Archive for April 2010
Bobby McFerrin: Beyond words (2002 – Blue Note)
How does one write about the ineffable? It is, after all, Beyond Words … We must, however, reflect on Bobby McFerrin’s Beyond Words. There is a certain degree of serendipity in the fact that this recording is being capitalized upon, in the best economic system the world has ever known, through the marketing efforts of both Blue Note and Angel Records as in Classical music, the “grace note” is what in Jazz is known as a “blue note.” Beyond Words is an album from the world to the world, encompassing the fleeting hallowedness that structures the allure and effect of a graceful blue note. Hence, it is not for the faint of sensibility and intelligence. Although not a difficult work, without recurring to popish sentimentality or facility in its accessibility, it does require a certain level of engagement in order to disengage the listener from preconceptions and expectations that would mar the delight on musical idioms beyond any evocative or explanatory measure. McFerrin’s latest is “deep,” as musicians are fond of saying when referring to outstanding music.
It would be rather tempting to play a game of “Where’s Waldo?” when trying to document the various musical, cultural or aesthetic influences present in this compact disc, although that would be infelicitous and beside the point. As mentioned before, this is an album from the world to the world. Creative, or so-called creative endeavors, nonetheless, often times end up as mere masturbatory efforts that have more to do with inbred narcissism than true originality. McFerrin is not affianced in self-pleasure in this Blue Note/Angel release. He wants to gratify his audience with an anointing dipped into one of the widest palettes available for worldwide consumption in contemporary musical markets.
Beyond Words has a wide and fun emotional range that swings in saintly depth. The arrangements, vocalizations, and compositions, as well as the performances of the musicians, have a refreshing sense of cultural innocence and curiosity in their tales. With the exception of “Windows,” a Chick Corea composition, reinterpreted here in historical fashion by McFerrin, the rest of the oeuvre was penned by him. Having Corea playing in this recording was a prudent decision as he has an authentic and imaginative record of accomplishment in various musical worlds. The same is true of most of the rest of the crew that gave rise to the beautiful blessing that is Beyond Words.
McFerrin’s latest also hits the mark with the integrity of the 16 pictorials poured in this recording. From the short-lived “Circlings,” to the beefier “Invocation,” Beyond Words manages to say what needs saying without recourse to vocal or instrumental logorrhea. The whole of Beyond Words is known through its wholesome parts, duration notwithstanding. All told, Beyond Words says a lot. You had better listen…
Javier AQ Ortiz (All About Jazz)
1.- Invocation
2.- Kalimba Suite
3.- A Silken Road
4.- Fertile Field
5.- Dervishes
6.- Ziggurat
7.- Sisters
8.- Circlings
9.- Chanson
10.- Windows
11.- Marlowe
12.- Mass
13.- Pat & Joe
14.- Taylor Made
15.- A Piece, A Chord
16.- Monks/The Shepherd
Taylor McFerrin (vocals);
Keith Underwood (bass flute, wooden flute);
Gil Goldstein (accordion, Fender Rhodes piano, keyboards);
Chick Corea (piano);
Richard Bona (guitar, piano, percussion)
Original Release Date: March 12, 2002 – Label: Blue Note Records
Hank Mobley: Workout (1961 – Blue Note Records)
Miles Davis dissed him, Leonard Feather called him the middleweight champion, and most people thought that John Coltrane outshone him. Because of these and a few other real or imagined slings and arrows, a kind of victim support group vibe has gathered around Hank Mobley in recent years. He’s in danger of going down in history as a tragic figure.
But hey! Here’s another perspective to consider. Mobley recorded an astonishing 25 albums as a leader or co-leader for Blue Note (not even Grant Green comes close), was featured on around another 35 Blue Notes as a sideman, and made his mark on Columbia and a few other labels too. Where’s the victim?
