I first heard Roy on the Eric Dolphy Out There album, which was plenty out there. Chick’s album (when it was first released, neither Roy’s nor Miroslav’s names were listed!) was “out,” too, but in a piano trio way.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazz · piano trioMiles Davis: Stuff
(Editor's note: Recorded after the all-acoustic Nefertiti, Miles in the Sky was his first record that to experiment with combinations of acoustic and electric instruments. While other tracks on this record (“Paraphernalia”) feature electric guitar, “Stuff” features both electric bass and piano from Carter and Hancock. E.N.)
As much as I love In A Silent Way, this album pointed my way towards the future of music. Thank you Tony Williams and Ron Carter! How can something be so loose and yet so funky?
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazzKeith Jarrett: Common Mama
(Editor's note: With the enormous amount of revered material Keith Jarrett has released as a solo performer and with his Peacock/DeJohnette trio, it is easy to overlook his American Quartet material from the 1970s. Redman, Haden and Motian joined Jarrett on countless standout efforts, including Birth, Fort Yawuh, Treasure Island, and Death and the Flower. On this effort, the quartet is supplemented by strings and additional brass. E.N.)
I've always loved this track since the first time I heard it in 1972. Keith writes great tunes, and the band here is stellar. Paul Motian’s focus and discipline and completely “way-out,” unconventional drumming on this is fascinating. I asked one of my students at USC to describe or explain what was so great about Paul’s drumming on this tune. My student, Louis Cole, replied: “He lets the music do all of the work.” Brilliant.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazzWeather Report: Nubian Sundance
(Editor's note: A transitional Weather Report record, Mysterious Traveller saw Alphonso Johnson replace Miroslav Vitous on bass and the addition of Ishmael Wilburn on drums (sharing drum duties with Skip Hadden). The brilliant consistency of the Shorter and Zawinul collaboration, however, made for an effortless, memorable record. E.N.)
This album seems to capture what the band did best: play music like nobody else. “Nubian Sundance” is jazz’s Sergeant Pepper.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · fusionFletcher Henderson (with Louis Armstrong): Sugarfoot Stomp
Fletcher Henderson’s “Sugarfoot Stomp” is very much an early recorded jazz repertory performance. It is a retitled version of King Oliver’s “Dippermouth Blues” that borrows, albeit obliquely, from King Oliver’s 1923 recording. It references the original’s introduction, opening choruses, clarinet solo and, most significantly, the three-chorus solo of Joe Oliver, played here in a timeless manner by Louis Armstrong. But it is the new touches provided by the Henderson musicians and arranger Don Redman that make this one of the first modern big band recordings: scored section leads and backgrounds, sudden dynamic shifts and an ending designed more for listening than for dancing.
March 27, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1920s jazz · big band · sugarfoot stompBobby Watson: Purple Flowers
Veteran saxophonist and leader Bobby Watson, who made his bones as so many have from the "school of Blakey," is joined by Betty Carter graduate Curtis Lundy on bass and a group of fine younger musicians, The Live & Learn Band, for this date. On "Purple Flowers," Watson demonstrates his solid, soulful alto on a thoughtfully composed ballad by pianist Harold O'Neal. Leron Thomas's trumpet solo is inspired and his duet work with Watson is in perfect sync. The whole feel is a laid-back cool with Wolf's vibes softening the timbre of the tune. Creative breaks in the melody lead the listener in unexpected ways. Watson's is a voice that is noteworthy in both tone and dexterity. O'Neal has crafted a fine melody that is firmly anchored by Lundy's bass and Davis's skin and cymbal work. All in all, this is a satisfying offering.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · alto saxStanley Jordan: Over the Rainbow
Stanley Jordan was Mr. Ubiquity in 1990. It would not be unusual to see the jazz guitarist on The Tonight Show on Monday and on the David Letterman Show on Friday. He was probably even on Oprah. He was the flavor of the year. But the unusual aspect was that he was a jazz guitarist. If you don't have a pop song with vocals, you don't get on these shows in America. But Stanley Jordan had something else going for him. He had a unique approach to playing his electric guitar. He would set the amplification gear in a certain way and tinker with his guitar controls to allow his (touch) tapping of the fret board to ring loud and clear. He was able to play a bass line, melody and add chord shadings simultaneously by using this method because he created a special tuning that facilitated such. It was fascinating to watch, and because of his virtuosity, entertaining to listen to. He wasn't the first to employ this tapping technique on the guitar. But Jordan certainly took the art up about a hundred notches. He is the Jimi Hendrix of this technique.It didn't hurt Jordan's popularity either that he would choose to play many standard tunes. He would perform tried and tested oldies such "Autumn Leaves," "Stolen Moments," and in this case "Over The Rainbow." He would do so with the taste and aplomb of two seasoned jazz guitar pros. This version of the oft jazz-interpreted "Rainbow" soon became among the most popular in his tapping arsenal. The chord shadings are beautiful. The arpeggios are delicate yet performed with the speed of a 78-rpm record. His use of harmonics is nothing short of brilliant. He hits all the right musical and emotional notes of this touching ballad. At song's end, the live crowd at the Blue Note sighs.
