DIMITRIOU'S'

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I

PRESENJ'S

Artist

TANIA
MARIA

Tues.,Feb.4 - Sun.,Feb.9

oval
ary21

J

DR.JOHN

. Tues.,Feb. 11- Sun.,Feb.16

DIANESCHUUR
Tues.,Feb.18- Sun.,Feb.23

ELVIN
JONES
JAXZMACIDNE.

Tues.,Feb.25- Sun.,Mar.2

Legendary Vocalt.st

EARSHOT
JAZZSERIFS

Ernestine Anders .
with Soundsatlo
Saturday, Feb ,

Mon.,Feb.3- M.J Williams
Mon.,Feb.10!mperialsMusic& Youth
OrganizationBenefit
Mon.,Feb.17Dauis/Taylor
Project
Mon.,Feb.24-Jay Clayton

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Publisher:Jazz Delivers
Editor:SandraBurlingame
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:Uy

La,-..:re:II.ce

iij-v:i.:rche-v

~ouver's
Glass Slipper was
gutted by an arsonist's fire at around
11:00 a.m. on December 19. The motive
is unknown. The Slipper, operated by a
musicians' cooperative, was known
internationally for performances of
improvisational and creative music
without artistic and commercial restraint.
Vancouver musicians, ranging from

Vancouver where you could play
anything you wanted. It was the place
to showcase new compositions and new
music. And frankly, it had replaced the
Hot Jazz Club as the place where new
players got the chance to play their
first gig in front of a listening audience.
The Slipper was primarily about music."
"The Slipper was a unique venue,"
said Seattle bassist Michael Bisio, who

Bumbershoot
performance
deadline, March 3 - for applications,
call (206) 281-8111... Jessica Williams performed a solo concert at the
Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., in
January as part of the Art Tatum Piano
Series. Williams, who currently resides
in California, is planning to relocate to
Seattle in early spring ... Jay Clayton
and Brenda Bufalino took their Tap
Opera to Berlin in January where they
hooked up with former Seattleites
Denney Goodhew and Jerry Granelli
who teach at Hochscule der KunsteBerlin ... Michael Powers' Frosty the
Bluesman hovered between #15 and
#16 on Billboard'sBlues Chart during
the holidays ... Trombonist Kari Harris
from Garfield High School was awarded
a full scholarship to the Berklee School
of Music in Boston for the fall, and
trumpeter Cecil Taylor is attending New
York's New School on scholarship.
Garfield alum Clark Gayton has taken
his trombone on the road with Sting ...
This international grouping of musiTwo of the five nominees for a Grammy
cians is typical of the many artists
in the jazz vocal category for 1996 are
who performed at the Glass Slipper. L
from the Northwest: Seattleite
to R: Daniel Carter, William Parker
Ernestine Anderson is up for Blues,
(New York); Roger Baird, Peggy Lee
Dues and Love News, and Nanaimo,
(Vancouver); Jim Knodle (Seattle);
B.C., native Diana Krall is also in
Tony Wilson (Vancouver)
contention with All]or You. Other
nominees
are Shirley Horn, Cassandra
frequently played in Vancouver. "It was
Wilson,
and
Nnenna Freelon ... David
a place where conception and reality
Friesen's
West
Coast tour includes
were one, a world-class performance
several
stops
in
Arizona, including ASU
space run by and for jazz musicians. The
in Tempe, the Community College in
fire is a tragedy, but I'm sure the spirit
Mesa, and Inspirations Coffee House in
of the Slipper is in safe hands, and like
Scottsdale on 2/7 & 14. The tour winds
a phoenix, it will rise 'from the ashes
stronger and more beautiful than ever."
up at the Maybeck Recital Hall in
Lost in the fire were the sound
Berkeley CA on 2/16 for a duo concert
system, drum kits, and the grand piano
with Denny Zeitlin ... Pianist Larry
that had been paid for by many benFuller has been busy touring with the
efits. Eppel was able to recover his
Jeff Hamilton Trio, which just played
trombone and some of Baird's percusthe Remo Drum Factory in California.
sion instruments, including singing
The trio hits the road again in March to
bowls and Tibetan bells. Asked about
play the Jazz Bakery in California and
his musical memories of the Glass
a jazz party in Scottdale, and heads to
Slipper, Baird said, "Definitely Charles
Europe in May for the fourth time ...
Gayle was the heaviest music we had
Portland guitarist John Stowell will
there."
reconnect and perform with some old
Baird was optimistic about the
friends from the former Soviet Union
future, indicating the desire to set up a
at the University of Idaho festival in
new Glass Slipper. Ironically, a meeting
February. Stowell met the musicians on
is to be held with the Canadian Legion
a Russian tour with Paul Horn and later
to present concerts in the original space played several European gigs with
they lost. Baird says, "The Glass Slipper
them ... Ralph Towner, who spends
earned the respect of the community,
more time of late in Europe than in
and now we need the helping hand of
Seattle, joins fellow guitarist John
the community to rebuild."
Abercrombie at the Blue Note in New
Monetary donations can be sent to
York City, March 4-9. According to
the Musart Cultural Society, 1867 Deep
Vancouver photographer Mark Mushet's
CoveRd., North Vancouver,BCV7G1S7
•online "Open Letter," a new Oregon CD
(FAX604-929-5061, PH 604-929-5053) or
will see release soon as well as a new
to the Burnaby Saving Credit Union, 373 E
solo album from Towner and a duo with
Broadway,VancouverBCV5T1W6.Baird
Gary
Peacock. Ralph's recording with
also said that any donations in kind, such
vocalist
Maria Joao has been released
as a piano, sound system equipment, club
in
Portugal.
.. Kendra Shank is back
furniture and theatre equipment will be
from several months in New York where
gratefully accepted. XX
she performed at Visione's, Cleopatra's
Needle,
and in a special vocal series at
Julius Hemphill
the
Blue
Note ... In the can: new
CompositionAwards
recordings
by Jay Thomas' Evolution
Two categories-Compositions for small
with vocalist Becca Duran and by the
groups (1-8 instruments) or for jazz
Jovino Santos Neto Quartet. Jovino
orchestra. Entries due 5/1/97. For
flew to London in January to record
information write Jazz Composers
overdubs on the album by percussionist
Alliance, Box 491, Allston, MA02134
Airto.
XX
(617-964-5471).

602 EastHarrison,Seattle, WA98102-5310

(206) 323-0620 FAX(206) 323-2690
email: JAZZMAG54@aol.com

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PHOTO:LAURENCE
SVIRCHEV

novices to internationally recognized
musicians such as Roger Baird, the New
Orchestra Workshop, and Francois Houle
used the Slipper as a rehearsal and
performance space. The Coastal Jazz and
Blues Society regularly presented
Vancouver, other Canadian and interna-

tional acts there. The Slipper was also a
site for the annual Time Flies series, the
duMaurier International Jazz Festival
Vancouver, and Hugh Fraser's Vancouver
International Jazz Orchestra Workshop.
Singing for Suppers was regularly
presented by Vancouver vocalists to
benefit hungry people.
The Glass Slipper originally opened
in 1988 as a grungy, low-ceiling underground club sponsored by the New
Orchestra Workshop. Through voluntary
Many
labor and a consistent policy of presentThanksto
ing improvised music, the Slipper
became a comfortable room to musicians
our Suband a public interested in creative
music.
For example, in 1989 Lisle Ellis
Advertisers.
united four generations of musicians
YourSup(including the legendary West Coast
port keeps
pianist Al Neil) into an 18-member
~/4
workshop and performing group, the
going
Freedom Force Ensemble.
In 1993 the Canadian Legion,
-----------------uwners
of the building, decided to use
NAME
the structure as a drinking establish-----------------rnent
adjacent to their bingo hall. The
ADDRESS
Glass Slipper, managed now by percussionist Roger Baird and trombonist
CITY,STATE,
ZIP
Ralph Eppel of the Musart Cultural
_P_H_O_N_E_(
_____________
Society, was relocated into an 85-yearold former church. The new Slipper had
_N_e_w_(--)-Re_n_e_w-al-(
-)-Fi-rs_t_C-la_s_s_(
__ )_a high ceiling, great acoustics, a
beautiful stage and sound system, again
built by volunteer labor. Musicians
Wheredid you pick up this issue?
could hang out away from the public
Sendthis form alongwith
and store their instruments in a modpaymentto:
estly furnished basement.
S/ 4: ~-.-..,.__ZINE
Alan Natheson, Vancouver trum602 E. Harrison
peter, arranger, and teacher, has been
Seattle, WA98102-5310
playing at the Slipper since the begin----------------ning
and was to present a quartet with
Subscriptions: $20, $23 for younger players at the Slipper this
month. He said, "I was stunned. This
first-class U.S. postage;
much more than the loss of a
First class only to Canada, hurts
commercial establishment because the
$26, and overseas, $28.
Slipper was the only repository in

