Notes on Jazz

Marvin Stamm and Mike Holober Make Beautiful Music at the Nyack Library's Carnegie Room

2013-05-19T14:25:00.001-07:00

Mike Holober and Marvin Stamm phot by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

In the tiny town of Nyack, in the shadows of the Tappan Zee Bridge, the Rockland County Jazz and Blues Society and the Nyack Library once again provide a superlative matching of two local jazz musicians as part of their Carnegie Concert series. This evening the series brought together trumpeter Marvin Stamm and pianist composer Mike Holober.

For those who don’t know these two fine musicians the evening offered an intimate opportunity to witness first hand just how accomplished these artists are. Mr. Stamm, dressed in a dapper white suit and a black band collared shirt, was the picture of hip style. His brush cut grey/white hair with matching full tightly trimmed beard finished the image of a confident, seasoned performer. His past includes stints with Stan Kenton and Woody Herman orchestras as well as the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Big Band and a continued association with the George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band and The Westchester Jazz Orchestra. He has performed in multiple duo and trio settings with longtime collaborator pianist Bill Mays and has been a standout, first call studio musician for many years. I first saw Mr. Stamm in a little, now defunct jazz club in Hackensack, N.J. back in the early seventies where he was a featured soloist with the house band of Billy LaVorgna on drums and Derek Smith on piano. His performance mesmerized me back than and I have always found his playing to be exemplary.

Mike Holober and Marvin Stamm photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

Mr. Holober is a classically trained pianist and a ubiquitous musician who has performed with many notable artists both as a pianist and as a leader/composer/arranger. In recent years he has released music with his own quintet as well as with the seventeen piece Gotham Jazz Orchestra. I first saw Mr. Holober at a performance of the Westchester Jazz Orchestra where he is its musical director. His talents as a composer/arranger were on full display utilizing the various voices of this fine orchestra to great effect. This was my first time hearing Mr. Holober at the piano and he did not disappoint.

The evening performance started with Mr. Stamm respectfully asking for applause to be withheld until the end of each performance, so as to allow the continuity of each piece to be enjoyed uninterrupted.The first songs were a Cole Porter song “Everything I Love” followed by Mr. Holober’s treatment of an Argentinian dance piece by Alberto Ginastra “Danza de Moza Donosa .” ( An interesting side note, Gianastra’s music was the inspiration for Keith Emerson’s “Toccata” on Emerson Lake and Palmer’s Brain Salad Surgery from 1973.) The piece starts out slowly, Mr. Holober playing a sensitive intro, with Mr. Stamm joining on muted trumpet. You can immediately sense the ease of communication between these two, as Holober accompanies deftly and Mr. Stamm floats above with his warm sinuous lines. The happy Porter tune is played joyfully and with great relish before Mr. Holober leads into the more solemn Gianstra piece. Mr. Holober’s classical training comes to the forefront on the evocative melody steeped in a deeply Spanish tradition. Mr. Stamm , whose obbligato part was composed by Mr. Holober, soars over the pianist’s chording like a clarion call.

Mr. Stamm introduces the next piece he wrote titled “In a Rosey Tone” based on the changes of a Duke Ellington 1939 composition “ In a Mellotone.” After stating the melody the two have a marvelously swinging interchange of ideas where Mr. Stamm and Mr. Holober intuit each other’s thoughts brilliantly.

Mr. Stamm is the consummate player; a trumpet player’s trumpeter. His tone is rich and clear and he is not prone to hyperbole on the horn. He is a master technician who uses his horn with reserve and nuance in a complimentary way that works in perfect harmony with whomever he plays , in this case Mr. Holober’s piano. This is no more evident than on Don Raye and Gene De Paul’s classic “Star Eyes,” where Mr. Stamm takes a brilliantly understated solo, cascading through cadenzas of notes, but allowing Mr. Holober’s inventive, complex piano lines to take much of center stage during the performance. They use the rhythm pattern used by Charlie Parker’s famous version of the song to set the stage.

The two bring out their romantic side with a piece by Michel Le Grand that Mr. Stamm admitted was probably the most difficult piece of the evening’s performance, “Umbrellas of Cherbourg”. The emotionally laden song was a tour de force, the perfect vehicle for Mr. Holober’s delicate Evanesque touch and Mr. Stamm’s precise but beautifully poignant tone.

Speaking of Evans, the duo ended the set with Bill Evans” Funkallero.” The ostinato line was played in precise sync before Mr. Holober went into solo mode, dazzling the audience with his marvelously fluidity. The ideas flow from his hands in unpredictable ways that carry you like a traveler taking an eerily familiar but clearly unknown path. When Mr. Stamm joined the fray the two played like two synchronized birds in flight soaring to new heights in precise formation.

As chance would have it I sat next to a world class percussionist, Dave Carey, a local resident who had once played with Mr. Stamm and Frank Sinatra. We both marveled at Mr. Stamm , who at seventy-three has such enduring proficiency on such a demanding instrument as the trumpet.

The second set started out with another Cole Porter tune this time “I Love You.” Mr. Stamm took up flugelhorn on this one, and the warm, burnished tone he is able to get from the instrument draws you in as Mr. Holober accompanied him with beautiful chord voicings.

Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Camhinos Cruzados”, which Mike has arranged for the Westchester Jazz Orchestra with Marvin in mind, was a floating, sensitive ballad featuring Marvin’s flugelhorn. Mr. Stamm’s horn hung in the air like a warm breeze, wafting over an oceanfront. Mr. Holober’s swaying piano cast the alluring spell of a romantic getaway. He delicately danced over the entire keyboard with a skilled agility and grace.

After a beautiful improvisational duet on the Rogers and Hart tune “Have You Met Miss Jones,” that seemed to start unexpectedly from Mr. Stamm, the duo did a piece by the famous corntetist Bix Beiderbecke’s Modern Piano Suite titled “Flash” with Mr. Holober again writing the obbligato part for Mr. Stamm’s trumpet. The song had elements of a sound that harkened to the twenties, and Mr. Holober and Mr. Stamm captured the feeling authentically, with Mr. Stamm employing his mute to great effect.

The finale was Mike Holober’s composition titled “Moon in the Trees.” The stirringly imaginative piece was played in a rubato style. Mr. Holober’s piano voice is ebullient, with a dancing quality that makes it endlessly entertaining. Mr. Stamm once again took up his flugelhorn in delicate accompaniment to Mr. Holober’s expressive piano.

It is apparent that these two musicians appreciate each other’s artistry. In talking with Mr. Stamm between sets, he expressed a fondness for playing with Mr. Holober, a happy collaboration that hopefully will yield more beautiful music in the future.

You can see a live stream of the concert by linking below.

French Chanteuse Cyrille Aimee with Pete Malinverni at Pound Ridge Community Church May 12, 2013

2013-05-15T11:29:00.003-07:00

Cyrille Aimee

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon that just happened to be Mother's Day, the young singer Cyrille Aimee performed at the last of a series of Jazz Vespers concerts presented at the Pound Ridge Community Church in Pound Ridge New York. Musical director Pete Malinverni has been instrumental in developing this fine musical program.

With the sun streaming through the windows of this serene and welcoming sanctuary, Mr. Malinverni recalls how he first met the singer as a student at SUNY Purchase Jazz Conservatory program where he taught her improvisation and harmony. During her four years of study with Mr. Malinverni, he witnessed the maturation of this fine vocalist, as she developed from student to a sensation, with frequent air play on the radio and a Sunday residency at the famous Carlyle Hotel in NYC. The twenty-seven year old chanteuse has a youthful , spritely appearance, accentuated by her attractive smile, her overflowing mane of bouncy curls and her palpable energy. She wore a red and white print dress that came to her knees revealing long shapely legs mounted on red heels, a look that certainly does her record sales no harm. But Ms. Aimee is not just a another pretty face. She has a marvelous light voice and she exudes a charming perkiness that comes from genuine enthusiasm for her music.

Cyrille Aimee and Pete Malinverni

The two musicians, and Ms Aimee is a musician's singer, started the set with the Jimmy Van Heusen/Johnny Burke song " It Could Happen to You." Mr. Malinverni utilized a walking bass line with his left hand and a foot cymbal on his left foot to create his own rhythm section. Aimee's voice is light, almost wispy but possesses a warmth that gives it depth and intimacy She glides through notes accenting the lyrics with her own sense of their meaning, making the song her own.

On "I'm in the mood for Love" her delivery was coy and girlish. Mr. Malinverni played block chording in the style of George Shearing behind her vocalizations. Often the two would exchange ideas in a musical call and response.

The duo picked up the pace on Ellington's 1932 classic " It Don't Mean a Thing ( If it A'int Got That Swing)." Mr. Malinverni is an animated accompanist who often prods the singer along, encouraging her, pushing her into more daring improvisational forays, and Ms. Aimee responds in kind. During the quick tempo-ed scatting section she dazzled the audience with her easy precision and fluid invention. Ms. Aimee immerses herself in her performance, often times shimmying rhythmically in time to the music as the pianist provides the swing. Her scatting employs smooth glissandi with the occasionally surprising intervallic leap which she executes flawlessly.

Pianist/Educator/Musical Directo Pete Malinverni

Mr. Malinverni took a brief intermission to talk to the audience, many who are regular members of this congregation. He read a particularly amusing section on aging and vitality from the biography of the Catalian cellist Pablo Cassals, no stranger to either of those concepts.

The duo returned with "Gone With the Wind" which Aimee sang with a light, bluesy feel. When she improvised, she would often imitate the action of a trombone, with her hands sliding through notes much like her vocalizations, more slithery than punctuated.

A beautiful lead in by pianist Malinverni opened the classic "Body and Soul." Here, Ms. Aimee's voice was particularly poignant. Her inflections and tone held traces of a young Billie Holiday with none of the pathos. She possess a voice that is at times more coquettish than womanly, but her feel for the lyric is genuine and mature.

After a stirringly inventive piano solo by Mr. Malinverni, where he cleverly extended the boundaries of the melody to their outermost limits, Ms. Aimee scatted her notes effortlessly, ending the song with a gliss-like scat at the coda.

Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies"was given a happy, uptempo treatment allowing the singer to demonstrate the fluidity of her creative vocalizing at double time speed. Mr. Malinverni did a neat switch, using his left hand to play the melody and his right hand to keep the rhythm going. The two would play off each others ideas in a conversational mode that required attentive mutual awareness. I heard Ms. Amiee introduce snippets of songs like " In Walked Bud" much to Mr. Malinverni's surprise and amusement, using these references as sources of inspiration during the improv sections.

Mr. Malinverni once again paused to do a reading from a Langston Hughes poem titled' Earth Song" before continuing with a chirpy version of "All of Me," to which he added a stirring solo.

Ms. Aimee's French heritage, her father was French and her mother Dominican, came to light with her rendition of an Edith Piaf song which mesmerized the audience with her captivating style and her command of the romantic language with all its stylish elements.

Juan Tizol's "Caravan" featured an ostinato piano bass line by Mr. Malinverni as Aimee sang to the exotic rhythm at an easy, fluid tempo that had hints her gypsy influences.

On the slow ballad " I Thought About You" the singer gave the song a beautiful and heartfelt rendering that made you feel the yearning implicit in the lyrics. She wrinkles her nose when she sings a particularly meaningful passage and you can feel yourself buying into the sentiment she infuses into the song.

After a rousing applause from an audience she had already captured, the duo finished the set with "All the Things You Are." She embraces the words and you realize that there is a nostalgic aspect to her voice. Ms. Aimee's sound is coy but innocent, passionate but genteel. A throwback to another era where the sensitive ballad was savored for its intimacy and its ability to make that human connection with the listener. Perhaps it was her exposure to the gypsy soul of her hometown of Samosis Sur Seine, where she absorbed this quality of genuineness, a sense of heart. Whatever it is she exudes an earnest conviction for the music that cannot be faked and maybe it is is the feeling of honesty in her voice that sets her apart.

Polish Trumpeter Tomasz Stanko and his New York Quartet "Wislawa"

2013-05-03T21:39:00.003-07:00

Tomasz Stanko's New York Quartet "Wislawa"

Creating an environment that you don’t just hear but enter as a secret visitor, this is the music of Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stanko. From the ruminative opening piano chords of the pianist David Virelles, we get the sense that we are being led to a peaceful place; a place where gorgeously created sounds linger in the deliberate suspension of Stanko’s haunting horn. His sparse phrasing is intimate and compelling. Bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Gerald Cleaver, along with pianist Virelles, make up Stanko’s New York Quartet and they have absorbed his sensibility brilliantly. They have mastered the art of deft accompaniment, superlative sympathetic support of the trumpeter’s musical vision. All the twelve compositions on the beautifully packaged ECM two cd set are Stanko compositions.

On the Wislawa Virelles, Cleaver and Morgan create a wonderfully mystical atmosphere in which Stanko’s playing emerges as a wandering, soulful voice calling out in the haze. Morgan’s bass solo is projected with booming clarity. The album and title song is dedicated to the memory of Polish poet and Nobel Laureate Wislawa Symborska who passed in 2012 and greatly inspired the trumpeter.

On “Assassins” Stanko breaks the spell using a driving, saw toothed pulse. Here the quartet plays the fractured head in tight unison before breaking it down into distinct sections of dynamic ostinato. Virelles, Morgan and Cleaver create an almost mechanical sounding pulsation of a rhythm. Stanko uses this frenzied pulse, playing over the beat with searing arpeggios and sometimes shrieking bursts. When Virelles solos he plays slightly behind the rhythm in a distinct counterpoint that resurrects the sense of jagged excitement. Cleaver’s rolling toms and splattering snare solo creates its own sense of a urgency.

On “Metafzyka” the group returns to Stanko’s signature brooding sound. He and Virelles match each other note for note in a slow and deliberate statement of theme as Morgan and Cleaver fill in the gaps with prescient accents. At the 2:20 mark the song changes time to a more upbeat tempo with Stanko playing in a more free wheeling melodic style that has its own sense of swing. Bassist Morgan creates a nice interlude with a warm, improvised solo that sings freely.

“Derrnier Cri” starts out stating a theme in Stanko’s own exaggerated pace. The deliberateness demands your attention by testing your listening resolve to see what his next musical statement will be. When the song breaks into a more sustainable rhythmic beat it is like an organism deprived of air suddenly striving to breath. You suddenly get a sense of direction and Stanko’s playing becomes more joyful, albeit sparse, as the rhythm section is allowed to set a groove. Virelles takes a prancing solo and his delicate interplay during Morgan’s vibrant bass solo is joyful and buoyant. When Stanko returns it is just a brief reminder, setting the tone to bring his group back to a more tempered resolve.

On Stanko’s “Mikrocosmos,” the music has the barest hint of a Middle Eastern melody before ascending with a series of climbing motifs. Stanko uses the loose framework of the song to search his way through, incorporating slurs, screeches and arpeggios to make his often minimalist point. Virelles, Morgan and Cleaver create a hidden space within, using marvelous interplay that emerges like a flower from a blossom. Virelles is particularly adept at creating a light, ethereal sound on his piano that Stanko uses as a palette on which to add his own stark, well placed brush strokes.

On “Song for H” Mr. Stanko builds a dirge-like melody with slow single note lines played in tandem with Virelles and Morgan. After the introduction the piece takes on a brief, free jazz core where each musician adds colors and textures in a open field of space and time before returning to where it began

The second cd starts out with a Stanko composition title “Oni.” The quiet and fluttering trumpet of the seventy year old Mr. Stanko is heard hear to great effect here. His wonderfully soulful middle register tone can warm any melody. Pianist Virelles offers a delicate, inspiring solo that he plays with incredible restraint.

“April Story” has a cinematic quality. It aurally paints a place where something has happened that is worth remembering. Once again you perceive a suspended feeling from Stanko’s work. He creates a portal where time seems to briefly stand still. What strikes me is the telepathic interplay that he inspires in his group. While clearly the source of its inspiration, Stanko’s music is almost leaderless, seemingly flowing organically from a collective mind.

“Tutaj-Here” is a medium paced piece that finds Stanko with sleek, swift lines and occasional well placed slurs on his trumpet and some marvelous piano/bass interplay between Virelles and Morgan.

The free wheeling “Faces” has nice ascending lines played in tandem by Morgan, Virelles and Stanko. The maestro’s trumpet stabs his way through this one with occasional bursts of high register trills and fluttering shrieks.

On “A Shaggy Vandal” the group is perfectly adept at negotiating the quick twists, turns and changes of time in this composition. Stanko always leaves plenty of space between his outbursts.

The final piece on the album is another variation of the opening piece “Wistawa. “

Mr. Stanko composes melancholic, dirge-like melodies of the barest type; some with definite rhythmic patterns, some built more on a looser sense of time and space. They are marvelous sound scapes that can transport the sympathetic listener to an often times peaceful and reflective place.

An Interview with Jazz Singer Giacomo Gates Part 2

2013-04-25T16:53:00.001-07:00

On March 14, 2013 I did a one on one interview with the jazz singer

Giacomo Gates at his Bridgeport, CT home. We talked about his experiences creating his career in music, his musical influences, his love of all things hip and his latest record MilesTones, Giacomo Gates sings the music of Miles Davis. This is the second part of that interview. In case you missed part 1 click here.

For my review of the album Milstones on the Huffington Post click here.

NOJ : Despite your love of the great American songbook, there are some interesting characters in the music ( that you play) that you have identified with, that are not mainstream ... Let’s discuss some of them ... and what appeals to you about their music.

For example you sing Bobby Troupe, what is it about Booby Troupe’s music that you identify with?

GG: Bobby Troupe, interesting guy. He did a lot of things, you know a producer, composer, lyricist, television producer, married to Julie London, you know. A hipster, someone who was mainstream, but also had that edge. He had a sense of humor. He would write about things, what was going on in his life, like Route 66.

NOJ : So he was a storyteller?

GG: Yes he was a storyteller.

NOJ : And you love storytelling. So how did you get to be such a good storyteller?

GG: Because, I’ve lived a lot of stories. That’s the truth man. I like stories, I read, I always did read. I read short stories, long stories, anecdotes, jokes. I think communication is very important, and I’ve heard great storytellers.

NOJ : Another name out there Johnny Mandel?

GG: Yeah well, great music. That’s a whole ‘nuther thing…movie themes, orchestrations very tasty and yet he had an edge to him that’s not Ferrante and Teicher.

NOJ : So what about Eddie Jefferson (picture below) that appeals to you so much?

GG: When I first heard Eddie Jefferson sing with a quintet, it just sounded like everyone was having so much fun. The musicians were having fun, you could hear the fun in Eddie, it was a good time. It was a story, there was humor there was history. There were inflections of the horn. He talked about the musicians, so obviously he knew them, he was on the inside. Then the more I found out about Eddie, he comes out of vaudeville. He’s a dancer so he was really in that whole scene… to me that whole era was just very interesting.

NOJ : What about a guy like Babs Gonzales?

GG: I never met Babs Gonzales nor did I ever meet Eddie Jefferson, but Babs Gonzales from what I know from some of the people that met Babs. He was a character, a hustler, a hipster, a piano player, somebody who was always on the move. Funny, he was supposed to be so very funny. Plus he had a real jazz voice to me, a real jazz sound. He was a hustler, and when I found out that Monk chose him to write some lyrics, well that’s good enough for me.

NOJ : Let’s go on the other end of the spectrum. What about Oscar Brown Jr?