Technique, no matter how well developed or unique, will only get you so far. So after the initial thrill of watching Jordan play, his career took a noticeable downturn as fans got use to his style. This wasn't a disastrous downturn by any means. Jordan still has a loyal fan base, but it is more in keeping with a jazz star following than a rock star. I think this is a good thing. I went to a concert in Los Angeles in the early nineties and was surprised to see that Stanley Jordan was the opening act. He had two guitars set up on special stands on stage. I was expecting an hour of "Over the Rainbow"-type ballads. I expected he would be good and entertain me. But I also expected to become bored at a certain point. Instead, he played one of the hottest jazz-fusion sets I have ever heard! The guy is a monster! NO! Make that a wizard!
March 26, 2008 · 2 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · guitar · harold arlen covers · over the rainbowMahavishnu Orchestra: John's Song #2
In 1999, producer Bob Belden came across the master tapes of what would become The Lost Trident Sessions. Belden had been working on the remastering of Birds of Fire when he spied the infamous tapes from the failed Mahavishnu Orchestra third studio recording attempt. At the time of those sessions, the original Mahavishnu Orchestra was well on its way to internal Armageddon. Belden immediately knew he had found the Holy Grail of fusion music. Within the year, the album was on the shelves and was popular enough to reach #2 on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Charts. That is quite a feat when you consider the music had been recorded 26 years previously."John's Song #2" is the album's highlight. It sounds very much like the musical style that McLaughlin was to adopt for his new Mahavishnu Orchestra. In fact, it would have sounded right at home on Visions of the Emerald Beyond. Though not as rough around the edges as a typical MO tune, it is relentless in its drive. McLaughlin spews out notes furiously and adds rhythmic riffs behind Jerry Goodman's soaring violin. This is one of Goodman's best Mahavishnu performances. There is a lot of highly energetic intricate unison playing that, by this time, had become expected of the band. The tension mounts until it is released by a guitar riff that has been sliced-off clean by a knife.
Considering the tapes had been gathering dust for all those years, the sound quality is amazingly good. Still, the album was never finished. Any Mahavishnu fan can tell that. I mean, they never even got around to giving this tune a real name. One can only imagine how the band would have honed the pieces on the album had they all been getting along.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · britain · fusion · guitarMahavishnu Orchestra: I Wonder
"I Wonder" was Jerry Goodman's chance to show his fine composing skills in the Mahavishnu Orchestra. Unfortunately, those skills were not to be heard for 26 years because of the band's failure to get its act together during the recording of what was supposed to be its third studio album. The album never saw the light of day. Luckily, in 1999 Columbia released The Lost Trident Sessions, which included the tapes of the failed attempt.The tune begins with a Goodman pizzicato played over a round-robin bass, drums and electric piano. This cycle continues throughout the entire piece. McLaughlin enters center stage wailing from moment one. The reverb is bouncing off the inside walls of your skull. After his offering and a major Cobham drum roll, Hammer's Moog does the same. Strangely, though at times Goodman mimics Hammer's lines, there is no violin solo. "I Wonder" slowly circles the drain before entering it.
This is a good piece and stands on its own merits. However, it is not really a Mahavishnu tune. It is a Jerry Goodman tune and belongs in his repertoire. It is little known that Goodman himself is a very fine guitarist. The vitriol that surrounded the members of the Mahavishnu Orchestra at that time, and especially the stories, both true and untrue, of the anger at the original recording sessions has led to much myth. There was a story going around for years that Goodman actually played the guitar on "I Wonder." Goodman says that those stories are ridiculous.
March 26, 2008 · 1 comment
Tags: 1970s jazz · britain · fusion · guitarMahavishnu Orchestra: Steppings Tones
In a move to ease dissension, John McLaughlin had agreed to allow other Mahavishnu Orchestra members to write some music for the band's upcoming third studio effort. What would later become known as The Lost Trident Sessions were tapes of that ill-fated studio attempt. The results from these tumultuous sessions would be released with great fanfare and commercial success some 26 years later."Steppings Tones" was bassist Rick Laird's composition, but he was not really happy with it. He had been rushed to write it and considered it unfinished. In fact, in the few concert appearances of the tune, it was used as an introduction to longer pieces. In that capacity, it is actually quite a successful piece.