"
N

----------------

2

•

hn Birks (Dizzy) Gillespie was the most serious
musicianI've ever observed.Mostpeople have the image of the
trumpetplayerwho blew those high, fast notes throughthose
.exaggeratedpuffed-outcheeks, the man who was alwayskidding aroundon stage playingjokes on fellow musicians.He was
all that, but this man was way beyonddizzy.
shoot camera flashes popping off all over the place.
Mr. Gillespie seemed •ohijyious and turned to the best
concert photographer in the world, Chris Cameron,
and got into a conversation with 'him about his
vintage Le'ca.
,
Then ! saw the funniest event I ever witnessed
and truly und~rstood why he got the name Dizzy. A
woman witn enormous breasts, decked-out in a dress
to show the world what she had, walked past Mr.
Gillespie, went all the way down the stairs, turned
around and walked backed up. Gillespie had the total
vantage point, and he did not even pretend not to
stare. The woman stopped one step below Diz, and
proclaimed, in a loud falsetto, "Oh Mr. Gillespie, I just
love the way you play the trumpet. Couldn't you give
me just a little kiss here on my cheek?"
So Dizzy looks at her with suddenly mirthful
eyes, puts on a phony British accent, and in false
politeness, says: "Well, madam, under most circum-

}f'

heuIDThea re,0n, une 21, 1991,
witn.l'us
..last great
, t.heUnited
....
,.··•
•.Orchestra.He
s tkere tG open
,

i

.,dl:IMauner
!n-

ationalJazz
tlvalVancouver.
the rhythm
l~lia•W~.:t.la.:;.:i=.--------------~~...:.:;.-_:~

..........
_::~;;.._-.....,~- ......
-:e-t~¥1-R~

tos
k, he

$pe~

ciatshot of
that special
man,.I retreated to
tb,. PJiening night
·onand, melancholy as
gered longer than I should
lla.v~t~
mynext assignment.
-Then,just towardsthe end of the

reception,m•wanderedDizzyGitleipie,
.Hewalked

ooisiegoto
that ni9ht

up the stai,.'s, and ev~rybody stopped their conversa-

tions to stareat the famous
man. Gillespie, who'd
suits. This,was :ncrt:ajazz
probably been
this scene 300 times a year for
ohn Birks Gillespie,
making the last $5 ye ust got a plate of food and staxted
ancouver, d1tt.not get the
chowingdown,'si:AAding:
bythe top of the stairs.

All kinds of people came over to chat, say a
••omted that I dicln'tJ.tave the

fe~ words,shake a Handrand there were pomt~and-3

:rAr.A-11ld--1nlra
t-c,....
_J~.ic:~t11111r-r-h&JAkc:

b11t c:inc..,_

__

That Dizzy, what a cagey old fox! The woman hustled
away, blushing in complete embarrassment to the
laughter of all who heard the exchange.
Meanwhile, I just couldn't bring myself to take a
photograph. Besides, who wants a photo of Dizzy
Gillespie munching on his dinner? And then the
magic happened. A woman, about age seventeen,
walked up, introduced herself, and said she had just
started the trumpet and did he have any advice for a
young mu&ician?
John Birks Gillespie, when he heard that question, changed his demeanour. He went into that
serious mode I had seen at sound check. The Dizzy
part of his personality was over-ridden by the
patriarch passing a fraction of his lore to the generation of what could be his grandchildren.
Instinct told me to move fast. I pulled out my
'axe; flipped a flash on the head to overcome the
tungsten lighting, slapped on a 70-210 f4 zoom lens,
cropped-in real tight, and fired one frame, the one
you see with this article, except the original is a col01;
slide. I walked away, knowing I had the shot I
wanted.
There are two post-scripts to this story. Every
glossy jazz magazine turned the slide down. I guess it
didn't fit the stereotype of the man who invented a
. new musical l;mguage. 5/4 Magazineis the first to
ppblish this.image.
The secon~ post-script concerns Mr. Gillespie's
out-of-marriage daughter, the &ingerJ~nnie Bryson.
When she came to Vancouver, I prepared a framed
16x2O, met'her at the Vogue Tl'i.eatre,and said I had a
photo I wanted to get to the estate of her father. She
gave me an address but asked me not to reveal its
sc,urce, She explained that'she was estranged from
the Gillespie family because of the jealousies that her
birth had prov.okedand that they woutd refuse the
photo if ~he we;reinvolved.
:Movedby her sincerity, I decided to give Jeannie
Bryson the photo, so I, unwrapped it. When she
looked at the portrait, tears came to her eyes. She
said, "Oh my God, that's my Dad! It's so beautiful! No
one has ever caught that expression before, but I used.
to see it all the time!"
Every photo tells a story, and behind every photo

there's also a sto;cy.XX

-------------------------

_

-Elegant
&Hip
by

~a,II_d:ra,
::u.._:rI_i._II_g;a,m_e
Pho:t;os:

8!!1-t;e-ve

I&o

b:i.I1soI1

She was born into a vaudeville
family after a matinee in London,
one of five children, all of whom
continued in theater. "And yes,"
Ross says matter-of-factly, "my
mother did the matinee." During a
visit to her aunt, singer/actress Ella
Logan, Annie won a talent contest
and a contract with MGM.When her
family returned to Scotland, threeyear-old Annie stayed on with hei aunt
in California, where she grew up.
"My aunt used to have big parties,
and I would come down late at night to
hear the music. I remember Johnny
Weismuller doing his Tarzan yell for me
and how pleased David Rose was when I
sang one of his songs for him.
"My father taught me to dance by
giving me a rhythm and having me work it
out with my feet. I learned songs by ear-I
don't read music. When I :want to teach my
piano player a new song, I sing down the
changes-all the nuances. al:way.stell him,
'Don't give me brown chords-I want rainbows:"
With gamin-like red hair and an open, unaffected
personality, Ross is like a rainbow showering bright
colors on her surroundings. Petite, simply and smartly
attired, at 66 she can easily pass for a decade younger.
Ross has matured into a compelling performer
whose complete musicality can still startle and whose
depth of emotion replaces the high-speed, tonguetwisting lyrics and elastic vocal acrobatics of her
youth. Elegance and humor, audience rapport, and a
riveting stage presence defined her December Jazz
Alley appearance-her first in Seattle.
Ross is a true pro who began her career at the
tender age of three on Vaudeville, appeared in an Our
Gang episode at five, and played Judy Garland's little
sister in Presenting Lily Mars. After drama school in
New York she starred in an English musical comedy,
Burlesque, while still in her teens. While based in Paris
she worked with several big bands, performed with
~/

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$ z o, a.nu uv...-~,._.,..,,-....--

composer Hugh
Martin and with Blossom Dearie, and hung
out with jazz greats like Bird, godfather to her son
Kenny Clarke, Jr., Dizzy, Coleman Hawkins and James
Moody;
On a gig at the Band Box in New York, where her
band included Max Roach, LionelJiampton signed her
to replace Ernestine Anderson for a Scandinavian tour.
Returning to New York in 1951 she became a sensation
the following year with her recording of Wardell Gray's
solo on his tune "Twisted" for which she wrote lyrics.
Never one to rest on her laurels, she returned to
England, where she won the London Critics' Award for
her singing and dancing in the one-woman, three-man
show, Cranks.When Crankscame to New York in 1956
she met Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks.
Hendricks had written lyrics to Woody Herman's
version of "Four Brothers," and he and Dave were
working on a recording that would feature lyrics for
several Basie standards. They hired a group of session
sing.ers to record, but the music didn't swing. They
4

asked Annie to come in and coach the singers. But as
Ross says with a perplexed smile, "You can't teach
someone to swing."
That recording project fell through, but Lambert
StJggested that they overdub the four parts and
include Annie. And so the Lambert, Hendricks & Ross
trio was born. What they did with three voices became
jazz history. They built a repertoire around instrumental solos, added lyrics to some, and created a new art
form. While King Pleasure and Eddie Jefferson had
introduced vocalese, the art of vocalizing instrumental
solos, no one had attempted to perform the complex
improvisations in a trio format, and no group since
has approached the high art of Lambert, Hendricks &
Ross.
"We probably got $15 for our first gig. We_thought
we were awful, but the management asked us back at
$25, and it just took off from there," says Ross.
Their first recording, Sing a Song of Basie, was
soon followed by Sing Along with Basie, and LH&R
became the hottest thing in jazz. They continued to
record as a trio, but, to everyone's amazement, with
no overdubbing; they played the hungry i, the
Chicago Blue Note, the Flamingo in Las Vegas,
London's Festival Hall, and all the major jazz festivals
in the U.S. and abroad; they won polls and accolades
from critics and from national magazines like Time,
which called them "the James Joyce of Jive."
"That was absolutely a joyous period in my life.
Magic happened every night. Jon was tremendously
talented, and Dave was a gem," says Ross.
On tour in 1962 Ross fell ill and returned to
London, ending the glory days of LH&R.But she
returned to the stage, playing Threepenny Operawith
Vanessa Redgrave, Weill and Brecht's Seven Deadly Sins
with the Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, Pirandello's
Tonight WeImprovise, and gave a one-woman show at
the Hampstead Theater Club. She even owned a night
club called Annie's Room in 1965-66. Since 1985 she
has split her time between London and New York.
Topping the list of many film credits is Robert
Altman's 1994 Short Cuts in which Ross plays a boozy,
self-consumed singer. When asked how much weight

