Jazztimes 2015 10

ERROLL GARNER: CONCERT BY THE SEA’S LOST HALF RELEASED!
DAVE
DOUGL EBUSINESS OF ART
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STANLEY COWELL JAMES BRANDON LEWIS
MARQUIS HILL
KIRK KNUFFKE
ROB MAZUREK
Artist Columns
Terence Blanchard on fusion
Terell Stafford on Lee Morgan
JOEY ALEXANDER Steve Turre on trombone masters
+ Delfeayo Marsalis
Ray Anderson
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inside OCTOBER 2015 VOLUME 45 | NUMBER 8
4 JT Notes by Evan Haga

6 The Gig Intuitive Coordination:
Trumpeter Marquis Hill by Nate Chinen
8 OPENING CHORUS
8 Hearsay Vision Festival 20,
Joey Alexander, a guest column
by Terence Blanchard, Kirk Knuffke,
James Brandon Lewis, Reggie
Washington, news and farewells
24 Before & After Delfeayo Marsalis
28 Overdue Ovation Ray Anderson
48 SOUND ADVICE
48 AudioFiles Brent Butterworth goes
beyond the iPod to survey portable
high-resolution music players
50 Gearhead The best new musical
instruments, accessories and
educational resources
52 Chops Terell Stafford examines
the soulful technique of Lee Morgan
← 54 REVIEWS
Lee Morgan multitasks at a 1961 rehearsal for Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers’
Roots & Herbs session. (Also pictured is bassist Jymie Merritt.) To read trumpeter Terell 54 CDs
Stafford’s analysis of Morgan’s playing, see p. 52. 67 VOX
69 Books
71 Jazz Directory
72 Artist’s Choice Steve Turre picks tracks
30 DAVE DOUGLAS by definitive trombone voices
The generation-defining trumpeter and composer talks to
Nate Chinen about 10 years of balancing artistic instinct
and business sense at the helm of Greenleaf Music.
36 STANLEY COWELL
outside
AT J A Z Z T I M E S . C O M
After a rewarding three-decade detour into jazz education,
the 74-year-old pianist is again taking his ’70s-rooted,
MP3s
promotions - jazz MP3s
all-encompassing vision to clubs and concert halls in full force.
By Michael J. West JazzTimes Spins & Riffs, a free podcast hosted
by JT publisher Lee Mergner
+ new jazz tracks
42 ROB MAZUREK
In this profile of the nomadic, prolific cornet player and EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
conceptualist, Mike Shanley details his journey from hard-bop articles - columns
disciple to avant-garde soldier. Extensive coverage of the Newport, Umbria,
San Jose, Springfield, Rockport and Charlie Parker
festivals; photo galleries: John Abbott’s very
special Newport festival portraits, live photos of
Branford Marsalis, Lee Ritenour and the Vision
and Ealing festivals; song and video premieres:
John Pizzarelli, Dave Douglas, Sachal, Karrin Allyson,
Cécile McLorin Salvant, Erroll Garner and Robert
Cover photo by John Abbott. Table of Contents photo by Francis Wolff/Mosaic Images. Glasper; plus news, reviews and much more!
2 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

NEW RELEASES INCLUDE
JOSÉ JAMES MARCUS MILLER JOE LOVANO & DAVE DOUGLAS CHARLES LLOYD
JAMIE CULLUM
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[JT]Notes
Pay Attention to the Words
By Evan Haga
L
anguage, or at least my relationship to it, is the damned- I’ve returned to those 60-odd words many times in my mind
est thing. I need to set text-message alerts in order to pay since I sent that column to the printer. First off, I believe the
my credit cards on time, but I can recall certain examples message to be true, and the fact that it’s coming from someone
of journalism, literature and film dialogue with the clarity of Douglas’ peak-of-powers stature gives it validation. It also
of a stage actor after reading or hearing them only once. The comes in handy as a morale booster, after I’ve read some dopey
articles that appear in JazzTimes burrow even deeper into my general-interest piece on why jazz is dead or is being revived by
memory because I’ve internalized them ad nauseam through the a computer musician. And it’s acted as a kind of daily affirma-
various stages of our production cycle. tion when I need to steer the magazine back toward the high
I wouldn’t call my skill photographic, however; the words, road: a reminder that criticism and advocacy should exist in
whether in content or style or both, have to impress me in a specific, equal measure, and that lifting up the current scene is just as
striking way to be retained. One piece that will always remain is important as celebrating jazz tradition.
our October 2013 Before & After listening session with this month’s So much of the music covered in this issue reiterates how jazz is
cover subject, trumpeter Dave Douglas—especially his closing only improving. To highlight a sample: the new album by saxo-
sentiments. After commenting on Terri Lyne Carrington’s Money phonist James Brandon Lewis, with its pitch-perfect blends of mel-
Jungle tribute album, Douglas ties a bow on the exercise: “[People ody and groove, improvisation and concept; music from trumpeter
get] dark about the future of the music and the future of instru- Marquis Hill, a composer who knows precisely how to employ
ments,” he says, “but I feel like it’s a golden age for improvised contemporary ideas while showcasing the old-school virtuosity of
music. … There’s more creative music happening now than ever, his band; and vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant, whose use of musical
and I’m very upbeat about it. A lot of this music you played for me history is so intelligent it could count as an innovation. To borrow
proves that point. It gives me even more to look forward to.” Douglas’ phrase, you have much to look forward to. JT
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[the]Gig
Intuitive Coordination: Marquis Hill
By Nate Chinen
Legend Haz It. Modern Flows EP,

Vol. 1, released on Skiptone Music
last year, makes the organic synthesis
between jazz and hip-hop feel almost
like a raison d’être.
That EP—like Hill’s 2013 album
The Poet, also on Skiptone—finds him
leading an agile young band he calls
the Blacktet. With Christopher McBri-
de on alto saxophone, Justin Thomas
on vibraphone, Joshua Ramos on bass
and Makaya McCraven on drums, it’s
an appealingly shadowy ensemble, ca-
pable of full-tilt aggression but just as
likely to make its point with chamber-
esque cool. Early this year I saw the
band perform in the Monk-in-Motion
concert series at the TriBeCa Per-
forming Arts Center, and came away
marveling at the intuitive coordination
between the players, the rare level of
Marquis Hill has a brawny but mellow sound on the trumpet, on-the-spot composure that only a se-
and an evenness of attack across the breadth of his range. His articulation, precise rious working band can attempt. Hill
but unlabored, calls to mind the precedent of Clifford Brown, while his bravura was clearly the man at the controls,
even in those moments when Thomas
phrasing suggests an equal immersion one of the Young Lion albums that kept and McCraven locked into a slanted
in Freddie Hubbard and Woody Shaw. Whitaker and Allen busy in the ’90s. groove, communicating on their own
All of which surely helped his cause at But of course the Monk Competi- transmission frequencies.
last year’s Thelonious Monk Interna- tion is a fishbowl, and this pressurized Hill adheres to a pattern of stealth
tional Jazz Competition, where he won sample of Hill’s talent, while impressive, logic as a composer, apparently working
first prize, and with it the promise of a hardly captures his scope as an artist. under the premise that a tune works
recording contract with the Concord A homegrown product of Chicago, he best when it has several gears whirring
Music Group. was mentored by the likes of pianist at once. “White Shadows,” a highlight
Hill’s performance at the competition Willie Pickens and saxophonist Ernest of the set, featured a fluttery agitation
semifinals, which lives on as a 15-min- Dawkins, and had early exposure to the among the bass and drums, over which
ute clip on YouTube, would seem to
mark him as the latest in a succession of Hill adheres to a pattern of stealth logic as a composer,
astute young postbop swashbucklers on
apparently working under the premise that a tune
CHRISTOPHER BALIWAS, ILLUSTRATION BY THEO PULFER-TERINO
the horn, like Jeremy Pelt or Sean Jones

before him. Backed by a swinging house
rhythm section—Reggie Thomas on
works best when it has several gears whirring at once.
piano, Rodney Whitaker on bass and
Carl Allen on drums—he breezes intrepid ethos of the Association for the Hill and McBride wafted a serenely
through an uptempo “Straight, No Advancement of Creative Musicians. blended melody, with Thomas filling
Chaser” (the requisite Monk tune) He appears in muted, brooding glory the interstitial spaces with his chiming
and then finesses a standard, “When on the new album by smooth-jazz sax harmonies.
Sunny Gets Blue” (the requisite ballad). man Boney James. On Modern Flows EP, Vol. 1, a tag
His closer is an original, “The Wrath Hill’s own recorded output in recent near the end of “White Shadows”
of Lark,” a flight of modal gymnastics years has engaged with hip-hop and becomes the instrumental backdrop for
bracketed by a hard-churning vamp; it spoken word, with contributions by Winford’s rapping. This is deftly done,
would have sounded right at home on Keith Winford of the Chicago rap crew but the more striking integration comes

elsewhere—when, for instance, the har- an acoustic trio album, Covered (Blue sure to conform right out of the gate.
monized head of a floating tune called Note), while saxophonist Kamasi So I was a little surprised when Hill
“The Essence” becomes the loop behind Washington shook the ground with The told me that his Concord Jazz debut,
Winford’s verses on the following track, Epic (Brainfeeder), which occasionally due out next year, will be a standards
“Love My Life.” The same happens with suggests Young Lion protocols retooled album—as if he were taking the typi-
a stutter-syncopated line on “When We for a modern ear. Kendrick Lamar, the cal trajectory in reverse.
Were Kings,” which resurfaces, slowed brilliant Los Angeles rapper, stocked It’s not that simple, though. When I
and slightly muffled, on “King Legend.” his monumentally ambitious album To asked him for examples of the album’s
It’s as if Hill is mirroring the creative Pimp a Butterfly with a musical corps repertoire, Hill mentioned a couple of
exchange between a jazz record and a that included both Washington and tunes well off the beaten path: Horace
crate-digging hip-hop producer, effec- Glasper, exhorting them at times to Silver’s “Moon Rays” and a bop-
tively sampling his own supply. (A simi- swing like mad. calypso workout called “Beepdurple,”
lar process reigns on In the Moment, an Hill, who now splits his time by the Kansas City trumpeter Carmel
excellent new album by McCraven on between New York and Chicago, Jones. He also stressed that the album
International Anthem, stitched together should fit into such a matrix. When would have a recognizable Blacktet
from months of live recordings, with I asked him about it recently, he said slant. As for Modern Flows, Vol. 2,
Hill and Thomas among its personnel.) he hoped that he does. His modern presumably a good fit for Concord,
This has been a year in which the trumpet pantheon includes Roy whose roster includes pianist Kris
stark old divisions between “straight- Hargrove and Nicholas Payton, who Bowers and trumpeter Christian
ahead jazz” and “jazz meets hip-hop,” as started out on the straight and narrow Scott, he said it was just a matter of
genre constructs, began to seem down- and eventually flew their freak flags time. “I want to keep playing with that
right quaint. Pianist Robert Glasper high, and it’s fascinating that Hill and idea,” he said, with a laugh that did
deepened his hybridizing agenda with his generation have felt so little pres- little to disarm his sincerity. JT
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JAZZTIMES.COM 7
OPENING
CHORUS )) Stay in tune ) )
Inside
8 Hearsay
Vision Festival 20,
Joey Alexander, a guest
column by Terence Blanchard,
Kirk Knuffke, James Brandon
Lewis, Reggie Washington,
news and farewells
24 Before & After

Delfeayo Marsalis
28 Overdue Ovation
Ray Anderson
← Hamiet Bluiett conducts his Telepathic Orchestra at New York’s Judson Memorial Church
on July 12
From Upstart to Institution It operates as a non-profit, non-

corporate-funded affair run by Arts
for Art’s Nicholson Parker, a dancer
FOR TWO DECADES, THE VISION FESTIVAL HAS FOSTERED by profession but a tireless worker by
THE AVANT-GARDE TRADITION IN NEW YORK disposition, along with a staff of vol-
unteers and helpers. Few would have
T
he Vision Festival was exactly closely associated with the ’60s. Held bet that it would be New York’s only
one hour behind schedule by in a series of synagogues, churches, continuously run jazz festival over the
the time baritone saxophonist theaters and funky performance last 20 years, becoming the David to
Hamiet Bluiett’s sprawling Tele- spaces, the festival has indeed always such Goliaths as the various festivals
pathic Orchestra began its hour-long been a “happening” because it includes presented by the George Wein-found-
closing set in New York in mid-July. No visual artists, poets, political activists ed Festival Productions and the Knit-
surprise there. Time has been a relative and filmmakers as well as volunteerism ting Factory under Michael Dorf.
concept at the festival since its debut in and grassroots commerce. “Early on, The Vision Festival has even suc-
1996, with the schedule often becom- people seemed to be embarrassed by ceeded where previous grassroots fes-
ing a list and order of performers the idealism of the Vision Festival, tivals organized by Nicholson Parker’s
untethered to a clock. Most performers particularly in the press,” said founder husband, the preeminent avant-garde
and audience members know the drill, and artistic director Patricia Nicholson bassist William Parker, and the circle of
but there have been exceptions: An an- Parker, a few days after this year’s clos- musicians in the Downtown scene, had
noyed Jaki Byard spent part of his 1998 ing night. “They think of idealism as a not. “This one has survived because it’s
set conducting an impromptu lecture bad thing. But what I’m trying to do, not run by musicians,” he pointed out
and banging on piano keys while and this may be corny, is give people during the festival. “You need a catalyst
chanting: “Kiss my ass!” hope—that you can be successful doing to keep it going—someone with a
MAREK LAZARSKI
Some have thought the Vision Festi- what you really want to do.” vision and an idea, which in this case
val lost in time because it celebrates The Vision Festival has arrived as is Patricia. The other festivals we did
an avant-garde brand of jazz often the hopeful festival that could, and did. were good for the year we did them.

AVAILABLE AT
“Legacy” and l Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. Marca Registrada. (c) 2015 Sony Music Entertainment.
VANMORRISON.COM LEGACY.COM
OPENING CHORUS Hearsay
But musicians essentially wanted to history of social activism, which
play music, get an agent and not have to reaches back to the ’60s, and the
produce all their own concerts.” location—the most central yet, on
According to Nicholson Parker, this Washington Square South. But Judson
year’s festival (July 5-12) had the high- also has a great festival layout, with
est attendance numbers yet, with five a second room downstairs from the
nights of music filling Greenwich Vil- main space where CDs, books and
lage’s Judson Memorial Church, which other merchandise as well as food and
had seating for drinks were sold. It made for a great
250 with more gathering space between sets, or when
people standing one simply needed a break or wanted
on the side to chat with friends. “Some people
and in back. value the whole festival with its com-
There was also plexity, with its social-ness,” Nicholson
a day of panels Parker said. “For them it’s a communi-
at Columbia ty-building event. Then other people
University and just want to hear great sound. Roulette
another of jazz is great for that and lots of other
documentaries h Vision Festival’s things. If that’s what you want, then
and concert Patricia Nicholson you aren’t going to be happy with what
films at An- Parker and William it was this year. But I think you then
thology Film Parker in July don’t value what the festival is on a
Archives. more complex level, which didn’t work
While at Roulette.”
regulars like There is also an emerging sense that
pianist Matthew the festival is now an institution wor-
Shipp, saxo- thy of support and recognition. This
phonist Rob goes beyond donors and grant givers,
Brown and the Sun Ra Arkestra led by populated with an art installation of with the daylong academic symposium
Marshall Allen returned for strong sets, yellow beach-ball-sized balloons, as at Columbia University on the Monday
newer artists like saxophonists Ingrid film and visional art was projected before the festival drawing dozens of
Laubrock and Darius Jones and Hear in onto the wall behind the stage. It made people this year. “Our guest speakers
Now, featuring cellist Tomeka Reid, of- for a visually striking setting, but was and panelists raised some challenging
fered lots of hope for the future. This is less kind to bands that played loud or and thought-provoking issues,” said
particularly important with the passing included an aggressive drummer like University of Minnesota Music School
of festival mainstays like David S. Ware, Graves, turning the sound muddy. lecturer Scott Currie, who also worked
Fred Anderson, Billy Bang, Roy Camp- But veterans of this itinerate for the festival during its early years. “I
bell Jr., Peter Kowald, Amiri Baraka and festival could say the same for the don’t know whether that validates the
others in recent years. years held at the stately but dilapi- festival, or the scholarly practice that is
Highlights this year included the dated Angel Orensanz Center, the growing up around it, but I suspect it
world premiere of the commission chummy basement of St. Nicholas of probably works both ways.”
“Peak/Abyss” by multireedist Roscoe Myra Orthodox Church and Old St. More changes are in the offing for
Mitchell, who performed in two trios Peter’s gym/youth center. The festival the festival as well. Nicholson Parker
and then a combined quintet. William has sounded more pristine in recent is now turning over the administrative
Parker’s uplifting tribute to Martin years, at Roulette, the Abrons Art reins to bassist Todd Nicholson, who
Luther King was a consensus highlight, Center and the Knitting Factory’s for- returns to the fold after years of living
featuring a drummer-less sextet and mer Tribeca location in Manhattan, in Japan. It will be his chore next year
five vocalists. Dressed in white and which was the festival’s single foray to wrestle with the concept of “Vision
often chanting as he played, drummer into a nightclub. Festival time,” but Nicholson Parker
Milford Graves, a perennial festival According to Matthew Shipp, “It’s should be forgiven for letting things go
FROM LEFT: EDWARD BERGER, MAREK LAZARSKI
favorite, led a quintet through a set impossible to pick a favorite space, but late this year.
that played out like a series of duets I like Judson Church for its centrality “This year was particularly bad,” she
between him and his musicians. Trum- and iconic aspect of space. Roulette admitted with a laugh. “It was a throw-
peter Wadada Leo Smith’s actual duo has that great, great piano. And the back to the late ’90s. We went back to
set with pianist Aruán Ortiz was filled Orensanz Center has the LSD-type our bad old ways. We knew it would
with spikey notes, slurred textures and tripping-out aspect of the place; even if run late. But when it came down to it,
majestic declarations that achieved the the acoustics are not the best, it always I didn’t want it to end. I had this feel-
best sound in the Judson space. felt like a free-jazz acid trip.” ing: Oh no! It’s over.”
Judson’s vaulted church ceiling was Shipp is right about both Judson’s TAD HENDRICKSON

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New Album Available Now
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Joey Alexander: Youth Without Youth

GEOFFREY HIMES THINKS OUT LOUD ABOUT
THE PRECOCIOUSLY TACTFUL PIANO PHENOM
Blues,” the one original tune on the

debut recording. A hard-bop number
in the 1950s vocabulary that Alex-
ander prefers, the pianist began by
banging out the blues changes, but he
quickly shifted the dynamics down-
ward to contrast the assertive opening
with a quieter passage. Soon he was
comping sympathetically behind
Russell Hall’s upright bass solo and
playing triplets with the right hand
against the 4/4 chords in the left. It’s
this maturity, this refusal to over-
whelm the listener with technique,
this willingness to seduce the listener
with suggestion and substitution,
that make Alexander such an atypical
prodigy. He understands that jazz is
not an Olympic competition where
the gold medal goes to the athlete with
the fastest fingers, but rather an effort
to convey one person’s internal experi-
← Joey Alexander (right) with Newport Jazz Festival founder George Wein in August ence to another. And he does that.
Of course, it’s the experience of a
12-year-old kid who has never had
I
n August, the Newport Jazz Festival 12-year-old prodigy from Indonesia? his heart broken, his pride dented by
added a fourth venue, the 100-seat That they’ve got to see. an employer or his confidence shaken
Storyville Stage, at Fort Adams For those lucky enough to squeeze by failure. So you don’t get the darker
State Park. It was tucked inside a into Storyville, two things were surpris- emotions and lustier rhythms you
brick building outside the walls of the ing about their first encounter with hear in a more mature musician, but
19th-century stone fortification. On Alexander. With his baby-fat face, thick that’s not Alexander’s fault. He will
Saturday, Aug. 1, a long line snaked mop of dark hair, black-frame glasses have all those experiences in the years
from Storyville’s entrance all the way and white T-shirt stitched with the mot- to come, and he’s well positioned to
to a distant row of food vendors. When to “Enjoy Being Fun,” he looked closer incorporate them into his music, be-
I arrived, I assumed that the building to 9 than 12. But he was all business as cause he already knows how to build
hadn’t opened its doors yet, but no, the he prepared for the set, giving the stage drama out of conflicting themes and
venue was already full. People were crew very specific instructions on how temperaments on the piano.
standing in line for seats they would to position the mics within the piano. You could hear promising hints of
probably never get. Once he climbed onto the bench that at Newport. Alexander played
Who were these people so desperate (cranked up high), his blue tennis shoes three tunes not on the standard edition
to see? Joey Alexander, the Indonesian- didn’t reach the pedals. When he started of his new album: another original
born, now New York-based piano playing, however, he was nothing like called “Sunday Waltz,” imbued with a
prodigy who had turned 12 five weeks the usual jazz prodigy. We’re all used to Randy Newman-ish jauntiness; Wayne
earlier. He was still 11 when his debut young hotshots who build a reputation Shorter’s “Footprints,” which show-
album, My Favorite Things, was released on just two aspects of a musician’s skill cased Alexander’s remarkable ability to
on Motéma Records in May, an event set: speed and accuracy. But that wasn’t shift dynamics, pacing and mood; and
recognized by a front-page feature Alexander’s approach at all. Though he Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie’s
story in the New York Times. Jazz fans tossed off the occasional brief flurry of “Anthropology,” which allowed the
may become blasé about 19-year-old velocity, this diminutive keyboardist youngster to prove just how fast he
ALAN NAHIGIAN
virtuosos from Berklee and Juilliard— displayed a restraint that’s all too rare, could play when the situation required,
not to mention 54-year-old alumni of even in thirtysomething musicians. especially in the climactic give-and-
Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers—but a He started his trio set with “Ma take with drummer Sammy Miller.

It was a genuinely enjoyable set— WE’RE ALL USED TO YOUNG HOTSHOTS WHO BUILD A
which is not to say that Alexander is
suddenly one of the best pianists in jazz. REPUTATION ON JUST TWO ASPECTS OF A MUSICIAN’S
He has a long way to go to match the
depth and invention of keyboardists
SKILL SET: SPEED AND ACCURACY. BUT THAT WASN’T
such as Jason Moran, Brad Mehldau, ALEXANDER’S APPROACH AT ALL.
Lafayette Gilchrist and Kris Bowers
(though one could argue that Alexan-
der has already surpassed the likes of
Hiromi and Robert Glasper). But Alex- Lincoln Center (Wynton Marsalis cham- path from prodigy to adult success. The
ander has gotten further at his age than pioned him early on—they also share jazz guitarist was the subject of a 1997
any other jazz pianist ever documented, management—and JALC’s program- documentary while still in elementary
and if he keeps growing at the same rate, ming director, Jason Olaine, produced school, performed on the Grammy
he could be ahead of his generation for the debut album). But to continue to Awards TV show at age 13 and joined
decades to come. grow as an artist, Alexander needs to the faculty of the Stanford Jazz Work-
The arts, of course, are littered with explore music outside the canon of shop at age 15. But Lage bided his time
tales of prodigies who made a big splash midcentury swing; he needs to hear and played in the bands of Gary Burton,
but never fulfilled the hype. So many everyone from Muhal Richard Abrams Taylor Eigisti and David Grisman before
things can stop a teenage artist’s growth: to RZA. He needs to serve his time as a releasing his debut solo album at age 22,
celebrity, self-satisfaction, intoxicants, sideman to as many older artists as he in 2009. Lage’s refusal to fast-forward
money, bad managers, bad lovers, bad can—even if that means sacrificing some his career paid off in music remarkable
advice and bad decisions. So how can income during his adolescence. for the breadth of its influences and the
Alexander stay on the right path? Most of all, he needs to follow the depth of its emotional power. Someone
He seems to have level-headed example of Julian Lage, who seemed to should give Alexander Lage’s phone
parents and a safe harbor within Jazz at do everything right in negotiating the number, so the two can have a chat. JT
Juilliard Developing musicians versed

in the jazz continuum and its
American vernacular roots
JAZZ
WYNTON MARSALIS, Director
• Undergraduate and graduate degrees and diplomas
• World-renowned faculty
• Performance opportunities in New York City and abroad
Juilliard.edu/jazz
Photo: Hiroyuki Ito
For an inside look at the Juilliard experience visit

discover.juilliard.edu
JAZZTIMES.COM 13
The Frisson of Fusion

TERENCE BLANCHARD MEDITATES ON THE JAZZ-ROCK THAT INSPIRES HIM
A
picture periodically reappears recording of In a Silent Way, but the “Sugar, Sugar” and Elvis’ “In the Ghetto”
in my Facebook newsfeed of a music on Bitches Brew, the title, the in- were floating on the radio waves. The
memo that producer Teo Macero your-face, psychedelic, sexualized cover Temptations’ “I Can’t Get Next to You”
wrote to the executives at Colum- art by Mati Klarwein … Add your own reached No. 1 on the pop charts. Jazz
bia Records on Nov. 14, 1969. It reads: colorful language, because it was just was ruminating in the basement of “out
that! The shit. Unique. A one-of-a-kind there” with Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman,
“Miles just called and said he wants this performance and album. Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders and the Art
album to be titled: ‘BITCHES BREW’ When Bitches Brew was recorded, the Ensemble of Chicago. But nothing was as
Please advise. Teo” walls were tumbling down and revolu- intense as the boundaries that were being
tion was in the air. Just three weeks after pushed to their limits by the unyielding
Someone, who has no idea how record Teo’s memo was written, the infamous creativity of Miles and company. Macero
companies work, posted in response, “I Altamont festival, headlined by the edited the shit together to find new pos-
think it’s safe to assume that the advice Rolling Stones, signaled the end of hip- sibilities in composition, flipping the end
reluctantly given … was essentially, ‘Let pie idealism. It was two years after the to the front or the middle to the end, or
Miles Davis call his next album whatever Summer of Love and a year following the clipping out a whole section and hav-
he wants.’” Summer Olympics in Mexico City, where ing that become a track by itself (“John
Uh, no. Not by a mile. Tommie Smith and John Carlos raised McLaughlin”). It was as Miles wanted,
In fact, after Teo handed in the album, their clinched fists in solidarity with other so to speak; as Miles would say to Teo, “I
I’m pretty sure the same guys who got the African-Americans; that same year, Ar- thought you’d do that.”
memo, and probably most of the market- thur Ashe became the first African-Amer- What came after Bitches Brew was the
ing department that had pushed Kind of ican man to win a Grand Slam singles title music that excited and captivated me
HENRY ADEBONOJO
Blue up the charts as a pop album, were in tennis, and Shirley Chisholm became when I was in my pre-teens: fusion in all its
shitting bricks. the first African-American woman elected rock-jazz glory, filling amphitheaters with a
There was nothing like this, ever. Miles to the U.S. House of Representatives. young fan base jazz hadn’t seen in decades.
had worked out some ideas through the And over in pop and jazz? “Dizzy,” But you can’t get to the era of fusion without

going through Bitches Brew, because many of other classical mainstays were once as this jazz thing. What gave me a shot of ex-
the leaders of the fusion bands participated in radical as what Miles created with Bitches citement, the thrill of going over the edge,
those sessions: Chick Corea; John McLaugh- Brew.) This always happens when the foun- was fusion; the frisson of fusion, if you will.
lin; Joe Zawinul; Wayne Shorter; Lenny dation is chipped at and the house sways There is a time and a place for pulling tunes
White, who headed over to Return to Forever while being rebuilt. out of the archives and laying in the foot-
with Chick; Airto Moreira, who played with When I was in the Jazz Messengers, Art noted solos, but music should also make
both RTF and Weather Report; and Bennie Blakey used to tell the audience: “You blew you experience something you haven’t quite
Maupin, who joined up with Herbie Han- Bird. You blew Monk. Don’t blow these felt before; show you something of yourself
cock’s Headhunters. young musicians.” Get it now or regret it you’ve never quite understood before; help
Those who played on the Bitches Brew later, basically. you off your ass to go way past the comfort-
sessions—and all who heard the album— able and push you into the thrilling.
were influenced by the approach that Miles ••• E-Collective members are lovers of all
and his band took to harmony. It made “When music created controversy without types of music. You name it and it’s prob-
room for everyone to stretch from a single lyrics.”— ad copy for a fusion CD compila- ably been through our headphones. Taking
tonal foundation, with no harmonic limits. tion released in 1992 the open form of Bitches Brew as a starting
Freeing up the form or solo structure was point and inspiration, and allowing—need-
something Miles brought over from his jazz By the ’90s, there was cause to look back ing—the solos to expand from the soul, has
quintet period, and it served this music well and celebrate fusion, which had long since given us the foundation to build just about
by allowing it to be shaped by the move- been coopted. As usual, when something anything. This understanding and spirit
ment of the ensemble rather than by a pre- is good and making money—Return to is allowing us to bring all of our collective
planned structure. All of this was colored by Forever, Weather Report and the Mahav- experiences together to form music that is
a minimalist approach to melody. ishnu Orchestra played arenas and sold both exciting to listen to and fun and chal-
Take a listen to the solos again. The “product”—commercialism starts sniffing lenging to play.
musicians are not showing off; this is not a around. Fusion, almost as soon as its first We recently did an East Coast swing
display of how fast or how high they could year, was churned into albums in order to with Ravi Coltrane. When the E-Collec-
play. It’s about what was on their minds—an- pay the record companies’ bills, not create tive would walk out onstage, you could
WHEN I WAS IN THE JAZZ MESSENGERS, ART BLAKEY USED TO TELL THE AUDIENCE:
“YOU BLEW BIRD. YOU BLEW MONK. DON’T BLOW THESE YOUNG MUSICIANS.”
GET IT NOW OR REGRET IT LATER, BASICALLY.
other facet of the word Brew, perhaps. More sparks. (A formula still in practice today, tell that some of the fans had no idea what
important, this recording put soul back into by the way.) The intent of the fusion I loved was in store for them. They were waiting
the form; motivation and essence were key was to create something new, not to be just for Magnetic or even A Tale of God's Will.
elements in finding a way through the music. another piece of vinyl sold at the Manufac- And this scenario was the same through-
There is no doubt this album started a turer’s Suggested Retail Price. out the entire tour. During the first two
movement. All of the guys mentioned above, In New Orleans in my teen years, I songs, I could see some fans had a look of
along with Freddie Hubbard, have taken enjoyed all types of music from all different bewilderment on their faces, all while tap-
things from that music and used it in their genres. Whether it be Mandrill, Parliament- ping their toes. By the fourth tune, those
own way. Hubbard’s intro to “Red Clay” Funkadelic, the Headhunters, Return to who chose to stay were fully engaged. The
can be seen as being influenced by Coltrane Forever, Miles Davis’ jazz quintet, John younger members of the audience knew
and Miles; the rubato intro has the open- Coltrane’s quartet or Jimi Hendrix, they all where we were coming from; they got it
ness of “Bitches Brew” and was recorded forced me to expand my thoughts about from beat one. Then, unfortunately for
four months later in January of 1970, with what music could become or mutate into. those who left, Ravi came out and offered
Miles alumni Lenny White, Herbie Hancock “Sly,” on the Head Hunters album, was a his musical genius with a groove-based
and Ron Carter. And while more rhythmic, definite, and pointed, hat tip to Sly Stone. philosophy that is shared by the E-Collec-
Chick Corea and Return to Forever’s Where The funk that you basically breathe in the tive. Music can never stand still. Because
Have I Known You Before has elements of air down here was being whipped up into while you think you’re standing still, the
Bitches Brew in its sonic palette. Even though this other thing; it made its way into your earth is rotating. JT
that album was released in 1974, you can see consciousness by combining infectious
how it was part of the initial movement to grooves with complex jazz harmonies and Since his arrival on the scene in the early
plug in and turn up. highly specialized improvisation. 1980s, Terence Blanchard has been one of
Mainstream jazz fans walked out of fusion My first intention behind starting a jazz’s top trumpeters. He is also renowned
concerts the same way people walked out group like the E-Collective was to not only for his film-scoring work in collaboration
when Dylan went electric at Newport and have some fun with some great guys, but with Spike Lee. His most recent album is
Stravinsky premiered The Rite of Spring. to create instrumental music that would Breathless (Blue Note), featuring his band
(Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Wagner, Satie and inspire a whole new generation to check out the E-Collective.
JAZZTIMES.COM 15
Lessons From Ornette