Everyone seeing the title for the first time assumes it is a typo. In some instances, writers have even corrected it to "Stepping Stones." But they have been wrong. The legally published title is indeed "Steppings Tones." At the time, the band members were fond of playing a word game. They would take the first letter of a second word and add it to the end of the first word. They apparently had a lot of fun doing this. Things can get boring on the road. You probably had to be there. Even after Mahavishnu disbanded, Billy Cobham continued to play a variation of the game when he released his album A Funky Thide of Sings.
"Steppings Tones" is written in intervallic steps, which Laird loudly lays down as McLaughlin provides a panning arpeggio. Cobham adds the requisite fills. Goodman plays a repeating melody as Hammer comps with some electric piano. The theme repeats over and over as if running in place. The tune would make a good theme for a TV detective show. But Laird is right. It sounds unfinished. And this is one reason for The Lost Strident Essions. A more complete version of Laird's composition appears on the Jan Hammer and Jerry Goodman album Like Children.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · britain · fusion · guitarTrilok Gurtu: Shobharock
The amazing percussionist Trilok Gurtu first came to prominence with the world music group Oregon. He would later achieve greater fame with the John McLaughlin Trio, where his wild East-meets-West percussion forays became highlights of every show. In performance, Gurtu surrounds himself with Indian percussion instruments of every sort and a small traditional drum kit. He plays sitting and or kneeling. His percussion pallet is as big as anyone's. He may strike a small cymbal, then drop it in and pull it out of a bucket of water. He may squeeze squeaky toys, blow a whistle, shake a handful of small bells or strike an impressive Western backbeat or snare roll. And he does it all with an infectious smile that in itself is part of a wondrous rhythm.Gurtu has released many worthwhile recordings on his own over the years. He is clearly one of the fathers of the burgeoning Indian world and jazz music movement. (In case you haven't heard, India is where the jazz shit is really happening these days!) "Shobharock" is a piece of work, named in honor of Gurtu's mother, Shobha Gurtu. An accomplished Indian vocalist who passed away in 2004, Shobha raises her voice to great effect on this fusion number. The theme is ushered in by a low drone. The great Indian classical violinist L. Shankar, or just "Shankar" as he appears in the credits, divulges the tune's mesmerizing theme over Gurtu's Western-style drumming. Gurtu will change his percussion character several times during this excursion. Swedish bassist Jonas Hellborg maintains the bottom with a relentless precision groove. The group sound is overwhelming in its scope. Jazz trumpeter Don Cherry has a solo. Oregon's fine guitarist Ralphe Towner takes his turn. Truth be told, there is really too much going on here. But "Shobharock" is an ethnically and stylistically mixed musical mosh that is well worth the sensory overload.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1980s jazz · fusion · india · percussionSurinder Sandhu: Amirah
In India there are only three Masters left teaching the sarangi, an ancient bowed stringed instrument from the Northern Indian tradition. The paucity of its practitioners is relative to its extreme difficulty to play. Surinder Sandhu, an Indian raised in the UK, has had to travel to India many times to learn it. Though no one truly masters anything, Sandhu has an ironfisted grasp of the sarangi's tradition and the open mind needed for its future.This CD is revelatory, a stunning collage of Indian-influenced jazz and symphonic power. The composing, arranging and orchestration of "Amirah" were all done by Sandhu. The members of the Saurang Orchestra, culled from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, are given plenty to do. Guitarist Steve Vai also makes an appearance on "Amirah." The rock star Steve Vai? Yes! He plays some beautiful Far Eastern guitar. Also performing to great effect are sax players George Brooks and Andy Sheppard, while Shabhaz Hussain displays a confident mastery of the tabla. Of special interest is the talented drummer Mark Anderson. But the star of this fusion of Indian classical music, jazz and symphonic power is Sandhu. His sarangi produces a low-register haunting whine that enters from the core of this Carnatic creation to permeate all that you hear.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · fusion · indiaJohn Klemmer: Quiet Afternoon
Reviewing this cut has given me the opportunity to check on something I have been wondering about for a couple of decades. What ever happened to John Klemmer? The popular and innovative sax player had virtually single-handedly introduced electronic effects, most notably the Echoplex, to the saxophone. The original Echoplex was ostensibly a tape-looping device that allowed Klemmer to riff against his own reverb. According to his website, Klemmer continues to use this effect to this day. But that's just it. I had to check his website to find this out. As his website's bio reveals, while Klemmer has been quite prolific over a long career, he has a habit of taking extended sabbaticals. These "breaks" may last several years. That is no way to maintain a commercial career that has drifted toward the pop world the last two decades, yet it is apparently how Klemmer finds peace of mind.LifeStyle was the promise of a bright jazz and fusion future. Klemmer would be a good player without the effects, but their presence offered a unique and pleasing sound. His compositions were strong, and the band played them with confident ease. "Quiet Afternoon," written by Return To Forever bassist Stanley Clarke, has a delicate melody that is the antithesis of a typical fusion number. Klemmer plays it relaxed and cool for a while. The sound of his sax through the Echoplex is beautifully distinctive, as all that reverb hides the sound of his breathing. The midsection of the song calls for him to do some heavy lifting above a tasteful accompaniment, which he does impressively and effortlessly. The appealing opening strains return in all of their echoing glory.