GG: Wow! There is a guy who had a great sound….he had stories. He was kind of like an actor, who would slip into personas. He would, you know, acquire an accent. You know, he sang like a snake. He sang like an old African American cat from the south. He sang very sophisticated. He was all those things.

NOJ : What about a guys like Leon Thomas with his yodeling technique. I hear some of that technique in some of your music off your new Miles Davis record MilesTones?

GG: Unique. Yeah well I guess he did it first, maybe Moody and the Eddie did it a little bit. Its kind of like a yodel but its almost like a saxophone when you pop one of the valves and the note goes in and out and in and out. It’s an effect… and I don’t try to do tricks. If it adds to the music its an effect, its not just a trick,. I don’t go for it if it’s just a trick.

NOJ : Besides singers you seem to have an affinity for musicians like Horace Silver, a pure piano player, Dizzy a horn player, Dexter a horn player and then you go off the edge and onto Gil Scott-Heron.

GG: But all storytellers. You’re right….but all storytellers. Dizzy was a scat singer, and talk about a sense of humor. Dexter, I never heard Dexter sing, but I think I heard him sing through the tenor. I’ve seen video of him walking onto the stage with his saxophone around his neck, and walking to the microphone and saying to the audience “What’s new. How’s the world treating you? You haven’t changed a bit, lovely as ever, I must admit” Phrasing, that laid back style. So many instrumentalists that I dug certainly effected my singing.

NOJ : If you go back to look at some of the people that have inspired you or even look at some of the people whose music you continue to play, its like a menagerie of outliers in the music.

GG: I love it. (Laughter)

NOJ : Do you feel you are a bit of an outlier in the music?

GG: I don’t know, maybe. I’d like to be as main stream as possible without being,.. playing to the lowest common denominator. I think everybody that I find interesting; if they were exposed to main stream most people would probably dig it. I grew up with television and my parents used to watch Perry Como, I thought he was terrific. Do I sing like Perry Como? I don’t know maybe thee is a touch of him in me, but I don’t try to copy anybody. I remember Kate Smith, I know I don’t sing like Kate Smith.

NOJ: You don’t look like her either.

GG: I know, but hopefully I have been influenced by Kate Smith, Perry Como, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr., Sinatra, Jack Teagarden, Louis Armstrong, Jimmy Scott, Chet Baker not to leave out the ladies. Anita O’Day, Carmen McCrae, Betty Carter, of course Sarah and Ella. There’s a bunch of people that I have listened to. I am a fan of the music instrumentally and vocally. For me it was like you said, the great American songbook and this music we call jazz. Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, I mean that’s Count Basie by voice.

Jon Hendricks ( pictured above) , what a storyteller. I mean I just played Freddie Freeloader for a bunch of students and Jon (Hendricks) wrote lyrics to everybody’s solos. Cannonball, Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Miles and then he got four great singers singing these solos and of course, he sings the un-singable solo of John Coltrane. And all the lyrics are written, they make great sense, they’re philosophical and they fit. That’s the kind of stuff that influenced me.

I’m influenced by Johnny Mercer, you know he told stories and Hoagy Carmichael told stories, but you know Jon and Eddie and Babs they were on the hip end of things. I dug Lenny Bruce, but he didn’t sing and I dug Lord Buckley and Jonathan Winters.

NOJ : Do you consider the hip era the pantheon of cool?

GG: Yeah that was before me too. That wasn’t my generation. I was on the planet in the fifties but I wasn’t hangin’ on the corner.

NOJ : What is it about that era, that hip era, that beatnik cool era that was so enticing to you that obviously affected you in a great many ways?

“The hipsters, the way they dressed…they were clean as the Board of Health.”

GG: Well, you said one of the key words. It was cool, and I’m not talking about the temperatures. That Lester Young Speak. The hipsters, the way they dressed, and I‘m not talking about the guys with the black turtlenecks and the black berets. The double breasted suits, nice silk ties, high shirt collars, nice shoes, wing tips etc.; they were clean as the board of health. And the language that they used was a real inside (language), the squares didn’t understand it. So it was like, “Listen we’re over here and were having a conversation and you can understand us but you probably can’t pick up on all this and that’s the way it was meant to be.” So it wasn’t to exclude them, you could join, if you could pick up on it. And then like I said, I grew up in the era between the hipsters and the hippies. Where the hippies were, they were like out and the hipsters, they were in, very in. They had a language of their own. It was kind of a social revolution. Kind of like the hippies and I was part of them too, that was my era, but they were revolting in a different way.

NOJ : The music of for arguments sake Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, Cream, did that all pass you by or did it just not interest you?

GG: No, I used to hang out with a guy, a camera man who photographed for Rolling Stone (magazine) . I can’t tell you all the concerts I saw. I saw Led Zeppelin live, I saw Cream live, I saw Jimi Hendrix live and the Doors… most of them, I went because of what was going on backstage. When the concert started I was in the lobby because it was too loud. Except for Jimi Hendrix, that was something. I played guitar badly, but when I saw Jimi Hendrix play I said to myself, this is something else….really something else.

NOJ : Do you think his music withstands the test of time?

GG: Uh, I haven’t listened to Jimi Hendrix in a long time, but I know he is still popular and guitarists are still trying to figure what he played. Who knows were he would have gone, because he used to play rhythm and blues till somebody took him aside and said, “We’re taking you to England, let your hair grow, dress in psychedelic. Were going to put you with two British rocker cats and we’re going to make a lot of money.” So he started to play something else, but he still had that rhythm and blues sound and that is what made him Jimi Hendrix.

"Miles was funny, ... if Miles knew you and liked you, you’re solid... I think he said things to provoke people."

NOJ : Let’s go to another iconic image Miles Davis (pictured above) . You have a brand new album out , which I have had the pleasure of listening to about the music of Miles Davis. Some of the music he actually wrote and some of which he made famous by playing it the way he did. Were you a fan of his music all along. You know Miles was the kind of guy that was always changing. Did you sort of drop out at some point with Miles?

GG: I saw Miles in the mid-sixties at Fairfield University. And Miles, it was just before the change. He had young cats with him and I was probably, I don’t know maybe seventeen years old. I don’t know who was in the band. But he still wore a black suit with a white shirt and no tie and short hair, he was just turning, some straight ahead, some modal music and some different kind of blowing. I thought it was wild and I liked Miles’ music because when got into Miles I was listening to his 1959 music, even though it was 1969, I’m listening to 1959 Miles. As far as being a fan of his music, I like that he was provocative. He would say things.

Miles was funny, he had a great sense of humor and if Miles knew you and liked you, you’re solid. But on some of the interviews that Miles gave, I think he said things to provoke people. One of the things that I heard Miles say was, when he began to play fusion, was something like “I can play better fusion over the top of what they’re playing (the band) than anybody who plays fusion.” So he wasn’t afraid to say it like it is. All those guys who were really at the top of their game, they weren’t bagging, they were saying I do this and I do it well. Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker they were gentlemen, but they knew how good they were. The change that Miles made….. I remember reading something where a journalist approached Miles and said “You know Miles, I used to dig what you played, but I don’t get what you’re doing now.” Miles leaned over and said to him “You want me to wait for you?” That was great, man. (Laughter).

NOJ : As far as stage personalities go , you are probably the antithesis of Miles on stage. You engage your audience; you bring them into the fold. They are participants in the musical adventure that you give them. Miles used to turn his back to his audience. What do you think about that?

GG: I think that all the things Miles used to do onstage, made people come to see him….’cause Miles was smart. I saw a concert on video….. someone would be playing a solo and Miles would hold up a poster and the name of the player would be on the poster. That’s to be provocative, that’s showmanship. Miles was really a showman, you know he didn’t wear those clothes so people wouldn’t look at him. So he did it a different way.

NOJ : So tell me about this new album. It’s called Miles Tones and one of the songs on it is Milestones and actually you wrote the lyrics to it.

GG: Yes, yes. The only one I wrote the lyrics to.

NOJ : So it’s a Miles Davis with lyrics album?

GG: Right, not all of them, some of them. Miles recorded from the fifties like “All Blues,” “Boplicity,” “Four,” “Walkin’,” “So What,” lyricized by great singers Oscar Brown Jr., Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson, Al Jarreau’s lyrics to “Tutu.” Babs and Hanneghin lyrics for “‘Round Midnight.” Miles didn’t write that, but Miles, from what I understand, played that at the Newport Jazz Festival in nineteen fifty something and that made Columbia records take notice (and say) we should record this guy. Miles and Lester Young used to go over to listen to Frank Sinatra to learn phrasing and Sinatra would listen to Miles and Lester for phrasing. I think that’s very interesting. So “I Fall in Love Too Easily” or “You’re my Everything” were two other ballads I chose.

NOJ : Jazz is an incestual music.

GG: Yeah, yeah. And, you know, it’s the same notes, it’s the same lyrics, but everybody can, if you can get inside of it and then show what it does to you when your standing in front of a bunch of people, that‘s what makes it interesting. There are some people who can act it but if it’s for real it’s a whole lot better.

NOJ : Do you have a favorite on this album, that you feel that where the band clicked?

GG: The one we took off, no, (Laughter)

I don’t know. I like singing lots of solos so I dug “Four”, I dug singing “Four” where I sang Jon’s lyrics to Miles’ solo and to Horace’s ( Silver’s) solo. I sing Eddie’s lyrics to “So What” , you know it’s a lot of vocal gymnastics. On the other hand I like to sing a ballad I don’t do anything to, I don’t try any tricks. I just try to let it affect me or I try to remember something might have happened or use my imagination, you know I just try to tell the truth.

NOJ : Your music is getting progressively more modern, chronologically more modern that is. What is your next project?

GG: Oh yeah, I don’t know. Gil Scott Heron was a ball. That was really a ball. But I hear a lot of different things that I like. I can’t help but be a bebopper. I am drawn to it… post bop, hard bop. I like swing music. Gil’s music was spoken word, or rhythm and blues / funk, to me. But Gil comes out of jazz and blues. I don’t know. A lot of the music that is being played today has got a jazz/rock fusion thing.

NOJ : Do you see yourself picking up the mantle for any of the more current music like a Paul Simon or a Stevie Wonder.

GG: I don’t know. What attracts me is a story a melody and harmonies. There have been a few tunes that have melody and harmony but didn’t have lyrics, so I wrote lyrics. Fortunately for me the people that publish the tunes said solid, we dig it, we’ll give you permission. I wrote some lyrics that I can’t record because they just didn’t get that far, because some folks like to say no and some folks are glad to say yes. We were talking earlier before the camera started to roll about some early Blood, Sweat and Tears. That was jazz, that came fresh out of jazz. It didn’t take a left turn. I don’t know, I don’t close any doors.

I always liked Gil Scott-Heron. Did I ever think I would record an album of Gil Scott-Heron… no. I was approached and I said I would love to do it. There is a few Rolling Stones songs that I like. Rolling Stones got a lot of grit, but they come out of the blues. They wanted to be a blues band, instead they became the Rolling Stones, which was probably not so bad for them. I don’t know (what’s next).

NOJ : You do a lot of teaching. What do you find in the modern student is their interests and do you see some up and coming stars that you feel are bound in the tradition?

GG: I work with college kids. I’m surprised at the amount of kids that come in and say “Oh yeah, I know who Chet Baker is.” I expect them to know Miles, I also expect them to know who Duke Ellington but they don’t, but sometimes they know who these people are, and some more than others and some don’t know anything. I’m happy to be teaching at Wesleyan and Southern CT State University and Sacred Heart. Most of these kids have no idea of what this music is all about, but I don’t teach Do, Re, Mi. The catalog lists it as “Jazz Vocals.” They have to call it something. I would like to call it conversational voice, so I can try to get them to sing they way they sound when they talk.

But I always play someone in the first fifteen minutes of a private lesson. I bring a bunch of cds and I might play some of the folks we talked about. I might play singer or I might play a horn player, but whatever I play, ninety-nine percent of the time they say “Wow!” They all know who Frank Sinatra is, but they never heard Frank Sinatra with Count Basie. Sinatra in their head is New York, New York. When I play Sinatra singing “Pennies from Heaven” with Count Basie live at the Sands in nineteen sixty, they flip. because the music is so good. You know. Some of them can’t read music but they can read the words. When I give them a lead sheet, something like “I Should Care” and I put Dexter Gordon on, they follow along and after about eight bars they look up and say “I can hear the words in his horn.” Hello! So I’m happy to turn on the light for them. Some of them are pretty talented, some of them are music majors, some of them are not, it doesn’t matter. If they want to take this music and try to be the next Frank Sinatra or Ella Fitzgerald, solid, but I just want them to be aware of this music.

NOJ : A lot of people in the periodicals have been crying about jazz is dying, it has an older crowd, it doesn’t have the life it once had, its regurgitating the old music.

What is your take on the life and jazz as an art form that is going to go on?

GG: I’m smiling, because he I can’t help think of Thelonious Monk. When somebody asked him “Monk where’s jazz going?” and Monk said “ For all I know its going to Hell.” You know, I think that is a great quote. Again, those guys were provocative. I think that a little bit of both is happening. I think that yes, the original audience for this music is growing older. Yes there is a new audience for this music. Some of the younger musicians, because they grew up in a rock and roll frame of mind, when they play this music they can’t help but fuse what they grew up with. So its’ going to attract another group, a younger audience, I think. Jazz is supposed to evolve, that’s what they say.

I have a certain parameter of what I like. I can’t help it, I’ll be honest. Jazz is evolving, I’m not looking to make a left turn. I like evolution. I don’t know if there is another innovator but from what I understand, the last vocal innovator was probably Betty Carter and the last instrumental innovator was probably John Coltrane. I don’t think either one of them set out to be innovators. Maybe something will happen, maybe something won’t. I would like to see this music continue, after all there’s only twelve notes.

NOJ : Thanks so much for your insight and your time.

An Interview with the Jazz Singer Giacomo Gates Part 1 of 2

2013-04-18T08:14:00.000-07:00

With the recent release of his latest album MilesTones, Giacomo Gates sings the music of Miles Davis, I thought it would be timely to do a interview with Jazz Singer, which he graciously conducted with me on March 14, 2013 at his home in Bridgeport, CT

PART 1

NOJ : You are now a CT resident. Have you been raised and born here?

GG: Yes I was born and raised right here in Bridgeport and lived here until I was about 24 or 25 year old, when I went to Alaska to work construction for what I originally thought was going to be a year.

NOJ :Let’s get back to your early childhood though. You have said in past interviews that your Dad played violin and was a pretty good whistler. Was he your musical influence?

GG: In some ways…he played classical violin and gypsy violin, but not for a living. When he would sing, he kind of sang like Cab Calloway. He was born in Italy and brought here at a very young age, grew up in West Haven, CT. A talented guy….between music, he started out repairing cars and then ended up building sport racing cars, eventually doing metal sculpture. He only made it through the fifth grade but he ended up lecturing at Yale on torch metal sculpture. He eventually moved to California in 1966 and continued with metal sculpture full-time.

NOJ :Getting back to his musical tastes. What did your Dad listen to that influenced you?

GG: He used to listen to big bands. Of course Basie, Ellington, Fletcher Henderson, Cab Calloway and with that music, I heard singers like Jimmy Rushing, Cab, and later Joe Williams. I took guitar lessons and started playing when I was eight, so I was around the music early on. When I was sixteen I would play weddings, but back then the music (expected at weddings) was

the (Great American) songbook. So I got hip to this music even though it was not the music of my time. I used to get hollered at by the other band members, because I would mess up the chord changes because I’d be distracted by the words and lost my place. I thought the lyrics were interesting, they were attractive to me.

NOJ :So you played guitar. Did you sing in those early wedding bands?

GG: No. I did sing, but not in the wedding bands. I’d sing standards; I’d sing do-wop on the corner with four or five guys. I grew up around the ( music of) the Stylistics, the Temptations, Smokey, Marvin Gaye and James Brown, but my

friends would were listening to the Rolling Stones and the Doors, and so was I too, but at the same time I was also listening to Dexter Gordon, Thelonious Monk and Count Basie and Sinatra, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross…. so that‘s what I really dug.

Of course when you’re a kid and you’re hanging out, you listen to what everybody else is into.

NOJ : Having played guitar has it influenced you with the kind of players you’ve had play on your albums? Good Players like Vic Juris, Tony Lombardozzi and lately Dave Stryker three stylistically different players have all played on your records?

GG: I hope I have an ear for good musicians whether it be guitar, piano or whatever it may be. When I walk down the street I hear a rhythm section in my head anyway. I can’t help it.

NOJ : I read someplace that you went to mechanical engineering school for a little bit. Was that something your father encouraged you to do?

GG: When I went to high school, you’re supposed to go on to college. My father didn’t care if I went to college or not. He was not a fan of education, but I was encouraged by my mother.

I liked English, I liked grammar, I liked journalism, I liked writing, I liked photography, I liked art but I was terrible at math. So what do I do… I go to engineering school…..because nobody said to me you better have a math background. So the first year I go to engineering school I’m getting physics, chemistry, algebra, trigonometry, I was struggling.

I dropped out of school and got a job in CT in construction, starting as a laborer. I started driving trucks. I started running loaders and dozers and driving tractor trailers and it was fun. I liked the outdoors and I still like the outdoors. But around here it was all reconstruction, dig up road, reshape it repave it, and that was the kind of construction I was familiar with. Then I heard about the Alaskan pipeline and I thought there was a real adventure that’s some real construction. I gathered up some work clothes and about three hundred dollars and bought a plane ticket. People told me you can’t do that. You don’t know anybody and you don’t have a job. I spent eleven months kicking around Fairbanks before I got the job I was looking for. I was going to give it a year and I got a job out of the (union) hall, building a road…. and they flew us to the job and we had to build our way out. It was the real deal. And that was the beginning.

NOJ : How did you make that transition from Giacomo Gates machine operator to Giacomo Gates singer?

GG: I never made a transition. I always dabbled in music. You know my father played the violin, but he always said, “Learn a trade, learn how to do something and do music, but do it for fun.” And I did, I sang for fun, I played the guitar for fun, I played in a couple of bands. When I got up to Alaska I played guitar and I’d sit-in somewhere. I wasn't expected to play like Joe Pass, not even close. I could play the blues, played a little chromatic harmonic and sang a little and I did it for fun.

"When it starts to become a job, and I know what’s going to happen, I’m gone."

NOJ : Did your fellow construction workers hear you sing and encourage you to try it full time?

GG: I can remember a couple of superintendents hearing me playing guitar or singing and I was maybe thirty years old at the time and they were maybe fifty, and they said to me.. “…where did you get that music from, that’s not your generation?” They got a kick out of me playing and being interested in songs written 1939 or 1941. I finally got involved in a festival in Fairbanks. The festival they had was a two week festival of classes. So whether you were a singer or instrumentalist or an ice skater or photographer or graphics artists, they taught all kind of art. I got involved in a vocal course that was taught by Chris Calloway, Cab’s daughter. Usually, I was somewhere remote; I worked all over the state, in construction camps. I was up on the coast, dam jobs, landing strips, etc.

I happened to be in town talking with a girl I knew and she knew I sang. When I say I fooled around with music, I mean I took it seriously but I wasn't going to do anything with it. Then I got involved with this festival and I sang with a couple of small ensembles and some of the instructors said to me…"You've got your own sound, but you’re not going to get heard up here. I said “I’m not trying to get heard up here, I live up here.” But at the same time I been a couple of places, I was in Washington state for a year, I lived in Arizona for a year, I went to Lake Charles, Louisiana for a time. And then I went back to Alaska to work.

