The Daily Jazz

Blowing In From Chicago

2007-02-21T06:30:00.000Z

CLIFFORD JORDAN & JOHN GILMORE
Blowing In From Chicago

Blue Note 1549
Recorded March 3rd 1957

Side One

1. Status Quo
2. Bo-Till
3. Blue Lights

Side Two

1. Billie's Bounce
2. Evil Eye
3. Everywhere

Oh you lucky, lucky people! Yes, the daily jazz has returned for another stab, and with what a gem! This 1957 LP on the Blue Note 1500 series is unusual for many reasons, featuring as it does two tenors together. Not only that, but the Chicago school (in the case of Jordan and Gilmore) and the New York set (in the shape of a superlative rhythm section - Art Blakey, Horace Silver and Curly Russell) collide in a high energy hard bop spectacular.

It's also one of the very few (the only?) place where you'll hear John Gilmore playing it straight. This would have been recorded near the beginning of his extended tenure with Sun Ra's various groups so is a great chance to hear him just blowing, unencumbered by his bandleader's more unusual compositions.

The music is unreconstructed hard bop, often at a furious pace (see today's audio clip, 'Status Quo', for an example), very much in the style of hard bop innovators like the jazz messengers. In some respects it sounds a little dated for 1957. The sound quality isn't as good as some RVGs either, though perhaps my thin-vinyl 80s repressing is to blame for that. In any case, it's recently had a reissue on Blue Note's ever expanding RVG series, so you can decide for yourselves. See, I told you you were lucky, lucky people!

John Coltrane - Live At The Village Vanguard Again

2006-11-23T18:04:00.000Z

'Live At The Village Vanguard Again' is the stub of a (lost) longer recording of a 1966 show featuring Trane, Pharoah Sanders on tenor and flute, Alice Coltrane on piano, and Jimmy Garrisson and Elvin Jones on bass and drums as usual. Oh, and Emanuel Rahim on percussion, too. What fascinates me about these late Coltrane live recordings is the raw emotion, and this record is no exception.

Without a doubt the main attraction here is the contrasting styles of Trane and Sanders, best seen on 'Naima'. To Trane, this has always been a lush ballad, expressing the deep gratitude he felt towards his ex-wife, the woman that he credited with saving him from drug addiction in the late 1950s. So he plays his heart out - I never fail to be moved by the way he plays this piece. Sanders had no such concerns though, and takes the piece somewhere much darker during his extended solo. Reflecting perhaps the darker side of Trane's emotional state in those late days, Sanders sounds almost to be in tears, his tenor audibly wailing. Sanders clearly felt very much in debt to Trane (as did many of his generation) and went on to show his gratitude with a fine reading of 'Naima' in the 1980s (on his LP 'Africa', on Timeless records).

Next up is 6 minutes of Garrisson playing solo as the introduction to a surprising version of 'My Favourite Things'. One associates late period Trane with the free-noise assaults of 'Ascension' and 'Om' but this piece opens with a funky Garrisson backing up a sweetly melodic Trane on soprano. Things soon take a turn for the bizarre as Trane gets further out, but the band never lose the plot, there is always a rhythmic thread. Sanders is effective on flute, adding texture and colour behind the soaring Coltrane.

Alice Coltrane was well in the band by this time, but she was still developing as a player at this time and often sounds like she's in another band, her clumsy block chords no match for the virtuosity going on right next to her on stage. Better was to come from her, and soon - see her gutsy piano playing on 'Gospel Trane' from her LP 'A Monastic Trio' for example.

Alan Silva - Skilfullness

2006-11-22T16:56:00.000Z

Alan Treadwell DaSilva played bass on a number of noteworthy recordings during the 1960s, including Cecil Taylor's mighty 'Unit Structures' and Albert Ayler's impulse! recordings from the Village Vanguard. He was heavily involved in the whole Paris scene of 1969-1970, and it was there that he recorded the first album under the name of the Celestial Communication Orchestra, 'Luna Surface' on BYG. The music on that record was captured as part of the mammoth session from 13th-18th August 1969 that also featured such major names in the avant-garde as Archie Shepp, Anthony Braxton, Lester Bowie and Sunny Murray (as well as some very unusual names indeed - step forward, Philly Joe Jones and Hank Mobley).

1970 saw Silva on ESP records with the release of 'Skillfulness'. This time around the group featured less well-known but still excellent musicians, particularly Karl Berger on vibes. The album features only two tracks, both occupying a single side of vinyl. The meat of the sandwich is definitely the title track that runs for 20-odd minutes on side A. If you click on the link through to the review of 'Luna Surface', you'll see that reviewer mention this track also and describe it as 'skull-crushing'. I'm not sure I agree. 'Solestrial' on side 2 is certainly made up of free-noise, but 'Skilfullness' is much friendlier than that - one could almost call it intimate. Once you get past the dissonance and strange shrieks of Silva's violin, you'll notice that the piece is actually made up of a series of duets between Silva and usually just one of his sidemen. The highlights for me are the intricate interplay between Silva and Berger around the 11-minute mark, and the smooth lines of Becky Friend on flute that contrast with Silva's urgent, high-pitched piano style (he is heard on violin, cello and piano on this track).

ESP releases are known for their uncompromising freedom, and this album is no exception. The label was set up in 1965 and is still going, with many of it's past releases still available on CD - this album being no exception. Have a look!

ESP records

Alan Silva's 'Skilfullness' at ESP records

I Get The Message

2006-11-16T22:39:00.000Z

Don't worry guys, I've got the message. I was just looking at my traffic, and once again I see that the hits per day have dropped by about 50% after posting about Weather Report. I won't do it again, I promise.

Stormy Weather

2006-11-13T07:08:00.000Z

I got into Weather Report in totally the reverse order. Growing up, my dad often played 'Heavy Weather', with the track 'Birdland' being a particular favourite. For those that don't know, this album was the band's commercial peak, and in sound is pretty typical of where jazz fusion was in 1977. Anyway, from these inauspicious beginnings, with an inkling that the earlier stuff was supposed to be better, I found my way to 'Mysterious Traveller' from 1974. This was more like it - dark and slippery with a real sense of funk. Now I could see that this was the band based around the same guys that made Miles' 'In A Silent Way' so special (Joe Zawinul wrote the original version of the title track). 'I Sing The Body Electric' is even earlier, 1972 to be exact. This is pretty much the original WR of Zawinul on keys, Wayne Shorter on saxes and Miroslav Vitous on bass. Word is that Vitous' influence gave the music a harder edge, and that is certainly true of the track I'd like to mention today. I haven't previously thought of WR being about anything other than complex, slowly developing tunes. Intensity is not a word that I've associated with their output - until now.

Side two of the album contains edited versions of a performance in Japan that was later released in full (in 1977) as 'Live In Tokyo'. First up is a medley of pieces - 'Vertical Invader', 'T.H.' and 'Dr. Honoris Causa'. What strikes you from the opening drum solo to the final, distorted electric piano notes is the incredible level of energy. The story goes that the band found the Japanese audiences on that particular tour to be such good listeners that they felt they could "...hit 'em hard, right from the first note" - and that's what happens. The intensity of the first section, 'Vertical Invader' is unsurpassed in their catalogue. Zawinul's rhodes is so heavily distorted that at first listen you would swear you'd just heard a guitar player start up. Only in the higher notes does it sound like an electric piano. It's not all fire and brimstone, though. The same section of track is also marked by some superb interplay between Zawinul and Shorter, both improvising with great inspiration. Zawinul plays especially well, using single lines in the most part, like a horn player. This approach also brings to mind a soloing guitarist, adding to the feeling that there's an uncredited guitar player in the band. Throughout the whole thing the rhythm section keep up a tight, fast and furiously funky groove, Vitous driving them forward with abandon. The overall effect is intoxicating and unsettling - stormy weather indeed.

It would be great to hear more, and of course you can by getting hold of a copy of 'Live In Tokyo', which I shall be doing very soon I think. If you have any interest at all in WR, please have a look at Weather Report: The Annotated Discography which is an example to all of us who have tried to put together artist-orientated websites.

Butter or Jam?

2006-11-12T08:33:00.000Z

This cover has little going for it, although it's not bad considering the period and style of music. The question is, though - what's Pharoah got on his toast?

While you're puzzling that out, check out 'Pharomba' on the radio (you know the drill - main page, right hand column, click the track names to play), and for more commentary on that, see yesterday's post.

Pharoah Sanders - Love Will Find A Way

2006-11-11T09:37:00.000Z

Way back in december last year I reviewed Pharoah's 1976 LP 'Pharoah'. I noted that it was, by and large, a laid back funky slice of post free-jazz that was worth a listen. One well-known track on this album is 'Love Will Find A Way', and this is the name of his 1978 album on the Arista record label.

I don't know if it's the major label influence, or the march of time (remember that other ex-free jazzers were mellowing around the same time - like this and this), but this is Pharoah's most commercial album so far. That is not a criticism - in fact there is plenty to enjoy here. The first track to grab my attention was a cover of Marvin Gaye's soul hit 'Got to give it up'. It's in no way free-jazz, but what it is is tight and funky. It's more of an ensemble piece than a vehicle for Pharoah's blowing - the horn and rhythm sections play incredibly well here. Pharoah comes out for pretty much only one solo, but rather than breathing fire he chooses to express his energy inside the groove and comes over a bit like Maceo Parker. Only in the dying seconds of the track are some trademark squeals heard, as the music fades. It's as if Pharoah was placing his free days firmly in the past.

Elsewhere, most of the tracks have a latin feel, with smooth production and female vocals giving them a real mainstream feel. Again, that's not a bad thing. There's still some of the meditative quality that was to be found on Pharoah - especially on the title track. It's been radically rearranged since 76's simple format - all lush strings and heavenly choirs, but Pharoah takes a solo that is so heartfelt that you are immediately reassured that his new commercial style is in no way a sell out. Also good is 'Pharomba', which is reminiscent of some of Gato Barbieri's impulse! recordings from the early 70's. I've always thought that the Argentinian tenor comes across like a latin Pharoah Sanders on some of these recordings, and here Pharoah does exactly that.

By the way, the image above is of the rear sleeve. I love that photo, since seeing it on the cover of a recent double album retrospective of Pharoah's work titled 'You've Got To Have Freedom', which I have reproduced below. I haven't bought the album as I've got pretty much everything on it already, but if you're new to Sanders' music then it would be a very good place to start.

Bill Dixon - Intents and Purposes

2006-11-06T07:20:00.000Z

I'm unsure what attracts me towards free jazz sometimes. There's the unbridled creativity, of course, and the 'living-in-the-moment' spontaneity that I try to live by myself. But that doesn't change the fact that much of it sounds just plain odd. I'm a fan of unusual instrumentation (see the recent post about Dorothy Ashby for example) so was delighted to pick up this Bill Dixon album. It's credited to the Bill Dixon orchestra, which tells you a lot already about the instrumentation. There's a horn section - Dixon himself on trumpet and flugelhorn, then a couple of reeds (alto sax, bass clarinet) and a couple of brass (bass trombone, english horn) - that's hardly conventional, as well as a cello, bass and various percussion. It's looking pretty odd already, and that's before you consider Dixon's arrangements.

Arrangements? Yes, despite being loosely attached to the free-jazz genre, Dixon's music is much more considered than that genre suggests. Of note is the presence of several bass instruments on these pieces - as a result the music often has a dark, brooding quality (once again at odds with the preconceived ideas that people have about free music). Dixon's music is always full of space, and his improvisational style reminds me a little of contemporary Don Cherry, although perhaps a little more considered - maybe with a splash of 'In A Silent Way'-era Miles?

Dixon was arguably one of the main driving forces behind the development of free jazz. After meeting Cecil Taylor (recording with him on 'Conquistador!'), Dixon became involved with the free jazz community and funded (although didn't play with) The New York Contemporary Five. He also briefly played in a quartet with Archie Shepp that released one album in 1962. Despite these associations though, Dixon went very much his own way in terms of his recordings. After this album was released in 1967, he didn't record again until 1980, but has been a regular in the studio since then. He favours smaller groups now, but the brooding atmosphere of 'Intents...' remains thanks to his use of two basses on many recordings.

Dixon's discography can be found here although many of his recordings are difficult to find.

Dorothy Ashby - Soul Vibrations

2006-11-04T20:26:00.000Z

Something of a pioneer of the harp as a jazz instrument, Dorothy Ashby was born plain Dorothy Thompson in Detroit in 1932. Somehow she managed to overcome the resistance of fellow jazz musicians (might have had something to do with going to the same school as Donald Byrd and Kenny Burrell) and made herself a household name in her native city, even presenting a radio show in the 1960s. Her recorded output includes several albums for Prestige in the late 50s/early 60s, one of which, 1958's In a minor groove becoming critically acclaimed.

As the sixties went on, many bop players started to look for inspiration from othe styles, including popular music, soul and gospel. And the result of Dorothy Ashby's excursions into these genres was 1968's 'Afro-Harping' - a soulful and thoroughly contemporary take on her original, bop-influenced style. Original is a word that will always be used to describe her playing - the harp is a strange bedfellow for most modern jazz styles (perhaps suited mainly to the sort of spiritual free-jazz that was Alice Coltrane's forte).

"Soul Vibrations" is the lead track from this LP, and immediately on hearing it one can spot it's many influences. The backing has a strong soul music feel and the string introduction lends an eerie feeling that is in keeping with Ashby's following minor-key solo. Apart from a string break about half-way through, pretty much the whole track is dedicated to Ashby's soloing. She never seems to dominate - perhaps because of how low she is in the mix. It works, but I'm not sure this was the effect that Ashby herself would have wanted, having held her own with hard bop giants like Roy Haynes and Richard Davis. I just get the feeling that she ought to have sounded louder. In addition to the soul feel, the strings lend a soundtrack-like feel - to me it brings to mind that tense moment just before a chase - perhaps the hero of the tale is becoming paranoid that he is being followed. The otherworldly sound of the harp is perfect in this context, and makes the piece considerably more unusual and memorable than many of the period. And of course, there is a strong jazz feel in Ashby's solos that give it some real bop credibility (thus keeping the critics happy).

Brad Mehldau - Day Is Done

2006-10-09T21:25:00.000+01:00

The Bop guys had no problem in plundering contemporary popular music for source material, so it's a mystery why many players keep on rehashing the same old stuff in the 21st century. I mean, bop happened 60 years ago - a lot of water has gone under the bridge since then, including the whole rock era - so why is it still odd for a mainstream jazz artist to dip their toe into music written after 1950?

That might be a bit of an exaggeration, but it's certainly a thought that comes to mind when listening to 'Knives Out', the opening track on this, pianist Brad Mehldau's 13th album. Released in 2005, the album is one his most energetic, as evidenced by the opener. In the hands of Radiohead it was yet another piece of minor-chord introspection, but the unusual chord structures make a fine vehicle for solo improvisation. The tension in the harmonic structure of the piece is palpable from the off. Mehldau plays it pretty straight to begin with (if that is possible) before shattering preconceptions in a sustained and intense bout of soloing that lasts for most of the track's 8 1/2 minute length.

It's a hard act to follow - the highlight of the album in many ways - but there is much to enjoy later on. The two Lennon-McCartney compositions come off well - 'Martha My Dear' is pretty much dismantled and put back together again in a virtuoso solo piano performance, while 'She's Leaving Home' is pleasant enough, in keeping with the original's wistful mood. Paul Simon's 'Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover' also gets the dismantling treatment, though this time it's a group effort with Meldhau and the rhythm section sparring on the theme for much of the piece.

Jeff Ballard on drums is worth a mention. His playing is satisfyingly complex, driving and polyrhtymic at the same time. It's a particular joy to hear him playing quietly, tapping out ever-changing rhythms on the hi-hat, or gently using brushes. He doesn't get a lot of solo space, but all that needs be done is to focus on his playing at any point to hear his improvisational qualities.

Audio Problems

2006-10-05T10:20:00.000+01:00

Apologies if you've been trying to listen to the Radical Reconstructive Surgery track on the radio player. For some reason that I can't seem to fathom it's playing at the wrong speed. You'll have to mentally convert it from 45rpm to 33 1/3 rpm for now, until I can get to the bottom of this.

Radical Reconstructive Surgery

2006-10-05T06:47:00.000+01:00

This was a bit of a random purchase, but a good one all the same. It's even more surprising when you consider the background to the record. Scott Harding (aka Scotty Hard, aka Radical Reconstructive Surgery) is a Canadian born producer who spent the 80s and 90s working with some of the biggest names in hip-hop, including Biz Markie, Cypress Hill and Wu-Tang Clan. Some of that influence percolates through into his latest release on the independent Thirsty Ear label.

He's gathered together a simmering collection of talent including keyboard maestros John Medeski and Matthew Shipp. The coming together of sequenced, often heavy beats with jazz virtuosity is beautifully balanced and goes way beyond any ideas you might have about 'jazz-rap' production from previous excursions into the genre. There's a real sense of flow to the album - the tracks have been sequenced carefully to give the impression of listening to a single, constantly evolving piece of music. Opener 'Primray Humor' and the following 'St. Clare's Hospital' layer big hip-hop beats over abstract electronic sounds and some amazing piano work courtesy of Shipp. As the album continues the pace gets less frantic, the beats die down in intensity, and the funky hammond of Medeski gets a chance to shine - first dirty, as on 'Eclipse', then bluesy and funky on 'Apothecary's Cabinet'. The arrangements are constantly challenging - the beats might be sequenced, but we're not talking four-to-the-floor here, intricate rhythmic patterns are augmented and lightened by live drums and bass.

Standout track on the album, though, is the closer, 'Round 2', which sounds as pugilistic as it's title would suggest. A mid-paced grinder, it sees John Medeski playing some seriously dirty hammond, which is then further processed into a staggering wall of sound that bombards and delights in equal measure. This record really does sound like nothing else out there at the moment. It's another example of jazz innovation that totally does away with any association with bop or it's many offshoots, free-jazz included. It's still high-quality, cleverly constructed improvised music, simply with a different set of influences than those that Bird had in the late 1940s. To paraphrase Miles, 'It's about time'.

Solid Ether/Recoloured

2006-09-29T07:12:00.000+01:00

Nils Petter Molvaer - Solid Ether/Recoloured

Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer started out playing 'nu jazz' with Masqualero and went on to make his solo debut for ECM records in 1998. Solid Ether was his second solo LP in 2001.

As you might expect from the label, the style of 'Solid Ether' is, well... ethereal. Molvaer's sound owes a lot to Miles Davis circa 'In A Silent Way'. Where this album differs is in it's use of electronics - and particularly drum'n'bass on many tracks. 'Merciful' stands out, with it's melancholy female vocal. As an album, 'Solid Ether' has a very relaxed, saturday night/sunday morning feel, but can seem dull at times. Grey, even.

So it's lovely to hear 'Recoloured'. Remixed by a variety of electronic and jazz musicians, the ideas in 'Solid Ether' are given wings and the result is an album bursting with energy and colour. 'Merciful' opens in the style of the original then bursts into life with ever expanding layers of rhythm. 'Dead Indeed', in the hands of Mind over Midi, turns from Miles-goes-drum'n'bass to an extended piece of ambient acid house. But as seen by Pascal Gabriel, it's funky mid-tempo electronica. Anything goes, pretty much, and it's pulled off beautifully in most cases.

Black Fire

2006-09-27T09:28:00.000+01:00

ANDREW HILL - Black Fire

If I had to pick a favourite pianist I would find it very difficult, but Andrew Hill would have to be on the list. (the others? Herbie Hancock, definitely, and probably Tord Gustavson, too). Picking an Andrew Hill album would be even harder, so where better to start than with his 1963 Blue Note debut. Playing alongside luminaries such as Joe Henderson (tenor), Richard Davis (bass) and Roy Haynes (drums), Hill works a bop revolution starting from the inside. This is unusual for the time - most of the innovations taking place in jazz in 1963 were heading into free jazz territory.

All of the pieces have strong bop structures and melodic elements, but with Hill's characteristic unusual block chords. The harmonies have a modal feel that is reminiscent of the contemporary work of the more well-known Hancock. Opener 'Pumpkin' is a standout with it's strong tenor melody and melancholy feel. Hill's playing is at times complex but never sounds uncontrolled, even when he plays his trademark descending runs on the keyboard. These bring to mind a vision of his hands falling over each other as they run down the keyboard, but the playing is always totally accurate despite often being at odds with the accepted choice of chord. These unusual choices of chords make the music seem fresh, and give a feeling of freedom that is not dependent on abandonment of traditional notions of rhythm and harmony.

Black Fire has been reissued several times on CD, but the current Blue Note edition is a corker, with fine extra takes of 'Pumpkin' and 'Black Fire', and exquisite sound, beautifully remastered from teh original Rudy Van Gelder recordings.