It was nice to revisit this performance. If Klemmer had kept this up over the years, I would have visited many more times. But that is selfish on my part. An artist's soul is more important than any listener's needs.
March 26, 2008 · 2 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · echoplex · tenor saxEgberto Gismonti: Frevo
Outside of Brazil and certain European countries such as Germany, the overly talented Brazilian instrumentalist and composer Egberto Gismonti is hardly known. Though he has enjoyed commercial success, which is more than 99.9% of musicians in this world can say, most of his albums have been released only in those two countries. Despite this unfortunate situation, he has loyal fans in the United States who make it their business to attend shows during his very rare stateside tours.Gismonti is a prolific composer and gifted pianist with superlative improvisational skills. He is also a very fine guitarist, playing a 10-stringed version. "Frevo" is his most recognizable composition, famously covered by the guitar duo of John McLaughlin & Paco De Lucia. The classical pianist Joanna MacGregor also has performed renditions, as have others. In some circles, it is becoming a part of the standard repertoire. Brazilian frevo is a 2/4 rhythm that is most associated with the dancing and leaping that takes place during Carnival. It is almost, though not quite, a revelers' march music. It is almost always played rapidly. Frevo is less well known than samba, but is finding its way more and more into popular Brazilian music.
Gismonti's version of his own composition is miles from the McLaughlin & De Lucia interpretation. He plays the melody a bit faster and perhaps with an added delicateness. Once he gets going, though, he takes the tune OUT. Because he is playing solo, he has more freedom than the guitar duo. At mid-tune, Gismonti turns into Bill Evans. His style is pure classicism. He plays beautiful chords and fragile single-note runs. Hints of Brazil disappear. He spends a great deal of time exposing frevo's vulnerabilities before returning to the Latin-tinged theme. This is a brilliant performance of an outstanding composition. To help remedy Gismonti's comparatively limited fame, please search YouTube, where you will find all sorts of wonderful examples of his musical mastery.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · brazil · ecm · solo pianoStéphane Grappelli: Night and Day
Although a number of Stéphane Grappelli CDs were released after his death in 1997, the music on most, if not all, predated this 1995 live recording. On this track, Grappelli begins with the verse in a pensive manner and then subtly embellishes the familiar melody, enhancing it with aptly placed upper-register asides. Burr's aggressive, resonant basslines are in stark contrast to Pizzarelli's laid-back rhythm guitar. Bucky solos next in his inimitable style, strummed passages mixing with delicately picked phrases and rich chords. He and Stéphane then improvise in tandem, weaving their enticing lines to a dramatically descending resolution that elicits a burst of applause. Grappelli ends the piece much as he started, softening his attack as he comes to a clever, yet unexpected conclusion utilizing just a small segment of the theme. Even at age 87, Grappelli was still an undiminished master of the jazz violin.
March 26, 2008 · 1 comment
Tags: 1990s jazz · cole porter covers · france · night and day · violinStéphane Grappelli & Claude Bolling: Cute
Better late than never. Not only was this session Stéphane Grappelli's only recording with a big band, this track also finds him playing a tune he may never have performed before and sharing the spotlight with a flutist, perhaps another first. Bolling's arrangement is, as Grappelli shouts out at the end of another selection on the CD, "First class!" Bassist Sorin and drummer Cordelette lay down a driving foundation for the stirring improvisations of Grappelli and flutist Schirrer, and the orchestra plays its fanfares and intricate unison passages with gusto and a velvety blend of instruments. "Cute" is but one of 14 delicious tracks on a remarkable CD that as a whole is a unique must-have from Grappelli's lengthy discography (a DVD version is available as well).