Mobley had some good times outside the studio as well. He was married twice, by all accounts on both occasions to stunningly beautiful women, and lived until he was 56—not a massive span, true, but for a black hard bop saxophonist born in 1930 who had intermittent heroin problems, longer than many. Mobley did alright, as history should record.
Fact is, Mobley wasn’t one of the all-time greats. His style was an amalgam of others before and around him, and his technique was no better than average. His tone was thin more often than it was fat, and he squeaked on fast passages or when negotiating tricky intervals. He was, though, an exhilaratingly ragged and abandoned tenor saxophonist and a solid blues-based composer who made one all-time great album, Soul Station, and half a dozen very good ones.
Workout, from 1961, is one of the very good ones, and it’s now being released with a lethal Rudy Van Gelder remaster. The headlong charges which are “Workout” (pure bop) and “Smokin'” (pure hard bop) showcase Mobley at his best: passionate, wild and 100% in the moment. “Workout” is further distinguished by Philly Joe Jones’ door-rattling presence and Grant Green’s straight out of Minton’s, more Christian than Christian, jetstream of a solo. “Uh Huh” (brisk soul-jazz, in which Mobley acknowledges and recalibrates his R&B roots) and “Greasin’ Easy” (moderato hard bop blues) are almost as good. Mobley wrote all four of these tracks. (The two standards, “The Best Things In Life Are Free” and “Three Coins In A Fountain,” are by comparison merely pleasant).
Chris May (All About Jazz)
1. Workout
2. Uh Huh
3. Smokin’
4. The Best Things In Life Are Free
5. Greasin’ Easy
6. Three Coins In The Fountain
Personnel:
Hank Mobley: (tenor saxophone)
Grant Green: (guitar)
Wynton Kelly: (piano)
Paul Chambers: (bass)
Philly Joe Jones: (drums)
Original Release Date: March 26, 1961 – Label: Blue Note Records
Kenny Kirkland: Kenny Kirkland (1991 – Grp)
Keyboardist Kenny Kirkland’s long-overdue debut as a leader really stretches his talents and is occasionally unpredictable. Virtually each of the performances has its own personality and the personnel and instrumentation differ throughout the release. Among the highlights is “Mr. J.C.” (which features some stormy Branford Marsalis tenor), an electric Latin but still boppish update of Bud Powell’s “Celia” (taken as a duet with percussionist Don Alias), the struttin’ “Steepian Faith,” a driving rendition of Ornette Coleman’s “When Will the Blues Leave” that has some free bop alto from Roderick Ward, and Latin versions (with percussionist Jerry Gonzalez) of two standards not normally thought of as belonging to that idiom: Wayne Shorter’s “Ana Maria” and Thelonious Monk’s “Criss Cross.” This album has more than its share of brilliant moments.
Scott Yanow, All Music Guide
1. Mr. J.C.
2. Midnight Silence
3. El Rey – Watts
4. Sleepian Faith
5. Celia
6. Chance
7. When Will the Blues Leave?
8. Ana Maria – Shorter
9. Revelations
10. Criss-Cross
11. Blasphemy
Personnel:
Kenny Kirkland (Piano – Keyb)
Branford Marsalis (Sopr &Ten Sax)
Roderick Ward (Alto Sax)
Roderick Ward (Alto Sax)
Robert Hurst (Bass)
Christian McBride (Bass),
Charnett Moffett (Bass),
Jeff “Tain” Watts (Drums)
Don Alias (Percu & Bongos)
Steve Berrios (Percu & Drums),
Jerry Gonzalez (Percu & Conga)
Original Release Date: 1991 – Label: Grp Records
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Charles Lloyd: Sangam (2006 – ECM)
At this juncture in his life and career, Charles Lloyd has become untouchable. His tone is so full of depth that it sounds good to nearly everyone who hears it; his scope is so broad that he can never be accused of coasting, yet he remains fundamentally listenable, so no one can throw labels like “obscurantist” or “self-indulgent” at him, either. He is spiritual but grounded, weird but accessible, old as the hills but still youngish enough in his attack that he seems to know the young man’s game.
