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Hil-lV 1,::,cn, 0 :, the nm IV\uhalRichardAbrams Revol~nsemble coDA NovEMBERIDEcEMBER 2004 15 l The mysterious circumstances surrounding Albert Ayler's death in November 1970 have never been solved, though his legend-focusing on the enigmatic intensity of his music and the reputed spiritual purity and innocence of his message and motivation-has increased in stature to the point where he is now considered the patron saint of pure-sound Free Improvisation, with disciples as stylistically, conceptually, and generationally diverse as Roscoe Mitchell, Peter Brotzmann, and Mats Gustafsson (among a host of others) continuing to spread their version of the Word. Aclmowledged as one of the most iconoclastic (and according to his detractors, nihilistic) forces within the turbulent jazz world of the 1960s, which often took inspiration from and simultaneously fed back into the radical political and social climate of the time, Ayler recognized the power of his music, even if he seldom !mew how to wield it effectively,and he identified the musical (and implicitly spiritual) relationship between himself, John Coltrane, and Pharoah Sanders in a famous statement: "Trane was the father. Pharoah was the son. I was the holy ghost." Revenant Records has adopted this quotation as the symbolic creed of its lavish, nine-CD boxed compilation, Albert Ayler: Holy Ghost (RVN 213 ) ; included among the ephemera-a replica of a handwritten postcard, a photo of the child-prodigy saxophonist, a reduced-size poster from Slug's, and booklets of related material-is a small plastic envelope holding four pressed petals from a dogwood tree, the tree from which, it is said, Christ's cross was cut (though the suggestion of Ayler as martyr actually mixes their metaphors, since the Holy Ghost was/is believed to be incorporeal spirit, without form). Symbolism notwithstanding, it is the substance of this set which is intended to re-affirm Ayler's lofty position within the hierarchy of all jazz and not just the historically grounded New Thing of the 1960s, by adding a bounty of musical riches-some previously only rumored to exist, others said to have been destroyed-to the available, albeit small, canon. Yet though this "new" material helps to clarify some of the speculation and misinformation about Ayler and specificallythe evolution of his music, it also raises questions that perpetuate the mythology surrounding him. The paucity of authorized Ayler recordings can be explained by several factors: from the point of his discharge from the Army in 1961, at age 25, he had less than a decade of life left; he spent significant time in Europe and Scandinavia, where his ear- 16 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 coDA liest recordings were made for labels with limited visibility, resources, and distribution; American record companies were wary of the seemingly chaotic sounds issuing from the Black avant-garde (and Ayler was the most extreme of all) until they brainstormed ways to market them as part of the "hip" counter-cultural revolution and/or manipulate and dilute the music and its extramusica!'significance with conservative, accessible productions; and Ayler himself was young, idealistic, and inexperienced regarding the business of music. His "official" recording career can be divided into three parts-the Scandinavian LPs, originally for Bird Notes and Debut (not to be confused with Charles Mingus' '50s label of the same name), which were reissued in the U.S. on GNP Crescendo and Arista/Freedom; the ESP LPs; and the Impulse LPs. None of these are included in the Revenant box. Some of what we are given here may have already been passed around among hardcore collectors in multi-generational dubs of questionable sound quality, other selections may be receiving their initial release. I confess that I've never been an Ayler "completist," so I've not encountered any of this material before. Revenant has apparently invested in refurbishing of the source tapes where possible, so the sound varies from quite good (considering its origins) to disappointingly poor. More on that later. While bemoaning the fact that there are no performances here of Ayler alongside John Coltrane or jamming with Ornette Coleman (though tapes of both are said to exist), collectors will no doubt covet most his collaboration with Cecil Taylor. Ayler first met Taylor in 1962 as tl1e latter's trio, with alto saxophonist Jimmy Lyons and drunlmer Sunny Murray, was playing in Stockholm. He felt the pianist was a kindred spirit, asked to sit in with them, and was forthwith added to the group-at least for a television appearance in Copenhagen on 16 November (a week before ilie trio, sans Ayler, played and was recorded at the city's Cafe Montmartre). This surviving soundtrack (the visual portion apparently has been lost) is all that has so far come to light of their time together, though Ayler continued to appear intermittently with the Taylor band back in the States during 1963 and possibly early '64. In his session-by-session commentary (part of the 208-page hardcover book included in the box), project supervisor Ben Young opts that " ... this 23-minute performance is the first recording from anywhere in the jazz spectrum of a long-form improvisation with no overt syn- chronization---0f time, structural harmony, or song." While the strict definition of synchronized harmony, according to accepted Western theory, may not be broad enough to include the relatively key-free playing that Lyons and Taylor engage in, both here and in the Cafe Montmartre performances, let me suggest that their practice of flexible linear counterpoint-a few steps beyond the improvised-by-ear, harmonically complementary contrapuntal lines of the Lennie Tristano sextet's 1949 "Intuition"-assumes a moment-to-moment attention to opportunities for related (however briefly it occurs) and unrelated interaction, and those places where their alignment seems least "synchronized" now may be heard as a simultaneous overlapping of no longer "dissonant" but, rather, extended harmonies. The new lesson this music, like Ives and Cage, teaches us is to hear harmony in a fresh way. Ayler's contribution, meanwhile, is not along the lines that Lyons and Taylor have worked out between them. He is, in a sense, playing even freer, with less attention to melodic/harmonic interaction with Taylor, and is instead using the piano and Murray's drums as a rhythmic trampoline upon which he can bounce deep honks and contrasting figures of sound. Alternating between high and low registers, he stretches and elaborates motifs (was that a hint of "Cocktails for Two" flashing by?), sustaining a level of energy as his solo's sole unifying force. His second solo has a grinding, growling, abstracted r&b intensity, reminding us of his pre-Army experiences touring with blues harmonica wizard Little Walter. This is brilliant music from start to finish, the equal of anything Taylor had recorded up to this time and, if not the first indication of Ayler's mature paili leading to the great ESPs of 1964, his first opportunity to interact with musicians comfortable with and fluent in his expanding vocabulary of freedom. To put this performance into a fuller context, we must take a step back in time. Prior to the release of the Revenant box, the earliest Ayler recording to receive wide circulation was that of the seven performances of standards (plus one free piece entitled "Free") from 25 October 1962, including "I'll Remember April," "Tune Up," and "Moanin'," issued initially in two volumes by Bird Notes. These show Ayler using dissonant and/or tonally distorted variants of pitch with phrasing that so deconstructed the familiar song form he befuddled the pickup rhythm section for the date, bassist Tobjorn Hultcranz and drummer Sune Spangberg. (Ayler was apparently dissatisfied with the results too, which often sound like a wayward rehearsal and led some critics at the time to complain that Ayler could not play his instrument properly.) Now, however, a threetune session from 19 June 1962 with Ayler accompanied by a straightahead Finnish quartet led by guitarist Herbert Katz (who adds his own attractive, if mainstream, solos) reveals a fuller measure of the saxophonist's abilities-and, by extension, the concept he was attempting-at the time. Here, Ayler maintains a hard tenor sound, perhaps approximating that of Sonny Rollins, without the extreme tonal distortions to be heard in the Bird Notes session of four months hence. On Rollins' "Sonnymoon for Two," his lines are constructed around a chromaticism that stretches the harmony but does not ignore it, and his phrasing does not break with the tune, as he would attempt to do in October. His sense of pitch and timbre is even less exaggerated on "Summertime" (which would reappear, of course, as a Picasso-like masterpiece of expressionist abstraction on the 1963 My Name Is Albert Ayler session), and he deftly alters dynamics to good effect. Finally, on "Green Dolphin Street" he begins with leaping phrases and tart but not inexact pitches sounding briefly but uncannily like Eric Dolphy, then builds to freer phrases iliat fit within the bar lines or cut across them without losing their implicit feel, eventually smearing notes, squawking, bending pitches, and squeezing scales into glisses. The hint of Dolphy is an intriguing one here, and suggests that though Ayler could have followed his example as a fruitful direction for harmonic exploration of conventional material, he rejected it in favor of the extreme sound-oriented techniques which would be put to even more stark, concrete use once he stopped trying to abstract standard material. Though the extreme techniques he was employing, strange and uncomfortable to many, caused Ayler to be branded a "primitive" by conservative critics, the evidence of this earlier step in a still-evolving process makes it ever more apparent that Ayler was in search of an original design, and though not his ultimate direction, this stage of his development would prove influential to subsequent explorers like Anthony Braxton, who was likewise inspired to reorient himself to tunes "in the tradition." All of this is strong evidence that, as verbal reports from friends in Cleveland attest, Ayler could play standard material CODA NovEMBERiDECEMBER 2004 17 7 with perfect competence if he chose to do so. As if this is not proof enough, Revenant also provides us with a bonus, unannounced seven-minute CD containing two of Ayler's 1960 (!) rehearsal performances with the 76th AG Army Band. These are now the earliest Ayler extant, on which he plays lead tenor, hewing closely to the melody of "Tenderly," and playing rudimentary four-bar fills in a stiff big band rendition of Les Brown's theme song, "Leap Frog." The quality of Ayler's playing here is that of a promising amateur, and he obviously woodshedded a great deal between 1960 and '62, where we pick up the trail; nevertheless, these surprising examples, plus the assumption that Little Walter and bandleaders around Cleveland would not suffer a musical illiterate, refute the complaints that Ayler could not play in a mainstream fashion or with legitimate technique, and illuminate the lengths to which he went to develop an original style. That style can be sampled in full bloom on the previously unreleased takes from the June 1964 Cellar Cafe gig that provided the material for the ESP album Prophecy.Most impressive, perhaps, is Ayler's sound. Descriptions of his huge, room-filling tenor saxophone tone are approximated here by a big sound that resonates from the bottom, where he lingers, to the top register. He is no longer using familiar material, but his own simple themes which, though jettisoned over the course of the performance, initiate the emotional environment as Ayler spontaneously shapes his gestures into the true form of the piece. Though he is working within a new system of improvisational design, there are still momentary surprises retained from his more conventional playing-a brief blues inflection in "Saints," and even the slight inference of a casual swing phrase in the theme statement of "Ghosts" before an episode of low-end vehemence. For many critics and listeners, this is the finest period of Ayler's career, reaping the freshness of his new discoveries, unhindered by formal constraints, and assisted by an equally formidable rhythm section (bassist Gary Peacock and Sunny Murray) that enhanced the uniqueness of Ayler's methods, rather than distracting from them. A Copenhagen club date three months later gives us six Ayler originals, this time with Don Cherry's added presence. (These performances were part of a 2002 singleCD relea_se,The CopenhagenSessions,on the Swedish Ayler label.) If anything, Ayler's playing is reaching for more 18 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 CODA extremes, lifting into the upper register more often for punctuational screeches and sustained microtonal wails. Notwithstanding the off-hand casualness of Ayler's introduction, "The next tune is called 'Vibrations'," these "tunes" ignore song form and reveal the saxophonist shaping sound more concretely, occasionally repeating sing-song fragments in ironic paraphrase of orthodox melody, exuding a belief in sound as sanctified transformation. As with some martyred saints of the Catholic church, it's hard to distinguish the difference between pain and ecstasy in Ayler's yearning howl, though his tenor saxophone soliloquy in "Mothers" (related to "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child") has the directness of a preacher elevating his sermon into impassioned vocalization. Cherry's cornet is an engaging counterbalance-relying on his experiences with Ornette, he does interact with the tenor saxophone in moments of mutual improvisation-and his lyricism is shadowed closely by Peacock's bass. The lack of songlike artifice in these and the Cellar Cafe pieces gives rise to the notion that though some listeners may have felt that Ayler's music was too complex to be accessible, his concept was that by rejecting song structure he was simplifying the music, making it more direct and winnowing it down to its essence, pure sound-feeling, that should ideally communicate more easily to everyone. The next stage of Ayler's evolution represented here is his 1966 quintet, beginning with two full CDs-worth of a live Cleveland concert (from a club called La Cave .. .is there a pattern here?) that found brother Donald Ayler taking over the trumpet role, the boisterous Ronald Shannon Jackson on drums, and marked one of violinist Michel Samson's first appearances with the band. The material had changed once more, too, now featuring more of the short, catchy melodies that Ayler hoped listeners would go out of the concert humming to themselves-a march ("Spirits Rejoice"), an open, flowing aria shared between violin glisses, doublestops, and trills and the tenor saxophone's hoarse, yet restrained expressionism ("untitled minor waltz"), and Donald's melodramatic "Our Prayer." But, rather than sounding hermetic, the simple themes have been inflated to anthem-like proportions through emphasis and repetition; the music is more theatrical with arrangements-shorter solos, repeated motifs ("Our Prayer" imbued with a "Three Blind Mice" motif-how much simpler can music get?), more varied with instrumental colors and ensemble textures. The rousing solos are more compact though no less intense-Donald's trumpet blaring, sputtering, and raising pitch-bypitch from sheer urgency with almost no range or contour, like a man at a punching bag, and guest tenor saxophonist "Reverend" Frank Wright following Albert's example by chewing and spraying fractured notes. Though the music's coarse, propulsive ensembles, tumbling rhythms, and high-energy sound projection may alienate as many listeners as it seduces, the presentation seems closer to the extreme, if egoless, drama found in the Holiness church as well as the roughest of rural roadhouses, calling