UoII.-t'd.

p . ._._

by
Pho-1,o:

I&obe:r-t;a,
-V:i.I1ee

I-e.._.._
G-0I1za,Ies

"Mom came home and put her bags on the table
and pulled out a loud green plastic guitar with four
pink strings. That's how the love affair started,"
Malone said over coffee. "When my hands got bigger
she bought me an electric guitar and I started
learning hymns like the Dixie Hummingbirds doing
'Bedside of My Neighbor'. And from the TVshow Hee
Haw I learned the guitar solos on the country and
western music of Merle Travis and Chet Atkins."
Both the soul of his gospel upbringing and the
clean technique of players like Chet Atkins ring out of
Malone's guitar today, but his style is jazz. In fact he
is one of the most respected young players on today's
scene. Just over the past 18 months he has recorded
with Diana Krall (with whom he appeared in November at Seattle's Jazz Alley), the band that played on
the Kansas City soundtrack, and the new releases of
Benny Green, Stephen Scott, Gary Bartz, Terrell
Stafford, Jerome Richardson and Don Braden.
Ironically Malone hasn't had his own contract for
nearly four years, even though both his CDs,Russell
Malone and Black Butterfly, were well received. But
rather than dwell on the demise of his relationship
with Columbia Records, Malone likes to focus on the
positive future and a past that he is proud to claim
because he knows he has a bright future. He isn't
cocky but confident that he will record under his own
name again.
Cocky is an attitude Malone had to drop some 15
years ago. It was in the mid-80s when he had moved
from his home town of Albany, Georgia (where he
reminds me both Harry James and Ray Charles were
born) to Atlanta. He was working with jazz, blues,
C&Wand R&Bartists who would pass through town,
• performers like Cleanhead Vincent, Little Anthony,
Clarence Carter and Patti Austin. One night
Jimmy Smith was in town and Malone was dying to sit
in with him because two of his guitar heroes, Grant
Green and Wes Montgomery, had played with the
organist. Sil Johnson, who was playing with Smith,
introduced Malone.
"I was cocky-I told him, 'I know all your tunes;
" Malone says. "Well, when I got up to sit in he
started playing 'Laura; which I didn't know. Then he
started doing tricks with the harmony, and I was lost.
After the set he told me, 'Don't come up on the
bandstand with that attitude: Then he took me to his
room and I just played for him until six a.m."
After Smith gave Malone this lesson in humility,
the guitarist wanted more than ever to be in his band
and called him at least once a week until he got a job.
He spent two years with Jimmy Smith, 1988-1990,

learning the ropes and meeting
the right people. He even met one
of the two guitarists who made
him realize he wanted to be
player, George Benson.
"I was 12 years ol, when I
saw George Benson playj.ng a big,
hollow-body guitar on TV.I had
never heard jazz on guitar, but I
knew that was what I shoµld be
doing," Malone recalls.
With the money he earned
raking leaves Malone bought_The
George Benson Cookbook and
Reason. From there he began
reaching into the jazz guitar
archives, searching out Wes
Montgomery's Smokin' and John y
Smith's Moonlight in Vermont.
Along the way he also began
listening to modern players like

UoII."t"d..

by

Ly.._.._

p . ._._

I>a,:r:roch

Those qualities helped Hahn become one of
the most influential guitarists in the 1960s and
1970s, when he played and recorded with 'the John
Handy Quintet and Gary Burton and led his own Jerry
Hahn Brotherhood. His fusion of blues ana country
sounds with straight ahead jazz and free playing
served as a springboard for important innovators such
as Pat Metheny, John Scofield and Bill frisell, as they
stretched the range of jazz guitar.
As an educator and author Hahn continued•to
influence other musicians, even after he left the San
Francisco Bay area and high profile touring for a
teaching job and the small-town tranquillity of
Wichita, Kansas. He wrote a monthly column, "Jerry
Hahn's Guitar Seminar," for Guitar Player magazine in
the .1970s, and his three-volume The Jerry Hahn
Contemporary Guitar Series is an important instructional resource. At Wichita State University he
established bachelors and masters programs in jazz
5

guitar. Then the wider
opportunities to play lured him to Portland,
where he lived from 1986 to 1993.
Now he's back in town after fo t years in
D nver, Colorado. Significantly, a teacHing job got him
back tb t-he..E,oseCity. Starting in January he began
developing curriculum.,for and teaching in Portland
State University's new guitar perforlJlance program.
And he has a new CDwith him-his first in 20 years.
Time Changes (Enja) demonstrates the command of a
player operating with the relaxed confidence of
maturity and the energy of fresh ideas.

UoII.
Bl.&

't"d.. p.
~a,g;n,z.i..II.e

._._

•

AROUND

iiiat;

Ernestine
Anderson
thru 2/2, JazzAlley(SeeVenues)
Bellevue
(WA)Community
College
JazzFestival,
w/
JonFaddis,
featuring15 bandsall day,BCC
Jazz
Bandat 7:30pm(206-649-3081)
BrianCunningham/Rick
Leppanen/Jud
Sherwood,
Stuart'sCoffeeHouse,Bellingham
WA,7:30-lOpm
(360-738-7572)
Barney
McClure
& Guests,
SeattleSheraton
Gallery
Lounge,everyThur-Sat(206-621-9000)

,a iii-...I.J..
Andre
Thomas
JazzJam,Tula's,9pm,also2/16 & 23
(SeeVenues)
TrillianGreen,
American
Dream
Pizza,CorvallisOR,9pm
(206-782-6477)
Joanne
Klein/Marc
Smason
Quintetw/LarryFuller,live
recording
session,7pm,NewOrleans
Restaurant
(See
Venues)

9

~OIi..

MJWilliams
& ThreeForm,
JazzAlley,(SeeVenues)
JulieWolf/Hans
Teuber,
also2/10, TrattoriaMichelli,
Seattle,8-llpm (206-623-3883)
Imperials
Studio
JazzEnsemble,
PacificNWMusic
Festival,MeanyHall,UW,5pm

THE ------.....
REGION
'ff'Uh

I

Listings for
additional music

PeterBoeDuo,9pm-1am,
also2/20&27,Brasserie
Montmartre,
(see4 Tues)

I_4: Fri_
George
Cables
& Andrienne
Wilson,
7:30,9 & 11:30,
NewOrleans
Restaurant
(SeeVENUES)
Susan
Pascal
Trio,also2/15 & 19, 5:30-9:30,Terrace
Garden
(SeeVENUES)

•~-•~
iiia t;• ~OIi..

Baaba
Maal,2/15,VogueTheater,
Vancouver
BC,8pm
(604-682-0706)
Preservation
HallJazzBand,MountBakerTheatre,
Bellingham
WA8pm,2/15 (360-671-1998)
and
TaniaMariathru 2/8, JazzAlley(SeeVenues)
Everett(WA)Performing
ArtsCenter,8pm,2/16 (888DanBalmer
Duo,also2/11, Brasserie
Montmartre,
257-3722,206-257-8888)
Portland,8-12pm(503-224-5552)
Festival
Sundiata,
2/16-17,SeattleCenter(206-38640
86
)
~
Kendra
Shank
Trio,2/17 and24, 8-11pm,Trattoria
MikeBisioTrio,8:30pm-12:30am;
Tula's(SeeVenues)
Mitchelli
Bebop
& Destruction,
Art Bar,Seattle,9pm,everyWed
(622-4344)
TobySchneider,
also2/21, 5:30-9:30,Terrace
Garden
DianeSchuur
thru 2/23,JazzAlley,(SeeVENUES)
(SeeVenues)
-

Wed

~

F:ri_

RayAnderson,
NewOrleans
(SeeVenues)
Kelley
Johnson
Quartet,
9pm-1am,
also2/8, Brasserie
Montmartre
(see4 Tues)
JackBrownlow/Clipper
Anderson,
Salutein Citta,
9:30pm-12:30am

~

iiiat;

JoeMangarelli
Quartet
w/RudyPetschauer,
PhilBaker,
& JohnHansen,
9pm,Tula's(SeeVenues)

I_9

Th-...:r

~

See Venue

4:T-...e

r

.. ;:::::;:::;

29

iii-...I.J..

DavePietro,NewOrleansRestaurant
(SeeVenues)

24:

~OIi..

