Music – Jazz.com

Louis Armstrong: Chinatown, My Chinatown

Louis Armstrong's path-breaking recordings from the 1920s get most of the attention from jazz experts. But the trumpeter's recordings from the early 1930s include many of the finest performances of his career, and deserve to be far better known. Satchmo starts off this track with some lighthearted banter, and he won't let you forget that he is an entertainer as well as a jazzman. But there is no shortage of artistry here for those who listen. He dishes out one of his finest vocals, relaxed and off-the-cuff, but also full of swing. Then he follows up with a bravura solo, spiced with plenty of high notes. He had just turned 30 a few weeks before this date, and was at the top of the jazz world, unchallenged by any serious rival. A great moment for Armstrong, and for us to savor years later.

April 30, 2008 · 0 comments

John McLaughlin: Five Peace Band

Floating Point is John McLaughlin's latest musical adventure. Recorded in India, it features many of that country's finest young musicians. McLaughlin affectionately calls them the "young lions of India." He is quick to point out that this is not an album of Indian music. It is a jazz-fusion production. Though certain Indian musical elements are present because of the nature of the cast, McLaughlin wrote Western music and that is what is being played. All the performances were recorded live in the studio except bassist Feraud's, which were later overdubbed.

"Five Peace Band" is introduced by the skittering organ sounds of Louiz Banks and the kinetic percussion of Barat and Sivamani. McLaughlin and zitarist Kumar double-up on the energetic theme. Kumar's zitar, an electric sitar, has a fascinating sound. He is able to stretch the strings past the limits of their tensile ratings. The electrification of his instrument also gives it a melodious sustain to die for. Feraud adds a long impressive solo in the tune's break. Throughout the piece Kumar and McLaughlin go at it toe to toe. Their volleys are explosive. "Five Peace Band" is an exhilarating jazz-rock rave-up that opens yet another door of opportunity in East meets West collaborations.

Meeting of the Minds is an elucidating companion DVD on the making of the album. Viewing it will give you much insight into the album's recording process and the social and cultural flow taking place as each Indian master is introduced to the material. It would be good to view it before you listen to the music for the first time.

April 30, 2008 · 0 comments

Nicholas Payton: Chinatown

Nicholas Payton, hailed by some as a young lion of jazz trumpet, takes a fresh approach in this offering. Predominately blues-based, Into The Blue is true to its name. "Love Theme from Chinatown," as originally titled, was the centerpiece of Jerry Goldsmith's Oscar-nominated score for Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974) starring Jack Nicholson. The soundtrack featured a memorably haunting trumpet solo played brilliantly by the underrated studio musician Uan Rasey with orchestration.

Nicholas Payton unabashedly takes on this challenge and confidently navigates the song's bittersweet sensibilities, creating a sensuously delicious mood of sultry, slow-steamed blues blended with the mystery of a Raymond Chandler novel. Conjuring up a shadowy back alley, Payton luxuriates in the mood with a deeply evocative tonal range that remains sparse yet elicits great feeling. No technical gymnastics here, just a soulful sound reminiscent of Terrence Blanchard's best scores. The subtle rhythm backing is marvelously in keeping with Payton's sensitivity, a quality too rarely displayed by today's trumpeters. Payton shows great savvy in choosing such subtle but penetrating music that somehow has been overlooked by others. It makes a wonderful vehicle for his artistry.

April 30, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · soundtrack covers · trumpet

Nicholas Payton: Fleur de Lis

After deliberately establishing the beat with Gilmore's clear and sustained cymbal and snare work on the opening, the liquid, languid lines of Nicholas Payton are featured on this self-penned composition. Payton creates an otherworldly feel by squeezing the barest breath of sound out of his sparse and deliberate trumpet musings. Hayes's lightly keyed Fender Rhodes adds to the ethereal quality as Gilmore, Archer and Sadownick effortlessly keep the rhythm moving. It is Payton's deliberately stylized sound that is spell inducing in its floating quality and lack of sensationalism. The music has a trancelike effect, keeping you in a groove that is both comfortable, lyrical and at the same time probing and textural. This laid-back approach by no means lacks appeal. The music coddles you into its own transfixing cocoon in a most enjoyable way.

April 30, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · trumpet

Bill Evans (with Zoot Sims): Funkallero

This tune always brought out a different side of Bill Evans. Even Evans seemed to realize it. He would pull out "Funkallero" when he needed a gritty jam-session tune, suitable for horn players. He took pride in how tenorist Zoot Sims was inspired by these changes on this version, and Evans relied on "Funkallero" on several occasions when the pianist joined forces with Stan Getz. Sims's solo is masterful, but Evans follows in a driving, hard-bop groove that may surprise you. If you think that Bill Evans was only worth hearing on dreamy ballads, check out this track.

April 29, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: funkallero

Charlie Parker: Don't Blame Me

This track may not be as well known as Bird's version of "Embraceable You," recorded a few days earlier, but it still ranks as one of Parker's finest ballad performances. Miles tackles the intro, but the altoist takes center stage with an opening chorus that barely touches on the melody. Parker handles this song with such effortless mastery and with so many melodic ideas flowing from his horn that anything the other musicians might add would be anticlimactic. Miles makes the smart decision, and follows the leader with an understated solo that looks forward to his cool stylings of the next decade. Somehow this track gets left off the "greatest hits" compilations, but it may be the closest thing we have to a definitive alto sax treatment of the Jimmy McHugh standard.

April 29, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1940s jazz · alto sax · don't blame me

Dick Wellstood: Fast as a Bastard

Exhibit A: A disturbing photograph on the back of this CD's jewel case. The tuxedoed Mr. Wellstood stands next to a piano, arms upraised, holding a baton in a conductor's pose, staring down at the tuxedoed Mr. Davern. Mr. Davern is on the floor, legs splayed, almost in a split, one hand tucked behind his head and the other holding a soprano saxophone to his mouth, said instrument pointed upward at Mr. Wellstood. Mr. Davern in this pose resembles a piece of garden statuary, or perhaps a snake charmer.

Exhibit B: "Dick Wellstood and His All-Star Orchestra" is in truth composed solely of Mr. Wellstood and Mr. Davern.