CORNETIST KIRK KNUFFKE ON JAMMING WITH THE FREE-JAZZ
GIANT, COMING UP IN COLORADO AND THE JOYS OF FIRST TAKES
Arms & Hands evades the standard

conventions of a tribute album, offering
a more oblique hat-tip, and not to his
cornet forebears. There is only one cover:
country crooner Ernest Tubb’s twangy
“Thanks a Lot,” a stylish reinvention
consistent with the Sonny Rollins school
of repertoire selection. Yet the album
pays subtle homage to Knuffke’s many
saxophone totems: “Bright Light” for
Daniel Carter; “Root” for Cecil Taylor
saxophonist Jimmy Lyons; “Pepper”
for Jim Pepper; “Use” for Art Pepper;
“Chirp” for Steve Lacy, the inspiration for
baritone saxophonist Josh Sinton’s Ideal
Bread, of which Knuffke is a member.
“Safety Shoes,” “Elevator” and “Bonder-
izer” spring from the pages of Studs Ter-
kel’s 1974 oral history of industrial life,
Working, interspersing the album with a
mechanistic pulse.
However, its clearest debt is to Ornette
Coleman, notably absent from the pot-
pourri, but whose polytonal approach
to what he called harmolodics suffuses
I
t’s notoriously difficult to capture collaborator Drye was accustomed to every track. Knuffke plays in Goodwin’s
pure collective improvisation on a Knuffke’s penchant for spontaneity and Orntette, a tribute band, with saxophon-
jazz studio album, but cornetist Kirk compositional vagaries. “I showed up and ist Adam Niewood and bassist Chris
Knuffke’s Arms & Hands (The Royal sight-read the tunes in one take and left. Higgins. Despite his reputation as a
Potato Family) achieves the combustible He writes in a way that allows for that to straight-ahead player with Phil Woods
energy of a live set without any audience happen,” Drye says. “Still, I didn’t know and Art Pepper, Goodwin’s range extends
interaction. The album was recorded in what to expect.” far beyond the parameters of bebop.
one day at Acoustic Recording in Prospect Knuffke facilitates the unexpected, Helias collaborated with former Coleman
Heights, Brooklyn, with drummer Bill starting with the collage-style handwritten bandmates Ed Blackwell, Dewey Redman
Goodwin and bassist Mark Helias form- sheet music. “Atessa” takes up two staves; and Don Cherry. Knuffke, for his part,
ing the core trio and tenor and soprano the rest of the page consists of a black- never performed publicly with Coleman,
saxophonist Jeff Lederer, alto saxophonist and-white print of a cantilever bridge. but got to know the free-jazz progenitor
Daniel Carter and trombonist Brian Drye “Next” fills three staves, juxtaposed by well in his final years.
adding texture. Knuffke’s 15th album as an orange dental diagram. “Tuesday,” Several years ago, Knuffke attended
a leader or co-leader harks back to an marked “through composed,” is the freest, what turned out to be Dewey Redman’s
earlier era, when studio sessions required consisting entirely of retro emoji; Kirk final show, and after the set he got up the
alacrity and risk-taking trumped finesse. is “blissful,” Mark “suspicious” and Bill courage to approach Coleman, who was
Two years after Knuffke, Goodwin and “surprised.” The atonal result somehow also in the audience. Coleman invited him
Helias took their maiden voyage as a swings. “Every time we play is like the to Central Park and then to his apart-
band, they still haven’t rehearsed. first time,” Goodwin says. To Goodwin, ment. “The very first time I went over, he
“I’m a big fan of very few takes. There Knuffke’s sound is as forward-thinking as said, ‘Come on in and have a seat.’ Then
isn’t a song on that record that we did they come, but steeped in a long tradition he said, ‘I’ve got to go to the bank.’ And
MADELEINE VENTRICE KNUFFKE
more than two takes of,” says the 35-year- of melodic improvisation. “Kirk reminds he just left,” Knuffke says. “As he was go-
old cornetist, sitting down recently at me of a pure melody player, like Bobby ing out the door, he said, ‘If you need to
his cozy walk-up in midtown Manhat- Hackett or Ruby Braff, Warren Vaché per- take a nap, take a nap.’” While Coleman
tan, where he lives with his wife. “Even haps—beautiful sound, tone production was out, Charlie Haden called and left a
though there were only two at the most, and a melodic gift,” he says. “It’s straight message. When he returned, Coleman
half of them were first takes.” Longtime from the heart.” showed Knuffke his inner sanctum, a

practice room with leopard-skin carpet, and began playing the trumpet at 12; by trips to Denver on tour. During his first
original album art from his back catalog 14, he knew he wanted to be a profes- homecoming, he offhandedly floated
adorning the walls, the ideal backdrop for sional musician. Largely self-taught, he the idea of switching to cornet to Ron
an intimate duo jam. When they finished, learned by listening to Al Hirt, Lester Miles. Knuffke had given up the more
Ornette gave Knuffke a standing invita- Bowie, Bill Dixon, Graham Haynes and subdued horn after high school in favor
tion to come over. For several years, he Chet Baker. After high school, Knuffke of the trumpet, which he considered
went at least once a month. completed one year at the University more marketable. Miles invited him to
“Just playing with him changed who I of Northern Colorado, then moved to his house to try out his cornet collection,
am and how I play. There was something Denver, where he cut his teeth in blues including the Monette 900 Series horn
about being so close to his sound that and funk bands. He had two prominent that Miles had played on Bill Frisell’s
was really informative,” Knuffke recalls. Colorado-based mentors: pianist Art Blues Dream. “Ron said, ‘All right. Dave
He absorbed a lot by osmosis, grazing Lande, who educated him in the funda- [Monette] says take care of it.’ And he
through the sheaf of papers on Cole- mentals of jazz theory and improvisation, just gave it to me,” Knuffke says. Spe-
man’s desk, myriad lists of melodic lines, and trumpeter Ron Miles. When he was cific instructions from Monette himself
mostly diatonic. Some began, uncon- 25, Knuffke moved to New York. followed by e-mail several days later.
ventionally, on B sharp; one such list He has since become one of the most Knuffke has played it ever since.
was eventually bequeathed to Knuffke. in-demand sidemen, performing with the “When I was a kid, and would get
Surprisingly, though, none of Coleman’s Matt Wilson Quartet, Helias’ quartet with together and play free improvisations with
lead sheets had any rhythm specified. saxophonist Tim Berne and drummer this drummer friend of mine, I would
Melody was chief, rhythm had to be felt Mark Ferber, Allison Miller’s Boom Tic play cornet. I just felt freer on it for some
out. “He’d say, ‘I don’t remember how it Boom and groups led by Butch Morris, reason,” Knuffke says. “When I moved
goes until I play it a few times,’” Knuffke Michael Formanek and Uri Caine, appear- to New York, it was pretty obvious that I
says. “Even though it was super rhythmic ing on more than 60 albums. wasn’t getting any work because I was a
music, it was all about the line.” Soon after joining the Wilson quartet trumpet player. I was only getting work
Knuffke grew up in Fort Collins, Colo., in 2009, Knuffke began taking annual because I was me.” AIDAN LEVY
“You can litera lly feel the

ghosts of all of the
legends that played
there,” McBrid e says. “You
feel Coltrane hover ing in Liv e at the Vil lag e Vanguard
the vortex. You feel Monk
hover ing in the vortex.
Miles Davis, Mingus...you feel CHR ISTIAN MCB RIDE
all of that in the air.” BASS
CHR ISTIAN SANDS
PIANO
ULYSS ES OW ENS, JR.
DRU MS
mackavenue.com
christianmcbride.com
JAZZTIMES.COM 17
Groove Continuum
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS CONNECTS CLASSIC HIP-HOP TO TIMELESS TRIO INTERPLAY
W
hen tenor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis decided to recontexu- fishing. But, of course, [using “Freeman”
alize ’90s hip-hop in a free-jazz-leaning saxophone/electric bass/ and “Wilson” today], I could also be talk-
drums setting, he wanted the results to sound organic and honest. ing about Darren Wilson [the police of-
“I didn’t want to over-synthesize the music and have a bunch of ficer who shot and killed Michael Brown
backbeats with bebop vocabulary,” he says. “My biggest challenge with this record in Ferguson, Mo.].
I’m not the type of person to be in your
is to not be the jazz musician who has the backbeats while giving love to hip-hop.”
face about discussing what’s going on in
society. But I’m definitely conscious of it.
The finished product, entitled Days work songs or hip-hop. It all really speaks I don’t exist in a place of creating art that’s
of FreeMan, is Lewis’ second release for to what was happening in our environ- separate from everyday living. Whether I
the Sony-owned OKeh imprint. The ment when it was created. In a sense, all want to be political or not, the world lets
33-year-old Buffalo, N.Y. native talked the music involved “having a voice.” me know who and what I am as soon as I
about his journey to the golden age of step out the door.
hip-hop while explaining his methods of TALK A BIT ABOUT THE TITLE. FROM A
refracting that urgent sound into his own CURSORY GLANCE, IT SEEMS RELATED TO OTHER THAN CHILDHOOD MEMORY, DID
musical language. THE BLACK LIVES MATTER MOVEMENT. YOU DIG DEEPER INTO ’90S HIP-HOP TO GIVE
I grew up on Freeman Street in Buffalo. YOUR MUSIC HISTORICAL WEIGHT?
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO MAKE THE But, of course, when coming up with Yes. I scoured YouTube for hours, watch-
THEMATIC LEAP FROM SPIRITUALS ON YOUR a title, not only was I thinking about a ing different documentaries like Freestyle:
2014 DISC, DIVINE TRAVELS, TO HIP-HOP ON street, I was thinking about all the other The Art of Rhyme, where I discovered peo-
DAYS OF FREEMAN? types of conversations that the title could ple like [freestyle rapper and album guest]
It’s all a continuum. It’s all music coming spark. I also have a song on the disc Supernatural and learned how he prepared
ASH ARNETT
from the African-American tradition, called “Wilson.” Wilson, N.Y., is a place his rap improvisations by studying the
whether we’re talking about spirituals or my parents used to take me as a kid to go dictionary. Then I checked out KRS-One’s

JAMES BRANDON LEWIS
DAYS OF FREEMAN (OKeh)
T enor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis,

along with bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma
and drummer Rudy Royston, delivers a taut,
caustic split tones and multiphonics; his lines are
challenging, sometimes audacious, but focused
and well honed. Royston is funk-toughened yet
street-smart set, rooted firmly in hip-hop deftly attuned to texture and color; Tacuma, a
ancestry yet crafted to honor the tenets of veteran of Ornette Coleman’s Prime Time, uses
inspired jazz improvisation. References his electric bass both as rhythm instrument and
to venerated elders from diverse genres font of melodic and harmonic exploration. The
permeate both the music and Lewis’ written musical references to hip-hop are implied, not
narrative, including shout-outs to historic imposed. Even the hard-rock interlude in “Lament
hip-hop groups and rap-music forebears for JLew,” featuring Tacuma summoning stentorian
like A Tribe Called Quest, Digable Planets bombast from his bass as Lewis soars above
and Lee “Scratch” Perry. To make an even and Royston stokes volcanic fires below, sounds
larger point about the grand scope of African-American heritage, unforced. Although some may find Lewis’ insistence on the con-
interspersed throughout are recorded excerpts of Lewis’ grand- nection between his music and hip-hop to be a bit overstated, his
mother, Pearl Lewis, ruminating on such topics as freedom, faith, overall message is undeniable: As the AACM would put it, this is
family and the power of gospel music. “Great Black Music: Ancient to the Future,” and these musicians
Unlike some more self-conscious forward-looking players, purvey it with integrity, grace and spirit. The music here bespeaks
neither Lewis nor his compatriots sound as if they’re condescend- a dedication to uplift and truth-seeking that’s absent from much
ing or slumming. Lewis segues effortlessly from rich melodicism to contemporary pop, hip-hop included. DAVID WHITEIS
Bringing You the Best in Independent Contemporary Jazz

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If You Could See Me Now
PINNACLE Featuring Kenny Barron,
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Reginald Veal, & Justin Varnes
PINNACLE, Ted Howe’s new CD featuring his 13-piece jazz
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Jazzreview.com HotShoeRecords.com
JAZZTIMES.COM 19
“I DIDN’T WANT TO OVER-SYNTHESIZE THE MUSIC AND listen to them closely, you’ll notice that
they are all hip-hop rhythms, even in the
HAVE A BUNCH OF BACKBEATS WITH BEBOP VOCABULARY. saxophone solos. They all have a speech-
like lyricism to them.
MY BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH THIS RECORD IS TO NOT
BE THE JAZZ MUSICIAN WHO HAS THE BACKBEATS TALK ABOUT WORKING WITH BASSIST
JAMAALADEEN TACUMA AND DRUMMER
WHILE GIVING LOVE TO HIP-HOP.” —James Brandon Lewis RUDY ROYSTON ON THE DISC.
I needed people who could play all genres.
Rudy has played just about every kind of
music; the same thing can be said about
40 Years of Hip-Hop, Scratch and The and Lauryn Hill. So that inspired me to Jamaaladeen. Knowing all [the musicians]
Art of 16 Bars. I also checked out a lot of have that layered conversation with my they played with collectively, by the time
[jazz-oriented] albums that proceeded grandmother on the disc. we got to recording “Lament for JLew,”
me in doing this type of approach—stuff when I said, “I need a rock joint on this
like Russell Gunn’s Ethnomusicology, Don HOW DOES HIP-HOP INFORM YOUR record,” or “Bird of Folk Cries,” and we
Byron’s Nu Blaxploitation and Branford IMPROVISATIONS AND MELODIES? need that gospel shout-music feel, there
Marsalis’ Buckshot LeFonque. When checking out the rappers, I started weren’t any problems going there. They
Not only was I watching a lot of hip- listening to all of their cadences. In my did an amazing job.
hop documentaries, I listened to rappers rehearsal sessions, I start out verbalizing It was cool to have open dialogue with
like Common, Talib Kweli and Mos Def my saxophone lines. So when I picked them about things I was trying to do on
[now Yasiin Bey]. When listening to a up my sax, I had the cadences inside of the record. And it was challenge for me
lot of those classic ’90s hip-hop albums, me to make it easier. No matter what to keep up with these two monsters of
you’ll discover that there were a lot of in- notes I chose, I had that rhythmic flow. I musicians. They brought my music to
terludes—at least on albums by A Tribe know it’s a lot to ask from listeners to just life. They made the sheet music feel real.
Called Quest, Leaders of the New School isolate the rhythms on the disc, but if you JOHN MURPH

Chasing Rainbows
BASSIST REGGIE WASHINGTON LIFTS UP THE LIFE AND WORK OF LATE GUITARIST JEF LEE JOHNSON
W
hen the guitarist Jef Vol. 1, released in June on Washington’s and we had a friendship over a 30-year
Lee Johnson died from own Jammin’colorS label. period,” Washington says. It took some
complications related to Besides their musical compatibility, time for that trio, fleshed out by drum-
pneumonia and diabetes both Washington and Johnson shared mer Gene Lake, son of saxophonist
in 2013, at age 54, many in the music knowledge of great sorrow—Johnson lost Oliver Lake, to come together; sched-
community mourned the loss of this his wife in 2001 and Washington’s first ules were always conflicting, and while
gifted leader and prolific sideman who’d wife was murdered. Despite those trag- Johnson was based in Philadelphia,
combined jazz learning with the psyche- edies, and the loss of Johnson himself, Washington had moved to Brussels, the
delic blues of Hendrix. Rainbow Shadow is in no way a funereal home of his second wife and business
Reggie Washington decided to album. Washington went into the project partner, in the mid-2000s. In 2012 the
channel his own grief. The electric and wanting to honor his friend’s spirit, trio released Freedom, Washington’s sec-
acoustic bassist, now 53, was a longtime which meant there would be plenty ond album as a leader, following 2006’s
colleague and admirer of Johnson’s and of uptempo funk as well as reflective A Lot of Love, Live!
felt that his friend never received the numbers like the pensive “Black Sands” When the band began working togeth-
widespread recognition he deserved. and the pure-soul “Morning.” Even while er, “I wanted Jef to do more of his tunes.
For about a year Washington mulled nodding to Johnson’s influence, the I’ve always been a fan. But he never want-
over the idea of recording an album of album connects various other threads of ed to,” Washington says. With Johnson’s
Johnson’s compositions. He ultimately Washington’s musical self. passing, Washington received the blessing
spent the next year recording Rainbow “[When he died,] I had been playing of Johnson’s family and got busy. He re-
Shadow: A Tribute to Jef Lee Johnson with Jef in my trio for a couple of years, cruited a team of musicians, anchored by
JAZZTIMES.COM 21
← Bassist Reggie
Washington and
(inset) the late
guitarist Jef Lee
Johnson
guitarist Marvin Sewell (playing Johnson’s also sampled, and lyrics that he
own instruments) and drummer Patrick wrote but never used are incor-
Dorcéan, and began laying down tracks in porated into several songs sung
studios in France and the New York-New by Washington—who’d never
Jersey-Pennsylvania area. before sung on one of his albums. “A
Rainbow Shadow, which Washing- man. When folks find out that you can do Chico Hamilton as important men-
ton produced, draws its title from a that, you have to do that,” he says with a tors. Extensive work with saxophonists
nickname, Rainbow Crow, that Johnson laugh. “There is no turning back. I always Steve Coleman, as a member of his Five
bestowed upon himself, taken from a Le- wanted Jef to do some of these tunes and Elements, and Ravi Coltrane pushed his
nape Indian legend. The album’s leadoff he said, ‘Why don’t you do it yourself?’ playing to a higher level.
track, “Crow’s Rainbow,” is a meditative So I started transcribing. It’s an incredible “I absorbed everything,” Washington
solo bass piece composed by Washing- body of work.” says. “I had a photographic memory and
ton. “I thought, ‘Let me just say it now,’” Originally from Staten Island, N.Y., perfect pitch, so whatever I would read
Washington says. “Then we can get on to Reggie Washington is the younger and play through one time, I would just
the festivities.” brother of the great drummer Kenny remember. I tried to be as expressionistic
Those “festivities”—other than a Washington. Reggie, who played cello and emotional as possible. Sometimes
workup of Ellington’s “Take the Coltrane” before switching to bass, learned much these legendary musicians can show you
and the few originals—encompass 10 from observing and playing with Kenny, what not to do too. Chico taught me
tracks that explore the range of John- from their big-band-loving father and to be appreciative of where you go, the
DAVID CRUNELLE, INSET BY MARK STEHLE
son’s compositional skills. In addition from the guests that often came by the audience, the music that you’re playing,
to the core band, Deejay Grazzhoppa house: Jimmy Knepper, Dizzy Gil- to be respectful. Let’s not be drunk and
brings turntables and sampling to several lespie, Jimmy Owens, Reggie Workman ugly because that’s not being appreciative
tracks, and a handful of guests, among (with whom Washington has been of the people who come out to listen to
them saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart, confused on more than one occasion). you. Humble yourself. Don’t be arrogant.
trumpeter Wallace Roney and keyboard- Washington also cites bassist Marcus Act like a black man with dignity in a dif-
ist Jonathan Crayford, join in at various Miller—who convinced him to play ferent world. I will take all of that to the
points. Johnson’s voice and guitar are electric bass—and the late drummer grave with me.” JEFF TAMARKIN

NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
Farewells
John Taylor, a British pianist big bands of Count Basie, Duke
who was a major figure on the Ellington and Lionel Hampton.
European jazz scene for more
than four decades, died July 17. Garrison Fewell, a guitarist,
He suffered a heart attack while author and educator who began
performing at the Saveurs Jazz his career in straight-ahead jazz November 7-15
Festival in Segré, France. He was and later became a proponent of
72. Taylor was renowned for his the avant-garde, died July 5 in An Evening with
long association with trumpeter Boston. The cause was cancer. He Tony Bennett
Kenny Wheeler, who died last year. was 61. Fewell taught in the guitar and special guest Antonia Bennett
department at Berklee College of
Howard Rumsey, a bassist best Music for 38 years and authored Thursday, November 12 at 8pm
known as the leader of the Los two textbooks on jazz guitar. He Friday, November 13 at 8pm
Angeles-based Lighthouse All-Stars also recorded more than a dozen Produced with John Scher/ Metropolitan Entertainment
during the 1950s, and as a club albums as a leader or co-leader.
owner, died July 15 in Newport Jazz, Soul & Funk
Beach, Calif. He was 97. The Ettore Stratta, a conductor, producer,
Sharon Jones &
cause was pneumonia. Rumsey pianist and composer who worked
also played in bands led by Stan in both the jazz and classical realms,
The Dap-Kings,
Kenton, Charlie Barnet and Barney died July 9 in New York City. He was
Dianne Reeves and
Bigard. During the 1970s and ’80s, 82, and had suffered a heart attack Christian McBride
Rumsey owned and operated a and stroke. Stratta worked with Saturday, November 14 at 8pm
club called Concerts by the Sea in jazz artists including Tony Bennett,
Redondo Beach, Calif. Al Jarreau, Hubert Laws, Paquito Judy Carmichael Trio Bill Charlap presents
with Harry Allen Miles Davis’ Birth of the Cool
D’Rivera, Dave Brubeck, Stéphane
Harold Ousley, a journeyman Grappelli, Lena Horne, Dave Grusin, Sun, Nov 8 at 4 & 7pm Sat, Nov 14 at 3pm
saxophonist and flutist who Ramsey Lewis, Nancy Wilson, Hank The Real Sinatra Songbook Dorthaan’s Place Jazz Brunch
worked in the hard-bop and soul- Jones, Toots Thielemans, Dick Hyman Mon, Nov 9 at 7:30pm T.S. Monk Sextet
jazz realms, died Aug. 13 of an and Michel Legrand. Sun, Nov 15 at 11am & 1pm
Dorado Schmitt &
undisclosed cause. He was 86. The Django Festival Sarah Vaughan International
In the ’50s, Ousley played with Vic Firth, a musician and educator All-Stars Jazz Vocal Competition
Gene Ammons, Miles Davis, Billie who founded the drumstick Wed, Nov 11 at 7:30pm SASSY Awards
Holiday, Brother Jack McDuff, manufacturing company that bears Christian McBride with
Sun, Nov 15 at 3pm
Howard McGhee, Bud Powell, his name, died July 26 in Boston. Bruce Hornsby: One-on-One
Clark Terry, Dinah Washington and The cause was pancreatic cancer. Thu, Nov 12 at 7:30pm
Joe Williams. He began recording Firth, who also served as the
For a full schedule, including FREE community events, visit njpac.org/moodyjazz
as a leader in the 1960s, with the principal timpanist of the Boston
Tenor Sax album on Bethlehem. Symphony Orchestra from 1956 to
In the ’70s, Ousley played in the 2002, was 85. JAZZ ALL YEAR LONG!
Christian McBride with
News from JazzTimes.com Pat Metheny: One-on-One
Q&A and performance
• The New York-based Birdland Jazz Club has formed AB Artists, Thu, Sep 17 at 7:30pm
a management and booking company. In August, Birdland
also announced the spring 2016 opening of the Birdland
Michael Feinstein’s
Theater, a 100-seat venue that will occupy the lower level Sinatra Centennial Celebration
of the club and feature jazz as well as cabaret, theatre,
Sat, Dec 12 at 8pm
dance and comedy.
Club Bonafide, a new jazz venue, has opened on East 52nd
Street in Midtown Manhattan, the headquarters of the city’s Arts Education–Jazz Auditions
jazz scene during the bop era. The club is co-owned by bassist Instrumental • Vocal
Richard Bona. Also new is the Steve Getz Music Hall at Lehman Wells Fargo Jazz for Teens and
Brick City Jazz Orchestra
College in the West Bronx. The hall opened in September with Sat, Sep 19 from 10am-2pm
a tribute to the proprietor’s father, tenor sax great Stan Getz. Visit njpac.org/arts-training for details.
National Sawdust, a new performance venue in the
Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, will open in October. For tickets & full schedule
The space’s opening month includes festivals dedicated to Terry visit njpac.org
Riley and John Zorn, as well as performances by keyboardist or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC
Leo Genovese, vocalist Theo Bleckmann and the duos of Magos Groups 973.297.5804
Herrera and Javier Limón and Yuka Honda and Nels Cline. NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
O N E C E N T E R S T R E E T, N E WA R K , N J
JAZZTIMES.COM 23
OPENING CHORUS Before & After
DELFEAYO MARSALIS
FAMILY CANDOR
By Jennifer Odell
W
alking into trombonist and producer Delfeayo 1. American Jazz Quintet
Marsalis’ home in Uptown New Orleans is a “Never More” (In the Beginning, AFO). Alvin Battiste, clarinet;
little like stepping into a hyperbaric chamber Warren Bell, alto saxophone; Harold Battiste, tenor saxophone;
of creative stimulation. A piano peeks out Ellis Marsalis, piano; Richard Payne, bass. Recorded in 1956.
from beneath sheet music and a dozen or so awards. Books
like John McCusker’s Creole Trombone: Kid Ory and the Early BEFORE: On the heels of the passing of Mr. Harold Battiste,
Years of Jazz sit on the coffee table and line the wall space you’re playing a song that features my father and Alvin Battiste,
not adorned with art, while trombones and horn parts battle and if I’m not mistaken it’s called “Never More.”
for space in the corners. It’s a fitting home base for an artist In every town, used to be there’d be the set of musicians
whose creative output has long been characterized by big- and the cats could play. In Pittsburgh, these guys ended up on
picture thinking that aims to provoke as much thought as it Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Those guys could play. And in
does enjoyment. Detroit it was Marcus Belgrave and his boys. So that’s how it
The latest example of that work came in 2014 with The sounds to me. It sounds like a group of musicians that if a
Last Southern Gentlemen (Troubadour Jass), an homage to traveling musician were to come to town and say, “Hey, we
the essential human element of jazz and his first full-length need some cats who can play,” they’d call this group. If it is
recording with his father, Ellis Marsalis. (Delfeayo is now 50, my dad, I’m not used to hearing him sound that way.
three years younger than his brother Wynton, who is a year
younger than their brother Branford.) And while the trom- AFTER: A lot is said about my dad and his influence on
bonist’s acclaimed production skills have taken a backseat to musicians, but to be honest, that’s just the New Orleans way.
KEITH MAJOR
performance lately, his producer’s hat is always on—a point There are so many teachers, like Harold Battiste, Alvin Batiste,
he made abundantly clear while offering insights on the Kidd Jordan, John Longo, John Fernandez, Danny Barker, [a
following selections. guitarist, banjoist and singer who] taught the whole traditional