Sangam is a work full of drama and skill—around here, it will end up on virtually everyone’s top ten list, and rightfully so—but its true genius lies not in its star or its scenario (this is Lloyd’s first live album for ECM), but its casting. Zakir Hussain is simply the greatest tabla player in the world, an artist with enough credits on his own to deserve major stardom. (Seriously, listen to the stuff he does with Tabla Beat Science, which is truly the cutting edge of world-music jazz.) And Eric Harland is a name that should be as well-known now as that of any other living drummer. For Lloyd, a man who is always on a quest, these are the ultimate wingmen; they let him soar when he wants to, but they are also fully capable of burning on their own.
But they don’t, at least not very often. This is no free jazz freakout, but a carefully planned jazz work that just happens to sound like it’s all spontaneous. Lloyd leads this percussion-heavy trio through older songs like “Hymn to the Mother” and newer ones, but no one ever seems to miss a step or blow an opportunity to soar. “Tender Warriors” chugs right along on a bed of soft drum-shuffle and insistent tabla-tapping and thumping, while Lloyd searches for the universe with his tenor. The title track brings Harland more to the fore, laying down a dense and tense martial cadence for Hussain to riff over—it’s funky and complex and scary, and you can almost hear the audience sigh with relief (and a little sadness) when Lloyd’s Coltrane-ish lead rides in to save the day.
But Sangam is not all about defined roles. Each player steps up to take the lead sometimes; I’m telling you, you haven’t lived until you’ve heard Hussain play the melody from Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas” on his tuned hand-drums. And I love how Harland is capable of playing the spooky repeated figure on piano during “Gunam” so that Hussain can do his deep, compelling vocalization before Lloyd comes back in with his flute.
I am not sure what will come of this project. After all, it was recorded in 2004, and there hasn’t been a studio album from these guys yet. I don’t know if they’re working on any more projects together. And I don’t know why certain songs are titled “Nataraj” and “Tales of Rumi,” or their deeper significance. All I really know is that this album captures the three grooviest motherfuckers in the world, all playing together perfectly, and it deserves some serious consideration as what ESPN would call “an instant classic.”
Budd Kopman (All About Jazz)
1. Dancing on One Foot
2. Tales of Rumi
3. Sangam Nataraj
4. Guman
5. Tender Warriors
6. Hymn to the Mother
7. Lady in the Harbor
8. Little Peace
Personnel:
Charles Lloyd: (ten & alto sax, tarogato, bass and alto flutes, percu)
Zakir Hussain: (tabla, voice, percu)
Eric Harland: (drums, percussion, piano)
Original Release Date: April 4, 2006 – Label: ECM
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Art Farmer: Yesterday’s Thoughts (2005 – Test of Time Records)
Possibly better-appreciated in the latter period of his life and after his death, Art Farmer, along with Clark Terry, was instrumental in bringing the flugelhorn, a mellow cousin of the trumpet, to the fore. Appearing on literally hundreds of recordings and releasing over seventy albums under his own name, he may have been the perfect definition of the journeyman musician—well-known in music circles, but a name that tended to elude the larger record-buying public for many years. Still, with a lyrical style that set him apart from many of his stratosphere-reaching contemporaries, Farmer has aged incredibly well in retrospect.
Yesterday’s Thoughts is part of the fledgling Test of Time record label’s commitment to making recordings, originally released by the Japanese East Wind Music label in the ’70s—and previously only available as expensive import LPs—accessible to North American audiences. Like the first two releases on the label—Andrew Hill’s Hommage and the Great Jazz Trio’s At the Village Vanguard—Yesterday’s Thoughts has been remastered using the Direct Stream Digital process (DSD), and the result is a sound that as closely resembles what the musicians heard in the studio control room as is possible.