Exhibit C: "Fast as a Bastard" is a danger to other musicians, even though it is based on "Jubilee Stomp" by the esteemed Mr. Duke Ellington. The rapidity with which Messrs. Wellstood and Davern perform the melody and improvise is excessive, despite the technical dexterity and enthusiasm displayed. Other musicians could be injured attempting to duplicate this, and casual listeners could also suffer severe physical reactions. The title itself is crude, to say the least.

Summation: In conclusion, members of the jury, the prosecution asks that you find the defendants guilty on all four counts: drollery, frivolity, deception, and recklessness. Thank you, Your Honor.

Verdict: We the jury find the defendants NOT GUILTY on all charges. Mr. Wellstood and Mr. Davern are world-class musicians, and are only doing what they know best. Also, the Great American Art Form, jazz, is not so grave as to discourage a modicum of humor – it helps to keep the music fresh. Lastly, the title is an accurate depiction of what transpires during their impressive performance, although it is agreed that you should not try this at home. That is all, Your Honor.

April 29, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1970s jazz

Abdullah Ibrahim: Water From an Ancient Well

This CD's careless packaging is unfortunate. If not for the interior notes, you might not learn from the jewel case – except for a mention in mice print on the back – that this is Abdullah Ibrahim's "Ekaya" group, one of the most significant if short-lived bands of the 1980s. Nor would you glean from the personnel list that trombonist Dick Griffin, a forceful soloist and integral to Ekaya's overall sound texture, is even a participant.

All that aside, the CD features some of Ibrahim's most noteworthy compositions. Only on the title track, however – all of 12 minutes long – does the group get to stretch out and fully show what it was capable of in a concert or club setting. From Ibrahim's enclosed poem:

          water from an ancient well
          oh beautiful Africa
          that's where I'll always dwell

Ibrahim's piano leads off with a gospel-flavored solo meditation, followed by a beautifully harmonized treatment of the hymn-like theme by the horns and flute. The solos by Davis, Griffin, Ford, Ward, and Williams, in that order, are each highly expressive, emotionally charged and craftily developed. The reprise of the theme is elevated by Griffin's improvised commentary over the melody. Hats off to Rudy Van Gelder (so what else is new?) for faithfully capturing Ekaya's sound. LP or CD, Rudy was the undisputed master.

April 29, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1980s jazz · africa

John Hicks: Lush Life

Some believe that the only version of "Lush Life" they'll ever need is that of Johnny Hartman with John Coltrane. However, Strayhorn's early masterpiece is so elegantly constructed and exquisitely lyrical that it cannot help but inspire other memorable renditions. One such comes from John Hicks on his Strayhorn tribute CD. Although no stranger to solo piano (hear his "Live at Maybeck Recital Hall"), he usually fronted a trio, as elsewhere on this noteworthy session.

Hicks characteristically examines every nook and cranny of "Lush Life," exploring artfully its harmonic potential and unfailingly making the right choices regarding chords, embellishments and grace notes. His deviations from the melodic line are subtle, tasteful, and fresh, and his enhancements overall only further expose the rich beauty of the tune. Hicks was a brilliant pianist, eminently comfortable playing anything from a standard to a free piece, and deserved considerably more recognition than he ever received during his lifetime. "Lush Life" will forever remain a strong testament to his ability.

April 29, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · billy strayhorn covers · lush life · solo piano

Gene Ammons: Hittin' the Jug

There's nothing better than hearing Gene Ammons play a slow ballad, except perhaps for a slow blues like "Hittin' the Jug." Tommy Flanagan's lilting, if not particularly earthy, piano intro does not prepare you for Ammons's entrance. It's a deceptively simple blues line repeated several times, but the way Ammons slurs the drawn-out second note makes it all his own from the start. Then the tenorman's distinctive vibrato and big sound sweep you away. His long testifying solo combines both bluster and soft sighs, with short exclamations that gradually evolve into more extended outbursts. Bassist Doug Watkins somehow manages to follow Ammons with his own insinuating statement before the leader returns to definitively reiterate the theme.

This track is from the first of no less than 22 recordings Ammons was to make between 1960 and 1962. From 1958 to 1960, and then again from 1962 to 1969, Ammons spent most of his time in prison on drug convictions. The ardency of his blues performances in the early '60s no doubt reflects this rough period in his life. King Pleasure's lyrics for "Hittin' the Jug" (which he renamed "Swan Blues") may have said it best: "Goodbye, you know I hate to leave you baby, but I'm leavin' anyway."

April 29, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1960s jazz · tenor sax

Meddy Gerville: Barmine

When you first hear Meddy Gerville, you are not sure exactly what to make of his music. His sound is a rare combination that at first seems familiar yet upon further listening defies simple categorization. His voice is in itself an accomplished instrument, a hint of Milton Nascimento with a touch of Al Jarreau. His compositions are both refreshingly joyful and surprisingly complex, with Joe Zawinul and Weather Report being a likely influence. A native of Réunion island, a French territory in the Indian Ocean with one of the world's most ethnically diverse populations, Gerville is a talented pianist, composer and vocalist, and has recently collaborated with such master musicians as monster drummer Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez and former John McLaughlin bassist Matt Garrison, who have been drawn to Gerville's unique musical patois.

On "Barmine," Meddy Gerville's vocals are on full display. His ability to dancingly sing in his native Réunionnaise, a dialect of French, in such rapid Brazilian-style phrasing is most impressive. Accompanied by an able rhythm team, Gerville's piano solo is both inventive and steeped in the jazz tradition. This song keeps you tapping your feet throughout. The rhythms are Afro-Brazilian centric, but somehow that description doesn't quite do them justice. The Réunion islanders who are born of multiethnic backgrounds call themselves Creoles, just like the natives of New Orleans. Perhaps this is the new Creole music, but I believe it is more aptly described as true "World Music" of the highest order. In this worthy offering by a talented artist from a remote part of the world, Meddy Gerville has embraced the jazz idiom to create his own musical gumbo that deserves to be savored.

April 28, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · jazz vocals

Meddy Gerville: Di Amwin

As new CDs arrive in my mailbox almost daily, they are usually accompanied by promotional materials explaining the album, listing the personnel and in general giving the potential reviewer background material on the artist, his past work and the theme of this new project. Much to my surprise, Meddy Gerville's latest release came to me in a plain brown envelope with a sleeved CD that had minimal information and to top it off it was all in French! You might think this would be detrimental to the artist getting a fair shake from a reviewer not based in Paris or Montreal, and you would be right – except in this case the music was so unusual and distinctly talented that it forced me to find out exactly who this Meddy Gerville is and what he is trying to communicate with his music.