to mind Ayler's desire (as told to Nat Hentoff) to play " ... folk melodies that all people would understand." The band sounded better, and is captured in better sound, at the concerts in Berlin and Rotterdam during the same November 1966 tour of Europe that has produced recordings from Li:irrach, Germany and Paris. As opposed to the Cleveland tapes, Bill Falwell's bass is now audible, and Samson is more comfortable within the ensemble, his violin amplified properly so that his important contribution is equal to the others, coloring the music, droning, soloing with greater nuance, and caressing the horn lines. At the Rotterdam concert, Beaver Harris, the new drummer, attacked the drums with a violence unimaginable during Sunny Murray's reign, reconfiguring the group dynamic in keeping with the more dramatic ambiance of the full ensemble. But the band's heaven-storming potential seems to have reached fruition seven months later at, of all places, a Newport Jazz Festival appearance. With Milford Graves behind the drumset, there is a palpable boost of energy that inspires a looser, freer exchange of individual components-Samson flies over his fingerboard with a wider-than-usual range of details, Ayler vocalizes with abandon, brother Donald's trumpet blasts puncture the ensembles, and the sounds blister the air. Again, the horns' exaggerated vibrato and the barrage of drums reinforce the oft-quoted parallels to the raw, immediate, folk and spiritual-inspired origins of New Orleans brass band music. Consensus has it that Ayler's career was in decline from the time he signed with Impulse Records. Most of Love Cry, the first release on the label, was recorded at the end of August 1967, and consisted of abbreviated versions of classic themes like "Ghosts" and "Bells." ButJohn Coltrane had died earlier that summer-remarkably, Revenant includes a six-minute segment (or was this the complete performance?) of Ayler's band performing at Coltrane's funeral, a regrettably muffled but nonetheless moving plaint with Ayler's cries of loss most audible-and much of the New Music scene was wondering how to proceed. Ayler's band appeared less and less frequently, and he sat in with other groups on occasion. There are tapes here of his guest appearances with Pharoah Sanders in January 1968, where Sanders alternates between outside blowing and articulating melodies from his own Impulse album Tauhid and Ayler attacks like a shark, and on alto alongside saxophonist Sam Rivers in brother Donald's group from January 1969, though the sound quality is so congested that it's difficult to distinguish details within the squall other than trumpet flourishes and cymbal splashes. Ayler's second release on Impulse, New Grass,was considered by many to be a commercial sell-out, an over-produced attempt to market Ayler to the young, rock audience by layering free saxophone and "Love Generation" platitudes atop a pop/r&b groove. Impulse producer Bob Thiele was blamed for the debacle, but there is an interesting review of the album by Black writer Larry Neal that condemns not the concept, but the way it was handled. Neal cites that the vocals are weak and the rhythms merely bland (i.e.: white) approximations of authentic r&b. Was Ayler a pawn in Thiele's game? The answer may not be as obvious as it seems. For one thing, remember that Ayler had fond memories of his time playing witl1 bluesman Little Walter and the popular r&b bands around Cleveland during his apprenticeship. It has also been pointed out often that Ayler's extreme techniques-from guttural honking to overtone screeching-are an extension of the r&b tradition of exaggerated sax gestures, a style of playing which was hugely popular during the 1950s, and Ayler was no doubt a fan of players like Big Jay McNeely, Earl Bostic, and Arnett Cobb. Then there's the hurdle of Ayler's spirituality. There are those who would canonize Ayler as a pure, innocent agent of transcendence and a Higher Calling, and which finds the sacred and secular incompatible. Yet there is a strong (and thoroughly analyzed and documented) connection between Black church music and the blues. Further, though Ayler displays his deep spirituality both in a short interview excerpt from 1966 (on one of the two CDs of interviews included here) and in a reprint of his apocalyptic essay published in a 1969 issue of The Cricket (edited by Amiri Baraka, Larry Neal, and A.B. Spellman), in over 90 minutes of interviews from July 1970-four months before his death-Ayler comes across as gleeful, gabby, and anything but a spiritual mystic. Nor is there any trace of the depression that was attributed to him in his final days, no dark thoughts, no paranoia. There is almost no mention of spirituality, God, or the Bible; instead, laughing frequently, he talks about wanting to play Bach on the saxophone, equates Ornette and Charles Ives, and says he lovesHorace Silver. Even more to the point, he doesn't complain about Impulse or Bob Thiele wanting him to record more commercial music-he is happy about the money he was paid, in fact brags a bit, and is concerned about his future earning potential, looking for festival gigs, and upset that Sinatra and Tom Jones might be stealing his ideas for songs (okay, perhaps there was a bit of paranoia in his thinking). The point is that, although it may have been Thiele's idea (or that of some bean counter at the record company) to begin with, Ayler was certainly willing, possibly anxious, to record in a "simpler," more popular style in order to reach a larger audience. At first, he wanted to do it on his own terms; he played two weeks of preparatory gigs at a rock club, the Cafe au Go Go (apparently not recorded, alas) and brought pianist Call Cobbs, regular bassist Bill Folwell, and studio r&b drummer Bernard "Pretty" Purdie (probably at Thiele's request, since he was not the drummer at the rock club gig) in to lay down demo tracks for the album. The four tracks we have at hand were rejected by Thiele, who brought Ayler back into the studio to re-record with a group supplemented by a batch of studio pros. These demos are curiosities, rehearsal takes with unfinished arrangements and minimal rhythm section involvement, of banal s~ngs Ayler co-composed with Mary (Maria) Parks. Though wanting to sound like a suave soul singer, Ayler stumbles through the lyrics of "New Grass," and what's interesting about "Thank God for Women" is not the message, but the music-an endlessly repeated theme that sounds like a paraphrase of Monk's "Friday the 13th" over a boogaloo beat. On an untitled blues, however, Ayler's tenor saxophone howls in a manner eerily close to his 1962 style of playing, as if nothing has been lost and he could return to any point of his career at any time. The final music here, four previously unissued small club quartet performances (no Mary Parks) recorded during the time Ayler appeared at the Foundation Maeght St.-Paul-de-Vence in France (first released on Shandar), four months before his death, finds Ayler playing extended solos once again, ornamenting the melodies of "Mothers" and "Children" along arpeggiated, sometimes modal contours. More interestingly, on three untitled pieces Ayler seems to be reverting back to an earlier (circa '64) approach, on one subverting Call Cobbs' romantic, harmonically conservative piano with intense upper-register overtones, and imposing an aharmonic improvisation onto a Sephardic-sounding melody on another. (The original cassette tapes have deteriorated or been sloppily edited, but the music is listenable.) Ben Young, supported by a quote from bassist Steve Tintweiss, feels that Ayler didn't want to exhibit his newer pieces for fear of being bootlegged and losing royalties and so offered a free-blowing jam, yet it's ironic that the last music we have from Ayler is neither visionary nor compromised, but the flamboyant, exhilarating, intently personal manner of improvising he made his mark with, and is now established as a continuing force in creative music. There are conflicting accounts of Ayler's final days. Some acquaintances felt he was relatively optimistic about the future (as he sounds on the July 1970 interview tape), others say he was deeply depressed and suicidal. Rumors about his death range from tl1e accidental to the possibility of a mob hit. It's impossible to speculate on what the future of his music might have been had he lived-perhaps a more successful "back to the roots" concept (imagine Ayler squealing alongside Maceo Parker backed by the James Brown band, or riding Sly and Robbie's riddim, or mixed up with George Clinton's menagerie) or maintaining his Free Jazz irmovator status (at 68, he could be soloing next to Peter Bri:itzmann right now). Legends require not only a comet-like impact, but also a large amount of ambiguity and mystery. We still may not know all of the answers, but at least we have more of the story than ever before. ~ Alben Ayler: Holy Ghost is available from Revenant P.O. Box 162766 Austin, TX 78716 www.revenantrecords.com CODA NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 19 1 X THEN I TALK ABOUT A DELIV V CIOUS FORD I DON'T MEAN MIYAMASAOKA GEORGE LEWIS ARTISTIC DIRECTORS ASSISTANT ARTISTIC DIRECTOR FRANtOIS HOULE FACULTY JUNE 18-262005 EVAN PARKER MWATA BOWDEN VANCOUVER CANADA & Others Applications mustbe received by:Feb.1, 2005 Joinleading international Specia1 accommodation & mea1 packages are creative musicians foran avai1ab1e. intensive 9-dayprogram. VCMIdovetails withthe Open to emerging musicians TDCanada Trust Vancouver concentrating onimprovisation, International JazzFestival: newcompositional practices June24-July3, 2005 Co11ege creditoffered and/ornewtechnologies. www.coasta1jazz.ca FOR MORE 1NFO. 6 APPucArrnNs THAT IMPERSONATION OF A FAMILY AUTOMOBILE WHICH WOULD BE SHEEREST DICTUM. I KNOW YOU LIE DOWN TO THE TASTE OF NURSERY. YOU KNOW I THINK OF YOUR GRIEVANCES AS MINE. LET'S SAYART IS WHAT REFUSES TO REFRESH THE MEMORY. BUT YOU SAYJAZZ IS A FRIENDLY FIRE AND THAT A FRIENDLY FIRE IS ANY FIRE BURNING WHERE IT WAS INTENDED TO BURN. A WORDLESS GRIEVANCE AT FIRST, THIS INSISTENCE UPON A FAMILIAR ACCOMODATION SPREADSACROSS YOUR FACE AS YOU LISTEN, LATER DEVELOPING INTO A RESTLESS EAGERNESS TO ACCUSE. IT IS IN YOUR FEAR OF INSTINCTUAL ENERGY AND THE MUSIC'S WILLINGNESS TO REVEAL WHAT IT HAS IN COMMON WITH ITS MAKING THAT YOU UNWITTINGLY RELATE A DREAM, YOU SAYOF LOVE: MY DARLING, I DREAMED OF YOU, ABOUT THE TROUBLE WITH THE DOCTORS WHO SHAVED OFF THE HAIR AT THE BACK OF YOUR HEAD, PRAYING BRAIN DAMAGE. YOU HAD GROWN MUCH LARGER AND COARSER AND YOU WERE ALMOST UNRECOGNIZABLE. WHEN I CAME TO SEE YOU AT THE POOL HALL YOU WERE VERY SALTY WITH ME. ONE OF YOUR GRIEVANCES IS THAT JAZZ HAS BECOME A MUSIC OF FEELINGS NO MORE THAN WORDS YOU CANNOT PRONOUNCE. THIS IS LESS YOUR FAULT PERHAPS THAN THAT OF THE UNCRITICAL CHAMPIONING OF WHAT MOST NOTICEABLY ATTRACTS IN ANY MUSIC'S LOCATION AND ITS SUBSEQUENT SPECIAL AND CREDITABLE TOLERANCE FOR DEVIATION. BY LOCATION I MEAN WHERE, BETWEEN cooA NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 21 OLD AND NEW, IT IS THOUGHT PROPER TO PLACE A MUSIC. IN JAZZ, EVEN THOUGH YOU MAY USE YOUR BEST EFFORTS TO SAY WHAT SOMETHING ISN'T QAZZ) BUT MERELY WHAT IT HAS PLENTY OF, THERE IS NO OLD OR NEW ONLY IMMUNITY IS GAINED IN THE FORMULATION OF A MUSIC YOU FEEL INTENDED TO HEAR. TO ACCOMPANY IT IN THIS INSTANCE THE MUSIC (PRESENTLY BEING ACCEPTED AND CONSPIRED AGAINST IN SIMILAR FASHION, RECORDS HAVING BEEN RELEASED IN DENMARK AND JAPAN) HAS ALBERT AYLER (TENOR SAXOPHONE), GARY PEACOCK (BASS), AND SONNY MURRAY(DRUMS). THE TRUER MUSICS IN JAZZ ARE VILIFIED AND THEN KEPT ABIDING (DISMISSING OUT OF HAND THE WORK OF CECIL TAYLOR,THE LIKELY STRONGEST VOICE OF ALL AND FIRST EXEMPT FROM THE DICTATORSHIP OF DRUMMERS). THAT JAZZ IS NOVEL IS DENIED ONLY IN THE EARNESTNESS OF MAKING SOMETHING THAT RESEMBLES JAZZ, OR IN THE CONSERVATORY PLAYER'S WILLING SACRIFICE TO APPEAR UNWIELDY. LITTLE EXISTS THAT THIS MUSIC OF AYLER,PEACOCK AND MURRAY DOESN'T HAVE SOMETHING TO DO WITH, OFTEN CONSERVATIVELY.A • MUSIC OF ABUNDANCE, UNDERESTli\1ATING NOTHING, SCARCITIES ARE ABSORBED AND EVERYTHING ALLEGED TO HAVEBEEN LEFT OUT IS PRESENT NOVEL IN THE MEDICAL SENSE, AYLER'S SOUND IS THAT OF A DISEASED PEARL. (YOU'LL NOTICE THE NATURAL SHOULDER SHOESI KNOW ABOUT YOUR SECRET RECIPES. AT LEAST THE ONE FOR THE NEAREST THING TO KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN THERE IS. AS WELL AS YOUR BLUEPRINT FOR KEEPING FRIED CHICKEN IN PERFECT SERVING CONDITION, UP TO SIX WEEKS.) WHICH IS THE POINT, EXACTLY, WHERE MUSICS (ADDING THOSE OF ORNETTE COLEMAN, DON CHERRY, PAUL BLEY, ARCHIE SHEPP, ROSWELL RUDD, JOHN 22 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 coDA TCHICAI, CARLA BLEY, DAVE IZENZON, MILFORD GRAVES, GIUSEPPI LOGAN AND DON PULLEN) ARE SWEPT UP, ATTACKED, AND LEFT UNHARMED IN FACT BUT SHAMED BY THE ACRIMONIOUS FOLDING OF GRIEVANCE IN YOUR APRONAS THOUGH THE PLAYERSTHEMSELVES INTERFERED WITH THEIR MUSIC; AS THOUGH EVERYTHING WERE BEING DONE IN A MANNER MEANT TO CONCEAL OR CAUSE. THAT WE DESPAIR OF ANOTHER'S FINDING HIS WAY IS PART OF THE LAUGHTER HEREAFTER. FOR YOU CAN IRON TO LENGTHEN WHAT HAS WRINKLED UP, OR YOU CAN LET IT HANG BY ITS END, FINALLY FLAT, IF SCATTERED SOMEWHAT VARIOUSLY. THEN HAVE A KIND WORD FOR THE YOUNG WOMAN WHO HAS GIVEN UP CERTAIN THINGS AND NOW SEEKS A "LIFE IN THE DARK," EACH MORNING EXAMINING THE FRONT PAGE OF ANY DOCUMENT CHOSEN FOR HER BY BEN}. ATEBY, WHO MARKS A RECTANGLE OVER A PREVIOUSLY UNEXAMINED PART OF WHATEVER IS PRINTED. THE YOUNG WOMAN'S NAME APPEARS WITHIN THE RECTANGLE; ANTICIPATING YOUR GRIEVANCE - THE DARK, ETC. -SHE SAYS: NOT AS A WORD,AS A DIFFERENCE. (SHE HAS NO MATE AND COUNSEL TO YOU IS TO LEAVE,BEFORE THE MEMORY OF HER LEAVES A RING AROUND YOUR MOUTH.) WHEN YOU SAYOF SOMETHING THAT-IT APPEARS INFREQUENTLY, WHERE DO YOU HAVE IN MIND? (DIDN'T YOU SAY YOU LOVED ME ENOUGH TO DREAM AND WORRY? ABOUT ME IN THE HANDS OF GOVERNMENT DOCTORS?) I'M SORRY I NEVER FORGET A NAME. BUT I'VE FORGOTTEN YOURS. CONSIDER YOUR CAPACITY FOR SURRENDER. OR AS WAS SAID ELSEWHERE AND MEANT DIFFERENTLY: TO CHOOSE TO BE A VIRGIN DOES NOT MEAN TO HAVE A SINGLE CHOICE OF END. HOLIDAYS OFFERED IN THIS MUSIC (ESBATS AND SABBATS) HAVE TO DO WITH BEING WAST- ED, HAND-CANCELLED, AND WHAT IS SOUGHT IS AN EQUITABLE HANDLING OF THE LISTENER-WHAT IS KNOWN AS RIDING THE BABY,GATHERING LICKS TOIT NO! THAT'S A MUSIC I CAN TELL CERTAINLY WHAT I DON'T WANT TO HEAR, SADDENING ME WITH FOSTER MELODIES OF MY FOSTER MOTHER. IN INDECISION ONE CAN STOP TO RESOLVE, AND THE SOUND NATIVE TO THE SIGNAL THAT SOMETHING HAS ENDED IS RECOGNIZED AS WELCOMED. BUT NE IS NEVER MORE THAN MOMENTARILY FREE OF DECIDING TO ADMIT OR DENY WHAT HAS JUST BEEN HEARD IN WHAT ONE IS PLAYING. THE RE-EXAMINING IS PROUD, AND NO ONE RE-EXAMINES MORE CLOSELY THAN AYLER, WHOSE SWEET, ILL-WILLED TREMOLOS AND REGISTER LEAPS ADVANCE EXPOSURE OF AN OLD MOMENTUM OF SPIRITLESS INTIMACY SET BY WHITE BAROMETERS AND CHARACTERIZED BY THE VAIN FUMING PREFERMENTS OF GIRLIE AND JAZZ MAGAZINES. YOU MAKE ME WISH I WAS IN THE LAND OF FEVER! UNRECURRING RESOLUTIONS NOTWITHSTANDING, YOU WERE INVITED TO SPEAK OF YOUR INJURY. LIVES RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM OF THE NECK. I WAS SENT BY THE BOSS TO SQUASH THE WALLS AND CEILING. ME AND BEN]. ATEBY I T¼'J.S GOING TO DO THE CEILING BECAUSE BEN]. WAS TOO TALL. WHAT DOES SQUASHING THE CEIL- YOU SAYBENJ. ATEBY WAS TOO TALL? TOO TALL TO DO THE CEILING? THAT'S RIGHT! HE WASN'T SO TALL HE COULD JUST REACH UP AND SQUASH, BUT TOO TALL ONCE HE WAS ON THE LADDER TO BE ABLE TO BEND DOWN LIKE YOU HAVE TO. WHEN I SAY THAT IN THIS MUSIC THE WILL IMPOSED ON WHAT USUALLY SWAYS IS THE WORK OF PEACOCK AND MURRAY, YOU SAY:ONE CHANCE IN A MILLION THEIR HEARTS AIN'T SKINNY. YOU BELIEVE THAT TO GET HIGH MAKES YOU A GENIUS. A COUPLE OF QUIRKS UNDER YOUR BELT AND EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU REACHES THE HOUNDING LEVEL OF MEAT, AND YOU STRETCH A POINT OR TWO WITH THAT SCIENTIFIC KISS. A NITPICKER AND HIS QUESTIONS ARE SOON CONVULSING. WHAT IS ESSENTIAL TO MURRAY'SPLAYING IS WHAT IS ELICITED, AND HIS FLUENCY, TRAJECTING A NET ACROSS THE WIDTH OF THE MUSIC, ABOVE (THE HORN) AND BELOW (THE BASS) THE LIMITS TO ITS FORM, DRUMMING WHERE THERE IS DRUMMING TO BE DONE AND GROANING WHERE THERE IS LIFE, MURRAY THE VILLAIN WHO ALWAYS GOES FREE, ACROSS THE MUSIC AND INTERIOR OF THE YOUNG WOMAN (WHOSE LEGS YOU SAY ARE TOO THIN FOR HER TO BE AS PREGNANT AS SHE IS), WITH AS MUCH PAIN AS FREEDOM, ONLY THE YOUNG WOMAN'S HAIR GETS WARMER. THESE ARE LEAN ACTMTIES, AND DESPITE PEACOCK'S TREATMENT OF TIME AS AN INTERRUPTION, TAMPING WITH A CONTROL OF EMOTIONAL INCONVENIENCE, YOU BECOME RIGID WITH EMOTION. IN A NEIGHBORHOOD WHERE FAIR NEIGHBORHOOD GENERALS MAKE THEMSELVES OUT AS PERSONAL CHECKS, A BUSAR'S WIFE RECORDS HER TASTE ON MICROFILM AND FEAR IS TAUGHT AS A SECOND LANGUAGE, AYLERPLAYS A DIRECT AND FEROCIOUSLY COMIC TOUR, BEHIND WHICH, SLIPPED BACK AND FORTH IN A SEQUENCE OF GRIPS, PEACOCK AND MURRAY BOAST OF THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES AS INDMDUAL ONES, CONSISTING PRIMARILYIN THE MAINTENANCE OF DIFFERENCES-A RHYTHM THAT DISREGARDS RESOLUTION AS A WORTHY SOLUTION, SURVEYING WITHOUT PROMISES OR GROUPS OF MACHINES THE PHYSICAL FITNESS OF A NATION, MURRAYTHE EDUCATOR RUBBING BRISK AND DRY BEHIND AYLER'SSUDDEN REEXAMINATIONS OF SUCH POWER THAT TO LEAVE THEM WOULD SEEM IMPOSSIBLE. BUT LEFT BEHIND, SWIMMING TO MEET THE REQUIREMENTS OF A LESS SPECIFIC RECREATION. THIS ISN'T TO BE HEARD LISTENING TO ONE FEELING AT A TIME (ALTHOUGH MOMENTS DO OCCUR WHEN ENOUGH IS GOING ON FOR ONE MAN TO BE PLAYING). RAINS TONIGHT AND TODAY AND WARNING AFTER WARNING, AS SOFTLY AND TENDERLY,IN JESUS' PRECIOUS NAME, LAUREL IS CALLING. WHILE ACROSS THE STREET, WILLING TO LISTEN SO FAR AND NO FURTHER, YOU SIT FALLING ASLEEP, COUNTING YOUR GRIEVANCES. YOU ARE TOO GRATEFUL. 