Tina Brooks - Back To The Tracks

2006-08-17T15:23:00.001+01:00

Album - Back To The Tracks
Recorded - 1960

Those of you who've been reading for a while will know how much of a Tina Brooks fan i am. Very few tenormen have come close to the easy virtuosity of Harold Floyd Brooks. He recorded only a handful of times, with only 3 records as leader being released in his lifetime. 'Back To The Tracks' comes from the album of the same name, one of the many great 'lost' Blue Note LPs. This 1960 recording was slated to come out at the time and even had a catalogue number (4052) and sleeve. For some reason the release was pulled and the record didn't see the light of day until it came out in Japan in the early 1980s. I've previously written about another blue note release, Jimmy Smith's Cool Blues, that also suffered a similar fate (Brooks is featured on that LP, too). I was lucky enough to track down a recent vinyl repressing which sounds fantastic.

What marks this LP out from other Brooks releases on Blue Note is the presence of the hugely talented Jackie McLean on alto; 'Back To The Tracks' is an umptempo blues that nicely demonstrates the similarities between Brooks' and McLean's styles. Both are natural virtuosos, and despite the quick pace both create a sense of spaciousness in their playing that makes it sound easy. You know that muscians making a piece sound as easy as that just has to be very, very difficult.

Marion Brown - Exhibition

2006-08-10T14:57:00.000+01:00

Album - Marion Brown Quartet
Recorded - 1966

Thought i'd post another Marion Brown on the radio player. If you're not familiar with his work you might not appreciate how different 'Spooks' was from his usual style; fear not, as 'Exhibition' will show you the way. Instead of tight, controlled riffing, you get long sprawling solos along with a sense of formlessness created by the floaty rhythm section. That's why 'Spooks' is such a shock - subversive (in terms of being totally different from what the rest of the avant-garde were up to) and brilliant.

Marion Brown - Spooks

2006-08-09T21:13:00.000+01:00

Album - Three For Shepp
Recorded - 1966

Altoist Marion Brown came to prominence with his appearance on John Coltrane's seminal 'Ascension' in 1965, but had in fact been recording at various sessions for about a year before that famous date, mostly under the leadership of Archie Shepp. Consequently, there was a great deal of gratitude felt by Brown for Shepp, and it gave rise to this 1966 album in much the same way that Archie had recorded 'Four For Trane' in 1964.

The album consists of one side of Brown originals with the other having been written by Shepp. 'Spooks' kicks off the second side and blows Brown's tunes into the weeds. The Brown side is very much in keeping with his ESP dates - long winding pieces that develop slowly while keeping up the usual free jazz exploration. But 'Spooks' fires straight in, the staccato introductory figure sounding reminiscent of a roaring twenties hot five (Shepp was always keen to explore the history of jazz in his music). The upbeat feel and rhythmic drive continues throughout the solos; Stanley Cowell on piano in excellent form, then Grachan Moncur III on trombone and finally Brown himself in his distinctive style. Shepp doesn't play, but he doesn't need to, his personality is stamped all over the track - so it's even more of a feat that Brown manages to retain some of his style through it all.

We Love You Oscar Peterson

2006-08-04T08:03:00.000+01:00

Not sure what this is all about - read the full story at Surreality Times - but it looks as if legendary Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson is taking some stick at the moment. I can't comment on that, but it surely is a great excuse to take a look at the life of a Jazz stalwart.

Like so many Jazz musicians, Oscar showed musical ability from a young age, and had his future shaped by hardships. In Oscar's case it was tuberculosis that gave him the opportunity to develop his skills on the piano. After hearing Art Tatum (and nearly giving up, being so intimidated!) he was inspired to become a full-time jazz musician, and when he got in tow with legendary producer (and founder of Verve records) Norman Granz, he was set. Incredibly, Peterson is still going strong today despite being 80 years old and having suffered a stroke. Apparently he's still playing incredibly strongly too, as this review notes.

On record Oscar's melodic sense and lightness of touch are well known. He can come across as unassuming, but there's real passion in his playing that's unmstakable. Add to this a fearsome improvisational technique and a strong sense of rhythm and I think you've got all of the ingredients of a great pianist.

Jimmy Smith - Walk On The Wild Side

2006-08-02T19:34:00.000+01:00

Album - Bashin'
Recorded - 1962

What better for a night when I'm in a big band mood than this? Coming right at the start of Jimmy Smith's fertile association with both Verve and Oliver Nelson, this is a lesson in both arranging and solo performance. The piece splits itself into two; the first half is the slow building band section, bringing out the original melody in a tight arrangement that has moments of high brass drama interspersed between the swagger.

Jimmy bursts in at the half way point with one of his trademark descending introductions, then proceeds to redefine the role of the organ in jazz (yet again). He manages to be melodic, inventive, funky and gritty all at once, as usual. Also featured is as fine an example of Jimmy's 2-note modulating solos that you could ever wish to hear. Then we get to hear what we all came for - Jimmy playing with the band in an exciting call-and-response section that leads up to the all-horns-blazing climax. Phew!

Somehow I don't think I've done this outstanding piece of music justice. Go listen!

Any more information regarding the Jimster is best found here.

Trinidad Oil Company - Feelin' Alright

2006-08-01T21:35:00.000+01:00

Album - Blue Juice Vol. 2
Recorded - 1977

No apologies here - i'm sure some of you will complain that this "isn't jazz", but, well, it's on Blue Note, it suits my mood tonight, and that's good enough for me. The fact is that this is a damn funky take on a number by 70s rockers Traffic, played by a Dutch steel band. Now that does sound a bit odd, i'll admit, but have a listen and just try and tell me you don't like it.

It's an upbeat, funky tune that's perfect for good moods and sunny days. The first half of the track is a pretty straight take on the original, but the second half of the track is where it's at, with probably the only steel band solo anywhere in popular music. It's a proper solo, too, exploring the harmonic possibilities of the instrument as any good jazzer should.

I'd love to say more about this band but haven't found a whole lot out there. Maybe one of you knows something?

Jackie McLean - Lights Out

2006-07-30T21:51:00.000+01:00

Album - Lights Out (Also reissued on Contour, 1977)
Recorded - 1956

I'm a bit tired tonight after a busy weekend, so what better than a sultry, smoky blues to kick back to at the end of a hard day. Altoist Jackie McLean is probably best known for his Blue Note sides of the 1960s where he was instrumental in pushing the boundaries of hard bop well towards free jazz territory. But before any of that, he served his hard bop apprenticeship with towering Jazz figures like Miles Davis (on his early blue note sessions) and Charles Mingus (Pithecanthropus Erectus). While doing this he also found time to lead his own quintet on a set of sessions for Prestige that resulted in the LPs 'Lights Out' (Prestige 7035) and '4, 5 and 6' (Prestige 7048). Both albums saw a reissue as a single package titled 'Contour' in 1977, which is the record that I have in my possession.

As I said above, it's a smoky blues number, a McLean composition that is basically an extended jam. As is so often the case, the loose feel of the jam session brings out the best in all the players. Mclean is no exception, his soloing making up for what it lacks in pace with a performance full of emotion. Donald Byrd also makes a decent fist of a muted trumpet solo - quite a feat in my book. The rhythmic pairing of Doug Watkins (bass) and Art Taylor (drums) also excel in their steady yet shifting support for the soloists. Only pianist Elmo Hope lets the side down with a predictable solo that just doesn't engage my imagination as the horns did.

Anthony Braxton - Composition 8J

2006-07-28T20:57:00.000+01:00

Album - Saxophone Improvisations Series F
Recorded - 1972

There's something about the saxophone that makes it sound like the most human of instruments. Actually, writing that makes me think that the same is true of all wind instruments, and the reason for that is the breath. Breathing is fundamental to who we are, but we often fail to appreciate that. Listening to a virtuoso performance on a wind instrument reminds us of the ability of our breath to communicate enormous levels of power and emotion.

I say this in introduction to an Anthony Braxton piece, as on this particular track it is impossible to escape the breath. It's part of an album of solo saxophone performances entitled 'Saxophone Improvisations Series F' (on which it is also known by the more arcane 'NBH - 7C K7' - i've never made an attempt to understand Braxton's naming convention). Such is the intimacy of the recording that the listener can hear Braxton's breath, his fingers clacking on the keys

It has a sentimental air that suits my mood tonight (slightly spent, but content that it was all for the good). This mood is present on several other tracks on the album, along with a number of squawkers, as you might expect. There's much to admire in the piece - a definite sense of melody without a theme, for example. This approach can sound aimless in the hands of lesser talents, but in Braxton's capable hands there is a real sense that the track journeys from one melodic station to the next, quite effortlessly.

Pharoah Sanders - Village Of The Pharoahs

2006-07-26T20:27:00.000+01:00

Album - Village of The Pharoahs
Recorded - 1973

Pharoah Sanders' impulse! albums of the late 1960s and early 1970s are some of the best examples of the free jazz genre ever comitted to vinyl; from the full-on freak out of 'Izipho Zam' to the classic freedom-on-acid 'Karma' (home of 'The Creator Has A Masterplan'). 'Village of the Pharoahs' comes from the 1973 album of the same name. This was comparatively late in his impulse! career and as such is now relatively unappreciated. If anyone connected with impulse! records is reading, get this album a CD release now.

Stylistically the track leans more towards the funky free-jazz end of Sanders' style, with the addition of a mystical edge in the presence of tamboura and shakuhashi (a type of japanese flute that creates an otherworldly, ethereal sound). Bass and percussion set up a hard-edged groove over the tamboura's drone before the theme is stated by the piano. Sanders enters on soprano with a wailing melody - emboldened by this strong introduction, he goes on to play with great passion and intensity for the next 12 or so minutes. His style is instantly recognisable, the shreiks and wails associated with his music are very much in evidence, but are kept under control at all times and fit well within the confines of the ever-shifting rhthymic backing. Towards the end of the piece things get a bit quieter, with Sanders trading vocal lines with guest Sedatrius Brown. The piece closes with the tamboura and percussion of the opening section, but slowed down many times, continuing the mystical air of the piece right to the end.

In my opinion this is one of Sanders' finest moments, in terms both of his individual performance and the group dynamic (sound and feeling conveyed). It also has the distinction of being one of the only Quadrophonic records that I own, not that I have the music system to do that justice.

Candido - Thousand Finger Man

2006-07-25T16:26:00.000+01:00

Album - Thousand Finger Man/ Best of Blue Juice
Recorded - 1969

We're basking in something of a heatwave here at dailyjazz towers, so it's appropriate that my thoughts have turned to latin jazz, in the form of this gem by cuban percussionist Candido. Originally released as part of the 'Thousand Finger Man' LP in 1969, the track came to my attention as part of Blue Note's excellent 'Best of Blue juice' compilation (also good is 'Feelin Alright' by Trinidad Oil Company - in fact the whole album is great).

As a piece of percussion driven cuban jazz this track is hard to beat. It gets it's energy from the irrepresible Candido who really does live up to his 'Thousand Finger Man' monicker by playing ever more complex and detailed rhythmic patterns on his congas. As well as all that percussion, the track has a nice funky groove - a catchy horn figure is underpinned by some great organ work and one of the deepest brass sounds you're ever likely to hear on record. But it's at it's best when it's just drums, bass and some of the finest conga in the business.

Art Blakey - Noise In The Attic

2006-07-24T21:05:00.000+01:00

Album - The Complete Blue Note Recordings of Art Blakey's 1960 Jazz Messengers (also 'Like Someone In Love' Blue Note 4245)
Recorded - 1960

I haven't got long tonight so this is going to be a kind of edited review. Here goes...

Drums. Lee Morgan. Wayne Shorter. More drums. Bobby Timmons. More drums. Lots more drums. For a long time. 'Noise in the attic' indeed. Did I say it had drums? Listen to Blakey's solo - sublime...

I think that just about sums it up.

Lee Morgan - Gaza Strip

2006-07-23T19:46:00.000+01:00

Album - Indeed!
Recorded - 1956

Credited to one Owen Marshall (about whom the internet is strangely silent), 'Gaza Strip' was the first track recorded by Morgan as a leader, and was released shortly after on his first Blue Note LP. It's also notable for featuring Horace Silver, who provides his usual funky backing on piano, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. Despite being only 18, Morgan had served his apprenticeship in various groups, most notably the Jazz Messengers, and as can be heard here, was more than ready to strike out on his own (and become a hard bop legend, though that was still to come in 1956).

After Philly Joe's intro, Morgan leads off on the theme, but then lays out and lets the band do their stuff. First up is Clarence Sharpe on alto with a passably entertaining solo, but it pales in comparison with what is to come. Silver is next, sounding characteristically louche and funky - this is more like what we can expect from ex-Jazz Messengers. Finally is Morgan, blowing Sharpe into the weeds with a fiery and well-considered solo. At times he almost trips over himself, and he's obviously moving around a hell of a lot as he moves towards and away from the microphone, at times sounding as if he's heading for the back of the studio. But somehow it all stays together and he reaches the end for another statement of the theme, the listener left breathless with excitement.

I've no idea where the title of the piece comes from. Given the turbulent history of that part of the world one might expect a combative mood to the piece, but that's evident only in the way that Morgan's solo bests everyone else's. You might even expect a slight middle-eastern feel, but if it's there, I can't hear it. As usual, answers on a postcard...

Quincy Jones - Soul Bossa Nova

2006-07-22T18:43:00.001+01:00

Album - Big Band Bossa Nova

Recorded - 1962

It might be considered cheating, writing about this on a blog that celebrates spontaneous, improvised music. But when you've got talent Quincy Jones' magnitude with a host of jazz greats like Clark Terry, Paul Gonsalves, Lalo Schifrin and even Roland Kirk (yes, that Roland Kirk), then you just can't keep it down.

This track is rightly famous, having been used in various places including the 1998 world cup and the movie 'Austin Powers: International man of mystery', as well as having been sampled heavily. notably by Dream Warriors on their 1991 release, 'My Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style'. The fact that this track is so well loved is a real case of the cream rising to the top, as it's a great piece of music. Jones' tight orchestration and the irresistibe latin rhythms pull it along in the best big-band style, while it carries enough melodic hooks to drill itself into your head. In fact I've only written about it tonight as my wife has been walking about the house singing it all week, such is it's melodic insistence.

I'll say no more, it's such a well known tune that you'll all be singing it already - but if you're not then head slightly to the right and up a bit to listen to it on the radio player. Watch out for the flute solo in the second half - ohhh yesss.

Freddie Hubbard - Keep Your Soul Together

2006-07-20T20:37:00.000+01:00

Album - Keep Your Soul Together
Recorded 1973

A fine and funky bit of soul jazz from trumpeter Freddie Hubbard in 1973. Ron Carter provides a very funky cycling bass line which ably anchors the song, along with the support of both drums and percussion. Over this both Hubbard and Junior Cook on tenor sax solo take extended periods. Of the two, Hubbard gets the bigger space, demonstrating what he'd learned through his years: staying mostly blue and groovy, he does manage at times to throw in shades of Miles' bop playing. A light sprinkling of electric piano runs along behind this, somewhere between the rhythm and the solos.

There is not a lot of trumpeters in soul jazz, which mostly featured some combination of sax, guitar and organ. So it is a treat to hear this track, especially as it is one of the funkiest examples of the genre.

'Big' John Patton - The Turnaround

2006-07-19T19:42:00.000+01:00

Album - Let 'Em Roll

Recorded - 1965

It's hard to believe that in 1965 it was considered odd to introduce a vibraphone to a soul jazz combo, but that's exactly what 'Big' John Patton did by including Bobby Hutcherson in the line-up for this 1965 Blue Note recording. Perhaps best known for his avant-garde sessions for the label, Hutcherson brought a swinging edge and tonal colour to a tried and trusted formula. That's not to say that the record would be dull without him - indeed the interplay between Patton's organ and Grant Green on guitar is nothing short of telepathic at times.

Originally a Hank Mobley tune, 'The Turnaround' started life as a blues but here it gets a new lease of life as a decidedly funky slice of soul jazz. Patton sets the tone with his opening riff before Green and Hutcherson double up on an extended reading of the theme. Then it's up to the soloists. First comes Green, spare yet funky, with some lovely harmonics coming out in Patton's inspired comping. Then there's nothing for Patton to do but steal the show with an extended organ solo that plays around with Green and stays seriously funky with a side order of jazz improvisation. Oh, and did I mention that it's got a real laid-back vibe to it? Close to perfection.

Eddie Gale - Black Rhythm Happening

2006-07-18T12:32:00.000+01:00

Album - Black Rhythm Happening

Recorded - 1969

Trumpeter Eddie Gale recorded this in '69 in a rare headlining appearance for the man who had served his apprenticeship with some of the biggest names in avant garde jazz, including Sun Ra and Cecil Taylor. It's a bit of an over-looked album and i only got wind of it through the compliation Blue Note's Rare Grooves, which featured this title track. Not that the track is by any means a stock example of rare groove.

For starters, all of the rhythm here is panned hard left, which is a device i have always found irritating and off balance, especially when listening through headphones. However, it's fairly easy to over look this of-its-time idea and it's worth doing so, because the tune has some great elements. The most noticable of these are the joyous call and repsonse vocals, from what sounds like a whole room full of people. They seem to be having a damn fine old time, chattering away and yelling inbetween bursts of singing.

Weaving under this and through the polyrhythms is a guitar line that meanders like an off-kilter Grant Green. There are also some occasional bursts of brass that are ever so slightly atonal. It makes for an interesting fusion of soul jazz, avant garde jazz and gospel. No wonder, then, that it is said to have been one of the inspirations behind Archie Shepp's classic Attica Blues.

Archie Shepp - U-Jamma

2006-07-17T15:25:00.000+01:00

Album - Parisian Concert

Recorded - 1977

From his straightahead period comes an Archie that might be unfamiliar to those raised on a diet of impulse! and BYG recordings from earlier in the decade. Around this time, Shepp realised that he'd taken the free thing as far as he was going to get, and rediscovered his influences with a fine set of firmly bop-influenced performances. Also worth a listen is the same year's 'Goin' Home', an album of spirituals recorded as duets with pianist Horace Parlan that are as inventive within the bounds of the source material as Shepp was in 1964 with 'Four For Trane'. This particular piece shows off his Ben Webster influence very well indeed, that broad tone shining out from in front of a fairly average French rhythm section. This track became a bit of a fixture for Shepp around this time and even made it onto 2001's 'Live In New York', such is it's staying power. It's also a great riposte to anyone that reckons Shepp was losing his chops around this time, with some frenetic yet well-controlled soloing throughout.

Alice Coltrane - Turiya and Ramakrishna

2006-07-16T09:29:00.000+01:00

Album - Ptah, The El-Daoud

Recorded - 1970

What's so easy to forget, when listening to the ambient wash of some of Alice's soundscapes, is that her whole being was steeped in the blues. Her pre-Coltrane career included being taught how to play the piano by Bud Powell, no less. So it should not come as a surprise that this track harks back to a whole host of earlier jazz and blues styles while maintaining the forward momentum of her post-Coltrane vision. 'Turiya' was the Hindi name that Alice took, one can only guess who 'Ramakrishna' refers to, but given the feel of the piece i'd not be surprised if it was a reference to John Coltrane.

Although the 'Ptah...' album features the twin tenors of Pharoah Sanders and Joe Henderson, this track is a trio performance with Alice on piano, Ben Riley on drums and Ron Carter on bass, and in actuality much of it feels like a duet between Alice and Carter, such is the level of intimacy reached by the track. Imagine the Hamlet cigars ad arranged for space jazz trio and you've got a good idea what it's all about.

Destination Out

2006-07-15T19:53:00.000+01:00

Thought i'd post just a very short one today (i'm on holiday this week, see) to plug this great mp3 blog that features some really great avant-garde jazz. It's very much to my taste, so if you enjoy what you read and hear here, then you should check it out. And thanks to the guys behind it for supporting this blog.

Elvin Jones/ Jimmy Garrison Sextet - Just Us Blues

2006-07-09T17:33:00.000+01:00

Album - Illumination!

Recorded - 1963

This track dropped into my consciousness really by chance - let me explain. I own, as you may have figured out by now, rather a lot of Jazz. Now, a lot of this is on vinyl, and in order to get it out to you lovely people, it needs to be turned into mp3 files*. Now, many jazz LPs are pretty short by current standards, so for general listening purposes I tend to create an audio CD with two albums on. You can imagine the rest... "Hmmm, Elvin Jones is a drummer, I know, i'll pair him up with Max Roach." And so while listening to yesterday's 'Nommo', I also ended up hearing this beauty. It hardly stretches the talents of the leaders, but it's great nonetheless.

Jimmy Garrisson kicks off with a remarkably short (for him) bass intro, before we're treated to some down and dirty blues. It's pretty straightforward stuff, but for me what makes it stand out is the wonderfully lackadaisical tone of Sonny Simmon's sax. It's almost as if it really was the end of the night - you can imagine the house lights going up and the place being cleaned up, the band barely able to stand, but still capable of just one more jam. As such, it makes for great late night/early morning listening.

*If anyone's interested in how to do this, let me know and maybe someday i'll do a post on it.