NOJ : Did you sing in all those locations?

GG: Yeah I would sit in. I had kind of gotten my belly full of the adventure part the work was pretty much gone….the Pipeline was built….a lot of the roads were in. When it starts to become a job, and I know what’s going to happen, I’m gone.

I decided to leave there and come back to Connecticut. When I came back in the late eighties, early nineties, there was a scene. You know Philadelphia, Hartford, New York City, Boston, Rhode Island, New Jersey, there were things happening. After I got myself working locally I tried to get myself working regionally.

I caught the tail end of it where I could get in my car and go to New York and Philly, then to Pittsburgh, and Toledo, Ohio and then to Cincinnati and like that…. and it was fun.

NOJ : So what do you consider to be your first big break?

GG: My first big break, I’m still waiting for. (Laughter)

I don’t know… probably the first large festival that I did locally was the New Haven Jazz festival, probably about fifteen to twenty thousand people.

In early 1990’s, maybe 1993, One of the first travel gigs I did was the Clearwater Jazz Festival in Florida. I had a cassette, remember those, and I sent the cassette to the cat and I remember him ‘cause I still speak with him once in a while, a guy named Frank Spena. He used to run Clearwater Jazz Festival, so I sent this cassette and low and behold my phone rings. He says “ Hey man, I like what your doing….wanna do the gig?” Next thing I know I’m on a plane and I m looking around and I see Randy Brecker, Ramsey Lewis, sat across the aisle from Dennis Irwin and I’m thinking, “Wow, a lot of cats are on this plane.” I guess that was the first real travel gig that was an important date to me.

NOJ : So in order to get these gigs you have to self-promote. You have to send audition tapes so to speak?

GG: Yeah, but I had been a fan of this music ever since I was a kid. For me, the way to make this happen was to come back here, get some experience on the bandstand, learn a repertoire, polish my craft, get some ink, get a bit of a reputation, get some experience, get some gigs, maybe get a recording or two and then be able to approach a manager or an agent and say here’s what I have, I’m kind of established, can we make something happen?

In other words I thought the way to make it happen was to grow through and with the music, and then from there if somebody says “Ah you got a foothold, your doing it right or you doing it correctly” whatever. But the way to do it is to first establish a business plan, then get your self out there and learn on the scene, learn on the best stages in the world, which is not the way I still believe is the way it happens, not for me it doesn’t.

NOJ : Are you disappointed in the way it has happened for you?

GG: No I did it the way that I felt that I needed to do it.

NOJ : Would you recommend that method for other people coming up?

GG: I would recommend becoming a computer wizard. (Laughter)

I guess, I mean, I think that in order for you to show up, you better be able to bring something to the table. So, you know, I love the music, so I mean if something happens, solid. But my whole picture of it was…. when I went to New York in 1990, I knew Thelonious Monk wasn't walking around, but I was hoping I’d bump into him.

NOJ : Well you did bump into some people because you have played with Max Roach, Lou Donaldson, Billy Taylor, Richie Cole. How did those type of gigs come about where you actually got into playing with these kind of people?

GG: Yeah well, funny stories. You know interesting ways that it happened. You can’t plan it. Richie Cole had a gig in a little club in the south end of Bridgeport the first year I came back here . I’m sure you’re hip to Eddie Jefferson. Wow, Richie Cole… let’s go down and listen to him. I know some people in there,

One guy’s an alto saxophone player and he walks up to Richie after the gig and says, “Hey man, I got a friend here who does a lot of Eddie Jefferson material.” So Richie comes over to me and says, “Hey man, you should have come on up.”

Well I know that most musicians are not that fond of somebody sitting in, especially a singer, because they don’t know what is going to happen. So I didn’t do that, but after a while, I found out that I had to do that. Because if you want to get up on the bandstand with them, you have to let them know that your interested.

I met Max Roach at a workshop up in Amherst, Mass. I got into an ensemble that was being led by Max. You know, “Good afternoon Mr. Roach, my name is…” and going through my head is, “Wow, Max Roach.” Well he says “ OK what are you going to do?,” and I had to sing something with this quintet so I said I’ll do, “Lady Be Good” and I sang the head. The instrumentalists take their solos then I come back in and I start to sing the Charlie Parker solo with lyrics by Eddie Jefferson. Now Max is running this quintet and when I start to sing that, Max pulls the drummer out of the seat and sits down to play. And I’m singing and thinking “ Wow Max Roach is playing drums, while I’m singing! “ When its over Max says to me, I’ll leave out the expletive, “Hey man, I ‘aint heard that ___ in a long time!” I got encouragement from him and he says, “What else you got?”

So some of the people that I have looked up to, and have their LP’s, you know…. I’m 16 years old. Lou Donaldson…. got LP’s of his and end up meeting him and he let me sing a tune. Now I go to listen to him and he says “Hey Gates you want to sit in?” Finally I had to tell him “I came for a lesson, I didn’t really come to sing. I know who you are and I respect what you’ve done” And he says “Never mind that, you want to sing or not.”

So I’m knocked at some of the folks that I listened to as a young kid on records... and was accepted by them. A lot of them have since left….I’m gassed to be accepted, because I’m from a whole ‘nother generation, a different era. I guess they were glad to see somebody who still singing that stuff.

This concludes part one of my two part interview. In the next part we will find out about Giacomo’s musical influences, his love of storytellers and discuss his latest release MilesTones, Giacomo Gates sings the music of Miles Davis
You can read part two of the interview by linking here.

Michael Blanco's "No Time Like The Present"

2013-04-07T16:17:00.000-07:00

Bassist Michael Blanco’s second album as a leader titled NoTime Like the Present, offers nine compositions by the young and talented musician. Hailing from the School of Creative and Performing Arts in San Diego, California, he moved to New York City in January of 2000. Since then, Blanco has played or recorded with several of the rising young stars of the New York City jazz scene and been a fixture in the orchestra pit of many a Broadway show, including The Book of Mormon and the revivals of stalwart shows like Grease and How to Succeed in Business.

On No Time Like the Present he has assembled some stellar players, all making their mark in the New York music scene. They include the multi-reed player John Ellis, the guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg, the drummer Mark Ferber and the pianist David Cook.

The music, all composed by the bassist, includes some interesting twists and turns, all executed with precision and taste.

On “Dutch Kills” you are treated to some tight front line playing by saxophonist Ellis and guitarist Kreisberg, two formidable musicians, who negotiate the quick paced lines of the melody with precision and uncanny unanimity. Blanco’s bass solo is full and buoyant. Elllis is a master of fluidity on his solo and Kreisberg’s comps are spot on. Mark Ferber’s floating drums serves to anchor the piece without impeding its flight.

The title song “No Time Like the Present” is another case in point. Blanco, Ferber and Cook set the ostinato vamp allowing Ellis and Kreisberg execute the darting melody line. After a sweeping guitar solo by Kreisberg that features some quixotic runs, the group takes off in a deeply swinging double time pace featuring Elllis’ tenor. Ferber creates his own special magic with powerfully driving fills that float above it all to a tasty conclusion.

“You Really Shouldn’t”, though totally different, has the feel and swagger of Monk’s “Well You Needn’t.” Kreisberg’s electric guitar chords create some interesting discordant, Monkish-like sounds along the way as Ellis plays around the melody. Pianist Cook plays in his own disjunctive solo as Ferber and Blanco keep the rhumba beat.

The dreamy “Midnight” finds Kreisberg’s using his echoed guitar to create a sensitive sound that lies somewhere between Dick Dale and Bill Frisell. Ferber is particularly subtle here laying down soft crashes in between delicate brush work and feathery rolls.

Throughout the album the front line of Ellis on saxophone and Kreisberg on guitar are especially in tune with each other, showing impeccable timing in executing difficult lines in tandem. This is especially notable on tracks like “RSVP” a medium tempo swinger that just nails it. Ferber and Blanco work so well together with such marvelous elasticity that they make the swing feel seem so easy to attain.

On “Smithlike” saxophonist John Ellis picks up his soprano, displaying some spidery lines that are light, soaring and carefree. Pianist Cook’s solo is his most interesting on the album, moving back and forth on ideas before settling with a particular direction. Blanco has a strong bass solo where his fingers dance on his strings with warm, pliant pizzicato authority.

“Emily”s Wedding “ is a Blanco reconstruction based on the memorable opening line of another classic, this time Johnny Mandell’s “Emily.” Though nicely played, the song is a languishing ballad that does nothing to improve upon the original. “Postcard” is a song that features Michael Blanco on solo bass playing a repeating line that could be catchy but goes nowhere. The finale of the album is titled “Ellis Island” which returns the band to the unison front line playing that seems to be its forte. Jonathan Kreisberg ends the song with a cooking guitar solo that expands into a nice flurry of arpeggios, as Cook, Ferber and Blanco keep the rhythm cooking.

Steve Slagle’s Quartet Play the Jazz Vespers Series March 24, 2013’ Pound Ridge Community Church, Pound Ridge, NY

2013-03-27T19:03:00.003-07:00

Pound Ridge Community Chirch

On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the bucolic village of Pound Ridge, New York is a small church that is perched at the top of the hill at the intersection of Rte 137 and Rte 172. Within the hallowed walls of this classic structure, originally built in 1833, musical director and pianist Pete Malinverni and Pastor Lori Miller have fashioned a welcoming non-denominational environment where music is celebrated. Mr. Malinverni is a well known jazz pianist and has composed sacred music in various forms. He is an active educator who has taught or presently teaches at New York University, William Patterson University and SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music. Since 2012 the church has used their Jazz Vespers series as an outreach to the community at large.

Aidan O'Donnell, Steve Slagle and Bill O'Connell Photo by Ralph A/. Miriello c 2103

On this Sunday the featured artist was the saxophonist Steve Slagle and his quartet. Mr. Slagle is an active musician who frequently plays and tours with his long time collaborator the guitarist Dave Stryker and has been a musical director of the Mingus Big Band for many years, He is an active collaborator with musicians as varied as Stevie Wonder and Milton Nascimento to the saxophonist Joe Lovano. His most recent release is entitled Evensong on Panorama Int’l Records and features Mr. Stryker on guitar, Ed Howard on acoustic bass and the drummer McClenty Hunter.

Steve Slagle photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

On this afternoon, playing to a small audience of maybe fifty congregants, Mr. Slagle was joined by the pianist Bill O’Connell, the bassist Aidan O’Donnell and the drummer Steve Williams. The group started the program with the standard “Just in Time” with Mr. Slagle on alto saxophone. His sound to me was reminiscent of a young Phil Woods, as he has a hard bop sound that is fluid with a warm timbre. Mr. O’Connell is a large, gangly man who comps with delicate firmness and solos with a fleet right hand

that possesses a seemingly endless array of ideas. The drummer Mr. Williams, an animated participant, listens intently to whoever is soloing and compliments their lines with his own deft punctuation. Mr. O’Donnell, the youngest of the crew, seemed content to lay down a solid bass line and revel in the joy of playing with such accomplished contemporaries.

Steve Williams and Aidan O'Donnell photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

For the second song of the set Mr. Slagle offered his own composition titled “Equal Nox” from his latest release. He explained the song was written on John Coltrane’s birthday, September 23, which is one of two days during the year when the day is equally as long as the night. With a cascading opening evocative of Trane and a catchy vamp, Mr. Slagle employed a searching tone to his alto. The quartet moved into the tight groove with O’Donnell's walking bass line anchoring the tune. Mr. Slagle ran arpeggios of sound that often crested in the high register, all done with superb control. Mr. O’Connell played a particularly syncopated solo, filling the lines in between his chords slightly behind the beat.

The third song of the evening was another Slagle composition, the song “B Like Me” from his latest release Evensong . Slagle played a series of liltingly smooth glissandi as Williams seems to prod him along with encouraging grunts and smart accents on the rim of his snare, the two enjoying the interplay.

After a brief reading by Pastor Lori Miller that included a passage from the Bible, Psalm 107, and a reading of a poem by T.S. Elliot, Mr. Malinverni reintroduced the group.

Musical Director Peter Malinverni photo by Ralph A. Mirirello c 2013

Mr. Slagle took up his flute to play the Carl Fischer/Frankie Laine ballad “We’ll Be Together Again” His sensitive sound was bright and airy, floating over Bill O’Donnell’s block chords and the plangent bass lines of Mr. O’Donnell. Mr. Williams lent elegant support on his brushes.

The afternoon’s set ended with a composition by Mr. O’Connell titled “Pocket Change.” Mr. O’Connell is an accomplished player who in his own groups has a decidedly Latin inspired tilt to his music. This composition started in a quick paced 4/8 time changing at intervals to 6/8 time, confiounding the group at first, before they settled into the pattern of the rhythm. Mr. O’Connell’s playing was inspired with bursts of blazingly fast runs by his right hand. Mr. Malinverni, himself an accomplished pianist, watched on admiringly.

Pianist Bill O'Connell photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

Mr. Slagle negotiated the mixed rhythms of the song on his alto with graceful crescendos of his own. The congregation was duly impressed by his expressive performance and generously applauded the musicians in a appreciative demonstration of thanks and admiration.

The Jazz Vespers series will continue on Sunday April 24, 2013 witha perfromance by the fine tenor saxophonist Ralph Lalama and his group. There is no cover but a generous donation for the musicians is highly recommended.

Joe Lovano and Kenny Werner: An Intimate Duet at Nyack's Carnegie Room March 15, 2013

2013-03-19T09:35:00.002-07:00

Kenny Werner and Joe Lovano photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

The recently re-named Carnegie-Farian Room of the Nyack Library is a jewel of a performance space, with its aged wood and stone turn of the century interior finishes. The space becomes as much a part of the performance as do the players who grace its stage, burnishing the tones of the music played there.

The Rockland Jazz and Blues Society and its President Richard Sussman, in conjunction with the Library’s Musical director Yashar Yaslowitz, have been putting on spectacular shows in this one hundred seat venue for several years. Friday night’s intimate duet, featuring the saxophone colossal Joe Lovano and the splendid piano virtuoso Kenny Werner, set a new high water mark for the series.

The sold out crowd was peppered with musicians and cognoscenti. They all came to hear these two masters play in the living room setting that makes the Carnegie Room so special and intimate.

Mr. Lovano is a big, burly man, bearded and jovial with a personality that emanates warmth. His predominant instrument is the tenor saxophone and he dominates his horn with a virtuosity and authority that few other present day players possess. His often brilliant improvisations are filled with nuance. He can create fleet, Coltrane-like, sheets of notes or he can hover between the notes, sustaining them, suspending them midair like a hawk floating in the thermals. His tone has a resonant timbre that lies somewhere between the sound of his predecessors Lester Young and Stan Getz. Forever the curious musician, he constantly challenges himself, frequently appearing as a sought after sideman or as the leader of his own ensembles.

Joe Lovano at Nyack Library photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

Mr. Werner is a brilliant pianist, a well regarded writer and a marvelous composer. His piano technique has classical elements, undoubtedly a product of his time with Berklee’s renowned piano teacher Madame Chaloff. He combines a healthy sense of the blues, with an adept ability to interject elements of romanticism into his probing free improvisations. He was a Guggenheim fellow in 2010 and has accompanied many famous musicians and leads his own groups.

Mr. Lovano and Mr. Werner have a long history. Their familiarity with each other was apparent, especially on the freer pieces like the opening number, a Paul Motion composition titled “Conception Vessel.” The piece was like a dance through an enchanted forest led by tree sprites. The sprites, Mr. Lovano, on his beautiful, Peter Jessens, custom G mezzo soprano saxophone, trading inquisitive lines with Mr. Werner’s delicate and sprightly piano musings. If you closed your eyes you could be transported to their hidden realm, suspending reality for a moment.

Joe Lovano on G Mezzo Soprano Saxophone

Lovano played his tenor on the second song of the set, Mr. Werner’s composition “One.” The laddered piece was a perfect vehicle of conversation between these two intuitive compatriots. Mr. Werner offered a beautifully rambling solo which was countered by Mr. Lovano using a more searching sound. There is no map to where Mr. Lovano will lead you with his solos. He can burst forward with excitement, meander a bit in places, yank you by the collar pulling you into the abyss, embracing you ,enveloping you in a blanket of his warm sound, and you go along willingly, all to experience the magic of the moment.

Mr. Lovano took to the drums on another free piece “Journey Within,” which is from Cross Culture, the latest album from Mr. Lovano and his group Us Five. Mr. Werner’s whimsical piano was accentuated by Lovano’s sporadic use of brushes and splashy use of cymbals. Mr. Lovano loves drums and in his Us Five Group he utilizes two drummers to great rhythmic effect. Mr. Lovano returns with his soprano, trading ideas with Mr. Werner in a playful exchange.

Mr. Lovano‘s last piece of the first set was his composition “Weatherman,” dedicated to the saxophonist Wayne Shorter, who turns eighty this year. Joe's bellowing tenor ran through fluid lines, in the spirit of the elder master. Mr. Werner offered a deft accompaniment, his perky enthusiasm spilling out occasionally with audible refrains of Ah! when he liked what he heard. Mr. Lovano returned to the drum kit, keeping expert time, using a predominantly splashy sound accented by the occasional snap of the snare. With a steady rhythmic drive provided by Lovano, Werner was able to let free and offered a stirringly sensitive solo as Mr. Lovano nodding approval looked on admiringly.

After a brief intermission, the second set started off with Mr. Lovano, this time appropriately on drums for another Paul Motian tune “Drum Music.” The piece was bombastic and punctuated with a repeating line, a theme that Mr. Werner would use as the basis for his own explorations, a free improvisational romp. Mr. Lovano’s drums didn’t keep discernible time so much as to provide accent.

Mr. Werner’s composition “Five” was a slow sensitive ballad, with Mr. Lovano playing on his warm, full-bodied tenor with a poignant, beautiful lyricism. Mr. Werner was equally emotive, as he sat hunched over the black Yamaha grand, deep into the music, caressing the keys with his delicate, feather-like touch. These two musicians were absorbing each others ideas in mutually emphatic communion.

The program continued to thrill, as the two played Billy Strayhorn’s “Star Crossed Lovers,” a song identifiable to most of the crowd. Mr. Werner created a short intro to the classic, leading to Mr. Lovano stating the melody on tenor. Joe can bring great depth of feeling to his ballad work, a combination of technique and warmth of tone that lulls you into a blissful state. Mr. Werner created romantic cascades of sound on his piano, with delicate flourishes that were especially effective on this poignant ballad.

A Werner composition, “Go There and Roam”, was another chance for Mr. Lovano to play lyrically. With a cinematic-like theme, Lovano and Werner made this a high light of the evening. Together they wove a tapestry of sound that elicited a feeling of being transported to an unfamiliar albeit melancholic place. Joe, as percussionist, took up a grouping of netted shook that he used in rhythmic support as Kenny dug deep into the song. The crowd was understandably mesmerized.

Keeny Werner and Joe Lovano photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2013

Mr. Lovano ended the set with his own lilting “Streets of Naples.” with its' Latinized beat and a catchy melody. Joe's tenor sounding in the same spirit and with a similar gait to the way Sonny Rollins played on his famous ode to “St. Thomas.” Mr. Werner’s solo was particularly lively giving the tune a beautiful, care free feel. The two artists darted in and out of each other's ideas in a marvelous display of spontaneously developed musical choreography.