It turns out Gerville comes from Réunion island, an outpost that lies east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean. If anyone doubts the far-reaching and amazingly uniting force the jazz tradition has around the world, they need only listen to this compelling offering from the talented islander. It turns out Réunion is a veritable melting pot of ethnicities mixing French, Portuguese, African, Malayan, Indian and Chinese. The native born are coincidentally called Creoles, and Gerville skillfully conglomerates the multiethnic influences of his environment with rhythmically based music that keeps the melodic and harmonic sensibilities of the jazz tradition firmly in its grasp.

On his composition "Di amwin," Gerville's silky and lilting voice traverses the changing complex beats, dancing effortlessly in time over the changes à la Milton Nascimento. His keyboard is both accomplished and tasty and in perfect sync with his formidable vocal talents. I have no idea what he is saying, but that is hardly the point. His music is joyful and entertaining, combining elements of fusion with the execution of a virtuoso. If ever anything could be correctly called World Music, then surely this is it. With the rhythmic center maintained by a talented group of collaborators, Gerville's piano and vocals create a musically delicious feast. This is a voice and talent that will surely be more widely heralded.

April 27, 2008 · 1 comment

Tags: 2000s jazz · jazz vocals · réunion

Keith Jarrett: The Köln Concert: Part I

Have you seen the YouTube clip of Keith Jarrett haranguing yet another of his audiences, in this case at Umbria in 2007 and for the minor infraction of daring to take his picture with their flashing little cameras? It is cringe-inducing just to view the video. I can't imagine being a member of that audience who has paid for a ticket and then has to be dressed-down like that. It is extremely rude. On the other hand, I think if I attended a show and Keith was perfectly behaved I would feel cheated in some bizarre way.

"Part I" is part one of a masterpiece of improvisation that took place in Köln, Germany. Any description of this music that does not contain the word "inspired" is a lie. Those people who complain about Jarrett's random vocalizations can go to hell. They are as much a part of his technique as are his hands. This composition, improvisation really, engages the mind and the spirit from the first note to the last. There is not much more that you could say about it.

In my own experience I have found most artists to be lacking in some other area of life. This could exhibit itself as a lack of common sense or business savvy, an inability to clean his or her house, balance a checkbook or maybe they can't chew with their mouth closed. Nature always seems to find a balance. It giveth and taketh away. It certainly blessed Keith Jarrett with a musical mind that is second to none. But nature decided to withhold couth from Keith. The result is that he can be an asshole to his own fans. I'll take the tradeoff.

April 27, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1970s jazz · ecm · solo piano

Carl Orr: Miles of Miles

Australian jazz guitarist Carl Orr has toured and recorded with Billy Cobham, among others. But he has many fine projects in his own name, including Mean It, his third outing as leader. He decided to focus on highly electric jazz-funk music filled with plenty of improvisation.

On the tribute cover "Miles of Miles," the rhythm section of Armstrong, Gander and Lincy lay down a neck-bending groove. Love's organ funks things up. By the time Orr shows off his considerable chops, we are already quite deep in the muck. Bikovsky's trumpet expounds Miles's late '60s period – just about the time Miles was leaving straight-ahead for fusion. Orr and Bikovsky participate in some melodic call and response as the tune fades. Their boots, now stuck in the mud, must be left behind.

April 27, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · australia · guitar · miles davis tributes

Louie Bellson & Clark Terry: Chicago Suite 1 – State Street Swing

When I was a kid, Merv Griffin and his aging buddies were always telling audiences that the Big Band era was coming back. I got tired of it. Who the hell wants to hear that ancient swing music again? Years later when I was in college and a bit wiser, I was invited to go see Duke Bellaire's big band at Bovi's in East Providence, RI. The drummer had such fine sidemen as Dick Johnson, Hal Crook and Ted Casher. To be truthful, it was really the first time I heard "swing." Damn. That stuff can lift you up and take you away! I didn't know what I was missing. Economics prevent a real comeback, but it is always a treat to hear a good big band. When that band is led by two legends, it's even better.

So I pick my favorite tune from this latest release only to discover that neither Louie Bellson nor Clark Terry plays on it. Bellson did write it, though, and Terry is there in spirit, so here goes. "Chicago Suite 1 – State Street Swing" is arranged by the old Tonight Show's sometimes bandleader, the late Tommy Newsom. It does indeed swing. Tenor man Steve Guerra is the main soloist with Kenny Washington's drums providing plenty of power. But, as with most jazz big bands, it is the ensemble playing of the horn section that really creates the full-blown swing phenomenon. You can almost feel the air come shooting out of the speakers.

Merv Griffin and guests such as Benny Goodman, Les Brown and Woody Herman were wrong. The big bands never came back. But now I don't blame them for wanting it to be so. Recordings such as this one are the next best thing.

April 27, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · big band

Bireli Lagrene: All the Things You Are

Bireli Lagrene could easily have been typecast as "that Gypsy guitarist who sounds like Django." After all, he was winning praise and international contests for his Django-like playing before he was even a teenager. But he was an artist who wanted to reach beyond his knowledge. After meeting such jazz greats as Larry Coryell and Jaco Pastorius, he went jazz-fusion. Yet another side of Bireli is heard on the standard "All The Things You Are."

While Lagrene is at home with the total jazz repertoire, his acoustic playing retains an undeniable Gypsy element. On this cut he goes acoustic, but thanks to Koono's electric keyboards the piece has a modern jazz-rock feel. Lagrene's swing and seamless improvising would sound great at the Hot Club or at any other club in any era.

April 27, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · all the things you are · france · guitar · jerome kern covers

Jonas Hellborg Group: Look

Never expect the expected from Hellborg. It is one of the reasons he is one of the more fascinating bassists from the last few generations. It is also one of the reasons he is not better known. You can't keep going against the grain all the time and expect commercial acceptance. It's tough enough to get publicity just being a bassist. But Hellborg keeps pushing beyond the parameters. "Look" is a perfect example.

