Jazz Reviews

 

We’ll start out this month with some unique vocalists...

Freddy Cole - In the Name of Love - Telarc Jazz CD-83545:

Perhaps unique is not exactly the right word for Freddy Cole, because he’s the spitting aural image of his much-loved late brother Nat. His choice of tunes and instrumental backing as well as delivery sounds like what Nat might be doing if he were alive today. The family connections keep going too: one of the great tunes here is by Freddy’s son Lionel. These are 11 sensitive and unhackneyed love songs and several have a Brazilian touch to them. Guitarist Romero Lubambo is heard on about half of the songs, and Remember Me is a duet with singer Jane Monheit. While Freddy isn’t the jazz piano wizard that Nat was, he’s chosen a topflight keyboardist in Jason Miles, who was the synthesist for Miles’ “Tutu” album and played with Aretha Franklin, Diana Ross and others. Soprano saxist Jay Beckenstein of Spyro Gyra is heard on one of the tunes. Among the song writers sources are Boz Scaggs, Ivan Lins and Van Morrison.

Tracks: Harbor Lights, Just to See Her, Have I Told You Lately That I Love You, In the Name of Love, Remember Me, I’m Not Alone, Save a Little Time for Me, When It Rains, Lady Love, I Can’t Make You Love Me, I Loved You.

 

Maria Muldaur - A Woman Alone with the Blues...Remembering Peggy Lee - Telarc Blues CD-83568:

Muldaur’s producer suggested to her the possibility of doing a project along the lines of “Maria Muldaur does the songs of....” Peggy Lee had just died and Muldaur was thinking her passing had not received much notice, so she suggested the sexy songstress who worked in so many different styles of music and always in the most elegant and swinging way. This CD is the result. Muldaur was surprised to find that Lee had penned many songs as well, and included some of them here, including the album’s title track. Lee’s song, I’m a Woman, W-O-M-A-N, was adopted by Muldaur as her theme song earlier in her career. The closing tune is one Lee wrote in collaboration with Duke Ellington - I’m Gonna Go Fishin’. Dan Hicks does a guest vocal on Winter Weather, and the octet behind Maria includes talented reed man Jim Rothermel and pianist David Korkanowsky.

Tunes: Fever, I Don’t Know Enough About You, Moments Like This, Winter Weather, Some Gals Know, Everything Is Moving Too Fast, Waitin’ for the Train to Come In, The Freedom Train, Black Coffee, A Woman Along with the Blues, For Every Man There’s a Woman, I’m Gonna Go Fishin.’

- John Henry

 

Laurindo Almeida & Charlie Byrd, guitars - Brazil & Beyond (with Bob Magnusson & Joe Byrd, bass; Jeff Hamilton & Chuck Redd, drums; Milt Holland, percussion)- Concord Picante CCD2-2173-2 (2 CDs):

This is an interesting collection from many different angles. It brings together two different original LPs from the early 80s in one package: Brazilian Soul and Latin Odyssey. Concord paired up two superb jazz guitarists known for their bringing of the sounds of Brazilian bossa nova to North America - Almeida with his Latin background and Byrd with his American folk music-based background. The initial ten-track album was primarily bossa nova while the encore album a couple years later delved into a wide variety of Latin American music. Both are at the highest level of exciting music-making, and t he interplay of the two guitars provides a stereo delight.

Engineer Phil Edwards has been held in high regard by jazz-loving audio buffs ever since the first several Concord Jazz LPs were first made available. Many place him on a level with Rudy Van Gelder in being able to capture the most impactful and perfectly balanced sound out of the performers. The fact that a number of the Concord original masters have now been reissued by other audiophile labels attests to their high sonic standing, and Concord has just announced that 30 of their top titles will soon be issued on SACD.

One of those previous reissues was the DVD-A stereo release of the Brazilian Soul session, which we previously reviewed (check the site search engine). I couldn’t resist comparing that 96K reissue to this new Concord standard 44.1K reissue. I was surprised to find that when both were played on my DVD-A player, a Toshiba 5700 without any internal mods, they sounded almost identical, with only a subtly extended high end on the DVD-A. But when the 44.1 CD was played on my highly-modded Sony 9000ES it actually sounded superior to the 96K DVD-A on the Toshiba! There was more gutsy presence to the guitar strings and everything sounded considerably more lively, with increased depth to the soundstage. (And this double CD is less expensive than the single DVD-A.) Just goes to show the quality of playback equipment is as important as it ever was in spite of the new hi-res formats.