The encore, a Werner composition titled “Ballad for Trane,” is a dedication to John Coltrane that Mr. Werner said came to him in a dream and practically wrote itself. Mr. Lovano can channel Coltrane at will, as he has proven on such recent albums as Steve Kuhn’s Mostly Coltrane album from 2009.
He can produce a searching sound, the distinctively yearning sound of someone who is seeking out a higher truth through his music.

The performance was an unqualified success and a very special evening for all those who attended. Fortunately it was recorded on video by the Library and you can link to it here.

Twenty Years in the Vault: Scott Healy-Glenn Alexander Quartet's Northern Light

2013-03-06T18:19:00.000-08:00

For an album that has been stowed away in the vault for over twenty years Scott Healy and Glenn Alexander's Northern Light has a taut, modern sound and sensibility. This enjoyable recording was taped by these two talented musicians back in December of 1991, along with the tight and elastic rhythm section of Kermit Driscoll on bass and Jeff Hirshfield on drums. You would be hard pressed to believe it isn't a current offering.

After this quartet disbanded, Alexander went on to some of his own projects playing with some prominent musicians in many genres, eventually landing a teaching gig first at the New School and then at Sarah Lawrence College in New York. Healy became full time pianist in the band on television's Late Night with Conan O'Brien. As teachers often do, Alexander found a cassette of these '91 sessions and played it for his students whose enthusiasm got both he and Healy to take another listen to what they had. They both agreed that the music not only held up well but possessed an extraordinary suppleness rarely captured on tape.They decided to release it on Hudson City Records in November of 2012.

The music does have an organic quality to it, breathing at its own unhurried pace. The opening number "Spiral" is a case in point. Drummer Hirshfield seems to be able to let the fragmented tune float over a rhythm that has no appparent time. Instead the group sympathetically floats along a path created by Alexander's meandering Abercrombie-inspired guitar excursions. On Alexander's fetching "Christmas Day", Healey plays a beautifully darting piano solo reminiscent of early Lyle Mays with Pat Metheny with Alexander's guitar taking on a distinctive Metheny tone.

Scott Healy's "November" is introduced with a buoyant bass solo by Driscoll that leads to this folk inspired
melody. Alexander plays a warm and sensitive acoustic guitar solo that helps sustain the "down home" feeling of this song. Healy's piano work is beautifully conceived as he seems to lose himself in the solo with a Keith Jarrett-like wandering quality to his playing.

On Glenn Alexander's "To the Point" we have top notch ensemble work. Healy's piano is poignant and pretty, while Alexander's use of modulating echoed guitar effects is perfectly suited to the airy feel of the piece. Driscoll and Hirshfield are superbly understated while maintaining creative support.

"Chimes" is a beautifully realized ethereal piece. With Hirshfield's exquisite use of his cymbals, Driscoll's sustained and bowed bass lines and Alexander's masterfully controlled guitar work with its swooping violin-like sound. It is almost as if Healy is playing piano with his fellow musicians on top of a beautiful, open mountaintop meadow, the band in perfect harmony with its surroundings and the prevailing winds. "Chimes" has an open air freshness to it that transports you to that mountainside even when your sitting on the couch in your living room.

The title track "Northern Light" has a 6/4 ostinato line that is played by Healy and with layered melodies by Alexander guitar and Driscoll's bass before Healy adds his synthesized keyboards ala Zawinul at the midway point. Healy and Driscoll have a brief conversation with Hirshfield adding percussive pops along the way. Alexander lays low until he re-enters when Healy restores the ostinato piano line. The song seems to hint at worthy points of departure within its structure, but the promise never seems to materialize before the song ends.

Scott Healy and Glenn Alexander's "Northern Light" is one of those rare recordings that thankfully, after being buried for over twenty years, made its way out of the vault and into the light.

Here is a link to November form the album:

https://soundcloud.com/hudson-city-records/03-november?in=hudson-city-records/sets/northern-light-by-the-scott

Jazz Standards with Brazilian Style: Antonio Adolfo’s Finas Misturas

2013-02-24T17:12:00.001-08:00

Antonio Adolfo: Finas Misturas

How do you put a fresh and interesting spin on some old jazz favorites? If your Antonio Adolfo, the Brazilian pianist and composer, you take some of your own personal material and add some favorite songs from jazz masters like John Coltrane, Chick Corea, Bill Evans, Dizzy Gillespie and Keith Jarrett and you infuse them with your own Brazilian imprimatur-the result is Adolfo's latest release Finas Misturas.

Reworkings of recognized standards that are strongly associated with their composer/performers can be a tricky business. Successful re-imagining of songs like John Coltrane's "Naima" or Chick Corea's "Crystal Silence" require both a thorough understanding of the original material and the conviction that you can create something new and complimentary to the original recording. Adolfo uses his understanding and appreciation of the jazz tradition and incorporates the multi-faceted elements that make up Brazilian music to create this alive and sensuously appealing album.

Antonio Adolfo is an Brazilian musician and educator who started his own school in 1985 in Rio De Janeiro. He continues to perform, arrange and produce music in his native country and internationally. During his career he has worked with artists of stature including Sergio Mendes, Dionne Warwick and Stevie Wonder to name a few.

In the album's liner notes Antonio refers to some of the elements that he has incorporated into his treatments of what are for the most part jazz standards. On his own opening number the "Florestra Azul," literally Blue Forest, but also a reference to a town by the same name in the Bahia Northeastern region of Brazil, Adolfo uses the sumptuous flute of Marcelo Martins, a warm-toned probing double bass solo by Jorge Helder, along with his own Bahia influenced piano phrasing steeped in a definitive blues sensibility to create music that transcends category.

Another Adolfo Composition titled "Balada" is in the style of the Brazilian Toada, with its soft guitar strums by Claudio Spiewak and some rolling drum accents by Rafael Barata, the music is romantic, sensitive and intoxicating.

On John Coltrane's seminal "Giant Steps" Adolfo uses another Northeastern Brazilian form, Quadrilha, which has a relentless driving four beat rhythm. The music takes on a Rio Carnival-inspired, dance-like quality that may offend some purists. The treatment has its own appeal, revealing how songs like this continue to inspire the multi-cultural possibilities from musicians throughout the world.

Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma" is given a airy Bossa treatment that is striped of almost all of its be-bop heritage. Guitar solos by Leo Amudeo and Claudio Spiewak and a brief saxophone solo by Martins are featured over the Bossa beat. Some plangent piano by Adolfo at the coda is played with a polish and heartfelt sincerity that is nothing short of beautiful.

"Misturando" or "mixing" in Portuguese, is an Adolfo composition and perhaps the most freely played number on the album. The song's moving spirit permeates the performances of the musicians, you can hear them moan faintly in the background enthusiastically nudging each other on as they perform. The group weaves in and around each other effortlessly, like a flock of birds tracking each others motion precisely, telepathically in flight. This "mixing" includes a stirringly fluid guitar solo by Leo Amuedo and an ascending build up by Adolfo on piano that culminates in a battery of sounds from Barata's drum kit.

Keith Jarrett's "Memories of Tomorrow" finds Adolfo performing a duet with Anudeo's electric guitar in the medium to slow tempo of the Brazilian style known as Toada. Amudeo's accomplished playing is filled with sensitive and creative phrasing that converses magically with Adolfo's teasing piano lines.

Perhaps the most fetching of the recreations on this album is Antonio Adolfo's re-imagination of John Coltrane's gorgeous ballad to his wife "Naima." Adolfo creates a purely Brazilian take on this one. He uses the emotionally charged song to employ Marcelo Martin's hauntingly effective flute ( some of the best flute work I have heard recently) over the backing of his own piano lines and his empathetic rhythm section of Amudeo, Helder and Barata. Rafael Barata's insertion of well timed percussive accents is particularly effective.

Adolfo's "Tres Meninos" or Three Little Boys is a delightful combination of styles that include elements of Baiao, Samba and Calango. The group has a tightness that seamlessly allows them to move through changes that could be challenging to musicians who were less familiar with each other.

On Chick Corea and Neville Potter's lingering "Crystal Silence" Adolfo effectively uses Marcelo Martins' warm, almost woody sounding flute to carry the melody and create a different take on this song. The maestro arranges the piece in such a way that delicately intertwines Claudio Spewak's tasty Spanish influenced acoustic guitar into the Bossa mix.

The closing song is Bill Evans' "Time Remembered," which is transformed into a multi-layered piece by Adolfo's arrangement of Martin's wind swept flute played in tandem with his own piano lines. With a delicate touch that mimics Evans at times, Adolfo takes his most beautiful of piano solos, made all the more interesting by the dynamism of Helder's warm bass lines and Barata's controlled bombastic coloration. When Martins re-enters the song, his flute solo is an eruption of tones and sounds that breathe sensuality and passion into each note he plays.

Antonio Adolfo's Finas Misturas is true to its title, a fine mixture, a fusion of Brazilian sensibilities and rhythmic styles with jazz. A thoroughly enjoyable album that should not be missed by anyone that likes fine music.

Here is a cut from a previous album by Antonio Adolfo titled Chora baião

"One" : Guitarist Jonathan Kreisberg's Unaccompanied Musical Journey

2013-02-08T11:04:00.000-08:00

I first heard Jonathan Kreisberg when I was sent a copy of his fine 2011 release Shadowless, which I ultimately included in my list of the best of jazz that I had reviewed in that year. Then working with a quintet that included Henry Hey on piano, Will Vinson on saxophone, Matt Penman on bass and Mark Ferber on drums, the group cooked. Spurred on by Kreisberg's taught and polished guitar lines, his group impressed me with their distinctive, modern sound. I subsequently found out that Kreisberg was originally a native New Yorker who spent his formative musical years in his adoptive home of Miami, Florida. He eventually returned to New York City in 1997, deciding to pursue a career in jazz, and since then has lent his creative talents to the efforts of some of the jazz world's most contemporary artists.

On his latest release One, Kreisberg sheds the protection of the group format and goes netless playing solo. Kreisberg continues to impress with his deft choice of material to explore and his clean, creative execution of these chosen and treasured gems.

I was predisposed to like this album upon hearing the opening lines of "Canto de Ossanha" . Baden Powell de Aquino was an extraordinary guitar player from Brazil who I was turned onto back in the early seventies by an astute friend of mine named Butch ( his last name now apologetically escapes me). Butch an I would mine the stacks of cutout records, randomly strewn all over a used record store on downtown seventh avenue in NYC. It was hearing Powell that pointed me in a new and completely different direction of appreciation for the variations and delicacies that could be created on the guitar. Powell played a nylon string guitar and could create cascades of sounds with his various picking techniques. I poured over his Tristeza on Guitar and his Canto on Guitar among others and replayed them over and over. One of my favorite Powell pieces was his lovely "Canto de Ossanha."

Kreisberg's treatment of this classic is beautifully rhythmic and delicately subdued. While certainly there is no replacement of the master's timeless work, this is a faithful homage to Powell's breezily swaying guitar lines. t Kreisberg demonstrates a respect for the heritage and a mastery of the challenging technique required to play in the self accompanied manner that Powell made famous and that master Joe Pass took to another level on his own solo album Virtuoso.

Kresiberg's take on Gershwin's seemingly never stale "Summertime" has a modern approach that allows the guitarist to explore the lingering melody without veering too far off course from its core. Hoagy Carmichael's "Skylark" is a brilliant piece of music that is played with great affection and some explorations that show Kreisberg has spent many an hour with this little gem. Juan Tizol's "Caravan", often an orchestral vehicle, is one of two songs which Kreisberg's chooses to use a new Indian Hill guitar, as manufactured by Montreal based luthier Michael Kennedy. This smaller bodied guitar is particularly suited to a finger picking style and Kreisberg utilizes it to great effect, strumming the ostinato rhythm while deftly picking at Tizol's exotic melody. His fleet single lines runs are clean, crisp and interesting. His approach at the coda is unique.

On the Gross and Lawrence standard "Tenderly," Kreisberg, with a great sense of quiet sincerity, offers a brief but poignant take on this pretty ballad. Simply beautiful. On Richard Rodgers " My Favorite Things"
the guitarist plays effective counterpoint to himself. As with most of the songs on this album, the explorations Kreisberg favors are not audacious excursions into the unknown, but more like gentle probings along the outer edges of the familiar melodies. His choice of material is superb, a familiarity with good quality music that has no genre boundaries. Take his subdued but effective picking of Leonard Cohen's solemn "Hallelujah." Kresiberg's delicate finger picking, again on his Indian Hill guitar, injects just the right amount of reverence and joy in his playing. A homage as much to Jeff Buckley as to Cohen's work. The tone is warm yet bright.

Wayne Shorter is a contemporary composer of extraordinary depth. Kreisberg initially takes Shorter's "E.S.P." down a flamenco inspired road, running exquisite arpeggios along the way. He quickly shifts to a Brazilian bossa-style, ala Baden Powell. Kresiberg shows how versatile his playing can be, effortlessly changing styles seamlessly as his muse beckons. The Jimmy Van Heusen/ Johnny Mercer tune titled "I Thought About You" completes the guitarist's explorations of standards, letting some of his blues sensibilities briefly seep into his playing on this otherwise traditional rendering.

Kresiberg's beautiful electric guitar work has impressed me with its fluidity and creativity especially on his brilliant Shadowless. I am puzzled, however, by his inclusion of two of his own compositions on this album. Kreisberg's one minute and twenty-two second composition "Without Shadow" is an electronic, loop-like piece that seems to have some reference to his previously recorded "Shadowless." His ending piece "Escape From Lower Formant Shift", with its organ sounding ,electronically altered guitar that morphs into an eerie renegade, harpsichord sound is also miscast for this performance. While certainly interesting in their own right , both compositions seem oddly out of place in the context of the rest of this generally acoustic album that stands well enough on its own sans their inclusion.

Gamak: Rudresh Mahanthappa's East meets West meets

2013-01-31T11:39:00.003-08:00

In listening to the alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa's latest offering Gamak I am struck by the passion for experimental immersion that is present throughout the endeavor. The music is an almost seamless integration of progressive musical ideas and eastern influenced musical tonalities. The publicists notes claim the name Gamak is derived from an Indian word for ornamentation in Indian classical music, a concept that according to Mahanthappa "... isn't random but is very specific and stylized and studied." Clearly the saxophonist had more than ornamentation in mind when he assembled this like-minded group of explorers. The band seems to be totally at ease, not only crossing eastern and western musical genres, but boldy blazing into further unexplored territories with the addition of the fusion-progressive element. The experimental guitarist David "Fuze" Fiuczynski is the futurist bridge here, delving into a myriad of effects using both freted and fret-less guitar necks, bolstered by his uncanny use of odd microtonal notes and his unquenchable yearning for creating new sounds. His virtuoso guitar sound, that melts seamlessly from exotic Middle Eastern sounds of the oud, to Indian sounds of the sitar, to raucous slide and heavy pulsing prog rock guitar chords, seems to magically meld over the raga rhythm based songs that Mahanthappa uses to launch this experimental music.

Photo by Ethan Levitas

Not to be out done, Mahanthappa, who contributed all the compositions on this album, uses his alto as a vehicle for his kinetic energetic explosions of sound. Bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Dan Weiss are no strangers to these drone-like rhythmic pulses that drive these musical excursions.

The wildly frenetic "Waiting is Forbidden" starts off this journey. If this doesn't induce an epileptic fit nothing will. The energy level of Mahanthappa's horn is intense throughout, but with a distinctive and precise intonation. Where Fiuczynski's guitar blurs boundaries between notes, Mahanthappa's horn is a beacon of light that pierces the darkness of the unknown with the intensity of a laser beam. The slinky "Abhogi" is the perfect vehicle for Fiuczynski's wildly serpentine guitar licks. Drummer Weiss is particularly adept at evoking tabla-like rhythms. "We'll Make More" has a middle eastern flavor. The precision with which these musicians play is quite extraordinary, especially given the lack of a melodic base with which to guide them.

Perhaps the most mystical of the songs is the beautifully played "Are There Clouds in India" where Mahanthappa shows the most lyrical side of his alto. Fiuczynski lays down decaying chords in a gossamer accompaniment. The two lead instruments eventually have a go at musical conversation trading licks in a what appears to be a free improvisation that successfully tests the limits of each others musical telepathy.

On the short piece "F" bassist Francois Moutin is featured. His bass solos are accentuated with breaks of repeated refrains by the band in sympathetic support. "Copernicus" features a brief splashy Weiss solo with a gushing waterfall of notes by Mahathappa. "Wrathful Wisdom" is a bizarre concoction that eventually features some stylized prog-rock guitar riffs by Fiuczynski. The ideas that come from this man's axe are completely from another world, unpredictable, exotic and searing.

"Ballad for Troubles Times" features Mahanthappa on cascades of alto arpeggios that simply pour from his horn like billowing clouds of dry ice. Fiuczynski's guitar at times take on an almost Japanese sound. Mahanthappa's horn is perhaps at it's most beautifully resonant and soulful on this one. There is a solemn resolution here, it is as if he is playing ceremoniously for the passing of a favored friend or relative.

The ending song "Majesty Of the Blues" is a piece that has elements of heavy metal and progressive rock with the rhythm team driving this over Fiuczynski's pounding chords and Mahanthappa's searing alto.

A daring outing that blurs genres, Gamak needs to be listened to multiple times to get some of the superb nuances that are presented. With virtually no melodic base this one may not be for everyone, but this experimental excursion is at times refreshing and at times exhausting but clearly defies definition.

The Passing of a Legend: Dave Brubeck 1920-2012

2012-12-06T18:05:00.000-08:00

Dave Brubeck 1920-2012 R.I.P.

On Wednesday December 5, 2012, according to published reports, jazz pianist and legend Dave Brubeck passed from heart failure in Norwalk, a few miles from his home in Wilton, CT. He lived just a day shy of his ninety-second birthday and during his life his music touched millions of listeners, both those who loved jazz as well as those who just loved good music.

I'am currently spending time in Portland, Oregon and so I was jolted by the news of Dave's death sometime early afternoon EST or about 10 am PST. Dave had been in failing health for sometime now. Despite his increasing frailty, he continued to perform on a schedule that would challenge a man twenty years younger. I recall seeing him play with his most recent quartet about a year ago at the Tarrytown Music Hall in Tarrytown , New York as he was approaching his ninetieth birthday with a celebratory tour. The Music Hall was a particularly appropriate setting to see Dave play, as it was like to two old friends acknowledging each others longevity and relevance. Dave needed some help to the piano, but when he sat at the ivories the music came gushing out of him with no lack of vitality and invention. Dave's playing has always been one of subtle support and unerring direction. His music embodies a joyful, airy lightness despite his sometimes heavy chordal work. He always seemed to eschew the self-searching ruminations of a Bill Evans or the percussive, layered approach of a McCoy Tyner, two of his most formidable contemporaries. When you went to a Brubeck concert you came out with a smile on your face and a beat in your heart.

Dave's legend as a pianist and composer spans from the time he came out of his California college band days at Mills College, where he studied with his mentor the French composer/educator Darius Milhaud. Dave had a brilliant ear and an advanced harmonic sensibility but he always struggled with reading music. Dave formed an early band with college mates Cal Tjader and Ron Crotty. He then went on to form a quartet with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond, whom he meet in 1944 while in the army during WWII. Dave served in General George Patton's Third Army, and was spared having to participate in the Battle of the Bulge. In an Jazz Wax interview from 2010 he spoke of narrowly escaping a harrowing experience behind German lines despite being in the band for his tour of duty.