Long before this album's release, Hellborg had been showing the listening classes that electric bass guitar could be put to more use than just for the basics. Stanley Clarke and other bass progenitors had proved the instrument could be a melodic center and carry a tune very well, thank you. But Hellborg took the bass into exotic locales. He was a gear head who tinkered with its sounds and harmonics to make his music Indian, Middle Eastern, Nordic … you name it.

On "Look," Hellborg decided there was not enough bass in the music! He added Anders Nord on a bass of his own. Twisted harmonics open the tune. Thudding machine-gun riffs come at us double-barreled. Hellborg plays a bass solo as fast as John McLaughlin plays guitar. Salazar keeps the ammo coming. We are transported for a brief moment to the pyramids. The bullets fly again. We must find a place to hide. Quick, behind the Sphinx!

April 27, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · bass

Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers: Dance of the Infidels

The presence of Bud Powell alongside Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter makes this an often-overlooked yet essential Jazz Messengers performance. After a suddenly starting, rough presentation of the melody, the soloists are off and running, and the jam-session nature of this recording makes these solo statements long, creative and intense. Fine, vigorous solos are played by Wilen, Morgan and Shorter, but the sure highlight here is the education Bud Powell provides the three aforementioned "youngsters" with an extended tour-de-force solo. Note how energized all the musicians seem, especially Morgan and Blakey, during the fours that directly succeed Powell's solo.

April 26, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: blue note · dance of the infidels

The Brubeck Brothers: Good Question

You already recognize the last name, but I would much prefer to play this track for you on a blindfold test. The first thing you would notice is the stellar rhythm section -- clean, crisp swing with great interaction between the players, and a very smart use of space. Sometimes guitar and piano clash in a small combo, but not with DeMicco and Lamb, who show how these two instruments are supposed to work together. And the same can be said for the Brubeck brothers. Dan Brubeck's drumming is a revelation, and not just with his solo at the end of the track. Some serious fraternal camaraderie is going down here. This song deserves a double dose of radio airplay.

April 26, 2008 · 0 comments

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Jon Irabagon: Charles Barkley

Charles Barkley was not only a great basketball player, but a popular interview subject too -- mostly because of his tendency to spout off frank and surprising things in front of a microphone. The same is true of Jon Irabagon's ensemble on this track named in Sir Charles's honor. The sound palette shifts unexpectedly at several junctures during the course of a 12-minute track. Sometimes the separate musical voices play at cross purposes, and at other moments they join together for dramatic composed passages. For most of the track, the band members maintain their allegiance to the Free Jazz aesthetic, but toward the end they offer up the biggest surprise of all: cool, steady swing in 4/4 time. This track is not for the fainthearted, but check it out if you are in the mood for some ear-stretching experiences.

April 26, 2008 · 1 comment

Tags: hoops

Marilyn Scott: Every Time We Say Goodbye

Jazz fans may find it hard to track down a copy of this recording, only available on Japanese import. But it's worth the effort. Scott has surrounded herself with a great band, and she is singing at top form. The rhythm section offers the gentlest of cushions to her heartfelt vocal, and Peplowski shows he could make his mark in the world if he just focused on tenor sax. We have heard many versions of this Cole Porter standard over the years, but this is a welcome addition.

April 26, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: cole porter covers · every time we say goodbye · jazz vocals

Stanley Jordan: A Place in Space

Stanley Jordan has always been difficult to classify. Depending on who you ask, he is a novelty act, a crossover threat, a guitar genius. . . . Take your pick! Probably the most common descriptor pegs him as the guy who plays guitar like it's a keyboard. Jordan's 2008 release State of Nature won't make it any easier to pigeonhole this artist. The opening track, "A Place in Space," starts with an easygoing trio groove and a melody reminiscent of "Milestones," then moves into a Zappa-esque interlude for contrast. The guitar solo is tasty, until the 4-minute mark -- when all hell breaks loose. The band shifts into double-time, and Jordan now dishes out everything from polytonal licks to jagged rock lines, stopping just short of free jazz pandemonium. If the label was hoping for airplay on the smooth jazz radio stations, Jordan just torpedoed those plans with this very anti-smooth attack. When he returns to the main melody, with its light swing, it's almost like he is commenting ironically on everything that came before. But the overall performance is nothing short of brilliant -- a wild ride from this mercurial player.

April 24, 2008 · 1 comment

Tags: guitar · guitar trio · space age jazz

Stanley Clarke: Desert Song

Fusion fans have always been an open lot. While many jazz fans would never accept the new fusion sounds, fusion fans themselves were open to jazz from the very beginning of the jazz-rock movement. Sure they loved to have their eardrums assaulted and their insides vibrated to the loudest and fastest. But they were also quite patient and appreciative of musical virtuosity. And those fusion fans who took the time to learn where fusion was coming from started going back and listening to the old jazz records to obtain a foundation for what they were now digging. That's how I started. It is this open mindset that allowed fusion fans to enjoy a tune such as this.

Performed acoustically, "Desert Song" is the antithesis of a stereotypical jazz-rock piece. Clarke begins with some slow, low bowing atop McLaughlin's minor comping chords and circular arpeggios. As Clarke moves up the neck, the melody becomes more intense. McLaughlin develops a mantra-like riff that will permeate the rest of the song. The two take impressive solos, with Clarke now bowless and McLaughlin playing his scalloped fretboard guitar allowing him to bend notes as on an Indian vina. Clarke again picks up his bow as he and McLaughlin reprise the hypnotic riff, kept company by Holland's sparse percussion. "Desert Song" may not lift fusion-heads out of their seats screaming, but it sure would satisfy their need to be in communion with instrumental virtuosos.

April 24, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1970s jazz · desert jazz · fusion

Mitchel Forman: Just Ideas

I wish I knew what it was like to take an instrument and create music from whole cloth that was able to move people to deep contemplation. It must be such a rush. I do know what it is to be one of those so moved. It is why I listen and why I write. Mitch Forman is one of those gifted musicians placed on this planet for me to listen to and write about … and for you to read about.

"Just Ideas" is a gentle investigation of the sadness and longing in people's lives. It is constructed simply with the ideas that come to Forman while seated before the keys he knows so well. The signals from his brain tell his fingers the right pressure to use and when and where to precisely use it. His finger memory already knows what his mind knows. There is no delay between thought and action. It is pen-on-paper stuff at a level so advanced and magical that it will never be understood. It isn't just Forman who has this wonderful and mysterious talent. And it isn't just musicians. But he is exceptionally good at it. This music tells us that everything will be all right in the end. This we know because Forman has reassured us with a depth of emotion that few artists possess and are able to convey.