- John Sunier

 

Dave Brubeck Quartet - Park Avenue South - Telarc CD-83570:

Well, that’s certainly a CD title with more of a ring to it than “Starbucks South NYC,” but the fact is this session was recorded live at a Starbucks on Park Avenue in July of last year, and is not the first live album to be recorded at a coffee house by any means. (For Marian McPartland’s recent live album taped at a New Jersey Chinese restaurant the owners had to do without a few of their customer’s tables that night so there was room to cram in the piano, bass and drums.) Some of this album’s stimulating brew (as Brubeck himself calls it in his notes) was rehearsed early in the morning as New Yorker’s hurriedly grabbed their coffees to get a jump start on their workday. For example, he chose On the Sunny Side of the Street to give them a cheerful little lift on their way. The jazz piano master explains that this was certainly a unique and challenging venue for both the musicians and engineers. They had to contend with the street noises, the subway sounds, the passersby ogling them in the glass windows. The sonic results were worth it. While not as percussively dynamic as of yore, Brubeck is still a master of imaginative, classically influenced harmonic improvisation. As Ellington would have done, he wrote some new works especially for this appearance. Elegy honors a Norwegian woman who was a vital supporter of jazz in her country, and Crescent City Stomp is a rollicking tribute to the spirit of New Orleans. Bobby Militello is in the reedman role of the late Paul Desmond, and it’s nice to hear him turn to flute on one of the tracks. Which are: On the Sunny Side of the street, Love for Sale, Elegy, Don’t Forget Me, Love is Just Around the Corner, On a Slow Boat to China, I Love Vienna, Crescent City Stomp, Take Five, Show Me the Way to Go Home.

- John Henry

 

Doug Lawrence - Street Wise - (Lawrence, tenor sax; Dan Trudell, B3; Ray Macchiarola, guitar; George Fludas, drums) Alltribe Records ATR0723:

Lawrence has been a member of the Smithsonian Jazz Orchestra, the Count Basie Orchestra, The Mel Lewis Orchestra and his own band, as well as appearing on over 100 records. Definitely a street-wise jazz man. His quartet is a sumptuous example of the B3-based format which has come back into the jazz mainstream with a vengeance. It never really went away in the “chitlin’ circuit” but the current mode is a bit less of an aggressively blues-based honking approach. That doesn’t mean Lawrence and his cohorts don’t swing ferociously on all seven of these tracks. He does a raunchy solo on Brother Jack McDuff’s Mellow Gravy but he can also wax Coltrane-like harmonies in an unexpected version of Hello Young Lovers. As so many other excellent players are finding, you don’t need to be on a major label to make an important contribution to recorded jazz and even have a chance at getting a spot in the charts! Tracks: Say Little Mama Say, Mellow Gravy, Mr. Clean, A Portrait of Jenny, What For, Spanyola, Hello Young Lovers.

 

Scolohofo - oh! (Joe Lovano, tenor & sop. Sax; John Scofield, guitar; Dave Holland, bass; Al Foster, drums) Blue Note 7243 5 42081 2 6:

Well, these cats are on a major label and the charts. The mouthful of a moniker is made up from the names of the four illustrious members of the quartet - get it? Each of them have established themselves as highly original composers, soloists, bandleaders and sidemen and the idea here is that they bring together their uniquenesses to create an exciting New Thing. It’s a true collective and they all have great admiration for one another’s talents. The booklet photos show oiled cables, direct boxes and other recording paraphernalia not usually exposed to outsiders. Lovano is just about the most creative and capable saxist on the jazz scene today- he makes a perfect center for this quartet. Three of the members contribute three of the 11 tunes each, and Foster contributes two. So all of the music originates from within the quartet. They were recorded live to two-track with no overdubs. Superb, improvisationally-searching modern jazz that occasionally skirts free-jazz regions but retains enough straight-aheadness to keep even conservative ears listening.