After the war it was Dave and his wife Iola who virtually created the unlikely pairing of academia and jazz music; the college tour, that persists today as a vital vehicle for spreading the music, while at the same time creating a viable alternate source of revenue for jazz musicians.

All of Dave's musical milestones have been well documented and his lasting musical legacy includes the well known "Take 5" ( which is solely credited to his altoist Paul Desmond but clearly has the Brubeck stamp upon it), his equally time altered Blue Rondo a la Turk, his compelling jazz standard "The Duke" and his uplifting and appealing "In Her Own Sweet Way". These are just the more recognizable compositions that Brubeck leaves as part of his musical legacy. He never let himself become stale, vitalizing his music with the inclusion of poly-tonality and alternating time signatures and infusing his compositions with influences from other cultures, while always retaining an uplifting message and a joyful, exuberant delivery.

But what about Brubeck the man? A man who lived almost ninety-two years and who was married to the same wife, the former Iola Whitlock, for seventy of those years, an astounding testament to he and his wife's eternal commitment to each other. A man who raised six children, five who have followed in their father's footsteps to become professional musicians. A veteran of WWII who served his country proudly, but who was forever changed by what he experienced in the war. A man who battled popular social convention and integrated his army band known as "The Wolfpack" during WWII. He later continued his commitment to racial equality by hiring bassist Eugene Wright as a permanent member of his famous quartet in 1958 and refusing to play in venues who wanted him to replace Wright. One time he cancelled a television appearance because he found out the producers were planning to keep the black bassist off camera during the entire performance.

For years he served as a State Department cultural ambassador of jazz music, with concerts performed all over the world proselytizing American culture and good will to our cold war enemies. As a result of those State Department trips, where he shared the stage with many with African American artists, Brubeck and his wife Iola worked in collaboration Louis Armstrong on a musical titled The Real Ambassadors. The musical dealt with the nature of God, civil rights in the U.S., the music industry and America's place in the world during the cold war era. Louis Armstrong was the main character and it featured performances by singer Carmen McCrae, the vocalese group Lambert Hendricks and Ross as well as Brubeck with Eugene Wright and Joe Morello. To say that Brubeck the man was anything less than Brubeck the artist is to miss the point of this man's life.

In searching the net for personalized recollections of Mr. Brubeck I came across some splendid examples that seem to authenticate how generous of time and spirit Dave Brubeck was to his fellow men.

The pianist Jack Reilly, who is currently finishing a book on Dave's music "The Harmony of Dave Brubeck" had this to say:

"Dave, I believe was a genius, genius being defined as one who changes the course of history. In Dave's case, musical history. He was a prolific composer in all genres, a pianist of originality and power, who influenced all of us and has left an enormous legacy in recorded works. He was a giant among giants. And may I add, a humble, kind and generous human being. In writing my book on his music, I got to know him more intimately. He was never too busy to come to the phone when I called. Iola, Dave and his children have given the world some amazing and exciting music that will be around a long, long time. "

Pianist Chick Corea had this to say on his blog:

"I have the highest admiration for Dave, who has been an inspiration to me and my music for a lifetime. He might never know how much his encouragement of me and my music has meant to me- but this is the truth. Gayle and I treasure the friendship that we had with him and have with his amazing wife Iola."

Drummer Jack DeJohnette posted this on Facebook "We lost an amazing pianist. composer & humanitarian today, Dave Brubeck. He left us with a wonderful legacy of great music and he will be missed by many."

British pianist Liam Nobel had a heartfelt remembrance of Dave on his London Jazz Blog An excerpt from it demonstartes how open and encouraging Brubeck could be to other artists: "Perhaps it's this that always drew me to his music: a quietly spoken individualism born of a sense of curiosity about music in all its forms. When I sent him my trio's album of versionsof his tunes. he sent me a letter that was full of generosity and warmth. He seemed more interested in what he could learn from our interpretations of his tunes than whether we had done them justice. That blew me away, it still does. I'm still learning from that letter."

Many others posted similar experience; being influenced by Dave's music or being personally touched by his generosity of spirit and openness. The true measure of a man's life lies in the memories and legacies he leaves behind. We certainly mourn the passing of Dave, but by any meaningful measure Dave Brubeck seems to have exemplified a life well lived.

My sincerest condolences to his wife Iola and his family. He will be missed.

My Best of Jazz 2012

2012-11-29T07:17:00.001-08:00

Every year it is a right of passage that reviewers compile their "best of" picks from the previous year's crop of offerings Some reviewers amazingly are able to review hundreds of cds in a year! The pool from which they pick their best of lists are admittedly more extensive than mine, but nonetheless I have heard some fantastic performances both "live" and on cd this year and the ones I have found exceptional certainly deserve recognition, even if its only from me. So in no particular order here is my top picks from 2012
with some links to listen to selections from each album where available. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Jack DeJohnette's: Sound Travels
Check out "Dirty ground"

Kenny Garrett's : Seeds from the Underground
Check Out "Wiggins"

Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts : An Attitude for Gratitude
Listen to "The Cruise Blues"

Gary Smulyan's : Smul's Paradise
Listen here to Gary's version of "Sunny"

Ralph Peterson's: The Duality Perspective
Listen to "Bamboo Bends in a Storm"

Vjay Iyer's : Accelerando
Listen to "Optimism"

Tom Harrell's : Number 5
listen to the beautiful
"Journey to the Stars"

John Abercrombie's Quartet :
Within a Son
John and Joe Lovano on "Wise One"

Scott Robinson's Docette :
Bronze Nemesis
listen here to the eerie "Mad Eyes"

Carmen Intorre Jr. : For the Soul

Marc Johnson/Eliane Elias
Swept Away
"One Thousand and One Nights"

Ryan Trusedell's; Centennial : Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans
"The Maids of Cadiz"

Kathy Kosins: To the Ladies of Cool
A montage from the album "here"

Markus Burger Trio:
Accidental Tourists
The L.A. Sessions
"Grolnicks"

Amhad Jamal : Blue Moon

The hypnotic "Invitation"

Michael Campagna: Moments
"Dear John"

Chad Wackerman: Dreams, Nightmares and Improvisations
"Monsieur Vintage"

Jonathan Blake : The Eleventh Hour
"Time to Kill"

Sabrina Lastman:
The Candombe Jazz Sessions

Tec Nash: The Creep
Listen to Ted live on "The Creep"

Torben Waldorff : Wah Wah
listen to "You Here"

Sam Rivers, Dave Holland & Barry Altschul
Reunion: Live in New York

Bill Evans Trio:
Live at the Top of the Gate
Promo video "here"

Chick Corea: Further Explorations
" Peri's Scope"

Wes Montgomery : Echoes of Indiana Avenue
Promo video "here"

Denise Donatelli : Soul Shadows
Her live version of "Another Day"

Maybe I am, in the Christmas spirit already but I just listened to two newly received releases that I really enjoyed so let's add these two to the mix:

Jeff Babko : CRUX
"The International Client"

Barry Romberg's Rndom Access : Crab People
"Epilogue"

Donny McCaslin at the Firehouse 12

2012-11-23T19:57:00.002-08:00

Donny McCaslin at Firehouse 12 photo by Ralph A. Miriello c2 012

The Firehouse 12 is a beautifully converted old firehouse on Crown Street in downtown New Haven, CT. The converted space now includes a chic lower level bar, a state of the art recording studio and an intimate performing space. Every season, the venue produces a series of Friday night concerts that feature some of today’s most interesting and creative performers in jazz. Some acts that were featured this year included Ingrid Laubrock, Kris Davis and Tyshawn Sorey’ s Paradoxical Frog, E.J. Strickland’s Quintet, Dan Tepfler’s Trio and the more mainstream Fred Hersch Trio. The “Live Room,” a 1200 square foot space that seats approximately seventy-five lucky patrons, is where all performances are featured. It is the intimate nature of this venue that makes it especially rewarding for both the artists and their fans.

On this past Friday evening the Firehouse featured the firebrand saxophonist Donny McCaslin and some old friends playing the music of his latest cd Casting for Gravity. I recently reviewed this challenging album which finds McCaslin pushing further into the blurred lines between jazz and electronica. You can read my Huffington Post review here.

On the album McCaslin was joined by the keyboard artist Jason Lindner, the bassist Tim LeFebvre and the drummer Mark Guiliana. At the Firehouse, McCaslin’s band included the talented pianist Kevin Hays, the bassist Fima Ephron and the drummer Zach Danzinger.

Kevin Hays photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2012

The group started out with the title track from his new album “Casting for Gravity" a slow brewing song that starts with McCaslin and Hays slowly ruminating on a vamp that then erupts into a more urgent, repeating refrain from McCaslin that is accentuated by some strong syncopated pounding by Danzinger. The refrain eventually ends in just under four minutes, segueing into the powerful “Stadium Jazz.” At its’ core, this tune is built on a melodic ascending and descending scale played by McCaslin and Hays, which yields to a raucous break-a broken, staccato driven vamp played in unison by soaring tenor, echoing Rhodes keyboard, throbbing electric bass and bombastic drums all executed with surgical-like precision. While the energy level of the group was laudable the unchecked volume of Mr. Danziger’s drums was unsettling.

On McCaslin’s “Losing Track of Daylight” the artful Kevin Hays straddled himself between the grand piano and the Fender Rhodes. Hays single handed runs on the Rhodes came through as muddled to my ears and I was in the second row. The nuances of his solos almost rendered undecipherable, blotted out as the drums overpowered the space. Where on the album Guilliana’s drums are powerful, syncopated partner in the music with well placed rhythmic breaks, Danzinger’s pulse was bombastic, overpowering and awkwardly at times out of sync with the flow. McCaslin, who is a powerful player, seemed oblivious to Danziger’s volume and compensated with his own strength. All subtlty that may have been observable in Hays or Fima’s work was obliterated by Danzinger’s over the top playing.

There is no doubt McCaslin’s music requires a strong rhythmic foundation, but it is incumbent upon a drummer to know the room and play accordingly. The audience for the most part seemed impressed by Mr. Danzinger’s energetic playing. He is a powerful, propulsive drummer who has serious chops, but to my way of thinking he needs to harness his enthusiasm and inject some subtlety especially in a room as intimate as the Firehouse.

McCaslin has a slender, reed-like frame with an innocent, almost schoolboy look, a deceptive appearance that hides the fire that resides within this man. This fire erupted on his next composition “Tension,” a song he composed with his two year old Henry in mind. McCaslin’s music, while taken from life, has become less lyrical in his most recent offerings and this composition is a case in point. Starting out as a series of repeating honks that rise and fall to a changing beat, the song is a pure exercise in manic, frenzy that leaves you in a state of agitation. McCaslin’s taught face was the picture of tension as he played this song. While it may perfectly represent his state of mind when his two year old is testing him, it did little for me but to make me twitch.

The final song of the first show was titled “Memphis Redux” and was a from a previous McCaslin album titled Perpetual Motion. The slow burning, funk imbued song was a homage of sorts to influences like Joe Zawinul’s “Mercy, Mercy Mercy “. McCaslin’s horn took on a distinctive Maceo Parker rasp to it as he dug deep into the soul of the tune. It was nice to hear McCaslin play more recognizably melodic music. Kevin Hays added a particularly bluesy touch to the keyboard and with Danziger in the pocket on this tune, Hays offered his most creative solo of the night. McCaslin ended the song with a sustained solo exploration that was both lyrical and moving and brought the audience to its feet.

I applaud McCaslin for stretching his boundaries and venturing into more challenging modes of music. He is a fine player who plays with intensity and passion, but perhaps he is sacrificing some of his musicality. I was recently at a Jazz Standard show where I was seated next to two saxophonists who had come to see Scott' Robinson's latest creative work, Bronze Nemisis. One of the players, who recently saw Donny at a Vanguard show, read my review of Casting for Gravity and later wrote to me in disappointment. that at the Vanguard show he just wanted to yell out “Sing us a song, Donny!” I remain a fan, but I too long for McCaslin to show us his more lyrical side more often.

The Ron Carter Trio at Nyack Library's Carnegie Room : November 11, 2012

2012-11-13T14:45:00.001-08:00

Ron Carter photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2012

Once again the vibrant Rockland County Jazz and Blues Society has proven its ability to attract world class talent to the small but sophisticated community of Nyack, NY and greater Rockland County. As part of their jazz concert series, that is run in conjunction with The Soiree Society of the Arts and The Nyack Library. Artistic Director Yashar Yaslowitz and the R.C.B.& J. Society’s President Richard Sussman, continue to surprise with some killer talent in marvellously intimate concerts. The Carnegie Room is an especially appealing venue for both the artists and their audiences. The warm, oak trimmed setting, with its' turn of the century charm, has wonderful acoustic properties that make for special moments.

On this evening, the venerable bassist Ron Carter, celebrated as one of the most recorded jazz bassists of all time, came to Nyack after an admitted thirty year absence. Mr. Carter recalled once playing a now defunct venue that was a part of this Hudson River community decades ago. He was joined by his trio with guitarist Russell Malone and pianist Donald Vega. Mr. Malone played a sunburst Gibson L 5 through a small amp, Mr. Carter played a beautifully burnished what appeared to be ¾ size bass and Mr. Vega was seated at the beautiful black grand piano, a gift generously donated by Yamaha, to this series and the room.

Mr. Carter is a classically trained musician and is an accomplished cellist, as well as a master of the upright acoustic bass. He is a composer of some note as well as an unusually perceptive improviser. If ever there was a person whose stature and appearance so typified his instrument it would be Mr. Carter. Elegantly dressed in a handsome tailored suit and tie ( his trio mates were similarly attired), despite a hoarse voice-the remnants of a cold, Mr. Carter, at seventy-five years young, appears to be in remarkably fit condition. His tall, lean figure embraces the upright bass as an equal. His slender willowy fingers caress the classic lines of his instrument, while at the same time fly fleetingly over its long black fret board with a dancer’s agility. He projects a cool, confident demeanor. There is a sense of intimate familiarity with his instrument, a serenity that only comes from years of practice and performing.

The performance opened with a composition by guitarist Russell Malone titled "Cedar Tree," a tribute to the pianist Cedar Walton. The song has Mr. Carter opening with a pedal-like bass line that allows both Malone and Vega to explore on the groove before it bridges into a scalar form that remind me of “Giant Steps.” Malone’s guitar has that classic Gibson sound, born in the era of the guitar/ organ trio. Mr. Malone cut his teeth with organist Jimmy Smith. His smoothness, that transcends single note playing, makes it seem like his notes melt together. He effortlessly moves from chordal work to rapidly executed single note arpeggios. I caught flourishes of George Benson’s “On Broadway” during his solo work. Mr. Vega is a sensitive pianist with a feathery touch. He is of Nicaraguan descent and his story is compelling having studied, when necessary, on a cardboard keyboard to keep in practice when a piano was not available.

Donald Vega, Ron Carter and Russell Malone photo by Ralph A. Miriello c 2012

The group covered "Laverne’s Walk" and "Candle Light" both Carter originals that featured some beautifully evocative bass work . His signature style combines slurring, bending, sliding and sustaining notes all used to great effect. His pizzicato technique is tonally impeccable and he often uses octaves and strumming techniques that are more frequently associated with the guitar than the bass. The only technique he didn't employ on this evening was his arco. All the while the quiet but effective Mr. Malone watched Carter’s movement carefully, adding quick chord strums or single note lines at appropriate times. The simpatico between these two artists was extraordinary.

Mr. Vega occasionally seemed to be the odd man out. His playing delicate, almost Evans-like, with a wonderful floating touch on the keyboard. When the two string players went off to the races it seemed like Vega had a hard time keeping up with them. On parts of “My Funny Valentine” there seemed to be a momentary break in communication between Mr. Vega and Mr. Carter. Carter tried to play in between Vega's lines, but eventually stood down to let Mr. Vega play solo, as they seemed to be going in different directions.

The first set ended with Fletcher Henderson’s’ “Soft Winds “ where Malone settled into rhythm guitar, sometimes providing a bongo like beat, as he tapped his muted strings and the hollow body of his guitar to create the pulse. Later he would play the strings in such a way as to elicit a banjo-like strumming sound that had a Django-like feel. Mr. Malone's guitar voice has clearly absorbed the tradition with vestiges of Django, Joe Pass, Herb Ellis, Wes Montgomery and George Benson all being present in his own unique voice. Mr. Carter quickened the beat sending the song into a rapid double-time as he and Malone carried it to a frenetic tempo. Mr. Vega did his best to fill in the voids with a flurry of single-line notes that he had to execute at a ferocious pace. He occasionally employed double handed block chording to great effect. The audience was left in arrhythmic delight and they received a standing ovation.

After a somewhat lengthly intermission the group returned with two Carter originals, "Eddie Theme" and "Parade." Mr. Vega shinded on "Eddie's Theme" as Mr. Carter gave it an Afro-Cuban ryhthm with plenty of room for Mr. Vega to solo using his clave inspired percussive runs on keyboard.

Mr. Carter immediately delved into the next tune, a solo rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" which was a veritable tutorial of how sensitive a bass can be.

The band completed the second set with a redux of Henderson's "Soft Winds." It seemed as if Mr. Carter wanted to give Mr. Vega another bite of this apple. Mr. Vega, now fully warned up, rose to the occasion handily providing his own blistering runs over Mr. Carter and Mr. Malone's rollicking romp. The night cap of the evening turned out to be a pleasing finale sending the audience into a sustained standing ovation.

The End of Jazz is Greatly Exaggerated: A Response to Benjamin Schwarz's Atlantic article " The End of Jazz"

2012-11-09T09:35:00.000-08:00

As a long time subscriber to the Atlantic monthly, I have often read articles or reviews of books written by their literary and national editor Benjamin Schwarz His observations have been generally well thought out and cogent. His book reviews have offered evaluations on the worthlessness or value of a newly released book that are often consistent with my taste. So when I read his most recent diatribe provocatively titled

“The End of Jazz,” a subject of great interest to me, I was greatly surprised and disappointed by Mr. Schwarz’s spurious conclusions

The article was supposed to be a book review of the recently published book “The Jazz Standards: A Guide to the Repertoire” by the scholar Ted Goia from Oxford Press. Mr. Goia was my editor in chief at the now defunct web-based jazz magazine jazz.com. where I was a regular contributor. He has written several authoritative works on jazz, including “The History of Jazz” and his fine “West Coast Jazz.,” to name a few, and his opinions carry some weight in the community. I have always found Mr. Goia’s work to be well researched, informative and eminently readable.

Candidly I have not yet read Mr. Goia’s recent offering, but I understand it to be a collection of some two hundred and fifty songs that he has deemed to be essential to any working jazz musician’s book-a repertoire of songs that are generally accepted as standards that any jazz musician should know. In delineating his choices, Goia takes a valiant stab at codifying what he considers essential to the jazz canon. He uses the frequency of play as his chief criteria for inclusion with some other more minor criteria being factored into this equation. His list, by its nature, becomes a declaration of taste, popularity and substance that transcends time.

In reviewing this book, Schwarz seems to tacitly agree with Mr. Goia’s unequivocal praise for Billy Strayhorn’s poignantly bitter masterpiece “Lush Life,” which Goia lauds as his choice for the single most important song from the twentieth century ( the cover picture of the story is of Strayhorn and Ellington at the piano) . But as anyone who knows the music is bound to do, Schwarz does take the opportunity to air his own taste. He mentions some songs that he feel Goia has unfairly left off his list. These songs include Rodgers and Hart’s “Where and When” three by song-smith Cole Porter “In the Still of The Night” , “Begin the Beguine “and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin.” All worthy entries and all clearly part of what is known as “The Great American Songbook,” a group of songs that were written predominantly between the 1920s and the 1950’s, and have become a wellspring of inspiration for jazz musicians as a vehicle for improvisation. The choices also say a lot about where Mr. Schwarz’s musical mind has been quagmired, offering a clue to how he has drawn his own personal conclusions about the state of jazz.