With an all-star cast featuring pianist Cedar Walton, bassist Sam Jones, and drummer Billy Higgins, this outing may be identified by the liner notes as a ballad recording, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. The opening track, Michel Legrand’s “What Are You Doing the Rest of Your Life, does set the pace for a relaxed session, and the Benny Golson title track is a tender piece indeed; but there’s plenty of variety on the date, from the medium-tempo bossa of Jobim’s “How Insensitive to the at-ease swing of Mercer/DePaul’s “Namely You and Dietz/Schwartz’s “Alone Together, plus the more energetic Walton original “Firm Roots.
What makes the whole session sound so effortless may be the behind-the-beat approach of virtually everyone on the session. Farmer may demonstrate the most laid-back phrasing this side of Dexter Gordon, with Walton, Jones, and Higgins following close behind. And the sense of swing is unassailable; even on the two ballads there’s that indefinable quality that makes everything dance. Walton’s lightly funky bop approach lends a brighter element to an otherwise soft and mellow session. Even when the group takes off, as it does on “Firm Roots, there’s a complete lack of anything resembling an edge, with Higgins’ touch in particular feeling gentler than usual.
Easy on the ears, Yesterday’s Thoughts captures Farmer at particularly busy time in his career—during ’76 and ’77 he’d release no fewer than six albums under his own name. But in Farmer’s case, boosting quantity didn’t mean sacrificing quality, and Yesterday’s Thoughts is a welcome addition to the Farmer back catalogue: an album that, in its own quiet way, reaffirms Farmer’s strength as a rich-toned, melodic player who may only be receiving his proper due retrospectively.
John Kelman (All About Jazz)
1. What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life
2. How Insensitive
3. Namely You
4. Alone Together
5. Yesteray’s Thoughts
6. Firm Roots
Personnel:
Art Farmer (flugelhorn)
Cedar Walton (piano)
Sam Jones (bass),
Billy Higgins (drums)
Original Release Date: 1976 – Label: Test of Time Records
Realesed on CD: 2005
Jimmy Raney, Jim Hall & Zoot Sims: Two Jims and Zoot (1964 – Mobile Fidelity)
After the first of two stints with Stan Getz in 1951-52, clean, crisp swing/bop guitarist Jimmy Raney recorded his first handful of albums as a leader in the mid 1950s – including Five (1954) and Indian Summer (1956). By the mid 1960s, Raney’s bout with alcoholism forced him into a decade-long hiatus during which time he relocated back to his childhood home of Louisville, Kentucky. A real shame this was, since this piano-less quintet date featuring Jim Hall, recorded shortly before that hiatus, far exceeds the quality of his earlier leader dates and reveals a career highlight.
A gentle Steve Swallow and a stationary Osie Johnson leave Raney and Hall in the spotlight throughout “Move It,” an up-tempo swinger near the end of the record. Hall is surprisingly active – one might even say aggressive – during sections of Raney’s improvisation here. But because there’s a stable rhythm section and no piano, it’s the open interaction between the complete-line comping from Hall and the western-swing infused bop runs from Raney that makes this track more than a worthwhile listen.
Eric Novod (www.jazz.com Review)
Original Release Date: September 1964 – Label: Mobile Fidelity
Giovanni Mirabassi: Terra Furiosa (2008 – Phantom)
With Terra Furiosa, this disciple of Aldo Ciccolini and Enrico Pieranunzi records a new CD with the type of music formation he prefers, i.e piano-bass-drums, with which he started when he recorded his first CD (Architectures, 1998). The trio plays on quite a novel rhythm, with the Italian bass player Gianluca Renzi and the American drum player Leon Parker. In fact, when the three musicians meet up in the Studio of Meudon, on June 19, 2007, it is with the intention of recording only three titles for the next CD by Giovanni Mirabassi, for which Leon Parker is invited as a guest. After this short session, the musicians are thrilled : the combination of the three musicians’ talents operates very smoothly and the result is great. Listening to the recordings confirms this feeling of perfect harmony. The three musicians feel they want to prolong this moment together and decide to carry on playing.The session will last the night and they record six other tracks together. Giovanni Mirabassi thus produces an unexpected and spontaneous CD, born from shared enthusiasm. And like on his previous Cds, he has favoured the freshness of new compositions (seven out of nine titles). At 37 years old, he seems to have found the perfect partners to further his work on the jazz trio. They will both be performing with the pianist during the whole tour Terra Furiosa. »