Tracks: Oh!, Right About Now, The Winding Way, Bittersweet, Short Form, New Amsterdam, In Your Arms, The Dawn of Time, Brandyn, Faces, Oh I See.

- John Henry

 

Does this next pair belong in the Jazz section? But if not, where?...

Orlando Consort & Perfect Houseplants - Extempore II - Harmonia mundi 907319: [Note: Not Released Until May 13!]

Described as “A modern Mass for the Feast of St. Michael, based on the medieval melody L’home armé.” we have here an intriguing crossover blend of medieval polyphony with both composed and improvised jazz. The Orlandos are an early music vocal quartet consisting of a countertenor, two tenors and a baritone. Perfect Houseplants (see our previous review in the Hi-Res section of their Linn SACD) is a British jazz quartet made up of a reed player, pianist, bassist and drums/electric percussion. The notes point out that medieval music and jazz share the use of improvisation as their life blood. The Orlando Consort welcomed this project to stretch out notions of authenticity and early music performance practice in its reconstruction of a mass. The melody used was probably the basis of the most so-called “parody masses” of the medieval period - a then-popular polyphonic musical form. The simple tune is translated “The Armed Man” and composers created variations on it in their masses - audiences would instantly recognize its various appearances without difficulty. The connection with St. Michael comes from the idea that the identity of The Armed Man is often shown in paintings of the period as St. Michael - the warrior angel who fought Satan in the form of a dragon in Revelations.

There are 23 sections to the mass. Some sound like normal medieval polyphony, some have an undercurrent of jazz accompaniment, and in some the two quartets really try to outdo one another in invention and ingenuity - just as the composers of the parody masses did. As with many listeners, I tend to find a little early polyphony goes a long ways with me, but due to the ever-creative improvisation element brought to the forefront in this collaboration, I was listening more deeply into the music and enjoying it a great deal more. It definitely calls for repeat listening, and the crystalline sonics make that a pleasure to do.

 

Stefano di Battista, soprano & alto sax (with Eric Legnini, piano; Rosario Bonaccorso, bass; Andre Ceccarelli, drums; Les Archets de Paris Orchestra/Vince Mendoza) - Blue Note 243 542406 2 1:

This pop-jazz excursion with classical and movie-music overtones seems a departure for Blue Note. In fact on the soprano sax tracks it may remind some of (pardon the expression) Kenny G.’s CDs. But it’s quite a level above that - a beautifully-arranged (by Mendoza) tribute to the saxist’s birthplace of Rome and its history. Di Battista played in the quartet of the late pianist Michel Petrucciani, toured with Elvin Jones and also performed regularly in Paris. The haunting and nostalgic arrangements and the focus on the famous city reminded me occasionally of Michael Legrand’s first big hit album, I Love Paris. There’s a Nino Rota film music theme, Tchaikovsky’s Romeo & Juliet main theme, and some originals in a similar ultra-romantic vein. Great dinner jazz listening. Tracks: Anastasia, Amoroso, Tararuga, Romeo & Juliet, The Other Side, Arabesque, Roma Antica, The Next Nine Hours.

- John Sunier

 

Dino Saluzzi, bandoneon - Responsorium (with Jose Maria Saluzzi, acoustic guitar; Palle Danielsson, bass) - ECM 1816:

Bandoneonist Saluzzi has been recording for Manfred Eicher’s ECM label since 1982. Considered the greatest living master of the instrument, he is naturally influenced heavily by the tango and especially Piazzolla’s tango nuevo variety, but his improvisations also partake of elements from many other “root sounds,” including folk melodies and music of Native Americans, as well as European classical and jazz. His music was an important part of the soundtrack to Almodovar’s 1999 film All About My Mother. To open up the music of Responsorium Saluzzi invited into his musical world someone from another musical culture - Stockholm bassist Palle Danielsson. Playing with Saluzzi’s son José, the bass and guitar together provide a fascinating improvisational response to the Argentine flavored bandoneon lines. While not all of the nine tracks are based in the tango, most of them are embedded with what one writer referred to as “the unique sadness of tango.” Extremely evocative sounds that communicate with the listener more directly than some of ECM’s distinctive but unclassifiable non-classical chamber music. Tracks: A mi hermano Celso, Monica, Responso por la muerte de Cruz, Dele...Don!!, Reprise: Los hijos de Fierro, La pequena historia de...!, Cuchara, Vienen del sur los recuerdos, Pampeana Mapu.

