Steph Richards: Power Vibe

  Trumpeter and flugelhornist Steph Richards combines commanding technique with a bountiful musical imagination on Power Vibe. She gets devoted assistance from her band, with the versatile Joshua White on piano, the always impressive Stomu Takeishi on acoustic and electric basses, and the highly skilled Gerald Cleaver on drums. There’s also Max Jaffe, who supplies “sensory electronics” triggered by drum-mounted sensors on the studio tracks. He gets behind the drumkit for Supersense, the final track, recorded in concert in Bolzano, Italy. Richards’ original compositions put a lot of faith into her bandmates, with anyone in the group free to move the music into another direction. The results are absorbing and playful, with Jaffe’s generally subtle electronic textures adding another element of unpredictability into the music. There’s an appealing spaciousness in the ensemble’s sound, with almost endless possibilities as the tunes develop. One of the standout pieces is Moutons, where bold trumpet lines are surrounded by tinkly piano, bass rumbles, excitable drums, and a dollop of mild electronics. But on every piece, there’s obvious trust among the musicians that something very interesting is going on, and astute listeners will find plenty to enjoy. Recommended. 

Northern Spy NS 164; Steph Richards (tpt, flgh) Joshua White (p) Stomu Takeishi (b, electric bass guitar) Gerald Cleaver (d, exc on *) Max Jaffe (sensory electronics; d on *); Brooklyn, NY, no dates indicated; Prey/ Power Vibe/ October to July/ Moutons/ Reculez/ Supersense (Live in Bolzano)*; 40:06. northernspyrecs.com 

Alice Coltrane: The Carnegie Hall Concert

 

    It was quite a band that pianist and harpist Alice Coltrane assembled for a all-star benefit in February 1971 to raise funds for the Integral Yoga Institute run by her guru, Swami Satchidananda. Pharoah Sanders and Archie Shepp were the saxophonists, Jimmy Garrison and Cecil McBee each played bass, and Ed Blackwell and Clifford Jarvis were the drummers. Also present were Tulsi playing tamboura, and Kumar Kramer on harmonium. It’s taken many decades for this music to finally appear as The Carnegie Hall Concert, thanks to Ed Michel, who supervised the recording after producing Alice Coltrane’s Impulse albums Ptah, The El Daoud and Journey In Satchidananda. The original 4-track tapes have been lost, and all we have now is a reference mix that Michel made back in the Seventies. In his extensive and highly entertaining liner notes for this release, he notes the mix he made yielded a “quality being about 80 to 95% of that of the ‘master mix’”. With some modern processing tweaks, it sounds pretty good, although a dearth of microphones means Tulsi and Kramer are barely audible. The 80-minute program consists of four long performances. In order, there are two tunes composed by Alice Coltrane (both the title track and Shiva-Loka from the just-released Journey In Satchidananda) and two written by John Coltrane, Africa, from his 1961 Africa/Brass album, and Leo, first recorded in 1966 with Alice Coltrane on piano. The first two pieces unfold as distinctly spiritual and “within a specifically Vedic context - in sound and message,” as Lauren Du Graf testifies in her liner essay for this release. The drummers begin Africa in a blaze of tom-toms and cymbals before Alice enters on piano to set up the saxes for the main theme. It’s a boisterous and invigorating performance that maintains its high-spirited intensity for half an hour, notable for Shepp’s lengthy tenor solo and Alice’s powerful piano work. It is worth noting that according to Du Graf there were “no group rehearsals,” making the cohesiveness of the large ensemble a bit of a surprise and a testament to Alice Coltrane’s vision and tenacity. The closing performance of Leo features more of Alice’s piano and a drum duet for Blackwell and Jarvis before the saxophonists lead the ensemble for the closing crescendo. It was a rather strange evening at Carnegie Hall. Opening the concert was Laura Nyro, another devotee of Satchidananda, with a 20-minute set of solo piano and vocals. Next up was the Alice Coltrane band, who were asked to keep things short to make room for the closing act, the Rascals. That band’s singer and organist Felix Cavaliere was also a disciple of Satchidananda, and he notes that “The spirit of that event took hold from the beginning ... I kind of remember the spaciousness… I'm sure the audience was a little overwhelmed because it was kind of hard to figure out what exactly was happening up there.” Even so, you can hear the enthusiasm of the crowd at the conclusion of Africa, when the group had already been on stage for an hour. All in all, The Carnegie Hall Concert is an amazing document of an almost-lost performance and a fascinating chapter in the development of modern music. Impulse!; Pharoah Sanders (ts, ss, fl, fife, perc) Archie Shepp (ts, ss, perc) Alice Coltrane (p, harp, perc) Jimmy Garrison, Cecil McBee (b) Ed Blackwell, Clifford Jarvis (d) Tulsi (tamboura) Kumar Kramer (harmonium); NYC, February 21, 1971; Journey in Satchidananda/ Shiva-Loka/ Africa/ Leo; 79:29. www.impulserecords.com

