Archive for the ‘Bill Stewart’ Category
Peter Bernstein – Monk (2009 – Xanadu)
Thelonious Monk’s music presents a challenge for any jazz musician, but the going can be especially rough on guitarists. The songs are often physically scaled for the piano: those sharp intervals and tangled clusters don’t fall as naturally on a fretboard. So Peter Bernstein faces a basic hurdle with “Monk” (Xanadu/The Orchard), his vigorous new album. To his credit, the translation goes almost unnoticed. What sticks out instead is his soulful affinity to the material and the dapper chatter of his partners, Doug Weiss on bass and Bill Stewart on drums. On much of the album the trio delivers on a promise of buoyancy, swinging as hard as the music demands. Elsewhere, on ballads like “Monk’s Mood” and “Reflections,” Mr. Bernstein plays alone, exploring a host of harmonic microvariations. And any listener still awarding degree-of-difficulty points can look to “Work” and “Brilliant Corners,” which arrive in sequence, like a couple of speed bumps.
The New York Times
1 Let’s Cool One Monk
2 Pannonica Monk
3 Work Monk
4 Brilliant Corners Monk
5 In Walked Bud Monk
6 Monk’s Mood Monk
7 Well You Needn’t Monk
8 Bemsha Swing Monk
9 Played Twice Monk
10 Ruby, My Dear Monk
11 Blues 5 Spot Monk
12 Reflections Monk
Personnel:
Peter Bernstein: (guitar)
Doug Weiss: (bass)
Bill Stewart: (drums)
Original Release Date: December 2, 2008 – Label: Xanadu
Wycliffe Gordon – DigThis!! (2003 – Criss Cross)
Trombonist Wycliffe Gordon was the most adventurous musician to spin off from Wynton Marsalis’ orbit. Since his tenure with Marsalis, Gordon collaborated with everyone from revivalists in the Sidney Bechet Project to progressive composer Ted Nash and Randy Sandke’s Inside Outside project, which brings together practitioners from the musical extremes. He’s been more restricted in his own solo dates but has shown he’s willing to reach beyond the confines of traditional hard bop. Dig This!! finds him employing the fashionable textures provided by the Hammond organ. True to form though, Gordon refuses to get locked into the funk clichés of the organ combo sound. Rather with its wide-open swing feel Dig This!! comes off more as a contemporary version of swing trombonist Vic Dickenson’s 1952 quartet dates with Bill Doggett. Certainly “Limehouse Blues” fits the mold, albeit updated. And Gordon’s unaccompanied playing on “Blues Etude #2” and elsewhere shows him a fitting successor to Dickenson’s rubbery expressionism. Gordon has surrounded himself with a fine band. Organist Sam Yahel and guitarist Peter Bernstein each reveal a debt to their swing precursors while saxophonist Seamus Blake plays in a hard-driving contemporary manner. All of them swing, and regardless the context Gordon puts himself in, that’s a constant.
(All Music Guide)
1. Dig This!!5:59
2. Mahajual7:54
3. Old Man Blooz, Take 28:17
4. Limehouse Blues7:21
5. The Beautiful Souls4:16
6. Jookin’ the Blooz5:03
7. Lonnie’s Lament7:28
8. I Can’t Get Started5:19
9. Cone’s Tune5:18
10. Blues Etude #22:48
11. Old Man Blooz, Take 1
Wycliffe Gordon (Trombone)
Peter Bernstein (Guitar)
Seamus Blake: (Tenor Sax)
Sam Yahel (Organ Hammond)
Bill Stewart (Drums)
Original Release Date: September 23, 2003 – Label: Criss Cross
Seamus Blake – Bellwether (2009 – Criss Cross)
Some albums are named for a time, a place, an experience, or even a person. Others have a concept. Saxophonist Seamus Blake takes on concept with Bellwether, a term for leader or trendsetter.
Born in England and raised in Vancouver, Canada, Blake has gained recognition by Down Beat and JazzTimes magazines, and finished first in the 2002 Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition. His associations include Mark Turner, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Larry Grenadier and Victor Lewis. For Bellwether, Blake is accompanied by guitarist Lage Lund, pianist David Kikoski, bassist Matt Clohesy and drummer Bill Stewart.
“A Beleza Que Vem,” one of five Blake compositions, is an easygoing piece that features the leader on soprano saxophone, playing the melody in duet with Lund. Bass and drums are subtle, rim shots and strategically placed splash cymbals subtly accenting Kikoski’s solo. Blake stretches out plenty on his solo, the music building in intensity, at one pointy, as if to signal the end, but he plays on.
“Subterfuge,” another original, features Blake on tenor. Guitar and sax blend on the lead of a song in 4/4 time but which, because of some creative note placement, often sounds like another time signature. Lund’s solo subtly references Pat Metheny, while Stewart gives the entire kit a workout during his solo.
Some of Bellwether’s selections are symphonic in mood, but whether symphonic or hard charging, the music is always cohesive and expressive. Each musician shines as an individual, but there’s never a moment when the group concept is lost.
Woodrow Wilkins (All About Jazz)
Original Release Date: September 22, 2009 – Label: Criss Cross
Across Rhythm 