The predominance of these songs, from this bygone era, create a moment of careful reflection for Goia, who freely admits to the dearth of contemporary compositions in his version of the repertoire. But where Goia sees promise “…the jazz idiom [is] a vibrant present day endeavour ”, Schwarz uses this fact as a raison d'entre for his controversial and misguided assertions. He states “The Songbook, a product of a fleeting set of cultural circumstances when popular, sophisticated music was aimed at musically knowledgeable adults was the wellspring of jazz.” He continues " “…there is no reason to believe that that jazz can be a living, evolving art form decades after its major source-and the source of that linked it to the main currents of popular culture and sentiments- has dried up. Jazz, like the Songbook, is a relic- and as such, in 2012 it cannot have, as Goia wishes for it, an “expansive and adaptive repertoire.” "

Here is where Mr. Schwarz has gone completely and perilously off the tracks. Does he truly believe that there are no longer, any " musically knowlegable adults" listening ? Or perhaps he believes that the music no longer speaks to the audience because it no longer "links [them] to the main current of popular culture and sentiments..."? True enough that some modern jazz requires "work" by the listener before it can be fully appreciated. Does that automatically un-link it to the main stream of popular culture or does it just expand the culture ever so slightly, breathing new life and vitality by daring to be adventurous?

Admittedly the Songbook is an invaluable resource and the basis of many of a jazz musician’s book, but it is not the only resource. Just as the Magna Carta of 1215 AD was the cornerstone for the subsequent U.S. Constitution, which was written over five hundred years later, the Great American Songbook, is a particularly important part of the the jazz tradition but not its only part. It is certainly premature to claim that reliance on this admittedly dated mother lode of inspiration is the death knoll for future creativity and advancement in the art of jazz.

It cannot be denied that the Songbook has become the cornerstone of the jazz repertoire, but new music from cabaret, theater, films, world and popular music arenas have always provided a rich vein of new compositions for the jazz musician.

In Its function as a template, the Songbook has become a living, breathing monument to tradition. It is not calcified and decayed, but is constantly being infused with new vitality through repeated explorations. In an interview with Goia on Mark Myers fine blog, www.jazzwax.com , Goia recalled talking to 82 year old saxophonist Bud Shank in 2009 before he passed. Shank told him that even after fifty years of playing the standard “All The Things You Are” he felt that he still hadn't exhausted all the possibilities that a song like that could provide to a sufficiently curious musician. Like the torch carrying the never extinguished Olympic flame, the Songbook is continuously providing the spark that illuminates the way for future generations of musicians while serving as a link to the origins and development of the music. As such it can never be considered a "relic" as Schwarz asserts.

Modern music is constantly evolving and its inclusion into the jazz canon is a process that will occur naturally over time. It may be frustrating for some that the listening public have become inordinately attached to these classics of yesteryear, but it is unwise to characterize the art form as being on terminal life support because its audience is slow to accept change. Jazz does not have a monopoly on the public's resistance to change. Monk was derided for much of his lifetime as a man whose music was curiously out of tune, Even his fellow musicians and critics had trouble with the demands of his compositions. Few musicians or critics today would deny the brilliance of his musical legacy and many of his compositions have become an integral part of the repertoire.

Time is a great healer. Jazz as a distinct art form is barely one hundred years old. Why is it so hard and potentially damning to fathom that the Songbook is still such an important element in its repertoire?

The listening public must be connected to the music if it is to survive and thrive. It is the modern jazz musician, who as he becomes more daring in his approach to bringing new material into the lexicon, will make the repertoire grow organically. The music of Michael Jackson, Paul Simon, Sting, Lennon & McCartney or Kurt Cobain, is certainly more relatable to younger audiences and needs to be included in the conversation; explored for its nuances and adaptability to the improviser’s art.

It has happened in the recent past with artist like Miles Davis and George Benson introducing songs by Cyndi Lauper and Leon Russell and is happening now with artists like Brad Mehldau , George Colligan and Ethan Iverson, who have introduced the music of contemporary artists like Thom Yorke, Michael Jackson and The Beatles to the repertoire. Other musicians like Robert Glasper, Dave Douglas, John McLaughlin and Rudresh Mahanthappa have successfully attempted to bring soul, hip-hop,fusion,techno and world musicical influences into the pantheon of jazz. Who knows when these influences become a permanent part of the repertoire? Far from being mummified and interred as Mr. Schwarz suggests, jazz is morphing, replicating and mutating.

Perhaps Mr. Schwarz does not embrace this change, perhaps he is stuck in the afterglow of songs by Porter, Gershwin or Kern, but to the declare “The End of Jazz” and to relegate it to the status of a “relic” is an uninformed and just plain wrong and its assertion does little to enlighten the conversation.

Pianist Markus Burger's : Accidental Tourists The L.A. Sessions

2012-11-07T09:05:00.003-08:00

Accidental Tourist: The L.A. Sessions CR 73332

German expatriate Markus Burger is a new name to me, but if his latest album Accidental Tourists : The L.A. Sessions is any indication he has won me over as a fan. The pianist has assemble a top notch trio that includes former Bill Evans drummer Joe Labarbera and the big and beautiful bass of

Bob Magnusson a studio musician who worked with saxophone legend Art Pepper. Burger currently teaches in the Los Angeles area. His bio information indicates that he acknowledges wide ranging influences from Bach and Debussy to Thelonious Monk and Stevie Wonder.

On the opening composition ”Grolnicks,” a dedication to the late pianist Don Grolnick, Burger establishes an immediate connection to his listener with the song’s inviting melody line, played at first solo and then breezily in conjunction with his tasteful collaborators. Bob Magnusson’s honey toned bass solo is a welcome surprise as it is quickly introduced with a conviction and fullness that reminds me of Red Mitchell’s masterful sound and attack. Drummer Joe Labarbera sets the pace with his masterful brushwork. Burger’s piano has a welcoming and buoyant sound that draws you into this wonderful collaboration.

“Air Canada” has a lilting feel that reminds me of some of Pat Metheny’ s earlier work with pianist Lyle Mays. It is a hopeful song that is energized by Burger’s light and dancing right hand lines and propelled by Magnusson’s deep and prominently featured bass lines. Labarbera reminds us how good and subtle he can be at creating a breezily swinging rhythm with minimal fanfare or bluster.

Burger uses the repeating ascending and descending lines of his composition “Black Sea Pearl” to create a sense of poignancy. The trio moves up and down in tandem as Burger creates interesting offshoots to the otherwise predictable ostinato pattern in the song.

“Full Circle” begins in an almost solemn, contemplative refrain. Burger impressionistically establishes the circularly repeating melody line. Magnusson’s bass anchors strong and clear, the perfect counterpoint to Burger’s probings outside the self created orbit. Magnusson’s bass becomes a beacon of sound that emanates from the center of this crafted circle with his warm, precise tone..Labarbera adds to the circular theme of the song with his whirling traps and his whooshing cymbal work.

The Gershwin classic “I Love You Porgy,” is rendered in the most sensitive of ways by Burger’s soulful playing. Magnusson’s evocative solo is a highlight. The bassist’s ability to carry the melody with his warm, deep tone and evocative feeling is a joy to behold. Burger, inspired here by his deft partners, creates a cascading solo that is both inventive and moving.

With the title of the album reference to Los Angeles, it’s no surprise to hear the west coast influence peppered through this offering. Two songs that seem to draw inspiration from the early trio work of the late great LA based pianist Hampton Hawes are the swinging “Rodeo Drive Hustler” and the quirky, rollicking “Inspector Bauton”. The quick paced repeating lines are played effervescently with great swinging support by Labarbera and Magnusson. Both tunes have that easy, effortless mastery of rambunctious swing that Hawes work epitomized. It is good to hear a boisterous drum solo from Labarbera who is a master of brushes and rarely lets loose on his traps.

Perhaps one of the most beautiful songs on the album is the trio’s stirring rendition of “The Old Country,” a song always identified with Nancy Wilson’s great work with Nat and Cannonball Adderley. Burger uses the armature of the melody to weave his own rich tapestry from this emotionally thick song. Magnusson is once again brilliant in using his facile bass lines to create pathos. His rounded, romantic sound and his counterpoint lines at the coda are both superbly chosen and sublimely executed.

The magnificent Evans composition “Blue and Green” is always a favorite of piano trios and here Burger uses Evans-like voicings in his opening that eventually give way to explorations that are reminiscent of Keith Jarrett's work. Burger’s fertile imagination is prodded by gentle bent notes from Magnusson’s bass and slowly built up urgency in Labarbera’s traps. It is a wonderful display of true sympathetic trio interaction. Magnusson’s bass solo is remarkably facile as he shifts from rapidly executed pizzicato to slowly sustained bent notes that flow like melting butter on warm toast.

The album ends with two songs one by Thomas Hoft titled “One World” and the finale a Burger composition titled “Morning Smile.”

Markus Burger has managed to pleasantly surprise with Accidental Tourists: The L.A. Sessions. The album continues to be capture attention even after repeated listenings. Burger is a player who has absorbed some of the best influences of contemporary and classical music. His musical choice of materials from the standards repertoire is astute and his compositions like “Grolnicks” and “Full Circle” show promise. It is the sympathetic whole of this trio that is the real find here. Together with Magnusson and Labarbera, Burger has hit upon a trio that can challenge the best on the contemporary music scene. Accident's do happen and sometimes they produce marvelous results, my hope is that this is no accident and that the Markus Burger Trio continue to work together to explore the endless possibilities.

Scott Robinson's Doc Savage Suite "Bronze Nemesis"

2012-10-23T11:29:00.001-07:00

Bronze Nemisis The Scott Robinson Docette:Doctone -01

The multi-instrumentalist Scott Robinson is a first call musician for many of today’s finest and most contemporary of big band ensembles. He has graced the reed section of Maria Schneider’s Orchestra as well as played in the ranks of the Mingus Big Band and as a member of Mel Lewis’s Village Vanguard Orchestra to name just a few.

As a noted collector of rare musical instruments, Scott has made it his mission to preserve these most specialized of artifacts. He has actively learned the intricacies of playing many of these unusual instruments which include the C melody saxophone and the enormous contrabass saxophone, all in an effort to preserve their use in modern music.

On his latest, most unusual, project Bronze Nemisis, Robinson uses his fertile imagination and the pulp fiction character of Doc Savage as his source of musical inspiration. A masterful musical adventure, Robinson’s spot on use of an arsenal of sounds from his vast array of instrumentation and gadgetry makes, the recording a theatrical and musical triumph.

Joined in following Robinson’s muse are the pianist Ted Rosenthal, the trumpeter Randy Sandke, the bassist Pat O’Leary, and the drummer Dennis Mackrel.

The “Man of Bronze” starts out ominously enough with thunderous rolling toms and a front line of tenor and trumpet. The large looming presence of the Man of Bronze, arch enemy of evil, is portrayed by Robinson’s clever use of ascending lines using the deeply resonant sounds of his euphonium and bass saxophone and topped off by a bowed bass cadenza by O’Leary that drips with tense anticipation as to what is next.

Robinson's multi-reed facility is essential as he employs the woody tones of the bass clarinet intermingled with Sandke’s trumpet to introduce the next tune. “The Secret in the Sky” is at first a homage to the soundtracks of detective stories from another era, then Robinson’s science fiction brain takes over with his eerie use of the modulating, voice-like sound of the Moog theremin, complimented by little bell noises and some electric harpsichord. He creates this strange unsettling scene; you find yourself facing the unknown, then, suddenly, you are given a brief respite from danger as a more familiar, inviting rhumba-influenced break in the music lures you into a momentary sense of tranquility, only to return to the sounds of lurking treachery that hangs over you like some unsettling cloak of darkness.

On the ominous sounding “He Could Stop the World” Mackrel’s shimmering cymbals sets the stage as Sandke’s trumpet and Robinson’s overdubbed bass and tenor saxophones climb a wall of intensity, a suitably dramatic entrance for the crazed evil genius that emerges from his secret place in the sky, declaring “If necessary I can stop the world on its axis!’.

Meanwhile back at Doc Savage’s secret “Fortress of Solitude” the fictional hero is pondering his next move. This icy Arctic retreat of Savage’s was later absconded by Superman in the nineteen fifties. The group coolly grooves on this number with a nice jaggedly, obtuse piano solo by Ted Rosenthal and a menacing bass saxophone solo by Robinson that really swings. Robinson handles this large horn without lumbering; instead he floats lightly above the hip groove created by O’Leary, Rosenthal and Mackrel.

“Mad Eyes” is a playful creation that would make a great soundtrack for a Halloween movie. Robinson’s simultaneous use of the slide saxophone and the Moog theremin creating the eeriest of sounds. A gravelly Sandke shows he too can make his horn emit a series of shivering voice-like utterances. Coupled with the groups moaning this one can that can make you feel like you are truly going mad.

“The Metal Master” is another of Savage’s arch enemies, a mad scientist who has discovered the ability to destroy the molecular integrity of any metal. Leading off appropriately with a Chinese gong and some scraping metal noises, this piece includes a sawtoothed line played by Sandke on trumpet and Robinson on tenor. The tune uses contrapuntal lines between the two horns to lead us on this circuitous path. Robinson’s tenor voice is boisterous and brash as he navigates the chicane. Sandke’s trumpet is raucous as he climbs on crescendos of notes in the high register with an easy fluidity. The piece ends with a cacophony of clanging tubes, chimes and singing metal plates.

The late Denis Irwin, the original bassist for Scott’s Doctette, is featured on a unaccompanied bass solo from “The Mental Wizard” recorded at a concert from 2001 and is here labeled “The Golden Man.” Sadly Irwin died two nights before the band went into the studio to record this album.

The “Land of Always Night” is the most moving piece on the album. Rosenthal and Robinson play a wonderful duet that has a poignant quality with classical grace and soulful sonority. Scott’s sound is pensive and pure, with a breathless, whistling cadenza. The song was taken from his “Lagomorphic Concertino" and was written for his wife Sharon. He should play flute more often.

“The Living Fire” is a musical representation of the living flame within and it sears with Mackrel’s sizzling cymbals, Sandke’s searing trumpet and Scott’s scorching tenor. Too hot to handle.

“The Man Who Shook the Earth” opens with the earth-trembling sounds of the large treme terra, a refrigerator sized drum from Brazil. Robinson uses a wind machine and his own rare contrabass saxophone to create the deep rumbling feel to this musical collage. After a brief flurry from drummer Mackrel, we are treated to the mind boggling swing of Robinson’s gigantic contrabass. With some brief references to Monk’s “Well You Needn’t” hidden in the deep, blustery low register of Robinson’s solo, it is a rare treat to hear this instrument played with such confident swagger.

The evocative “Weird Valley” features another of Robinson’s rare instruments, in this case the mezzo-soprano saxophone. The snake charming-like sound of this instrument has an air of the exotic and is mildly intoxicating, especially when complimented by the muted trumpet of Sandke. Pianist Ted Rosenthal is given some room to create his own special corridor in this weird valley and he does so with surprise. The two horns joined by the Moog Vanguard theremin raise their level of intensity at the rising coda as they intertwine their sinuous sounds like two mating cobras in ecstatic bliss.

The final piece of this theatrical suite is “The Mental Wizard” a difficult composition, with no repeating parts and a testament to the groups seasoned interplay.

Bronze Nemisis is a thoroughly enjoyable recording for anyone who wants to transport themselves into another, less complicated world of science fiction and mystery. Emblazoned with authentic Doc Savage images from original illustrator James Bama and packaged with extensive notes on the recording process and instrumentation by Mr. Robinson, this is surely one of the most creative musical offerings of the year.

Musicians:

Scott Robinson, various saxophones, clarinets, flutes, euphonium, Moog theremin, wind machine, bells, chimes and various instruments/gadgets; Ted Rosenthal, piano and electronic harpsichord; Randy Sandke, trumpet and euphonium; Pat O’Leary,bass; Dennis Mackrel, drums, tubes and treme terra, Dennis Irwin , bass on track 7.

Exploring Influences: John Abercrombie's "Within a Song"

2012-10-14T10:16:00.002-07:00

Within A Song ECM 2254

I first saw the guitarist John Abercrombie many years ago as with the super group Dreams. Even then he gravitated toward playing with people who challenged the norm, people like drummer Billy Cobham, the trumpet and saxophone duo, the Brecker Brothers and bassist Will Lee, As a fledgling guitar player myself , I took a keen interest in his development, a guitar player’s guitar player. His debut album as a leader came in 1974, with his presciently titled fusion album Timeless, this time with keyboard wizard Jan Hammer and drumming phenon Jack DeJohnette. Clearly Abercrombie was developing as a master musician who was following his own muse.

Timeless ECM

His then avant-garde work with his group Circle, with drummer DeJohnette and bassist Dave Holland, was on the forefront of progressive jazz in the nineteen seventies. All along the way, this restless soul continued his quest to challenge convention, collaborating with the very best of his generation, often times with musicians slightly outside the mainstream including the multi-reedist John Surman, the pianist Richie Bierach, the eclectic trumpeter Kenny Wheller and fellow guitarist Ralph Towner. Abercrombie’s musical adventure has crossed into a myriad of musical styles with the one common thread running through all of them being the unique sound of John’s guitar.

Musically you might never know what to expect next from John, but even blindfolded, as the drummer Billy Drummond recently said in Downbeat, you will always know who is playing from the first note because of John’s signature sound.

Abercrombie’s latest ECM recording, Within A Song, features a series of songs that have been influential to guitarist’s development. For this outing John has again surrounded himself with some of the finest musicians currently working today, Joe Lovano on tenor saxophone, Drew Gress on double bass and Joey Baron on drums.

The opening, “Where Are You,“ first came to the guitarist’s attention when he heard Sonny Rollin’s seminal album The Bridge from 1962. Guitarists often find their voice in listening to the work of other instrumentalists, not necessarily always other guitarists, but clearly hearing Jim Hall’s guitar became an epiphany of sorts to the young Abercrombie. John and tenorist Lovano take on the roles of Hall and Rollins from the original album, approaching the tune with the same moving sensitivity. Abercrombie pays homage to Hall’s lush, liquid sound here. Delicate comps follow Lovano’s lead. Lovano’s tenor is rich and warm with almost Getzian inflections. Joe is a master of precise intonation, even when playing cascades of notes adagietto. Drummer Baron’s shimmering cymbal work sets a dreamy scene evocative of Ben Riley’s work on the original. The song lingers in your memory long after it ends.

“Easy Reader” is an slow Abercrombie waltz and according to the notes is somehow influenced by the picture “Easy Rider.” With Lovano and Abrercrombie stating a series of descending lines followed by a series of rapidly ascending lines in tandem, the song has a formal almost classical sensibility. The guitarist is given ample room to develop his rambling harmonic explorations with bassist Drew Gress reading his twists and turns telepathically. Lovano’s tenor soars softly with Abercrombie’s muted guitar comping and countering in a contrapuntal conversation. Baron’s rolling toms accentuate his flawless cymbal work toward the coda.