New Orleans crew that’s playing [today], the guys who are now AFTER: Are you kidding me?! Man, that was a tame day
in their 50s and 60s. You know, [trumpeter] Leroy Jones and for Elvin. But the other part of that is these musicians, they
[trombonist] Lucien Barbarin. performed and recorded so much. I remember asking Elvin
These are all musicians who love the music so much that about the A Love Supreme session and he just said, “You
they’ve given up much of their time and many hours of their know, we just went in and did what we did every day.” And
lives to help the younger musicians grow. that’s how they approached it. Now we look at that recording
like, “Oh, it’s such a thing.” So that’s kind of what that song
sounds like: These guys came in and they played. I’m sure
2. Abdullah Ibrahim & Ekaya they got that song at the date and they’re just trying to figure
“Calypso Minor” (Sotho Blue, Sunnyside). Ibrahim, piano; out what to do with it.
Andrae Murchison, trombone; Cleave Guyton, alto saxophone,
flute; Keith Loftis, tenor saxophone; Jason Marshall, baritone
saxophone; Belden Bullock, bass; George Gray, drums. 4. Preservation Hall Jazz Band
Recorded in 2011. “Rattlin’ Bones” (That’s It!, Sony Legacy). Mark Braud, trumpet,
background vocals; Charlie Gabriel, clarinet, background vo-
BEFORE: Immediately I can tell, just from the sound quality, cals; Clint Maedgen, tenor saxophone, background vocals; Ben
that this is more recent. I don’t know who it is immediately, Jaffe, banjo, background vocals; Rickie Monie, piano; Ronell
but the bass has that dreaded bass direct sound, a rubbery kind Johnson, sousaphone; Joe Lastie, drums; Freddie Lonzo, vocals.
of sound. I would have edited out the bass solo. Sorry, bassist, Recorded in 2012.
whoever you are. It’s a pretty long bass solo compared to the
other solos. BEFORE: Ha! That’s an old riff. Oh, the big fat booty! Oh yeah,
It sounds good. It’s well presented, but it doesn’t have a this is a contemporary recording. … The trumpet player’s play-
certain kind of bite that I like. But it’s good music. I like ing is more modern than what you would [normally] hear in
that it doesn’t sound like the guys are just runnin’ a bunch that style. Trumpet’s got good strong chops. I’m not sure exactly
of patterns. They’re trying to talk, and to me the gauge of who that is, reminds me of a couple of different people in a
a great soloist is how much he or she sounds like they’re couple of different instances. Tuba is good; vocal is a little loud.
talking as opposed to running scales or patterns [that sound] The band sounds like they’re in the background, but that might
like gibberish. work for the kind of sound that they were trying to get. This is
a good song. I think it really captures that New Orleans feeling
AFTER: Oh! OK. … I actually realized that some of my early in the way the musicians like to play spontaneously.
harmony understanding came from playing with [Ibrahim]—
even though I didn’t realize it as I started to compose. AFTER: Is that my cousin on trumpet, Mark Braud? Yeah. I was
thinking Andrew Baham was playing trumpet. Mark’s [playing
It’s from a French film he scored called No Fear, No Die, here] is similar to the way I’ve heard Andrew Baham play. They
from 1990. bring that modern sound, some of the things that Wynton did,
and they bring that into the traditional sound. Branford isn’t
Again, interesting; I can see now that it’s for a soundtrack. always a fan of that, but I like it. Mark had good strong chops.
Maybe the design for the soundtrack is a little different. It prob- I’m gonna call you for a gig, cousin!
ably worked out perfectly. The vocal may have also been overdubbed. If you overdub
any instrument it’s hard to recreate the balance; it’s either gonna
be too loud or too soft. For some reason, when you have a
3. Elvin Jones group of instruments and then you do an overdub it’s almost
“Tintiyana” (Midnight Walk, Atlantic). Jones, drums; impossible to make it sound like it’s in the same room at the
Thad Jones, trumpet; Hank Mobley, tenor saxophone; same time. Or they had [the vocalist] isolated and the rest of
Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim), piano; Don Moore, bass. the band was in the same room. That’s just something I know
Recorded in 1966. from having done overdubs. You can come close but it’s very
difficult to balance.
BEFORE: I can tell it’s an older recording. Have no idea who
it is. Seems like they got this song in the studio, because
they’re not really owning the song but they’re playing it and 5. The Curtis Fuller Sextette
sometimes that’s a great part of the experience. … I feel “Kachin,” (Imagination, Savoy). Fuller, trombone; Thad Jones,
similarly about this as I did with the Abdullah Ibrahim song, trumpet; Benny Golson, tenor saxophone; McCoy Tyner, piano;
where it doesn’t really seem like it gets to a climactic spot. Jimmy Garrison, bass; Dave Bailey, drums. Recorded in 1959.
That may be because they’re trying to figure out what is
going on with the song. Just from a sound standpoint I BEFORE: Curtis Fuller. It’s such a distinctive sound. Hmm.
would say that has to be something from the ’60s. Yeah. Three or four notes and you know immediately. Ha! Yeah,
this is early Curtis. It’s from the late ’50s, huh? This has the kind
It was actually written by Abdullah as Dollar Brand. of intensity that I like.
JAZZTIMES.COM 25
OPENING CHORUS Before & After
“THE GREAT KAI & J.J. YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.

NOTHING AGAINST KAI, BUT WHATEVER. COME ON, MAN.
IT’D BE LIKE THE GREAT CHET BAKER & MILES, YOU KNOW?“
Oh, that’s one of the records with Benny Golson. I don’t know BEFORE: That J.J.? Yeah, J.J. It’s an older recording. Is it Kai
this record. Sounds like Van Gelder’s studio, too. [Ed. note: He’s Winding? Is it J and Kai? Yeah. The ’60s. I can tell by the
correct regarding the studio.] I couldn’t hear it with Curtis playing panning of it, it’s the ’60s.
but I can hear it now that Benny Golson is playing. This might J.J. was really important because of his insistence on preci-
be the early ’60s too. It’s either late ’50s or early ’60s; if I had my sion. And Kai Winding developed a lot playing next to J.J. over
headphones I could tell. Oh, this is one of Curtis’ tunes. He liked the years. You hear early Kai Winding and he sounds rough.
to write tunes where the harmony moves a certain way. But playing next to somebody who insists on precision, it’s
This is like an inspirational preacher. It’s like, you know almost like the way Wynton plays—it has to affect you when
about Martin Luther King, you know “I Have a Dream” and you play. J.J., he’s really clear with his thinking. That’s really im-
we know about “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop.” But there were portant as a soloist, to be as clear as possible with your think-
hundreds, if not thousands, of other speeches that were that ing. He can be safe when you hear enough of his recordings,
inspiring, and that’s the way it is to hear Curtis. It may not be but again, everybody can’t do everything. This is much more
one of the classic songs that we’re familiar with, but he knew safe than the Curtis we heard. But where J.J.’s like, “I know how
how to tell a story. to swim but I’m not sure what’s in these waters,” Curtis is like,
“Man, hell with it—let’s find out what’s in the waters!”
AFTER: Thad again! It’s an elusive sound. It’s just somebody I’m [Impulse!] also put out a record called The Great Kai & J.J.
not as familiar with. Aha! Racial awareness of the times. The white guy’s gonna sell
the records. I mean, come on, man. Kai Winding wouldn’t have
said that. They got Kai Winding all in the front on the cover
6. John Ellis & Double-Wide and J.J.’s all in the back. It’s just what it is. Sign of the times.
“Booker” (Charm, Parade Light). Ellis, tenor saxophone; Couple of the J.J. records, they would put white folks on the
Alan Ferber, trombone; Gary Versace, organ; Matt Perrine, covers, like a white girl holding the trombone [J.J. Johnson’s
sousaphone; Jason Marsalis, drums, cymbals. Recorded in 2014. Jazz Quintets, on Savoy]. We’ve always had to deal with the
race thing. We’re always going to have to deal with that. It’s just
BEFORE: Nicely articulated. Again, it’s a pop kind of recording. a question of how do we deal with it.
You don’t get the sense that the guys are in the same room. It’s a I think this was probably recorded at Van Gelder’s too. Yeah,
different emotional feeling. definitely Van Gelder’s. [Ed. note: He’s correct.] When was it
Is that my little brother, Jason? And Rick Trolsen? It doesn’t from, like ’63 or ’64?
really sound like Rick but I’m trying to think of other trombone
players that he played with. Jason did some stuff with John Ellis. AFTER: OK, this is that record! I have it somewhere. The Great
I could see it being John Ellis on tenor. The trombone was good, Kai & J.J.! I don’t think so, buddy. Yeah, here it is—Kai is in the
well articulated. Trolsen’s got a little more grease in the stew. front, J.J.’s in the back. And in the alphabet, J comes before K. It
I like to hear what they sound like together and here everybody’s should have been J and Kai. Those doggone Marsalises, they’re
isolated. You hear what they’re playing but it’s a different sensitivity. always looking for any little thing. … The Great Kai & J.J. You
gotta be kidding me. Nothing against Kai, but whatever. Come
AFTER: It’s good. They got the New Orleans feel. I like a little on, man. It’d be like The Great Chet Baker & Miles, you know?
more of the street sound, a little bit more of that edge on it—like
from that Curtis [track]. It’s a different time period, but you
know what I mean. That’s what I personally like when I hear the 8. Ron Carter
New Orleans groove. … Yeah, it makes sense that it wouldn’t be “Ten Strings” (Uptown Conversation, Embryo). Carter, basses,
Trolsen, ’cause, yeah, he got grit. composer; Sam Brown, guitar. Recorded in 1969.
BEFORE: This is a modern bass kind of thing. I don’t like that

7. Kai Winding & J.J. Johnson particular sound, but there’s something to be said about it.
“Trixie” (The Great Kai & J.J., Impulse!). Winding, Johnson, With an electric sound, you could play faster in a certain kind
trombones; Bill Evans, piano; Tommy Williams, bass; Art Taylor, of way better than you could with an acoustic sound. But,
drums. Recorded in 1960. to me, [Scott LaFaro] was the one who did this. Bill Evans,

knowing that he couldn’t possibly compete with Oscar
Peterson and Wynton Kelly to create his own trio
sound, I think he said, “We’re gonna go more to that
European thing,” which is like the symphony orches-
tra, where you don’t have any string sound. You don’t
have anything that would be kind of aggressive.
There’s another great record [featuring LaFaro], The
Arrival of Victor Feldman. I saw the record cover when
I was at Berklee. It’s like three white guys on a beach
with loud colors and I was like, “Pshh, I gotta buy this
record.” I love playing it for bass players ’cause only one,
Delbert Felix, knew that it was Scott LaFaro. They’re
not used to him playing that aggressively.
So Bill Evans was the guy who decided, “We’re
gonna play the acoustic bass more like a guitar—no
string sound, nothing aggressive.” And a lot of people
have followed suit. Personally, I like, you know, you’re
playing bass. It’s masculine. I don’t like that feminine
kind of a bass sound.
AFTER: The bass direct is important for various rea-

sons. This is not indicative of the classic bass direct
sound. But for the type of mood that Ron Carter’s
trying to set, I think this was good for that. … Ron
Carter is such a master of the instrument he can
pretty much do whatever he wants to do. He’s hittin’
some bass tone here. Ron Carter, man. And that’s
’69? Wow.
9. Baby Dodds Trio

“Buddy Bolden Blues” (Jazz a’ la Creole, Circle).
Dodds, drums; Albert Nicholas, clarinet; Don Ewell,
piano. Recorded in 1951.
BEFORE: This is clearly old. “I Thought I Heard

Buddy Bolden Say,” right? I have to guess it could be
Jelly Roll Morton on piano. The clarinet … I know
that sound. It sounds like somebody who played with
Frog Joseph on these Sidney Bechet records. That
sounded like it’s from the ’40s or the ’30s.
AFTER: Albert Nicholas, yes! That’s the thing he played

on the Sidney Bechet recording. What year was it?
1951. You quoted Baby Dodds in the liner notes

for The Last Southern Gentlemen, in reference to his
willingness to play softly when the vibe of a room
required it.
Yeah, and it’s interesting because you can hear

the sense of humor that Baby Dodds had. That’s
what sticks out with me, the changes he’s making
throughout the course of the song. It’s not at all like
some of the jazz drummers you hear who play one
particular way. But this has a lot of great variety to it
in the way that he’s changing it up. I didn’t even miss
the bass. But that’s that joy that comes with New
Orleans music. JT
OPENING CHORUS Overdue Ovation
telling the story with precisely calibrated roars, yowls, snorts,

moans, squiggles, jabs and swoops.
Anderson recorded “Cheek to Cheek” in 1990, on Wishbone.
Here, as the beat feel morphed from slow-medium to foxtrot to
Latin, he excitedly traversed the horn’s entire range without los-
ing sight of the melody, interpolating quotes from, among other
references, “I Cover the Waterfront” and “I Got Rhythm.” On a
way-up “Bohemia After Dark,” which Anderson covered on his
1985 album Old Wine—New Bottles, with Kenny Barron, Cecil
McBee and Dannie Richmond, he waded into the swamp with
his plunger, quoting generously from the Ellington trombonist
Tricky Sam Nanton, an association that perhaps inspired Ander-
son to conclude the set by singing “I’m Just a Lucky So-and-So.”
A FEW DAYS LATER AT A TEAHOUSE IN THE VILLAGE,

Anderson, 62, traced his anything-goes sensibility to his forma-
tive years in Hyde Park, on Chicago’s South Side. There, during
his impressionable teens, he attended concerts presented by the
then recently formed AACM. “I saw the Experimental Orches-
tra, which was jaw-dropping,” he recalled, before citing a duo
concert by Roscoe Mitchell and Joseph Jarman at University
Church, across the street from the University of Chicago campus.
“These cats were surrounded by instruments, including all these
bells and gongs, a Theremin and every reed you could imagine,
just moving through this space making this beautiful sonic
sculpture, and then all of a sudden they go, Vommm! ... Bupp-
ba-peckadadee—playing [Mitchell’s] ‘Nonaah’ or something. It
blew my mind. The AACM blazed a path that allowed you to do
RAY ANDERSON everything. You can play that sonic sculpture like Boulez, and go
into a reggae tune. You can play bebop, but play it any way you
ABSOLUTE RESOLVE, IN LIFE & ART want. I don’t do what they do, but I took that reality to heart.”
Anderson had to rebuild his embouchure after a severe case
By Ted Panken of Bell’s palsy in 1983. But on 13 leader recordings and five
with BassDrumBone between ’84 and 1999, he delivered that
O
n Father’s Day, trombonist Ray Anderson, whose inclusive aesthetic with promethean chops and a charismatic
children are grown, celebrated with a door gig at the personality that generated extensive accolades from the jazz
55 Bar on Christopher Street in Greenwich Village. It press. And he averaged, by his estimate, six months a year on
was just past 6, and perhaps 10 patrons were present, the road. But that chapter of his career ended when his wife
including a gentleman with a pile of Anderson’s LPs and CDs for the was diagnosed with Stage-4 breast cancer, which she battled for
leader to autograph later. Among them was Every One of Us, a 1992 three years until her death in 2002. As the single parent of two
date with Simon Nabatov, Charlie Haden and Edward Blackwell, children, Anderson scaled back and assumed a close-to-home
which contains Anderson’s “Kinda Garnerish,” the evening’s kick-off position as professor of jazz studies at Stony Brook University,
number. After Anderson’s florid opening cadenza, bassist Mark He- where he is still employed.
lias and drummer Tommy Campbell hit a funky groove, propelling Out of the public eye over the ensuing timespan, Anderson
an epic, swinging trombone solo; Anderson executed fast passages endured a second bout with Bell’s palsy and a fight against
with trumpetistic clarity and brightness, and juxtaposed them to laryngeal cancer. Exacerbating his struggle was a diabetic
extravagantly vocalized bottom-register effusions. condition that emerged in 1974, a year after he moved to New
“We’re warmed up now,” Anderson said. “Might as well move on York following a period in California. That his creative juices
to the abdominals.” He lit into “Right Down Your Alley,” the title never stopped percolating is clear from three excellent CDs on
track of a 1984 release with Helias and drummer Gerry Hemingway, the Intuition label, most recently Being the Point, on which the
still a collaborative unit called BassDrumBone. Anderson nailed the Organic Quartet (Campbell on drums, Stony Brook colleague
theme—fast, octave-leaping postbop passages, a jump-cut to a slow Steve Salerno on guitar and Gary Versace on organ) improvises
blues, another jump-cut to postbop—and launched chorus upon with efflorescence on seven originals. Hear You Say: Live in Wil-
chorus of fresh ideas at a supersonic tempo, goosed by Campbell’s in- lisau documents a 2009 quartet concert co-led with reedman
stant responses and Helias’ in-the-pocket basslines. Helias’ half-cho- Marty Ehrlich, while Sweet Chicago Suite, recorded in 2010 and
ALAN NAHIGIAN
rus lowered the volume to a subtone, introducing an open section. titled for the six-part opus that begins it, features Anderson’s
Campbell tone-painted harmonics on the cymbal; Anderson wove Pocket Brass Band, comprising the late trumpeter Lew Soloff,
multiphonics and overtones into the flow with didgeridoo-like tone, sousaphonist Matt Perrine and drummer Bobby Previte.

“Each piece is about formative ex- explode out of the horn. You sometimes
periences growing up in Chicago [that feel that you want to play every single note
became] very much part of my ongo- there is, all at once, now. What does that
ing personality,” Anderson said of Sweet sound like? That’s what drives technique.”
Chicago Suite, which he premiered at the In 1978, Anderson emerged on the in-
Chicago Jazz Festival in 2002, 12 days after ternational stage after Lewis recommend-
his wife’s death. Imbued with the worked him as his replacement in the Anthony
shop sensibility that defined Windy City Braxton Quartet. “Before Braxton, my ca-
musical expression during the turbulent reer was mostly Latin bands, which wasn’t
’60s, Anderson constructs a self-portrait going to result in Ray Anderson groups
that references the influence of the AACM or records,” Anderson said. “When I got
(“Magnificent Mistifiyo”), Willie Dixon the gig, we rehearsed in Chicago for a few
(the slow-drag “Chicago Greys,” built weeks, and I spent eight hours a day in the
on a refrain evocative of Ellington’s “The basement of my parents’ house trying to
Mooche”), Lee Morgan and Horace Silver learn to play this shit, which was kicking
(a boogaloo soul-jazz number called “High my ass! The intensity of the creative de-
School”) and James Brown and Sly Stone mand forced you to find different stuff, to
(the brisk, funky, inside-to-free “Going to make a different sound as well as develop
Maxwell Street”). On the hymnal “Some the ability to move around the horn and
Day,” Anderson pays homage to the black articulate. I made huge leaps.
church as embodied by the Reverend “I’d try to figure out what to do to play
Jesse Jackson’s historic weekly sermons for with what Braxton was doing, and either
Operation Breadbasket. “My father taught support it in some kind of contrapuntal
at Chicago Theological Seminary, and Jesse way or get in there with the same type
Jackson was a student of his,” Anderson of energy or sound. One day Braxton
said. “My dad would say, ‘He never did told me, ‘Ray, I’m over there playing
finish, because he had way more important my thing. You stay over there and play
things to do,’ which he did.” your thing.’ That was highly educational.
The blend of ivory tower and street Everything is related, but it doesn’t have
culture that defined the Hyde Park to be in a tight way. You could argue
experience was a heady environment for that’s a real Chicago perspective, a way of
a child, as was the University of Chicago making the canvas bigger, getting a wider
Lab School, where George Lewis was a focus, like pulling back the movie camera
classmate. “In fourth grade, we were the and seeing not only the lovers embracing
only two kids who selected the trombone,” under the palm tree but that Krakatoa is
Anderson recalled. Early on, he dug the about to go off.”
“sly-dog humor” of Vic Dickenson and In following that “big-canvas” aesthetic,
“tone quality” of Trummy Young; as time Anderson has sought “to represent all the
progressed, he appreciated the “incred- different aspects of what a given band is
ible fleetness” of J.J. Johnson, Curtis doing” on his recorded corpus. An excep-
Fuller, Carl Fontana and Frank Rosolino. tion is the self-produced duo recording
“When I started listening to the Ellington Love Notes, from 2009, on which Ander-
trombones, it was all over,” he continued. son and Salerno explore 10 standards that
High school music teacher Dean Hay, a address the subject of love from various
trombonist, introduced him to Roswell angles. Adjectives like “loud,” “aggres-
Rudd, then making his presence felt with sive,” “boisterous,” “brash,” “blustery’ and
the New York Art Quartet and with Ar- “wild and wooly”—those descriptives are
chie Shepp on Live in San Francisco. culled from mainstream press accounts of
From the beginning, Anderson incor- Anderson’s work of the ’80s and ’90s—de-
porated elements from all these sources in cidedly do not apply.
constructing a tonal personality. “I never “For many years I wanted to make an
made anything even resembling an innova- album of romance that is a unified work
tion on the trombone by deciding to do it, of art,” Anderson said. “It’s a tighter focus.
or tried to figure out how to play faster or There’s considerable variation, but it inhab-
higher from an intellectual vantage point,” its an area. I was thinking about the lyrics,
he said. “You try as hard as you possibly and the way I feel about these songs made
can to express what you’re feeling inside, me play in a way that’s not as wild. There’s a
which is very powerful if you allow your- lot of grief in that record, too. Guess what?
self to actually feel it, and let that energy I’m not one-dimensional.” JT
JAZZTIMES.COM 29
JACEK GANCARCZYK
The
ART
ave Douglas has always,
of
it seems, been a musician
ideally suited to the art of
multitasking. A tirelessly
prolific trumpeter, compos-
er and bandleader working
within and beyond the jazz
mainstream, he runs the
BEING
Festival of New Trumpet Music, a nonprofit New
York City institution now in its 13th year. He’s
also the founder and owner of Greenleaf Music,
an independent label and music company that
celebrated its 10th anniversary last spring.
A concert at the Manhattan venue SubCulture
HEARD
in May showcased the breadth of the Green-
leaf roster, with performances by Catharsis, a
pugnacious postbop band led by the trombonist
Ryan Keberle; Sun Pictures, a chamber-esque
vehicle for bassist Linda Oh; and the Donny
McCaslin Quartet, a hard-nosed fusion outfit
led by its namesake saxophonist. Had the lineup
been a little more comprehensive, it would also
DAVE DOUGLAS
have featured groups led by drummer Rudy
Royston, bassist Matt Ulery, alto saxophonist
REFLECTS Curtis Macdonald—and at least a few led by
Douglas himself.
ON THE His next album, out in October, will feature his
acclaimed quintet with Royston, Oh, saxophonist
FIRST DECADE Jon Irabagon and pianist Matt Mitchell. Titled
Brazen Heart, it bears a dedication to Douglas’
OF HIS GREENLEAF older brother, who recently died of cancer. “It’s
a record of resilience and love and compassion,”
MUSIC COMPANY the trumpeter says. And in certain respects it
will form a companion to two other Greenleaf
releases: Be Still, a 2012 memorial for Douglas’
mother, and Mountain Passages, released in 2004
BY NATE CHINEN in tribute to his father. “It’s driven home for me
how personal the music is,” he reflects of these
albums, “and given a profound new meaning to
the work that I do.”
As for Douglas’ most recent album, High Risk,
it’s an assuredly sleek outing made with Shigeto,
a prominent young electronic artist who happens
to be a former jazz drummer. One day after its
release this June, on the cusp of a North Ameri-
can tour, Douglas, 52, sat for an interview about
the trajectory of Greenleaf Music—with ample
digression about the state of the industry—at a
riverside park in the New York commuter town
of Croton-on-Hudson, where he lives.
JAZZTIMES.COM 31
MY UNDERSTANDING IS THAT GREENLEAF MUSIC to start the journey with. It was such an IT’S A SERENDIPITOUS NAME IN THAT REGARD.
BEGAN LIKE MANY ARTIST IMPRINTS, IN THAT anomaly: clarinet, tuba, cello, trumpet, I guess it is. It didn’t occur to me until that
YOU WERE SIMPLY LOOKING FOR A WAY TO GET drums. I had wise advisers around me moment. And of course when I announced
YOUR OWN MUSIC OUT. IS THAT ACCURATE? saying I should do a really straight-ahead, the name, people thought I was talking
At that time I had recorded for a lot of dif- mainstream-type release as my first. But about weed. And we’re still not selling
ferent independent labels, which opened Mountain Passages was a suite commis- marijuana, 10 years later.
up pathways for me, because each had its sioned by the Sounds of the Dolomites
own unique distribution and promotional festival, which is this festival in Northern WELL, THERE’S STILL TIME.
channels. Then around ’99, when I got signed Italy that invites you to come and hike up We’re thinking of opening a Colorado branch.
by RCA Victor, I made it a part of the deal to the locations. My father was an amateur [laughs]
that I could make records at a certain pace, musician, and the guy who got me started
and that each one would be a very different in music. And he was a mountain trail CAN YOU RECALL WHAT THE LEARNING CURVE
project and vision. runner. So with this commission, and my WAS FOR YOU? WHAT FACTORS PRESENTED
father’s love of folk music, that’s what I THEMSELVES AS CHALLENGES FOR A BRAND-
DID YOU RECEIVE PUSHBACK ON THAT POINT? wrote, and I dedicated the suite to him. NEW LABEL HEAD?
Not at the initial signing. The problem He never got to hear it; he passed just as I didn’t anticipate how it would impact the cre-
was that I was there five years, and during we were going to do it in Italy. His middle ative outlook of me as an artist. I think about
those five years there were seven different name, and my brother’s middle name, was what I’m doing differently, because now I’m a
presidents of the label. And the label kept Greenleaf, and I was looking for a name part of the whole package from the begin-
changing names, too. It was a period of that felt like growth, that felt like continu- ning to the end: from the genesis of an idea
rapid change in the industry, and consolida- ity and a rebirth of something. to playing the gigs with the band, producing
tion. I completed the seven records that I
was under contract to do, and it was as the
last record came out that RCA got bought
by Sony. And I knew that I wasn’t going to
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: EVE TROJANOV, G. CAVULLI, JACEK GANCARCZYK

get the same deal again, that I had lucked
out getting it in the first place. So I started
Greenleaf because I didn’t want to think
of a new project and have to justify it to
somebody. And I wanted to keep ownership
of the music. Also, with the way the industry
was just beginning to change—this was in
2004—having ownership of a small company
that was quick on its feet was a good idea.
YOUR FIRST ALBUM ON GREENLEAF, MOUNTAIN

PASSAGES, WAS VERY PERSONAL. I REMEMBER
THINKING THAT TO START THE LABEL ON THAT
FOOTING IS A STATEMENT OF SOME KIND.
It’s funny that you say that now, because at
the time I felt like that was an odd record
← Clockwise from top: The current Dave Douglas Quintet,

featuring Linda Oh, Rudy Royston, the leader, Matt Mitchell
and Jon Irabagon (from left); in the Dolomites of Northern Italy
in 2003, Douglas and company perform music that would be-
come Mountain Passages, the first Greenleaf release; Shigeto,
Mark Guiliana, Douglas and Jonathan Maron (from left) play
music from High Risk in Poland in April
“YOU’RE ASKING ME ABOUT STREAMING,
the recording session, generating the graphic
design and coming up with a plan to put it out.
BUT I FEEL LIKE THE QUESTION IS, TO PEOPLE WHO ARE