Max Roach - Nommo

2006-07-08T18:00:00.000+01:00

Recorded - 1966

Album - Drums Unlimited

And Max just kept on going... Not content with having spearheaded the early development of bop with the likes of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, elder statesman of the skins Max Roach put out an album in 1966 that was as fresh as anything he'd done up to that point. I've blogged about the album before, but here I want to concentrate on what is, for me, the standout piece. Tellingly, it's written by bass player Jymie Merritt (of Jazz Messengers fame) but works out the whole group rather than simply being a showpiece from the bass fiddle. In common with much of the jazz I enjoy, this one is a slow burner. A solitary bass intro gives way to a hypnotic 3 note figure that provides a backdrop for increasingly inventive solos on the part of all of the players. Of course, Max gets a decent solo slot as you'd expect, and is predictably excellent.

This is what I love about this period of jazz - here's an elder statesman of bop leading on a piece that starts conventional and ends up flirting with atonality; it's a bit like the (current) Rolling Stones covering Karlheinz Stockhausen, to put it in more conventional terms.

Grant Green - Cease The Bombing

2006-07-07T19:15:00.000+01:00

From 1969's "Carryin' On", the same album that the track I blogged about yesterday is from, comes this soul-jazz gem. As the title will suggest, this is one of Grant's most overtly political pieces. But rather than an angry stab of rage against the war in Vietnam, Grant chooses to get his point across in considerably more laid back fashion. In fact it's one of the most laid back tracks in his discography, really hammering home it's "peace, not war" message. For me, the track stands out as much for it's texture as anything. The effect of layers of electric piano and Green's clear picking against the more usual sax and vibes is strangely hypnotic, as is the simple, insistent melody. Somebody somewhere (Green, I presume) hums along, but instead of being annoying as humming usually is, it just fits. It's one of those times when the whole is greater than the sum of the parts, and it works beautifully. "A smooth sailing trip across the ether" was how one reviewer put it, and I have to agree.

The Daily Jazz Is Back!

2006-07-06T11:32:00.000+01:00

My goodness, it's been a while, hasn't it? Not sure what happened there - maybe it was the bad sleeves, but I got up one morning and just didn't want to listen to jazz. No jazz means no blog, but inspired by the fact that at least one of you out there is still reading it, the daily jazz is back.

For today, my head is firmly stuck into bizarre jazz cover versions. Right now it's Alice Coltrane, with her reading of her late husband John's 'My Favourite Things' - avant-world-bop with an indian classical influence. Oh, and did I mention that it's funky too? No? Listen on the radio player to find out... (nb on further listening, there's definitely a european avant-garde classical flavour to the atonal wig-out towards the end. Crazy.)

Next up is a more recent track, Cinematic Orchestra's take on the Art Ensemble of Chicago's funky 1970s 'Theme De Yoyo'. A pretty straight reading, albeit with added scratching, but it's damn good to hear young people nowadays getting up to funky jazz shenanigans. More!

Soul jazz has always been a fertile ground for finding covers of pop tunes. Many are rather average, while a few are simply awful. But occasionally they really hit the heights, and Grant Green doing James Brown's "I Don't Want Nobody To Give Me Nothing (Open Up The Door I'll Get It Myself)" can't fail to please. Grant Green. James Brown. Could it get any better? As always, have a listen and see for yourself.

Ahhhh. It's good to be back!

Bad Record Sleeves part 2

2006-05-20T16:26:00.000+01:00

I hope all of your stomachs have recovered, as they get worse from here on in...

5.
More 70s jazz-funk dodginess. What's that - a hat on a pyramid. It looks a bit like a man. Bestriding a city. With lots of 'heavy' weather going on. What a mess.

4.
Miles again. Never tell a coked-up megastar they can draw, especially if it's the 1980s.

3.
What have you got to look happy about, Sonny? Your record looks crap. (actually this is quite good, better than you would expect for a past-his-prime jazz megastar in the 1980s)

2.
I feel sick every time I look at this. Not much else to say.

1.
Roy Haynes was once voted as Esquire magazine's "best dressed man of the year", according to the sleeve note. Looks like he finds that almost as funny as I do. It must have been a long time ago...

So that's my top (or bottom) 10. Now over to you - feel free to send in anything that you find particularly unpleasant to look at, especially if the music within is actually quite good. Apologies to any of you who now feel unwell, rest assured this is normal and will pass with a lie down and a nice cup of tea.

Bad Record Sleeves part 1

2006-05-19T16:12:00.000+01:00

Yesterday's post featured a sleeve picture so dire that regular reader Stewart was prompted to comment...

¡Ay Carumba! Surely this cover has got to make it into your top ten of worst Jazz album covers. Fair enough, it's not as bad as this crap, but still. I demand a top ten crap Jazz album covers. Come on.

Well, ask and ye shall recieve. Like all good top tens, this one is going to split itself up - 5 today, and 5 tomorrow. So without further ado...

10.
A gentle start with Mr Hancock looking decidedly jazz-funk on this patchy 1970s album.

9.
You can imagine the meeting in Columbia's art department. "Right then lads, we need ideas for the new Miles LP. It's called Water Babies". "I know, what about some erm.. babies playing in the um.. water?" I'm not sure if the drugs were too strong, or not strong enough.

8.
I'm not really sure that the children in this shot are really appreciating the sight of Roland Kirk in full flow, are you?

7.
There's not a lot I can say about this one. Would you take him home to meet your mother? Read about the album here

6.
Help! There's a beaver trying to steal that man's saxophone. Ouch. Good album though. Read more here

Ronnie Scott - Serious Gold

2006-05-18T08:50:00.000+01:00

RONNIE SCOTT'S QUINTET
Serious Gold
Pye NSPL 18542

Recorded 18th October 1977

Side One

1. Invitation
2. Lazy Afternoon
3. Forty Colours

Side Two

1. Hey-Oke Ballad Suite
2. Send In The Clowns
3. Interfusion

PERSONNEL

RONNIE SCOTT; tenor and soprano sax
JOHN TAYLOR; keyboards
RON MATHEWSON; bass
MARTIN DREW; drums
LOUIS STEWART; guitar

Ronnie Scott is one of the leading names in British Jazz, perhaps more famous for the jazz club that bears his name rather than his music. He's led a long and active career bringing the sounds of bop from to the UK. Quite literally, as early in his career he was a prominent feature on transatlantic ocean liners.

With such a history behind him, I made the mistake for many years of ignoring this album. I think it might have been the title, or maybe the picture of a hoary old Ronnie on the front that put me off. Or even the inclusion in the tracklisting of 'Send In The Clowns'. What a mistake that was! There's an old saying that goes 'you should never judge a book by it's cover' that comes to mind.

What this album is is a collection of complex post-bop tunes with more than a nod to the contemporary European avant-garde. Take the inclusion of Eberhard Weber's 'Forty Colours', for example. A gently unfolding piece with much emphasis on texture, this is a lovely listen. Or 'Interfusion', that rounds out the album and recalls nothing more than Ray Pizzi in it's groove-laden complexity.

Scott admits in his sleeve note that this music is "...representative of what I was into around this period.", and in some respects it is very much of it's time, but with enough decent tunes to still entertain.

More on Roswell Rudd

2006-05-17T21:35:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to share with you this quote about the star of yesterday's review, Roswell Rudd. From allmusic, of all places.

..."In his hands, the horn became less a note-playing machine than a kind of human-powered analog synthesizer"...

That pretty much sums up what I was trying to say about his sound yesterday. Come to think of it, free jazz on analogue synths could sound pretty good (although there is a LOT of potential for things to go wrong). Does anyone know if such music exists?

Rudd's name is pretty far out, too, what with Roswell being the supposed site of some UFO-ness many years ago. His music is pretty far out too. However, he's definitely not called Rosewell, which as anyone who lives near where I come from will know is the least free-jazz town on earth (possibly).

Roswell Rudd - Everywhere

2006-05-16T14:46:00.000+01:00

ROSWELL RUDD
Everywhere
impulse! A-9126 Stereo

Recorded 1966

Side One

1. Everywhere
2. Yankee No-How

Side Two

1. Respects
2. Satan's Dance

PERSONNEL

ROSWELL RUDD; trombone
GIUSEPPE LOGAN; flute, bass clarinet
LEWIS WORRELL; bass
CHARLES HADEN; bass
BEAVER HARRIS; drums
ROBIN KENYATTA; alto sax

Perhaps best known for his association with Archie Shepp, trombonist Roswell Rudd started playing in a traditional jazz context with players like Buck Clayton. He also played with another trad-cum-free jazzer that's popular on these pages, Steve Lacy. He got heavily involved with the New York avant-garde scene of the early 1960s, playing with John Tchicai in the New York Art Quartet as well as with Cecil Taylor. That led to an association with Archie Shepp that lasted for much of the 1960s, Rudd being responsible for some of Archie's finest moments, including my personal favourite, his arrangement of 'Naima' on the 'Four For Trane' LP.

This 1966 LP was Rudd's first as leader, amazingly, and features several other notable figures from the jazz avant-garde. Beaver Harris had contributed drums to several Archie Shepp recordings with Rudd, and Charlie Haden had, of course, played with the great Ornette Coleman.

The album opens with the title track, Rudd's poignant melody arising from a sea of sound dominated by the sinister tones of Haden's bowed bass. The track seems to grow from there - like a living thing rather than a classically structured jazz composition. It's most definitely a group improvisation, with no discrete solos as such, the players slithering around and occasionally bumping into each other. It's a marvellously restrained piece of music, and one of the best pieces of free jazz I've heard in a long time.

The remaining three tracks on the album are all in a similar vein, being faster paced and less controlled than 'Everywhere'. The playing is still good, but the listening is much more difficult, with some pretty intense sections. In some passages the rhythm section loses it's pulse and goes nowhere, fast, which is not good to hear. Haden comes to the rescue somewhat during 'Respects'', setting the tone with an insistent bass riff that recurs in parts throughout the piece.

Rudd continues in a free-jazz inspired vein to this day. There is a comprehensive discography available here that allows the interested listener to follow his career in great detail.

The Blues And Other Colors

2006-05-15T13:20:00.000+01:00

JAMES MOODY
The Blues And Other Colors
Milestone MSP 9023

Recorded August 1968 and January 1969

Side One

1. Main Stem
2. Everyone Needs It
3. Savannah Calling
4. A Statement

Side Two

1. Gone Are The Days
2. Feeling Low
3. You Got To Pay
4. Old Folks

PERSONNEL

JAMES MOODY; flute, soprano sax
JOHNNY COLES; trumpet, flugelhorn
TOM McINTOSH; trombone
JOE FARRELL; alto flute, oboe, alto sax
CECIL PAYNE; baritone sax
SAM BROWN; electric guitar
KENNY BARRON; piano
RON CARTER; bass
BEN TUCKER; bass
FREDDY WAITS; drums

On Side Two tracks 1-3;

JAMES MOODY; flute
BRITT WOODMAN; trombone
JIM BUFFINGTON; french horn
LINDA NOVEMBER; voice
ALFRED BROWN; viola
CHARLES McCRACKEN; cello
KERMIT MOORE; cello
DICK KATZ; piano
RON CARTER; bass
CONNIE KAY; drums

An alumnus of Dizzy Gillespies' immediate postwar band, Moody is a talented tenor player as well as a flautist, and on this 1969 album he debuts on soprano. The record itself is a set of innovative "big-little band" jazz arranged by trombonist Tom McIntosh. Straight into the action we go with 'Main Stem', an Ellingtom tune that gets a high energy, atonal reading, cerytainly in keeping with the '...other colors' of the album title. Moody features on soprano here, displaying a rich warm tone that many try but fail to achieve from that instrument. The rhythmic accompaniment is solid (Barron in particular), and there's plenty to interest in the solo playing, but star of the show is the McIntosh arrangement. The horn textures are unusual harmoically while fitting well with the overall feel of the piece, and there's always something of interest going on behind the soloist.

Side two features a selection of smaller, more unusual ensembles from an earlier date in 1968. Moody's flute is paired with instruments that would be considered unusual in a jazz context such as the french horn or viola. 'Gone Are The Days' gets a bit twee with it's Americana leanings, while 'Feeling Low' gets a bit cocktail-jazzy. Out of the three alternate group recordings, 'You Got To Pay' is probably the best, with Moody sounding strident on flute and the whole group gelling together in a way that they just didn't do on the previous two tracks.

'Old Folks' closes out the album in subdued fashion, again with an interesting (albeit conventional) arrangement. Once again Moody dominates, on flute this time, by soloing throughout the track, but the backing is warm and supportive, and really fits in well to the lazy Sunday afternoon as I write this piece.

Moody continued to attempt different styles of music in the remainder of his career - from a stint in Las Vegas big bands, to recording with the likes of Manhattan Transfer (ouch!) he has never stood still, and indeed was the subject of a tribute album, 'Homage' in 2004.

David Ullmann - Hidden

2006-05-14T11:17:00.000+01:00

DAVID ULLMANN
Hidden
Wet Cash Records

Recorded 2005

1. Hidden
2. Astor Place
3. Memory Games
4. Make Believe
5. Waterfall
6. Lorca
7. Where Do We Go
8. You Don't Know What Love Is
9. Hightime

PERSONNEL

DAVID ULLMANN; guitar
JOE ASHLAR; piano
PEDRO GIRAURDO; bass
VIN SCIALLA; drums

I talked a few weeks ago about David Ullmann, the stylish New York based guitarist who was the allaboutjazz.com free mp3 of the day. Well I said i might get the album, and I have, and I'm going to write about it now, oh you lucky people.

I recall mentioning that Ullmann reminded me, on 'Lorca', of the late Grant Green. Well the album reveals him to be adept at many styles of jazz guitar. Running through the album is a sparseness of playing that gives his playing greater impact as well as allowing the sidemen space to play. All 3 of them are on great form too - Ashlar's electric piano solo on 'Astor Place', or the drum'n'bass rhythmic drive of 'Hidden'. These upbeat tracks with adventurous rhythmic and harmonic leanings are only half of the story. Tracks like 'You Don't Know What Love Is' demonstrate that they can handle gentler material. Several other tracks on the album are taken in a straighter style like this, and the contrast is most pleasing, at least to this reviewer's ears.

The album is available to buy from this link - I saw a comment there saying that this was a good album to listen to if you thought that jazz artists were all 80 years old - well, that sums it up very well. This is a record full of vitality, and it makes me very happy to know that there are still artists out there doing this kind of thing.

Tranesition

2006-05-12T20:42:00.000+01:00

JOHN COLTRANE
TRANESITION: THE COMPLETE PAUL CHAMBERS SESSIONS
Gambit 69215

Recorded March (1-4)/April (5-7)/September (8-11) 1956

1. Trane's Blues
2. Dexterity
3. Stablemates
4. East Bound

5. Trane's Strain
6. High Step
7. Nixon, Dixon and Yates Blues

8. Omicron
9. Nita
10. We Six
11. Just For The Love

PERSONNEL

JOHN COLTRANE; tenor sax
PAUL CHAMBERS; bass
PHILLY JOE JONES; drums
KENNY DREW; piano (1-4)
CURTIS FULLER; trombone (5-7)
PEPPER ADAMS; baritone sax (5-7)
ROLAND ALEXANDER; piano (5)
DONALD BYRD; trumpet (8-11)
KENNY BURRELL; guitar (8-11)
HORACE SILVER; piano (8-11)

1956 was very early in Trane's career, but it can be regarded as the beginning of his search for an individual voice. Having been thrown out of Miles' quintet for his drug-fueled unreliability, Trane found work with other prominent musicians who couldn't resist jamming with a Miles Davis alumnus. Trane might have been the worst player in Miles' quintet, but that would still make him a very good tenorman indeed. Three sessions from 1956 are included on this CD They were recorded between Trane's two stays with Miles, and were essential parts of his development as a player.

Running as a theme through these sessions is bass behemoth Paul Chambers, in a foreshadowing of the classic 'Blue Train' of the following year (in fact the first session on this reissue, from March 1956, also features Kenny Drew and Philly Joe Jones. Philly Joe also pops up on the April and September sessions). If you are familiar with that great record, then the music here will not be surprising - spirited hard bop performances, given additional colour on the September session by the presence of Kenny Burrell on guitar. The music contained in these sessions was originally released under Chambers' name, hence the 'Paul Chambers Sessions' tag.

Session one is the pick of the record for me. 'Trane's Blues' kicks things off as a solid hard-bop blues with an instantly familiar theme that I can't just place... Trane is controlled and on inventive form throughout. He's not showy, with none of the searing intensity that would mark out his recordings later in the 1950s. The tune is pretty democratic too, with some nice playing from Chambers, in particular. 'Dexterity', the Charlie Parker tune, is taken at a much slower pace than Parker ever did it, this allows the band some room to breathe and they all stretch out in turn. Philly Joe is particularly good here.

The April session suffers from poor audio quality, but is worth persevering with for the fantastic Curtis Fuller (another 'Blue Train' connection) on trombone. It's largely a blues set - 'Nixon, Dixon and Yates blues' being the track that really does it for me. Coltrane wasn't the only player to connect fully with the blues and turn it into an conduit for his soul, but on his day he could be one of the best.

Fast forward to September, and things get a little more complicated with the polyrhythmic, latin influenced groove of 'Omicron'. Presumably this increase in rhythmic looseness was a direct result of Horace Silver's playing, and he can be heard prominently through the track. Donald Byrd is good too, in full-on Clifford Brown mode. The band really gel throughout the complicated opening and closing sections, and simply burn through the much more driving main part of the piece. 'Nita' sees Burrell join the ensemble with some well-considered lines that help to build the tension of this neatly constructed, driving piece of jazz. The final two tracks pale a little - they're both just run throughs of 'Nita' with different heads, basically, and add little to the album.

Thanks to Gambit Records for rereleasing these sessions. They don't have a website so I can't tell you too much about their other releases. I own one other album of theirs, 'Hard Drivin' Jazz' under Cecil Taylor's name (also featuring Coltrane).

Gato Barbieri - Alive In New York

2006-05-07T06:45:00.000+01:00

GATO BARBIERI
Chapter 4: Alive In New York
impulse! ASD 9303

Recorded 1975

Side One

1. Milonga Triste
2. La China Leoncia

Side Two

1. Baihia
2. Lluvia Azul

PERSONNEL

GATO BARBIERI; tenor sax, guiro, voice
HOWARD JOHNSON; tuba, bass clarinet, flugelhorn, tambourine
EDDIE MARTINEZ; piano, fender rhodes
PAUL METZKE; guitar
RON CARTER; bass
PORTINHO; drums
RAY ARMANDO; percussion, conga

Argentinian tenor Gato Barbieri came to prominence in the avant-garde jazz scene of the mid to late 1960s, playing with the likes of Don Cherry and Charlie Haden. He got funkier in the early 70s, playing with the likes of Lonnie Liston Smith while developing a heavy latin influence, best seen on his four impulse! recordings of the early 1970s. The music on these records (titled Chapters 1-4, indicating something of a stylistic unity) has been described as that of a latin Pharoah Sanders. While that may be true of the earlier records in the series, this 1975 recording finds Barbieri in less fiery mode, leaning towards the commercially oriented pop-jazz sound he would cultivate later in the decade. Thankfully it retains enough interest for the avant-garde listener.

The style of these four pieces is similar. Opening with a contemplative Barbieri, 'Milonga Triste' is as beautiful (thanks to Howard Johnson's bass clarinet backing) as it is rhythmically satisfying. 'La China Leoncia' ups the ante by getting progressively funkier throughout it's four sections. This really is the latin centre of the album, with some furious percussive later in the piece. Side two sees a return to lyrical form with 'Baihia', 11 minutes of relaxed tenor playing with the incomparable Johnson back on his usual tuba keeping things moving along. 'Lluvia Azul' keeps things moving on, being more upbeat than it's forebear and closing out the album in great style.

What more is there to say? This is hugely enjoyable music, played well, and is a good compromise between the fire of Barbieri's later work and his later smooth tones. It's certainly convinced me to track down the other 3 chapters of the series, and it should do the same with you too.

Belonging

2006-05-05T22:23:00.000+01:00

JAN GARBAREK
KEITH JARRETT
PALLE DANIELSSON
JON CHRISTENSEN

Belonging
ECM 1050

Recorded April 24th-25th, 1974

Side One

1. Spiral Dance
2. Blossom
3. 'Long As You Know You're Living Yours

Side Two

1. Belonging
2. The Windup
3. Solstice

PERSONNEL

JAN GARBAREK; tenor & soprano saxes
KEITH JARRETT; piano
PALLE DANIELSSON; bass
JON CHRISTENSEN; drums

It wasn't always Nordic folk songs round at ECM records. The early years of the label (founded by Manfred Eicher in 1969) saw releases full of energy and colour. Jarrett and Garbarek both had significant avant-garde pedigrees by the time they came to record for the label, and both bring their distinct personalities to this 1974 session. Jarrett had played with Miles in the early 70s but was forging his own direction at this time. His sound was characterised by a strong rhythmic sensibility within the usual improvisatory framework. He really brings a sense of rhythm to the music on this record, especially the opening 'Spiral Dance' with it's circular piano figure underpinning the soloists.

Garbarek's previous few albums (like the outstanding Triptykon) mined a more avant-garde seam, with influences like Albert Ayler and late period John Coltrane to the fore. But at the time of this recording Garbarek was moving towards a greater melodic accessibility, a transformation that would be complete by the release of 1975's 'Dansere'. The only change in lineup for that album is the swapping of Jarrett for Bobo Stenson, a change that gives the later recording a far more meditative feel.