April 24, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1980s jazz · solo piano

Mitchel Forman: Very Early

It's no secret that I consider Mitchel Forman one of the most underrated jazz pianists of the last 25 years. He has spent formative time playing with John McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter and other important artists. But his true musical worth is best found in his projects as leader. He is an extremely gifted technician, a wonderful composer and possesses a musical mind that produces some of the most interesting improvisation I have ever heard. He is also well aware of his influences and finds time to honor them.

Forman takes Bill Evans's lovely waltz "Very Early" on an aggressive jaunt. His block chords develop a substantive theme that leads to a swing approach of a tune that Evans most often played as almost a fragile lullaby. Importantly, Forman is joined by bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette, both pivotal players in Evans's trios. This trio attacks the piece with an energy that connotes their true respect for Evans. They are putting out. At one point, Forman and the band do tone things down a bit to play with some of that fragility I mentioned earlier. But they quickly return to the faster tempo. I suppose these three could have played "Very Early" much in Evans's style. But what would be the point of mimicry? A better tribute is to take the man's tune and create from it. This they have done.

April 24, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · bill evans covers · piano trios · very early

Paco De Lucia: Alta Mar

In the early '80s, when Paco De Lucia started delving into jazz, many flamenco connoisseurs were unhappy with the latter music's most famous guitarist. Flamenco has a long and proud tradition. And just as classical aficionados don't like it when somebody messes with their music, flamenco purists perceived De Lucia as a traitor to their great traditions. But music must grow.

As part of the two Guitar Trio groups featuring John McLaughlin, Larry Coryell and later Al Di Meola, De Lucia learned how to integrate more chord changes and improvisational jazz skills into his music. Flamenco's greatest guitarist became an even better-rounded player capable of taking a group on the road to play superlative music that covered the jazz, Latin and flamenco idioms.

The intro to "Alta Mar" was written by John McLaughlin based on the theme from his tune "David." De Lucia plays it with grace, as supportive comments from the enraptured crowd interrupt to provide an extra layer of texture. The playing that follows turns spatial for a measure or two before Benavent's echoing electric bass heats things up. Some impressive unison runs with the percussionist ensue. The transition to full ensemble elicits a great cheer from the crowd. Paco's fingers are going a kilometer a minute. Pardo's saxophone soars over the flamenco, jazz and funk mix. This music demands that you yell at it. A rousing finale thrills the transported audience.

Today we hear flamenco combined with jazz, reggae, blues and many other musical forms every day, and think nothing of it. It took musicians as curious and brave enough as Paco De Lucia to make it that way.

April 23, 2008 · 4 comments

Tags: 1980s jazz · guitar

Brad Mehldau: O Que Será

If you see the title "O Que Será," and you start thinking about Doris Day singing "Whatever will be, will be" . . . well, maybe you're on the wrong web site. Mehldau always has a knack for heralding songwriters that other jazz musicians don't cover, and here he highlights a song from the great Brazilian tunesmith Chico Buarque. (If you haven't heard Buarque's version, you should check it out on the stellar -- if little known in the US -- release Meus Caros Amigos.) Mehldau's trio resorts to none of the stale samba or bossa tricks, but craft a comfortable, loping rhythm which underscores a probing piano solo. A solid effort from a seminal band.

April 23, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: brazil · piano trio · village vanguard

Brad Mehldau: The Very Thought of You

This 13-minute version of the Ray Noble standard, recorded at the Village Vanguard in October 2006, starts out as an introspective trio ballad. For the next six minutes, Mehldau and company stay close to the original harmonies and the pianist impresses with his fresh improvised lines. But midway through the track we encounter one of those surprising shifts that have become a specialty of this artist. Bass and drums fade out, and Mehldau moves outside the framework of the song's form and familiar progression. Although Mehldau has sometimes been compared to Bill Evans, this long interlude is almost the antithesis of Evans. Instead of long, loping right hand lines above crisp comping chords, we find booming, bellowing harmonies supporting a minimum of melodic development. The nexus of energy shifts to different points in the keyboard, and the level of intensity gradually rises. The last seven minutes are not really the same song as the first six – at least not from any precise musicological perspective. But there is a metaphysical linkage, a certain spirit that connects the two ends of the track. This is not just a novel approach to improvisation but a challenge to our very sense of jazz structure. You can't really compare this to jazz precedents. It sets its own.

April 23, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · piano trio · the very thought of you · village vanguard

Remember Shakti: Luki

"Luki" is as close as John McLaughlin would ever get to playing on a pop song. Of course, the tune is an Indian pop song, so what else would you expect?

The core members of the group Remember Shakti invited many of India's finest musicians to join them for two evenings of concerts, one of which was preserved on Saturday Night in Bombay, Grammy nominated for best World Music album. Many of these performers had grown up in the Indian musical tradition but were quite influenced by McLaughlin's and Hussain's seminal '70s Indo-jazz band Shakti. This made them ideal for an Indian-jazz improvisational get-together.

"Luki" includes plenty of frenetic and catchy hooks. Shankar Mahadevan raises his expressive voice in unison with the melodic instruments. McLaughlin and Bhattacharya engage is some impressive calls and responses that represent the jazz element in this highly regimented piece. Mahadevan dominates the middle section with syllabic singing in counterpoint to the rhythms from a boatload of gifted Indian percussionists. The joyous opening riff, at home in any Bollywood movie, returns to bring the short tune to an end.

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · fusion · guitar

Mike Stern: Swunk

"Swunk" is a lowdown swinging blues funk. "Swunk." Get it? Stern can really play the hell out of the blues, as confirmed by his manipulation of the slow blues-tinged opening notes of this piece. He squeezes every last drop out of them. After tastefully dispensing with the misleading theme, Stern plays a staccato run that leads to the funk aspect of the program. Brecker comes on like gangbusters. His funkiness comes in short bursts. Often he is doubling with Stern, which lends a swinging syncopation to his contribution. Stern eschews the basics in his fusion-driven solo. Stern and Brecker then go at it tooth and nail. Chambers provides a strong backbeat. (What else is new?) Of particular interest is Lee's walk-and-pause bass. It is as if he is walking, but every few beats has to stop to see who is behind him.