11 coDA NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 23 FEATURE REVIEWS DIZZYREECE ONMOSAIC BY DucK I I BAKER As it has done so often in the past, Mosaic focuses on an underrated but excellent artist with a 3-CD box set, this one (Mosaic Select 11) featuring the fine recordings made by Dizzy Reece for Blue Note Records between 1958 and 1960. Reece had an unusual background; born in Jamaica in 1931, he moved to Europe in 1949, eventually basing himself in London. By 1958 Reece had so impressed various American musicians that a session was organized in Paris that featured an international lineup of musicians who were passing through: fellow trumpeter Donald Byrd and drummer Art Taylor over from the states, Canadian bassist Lloyd Thompson, in town with Zoot Sims, and two fine English players who were vacationing, pianist Terry Shannon and the underappreciated tenorman Tubby Hayes. The music from that session, Blues in Trinity, certainly comes off brilliantly considering the circumstances. The group feeling is just edgy enough to keep everyone on their toes, with Taylor working his usual magic and Byrd and Hayes in fine form, but it's the leader who makes the biggest impression, with his hot, crackling solos and some very interesting writing. The only logical step for Reece at this point was a move to New York, and he took it the following year, in time to make his second Blue Note date, Star Bright. Here the trumpeter heads up a hard-bop dream team, sharing the line with Hank Mobley while Wynton Kelly and Paul Chambers join Taylor in the rhythm section. These guys could have made Lawrence Welk and Wayne Newton sound good, so it would be surprising if Reece and Mobley didn't rise to the occasion. Fans of the tenorman will be pleased to hear how inventively he works through his bag of tricks, swinging all the way. And Reece shows how original one can be without really being an innovator. His sound is gorgeous, calling to mind swing icons like Roy Eldridge or his early hero Buck Clayton, but it's his phrasing that really stands out. Apart from Booker Little, it's hard to think of a hard-blowing trumpeter of the time who sounded less like Clifford Brown. This is particularly obvious on the ballad, "Ghost of a Chance," which leads off Reece's third record, Soundin' Off. Like Eldridge, Reece seems to have modeled his phrasing more on saxophonists than other trumpeters, including that noted champion of the long phrase, Fats Navarro; whose sly bop theme, "Eb Pob" is covered here. Most of this quartet date is devoted to standards, with Taylor again driving the beat, Doug Watkins holding the bottom, and pianist Walter Bishop showing his considerable worth with nice, meaty soloing and letter-perfect comping. Quartet dates are, of course, a challenge, as the leader must extend himself beyond the norms of larger groups, but Reece never seems pressed for ideas. The recording of Soundin' Off came between two sessions that eventually were released as Comin' On. For the first, Reece used Art Blakey's rhythm section of the time, with pianist Bobby Timmons and Jymie Merritt on bass. His front line partner is Stanley Turrentine, who shows how good he could be in the right setting. Of note is the track where Reece picks up a set of congas to engage in drum dialogues with Blakey, one of several things that makes this session feel like a Messengers date. The second session featured a sextet, with Turrentine returning alongside another tenorman, the fine but forgotten Musa Kaleem, while Duke Jordan, Sam Jones, and Al Harwood handle rhythm duties. This group seems to jell slightly better, though overall Comin' On doesn't quite hit the level of the earlier titles. This is not to say that there's not that there's not plenty of good playing by all concerned, and Reece shows signs of further evolution both as soloist and as a writer. Unfortunately his association with Blue Note ended here, and he has made precious few recordings in all the years since, though it should be said that one of these, the 1962 date for Prestige/New Jazz Asia Minor, is precious indeed, not least as it allowed him to realize some of the things we hear him working on towards the end of this truly excellent set. ANTHONY BRAXTONS 23STANDARDS (QUARTET) 2003 BY ANDREW CHOATE Anthony Braxton has continued to thrive as one of my musical heroes ever since I discovered jazz. He unrelentingly pursues so many facets of the jazz and 20th century music canon - whether directly referencing works or incorporating developments into his own originals - that his unusual versatility is often taken for granted by long-term fans. With such a large quantity of his recordings regularly being reissued or released, it's hard for those of us on strict music-buying budgets to always keep track of what he's doing. This new 4 CD set (Leo CD LR 402/405) singlehandedly reignited my ongoing esteem and passion for his music. Beginning with his great contrabass clarinet versions of Mingus and Parker tunes from the In the Tradition records of the 70s, Braxton's take on standards has always relied as much on rethinking as on redoing a tune, and these standards are no different. Even the term "standard" to describe some of these tunes would cause many to raise a quizzical brow. Cole Porter and Meyer & Kahn aren't surprises, but numbers by '60s icons like Sam Rivers, Wayne Shorter, and Herbie Hancock aren't what I'd expect on a collection of standards. There are also three Coltrane tunes, a couple each by Monk and Brubeck, and several bossa tracks. The pianoless quartet assembled here features Kevin O'Neil on guitar, Andy Eulau on bass and Kevin Norton on drums. "Crazy Rhythm" could very well describe Braxton's entire oeuvre - a little bit out there, but always inside some kind of structure -so it's an appropriate tune to open this collection. Braxton chews through the head and heart of this number for about 7 minutes before stepping back to let the band stretch out. At almost seventeen minutes long, there's plenty of room for that here, and, except for two brief tracks, all of the numbers in this collection are over ten minutes long, giving Braxton and the band enough space to individually color a composition as their own. The way the band breaks to introduce a new soloist sounds so old-fashioned, so marked, and so pre-determined that it is a clear homage to the song-making strategies of another era in jazz. That the Braxton Quartet also makes it sound contemporary-vitally integrated - must surely be a tribute to the strength of jazz's history. Braxton's alto hobbles purposefully along during Monk's "Off Minor," hitting each note like an injured and struggling, but still resilient and fierce bird. What a joy as each track fades into another idiosyncratic favorite. An abstracted version of Antonio Carlos Jobim's "Desafinado" follows "Off Minor" with quiet rasps that build Desmond-like into the careful melody. A single cymbal tap from Norton in the middle of the 3rd minute couldn't be more deftly placed. Norton and O'Neil have a blast egging each other on during Coltrane's "26-1" and "Giant Steps:" they move around each other like friendly competitors in a dance contest. O'Neil's electric tone on guitar is refractory-the lines break and dive, but fluidly, like an ear bobbing on the threshold of full submersion. Near the end of "26--1" his guitar spasms shuffle and shake, then slam in sync to the pounding drums. Rowdily wrist-jerking while still hitting beats, O'Neil's watery guitar sound unfolds another layer of "Tangerine," adroitly setting the stage for Eulau's bass solo to shine. Braxton's sax starts out squeezed on "Black Orpheus," like he has shrunk the aperture of available breath to put pressure on the melody. Norton's drums accelerate the pulse of Wayne Shorter's "Ju-Ju," building a contrast of electro-funk with Braxton's nerdy sax. Brubeck's "It's a Raggy Waltz" features Braxton at his most florid and fiery, and, in much the same manner that Braxton flows so seamlessly in and out of form, O'Neil takes a long solo that alternate between frenetic and even-tempered in the same short space of a measure. Eulau's bass is consistently where you want it to be he carries the tunes from one angle to another - and his solos, especially the one during Porter's "Everything I Love," always rouse the band to a more concentrated and attentive level of music-making. Another standout track uses Joe Henderson's "Recorda Me" as a bowl of merry bossa into which everybody throws a special perk. The bass groove opens up over the click-hit of drumstick rim riffing for a few minutes near the beginning, and Braxton's trademark of fluttery, lyrical logic pours forth. Like Cecil Taylor playing Duke Ellington, the distinctiveness of Braxton's style comes across that much more when contextualized by standards. 23 Standards brims with massive amounts of respect, familiarity and knowledge of the jazz tradition; luckily for us, it's all put in the service of stimulating modern music. ANTHONYBRAXTON ANDANDREW CYRILLE BY GREG BurnM The performances of Duo Palindrome 2002, Volume 1 and Volume 2 (lntakt 88 and 89) may be the product of men nearing 60 or beyond, but both volumes of duets are as forceful and alive as anything Anthony Braxton (b.1945) and Andrew Cyrille (b.1939) have ever recorded. They are rare examples of the improvising arts: patient, controlled, emotive, with a perfect understanding of each other's every move. As the title suggests, Volume 1 may be preceded by Volume 2, or vice versa, but these discs offer a lot more than technical trickery. Enter this conversation at any point and you'll find some of the most unforgettable music you've recently heard. Recorded in October 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut (at Wesleyan University, Braxton's academic home) there are 15 duets-some new compositions, some improvs and a few older works, too. Despite a distant acquaintance spanning nearly 35 years, this was the first time these men have ever played alone together. Thankfully, lntakt has once again done an extraordinary job with a special event. The sound is magnificent (kudos to Jon Rosenberg) and the booklets contain a series of beautiful black-and-white pictures scattered inside long interviews with the players conducted by American journalist Ted Panken. The music itself is markedly different, from the first disc to the second, but equally exceptional. The first is made up largely of free improvisations, while the second only has a pair. Overall, however, there is such a diversity of materials that nearly everything these men offer is new. Things often begin simply, with short, spare repetitive gestures creating a space before gradually edging outward. Take Cyrille's "The Loop," something he first recorded _in the 1970s. Here the central idea, he says, is "like a figure-8 lying on its side, like an infinity sign. You go back and you go forth, back and forth." The result is gorgeous, with horn layered over percussion. On "Ascendancy," an open piece, Cyrille is fixed on brushes early on, a nearly transparent chatter, while Braxton's saxophone stutters and locks and flares. Soon, he switches horns, Cyrille moves to sticks, as things take on a terrific drive. Some pieces are filled with set motifs and structures (especially Braxton's compositions 310 and 311), elaborate strings of ideas (Cyrille's "Dr. Licks"), amazing call-and-response patterns (the improv "Sound Relations") and wonderful African beats (Cyrille's 6/8 Ghanaian rhythm on "Water, Water, Water"). Cyrille still creates the kind of tension and release that very few percussionists can pull off. And Braxton isn't cowed by his colleague's command either. On "Water," for example, he gradually groups ideas in tight clusters, pushing, as Cyrille's nearly independent rhythm grows. On every instrument he picks up, Braxton's sound is sweet and strong; indeed, he seems to draw on at least a half-dozen saxophones and clarinets. Something like "Dreams Alive ... Concretize," from Volume 2, is so neatly aligned - with its poise and pointed little sections - you think they've talked themselves through it. Hardly. These guys just hear things we only hear in hindsight. These discs may not be the easiest to acquire in North America but it's too shortsighted to miss them. Go out of your way to find Duo Palindrome 2002. BLUENOTEREISSUES BY DucK BAKER Blue Note may determine which titles get remastered to come out as part of their RVG series by something like tealeaf reading or numerology, but you'd never guess that it was anything so logical. Classic titles that have always been in print appear next to lesserknown items that are getting their first CD treatments along with others that have been issued before on CD but not recently. The five records under consideration fall mostly into the last group. A couple are real musts and all are well worth picking up for anyone who doesn't have them, but most listeners would be hard put to say whether the remastering process really improves the sound. This writer will never be able to rate Cecil Taylor's Conquistador! (Blue Note 90840) with any kind of objectivity; the first Taylor title that I really got into, a record that taught me many things about music, it remains my personal favorite of all this great artists' great recordings. Cecil's earlier BN title, Unit Structures, was brilliant but a little harder to approach. On Conquistador Taylor matched his uncompromisingly contemporary vision with an almost rhapsodic lyricism. The supporting cast all deserve kudos for this stunning achievement, with a special nod going to trumpeter Bill Dixon, whose playing here is so close to perfection that one regrets that he and Taylor didn't record together far more often. Jimmy Lyons and Andrew Cyrille did, of course, ranking as the pianist's most frequent and important collaborators, and Alan Silva and Henry Grimes provided one of the best two-bass hits ever heard. This is a good chance for anyone who didn't grab the earlier CD issue to hear the glorious second take of "With (Exit)." Younger readers who have yet to get to know this masterpiece are in for a real kick in the pants. Right