Dealing with the good reviews and the bad
reviews, getting the CD around worldwide.
IT’S REALLY A FARM-TO-TABLE APPROACH. HALF MY AGE, WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO DOCUMENT AND
It is, and as I’m doing each one, the next ones
are on the horizon. Very early on, I knew
that I didn’t want it to only be Dave Douglas
RELEASE RECORDED MUSIC? MAYBE THE CORPORATE
records. I was looking to find musicians who
wanted to be on a team, and who wanted to
STREAMING PROBLEM ISN’T THE REAL CRUX OF THE ISSUE.”
play, get out there and fight for the music.
So in the midst of putting my first record
out, I called Shane Endsley, who’s one of my IT WAS LIKE A RETROSPECTIVE BOX SET THAT getting the attention he deserved. He’s a
favorite trumpet players, and asked if he had UNFOLDED OVER THE COURSE OF A WEEK. great composer, and he was doing these
a project. He said, “Well, I play in this band We played 12 sets. It went up every day, and large-ensemble records. And I said, “Donny,
called Kneebody,” and that became our first the momentum was incredibly inspiring. let’s make a record where we just put you out
non-Dave Douglas album. Then I also had This was in 2006. Every day you would front as a player.” That was Recommended
my working quintet, which had recorded see the downloads coming in, and where Tools. I think that record still holds up as one
with RCA, with [pianist] Uri Caine, [tenor they were coming from: people in Moscow, of the great tenor trio records from the last
saxophonist] Donny McCaslin, [bassist] people in Japan, waiting for it to come up decade or so. The biggest joy for me is that
James Genus and [drummer] Clarence Penn. and grabbing it. on the heels of that record, Donny’s been out
I went to the engineer Joe Ferla, my friend there nonstop, playing.
and co-conspirator over many years. We THIS WAS JUST A YEAR INTO THE LABEL, AND
found a studio to record in, and made the IT WAS A PRETTY AMBITIOUS UNDERTAKING. WHEN WE TALK ABOUT THESE RELEASES THAT
record Meaning and Mystery under these new Well, the Internet was changing things. I AREN’T YOUR OWN ALBUMS, WOULD YOU
Greenleaf Music circumstances. felt like part of the excitement of the label SAY THAT THEY ADD UP TO AN IDENTIFIABLE
was being able to get things to the listeners GREENLEAF AESTHETIC?
THAT QUINTET WAS ALSO INVOLVED IN ONE with immediacy. It’s why we love live music That’s a good question, and I don’t know if
OF YOUR RISKIER BUSINESS DECISIONS: THE so much, because you’re actually there in I have an answer, because I feel like I’m just
DOCUMENTATION OF A WEEK AT THE JAZZ the room as it’s happening. So that was the going day-to-day, and following my ear and
STANDARD, WITH DOWNLOADS OF EACH feeling of that release. But there were songs in my heart and my head. I think there is [an
SET AVAILABLE THE NEXT DAY. that batch that hadn’t been on a CD before, aesthetic], but it would be hard for me to put
It was incredibly psychically taxing on the so we ended up collecting them on a physical my finger on exactly what it is.
whole band to know that we were going out two-CD box called Live at the Jazz Standard.
there every night, and that it was going up WITH ARTISTS LIKE BASSIST MATT ULERY AND
overnight: available the next morning, every WITH YOUR LABEL ROSTER, YOU’VE TAKEN SAXOPHONIST CURTIS MACDONALD, WHO
note that we played. And it was a summary SOME OF YOUR COLLABORATORS AND GIVEN AREN’T ON THE SCENE IN NEW YORK OR PART
for that band. We recorded, I think, 50 dif- THEM A PLATFORM. OF YOUR IMMEDIATE CIRCLE, WHICH COMES
ferent songs. It’s not like we did the same set The first record that came about that way FIRST—IS IT THE PLAYER OR IS IT A PROJECT?
every night. Every tune we ever played was was with Donny McCaslin. I felt like Donny I think first and foremost it’s the music itself.
coming up for review. was making these great records but not I had heard Matt Ulery in a band that went
on either before or after me in Chicago. I
← remember thinking, “Here’s a guy with a
A previous edition of the Dave Douglas Quintet, with saxophonist Donny McCaslin,
sound.” When you see a musician who’s really
pianist Uri Caine, bassist Matt Penman and drummer Clarence Penn, performs in
raising everybody up, it’s always memorable.
Europe in 2009
Then Matt came to me with these tapes.
They’re orchestral, they’re huge, and he does
COURTESY OF DAVE DOUGLAS/GREENLEAF MUSIC ARCHIVES
it with very good taste. It’s a hard fight for us

to get that music out there, but I believe in
it. That’s the aesthetic, for me. It’s the whole
package: the person, and the repertoire, and
the sound, and the approach.
IT’S QUITE A DIFFERENT LANDSCAPE FOR THE

RECORDED MUSIC INDUSTRY THAN IT WAS 10
YEARS AGO. HOW WOULD YOU CHARACTER-
IZE THE DIFFERENCE IN PRACTICAL TERMS?
Well, it’s a sea change, and actually, at this
very moment I feel like we’re on the cusp
JAZZTIMES.COM 33
of the next big change. I’m just finishing incredibly talented, and I say to them, what we do, but the meaning of the enter-
a quintet record, which will come out in “When are you going to make your reprise is in the whole picture: supporting the
October. And as I’m producing it, I have cord?” And they go, “What do you mean?” touring, and sheet music, and podcasting,
the feeling, “Wow, this may be the last CD You’re asking me about streaming, but I and education events. The whole world
I ever produce.” Probably not, but the way feel like the question is, to people who are being in touch with all the aspects of what
the music is coming out, and being en- half my age, what does it mean to docu- we do. So for me, that makes the meaning
countered by listeners, is changing quickly. ment and release recorded music? Maybe of releasing recorded music a little differ-
the corporate streaming problem isn’t the ent. We still sell a lot of CDs, don’t get me
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ABOUT THE real crux of the issue. wrong—especially at gigs, but also through
BUSINESS OF STREAMING, BOTH AS AN our distributor, eOne. CDs are still in
ARTIST AND A LABEL HEAD? IT’S INTERESTING TO THINK OF GREENLEAF, demand by people who listen to our music,
Obviously I’ve given this a lot of thought, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY A RECORD LABEL, and also, I would suspect, a lot of other jazz
but I feel like these issues are really at the GRAPPLING WITH THIS EXISTENTIAL QUESTION: artists and labels. But I think it is changing.
corporate level. And a lot of artists are now WHAT IS AN “ALBUM” IN THIS DAY AND AGE?
releasing their work on Soundcloud or And that’s why I called the company DID YOU LOOK AT ANY POINT TO LABELS RUN
Vimeo or YouTube. So the deeper question Greenleaf Music. Because I think of it as a BY YOUR PEERS? TIM BERNE HAD SCREWGUN
is, what does it mean to put out an album? music company and not as a record label. RECORDS, AND TZADIK, JOHN ZORN’S LABEL,
I talk to a lot of young musicians who are I think the record label aspect is a part of IS OBVIOUSLY A SHINING EXAMPLE.
CREATIVE CONTROL
EIGHT MORE MUSICIAN-RUN JAZZ RECORD COMPANIES EXPLAINED
DEBUT RECORDS (est. 1952) TZADIK (est. 1995)

One of the earliest attempts by jazz musicians—and, at least as Founder John Zorn’s prodigious output would be
significantly, African-American artists—to wrest control from the major more than sufficient to ensure that Tzadik maintains
record labels came with the founding of Debut by Charles Mingus a steady and wide-ranging release schedule. But over
and Max Roach. While it only lasted five years and a couple of dozen its 20-year history the label has accumulated an impressive
releases, Debut issued LPs by its founders and their contemporaries, stable of sonic adventurers to complement the composer-saxophonist’s
including Bud Powell, Miles Davis, Oscar Pettiford, Kenny Dorham, Thad relentless invention. Tzadik provides a home for Zorn’s Radical
Jones and Paul Bley (his first album as a leader). Jewish Culture explorations, including his ever-expanding Masada
catalog, as well as imprints for women in experimental music,
REPRISE RECORDS (est. 1960) Japanese underground artists and archival releases, all dedicated to
A decade into his career resurgence, Frank Sinatra decided to make representing “the artists’ vision undiluted.”
a play for moguldom by starting the Reprise label, which provided a
home (and creative say-so) for his Rat Pack cronies and other artists he SCREWGUN RECORDS (est. 1996)
admired, including Bing Crosby and Rosemary Clooney. The imprint Saxophonist-composer Tim Berne inaugurated Screwgun as an
lasted only three years under Sinatra’s leadership before low sales forced outlet mainly for his own multifarious recordings, maintaining it as
him to sell to Warner Bros., which steadily skewed its releases toward his primary platform until his signing with ECM in 2011. Though it
rock acts like the Kinks, Jimi Hendrix and Neil Young. occasionally featured a CD by one of Berne’s collaborators (Marc
Ducret, Michael Formanek, Julius Hemphill), Screwgun’s catalog
A&M RECORDS (est. 1962) was largely populated by his ever-changing bands, including
Founded by Tijuana Brass trumpeter and bandleader Herb Alpert Bloodcount, Hard Cell, Big Satan and Science Friction. The CD
and his business partner, Jerry Moss, A&M became one of the packages are characterized by the dynamic artwork of Steve
world’s largest independent record companies by embracing the Byram, pairing frantic imagery with jumbled-typeset puns, musings
spirit of 1960s eclecticism. Along with Alpert compatriots like Burt and the occasional recipe.
Bacharach and Sérgio Mendes, the label featured crossover jazz
(Wes Montgomery, Chuck Mangione), soft rock (the Carpenters, MOTÉMA MUSIC (est. 2003)
Captain & Tennille), British rockers (Joe Cocker, Free) and comedy Singer-songwriter Jana Herzen intended Motéma to be a short-
(Cheech & Chong), among many other genres, before being sold to lived vanity label, an expedient means of releasing her own debut
PolyGram in 1989. album, Soup’s on Fire, and her friend Babatunde Lea’s all-star
record Soul Pools. A dozen years and more than 100 releases later,
GRP RECORDS (est. 1982) Motéma boasts a diverse roster of established masters (Geri Allen,
Keyboardist Dave Grusin and producer Larry Rosen parlayed the Cookers, Monty Alexander, Joe Locke) and rising stars (Joey
their skill as a production team into the founding of GRP, moving Alexander, Charenee Wade, Pedrito Martinez).
out from under the umbrella of Arista Records in 1982, after four
years. Always dedicated to digital recording technology, the label INNER CIRCLE MUSIC (est. 2008)
was among the earliest and most ardent adopters of the compact Named for his own 2002 Blue Note release, Inner Circle was created
disc. It also set the stage for the smooth-jazz boom of the 1980s, by saxophonist Greg Osby as an outlet for innovative young artists,
counting among its artists Yellowjackets, the Rippingtons and many of whom also served apprenticeships in Osby’s bands. The label
Spyro Gyra, in addition to fusion pioneers like Chick Corea has helped launch the careers of fresh talents including saxophonist
and Billy Cobham. Melissa Aldana and vocalist Sara Serpa. SHAUN BRADY

Tzadik is just amazing. He’s one of my story your own way. What’s interesting is WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE TO YOUNGER
closest friends, and I still don’t know how this combination of music and personal- MUSICIANS ENTERING A WORLD IN
he does it. It’s a miracle. I also used to talk ity, people developing a way of thinking WHICH YOUR CAREER TRAJECTORY—
to Greg Osby a lot [the saxophonist who about what they do. RECORDING ON A MAJOR LABEL AS WELL
founded Inner Circle Music], and Tim AS INDEPENDENTS—IS NO LONGER
Berne was an example for me. And I read a A NOISE FROM THE DEEP, YOUR PODCAST, MUCH OF A POSSIBILITY?
lot about Charles Mingus’ label, and what IS INTERESTING TOO, BECAUSE IN MANY What I would say is something that’ll
Charles Tolliver and Stanley Cowell did CASES IT DOES NOT SERVE ANY DIRECT probably never change: You should
with Strata-East back in the day. And Max PROMOTIONAL FUNCTION. WHAT ROLE always take the attitude that you’ll
Roach, and Mary Lou Williams. When I DOES IT PLAY FOR GREENLEAF MUSIC? have to do everything for yourself.
was touring with Horace Silver in 1987, he I see the podcast as a chance to let musi- You’re not going to find a manager or
had a label of his own called Silveto, and he cians talk about their work and process a booking agent or a record label who’s
was schlepping the records on the road. To in a way that they aren’t often asked to going to make everything happen for
me, the model that intrigued me the most do. My cohost is [bassist and composer] you. I don’t know that it’s any different
was where there was actually a team in Michael Bates, and we go back and forth than it’s ever been. But now there are
place to support the artists, where it wasn’t with lists of people who would have more components, and to turn that
a service-for-hire situation. something interesting to say. into a survivable existence is harder.
It’s easy to lose sight of the music being
HOW HAS SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGED THE DO YOU HEAR FROM PEOPLE WHO ARE the number-one priority in all of this. I
REALITY FOR THE DISTRIBUTION AND SPECIFICALLY LOYAL TO THE PODCAST? think that the current environment of
RECEPTION OF THE MUSIC? Oh yeah, a lot. They also give us sugges- this creative art form is one in which
For independent artists, there are a lot of tions. The first suggestion was, “Can you there are challenges and there are op-
good things about this new realm. There’s get Kenny G on the show?” And I thought, portunities. People are releasing their
a freedom to have your voice heard on that would be great. I don’t think Mr. G music all different kinds of ways, and
platforms that didn’t exist before; to would do it, but boy, I would welcome monetizing it in different ways, and it’s
respond to criticism; to tell your own that opportunity. being heard. JT
JAZZTIMES.COM 35
36
NEVER TOO
JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015
A CELEBRATED CAREER AS AN EDUCATOR NOW BEHIND HIM,
74-YEAR-OLD PIANIST-COMPOSER STANLEY COWELL READIES
FOR A LATE-CAREER RENAISSANCE AS A JAZZ PERFORMER
m standing at the long, black ensuing decades, a deep understanding

rand piano in the living room of the jazz lineage mingled with Cowell’s
f Stanley Cowell’s Southern innovative spirit and came to define
aryland home, watching as his music. By the early ’80s he boasted
e comes alive. The 74-year-old an unimpeachable résumé, includ-
ianist and composer is showing ing sideman work with iconic leaders,
ff his digital sound-design sys- his own powerful recordings and even
em, called Kyma, which he used co-ownership of a game-changing label.
uring his just-ended weeklong All of which added to the loss the jazz
tint in New York in June. “You scene felt starting in 1981, when Cowell
an see I have a folder called largely shifted his focus from performing
anguard,’” he points out on his to educating. He began teaching fulltime
tablet screen. “These are the sounds I that year and continued for the next 32,
chose for the performance.” He selects first at CUNY’s Lehman College, then at
one, and a heavy church bell tolls in Rutgers University in New Jersey.
the standup speaker next to us. Cowell But his 2013 retirement from Rut-
picks out the opening lick of “’Round gers has brought him back onto the
Midnight” on the keyboard, and another bandstand, culminating in his week at
set of bells play along. the Vanguard. “Part of my bucket list!”
We’ve just spent two hours conversing Cowell says proudly. “It took 74 years to
in his basement. He’s been gracious and get there. So don’t give up!”
forthcoming, but also been cerebral and
soft-spoken—not cold, but reserved. That QOOQ
fades during his 10 minutes at the piano. COWELL’S BUCKET LIST HAS TO BE A SHORT
As he transforms “’Round Midnight” into one, considering the number of accom-
“an upside-down version,” demonstrates plishments he’s already checked off. He
another effect with his own melody “St. graduated from Oberlin college in 1962
Croix” and tools around with phrases and arrived in New York in the summer of
from his new solo recording, Juneteenth ’66, working first with saxophonist Marion
LATE
(Vision Fugitive), his eyes light up and his Brown and other “out” players. But in 1967
NATALIE ELLIOT
←Stanley Cowell at voice gains volume and merriment. “Now he passed an audition for Max Roach’s
home in Maryland to do all that in rhythm!” he exclaims, and quintet. The legendary drummer’s band
lets out a throaty chuckle. “It was cool. also included the young trumpeter Charles
People wanted more of it!” Tolliver, with whom Cowell bonded im-
If music animates Cowell, the reverse mediately. “We just had the right vibes, the
is also true, and his incorporation of right affinity,” Tolliver says. “We bonded
the Kyma, which he’s used for nearly 20 … from the start,” he continues, and he
years, is living proof. “Stanley’s always remains Cowell’s closest friend today.
been an inspiration because he’s not a Roach’s band was really “the begin-
stagnant artist,” says drummer Nasheet ning of everything,” Cowell says. From
Waits, who worked with Cowell in the there, the pianist got a call to tour with
1990s. “He’s always exploring, coming up Miles Davis, and joined the Bobby
with new ways to express himself.” Hutcherson-Harold Land Quintet as
Cowell is no stranger to tradition, well. In 1969, he toured with Stan Getz’s
either. His initiation into jazz came at quartet, and made his first two albums
age 6, in his Toledo, Ohio home, where under his own name.
he watched his father’s friend Art Tatum
play the family’s spinet piano. In the BY MICHAEL J. WEST
JAZZTIMES.COM 37
T
he 1970s are often dismissed most important independent jazz labels the adopted and well-respected other Heath
as meager years for jazz; for of the decade [see sidebar]. Brother,” laughs Jimmy Heath, the saxophon-
Stanley Cowell, they were Cowell also cofounded the Collective ist and middle brother of the group.
bullish. He and Tolliver Black Artists, in another outgrowth of It was in ’81, while working with the
left Roach in 1970 to form Nguzo Saba’s principle of self-determi- Heath Brothers, that he was invited to
Tolliver’s quartet Music Inc., nation. “We decided that we wanted to explore a fulltime opportunity at Lehman
which in November 1970 bring African-American artists more to College in the Bronx. “They wanted some-
made its first studio recording, Music Inc. the fore, in presentation and recording one to come in and chair a program,” he
After getting no takers among the labels, and so forth,” he says. “We did a lot of says, “and it was a very interesting program
Tolliver and Cowell decided to put it out concerts, took music into prisons, into because it fielded older musicians, profes-
themselves. “This was part of [Nguzo schools. It survived a long time.” sional musicians, from the union.” Cowell
Saba], the seven principles of African Throughout it all, Cowell’s musical taught a jazz history symposium and
Heritage,” Cowell explains. “Kind of a career was blossoming. Between 1973 ensembles, eventually attaining tenure and
rebuilding thing, coming out of the need and 1981, he recorded nine albums. Two full professorship. Then, in 2000, he won
to take over our own resources. But it found him leading an ensemble called the the retiring Kenny Barron’s position as pro-
moved from a racial idea to an entrepre- Piano Choir—a seven-keyboard ensemble fessor of piano at Rutgers University. This
neurial idea.” that blended acoustic and electric pianos, time he entered with full professorship and
Two of Cowell’s friends from Michigan organ, harpsichord and an array of tenure, and rose to become the chair of the
had formed a corporation called Strata. synthesizers. He was also a prolific free- jazz studies department.
FROM LEFT: JANETTE BECKMAN/COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, NATALIE ELLIOT

“We told them that we were going to issue lancer, touring and recording with bassist
this new recording. They said, ‘Well, why Richard Davis, drummer Roy Haynes and QOOQ
don’t you guys become the Eastern leg of saxophonist Art Pepper, among others. So TEACHING WASN’T THE ONLY THING THAT
our thing?’” Tolliver recalls. “To make a prolific was he, Cowell notes, that Tolliver distanced Cowell from active performance.
long story short, I decided that we would was left to operate Strata-East. “I got so The smoke that accumulated in the jazz
not become a part of the Strata Corpora- busy performing,” Cowell says, “I thought clubs was a major irritation, especially on
tion but would definitely use the name that Strata-East was gonna run by itself.” tour. “The Japanese and the French used
Strata-East.” It would become one of the Among his sideman gigs was a roughly to come and gang-smoke!” he says. “It’d
decade-long one as be a mushroom cloud of smoke all over the
pianist for the Heath place!” In addition, he’d married and had a
Brothers—the only daughter, and in 1988 the family moved to
member of the Upper Marlboro, Md., about 45 minutes
quartet who was not outside D.C., though they bought a sec-
a family member. ond home in New Jersey to ease Cowell’s
“Stanley Cowell was commute to Lehman.
← From left: Cowell underneath the awning at the Village Vanguard.

The pianist led a band there for the first time in June; Cowell works
with the digital sound-design program Kyma at home
But none of these were obstacles to his
creativity. Cowell continued to develop
EASTERN PROMISE
as a musician and composer, to develop TRUMPETER CHARLES TOLLIVER ON THE FOUNDING OF STRATA-EAST,
and innovate, and now he was assisted by HIS AND COWELL’S HISTORIC RECORD LABEL
the resources of academia. For one thing,
S
he had access to student ensembles, and tanley Cowell and Charles
not just in jazz. Cowell began building an Tolliver founded Strata-
impressive résumé of orchestral works: East Records in 1971 as
short pieces for solo or small ensemble as a two-artist label. But when its
well as long-form sonatas, concerti and first release, Music Inc., plugged
suites. “I used their symphony, wrote for them into the nationwide network
their brass choir, wrote for their woodwind of independent distributors,
quintet and combined jazz soloist with tenor saxophonist Clifford Jordan
those ensembles—either myself or, on (a member of the album’s big
one piece, the Asian Art Suite, the whole band) was intrigued. “When he
faculty.” Cowell is particularly proud of the saw what we did with that first
Asian Art Suite, a three-part, seven-section record—because he was on that
composition for orchestra, percussion and first record—he said, ‘Well, you
jazz sextet that he premiered at Rutgers in know, I’ve already recorded a lot
2009. “It’s a fun piece,” he says. “It’s based of musicians,’” says Tolliver, 73.
on a commission from the Philadelphia “‘And since you guys have already
Museum of Art, inspired by their Asian gone this far, how
collection.” (It has never been issued as a about putting my
recording, although excerpts appear on stuff out?’”
← Cowell
his 2012 album, It’s Time, on SteepleChase. Jordan released and Tolliver
That prolific but low-profile Danish outfit five productions at “Strata-
was Cowell’s label of choice during the through Strata- East Live” in
’90s. After not recording for over a decade, East, including London in
he returned to the fold for It’s Time and Pharoah Sanders’ March
2013’s Welcome to This New World, a quar- Izipho Zam and
tet date featuring guitarist Vic Juris.) his own classic
While writing his first orchestral piece Glass Bead
in the early ’90s, Cowell, using a boxy IBM Games. With his
computer, began learning “a very early, involvement, producers were suddenly
unstable version of the notation pro- knocking on Strata-East’s door. “I set up
gram called Finale.” The long process of a conduit system,” Tolliver says. “If it
composing allowed him to become quite looked like it would be something that
practiced in the program. “I got into elec- would fit … we added it.” Strata-East
tronic music, experimenting with that,” he handled manufacturing and distribu-
says, “[enough that] in ’97 I took over the tion, and the artists were responsible
electronic music class at Lehman.” creatively for their recordings.
Much of the equipment was still The music was diverse, ranging from
analog, but Cowell steered it toward funk-fusion (Charlie Rouse’s Two Is One)
digital, and it was in this capacity that and soul-jazz (Shirley Scott’s One for Me) to postbop (Billy Harper’s Capra
he began working with the Kyma. “I got Black) and avant-garde (Brother Ah’s Sound Awareness), in addition to Cowell
a grant to [purchase] it,” he says. “I used and Tolliver’s projects.
PHOTOS BY PAUL WOOD, CONCERT POSTER BY BEN CONNORS
it at a concert when I started teaching In 1974, Strata-East issued Gil Scott-Heron’s Winter in America, the
the electronic course.” He began incor- poet’s commercial breakthrough, but the album’s success ultimately led to the
porating the system into his orchestral label’s undoing. “Sometimes a good thing can be not such a good thing,”
work as well: A piece commemorating Cowell acknowledges, “when you’re dealing with accounts-payable against
the Emancipation Proclamation was accounts-receivable, and trying to stay on top of everybody who wanted that
composed for concert band, chorus and record. The other part involved some disgruntled producers who felt that they
Kyma. “He’s just that kind of person: should be making more money as they saw Gil’s record catapulting upward.
open always to new happenings,” says So there were two lawsuits.” (One of these was dismissed in federal court;
Heath. “We went to Japan, and I bought the other was settled.)
my first keyboard, and he had it all These issues slowed Strata-East’s output, and after 1976, save for occasional
figured out by the time we got home. He releases, it became inactive. It still exists as a catalog, however, managed
taught me a lot about the computer over by Cowell and Tolliver, and just last year, Mosaic released a box of Clifford
the years, too.” Jordan’s Strata-East sessions. MICHAEL J. WEST
JAZZTIMES.COM 39
←Clockwise from above: Cowell gigs in NYC in 1977; in his hometown of Toledo, Ohio, at
age 3; with the Park Lane Trio, featuring future Roland Kirk bassist Vernon Martin, c. 1959
QOOQ recordings. His sound was based instead

Further, Cowell hadn’t completely COWELL’S FIRST MAJOR ORCHESTRAL WORK, on Bud Powell, Phineas Newborn and
abandoned live performance. In fact, completed and premiered in 1992, was his ’60s innovators like McCoy Tyner and
whereas he had rarely led bands in Piano Concerto No. 1, a tribute to Art Ta- Herbie Hancock. As the ’70s progressed,
earlier years, in the mid-’90s he formed tum. As a native of Tatum’s hometown of he took on polyrhythmic West African
1977 PHOTO BY TOM MARCELLO, OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
a real working quartet: Bruce Williams Toledo, Cowell was more captive to his in- influences and became skilled on the
on alto saxophone, Dwayne Burno on fluence than most jazz pianists—many of mbira, or thumb piano. But during the
bass and Keith Copeland on drums. his mentors were Tatum’s contemporaries ’80s, perhaps as a side effect of teaching
Copeland was soon replaced by Nasheet and protégés—not to mention the effect jazz history, Tatum came creeping back
Waits, who has known Cowell since of witnessing a performance of “You Took in; his rhythmic and harmonic signa-
the pianist was a neighbor of Waits’ Advantage of Me” in his own childhood tures are prominent, for example, on
father, drummer Freddie Waits, in New living room. When Cowell recorded his Cowell’s 1983 album Such Great Friends.
York’s Westbeth Artists Housing com- 1969 debut as a leader, Blues for the Viet In 1990, the master asserted himself in
plex. “The music was challenging and Cong, he included a rollicking solo stride a big way. “I never wanted to play like Ta-
engaging,” Williams recalls. “We would rendition of that same tune. “Somewhere tum, but the Charlin Jazz Society kind of
hook up every couple months, at the that just came off the top of my head,” he steered me in that direction,” he says, “by
minimum three times in the year, for a says. “I didn’t know why. I realized later, offering me a grant to develop a concert
weeklong stint. For a working New York ‘Well, that’s where that came from.’” of Tatum’s transcriptions and whatever
jazz band, that’s kind of a lot unless Cowell’s version didn’t really sound I could ape, so to speak. So I did 22 of
you’re on the road.” like Tatum. Nor did the rest of his early his pieces in the concert. Some of them

were transcriptions and the others were close Then there was the weeklong bucket-list teach. “The mentoring in jazz a lot of times
interpretations of the songs that he played.” stint at the Vanguard. Cowell’s friends in is not like sitting at a desk with someone
Shortly afterward, he began the concerto. “I the music visited throughout the week, at a blackboard, it’s more like real-life
had already isolated quite a few of Tatum’s among them Heath, Waits and Tolliver. experience,” Williams says. “It’s always a
ideas, and kind of sprinkled them about, as Bruce Williams played in the quartet, challenge, but a beautiful thing. … Stanley’s
one reviewer said, into the piano concerto.” along with bassist Jay Anderson and clearly one of the best there’s ever been.”
From then on, Tatum was simply another drummer Billy Drummond, and found “Now he’s coming back out here,
element in the nuanced tapestry that is that after more than two decades the and I wish him all the best,” says Heath.
Cowell’s music. Juneteenth—a “reduction” pianist still found ways to inspire and “He deserves it.” JT
of his piece on the Emancipation Procla-
mation, now applied more broadly to the
struggle for civil rights—never overtly
addresses Tatum, but it does abstract and,
yes, sprinkle his conception throughout,
Clean, bright, powerful sound with effortless altissimo.
along with ideas from other historical jazz
pianists. That blend is filtered through
Luscious, full low notes in the same mouthpiece.
an approach to voicing and space that is
Cowell’s alone, and as a result those influ-
ences are subsumed into his sound. Indeed,
Impossible? Not anymore.
Juneteenth may be the most distinctly
Cowell-ian of all his albums, particularly on
the improvised closing track, “Juneteenth
Recollections.” “His music is unique. It’s not
like anyone else’s that I know,” says Heath.
“He’s not strictly a bebopper, and he’s not
strictly from the Tatum school. He’s got
his own voice in this world. He has things
as avant-garde as Ornette Coleman and
that era of music. The whole spectrum of
African-American classical music. And he
never forgets the history of African-Ameri-
can people, and he tries to do everything he
can to better our position in the world.”
QOOQ
THROUGHOUT HIS TIME AS AN EDUCATOR,

Cowell took a few sabbaticals to work on
his music. He embarked on one of these
breaks in 2013, he says, “and then just
decided to stay out. They had me come back
for graduation and commencement that
year, and treated me lovely.” At 72, he was
finally retired.
Which gave him the opportunity to come
out of his quasi-retirement from live per-
formance. Jazz clubs around the world had
adopted smoke-free policies, which Cowell
relished, and he made his way into concert JODYJAZZ JET
halls, including London’s prestigious Bar- Now in Tenor as well as Alto
bican. In March, he reunited with Tolliver,
singer Jean Carne, tenor saxophonist Billy
Harper, bassist Cecil McBee and drummer
Alvin Queen to tour the U.K. as the Strata-
East All Stars. “The Brits, like the Japanese,
are forever in love with the Strata-East hap-
pening,” says Tolliver. “And a world-famous You have to play it to believe it.
DJ there [Gilles Peterson], who grew up on
Strata-East, found out that we were alive
and well. He put it together.”
JAZZTIMES.COM 41
Sound
Aff cts
FOR THE PROLIFIC CORNETIST,
COMPOSER AND BANDLEADER
ROB MAZUREK, SONICS ARE
A MATTER OF THE HEART
“I HAVEN’T REALLY TALKED ABOUT TRUMPET.