JayClayton
Project,
JazzAlley,(SeeVenues)

,a~

T-...e

ElvinJones
JazzMachine
thru 3/2, JazzAlley(See
VENUES).
3/3, Vancouver
(BC)EastCulturalCenter
(604-682-0706)

26-Wed
Improvisational
Music
Concert,
8:30,Speakeasy,
Seattle

,a~

F:ri_

RobinHolcomb
& theJimKnapp
Orchestra
perform
worksby Holcomb,
Knapp,andJovinoSantosNet,w/
vocalistJayClayton.PONCHO
Hallat CornishCollege,
8 pm(206-726-5066)

I_~T-...e

Oomi.:n_g;
M:a,:reh

i.:n_

SI_•22
F:ri_ •iiia

JazzExpo
w/Marlena
Shaw,PierceCollege,

Vocalist Andrienne Wilson is joined by
pianist George Cables on Valentine's
Day at the New Orleans Restaurant.
Trombonist Ray Anderson is featured
on 2/7 and saxophonist Dave Pietro
on 2/23.

Tacoma,
3/15.

t;

Lynnwood
JazzFestival
w/ArturoSandoval,
2/21 and
Ernestine
Anderson,
2/22, Seaview
Auditorium,8pm,
Edmonds
Community
College(206-640-1249)
HeatWave'97,Jazz& BluesFestival,
PtTownsend
Wa,
2/21-22(800-733-3608,
360-385-3102)
DanBlunck
Quartet,
2/21,Tula's,9pm(SeeVENUES)
AlanJones
Trio,2/21, NewOrleans
Restaurant
(See
VENUES)
Michael
Powers
Group,
2/22, 9pm-1am,
NewOrleans
•
Restaurant,
(SeeVenues)

Below: The Volunteer Park Conservatory Orchestra performs at "Heat
Wave '97" (2/21-22), the new and
expanded version of the former Port
Townsend Hot Jazz festival. In addition to music in the clubs, the arts
festival offers theater, film documentaries, poetry/music collaboration,
masquerade ball for all ages, parade,
and workshops all day Saturday for
children and adults.

Crispin
Spaeth
Dance
Group
w/Wayne
Horvitz
thru 2/
16,Onthe Boards,
Seattle,(206-325-7901)

Jim Knapp's Big Band features composer /pianist Robin Holcomb on 2/28
at Poncho Hall.

l

Ernestine Anderson is at Jazz Alley,
2/1-2, and at the Lynwood Jazz
Festival, 2/22, following Arturo
Sandoval on 2/21.

I·

I

6

CORNISHCOLLEGE
of the ARTSPRESENTS:

-Venue~

TheSpring1997CornishMusicSeries

■ JAZZALLEY
(2033 Sixth Ave,
206-441-9729) Full service bar and
restaurant, jazz nightly, 8 & 9:30, 8:30
& 10 on Fri/Sat.
■ JAZZCAFE(805 E Smith, Kent
Masonic Hall, 206-854-4 724) Jazz Sat,
8-11:30 pm, jam at 10:30, smoke &
alcohol free.
■ NEWORLEANS
RESTAURANT(114 First Ave S, 206-622-2563) Creole
dining, music nightly.

■ TERRACE
GARDENIN

CAVANAUGH'S
INN (1415 Fifth Ave,
Seattle 206-971-8010) NW cuisine, jazz
Wed&Fri, 5:30-9:30pm; Sun brunch,'
10am-1:30pm.

■ TULA'S(2214 2nd Ave, Seattle,
206-443-4221) Mediterranean & Southern cuisine, Sun-Tues 3pm-mid, Wed-Sat
3pm-2am, music nightly.

The notedcomposer/pianist
showcasesher
worksfor largejazz ensemble.With voc~I
soloistJay Claytonpluscompositions
by
Jim KnappandJovinoSantosNeto.

._
February28 at 8 pm
Tickets:$10general/
$ 6 studentsand seniors

■ WILDGINGER(1400 Western
Ave, Seattle, 206-623-4450) Asian
cuisine, jazz Mondays, 9:30-lam.

VenueListing($6, $30for6 months,or
freewith one-unitad),Half-Unit
Ad
($25).Call(206)323-0620for display
andphotoadrates.

Pierce College Jazz Expo featuring ••••

Marena haw
And the
, critics say:

... combines the
soaring sensuality of
Sarah Vaughan with
precisely articulated
swing of Carman
McRae.
Don Heckman/
LA Times

FOOD FORTHOUGHT.
WINETO PONDER.
MUSIC FORYOURSOUL.

'\ WILD/'
GINGER

... a rare, radiant
intimacy that bespoke
Shaw's extraordinary
talent.
Kirby Kean/
Philadelphia
Enquirer

ASIAN R.ESTAURJ\NT
&SATAYBAR.

~
MONDAY
NIGHTJAZZ
1400 WESTERN
AVENUE ❖ 6234450

... you are in the
company of a masterful interpreter of song.
W. Royal Stokes/
The Jazz Scene

Saturday, March 15, 8 pm
Rialto Theater, Tacoma
$15 advance, $18 at door
Sponsored by:

~nrnurunrr
§'~

~ iULL
~tAYICI

Proceeds benefit
Pierce College
music scholarships.

2214 Second Avenue, Seattle -443-4221
FEATURING

DON
l~NP~UI
QU~~Til
Feb. 15 & 28, 9pm-1 am

D~N
~LUNC~
QU~~Til
Feb. 21, 9pm-1am

N A. 1

I

0

N A

L

KP!!]
88·!)
,u1LIC

IADIO

L/Lft/A
Pl(IIC[
COLLEGE

Jazz Expo also includes an all-day festival of vocal and instrumental jazz at Pierce College's Fort
Steilacoom campus and Steilacoom High School. Admission is free. Call 964-6780 for more info.

For tickets call: (206) 964-6283 or Ticketmaster
7

-W o:rd.s

•

·•

a,~d_

Pho-t;os

by
~-t;e~e
H,ob:i._~so~

II

e1r Druthers''
played, came to town for a gig. When
ended with bass and drums speeding up
the job ended, the rest of the band
to greater than double time and then
moved back to Eugene; Bishop didn't.
slowing back down, a clear case of the
Since then he has become one of the
~ianoless rhythm section first respondbusiest drummers in the Northwest.
mg then taking charge.
On recent Tuesdays, the personnel
Other tunes included Gillespie's
has included the likes of pianist Marc
"Woody 'n' You," a classic Coltrane
Seales and bassists Jeff Johnson and
blues-, "Mr. P.C." (on which Mandyck did
Chuck Bergeron. This particular
Trane proud), and the Sonny Rollins bop
evening, the players included bassist
burner, "Airegin," led off by Rich Cole's
Doug Miller and three saxophonists:
muscular tenor at breackneck speed. At
Rick Mandyck (tenor), Teuber (alto,
the end, Bishop launched what sounded
tenor, and a bit of piano), and Rich Cole like the intro to "Equinox" but became
(tenor on the second set).
a highly stylized and effective rendition
Providing excellent support,
of "Angel Eyes."
appropriate dynamics, and some
What makes these sessions so
i~teresting rhythm and tempo changes,
appealing for the players is the contrast
Bishop handles the sometimes difficult
with some of their other jobs. According
task of being a drummer/leader well. As to Bishop, good leaders "see that if all
often as not, a tune starts with somethe musicians bring their own concepts
one just blowing. Mandyck started
to the bandstand, there's the possibility
"Stella by Starlight" unaccompanied
,t~at far greater music could happen."
wit_han oblique reference to the melody Bishop leads primarily by choosing his
~hich the others picked _upinstantly.
cohorts carefully and just letting the
Fust solo honors went to altoist Teuber
m~sic out. "I've been playing with good
who has become a master at employing' fnends whom I also consider to be some
space to construct solos that delight the of the best in the world on their
what happens at me um 1own.
from straight swing to punctuation,
picked up intensity with him. The tune
So was I. ••

SHIPP:
AMATTHEW
~NewVoice
hat do Jon Faddis,BobbyMcferrin,Benny
Golson,Slide Hampton,ErnieWatts,RedSkelton,
Bob Hope,FrankieAvalon,and the McGuireSisters
Entering
into a lively
have in common?They'veall been backedby drum- discussion on the internet's
rec.music.bluenote jazz
mer extraordinaireJohn Bishop.Such flexibility is
newsgroup, I once chided some
requiredof any drummerwho expects to make a
other aficionados when they
living at it, but where does he go to makethe music suggested the current crop of
he wants to play?In Bishop'scase, multiplecontexts "young lions" on piano had
new to say. I asked how
are applicable,but he is especiallyfond of his weekly nothing
much new is possible, and what
gig as leader-or should the wordbe coordinator? young players are doing it?
Bishop doesn't want to control
everything, remembering one nightmare
gig for which he couldn't play loudly
enough to satisfy the leader. "It was
like trying to emulate the offspring of
Sonny Payne and a freight train." For
his efforts he got one line in a review:
"Drummer Bishop struggled through
much of the evening." He says he would
have preferred it to read, "Drummer
Bishop struggled through much of the
week and then bludgeoned the
bandleader."
There's a decidedly warm, friendly
feeling about a regular gig. The players
tend to know each other and often
audience members. Walk into the Old
Town Ale House in Seattle's Ballard
neighborhood on any Tuesday night and
you1l feel that warmth. Despite the
high ceiling, bare wood floor, and
unfinished red brick walls, the acoustics, although bright, aren't bad. And
acoustic music is what you1l find. This
i'I/ 4 ~a,K;a,z:i.:n_e,