The group dynamic on this recording is thoroughly democratic. From the equal billing on the record sleeve to the sharing out of solo space, everything is shared equally. The compositions are all Jarrett's, but he doesn't dominate throughout. He'd have plenty opportunity to do that later in his career. This composition bias leads to the record often being listed under Jarrett's name, but that's just to satisfy the classifiers out there.

Randy Weston - Little Niles

2006-05-04T15:27:00.000+01:00

RANDY WESTON
Little Niles
United Artists 5011

Recorded 1958

Side One

1. Earth Birth
2. Little Susan
3. Nice Ice
4. Little Niles

Side Two

1. Pam's Waltz
2. Babe's Blues*
3. Let's Climb A Hill

PERSONNEL

RANDY WESTON; piano
JOHNNY GRIFFIN; tenor sax
RAY COPELAND; trumpet
IDRIS SULIEMAN; trumpet (*)
MELBA LISTON; trombone
GEORGE JOYNER; bass
CHARLIE PERSIP; drums

Randy Weston is perhaps best known for his use of African rhythms in jazz on albums such as the 1972 CTI release, 'Blue Moses'. Prior to his first visit to Africa in the late 1950s, Weston was absorbing the rhythms of Africa and the Caribbean into his post-Monk, bop-based sound. This assimilation gives his piano playing an earthy, dense sound that is seen clearly on this excellent LP.

My copy of this is actually from a later release as part of the 'Blue Note Reissue Series' (the picture above is from the original LP issue). It's a double LP featuring the 'Little Niles' album in it's entirety along with two others sets from the period - Destry Rides Again (United Artists 5045, 1959) and Randy Weston: Live at the Five Spot (United Artists 5066, 1959). Weston bestrides several jazz genres with aplomb. He's as at home playing like George Shearing ('Let's Climb A Hill') as he is doing Monk ('Nice Ice', 'Little Susan').

The whole group plays well with Melba Liston's charts being continually inspiring. The group interplay is up there with the best, seen especially well during the ensemble passages of 'Nice Ice', or in the delicate horn backing to Weston's solo on 'Babe's Blues'. Rhythmically, the blues are prominent, with some more advanced sections on a few tracks. The sidemen on the date are also great, especially Liston (also the arranger) and Griffin, two musicians with whom I am unfamiliar, but who impress nonetheless.

The original 'Little Niles' has been repressed many times and is now pretty easy to come by. I'd recommend giving it a listen.

Space is the Place (via counterpoint)

2006-05-03T22:35:00.000+01:00

Counterpoint is a major concept in western music in general, and jazz in particular. In fact in some branches of jazz (i'm thinking of you, Mr. free-jazz) it could be argued that it's the only structural element left intact after melody, rhythm and harmony have been eradicated.

i was reminded of this while talking with Stewart, author of yesterday's fine piece on the Sun Ra Arkestra. He was telling me how he spent a small part of the gig with Marshall Allen standing right next to him playing 'one of the tunes from "Space Is The Place"'. That piece is not only one of Sun Ra's finest, but it's also a great place to hear some counterpoint, if you haven't quite grasped the concept yet.

At it's most basic level, counterpoint is defined as two separate melodies playing simultaneously. The hope is, of course, that the whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. As you will no doubt realise, the opportunities for getting it very, very wrong are legion.

Listening to the Sun Ra track, it should immediately become obvious that there are several different tunes going on at once. They all stand out, and actually slightly jar with one another due to the dissonant harmonies, making the counterpoint that bit more obvious. In many other areas of jazz it's more subtle than this (the MJQ, for example, were famous for their use of counterpoint). What's great about 'Space is the Place' is that the separate parts of the tune stay separate, drifting in and out in a manner that will be familiar to fans of dub reggae or electronic music. If it wasn't recorded in 1972 you would swear that it was sequenced.

Those looking for a more detailed description of this important musical phenomenon would be well advised to read this article on Wikipedia.

The Sun Ra Arkestra (live in Edinburgh)

2006-05-02T22:49:00.000+01:00

I got tickets for this a few weeks ago, with a degree of trepidation as to what the night might actually entail. Free jazz is one of those things that can sometimes go further out than my mind can handle.

So, on Friday last, The Sun Ra Arkestra descended and took the stage in their wonderfully sequinned clothes and crazy gold headgear. Ahh, Sun Ra time! It took all of about a fraction of a second to realise that there was nothing to fear. The band very quickly found a groove that came as a pleasant surprise. In fact it was this groove that was the real story of the night. They grooved so well that much of the audience was dancing for much of the night. And this they call free jazz? I don't think so. Maybe. But what do i know?

The Arkestra played jazz. Mostly of the up-tempo, big band kind. But, of course, it was so much more. There was a strong percussive element to the music, with two full-time percussionists, as well as many of the other members having their own items of percussion. It gave the sound quite an African vibe and was a good part of the groove.

Less noticeable were the unusual chords and tones the Akestra played. Almost all of it was just slightly askew, giving the surface impression of music that was fairly conventional, but which was in fact definitely not. There was also many moments when this askew vibe took over and the band became completely free. These moments where fantastic, frantic cacophonies, which never lasted long enough to take over the whole show. Marshall Allen (top photo, right), who is now the band leader, was particularly impressive at these times.

One of the strongest impressions the band gave was that they where jamming: that things were being invented as they went along. This, of course, can be a recipe for disaster, but this was not the case here. It was clear that the band where there to entertain the crowd, as opposed to each other (although they clearly did that too) and not only that but they were having a total ball. Not more so than the two occasions when half of the band left the stage and, still playing, walked through the crowd in a near conga line (imagine a single file New Orleans style funeral and you'll be close). It was an indescribable experience to be standing right next to members of the Akrestra as they played parts of Space Is The Place.

Under Allen's leadership, the band were really tight, which was very impressive considering their cosmic jam nature. Each member got good solo spaces, with more time appearing to be given to the longer-serving members. Allen, being the longest-serving (he joined in '58), probably got the most space. Playing mostly alto sax and E.V.I. (Electronic Valve Instrument apparently), his power and the sheer noise he produced was awe-inspiring. (I just found out that he is 82 and i am absolutely stunned. Last year i saw Pharoah Sanders, who is younger, and he didn't even come close to what Allen achieved on Friday.) He was particularly exciting on the encore, when he played unaccompanied for several furious minutes, before the rest of the band piled on behind him for the most free part of the evening. In fact, that is all the encore was: just crazed, free-jazz blowing, which was a great way to end the night!

I left the venue with one thought in my head: it must be great to be in the Sun Ra Arkestra.

If you ever, ever get the chance go see them. You can't possible regret it (and if you do, what on earth are you doing reading this?). For more info on the Arkestra, check out their site.

2006-04-28T12:11:00.000+01:00

Ever had the feeling that, despite being surrounded by literally thousands of records, you don't want to listen to any of them? It happens to me a lot (which is why I've ended up with lots of records, I guess) and at these times I want to have new and exciting music suggested to me. In the old days that meant a trip to the music store, or buying a magazine, but in these high tech times there is an alternative. Several online recommendation services exist, in varying forms, but the one I've just come across and want to share with you is Pandora.

It works very simply - tell it a couple of artists that you enjoy and it scours it's database for related music. I've been playing around with it this morning and it's pretty spot on. I told it that I like John Coltrane and Archie Shepp, and so far I've had some Albert Ayler, late period Roy Haynes, and Joshua Redman, among others. Playing right now is a track called 'Gathering Of The Spirits' by Michael Brecker, Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano, and very good it is too, with it's 3-sax interplay and general air of freeness. Pandora says that it's been selected because "it features... a contrapuntal melodic presentation and mixed major and minor tonalities". Seems it knows what I like better than I do. It links through to allmusic for further info, too.

Crikey, now it's playing 'Naima' from Archie Shepp's groundbreaking 'Four For Trane', which is one of my most favourite tunes. It really does know my music taste better than I do! Go check it out and see if it knows your taste just as well.

Pandora

Mulatu Astatqe

2006-04-27T22:50:00.000+01:00

I've only time for a short post today, so tonight's music really does speak volumes. It's a track by Ethiopian jazz innovator Mulatu Astatqe. Click the link if you want to read more about this vastly underappreciated (in the west, at least) musician, and enjoy 'Dewel', taken from one of the many compilations featuring Astatqe's music. The track itself drifts along on an easy groove, the lead playing being sufficiently far-out to call to mind artists like Pharoah Sanders. It really is very good, and I'd reccommend checking out any of his music, or Ethiopian jazz in general.

Emil Richards and the Microtonal Blues Band

2006-04-26T21:27:00.000+01:00

EMIL RICHARDS AND THE MICROTONAL BLUES BAND
Journey To Bliss
impulse! A-9166

Recorded 1968

Side One

1. Maharimba
2. Bliss
3. Mantra
4. Enjoy, Enjoy

Side Two

1. Journey to Bliss - Part I
2. Journey to Bliss - Part II
3. Journey to Bliss - Part III
4. Journey to Bliss - Part IV
5. Journey to Bliss - Part V
6. Journey to Bliss - Part VI

PERSONNEL

EMIL RICHARDS; marimba, vibraphone, xylophone, percussion
DAVE MACKAY; piano, various percussion
DENNIS BUDIMIR; guitar
TOMMY TEDESCO; guitar
RAY NEAPOLITAN; bass
JOE PORCARO; drums
MICHAEL CRADEN; percussion
MARK STEVENS; percussion
BARBARA GESS; lyrics
HAGAN BEGGS; narration

Have you heard the music of Emil Richards? No, I hear you say. Ever seen a movie? Well in that case you probably have. One of the most prolific performers of film music ever (see this link for a complete list), and owner of possibly the world's largest collection of percussion instruments (check out the 'instruments' section on Emil's homepage), Emil Richards also had a brief career as a jazz musician in the 1960s, playing under his own name as well as on dates with Gabor Szabo and Tom Scott.

This album, recorded in 1968 and released on the impulse! label, features Emil's characteristic percussion densely layered into a set of psychedelic-pop-jazz tunes that manage to sound very much of their time, while still remaining enjoyable today. Side one is superior - the pace rather drags through side two's long 'Journey To Bliss', the unwelcome narration making it sound like a straightlaced 1970s documentary on 'hippie music' or somesuch.

Where this album is really interesting musically is in the use of percussion, and specifically microtonal percussion. Microtonal music fills the spaces between the notes used in traditional Western music (it's part of Gamelan and Indian classical music), creating sounds that are often unfamiliar to the western ear. This 'filling of the cracks' in the score leads in this case to a dense sound that really is unlike anything else in jazz. The microtonal concept was also taken up by free-jazzers, but as far as I know this is the only example of such music played on percussion in recorded jazz. For music that is very dissonant in places, it's also highly accessible due to catchy melodies and strong rhythms.

Sadly it's out of print and very tricky to track down, but keep looking on eBay for long enough and a copy is sure to come up. Meanwhile enjoy the sounds of 'Maharimba' and come back tomorrow for some more Daily Jazz.

(By the way, have you ever wanted to play a slightly out-of-tune vibraphone? - well thanks to the miracle of flash, on Emil's Homepage, you can!)

David Ullmann

2006-04-25T20:47:00.000+01:00

From time to time I like to check out the free mp3 on allaboutjazz.com. Today's is 'Lorca' by David Ullmann, a New York based guitarist, and it's really hit my spot today. David plays, on this track at least, in a style that's reminiscent of the late great Grant Green, all single note runs and laid-back funkiness. His guitar leads over a backdrop that goes from latin to breakbeat and back again while managing to sound seamless - quite a feat. You should all check it out, as well as David's homepage which has some more tunes to listen to. He's got a CD out, too, called 'Hidden' which I think I might have to investigate...

Message To Our Folks

2006-04-24T21:49:00.000+01:00

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO
"Great Black Music" Message To Our Folks
BYG Actuel 28

Recorded 8/12/1969

1. Old-Time Religion
2. Dexterity
3. Rock Out
4. A Brain for the Seine

PERSONNEL

LESTER BOWIE; trumpet, flugelhorn, bass drum, horns
ROSCOE MITCHELL; soprano sax, alto sax, bass sax, clarinet, flute, percussion
JOSEPH JARMAN; soprano sax, alto sax, clarinet, oboe, flute, vibes, percussion, guitar
MALACHI FAVORS; bass, fender bass, banjo, percussion

Amen! Looking for a trip through the entire history of black music? Well look no further. There was a lot of this sort of thing around in the 1960s and 70s courtesy of free jazzers like Archie Shepp and the Art Ensemble. I think some of these artists were seen as marginal by the jazz mainstream, but albums like this show that great free jazz was as in thrall to tradition as any bopper. Look at the name of the album, for a start - "Message to our Folks" implies an attempt to express gratitude for musical forebears. What's more, the album was subtitled "great black music".

And there certainly is a variety of music here. From the gospel stylings of opener "Old-Time Religion", through a reasonably straight take on Charlie Parker's "Dexterity" (complete with a multitude of percussion in true Art Ensemble style) the album can't be pinned down. "Rock Out" does just that with it's heavy rhythmic feel, while "A Brain for the Seine" is a typical Paris-scene wig-out, with a real ambient, soundtrack-like feel (and a great bluesy harmonica). The whole is executed with the sense of fun-but-deadly-serious that characterises many of the Art Ensembles' recordings of this period.

Like many Art Ensemble records this sounds like nothing else in free jazz, never mind music in general - in these days of manufactured pop we should be grateful that such music exists at all. Love it or hate it you can't help but have an opinion, but come to it with an open mind and you'll find plenty to enjoy.

Archie Shepp & Bill Dixon

2006-04-23T20:08:00.000+01:00

ARCHIE SHEPP & THE NEW YORK CONTEMPORARY FIVE
Savoy MG-12184

Recorded 1964

Split with Bill Dixon 7-Tette

Side One (Shepp)

1. Where Poppies Bloom
2. Like A Blessed Baby Lamb
3. Consequences

Side Two (Dixon)

1. The 12th December
2. Winter Song 1964

PERSONNEL

ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax
JOHN TCHICAI; alto sax
DON CHERRY; trumpet
RONNIE BOYKINS; bass
SONNY MURRAY; drums

Guest Artist TED CURSON; trumpet

This early Shepp recording catches him with the enormously influential and shockingly new 'New York Contemporary Five'. The group only stayed together for about a year, it's complete lack of commercial potential mitigating against it's survival. Sadly only one of the tracks presented here is a true NYCF performance - Don Cherry was late for the session so only plays on 'Consequences' - the other tracks feature Ted Curson in a 'guest artist' role showing himself to be more than a match for a fiery, youthful Shepp.

Something that really stands out when listening to this music is the harmonic approach - for 1964, this is pretty far out in terms of dissonance. The opening theme of 'Where Poppies Bloom' must have terrified critics and public alike with it's complete disregard for tonality. Yet, in other respects the music is relatively conventional - the standard theme-solos-theme structure of all bop based musics is adhered to, the rhythm section play in time, walking bass lines are heard prominently. There's even a pervasive blues influence on 'Like A Blessed Baby Lamb' (but then the blues are never far away in any of Shepp's music).

'Consequences' takes things a little further out, possibly due to Cherry's influence, and features Shepp's best performance on the record. He's at his best when matching his abrasive tone with searing runs that start off one way then change, mid sequence, into a totally different harmonic area.

The Bill Dixon side is interesting - in a band featuring, among others, Howard Johnson on tuba and David Izenon on bass, Dixon's compositions are presented in a much more accessible way to those of his counterpart on side one.

Eberhard Weber - Later That Evening

2006-04-21T20:50:00.000+01:00

EBERHARD WEBER
Later That Evening
ECM 1231

Recorded 1982

Side One

1. Maurizius
2. Death In The Carwash

Side Two

1. Often In The Open
2. Later That Evening

PERSONNEL

PAUL McCANDLESS; soprano sax, oboe, english horn, bass clarinet
BILL FRISELL; guitar
LYLE MAYS; piano
MICHAEL DiPASQUA; drums, percussion
EBERHARD WEBER; bass

For a laid-back Friday night in, here's some really laid back music
courtesy of the excellent ECM label. This album, like so many on that label, brings together musicians from a diverse selection of musical projects to create a satisfying whole. In some respects this could be said to be the ECM house band, Weber and Frisell at least appearing on many of the label's releases.

'Maurizius' sets the tone. Introduced by Lyle Mays' piano, it expands with the help of McCandless and the others into an elegiac piece. Weber is barely noticeable at first, his bowed bass suiting the sombre mood, but soon becomes a greater presence, as does Frisell on guitar - here using a soft sound, very little attack, never letting the volume rise too high or the tension go unreleased. Despite the lack of anything appoaching a beat, DiPasqua still has an important supporting role, sticking mainly to his cymbals throughout. 'Death In The Carwash' supplies more of the same feel through it's 4 movements, the 3rd even approaching a groove that acts as backing to a superb group improvisation. This is the strength of these players having been on so many of each other's records - they're not only a tight group but can almost read each other's minds.

A lot of ECM music is rooted in the free-jazz and avant-garde musics of the late 1960s/early 1970s, and although this influence had largely been purged by 1982, Mays can't help but open side 2 with a brief snatch of free jazz, before 'Often In The Open' develops into something similar to that seen previously. The closing 'Later That Evening' showcases Weber's smooth sound on electric bass (6-string, I think) with an ambient wash of sound in the background, before being played out by McCandless' beautiful soprano.

As an ECM record, you can expect nothing less than sonic brilliance, and once again Manfred Eicher has done an outstanding production job. Many of the ECM records are worth owning for the production alone. If you've got the kit, and the inclination to find them, I can tell you that they really do sound better on vinyl than CD.

Albert Ayler - The First Recordings

2006-04-20T13:33:00.000+01:00

ALBERT AYLER
The First Recordings
Sonet SNTF604

Recorded October 25th, 1962

Side One

1. I'll Remember April

Side Two

1. Rollin's Tune
2. Tune Up
3. Free

PERSONNEL

ALBERT AYLER; tenor sax
TORBJORN HULCRANTZ; bass
SUNE SPANGBERG; drums

I've only reviewed one other Ayler LP on these pages (the frankly bizzare 'Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe') so for today let's go to the other end of his recorded career with this 1962 live recording. It would be fair to say that this isn't his best record, in more ways than one. The first problem is the sound. It sounds like it was recorded in a barn with an audience that were distracted enough to talk throughout. Ayler can be heard clearly enough, but the bass is practically inaudible and the drummer reduced to a series of quiet cymbal crashes. Mind you, that's probably not such a bad thing as both rhythm players are uninspiring and have little in the way of communication with their leader. In some respects it sounds a bit like an Ayler solo performance, which is interesting enough in itself even if his playing isn't up to what he was capable of.

He might just be getting thrown off by the poor accompaniment, but in places he sounds shaky and unsure of what to play next. His playing is at times unimaginitive, and often at odds with the theme - witness 'Rollin's Tune' where an 'Oleo'-ish theme gives way to... well, not much really. What does come over well is Ayler as an elemental force in music, evidenced by the forceful sqauwks and rasps that pop up throughout 'I'll Remember April'. These signs of vitality point squarely ahead to the Ayler that we all know and love.

Recordings like this make it possible to see what criticism of free-jazzers was all about, indeed in one review from 1970 Ayler was derided as being unable to play. Fortunately future recordings were superior and Ayler's legend lives on. In preparing this review I was fortunate to come across this discography of Ayler that appears to be definitive.

Anthony Braxton - News from the 70s

2006-04-19T20:48:00.000+01:00

ANTHONY BRAXTON
News from the 70s
Felmay FY 7005

Recorded 1971-1976, Released 1999

1. Composition 23E (1974)
2. Composition 8C (1971)
3. Composition -1 (1972)
4. Composition -2 (1973)
5. Composition 8g (1971)
6. Four Winds (1976)

PERSONNEL

KENNY WHEELER; flugelhorn (1,4)
ANTHONY BRAXTON; sopranino, clarinet, piccolo, alto sax
DAVE HOLLAND; bass (1,3,6)
BARRY ALTSCHUL; percussion (1,6)
ANTOINE DUHAMEL; piano (4)
FRANCOIS MECHALI; bass (4)
GEORGE LEWIS; trombone (6)

There can be few jobs in the jazz world better than that of Francesco Martinelli, the Italian music journalist who was invited into Braxton's basement in 1996, where he came across a cardboard box of tapes from the 1970s that had never seen the light of day. From that box Martinelli curated this compilation of unreleased Braxton tracks. The album fulfils it's purpose as a document of Braxton's music in the mid 70s very well indeed, the tracks showing several aspects of his unique style.

Most exciting are the three tracks recorded in groups featuring the great Dave Holland, especially 'Composition -1' which is a duet between these two giants of free jazz. Elsewhere, there are two solo performances on alto by Braxton (compositions 8c and 8g), and a percussionless group ('Composition -2'). The music covers the breadth of Braxton's 70s output - the solo pieces are alternately firey and reflective, while the group improvisations are typically more intense. Notable amongst these is 'Composition 23E' - a piece dedicated to Albert Ayler that is certainly as intense as any in that great player's catalogue. After a haunting, tension filled opening section, backed by Holland's insistent, bowed bass, the band unleash a collective improvisation. Braxton in particular plays like a man posessed, with a power and sense of control that had seldom been seen in free jazz since the passing of John Coltrane. The fact that Braxton chooses to play this piece largely on soprano only serves to increase the similarities to Trane.