The title song of the album is a take off of another song from Rollin’s The Bridge , “Without a Song.” On this album it is penned by Abercrombie as “Within a Song/Without a Song,” it is the most swinging song of the album. Gress’s plucky bass is buoyant and vascular, keeping the pulse invigorating. Baron keeps the most impeccable of time on his ride cymbal spicing the music with occasional timely rolls and well placed bombs. The song features a marvelous dual front line of Abercrombie and Lovano first stating the melody line in precise tandem and then in a stuttered call and response. Lovano is pure elegance on his horn. With an unflappable sense of time, Lovano navigates the chicane with a grace that is marvelously inventive. Abercrombie’s guitar meanders around the melody searching, probing the harmonic edges without going too far astray. After almost seven minutes the group touches on the last few bars of the original song, bringing it all back to place where it came from..

For many of us, the Miles Davis album Kind of Blue was an inescapable influence. Abercrombie chooses a deeply ruminative take on “Flamenco Sketches” from that album. He seems at his finest when he is left some room to be able to explore the depths of a song, uncovering new possibilities in succinct flurries, like short detours from a road well traveled. All the while the atmosphere of the song is retained and in some ways enhanced by the military-like drum cadence. The deep plucky bass of Gress is a tip of the hat to Paul Chambers fine work on the original. Lovano’s saxophone is amazingly versatile with a collection of flutters, moans, slurs and squeals all perfectly controlled and purposefully employed. The group excels at this marvelous homage to the original.

“Nick of Time” is a jagged melody of John’s that is a reminiscent of the exploratory jazz of the sixties and seventies, when musicians were into testing the boundaries of the musical form. The musicians all navigate through the maze in with like-minded determination, maintaining a tonal quality and suppleness that is not obviously reliant on the melodic form but nonetheless creates a coherent musical statement.

“Blues Connotation” is from the Ornette Coleman songbook. Originally recorded by the alto saxophonist on his This Is Our Music. This free form jaunt loosely plays with the blues form in a playful and open way. Lovano’s slightly screechy sound plays into the Coleman legacy. John’s guitar solo is suitably wandering. Joey Baron’s drum solo is light, loose and jagged in keeping with the unfettered Billy Higgins approach to Ornette’s music.

The most moving song on the album is from John Coltrane’s 1964 release Crescent, titled “Wise One”. Abercrombie makes a beautiful entrance with his signature, tightly sequenced guitar voicing. Mr. Lovano’s exquisitely plaintive sound, while Coltrane-esque, is clearly of one of his own making, yearning and bordering on religious in its reverence. John’s comp work is the most Hall-like on the album. His solo is a tour de force of sensitivity and inventiveness as he demonstrates his unique sense of harmony. Baron’s rolling toms are subtly omnipresent and his dynamics are always tasteful. Gress’s is subtly grounding but never overpowering. Lovano returns to solo in his own inimitably tasteful way, cascading notes in cadenzas of seemingly endless ideas. Multi tonal ideas that follow their own unpredictable path but always leading to a logical conclusion.

For anyone growing up in John’s era, pianist Bill Evans was an inevitable influence. Here John choose’s the minor blues “Interplay” from the 1962 Evans/Hall collaboration of the same name. Bassist Drew Gress gets to do a beautiful walking blues line that sets the tone. Lovano and Abercrombie show that they are no stranger to tasty improvisations over blues changes no matter how abstract the blues form is buried in the song..

The closing song was a favorite of Abercrombie’s from his days of watching the Art Farmer-Jim Hall Quartet titled “Sometime Ago.” Abercrombie starts with an obliquely rambling introductory solo before going into the memorable melody head on. Lovano brings his own sense of warmth to the song with a floating, poignantly played solo. He has a wonderful way of entering a song with smooth but forceful presence that commands you attention. When Abercrombie returns he climbs the tune with an ascending solo line that dances around the melody. Baron accents the guitarist’s turns with prescient changes of his own as the tune winds down we are treated to a beautifully controlled microtonal embellishment by the master saxophonist to end this poignant but uplifting piece.

With some of tenor saxophonist Joe Lovano’s most emotional playing to date and ensemble work of the highest order, John Abercrombie’s Within A Song is a strong addition to the guitarist’s discography, once again validating John’s ability to continue to create timely music of extraordinary beauty.

The Harlem Blues and Jazz Band plays atop the Harlem Skyline

2012-10-01T11:59:00.000-07:00

A view of Harlem Meer from atop the penthouse of One Museum Mile

This past Thursday September 27, 2012, I was invited to attend a roof top party at one of Harlem's most prestigious new buildings One Museum Mile. Located at 1280 Fifth Avenue, this large, luxury apartment building occupies the corner between 109th street and Tito Puente Way( 110th Street), and the edge of Central Park North, right off the Duke Ellington Circle. In keeping with the jazz history of the area, there is Robert Graham's imposing, twenty-five foot tall bronze sculpture of Duke Ellington and his piano perched atop nine caryatids, adorning a small park within the circle. The recently opened Museum of African Art, with its sixteen thousand square feet of exhibit space, calls the ground level of this ninety thousand square foot building home.

On this balmy evening, the view from atop the penthouse was spectacular. Despite the large cumulus clouds that lingered above threatening the outdoor proceedings with the possibility of showers, the evening was unscathed by any rain. The mostly gentrified crowd of invitees was treated to good food, drink, a soft sales pitch (the luxury apartments are for sale with presently 40% occupied) and great music. Like a lush Persian rug being unrolled before your eyes, the great green expanse of Frederick Law Olmsted's masterpiece, Central Park, and its hidden Lake, Harlem Meer, are majestically viewed from this unique vantage point .

But on this evening it was the music that I came for and I was not disappointed. The Harlem Blues and Jazz Band is a now venerable institution. Originally founded in 1973 by King Oliver's trombonist /blues singer Clyde Bernhardt and the jazz aficionado Al Volmer, it is dedicated to keeping the significant side-men of the Classic Jazz period working and not forgotten. Since those early beginnings, an impressive number of musicians from the classic era have moved through this group's ranks, often until attrition forces the band to replace them. Through it all the band's authenticity to the music is retained while providing these journeymen musicians a reason to still play and giving the listeners an important link to the music's heritage.

The Harlem Blues and Jazz Band play the penthouse of One Museum Mile

Predominantly a blues and swing era band, Vollmer is still managing the latest edition of the group. On this evening the band consisted of the trumpeter and singer Joey Morant , Fred Staton on tenor saxophone, Art Barron in the trombone chair and Fred Wurtzel, the guitarist. The rhythm section included pianist Reynold "Zeke" Mullins, bassist Michael Max Fleming and drummer Jackie Williams.

Tenor Saxophonist Fred Staton

All veterans of an era gone by, Fred Staton logged in as the elder statesman at ninety-seven and still going strong. The group exhibited grace and vitality as it went through a repertoire that included Ellington standards like "Take the A Train" , "In a Mellow Tone" and "C Jam Blues." Trumpet player and de facto master of ceremonies Joey Morant, sang the Armstrong classics "What a Wonderful World" and "When the Saints Go Marching In" , punctuating the music with poignant trumpet solos complete with plunger mute in the tradition of Ellington mainstay "Cootie" Williams.

Trombonist Art Baron

Art Barron, who was a one time member of the Ellington Orchestra, did a fine job resurrecting the spirit of Ellington trombonist "Tricky" Sam Nanton, as he slurred and muted his instrument to create a plethora of unusual sounds. He would often team up with tenorist Fred Staton in a tag team of call and response. Staton's hushed tenor sound was smokey and warm; somewhere between Lester Young and Ben Webster. Staton is the brother of the late singer Dakota Staton and has played with Earl Hines among others. Reynold "Zeke" Mullins was holding down the piano duties on the electric keyboards. You could barely see his eyes under his NY Yankees cap. Mullins was a frequent collaborator with the great Lionel Hampton's band. The stately Michael Max Fleming, whose tall lean appearance was the human embodiment of his instrument the upright bass, stabilized the bottom and kept the groove on track. Fleming made his bones playing with childhood friend and multi-reed player Rahsaan Roland Kirk as well as Eddie "Cleanhead" Vincent and backed up the singer Sammy Davis Jr.

The Bassist Michael Max Fleming

The drummer Jackie Williams kept impeccable time on the traps. Williams has anchored groups with Milt Hinton, Buddy Tate and Illinois Jacquet to name just a few.Guitarist Ed Wurtzel was heard on his hollow bodied guitar deftly comping behind the band and soloing with gusto especially on "C Jam Blues."

With showmanship and joy that belies their age, the Harlem Blues and Jazz Band is a living tribute to classic jazz from the swing era and a treasure to anyone who appreciates the fine tradition they are keeping alive. As a working band that has done tours all over the United States, Europe and Scandinavia this group shows no signs of letting age get in the way of their love of this music. Catch them if you can.

The Ubiquitous Bellow of Gary Smulyan's Barritone

2012-09-24T20:13:00.001-07:00

As you might suspect, not all albums I receive and listen to are wonderful let alone review worthy. As fate would have it, I recently listened to three separate albums that each, independently, piqued my interest. Curiously they all had the one unifying factor, the gutsy baritone saxophone sound of Gary Smulyan.

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Smul's Paradise is Gary Smulyan's most recent album as a leader and a smoking hot representation of one of my favorite formats, the organ trio. This one has the added twist of including Smulyan's brash baritone as a fourth instrument in this proven format and it works amazingly well.

When you enter the door to this imaginary lounge, Smul's Paradise, you are entering a smoke filled world of dimmed lights and red velvet fabric. A world of pleated leather lined booths, dingy, plush carpeting and a compact bandstand stuffed into a corner opposite the shiny mahogany bar where peroxide ladies wait anxiously for the next song or the next prince charming to sweep them off their feet. In this world of late nights and cheap drinks, the classic guitar/organ/drums format ruled and was often the lounge's only redeeming reason for staying in business. In Smul's edition it is comprised of Mike LeDonne on Hammond B3, Peter Bernstein on electric guitar and Kenny Washington on drums with Gary Smulyan's big, bad baritone shaking the place with his brash soulful sound.

The group starts out with a rip roaring take of the Bobby Hebb classic "Sunny". Despite the innumerable versions you might have heard of this one, you haven't heard it with Smulyan's throaty baritone leading the way. His facility on this awkwardly sized horn, that seems to be as big as he is, is amazing. He handles its breathy demands like he has learned to harness the gust of a hurricane. Where as players like Pepper Adams, Serge Chaloff, Harry Carney or the large and lanky Gerry Mulligan seem to fit their horn, Smulyan somehow makes the horn fit within his more compact stature.

One unified inspiration for this particular group of musicians is the music of the late and under appreciated organist Don Patterson and on Patterson's "Up In Betty's Room" we find Smul's aggressive attack on his horn to be the perfect foil for Peter Bernstein's mellow guitar lines. Organist Mike LeDonne and drummer Kenny Washington create a swinging undercurrent that allows Smulyan the perfect canvas on which to create his exploratory dablings. He does this with a palpable exuberance that carries you into the cyclonic swirl of his playing.

On his self-penned "Smul's Paradise" , the Pepper Adams connection is apparent. The complex opening is played in tight unison with Peter Bernstein's fluid guitar. Smulyan breaks into a rousing baritone solo, charging in delivery, but with a buoyancy that defies the gravitational pull often associated with the low register that dominates this instrument. The brilliant exchange of ideas between Smulyan's horn and drummer Kenny Washington's brushes is an example of almost telepathic interplay.

On tenor man George Coleman's "Little Miss Half-Step", Smulyan starts off in a medium tempo and slowly accelerates to a heart racing double time, pushing his rhythmic partners into a frenzy. The baritone master makes his lumbering instrument sing with exquisite grace and nimbleness. He belts chorus upon chorus of rapidly forming ideas with a seemingly inexhaustible reservoir of energy. Some fine interplay between Washington and Bernstein and then Washington and LeDonne complete this multi-layered conversation.

The group revisits Don Patterson's work with his composition "Aries". This evocative ballad is the perfect vehicle for Peter Bernstein's honey toned, semi-hollow bodied guitar work, reminiscent of Kenny Burrell.
B3 master Le Donne plays a wonderfully soulful solo that you find yourself shaking your head "yes" to as it unfolds. Smulyan somehow manages to get just the right emotional balance from his horn, part wailing and part yearning and then in a dramatic ending he creates a torrent of musical ideas that envelop you like low lying fog coming off a distant shore.

On "Blues for DP", a dedication to Don Patterson, the group gains its stride. Bernstein's solo work is particularly tasty and LeDonne seems in his element with his mastery of the nuances of the soulful B3.

"Heavenly Hours" is a Smulyan composition that is a play on "Seven Steps to Heaven" intertwined with he melody from "My Shining Hour". This is perhaps the most impressive display of the intuitive interplay between Washington and Smulyan. The baritone leads the way and the drummer instantly responds in kind creating an extraordinary dialogue that feeds off each others ideas so perfectly it s hard to imagine it was created on the spot.

Capri-74118-2

As good as Smulyan's solo album Smul's Paradise is his appearances on two other albums deserves mention. On the American Jazz Institute's Ellington Saxophone Encounters composer, arranger and band leader Mark Masters collaborated with Smulyan to recreate a modern version of some of Ellington's classic big band era songs.Here Smulyan takes over the role of the master swing-era baritone player of the Ellington Band, Harry Carney, another of Smulyan's idols.

The album has a brilliant array of musician's who together recreate a sound that is respectful to the original material but modernistic in its approach. Arranger and producer Mark Masters assembled veteran reed players Gary Foster, Pete Cristlieb, Don Shelton, Gene Cipriani; drummer Joe LaBarbera, pianist Bill Cunliffe and bassist Tom Warrington, along with Smulyan's baritone to recreate some of Duke's most memorable saxophone driven melodies.

On "Esquire Swank," Smulyan transforms the normally biting delivery of his baritone to the full bodied and flowing sound that was Harry Carney's imprimatur on the Ellington legacy. Pete Cristlieb offers his own high powered solo on tenor in deference to Ellington's often featured alto soloist Johnny Hodges. On "The Line Up" this enviable reed section features some beautiful ensemble work that is true to the Ellington tradition yet is surprisingly fresh and contemporary. Smulyan adds a bellowing bari solo that is both explosive and beautiful. On "Lawrence Brown's Blues" Smulyan's entering solo sets the stage for this swinger. His Carney influenced mellifluous sound bursts with his own impressive fusillade of ideas.

Perhaps Smulyan's most poignant work can be heard on Carney's bittersweet "We're in Love Again". Gary plays this with a heartfelt sensitivity of someone who is has made his horn an extension of his being. Smuylan's dynamics and tone are evocative of a time when the big bands ruled ; part Harry Carney, part Ben Webster, It was a time when saxophonists like these and the altoist Johnny Hodges cooed Ellington crowds with their impassioned saxophone solos. Smulyan makes other important contributions to songs like " Jeep's Blues" , Rockin In Rhythm" and especially "The Happening". The album is a veritable powerhouse of big band music at its best with some marvelous performances throughout. A must have for Ellington aficionados.

Motema MTM-97

As if these two representations were not enough to cement Smulyan's reputation, along comes producer and biographer Gary Carner's dedication to baritone great Pepper Adams. The story about how this album and the music came about is a heart rendering testament to Carner's dedication to the spirit of this sometimes neglected but highly respected artist. On Joy Road Sampler Carner has sampled songs from four separate albums he has produced and distributed with Motema Records all featuring the music of Pepper Adams, all with different artists. Who better to feature playing some these songs than Gary Smulyan, perhaps the greatest disciple of the Adams baritone sound.

The album is on whole a wonderful display of Adams music with performances by pianists Jeremy Kahn and Kevin Bales, singer Alexis Cole and baritone saxophonist Frank Basile, as well as Smulyan, who is featured on two selections. \

The opening Latin infused cooker, Adams "Enchilada Baby," finds Smulyan pulsing the rollicking melody with his firebrand, textured sound. His effortless movement throughout the range of the horn is impressive and his delivery and biting embouchure is vintage Adams. If there was any doubt who was carrying on Pepper's tradition there is no more. Despite the obvious influence, Gary Smulyan has used his love of Adams work as a point of departure rather than using it as a comfortable home base.

A cooking Pepper Adams tune "Binary," which doesn't feature Smulyan, is skillfully performed by bari-player Frank Basile's Sextet with some biting trumpet work by Joe Magnarelli and a wonderful trombone solo by John Mosca. It is one of the last sessions to feature the late bassist Dennis Irwin and it really burns.

"Julian" is slow, beautifully written ballad that Pepper dedicated to the spirit of altoist Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, one of my favorite players. The pianist Jeremy Kahn with his trio mates Rob Asher on bass and George Fludas on drums accompany Smulyan's deeply emotive solo brilliantly. This is perhaps my favorite Smulyan performance as it combines sustained virtuosity with unbridled emotional impact. Smulyan manages to finish the piece with a lyrically powerful cascade of notes, a beautiful coda to a marvelous piece of music.

The week of September 24- 30th in Manhattan will be celebrated as Pepper Adams Joy Road Celebration with shows featuring his music at the Village Vanguard, Smoke Jazz Club, Smalls Jazz Club The Red Rooster in Harlem and Birdland. Gary Smulyan will be an integral part of many of these shows so if you haven't seen him yet now is as good a time as any.

Here is "Sunny" from the new album Smul's Paradise

Young Gary Soloing on Pepper's "Three and One" with the Village Vanguard Orchestra in Lugano, Switzerland 1985

Casting for Gravity Donny McCaslin's Adventurous Journey into the Unknown

2012-09-09T18:43:00.003-07:00

"Casting for Gravity" GRE=1028

The saxophonist Donny McCaslin has been steadily adding to a body of work that is firmly establishing him as a powerful voice in modern creative music. As a in-demand sideman on such interesting recent efforts like Ryan Truesdale’s Gil Evans Project Centennial , a valued member of trumpeter Dave Douglas’s Quintet and Maria Schneider’s Orchestra, or on his own recent impressive efforts as a leader on albums like Recommended Tools, Declaration and PerpetualMotion, watching McCaslin mature is like watching a seedling develop into a mighty oak. As with any artist who is pushing his boundaries there are moments of brilliance and moments of disappointment, but for the most part McCaslin has consistently moved the bar higher and higher.

If music as art has the higher purpose to move its audience, than certainly McCaslin is a successful artist, as he seems to do so with a force of nature approach to his instrument. His latest offering Castingfor Gravity is a case in point. After dipping his toe in the waters of electro/acoustic music in his last album Perpetual Motion, McCaslin has decided to explore what full integration into electronica can bring to his musical palette. He wants to make music that can utilize, as he says, “…more sonic layers” which he hopes will challenge him into deeper exploratory terrain. It may also be a way for him to expand his following by tapping into more modern musical influences and fusing them with his own brand of artistry. Lord knows jazz needs to expand its musical audience.

He is joined here by the keyboardist Jason Lindner, the electric bassist Tim LeFebvre and the cyclonic drummer Mark Guiliana. The visionary alto saxophonist and producer David Binney adds a composition, vocals and synthesizers to the mix. These musicians bring their own kind of ionically charged energy to this album.

McCaslin claims influence for some of this album came from Britiish electronica musician Richard D. James, who performs under the pseudonym of Aphex Twin and from the Scottish duo Boards of Canada whose song “Alpha and Omega” he uses as the jumping off point for his own jet fueled excursion.