You want me to talk about Kenny Dorham or something? I’m just
so much more interested in the idea of projecting a sound where
you can’t even say what the instrument is.”
The question and mission statement ate a sea of sounds (“tsunami” might be the
come from Rob Mazurek toward the end of more accurate metaphor). On top of that,
an hour-long conversation. The cornetist personnel in some of his bands has been
has spent the time discussing the various mixed and matched to form hybrid groups,
elements that have driven his many differ- and heavyweights such as saxophonists
ent musical projects. To name a few: his Pharoah Sanders and Roscoe Mitchell and
longstanding Chicago Underground Duo the late trumpeter Bill Dixon have guested
(formerly Orchestra and, at various times, with Mazurek’s units.
Trio), wherein he and percussionist Chad Mazurek’s mention of trumpeter Dorham
Taylor create outsized ambience using a sounds like a wisecrack meant to mock-
Spartan format; Exploding Star Orches- ingly connect his instrument to a tradition.
tra, which serves as something of a who’s But it’s easy to believe that he can bring the
who of Chicago-based improvisers; and same level of conviction to a discussion of
São Paulo Underground, which combines Dorham’s Una Mas that he brings to his
COURTESY OF CUNEIFORM RECORDS
experimental jazz with dub grooves and original concepts. It wasn’t long ago that
Brazilian melodies. There was also the post- Mazurek was devoted to the canon of bop.
rock/jazz group Isotope 217, and Mazurek While the concepts and aesthetics have
has given solo performances on cornet fil- evolved over the years, one thing hasn’t
tered through an array of electronics to cre- changed: his warm yet delicate tone.
By Mike Shanley
JAZZTIMES.COM 43
← Mazurek and Exploding Star Orchestra record half of Galactic Parables: Volume 1 live at the Chicago Cultural Center, October 2013
FOR MOST OF THE SUMMER OF 2015, MAZUREK LIVED IN was kind and generous and treated me like an equal, although
Marfa, Texas, the contemporary-art oasis with a population of I was so young and green. He gave me lessons every day for
less than 2,000. From 2000 to 2005 he called Brazil home, and a week.”
he’s lived abroad in other countries too—a nomadic habit he Upon graduating from high school, Mazurek moved on to
sees as a way to keep his creative juices flowing. “I think people Chicago’s Bloom School of Jazz, where he learned to shape a
can get so wound up in their immediate environment and their solo while transcribing and listening intensely to Miles, Col-
immediate mind that you have to have different ways to open trane and Mingus. He also spent time at the New Apartment
that up,” he says. “Some people do it with drugs and alcohol. My Lounge, sitting in on jam sessions hosted by saxophonist Von
drug is going to some strange destination and pulling things Freeman. For a year he lived with saxophonist Lin Halliday,
from the environment, the spirituality of a place.” soaking up his musical knowledge.
“[ART FARMER] SAID I PLAYED JAZZ JUST FINE, BUT IT WASN’T GOOD ENOUGH TO JUST IMITATE THE MASTERS,” MAZUREK SAYS.
“HE REALLY SCOLDED ME ABOUT THIS, AND ENCOURAGED ME TO DIG DEEPER AND FIND MY OWN WAY OF PROJECTING SOUND.”
Today, Mazurek, 50, is primarily based in Chicago. Drummer Chad Taylor was only 15, eight years younger than
LAUREN DEUTSCH/COURTESY OF CUNEIFORM RECORDS
He was born in New Jersey but grew up in the suburbs of Mazurek, when he got a call for a gig with the cornetist in 1989.
Chicago, frequently making his way into the city. Wayne Of the years leading up to the Chicago Underground projects,
Segal of the Jazz Showcase took notice of the teenaged brass Taylor remembers power suits and straight-ahead playing. “It
player and frequently let him into the club to experience was the whole Wynton thing. He was playing bebop,” Taylor says.
weeklong engagements by Wayne Shorter, Art Farmer and “I always thought he sounded good, not great. It just wasn’t his
Pharoah Sanders. In the early ’80s, he approached the up- thing, but he was definitely convincing.”
and-coming Wynton Marsalis and asked him for lessons. Guitarist Jeff Parker, who would also become a part of the
“Wynton’s group at that time—Jeff Watts, Kenny Kirkland, original Chicago Underground group, met Mazurek a few
Branford, Robert Hurst—was playing all of Ornette Coleman’s years later. The music sounded pretty reverent, but he could
music from The Shape of Jazz to Come,” he recalls. “Wynton see a personality emerging as well. “It was a very particular
told me to buy that record, which I did the next day. Wynton Blue Note bag: a lot of boogaloos, a lot of blues,” he says. “He

was really into lyrical, swinging trumpet players. It’s Rob,
so it was very conceptual, much more than ‘I’m going to
JT ESSENTIALS:
play jazz.’ He was very specific in the stuff that he was ROB MAZUREK
referencing—much more specific than what anyone was
doing at the time.” CHICAGO UNDERGROUND DUO
Mazurek landed a contract with the Hep label, based in Boca Negra (Thrill Jockey, 2010)
Scotland, and released three conventional albums between Following releases by the Chicago Underground
1994 and ’97, with small groups including saxophonist Eric Orchestra (a quartet!) and Trio, Mazurek and
Alexander, pianist Randolph Tressler, bassist John Webber drummer Chad Taylor are left to their own devices
on Boca Negra, and therein lies the intrigue. The
and drummer George Fludas. He also took lessons from one
record begins with a free cornet/drums duet, and
of his straight-ahead heroes, Art Farmer, and the experience the musicians go on to evoke spy films, noodle
gave Mazurek a new sense of purpose. “He said I played with electronics and cover Ornette Coleman. Throughout,
jazz just fine, but it wasn’t good enough to just imitate the Mazurek’s strong brass tone acts as a determined guide, even
masters,” Mazurek recalls. “He really scolded me about this, during the spaciest moments.
and encouraged me to dig deeper and find my own way of
projecting sound.” STARLICKER
While in high school, Mazurek had listened to the Art Double Demon (Delmark, 2011)
After the Chicago Underground Duo, a trio of
Ensemble of Chicago, Sun Ra and electric Miles, and
vibes, cornet and drums shouldn’t sound unusual,
Farmer’s directive inspired him to reexamine this music. but the thrust of Starlicker’s album still comes
He soon landed a Sunday afternoon engagement at Chi- from a unique and inspired source. Drummer
cago’s Green Mill, which became something of a workshop John Herndon (Tortoise) and vibraphonist Jason
for composers. Knowing guitarist Parker had connections Adasiewicz work together to give Mazurek’s
with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Mu- compositions a surprising fullness—especially essential given the
sicians (AACM), the cornetist got back in touch with him, lack of a low-end instrument. Herndon’s use of the entire kit and
Adasiewicz’s sustained harmonies deftly underscore Mazurek’s
as well as with Taylor. “The original intention, the way I
inventive melodies.
remember it, wasn’t ‘Let’s do avant-garde music or free
jazz’; it was ‘Let’s play some tunes,’” Taylor says. “But it just SÃO PAULO UNDERGROUND
happened that the tunes Jeff was bringing in were more on Três Cabeças Loucuras
the experimental side. And that started influencing Rob (Cuneiform, 2011)
a lot, and he started bringing in some different-sounding Mazurek met drummers Mauricio Takara and
stuff. Then I would bring in some stuff. It evolved into Richard Ribeiro and keyboardist Guilherme
what eventually came to be Chicago Underground.” Granado while living in Brazil, and the group
has recorded several strong albums of
dreamscapes that combine tropicalia and
VWVW experimental jazz, wrapping in production
AS MAZUREK MOVED AWAY FROM MUSIC BUILT ON effects with the swirling effect of dub reggae. This album includes
conventional chord changes during the late ’90s, his focus the trippy “Pigeon,” based on Brazilian maracatu, and “Jagoda’s
leaned more toward sound itself. (In 2009, he even titled Dream,” a hybrid of tense drumming and lush cornet long tones.
a quintet album Sound Is.) He once described it using the
phrase “psychedelic illumination drones,” a term he still ROB MAZUREK PULSAR QUARTET
Stellar Pulsations (Delmark, 2012)
approves of, though he admits “drones” implies specific
With avant-oriented players Angelica
and predictable consequences. Sanchez (piano), Matthew Lux (bass) and
To hear Mazurek explain it, it sounds less like a Herndon joining him, it’s surely a stretch to
throwback to the Summer of Love and more like his own call this album Mazurek’s return to his hard-
expression of Sun Ra-ian philosophy. “It’s all [based on] bop roots. But it does include one-chord
that projection of trying to find the frequency that best vamps and shows off his skill at Harmon-
corresponds to this positive energy flow,” he says. “And by muted balladry, and the rubato “Spiritual Mars” has the fire
of Coltrane’s Classic Quartet.
positive energy flow, I don’t just mean playing something
happy; I mean waking people up to the idea of a higher
ROB MAZUREK EXPLODING STAR ORCHESTRA
understanding. I know it sounds very—whatever, I don’t Galactic Parables: Volume 1
know what the word is, even. But I mean it sincerely.” (Cuneiform, 2015)
However it reads, a substantial example of the concept As Damon Locks begins his oration on disc one,
can be heard on last year’s Return the Tides: Ascension a voice interrupts him, asking, “Are you spotless?”
Suite and Holy Ghost (Cuneiform), credited to Mazurek It’s not a heckler or a bandmate, but Sun Ra via a
and Black Cube SP. The hour-long suite was recorded sampler. Recorded at Sardinia’s Sant’Anna Arresi
Jazz Festival and again a few months later in
shortly after the death of the cornetist’s mother, Kathleen,
Chicago, this large-scale piece takes Mr. Blount’s
which influenced the music as well as the cover art, a interstellar perspective and builds on it, with stunning performances
collage designed by Mazurek. Rather than mourn the loss by flutist Nicole Mitchell, guitarist Jeff Parker and the leader.
of a loved one, he says the music acts as transference of Combinations of spoken-word and jazz often get didactic or
“Mother energy. For me, it was kind of an immediate real- pretentious, but not this one. MIKE SHANLEY
JAZZTIMES.COM 45
← Clockwise from above: Mazurek flanked by Guilherme
Granado and Mauricio Takara in São Paulo Underground;
with trumpeter-composer Bill Dixon in 2007; with guitarist
Jeff Parker (both at back) in Isotope 217, c. 2000; with Eric
Alexander on the cover of 1995’s Badlands; with drummer
Chad Taylor in the Chicago Underground Duo, c. 2000
ization of her being physically gone. But I also felt an absolute

physicality coming back at me, this kind of feeling that she
was rising. She was sending this energy back to me in order to
do that work. And to continue to do what I’m doing,” he says.
“I would imagine that would be one of the best feelings to
have from someone that you love passing.”
In a concert in April at Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, the
energy was visceral, as Mazurek—along with Thomas Rohrer (on
the rabeca, a Brazilian fiddle; and soprano saxophone) and São
Paulo Underground bandmates Guilherme Granado (keyboards)
and Mauricio Takara (drums)—unleashed a loud, swirling sound
that combined electric Miles, free improvisation and textures that
recalled prog and krautrock bands like Can. Mazurek emitted tal noise musician Merzbow. “I use a lot of 12-tone technique
intense blasts from his cornet, in addition to playing wood flute and different synthetic chord structures in a lot of my music,”
and manipulating electronics, with occasional vocalizing. The Mazurek says. “The reason for me doing that isn’t to be clever.
energy never relented. [I’m] trying to find the right frequencies to give the instru-
On the same tour, the group played at Loyola University in ments personalities to really make the thing blow. That’s the
BADLANDS RELEASED BY HEP JAZZ, OTHER PHOTOS COURTESY OF THRILL JOCKEY RECORDS
New Orleans, in a performance that also included video projec- music I want to hear.
SÃO PAULO UNDERGROUND BY JASON MARCK/COURTESY OF CUNEIFORM RECORDS,

tions. Mazurek remembers how one audience member claimed “So if you hear the most amazing chord that Feldman just
to have something of an out-of-body experience. “Afterwards, made, next to the most amazing noise, like the skull-splitting
this student, a freshman, came backstage and he looked stunned,” sound of Merzbow, that’s the sound and the type of thing that
Mazurek says. “He was just standing there, staring wide-eyed, I’m interested in: the spaces between that.”
and I said, ‘Dude, are you OK?’ He said, ‘I’ve never heard any- All six of the albums released under the Exploding Star bill-
thing or seen anything like that before.’ He was trying to put it in ing have sought to connect interplanetary transmissions with
words and he started stuttering. I thought, ‘Just take it easy, man. a free-flowing orchestral sound. With the recent Galactic Para-
Enjoy what just happened because we shared that together.’ bles: Volume 1, Mazurek gets closer to his ideal than ever before.
“He was just so grateful. And it’s very touching to know that The double-disc set features two complete live performances
you’ve done something important for someone, and that it’s not of the titular piece, with slight variations in instrumentation
just some dumb, trivial concert.” and order of the piece’s movements. Damon Locks’ spoken-
word passages have become a staple on Orchestra discs, and
VWVW his orations frame music that blends Sun Ra (who appears via a
IN MAZUREK’S WORK, EVEN THE SMALLEST SOUND CAN phantom voice sample), AACM eclecticism and the thoughtful
have a ripple effect on what follows. In addition to his jazz post-rock that guitarist Parker performs in the band Tortoise.
influences, he cites equally weighted inspiration from sources The Orchestra sounds loose, but it sounds that way by de-
as far-ranging as composer Morton Feldman and experimen- sign. “The only real direction [from Mazurek] is that he wants

the energy level to be really high. He wants it to be explosive,”
says Parker. “You have a lot of freedom within what he’s ask-
ing you to do. You really put yourself into it.”
Considering the challenge of corralling Orchestra members
(some of them live outside of Chicago; all are busy working
musicians), Mazurek uses Duke Ellington’s approach of writ-
ing for specific musicians, and takes it to a logical extreme.
“It’s not like he says, ‘Oh, I need a third trumpet,’” Parker
says. “If I can’t make it, he might get somebody who plays
trombone to replace me. If the trombone player can’t make it,
he might get somebody to play vibraphone to replace him. It’s
always geared toward specific musical personalities.”
While Mazurek’s skills as a leader and conceptualist are
fairly well recognized, Parker laments the lack of attention
directed toward his chops and tone on cornet. “I can’t think of
any trumpet player now who has a more beautiful sound than
Rob. He has a great sound that’s always kind of reminded me
of all the cats he checked out: Miles, Lee Morgan, Kenny Dor-
ham, Art Farmer … a list of fat, beautiful trumpet sounds,” he
says, adding, “He knows how to play inside. He doesn’t just
play on top. He can play underneath or within the music.”
Drummer Taylor marvels at his partner’s consistency
throughout his voluminous discography. “I’m only on a
handful of stuff that he’s done,” he says. “But I keep on wait-
ing for him to mess up, to make a record that’s not happen-
ing. And it’s never happened. Every record I hear is very
original. It’s difficult to do as many records as he does and
not mess up once in a while. Not Rob. Every one is a gem.”
That includes Pharoah & the Underground’s Spiral Mercury,
a 2014 summit that brought together the Chicago and São
Paulo Underground bands with tenor giant Pharoah Sanders
wailing over their groovy backgrounds. Taylor wasn’t happy
with the performance and didn’t want it to be released; Ma-
zurek insisted and Taylor became upset—but only until he
actually heard the album. “It just shows you that he’s always
hearing something that you might not be necessarily picking
up on,” Taylor says.
VWVW
BEFORE 2015 IS OVER, MAZUREK WILL AGAIN HAVE
released documents of an array of different projects. This fall
brings Some Jellyfish Live Forever, a set of duets with Parker
on the RogueArt label. There’s also Vortice of the Faun (Astral
Spirits), a solo cassette of intense electro-acoustic sound ex-
periments that reveal compositional structures as the sounds
bounce from channel to channel.
Whether the subject is his early neo-bop days, the current
era of Exploding Star Orchestra or a work-in-progress called
“Marfa Loops, Shouts and Hollers”—which will involve
country singer Ross Cashiola—it’s clear Mazurek has never
been a dabbler. “I think it’s a continuum. The first record
is as important as the last record I put out, as far as what
I’m trying to project as a human,” he says. “I’m a big fan of
continuity and using past materials to understand something
new as well.
“I want to try to do something unique and interesting that’s
based on a vocabulary I’ve built up over years, making these
records and doing these concerts. To get that one kid who
comes backstage and has his mind blown—then I’m happy.” JT
JAZZTIMES.COM 47
Sound
advice
AudioFiles
“Listening Room” to Go
A NEW GENERATION OF ADVANCED PORTABLE
MUSIC PLAYERS PICKS UP WHERE THE IPOD LEFT OFF ← FiiO X1
By Brent Butterworth
A
fter a decade and a half of Pono arrived, via brands including Astell solely to driving headphones. In smart-
forcing the world to think & Kern, Calyx, Cowon, FiiO, HiFiMan, phones and tablets, the headphone amp is
about music in new ways, the iBasso, Sony and TEAC. usually built into a single low-cost chip that
iPod is gradually being retired. handles most or all of the audio functions.
Last year Apple discontinued the iPod What’s the Difference? Thus, high-res portables can typically deliver
Classic, the closest available product to Essentially, a high-res portable differs from much higher volume than phones and tablets
the original player launched in 2001. You a conventional MP3 player in that it can can. This isn’t a concern with typical mass-
can still purchase the Nano, Touch and handle high-resolution files and formats. market headphones, but many audiophile-
Shuffle models, but the line has lost its tab Most play files in WAV (uncompressed) grade headphones demand more power than
on Apple’s homepage. Most people use and FLAC (lossless compression) formats a smartphone or tablet can supply. (However,
a smartphone or tablet as their portable in addition to compressed formats such as even mass-market headphones tend to sound
music player, so they don’t need an iPod. MP3, Ogg Vorbis and WMA. Almost all better when driven by a high-res portable
But with the decline of the iPod has can handle standard PCM digital files (the player instead of a smartphone.)
come the rise of something much bet- format used on CD) with word depth up
ter: the high-resolution portable music to 24 bits and sampling rate up to 192 ki- The Nice Price
player. These devices combine a music lohertz—much higher than the 16 bits and High-res portables cost as much as $2,500,
player, a digital-to-analog converter with 44.1 kilohertz resolution offered by CD. but you can get a solid one for just $100:
high-resolution playback capability, and a Some also play the Direct-Stream Digital the FiiO X1. The X1 plays files in resolu-
high-quality headphone amplifier. Perhaps (DSD) format, now an audiophile favorite. tions up to 24/192, and works and feels
the best known is Neil Young’s PonoPlayer, Most, perhaps all, high-res players use much like an iPod Classic. It has no inter-
introduced to great fanfare (but mixed digital-to-analog converter (DAC) chips nal memory, but it accepts microSD cards
reviews) earlier this year. Yet audiophiles that are similar or identical to the chips up to 128 GB, so plan on spending an extra
caught on to high-res players long before found in separate high-end DACs and CD $10 to $100 depending on how much stor-
players; in other words, they’ll deliver age you need. With a 128 GB card
most of the detail, delicacy installed, you can carry about
and drive you hear in a big 400 CDs—and that’s in
high-end audio system. Perhaps the full resolution, using the
Portable high-res best known portable FLAC format.
players typically offer high-res device is If you want
expandable memory Neil Young’s PonoPlayer, something flashier
using easily remov- and more capable,
able SD or microSD
introduced to check out the $399
memory cards. Even if great fanfare PonoPlayer, which
you’ve been collecting (but mixed reviews) supports PCM in reso-
jazz sides for decades, earlier this year. lutions up to 24/192 as
you can use multiple well as the DSD format.
memory cards to carry all the Onboard memory is 64 GB
music you own in your pocket. and you can add 64 GB more
You can also connect these players directly with a microSD card. Pono’s triangular
to a stereo system. shape—think a Toblerone chocolate
Headphone enthusiasts have taken to bar—isn’t pocket-friendly, and its battery
these players because they tend to use sepa- life is just barely enough to last through a
← PonoMusic PonoPlayers rate high-quality amplifier chips devoted cross-country flight. Its saving grace is its

← Astell & Kern AK Jr ←HiFiMan
HM901s
sound, tailored by the en- If you’re very serious the HM901s re-
gineers at high-end audio about headphone sound places a high-end
company Ayre Acoustics, but too restless to sit at digital-to-analog
which has earned acclaim home, the $1,499 HiFiMan converter, a
from audio critics. HM901s might be the per- headphone amp,
Astell & Kern’s $499 AK Jr looks and fect player for you. Its amplifier section is a CD player and a
works like a phone, the obvious difference built onto a card that can be changed out computer.
being its handy side-mounted volume knob. for one that better suits your headphones. There’s one
It offers 64 GB of onboard memory and can Currently the company offers three cards last advantage to
take another 64 GB on a microSD. The AK for standard on- and over-ear head- these high-res
Jr plays files in resolutions up to 24/192, and phones, one optimized for in-ear head- players we haven’t
also plays DSD files, although it converts phones and a fifth with balanced output, discussed. No
them to PCM for playback. Its internal amp a feature many headphone experts believe matter which player you choose, you’ll get
delivers about a tenth of a watt of power delivers superior sound. The HM901s a benefit no phone or tablet can match:
into a typical set of headphones—which plays PCM digital files in resolutions up the ability to silence the outside world and
may not seem like much until you consider to 24/192 as well as DSD files. While the concentrate 100 percent on A Love Supreme,
most headphones get pretty loud on just a price may seem extravagant, it seems Saxophone Colossus or whatever you’ve
thousandth of a watt. more reasonable when you consider chosen for your day’s listening. JT
JAZZTIMES.COM 49
Sound
advice
GearHead
XO Professional Brass 1632RGL-LT Lead Trombone Meinl Byzance Dark

New York-based trumpeter, composer and bandleader John Fedchock is Big Apple Ride Cymbal
enjoying something of a banner year in 2015: In March he released Fluidity, a For drummers looking to capture the
stellar live quartet record, and more recently his big band returned with Like spang-a-lang of their favorite hard-bop
It Is, which is reviewed (very positively) in this issue. This year has also seen records, Meinl recently released this un-
the release of XO’s Fedchock-designed lead trombone, a pro-level instrument lathed 22-inch ride. Featuring period-specif-
that prides itself on its light weight, tonal and stylistic versatility, top-notch ic short sustain, it’s dark and raw in sight and
craftsmanship and special features like a handcrafted 7.5-inch custom-annealed sound—like an old Blue Note LP. $419.99
bell, a custom mouthpiece and unique bracing. Rose brass bell, MSRP: $2,625; online. meinlcymbals.com
yellow brass bell, MSRP: $2,795. xobrass.com

Marcus Miller
by Sire Basses
There’s “affordable,” and then there’s the
new signature line of electric basses Marcus
Miller has released through the Sire brand.
The J-bass-inspired V7 is selling at $399,
with a five-string option available for an
additional $100. The more rockish M3,
equipped with two humbuckers, is avail-
able only as a four-string and ships for just
$299. Miller fans and most jazz and funk
Radial Engineering Bassbone OD Preamp players will opt for the V7, and its run-
Radial’s Bassbone OD Preamp offers a bunch of must-have live down of features is impressive, especially
and studio functions in a single pedal. It’s a direct box; it’s a bass given the price: The model has
overdrive stompbox with drive, mix and tone controls; and it’s a a body crafted from swamp ash
sort of bass mixing board with two switchable inputs, each with (pictured, à la Miller’s original
designated low, mid, high and gain knobs. In addition, Channel- Fender) or North American
A features a button that, when activated, boosts the signal by 10 alder; a signature bridge with
megohms—excellent for the sort of piezo pickups used to am- old-school J-bass design elements
plify a double bass. And Channel-B boasts Drag Control, a type plus a heavy-mass saddle;
of “load correction” that helps lower-output vintage axes get the and an inventive electron-
most out of whatever amp or interface they’re being fed into. ics setup with three-band
The two channels can be blended in the case of a dual pickup EQ, a pickup-blending pot,
system, and silent tuning is possible via a tuner output and mute middle boost/cut control
footswitch. Silent practice is also a breeze using the Bassbone’s and active/passive toggle.
built-in headphone preamp. $349.99. tonebone.com sire-guitars.com
JAZZTIMES.COM 51
Sound
advice
Chops
NaturaLee
TERELL STAFFORD ON THE SOULFUL TECHNIQUE OF TRUMPET GREAT LEE MORGAN
I
came to jazz very late, in my second the notes; she always said that
year of graduate school at Rutgers articulation is how you define
University. I thought pursuing it would yourself as a player. When you
make me a better classical trumpet hear Lee Morgan, within the
player. When I first started I heard Lee first two seconds you can tell
Morgan, Clifford Brown, Dizzy Gillespie from his aggressive tone and his
and Miles Davis; it was Miles who really articulation who it is.
taught me the vocabulary. But after grad That, and his vocabulary. The
school I started working in Philadelphia, phrasing concept that I identify
where I was saturated with Lee Morgan. with Lee is the aspect of speech.
I was working with the great organist His phrases were built the same
Shirley Scott, who would talk about Lee as phrases you would use when
Morgan and his playing and tell me stories. you were having a conversation
Then I met Jimmy Heath, who would do with someone. The space that
the same. When saxophonist Tim Warfield he would use, the way he would
and I played together—he was the one who build a solo, that would help
actually taught me a lot about jazz when with the storytelling part. Think
we were learning to play—we played a lot about a great storyteller, or some
of Lee’s tunes. guys who are fantastic joke tell-
I think Lee Morgan’s sound came from ers. When you hear them speak,
what was in his head. Everyone who told they may not be conscious of the ← Lee Morgan in 1963
stories about Lee all said the same thing: He space they leave, but the space
was an extremely natural player. Not very they leave brings about excitement in the sto- You Can’t” is remarkable. The best impro-
schooled, but very natural. Nevertheless, the ry they tell. The same thing with a really great visers are the best composers, because you
intellectual part of the music was there, be- joke teller and the space they leave: It builds can hear composition in their playing, and
cause he was extremely bright. He had a great anticipation and sometimes creates the laugh vice versa. You can hear, in Lee’s composi-
mind, just like Clifford, in the sense that Clif- all by itself. I think it’s the same with a great tions, that he wrote around the style of his
ford was very mathematical. Lee was too: It improviser: The space they leave is as fascinat- playing, which I’m a huge fan of. I think
wasn’t something he learned in a classroom, ing as the space they play. That’s an element I “Ceora” is one of the most beautiful com-
but you can hear it inside of his playing. consciously adapted from Lee Morgan. positions ever written. That’s my bench-
The other thing that Lee shared with I dig the way Lee navigates through mark as far as jazz composition.
Clifford is that both of them had incredible harmony as well. It’s always said that those The thing that attracted me the most
articulation. They both loved to play who know the most harmonies can make about Lee wasn’t technical at all: It was
marches; that’s where that staccato in both them sound the simplest. So when you his spirit of conviction. Every time he
guys’ articulation came from. A march is listen to Lee Morgan harmonically, you hear played, you could tell it was a hundred
FROM LEFT: PHILIPPE LÉVY-STAB, FRANCIS WOLFF/MOSAIC IMAGES
just so much articulation—double- and the story, you hear the soulfulness; you’re percent from his heart. That soulful aspect
triple-tonguing, fast single-tonguing. Lee, not hearing him struggle through any of the was overpowering for me. There was no
especially, used that triple-tonguing when harmonic sequences, and I find that really way you could just sit and listen to a Lee
he would play, bringing extra sass and excite- attractive. It’s spectacular when he’s working Morgan solo and chill out; at some point,
ment. Shirley Scott used to call it “spitting” an uptempo tune, but I also love the way Lee you’re gonna jump up and shout or scream.
plays ballads: I love how he emotes. That’s what excited me. As a professor of
I can’t close this column, though, music at Temple University, I can say that
without talking about his compositional is something that can’t be taught. JT
chops. They are astounding. The rhythmic
complexity of a tune like “Yes I Can, No [As told to Michael J. West]
Terell Stafford is a trumpeter and educator whose new album, BrotherLee Love:
Celebrating Lee Morgan, is available now from Capri Records.