But simply aping Coltrane is not what Braxton is about; his compositions are musch more original than that, and the solo pieces are the places to see this best. Both are typically angular, with '8C' being a little calmer and more rounded than the jagged '8g'. Braxton was one of the first saxophonists to realise the potential of solo performance, and these riveting pieces of music are sure to convert sceptics everywhere.

The only piece to sound less than Braxton-ish is the closing Dave Holland composition, 'Four Winds'. A live version of the lead track on his seminal 'Conference of the Birds', Braxton plays a smaller part than elsewhere on the album. It's still a great piece of music though and fairly crackles along with some superb playing by Holland and a fine trombone solo courtesy of George Lewis.

As a retrospective of Braxton's 70s output for the committed fan there is plenty of meat here, but the record would also work well as a primer for those new to his music. One has to bear in mind that we're talking about unreleased, mostly live recordings, so the audio quality is not always as good as it could be, but any deficiencies in the sound are more than made up for by the content of the music. Highly reccommended.

Two giants of the saxophone

2006-04-17T19:57:00.000+01:00

Today's musical landscape has been dominated by two giants of the saxophone, and two recordings that I've talked about before on these pages. The first is from John Coltrane's excellent 'Live In Japan', that I reviewed just a few days ago - the track in question is the opening 'Afro-Blue'. The track in it's original form defined Coltrane's stance on music for the early part of the 1960s. It was also regarded as a definitive piece of Black music, and played it's part as soundtrack to the civil rights movement as much as any contemporary R&B or soul. Having played such a major part in making him, it's incredible to hear Trane rip his own legend apart in the search for true musical freedom. Chief protagonist of this iconoclastic performance is Pharoah Sanders in one of his most intense performances on disc. After a relatively conventional opening solo, Trane hands the baton onto Sanders who, over the next 5 minutes, sheds all notions of traditional melody or jazz harmony. Fans of Pharoah's music will be accustomed to his use of overtones, but here he simply blows hard, hard, hard and drags the group along with him into his new jazz world. Trane himself never quite reaches the same level of intensity, but his second solo, on soprano this time, sees him exploring deeply throughout it's remarkable 17-minute length.

On a different tack, I've also been listening to Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek, specifically his album recorded with the great Bobo Stenson in 1975, 'Dansere'. The title track is the one to look for here - at 15 minutes the longest on the album, and also the most satisfying in terms of structure and harmonic resolution - despite being inventive and going exactly where it needs to go, in the end the whole thing wraps up just as you would wish it to. Garbarek began his career heavily influenced by Coltrane (like pretty much every saxophonist of his era), and some of that influence is audible here in his tone, although Garbarek takes a more measured approach to melody and improvisation on this track than Coltrane did in his later works.

These are both hefty pieces of music, but do take the time (39 minutes) to listen to 'Afro-Blue' on the radio player, it's an experience we should all have at least once.

Sun Ra - Out There A Minute

2006-04-16T20:46:00.000+01:00

SUN RA AND HIS ARKESTRA
Out There A Minute
Blast First CD BFFP 42

Released 1989, recorded late 1960s

1. Love In Outer Space
2. Somewhere In Space
3. Dark Coluds with Silver Linings
4. Jazz and Romantic Sounds
5. When Angels Speak Of Love
6. Cosmo Enticement
7. Song Of Tree and Forest
8. Other Worlds
9. Journey Outward
10. Lights of a Satellite
11. Starships and Solar Boats
12. Out There A Minute
13. Next Stop Mars

PERSONNEL

SUN RA; organ, bandleader
and various others

Regular readers of this blog will know by now that I like a bit of free jazz, and if it's also a little funky then so much the better. But perhaps even better than funky free jazz is nutty-funky-free jazz, and to define exactly what this sub-sub genre is, look no further than this most bizarre of Sun Ra albums. It's odd in many respects - firstly in that it was released on Blast First, the seminal 1980s avant-noise label that was home to, among others, Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr. (when they were good) - the Youth's Thurston Moore was one of the creative forces behind this compilation. The album was accompanied by a single that I've reviewed before.

I'd love to say that it's typical Sun Ra, but that's an ever-changing quality as far as his music is concerned, so I won't. Instead, you get a pleasant set of accessible music that veers from 25th century cocktail jazz-funk ('Love In Outer Space') to a tune accompanied throughout by the kind of noise that your children make when they wiggle their lips and blow ('Somewhere In Space'). Elsewhere there's the usual Ellingtonia ('Out There A Minute', 'Dark Clouds With Silver Linings') and 'Space Is The Place' style psychedelic freak-outs ('Next Stop Mars'). So the usual, then. What's remarkable is the coherence of the album despite it's wildly differing styles and the odds'n'sods genesis of the record.

I haven't got much to say about the actual recordings. The sleeve gives minimal information - no writers or musicians are credited, save Ra himself and a comment that the record "features John Gilmour (sic) and Marshall Allen". The only other comment on the sleeve reads, "This Compact Disc comprises Sun Ra's personal collection of rare Arkestra recordings from the late 1960s. Made in and around 42nd street, New York City, Planet Earth". How they ever got Sun Ra to agree to this is anyone's guess, but he was clearly well into the project when he said it was packaged in his "most favourite of sleeves". I'll let you look at the pictures and make up your own mind about that, but this album is much more about the music, which is fantastic. It's also a very accessible place for the novice to start on the musical odyssey that is Sun Ra.

Steve Lacy - The Forest And The Zoo

2006-04-14T22:01:00.000+01:00

STEVE LACY
The Forest and the Zoo
ESP 1060

Recorded 1966

Side One

1. Forest

Side Two

2. Zoo

PERSONNEL

STEVE LACY; soprano sax
ENRICO RAVA; trumpet
JOHNNY DYANI; bass
LOUIS MOHOLO; drums

More free soprano sax goodness today courtesy of Steve Lacy. Steve, as we all know, came to prominence as a free player in the early groups of Cecil Taylor, and here he performs two lengthy improvisations live in Argentina with an Italian trumpeter and South African rhythm section. As a live ESP recording, the sound is pretty muddy as you would expect, but Lacy's inventiveness shines through. Also apparent is the sheer verve of Rava, a young trumpeter at the time of this recording both making his mark and learning from a considerably more experienced mentor. Moholo is also exciting; he gets plenty of solo space where he comes across as an ingenious improviser, but he's also very able when it comes to keeping time (a loose concept on a free jazz recording like this one, so in many respects all the more difficult to achieve).

'Forest' features dense thickets of exploration interspersed by clearings of ensemble interplay. Generally speaking, Lacy sounds restrained throughout while it is Rava who plays with fire. Lacy's restraint as it's benefits as seen in the remarkable section of interplay between himself and Moholo midway through 'Zoo'. Lacy's soprano sound is generally quite smooth, but during this section his tone becomes clipped in the extreme and he plays in tiny bursts to create a sound reminiscent of a heavily damped guitar string and a million miles away from the predominant Coltrane-lite sound of other sopranoists that have come since.

As a recording of an important figure getting further out than before, as a document of a band that was short-lived but remarkable, and as a debut by a future force in trumpeting, this is a highly important record. Critics have suggested that it's more important historically than musically, and certainly there is little that's new here. But it's executed well, and like the best free jazz is challenging, thought provoking music. Well worth tracking down (try ESP-disk first).

John Coltrane - Live In Japan

2006-04-13T22:04:00.000+01:00

JOHN COLTRANE
Live In Japan
impulse! GRD 4102

Recorded July 1966

Disc One

1. Afro Blue
2. Peace On Earth

Disc Two

1. Crescent

Disc Three

1. Peace On Earth
2. Leo

Disc Four

1. My Favourite Things

PERSONNEL

JOHN COLTRANE; tenor sax, alto sax, soprano sax, percussion
PHAROAH SANDERS; tenor sax, alto sax, bass clarinet, percussion
ALICE COLTRANE; piano
JIMMY GARRISON; bass
RASHIED ALI; drums

This ranks as possibly the single most extreme live recording in Coltrane's career. While his 1966 group was always up for a bit of improvisation, what makes this album stand out is both the length and the intensity of the improvisations on display. Garrison, for example, leads off both 'Crescent' and 'My Favourite Things' with a 14 minute unaccompanied improvisation on the bass. It's electrifying, and serves as a taster of what's to come. But first the listener is presented with some of the most extreme music on the record. The version of 'Afro-Blue' that kicks off this 4-CD box set is stupendous. The improvising is intense and sustained, but of high quality throughout. It reaches some pretty big climaxes along it's 39 minute length (the shortest piece here is 25 minutes), but manages to remain in some form of recognisable key and time signature throughout (well, mostly). It also perfectly vindicates Coltrane's choice of Pharoah Sanders who brings his customary harsh, overtone-rich sound to the band in a way that his solo recordings never quite captured. Alice Coltrane also plays with an intensity not seen on her solo recordings until her version of 'Leo' on 1978's 'Transfiguration' LP (also featuring onetime Trane bassist Reggie Workman, fact fans). I've mentioned the solid Garrison already, and Ali plays to the standard of the ensemble, in his usual style. While being free of the limiting need to 'swing', his ability to mark time and regulate the pulse of the piece while simultaneously improvising is unsurpassed. Simply put, this is a recording you all need to listen to.

Coltrane On Soprano

2006-04-12T22:04:00.000+01:00

After last night's Archie, and particularly his soprano playing on 'Un Croque Monsieur' (see this post), i awoke this morning with fragments of John Coltrane's soprano saxophone sound drifting around my head. They've been stuck there all day, so in an attempt to move on to something else, a few words about Coltrane and some of the music he played on the soprano.

Coltrane took up the soprano in the late 50s, towards the end of his tenure with Miles Davis. A number of reasons have been postulated, including gum problems that precluded playing his usual tenor, and the increasing interest in the straight horn in general, mainly due to the work of dixieland-cum-free-jazzer Steve Lacy. The straight configuration of the horn allowed him to play faster than had been possible, and the different embouchure gave him a slightly different tone. His tone on tenor has always been firm, but on soprano it's much harder, but with a transparent, floating quality, like glass.

The two pieces I've been focusing on are amongst his most famous works, and are both interpretations of well-known pieces of music. 'Greensleeves' from 'The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions' is the first. The tune will be immediately familiar to anyone with ears, but here it gets a swinging treatment courtesy of messers Tyner, Workman and Jones. Trane starts out gently with a tasteful solo that uses the theme as a jumping off point for some lyrical, harmonically tasteful playing. He exhibits exactly the sort of 'hard as glass' tone that I described above. There is some brass here, too, but they're kind of relegated to backing the theme statements. Good thing too, as there's never really any need to play along with one of Trane's 60s quartets.

The other piece that has kept me happy today, and in it's time redefined the use of the soprano in jazz (yes, you can blame Trane for Kenny G) is the great 'My Favourite Things'. Again, Coltrane starts out gently, treating the theme as a china doll before breaking out of Rogers & Hammerstein's conventional style into a masterclass of modal post-bop jazz. What's amazing is that he manages to keep the whole 13 minutes accessible to a non-jazz audience while still leaving the aficionados gasping. This duality was turned on it's head in later performances where the theme was simply a jumping off point for extended, often free improvisations. Witness the 57-minute version caught on tape in 1966 on the impulse! album 'Live In Japan', for example. But to get back to the point, he plays soprano beautifully on the original recording with that same firmness of tone that makes him a pleasure to listen to.

Archie Shepp - For Losers

2006-04-11T21:31:00.000+01:00

ARCHIE SHEPP
For Losers
impulse! AS-9188

Recorded 1968-9/ Released 1971

1. Stick 'em Up
2. Abstract
3. I Got It Bad (and that ain't good)
4. What Would It Be Without You
5. Un Croque Monsieur (Poem: For Losers)

PERSONNEL

On 'Un Croque Monsieur', 'I Got It Bad', 'What Would It Be Without You' (26.08.1969)

ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax, soprano sax
WOODY SHAW; trumpet
MATTHEW GEE; trombone
CLARENCE SHARPE; alto sax
CECIL PAYNE; baritone sax
CEDAR WALTON; piano
WILBUR WARE; bass
JOE CHAMBERS; drums
CHINA-LIN SHARPE; vocals

On 'Stick 'em Up' (09.09.1968)

ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax
MARTIN BANKS; trumpet & flugelhorn
GRACHAN MONCUR III; trombone
MARTIN KENYATTA; alto sax
ANDREW BEY; piano
ALBERT WINSTON; fender bass
BERT PAYNE; guitar
BEAVER HARRIS; drums
LEON THOMAS; vocals
DORIS TROY; vocals
TASHA THOMAS; vocals

On 'Abstract' (17.02.1969)

ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax
JIMMY OWENS; trumpet & flugelhorn
GRACHAN MONCUR III; trombone
JAMES SPAULDING; alto sax
CHARLES DAVIS; baritone sax
DAVE BURRELL; organ
WALLY RICHARDSON; guitar
BOB BUSHNELL; fender bass
BERNARD PURDIE; drums

This 1971 release brings together material from three sessions spread across 1968-9 featuring three different bands. After the full-on sonic assault of the previous years' 'Pitchin Can' and 'Coral Rock' I can imagine Shepp fans picking this one up and saying "Woah! What's all this about?". For while there is free jazz here, it's hidden beneath an accessible surface that takes the form of funky soul-jazz ('Stick 'em Up', 'Abstract'), sweet balladry ('I Got It Bad', 'What Would It Be...') and a Yasmina style funky freak-out.

'Stick 'em Up' stands out as being unlike anything else in Shepp's discography. Over a funky backbeat worthy of James Brown, Leon Thomas provides a R&B vocal (unlike anything else I've heard him do, either) and the band play tight, well arranged parts. Archie pops up with short solos all over the place, applying his abrasive tone to straightahead material where it actually fits quite well. 'Abstract' is almost, but not quite, more of the same - while it's still tight and funky there's more of a jazz feel in the solos and overall structure of the piece. In fact, it's very much in a soul-jazz style, and would fit nicely on a Cannonball Adderley LP were it not for the unhinged soloing of Shepp.

The ballads provide a nice change of pace and another early example of Shepp playing it sweet, something he would do more and more throughout the 1970s. 'I Got It Bad', in particular, has nary a challenging harmony in sight - unthinkable for a Shepp recording of the period! 'Normal' service is resumed with the closing 'Un Croque Monsieur'. Shepp sets up an insistent, funky theme counterpointed nicely by Payne's baritone (note - this theme was lifted, in it's entirety, and used to great effect in Stereolab's 'Outer Bongolia' from 2000's 'First Of The Microbe Hunters' mini-LP. Not jazz in the slightest, but still worth a listen). Once he's set it up, Shepp wanders off on soprano and explores every possibility that the theme suggests, as well as a few more besides. Chambers sounds increasingly dissastisfied with this and around the 7-minute mark leads the group into a collective free-improvisation that'll have the hardcore Shepp fans feeling right at home. This fades into the 'For Losers' poem, but is rescued by Walton's huge piano riff that drives the band through the remaining choruses.

Now for the problem - availability. This is a hard album to come by. I got lucky online and managed to get my hands on a Japanese CD reissue. Vinyl copies appear to be very hard to find, and are likely to be expensive if Shepp's other impulse! recordings are anything to go by. Enjoy 'Stick 'em Up' on the radio player, and keep your eye out for a copy of this, you won't be disappointed.

Elvin Jones

2006-04-10T22:42:00.000+01:00

Elvin Ray Jones was born 9th September 1927 into a musical family (brothers Hank and Thad had some success as pianist and trumpeter, consecutively) and by the 1940s he was playing in an army band. Following his discharge from the forces, he ended up in New York (where else?) and played alongside the likes of Miles Davis and Charlie Parker. Unsurprisingly, he idolised drummers like Max Roach and Kenny Clarke and could scarcely believe that he was playing in such exalted company. Of course, his early style was very similar to those drummers, but throughout the 50s he developed his own unique voice on the drumkit. The earliest LP I own featuring Jones is the 1957 Sonny Rollins set, 'A Night At The Village Vanguard' (although he also played with J.J. Johnson and Donal Byrd around this time), which finds Jones spending a lot of time in a fairly standard bop-based style. Here and there, though, there are signs of the adventurous Jones of the 1960s. He plays a great solo in 'Softly as in a morning sunrise' that's definitely not in the usual hard-bop mode - rather than the usual cacophony, he plays a spare, elegant part that's full of space and clever rhythmic touches. It foreshadows a lot of the work he was to do with John Coltrane in the 1960s as part of his great quartet in it's inventiveness, even if there's little sign of the connection with the other soloists that he was to display under Trane.

He joined Trane in 1960, contributing to some of his Atlantic material and after a start marked by some fast and furious playing, soon developed a deep connection with his bandmates, and leader in particular, that produced some incredible music. Also under the influence of Coltrane, Jones began to introduce elements of the avant-garde into his work. Although never totally a free jazz drummer, he nevertheless provides an appropriately shifting backdrop to later Trane recordings such as 'Ascension' or 'Meditations'. But while he was polyrhythmic in his approach, he did not play in totally free style and left the band in 1966 to pursue his solo career.

He had played with other musicians throughout the 1960s, both as sideman and leader, notably on albums like Andrew Hill's 'Judgement' where his avant-garde training came in very handy. He also had a stint with Duke Ellington (!) and recorded several albums with former-Trane bandmante McCoy Tyner. Jones carried on playing and recording into the 1990s, but poor health forced his retirement and he died, from heart failure, on 18th May 2004.

Roswell Rudd & Archie Shepp

2006-04-08T15:34:00.000+01:00

ROSWELL RUDD & ARCHIE SHEPP
Live In New York

Recorded 23rd-24th September 2000
at 'The Jazz Standard', New York

1. Keep your heart right
2. Acute Motelitis
3. Steam
4. Pazuzu
5. We Are The Blues
6. U-Jamma
7. Bamako
8. Slide by Slide
9. Deja-Vu
10. Hope No. 2

PERSONNEL

ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax, piano, vocal
ROSWELL RUDD; trombone
GRACHAN MONCUR III; trombone
AMIRI BAKARA; vocal
REGGIE WORKMAN; bass
ANDREW CYRILLE; drums

I've done quite a few double-leader albums this week (a coincidence, i'm sure) but this one steps away from the established theme by not featuring Milt Jackson, or anyone connected with him. In fact it's the long-awaited reunion of two of the 1960s avant-garde's most respected hornmen - trombone giant Roswell Rudd and the great, great Archie Shepp. The great thing about the recording is that it finds both Shepp and Rudd, as well as their sidemen, to be on top form throughout - not bad for players likely to be in their 60s (Shepp would have been 63 at the time). Obviously the free improvisation they played together in the 1960s has been toned down a bit by convention and the passage of time, but it's still great to hear them kick off with 'Keep Your Heart Right', last seen on 1966's Live In San Francisco. On that album, the track is a short and rather plain introduction, a trojan horse of jazz convention transporting you into the midst of decidedly 'new thing' territory. Here it serves as a reminder of just what these men were capable of as well as showing the world that they've still got their chops.

There is a little free-jazz here and there. 'Pazuzu' features an impassioned Shepp on tenor playing with the harmonic structure of the piece in his usual fashion. The track is also a showcase for Cyrille, opening with a fine drum solo. Shepp's 'U-Jamma' has been a staple of live albums since the mid-1970s and usually features some free playing - thankfully this is just as true in 2000 as it was in 1975. Everyone else sticks to more conventional harmonic ground, which is fine as the playing is, once again, top notch. I really like Shepp's piano playing on this track - he's usually pretty basic on that instrument, but is good enough here to get me thinking "hey, who's that great pianist" with his understated accompaniment to Rudd and Moncur.

Reggie Workman has always been one of my favourite bass players, and his solo at the beginning of 'Slide by Slide' is enough to convince me that he's still got it. As the name would suggest, this is also a feature for the twin trombones of Rudd and Moncur.

On release this album drew a warm reception from the critics, as evidenced by this and this review.

Andrew Hill - Judgment

2006-04-07T20:40:00.000+01:00

ANDREW HILL
Judgment
Blue Note 63842

1. Siete Ocho
2. Flea Flop
3. Yokada Yokada
4. Alfred
5. Judgment
6. Reconciliation
7. Yokada Yokada (alternate take)

PERSONNEL

ANDREW HILL; piano
BOBBY HUTCHERSON; vibes
RICHARD DAVIS; bass
ELVIN JONES; drums

This is full-on avant-bop from a line-up of classic mid 60s 'Blue Note goes out' players. Messrs Hill, Hutcherson, Davis and Jones had all made their marks on the avant-garde scene by the time of this 1964 recording. While Hill's earlier Blue Notes were fiery affairs, this one is more subdued, cerebral even. Like labelmate and fellow pianist Herbie Hancock, Hill's compositions of this period reward close listening. But unlike Hancock, he can be seen clearly to be pushing the boundaries of accepted bop phrasing and harmony, right from the off - Herbie never went out as far as this.