I am particularly taken by McCaslin and Guiliana together in such pieces like the ever ascending “Stadium Jazz” and the staccato “Tension”. It is as if these two atomic reactors combine in harmonic resonance creating a fusion like implosion of energy.. Lindner’s driving piano and synthesizer and Lefebvre pulsing bass work in lock step to produce the firm rhythmic background that allows these two seemingly unstoppable forces to probe forward into the abyss.

“Losing Track of Daylight” is perhaps the most groove-based of the compositions, with LeFebvre’s pliant bass lines leading the way behind Guiliana’s in-the-pocket playing. Lindner’s expansive keyboard creates an airy, floating sound that dances over cloud like layers of shimmering cymbals and snapping snares. McCaslin honks his way in a playful but penetrating display of horn dynamics.

The multilayered “Alpha and Omega” is a demonstration of “the layered sound” that McCaslin is trying to create. With its repeating saxophone and synthesizer motif setting the landscape for Guiliana’s explosive drum outbursts the mood created is eerily hypnotic.

On Binney’s crescendo building “Praia Grande” the group dynamic is at its most unified and McCaslin’s tenor soars with unrestrained energy and unbridled passion.

The title track “Casting for Gravity” has LeFebvre playing the opening line on his electric bass in a guitar-like riff with Guiliana’s cadenced drum work reminiscent of the early electronica group Portishead. McCaslin slowly enters with a repeating serpentine saxophone call that pre-dominates the rest of the tune to its coda.

“Henry” is a softer more introspective piece named after McCaslin’s infant son. Sensitively played by Lindner on a electric piano with a distinctively dreamy sound. The group seem to find an inner gentleness on this one that is quite compelling. McCaslin’s warm, probing sound is fluid and emotive; a father’s tender call out to his son. As the group warms up to the increased tempo, the intensity follows but never upstages the underlying love that seems to pour from McCaslin’s horn.

In many ways McCaslin’s journey into electronica is like a journey into the unknown. He is Casting for Gravity when he goes into this realm and it will not be for everyone, but it courageous and a powerful musical statement that has moments of brilliance and maybe prove to be an important portal for expanding the shrinking jazz audience

Musicians: Donny McCaslin, Tenor Saxophone; Jason Lindner, Electric and Acoustic Pianos, Synthesizers; Tim Lefebvre, Electric Bass; Mark Guiliana Drums, David Binney, vocals and additional sythesizers.

Basking in the Sweet Sounds of Trumpeter Tom Harrell’s latest "Number Five'"

2012-09-02T10:56:00.003-07:00

From the opening notes of Tom Harrell’s latest High Note release Number Five you are catapulted into a break neck duet between the smooth as silk trumpeter and his equally cacophonous drummer Johnathan Blake. “Dizzy Gillespie’s “ Blues N’ Boogie” roars out of the gates of this fine album with a confident swagger and deliberate bravado. The tight interplay belies precision with just the right amount of extemporaneous spontaneity.

Harrell’s beautiful “Right As Rain” takes a distinctively more gentle approach to win you over. On this sensitive ballad, the front line of Harrell on trumpet and Wayne Escoffery on tenor play a sleepily descending line, creating the aural effect of cascading water over smoothened river rocks. Escoffery’s tone is warm and compliments Harrell’s equally burnished sound. Blake’s cymbal work is subtly effective.

The title track is Harrell’s “No. 5”, a straight ahead swinger, is the first tune to feature the full quintet. Harrell’s lead is both harmonically rich and tonally resplendent. Escoffery offers a flowing and fiery tenor solo that is as hot and unstoppable as liquid lava in motion. The song also features nice solos by pianist Danny Grissett, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and a stirring trap solo by Blake.

Perhaps the most beautiful piece on the album is Harrell’s “Journey to the Stars”, it is a simple repeating piano motif played lovingly by Grissett over which Harrell plays some gorgeous Flugelhorn explorations. The sparse treatment is extremely effective in creating poignancy, carrying you away to the stars of Harrell’s musical mind.. Harrell overdubs a series of muted trumpet accompaniments that project a sense of majesty to the journey. Grissett offers an emotionally stirring solo demonstrating a tender touch.

It becomes obvious that Harrell’s approach to music is all encompassing with many unexpected twists and turns that keep you always on your feet. From the peaceful galactic travel of “Journey to the Stars” we step right into a free piece titled “GT”, the longest piece of the album at almost nine minutes. Escoffery’s tenor solo is the highlight with a blistering torrent of notes pouring from his horn in an uninterrupted flow of consciousness. Some nice spatial playing by Okegwo and Blake finish this barely structured piece.

Harrell is quite cognizant of the palette of colors he has available to him when creating his music. Here on his penetrating ballad “Present” he utilizes the warm tones of his Flugelhorn mixing nicely with Grissett’s distinctively tinkling Fender Rhodes sound and Blake’s wet cymbal work to create his images. The tight implicit interactions of this ensemble are the fruits of many hours of these musicians working closely together, clearly with Harrell’s vision in mind, creating one of the most exciting and inventive ensembles in jazz today. As a friend of Mr. Harrell’s on Facebook I have seen he often posts pictures of his group as it tours the world. The obvious camaraderie that shows so well in his pictures is equally apparent in his music. This group genuinely enjoys playing together.

Daringly, Harrell interspersed this album with multiple instrument line ups. He offers duets between drums and trumpet or piano and trumpet, the trio format as well as the full quintet with the only unifying factor being Harrell’s ubiquitous presence.

On “Star Eyes” Harrell goes it totally solo. With a lead in from "Night in Tunisa" there is no lack of creativity flowing from this man’s horn as he negotiates the changes in his own unique way. His sense of time is exquisite, but it is his supreme sense of lyricism that is most impressive. “Star Eyes” is a standout solo performance of unfettered spontaneity and a lesson in how expressive unaccompanied trumpet can be.

The album finishes off with “Preludium” a study in how to change a six bar practice arrangement from Vincent Persichetti’s book on “Harmony, Creative Aspects and Practice’ into a thoughtful exploratory piece of music.

Harrell’s haunting trumpet sound on “The Question” opens this probing piece of music. Grissett again marvels with his deft use of the Fender Rhodes, someone who is growing exponentially. Escoffery’s tone is exceptionally warm and full.

“Melody in B Flat” is a hard swinging ensemble piece that once again features the entire quintet. Johnathan Blake’s pulsing trap work drives this train, with Escoffery again playing some inspired tenor.

The album closes out almost introspectively with Harrell’s solo, sotto voce version of Tadd Dameron’s “ A Bluetime”. Enough said.

Make no mistake, despite some fine individual performances on the album, it is the leader Tom Harrell’s vision that makes NumberFive such a top notch offering. The precise ensemble playing, his fine compositions, deft arrangements and his own imaginative playing, along with his ability to preserve spontaneity makes this one a must have for any serious jazz lover.

Here is a videos of the Tom Harrell Qunitet and their wonderful music.

Notes on Jazz Third Annual 4th of July Living Legends of Jazz

2012-07-01T08:51:00.002-07:00

Once again it is time for my annual Notes on Jazz listing of the Living Legend of Jazz. This is the third annual compilation and with each year we gain some new members and sadly lose some old friends. The list is a celebration of those who have, for so long, graced us with their talents, their creativity and their love of the music.

Last year we saw the passing of some truly venerable legends. Musicians, performers, innovators, teachers and mentors who made an indelible mark on society at large and on the music in particular. Some were famous, some infamous and all will be missed.

This fraternity of Jazz Legends lost two drummers. A onetime member of both the Ellington and Basie band’s drummer Butch Ballard passed at the age of 92. The eclectic rhythm machine, Paul Motian, who together with bassist Scott LaFaro and pianist Bill Evans formed what was perhaps the most influential piano trio of the last fifty years, died this year at age 80. The rhythm and blues drummer/singer.
Johnny Otis, whose true name was John Veliotes, was Greek by birth but chose to live the life of a black man. A man imbued with the music that moved his soul. He passed this year at the age of 90.

The prolific studio musician, teacher and trumpeter Uan Rasey, was one of those players whose name was mostly unknown to the general public. It was Rasey’s playing, however, that will transcend time, especially his haunting trumpet solo on Roman Polanski's Chinatown. Rasey passed at the age of 80. West Coast Dixieland trumpet player Ernie Carson passed at age 74.

Four saxophonists that made their mark in their own unique ways left us with the passing of legends "Shiny Stockings” composer.Frank Foster at age 82, James “Red" Holloway age 84, Hal McKusick at age 87 and the free spirit Sam Rivers at age 88. Pianist Walter Norris, who played with Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman, passed in Germany at the age of 80. Pianist Al Vega, a fixture for years in the Boston area died at age 90.The forward looking vibraphonist/drummer/composer Teddy Charles passed this year at age 84.

Three composer/arrangers, who each contributed to the cannon of the music, were lost this year. Their music will survive. Bob Brookmeyer was both a fine trombonist, and pianist as well as a formidable composer and arranger, whose big band arrangements combined the elegance of the Ellington era sound with his own contemporary ideas. He was an influential teacher who mentored a new breed of arranger/composers who are creating a Renascence in contemporary big band music. He died this year at the age of 81. Arranger Clare Fischer worked with such varied artists as Dizzy Gillespie and Prince. The pianist Herbie Hancock has credited Fischer as being a major influence on his own harmonic concept. Fischer passed away this year at the age of 83. Pete Rugulo was a well known arranger who charted songs for the Stan Kenton orchestra and worked with singers Nat Cole, June Christy, Mel Tormé and Dinah Washington. Mr. Rugulo was also active in film music. He passed this year at the age of 95. Lastly we lost the singer Etta James, whose voice on her hit "At Last” will be forever remembered by her legion of followers.Ms. James was 73.

The music has proven time and again that despite losing its legends to the vagaries of time, it is a durable art form, a resilient performance art that is beyond categorization.As some pass through touching us briefly with their artistry, there are always others who come into our orbit introducing new and exciting ideas and fresh musical concepts. The music continues to expand, organically thriving with every generation, as new musicians create from the infrastructure laid down by those who have blazed the path before them.
I continue to believe that Jazz is an art form that has become the most internationally cooperative means of communication in the world today.

On this fourth of July let our passion for the music continue with this yearly celebration of these communicators, those who have been and continue to be so instrumental in bringing us this music we love so much.

Here is my expanded list of veteran players, all at least seventy years of age, who in some way helped shape the music. I am sure to have missed some worthy contributors to the musical canon. My sincerest apologies for any inadvertent omissions. I welcome comments from readers who may know of deserving musicians who I should add to this list so that it can be more complete next year and a great big thank you to each and every one of this year’s celebrants.

LIVING JAZZ LEGENDS: July 4, 2012

Saxophonists/ Reed Instruments:

Pharaoh Sanders, Gary Bartz, Peter Brotzmann, Roscoe Mitchell and Bennie Maupin (71), Arthur Bythe, Hamiet Bluiett, Wilton Felder, Joe McPhee, Charles McPherson, Carlos Ward, Paul Winter and Lew Tabakin (72), Odean Pope, Zibigniew Namyslowski, Charles Gayle, Sonny Fortune and George Braith (73) James Spaulding, Charles Lloyd, Carlos Garnett, Joseph Jarman (74) Archie Shepp, Nathan Davis, Frank Strozier and Jim Galloway (75) Klaus Doldinger, John Tchicai, Gary N. Foster, Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre and Don Menza (76) Giuseppi Logan, Jimmy Woods, Houston Person, George Coleman and Bunky Green (77 Lanny Morgan, and Wayne Shorter (78) Lol Coxhill, Sadao Watanabe, Charlie Davis, Gato Barbieri and John Handy III (79) Phil Woods and Plas Johnson Jr.(80) Sonny Rollins (81), Ornette Coleman and Gabe Baltazar (82)Joe Temperley, Harold Ousley, Herb Geller and Benny Golson (83) Carl Janelli,Lee Konitz and Bob Wilber (84), Big Jay McNeeley, Med Flory, Dick Hafer, Lou Donaldson and Jimmy Heath (85), Marshall Allen and Earle“Von”Freeman (88), Frank Wess (90), Yusef Lateef (91), Harold Joseph “Hal”“Cornbread” Singer (92).

Pianists:

Connie Crothers, Stanley Cowell, Armando“Chick”Corea, Mike Nock, Sergio Mendes and David Burrell (71), Herbie Hancock, Bob James, Charles Brackeen and Roger Kellaway (72), McCoy Tyner, Mike Longo, Joe Sample, Gap Mangione, Jon Mayer, Joanne Brackeen and Warren Bernhardt (73) Denny Zeitlin, Steve Kuhn and John Coates Jr. (73), Eddie Palmieri and Kirk Lightsey (75), Les McCann, Carla Bley and Harold Mabern (76), Ramsey Lewis ,Pat Rebillot, Ran Blake, Don Friedman,Oliver Jones, Ellis Marsalis Jr. and Abdullah Ibrahim (Dollar Brand), Dave Grusin and Misha Mengelberg(77)Pat Moran (McCoy)

(78) Cedar Walton, Paul Bley, and Larry Novak (79, Bengt Hallberg , Jack Reilly, George Gruntz, Derek Smith and Michel LeGrand (80, Muhal Richard Abrams and Horace Parlan (81) Amhad Jamal, Frank Strazzeri, Richard Wyands, Claude Bolling, Barry Harris and Toshiko Akiyoshi (82),Cecil Taylor, Horace Silver and Junior Mance (83) Freddie Redd, Martial Solal and Mose Allison (84), Dick Hyman and Claude Williamson (85), Randy Weston (86), Barbara Carroll (87), Paul T. Smith (89), Dave Brubeck and Marty Napoleon (91), Bebo Valdes (93), Marian McPartland (94).

Bassists:
Steve Swallow (71), Ed “Butch” Warren, Don Thompson andEberhard Weber (72), Mario Pavone (73), Larry Ridley, Reggie Workman and Charlie Haden (74), Ron Carter and Chuck Israels (75), Buell Nedlinger and Henry Grimes (76),Gary Peacock and Cecil McBee (77), Bob Cranshaw and Jack Six (79) Ron Crotty and Richard Davis (82), Bill Crow (84), Jymie Merritt (86) Eugene "The Senator “Wright (89), Howard Rumsey (94), Coleridge Goode (97).

Trumpet/Cornet/ Flugelhorn:
Eddie Henderson, Palle Mikkelborg and Chuck Mangione (71), Enrico Rava (72), Marvin Stamm and Hugh Masekela (73), Guido Basso (74), Ed Polcer (75), Chuck Flores, Ted Curson and Bobby Bradford (77) Donald Byrd (79), Jack Sheldon and Dusko Gojkovic (80), Alphonso “Dizzy” Reese, Louis Smith and Ira Sullivan (81), Sam Noto and Kenny Wheeler (82), Carl “Doc” Severinson (84), Joe Wilder (90), Clark Terry (91) Thomas Jefferson (92),Gerald Wilson (93 ).Lionel Ferbos (100)

Bucky Pizzarelli photo by Rick Gilbert 2012

Guitarists:
James Blood Ulmer and John McLaughlin (70), Jerry Hahn (71), Ralph Towner (72), Gene Bertoncini and Joe D’Iorio (75), Sonny Greenwich (76), Ed Bickert (79) Kenny Burrell (80), Jim Hall, Joao Gilberto and John Pisano (81),Martin “Marty” Grosz (82) Eddie Duran and, Bucky Pizzarelli (86), Mundell Lowe and Johnny Smith (90).

Trombonists:
James “Dick” Griffin and Wayne Henderson (72) Billy Watrous (73), Grachan Moncur III, Phillip Elder Wilson and “Big” Bill Bissonnette (75), Roswell Rudd (76), Julian Priester and Curtis Fuller (77) Locksley "Slide" Hampton (80), Santo "Sonny' Russo (83). George “Buster” Copper, Harold Betters and Conrad Janis (84), George Masso and Urbie Green (85) and Eddie Bert (90), Herbie Harper (92).

Drummers/Percussionists:
Jack DeJohnette (70 in August) Billy Hart (71), Andrew Cyrille, Ginger Baker Pierre Courbois and Idris Muhammad (72), Bernard Purdie, Issac “Redd” Holt, Nesbert “Stix” Hooper (73) and Tony Oxley (74),Pete LaRoca (Sims), Horace Arnold, Paul Ferrara, Daniel Humair and Edwin Marshall (74), Louis Hayes, James “Sunny” Murray, Charly Antolini, Colin Bailey and Roy McCurdy (75), Albert “Tootie” Heath and Chuck Flores (77), Donald “Duck” Bailey, Ben Riley and Ray Mosca (78), Mickey Roker Frank Capp and Grady Tate (80) Ronnie Bedford (81),) John Armatage (82), Hal Blaine, Jimmy Cobb, Charlie Persip (83), Joe Harris (85), Roy Haynes and Samuel “Dave” Bailey (86), Armando Peraza (88), Percy Brice and Al Harewood (89), Foreststorn “Chico” Hamilton (90) and Candido Camero (91)

Organists:
Mac “Dr John” Rebbenack (71)“ Papa” John De Francesco), Brian Auger (72), Rhoda Scott (74), Reuben Wilson (77), and Sir Charles Thompson (94).

Jazz Vocalists:
Gilberto Gil (70) ,Janet Lawson (71), Astrud Gilberto and Al Jarreau and Mary Stallings (72), Ruth Price and Ellyn Ruker (74), Nancy Wilson, Carol Sloane, Karin Krog and Sathima Bea Benjamin (75) Marlene Ver Planck and David Frishberg piano/vocals (79), Freddy Cole and Mark Murphy (80), Gloria Lynne (80), Annie Ross (81), Sheila Jordan and Ernestine Anderson (83), Cleo Laine,Jackie Cain and Ernie Andrews (84),Tony Bennett (85) Bill Henderson and Jimmy Scott (86) Bob Dorough (88) Jon Hendricks (90), Helen Merrill (92) ,Herb Jeffries (98).

Artists on Other Instruments:
Bobby Hutcherson and Roy Ayers, vibraphonists and Lonnie Liston Smith, keyboardist (71) and Hubert Laws, flautist (72) , Perry Morris Robinson, clarinetist (73) Gunter Hampel, multi-instrumentalist, Charlie Shoemake, vibraphonist , Dave Pike, vibraphonist/marimba and Mike Maineri, vibraphonist (74) Hermeto Pascoal, accordion & keyboards (76) Reuben Wilson, organist (77) Joe Licari, clarinetist, Sonny Simmons sax and English Horn, Warren Chiasson vibraphonist (78),Michael White, violin and Emil Richards, vibes and percussion (79) David Baker composer/cellist (80), Frank Marocco, accordion, Pierre "Pete" Fountain, clarinetist and Sam Most, flautist (81), Rolf Kuhn, clarinetists and Paul Horn, flautist (82), Bernard “ Acker” Bilk, clarinetist, Peter Appleyard, vibraphonist and Andre Previn conductor/pianist (83), Terry Gibbs, vibraphonist and George Wein, Pianist/ Concert Promoter (87), Rudy Van Gelder, recording engineer (87), Sammy Nestico pianist/arranger and Buddy DeFranco, clarinetist (88) Lorraine Gordon music producer and Owner of the Village Vanguard(89),Jean “Toots” Thielmans, harmonica/guitar/whistler (90), Svend Asmussen, violinist (96).

Many thanks to photographers Fran Kaufman and Rick Gilbert for graciously allowing me to use their wonderful photographs.