Reviews
CDs Books
54 67 69
Vox
is no disputing his dazzling dexterity or
his role in maintaining jazz’s status as a
popular American music in the R&B and
rock-and-roll eras.
With all that in mind, there’s no argu-
ment that The Complete Concert by the Sea
is anything but perfect. Garner is ebullient,
and bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer
Denzil Best bring their A game. Most Jazz-
Times readers have heard Concert by the
Sea, so there’s little point in treading that
ground. The 11 new selections, however,
show that whittling the concert by half
must have been a herculean chore 60 years
ago. Every tune is a gem. Garner gives
“Night and Day” a regal solo and a shuf-
fling rhythm driven by Best’s brush work
and Calhoun’s steady bass. “The Near-
ness of You,” taken slowly and delicately,
acquires a glossy sheen thanks to Gar-
ner’s heavy use of trills, as does the trio’s
majestic treatment of “Laura.” “Lullaby of
Birdland,” always a happy tune, bounces
along with more effervescence than ever
(you can hear Garner smiling); same with
• “Classy, classical-infused style and joyful approach”: Erroll Garner, c. 1946 “’S Wonderful,” which chugs along as fast
as you’ve ever heard it. “Caravan” gets the
most inventive treatment, Garner’s left
ERROLL GARNER as it occurred, unfolds over the first hand serving up unexpected chords and
THE COMPLETE CONCERT two discs; the third presents the previ- a fresh rhythm while his right toys just
BY THE SEA (Legacy) ously released 11 songs in the order enough with the melody and timing to
Concert by the Sea, the they appeared on the original Concert make it his own. STEVE GREENLEE
recording of Erroll by the Sea.)
Garner’s Sept. 19, 1955, Garner’s classy, classical-infused JD ALLEN
performance in Carmel, style and joyful approach made him GRAFFITI (Savant)
Calif., immediately one of the most popular pianists of Throughout Graffiti,
became and remains one of the his day. He was a unique figure, too: saxophonist JD Allen’s
best-selling albums in jazz. But one Though he didn’t read music he was music creates a strong
always suspected that Garner’s trio a technical marvel, able to oper- sense of familiarity: a
played more music that day than the 41 ate his hands independently of one rubato melody driven by
minutes committed to record. The another, often playing two melodic rolling drums and impassioned Trane-
WILLIAM P. GOTTLIEB/COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
initial CD reissue, a slapdash job that lines, a tricky task for even the most like tenor; a snaky Rollins-esque riff;
came out in 1987, was serviceable but accomplished pianists. Yet while he even some folk qualities that acknowl-
muddy. Now, finally, 60 years after that had no trouble winning audiences, edge Ornette Coleman. But, per usual, it’s
historic concert, we get what is he didn’t win over every critic. Unlike all in the delivery; for Allen, that means
purported to be the concert in its contemporaries such as Thelonious creating a signature sound by moving too
entirety, along with improved fidelity Monk, Ahmad Jamal and Bill Evans, fast to rest on any one of these strong
via a new mastering. Garner had zero tolerance for silence, influences. His longtime bandmates,
The amount of music has doubled. filling every space with note upon note. Gregg August (bass) and Rudy Royston
Eleven of the 22 tunes were previously Whereas the beboppers played single- (drums), contribute to the singularity of
unreleased, and announcements and note runs with the right hand, he used the ensemble by both accentuating the
an interview with the trio are included fancy chords on the melodies. In other leader and creating resistance.
in the three-CD The Complete Concert words, Garner was a practitioner, not Although the high-energy performance
by the Sea. (The full concert program, a visionary or innovator. Still, there should appeal to anyone with open ears,

JOE ALBANY
AN EVENING WITH JOE ALBANY 2
(SteepleChase)
It has been a good year
for jazz films: Whiplash.
Sound of Redemption:
The Frank Morgan Story.
Low Down, a gritty
biopic about Joe Albany.
The best way to experience Low
Down and An Evening With Joe Albany
2 is back-to-back. The film contains
Albany’s original recordings in flashes
and quick interludes. If you only • “A unique
watched the film, you might wonder concept of
why his story of addiction and self- lyricism,
betrayal matters. The CD reveals why. unforgiving
It is the second release drawn from as granite”:
a solo performance at the Jazzhus Joe Albany in
Montmartre in Copenhagen in 1973. Los Angeles,
Albany, a shadowy figure of myth and 1959
legend, was present at the creation of
bebop and played with Charlie Parker. VARIOUS ARTISTS (or, better yet, one Albany disc and a
His repertoire at the Montmartre is LOW DOWN: ORIGINAL MOTION second for the score). Nevertheless,
classic stuff from the Songbook, but PICTURE SOUNDTRACK (Light in the Attic) there’s enough here to make a case
his chordal extensions and angular, When you consider how for Albany as a sadly neglected fig-
highly syncopated phrasing are pure difficult it is to get any ure in jazz, from a slightly off-kilter,
bop. Albany usually lands on the film produced and into bluesy reading of “Angel Eyes” to the
offbeat. Yet his digressions into stride, distribution these days— melancholy “The Nearness of You.”
and his ability to reharmonize stan- let alone one about a jazz Those vintage recordings sync
dards on the fly, are more Art Tatum musician—it’s quite something that fluidly with the four featured
than Bud Powell. Low Down made it to the finish line. tracks from Talmor’s Large En-
He was a hard, percussive, lavish, Joe Albany is hardly a household semble, among them a languid,
orchestral pianist, with a unique name, and his story isn’t a feel-good dusky “’Round Midnight” spot-
concept of lyricism, unforgiving as tale: Starring John Hawkes as the lighting pianist Jacob Sacks, and
granite. He liked medleys. There is a pianist and Elle Fanning as his “Free Couples,” two minutes of
headlong, ecstatic four-song Jerome daughter Amy-Jo (on whose book it bassist Matt Pavolka and drummer
Kern set, and a slow-burning ballad was based), it centers largely on Dan Weiss involved in a skittering
trilogy centered on 50 passion- Albany’s tragic struggle with drug chase. “AJ Blues,” the soundtrack’s
ate seconds of “My Ideal.” “Over addiction—not exactly date fare for outro, borders on the shambolic, a
the Rainbow” (a few bars of which the multiplex. battery of horns (Talmor himself
appear in the film) is overwhelmed The soundtrack, stripped free of the and several others) and the rhythm
with vast arpeggiated decoration. film’s plotline, attempts to tell a differ- players giddily going any which
“Lush Life” also occurs briefly in the ent story, one of Albany’s mastery and way they please.
film. In the Montmartre, its tower- significance. Of its 15 tracks, fewer The set’s somewhat erratic
ing architecture keeps ascending for than half are actually attributed to Al- nature is exacerbated by wildly
five minutes. Albany buries “Jitter- bany; the rest are divvied among Ohad dramatic shifts in sound qual-
bug Waltz” in new content, yet Fats Talmor, who composed the film’s origi- ity: Some of the older tracks are
Waller’s song is always there, in a nal score, and Albany’s contemporaries distant and muddy, as if recorded
hundred guises. and influences, including Thelonious from the next room with a cheap
The recording is odd. The sound Monk, Max Roach, Coleman Hawkins cassette machine; others, includ-
quality is marginal, and there is no evi- and a Ben Webster/Jack Teagarden ing the frolicsome “Barbados” and
dence of an audience. But Albany was pair-up on “Big Eight Blues.” a monumental solo take on “Lush
COURTESY OF A.J. ALBANY
a major jazz pianist all but lost to the Given the relative dearth of Albany’s Life,” as well as the Talmor music,
world. This album rescues one bright music available currently, a full set are crisp and contemporary. Here’s
night in his dark life. devoted to his own work would have hoping for a proper Joe Albany
THOMAS CONRAD served as a more useful introduction retrospective set. JEFF TAMARKIN
JAZZTIMES.COM 55
Reviews
Allen provides notes explaining each track. heads to a darker, foreboding place. If the 1957 debut, The Jazz Workshop. As ever,
“Disambiguation” might sound merely like tone of the music strikes some listeners as Blake can reimagine even familiar material
an alternate take of the earlier “Jawn Hen- cinematic in its suggestiveness and subtlety, so thoroughly, yet remain so true to the spirit
ry,” but the saxophonist includes the former that’s a nod to the composer’s ability to of the original, that the results can be almost
to downplay the melody and emphasize the create large-scale aural portraiture while unrecognizable yet oddly familiar. Blake’s
trio’s interaction in the halftime-to-double- maintaining an understated presence. “The own contributions, some co-written, are aural
time foundation. “G-dspeed, B. Morris” Lake Isle of Innisfree” is so vaporous as to vignettes paying tribute to events, places and
pays tribute to the late conductor and com- seem fleeting; Dani’s reliance on cymbals people in Russell’s life, delivered with grace,
poser Butch Morris but keeps things inside, and Battaglia’s minimalism on the keyboard artistry and deep feeling unburdened by
with a solo that is at once spirited and create what must have been an eerie pall bathos. DAVID WHITEIS
deeply pensive. Even in calmer moments throughout Torino’s Teatro Vittoria.
like this, Royston’s elastic rolls and crashes Not all is quite so sedate. Both “River THE DON BRADEN
fill the space without overwhelming the Run” and “Where Do You Go?” are spi- ORGANIX QUARTET
group sound. August is always at the ready, rited romps, and the closing “Chick LUMINOSITY (Creative Perspective)
adding strong double-stops for color. Lorimer,” although it takes several minutes Soul-jazz, if nothing else, was
In “Sonny Boy,” inspired not by to get there, ends the set with a rush of all about the deepest of sticky
Rollins but by John Lee Hooker, Allen sound that approaches rock spirit in its grooves, solos that sometimes
sticks closely to a call-and-response riff unbound fury. JEFF TAMARKIN took tunes in surprising
that burns from start to finish. And by directions and, maybe above
keeping his tunes on the economical RAN BLAKE all, a joyful exuberance that was easily felt
side—only one surpasses seven minutes, GHOST TONES: PORTRAITS OF and heard by listeners. That’s the kind of
one clocks in under three—he distills his GEORGE RUSSELL (A-Side) cannonball, no pun intended, that saxophon-
ideas down to their best elements. This Veteran pianist-composer ist Don Braden launches with the engaging
is one of his strongest sets in an already Ran Blake includes original and aptly titled Luminosity, on which he’s
prolific discography. MIKE SHANLEY music, a few standards and joined by longtime associates Kyle Koehler
interpretations of some of on organ and Cecil Brooks III on drums, and
STEFANO BATTAGLIA TRIO George Russell’s most ace guitarist Dave Stryker.
IN THE MORNING: MUSIC OF important recorded pieces on this tender The music jumps from the get-go, with
ALEC WILDER (ECM) but ultimately bracing tribute to his Stryker diving right into a brief spin at the
Alec Wilder (1907-1980) longtime friend and colleague. A serene, start of “Luminosity (First Steps),” its melody
was a composer equally at almost autumnal feel permeates this set, hinting at “Giant Steps.” Braden then gets his
home in the worlds of but there’s no sentimentality; the music first showcase spot, plunging his gritty but
stage, film, opera/classical resonates with clear-eyed affirmation of clean-sounding tenor into a long, pirouetting
and popular song. Because life’s complexities and ambiguities. improvisation before handing the solo space
he spread himself out to such a degree, In addition to his work in the Third to Koehler, Stryker and Brooks. The four
he is not often celebrated to the extent Stream, Russell was an early electronic take a similar tack on other Braden-penned
of many of his contemporaries who music visionary, and several of these tunes, including the fast-percolating “Jive
focused exclusively on contributing tracks reflect this. Blake explores both the Turkey,” built on old-school R&B rhythms,
to what is now known as the Great contrasting and complementary aspects the more laidback “The Time We Shared”
American Songbook. Still, his work has of synthesized and organic instrument and “Walkin’ the Walk.” The leader pulls out
been interpreted by artists as diverse as sounds, and over the course of the disc, no his alto flute for the lovely, stately ballad “Do
Dave Liebman (who devoted an entire fewer than 12 instrumentalists appear in Love Me Do.”
album to Wilder), Miles Davis, Marvin varying contexts and combinations along Braden and crew mix it up to a greater
Gaye and, especially, Frank Sinatra, who with Blake. In most cases, the synthe- extent on tunes by other composers, cooking
called Wilder a close friend and a sized effects create a context in which up a swinging take on Chick Corea’s “Bud
favorite composer. the organic sounds can thrive and grow. Powell,” featuring one of Stryker’s most
On the live In the Morning, the Ital- They also heighten and deepen the music’s impressive solos of the session, and adding
ian pianist Stefano Battaglia, along with emotional thrust, as on “Alice Norbury,” trumpeter Claudio Roditi for some refresh-
his trio of Salvatore Maiore on bass and in which the romanticism implied by the ing two-horn harmonies on a bossa-fied
Roberto Dani playing drums, takes on wafting synth-string backing is countered version of the Rodgers and Hart standard
seven of Wilder’s pieces, with four of the by a palpable emotional tautness, comple- “I Could Write a Book.” Braden turns in a
interpretations exceeding 10 minutes. That menting and challenging the serenity of gorgeous unaccompanied reading of Billy
Battaglia and company take their time to Blake’s sonic landscape. Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge,” and brings
examine the music so comprehensively is a Among the Russell compositions recast alto man Sherman Irby into the fold for the
testament to Wilder’s melodic gift; his work are “Living Time” (from the 1972 Bill Evans/ closer, their two saxes meshing smartly on
gives a musician plenty of wiggle room. George Russell LP of that title), a movement tangy unison and harmony lines before each
The title track leads things off, casual and from Vertical Form VI (Russell’s pioneering delivers a bracing solo. Call it a rousing finish
almost cautious until a third of the way in, electronic music LP, recorded in 1977) and to a fully satisfying sonic meal. Seconds?
when Battaglia puts the theme aside and several selections from Russell’s landmark PHILIP BOOTH

TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON BRIAN CHARETTE PAQUITO D’RIVERA
THE MOSAIC PROJECT: ALPHABET CITY (Posi-Tone) & QUINTETO CIMARRÓN
LOVE AND SOUL (Concord) Organist Brian Charette AIRES TROPICALES (Sunnyside)
Love and Soul is a natural, mingles jazz, old-school This disc features works
if not as satisfying, sequel soul and psychedelia on by Paquito D’Rivera as
to The Mosaic Project, the Alphabet City, his ninth well as a variety of other
2011 release that won recording as a leader. Cuban composers; it
drummer and bandleader Joined by guitarist Will Bernard and testifies to the saxophon-
Terri Lyne Carrington a Best Jazz Vocal drummer Rudy Royston, Charette ist/clarinetist’s ongoing love for the rich
Album Grammy the following year. That presents a dozen original compositions (and too often underappreciated) Cuban
maiden entry found Carrington steering that groove and soothe about as often classical-music tradition. He is
an all-star, all-female cast (Esperanza as they challenge and provoke the ear. complemented by Quinteto Cimarrón, a
Spalding, Cassandra Wilson, Geri Allen, As writer and instrumentalist, string quintet consisting of Cuban
Dianne Reeves and many more) through Charette is at his best when giving sway expats now living in Spain.
14 tracks that hewed largely to contem- to mellower inclinations, and a breezy The music here, though recogniz-
porary and traditional jazz. Love and vibe marks “West Village” and “Avenue ably “classical,” is characterized by an
Soul, as its title suggests, moves signifi- A,” the latter an especially fine show- unforced meld of diverse traditions and
cantly and determinedly into R&B case for Bernard’s warm, robust tone. genres. In “Wapango,” for instance, the
rhythms and vocal styles, although not to “White Lies” has a slow-drag pathos second movement of D’Rivera’s Aires
the extent that jazz devotees will feel with just a tinge of country, while “East Tropicales suite, contrapuntal passages
wholly alienated. Village” shuttles along at a gallop, Cha- intermingle with elements of call-and-
Again, Carrington, who produced rette at his most inventive. The trio also response, befitting the Afro-European
and arranged the album, has assembled brings some serious funk on the hard- cultural collusion on display. D’Rivera’s
a formidable group of women contribu- cooking “They Left Fred Out” and the clarinet blends seamlessly with the
tors. The twist this time is that several deep groove of “Sharpie Moustache,” strings; when he finally solos, he adds
tracks pay tribute to male artists who’ve which blossoms into a gorgeously a bluesy tinge with his slurs and bends.
inspired Carrington, and a few fea- anthemic bridge powered by Charette’s The fourth movement, “Afro,”
ture spoken-word from actor Billy Dee choir-like block chords and Bernard’s is likewise enlivened by counter-
Williams. Frank Sinatra, George Duke, just-twangy-enough lines. rhythms and textured layers that reflect
Nickolas Ashford, Bill Withers and Luther Charette also indulges a taste for the Africanist theme of the title, even
Vandross are among those Carrington space-age freak-out sounds with the as its melodic and harmonic conceits
honors here, with an A-list of frontwomen rough-edged “Not a Purist,” with diz- hew closely to standard European
including Chaka Khan, Nancy Wilson, zying every-key-on-the-organ runs, classical forms.
Ledisi and Lalah Hathaway giving voice stinging fuzz-rock interjections from The disc’s other selections reflect a
to those tunes and several penned by Car- Bernard and crackling circuit-bent similar unselfconscious eclecticism. The
rington herself. synthesizer interludes. This bizarro jubilant “Tamborichelo II: La Cubana,”
Like many of the tracks here, Natalie mood continues on “Hungarian by contemporary composer Eduardo
Cole’s reading of Ellington’s “Come Sun- Major,” with its tense minor-keyed Cana Flores (who also arranged the con-
day,” which leads things off, is built atop Eastern European scales; Charette’s trabass part for Aires Tropicales), is gaily
a fierce dance rhythm, and Carrington playing here sometimes recalls creepy danceable, yet the lack of percussion
populates the track with dexterous instru- organ parts from a Saturday-night instruments ensures a kind of stately
mentalists—alto saxophonist Tia Fuller Chiller Theatre horror show. These elegance even when the music is at its
and keyboardist Amy Bellamy turn in tunes, along with the congenial “Split most energetic—exemplified as well
particularly robust performances. At the Black” and its Zappa-esque Ber- in the sprightly “Contradanza,” which
other end of the spectrum, the ambro- nard breaks, sometimes sit uneasily concludes with a jubilant foot-stomp.
sial Withers ballad “You Just Can’t Smile alongside the more straightforward “Longina” sounds more modernist, with
It Away,” with Regina Carter on violin, soul-style tracks. But they do provide its initial taut chordal arrangements dis-
Linda Taylor playing guitar and Linda Oh the album’s strongest moments from solving into a lushly romantic melody.
on bass, features a soaring, affecting vocal Royston, galvanized by the airy spaces Here, as elsewhere, D’Rivera’s solo work
lead from Paula Cole. of the rockish arrangements into adds depth and color without undue
Several tracks, including those sung bursts of thunder. flash. Perhaps inevitably, his application
by Lizz Wright, Wilson and Carrington Many listeners will find themselves of classical technique to jazz-influenced
herself (her own “Can’t Resist”) straddle skipping Alphabet City’s outré tracks improvisation, especially on clarinet,
stylistic lines easily: Jazz changes meet for the more directly communica- summons echoes of Benny Goodman.
soul-pop dance beats and vocal perfor- tive material—and vice versa. But the Listeners familiar with him in a purely
mances. But there’s no denying that this album itself shouldn’t be missed. It’s jazz context will delight at his work
second entry in the Mosaic Project fran- a solid addition to both Charette’s here, with its clear-toned eloquence and
chise offers an acutely different vibe than discography and the classic organ-trio understated yet wide thematic scope.
its predecessor. JEFF TAMARKIN tradition. MATT R. LOHR DAVID WHITEIS
JAZZTIMES.COM 57
Reviews
AL DI MEOLA sometimes overdubbing as many as three little breathing room. Few songs build
ELYSIUM (Valiana) guitars per track. Di Meola slickly har- front-to-back atmospheric consistency
Al Di Meola has always monizes nylon-string and steel acoustic here; the mood darts and shifts as Di
been a guitarist’s guitarist, on the yearning-yet-potent “Adour.” Meola’s virtuosity dictates. His fellow
hailed for his facility on “Stephanie” embraces the listener with instrumentalists manage only an oc-
both acoustic and electric 12-string warmth before coarsening into casional peek from behind the wall of
instruments. This kind of ineffable menace, and “Esmerelda,” an guitars. Krija stands out thanks to his
guitar-god persona, however, can tempt acoustic duet with Moroccan percus- showcase duets with Di Meola, most
instrumentalists to let sheer prowess sionist Rhani Krija, has a crisply picked notably the finger-bruising “Monsters.”
overshadow everything else about their Gypsy exoticism. On the electric front, On “Babylon,” keyboardist Philippe
music. It’s a gamble Di Meola takes Di Meola growls and squeals with au- Saisse, a longtime Di Meola collabora-
throughout Elysium, his latest recording thority on the blistering “Tangier,” tor, deftly negotiates fanciful unison
as a leader. and the finale of the title track bathes arpeggios with the guitarist, and on
This album is all about chops. Its 14 the listener in richly impressionistic his sole composition, album-closer “La
tracks, all but one written by the guitar- prog-rock textures. Lluvia,” Saisse’s marimba sweetens the
ist, are rough sketches for Di Meola to But Di Meola seems so intent on island-style brew.
flesh out with fast-fingered fireworks, pyrotechnics that hi positions find Still, though engaging in the moment,
Elysium offers little takeaway other than
the already well-known fact that Di
Meola is a prodigious guitarist. Here’s
ENRICO RAVA QUARTET hoping his next effort foregrounds the
WITH GIANLUCA PETRELLA music as much as the raw skill of the
WILD DANCE (ECM) man playing it. MATT R. LOHR
At 75, trumpeter Enrico Rava, Italy’s most famous jazz musician, has a
new band. Over the years, Rava ensembles have introduced young JOHN ELLIS &
Italian musicians who have gone on to important careers, like DOUBLE-WIDE
trombonist Gianluca Petrella and pianists Stefano Bollani and CHARM (Parade Light)
Giovanni Guidi. All three of Rava’s new sidemen could join this list: If you’re curious what
subtle bassist Gabriele Evangelista, volatile drummer Enrico Morello and, most marvels await you on John
notably, guitarist Francesco Diodati. Ellis & Double-Wide’s
Rava has rarely worked with a guitarist, and it is striking how a guitar changes the Charm, consider the title,
atmosphere of a Rava ensemble. There is much more open space. Diodati does not so along with the fact that this
much accompany Rava as array shifting backgrounds containing strands of indepen- is the quintet’s third album. Tenor
dent thought and pools of light. Rava is clearly inspired. The opening piece, “Diva,” is saxophonist/clarinetist Ellis’ latest is a
introduced by Diodati’s resonant sustains and Evangelista’s slow, intermittent bass. Rava heady stew of unparalleled musicianship
is willing to be one more hovering voice. His lines are like no other trumpeter’s. He and melodic inspiration.
thinks in seemingly autonomous fragments, but then finds relationships among them The bulk of Charm’s tracks were
and juxtaposes them into large designs. The next track, “Space Girl,” is also mysterious written by Ellis during a Make Jazz Fel-
and rapt, an insistent melody within which Rava finds revelatory variations. Diodati’s lowship at Santa Monica’s 18th Street
solo is an obsessive circling that he strums his way out of. “Sola” and “Overboard” reveal Arts Center, and his West Coast sojourn
how Rava and Diodati together can expand a simple melodic figure into an encompass- produced 10 exhilarating compositions.
ing sonic domain. “Snake Handler,” driven by Ellis’ tenor,
Most of the other tracks are short, and bring in trombonist Gianluca Petrella, a long- Alan Ferber’s trombone and Gary Ver-
time Rava collaborator. Rava loves to duel with him, in loose unisons and cacophonous sace on organ, slithers like its namesake
contrapuntal joint ventures. reptile. “Barbed Wire Britches” is all bite,
But collective improvisation, while “Horse Won’t Trot” lopes along at
exciting when used judiciously a woozy yet dignified pace, abetted by Ja-
for contrast, is limiting when son Marsalis’ clip-clopping drums. “Old
it is overdone. It precludes the Hotel” blends the cabaret lamentations
strong soloists here from truly of Versace’s accordion with a rolling,
soloing. It prevents Rava from funeral-march cadence from Marsalis,
fully exploring the potential of and the funky “Booker” serves up a
LUCA D’AGOSTINO/ECM RECORD
his new relationship with Dio- melody you’ll happily find stuck in your
dati. Petrella is one of the best head for days.
trombonists in jazz, but this As an instrumentalist Ellis is assured,
• “An encompassing sonic domain”: Enrico Rava, album would have been more his solos clean yet structurally unpre-
Francesco Diodati, Enrico Morello and Gabriele interesting without him. dictable. Ferber, on his first outing as a
Evangelista (from left) THOMAS CONRAD full-fledged Double-Wider (he guested
on the band’s 2010 album, Puppet Mis-

chief), locks in with Ellis like a Siamese “El-Sha’ab (The People)” starts with bass ORRIN EVANS
twin, and Marsalis and sousaphonist and drums, as if cautiously emerging THE EVOLUTION OF ONESELF
Matt Perrine offer precise yet playful from a nightmare, becoming folkloric (Smoke Sessions)
rhythm support. On the hard-chugging and increasingly hopeful as it builds to Some jazz pairings seem all
“High and Mighty,” Perrine solos with ElSaffar’s Miles-ian trumpet solo. The but inevitable until they
the surprising agility of a trumpeter, and slow, exquisite “Love Poem” features an prove stubbornly elusive.
he finds a bold showcase on the wacky abridged poem by the 13th-century Sufi So it’s great to see two of
“International Tuba Day,” which plays mystic Ibn Arabi; in copious composi- Philly’s best, pianist Orrin
like a long-lost Raymond Scott record- tional notes, the piece is aptly described Evans and bassist Christian McBride,
ing (Versace’s organ breaks here are as conveying “beauty, vulnerability, finally collaborate on a CD—and an
genuinely hilarious). tenderness, longing.” “Flyover Iraq” audacious one at that, featuring
But make no mistake: John Ellis & includes Chicago-style horns piloting a drummer Karriem Riggins in an equally
Double-Wide are as serious as your Turkish/Ottoman melody above ener- prominent role.
life, a fact made clear by album-closer getic strings, concluding with a bass solo The Evolution of Oneself isn’t a concept
“Yearn.” Its church-inflected lines swell as “the foundation crumbles.” album, strictly speaking, but it has recur-
with unfulfilled desire; the unresolved The suite-closing “Tipping Point,” ring themes and brief hip-hop
coda sends the listener out on an circling back with references to “The interludes devised by Evans’ teenage son,
ambiguous footing. Like the strange hat- Great Dictator” and “Flyover Iraq,” is a Matthew. Jerome Kern’s “All the Things
and-suited creature on its cover, Charm 13:40-minute highlight, complex and You Are” receives three reprises, and
is a rare beast: an authentically artful appropriately climactic. The epilogue whether you view the tune as a personal
grand old time. MATT R. LOHR “Aneen (Weeping), Continued” refer- favorite or an overworked warhorse,
ences ElSaffar’s 2007 Two Rivers Suite you’ll appreciate the group’s unwaver-
AMIR ELSAFFAR and the 1258 fall of Baghdad, and an ingly imaginative interpretations: The
CRISIS (Pi) unabridged version of “Love Poem” melody and core harmonies consistently
The music on Crisis, the concludes this exceptional album. reveal new colors and dimensions, amid
third album from the BILL BEUTTLER sharp rhythmic displacements and sur-
conceptually driven,
multitalented Iraqi-Ameri-
can trumpeter Amir
CHICAGO PERFORMS. SO WILL YOU.