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · big band · cute · france · violinStéphane Grappelli & McCoy Tyner: I Want To Talk About You
When one hears another version of this tune, John Coltrane's 1963 emotionally charged interpretation from his Live at Birdland release immediately comes to mind, especially Trane's awe-inspiring one-of-a- kind coda. Grappelli and Tyner (pianist on that Trane masterpiece) approach this performance from a more romantic, less beseeching point of view. At the same relaxed tempo as Coltrane's, Grappelli essays the lilting theme with a semi-sweet vibrato, Tyner offering full-bodied support to the violinist's tender yet fervent variations. Stéphane's cascading solo is similarly both delicate and profound, and McCoy's all-too-brief improv that follows is laden with majestic chords. As Grappelli lingers lovingly on the melody while the track nears its conclusion, you lean forward in hopeful anticipation of a coda from the violinist that, alas, never comes. Grappelli and Tyner first performed together three years prior for a Maryland Public Broadcasting event, and this recorded collaboration between the then 82-year-old young-at-heart violin giant and one of the most influential pianists in jazz history was the fortunate end result.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1990s jazz · france · i want to talk about you · violinStéphane Grappelli and David Grisman: Tiger Rag
Stéphane Grappelli played concerts as well as recorded with David Grisman's captivating acoustic string group, which enjoyed several years of great popularity before its members parted ways in the early 1980s. The group, in a way, was an eclectic re-imagining of the Quintette du Hot Club de France, with bluegrass and folk elements added to the mix. This track features Grappelli with fellow violinist Mark O'Connor, who was mentored by Stéphane starting at age 17 and went on to a successful career encompassing the jazz, country and classical fields, including his Hot Swing Trio. Grappelli introduces this "Tiger Rag" as "a transcription for two violins," but after their mostly unison intricate exposition, the rest of the group enters the fray and Grappelli and O'Connor perform dazzling solos and exchanges, Mark's slight country twang helping to distinguish him from Stéphane. Grisman's energetic mandolin picking prods them along. Said O'Connor of Grappelli years later: "The last time we played together was about a year before his death. He gripped my hand strongly afterwards and would not let go of it for 30 minutes. I understood that he wanted me to carry on his memory."
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · france · guitar · mandolin · tiger ragStéphane Grappelli: Blues for Django and Stéphane
This is a priceless example of Stéphane Grappelli's inspiring interaction with younger musicians, who were always floored by his vitality and skill. This session not only tried to channel the spirit of Django Reinhardt, but on this track Larry Coryell's infectious Texas-style guitar evokes Charlie Christian, and Grappelli surprises us with a deftly executed piano solo ranging from stride to barrelhouse with stops in between. Grappelli also contributes a concise, blues-drenched violin solo that contains highly expressive upper- register explorations. The two guitarists' prancing blues riff, which both opens and closes the piece, also adds to the success of this memorable track.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · france · guitar · violinFelipe Salles: Crayon
In this ambitious musical suite, saxophonist/composer Felipe Salles successfully traverses the complexities of creating musical landscapes reminiscent of his native Brazil as well as tinges of the Argentinean tango à la Astor Piazzolla. In this, his music is textural and his arrangements make full use of the various tones and timbres of the instruments he has carefully chosen to include. On “Crayon,” dedicated to his father, the tone is set with Laura Arpainen's poignantly evocative violin solo, leading to the deep-throated Salles on a soulful tenor melody reminiscent of the soundtrack for a Raymond Chandler movie. Salles paints his pastel with the aural strokes of flutes, bass clarinets, violins, piano, bass and drums, all backing his probing tenor work, which is at once exquisitely clean yet emotionally raw. His use of the ensemble's total sonic spectrum is noteworthy. Salles is an orchestral and compositional force who, like Gil Evans or perhaps even more so Oliver Nelson before him, is to be watched closely for important things to come.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · brazilLennie Tristano: Intuition
Here is another first for Lennie Tristano. "Intuition" represents the first collective improvisation in the history of recorded jazz. Only the order in which the instruments would enter was determined beforehand. Everything else was created on the fly. Tristano had been experimenting with this type of total improv in private, and now put it on record at this path-breaking 1949 session. This song was a radical move in the 1940s, and still sounds futuristic today. Put this up on the shelf with other Tristano breakthroughs, including the first recorded example of atonal piano jazz, and that earth-shattering version of "I Can't Get Started" from 1946. But this artist's recorded legacy is more than a matter of being first. The sheer brilliance of Tristano's conception is evident time and time again on these seminal recordings. Why this artist doesn't figure more prominently in the jazz history books remains one of the great mysteries of 20th-century music.