Another departure from earlier albums is the lack of horns. But despite this shortcoming, the density of Hill's writing and the rhythmic mastery of Jones provide just enough texture. Hutcherson's vibes add further colour to the date - his playing here is among his best for the label and shows off his spare, single-line style to great effect. Indeed, his approach to melody is very similar to Hill's. They play together frequently, sounding like extensions of one another's personalities. Davis has been beatifully captured here, the CD reissue that I own showing off a huge, rounded bass tone. And Jones' drums, too, are reproduced cleanly, all the better to hear his tumbling polyrythmic accompaniment.

What stands out, listening to this music, is the lengths the group go to push the boundaries. All four players are pushing hard, there are no 'sidemen' here. The interplay between them all is what drives the session and makes it so good to listen to some 40 years later. It's still fresh, a quality that's often heard in Hill's music. He can truly be regarded as an original.

Milt Jackson & Ray Charles - Soul Brothers

2006-04-06T14:46:00.000+01:00

MILT JACKSON & RAY CHARLES
Soul Brothers
Atlantic

Recorded 1957

1. Soul Brothers
2. How Long Blues
3. Cosmic Ray
4. Blue Funk
5. Bag's Guitar Blues

PERSONNEL

MILT JACKSON; vibraphone, guitar
RAY CHARLES; piano, alto sax
BILLY MITCHELL; tenor sax
SKEETER BEST; guitar
OSCAR PETTIFORD; bass
CONNIE KAY; drums

I made a comment during this post a couple of days ago that if you were looking for laid-back bluesiness, you had found it. Well, this 1957 gem takes that idea to it's extreme with 'How Long Blues', 9 glorious minutes of blues improvisation that I implore you to listen to. No introductions are required, of course - both leaders were accomplished and popular multi-instrumentalists. Mind you, they are forever associated with their work on piano or vibes, which is a shame, as Charles takes a great turn on alto on a couple of tracks here, and Jackson shows us all how bluesy jazz guitar should be done on 'Bag's Guitar Blues' - as well as playing piano, to boot.

Also perceptible in the grooves of this record is a healthy dose of soul. By the time of this recording, Charles was a bona-fide R&B star after hits like 'I Got A Woman'. He'd always been a handy jazz player too, but on this album he brings some soul sensibility. This recording must be one of the earliest 'soul-jazz' albums, and has certainly been an influence on the 1960s rare groove set.

Billy Cobham - Crosswinds

2006-04-05T21:54:00.000+01:00

BILLY COBHAM
Crosswinds
Atlantic SD 7300

Recorded 1974

Side One

1. Spanish Moss
2. Savannah the Serene
3. Storm
4. Flash Flood

Side Two

1. The Pleasant Pheasant
2. Heather
3. Crosswind

PERSONNEL

JOHN WILLIAMS; bass
JOHN ABERCROMBIE; guitar
GEORGE DUKE; keyboards
BILLY COBHAM; percussion
LEE PASTORA; latin percussion
GARNETT BROWN; trombone
RANDY BRECKER; trumpet
MICHAEL BRECKER; woodwinds

William E. Cobham Jr. is simply one of the best jazz drummers there has ever been. Period. Armed with formidable technical skill, he came to prominence in the early days of fusion as the rhythmic force behind Miles Davis' fusion experiments. His other notable early 70s posting was in the engine room of fusion supergroup the Mahavishnu Orchestra. 'Crosswinds' comes from the next stage of his career, as the powerful and superfast jazz-rock of Mahavishnu gave way to a more human jazz-funk sound. The transformation was taking place through 1973's 'Spectrum' (being particularly evident in sampler's favourite, 'Stratus') but the change of guitarist to John Abercrombie ushered in a less frenetic sound.

That's not to say there aren't sweaty, full-bore fusion workouts here. 'The Pleasant Pheasant' is fast and furious, but remains funky despite it's technical brilliance. The Brecker brothers are on particularly good form, especially MIchael with his keening soprano. And don't forget George Duke, anchoring the whole thing with a funky riff on a heavily funked-up rhodes. 'Storm' is another wild ride - a Cobham solo with only the wind for accompaniment, making his drumming sound even more like the elemental force that it truly is.

Where the album really stands out, though, is on the slower cuts. 'Heather' in particular is at times so slight that it's hardly there, but features some well considered playing from both Duke and Michael Brecker. 'Savannah the Serene' is as calm as the title would suggest, and gives the other Brecker a chance to shine, as well as featuring Duke's Rhodes sounding almost like a vibraphone.

The whole album carries a weather-related theme - tracks with titles like 'Storm', 'Flash Flood' and 'Crosswind' clearly speak of Cobham's music (for it was he who wrote all of these pieces) as a force to be reckoned with, yet the whole set is accessible - perhaps moreso than his earlier work with Miles and Mahavishnu. The weather motif does give the record a 'concept-album' feel; I know 'jazz-funk-fusion-concept-album' looks as if it should be terrible, but this is great music, really great. If you get what Miles was doing in 1969, if you're partial to a bit of funk, or if you just like your jazz to come with a healthy dose of musicianship, then you'll find something to like about this album.

Oscar Peterson & Milt Jackson

2006-04-04T21:59:00.000+01:00

OSCAR PETERSON & MILT JACKSON
Very Tall
Verve V6 8429

Recorded September 16th-18th, 1961

Side One

1. On Green Dolphin Street
2. Heartstrings
3. Work Song

Side Two

1. John Brown's Body
2. A Wonderful Guy
3. Reunion Blues

PERSONNEL

OSCAR PETERSON; piano
MILT JACKSON; vibes
RAY BROWN; bass
ED THIGPEN; drums

If you're looking for laid-back bluesiness in jazz, you could do a lot worse than have a listen to anything by Oscar Peterson. The Canadian pianist was born in 1925, and could play the piano by the age of 5! A brush with TB a few years later gave him plenty of practice time, and he emerged in the late 1940s as a talented jazz improviser. Introduced to the US by Norman Granz in 1949, he went on to record extensively for Granz's Verve and Pablo labels. This 1961 date sees Peterson and his usual sidemen of Brown and Thigpen meeting up with the legendary Milt Jackson.

Jackson's sound is as instantly recognisable as ever, and fits like a glove into Peterson's bluesy style. In fact, the pieces here are less formally structured than a lot of what the Modern Jazz Quartet were up to at the same time, making this date feel a lot more relaxed than a contemporary MJQ record. The music has a strong blues feeling, especially the upbeat tracks like the standout 'Work Song'. That track begins with a strong theme statement before heading off into a Jackson improvisation that's ably supported by Peterson and his trio. But Peterson isn't just here to provide support to the visiting soloist, and comes back himself with a crackling solo where he shows off both his outstanding technical skill and superlative improvisational sense. It puts Jackson in the shade, and to my mind scotches all those who say that Peterson on this album simply acts as supporting player for the famous vibraphonist (such as this review, and this one). I also like their reading of 'John Brown's Body' - not a tune I usually enjoy, here it's given a fine blues treatment with a Peterson solo that once again beats Bags' attempt hands down.

Being on Verve means that this album is, thanks to their reissue program, freely available. I have seen reports that the remastering isn't up to much, with a heavy bass that is at odds with the delicately nuanced playing of Jackson and Peterson. Hunting down a vinyl copy is very much recommended (try eBay for starters).

Ray Pizzi - Conception

2006-04-03T22:36:00.000+01:00

RAY PIZZI
Conception
Pablo 2310 795

Recorded September 1976

Side One

1. Conception
2. Willow Creek
3. The Missing Link

Side Two

1. Angel's Crest
2. Friday Night Rush Hour Blues
3. Rhapsodie
4. Digitations

PERSONNEL

RAY PIZZI; soprano & tenor sax, flute, bassoon
DAN SAWYER; guitar
JOHN MORELL; guitar
GREG MATHIESON; piano, keyboards, organ
MARK LEVINE; piano
JOHN HEARD; acoustic bass
JOEL Di BARTOLO; electric bass
MARK STEVENS; percussion
PETER DONALD; drums

"So," you ask, "who is Ray Pizzi then?". Well, that's just what I asked when I picked up this record recently, and you bet I'm glad I did. Ray Pizzi is, depending on who you ask, a woodwind specialist, concert performer, composer, arranger, educator, or one of the few great jazz bassoonists. He was also a noted sideman for leaders as diverse as Louis Bellson, Willie Bobo, Henry Mancini, Ravi Shankar and Frank Zappa. A stint with Dizzy Gillespie's big band in the 1970s led to him meeting up with Norman Granz who recorded Pizzi as leader on these 1976 recordings for his Pablo label.

The music is a heady jazz-funk-rock fusion that, in common with most fusion LPs, meanders much of the time. But a couple of tracks stand out - most notably side one's 'The Missing Link'. Featuring a beautifully clipped, arpeggiated theme by Pizzi on tenor and some excellent group dynamics this is the album's high point. On side two, 'Friday Night Rush Hour Blues' repeats the same ideas to good effect, but elsewhere there are lacklustre tracks like 'Willow Creek', whose only saving grace is as a vehicle for the unusual sound of solo bassoon in jazz. I say unusual, but in this case not good. Pizzi has recorded very few sessions as leader - there's a discography here - which is shame as when he's good on this album he's very good - it just doesn't happen all that often.

Bugge Wesseltoft - Moving

2006-04-01T20:41:00.000+01:00

BUGGE WESSELTOFT
Moving
Jazzland 013 534-2

Recorded 2001

1. Change (Chilluminati Remix)
2. Gare Du Nord
3. Yellow Is The Colour
4. Lone
5. Moving
6. South

On this 2001 album, Norwegian pianist/composer/producer Bugge Wesseltoft further refines his concept of 'the new conception of jazz'. Having started out playing stereotypically Nordic ECM-style jazz, Bugge (pronounced 'Boogie') formed the jazzland label and brought out several records in a new, experimental jazz style that fused elements of electronic music with traditional jazz instrumentation to excellent effect. That new style is seen clearly throughout this album - 'Change' and 'Gare Du Nord' in particular being based around strong house-influenced rhythms that recall Blue Note's 'St. Germain'. We have to wait until 'Yellow is the Colour' for something older in it's outlook. Over a chattering ambient beat, Wesseltoft sets out a strongly melodic theme very much in the style of that other great contemporary Norwegian pianist, Tord Gustavsen. At the half-way point, Hakon Kornstad enters on tenor with a remarkably Pharoah Sanders-esque solo - all overtones and trilling - that anchors the whole track to avant-garde jazz tradition. It's like a decent take on updating the impulse! back catalogue for today's audience (click on this link for an example of how not to do this). The closing 'South' is also excellent - warm and inviting, mainly courtesy of some supremely alluring bass playing courtesy of Ingebrigt Flaten. Overall it's a great album, and is that rare beast that works well as either a fine close listen or tasteful background music.

John Coltrane - Living Space

2006-03-31T19:37:00.000+01:00

JOHN COLTRANE
Living Space
impulse! IMPCD246

Recorded June 1965

1. Living Space
2. Untitled 90314
3. Dusk-Dawn
4. Untitled 90320
5. The Last Blues

PERSONNEL

JOHN COLTRANE; tenor sax, soprano sax
McCOY TYNER; piano
JIMMY GARRISSON; bass
ELVIN JONES; drums

Posthumous releases can be a strange business. Particularly with artists of Coltrane's stature, there seems to be an aim on the part of the record companies to milk as much as possible out of the back catalogue - there's not going to be any new music, after all. So various compilations of outtakes and unreleased 'gems' appear. Most of these, it has to be said, are rubbish. But every once in a while a collection of outtakes shines as bright as the material released at the time. This is one such collection.

Put together in the late 1960s by Bob Thiele, (with it's final track added to the CD release by Ravi Coltrane many years later)this LP collects material from sessions in June 1965. 1965 was a fertile year for Coltrane, as he pushed and pushed at the boundaries of jazz convention. His releases from that year range from the conventional (but brilliant) 'A Love Supreme' to arguably the defining album of free jazz, 'Ascension'. The change in style evident between these two classic albums didn't happen overnight, and 'Living Space' goes some way towards documenting the shift in 'Trane's sound.

There are moments of pure freedom evident here. This is particularly marked on 'Untitled 90320' where the rhythm section also play free, allowing Trane to push harder than anywhere else on the album. Although the piece is harmonically free, though, there's a definite rhythm here. My father (a big jazz fan but, as a drummer, allergic to free time) summed it up well a few years ago when he said "this is as much as I can cope with". Trane's playing elsewhere on the album is outstanding. The title track is simply beautiful, Trane on soprano sounding as smooth as he could when he put his mind to it. The opening and closing themes of this track are rather special too - Trane overdubbed a second soprano track, playing slightly out of time and key to his first attempt, creating a haunting, melancholic sound.

The album marks a couple of lasts in Coltrane's career. It's the last time he used the soprano on a studio recording, allegedly; and with 'The Last Blues' is the last time he recorded... well, a blues. It's actually nothing special and feels a bit tacked on to Thiele's well-considered tracklisting, but it's good to have nonetheless.

Tina Brooks - True Blue

2006-03-30T20:40:00.000+01:00

TINA BROOKS
True Blue
Blue Note 4041

Recorded June 1960

Side One

1. Good Old Soul
2. Up Tight's Creek
3. Theme for Doris

Side Two

1. True Blue
2. Miss Hazel
3. Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You

PERSONNEL

TINA BROOKS; tenor sax
FREDDIE HUBBARD; trumpet
DUKE JORDAN; piano
SAM JONES; bass
ART TAYLOR; drums

I've written about Tina Brooks before and even posted the cover of 'True Blue', but what i haven't done is to say much about the music. Softer than a Hank Mobley, less harsh than Dexter Gordon (and that's saying something), the tragic Brooks had a gorgeously smooth and soulful tenor sound coupled with prodigious technical skill. He also posessed a lyrical sensibility that's apparent from the few dates he led in his lifetime. This date from 1960 comes from the same week and features much the same personnel as Freddie Hubbard's 'Open Sesame'.

Brooks is the perfect foil for Hubbard at that stage of his career - in fact their melodic approach and tone are very similar, despite them playing different instruments. The title track really sets the tone - after a conventional hard-bop theme with a distictly melodic bent, Brooks and Hubbard set to work on lyrical, complex solos that perfectly complement each other, coming back to some fine interplay and a restatement of the theme at points throughout. Pretty much the whole LP follows this pattern. This is one of those few hard-bop albums where there is no filler - just continuous hard-swinging music. Even closer 'Nothing Ever Changes My Love For You', with a title that suggests a gentle ballad, is a swinging piece with some neat latin percussion and a particularly fine Hubbard solo.

As i've mentioned before, Brooks died young and left a small but good-looking back catalogue, all on Blue Note. This, 'Minor Move', 'Back To The Tracks' and 'The Waiting Game' as leader, and several dates as a sideman - notably with Jimmy Smith on 'The Sermon' and 'Cool Blues', on the Hubbard that partners this LP, and with Kenny Burrell on '...at The Five Spot Cafe'. A full discography is available, and unlike some jazz artists I could mention, I think it might be possible to own all of these.

Theme from "Any Number Can Win"

2006-03-29T19:59:00.000+01:00

JIMMY SMITH
Theme from "Any Number Can Win"

from Verve V-8552, 'Any Number Can Win'

Recorded July 1963

I was going to review this whole album. The title track has been running around my head all day, but on listening to it I was slightly underwhelmed by pretty much all but the lead track - so that's what I'll be focussing on. The sad thing is that this looks like a great album - slightly cheesy, maybe - with a front cover featuring lovely ladies from around the world and a rear sleeve featuring Jimmy lounging in the driver's seat of an E-type Jag. I wonder what that's all about?

This was one of Jimmy's earliest big-band sessions on the Verve label and features several different bands with the common denominator of Jimmy on organ and Kenny Burrell on guitar. Burrell is a crucial part of this short, sharp, yet exciting track. Unlike some of the Verve big band sessions, this one doesn't have Oliver Nelson arrangements, and it suffers for it a bit. 'Theme from...' has a smaller band so probably doesn't suffer from poor arranging quite so badly.

The track itself is based around Burrell's infectious guitar 'riff' (if you can call a single-note picked theme a riff) accompanied by Jimmy comping on the organ in a cheery-sounding major scale. It's this comping that is the heart and soul of the piece - the whole thing just sounds so up, so happy, that all it can do is light up your day. Some say that the best thing to listen to on a bad day is the blues (tried it, bad idea), but i'd say you should get this out and soak your troubles away the Jimmy way. The rest of the track is punctuated by short solos from Jimmy featuring his trademark trilling, as well as a hefty dose of down and dirty organ grinding. Basically it's a great track and the highlight of a slightly disappointing LP.

Attica Blues Big Band

2006-03-28T21:38:00.000+01:00

ARCHIE SHEPP
Attica Blues Big Band
Blue Marge 1001 (F)

Recorded October 24, 1979, Palais des Glaces, Paris

Side One

1. Antes De Adios
2. Star Love
3. Moon Bees
4. Attica Blues part one
5. Steam

Side Two

1. Quiet Dawn
2. Hi-Fly
3. U-Jamma

Side Three

1. Strollin
2. Ballad For A Child
3. Simone
4. Crusificado

Side Four

1. A Change Has Come Over Me
2. Goodbye Sweet Pops
3. Skippin'
4. Attica Blues part two

PERSONNEL

Archie Shepp (p, ss, ts, conductor)
Kamal Alim, Roy Burrowes, Charles Mc Ghee, Eddie Preston, Richard "Malachi" Thompson (tp)
Charles "Majeed" Greenlee, Dick Griffin, Ray Harris, Charles Stephens, (tb)
Steve Turre (tb, sea shell)
Marvin Blackman (ss, fl)
Marion Brown (as, fl)
Patience Higgins, John Purcell, James Ware (ss, fl)
Candice Greene (vln)
Terry Jenoure (vln, voc)
Carl Ector (viola)
Akua Dixon (cello, voc, p)
Irene Datcher, Joe Lee Wilson (voc)
Art Matthews (p)
Clyde Criner (synth)
Brandon Ross (g)
Hakim Jami (b, tuba)
Avery Sharpe (b, el-b)
Clifford Jarvis (dr)
Kevin Jones (perc)

For today's post we fast-forward to the other end of Archie Shepp's career. This 1979 live recording documents the realistion of Shepp's ambition to create a work that fused all aspects of black American music into one coherent whole. With albums like 1972's 'Attica Blues' he had come close, but here he surpasses even that great record with an outstanding set of experimental big-band music.

As the title might suggest, much of the music within is taken from the 1972 album, but there is much more to the record than that. First and foremost it's a big band record - for all the concept album feel of the opening segment (up to 'Attica Blues part one'), once the band get into the groove they really swing. Listen to 'Strollin' or 'Crusificado' on side three for evidence of that - big show tunes , but backed up with some outsatnding instrumental playing, especially from Shepp who is on great form here. He really lets it all hang out here - not in the sense of playing free - but in terms of passion and commitment. The closest he comes to his free-jazz roots is on side two's run through 'Hi-Fly', and especially 'U-Jamma' - but the ferocity of the 1975 piece is toned down and replaced with some fine lyrical playing. Shepp's playing throughout is to a high standard - on sax anyway - his few attempts at piano are pretty basic. At least they blend into the background behind Irene Datcher's vocal, on 'Ballad For A Child' for example.

The tracks from the original 'Attica Blues' are well executed. The big band setting breathes new life into 'Attica Blues' itself, reworked as a jazz-funk masterpiece with it's slap bass and soulful vocal. The greatest transformation is of 'Quiet Dawn', where the measured delivery of the vocal is in sharp contrast to 8-year-old Waheeda Massey's surreal effort on the original 1972 recording. The mood of the entire performance is different, too - where 'Attica...' was an articulate cry of anger, '.. big band' is celebratory - proud, even.

There's some outstanding talent in the band - Marion Brown on alto, Charles Greenlee on trombone and Joe Lee Wilson on vocals, to name but three, but with the exception of Shepp this isn't a gig for soloists. It's very much a band effort, and all the better for it. It must have been a formidable task to create charts for so many players for what was a one-off gig, but Shepp has risen to the challenge admirably.

Archie Shepp/Lars Gullin Quintet

2006-03-27T11:35:00.000+01:00

ARCHIE SHEPP/LARS GULLIN QUINTET
THE HOUSE I LIVE IN
Steeplechase SCCD 36013

Recorded November 21st 1963

1. You Stepped Out of a Dream
2. I Should Care
3. The House I Live In
4. Sweet Georgia Brown

PERSONNEL

ARCHIE SHEPP; tenor sax
LARS GULLIN; baritone sax
TETE MONTOLIOU; piano
NIELS HENNING ORSTED PEDERSEN; bass
ALEX RIEL; drums

Europe has always been fertile ground for Shepp. As he has said himself, the greater intellectualism of European audiences made it much easier for his complex music to find receptive ears. As a result several periods of his career have been spent in Europe and a great many recordings have become available. One of the earliest is this 1963 Danish concert featuring bop baritonist Lars Gullin and bass stalwart Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen.