ElSaffar and his Two Rivers Ensemble,
was commissioned for and debuted at the
Newport Jazz Festival two summers ago.
Its viscerally haunting mix of jazz and
Middle Eastern music earned a standing
ovation that afternoon. Now the studio
album, recorded earlier this year, is
among the most notable releases of 2015.
ElSaffar’s ensemble—Ole Mathisen,
tenor and soprano saxophones; Nasheet
Waits, drums; Carlo DeRosa, bass; Tareq
Abboushi, buzuq (a long-necked lute);
Zafer Tawil, oud and percussion; the
leader on santur (a hammered dulcimer)
MA N ON HANNAH O W L ON Bachelor of Music in Jazz
and vocals in addition to trumpet—is Bassist with Jamie Drummer/Vocalist with and Contemporary Music
first rate. But it is ElSaffar’s composing Lono from The Voice 3RDEYEGIRL and Prince with concentrations in vocal
for the seven-part Crisis Suite, a com- PHOTO CREDIT: Justine Walpole or instrumental performance
mentary on recent Iraqi and Middle
Eastern history, that shines brightest Study with accomplished faculty, who include Chicago Symphony and
here. Waits’ drums open “Introduc- Lyric Opera orchestra members, Metropolitan and Lyric opera sensations,
tion—From the Ashes,” which builds renowned soloists, Grammy-winning jazz musicians, and award-winning
to ElSaffar’s evocative maqam vocal- composers. Enjoy opportunities to perform in professional venues.
ization of lines by the great Ottoman Live, learn, and perform in downtown Chicago.
poet Abdul Ghafar al-Akhras. This
bleeds into “The Great Dictator,” whose
militaristic swagger is successively inter- roosevelt.edu/CCPA
rupted by Abboushi’s pensive buzuq and
(312) 341-6735
Mathisen’s frenzied tenor. Then ElSaffar’s
[email protected]
unaccompanied trumpet lamentation
“Taqsim Saba” sets up what follows:
JAZZTIMES.COM 59
Reviews
prising shifts in mood and tempo. Ul- Nothing, though, is more evocative JOHN FEDCHOCK
timately, the tune inspires the album’s than the soul-jazz excursion the trio NEW YORK BIG BAND
two-part coda featuring guest vocalist takes on “Sweet Sid,” the Jonathan LIKE IT IS (MAMA)
JD Walter’s resonant baritone. Now Michel-penned homage to the late Two of the leading
and then, too, the trio is augmented Philly pianist Sid Simmons, or more figures in orchestral jazz
by guitarist Marvin Sewell, who helps warmly lyrical than Evans’ “Ruby Red,” have released new
boldly transform the hoary “Wildwood a ballad dedicated to his godmother. albums in 2015, Maria
Flower” into a 21st-century elegy. The latter offers a dynamic contrast Schneider (The
Sewell also adds the requisite finesse to the muscular attack and sleek pro- Thompson Fields) and now John
to Grover Washington Jr.’s “A Secret pulsion the trio reveals on “Tsagli’s Fedchock. For both, it is their first
Place,” a tribute to its late composer, Lean” and several other delights. large-format jazz recording in eight
the great Philly reedman. MIKE JOYCE years. The economics of big-band jazz
are forbidding, yet the two orchestras
have sustained relatively stable person-
nel for over 20 years. They share five
musicians. New York’s big-band
players are a tight community.
Schneider uses her ensemble for
ALL PHOTOS BY JEFF TAMARKIN

JAZZ CONNECT
musical autobiography. Fedchock uses
his as a high-level laboratory. Like It Is
is comprehensive. It encompasses both
CONFERENCE
classic big-band scale and detail (in
Fedchock’s impeccable arrangements)
PRESENTED BY JAZZTIMES AND THE JAZZ FORWARD COALITION
and postmodern dissonance (in liber-
ties taken with tunes like “You and the
Night and the Music”). Many bases get
January 14-15, 2016 covered. There are two Latin numbers,
Saint Peter’s Church, Cedar Walton’s headlong, reharmo-

nized “Ojos de Rojo,” and Fedchock’s
New York City “Havana,” a snaking, sensual bolero,
both driven by guest percussionist
Bobby Sanabria. A Fedchock original,
“Just Sayin’,” sounds vaguely familiar,
like a notion Wayne Shorter might have
conceived, broken up and flung around.
There is the title track, Fedchock’s funk
digression just for fun, and two seri-
ously pensive standard ballads. “For
Heaven’s Sake” has a long, flowing,
luminous flugelhorn solo by Barry Reis,
and “Never Let Me Go” presents the
nuanced expressiveness of Fedchock’s
trombone playing.
CONFERENCE THEME: The most ambitious piece is “Ten
FRESH HORIZONS
Thirty 30,” assembled from Clifford
Brown compositions and solos. As
themes fly by, Fedchock’s chart opens
For more information, email spaces for his own agile trombone, Al-
[email protected] len Farnham’s ringing, raining piano,
or call Scott Wendholt’s ecstatic, swerving
617-315-9158 trumpet and Rich Perry’s tall tenor
or visit saxophone architecture, erected on
an odd little rhythm-section vamp.
jazz-connect.com
(Other solid solo work comes from
Gary Smulyan, Mark Vinci, Walt
Weiskopf and the late Dave Ratajczak.)
This album is a diversified, in-depth
status report on the big-band jazz art
form as of 2015. THOMAS CONRAD

BENNY GREEN Motian’s drums, this live set by bassist There is swing here, but it is a swing
LIVE IN SANTA CRUZ! (Sunnyside) Charlie Haden and pianist Gonzalo of sounds germinating at their ease. The
Benny Green conveys Rubalcaba, recorded at the Blue Note in version of David Raksin and Johnny Mer-
exalted inspiration Tokyo in 2005, provides one possibility. cer’s “My Love and I” highlights Haden’s
without showboating or Bass and piano is a challenging duet impeccable control. He hears well and has
pretentiousness. Even his set-up, but opener “En La Orilla Del the confidence to let each note suggest the
most subtle and complex Mundo (The Edge of the World)” serves next, even when they’re spaced apart as if
offerings go down wit such ease that it i ediat ti t t two asters have he ere channeling the ethos of Ahmad
may take several liste f t pt t red f l ue. los lR l ourse, then, is to
that subtlety and co l co e ith a qui t l i i arm r p i lli gures that move
truly evident. i d in l a gf aden simultane-
This set, recorded li t b e of t i l i n f l ime . l lea e i in space.
Jazz Center in Santa C , f t
the pianist in a trio set i i -
ist David Wong and dru er e n
Washington. The ope i ,
“Certainly,” sets the tone. It kicks off with ORRIN EVANS
hard-charging, full-bodied swing and
never lets up; Green’s pe ussive block
CHRISTIAN McBRIDE
chords and lightly execute but sharply KARRIEM RIGGINS
focused single-note lines c lement Deluxe 8-panel gatefold CDs
his ban tes’ i petus, combining
rhythmic t r st nd textural comp l i
ity. Wong is t timeke per and f I I E/K
bottom-range improvisation; as E
L
deftly exploits the melodic and rhy
capacities of his instrument. The th A
toss ideas amon emse , eac ri g
and vamping a bef handing off
to the next play ften j li g sev l
concepts at onc
EDD E ERIC HAROLD NAT JOE
ERIC ALEXANDER / JOHN WEBBER / JOE FARNSWORTH
The nine sele ns ly

JEREMY PELT / MIKE LEDONNE / BRANDI DISTERHEFT / JOE FARNSWORTH HENDERSON ALEXANDER MABERN REEVES FARNSWORTH
brief—most under five i utes al-

www.SmokeSessionsRecords.com
lowing for plenty of creative play but www.Facebook.com/smokesessionsrecords
no self-indulgence. Nonetheless, it’s © 2015 Smoke Sessions Records
an ambitious journey through shifting

emotional landscapes—joyful, mysteri-
ous, mournful, affirming, irreverent and
solemn in turn. The closer, “Anna’s Blues,”
a funky soul-jazz anthem, doesn’t break
any new ground, but that seems to be the
point: Its paradoxical blend of familiarity
CHRIS MCNULTY
and freshness evokes a family reunion or ETERNAL
a church social, where the old jokes and
In collaboration with orchestrator, Steve
stories are trotted out and celebrated as
Newcomb this breathtaking new release
shared heritage, not merely entertain-
exquisitely melds the sound of chamber en-
ment. It’s a fittingly old-school, good-
semble and jazz quintet. A sonic masterpiece
timey conclusion to a set resonant with that captures the ethereal beauty of McNulty’s
both seriousness of purpose and jubilance voice and musical story telling amidst a
of spirit. DAVID WHITEIS seamlessly woven, rich tapestry of beautifully
crafted motifs and orchestrations
CHARLIE HADEN
AND GONZALO RUBALCABA +++ +++ “Exxquuisite....M McNultty apppliees poignannt jaazz “A mussicaal triumph..”” ––George Kanzler,
TOKYO ADAGIO (Impulse! import) chopss too the voocal, while accom mplishhingg the im
mpossiible, Hot House NYC June 2015
If you’re ever inclined to the exxprresssion of her storry throough sonng.....makking Slated for Album of the Year
wonder what Bill Evans’ listeneerss rethinnk the meanning of whyy wee love jaazz..” in the 2015 Annual DownBeat Readers Poll
— Blaine Fallis, All About Jazz, July 2015
1961 Village Vanguard
Produced by Chris McNulty & Steve Newcomb
recordings might have
Available at Palmetto.com, Amazon.com and chrismcnulty.com
sounded like sans Paul
JAZZTIMES.COM 61
Reviews
The cover of Ornette Coleman’s “When backwards and forwards in time. It Jamal’s decades of expertise are evident
Will the Blues Leave” seems to ask and soothes and reorients, yet feels like as he guides his instrumentalists with
answer its own query: after the first move- the opposite of somnambulant new- the point of a finger, and it’s marvelous
ment, let us say, when bass and piano com- age massage tapes. It’s a holiday in to witness everyone’s surprise when
mence a kind of lock-step reel. Haden’s own hedonism. BRITT ROBSON Badrena, on “The Gypsy,” throws in a
“Sandino” has some of the lowest, most bluesy vocal exclamation enhanced by
sonorous bass notes on the album, with AHMAD JAMAL a fanfare from a handheld electronic
rich, ringing chords emanating outward, LIVE IN MARCIAC: AUGUST 5, 2014 gizmo. The disc also includes a perfor-
indicative of the dappling that warms this (Jazz Village) mance not featured on the CD, a rendi-
entire set. COLIN FLEMING Recorded at Jazz in tion of Jamal’s “Morning Mist” that is
Marciac, one of the largely a solo showcase for Veal. The
HU VIBRATIONAL music’s signal bassist thwacks at his strings with such
THE EPIC BOTANICAL BEAT SUITE (Meta) European venues, force you fear he may snap off a finger,
The Epic Botanical Beat pianist-composer but the persuasive results evolve into
Suite aims to blow your Ahmad Jamal’s latest live offering, a a tenderly evocative unison statement
mind. Its songs are named CD/DVD package, is an effervescent from the quartet. The encore, “Autumn
after the resin of cannabis feast. Jamal may be 85, but this set’s Rain,” finds Riley laying down a funky-
(“Charas”), and hallucino- energy and creative range suggest as-you-want-it backbeat, his tongue-in-
gens that you eat (the cactus “Hikuli”) that his ability to bend time to his cheek smirk underlining the seeming
and rub into your scalp (“Kwa-shi”). Its will extends far beyond the piano. ease with which he and his bandmates
liner notes feature a quote from Tommy Joined by bassist Reginald Veal, conjure such glorious sounds. These
Chong, of the baked comedy duo Cheech drummer Herlin Riley and percus- two discs combine to form an eminent-
& Chong: “When you hit a groove, it’s sionist Manolo Badrena, Jamal offers ly worthy addition to the live discogra-
not you; it’s the spirit world.” a program, consisting mostly of orig- phy of one of jazz’s undisputed masters.
The spiritually intoxicating grooves inal compositions, that exudes flu- MATT R. LOHR
of Hu Vibrational are the brainchild of ency and verve. “Sunday Afternoon”
Adam Rudolph, who calls them “Boong- provides one of Jamal’s catchiest THE GARY MCFARLAND
hee Music”—a cascade of world-inspired hooks and a strutting introductory LEGACY ENSEMBLE
beats from Africa, Asia and South solo from Veal. “Dynamo” pits the pi- CIRCULATION: THE MUSIC OF
America, mixed with jazz, hip-hop anist in a shimmering, lightning-fast GARY MCFARLAND (Planet Arts)
and electronica. Rudolph initiated Hu race with Riley and Badrena; Jamal There is a coterie of
Vibrational with his fellow percussionist deploys pounding block chords and devoted people working
Hamid Drake and producer Carlos Niño glittery arpeggios while the drummer to make sure Gary
for a couple of albums beginning in 2002, works every inch of the skins to cre- McFarland is not
but this fourth Hu outing, the first in ate an urgent, unfaltering tempo. forgotten. It includes fam-
nine years, has him as the lone origi- The impressionistic, near-frag- ily, friends, musicians, colleagues and
nal member of an 11-piece band. The mentary structure of “The Gypsy” film director Kristian St. Clair, whose
rhythmic fulcrum comes from Rudolph offhandedly evokes French classi- documentary This Is Gary McFarland
and the six other percussionists borrowed cal traditions, and a pair of tracks became available for purchase late last
from his 36-piece Go: Organic Orchestra, pays homage to fellow pianist and year. In the DVD package is a CD with
yet the beats from this hefty contingent composer Horace Silver, who died a previously unissued McFarland gig
are restrained in their speed and density two months before this performance from 1965. Now there is Circulation,
in favor of an evolving arc of texture and was recorded. “Silver,” a gritty-yet- with 11 new interpretations of
contrast. Along with the usual array of sophisticated Jamal original, finds the McFarland tunes. The band is vibra-
percussion, there are drums shaped like pianist tackling an ever-shifting mel- phonist Joe Locke, saxophonist Sharel
goblets, boxes and picture frames, the ody with some of his most robustly Cassity, pianist Bruce Barth (who did
cowbell-like gankogui, the seeds-in-a- insistent playing. The band also takes the arrangements), bassist Mike
basket caxixi and, most prominent, the on the lightly exotic Silver composi- Lawrence and drummer Michael
bottom-toned resonance of udu clay tion “Strollin’,” Badrena’s whimsical Benedict (who was married to
pots played by all seven percussionists. chimes and Veal’s buoyant bridge McFarland’s late widow, Gail).
Among those helping to put the “epic” in building a vivid sense of celebration. McFarland was a gifted composer-ar-
these botanical beats are intrepid electric Jamal further illustrates his skills as a ranger who died in 1971, at age 38. From
bassist Bill Laswell and his longtime melodic deconstructionist on “All of a career of only 10 years, he left behind
arranger James Dellatacoma, the Nor- You” and “Blue Moon,” breaking the a portfolio of songs unique in their
wegian electric guitar maestro Eivind well-worn standards into glistening cool melodic grace. “One I Could Have
Aarset, Alex Marcelo on Fender Rhodes bits without betraying their spirits. Loved” makes you wonder why his best
and Steve Gorn on bansuri flutes. The accompanying DVD of the pieces haven’t become standards. Like
The result is music that thrives on concert makes the musicians’ joy all great ballads, it sounds preordained.
the balance of simultaneously reaching in collaboration doubly palpable. It might have fallen, fully formed, from

the sky. It is quintessential McFarland, first featuring vocals by Alan Hampton, Gilad Hekselman, at times forward-
a bittersweet alchemy of hope and who affects a gender-melding vulnerabil- thrusting, at times almost stationary, but
melancholy. Barth’s fresh arrangement ity reminiscent of Little Jimmy Scott. A never lifeless. Hampton returns on “The
pieces it out so patiently. Cassity, on alto full-bodied horn declamation helps keep Dance,” along with co-vocalist Jo Lawry,
saxophone, releases it in gentle waves. bathos at bay, as does Cohen’s upward- and some may find that track’s lyrics’
All ballads are in good hands with bound clarinet solo on the second take. new-agey sentiments (“Let me fly … let
Locke. He does “Last Rites for the “Voices,” after a solemn introduc- me shout, let me feel”) to be cloying. The
Promised Land” alone, soulfully, in lush tion, abruptly kicks up the intensity for wordless interplay between Lawry and
two-mallet swirls and sweeps, extended several bars, then dissolves again into Vinson’s soprano sax sounds more fully
by vibrato. McFarland’s notes linger introspection and sparseness, featuring realized and genuinely dramatic, as does
forever in the air. Levi-Ari’s piano in dialogue with clarinet the final vocal/instrumental counter-
There are also very early composi- and single-string guitar leads from point choir. DAVID WHITEIS
tions like the fast “Notions” and the
slow “Summer Day.” They already
possess a certain off-hand elegance
that identifies their origins. Blues were
not really McFarland’s thing, but “Why
Are You Blue” and “Blue Hodge” are
perfectly suave and erotic. Both were
originally recorded by Johnny Hodges. On Public Radio SiriusXM & iTunes
Cassity holds her own, no mean trick
for an alto player. THOMAS CONRAD
ODED LEV-ARI
THREADING (Anzic)
This disc’s title is
appropriate in more ways
than one. Melodic lines
interweave in deft
counterpoint, segueing
into contrasting tempos and rhythmic
patterns; the various instruments
engage in a swirling dance, now one
voice predominant, now another. Anat
Cohen’s clarinet, Nadje Noordhuis’
trumpet and flugelhorn, Brian
Landrus’ low-end reeds and Will
Vinson’s alto and soprano saxophones
are particularly notable, as is the steady
but subtly shifting melodic base
provided by pianist and leader Oded
Lev-Ari, a Tel Aviv native now long
based in New York.
The music itself also “weaves” aural
portraits, limning landscapes of shifting
images and colors, often darkened by
brooding melancholy. The result may
be a bit too stately and reserved to meet
some definitions of “jazz,” but the jazz
sensibility is nonetheless strong. On
“Lost and Found,” blues and cool influ-
ences intermingle; Vinson and Landrus
contribute solos that sound like a cross-
generational/cross-genre summit meet-
ing among Ben Webster, Lester Young
and Paul Desmond, while Lev-Ari
channels Brubeck and Ellington in turn.
Two versions of the Gordon Jenkins
standard “Goodbye” are offered, the
JAZZTIMES.COM 63
Reviews
WILLIAM PARKER sive instrumental sounds to create music

FOR THOSE WHO ARE, STILL (AUM Fidelity) unlike any you’ve heard before.
Bassist, composer and “Ceremonies for Those Who Are Still,”
bandleader William Parker is recorded in Poland in 2013, has the largest
a bottomless well of creativity, scale of any composition Parker has ever
Joan and his endless run of superb
recordings continues with For
attempted, and it features the National
Forum of Music Symphony Orchestra and
Belgrave Those Who Are, Still, a three-disc box of four
previously unissued long-form works, one of
eight members of the NFM Choir, along
with Chicago drummer Mike Reed and
& The Detroit Sound them dating back 15 years. saxophonist/pianist Charles Gayle. Dedi-
www.joanbelgrave.com The four pieces, by four ensembles, are cated to a late Russian bassist named Rus-
very different from one another; the only tam Abdullaev, it’s dramatic and unsettling,
unifying theme is that they had been in the with movements that soar and swoop.
Michael Malis - Piano (Detroit) vault. “For Fannie Lou Hamer,” a 28-minute It’s not quite jazz, it’s not classical and it
Ibrahim Jones - Bass (Detroit) & Special tone poem honoring the late civil-rights would be an oversimplification to label it
Rayes Biggs - Trumpet (Detroit) Guests leader that was recorded in 2000, begins as a something like Third Stream. It is, however,
Kahlil Kwame Bell - (Drums) droning, unmusical storm but changes form bold and unflinching. Ending the set is
several times. The 10-piece house band at a 25-minute live improv, “Escapade for
the Manhattan arts space the Kitchen per- Sonny,” that the trio of Parker, Gayle and
forms the composition, along with Parker’s Reed performed right before the premiere
Artist contact:
Detroit Jazz Musicians Co-Op Inc. favorite vocalist, Leena Conquest; Parker of “Ceremonies.” Parker and Reed are on
313-640-8552 himself doesn’t play. Conquest sings beauti- fire, but Gayle sounds uncharacteristically
Jazz Master
Marcus Belgrave Cassandra’s Jazz Club fully and delivers spoken word, spurred on bored and uninspired. In the greater con-
www.cassandrasjazzclub.com by stringed and wind instruments, plunky text of the magnificent For Those Who Are,
2256 7th Avenue, New York, NY
$20 - two shows 917-435-2250 percussion and freely blown brass. Freedom, Still, it’s a tiny complaint. STEVE GREENLEE
8:30 & 10:30 (Reservations required) structure and groove coexist peacefully.
Conquest returns, 10 1/2 years later, for the THE RODRIGUEZ BROTHERS
hris Stanfor nine-movement “Vermeer,” a stripped-down IMPROMPTU (Criss Cross)
event with saxophonist Darryl Foster, pianist The Rodriguez Brothers,
Eri Yamamoto and Parker on bass and trumpeter Michael and
bamboo flute. It’s a tasteful, refined affair, pianist Robert, are
drawing equally from the realms of free im- exponents of a brand of
provisation and chamber music, with vocals Latin jazz that incorporates
that hint at the operatic. It’s quite lovely. multiple strains of the genre’s rhythms and
“Red Giraffe With Dreadlocks,” as the textures, meshing Afro-Cuban styles with
name implies, is a pan-global work, betray- bolero, Brazilian, postbop and other
Boris Savchuk ing roots in Asian, African, Caribbean and

American music. It was performed in Paris
in 2012 by an octet featuring longtime
varieties. Underappreciated despite stellar
performances at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola
and other venues, the two make another
plays Romantic Jazz Parker associates and newcomers alike: convincing showing on their fourth
drummer Hamid Drake; pianist Cooper- recording as co-leaders. They’re joined by
Moore; reedists Rob Brown, Bill Cole and frequent collaborators: bassist Carlos
Klaas Hekman; Senegalese singer-musician Henriquez, drummer Ludwig Afonso and
Mola Sylla and Indian vocalist Sangeeta percussionist Samuel Torres.
Bandyopadhyay. Parker wrote the six-part These eight tunes, originals except for
work specifically for them, and it is an epic one and ranging in length from 6:13 to
beauty, starting with the vocalists trading 9:11, are impressively cohesive. They also
anguished lines that sound like calls to allow for the players to take their time with
prayer in a period film. Particularly evoca- extended melodies and opened-up solos,
tive is the 20-minute third section, “The starting with Michael’s title track, built on
©Chris Stanford INC
Giraffe Dances,” which opens with a three- a tumbling, driving piano-and-bass groove
available now at minute unaccompanied bass saxophone and a zippy, elongated melody marked by
Amazon, iTunes, solo by Hekman; it suddenly acquires a quick twists, tonal shifts and sudden falls.
Middle Eastern accent and leads to a heated Michael’s trumpet solo is alternately fluid
Google Play and
exchange with Drake that gives way to a and brittle, artfully constructed of short
Internet streaming pitched battle by the superb rhythm sec- phrases and long lines, and boosted by
tion of Drake, Parker and Cooper-Moore. the rhythm section’s pushing and pulling.
www.borisviolin.com Eventually everyone is in on the action, and Robert’s piano improvisation, initially
the wild vocals combine with the aggres- more subdued, builds in intensity before

dropping out for Henriquez’s beefy but agile drummer Roberto Rodriguez, guests on
bass declarations. Robert’s bouncy, almost pop-inflected
The album is similarly interactive “Minor Things.” All in all, a striking
throughout, including on Robert’s bop outing from a band worthy of even wider
burner “La Guaracha,” titled for the Cu- recognition. PHILIP BOOTH
ban rhythm of the same name and capped
with an incendiary back-and-forth FRANK VIGNOLA
between the siblings; Robert’s rumba- & VINNY RANIOLO
charged “Fragment”; Michael’s starting- SWING ZING! (FV)
stopping “Descargation,” inspired by les- Where precisely does
sons learned from Palmieri and boasting swing give way to zing on
a barnburning solo by Henriquez; and this collection of mostly
Robert’s easy-flowing “Love Samba,” bol- guitar duets? Look no
stered toward the end by a vocal chorus further than those
featuring all the musicians. performances that demand virtuosic
Michael’s “Latin Jacks,” named for the technique from veteran guitarist Frank
way the Rodriguez’s grandfather, Roberto, Vignola and his well-matched compatri-
pronounced “Latin jazz,” again relies on an ots. Vignola and fellow guitarist Vinny
intriguing, hopscotching long-form head. Raniolo, his longtime duo mate in a stage
And the brothers’ Miami-based father, show that matches fr d fireworks
VARIOUS ARTISTS
REVIVE MUSIC PRESENTS SUPREME SONACY VOL. 1 (Revive/Blue Note)
In recent years, the multiplatform New York brand Revive Music has had a high-
powered ally in Blue Note Records, whose current m.o. of postbop shot through
with hip-hop and R&B, and vice versa, couldn’t have come to pass without
Revive’s influence. This diverse, entertaining mixtape of sorts, released in partner-
ship with the venerable label, acts as a Revive manifesto and showcases its family
with tact and discipline. (In other words, marquee Blue Noters, Robert Glasper
included, sit this one out.)
Despite Revive’s next-generation mission statement, this is music with a shal-
low learning curve. Players like trumpeters Igmar Thomas, Maurice Brown and
Keyon Harrold, and saxophonists Marcus Strickland and Jaleel Shaw, would have
also killed in 1995 or 1955, and Strickland and singer Christie Dashiell’s take on
the Janet Jackson single “Let’s Wait Awhile” is a very potent example of a very
popular kind of jazz-assisted neo-soul.
The ground begins to break around “Water Games—Ravel Re-Imagined,”
where pianist Eldar’s classical training
meets strings that conjure Bernard Herr-
mann. And harpist Brandee Younger “No big band out there operates with
seems primed for a higher profile, on more expressive creativity and suave
a track that reimagines the ’70s epoch conﬁdence. John Vanore has made
when commercial soul-jazz had some another cult classic for big band junkies.”
edge and sex to it. In a successful bid to —Thomas Conrad, Stereophile
bind the proceedings, producer Raydar
Ellis remixes the music in interludes “The intriguing trumpeter pushes
spread throughout the program, tweak- expressive possibilities in the realm of
ing hip-hop’s golden-age strategy by big band culture…a progressive attitude
crafting beats from new jazz rather than with clear roots in tradition and timeless
classic. Elsewhere, the presence of Gen- musical values.”
Xers old enough to have absorbed that —Josef Woodard, Downbeat
golden age firsthand—Marc Cary, Chris Acoustical Concepts Records—VINYL
Potter, Jeff “Tain” Watts, James Genus— Fall 2015 www.acrecording.net
www.johnvanore.net
DENEKA PENISTON
argues how Revive is less an untouched