March 26, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1940s jazz · avant gardeCaribbean Jazz Project (with Dave Samuels): Soul Sauce
This is a song with a history. Cal Tjader had a huge hit with "Soul Sauce" in 1965. But he borrowed the song - well, it's not really a song, more like a vamp - from "Guarachi Guaro," a 1948 recording of Dizzy Gillespie with Chano Pozo. Now Dave Samuels steps in and shows that 60 years later, this "Soul Sauce" has lost none of its spiciness. The band settles in for a comfortable medium-up tempo, a perfect beat for the intro and turnaround, which are supposed to sound like a syncopated blur. Samuels contributes a tasty solo with just the right dose of funkiness. If hip songs still got airplay, this could be a hit all over again.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: afro-cuban · latin jazz · soul sauce · vibesStéphane Grappelli & Oscar Peterson: Them There Eyes
Stéphane Grappelli was extremely active in 1973, with at least eight recording sessions that year alone, and the date with Oscar Peterson was probably the best. Peterson was in the rhythm section for the 1957 Violins No End album that featured Grappelli and Stuff Smith, but it wasn't until 1973 that Stéphane and Oscar got to go at each other one on one, as on this duet track (Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen and Kenny Clarke filled out the quartet elsewhere). Peterson's rollicking intro precipitates Grappelli's sizzling entrance, immediately improvising on the melody. His breakneck lines are beautifully structured, with many engaging riffs sprinkled about. Peterson's following solo is very bluesy, with a ringing tone and a great variety to his attack as he builds in intensity and creativity, very cogent and controlled. The violinist takes the out-choruses swinging hard, again using catchy riffs to great effect, ending with another highly embellished reprise of the theme. Grappelli always regretted not getting to the U.S. before one of his early inspirations, Art Tatum, passed away. Peterson was as close as Stéphane would get to that great pianist's style, and one can sense the excitement he felt at this opportunity, which Peterson clearly reciprocated.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1970s jazz · france · them there eyes · violinStéphane Grappelli & Gary Burton: Falling Grace
This was a match made in heaven. The young Gary Burton was touring Europe and the then 64-year-old Stéphane Grappelli was performing regularly at the Hilton Hotel in Paris when Atlantic Records recorded them. Stéphane and Gary are both lyrical players, romantic and delicate on ballads, but capable of playing with an edge and an ecstatic propulsion at quicker tempos. Both also make their formidable technique subservient to their expressiveness, with no wasted notes or unfocused flashiness. Steve Swallow's rhapsodic "Falling Grace," which he wrote for Bill Evans, was a perfect vehicle for Grappelli and Burton to react and interact. Swallow's booming basslines are also worth noting, anchoring the group's overall sound. The year 1969 was a turning point for Grappelli, as he also had recorded meetings that year with Joe Venuti and Barney Kessel, and visited the U.S. for the first time to perform at the Newport Jazz Festival (albeit in the rain and while oblivious youngsters rioted around him). He never looked back, and went on to finally become an international star.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazz · france · vibes · violinStéphane Grappelli & Stuff Smith: How High The Moon
Stéphane Grappelli and Stuff Smith were, along with Joe Venuti, the most significant and influential early jazz violinists. Stéphane and Stuff display their contrasting styles on this version of "How High the Moon" from 1965, just two years before Stuff's death. Smith had the coarser, straighter tone with little if any vibrato, played with more blues feeling due to the way he slurred his notes, and sometimes would hit a string with his bow in a way that produced a plucked effect. Grappelli's more elegant style grew out of the classical and Gypsy guitar traditions, and he had the admirable ability to maintain his rich vibrato at any tempo and in any register. Bix Beiderbecke's piano playing, Grappelli once said, had "a fantastic psychological effect on me." Smith's style, on the other hand, he said was inspired more by such horn players as Louis Armstrong, Coleman Hawkins and Red Nichols. You can hear all that and more on this track, as the violinists challenge each other, playing intricate, careening lines in their distinctive solos. After pianist Urtreger's well played, boppish improv, Stéphane and Stuff trade passages in exciting fashion, and then give drummer Delaporte some space, which he utilizes skillfully. Very hot jazz from a hot group.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1960s jazz · france · how high the moon · violinStéphane Grappelli: Body and Soul
Stéphane Grappelli's career flew a bit under the radar in the 1950s, although he toured Europe and England and regularly played club, hotel and cabaret dates. A first American tour with Django Reinhardt was planned in 1953, but Stéphane could not locate the elusive Gypsy and then learned that Django had died of a stroke. This track from 1956 shows Grappelli in top form, and as masterful as ever on a ballad. His embellished reading of the melody recalls Coleman Hawkins to some extent, but the gracefully structured lines and gorgeous tone are uniquely his own. Stéphane seasons his solo with a speck of dissonance here and there, and some characteristic swoops into the upper register. For contrast he also speeds up some of his runs, displaying impressive technique while doing so. Pianist Vander's understated accompaniment adds just the right touch.