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · guitar

Drew Gress: True South

Just what the jazz world has been missing . . . more covers of John Philip Sousa's tunes. But you will be so busy listening to "True South" (loosely -- very loosely -- based on "The Stars and Stripes Forever") that you may forget to stand up and march. Taborn starts off with a solo piano melody statement that has more Ives and Monk moodiness in it than March King élan. But every couple of minutes this song shifts gears. In mid-performance, the band opts for an AACM free-for-all before switching, toward the close, into some unexpected electronics, courtesy of bandleader Drew Gress, sort of a soundtrack for Sousa as musical captain for the starship Enterprise. Most songs end up where they start out, but this one moves through about 100 years of musical history, without ever looking back.

April 22, 2008 · 1 comment

Tags: 2000s jazz

Metro: Lolo Shuffle

"Lolo Shuffle" is the album's first cut. Mitchel Forman's minor block chords and Haffner's unrelenting thrashing get this show on the road precisely on time. Strangely, though, this performance is presented out of order from the actual live shows. In concert it was the last song of the first set, as evidenced by the band's announcement that they were taking a break. That live positioning is important because it gives you a sense of the nature of the piece. It is an upbeat driving number virtually devoid of any stretching out or exploration. It gets right to the point of making your head nod up and down to the waitress, informing her you want another drink. Forman's compositions are always engaging, and it doesn't hurt when they are being played by such a stellar outfit as Metro. These guys know how to get off the stage in style.

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz

Sarah Vaughan: In a Sentimental Mood

After Hours may finally have satisfied Sarah Vaughan's detractors. In an intimate setting with just guitar and bass accompaniment, Vaughan subtly embellishes the melodies throughout, with commandingly controlled tone and vibrato, limiting the glissandos that some saw as mere vocal tricks or acrobatics. Discerning listeners could still enjoy the way she emphasized certain words, or even just syllables, to enhance the meaning of the lyric and/or the beauty of the melody. In any case, in the early 1960s Vaughan was clearly coming into her own as a mature and complete jazz singer.

With the understated yet substantial support of the tasteful Lowe and Duvivier, Vaughan glides lovingly through "In a Sentimental Mood," picking her spots for improvisation, singing "every kiss" repeatedly to great effect, and toying with the word "divine" in each chorus, hitting a resonant bass note the first time around. She ends her interpretation with a wordless mini-coda, strikingly intoned. Vaughan's three short years as a Roulette recording artist were artistically superb, and After Hours may have been the high point. Whether she reaped much financial benefit is another story. She and other Roulette artists complained about the lack of royalties, among other problems.

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1960s jazz · ellington covers · in a sentimental mood · jazz vocals

George Garzone: We Don't Know Why

The Fringe has been prominent on the Boston jazz scene since its formation in 1972. Garzone and Gullotti were founding members, while Lockwood joined in 1985. Although jazz educator Garzone now teaches in both Boston and New York, while fellow teachers Gullotti and Lockwood are based in the Boston area, they still manage a weekly gig in Boston, and sometimes play together in New York as well as internationally at jazz festivals. Despite Garzone being nominal leader here, this has always been a cooperative venture.

The Fringe freely tills the fertile soil between hard bop and avant-garde, but often with an emphasis on spiritual modal workouts inspired or written by John Coltrane, pieces they consistently perform with great emotion and flair. "We Don't Know Why" is evocative of late-period Coltrane, what with Lockwood's insistently strummed bass and Garzone's repeated exclamations and incantatory upper-register wails, the tenorman's staccato phrases interspersed with free-falling extended lines. Lockwood's concise solo is both fluent and passionate. Garzone returns with thrusting outcries before giving way to Gullotti's fiery solo, his crisp stick and bass drum patterns artfully combined. Garzone's provocative closing statement is spurred on by more of Gullotti's energized drumming, shades of Elvin Jones at his most intense. This is the kind of spur-of-the-moment improvisation that The Fringe performs live at double or triple its 5-minute length here, always totally captivating and a prime example of their outstanding musicianship and rapport.

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz

Chick Corea & Gary Burton: Waltz for Debby

If you have not yet heard The New Crystal Silence, or have not attended one of their recent duet concerts, you might suppose that after 35 years of playing together, Chick Corea and Gary Burton could not raise their level of performance any higher. You would be wrong. Burton: "The performing we have done over the past year has been our best." Corea: "The tours we've done over the past year are my favorites." From their playing of Corea's tunes with the Sydney (Australia) Symphony Orchestra on the first of their CDs, to their duet selections on the second CD, these live recordings mark a significant milestone in their careers.

Recorded at a small concert hall during the 2007 Molde Jazz Festival, "Waltz for Debby" is given an extraordinary, flawless interpretation. Burton's incisive, quick-tempoed reading of the theme, and his unrestrained yet sharply defined improvisation, gushing with limitless creativity, are awe inspiring. Corea's nuanced support, and his own melodic, dancing solo, balance out this virtuosic, harmonically sophisticated masterpiece. A must hear!

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · piano · vibes · waltz for debby

Clifford Jordan: Arapaho

In the 1980s, one of the best bands to catch live in New York City was the group periodically led by Clifford Jordan and Barry Harris, which included the drummer on this track, Vernel Fournier. Those who didn't consider Jordan a bebop player were surprised by his skill and panache in the style, perfectly in sync with quintessential bop pianist Harris. "Arapaho," co-written by Jordan and Harris, is a thinly veiled takeoff on "Cherokee." Fournier announces the piece with a Native American war-drum pattern, and then plays imaginative fills as Jordan delivers the theme. Jordan's unique, always immediately identifiable sound, at once both breathy and throaty, is insinuating. He avoids the usual bop clichés in his solo, his swirling lines blended with deep honks, upper-register squeals and bluesy riffs. O'Connell, who was Jordan's regular pianist for six years, creates an intriguing solo of his own, with an appealingly light touch and assured, propulsive phrasing. As for Fournier, his delicate cymbal work contrasts with an otherwise aggressive attack in which he occasionally drops heavy bass-drum bombs. His lucid solo is typical of him, dominated by a workout on tom-toms and easily followed by the listener as Fournier sticks closely to the thematic material in his development. Jordan inserts part of the original "Cherokee" in the closing reprise, on the off chance that the audience at Ethell's might include some true squares.