My query resulted in a
number of responses, but
virtually everyone suggested I
check out Matthew Shipp. I did.
I enjoyed his recordings, but
they didn't prepare me for what I
heard on December 13 at
Vancouver's Glass Slipper.
Shipp-with William Parker
on bass and Susie Ibarra on
drums-did nothing short of
redefine the piano trio. The show
consisted of two 50-minute, nonstop sets with thematic material
ranging from "Golden Earrings" to
Gershwin's "Summertime" to "Autumn
Leaves."
While the material might seem
standard, the approach was not. At
times everyone soloed at once, resulting
in a massive wall of sound. The diminutive Ibarra provided thunderous, Elvinesque rolls against which Shipp and
Parker were free to perform exploratory

weekly gig has the feeling of friends
gathering for a jam session, but the
difference is in the friends, a veritable
Who's Who of the Seattle jazz scene.
The participants are never afraid to try
out new ideas, and the result for fans is
a rare glimpse into the creative process
at its best.
As relaxed as these sessions are,
Bishop's road to such ease and proficiency was arduous. His mother, a piano
teacher, started Bishop on that instrument at six, and he began playing
drums at seven. Professional playing
jobs began in high school, followed by
stints with the North Texas State
University stage band ("it was rather
competitive," he remembers modestly)
and Buddy Greco, where he first met
saxophonist Hans Teuber and convinced
him to move to Seattle,
Bishop's own Seattle move had
come five years earlier, in 1981, when
Glider, a Eugene-based band in which he
8

surgery. Shipp often immersed himself
in pounding, repetitive riffs at either
end of the keyboard. At other times the
group became introspective, and we
heard beautiful, quiet, solo passages
from both Shipp and Parker. The one
constant was extreme passion, making
my last evening at the now burnt-out
Slipper a night to remember.

••

n
sparseness and
nicknames, Mel
This is a cri
·it. -Laurence

ot one of his
unk.
• al work. B

0 YOUR HEART

punctuating emotional highlights Its
tenderness is intensified by the ulful
touch of Steve's harmonica-like
melodiciJ..The title cut closes e CD
with the elegance of a man
the end of a rich meal.
ings as if b
for this-no
holding" ack.
mtstoff s n s 17 years with King
show in his sensitive collaboration, a
major factor in the natural beauty and
warmth of Straight into YourHeart.
-Sandra Burlingame

panied solos. Pope's use of multiphonics
is dramatic yet tasteful. Brown steps
into the spotlight with a scrumptious
solo that doubles as a groove, and,
when the other two join in, their
exceptional playing is fueled by Brown's
previous statements.
Pope's brilliance continues to shine
in "Ninety-six," a calypso number that
gives a heavy nod to Sonny Rollins,
both in structure and sound. Pope
develops the theme in his solo much
like "St. Thomas." But without pianist
TommyFlanagan to fill the space,
"Ninety-six" comes at you with a rawer
intensity. "Trilogy" and "Convictions"
demonstrate his skill at mixing complicated melody lines with solos that
embellish and continue them. "Trilogy,"
a serene 6/8 tune, is named for its bass
line, drum pattern, and melody line,
which enter independently.
Odean Pope should be better
recognized. He is an individual with
great respect for jazz as an art form,
and his powerful artistic vision in
Ninety-sixproves it.
-David Bratton

NancvKing
s1eveChristoff
erson

COLUMBIA/LEGACY

0

N~NOY

ne of the tragedies of
KING/i!!iTE-V
Columbia's CDreisssue program is that
OHBii!!iTOFF
they have bloody well taken their sweet
time reissuing the Monk/Davis/
Ellington catalogues, all of which have
been available in Europe for years. But
when they do get around to releasing
this (lUintessential music, Columbia
With Holland's 54-piece Metropole
"-"'"'m!'. to o.o a mo1e than fantastic 30b.
edly the most important reissue ift·'htso QJ,\~~,t~,;:~~~~~!.~~c~:~{~:_~::~~~~tt~~ti{~t~~{~~~~~~~I~
because it not only contains the long
Straight into YourHeart with their new
ENJA
out-of-print, never-heard genius pieces
CD, easily a contender for best of '96.
"Locomotive" and "Japanese Folk Song
The Dutch Radio orchestra, complete
Philadelphia's legacy of produc(Kojo No Tsuki)" but also dangles
with strings, offers a setting that
·ng innovative tenor players continues
unedited versions of the more familiar
becomes as well as challenges this duo.
through Odean Pope. Ninety-six, Pope's
title cut and "Wee See" before the
The arrangements by either Rob Pronk
latest CD,is deeply rooted in the
listener.
or Steve Gray are knockouts, tailored to
groove and taps into the legacy of
The reissue was produced by Orrin
the artists' talents, soaring at times but
African music. Pope gained recognition
Keepnews, who had also produced more
more often subtly present, enhancing
in the '8Os with the Max Roach Quartet
than a dozen Monk records at Riverside. every nuance of performance.
and Double Quartet, and, because he
Keepnews wrote the liner notes for the
"The hallmark of Nancy's style,"
was a student of the drummer, he has
1967 vinyl release and on this CD
according to vocalist and music teacher
chosen a pianoless trio to bring out the
provides fascinating insight into the
Cherrie Adams, "is octave displacement,
intricacy of drummer Mickey Raker's
history of the recording. The original
although that trait is not so apparent
playing. The trio, with Tyrone Brown
producer, Teo Macera, was faced with an on this album as on previous CD'sand
on bass, creates an atmosphere swirling
overabundance of material from the
in live appearances. Many singers use
with dexterity and sincerity. The three
sessions and excluded three tracks and
octave leaps to avoid hitting notes
beautifully fill the space, and yet they
outside their range, but with her range
edited some nine and a half minutes
also let the songs breathe. Each
from three other tracks. All the music
Nancy doesn't have to worry about that.
composition allows ample time for
has now been restored.
She does it for fun. That's the way she
unaccompanied solos, duets and
Compare, for example, "Japanese
hears the music-like a horn player. It's conversations.
Folk Song" on the original vinyl/
more a matter of note choice with
Looking to fellow Philadelphian
Nancy,
and her leaps are always in
European CDwith the complete reissue.
John Coltrane for inspiration, Pope's
In the edited original Charlie Rouse's
tune."
rendition of "Coltrane Time" is primaChristofferson is noted for playing
tenor solo ends at four minutes and 28
rily tenor and drums engaged in a
seconds, at which point Monk begins a
melodica simultaneously with piano. He fierce duet, and throughout the tune
piano solo. What actually happened at
also composed one of the album's most
Pope remains true to Coltrane's rhyththe session is that Monk dropped out of memorable tunes, "Blue Beach," a
mic conception. But Pope maintains a
comping the melody behind Rouse at
divinely lyrical, wordless vocal with a
sound of his own. His playing is usually
4:28; Rouse's solo continued without
soft samba-like rhythm.
slurred but above all constantly flowing
Artie Shaw's "Moonray" opens with
Monk for another two and a half
and urgent. What stands out is his
minutes, and Monk's solo kicked in at
an arrangement so memorable as to get
incorporation of multiphonics and
6:39. On either version the transition
stuck in one's head, where it goes
circular breathing. Pope looks to the
round and round for days. The impecca- roots of these techniques, common in
from solo to solo is technically and
musically flawless, an indication that
bly chosen material includes Dave
wide areas of Africa and Asia, as part of
Macera (in the pre-digital age) was not
Frishberg's lilting and danceable
the foundation in his playing. But
"Zanzibar" and King's very personal
only a superb editor but_knew how to
unli~e many of his contemporaries, he
interpretation of Bill Evans' "Waltz for
satisfy Monk, the most meticulous of
avoids brainless showmanship.
Debby," a tribute to lost childhood
musicians.
"Knot It Off" begins with a line
• which closes with the original coda
There are also Monk solo recitals
that is repeated, metamorphosing until
such as the Arlen/Koehler "Between the from Evans' 1961 album. The uptempo
it goes berserk and takes off like a
Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" and
take on "The Night Has a Thousand
Frankenstein monster. Pope incorpoEllington's "I Didn't Know About You."
Eyes" would make Sinatra swoon. King's rates circular breathing to give the line
The gospel solo, "This Is My Story, This
own "Moonlight to You" with lyrics by
its propelling motion. The 'highlight of
Ninety-six, "WL," opens with Pope and
Is My Song," is a portrait of the Monk
Marilyn Simpson is stunning-basically
a duo performance with minimal strings Roker trading off marvelous, unaccomstyle, a miniature glimpse into his
9

ENJA 9089

Trumpeter Hans Kennel and
trombonist Glenn Ferris share an
interest in hidden sonorities, shades
where multiplicities of similar sounds
begin to sound and feel subtly different. This may explain Ferris' role as a
collaborator with Kennel on Habrigani
Brass. And with this newest venture
into the "Habrigani" territory of a 1989
hat ARTrecording by a less brassy group
bearing this name, Kennel intensifies
brass sounds into a sonic environment
that's freakily and compellingly smooth
all over.
Where we expect jags from even the
mellowest avant garde corners-here I'm
thinking of flugelhornist Franz
Koglmann-and from couriers of the
avant garde like hat ART,there's hardly
a jag or multiphonic jab on Habrigani
Brass. Tunes move at such a leisurely
pace that the all-brass-and-a-bass
innovations slip by like shadows. The
outer edges of Tom Varner's French horn
dissipate, even when growling, across
Kennel's and Heinz della Torre's precision trumpetings. A baroque feel peeks
out at times, as does the initial hint of
a stomp-fest on Thelonious Monk's
"Little Rootie Tootie," but the emphasis
here is on merging complex textures
and stunning melodies.
As one might expect, Kennel takes

UoII.