- John Henry

 

Stefon Harris, vibes - The Grand Unification Theory - Blue Note 32498:

Harris has made quite a splash with his earlier small-group recordings, showing plenty of promise as the leading young upstart vibist. Which is nice since we’re lost some of the oldest-generation masters such as Lionel Hampton and Milt Jackson. This is his first large-group effort, with a dozen players and entirely original music from his own pen. Harris certainly can’t be accused of thinking too small - his 11-movement suite is based on the Big Bang Theory of physics. It asserts that the four major forces in the universe - gravitational, electromagnetic, weak and strong nuclear - are actually all the same force but acting at different energy levels. Harris says the various movements express varying elements of his life.

One listening shows that Harris’ life doesn’t consist of sitting around thinking about arcane theories: For example, The Velvet Couch is a down and-dirty soul-jazz excursion - with a catchier melodic hook than much of the rest of the suite, which sometimes ventures into dissonance. Some sections are in a Latin bag, while others partake of African chants and drum rhythms, and there’s a few really wailing blues. Harris’ orchestration talents may be more advanced than his compositional acumen - there are splendid textures of brass vs. woodwinds behind his soaring vibe solos. Contributions to the often sensual sounds come from Harris switching occasionally to the marimba, the presence of a flute in the ensemble, and the percussion lineup including a symphonic tympani. Listing the tracks won’t mean much, what with titles like “Morph,” “Rebirth,” and “Intro to Epilogue.”

- John Henry

 

Jane Bunnett - Cuban Odyssey - Blue Note 41992:

Toronto-based flutist-saxist Bunnett and her trumpeter husband Larry Cramer have been carrying on a continuing cross-cultural musical exchange with Cuba for 20 years now - oddly without the media attention that Ry Cooder’s recent efforts have received. Bunnett has a strong affinity for the folk melodies and rhythms of the island and has been recording with both legendary and new Cuban musicians. Her album of some years back soloing on flute: “Jane Bunnett & The Cuban Piano Masters” (World-Pacific) is one of my personal favorites. The new CD differs from her previous explorations of Cuban music because they ventured outside Havana into the various provinces, which each have their own styles of son, danzon, bolero and other folk forms. Even though the musicians are from outside of Havana, the level of musicianship is high - probably due to there being 25 music conservatories around the country. The 11 tracks are less jazz-flavored than her previous albums; closer to the Buena Vista Social Club sound but more diverse. One of the three ensembles with which she performs is just bare-bones drums and voices.

- John Henry

 

John Pizzarelli Trio - Live at Birdland - Telarc Jazz 2CD-83577:

I have to admit when Bucky Pizzarelli’s son first began to concentrate on being a vocalist I decried the loss of a terrific family jazz guitar duo, just as I had wished George Benson never started singing and fans of the unique jazz piano stylings of Nat Cole were probably sorry he became a singer. Now after spending two hours and 12 minutes with John and his Trio I take it all back - he’s wonderful, quite an entertainer. I was amazed to see this album celebrates the Tenth Anniversary of his Trio, and he’s obviously got both his singing - and on the several instrumental solos his guitar-picking - honed to high perfection. Not to mention his running commentary and stories between tunes, which really is a delight and not the usual Vegas-style stuff. Finding some original Gershwin scores at the Library of Congress, Dizzy Gillespie and Rosemary Clooney are among his story subjects, and he does some short and effective impersonations of fellow singers. His sparkling pianist is Ray Kennedy, who does some fine arrangements, and I presume bassist Martin Pizzarelli is his brother. Piazzarelli’s light, casual, and non-theatrical singing style has echos for me of Michael Franks, Bob Dorough and Dave Frishberg. But the ladies will probably find him sexier than any of those. He doesn’t write a lot of tunes though, as do the above; a long paean to New Jersey and a short one to Rhode Island are his major works here.