Now! (Blue Note 90844) is an outstanding Jackie McLean quartet date from 1965 that features pianist Larry Willis, bassist Bob Crenshaw and drummer Clifford Jarvis. Jackie was at the height of his powers during this period, when Alfred Lion was recording him regularly following the success of early '60s classics like Destination Out with mixed results. In fact a couple of sessions have never have been reissued, a sign that McLean was recording too frequently to remain consistent. There are no problems with Right Now, however. The outstanding material ranges from the leader's bristling "Eco" to Willis's "Poor Eric," which ranks among the more moving musical tributes to Dolphy, to the title track by Charles Tolliver, which manages to achieve a good-natured balance between the funk and the modal approaches. The young rhythm section is a joy throughout this date, all three making you wonder why they never became better known, and Jackie is on fire. Though not as celebrated, Right Now ranks with Tippin' the Scales atop the list of McLean quartet dates. Ready for Freddie (Blue Note 90837) is a Freddie Hubbard session that should always be kept in print. This '61 date features an unusual line-up, as the trumpeter and tenorman Wayne Shorter are joined on the front line by baritone horn man Bernard McKinney (known since shortly after this session as Kiane Zawadi). An all-Coltrane rhythm section of McCoy Tyner, Art Davis and Elvin Jones keeps things moving on a program that shows how involved Hubbard was with the exciting expansion of jazz borders that was practically the standard of the time. Pieces like "Arietis" and "Marie Antoinette" are among Hubbard's finest; harmonically sophisticated, twisty melodies that, as annotator Bob Blumenthal observes, deserve to have been covered regularly over the years. All the horns sound great and the rhythm section shows how comfortable it was in this hard-bop context. It's easy to see why some fans believe this to have been Hubbard's best date ever. I ' 24 NovEMBERIDEcEMBER 2004 cooA CODA NoVEMBEIVDECEMBER 2004 25 While never the original that Freddie was, Donald Byrd has had a long, useful career and, as is true of most of the artists under consideration, he hit his peak on '60s Blue Notes like this one. Free Form (Blue Note 90842), from 1961, features a handy quintet of usual BN period suspects: Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Butch Warren and Billy Higgins. The opening "Pentecostal Feeling" follows a formula that was common for the label at the time, of aiming at least one track at the radio audience that responded so favorably to tunes like "The Sidewinder" and "Watermelon Man," but for jazz fans it's easily the least interesting tune aboard. The rest of the program ranges from Hancock's moody ballad, "Night Flower," to the leader's especially fine "French Spice." Tracks like this, with fascinating solos from both horns and the pianist over a solidly engaged rhythm team make Free Form one of Byrd's more enjoyable records. Much of Duke Pearson's output falls a bit too far on the soul-funk side of things for most Coda readers, but they shouldn't overlook Sweet Honey Bee (Blue Note 90834), despite a cover and title obviously aimed at that market. The very fine lineup doesn't hurt, of course, with Hubbard, Joe Henderson (tenor) and James Spaulding (alto, flute) receiving exemplary support from the leader, Ron Carter and Mickey Roker. Pearson was a fine composer and arranger, and records like this one, which also boasts excellent soloing and a great group feeling, will be a sure hit with hard bop devotees. Some may even be moved to check out Pearson's other 60's recordings, which tend to be a little lighter but which, taken on their own terms, are quite worthwhile. THEREIFVLABEL BY ANDREW CHOATE The three CDs reviewed here represent a selection from the first batch of releases by Los Angeles' new Reify label. Run by reedist Chris Heenan, the label is bringing attention to the slew of young and young-ish improvisors working around Los Angeles. Many of these likeminded sonic explorers have been nurtured by the Line Space Line series of improvised music which has been taking place every Monday night in Los Angeles since May of 2002. Mount Washington (Reify RE001), the first release by the label, features several notable European improvisers-Martin Blume, Wolfgang Fuchs, Torsten Muller, and Philipp Wachsmann----in an octet with their lesser known, Southern Californian cohorts: Heenan, Jeremy Drake, Tucker Dulin, and Anne LeBaron. The influence of Fuchs - in both his personal technique and, more overtly, the style of intera·ction inaugurated by his King Obu Orchestru - is quite strong on this recording. 26 NOVEMBERfDECEMBER 2004 CODA That shouldn't necessarily be a surprise since three members of this octet have been (or are) members of the Orchestru, but it is a compliment to everyone else. All of these musicians are on the same wavelength, literally: when one person sounds, another often finishes the sound. Loaded with quick, pokey, discrete actions and willed, meaningful silences of short duration, it's very hard to tell who does what. The second track is antsy, agitated, and boisterous; heavily tremoloed strings reverberate with sinking electronics. It's exciting that several young American improvisors are extending this tradition of close-listening, fastthinking, instrument-based improv. NY guitarist Chris Forsyth employs a number of disparate instrumental strategies and attacks throughout his duo record with Heenan, Chris Forsyth/ Chris Heenan (Reify RE002). The distant scrummaging of electrified dust in the attic (a la Keith Rowe and his expanding roster of Japanese disciples) appears throughout "I am not a technologist;" pedal-controlled loops circulate during "I listen;" a crackling drone surveys small adjustments in levels of grit density for the ten minutes of "I ask questions." These first three tracks decidedly avoid direct action and reaction between the two improvisors while the final three tracks feature faster and busier interactions of sounds. "I listen more" puts more sounds in smaller spaces; "I begin to understand" even includes identifiable fingerpoking at the frets. Heenan admirably bends his sax-tackling methods to best accompany and activate Forsyth's multiple guitar styles. Quick gurgles of contrabass clarinet or long streams of white noise, human noise - breath - anchor the improvisations like well-plotted points during a course of exploration. The eruption of Heenan's rolling tongue flutters or clarinet pad-pops are so assured that even the most austere musical settings gather weight and import. Forsyth secretes a very pleasing, astonishingly well-controlled bit of arching feedback during the 8th minute of "I am not a technologist." I love the fact that Heenan doesn't respond to this new tone register until it has had a complete chance to dissipate, and even then he provides only a quiet (almost inaudible) deep-bass rumble. The many personalities of this duo are abundantly in evidence on this album. Team Up is an outfit that Chris Heenan and guitarist Jeremy Drake put together to feature their duo in conjunction with a rotating cast of percussionists. Their first release, Team Up (Reify RE005), explores what Stephen Flinn adds to the mix, putting an all-LA trio on the Reify map. The playing feels subdued even when it gets frantic, like something is being held back, and that adds a welcome level of tension to this release: it encourages the listening brain to probe for meanings active below the surface of the sounds. When these improvisors don't wait for each other to catch up to what they're doing at a given moment, the nuances flourish. At other times the pauses feel forced, marring the action with too-precious drama. I like how Drake stretches out his strings during "in a space of tactile familiarity." By putting intense pressure on them, it sounds like he's building his own bridges for the strings, attacking them with the kind of deliberate fanaticism that an architect would bring to the destruction of a building. Flinn's drumming is imbued with a lot of slinking: think thin chains on drumheads and tiny taps of chopstick percussion. Heenan is more out front on "a certain distance between individuals," pop·ping and gliding his reeds with fierce articulation and sucking his breath in strongly to push sound out. It's not hard to envision his cheeks flapping as he swaps modes of sax attack quite quickly, almost sounding like a turntable suddenly halted. His plunking bass clarinet on the opening track blends well with the squeaking styrofoamisms of Drake's guitar. The only drawback to the listening that the album makes available comes during "defamiliarizing the table" and "nearby objects leading others to recede." Lots of big, sharp feedback tones and static-y amp twiddling diminish the genuine instrumental skills of these improvisors. These three Reify releases make a strong case for the burgeoning health of creative improvised music in Southern California. MORESTRANGE STRINGS BY DucK BAKER One has to admire the impulse that leads the people at Universal to keep releasing obscure titles from their various catalogs. Last year's reissues included some doozies, but as this batch demonstrates, no one seems content to rest on their laurels. The crop includes a couple of obscure but definitely interesting items, a fine if forgotten classic by one of the music's unsung heroes, and one monster that should have been allowed to sleep forever. That would be Roger Kellaway's Cello Quartet (Verve 1457). This isn't jazz, but having barely lived through the music your reviewer didn't have the courage to try and determine from the liners what the intent may have been. This sort of thing would probably be termed "easy listening," but I can remember root canals that were a breeze by comparison. Lest one assume there's no value at all here, I will say that inadvertently playing a track by a pianist I've never liked immediately after surviving Kellaway revealed such unimagined levels of invention and taste that for a moment I thought I was hearing Bud Powell, so perhaps someone who has no choice but listening to something that's merely bad can benefit by using Kellaway as an aperitif. The tendency to gimmicky arrangements also distracts from titles by John Frigo and Lyle Ritz, but both of these gentlemen have plenty to offer to balance the scales. Frigo is a fine jazz violinist somewhat in the Grappelli vein but with a hipper, more modern approach to phrasing and an adventurous approach to instrumental tone. Actually, he has spent most of his career as a bassist, and in this capacity served with various groups during the 40's, culminating with a stint with Soft Winds, a trio featuring Herb Ellis and Lou Carter that enjoyed some popularity in the late '40s-early '50s. He disappeared into Chicago studios until resurfacing in the late '80s with some fine fiddle dates under his own name. I Love John Frigo... He Swings (Verve 1456) was cut in 1957, when pop radio stations would still play jazz if it wasn't too challenging, and that may have been the aim here, as Frigo is somewhat hampered by arrangements that leave more room for flashy but fluffy ensemble passages than for the extended improvisation of which he is obviously capable. Having said that, the arrangements are clever and well rendered, and the brief solo statements are tantalizingly good. The supporting cast changes from track to track and includes Ray Brown (proving he's a bassist's bassist), Ellis on guitar, Cy Touff on bass trumpet and Mike Sampson on tenor and flute. Lyle Ritz attempts the seemingly impossible on How About Uke (Verve 1458) and, surprisingly, he succeeds in demonstrating that real jazz can be coaxed out of the tiny box. Ritz was another multi-instrumentalist but did not play the guitar--no guitarist would ever have the patience to come up with solutions to a thousand problems posed by the uke's limitations when they could just pick up the bigger instrument and make them vanish. He mixes picking and strumming techniques ingeniously, first demonstrating that the chord melody style adapts very naturally, then spinning out effective single-note lines, then finding ways to imply simple counterpoint that actually come off. Ironically, it will probably be guitarists who are most interested in Ritz's achievement here. But the test of the record's appeal will be in how one feels about Don Shelton's flute playing. Listeners who like the things Bud Shank was doing at the time will enjoy the sound of this, but flautophobes should exercise caution. Red Mitchell and Gene Lees provide excellent support. To say that Stuff Smith employed a much hotter approach is like saying the Pope is Catholic. No one but no one ever swung harder than Smith, on any instrument. That he managed it with such an unlikely axe is one of the miracles of jazz history. On Cat on a Hot Fiddle (Verve 1459) he is heard in two different piano trio settings from late 1959, and it's interesting to hear how they respond to his relentless drive. Pianists Paul Smith and Shirley Scott provide delicious tension with behind-the-beat approaches that are quite different. The modern and swing feelings didn't always combine well, and a fair amount of what's called mainstream lacks the edge that characterizes either style in its pure form, but the groove is great all the way here, with the leader tearing into a nice set of standards and a couple of fine originals with his usual relish. He also mugs his way through vocals on "Lady, Be Good" and "Somebody Loves Me" irresistibly. Listeners who want a taste of 50's Smith can pick this one up with confidence, though to be fair all of Stuff's Verve recordings were strong. In fact, what this writer really recommends is tracking down the great Mosaic set that gathers them all under one cover. Ill RECENT CDs CarloActis Dato American Tour Splasc(HI CDH5342 Oh, to be the traveling scribe on this tour. When Italy's Carlo Actis Dato packed his reeds for North America in 2002 he anticipated a voyage of discovery. He found it, and the liner essay suggests his Italian record label hopes the resulting disc will alert more European ears to some bright young improvisers from the other side of the Atlantic, including Canada's own Dylan Van Der Schyff, Ron Samworth and David Mott. In fact, each fairly short meeting-there are also three solo features-strikes heat as well as light. Baritone saxophonist Mott encourages hilarious, cantankerous music with Dato on bass clarinet, with the jaunty "Workin"' and its vocalized refrain cracking up the Toronto audience. In Chicago, cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm cues a moment of quietude before Dato tears it up with his galloping tenor. The Boston dialogue with trumpeter Taylor Ho Bynum is especially keen, with Bynum playing excited muted horn around Data's gigantic baritone. Where that big horn is relegated often to grump and grunt, suggesting long study of the huffing bass saxophone rhythm-keepers of old, he comes on strong in the Vancouver trio with Samworth and Van Der Schyff, the latter responding with threatening punctuation. Randal Mel/ray GeriAllen/DaveHolland/JackDeJohnette TheLife of a Song Telarc CD-83598 Talented pianist/composer Geri Allen went six years without a record, a sad commentary on the industry. However, she let no grass grow under her nimble fingers as she blended family life with husband Wallace Roney and three children with her musical career that includes touring with Charles Lloyd and teaching at Howard University. I heard Allen perform "A Prayer for Peace (Mary Lou's Mass)" at Duke University Chapel in September 2003, the first to do so there since Mary Lou Williams herself. Unforgettable! This Telarc debut reunites the rhythm section from Betty Carter's 1993 "Feed the Fire" Allen, bassist Dave Holland and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The result is a strong collaborative effort - a true trio. The session includes three