-t;"d.. p.
ie/ 4

~a,g;a,z:i.II.e

:a_0

voiced lower than the contrabasses.
These queer combinations of voicings
and time signatures induce an odd
feeling of unsettling tranquillity. Just
as one feels ready to accept the bizarre
on "Boplicity," the collaborative piece
modulating vamp as quite normal, the
from Miles Davis and Gil Evans that
tension breaks with a fanfare, and the
became sonic definition of "the cool"
music is swirled into a different tempo
in the 1950s. What comes of it here is
and soloist.
a rich display of polyphonic ambitions.
"Peacocks & Unicorns" has a
Horns shade each other, with the bass
formalized
feel, as if these stylized
trombone of Richard Hager enriching
beasties of antiquity were parading in
Ferris' trombone. All the while bassist
a medieval courtyard. The composition
Jean-Jacques Avenel draws from this
segues into "Chromazoid," a flashfrothy brass group an on-time, postforward to a science fictive future in
bop grounding which casts a long
which trumpeter Rob Blakeslee delivers
spell.
a high note solo over strings and
Ferris is a trombonist of delicate
percussion until marimba takes over.
measure, but he's also an adept
The musicianship is extraordinary,
theorist of music who lays out a
especially given that there were only
delightful set of philosophical ideas
two rehearsals in which to master the
about improvisation in the liner notes
music's intricacies. Golia leans toward
to face Lift. His trio consists of cellist
the ponderous and grandiose, favoring
Vincent Segal and bassist Bruno
dense textures woven over a broad
Rousselet. Responding to inevitable
color palette. When listening to this
questions about this instrumentation,
music, close the door, block out
Ferris says simply, "I think wood when
extraneous thoughts, open your mind,
I sing trombone."
and let the music take you away.
This is, to put it mildly, a very
-Laurence Svirchev
woodsy but not at all wooden CD.
Tunes emerge in hushed quietude,
developing in ways the ear can barely
detect. Cello plucks extend into stepslower bass plucks while Ferris strolls
with the harmony on trombone and
makes the whole recording seem
playfully diffuse. Of course, Ferris steps
into brilliant solos full of calm smears
and wide brushstrokes of sound. A
ballad sneaks up, and before you know
it the trio has moved into a wahwahing blues, muted trombone and all.
The beautiful thing about these
two CD'sis that fans of more traditional brass ensemble music will dig

Listening
in
Cont'd

a

.....

-!-'-

..... _,

____

:...,3.-

_a,....;_,...
......
?rl.

........

Rabinowitz sink their teeth into this
fine arrangement, this is not Christy at
one, and Rabinowitz even inserts
her best. Will Friedwald, who compiled
quotes from Charlie Parker's "Moose the
the collection, would have done well to
Mooe
substitute a selection from ThisIs June
Christy(also arranged by Rugolo),
t
lace
which has a tricky take of "Bei Mir Bist
i
ound
Du Schon" and a memorable version of
0
"I Remember April." But the remaining
e
17 selections show Christy effectively
d
delving into the moody territory of
a
"Day Dream," "When Sunny Gets Blue,"
and "Midnight Sun" as well as swinging
through classics such as "It Don't Mean
a Thing" and "Get Happy."
Christy's output is in many ways
unique. Unlike most jazz singers, she
almost consistently performed in big
band settings, and unlike many popular
singers who performed with big bands,
her bands were definitively jazz
bands-comprised of jazz artists and
with arrangements clearly conceived by
jazz writers. There are
nty..,qfgems
here to represent
20 ears·
Capitol Record •

,...f

trolled-energy settings.

-Andrew Bartlett
CAPITOL

9 WINDS

Itta
Contarecelebrate the
Vinny Golia Large Ensemble's 4th
anniversary with a 25-musici concert
recording: conductor, eight br s,
seven reeds, four percussionist \
(including mallets), and five stri
II
players. Most of the music on the CD IJ
was to be presented with a dance
company. When the company pulled
ou~, the concert went ahead-good
thing too, because the music, as far
out as it is, contains mesmerizing
grooves.
"Korean Lotus Driving Time" is
built on a fascinating rhythm: one bar
of 5/ 4, nine bars of 4/ 4, one of 2; 4,
and one bar of 5/ 4. The pulse is
provided by cellos, contrabasses and
muted trombones, with the cellos
i'5:/ 4c ::i.a:-,g;-,z:i.:ca.e