Including the tracks for the frequent stories, there are 36 tracks on these two CDs. The tunes are: Just You Just Me, The Frim Fram Sauce, The Song is You, Isn’t It a Pity?, Rhode Island, Gospel Truth, Tea for Tatum, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight, Mean Old Man, Manhattan, Moonlight Becomes You, Will You Still Be Mine?, Three Little Words, They Can’t Take That Away from Me, Oh How My Heart Beats for You, The Day I Found You, It’s Only a Paper Moon, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Better Run Before It’s Spring, Headed Out to Vera’s, Medley, I Like Jersey Best, My Castle’s Rockin,’ Baby Just Come Home to Me.

- John Henry

 

Brother Jack McDuff - The Best of the Concord Years - Concord Jazz CCD2 2171-2 (2 CDs):

B3 giant Jack McDuff died at the age of 74 a couple years, and Concord has put together this collection of 18 of his best sides as tribute. They range back to l992 and include not only his own hot little band but such guest lights as George Benson, Gene Harris, Red Holloway, Pat Martino, Grady Tate and fellow B3-er Joey DeFrancesco. McDuff always strove to keep it simple and funky - James Brown was one of his heros. The blues was the strong element of his style and the basic B3 combo of organ, guitar, and drums was at the heart of his bands. DeFrancesco is greatly influenced by McDuff’s approach and one of the tracks, from the l996 Concord Jazz Festival, is a battle of the B3s with both keyboardists. Some tracks show a strong gospel music influence and McDuff didn’t rule out pop music such as the Mission: Impossible theme. With the many different session sources, this album has a much more varied sound than his previous complete albums. And the sonic quality of CD mastering has improved in the past decade as well. Well-recorded B3s prove that it isn’t only pipe organ that can rattle those home theater subwoofers!

- John Henry

 

The Dixieland Ramblers - Live and Lighting It Up in New Orleans - Summit Records DCD 350:

While the Dixieland Ramblers specialize in concise ensemble interplay on the traditional New Orleans favorites, they branch out on this live session into more straight-ahead jazz circles. Actually it wasn’t even recorded in New Orleans proper but across the river in the town of Algiers, LA, following a recording session in a N.O. studio earlier that same day. Just like the heyday of trad jazz in the river city, these musicians just can’t stop. And this sextet is good! The larger framework adds a lot of interest; tunes such as the classic bit of exotica Hindustan take on more of a small group swing sound than Dixieland, which is fine with me. The band obviously had a ball and so will you. Tracks: Hindustan, Milneburg Joys, Chinatown My Chinatown, I’m Confessin,’ Muskrat Ramble, That’s-a Plenty, Royal Garden Blues, Clarinet Marmalade, Basin Street Blues, Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans?

- John Henry

 

Hiromi - Another Mind (piano - with Mitch Cohn, bass; Dave DiCenso, drums; guests: Anthony Jackson, bass; Jim Odgren, alto sax; Dave Fiuczynski, guitar) - Telarc Jazz CD-83558:

This wasn’t at all what I had expected. I failed to notice it was a Telarc Jazz release and from the cover art expected some typical Japanese New Age piano meanderings that I would probably be pressing the Open button on halfway thru. Was I wrong! Hiromi Uehara is an important new jazz keyboard prodigy of great originality. She entered the Yamaha Music School when she was only six and doesn’t look much over 16 now. He has already toured the world and been mentored by both Oscar Peterson and Ahmed Jamal, and she deserves it. The nine tracks here are all her originals, and they range from lightly swinging tuneful numbers thru driving straight ahead jazz to Cecil Taylor-like keyboard fullscale attacks. Wow! I’m floored. Tracks: XYZ, Double Personality, Summer Rain, Joy, 010101, Truth and Lies, Dancando No Paraiso, Another Mind, The Tom and Jerry Show.

Here are reissues of two favorites of Marian McPartland’s long-running NPR radio series Piano Jazz...

Dave Brubeck, guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz - the Jazz Alliance TJA-12043-2:
Dizzy Gillespie, guest on Marian McPartland’s Piano Jazz - the Jazz Alliance TJA-12042-2:

McPartland, probably the premiere female jazz pianist playing today, has been hosting her weekly Piano Jazz radio series for over 20 years now and has had as guests just about all the well-known keyboardists and many newer names. Some time ago she also branched out into other instrumentalists and singers. Many of the best broadcasts are available from the Jazz Alliance, which is associated with Concord Jazz. These recent reissues have been re-mastered and the sound is cleaner than on the original series.