standards. There's a moving reading of "Lush Life," and Bud Powell's playful "Dance of the Infidels" also salutes Lil Harden and Herbie Hancock. The trio is joined by Marcus Belgrave, Dwight Andrews and Clifton Anderson in "Soul Eyes," an inspired tribute to Mal Waldron. The focus of the album is on eight Allen originals. They are many-faceted and speak of family, her Detroit heritage and her life experience. Her celebratory tribute to Rosa Parks just shouts out "Freedom!" The compositions are dramatic with Holland providing pulse and DeJohnette punctuation. Often, as in "LWB's House (The Remix)" the arrangement will begin with a simple theme which is repeated, developed and molded into many shapes. Geri Allen plays with power and thought. In her notes, she writes about music living and breathing, ebbing and flowing. Her music does. You'll find something new every time you listen. Bill Falconer CODA NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 27 BenAllison& MedicineWheel Buzz Al," with its James Bond-like theme on trombone and a Blake solo that begins as mellow as a lounge singer but evolves into something much tougher. Blake's own "Mauritania" moves the band closer to Peace Pipe's territory, using Nash's flute and Gayton's trombone to express a jaunty melody line while Allison plucks a taut bass accompaniment. Add a fine reworking of a rare Andrew Hill tune ("Erato") and there's no shortage of variety on Buzz, even though, at 45 minutes, the recording is barely LP length. James Hale Palmetto 2101 The sinewy, hypnotic melody lines bassist Ben Allison composes found an ideal and unique setting on his 2002 recording Peace Pipe, which gave kora virtuoso Mamadou Diabate a featured role. Allison's main band, the sextet Medicine Wheel, shares the core of saxophonist Michael Blake, keyboardist Frank Kimbrough and drummer Michael Sarin with that Africantinged unit, but achieves a fuller sound with the addition of saxophonist Ted Nash and, for the first time, trombonist Clark Gayton. Gayton replaces cellist Tomas Ulrich, who added a sharp edge to the first three Medicine Wheel recordings, and it marks a move closer to a traditional jazz sound for the band. Allison writes exceptionally well for horns, creating blends on both the title track and John Lennon's "Across The Universe" that make his band sound more like a nonet. His writing is also marked by multiple themes and shifting textures, which are combined on the title composition - recorded previously on Medicine Wheel's 1998 debut - to create an effective portrait of life in New York City. Allison's other standout composition is "Green Alan Broadbent Youand the Night and the Music A440 Music Group 4030 A longtime arranger and sideman, pianist Alan Broadbent comports himself like a veteran professional on this trio release. The disc's performances are consistently crisp, confident. A learned player, Broadbent balances slick competence with unabashed lyricism: a mix that makes for elegant, if not adventurous, material throughout. Broadbent's most obvious influence is Bill Evans, from whom he derives a tendency toward delicate, sparkling lines. On the spirited "With the Wind and the Rain in Her Hair," crnoA subscription rates 2004 The Journal of Jazz & Improvised Coda is published six timesper year. Ratesfor a one-yearsubscriptionare belowand can bepaid in Canadian or US. currencybypersonalcheque,international money orde,;bank draft, or VISA & Mastercard Music One Year Subscription (6 issues) 0 Canada (regular mail)$30 0 U.S.(regular mail)$28 0 International (regular mail)$35 includes GST U.S. currency U.S. currency 0 Canada (regular mail)$58 0 U.S.(regular mail)$52 0 International (airmail)$65 includes GST U.S. currency U.S. currency Two Year Subscription (12 issues) Name Address City Province --- Home Phone Business Fax Email D Cheque Enclosed Payment Method: Postal Code □ Visa D Mastercard Card# Expiry Date: Signature Please note: Credit card billing charges will appear as Warwick Publishing 16l Frederick Street, Toronto, ONM5A 4P3• Telephone (416)596-1480*333 • Fax(416)596-9793 28 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 CODA for instance, Broadbent evinces Evans' selfdescribed fondness for "displacing" melody. Working against the fixed pulse of Brian Bromberg's bass and Joe Labarbera's drums, the pianist turns the head of the tune inside out, teasing a series of new rhythmic and melodic creations out of the song's shape, never venturing far from its harmonic structure. Likewise, "Baubles, Bangles and Beads" exploits a studied reverence for Evans' hanging middle-register voicings. In places though, Broadbent threatens to be too cute in his proficiency. His unaccompanied, rumbling intro to "What's New," for example, seems less a thoughtful reflection than an advertisement of technique. In the solo section of the same track, Broadbent works himself out of an improvisational corner with a witty quote from "Blues in the Night," but then detracts from the allusion by reaffirming it ostentatiously before the song's closing chord. It's hard to fault a player for skill, but in these moments Broadbent appears to forgo inspiration for a polished workmanship that's maybe a bit too deliberate to be wholly satisfying. Michael Borshuk Boxholder). There's no bassist present, and the stripped-down format of two reeds and drums provides both freedom and-occasionally-a sense of something missing. It's very open sounding music and needs to be approached on its own terms. Sonny Simmons plays alto saxophone and English horn, Michael Marcus is on saxello and baritone saxophone, Jay Rosen is the drummer. Interestingly enough, given Simmons' background, many of the textures seem more akin to so-called "chamber jazz"-if you'll pardon that slightly heretical reference-than to "free jazz" until the aptly titled "Avant Garde Destruct" kicks in. That's followed by passionate yet restrained a cappel/a Simmons on "'Round Midnight." His sinuous, snakecharmer English horn has a cameo on the closing "Requiem for Anne Frank" in tandem with Marcus' baritone; this piece opens with a lengthy and imaginative Rosen solo. The three founding members have produced a disc that's subtle and insinuating, earthy yet airy. It may not grab you by the collar and rattle your molars, as all of these guys have been known to do on occasion, but it provides some very deep listening. Bill Barton EugeneChadbourne Bach: Sonata and Partita #1 for Violin adapted for 5-string banjo HarrisEisenstadtQuintet Jalolu Volatile CIMP 300 www.volatilerecords.ca In his typically thorough liner essay, CIMP boss Robert Rusch explains the curious path that led to this striking disc. Toronto drummer/composer Harris Eisenstadt approached Rusch in the summer of 2002 with recording plans for an unusual instrumental lineup of three trumpets, three saxophones and drums. Rusch wasn't sold sufficiently on the ideas, but a year later Eisenstadt returned with new music for an equally uncommon-yet, presumably, more manageable-array of three brass, one saxophone and kit. Jalolu makes good on its bravery, first of all with the tonal variety among the three brass. Paul Smoker and Roy Campbell play trumpet, but Campbell triples pocket trumpet and flugelhorn, and Taylor Ho Bynum plays cornet. Andy Laster joins the high end on clarinet, while his huffing baritone sax is robust as a New Orleans marching tuba. As for Eisenstadt, he doesn't limit his craft to the drums. His compositions make strong use of drama, with a penchant for marching rhythms that easily decelerate and divide, affirming a musical line that connects Crescent City, Charles Mingus and The Art Ensemble of Chicago. "Jumpin' In" is dedicated to Eric Dolphy, but the mix of brass ziggurats and warm horn melodies, goosed by the leader's now-match-this drumming, indicates some conservatory cut-up as well. CIMP's trademark audio verite approach to recording musical interaction as opposed to production strategies makes the most of the space where a bass would traditionally reside; it's easiest here to sense ideas in motion. Randal Mcllroy According to Chadbourne's liner account, sight reading projects developed as a hobby to pass away boring stretches spent in dressing rooms and hotels on the road. Whatever its genesis, Chadbourne eventually incorporated excerpts from the Bach solo violin literature into his performances, and here we're given complete readings of the first Sonata and Partita. Adapting the music to 5-string provides an utterly different inflectional character (even without passages of hand drumming and other liberties). As is apparent on the Sonata's "Presto," the relatively continuous sound of bowed notes is replaced by the extraordinary pitch bending and timbral mutations that go on with the banjo just from normal picking and the instrument's rapid decays. Subtitled "German Country and Western Music," the CD reasserts the relationship between these monuments of arpeggiation and Chadbourne's frequent sources in the idiomatic music of the American South-the Partita's "Sarabande" is pure homespun-with conspicuous roots in the same dance pieces that originally provided Bach's source materials. As with much of Chadbourne's work, there's a comic element, but as usual there's much more going on in these extended mediations. Stuart Broomer Cosmosamatics Three Boxholder BXH 041 This is a bit of a departure from the group's previous three recordings (two of them for JamesFinn Openingthe Gates Cadence 1170 Faith in a Seed CIMP#308 Together these discs constitute a significant event, the emergence of a genuinely arresting talent. James Finn belongs to the eschatological tenor school, his work shaped by the midsixties music of late Coltrane, Sanders and Ayler. He is not a young musician-born in 1959 he has actually played with Roland Hanna, Cecil Bridgewater, and the Temptations-but he is receiving his first substantial exposure with these two discs. The fi.rst- a trio with Dominic Duval and Whit Dickey recorded in Finn's living roombegan as a demo that Finn sent to Bob Rusch (of Cadence and CIMP). On it Finn plays free jazz with considered force, in fact, "considered" might be the distinguishing quality of his work. Along with the passion that defines the form there is also a thoughtfulness, an emotional and musical richness-a lyric meditation-that gives these pieces an increasing depth and an expanding humanity. Finn's taut sense of form-the myriad ways he can turn a short phrase to create tension, e.g. "Falling Blossoms Rising Moon"-recalls Coltrane's later recordings, and at times Finn is suggestive of his one-time neighbor Arthur Rhames. Kahil El'Zabar & David Murray We Is, Live At The Bop Shop 557 Faith in a Seed continues the dialogue with Duval, but with the veteran Warren Smith at the drums. It's alive with the sane sense of oracular power. Finn's work has an emotional gravity, but it's leavened and animated by the quality of his musical thought. The extended performance of" A Weathered Spirit Resolute" gathers extraordinary force. While the two sessions feel differentDickey seems more propulsive, Smith tending more to punctuation and commentary-Finn is a fresh and powerful presence on both. Stuart Broomer BurtonGreene Live at Gras/and Drimala Records DR 04-34701 This single disc is said to represent only a small part of a solo studio concert recorded by expatriate American pianist Burton Greene in late 2002 near his Amsterdam domicile. More is not too much to ask. Having traveled through absolute freedom and back many years ago, Greene is ready to adapt pretty much any ideas that seize his heart and mind growing Sephardic passion in "Calistrophy," demented, off-kilter stride and a flurry of Saturday-afternoon movie music in "Sylosophy (Digitalville)," a pretty jazz waltz, without the apology of irony, in "A Cozy Winter Veggy Soup." His pensive moments are especially well recorded by engineer Hans Jeff Parker & Scott Fields Song Songs Song 558 Ernest Dawkins' New Horizons Ensemble Mean Ameen 559 i Deep Blue Organ Trio Deep Blue Bruise 556 DelmarkRecords- www.delmark.com - 800-684-3480 coDA NovEMBERIDEcEMBER 2004 29 - -[~-------=================================-.-r--~_-_-_-_-_~_-_-_~_~_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_:_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_--=,~ Art of Life Records www.artofliferecords.com Email: info@artofliferecords.com Lenny Breau, Don Francks,Eon Henstridge "At The Purple Onion" LENNY. BREAU DON FRANCKS EON HENITRIDGE 1 AT THE PURPLEONION, R('Corded live al the Purpl~ Onion in Toronto, C.nada.in A.up,rt 1962 ) Recorded live at the Purple Onion club in Toronto, Canada in August 1962. This 68-minute previously unreleased recording features singer Don Francks on vocals & bassist Eon Henstridge. Lenny Breau "The Hallmark Sessions" Asselbergs, who understands Greene's faith in dark chords for punctuation; "In the Footsteps of the Bratslav" is virtually a oneman piano duet in that sense, a call-andresponse monologue with deep, assertive bass notes giving way to a spill of jewels. Randal Mel/ray one of the drummer's melodic explorations and gives each member a chance to shine. While his band has yet to carve out a distinctive sound, at 31 Hoenig is an impressive musician with the kind of wide-open ears that make him a drummer to listen for. James Hale For more than 40 years, Coda has been a beacon to those who appreciate listening to music as an artistic experience rather than the end result of a hype campaign geared to commercial consumerism FredHersch LucHoutkamp'spow3 Trio+ 2 Thirteen Bar Blues @-e~ Palmetto PM x-or CD 017 Adding trumpeter Ralph Alessi and tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby to his usual trio with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Nasheet Waits, Hersch here uses the quintet for some complex compositions and developed interaction. It's apparent immediately in the collective improvisation of "Riddle Song," present as well in two of the thoughtful dedications, "Down Home" for Bill Frisell and "The Lark" for Kenny Wheeler, the latter marked by Alessi's lyrical flugelhorn. Malaby continues to stand out, combining grit and lyrical sweep on the translucent "Rain Waltz" and adding fluid invention to "Lee's Dream," an invocation of Lee Konitz. Hersch continues to match the high standard of his recent releases, continuing to craft a personal vision that's consistently musical and often beautiful. Stuart Broomer Consider the following proposition: take a saxophonist with an avowed interest in electronics and computer generated music, team him up with a gravelly-voiced singer capable of capturing an old time bluesman's every inflection, bring in one DJ, another electronics wizz, then get a drummer to put in a cameo appearance and what do you get? ... pow3's the name, tweaking the blues is the game. From the Dutch capital of the· Hague, this unusual ensemble is spearheaded by one of that city's resident experimentalists, saxman Luc Houtkamp. In spite of its name, this fourman combo has taken upon itself to integrate the blues within the lofty realm of electroacoustic music. For the most part, the reedist is busy at the controls of his computer, but he blows his horn on four different takes of "Work Song Workout." Along for the ride are vocalist Hans Buhrs, DJ Dontotask, Guy Harries as well as Martin Blume, here guesting on a single track. As for the blues, it is heard to various degrees, sometimes explicitly (as in fellow composer Gilius van Bergeijk's oddity, "Lite my Fuse"), elsewhere obliquely (i.e. Robert Johnson's "If I had possession over judgement day"), or else very remotely ("Blues for Pierre Schaeffer" ... if one can imagine). Save for another cover ("Riot in Cell Block #9"), Houtkamp is responsible for most of the compositions, with some collective creations as well as added input from the vocalist in the lyrics department. While no one can dispute the fact that the blues is the cornerstone of jazz, the slogan "New Developments in Electronic Jazz" emblazoned on the back of the tray card