wth
one exception this s
superb collection representing the
best of vocalist June Christy. It opens
appropriately with the title cut of her
early '50s, best-selling LP, Something
Cool,a ground breaking concept album
arranged by the brilliant Pete Rugolo.
The LP focused on introspective love
songs that take a longer form than the
standard AABAformat. Billy Barnes'
"Something Cool" has consistently
been compared to a Tennessee Williams
scenario, and Christy's warm voice with
its ~lightly husky edge is the perfect
vehicle _fordelivering the touching
story with all of its complex emotional
turns.
Christy consistently worked with
the best arrangyrs (predominantly
U
and husband Bob Cooper) and
tbe , st strumentalists on the West
Co s ' most: f whom she had known
·during her Y rs with the Kenton
band. So _ina dition to Christy's superb
vocals th1s co ection is a veritable
handbook fo arrangers, and it's chock
· ll of inst
ental delights from Bud
S · ank,B dy Collette, Lionel Hampto
elly Manne, Howard Roberts
Cooper.and many others. Strings a~d
woodwinds come into play on "Spring
Can Really Hang You Up the Most " a
harp is subtly added to "My Ship,:' and
the personnel is stripped down to a
duo with Kenton on piano for "Baby,
Baby All the Time."
On "Fly Me to the Moon" the
accompaniment of guitar, bass and
flute is marvelous, but Christy was
~~~ng dental problems, and her lisped
s s come out as "th's." Despite the

r

-Sandr •iurUngame

TONY

OXLEY

UELEHBA..TION

OBUHEiiTHA

SOUL NOTE

After
a few cursory listenings I
filed Tony Oxley'sEnchantedMessenger
away, a bad sign. The recent snowstorm
happily changed its fate. Immobilized
and secluded for five days, one has the
tendency to become more creative,
resourceful, and attentive.
c naa oeen listening exclusively to
trumpeter Bi\\ Dixon for a montn and l
decided to resurrect Oxley's CD,0 ~
which Dixon is the featured soloist. To
my delight I unearthed a gem. It
l Rabinowitz is a pioneer
~equired only the patience to listen and
o establish the bassoon's
integrate its 19 sections, or, as Oxley
a jazz context. He has
prefers to call them, mobiles.
performed in the New York
TheEnchantedMessengerfalls in
City area for a decade. On tour as a
line wit~ the tradition of the free jazz
member of Charles Mingus' Epitaph
genre p10neered by Albert Ayler's New
ensemble, he met pianist John Hicks
YorkEye and Ear Control(1964) and
a~d dr~mmer Steve John, who appear
Peter Brotzmann's MachineGun (1968).
with him and bassist Ira Coleman on
It has a close affinity to the conducGabrielle'sBalloon, Rabinowitz's second
tions of Butch Morris and reaches the
album.
scope of Cecil Taylor's epic Berlin
A techni:al challenge in any genre,
Projectof 1988.
'
th e ba~soo~ is handled with authority
On this live recording from the
by -Rabinowitz, whose nimble playing
Berlin JazzFest '94, showcasing the
makes the instrument seem a natural
Celebration Orchestra's 10th anniverfor a jazz quartet. Its sound, resemsary, Dixon plays in the lower subtone
bling a baritone or soprano saxophone
of the trumpet's range due to the lack
makes Gabrielle'sBalloonboth a
'
of bass accompaniment throughout the
surprise and a delight.
perf~rmance. Oxley and the percussion
The title track, a Rabinowitz
sect10n open, creating a wall of sound
original, tosses away all preconceptions
which introduces the trombone of
and stereotypes about the bassoon. The
Johannes Bauer and strings in section
rhythm section lays down a hard groove
#2, ~ollowedby an orchestral frenzy in
that Rabinowitz floats over with
sect10n #3.
intell~gent soloing which incorporates
Vocalist Phil Minton and Dixon
?hrasing much like that of saxophonperform an interestingly articulated
ists.
duet, lent texture by Oxley's percussion
With Monk's "Eronel" the group
and _PatThomas' piano, making up
reverses roles with Rabinowitz estabsect10ns #4 and #5, which are thematilishing the melody as the other memcally restated by the orchestra in the
bers of the quartet encircle and accomtwo-minute section #6. The tenor solo
pany. Coleman is the first to step into
by E.L. Petrowsky in section #7 is
th e spo:light with a dexterous bebop
strongly reminiscent of Evan Parker.
s~lo which leads into joint soloing by
Frank Gratkowsky's alto and Bauer's
Hicks and Rabinowitz. The bassoonist's
trombone are featured in section #8.
solos are the post-bop ideal, with lines
.T~e major mobile solos earnestly
that carry a feeling and agility that
begin rn section #9 with Phil
many frontmen have yet to achieve on
Wachman's interpretive violin solo
traditional jazz instruments.
backed by the string section and ,
The dynamic interplay on "The
leadi~g directly into section #10 with a
Night Has a Thousand Eyes" is probe~utiful trumpet solo by Dixon. The
?elled by a Latin riff on bass. Improvis~t~rngscontinue to set the mood, now
ing some fierce solo work, Hicks and
Joined by percussion and trombone.
10

HahnCont'd

Ross
Cont'd
both from young musicians unfamiliar
with her early work to seasoned
veterans.
Vocalist/trombonist Andy Shaw,
who spent five months on the road with
Jon Hendricks & Company in 1975, says
of Ross, "I love the way she was
swingin'. Her sense of time is so profound. When she got to the bridge, her
body would shift subtly with the
different rhythm. She had to have
grown up around a lot of jazz-the
swing roots are in her bones."
Vocalist Jay Clayton, who has taken
the jazz vocal tradition to new realms,
said, "Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were
the first group to inspire me. They
opened up new possibilities for the
human voice. I was moved to be in the
presence of Annie Ross, to feel the
depth of tradition, the honesty of the
music."
Dorothy Rodes, who studies with
Clayton, said "Ross' performance was
complete, even though her chops aren't
what they used to be. Every note
doesn't have to be filled with voice for a
tune to be satisfying. Her 'Lush Life;
taught to her by Billy Strayhorn
himself, was as moving as any I've
heard."
Trumpeter Floyd Standifer, who
joined Ross on stage for her last set, is
an educator who has worked for a
decade with vocalists at the Janis Borla
camp in Illinois. "With the LHRtrio,
Ross was orchestral, like a person in a
big band section who knows how to
blend and make the most of interior
parts. As a soloist she has a spare sense
of melody; she cuts to the essence of a
song to tell a story. With her you have
to be ready.fer involvement; she's
hypnotic, like Miles. She doesn't over
embellish, and she never imitates other
singers."
Vocalist Nancy King, who was kept
in Portland by pneumonia during Ross'
engagement, simply said, "She's a
goddess." XX

she put on for the part, she said, "Oh,
15-20 pounds, just enough to be
blowzy." Her performance stands out for
its excellence among a list of high
profile actors that includes Jack
Lemmon, Lili Tomlin, Tim Robbins,
Robert Downey, Jr., Tom Waits and cellist
Lori Singer.
Ross is enjoying a revival of interest
in her vocal art with the release of her
1996 CD,Music is Forever,her first solo
recording in years. On it she reprises two
of her big hits with LH&R-"Twisted"
and "Farmer's Market," for which she
wrote the still hip and zany lyrics. She
covers Arthur Johnston's ballad with
lyrics by Sam Coslow,"Marijuana,"
written for a 1920's musical. Its inclusion may not be politically correct, but
in light of measures passed in California
and Arizona legalizing pot for medical
use, it's certainly timely. She swings
Basie's "Going to Chicago" with lyrics by
Jon Hendricks and a coda by herself,
lends humor to the depression era "One
Meat Ball," and brings a bittersweet
touch to standards like "It Had to Be
You." And if "It Never Entered My Mind"
sounds different, Ross sings Lorenz
Hart's alternate lyrics, unearthed by a
friend of hers.
As throughout her career she is
surrounded by a gaggle of greats on
Music Is Forever:Pianist and arranger
Mike Renzi, bassist Peter Washington,
and drummer Louis Hayes, with guest
appearances by TommyFlanagan, Jay
Leonhart, Frank Wess, Al Grey, and Joe
Beck.
Also Columbia has just reissued a
two-CD set of the work of Lambert,
Hendricks & Ross, which includes their
brilliant, self-titled 1959 release as well
as LH&RSing Ellington and High Flying
plus eight additional tracks, four of
which have never before been released.
What's amazing about listening to this
collection is the familiarity of the
material, the realization that almost
every song they did was a hit. And the
material and performances are just as
spicy today as ever.
Appreciation from the jazz community ran high during Ross' Seattle visit,

Malone
Cont'd
John Coltrane and Miles Davis.
Malone's other seminal influence
was the undisputed king of the blues
guitar, B.B. King, whom he also first
met on television.
"I will never forget seeing B.B. King
on Sanford and Son playing 'How Blue
Can You Get; " Malone says. "That
guitar, plus his voice-he sounded like
the minister in my church. He was
preaching the blues. And it is also a
good idea to emulate his humility."
Malone got to play the blues when
he joined Branford Marsalis and a
number of blues players on I Heard You
Twicethe First Time. He met Marsalis
when after a Sting concert the sax
player dropped by an Atlanta club
where Malone was playing. Another
famous New Orleans musician, Harry
Connick Jr., also saw Malone playing
and asked him to join him in the studio
and on tour. The relationship lasted
four years.
It was when he joined Connick that
Malone got the deal with Columbia
Records. It was for two records and an
option for a third. The label didn't take
that option but Malone isn't upset
about it.
'Tm not bitter. I never felt that the
music industry owed me anything,"
Malone says. 'Tm always playing, and I
can always get better at it. That's what's
important to me." XX

listening
in Cont'd
This sets up section #11 which is the
longest mobile and without a doubt the
best, featuring a string/trombone/
orchestra triad which is quite memorable.
•
Section #12 features a Minton solo
of chanting and cat calls mirrored in
electronics. The full orchestra reappears
in section #13, followed by a wonderful
clarinet solo by Petrowsky, complemented by strings and percussion in
section #14. The electronics become
more pronounced in sections #15 and
#16, joined by Dixon, Minton, and the
reed section. Percussion and strings lay
down an awesome rhythm in section
#17, accompanied by a smooth, higher
register solo by Dixon. A short piano
interlude follows in section #18 culminating in a full orchestra barrage
creating a counterpoint for Dixon's
trumpet.
To make things better, the value of
this recording does not stop with the
music. The liner notes are quite informative, and the cover art is an extremely tasteful replication of the
artwork of both Oxley and Dixon.

-Allen Platt

XX

Since he has returned, Hahn has
also been performing in local nightclubs. He plays solo every Monday at
the Jazz de Opus; on February 6, hell
play at Jimmy Mak's with singer Mary