March 25, 2008 · -1 comments
Tags: 1950s jazz · body and soul · france · violinStéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt: After You've Gone
The start of World War II broke up the popular Quintette du Hot Club de France, then touring England, with Stéphane Grappelli remaining in London for the duration of the conflict, while Django Reinhardt returned to France. Beginning in 1946, the two reunited periodically up until their last recordings in Italy in 1949. As one hears on this track from those final sessions, their playing by then had taken on a new level of assuredness and virtuosity, no doubt indirectly influenced by the innovations of bebop. Except for the pianist's brief intro, the Italian rhythm section goes almost unnoticed. It is the astonishing, swiftly executed solos of both leaders, as well as Django's almost manic rhythm guitar support for Stéphane, that nearly overwhelm the listener. It would be another 20 years before Grappelli's popularity began to accelerate, and it continued to do so for almost another 30 years after that. Django, alas, would drift through the next, and last, four frustrating years of his life.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1940s jazz · after you've gone · guitar · violinEddie South and Stéphane Grappelli: Daphné
Eddie South spent the years 1928 to 1931 in Paris and other parts of Europe both performing and studying, and was one of Stéphane Grappelli's early inspirations, although Grappelli was mostly playing piano for a living during those years. When South returned to Paris in 1937, he in turn was inspired by the Quintette du Hot Club de France, and recording sessions soon resulted. South and Grappelli basically play a series of heated exchanges on this track, bookended by the familiar theme. Grappelli is mainly distinguished by his richer tone, not as thin as South's more classical sound. Their phrasings, however, are remarkably similar. Django Reinhardt arranged the piece and provides energetic and imaginative support that nicely frames the two violinists' expressive and technically polished improvisations. South's career never really took off, resulting in few quality record dates. If not for that, instead of a "Big Three" – Grappelli, Joe Venuti and Stuff Smith – setting the standard for jazz violin, there would probably be a "Big Four" that included the gifted Eddie South.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1930s jazz · violinStéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt: Ultrafox
Stéphane Grappelli and Django Reinhardt met in 1931, but did not play together until 1933, at which time the idea for a string quintet began to form (although Django would have preferred a drummer to a third guitar). The Quintette du Hot Club de France recorded from 1934 until 1939, when World War II led to its breakup. While Django received much of the acclaim, Stéphane shared the solo space and more than held his own. On the medium-tempo "Ultrafox" (the title a takeoff on the Ultraphone record company which released the side), Grappelli engagingly plays the jaunty theme that sounds a bit like "Four or Five Times." Django solos first with delicate, precise lines, then a contrasting chordal section, and finally back to glittering extended runs. Grappelli enters swinging hard, displaying a full, glowing tone and ripping off flawlessly executed lines comparable in impact to Django's, ending with a neat stop-and-start coda punctuated by the guitarist's strummed counterpoint.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 1930s jazz · france · guitar · violinGongzilla: Haniface
Gongzilla is the spawn of Gong, the European jazz-rock outfit that made a name for itself back in the 1970s fusion movement. The original Gong never really did it for me. Over the years, the band has undergone several different reincarnations, all of which I have totally ignored. If East Village Sessions is an example of what I have been missing, perhaps this was a big mistake. East Village Sessions is a jazz-rock exposition full of well-formed melodies and a stubborn adherence to a groove.Vibist Benoit Moerlen seems to be the leader of this ensemble. He introduces "Haniface" with a Euro- African feel. Lozago enters with long sustained notes. At times he and Moerlen double-up on the melody. Soon, however, a Spectrum-era Billy Cobham funk groove dominates the proceedings. The outstanding playing of drummer Husband and bassist Rowe is the key to sustaining this vibe's infectiousness. Lozago's guitar, though played with less velocity, is also reminiscent of Tommy Bolin's Spectrum solo turns. Moerlen uses his vibes throughout the piece as added percussion. Despite coming awfully close to lifting Cobham's famous fusion groove, this is creative jam-band music that should please jazzers and rockers alike.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · fusionDennis Chambers: D.B.D.
"D.B.D." comes off as this band's end-of-the-first-set number. It is their "Rhythm-A-Ning." Part boogie, part Gypsy blues and part shuffle, "D.B.D." encapsulates the skill of each player into 3:48. And what skill it is! In the skittering introduction, Lagrène and Di Piazza facilely match each other note for note. Chambers, perhaps the preeminent fusion drummer of our times, owns the break with a muscular display of time- keeping dexterity. Lagrène then does his best impression of the good Larry Coryell as bluesman. The trio repeats the catchy intro and ends it on a high note mid-phrase. "Yeah!" we shout as the band leaves the stage. It's time to hit the men's room, get a gin & tonic and sit back down. The second set starts in about 20 minutes.
March 25, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · fusionVince Seneri: Overdrive
There are some days where abstractions just get in the way. The ears demand something direct and organic, something that swings like a life depended on it – something, in short, to make the morning grouchies wish they'd stayed in bed. While it's possible to "make ugly" with the Hammond B-3, Vince Seneri makes the right choice: to swing. With guitarist Paul Bollenback and the great Randy Brecker on trumpet, it would seem that a serving of "Overdrive" is in order if you have the desire to strip away the indirections that the world is so full of. By the time Seneri takes his blistering solo, you'll have forgotten why you were in a bad mood this morning.