brings to mind a kind of hipness prevalent in certain circles these days. In view of that, this release is not so much a development, unless one wants to ride on a wave of trendiness, but a mere repackaging of recycled materials. Mind you, there is really nothing wrong with that, but innovation, like beauty for that matter, is a very rare thing indeed. Marc Chenard Ari Hoenig The Painter Smalls 0004 Lenny's first professionally recorded & previously unreleased Jazz session recorded in 1961 when he was twenty years old. With Rick Danko on bass & Levon Helm on drums. Lenny Breau & Brad Terry "The Complete Living Room Tapes" This two CD set contains 23 songs including four previously unreleased bonus tracks.The music contained on this two-disc set is some of the best Among the richest crop of young drummers ever in jazz, Philadelphian Ari Hoenig has distinguished himself by producing two imaginative solo CDs that showcase his light touch and highly melodic approach. Here, in concert with his regular New York City band - JeanMichel Pile on piano, Matt Penman on bass and Jacques Schwarz-Bart on tenor - Hoenig demonstrates how well he can support and push a group. On the title track he does both with aplomb, swinging elegantly on brushes behind solos by Penman and Schwarz-Bart, then driving the song hard as the saxophonist heats up in the home stretch. In both his love of solo work and the range of his playing Hoenig probably most closely resembles Joey Baron. Like Baron, Hoenig has lightning reflexes and such superb control over the dynamics of his kit that it sounds like he has a volume control for it. Hoenig also resembles Baron in his ability to sound extremely contemporary while composing in a style that harkens back several decades. The sweet ballad "For Tracy" and the spirited "Birdless" both show the compositional earmarks ofthe Hancock/Shorter/Williams school of the mid-'60s, with an emphasis on Tony Williams' ability to make the drums sound like a member of the front line. Two trio performances bookend Hoenig's six originals (one is co-written with Schwarz-Bart), featuring a hard-charging version of Monk's "I Mean You" and a lengthy, multi-hued workout on Gershwin's "Summertime" that begins with As a monthly, over the years we have published over 46,000 reviews, 1,000 interviews, and remained an independent voice in a very co-opted business. CODA 311 312 313 314 315 EachCDis $17.00(U.S.)postpaidworldwide.Orderany2 ClMPs and receive a free CIMPosium:a full CDof temptingCIMP delights. Cadence Jazz Records @{l {}/Jo@ Oo®/Jf/D@ "' 1160 a, "' "' 1163 Marc PompewJoeyDeFrancesco 3 "§ 1164 Milo Fine- Mick Beck- PaulHession a, Magazine ]i Cadence Building Redvvood, NY 13679 USA /Jf/D&J@f!@ /Jf/D~fl~ PaulMurphyTrio Marco Eneidi,KashKillion Shadow• Intersections•West a, 1;; ph: 315-287-2852 fax: 315-287-2860 KalaparushM. McIntyre& the Light meetAdam Lane Pathsto Glory DavidTaylorTrio DominicDuval,Jay Rosen MorningMoon JamesFinnTrio DominicDuval,WarrenSmith Faithin a Seed ChrisKelsey4tet SteveSwell,FrancoisGrillot,Jay Rosen Renewal ScottRosenberg'sRed T.Margasak,K.Hernandez, T.Daisy Blood John O'GallagherwlMasaKamaguchi-JayRosen Rulesof InvisibilityVol.2 MarcoEneidi- LisleEllis- PeterValsamis AmericanRoadwork Lou Grassi4tet RobBrown,HerbRobertson,KenFiliano Avanti Galoppi MaryAnneDriscoll- PaulMurphyduo InsideOut GebhardUllmann-SteveSwell4tet Hill Greene,BarryAltschul DesertSongsand Other landscapes "' CIMPRecords: originalproductions with noartisticor audiocompromises $5 (US) will get you a sample $30 ($35 outside USA) will get you a year's sub from: YouMustBelievein Swing MotionEjecta 1165 ErnieKrivdawLaverne,Reid,Nussbaum,+arch. Focuson StanGetz 1167 PaulMurphyat CBSw Lyons,Johnson,Barca,Driscoll 1168 PatrickBrennan'sSonicOpeningsUnderPressure RaptCircle 1173 Michael BisioTrio RobBlakeslee,GregCampbell Composance 1174 SteveSwell wS.Mateen,M. Heyner, K. Kugel 1176 H.Sjostrom/P.Wachsmann/ P.Rutherford/lHauta-aho/P.LovensWellsprings 1178 Mat Marucci - MarkusBurgerEns.Sounds RedSnapper Slammin'the Infinite Genesis j3 e: cadence@cadencebuilding.com $16($19for doubles)(U.S.)postpaidworldwide. www.cadencebuilding.com,,,, ,..-- ~(: ~ VISA,MC,Discover,U.S.checks& moneyordersaccepted. CIMPand CadenceJazzRecords: CadenceBuilding,Redwood,New York13679USA ph:315-287-2852fax:315-287-2860e: cimp@cadencebuilding.com vvvvvv.cadencebuilding.com : autobiography : Northcountry Audio Quality equipment, new and used, for a variety of budgets and needs. Straight, no nonsense advice and dependable service. Call or write for advice or information. Listings of stocked product and current close-outs are available on the web site or send a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. Daniel Humair/MarvinStamm/David Friedman/Sebastien Boisseau Ear Mix Amps - Pre-amps - Turntables - Receivers - Tonearms Cartridges - Integrated Amps - Tuners - Cables - Digital Equipment - Headphones - Recording Equipment Speakers - and more Sketch SKE 333031 This CD is certain to shatter some preconceptions if you tend to categorize musicians based on past associations. Trumpeter and flugelhornist Stamm has long been a first-call studio player, worked with some powerhouse big bands including one of the most memorable editions of the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Cadence Building, Redvvood, Nevv York 13679 • Ph: 315-287-2852 • Fax: 315-287-2860 email: northcountryaudio@cadencebuilding.com vvvvvv.cadencebuilding.com I 2004 gi 306 g:i 307 "§ 308 gj 309 ]i 310 Every issue averages over 150 reviews, along with interviews and news and offers well over 14,000 different titles for sale. Cadence CilVI adventuresome music in audiophile sound The Review of Jazz & Blues: Creative Improvised Music, inspired in part by Coda, began publishing its own vision in 1976. -ask 30 NovEMBERIDECEMBER Creative Improvised Music Projects for Vladimir Cadence Errol Parker A FlatTire on My Ass Burton Greene Memoirs of a Musical PestyMystic John LaPorta PlayingIt By Ear AKA Doc The Oral History of a New Orleans Jazz Street Musician w/CD Books : faction: E.W. Russell Buddy Bolden Says : biography : available titles Jan Eberle The EberleNamed Roy Carl Baugher TurningCorners:LeroyJenkins : discographical : www.cadencebuilding.comRogerWernboe Leeway:Lee Morgan Discography Cadence Building, Redwood, NY 13679USA ph: 315-287-2852 I: 315-287-2860 cjb@cadencebuilding.com Robert L. Campbell & C. Trent Earthly Recordingsof Sun Ra 2nd ed. : history: Allen Lowe American Pop group and recorded several CDs under his own name that fall into the general category of hard bop. He's an enormously versatile player though; the adventurously open-ended format and challenging compositions of Ear Mix elicit stunningly creative solos more akin to Dave Douglas than to Clifford Brown. Vibraphonist Friedman is no stranger to adventure, and here explores territory that Bobby Hutcherson might have charted had he continued down the path begun with Dolphy and the 1960s Blue Notes. He can be ethereal and haunting (Joachim Kuhn's "I Never Had My Second Breakfast") or thorny and driving (his own "Quatrolingual.") Drummer Humair gets first billing here, so presumably was the "leader" of the session. Subtle yet always propulsive, his presence always guarantees sparks and surprises. This was my introduction to bassist Boisseau, a fine player and a composer of the first-order (his "Bois d'arbre" is one of the highlights of this session). Bill Barton HundredFlowersEnsemble Urantia 07 Htoo Urantia 09 The trio of the Hundred Flowers Ensemble Caryl Kientz (violin, balloons, toys) Kelvin Pittman (alto sax, melodica, toys) and John Krausbauer (guitar, objects, radio, bowls) hail from Portland, OR; their style of improvisation owes more to the organic rhythms of bugs scavenging for food than to Kenny Clarke, or even Rashied Ali. This young American band makes improvised music that doesn't reference jazz. All 8 tracks flow into each other so nonchalantly that the track markers could easily be index points for one good, long, continuous improv session. The abundance of micro-textures and tapered actions work best when heard at a loud volume: the threatening and/ or soothing intimations remain unresolved, retaining maximum evocativeness. Almost everything starts but stops before anything has actually happened - very short, individual sounds pop up and disappear into a pause, making interaction happen more in terms of mood than action. The music is oblique, but not confused; these performers are assured with their instruments and their style even when the sounds themselves are tentative and quizzling. Half-articulated alto lines echo into softly controlled guitar-feedback whines during "August," and even the sudden blast of radio-personalitystatic here elicits barely more than an acknowledgement of activity: a tiny violin lash. The presence of a bubbly, plastic, birdsong-mimicking toy on "French people and their dogs" blends well with a lot of saxophone-bell-in-the-leg stuff. This 2003 recording boasts inventive, adventurous languages of improvisation, boding well for the development of the music in America's smaller cities. Another side of the Portland improvised 32 NovEMBrnlDECEMBER 2004 coDA music community is revealed on Htoo's first release. Krausbauer is again featured on guitar and radio, this time joined by Bryan Eubanks on soprano and alto saxes and Mark Kaylor on trap set and percussion. Their music has the feel of the good 1970s European stuff, wildly exploratory, but no longer explicitly pre-occupied with the revolutionary nature of the music. Kaylor's drums in particular sound great: he thinks fast, knowing just how to spur the best out of his comrades, and the dry quality of the 2003 recording puts your head at the ideal level to notice how clean his attacks strike the right percussive object: pip. The playing can be spare at times, but, in contrast to the Hundred Flowers Ensemble, direct interactions regularly take place. When Eubanks' sax pleads, as it does during "Always and almost," the ensemble responds both sympathetically and impatiently, goading him into more intrepid terrain. Krausbauer has a way of making his guitar crinkle like amplified aluminum tinfoil. The fact that Portland's music scene is capable of successfully nurturing both of the kinds of improv displayed on these two recordings demonstrates just how important it is to have an intelligent community of support when artists are openly exploring various histories and practices of their medium. Andrew Choate Dick HymanandTomPletcher If Bix PlayedGershwin Arbors ARCD19283 What if? Who better to take us on this speculative adventure with these two geniuses of the past than Dick Hyman and Tom Pletcher. Hyman's brilliant charts. film scores and piano have qualified him as an expert time traveler, while cornetist Pletcher has devoted himself to perpetuating the clean and clear Beiderbecke sound ever since a worn out 78 Okeh record changed his life 50 years ago. The session brings Bix's cornet and Gershwin's music together on a number of tunes, many familiar and a few obscure, "S'Wonderful" to "Kongo Kate." The recreations include Bix and his Gang, Frank Trumbauer's Orchestra, and Bix on piano with Trumbauer and Eddie Lang. Vintage atmosphere is provided by the use of verses, Vince Giordano's bass sax and Dan Levinson's Cmelody saxophone. Giordano contributes a fine solo on "Rhythm" and plenty of syncopated backup, while Levinson's light and beautiful tone illustrates why Prez loved Trumbauer's playing. For sheer beauty, listen to the ballads, "But Not For Me" and "I've Got a Crush on You." A melancholy "The Half Of It, Dearie, Blues" showcases Bob Leary's guitar and vocal plus a musical conversation between Pletcher and Levinson. Other gems include two versionsboth keepers-of a lyrical Hyman/Pletcher duet on "Embraceable You" and Hyman's Gershwinesque approach to Bix's impressionistic "In a Mist" which incorporates Porgy and Bess, Rhapsody in Blue, and Prelude II. The concept for this album originated with a 1996 concert at New York's renowned 92nd Street Y where Dick Hyman presides over "Jazz in July." This year's program also included "If Bessie Sang Berlin." I wonder! Bill Falconer CharlieKohlhaseQuintet Live: Play Free or Die Boxholder BXH 036/037 Charlie Kohlhase has been at it a while and people who make an effort to keep up with things know him to be an important Bostonbased multi-reedman, composer and leader. (Trouble is, of course, that it does require some effort to know what's going on in the creative music business, especially outside of the NYC area.) This 2-disc set marks his first-ever live recording, and it ranks with his best. Quintet members are tenorman Matt Langley, trumpeter John Carlson, bassist John Turner and drummer Eric Rosenthal. Most of the material is original, though delicious versions of Sun Ra's "Super Bronze" and Monk's "Crepuscule with Nellie" lead off the second disc. The originals cover quite a stylistic range, sometimes within the same piece. Kohlhase also groups pieces together in suites, though the logic behind this is refreshingly unobvious. Quirky humor inserts itself in the soloing of all concerned (Carleton definitely didn't sleep in class when Lester Bowie was the subject) as well as into the titles. "Doom is Yours" and "Doom is Mine" derive not from some sort of apocalyptic obsession but from the name of the comic book villain, Dr. Doom, in whose honor Kohlhase has composed a suite. Both of these are long, episodic adventures that include lots of free blowing and heads that aren't just heads. The first piece's structure is noteworthy and typical of the musical intelligence on display here. The head itself is only stated a couple of minutes in, after some introductory material that's derived from it and a fine-turned Carleton solo. The rhythm team keeps the nice bouncy groove going as the leader follows with an alto solo in his multi-faceted style, then everybody drops out and Langley starts playing solo in free time, to be joined after a minute or two by drums and bass, the players all finding the perfect moment to finish the improvised section and return to the head. None of this represents anything radical-we still basically get the head in, the head out plus three solos, and most of it is in swing time. But one always feels that every compositional and improvisational device is being used for a real musical reason, and of course the ability of these excellent players to bring it all to life is crucial. You'd think that, with all the uninspired stuff that's being promoted in today's jazz world, genuinely creative artists like Kohlhase and his cohorts would be the talk of every town, but it doesn't work that way, as we know. And who cares about talk anyway7 Contemporary music fans will definitely want this outstanding release. Duck Baker OliverLakeSteel Quartet Oat Love Passin' Thru 41219 This is Lake's third recording with his quartet featuring steel pan player Lyndon Achee, and it's music both distinctive and irresistible. It has a sound and feel all its own, compounded of the deep and fluid grooves of electric bassist Reggie Washington and drummer Damon Duewhite, with Achee's sunny hammering adding a very different texture. It's all surmounted by Lake's soaring alto, a brilliant, soulful sound that consistently links the worlds of Eric Dolphy and Hank Crawford. Along with memorable Lake originals like "Double Space" and the title tune, there are some fine covers, with the quartet's versions of Nelson's "Stolen Moments" and Silver's "Senor Blues" adding a new flavor to the mainstream. The approach works as well on the contemporary R&B of Mary J. Blige's "Time," transforming it into a dream-like-even utopic-blend of Latin and Caribbean elements. Stuart Broomer Joelle Leandre/Mat Maneri/ Christophe Marguet/Joel Ryan For Flowers Leo CD LR 396 Recorded live during two French festivals in June of 2001, For Flowers is the most complete, well-rounded and satisfying album of improvised music I've heard this year. The playing