The Brubeck visit dates from 1984, and the warm and personalable style of conversation heard on all the programs is immediately noticed. McPartland elicits a short overview of Brubeck’s career, which began with studies with composer Darius Milhaud. The conversation is balanced by the music on the program, as Dave solos in some of his works, including a very classical Polytonal Blues. There is also generally one McPartland solo - and it is normally one of her own compositions. The highlights of nearly every program are the two-piano efforts played with the guest pianist. In the Brubeck hour the two play six duets, including a rollicking St. Louis Blues. McPartland always identifies which performer is heard on the right channel and which on the left. Great music and great conversation.

Dizzy Gillespie was always a great pianist as well as Flugelhorn virtuoso, which most of his fans may not know. He even did at least one all-piano album. Now that he’s gone he is best remembered for having changed the course of jazz. His witty and ebullient personality is a fine match for McPartland on this show from l985, and before long Diz is taking the role of instructor and teaching Marian (and us) his unique method of giving forward momentum to chord progressions and how to develop good rhythms. In between the lessons and the fun conversation the two pianists do five duos, including a lovely ‘Round Midnight. They are not all two pianos - on two of them Diz picks up his trumpet and joins Marian on In a Mellow Tone, followed by Lullaby of the Leaves. If you dig either of these, the recent Piano Jazz reissue series also includes programs with Bill Evans, Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea and Carmen McRae.

- John Henry

 

Trumpet and French horn are in the spotlight on our last two jazz discs this month...

Greg Glassman Quartet - Onward and Upward (Glassman, trumpet; Dave Pier, keyboards; Danton Boller, bass; Quincy Davis, drums; guests: Donald Walden, tenor sax; Bryan Carrott, vibes) Soluna Records SOL302022:

NYC Trumpeter Glassman is only 25, has studied with Roland Hanna and Antonio Hart and played with Roswell Rudd, Wynton Marsalis and other top names. His quartet does a weekly jam session at an East Village hangout. Six of the nine tunes here are by Glassman and he also did all the arrangements. He has a pleasing tone and delivery and the rhythmic element is especially strong in most of the music. This might be due to his having performed and recorded in many other genres outside of jazz, including hip-hop, ska, reggae, soul and Latin music. The repertory is right up to the minute, but stops short of the loft-jazz area and remains strongly tonal. Glassman is surely one of the up and coming young jazz lions. Saxist Walden guests on two tracks and vibist Carrott on two others. Tracks are: Lenox Avenue, May Day, TGV, Tashi, Man Among Men, War and Peace, Rowe Chapel Hymn, Middle Passage, If I Had You.

 

John Graas, Fr. horn - “International Premiere in Jazz” - West Coast All Star Ninetet in Jazz Chaconne No. 1; German Festival Sym. Orch. plus guests from The Erwin Lehn Band in Jazz Symphony No. 1 - Andex/V.S.O.P. 65CD (mono):

There haven’t been very many jazz French horn players. The instrument is difficult enough on which to play classical, let alone the challenges of jazz improvisation! Graas was one of the best, and in l958 recorded his two works which are really not horn concertos but in which his voice is just one of the ensemble. The Ninetet personnel reads like a roll call of West Coast jazz players of the era: Art Pepper, Jack Sheldon, Bob Enevoldsen, Buddy Collette, Bill Perkins, Red Mitchell among them. The Chaconne is in three movements with plenty of almost Bachian counterpoint. The attractive classical/jazz chamber texture reminds me of some other works of the same period such as “Adoration of the Muses.”

The Jazz Symphony is a similar work on a larger scale which develops Graas’ lovely melodies more extensively than does the Chaconne. A septet of jazz soloists provide the “concertino” vs. the full symphony orchestra behind them. Both of these works have long struck me as some of the most successful “third stream” music penned - long before the term was used. My LP of both has been with me all these years and is fairly scratchy by now. What I didn’t notice was the distortion on the second side containing the Jazz Symphony which is definitely hearable on this reissue CD. Perhaps the surface noise obscured it, or it is due to deterioration of the master tape over the ensuing years. The additional available time on the CD allowed for the inclusion of tour alternate takes from the Jazz Chaconne studio session.

- John Henry