The quintet work through four standards, the opener 'You Stepped Out Of A Dream' being the high point. It's a long piece at nineteen minutes, giving Shepp ample time to improvise in his usual manner. The contrast with the straight-ahead rhythm section is marked, being all the more obvious at those times when Gullin tries (not always successfully) to follow Shepp in his flights.

As a document of an emerging talent this is an interesting release. The Europeans are up to scratch too, so it's good to hear something from them - when most of us think of European jazz we think of the ECM label. Those trying to discover the roots of Shepp's style would be better advised to search out the 1960-61 Candid recordings with Cecil Taylor that show off the young tenor's unique style to better effect.

The Incredible Jimmy Smith

2006-03-26T21:33:00.000+01:00

I love my jazz, as many of you will no doubt have figured out by now, and although it's great fun writing for you all, there are some areas of jazz that can be covered better elsewhere. For that reason I've been scouring the internet looking for top notch jazz sites to reccommend, and with this one I think I've come up trumps. Jimmy Smith is without a doubt the greatest jazz organist bar none. He was the first musician to realise the potential of the Hammond organ in small group jazz and has worked in several styles including hard bop, big band and funk, all with a jazz edge. But don't take my word for it, visit the site and see for yourself. By the way, this post was written with the assistance of 'Dark Eyes' from the superb Cool Blues which is as good an example of Jimmy in a hard bop context as you could hope to find.

The Incredible Jimmy Smith

The Jazz Messengers

2006-03-25T21:53:00.000Z

THE JAZZ MESSENGERS
The Jazz Messengers
Columbia CL 897

Recorded April 6th, 1956

Side One

1. Infra-Rae
2. Nica's Dream
3. It's You Or No-One

Side Two

1. Ecaroh
2. Carol's Interlude
3. The End Of A Love Affair
4. Hank's Symphony

PERSONNEL

DONALD BYRD; trumpet
HANK MOBLEY; tenor sax
HORACE SILVER; piano
DOUG WATKINS; bass
ART BLAKEY; drums

This is a great LP from back when the elder statesman of hard-bop, Art Blakey was... well, not young (Art Blakey was never young), but when his ideas about the potential of small group jazz were first reaching fruition. The early versions of The Jazz Messengers featuring Horace Silver at the piano are often considered to be the best - though how can you compare, say, the 1960 Lee Morgan-Wayne Shorter band unfavourably with this one? For this classic Columbia session (the last with Silver), Donald Byrd came in on trumpet to replace Kenny Dorham; Hank Mobley has a prominent role both as soloist and composer, being responsible for 3 tunes including the album-in-microcosm that is 'Infra-Rae' and Blakey drum vehicle 'Hank's Symphony'. That last track is a must for lovers of Blakey's energetic style - after a strong opening theme, a switch to double time is heralded by Blakey's trademark rolls. The whole track is a masterclass in hard bop drumming, in fact. There then follows what is, quite simply, the finest drum solo in recorded jazz (at least that i've heard so far). Blakey is a virtuoso, and is in incredible form here, managing to invent while playing fast and hard - very hard (I wouldn't like to be one of his drum skins... ouch!).

Basically this is a great example of early hard bop played by one of it's undisputed masters. A storming set that deserves to be in all of your collections.

Red Clay

2006-03-24T07:42:00.000Z

FREDDIE HUBBARD
Red Clay
CTI 5051722

Recorded 27-29 January 1970

1. Red Clay
2. Delphia
3. Suite Sioux
4. The Intrepid Fox
5. Cold Turkey

PERSONNEL

FREDDIE HUBBARD; trumpet
HERBIE HANCOCK; piano
RON CARTER; bass
LENNY WHITE; drums
JOE HENDERSON; saxophone

OK, I know it's been all Blue Note so far this week, but don't get too excited - there's not much of a change here. Despite being on the CTI label, the personnel reads like a who's who of mid-60s post-bop (with the exception of the 20-year-old White who shows a maturity beyond his years). While the record is certainly steeped in bop and blues traditions, it has a few new tricks up it's sleeve too, as we shall see...

Opener 'Red Clay' starts as a pretty out-sounding modal jam before hitting on a groove that provides a backdrop to much of the rest of the piece. It's funky without being rigid, giving flexibility to the soloists and allowing Hancock to do his usual tense comping but with a funky edge. The track positively crackles with great solo playing - Hubbard in his usual, inimitable style; Hancock is sinuous as he darts and dives between the twin horns. Carter almost steals the show, inventive and imaginative whilst remaining totally in the groove at all times. 'The Intrepid Fox' is even better - less obviously funky but with a deep sense of groove and strong jazz feel. White comes over like a funkier Tony Williams, combining some of his virtuosity with his own youthful exuberance to deliver a genuinely exciting performance.

It's been said that Freddie Hubbard considers this his best album. There's definitely a case to be made - his playing is as strong as ever, the rhythm section are on top form as you might expect, and Henderson is a delight, pushing the whole quintet as far as he can whilst staying in the groove. In fact the record as a whole is simply an extension of the hard and post bop these guys were playing in the 60s, updated with some funk and soul-jazz influences. Oh, and it's damn good too, and easily available. Get it now.

Joe Henderson - Page One

2006-03-23T07:22:00.000Z

JOE HENDERSON
Page One
Blue Note 4140

Recorded June 3rd, 1963

1. Blue Bossa
2. La Mesha
3. Homestretch
4. Recorda Me
5. Jinrikisha
6. Out Of The Night

PERSONNEL

JOE HENDERSON; tenor sax
KENNY DORHAM; trumpet
McCOY TYNER; piano
BUTCH WARREN; bass
PETE LaROCA; drums

Another great 60s Blue Note set, tenorman Joe Henderson started a prolific couple of years on the seminal label with this 1963 set. There are some parallels with yesterday's Bobby Hutcherson album - although steeped in bop tradition, there are signs of the limits being pushed. This is particularly noticeable in the sound of Tyner who applies some pretty advanced harmonics in his soloing. Check out 'Recorda Me' for an example.

Elsewhere things are pretty laid back. Rather than pushing at the avant-garde, the rhythm section settle for gently swinging - and it works well. The unobtrusive nature of the backing gives the horns an opportunity to explore - particularly Henderson, who would record some fantastic 'out' music later in his career (check out this post). And the plain backing makes Tyner's innovative contributions that bit more obvious.

The record has a democratic feel - contemporary Blue Note releases often featured many of the same musicians, leadership being determined more by composition than by the amount of solo time devoted to a musician. Of course, the more musicians played together, the more alike the compositions became, and a recognisable Blue Note 'sound' was formed. That's no bad thing, as many of the releases from this era in the label's history are superb.

Search For The New Land

2006-03-22T09:05:00.000Z

LEE MORGAN
Search For The New Land
Blue Note BST 84169

Recorded Feb. 15th, 1964

Side One

1. Search For The New Land
2. The Joker

Side Two

1. Mr. Kenyatta
2. Melancholee
3. Morgan The Pirate

PERSONNEL

LEE MORGAN; Trumpet
WAYNE SHORTER; Tenor Saxophone
GRANT GREEN; Guitar
HERBIE HANCOCK; Piano
REGGIE WORKMAN; Bass
BILLY HIGGINS; Drums

1964 was quite a year for Blue Note records, and for bop-influenced musics in particular. Musicians had already been working outside the form, but the jazz mainstream was slower to pick up on the new trend. Three albums from 1964 on the Blue Note label stand out as excellent examples of the new, more advanced music - Herbie Hancock's 'Empyrean Isles', Wayne Shorter's 'Night Dreamer', and this one.

Particularly close to this is the Shorter record - the one-time Art Blakey bandmates of Morgan and Shorter performing in perfect contrast to one another. But where 'Night Dreamer' is often brooding, meditative even; 'Search...' is a much livelier date all together without losing the feeling of yearning that the title would suggest. Perhaps this is down to the leader's history - pre-Blakey, he was a firm proponent of straight-ahead hard-bop in the Clifford Brown style. That's not to say the music is simple - Higgins and Workman are more than a match for Morgan's polyrhythmic compositions, while Hancock applies his usual thoughtful intensity to proceedings. Green adds additional colour and proves himself immensley capable outside of his usual soulful setting.

The best feature of the album, though, is Morgan's approach to compositon. While his earlier material was all youthful exuberance, the older and wiser Lee of 1964 was able to bring a greater emotional depth to his writing, and communicate that to his fellow musicians. This is the aspect in which he really leads the session - not in his playing (which is excellent as ever) or even in the democratic way he hands out solo space to his bandmates.

The only problem with this record was it's timing, coming only a few months after 'The Sidewinder' - a fine record - but it's success meant that Morgan increasingly worked in it's soul jazz idiom rather than the more advanced forms seen here, and that really was a loss to jazz.

Bobby Hutcherson - Oblique

2006-03-21T09:35:00.000Z

BOBBY HUTCHERSON
Oblique
Blue Note 63835

Recorded July 21st, 1967

1. 'Til Then
2. My Joy
3. Theme From Blow-Up
4. Subtle Neptune
5. Oblique
6. Bi-Sectional

PERSONNEL

BOBBY HUTCHERSON; vibes
HERBIE HANCOCK; piano
ALBERT STINSON; bass
JOE CHAMBERS; drums

Bobby Hutcherson started his career playing avant-garde and free musics alongside such major figures as Eric Dolphy and Archie Shepp. Latr in the 1960s his style began to change as he took on aspects of hard-bop. For his two Blue Note dates of the period (this one and 1966's 'Happenings'), he hooked up with Herbie Hancock and created music of great beauty and complexity.

It doesn't start too well - opener 'Til Then' is carried along on the latin groove so beloved of hard-boppers, but for me the playing here is a little bland, the changes generic. Better is to come though. 'Theme from Blow-Up' is a Hancock composition, and it shows. The melodic and rhythmic ideas are more complex, and the band raise their game well. Of particular note is the interplay between Hutcherson and Hancock - they sound almost telepathic at times. One will start a line and the other will finish it, all within the same phrase. Hutcherson's opening solo on this track is superb, and the point where he and Hancock seamlessly merge into one another towards the middle of the track is simply sublime.

An essential part of the album's sound is 23-year-old bassist Albert Stinson. Another tragic and underrated figure, Stinson played on several seminal LPs (including Chico Hamilton's 'The Dealer') before an overdose a few years later robbed the world of jazz of another promising talent.

Criminally, this 1967 session lay unissued until 1980 when it had a Japan-only issue (a common tactic, several Blue Note sessions were buried in this way - Jimmy Smith's superlative 'Cool Blues' being another example). Fortunately the 'RVG Edition' reissue program rectified the availability problems late last year and now one of Hutcherson's finest sessions is available for us all to enjoy.

The DeJohnette Complex

2006-03-20T08:33:00.000Z

JACK DeJOHNETTE
The DeJohnette Complex
Milestone 64076

Recorded December 27th,28th, 1968

Side One

1. Equipoise
2. The Major General
3. Miles' Mode
4. Requiem Number 1

Side Two

1. Mirror Image
2. Papa, Daddy and Me
3. Brown, Warm and Wintry
4. Requiem Number 2

PERSONNEL

JACK DeJOHNETTE; drums, melodica
BENNIE MAUPIN; tenor, flute
STANLEY COWELL; piano, electric piano
MIROSLAV VITOUS; bass
EDDIE GOMEZ; bass
ROY HAYNES; drums

Another major jazz figure from the late 1960s jazz-fusion school, DeJohnette came to prominence after replacing Tony Williams as Miles Davis' drummer. But before this was an association with the AACM and famously a stint with Charles Lloyd. 'The DeJohnette Complex' was recorded across 2 days in December 1968 with several sidemen who would also go on to greater things. Two players stand out from the lineup - Bennie Maupin, whose work on tenor in the late 60s is consistently excellent (see this review), while Roy Haynes makes full use of his ability to excel in any genre of jazz.

The album is a little like a trip through contemporary jazz - there are aspects of bop and free improvisation, as well as funk and fusion. 'The Major General', for example, is all whirling polyrhythms and virtuosity, while Vitous' 'Mirror Image' could be a 'Bitches Brew' outtake. Most intriguing, though, are the tracks where DeJohnette gives up the drum stool to Haynes and takes the lead on melodica. Infrequently, if ever, used in Jazz, the instrument's melancholic air lends an atmospheric sheen to tracks like the opening 'Equipoise'. Less successful are DeJohnette's attempts at new-age style ambience in 'Requiem Number 1 & 2'. The melodica is too exposed, sounds too fractured, and the supporting play too weak to cover Dejohnette's lack of melodic ideas.

But taken as a whole, the album certainly showcases a major talent in DeJohnette, as much for his writing as his playing. If you're a fan of fusion-era Miles, or enjoy some complex and well-played post-bop, you'll enjoy this. While this review pertains to the LP, it's been released on CD too, so should be easy to pick up.

The Blues And The Abstract Truth

2006-03-17T07:33:00.000Z

OLIVER NELSON
The Blues And The Abstract Truth
impulse! A-5

Recorded 1961

1. Stolen Moments
2. Hoe-Down
3. Cascades
4. Yearnin'
5. Butch and Butch
6. Teenies' Blues

PERSONNEL

FREDDIE HUBBARD; trumpet
OLIVER NELSON; tenor sax, alto sax
ERIC DOLPHY; alto sax, flute
GEORGE BARROW; baritone sax
BILL EVANS; piano
PAUL CHAMBERS; bass
ROY HAYNES; drums

Noted arranger/composer Oliver Nelson got together with the cream of contemporary musicians in 1961 to record what was to be his finest album, and a future standard in 'Stolen Moments'. As the title of the album suggests, it's an exploration of the Blues, but not in the traditional format. Whilst there is little on the record that's abstract by later standards, it does push the boundaries of conventional blues harmony out there a little - it's audible in some of the horn voicings used by Nelson in the ensemble passages (respect to George Barrow - he never gets a solo but is integral to the sound of the record).

'Stolen Moments' is the outstanding track on the album. The theme is perhaps one of the most famous in jazz, and it's feel of languid bluesiness makes it a perfect sequel to Miles Davis' 'Kind of Blue' in terms of advancing jazz harmony a little further. It's not modal though, more like advanced blues. After the famous opening, '...moments' showcases each of the players in turn (with the exception of Barrow). Hubbard is excellent as ever, Dolphy intriguing on flute, and Evans as spare as you would expect. Nelson comes in full of emotion (and almost threatens to play the opening horn line of 'So What' in a subtle acknowledgement of Miles' classic LP), full of the blues, with an achingly beautiful solo that never fails to send a shiver down my spine.

After that, you might expect everything else to pale in comparison, but to Nelson's credit the rest of the album is up to the same high standard. Even 'Hoe-Down' with it's hokey square-dance theme convinces due to the quality of the solo playing, especially (albeit briefly) Haynes, who kicks up a storm for the best part of 4 bars (but then I love my drum solos). 'Yearnin'' is also worth a mention - it does exactly what you'd expect it to, tugging on the heartstrings in the way that only a slow blues can.

I've not said much about Dolphy - his explosive presence adds colour to the date; witness the fireworks of his solo on 'Teenie's Blues', for example, or the highly flexible approach he takes to rhythm and timing on 'Butch and Butch'. We're not quite up to 'Out To Lunch' yet, but you can see where he's going.

I could go on all night about this record, there's just so much to say. If you're looking for more information about Nelson, you could do worse that check out this discography, and wikipedia has a brief biography too. Mostly, though, what you need to do is buy this album. Now.

Coltrane

2006-03-16T09:09:00.000Z

JOHN COLTRANE
Coltrane
Prestige 7105
Recorded 1957

Side One

1. Bakai
2. Violets For Your Furs
3. Time Was

Side Two

1. Straight Street
2. While My Lady Sleeps
3. Chronic Blues

PERSONNEL

JOHN COLTRANE; tenor sax
JOHNNIE SPLAWN; trumpet
SAHIB SHIHAB; baritone sax
RED GARLAND; piano
MAL WALDRON; piano
PAUL CHAMBERS; bass
AL HEATH; drums

John Coltrane recorded this, his first album for Prestige and his first as leader, at a time in 1957 when he was between jobs with Miles Davis. He had been an important part of Miles’ first great quintet, and still had much to contribute to the second incarnation of that band. Miles had fired him owing to his unpredictable behaviour brought on by drug addiction, but this album showcases a cleaned-up ‘Trane storming through a strong set of bluesy originals, and a couple of standards.

What’s immediately obvious is ‘Trane’s tone. He always had a big sound, and that characteristic is emphasised here in his playing against Shihab’s baritone. A lesser tenor would wilt in comparison to such a big-sounding horn, but ‘Trane just piles on, sounding at times like he’s the one on baritone. Stellar stuff.

‘Bakai’ kicks off with Shihab circling around a vaguely eastern riff before the band kick in with a set of well-considered bluesy solos. ‘Time Was’ is also a blues, and is a feature for Garland’s intricate yet swinging style. ‘Trane plays well throughout, but saves his best for side 2. ‘Straight Street’, and even more, ‘Chronic Blues’ chronicle his struggle with drug addiction. ‘Straight Street’ is just that – a hard-bop styled blues with some great unison ensemble playing around the theme. Shihab’s baritone really adds colour to this date, and this piece in particular. ‘Trane is the star, though. His solo may be brief but it just flies off and gets about as far from typical hard bop as anyone had in 1957. It’s in sharp contrast to Splawn, who comes up next with a straightahead, Clifford Brown-style effort that sounds plain by comparison. Anywhere else it’d have been considered a masterpiece, but next to Coltrane’s wilful experimentation it just doesn’t cut it. Also suffering at the hands of Coltrane is Shihab – his ideas are there, but he doesn’t always have the technical ability to carry them off at times, so is left sounding uncertain and more than a little lost.

‘Chronic Blues’ repeats the trick of ‘Straight Street’, except that it turns up the blues feeling until you feel that you’re right there with ‘Trane going through cold turkey. As a representation of the ravages of hard drugs on jazz musicians it has yet to be bettered.

Inspired by being clean, his new wife Naima, and his renewed faith, Coltrane went on to record prolifically for Prestige over the following year, and continued throughout his employment with Miles. But it all started here, and those looking for the roots of his later innovations will find something to enjoy about all the late 50s Prestige records.

Egil Straume Jazz Combo

2006-03-13T14:12:00.000Z

EGIL STRAUME JAZZ COMBO
Ekstraversija

PERSONNEL

E. STRAUME; Clarinet, alto & soprano saxes
G. ROSENBERGS; Trumpet, Accordion, Flute
P. MIERLEJS; Trombone
I. BIRKANS; Flute, Piccolo, Baritone Sax
U. STABULNIEKS; Piano
K. RUTENTALS; Keyboards
M. KIOPS; Bass
M. BRIEZHKALNS; Drums, Percussion

Music sometimes does this to you - throws up something totally out of the left-field (or left-wing - more on that later) that's so good it leaves you breathless for more, but with the knowledge that you'll never hear it's likes again. It's a bittersweet feeling that happens all too frequently to an avid collector of odd jazz compilations like myself. This particular track was given a release on the excellent Cosmic Sounds record label as part of 'Red Square Groove: rare jazz/fusion from the Russian vaults'. The album collects 1970s/80s Russian jazz and fusion. Given the Russian predeliction for prog rock and heavy metal, it's hardly surprising that many of these Communist-era tracks are jazz-rock of the type initiated by Miles Davis' seminal 'Bitches Brew'.

This track is an exception to the jazz-rock theme of the album - six minutes of fast, frantic jazz-funk, played with a passion and verve so often lacking in that genre. After a slow, cycling brass introduction and some plain percussion, the track erupts into it's main theme - big, bold and brassy horns playing so fast they can hardly keep up with themselves. The whole piece from hereon in is taken at a furious tempo, and consists of multiple solos from pretty much the whole band. The award for best solo has to go to I. Birkans' flute masterpiece, melodic, inventive and totally at one with the supremely funky rhythm section. Solos are accompanied in all cases by some funky comping from both organ and guitar as well as washes of sound from the horns. Despite the six minute plus length, the track is over sooner than you would like, although the final minute is among the most exciting of the piece, the band throwing the theme around amongst each other and never going anywhere near dropping the ball. This is one tight group.

How they got away with this sort of thing in communist Russia is anyone's guess, but i'm glad they did, and I'm equally glad that Cosmic Sounds are making it available.

Public Service Announcement

2006-03-10T08:29:00.000Z

The Daily Jazz has got no internet connection for the next week, so updates are likely to be erratic at best. Normal service should be resumed, with any luck, week beginning March 20th. In the meantime, why not try a dig through the archive...