• Stellar musicianship, remixed frontier than it is a continuation of a CD Baby • iTunes • Amazon Mp3
or not: Marcus Strickland good fight. EVAN HAGA
JAZZTIMES.COM 65
Reviews
with cabaret charm, are equal to hurried and unabashedly sentimental, and intricately arranged, and yet it’s a
task, and the several guest artists including a take on “All the Things You wonderfully melodic treat all the same.
add both zest and soulfulness to a Are” that dreamily features vocalist Rising-star guitarist Julian Lage turns
procession of familiar and not-so- Audra Muriel, bassist Gary Maz- up, too, playing lead on a warmly evoca-
familiar tunes. Nowhere is that more zaroppi and the great jazz guitar elder tive rendition of “Sleepy Time Gal,” with
evident than when Finnish guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli. The album’s closer, Vignola on rhythm. Then Vignola is out
Olli Soikkeli adds to the propulsive a strolling, Bucky-abetted medley of front again, adding fresh luster to “Star-
thrust that makes “Joseph Joseph” “Peg O’ My Heart” and “I’m Confes- dust” and all the zing he and Raniolo
such a rousing showstopper. sin’,” is similarly pitched. “Whispering,” can muster to a compelling medley of
Some of the album’s most engag- which features Gene Bertoncini on “Tico Tico” and “Djangomania.”
ing performances, though, are un- nylon string guitar, is far more spirited MIKE JOYCE
ALBERT HEATH
KWANZA (THE FIRST) • “Joyful and
defiantly timeless”:
BARRY HARRIS Jimmy Heath in
PLAYS TADD DAMERON
the mid-’70s
JIMMY HEATH
PICTURE OF HEATH
AL COHN & JIMMY ROWLES
HEAVY LOVE
SAM MOST then-contemporary
FROM THE ATTIC OF MY MIND sounds—e.g., funk
AL COHN/BILLY MITCHELL/DOLO COKER/ rhythms on “Tafad-
LEROY VINNEGAR/FRANK BUTLER hali,” Kenny Barron’s
NIGHT FLIGHT TO DAKAR/XANADU IN AFRICA (Elemental) Fender Rhodes on
“A Notion” and “Dr.
Jeh”—associated with
independent labels
like Strata-East. It’s
something of a sore
A decade before the Marsalises thumb, but it’s also
triggered a bebop revival, seminal the first-ever record-
producer Don Schlitten was giving ing of all three Heath brothers (Percy on bass, Jimmy on flute),
beboppers a recording outlet with eliminating any doubt as to its “essential” status.
Xanadu Records. A veteran jazz The other remasters are of a piece with Schlitten’s vision.
record producer who’d worked for RCA, Prestige and Muse, While flutist Sam Most’s From the Attic of My Mind, recorded
among many other labels, Schlitten founded Xanadu in 1975 and in 1978, has cover art that’s as au courant as its title, its only de-
operated it with his wife Nina. (The label ceased issuing new parture from the hard-bop milieu is the gentle bossa “Breath of
recordings in 1990, though it was revived for a brief spell in Love.” Heavy Love, tenor great Al Cohn’s 1977 match of wits with
2009.) It quickly became a haven for the stars of the bebop era— pianist Jimmy Rowles, bears down on the Songbook, evincing
Al Cohn and Barry Harris were prolific—to keep that music alive surprisingly hard-hitting tones from both players (even on bal-
in an era when fusion, the avant-garde and Afrocentrism were lads) that only intensify on the extemporaneous blues “Bar Talk.”
jazz’s dominant aesthetics. And pianist Barry Harris, a bebop ideologue, beautifully main-
It was Schlitten who allowed a substantial number of artists to tains his Monk-and-Bud fundamentalism as he assays “Lady
keep their head above water long enough to enjoy the 1980s jazz Bird,” “Soultrane” and other compositions of Tadd Dameron.
renaissance. Elemental Music’s Zev Feldman and Jordi Soley have The best of the lot are Picture of Heath, Jimmy Heath’s 1975
this year made arrangements to celebrate Schlitten’s accomplish- quartet date with Harris, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy
ments with the release of the Xanadu Remaster Edition series: 25 Higgins, and the double-shot Night Flight to Dakar and Xanadu
of the label’s most essential releases, remastered and repackaged in Africa, two albums drawn from a 1980 Cohn-led quintet
with new liner notes by English jazz writer Mark Gardner. concert in Senegal. Both the Heath and Cohn sessions are high-
Which makes it interesting that the oldest of the first batch energy, intensive bop sessions, joyful and defiantly timeless.
of six reissues, Tootie Heath’s 1973 sophomore effort Kwanza Timeless, that is, except in their use of the bass-direct micro-
(The First), wasn’t originally issued by Xanadu at all. It was a phone, that most unfortunate (and ubiquitous) trend of 1970s
Schlitten production for Muse Records. (Xanadu acquired the jazz recordings. But don’t let that detract from the worthy Schlit-
TOM MARCELLO
rights in a legal settlement and reissued it on CD, under the ten achievements that are being honored with these correspond-
title Oops!, in 1990.) It mixes the classic bebop sound with the ingly worthy reissues. MICHAEL J. WEST

ReviewsVox
by Christopher Loudon
personal originals. All of her compositions, close to two decades of very sporadic live
ranging from the parked-on-the-sidelines and studio sessions—that preceded her
heartache of “Look at Me” and “Left Over” vibrant comeback in the early ’90s. Any
to the ensnaring desire that drives “Fog” unearthed Lincoln material from that
and the undulating “Monday,” are superbly fallow period is a welcome find. This
crafted—sharp, intense and profound. 54-minute date, captured at San Fran-
cisco’s Keystone Korner in 1980, is a
KARRIN ALLYSON particularly great discovery.
MANY A NEW DAY: KARRIN ALLYSON A month prior, Lincoln had been in
SINGS RODGERS & HAMMERSTEIN (Motéma) Paris, where she also made a live recording
Why do jazz singers (released as Golden Lady, since re-released
embrace so many songs by as Painted Lady), working with a quintet
Rodgers and Hart yet so anchored by saxophonist Archie Shepp.
few—save the Coltrane- In San Francisco, Lincoln narrows her
blessed “My Favorite accompaniment to piano (Phil Wright),
Things”—by Rodgers and Hammerstein? bass (James Leary) and drums (Doug
While Rodgers’ music is accepted as Sides). Wright, with whom she’d frequently
consistently top-drawer, Hart’s lyrics are collaborated in the late ’50s, dominates
• “Brilliant at synthesizing a century’s worth widely considered sharper, wittier and throughout. In fine voice, her debt to Billie
of influences”: Cécile McLorin Salvant more intellectual than Hammerstein’s. Holiday fully evident, Lincoln paves a
Which is, in a word, hogwash. Yes, circuitous musical path. She carries over
CÉCILE MCLORIN SALVANT Hammerstein’s lyrics are often brighter just two tracks—her own “Painted Lady”
FOR ONE TO LOVE (Mack Avenue) and frillier, but they are in no way less and Stevie Wonder’s “Golden Lady”—
Though it was actually her skillfully crafted nor less sophisticated from the Paris set list. She adds standards,
second full-length release, either in sentiment or structure. (Ham- including a medley-leading “Sophisticated
on the strength of one album, merstein’s work with Rodgers has also Lady,” her then relatively new melting-pot
2013’s WomanChild, Cécile been tarnished with that most toxic of anthem “People in Me,” the Perry Como
McLorin Salvant vaulted brushes, immense commercial success.) hit “It’s Impossible” sung in English and
from Miami-born Monk competition victor At last, the Hammerstein portion of the original Spanish, and nods to two
to the world’s most celebrated female jazz the Rodgers canon is getting serious, full- heroes: Holiday, with a mellow “God Bless
vocalist. It’s mighty tough to follow so length appreciation, and Karrin Allyson, the Child”; and Oscar Brown Jr., with a
massive a critical and popular hit. Given, one of the finest jazz interpreters around, muscular, Sides-driven “Long as You’re
however, the depth and breadth of Salvant’s is at the helm. Accompanying Allyson is Living.” This stellar addition to the Lincoln
musical gifts, it’s hardly surprising that For the similarly adroit duo of bassist John canon is made all the more precious by
One to Love is even more impressive. Patitucci and pianist Kenny Barron. It’s a flawlessly clear sound quality.
Sly and sensuous, partial to featherlight heady feast, extending from the sweet lilt
flights yet solid as oak, Salvant is preter- of “Many a New Day” to the embittered LONDON, MEADER,
naturally brilliant at synthesizing a century’s anguish of “You’ve Got to Be Carefully PRAMUK & ROSS
worth of influences—shades of Bessie Taught,” and from the playful sauciness of THE ROYAL BOPSTERS PROJECT (Motéma)
Smith, Billie Holiday and Blossom Dearie “I Cain’t Say No” to the sage tenderness of Five years in gestation,
are clearly evident—while remaining her “Hello Young Lovers.” There’s no room on this boplicious project
mesmeric self. And in pianist Aaron Diehl, this album for splashy solos or virtuosic serves as both the
also featured on WomanChild, she has grandstanding. The focus is squarely on introduction to a terrific
found an ideally simpatico partner. Joining sensitive, intelligent arrangements shaped new vocal foursome and
them are bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer around Allyson’s unique sound—slightly as a living tribute to five of jazz
Lawrence Leathers. parched and gently tremulous—expressly singing’s foremost pioneers. The idea
Salvant satisfies her penchant for Clar- built to exalt a spectrum of instantly famil- was ignited in 2010 when Amy
ence Williams tunes with a bluesy “What’s iar yet largely underappreciated gems. An London and Holli Ross paid a visit to
the Matter Now?” and her predilection for exquisitely thoughtful trio album, it’s also an ailing Mark Murphy. A year later,
all things French with singer-songwriter an important one. they invited Murphy to join them for a
Barbara’s pensive “La Mal de Vivre.” (Her concert at the New School in New
mother is from France, father from Haiti.) ABBEY LINCOLN York City. (Also featured was a student
The remaining tracks are split between cun- SOPHISTICATED ABBEY: LIVE AT THE vocal choir including Dylan Pramuk.)
ning covers—Rodgers and Hammerstein’s KEYSTONE KORNER (HighNote) The concert’s success sparked an
“Stepsisters’ Lament,” Sondheim and Ber- Anyone who knows Abbey album concept. With London’s
nstein’s “Something’s Coming” and, in her Lincoln’s history is aware of soprano, Ross’ alto and Pramuk’s bass,
MARK FITTON
effort to survey the full panoply of relation- the sizable recording all they needed was an alto. Enter New
ships, even Bacharach and David’s coy yet gap—a barren stretch from York Voices’ Darmon Meader. Then,
sexist “Wives and Lovers”—and insightfully 1962 to 1972 followed by they reasoned, since their intent was to
JAZZTIMES.COM 67
Reviews
honor the vocalese greats, why not backing, a gently swirling interpretation in Pizzarelli’s trademark silken lilt is, the
invite those legends along? So, in of Elliott Smith’s “Waltz No. 1.” Gazarek more adventurous selections are more in-
addition to Murphy, Jon Hendricks, delivers a stunningly spare “I Fall in Love teresting. Among them: a spirited “Heart
Sheila Jordan, Bob Dorough and Too Easily” and a sweet, loping “Secret of the Country”; a breezy, midtempo
Annie Ross joined the fray. o’ Life.” Sutton livens the pace with a “Coming Up,” featuring an excellent
From the first four bars of “Music deliciously fervid “You’d Be So Nice to vocal pairing with Michael McDonald; a
in the Air (Wildwood),” it’s clear that Come Home To,” then settles into the bluesy, Wes-worthy, horns-embellished
the four younger participants are as ruminative folds of Randy Newman’s instrumental take on “Hi, Hi, Hi”; a
tight, as smooth and as creatively “When She Loved Me.” Eldridge, always dazzling “Let ’Em In” driven by Martin’s
dynamic as the Voices or Manhattan such a privilege to hear solo, travels from Ray Brown-inspired bass figure; and, as a
Transfer. Their choice of material is a magnificently jagged, storm-clouded bonus, a cleverly samba-ized “Wonderful
nothing short of perfection: classics “Black Crow” to a dreamily becalmed Christmastime.”
like the elder Ross’ “Let’s Fly” and “My Ship.” Yes, the math is simple, but
Dorough’s “Nothing Like You Has the results are immensely greater than LUCIANA SOUZA
Ever Been Seen Before” alongside sage the sum of their parts. SPEAKING IN TONGUES
re-workings of “Basheer’s Dream,” (Sunnyside)
“Chasin’ the Bird,” “Boplicity” and JOHN PIZZARELLI Though its title is bor-
“Red Clay,” plus a double-dip into the MIDNIGHT MCCARTNEY (Concord) rowed from Corinthians,
Horace Silver songbook for “Peace” The same week that the referencing how an
and “Señor Blues.” Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me unfamiliar language speaks
If this disc featured just the quartet, Love” hit No. 1 in not to man but to God,
it would be sensational. The addition of Billboard in April 1964, Luciana Souza’s outstanding Speaking in
the icons, showcased once each (with Ella Fitzgerald recorded Tongues also aligns with another Old
Murphy provided wider presence) and her version. Lennon and McCartney Testament reference. For, in its synthesis of
all in remarkably fine form, escalates compositions have remained a vital varied cultures and mixed influences, it
it from valuable to priceless, from part of the vocal-jazz repertoire ever seems the anti-Babel: demonstrating how
piquant to landmark. since. But you’d be hard pressed to multiple musical languages can come
name many, if any, jazz versions of together in audacious harmony, creating
NEW WEST post-Beatles McCartney tunes. Sir Paul an entirely unique yet universal dialect.
GUITAR GROUP himself decided it was time to rectify Produced by Souza’s husband, Larry
SEND ONE YOUR LOVE (Summit) that. McCartney called up John Klein, the album unites the Brazilian
The math is simple: three Pizzarelli, whom he met during the singer-pianist-composer with four art-
guitarists; 10 tracks; and 2010 sessions for Kisses on the Bottom, ists she’d never previously worked with:
five vocalists, each the rock icon’s estimable collection of from Benin, guitarist and vocalist Lionel
exploring two love songs, mostly standards, and not only Loueke; from Switzerland, harmonica
one vintage and one more suggested the idea but even provided virtuoso Grégoire Maret; from Italy via
contemporary. The three players—Perry the title. Pizzarelli, who had crafted an Sweden, bassist Massimo Biolcati; and
Smith, Jeff Stein and John Storie, album-length Beatles’ tribute back in from Texas, drummer Kendrick Scott.
collectively know as New West Guitar 1996, jumped at the invitation. Together they weave a capacious tapes-
Group—have been together for a dozen While McCartney’s solo work will try, crafting seven wordless poems—four
years with six previous albums and one likely never reach the iconic status of his written by Souza, one by Loueke, one by
concert DVD to their credit. By now collaborations with Lennon, his song- Scott (with Mike Moreno) and one by
they’re masters of their caressing, book is not only richly multihued but Gary Versace. Their varied hues are as
cascading sound, best categorized as prime for reinterpretation, as Pizzarelli bold as they are vibrant. Among them:
chamber jazz. Their overarching ably demonstrates. With wife Jessica the hushed glory of “Hymn,” the medita-
mellowness (dexterously peppered, now Molaskey as co-producer (she also pro- tive sanctity of “A Pebble in Still Water,”
and again, with Gypsy fire, flamenco vides vocal backup) and brother Martin the joyous cacophony of “At the Fair,” the
zest and steel-string twang) suits their on bass, he rounds out the core rhythm tribal-cum-barnyard-cum-space-orbit
quintet of world-class guests—Tierney section with pianists Larry Goldings and clamor of “Filhos de Gandhi” and, with
Sutton, Becca Stevens, Gretchen Parlato, sharp up-and-comer Konrad Paszkudzki. its powerful African underpinnings, the
Sara Gazarek and a lone male, New Though the disc’s 13 tracks include explosive, euphoric “Straw Hat.”
York Voices’ Peter Eldridge—just fine, cashmere readings of “Silly Love Songs,” The two remaining tracks feature actual
providing deftly constructed beds for “My Love,” “No More Lonely Nights,” lyrics. Souza reasoned that if she was going
their vocals. “Warm and Beautiful,” “Some People to incorporate real words, she needed
Parlato opens with a breathy “Send Never Know” and “Junk” (featur- to seek an esteemed source. So, fitting
One Your Love,” later returning for a ing John’s father, Bucky Pizzarelli, on music to two Leonard Cohen poems, she
tremulous “Like Someone in Love.” Ste- rhythm guitar, and saxophonist Harry amplifies Tongues with the surreal, bilateral
vens shapes a gorgeously befogged “De- Allen), the set’s not all midnight lace. romanticism of “Split” and dark disconso-
tour Ahead” and, against near-baroque Indeed, lovely as everything wrapped lation of “No One to Follow.” JT

Books
• Clockwise from above: Sarah

Vaughan and Bunnies at the Chicago
Playboy Club in 1961; Hugh Hefner
and Louis Armstrong; Hefner, Tony
Bennett and friends film Playboy After
PLAYBOY SWINGS: up as his empire Dark in 1968
HOW HUGH HEFNER AND expanded, imme-
PLAYBOY CHANGED diately understoo agine, if you will, Ravi Shankar
THE FACE OF MUSIC what Hef and his a Playboy Club—it happened);
BY PATTY FARMER, WITH WILL FRIEDWALD associates were aft es related to race. The author,
(Beaufort) “The message was, if you’re a playboy, whose previous book was The Persian
For Playboy magazine you’ve got to have a beautiful motor car, a Room Presents, details the opening of the
founder Hugh Hefner, convertible with the top down; you’ve got to New Orleans Playboy Club in 1961, where
music, specifically the smoke the best pipe; and you’ve got to have “Black Bunnies were out of the question,
jazz that he adored, was a good jazz album collection.” as were black entertainers, no matter how
always part of a greater It wasn’t long after Playboy magazine talented or well known. … The application
game plan. From the took off that jazz artists and their handlers process was designed to discourage black
start “Hef ” envisioned caught on to the gift Hefner had handed members, and those who showed up with
his venture defining a them. (Tony Bennett was an early fan and a key were refused admission.” But else-
total lifestyle, of which the flagship became a close friend.) By 1959, Hefner was where the company broke racial barriers.
magazine and its nothing-to-the-imagina- ready to test out the idea of a Playboy Jazz At the Chicago club, also in ’61, Hefner
tion centerfolds were never the whole Festival, staging the initial event in Chicago, requested that comedian Dick Gregory
story. Playboy, since its 1953 inception, the company’s first home base. It would be perform as a replacement for Professor
published quality prose, and music another two decades—by which time the Irwin Corey. The evening led to a lengthy
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: REX USA, ISAAC SUTTON/EBONY COLLECTION VIA AP IMAGES, COURTESY OF PEI
journalism and jazz-focused readers’ polls now-massive Playboy brand had long since and successful stand, exceedingly rare
were part of the mix. The very first expanded to television and other media— for an African-American performer at a
issue—the one offering then-scandalous, before he’d give it another shot, moving it predominantly white nightclub.
now-epochal nude photos of Marilyn to the Hollywood Bowl. This time it took, One more note: It would be negligent
Monroe—included a feature article on the and the Playboy Jazz Festival has been held not to at least mention Bill Cosby, who
Dorsey brothers, and in subsequent issues there annually ever since. hosted the Playboy Jazz Festival from
writers and critics regularly weighed in on Farmer’s exhaustively researched and 1979 through 2012. There is no reportage
the pros and cons of current jazz, breezily voiced volume leaves no doubt in the book of recent allegations against
recommending with authority the LPs that Hefner and the Playboy crew took Cosby—his accusers include a former
that every hip Playboy reader should spin their commitment to the music seriously. Bunny—nor does this reviewer believe
at his next cocktail party. In addition to the annual festival, Hefner’s there should be. (Farmer has said that
The 320-page Playboy Swings, by Patty clubs, beginning in 1960, provided quality Cosby declined to be interviewed, and
Farmer with contributions from jazz writ- bookings for musicians, treating them with one former Playboy employee is quoted
er Will Friedwald and an introduction by a level of respect they didn’t always find as saying the comedian “worked for the
Newport festival impresario George Wein, elsewhere, in venues that trumped the dives clubs out of loyalty to Hef,” forgoing his
tells the story of the Playboy enterprise’s many were accustomed to. usual fee.) The book was likely completed
love affair with jazz, and explores the idea None of this occurred in a vacuum, of prior to the recent media explosion, but
of the music as an integral component of a course, and Farmer deftly weaves in the role either way, Cosby had left his emcee posi-
swanky branded lifestyle. Monty Alexan- of the Bunnies (and the de rigueur sexism to tion before most of the allegations became
der, the Jamaican-born pianist who found which they were exposed); the comedians, public, and his history with the festival
lucrative work at the New York Playboy actors and other celebrities who populated was an important factor in its success.
Club, one of many Hefner would open the Playboy world; the utter surrealism of it JEFF TAMARKIN
JAZZTIMES.COM 69
Books
who have been married since 1991, cap-

tures the couple’s easy rapport and deep
understanding of one another, musically
and otherwise; when Corbett asks Bley
about a comment she once made about
the Beatles’ influence on her music,
Swallow interjects, “Watch out, she’s go-
ing to deny it now. That’s the way she is.”
Another joint conversation, with pianist-
composer Misha Mengelberg and drum-
mer Han Bennink, both founders of the
ICP Orchestra, displays such intuitive
chemistry that the two collaborators
frequently finish one another’s sentences.
Corbett also chats with alto saxophonist
Ornette Coleman, who is in full enig-
matic flower; his comments sometimes
seem to barely graze a musical theme
while simultaneously illuminating his
work in profound fashion. It’s hard not
to be moved when Coleman, who died
in June at the age of 85, comments that
“you have to start with life. It don’t end
there; it starts there. The only thing that
ends is time.”
• Author John Corbett (left) and saxophonist Steve Lacy in 1997 Corbett’s curiosities reach beyond the
stylistically diffuse world of jazz. Mi-
MICROGROOVE: Chicago Reader and numerous other crogroove features two separate tandem
FORAYS INTO OTHER MUSIC publications. But first and foremost conversations with mid-’90s alt-rock
BY JOHN CORBETT (Duke University) he is a devotee of challenging and darling Liz Phair: one, also featuring
John Corbett’s outré sounds, and his essays are most Sebadoh’s Lou Barlow, in which they
Microgroove: Forays compelling when he dives headfirst into touch on the dangers of record-industry
Into Other Music is a his chronicles with a fan’s enthusiasm pigeonholing and the pros and cons of
sprawling meander and verve. Among the standout pieces the “low-fi” aesthetic; and another with
through the multi- in this vein are a diary-style break- Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon that finds
tiered world of down of an early-2000s U.S. tour led by the artists tackling the trials of woman-
“alternative” musics, free-jazz saxophonist Peter Brötzmann; hood in the rock universe and grappling
encompassing jazz, “Six Dispatches From the Memory with Corbett’s query about whether the
rock, blues, avant-classical and literary Bank,” in which Corbett draws on deep all-female Lilith Fair tours represented
and visual art forms whose materials personal memories of a half-dozen a form of “ghettoization.” Corbett also
and methods comment on aspects of singular performances from “protean, includes a 1994 paean to blues queen
musicality. The far-ranging scope of the gritty” Chicago-based saxophonist Ken Koko Taylor (she passed away in 2009),
53 essays and interviews collected in Vandermark; and “Discaholic or Vinyl who freely blasts commercial radio
these nearly 500 pages, dating from 1993 Freak?,” a lengthy investigation of Cor- for treating blues “like they’re look-
to just last year, reminds us that even bett’s record-buying habits, conducted ing down on garbage.” And Corbett
within music’s commercially neglected by the Thing saxophonist and fellow explores such curious topics as the aes-
fringes complex gradations of sub-genre record hound Mats Gustafsson. These thetics of cartoon soundtrack scoring;
exist, separating the hardcore avant- pieces beautifully balance serious musi- John Cage’s “conceptual Orientalism”;
garde devotee from one who thinks cal scholarship and critical analysis and, in collaboration with cultural critic
they’re down because they own a copy of with the kind of collar-grabbing, “give- Terri Kapsalis, the uses and meanings
Space Is the Place. this-a-listen” excitement that draws us of female orgasmic sounds in popular
Corbett is a record producer (his all to music in the first place. music. These latter essays, however,
credits include rereleases of works The interviews collected here are fare the worst in comparison to those
by seminal AACM saxophonist Fred largely presented in an unadorned Q&A surrounding them, since their dry,
Anderson and Swiss free-jazz duo format, the better for Corbett to bring polysyllabic preaching to the academi-
Voice Crack), co-owner of Chicago’s the character and idiosyncratic thought cally inclined purges Corbett’s prose of
FRED BURKHARDT
Corbett vs. Dempsey art gallery and processes of his subjects to the fore. A its inspired-fan edges. It’s there that the
a critic and essayist whose work has tandem chat with pianist-composer bulk of his literary powers reside.
appeared in DownBeat, The Wire, the Carla Bley and bassist Steve Swallow, MATT R. LOHR

jazzdirectory
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JAZZTIMES.COM 71
ARTIST’S CHOICE
DEFINITIVE TROMBONE VOICES

BY STEVE TURRE
←Dicky Wells in These musicians changed jazz trombone in various ways: technically, expressively, harmonically or
New York City, c. 1947 rhythmically, or combinations of the above. They are also people who affected me profoundly.
Even though I may not play like them, my appreciation for them and their contributions runs deep.
Sidney Bechet Frank Rosolino

“IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD” (Vic Dickenson, trombone) “ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE”
Concert a l’Exposition Universelle de Bruxelles Fond Memories Of…
(Collection Sidney Bechet, 1958) (Double-Time, 1996; music in recorded 1973, ’75)
Rahsaan Roland Kirk played this for me, and I listened to how Vic Just about anything Frank Rosolino did was a gem. I chose this track
Dickenson was using the slide. It sounds kind of loose, which it is, but it because it’s readily available and is really incredible. It’s a good example
isn’t sloppy; it’s very controlled and deliberate and nuanced and articu- of him. Frank had his own voice, and his flexibility was unique and
late. I really appreciate his intonation and his phrasing, and the way he unparalleled. It was effortless for Frank to play with this kind of
uses the slide for expressiveness. flexibility and to play in the upper register.
Dicky Wells The Jazztet

“DICKY WELLS BLUES” “IT’S ALL RIGHT WITH ME” (Curtis Fuller, trombone)
Dicky Wells in Paris Meet the Jazztet (Argo, 1960)
(His Master’s Voice, 1955; recorded in 1937) All the guys I’m talking about are masters, but nobody can play fast
The technical finesse that Dicky Wells played with was unbelievable. like Curtis Fuller. He’s playing the rhythm, not just playing notes fast
Here, he uses the slide coming out of the way Vic did, but with more against the rhythm. This song is a reflection of his style. You say, “God-
sophistication, and he has a much greater range and incredible damn, is that a saxophone?” No, it’s a slide trombone! It’s clean and
flexibility. Django Reinhardt plays guitar on this track. smooth and the lines make sense. His articulation is clear and precise.
He’s playing scales and arpeggios.
Jack Teagarden
“BODY AND SOUL” J.J. Johnson
The Golden Horn of Jack Teagarden “TEA POT”
(Decca, 1964; recorded in 1953) Dial J.J. 5 (Columbia, 1957)
There are a couple of dozen recordings of Jack Teagarden playing “Tea Pot” is based on “Sweet Georgia Brown.” For any of the naysayers
“Body and Soul.” But this one—which also has his brother Charlie who don’t think J.J. Johnson could play fast, this will put that to rest.
playing trumpet—is the cream of the crop. His chops are all the way on; A lot of guys play fast, but they play real soft, with a little wimpy sound
he’s at the peak of his form. His harmonic sense is ahead of its time. He and unclear articulation. J.J. is super clear. He has great range on this too.
has tremendous flexibility in his own unique way. It’s all in there.
FROM LEFT: WILLIAM P. GOTTLIEB/COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, JIMMY & DENA KATZ
Lawrence Brown J.J. Johnson

“ROSE OF THE RIO GRANDE” “BLUES WALTZ”
Slide Trombone (Clef, 1955) Proof Positive (Impulse!, 1964)
Lawrence Brown was a master of ballads and the blues. This cut is What I appreciate about “Blues Waltz” is how J.J. leads rhythmically. He
surprising because it’s very modern yet it has the feelings and elements doesn’t just follow and float—he defines. His tone is robust and resonant
of earlier styles in there too; the harmonic and rhythmic things he plays and as perfect as the greatest orchestral trombone players, yet he doesn’t
are almost bebop but not quite. He leads the rhythm very much the sound like an orchestral trombone player. What he’s doing harmonically
way J.J. Johnson does. is very sophisticated. He uses space. Most of his improvisations are more
melodic than linear. It’s not speed for speed’s sake. JT
Dizzy Gillespie
(Al Gray, trombone) [As told to Jeff Tamarkin]
“DIZZY’S BLUES”
At Newport (Verve, 1957)
Besides being the grandmaster of the open horn plunger, Al Gray was
also a grandmaster of the open horn. We all know him from Basie’s Steve Turre is a renowned trombonist
band, but on this cut he’s playing with Dizzy, so it’s very modern. He’s and a virtuoso of the conch shells.
swinging hard and he’s got a big, powerful, full sound. He’s not one of His most recent release is the quintet
those guys who whispers and puts the mic inside the bell. On this live album Spiritman (Smoke Sessions).
recording, he’s just standing up in his section and blowing over the band.

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ERROLL GARNER: CONCERT BY THE SEA’S LOST HALF RELEASED!

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6 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

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24 Before & After

From Upstart to Institution It operates as a non-profit, non-

8 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

10 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

New Album Available Now

“Columbia” and W Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off.

Joey Alexander: Youth Without Youth

Blues,” the one original tune on the

12 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

Juilliard Developing musicians versed

Photo: Hiroyuki Ito

For an inside look at the Juilliard experience visit

The Frisson of Fusion

14 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

Lessons From Ornette

Arms & Hands evades the standard

16 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

“You can litera lly feel the

18 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

T enor saxophonist James Brandon Lewis,

Bringing You the Best in Independent Contemporary Jazz

The Ted Howe Jazz Orchestra Audrey Shakir Russell Gunn

“ Howe’s strength in arranging seems to extend to his ability

20 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

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24 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

“THE GREAT KAI & J.J. YOU GOTTA BE KIDDING ME.

BEFORE: This is a modern bass kind of thing. I don’t like that

26 JAZZTIMES • OCTOBER 2015

AFTER: The bass direct is important for various rea-

9. Baby Dodds Trio

BEFORE: This is clearly old. “I Thought I Heard

AFTER: Albert Nicholas, yes! That’s the thing he played

1951. You quoted Baby Dodds in the liner notes

Yeah, and it’s interesting because you can hear

We travel anywhere for XXXLFMMZTDPUUNVTJDDPN ]