Axel Matignon
1. Alfonsina Y El Mar
2. #3
3. Sienna’s Song
4. Last Minutes (Intro)
5. Last Minutes
6. Radicaux Libres
7. W.A.F.
8. Amba
9. Worry Doll
10. We Have The Blues Mr. President
Personnel:
Giovanni Mirabassi: (Piano)
Gianluca Renzi: (Double Bass)
Leon Parker: (Drums)
Original Release Date: February 8, 2008 – Label: Phantom
Chick Corea Elektric Band II – Paint The World (1993)
Chick Corea Elektric Band is a jazz fusion band, led by pianist Chick Corea. Following the demise of Return to Forever, Corea established the musical ensemble in 1986. Following a long hiatus, the band reunited to produce “To the Stars” in 2004.
The first Elektric Band album can be described as “jazz-rock”, though it is much closer to traditional jazz than the jazz-rock albums of 1970s. The keyboard sounds on the album are typical for the mid-1980s. The drums played by Dave Weckl dominate the album’s sound, with the guitar duties split between Scott Henderson and Carlos Rios.
The second album, Light Years (1987) is more funk-oriented than its predecessor. Saxophonist Eric Marienthal joins the band and Frank Gambale replaces Henderson and Rios (who plays still on some tracks) to form what is considered the band’s definitive lineup.
The third album, Eye of the Beholder, relies on softer sounds. Here Corea relies on acoustic piano, with synthesizers largely in the background. Gambale also plays acoustic guitar on some tracks, lending a Flamenco-influenced sound to pieces like “Eternal Child.”
The Elektric Band’s fourth album, Inside Out (1991), features some compositions that fall in the post-bop rather than the fusion category. The four-part piece “Tale of Daring”, which closes the album, relies on unconventional melodies and relatively free improvisation. But two other compositions, the title track and “Kicker,” are more traditional fusion pieces. Corea still uses mostly acoustic piano, but Gambale plays electric guitar throughout.
The last album featuring the band’s traditional lineup was Beneath the Mask (1991), a return to the electric jazz-funk of the second album.
For the next album, Elektric Band II: Paint the World (1993), only Corea and Marienthal returned from the original lineup. Gary Novak became a new drummer, Jimmy Earl took the bass (he does not play any solos on the album) and Mike Miller played guitar. The album’s style can be described as modern jazz, crossing between post-bop and fusion.
The original members reunited in 2004 for To the Stars (2004), which is stylistically close to the avant-garde and post-bop on Inside Out
Wiki
1. Paint the World
2. Blue Miles
3. Tone Poem
4. CTA
5. Silhouette
6. Space
7. Ant & The Elephant
8. Tumba Island
9. Ritual
10. Ished
11. Spanish Sketch
12. Reprise
Personnel:
Chick Corea (keyboards)
Eric Marienthal (saxophone)
Mike Miller (guitar)
Jimmy Earl (bass)
Gary Novak (drums)
Original Release Date: 1993 – Label: GRP Records
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Eddy Louiss Trio (1997 – Dreyfus) (Recorded in 1968)
Eddy Louiss is a true European B-3 master with many great albums under his wings and as a sideman. Most people were introduced to Louiss on the legendary Stan Getz album “Dynasty” (Verve), also with Rene Thomas on guitar. What makes this album special is the combination of Rene Thomas (guitar) and Kenny Clarke (drums) as sideman. Kenny Clarke is at his peak playing in organ combos with likes of Louiss, Lou Bennet and Rhoda Scott and Rene Thomas has always been an imaginative bop guitarist. On this album Louiss plays more in the soul organ / “Jimmy Smith” school than the “Larry Young” approach he had on Stan Getz “Dynasty” album. But Louiss tackles both approaches with great efficiancy in use of the B3 registrations with single line / block chords dynamics. It all kicks off with a fast version of Nardis to a slow down Blue Tempo and then it goes on with speed and power on the remaining tunes – no room for ballads for these three gentlemen! Great recording and balance on the CD, and the B-3 sound stands out.