March 2006
February 2006
January 2006

John Coltrane & Don Cherry

2006-03-07T21:46:00.000Z

DON CHERRY & JOHN COLTRANE
The Avant-Garde
Atlantic SD 1451

Recorded June 28 & July 8, 1960

1. Cherryco
2. Focus On Sanity
3. The Blessing
4. The Invisible
5. Bemsha Swing

PERSONNEL

JOHN COLTRANE; tenor, soprano
DON CHERRY; trumpet
CHARLIE HADEN; bass
PERCY HEATH; bass
ED BLACKWELL; drums

Here's a fascinating album. While recording for Atlantic in the late 1950s, John Coltrane sought to extend the range of his music, starting out on a journey that would ultimately lead to albums like 'Ascension'. He was fascinated by free-jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman, and inevitably their paths collided on this 1960 recording featuring Coltrane with Coleman's band.

If you come to this album expecting Coltrane to slip nicely into the shoes of a free-jazz maestro, you'd be disappointed. The opener, 'Cherryco' sees Coltrane creating an island of traditional harmony in the midst of Cherry's harmolodic ocean, and 'Focus On Sanity' is even worse for him - after a brief solo he simply gives up, perhaps realising that he can't yet cut it with a band schooled by Coleman himself. Cherry, on the other hand, is outstanding on these 2 tracks, 'Focus...' especially, where he gets much more space than he ever did on albums like 'The Shape Of Jazz To Come'. You can tell that he's really been listening to his master. Probably owing as much to Coltrane's status as anything else this album is billed as having joint leadership - but the baton is very much in Cherry's hand.

Fortunatley for Coltrane fans, a transformation occurs midway through 'The Blessing'. Coltrane, on soprano, starts another solo by firmly anchoring himself to a very traditional-sounding scale - then totally smashes through that convention with a strong solo that sees Cherry panting to catch up. It's an outstanding, hugely confident piece of playing that's all the more powerful for having come after two relatively poor performances. One can only speculate why this piece is so powerful. Perhaps Coltrane was more at ease with the material, this track being an early Coleman composition. Or maybe he had just got warmed up.

This is Coltrane's high point - the remaining two tracks on the album aren't great for him. Once again he's lost without a harmonic centre to the music and has to firmly mark out his chords, sounding heavy handed amid the nimble backing. Atlantic didn't release this album at the time - perhaps they were a little concerned for quality control - but to listen to now it's a fascinating document of Coltrane in his transitional period as well as being an early high-water-mark for Cherry.

Keith Jarrett - Fort Yawuh

2006-03-06T14:50:00.000Z

KEITH JARRETT
Fort Yawuh
impulse! AS9240

Recorded February 1973

1. (If The) Misfits (Wear It)
2. Fort Yawuh
3. De Drums
4. Still Life, Still Life
5. Roads Travelled, Roads Veiled

PERSONNEL

KEITH JARRETT; piano
DEWEY REDMAN; tenor sax, percussion, clarinet, chinese musette
CHARLIE HADEN; bass
PAUL MOTIAN; drums, percussion
DANNY JOHNSON; percussion

This 1973 recording catches Keith Jarrett at a crossroads in his career. Behind him was the avant-garde experimentalism of Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis, to come were the solo piano recordings and interpretations of standards that he continues with right up to this day. Consequently, this record of a live show at New York's legendary Village Vanguard features aspects of all of these musics, and more.

Jarrett had been playing with Haden and Motian for several years prior to this date and would carry on in their company in his 1970s recordings for the ECM record label. Redman was a relative newcomer to the group, bringing a touch of free-jazz experimentation to their advanced post-bop sound - a little like Pharoah Sanders without the squawking. Haden has long been one of my favourite bass players although this isn't one of his best efforts - sure his playing is solid, but he pales a little in comparison with Jarrett. And Motian ties it all together - letting the group out on a polyrhythmic leash before pulling them tight into a groove - just listen to the sudden appearance of a steady rhythm half-way through 'Fort Yawuh', or the groove he imposes on 'De Drums'.

Towering over them all, though, is Jarrett. Part of the reason for his continued popularity is his virtuosity - indeed it would be hard to think how his solo recordings would sound if he were not a technical genius on the piano. Opener '(If The) Misfits (Wear It)' kicks off with a fearsome piano riff that is a showcase for his talent, whilst being at once melodic and percussive. Jarrett on this album sometimes sounds like a one man band, leaving very so little space for his fellow musicians that they simply lay out and let him get on with it. It's this intensity that makes listening to the LP so enjoyable - it's also warmer and more human than the cold austerity of some of his ECM recordings of the period. Whether this is due to Jarrett himself or his choice of sidemen is anyone's guess. His experimental side certainly comes out; 'Fort Yawuh's introduction with it's plucked piano strings is a fine example.

Jarrett recorded several more albums for impulse! before splitting this group in 1977. Some of these recordings are still available from impulse! as part of two boxed sets, which fortunately include all of the music on this superlative album.

Unit Structures

2006-03-04T21:07:00.000Z

CECIL TAYLOR
Unit Structures
Blue Note BST 84237

Recorded 1966

Side One

1. Steps
2. Enter, Evening (Soft Line Structure)

Side Two

1. Unit Structure/As Of A Now/Section
2. Tales (8 Whisps)

PERSONNEL

CECIL TAYLOR; piano & bells
EDDIE GALE STEVENS JR.; trumpet
JIMMY LYONS; alto sax
KEN McINTYRE; alto sax, oboe, bass clarinet
HENRY GRIMES; bass
ALAN SILVA; bass
ANDREW CYRILLE; drums

Pioneering free-improviser Cecil Taylor had a hard time of it in the 1960s. Following his seminal Candid sessions of 1960-61, Taylor didn't return to the studio until this 1966 Blue Note session. His music was considered too advanced, and his confrontational attitude didn't help him in his quest to be better understood (see this discussion for an example of that). His sleeve notes to this album don't help - i've made the point before that good free-jazz tends to be supported by a coherent concept, but these are somewhat impenetrable. Click here for an image of the rear sleeve and you'll see what I'm on about.

Over the 5 years between 1961 and 1966 Taylor worked tirelessly with his live band to develop the sound that's heard on this LP. Blue Note at the time was picking up as many 'free-jazz' artists as it could - sensing that something new was in the air, the venerable label didn't want to miss out. Sadly the music was considered so uncommercial and advanced that, after a second LP for Blue Note ('Conquistador', also 1966), Taylor didn't record again until 1973.

From the outset it's clear that this is not easy listening. What it isn't, though, is completely atonal. Despite the obvious lack of a clear melody, there are some harmonic ideas being thrown about the group - particularly in the early interplay of Lyons and McIntyre. Gale is excellent, too, but who could tell that the young trumpeter would soon relaease soul-jazz sides like 'Black Rhythm Happening'? Cyrille brings a rhythmic sensibility that can be clearly delineated. There is no 'beat' in traditional terms, but the oft-mentioned 'pulse' is clearly present. 'Steps' are just that - steps, or fragments of improvisation, a few seconds long only, being traded by the whole group. The lack of a clear focus (e.g. a main soloist) does add to the confusion initially, but becomes liberating, democratic even, with further listens.

'Enter, Evening' - the title sounds like a stage direction - and so does the music. The melodic, dramatic, sinister opening sounds perfectly suited to some sinister shenanigans on the silver screen. 'Unit Structure' starts out as a sequel to 'Enter...' before racking up the intensity and ending with a wild, percussive Taylor solo that brings to mind a quote regarding his playing style - "one could say that Taylor's intense atonal percussive approach involves playing the piano as if it were a set of drums". After that intense section, 'Tales' comes as something of a relief - an unaccompanied piano improvisation played by Taylor, emphasising the quieter aspects of his style, and showcasing his skill at the keyboard.

Quite simply, this is Taylor's masterwork - certainly not to be bettered by it's other Blue Note sibling - and is a must for anyone serious about their free jazz.

Jazz Weekly

2006-03-03T17:37:00.000Z

I've just come across Jazz Weekly and would recommend all my readers to do the same. It's always good to come across a previously unknown jazz site, especially one like this, which has a nice avant-garde slant. Well worth a read are reviews of Albert Ayler's New Grass, "the disc that unsuccessfully tried to turn the avant-garde avatar into a pop star", and Archie Shepp & Bill Dixon's split LP for Savoy. There's also a decent selection of Sun Ra reviews that i'll get round to reading soon.

Although the content is great the site's a little confusing to navigate; click on the image of the LP at the top of the page to access the current reviews section.

Oh, and for more Ayler-on-impulse! madness, have a look at the Daily Jazz's take on 'Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe'. Ayler on bagpipes. I'm still having nightmares about it.

P.S. Thanks to the good people behind del.icio.us whose social bookmarking thing is making finding new sites like this one much easier.

Cecil Taylor Speaks

2006-03-02T16:31:00.000Z

All I'm going to do today is advise you to head on over to http://www.the-spa.com/mw/. There you'll find the transcript of a panel discussion featuring Cecil Taylor from 1964. It's long, but well worth a read. Taylor had a reputation for being provocative, and I think that comes over well in the text - although he does seem to have a hard time defending the concept of free improvisation to the rest of the panel. More Cecil soon - don't go away...

Lonely Woman

2006-03-01T21:37:00.000Z

THE MODERN JAZZ QUARTET
Lonely Woman
Atlantic 1381

Recorded 1962

1. Lonely Woman
2. Animal Dance
3. New York 19
4. Belkis
5. Why Are You blue?
6. Fugato
7. Lamb, Leopard (If I Were Eve)
8. Trieste

PERSONNEL

JOHN LEWIS; piano
MILT JACKSON; vibes
PERCY HEATH; bass
CONNIE KAY; drums

It might seem odd that the MJQ, that most sensible of groups, released an album where the lead track was a cover of an Ornette Coleman tune. But when you realise that John Lewis was instrumental in Coleman's career (having sponsored him through college a few years earlier), then the reason for Lewis' choice of music for this album becomes clear. It's also worth poining out that Percy Heath played on Coleman's epochal 1959 set 'The Shape Of Jazz To Come'; that album featuring Coleman's original take on 'Lonely Woman'.

The original is marked out by Coleman and Don Cherry playing the theme statement together, with some unexpected harmonic interplay creating a sinister feeling. Here the mood is more haunting than sinister, with Lewis' piano and the backing of Heath's bowed bass tugging on the heartstrings. While Coleman's version goes on to enter the realm of free improvisation, the MJQ stick to what they know best with spirited but conventional blues/bop based solos.

And that's the template for the rest of the album. No sooner has the title track faded out than we're into familiar MJQ territory with the upbeat 'Animal Dance'. It's strong melodic sensibility and blues feeling will be instantly familiar to MJQ fans everywhere. Milt Jackson has a standout moment with his solo on 'New York 19', in his much imitated but never bettered bluesy style.

The other standout track closes the album 'Triestse' has an interesting structure, with it's vaguely eastern intro leading to a march tempo set by Lewis which Jackson uses as a jumping off point for some serious blues exploration, before the whole thing settles into a more conventional bop-style rhythm. And that's all in the first minute. For sheer invention, nothing else on the album comes close.

Doin' Allright

2006-02-28T08:33:00.000Z

DEXTER GORDON
Doin' Allright
Blue Note 84077

Recorded 1961

Side One

1. I Was Doing All Right
2. You've Changed
3. For Regulars Only

Side Two

1. Society Red
2. It's You Or No One

PERSONNEL

DEXTER GORDON; tenor sax
FREDDIE HUBBARD; trumpet
HORACE PARLAN; piano
GEORGE TUCKER; bass
AL HAREWOOD; drums

This 1961 LP marks the beginning of the second phase of Gordon's career. Having scored some successes in the 1940s, 'the big man with the big sound' (he was 6'5") spent much of the 50s either under the influence of drugs or in jail, so his LPs for Blue Note in the early 60s represented something of a comeback for the veteran tenorman.

Here he teams up with some young guns; most notably the great Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and Horace Parlan on piano. The rhythm section of Tucker and Harewood are good, but firmly second division - solid players, nothing too flashy. The album splits neatly into two - slower tracks on side one and an increase in pace on side two. A relaxed air permeates throughout, though. 'You've Changed' was a future standard, and the flip's 'Society Red' sees Gordon's huge tone being shown off to great effect. That track also features a standout solo from Parlan.

All in all, it's a typical Blue Note release of the period. It doesn't take too many risks, but with music as well played and enjoyable as this is, it doesn't have to. The eagle-eyed amongst you will have spotted the discrepancy in catalogue numbers between the text and the sleeve picture above - the picture is actually of the CD issue (courtesy of amazon), while I own the LP. Ahh, catalogue confusion, don't you just hate it?

I can't resist sharing my favourite piece of Dexter trivia, courtesy of wikipedia. Apparently, when Gordon lived in Denmark, he became friends with the family of then-future Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, and subsequently became Lars's godfather! Try playing six degrees of separation with that one!

Bending New Corners

2006-02-27T10:49:00.000Z

ERIC TRUFFAZ
Bending New Corners
Blue Note 522123

Recorded 1999

Side One

1. Sweet Mercy
2. 3/4 Arroyo
3. Minaret 1

Side Two

1. Bending New Corners
2. Friendly Fire

Side Three

1. More
2. Less
3. Siegfried

Side Four

1. Minaret 2
2. Betty
3. And

PERSONNEL

ERIK TRUFFAZ; trumpet
PATRICK MULLER; piano, rhodes
MARCELLO GIULIANI; bass
MARC ERBETTA; drums, percussion
NYA; vocal

The huge amount of great classic jazz out there does occasionally make me think "what's the point of getting into anything new?", especially at a time when innovation in jazz seems to be ever-harder to find. But thinking this way is just plain wrong when considering an artist like Erik Truffaz.

Erik attended the Geneva conservatoire before forming his first quintet in 1991. By 1997 he had hooked up with Blue Note to record his first album for them, 'Out Of a Dream'. 'Bending New Corners' was his 3rd for the venerable label, 1998's 'The Dawn' preceding it. The music he presents here is a delicious mix of the old and the new. Truffaz' trumpet playing is heavily infleunced by Miles Davis in his use of space - 'More', for example, features Truffaz with the mute firmly in, playing a theme vaguely reminiscent of 'My Funny Valentine' - it's as if Miles had come back from the dead to play just one more gig, and a delicious taste of the kind of music Miles might have gone on to make had he lived a little longer.

As well as the classic Miles influence, there's a great deal of fusion going on - listen to the funked-up rhodes of Muller on 'Bending New Corners' or 'Less', for example. And something else - something distinctly contemporary is going on in the rhythm section. Many of the tracks feature rhythmic lines with a heavy drum'n'bass or trip-hop influence. This layering of contemporary rhythms with classic bop and fusion based soloists makes for an arresting performance. Several tracks also feature Nya, with his laid-back raps. I'm not sure these add much, and possibly even take away from the music as they leave less time for the soloists to perform.

This album was followed up with 2001's 'Revisite', an album of remixes which took the music from 'Bending New Corners' and threw out almost all the classic jazz references to create something truly modern and fresh; only Truffaz' trumpet surviving in many cases.

Les Stances A Sophie

2006-02-26T22:17:00.000Z

ART ENSEMBLE OF CHICAGO
Les Stances A Sophie
Universal Sounds - US 11 CD

Recorded 22nd July 1970

1. Theme De Yoyo
2. Theme De Celine
3. Variations sur un Theme de Monteverdi (i)
4. Variations sur un Theme de Monteverdi (ii)
5. Proverbes (i)
6. Theme Amour Universal
7. Theme Libre
8. Proverbes (ii)

PERSONNEL

ROSCOE MITCHELL; saxophones
JOSEPH JARMAN; saxophones
MALACHI FAVOURS; bass
LESTER BOWIE; trumpet
DON MOYE; drums
FONTELLA BASS; vocals

Best known for their unique take on free jazz, the Art Ensemble of Chicago arose from the Chicago-based Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. Like conceptual art, free jazz always seems to work best if supported by a strong concept, and the AACM certainly provided this to the Art Ensemble. It's not to surprising to hear that the group found themselves in Boulogne, France in July 1970 - many American free-jazz musicians were attracted to France by the lure of European intellectualism and the 1969 Festival Actuel. What is surprising is that they ended up recording the score for a low budget French domestic drama.

The album became legendary after it's release - the film was hardly an international success and it's soundtrack was never destined to be a top seller, so few copies were in circulation. Thankfully London-based Universal Sounds rereleased the album in the 1990s after copies began trading for crazy amounts of money. The reason for so much interest in an otherwise obscure record? The lead track - 'Theme de Yoyo'; tight, funky and totally unlike anything else in the Art Ensemble's extensive discography. The theme is catchy, insistent and broken up with tasteful bursts of freedom that innovate without terrifying. This would all be only mildly entertaining were it not for the outstanding vocal of Fontella Bass. Bass had scored some soul hits in the late 1960s and was later married to Lester Bowie, hence her appearance here. She's totally up to the job, belting out the vitriol of the lyric with real passion. The music matches her delivery, the band showing themselves to be extremely tight - free-jazzers are often derided as being unable to play, but there's no doubt this is a group that could turn themselves to anything.

After that astonishing beginning, the album changes direction somewhat, the rest of the tracks being in a quieter and much freer style. It's unmistakably film music, but with a definite free jazz-edge that unsettles and satisfies close listening. It's still possible to pick this up on CD, so take my advice and do so, before this cult classic becomes as unobtainable as it once was.

Cecil McBee - Mutima

2006-02-24T10:24:00.000Z

CECIL McBEE
Mutima
Strata East SES 7417

Recorded 5/8/1974

Side One

1. From Within
2. Voice Of The 7th Angel
3. Life Waves

Side Two

1. Mutima
2. A Feeling
3. Tulsa Black

PERSONNEL

CECIL McBEE; bass
JIMMY HOPPS; drums
ONAJE ALLEN GUMBS; acoustic and electric piano
LAWRENCE KILLIAN; conga
DEEDEE BRIDGEWATER; vocal
GEORGE ADAMS; tenor and soprano sax
CECIL McBEE Jr; electric bass
MICHAEL CARVIN; gong and misc. percussion
JABOLI BILLY HART; cymbals and misc. percussion
TEX ALLEN; trumpet & flugelhorn
ALLEN BRAUFMAN; alto sax
ART WEBB; flute
ALLEN NELSON; drums

The bass has always been an essential component of the jazz rhythm section, simultaneously holding down the groove while marking out the changes. Bassists of the hard-bop era often got little in the way of solo space (they were too important to be allowed to wander off by themselves) but throughout the 1960s and 70s, perhaps thanks to the gargantuan presence of Charles Mingus, they began to take a more prominent role. Several highly influential figures appeared, like Ron Carter and Dave Holland along with many others. Cecil McBee is perhaps less well-known, but equally talented, having played on seminal works by the likes of Alice Coltrane and Pharoah Sanders.

This album finds him firmly placed as leader of an avant-garde group with a distinctly spiritual edge. Mutima is the key to the spirit and culture of black Africa, according to the sleevenote; McBee's compositions certainly evoke that spirit. The music is at times inspirational. The opening "From Within" is a bass solo with McBee playing two acoustic basses simultaneously. The idea of an 11-plus minute bass solo may terrify some, but this is riveting. Not only does he play the basses, but for a section he plays the feedback created by the amplification of both instruments. The sounds he creates are otherworldly and exciting, and not always easy to identify as being produced by an upright bass. "Life Waves" is an ensemble piece, but with McBee taking a prominent melodic role, and demonstrating enormous technical skill with some very fast lines.

The other standout track is "Mutima" itself, which is virtually indistinguishable from some of the work McBee undertook with Pharoah Sanders a few years earlier. Most Strata East recordings are pretty hard to come by, but thankfully this one has been made available as a reissue in recent years (although only on vinyl) so should be pretty easy to track down.

If Only They Knew

2006-02-23T18:20:00.000Z

DAVID LIEBMAN QUINTET
If Only They Knew
Timeless SJP 151

Recorded 14th July, 1980

Side One

1. If Only They Knew
2. Capistrano
3. Moontide

Side Two

1. Reunion
2. Autumn In New York
3. Move On Some

PERSONNEL

DAVID LIEBMAN; tenor and soprano sax
TERUMASA HIND; trumpet, flugelhorn
JOHN SCOFIELD; guitar
RON McCLURE; acoustic bass
ADAM NUSSBAUM; drums

Jazz in the 1980s could be pretty horrendous at times. Taking it's cue from 70s fusion, there were a lot of loud guitars, soprano saxophones and bongo drums, but often combined with slick production and shiny suits to make music that was neither good jazz nor good commercial music (whatever that is). A few artists managed to keep on bringing out quality records, though, usually those who had been closely connected with the music when it began in the early 1970s.

So it was with Dave Liebman, one time Miles Davis sideman and present day jazz educator. This record brings his fusion leanings and grafts on a slice of bop to create massively enjoyable, if not terribly original music. Fusion being much derided at the time of this LP's release, Liebman chose the title for this record as a riposte to his critics. "If Only They Knew"... how much passion and commitment, how much sheer talent went into records like these, they'd surely think differently.

The talent on show is impressive - John Scofield brings his instantly recognisable guitar sound, to great effect. Find of the record for me is the little known Terumasa Hind on trumpet, who brings a huge bop influence to tracks like 'Autumn In New York' with his Freddie Hubbard-like tone and delivery.

Revisiting his Miles Davis connection, Liebman would be instrumental in bringing Scofield to Miles' attention, leading to his association with the trumpeter on many 1980s recordings.