Kadderly, and on the 7th and 8th he'll
lead his own trio at that venue; on the
27th he's at Atwater's with Kadderly
again. Often times, however, he has
traded opportunities as a performer for
the security and satisfactions of
teaching.
"Yes," he muses, ''I've always done
that. Those 15 years in Kansas took me
completely out of performing except on
a local level. The reality is," he explains, "one has to make a living. I
don't have nearly enough time to
practice and write. Never have had the
time."
Though Hahn was out of the circuit
for many years, what once went around
came around to him again when
Columbia reissued Live at Monterey: The
John Handy Quintet-electrified jazz
that galvanized the 1965 Monterey
crowd. The reissue resulted in a new
Handy CD,Live at Yoshi'sNitespot, a
double album recorded in 1996 with the
original members of Handy's quintet. "It
was just a thrill to play with those
guys, to get back there and do it
again," Hahn says of the band that's
perhaps closest to his heart.
Hahn has also been expanding in
other directions in his work with former
Cream drummer Ginger Baker. (Falling
off the Roof, featuring Hahn on one
track, is due out in '97.)
But the
Kansas native, who got his start in a
western swing band, believes he is at
his best in a simple guitar trio setting.
"If I've got a great rhythm section,
I'm in heaven," he asserts. "That's all I
need." Though his newest CDfeatures
greater variety, we can hear the elements that distinguish his work in
every cut.
His sophisticated harmonic sense
and inventive melodic variations suffuse
the ballads and medium tempo tunes
with intriguing depths. His unusual
choice of notes and colorfully voiced
chords create briefly passing dissonance
that modulates into sweetly swinging
phrases. Rhythmically, he produces
similar juxtapositions, creating satisfying forward motion by combining offkilter sounding sequences with in-thee
pocket grooves. And then there's his
distinctive tone.
You wouldn't quite call it a warm
sound, though it has a burnished patina
of restraint that creates a human glow
around the electronic pitches. But the
way Hahn bends notes, his legato
single-note lines, and his lovely chords
make his sound more sweet than hot,
no matter the fleet intricacy of his
uptempo romps.
Hahn's music radiates meticulous
craftsmanship. Maybe that's the key to
his sound. We feel a thoughtful care has
been lavished on every phrase. And that
warms us with the flush of beauty.
And yet here he is, newly lodged
in a provincial city, embarking again on
a teaching career, even if it's only parttime. "I alm'ost went to New York," he
explains. "But I realized that it might
take me a couple of years to work into a
teaching position there that would be
good for me. "No," he says thoughtfully, ''I've never made that move to
New York. I probably should have done
it years ago. But I'm not sure I want to
pay those kind of dues. I'd rather live in
a nice place like Portland. I feel very
comfortable here."
11

Maybe it's the comfort, after all,
that has been responsible for the
quality of his playing. XX

Debut
CDAvailable
at
BUD'S
JazzRecords
or
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(360)308-8410

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tJEArlJUJ6u,a

COMPOSER'S
NOTEBOOK

-a conversationwith

JessicaWilliams
by

J ohII.

..£._1:;ki.II.s

A,

the piano Jessica Williams
delivers inspired performances of Monk
tunes with an exacting standard no one
but Monk himself would dare correct. "I
do Monk tunes in the keys they were
written. They just don't sound right to
me if they're played in a different key,"
Williams says, tipping her Sherman
cigarette in the ashtray. "I respect what
other writers have done, so even if I do
my own version of a tune, I still keep
the signature elements of the tune
intact. I'm very much into the history of
music.
"Take a look at 'All Blues: People
are always playing it wrong," she says.
"There's supposed to be an eight bar
rest period and a trill in it, but most
musicians never perform it that way. 'All
Blues; [from Miles Davis' Kind of Blue
album] shows Bill Evans working with a
cluster of chords all in the key of G-all
white keys on the piano-but when you
make the change, there's one black key,
B flat. You've got to play it in the right
key or it won't come out like that," she
says.
Williams' early influences include
Dave Brubeck and Oscar Peterson.
"Oscar made me want to quit. Whenever
Tristeza, and it blows me out of the
water. What I gained from him is an
assertiveness in my playing.
"Red Garland is a pianistic influence-a most elegant player. It's funny,
he's certainly there in my playing but
none of the critics have ever mentioned
him," Williams lets out a hearty laugh.
She says much of her style has been
influenced by Sonny Rollins, John
Coltrane, Miles, Clifford Brown, and
Rah~aan Roland Kirk.
"Kirk's music touches me. It's very
powerful and important music because
it makes room for every style-boogie
woogie, stride, blues-there's a joyous
abandon in his music. When his group
would play a ballad, anything could
happen. At first, the jazz establishment
thought he was a charlatan, but he had
a very advanced musical concept."
Williams' reverence for these
masters has led her toward a kind of
writing and playing imbued with
spiritual perfectionism. "Coltrane

for CD's and Cassettes
Fusion Studios

547-1303

I
continues to be a
strong influence. He
was connecting with
some deep spiritual
currents, drawing
them together with
his audience. He
created a feeling I call
the Church of the
Holy Eighth Note
where everybody transcends the
mundane and is brought together into
one organism."
Williams finds two qualities that
make a song durable: simplicity and
familiarity. "My compositions have
gotten simpler and simpler. I don't like
complicated writing that is hard to
learn and difficult and complex to play.
But give me a Coltrane tune like 'Giant
Steps: It's everything I just named, but
it has an inner logic that t~ils you
where to go. Sonny Rollins' tunes are
always a lesson in simplicity, but
they've also got some little hook in
them. I write tunes which are either 16
or 32 bars. There's not a whole lot of
stuff you have to remember.
"The best tunes are the ones people
think they've heard before," Williams
continues. --1 gave 'A Song That I Heard;
its title because it sounded like five or
six different tunes that I know and like.

The ones that have durability come to
me whole. I throw away the ones I have
to work out.
"Sometimes I get ideas for tunes
while I'm doing other things. I wrote a
tune called 'Little Dog Blues' after
taking my dog for a walk one day and
hearing him bark at another dog. The
barks were coming in groups of three.
Every time I play it, I hear my little
dog."
Though she may be exacting at the
keyboard, Williams says her writing
style isn't as kosher as the classical
style she was taught at age 8-16 at the
Peabody Conservatory. "I write without
using key signatures at the beginning
of a staff. I just notate flats and sharps
as I go along. Ornette calls it
harmolodics. It works like this: I don't
think of a tune in F, because a tune
may have several key changes in it.
Look at 'If I Were A Bell: In the key of

F, it goes 2,5, 1. When it changes from E
minor to A7, you could think of that as
2,5 in D minor. Right after that, there's
a 2,5 in A major then it goes back into
F. For me, it's easier because I don't
have to think about tonal relationships
within the key of F. I can tunnel
through by switching keys, and when
you're learning to improvise, it makes it
much easier to think this way," Williams
explains.
Jessica has recorded the accompanying composition, "Clear Blue Lou,"
on three separate albums: Update (Clean
Cuts) with Eddie Harris on saxophone;
Next Step (Hep), a solo piano version;
and with Dick Berk and Jeff Johnson on
Inventions (Jazz Focus). Normally the
first four bars in a song comprise 16
beats in 4/ 4. But the way WilUamshas
grouped them, 5/5/6, the accents fall
in a way that makes the tune shift its
center of gravity. XX

Art: Ray Troll

by

~i.ke

~a,:rii.II.

A
the full moon peeks from behind the
mist and the calendarmakesflipping motions on
my refrigerator,I am remindedof some electrifying
notes that rainedomnidirectionallyto close out the
year for creativemusic.And as musical
categories continue to spread thinner, I
would not be surprised to find bins for
"Acid Polka," "Ambient Yodeling,"
"Trance C&W"and "Hip Hopera" at local
CDstores soon.
The beauty of the continual surge
of improvised music in Seattle is
precisely the ability not to get stuck in
one mode, but to keep pushing the
envelope. Ongoing series, such as Other
Sounds at the Speakeasy, Friday and
Saturday evenings at Anomalous
Records, and the Acceleration Couch
gigs at Moe, not to mention sporadic
performances at The Compound in
Ballard, are providing the space for
musicians and enthusiastic audiences
alike.
A refreshing quintet, UnFolkUs has
been making the rounds recently with
open minds and ears. The group features guitarist Bill Horist, Chapman
stick bassist Rob Bageant, percussionists
Evelyn Graaf and Seymour King, and
Paul Hoskin on contrabass clarinet.

Whether quietly introspective or
raucously inventive, the soundscapes
created by UnFolkUs transfix and, on
more than one occasion, have been
known to drive audiences into delirious
rapture.
Other projects to venture into
serious texture weaving are Bolt
(Jessica Lurie-alto, Angelina Baldoztrumpet, Paul Hoskin-contrabass
clarinet, and Greg Powers-trombone),
Gleet (a clarinet quartet), and the
mystical Incubus Octet. Incubus,
remarkable for its ability to play around
an unstated melody, is a group of
dedicated souls: Randall Dunnclariphone and saxophones, Brendan
Wallace-trumpet & flute, Steve
Moore-trombone, Lori Goldston-cello,
Andrew Drury-percussion, Bill Horistguitar, Troy Swanson-unconventional electronics, and Hoskin. These are just
a few groupings of improvisers that can
be found regularly at the above mentioned series.
12

Who says the turntable isn't a
viable musical instrument? A recent
visit to the Art Bar from Bay Area trio
Invisible Scratch Pickles reaffirmed
that evolution coexists nicely with
revolution. The Pickles, a trio of the
turntable scratching, sequencer laden
DJ Obert, MixMaster Mike and DJ Short
combined for an intricate mesh of
polyrhythmic scratches, sub bass and
tastefully chosen samples-as if
Ornette, Charlie Haden and Ed Blackwell
had picked up turntables and unobtrusively schooled everyone in the house.
Big name jazz is still.alive and well
in Seattle too, as witnessed by a solid
outing from Joshua Redman. The
superb tenor man brought his quintet
to the King Cat Theater for a rousing set
of originals and tunes by Sonny Rollins
and Trane. Redman's energy was
infectious, his phrasing buoyant and
clever. I found myself shedding my
cynicism for the "young lions" movement and enjoying the hell out of the
show.
Enjoy 1997 in all its musical
incarnations. XX