Terje Biringvad
Recorded in 1968
Original Release Date: August 19, 1997 – Label: Dreyfus
Dave Holland Octet: Pathways (2010 – Dare2 Records)
As a happy medium between the smaller, lither quintet and its more expansive big band cousin, the Dave Holland Octet has toured occasionally over the past several years, making a formal release long overdue. Recorded live at New York’s Birdland at the beginning of 2009, Pathways also bucks Holland’s recent trend with a set list culled largely from the past, but with updated arrangements that take advantage of both the ensemble firepower and solo acumen of additional members Antonio Hart (alto saxophone), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet) and Gary Smulyan (baritone sax)—all members of the Dave Holland Big Band and a larger musical family to which the veteran bassist has been consistently loyal over the past decade.
While the modal “Shadow Dance” has been a part of Holland’s repertoire since Jumpin’ In (ECM, 1984), with the bassist’s chordless, horn-driven quintet of the 1980s, it has never grooved quite this hard, thanks to Smith’s ability to be simultaneously frenetic and in the pocket. Nelson’s marimba adds a new dimension to a familiar track that features a lengthy, painstakingly built and ultimately climactic solo from Hart that ratchets up even higher when Holland, Smith and Nelson kick into high gear. Nelson has played “Ebb and Flo” before, on the 1996 ECM quartet date, Dream of the Elders, but with four horns to push the melody and provide egging-on support for its soloists—Eubanks, Holland and Potter’s particularly incendiary tenor spot—Holland’s new, Latin-esque arrangement burns even brighter.
Holland’s larger ensemble arrangement of the riff-driven “How’s Never?”—originally heard in the guitar-centric context of his egalitarian Gateway trio with John Abercrombie and drummer Jack DeJohnette—is intriguing. Even more so is “Blue Jean,” originally a Latin ballad on his World Trio (Intuition, 1995) date with acoustic guitarist (and Robin’s brother) Kevin Eubanks and percussionist Mino Cinelu. Here, in a significantly extended version, it is still a minor-keyed blues ballad, but Holland’s lush, Gil Evans-like horn arrangement creates an expansive context for a Potter’s soulful tenor solo, as he liberally quotes the classic “The Shadow of Your Smile” before passing the baton to Sipiagin, whose flugelhorn solo is a combination of serpentine virtuosity and deeply rooted lyricism.
Despite a preponderance of older material, also including Sipiagin’s knotty, Brazilian-tinged “Wind Dance”—first heard on the trumpeter’s Out of the Circle (ArtistShare, 2007) and, like the original, with vibrant solos from both Sipiagin and Eubanks—there’s new material, too. The set opens with Holland’s 11-minute title track, another Afro-Cuban, modal workout that gives Smulyan an early chance to shine with a solo that swings hard as it weaves new melodies through Holland’s slowly unfolding changes. A lithe yet muscular bass solo leads to a tarter turn for Sipiagin (this time on trumpet) which, as it evolves, reaches into the stratosphere without ever turning brash or harsh. Potter turns to soprano on his own “Sea of Marmara,” a gentle, atmospheric track made all the more ethereal by Nelson’s shimmering vibes and an early segment where lines are passed around the horns like a tag team, but which, like most tracks on Pathways, turns high octane once the solos begin.
John Kelman (All About Jazz)
Original Release Date: 2010 – Label: Dare2 Records
Across Rhythm 