is so focused and the recording quality is so highly attuned to the most minute sonics that I'm quite surprised that it was recorded live. Leandre plays double bass and vocalizes occasionally; Maneri plays violin; Marguet hits the drums; Ryan utilizes 'computer based electronics' to sample and reconfigure, in real time, the others' output. Compilations don't often equal the diversity of timbres available here. The CD booklet doesn't divulge this information, but it doesn't sound like every performer is heard on all 8 tracks: "Crocus" is just Marguet and Ryan; "Water Lily" is Leandre, Maneri and Marguet; "White Lily" is Leandre and Maneri. The in and out flow of the performers and the different sonic ground that each instrumentalist attacks within a single track is what makes the record such a gratifying listen. A plucked low bass trudges versus a slight, shining violin during "White Lily." Everything feels like it is processed through Ryan's electronics first during "Tulips - maybe it's a solo using samples taken from earlier in the concert - but the echoey cavern of fast squeaks and breathy, sub-vocalized groans gorgeously blends with electronic harmonics of lasers streaking and strings barking. Marguet doesn't slap or even emph.asize the drums like other improvisors; he stays one step in front of the background and carves out metrical shapes to hold everyone else's sonorities. His plopping and clattering during "Iris," however, attracts the attention of the full ensemble - everyone rises worthily to the intensity that his light touch and acute play- "Everything about this release is remarkable. -Cadence fl "Meticulous and thorough. Remarkable live performances and interviews. -New York Times fl "Eye-popping." -Time Out New York "Revenant's design team has outdone itself Staggering. Essential - don't even wait for Christmas." -Signal to Noise "One of the most lovingly produced archival packages ever. Spectacularly thorough, beautifully thought-out. Sets a new, elegant standard. -Downbeat 11 "Beautifully compiled and lovingly realised. Holy Ghost is a long overdue celebration of one of jazz music's most important voices. -Jazzwise 11 ALBERT AYLER rare& unissued recordings (1962-70) 9 CDSpirit Box CODA SEPTEMBERIOCTOBER 2004 33 ing demand. Maneri's violin crackles like a harp during "Violet" as crests of acoustic sound rise out of breaking waves from the electronic field and vice versa. Leandre, as usual, takes advantage of her full range of bass skills. What excellent instrumental company to hear her in. The improvisations on For Flowers grow in such different directions that the whole garden of sound adds up to an immensely unusual and pleasurable listen: by the time the disc ends, I always want to hear it again. Andrew Choate RussellMalone Playground MaxJazz MXJ 601 MaxJazz continues its recent string of endearing (and unassuming) releases with this Russell Malone offering: a clean, melodic session that features guest spots by vibist Joe Locke and saxophonist Gary Bartz. A discerning and versatile guitarist, Malone moves inconspicuously between funky and delicate, always showcasing why he's perennially in demand as a sideman. While Malone may be unexceptional as a composer, he is dynamic as a soloist. The opening two tracks, for instance, "You Should Know Better" and "Blues for Mulgrew," depart from passable heads into vibrant improv passages. Malone is a fine blues player, adept at building tension from short riffs and repetition. On the more ambitious original "Mandela" he mines this facility brilliantly, building his solo like narrative, in a chain of anecdotal segments, before he and Bartz burst into a more effusive exchange to close the track. Malone's equally commendable for his lyricism. As he's done on other recordings, he shows a real talent for finding new richness in well-worn pop material. Thus, The Carpenters' "We've Only Just Begun" is reimagined as an up-tempo samba for quartet, while the album closes with a lovely solo performance of Carole King's "You've Got a Friend." Malone's explorations on tunes like these eschew novelty and evince sincerity. In all, his playing turns on an affable approach that's consistently easy on the ears. Michael Borshuk Joe Maneri/Mat Maneri/BarrePhillips Angles of Repose ECM 1862 Joe and Mat Maneri are in the midst of a fascinating and fertile period as collaborators. Angles of Repose is a welcome follow-up to 1999's Tales ofRohnlief, their first encounter with bassist Barre Phillips. Consisting of 10 improvised pieces of widely varying lengths and moods, the new album was recorded in an ancient chapel in the south of France, near Barre Phillips' home. Not surprisingly, the sound of Angles is more "live" than that of Rohnlief. And Phillips, now more intimately familiar with the Maneris' microtonal vocabulary and its challenges, seems to have an easier time joining them. The elder Maneri plays 34 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 CODA alto and tenor saxes and clarinet but no piano. His son steers clear of his electric instruments and spends the entire session on an unplugged viola. The room responds favorably, with sensitive acoustics that allow one to savor the trio's every interaction. In the liner notes, Phillips describes this music as "out of the historical realm of styles and schools and periods." This couldn't ring more true. Joe Maneri displays a raw and searching tone; even his occasional shouts and grumbles sound musical. "Number Three" is a brief unaccompanied sax solo, and "Number Five" features the string players alone. But the bulk of the document features the full trio, navigating sparse or busy soundscapes, staccato or legato modalities, tense and fleeting asides or extended reveries. David Adler HerbieMann/ Phil Woods Beyond Brooklyn MCG Jazz MCGJ1012 Herbie Mann and Phil Woods first played together in 1951 at Tony's Bar on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. They made a record together shortly thereafter and hadn't done so since. The catalyst for this 2003 reunion was their appearance at the 15th anniversary of the Manchester's Craftmen's Guild jazz series. MCG, a minority-directed arts and learning center in Pittsburgh, has also developed a fine reputation for jazz recordings. It's clear that Mann and Woods are comfortable with each other. Each has a solo feature: Mann in Jobim's haunting "Caminhos Cruzados" and Woods with an emotional "Blood Count" by Strayhorn. However, there's magic in their blend of alto and flute. As you might expect, the program extends from bossa to bop. Years disappear as they cook on "Bohemia after Dark," "Au Privave" and "Little Niles." Mann contributes two compositions: "Another Shade of Blues," with tango coloring by accordionist Gil Goldstein, and the pretty "Sir Charles Duke." Woods' original, "Alvin G," moves right along, while Bill Evans is represented by a Latin "We Shall Meet Again." An offbeat treatment of a Hungarian folk tune showcases Mann with trombonist Jay Ashby and pianist Alain Mallet, who also provide strong solos elsewhere on this CD. A highlight is Duke's "Azure" where Woods gives us a rare listen to his warm clarinet sound. Beyond Brooklyn was Mann's final recording. Following the duo session he recorded its last track, "Time After Time," especially for his wife, Janeal, and passed away a few weeks later. This superb album is dedicated to his music and spirit. Bill Falconer Mark MastersEnsemble One Day with Lee Capri Records 7 4064 As he proved recently in his celebration of Clifford Brown (The Clifford Brown Project), composer/arranger Mark Masters does not Dragon DRCD 389 Swedish jazz since 1983. Their guest list over the years illustrates close ties to the Village Vanguard orchestra. On this CD, Dick Oatts and Gary Smulyan follow in the steps of Mintzer, McNeely, Brookmeyer and Mel Lewis. This session was recorded in 2003 at Jazzclub Fasching and features the music of Thad Jones-a combination of catchy tunes and inventive writing. It's hard to believe that some of these tunes go back to opening night. The light-hearted "Tiptoe" features the lithe trumpet of leader Noren. Time-shifting brings excitement to "Little Pixie" while "Interloper" just burns. "61st and 'Rich" brings in the flutes and a glowing trombone solo. "Don't Get Sassy," as you might expect, is happy and alive. There are only two ballads, "Two as One," which showcases Smulyan on baritone, and "Thank You" (by Jerry Dodgion). Both combine sensitivity and intensity. This band swings! Dick Oatts sums up the experience: "The SJO is a wonderful match for the pen of Jones. Smulyan and Oatts had lots of smiles and laughs-like every Monday night." Meanwhile, back where it all started, the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra plays new music, conducted and written by the master trombonist and arranger, Slide Hampton. The session opens with his free-flowing boppish "You Asked For It" and continues with the four-part Inspiration: Suite for Jazz Orchestra which pays tribute to Thad Jones and three other greats. The up-tempo "One For Thad" displays fine trumpet by Scott Wendholt; "Strayhorn" is a jazz waltz featuring colorful flute passages; "Gil" is impressionistic, while in "Dameron" you can both feel and hear Tadd's music. There's a lot of electricity in both the title track and "Past, Present & Future." The album closes with "Frame for the Blues" which dates back to the '60s and Hampton's stint with Maynard Ferguson. On the new arrangement, Hampton picks up his horn and duels with trombonist Jason Jackson. Hampton listened at length to the music of the VJO as part of his arranging process. The result is a winning CD. Both orchestras fulfill the Jones/Lewis concept which provides increased solo space and demands creative charts, strong soloists and skilled sections. Also listen to those drummers: Mel Lewis lives! In the tradition but as fresh as today, that's the legacy of Thad Jones and Mel Lewis. Bill Falconer The VanguardJazz Orchestra StanTracey/EvanParker take tributes lightly. Whether framing a gone master's music or here, with Lee Konitz, a living and vital player, Masters brings care and love to making music live in its context. Here, as in the Brown program, Masters mixes original Konitz compositions with transcriptions of the man's alto sax solos ("317 East 32nd Street," for example, has the four-man saxophone section chime in an extemporization from 1954). While time has burnished that alto tone, Konitz is fluid and one degree warmer than laconic, opening "Thingin"' with a hearty solo declaration-the man is back-and purring the blues in "Cork 'n Bib." -Randal Mel/ray Martin Speakewith EthanIverson My Ideal Basho SRCD7-2 The compelling qualities of the music created by this estimable duo are established immediately, for the opening track "Everything Happens To Me" begins with a long, beautifully melodic, unaccompanied alto sax solo from Speake, a distinguished British musician most often likened to Lee Konitz. After minutes the sax solo merges into what becomes an unaccompanied piano solo by Bad Plus pianist Iverson, the musicianship again of the highest quality. But where Speake's playing has been spare, lverson's is voluble; where Speake's playing was tranquil, lverson's is troubled. The differences in how these two musicians interpret the piece, and the intriguing ambiguity that ensues, provide much of the listening pleasure here and on the other eight standard ballads that comprise the repertoire. Typically Speake's playing is pensive and spacious, lverson's wild and at times tempestuous, but the effect is complementary rather than clashing. On Cole Porter's "So In Love," for example, the combination of Speake's elegant saxophone playing and lverson's edgy piano playing, adds a very satisfying emotional complexity to the performance. Also included are "Loverman," which features wonderfully poignant sax, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes," "Stardust" and Jobim's "How Insensitive," surprisingly performed with a spooky feel. Trevor Hodgett StockholmJazz Orchestra Homage to Mel Lewis and Thad Jones The Way: Music of Slide Hampton Suspensions and Anticipations Planet Arts 100225 psi 04.02 In February 1966, Thad Jones and Mel Lewis introduced their orchestra at the Village Vanguard, initiating new creative opportunities for both players and writers. Their influence lives on in these recent CDs by two powerpacked jazz bands: one in Sweden and the other, the original, still at the Vanguard on Monday nights. The Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, directed by founder Fredrik Noren, has been a factor in www.emanemdisc.com/psi.html One could choose specific tracks from this CD, although this is not necessary, as they all contain the quality and brilliance one would expect from these two master musicians. Born two decades apart - Stan Tracey (1926), Evan Parker (1944) -they represent the pinnacle of distinct English disciplines. Tracey, a mainstay of the modern jazz scene, influenced by the music of Duke Ellington and Thelonious Monk, was throughout the sixties the resident pianist at the legendary Ronnie Scott club, as well as leading influential bands that ranged from intimate modern jazz ensembles to large orchestras. Parker, as is known to readers of this journal, is the most important saxophonist to emerge in the current music, introducing numerous concepts to the ever-evolving "new music" forms. Both are well represented on recordings, but never together as in this dazzling pairing. Eight of the eleven pieces are duets, two being piano solos and one solo tenor saxophone. With the exception of the trilogy of "New Fork (for Newk)," the solo tenor piece, minimally referencing Parker's prodigious multi-phonic circular breathing techniques, segueing into a duet of the title piece and on into the solo piano of "Special Purpose," they are, as the subtitle suggests, a sequence of free improvisations. Although much of the material could be considered melodious in a traditional way, the development of the pieces establishes a continuum, moving from one presented drama to another; a series of eloquent conversations rather than a story form. They contain imaginings of "balladic" and "swing" characteristics, with Tracey's thoughtful piano work and Parker's delicious tone and control creating pointillistic scenarios of great subtlety with occasional brawny overtones, each obviously influencing the other's route. The state of being kept in suspense and the action of looking forward are clearly illustrated. A superb recording of two unique musicians. Bill Smith WarrenVache Dream Dancing Arbors ARCD 19829 Dream Dancing began as a Fred Astaire/Rita Hayworth film feature. That's fitting. Like Astaire, cornetist Warren Vache's approach to ballads is romantic. His awesome technique is never in your face, as he makes the difficult seem easy-and fun. This relaxed session finds him in good company. Pianist Bill Charlap and Harry Allen on tenor, like Vache, prove that there is much to be said for growing up in a musical family. Versatile young bassist Dennis Irwin has worked with Joe Lovano and John Scofield-and Harry Allen. Rock-solid drummer Eddie Locke played with Roy Eldridge and is actually old enough to remember the swing era. And those composers! Cole Porter, Burton Lane, Leonard Bernstein, Saul Chaplin, Jimmy McHugh. Edgar Sampson, Bob Haggart and Bird, who is represented by "Quasimodo," his "Embraceable You." On the swingers, Vache flies through "Blue Lou" without breaking a sweat while "Lover Come Back to Me" shows off Allen's big-toned horn. "Dream Dancing" and the obscure "You're a Lucky Guy" are light and danceable. The bal- LIMITED EDITION JAZZ COLLECTIONS! REMASTERED TO THE HIGHEST STANDARDS GerryMulliganConcertBand, SarahVaughan,HankMobley, DjangoReinhardt, WoodyHerman and over40 moreBoxedSets "Since its founding in 1983, Mosaic Records has established a worldwide reputation among knowledgeablejazz fans as the best reissue label in the business. Mosaic's limited edition boxed