Archive for the ‘Brian Blade’ Category
Ralph Bowen – Soul Proprietor (2002 – Criss Cross)
As revolutionary as the compact disc has been to the music industry, sometimes you really can have too much of a good thing. More specifically, I can’t help but echo what producer Michael Cuscuna once told me about new releases. He bemoaned the fact that many of today’s discs are just too long, wearing out their welcome way before concluding their run, and I can’t help but admit that after about 50 minutes or so my attention starts to wander. So what does all this have to do with saxophonist Ralph Bowen’s most recent Criss Cross session as a leader? Well, at just about 70 minutes in duration, Soul Proprietor is definitely on the long side, but it holds up extremely well thanks to a great program of standards and originals and a cohesive ensemble that locks in tight for the duration.
Bowen first came to the fore as a member of the hard bop unit Out Of the Blue in the ‘80s. Since then the saxophonist has kept a low profile, active mainly as a college educator, yet his stature as a mature soloist has not diminished. Although he had previously recorded a set for Criss Cross many years ago, Soul Proprietor is a return to form and it features an outstanding rhythm section with organist Sam Yahel, guitarist Peter Bernstein, and drummer Brian Blade. As an added bonus, trumpeter John Swana fills out the front line on several tracks giving things an updated groove in the lineage of Larry Young’s Unity.
Bowen’s husky tone brings on “Invitation” with confidence, Swana quickly falling into the mix with his own distinctive voice. Things unfold in a relaxed manner, Bowen preferring to use space rather than cramming every beat with rapid flurries of notes. Peter Bernstein opens the title track and sings the melody in uncluttered fashion before stepping aside for Bowen to launch his initial gambit. “My Ideal” and “Peace” are spots where Bowen really gets to shine, the former a ballad feature and the latter a solo tour-de-force chock full of harmonics and over blowing. “Spikes” emerges as a cleverly disguised line built on Rhythm changes and at one point Swana and Bowen go at it without any accompaniment, their intertwined lines uniting in stimulating counterpoint. With a section in the odd meter of 7/2, Bowen’s “Meltdown” tackles Coltrane’s changes from “Countdown” but in a sage new way that offers a real challenge to all.
Of course, Yahel and Blade have worked together regularly, most recently as members of Josh Redman’s current trio, while the two joined forces with Bernstein on Yahel’s Criss Cross debut. Thankfully, Bowen and Swana have harnessed the power of this trio and the whole proves to be even greater than the sum of the individually gifted parts.
C. Andrew Hovan (All About Jazz)
1- Invitation
2- Soul Proprietor
3- My Ideal
4- Spikes
5- Under a Cloud
6- The First Stone
7- Inner Urge
8- Meltdown
9- Peace
Ralph Bowen (tenor sax)
John Swana (trumpet)
Peter Bernstein (guitar)
Sam Yahel (organ)
Brian Blade (drums)
Original Release Date: March 12, 2002 – Label: Criss Cross
Edward Simon – Unicity (2006 – Cam Jazz)
Pianist Edward Simon has been quietly but profoundly making an impact for a number of years. He’s been an astute sideman with high-caliber players like trumpeter Terence Blanchard, saxophonist Greg Osby and guitarist Adam Rogers, but it is his own works—The Process (Criss Cross, 2003) and Simplicitas (Criss Cross, 2005)—that truly reveal his performance and compositional prowess.
Edwards explores the mystic of the piano trio again on Unicity, joined by two other outstanding musicians: bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian Blade, both of whom are a vital part of the recent award-winning Wayne Shorter Quartet. Having played together on Patitucci’s 2003 Songs, Stories, and Spirituals, their chemistry is still intact.The underlying tone here is one of smooth and controlled power brought about by musicians who have a connected as a unit. Brian Blade is a drummer with a delicate sense of timing and detailed but never overpowering trap work. Patitucci, an awesome bassist, has never sounded better, with full-bodied rhythms, elaborate solos and a variety of textures. Simon, whose influences include pianists Chucho Valdes and Egberto Gismonti, plays with sophistication and classical training, reflecting his Venezuelan upbringing, combining lyricism and structure with jazz improvisation.One of Simon’s strengths is his ability to absorb and extract styles, be it the post bop of “The Messenger or the romanticism of the too-brief “Abiding Unicity, with gorgeous lines and dramatic changes. The remainder of the set continues with an eclectic mix, including “Evolution, where Patitucci employs the use of an electric arco bass, and “Eastern, where Simon improvises over a simple theme colored by Blade’s shimmering percussion.