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · organFrank Macchia: Landscapes IV – Arctic Chill
This track reminds me (in a slightly less uncomfortable way) of Ornette Coleman's work on the Naked Lunch soundtrack. Macchia's sax paints short, bluesy lines that mirror the sparse contours played by The Prague Orchestra. This does not mean that "Arctic Chill" is tension-free. Quite the opposite, as initial passages from the string section set up an ominous atmosphere that Macchia's improvised sax lines don't completely disperse. Toward the end of his solo, it almost sounds as if the sax is pleading with the strings before slipping out one last forlorn restatement of the theme that seems like a surrender.
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · third streamDavid Joel: Eastern Truth
I can't believe I'm going to write this: it was the keyboard solo that drew me in. This may not make me any friends in the world of jazz keyboards, but the very word "keyboards" is often a deal breaker for me when scanning the musician lineup of an otherwise unknown CD. This isn't because keyboards always ruin the mix. No, the problem is Smooth Jazz – you're safe from that realm if the keys have been left out. See? Logic! I'm just being honest here.So right in the middle of this slinky blues, guitarist David Joel steps back and lets keyboardist John Stenger take this great, textured, atmospheric, out solo. Stenger takes the main theme and runs it through his "fun house mirrors" patch. It makes the bass solo and subsequent restatement of the head seem all the more exotic. Fantastic stuff.
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazzPlamen Karadonev: Sianie
I love ballads whose melodic lines come in from many directions. The angularity gives the music an other- worldly quality. On "Sianie," Elena Koleva pushes the music a step farther with beautiful and ethereal wordless vocals that follow George Garzone's theme. Mid-song, a strong contrast is set up as Garzone takes a bluesy sax solo, bringing in a more organic element. When Koleva returns, "Sianie" again takes off into the mist.
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazzGrand Pianoramax: Tempest
Toward the end of an album that features hip hop, jazz and just a taste of art rock (courtesy of the Minimoog) comes "Tempest." A central piano figure is repeated, shifted, deconstructed, elongated, polished and expanded. All the while, drummer Deantoni Parks adds weight and drama as the chords change. It's a funny idea, but if Phillip Glass and Steve Reich could write pop music, it might come out something like this. Stop laughing, it's not that funny!
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazzDuke Ellington Legacy: Toe Tickler
Edward Kennedy Ellington II, grandson of The Duke himself, founded the Duke Ellington Legacy with the intent of keeping the flame lit under the wide-ranging music created by his grandfather. Rather than sticking to Duke's "greatest hits," Edward chose to rearrange the old favorites, toss in a few obscurities ("Moon Mist," "Pretty Woman"), and even feature a tune written by saxophonist/arranger Virginia Mayhew. "Toe Tickler" is a barnburner from start to finish, with Mayhew, the rhythm section, and the complement of horns trading fours in an almost illegal fashion. I haven't been this excited since I first heard Sonny Stitt's "The Eternal Triangle." The Duke would be proud.
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazz · ellington tributesGrupa Janke Randalu: Confidance
I like the idea that music just exists, waiting to be made real by the appropriate medium: the musician. Mostly this concept is way too New Age-y to be taken seriously. But then I hear what Kristjan Randalu and Bodek Janke do with piano and percussion, and must pause to reflect. "Confidance" opens with a few big, spacious chords that echo off into the distance. Janke's percussion (which sounds like a combination of toms and hand drums) then implies the boundaries that Randalu fills with a speedy thematic ostinato. As momentum builds and ideas crystallize, you get the feeling that this music has indeed existed forever. It even seems as if the pair celebrates this notion by reversing roles – first with percussion leading and piano comping, then with Janke switching to "mouth percussion" (similar to the vocals found in Indian classical music). The Grateful Dead used to speak of concert moments where "the music played the band," a variation on the theme of the eternal existence of music. During some of the more intense passages of "Confidance," the listener can witness that idea in action.
March 24, 2008 · 0 comments
Tags: 2000s jazzTed Kooshian: Bullitt
Watch almost any action movie from the late 1960s and you're sure to hear the signature sound of misbehaving guitars, pensive flutes and spiky horns. Ted Kooshian updates this particular classic movie theme by at first going "out" with a very angular introduction and then slowly building tension as the piano and sax trade ideas. There's an underlying current of funk here that's very much in the spirit of Lalo Schifrin's original, and the energetic climax does bring to mind Steve McQueen, his Mustang and that insanely great car-chase scene. (Subtract 2 ratings points if you remember the chase scene and were annoyed that they passed the same Volkswagen Beetle so many times.)