sets are collections of significant jazz recordings packaged in a way that shows great respect for the music, the musicians, and the music lover." - Robert Derwae, Cleveland Plain Dealer www.mosaicrecords.com lads are treated like the treasures that they are: "What's New?" "Too Late Now" and the Comden/ Green/ Bernstein classic"Some Other lime." This beautiful song is played simply, with an air of intense melancholy, by both Vache and Charlap (for more Bernstein by Charlap, check out his recent Blue Note CD, Somewhere). Vache, who opens "Close Your Eyes" accompanied only by Locke, winds up the set with a Frishberg-like vocal on "Not Exactly Paris." Superb musicianship from start to finish. You can't just play this once! Bill Falconer RamonValle Trio, No Escape ACT9424 i and-forth streaks of the bow across the strings-repetitions of very slow and very long streaks with no interruptions. Strange, un-cellolike reverberations ring out during the first cut, as I hear chimes and bells and pianos even though there aren't any present. The layers of the drone continue to reveal ever greater depths of sonority-though I also get the creepy feeling that something secret is being covered up even as rich aural nuances are being revealed - until it just stops, abruptly, and plunges the listener into a few minutes of silence. The second track is more bass heavy, with big foghorn overtones pealing out into the thistly grain of horsehair rubbed on catgut. With the dynamic motion of mud, Veliotis shuns any sense of development and instead creates textures that ripple backand-forth on the frontier of intentional versus uncontrollable soundings. Andrew Choate On No Escape, the Cuban-born, German-based pianist Ramon Valle reconfigures the template for Latin jazz musicians. While Valle is adept at mining a rich Afro-Cuban heritage, he's equally talented at working out of a 1960s post-bop style. Valle mixes the most energetic and muscular qualities of both traditions in an approach that's thoroughly contemporary for its liberal fusion. His Latin inheritance resonates in tunes like "Alice Blues" and "Clouds." The farmer's pulse turns on what Jelly Roll Morton liked to call "the Spanish tinge," an influence the latter track evokes in its melodic head. In other moments, Valle's use of Afro-Cuban elements is more organic, suggested in melodic phrasing, or hinted at in a rhythmic feel. Valle is like D.D. Jackson in his ability to fashion musical integrity out of stylistic diversity. Indeed, throughout the album Valle opens up his range of influence wider and wider, drawing on various sources from the last half-century. On up-tempo features like "De vuelta a casa" and "Pesadilla," Valle tears off into athletic dissertations on the history of modern jazz, recalling the liveliest performances of McCoy Tyner or Herbie Hancock's halcyon days. The quieter, more measured "Andar par dentro" is an expansive meditation in the Keith Jarrett vein. Valle is impressive for being so knowledgeable and so physical. As the playing on No Escape consistently commands, he is an artist deserving of more notice. Michael Borshuk The combustion when improvisation meets tradition is never so strong as in a piano trio. The legacy of so many wily little units ensures that, of course, but surely so too does the stock image of your actual jazz group in the standard club date. WHO Trio matches unbounded American drummer Gerry Hemingway with two Swiss musicians, pianist Michel Wintsch and bassist Biinz Oester. In their third Leo recording - the first a trio, the second a quintet - they share a keenness for the slow and the shadowy. Such is leavened with more vigorous surprises, with a tendency to contrast pensive and understated music with more boppish flights. Though Wintsch handles that with aplomb and drive, he has a way with counterpoint that suggests a conservatory graduate. The first part of his original "Seduna in Wallis" is as tricky as it is driving, with Oester holding to a high ostinato and Hemingway providing the punctuation behind the pianist's complex figures. The second part creates room to breathe and reflect, with quiet chords anchoring airy drums. Trusting to the melody, they caress the slow samba of "Jerusalem" and the considered, Satie-like delicacy of "Quartier lointain." Randal Mel/ray NikosVeliotis Radial World SaxophoneQuartet Experience Confront 13 Justin Time JUST 160-2 Solo cello music typically falls somewhere between soothing and scratchy. Radial is drone-y. These 3 long tracks, each over 10 minutes long, were recorded in Athens, Greece on June 1st, 2003. Silences ranging from 47 seconds to almost 5 minutes long punctuate the track divisions as well as the beginning and ending of the disc. My guess is that Veliotis got into the studio, told the engineers to push "record," then got ready, played for a bit, stopped, waited, played some more, stopped, rested, and played still more - all while the tape ran. All of the tracks feature slow, long, back- When ostensibly jazz musIcIans turn their radar to rock music the focus should always be on the possibilities to explore in the compositions. The music of Jimi Hendrix should be a natural fit, given how far he extended the concepts of virtuosity (and considering as well what might have resulted had the guitarist lived long enough to make that mooted album with Miles). The World Saxophone Quartet digs hard in Experience, but the program works best taken in fragments. The better ones include "Hey Joe," stately and almost unrecognized as Hamiett Bluiett draws out on the riff on baritone while Oliver Lake and Bruce Williams entwine on sopranos; "Machine Gun," dizzied up with violin, funk bass and cooking drums (by Billy Bang, Matthew Garrison and Gene Lake respectively); and "If 6 was 9," a declamation renewed on the band's own terms with the reeds of Bl u iett, Lake, Williams and David Murray tangling. Performances are weaker according to the tunes, however, suggesting once again that much of the gone master's music hit hardest as a measure of outsize personality. Randal Mel/ray ChrisMcGregor'sBrotherhood of Breath Bremen to Bridgwater Cuneiform Records 182/183 REISSUE & ARCHIVAL RECORDINGS WHOTrio The CurrentUnderneath Leo Records CD LR 391 CD reissue). Most of the pianist's soloing here is top-notch, consistently pushing things just to the edge then backing off to prepare for another assault in his own personal twist on .the tension-and-release formula. This daring, go-for-broke approach infects the whole group and pushes the music to a highly spontaneous level. The inclusion of several pieces that Byard never again recorded is an added plus. Duck Baker Jaki ByardQuartetwith Joe Farrell Last FromLennie's Prestige PRCD-11029 Despite the fact that Jaki Byard's name is spoken with reverence by any number of contemporary musicians and writers, this record of previously unissued live material will probably get little attention. It deserves a better fate. These are the remaining usable tracks from recordings of a 1965 engagement at Lennie'son the Turnpike in West Peabody, MA, with Joe Farrell, George Tucker and Alan Dawson. Prestige issued two volumes of this material at the time but it has taken until now for the rest of the music to finally see the light of day. As Ken Dryden points out in his refreshingly straightforward notes, none of the musicians lived to see this release, but at least their fans will finally get a chance to revisit a short-lived but engaging quartet that brought out the best in each member. Even a musician like Dawson, who is usually thought of as a fairly unassuming sort of drummer, plays with an enthusiasm and exuberance that borders at times on abandon, and Tucker seems to take the job of replacing regular bassist Richard Davis seriously-at times one might think that it actually was Davis somehow caught in the act of reinventing his shtick. Joe Farrell shows why he was so highly valued as a sideman, contributing some nice flute and soprano in spots and blowing the tenor as only a very few ever have. His playing here is consistently challenging. The group interchange is a gas, with the leader setting the tone. Ever prone to ramble or inject wacky non-sequiturs into the proceedings, when Byard was on his game it wasn't so much by avoiding these tendencies as by making them work in a larger context. His penchant for fractured stride is given free rein at various points here, usually in the context of tracks during which other tunes and soloists were eventually featured ("Jaki Byard's Ballad Medley" actually appeared on one of the live LPs but not the No fair account of British jazz in the late '60s can ignore the impact of the African musical Diaspora. Fair, too, to say nobody shaped a musical crucible to match pianist Chris McGregor's big band, the Brotherhood of Breath. Formed in 1970 around the core of his sextet, the Blue Notes, the Brotherhood attracted a wide swath of iconoclasts-nationally speaking and otherwise-for a sound that could purr like Ellington, light blowtorches like Ayler and parade township rhythms and call-and-response horns to keep the source in the heart. Divided almost equally between performances in 1971 and 1975,this well-packed double set shows just how quickly the musicians could switch. The first of two long versions of "Now" begins with loping, Monkish piano, kicks into a tight bop chart and slides easily into double time. The untitled work that closes side one glides on Harry Miller's walking bass and swings lightly until Mike Osborne grabs hold of it. Fellow alto player Dudu Pukwana injects loads of bawdy fun and roughage, though when the horns start quarrelling, Mingus-style, everyone's out for a piece of the action. The only reservation, really, apart from the occasionally muddy sound, is the lack of a ballad break to match "Davashe's Dream," a slow one from the Brotherhood's eponymous 1971 Neon/RCA recording, where Pukwana scoured and sang against a chart warmer than winter dinner. This is astounding music, but taken best in smaller measures. Randal Mcllroy recent entries there's a host of titles from some major saxophonists of the modern era. Sonny Stitt's Personal Appearance (Verve 80002028-02) is one of his many loose quartet sessions but they're usually terrific. This one from1957 with Bobby Timmons swings from the ground up with Stitt ebullient on standards like Cole Porter's "Easy to Love" and "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" and some original blues. Candido Camera's Candido (Verve 80002020-02) features the Cuban hand drummer in an inspired session that stretches from Afro-Cuban to intense swing on tunes like "Stompin' at the Savoy" and "Broadway." Al Cohn's Lester-inspired swing is cooler than Stitt's but just as real, and there are some nice moments from guitarist Joe Puma as well. Yusef Lateef's Golden Flute (80001435-02) doesn't restrict him to that woodwind; in fact, it's much more about Lateef's very tough tenor (one of the great tenor sounds-a metallic yet soulful wail on "Road Runner" and "Smart Set") and oboe as well. There are some fine takes on old tunes-"Straighten Up and Fly Right" and "Exactly like You"-as well as accounts of Arabian adventures. Tony Scott (80001459-02) is both eponymous and exotic, 1967 recordings that split the clarinetist between an ad hoc middle-eastern CHASING THE PAST BY STUART BROOMER VERVE MINI-LPs This series of facsimile LPs from the Universal family of labels (including Argo and Impulse) focuses on material that hasn't been reissued on CD, often lesser known and sometimes highly unusual dates (note Duck Baker's "Strange Strings" reviews). The CDs preserve the original look and the original playing times-occasionally that means a half-hour of music or lessbut it's usually concentrated stuff. Among I :, 36 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 coDA CODA NoVEMBEWDECEMBER 2004 37 setting-all coiling scales set amidst oud and percussion (and Collin Walcott on sitar on one track)-and a straight-up jazz quintet with Richard Davis that plays standards and a "Blues for Charlie Parker." It's usually entertaining, and Scott sometimes plays brilliantly in the heterodox settings. A duet between Davis and Scott on baritone saxophone on "Sophisticated lady" is a highlight. Roland Kirk's Kirk in Copenhagen (B0001629) catches him at the Montmartre in October 1963 playing with as much vitality as you might expect from a dozen musicians, with Tete Montoliu and J.C. Moses and Don Moore and/or Niels Henning Orsted Pedersen on bass. Kirk was a phenomenon of soulful energy and he sounds fantastic on originals like "Narrow Bolero" as well as "Mood Indigo" (with his three-horns-at-once tribute to the Ellington reed section) and "Cabin in the Sky." "The Monkey Thing" is a crazed gutbucket interlude with Kirk matching flute, tenor and grunts with Sonny Boy Williamson's voice and harmonica as they work on a musical definition of funk. Art Blakey's 'S Make It (B0001994) is a 1964 Limelight session by a sextet version of the Messengers with Lee Morgan and Curtis Fuller and three new members: John Gilmore, John Hicks and Victor Sproules. Morgan is the dominant voice here, contributing three compositions and typically cogent, assertive trumpet. Gilmore, usually a brilliant player whatever the 38 NovEMBERIDECEMBER 2004 cooA context, doesn't sound comfortable in his brief outings here, and there's an apparent loss of direction following the departures of Wayne Shorter and Cedar Walton. Archie Shepp's The Cry of My People (B0001790) is an ambitious gospel-suffused album from 1971 with the saxophonist taking a backseat to a large ensemble of strings, winds, percussion, choir and solo vocalists with Dave Burrell, Cal Massey and partner Romulus Franceschini, and Charles Greenlee acting variously as arrangers and conductors. The highlights-" A Prayer" and the title track with some beautiful brass writing, superb playing by Charles McGhee and Shepp's finest moment-come from the pen of the underrated Massey who died shortly after the recording, but overall it often feels like less than the sum of its ambitions. Illinois Jacquet's Desert Winds (80002026) is a 1964 Argo date that presents the great tenor player emphasizing melodic values on ballads rather than the shrill excitement that made him famous. He's accompanied to perfection by Kenny Burrell, Tommy Flanagan, Wendell Marshall, Willie Rodriguez and drummer Ray Lucas on "Star Eyes" and "Lester Leaps In." Jacquet even takes a turn on alto on "Blues for the Early Bird" (something of a period sub-genre). First-rate mainstream fare. Johnny Griffin (B0002025-02) is a 1956 date for the Chicago Argo label that clocks in at 26' 12", but it's Griffin at the outset of his careerhis wonderful sound and rapid-fire, coiling lines establish his identity in the first improvised chorus of "I Cried for You"-with Junior Mance and Wilbur Ware and who's counting? Energy and forceful precision are the order of the day with one of the greatest (and little recorded) bassists who ever played jazz. Another eponymous Argo session, James Moody (Verve B0002027-02) has Moody leading a septet that includes trumpeter Johnny. Coles and trombonist Tom McIntosh. The solos are at a high level, but it's often the arrangements that take precedence, including the thick harmonies and contrasting voices of "Darben the Redd" (including the leader's frequent and luminous flute against dark baritone sax). McIntosh's writing already stands out on his "With Malice toward None" and his arrangement of "Out of Nowhere." Organist Gloria Coleman's quartet features drummer Pola Roberrts on Soul Sisters (B0001434-02), a robust, bouncing session of soul jazz with a quartet completed by Leo Wright on alto-better known for the straight ahead context of the Dizzy Gillespie quintetand Grant Green, among the masters of the idiom. Coleman herself is strong on cheerful fundamentals-note "Sadie Green"-with little in the way of superfluous flash. As a result, she worked regularly in the 1960s, employing a host of better-known sidemen. 11111