April 22, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1980s jazz · tenor sax

John Coltrane: Aisha

In this haunting McCoy Tyner ballad, one of the surprisingly few that Coltrane ever recorded, we find him in his transitional period. He is moving from the Atlantic label to the new Impulse label, where he will realize unprecedented freedom to play in his extended modality. On this, his final Atlantic recording, he has an unusual lineup that includes the young and mercurial Freddie Hubbard – borrowed from Blue Note and playing some of his finest trumpet – and an incognito Eric Dolphy on fiery alto, under the mysterious pseudonym of George Lane. This provides Coltrane with two additional voices to punctuate any musical statement he cares to make, along with a solid rhythm team of bassist Reggie Workman and an unusually subtle Elvin Jones on drums. The probing, always searching Coltrane is uncharacteristically subdued, his moaning tenor lead setting up the memorable melody for a scant two minutes before yielding to Hubbard's solo. Freddie for his part can barely restrain himself, starting out slowly and gradually bursting into a soon-to-be-patented Hubbard flurry of notes with unleashed passion. An equally provocative alto solo from the sometimes jagged Dolphy shows a beautiful and lyrical side to his playing that is quite moving and perfectly in keeping with the piece. Composer/pianist Tyner then moves center stage, laying out the melody in a flutter of exquisitely executed runs that never fail to surprise.

When Coltrane returns to repeat the melody line, his restraint is admirable for a man who is quoted in the liner notes as saying, "I like to play long…" He seems to be following his instincts here, deferring to an inner awareness that, in the company of other voices with something equally intriguing and original to say, he doesn't have to say it all by himself. On this occasion, his instinct serves him well. His fellow musicians are allowed to shine and create a mood that is both sinuously sensuous and honestly heartfelt. Coltrane's lyrical mastery and his uncanny ability to evoke the sound of human longing from his horn capture the essence of this song in a tight and extraordinarily economical way. A subtle masterpiece!

April 21, 2008 · 1 comment

Tags: 1960s jazz · tenor sax

Santana: Incident at Neshabur (live, 1973)

This album's Buddha artwork cover reflects Santana's immersion into what was then for him a new spiritual life. At the time, his friendship with John McLaughlin was leading him and his music in that direction. Both men considered spirituality and music to be one and the same. A month after this concert, Santana was on the road with McLaughlin, supporting their album Love Devotion Surrender.

"Incident at Neshabur" first appeared on Santana's 1970 album Abraxas, but this treatment is more jazz-fusion in character. It begins the way any Santana jam did back then. Ingratiating Latin-tinged guitar and organ riffs propelled by Latin percussion dominate the introduction. Kermode plays a pleasing and familiar Santana-band trademark B-3 organ solo, after which things get more interesting. Santana's new jazzier and more technical musical personality emerges. The commercial hooks are dispensed with. He is effusive, tossing in quotes from "My Favorite Things" and "Afro Blue" as nods to Coltrane. The Japanese fans evidently have no clue. When he quotes the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill" a few minutes later, however, in a beautifully quiet section, they erupt into applause. (The fans, not the Beatles.) For the tune's coda, Santana plays the theme from the beautiful traditional hymn "Let Us Go Into The House Of The Lord," which appeared on Love Devotion Surrender. Lotus is a very successful album that marked the transition of a musician. "Incident at Neshabur" is its apex.

April 21, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1970s jazz · fusion · guitar

Rosey: Who Am I

When I looked at the advance copy of vocalist Rosey's new album, Luckiest Girl, my first thought was to quickly dismiss any music that may be on it. As a reviewer, I had been down this road many times before. You can't fool me by putting a beautiful woman on the cover and telling me she is a unique talent who has decided to try her hand at jazz. I know better. This was just another clever way to jam some Smooth Jazz down my throat. (Pardon me while I gag.) Then I played the CD. Oops. I am embarrassed to admit it, but I was dead wrong.

Imagine a voice that is a mix of Fiona Apple and Rickie Lee Jones, and sometimes Astrud Gilberto, and you will have a close approximation of what Rosey sounds like. It is an expressive instrument that many singers would be jealous of. On top of that, she wrote much of the impressive jazz material on the album. At this point, I really am feeling ashamed of my preconceived notions.

The wonderful "Who Am I" is a bossa nova. Rosey possesses the ideal voice, inflection and attitude to carry this off, as if she were in the company of Jobim or the "father of bossa nova," João Gilberto. The beaches of Ipanema are strewn with the failed coronations of would-be bossa nova queens from over the years. Rosey is worthy of wearing the genuine crown if she wishes. In 1964, this would have been a hit. Let's see if today's music fans have enough taste to make it one now.

"Who Am I" represents only one of many jazz styles on the album. Rosey is among the freshest new jazz vocalists heard by these ears in quite some time, and appears to have great potential. We are lucky to have this Luckiest Girl.

April 20, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 2000s jazz · jazz vocals

Andrew Hill: Refuge

This opening track from Andrew Hill's Point of Departure LP may not have made as much money for Blue Note as its other hits from the era -- such as "The Sidewinder or "Watermelon Man." But make no mistake, this is one of the defining moments for the Blue Note sound. Hill clearly understood the label's hard-bop tradition, as he demonstrates on this music, but his album was also (as its title states) a point of departure. It mixes old-style hard swing with an incisive probing attitude that seems to want to break free from the constraints of the music, but never really lets go. This paradoxical combination may be an even more powerful influence today than when this album first hit record-store bins. The front line of Dolphy, Henderson and Dorham share the bandleader's vision, and every solo on this 12-minute track furthers the composition's relentless, aggressive ambiance.

April 20, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1960s jazz · blue note · piano

Andrew Hill: Dusk

This project was initially spurred by Hill's re-creation of the instrumentation from his classic 1964 Point of Departure release for a 1998 jazz festival. However, when the band went into the studio, it didn't worry about resurrecting 1960s jazz -- instead it produced one of the finest examples of close-of-the-millennium American music. The tone on the 12-minute title track is dark and moody, but also leisurely and introspective. This is Andrew Hill at his best, and a perfect realization of the unique muse of an artist whose formative experiences spanned everything from [Earl] Hines to [Paul] Hindemith.