(All About Jazz)
1 Invocation Simon 0:54
2 The Messanger Patitucci 7:16
3 Abiding Unicity Simon 5:58
4 Gevriasolas Binney 7:25
5 The Midst of Chaos Simon 6:34
6 Prelude N.9 Mompou 4:11
7 Pathless Path Simon 5:30
8 Evolution Simon 6:40
9 Eastern Simon 5:09
10 Abiding Unicity (Reprise) Simon 3:01
Personnel:
Edward Simon: (piano)
John Patitucci: (bass, electric bass)
Brian Blade: (drums)
Original Release Date: August 29, 2006 – Label: Camjazz
Buy at Amazon
Listen for once, delete, then buy,
Danilo Perez: …Till Then (2003 – Universal/Verve)
Interpretations of intent—always confounding—become both particularly difficult and intriguing with works of artistic expression as simultaneously precise, pleasurable, and subtly constructed as …Till Then. Intense musical innovations often stem from the simplest, most confined of experiments, rather than an intellectually driven perspective. The kind of artistic directedness found on …Till Then often creates a finished product either too forced to be aesthetically satisfying or too aesthetically driven to be convincing. Avoiding both these pitfalls, Danilo Perez has shaped a work of rare tonal consistency that quite astutely maintains a focused intellectual agenda while providing a moving, seamlessly natural experience.
In may ways, Perez’s current release is the fulfillment of the experiment begun with the earlier Panamonk, which unabashedly combined Monk’s rhythmic and compositional legacy with so-called Latin jazz. By expanding on his previous work, Perez has debunked many preconceptions regarding Latin jazz’s possibilities. In fact, Perez’s experiment has been so successful as to virtually erase the lines of division previously relegating Latin music to a separate, second class citizen of jazz.
The artist’s innovations indicate that jazz and Latin jazz should be seen as one continuum. After all, Spanish, African, Caribbean, and other Latin inflections have existed within the jazz idiom from its earliest origins, and have year after year been tremendously influential on its further development. With pieces such as the steel pan-colored “Gracias a la Vida,” the sumptuous ballad “Vera Cruz,” and his own “Improvisations in Red,” Perez states quite clearly that though Latin elements can be isolated and expanded, they can also be completely integrated into the jazz sphere. Or perhaps the other way around. Jazz elements can be completely integrated into Latin structures.
Such a musical statement would be significant enough, but in many ways this is only the formal background upon which Perez founds this album. If the formal concept indeed relies on synthesis and integration of stylistic elements, then the album as a whole represents a call for integration of a higher order, namely an integration of peoples, governments, and philosophic stances.
How else to explain the all-too timely inclusion of Joni Mitchell’s classic protest song, “Fiddle and the Drum,” the lyric of which quite dramatically raises concerns about America’s international actions and responsibility? Further, the overall sedate, more refined, and lamenting feel of the album suggests contemplation and introspection instead of the more energetic and vibrant material displayed on some of Perez’s previous material. This is not, however, the personal lament of an inward turning individual, but the iron-shod lament of emotional, political, and philosophic engagement.
In the end, under the influence of Perez’s arrangements and instrumental skill, musicians John Pattituci (bass), Brian Blade (drums), Ben Street (bass), Adam Cruz (drums), Donny McCaslin (soprano saxophone) and Liz Wright (vocals) all contribute excellent performances to the balanced and unusually concise nature of the album. The result is an intriguing, powerfully evocative outing which raises pertinent questions regarding cultural hegemony, isolationism, and the potential of music, in this case quite literally at times, to not only vocalize these concerns, but transcend them.
Franz A. Matzner (All About Jazz)
1. Native Soul
2. Gracias a la Vida
3. …Till Then
4. Overjoyed
5. Trocando em Miudos
6. Improvisation on Red
7. Paula C
8. Rabo de Nube
9. Fiddle and the Drum
10. Vera Cruz
Personnel:
Danilo Perez: (Piano,Fender Rhodes Piano)
Lizz Wright: (Vocals) (3,9)
Donny McCaslin: (Soprano Saxophone) (5,10)
Ben Street: (Bass) (1,4,7,8)
John Patitucci: (Bass)
Adam Cruz: (Drums,Steel Drums,Percussion) (1,4,7,8)
Brian Blade: (Drums) (2,3,5,10)
Original Release Date: August 4, 2003 – Label: Universal/Verve
Joshua Redman: Timeless Tales "For Changing Times" (1998 – Warner Bros)
Where does the time go? The ‘90s seem to be flying by faster than previous decades. Tenor saxophonist Joshua Redman just came up a few years back in a media “explosion” that introduced his Warner Bros. albums and provided biographical details about his Berkeley youth years, his Harvard credentials, his Thelonious Monk Institute award, and the differences in style between Josh and his father, saxophonist Dewey Redman. In just three months (already) the younger Redman will turn 30. Far from being born “with a silver spoon in his mouth” the saxophonist has shown creative skills as an expressive communicator through his instrument and as an innovator who will readily pump up the hard-core edge in his performances. The acoustic piano trio on Timeless Tales is a perfect fit and each artist can be heard clearly in support of Redman’s melodies. Redman employs the alto sax on “Yesterdays,” “Love For Sale” & “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” and soprano sax on “I Had a King” & “Eleanor Rigby.”