April 20, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1990s jazz · piano

Miles Davis: Fran-Dance

Miles Davis's celebrated appearance at 1955's Newport Jazz Festival had marked his official comeback (meaning the jazz press finally caught up with reality) from what Miles himself called a "four-year horror show" of heroin addiction. Miles actually got his act together in 1954, as evidenced by his influential recording of "Walkin'." But taking center stage at Newport earned him jazz's Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Now, three years later, the Approved Good Housekeeper returned, leading a sextet that many now consider the greatest small combo in jazz history.

Regrettably, when Bert Stern filmed his feature-length documentary of the '58 NJF, Jazz on a Summer's Day (released 1960), he shot no part of Miles's performance. "Personally," Stern explained, "I didn't like Miles Davis. He's too far-out for me." Yet while Stern's glib paraphrase of Arthur Godfrey's 1947 hit "Too Fat Polka" ("I Don't Want Her, You Can Have Her, She's Too Fat For Me") may have explained Miles's omission, that hardly excused it.

Certainly there's nothing far-out about "Fran-Dance," Miles's 4/4 reworking of "Put Your Little Foot Right Out," a childlike waltz from the Hollywood movie San Antonio (1945). Five weeks after the same group's better-known and frankly superior studio recording of this tune, Adderley and Evans solo to advantage, but Coltrane overloads his Sheets of Sound turn with pointlessly fleet finger exercises. Even so, wouldn't it have been wonderful to see this group on film? As missed opportunities go, Bert Stern's dismissal of Miles Davis as "too far-out" must rank among the most blockheaded decisions of all time. I'd like to Put My Little Foot Right Up Bert Stern's Arriflex.

April 20, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1950s jazz · newport jazz festival

Ray Charles: The Spirit-Feel

Ray Charles

In 1958, R&B demigod Ray Charles appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival among such other big-name non-jazz performers as Chuck Berry and Mahalia Jackson, all part of impresario George Wein's habitual attempt to attract customers who couldn't care less about jazz. Yet as shown in film- maker Bert Stern's feature-length documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, neither Berry nor Jackson tried to blend in with any honest-to-goodness jazz artists who may have accidentally found their way onto the bill. Doing "Sweet Little Sixteen," Chuck Berry remained as oblivious to the Swing Era stalwarts reluctantly backing him as they were unhelpful to his rock 'n' roll. And the sole connection of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson's reverential "The Lord's Prayer" to jazz was as an inadvertent reminder of trumpeter Harry James's famous quip that, appearing with Benny Goodman at Carnegie Hall in 1938, he felt like "a whore in church." Miss Jackson at the NJF must've conversely felt like an abbess in a brothel.

Ray Charles, by contrast, unwisely adjusted his act to suit his surroundings, which perhaps explains why he's not in the movie. "The Spirit-Feel," a jazz tune, was first recorded by its composer, vibist Milt Jackson, on Atlantic Records in early 1957, but was not covered on either of Milt's subsequent collaborations with Atlantic's superstar Ray Charles: Soul Brothers (1957) and Soul Meeting (1958). Nevertheless, Charles saw fit to present it at the Newport Jazz Festival, where presumably at least some infinitesimal segment of the audience might actually know how a jazz number is supposed to sound. In Charles's hands, "The Spirit-Feel" becomes a ragged warm-up exercise. Absent a trombone, the horns in Ray's R&B septet have no midsection, and it shows. The soloists, excepting tenorman David "Fathead" Newman but including Charles himself on alto sax, are at best amateurish. Simply put, this band had no business playing jazz. When you go to a hoedown, you oughta dance with the one what brung you.

April 19, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1950s jazz · newport jazz festival

Duke Ellington: Prima Bara Dubla

Whole careers, it was said, could be rejuvenated with a single triumph at the Newport Jazz Festival. Case in point: Duke Ellington in 1956. Never mind that, far from languishing in the doldrums before causing a sensation at Newport that year, Duke had grossed, according to the ever-materialistic Time magazine, between $500,000 and $700,000 annually, with his sidemen collecting "the highest pay in the business." Despite its untruth, the myth of a faded star magically rehabilitated amidst Newport's sea air, trees, history and haut monde set journalists to salivating like Ulanov's dogs (not to be confused with Pavlov's pooches, who wouldn't have known Duke Ellington from the Duchess of Windsor).

Following Duke's 1958 NJF appearance, Columbia Records tried to make lightning strike twice by issuing mostly in-studio retakes, plus overdubbed canned applause, a technique with which they'd successfully duped consumers two years before. Thankfully, for the 2007 reissue of Newport 1958, Mosaic Records restored the undoctored retakes sans phantom audience, and coupled them with six live tracks actually recorded at Newport. Among the latter, "Prima Bara Dubla" stands out.

In 1958, jazz's two most significant baritone saxophonists were unquestionably Harry Carney, longtime heart of Duke's nonpareil sax section, and Gerry Mulligan, who'd helped Miles Davis give birth to the cool and subsequently spearheaded the early '50s West Coast Jazz phenomenon. Pairing the two saxophonists in a new Ellington/Strayhorn piece composed expressly for them was one of those inspired ideas not even Columbia Records could botch.

Ellington & Strayhorn wrote to each baritonist's strength, capitalizing on Carney's low-note majesty and Mulligan's upper-register mastery, although both men play equally well across the bulky horn's entire range. Guest stars didn't always mesh well with Duke's band, and one-off festival arrangements were too often throwaways. But throughout his career, Mulligan demonstrated not just an eagerness to play with jazzmen of earlier generations, but an uncanny ability to fit in with them without sacrificing his own essential modernism. And of course, even a one-off festival arrangement is likely to be memorable when the names Ellington/Strayhorn adorn the score.

"Prima Bara Dubla" is a droll, lilting, mostly two-beat treat that sinuously showcases Harry & Gerry but also makes deft use of the full band. It's a worthy addition to the discography of either Ellington or Mulligan. To the dual discography of Ellington and Mulligan, it is joyfully unique.

April 19, 2008 · 0 comments

Tags: 1950s jazz · baritone sax · big band · newport jazz festival

Tony Bennett: Nancy (With the Laughing Face)

Tags: 1960s jazz ·