“Summertime” begins the session, which is somewhat lightweight while remaining within the confines of a creative journey. Redman’s approach to the horn is warm and laid-back, while the trio behind him explores various textures from a subdued vantagepoint. Right from the start, each of the four artists show that they prefer creative interplay and a free flow of ideas. Cole Porter’s “Love For Sale,” Jerome Kern’s “Yesterdays,” and Irving Berlin’s “How Deep Is the Ocean” certainly come to mind as classic jazz standards, but Redman’s decision to include newer tunes too, proves his point that good music comes from all eras. The haunting melody of Joni Mitchell’s “I Had a King” is presented in a sparse setting with both pianist and saxophonist offering solo spots. Stevie Wonder’s “Visions” is presented with a Latin beat and an expressive ballad charm. The quartet picks up the energy level some on Bob Dylan’s “The Times Are A-Changin’,” which has a comfortable rural charm. These tunes tell stories. The tale accompanying “Eleanor Rigby” is a familiar one, and Redman depicts it in a manner, which contains both drama and sweetness. Prince’s “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore” ends the session in a lovely blues fashion enhanced by the quartet’s overt head-shakin’ finger-poppin’ slap-bass sense of telling a familiar story. Highly recommended.
Jim Santella (All About Jazz)
1. Summertime
2. Interlude 1
3. Visions
4. Yesterdays
5. Interlude 2
6. I Had a King
7. The Times They Are A-Changin’
8. Interlude 3
9. It Might as Well Be Spring
10. Interlude 4
11. How Deep Is the Ocean?
12. Interlude 5
Personnel:
Joshua Redman (soprano, alto & tenor saxophones)
Brad Mehldau (piano)
Larry Grenadier (bass)
Brian Blade (drums)
Original Release Date: September 22, 1998 – Label: Warner Bros / Wea
Wayne Shorter – Alegría (2003 – Universal)
It is an utter joy to witness the profound evolution of a genius. With the release of Alegria, Wayne Shorter continues to widen and refine his unique musical vision—and share it with the world. From the first few notes of the opening song, “Sacajawea,” it becomes immediately evident that we’re being invited into a lyrical sonic world that is beyond common jazz metaphor. This music is stripped of all superfluity and becomes a singular document—a meeting of heavy spirits.
The music on Alegria feels “lived in” and this aura pervades every piece on the recording, even the sessions with musicians outside of the quartet orbit and the overdubbed sections. The ‘lived in’ quality comes from Shorter himself; like his former employer Miles Davis, there is as much music in what he chooses not to play as what he does voice with his horn. His tremendous presence with each note and every gesture again recalls Miles Davis, inspiring those around him to rise to a higher level of understanding of the music they are asked to interpret.
1. Sacajawea;
2. Serenata;
3. Veniendo Alegria;
4. Bachianas Brasileiras No.5;
5. Angola;
6. Interlude;
7. She Moves Through the Fair;
8. Orbits; 12th Century Carol;
9. Capricorn II
Personnel:
Wayne Shorter: tenor and soprano saxophones;
Danilo Perez; Brad Mehldau: piano;
John Patitucci: bass;
Brian Blade, Terri Lyne Carrington-drums;
Alex Acuna-percussion;
Lew Soloff, Chris Gekker, Jeremy Pelt: trumpets;
Jim Pugh, Steve davis, Bruce Eidem, Papo Vasquez, Michael Boschen: trombones;
Chris Potter: bass clarinet, tenor saxophone;
Charles Curtis: solo cello;
Paul Dunkel: flute;
Steven Taylor: oboe;
Allen Blustine: clarinet, bass clarinet;
Frank Morelli-bassoon; John Clark, Stewart Rose-horns; Marcus Rojas-tuba; David Garrett, Barry Gold, Gloria Lum, Daniel Rothmuller, Brent Samuel, Cecilia Tsan: Cello
Original Release Date: March 25, 2003 (Label: Universal)
Across Rhythm 