John Alvey: Loft Glow

  Drummer John Alvey grew up with a musical father, pianist Michael Alvey, who encouraged his son in many ways, including finding him a first-rate drum teacher and exposing him to a lot of recorded jazz. Eventually, father and son played together for seven years in a trio that had a steady gig in his home town of Nashville. Loft Glow, John Alvey’s first album as a leader, has been a long time coming. He’s performed with jazz players like Brian Lynch, Greg Tardy, and Joel Frahm, whose warm tenor sax is a welcome presence here. Alvey’s key influence, perhaps surprisingly for a drummer, is saxophonist and composer Benny Golson, who turned 95 this past January. The well-known and much loved Moanin’ album by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers was, he says, his first exposure to hard bop, and he couldn’t stop listening to it. Loft Glow is a winning effort, with music that swings from start to finish. Alvey, working closely with trombonist Roland Barber, selected a good batch of tunes, including his own Azure, which leads off the set in high style. The band, with Alvey and Barber joined by alto saxophonist Jovan Quallo, tenorman Joel Frahm, the dynamic Matt Endahl on piano, and bassist Jacob Jezioro is impressive from the start. They maintain their appealing sound throughout the varied program, which makes listening to the entire album at once a genuine pleasure. In addition to Alvey’s lead-off track, there are two other pieces by band members. Trombonist Barber contributes the gentle Winslow Nocturne, while Quallo offers his quietly grooving June 23. John Stubblefield’s Baby Man, a favorite of Mary Lou Williams, is performed with an appropriately bluesy and down-home feel, courtesy of Endahl’s deft pianism and Alvey’s relaxed beat. Barber’s old-fashioned trombone solo is a nice touch. Of course, the set includes a piece by Golson. From his many compositions, Alvey chose Terminal 1, the title track of a 2004 CD for Concord. It’s a lovely tune, imbued with Golson’s trademark lyricism, and a rollicking Frahm makes the most of it. Alvey gets a chance to shine as well, with a tasty drum solo that moves the music right along. The set ends with a soulful canter through Ron Carter’s Blues For D.P., which first appeared on Parfait (Milestone) in 1980. Loft Glow is an excellent debut release, well worth checking out.

Jazz Music City; Roland Barber (tbn) Jovan Quallo (as on 2,3,5,6) Joel Frahm (ts on 1,2,4-6) Matt Endahl (p) Jacob Jezioro (b) John Alvey (d); Nashville, TN, August 15, 2022 (2,3,5) or July 14, 2023 (1,4,6); 1.Azure/ 2.Winslow Nocturne/ 3.Baby Man/ 4.Terminal 1/ 5.June 23/ 6.Blues for D.P.; 45:49. johnalveymusic.com

Travis Reuter: Quintet Music

  Without a drummer as adept as Tyshawn Sorey to negotiate its fractured rhythms, guitarist Travis Reuter’s Quintet Music would not have been nearly as exciting and enjoyable as it turned out to be. Enlisting Sorey, along with tenor saxophonist Mark Shim, vibraphonist Peter Schlamb, and bassist Harish Raghavan, gives Reuter plenty of choices in his arrangements. Sometimes Shim and Reuter are blazing up front over the vibes, bass, and drums rhythm team. At other points, like when Schlamb is laying down a furious vibes solo on #13 F34, the saxophonist seems to act as part of the rhythm section. There’s a lot going on all the time in Reuter’s music, and it can seem a trifle nervous at times. That’s only one reason to be glad for the three interludes, short features for Reuter, Shim, and Schlamb. They aren’t devoted to unaccompanied solos. Instead, each piece is focused on an individual instrumental voice as an oasis of relief in the midst of the more complex pieces. Of the longer tracks, I’m especially fond of Fast Louis, which starts out with an excitable guitar line from Reuter and deeply engaged responses from Sorey. The entrance of Shim and Schlamb, at around the two-minute mark, ups the ante considerably. Reuter’s wild guitar solo towards the end of #9 Low/High 1 is another exciting high point in the program. #15 and Carrico Real deliver a slam-bang finish to Quintet Music. I, for one, am sorely tempted to take a couple of deep breaths, and start back at the beginning. Highly recommended! 

Self-produced (digital only); Mark Shim (ts) Peter Schlamb (vib) Travis Reuter (g) Harish Raghavan (ac b) Tyshawn Sorey (d); Brooklyn, NY, April 21-23, 2024, additional recording Bern, Switzerland, October 10, 2022; Same Song/ #13 F34/ Interlude 1 (Reuter)/ #8 D@z/ Fast Louis/ Interlude 1 (Shim)/ #9 Low/High 1/ Interlude 1 (Schlamb)/ #15/ Carrico Real; 45:17. www.travisreuter.com

Bobby Hutcherson: Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970

  Bob Blumenthal, in his typically comprehensive and thought-provoking style, begins his liner notes to the Classic Bobby Hutcherson Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 by writing that “every boxed set tells a story ...” In fact, this marvelous collection of Hutcherson albums tells more than one story. There’s the coming-of-age tale that Blumenthal identifies, but there at least two other stories lurking in this set. One is the ongoing evolution of the storied Blue Note label, as the music slowly changed over the course of the Sixties into more commercial directions. A third and more personal story is the close relationship between Hutcherson and Michael Cuscuna, late co-founder of Mosaic Records who passed away in April 2024. He ends a brief remembrance of Hutcherson in the booklet by writing that “It was an honor to spend chunks of my life with Bobby and [his widow] Rosemary.” It is altogether fitting that Cuscuna’s final project for Mosaic should be this Hutcherson collection. For dedicated jazz fans who have enjoyed Mosaic’s endeavors since their first release in 1983, it’s been an honor and a distinct pleasure to spend so much time with all the music that they’ve unearthed over the decades.

After arriving in New York in early 1963 with a band led by trombonist Al Grey, Hutcherson’s vibraphone playing came to the attention of another trombonist, Grachan Moncur III. Moncur, a much more exploratory musician than Al Grey, was in the process of forming an ensemble with alto saxophonist Jackie McLean. He thought Hutcherson would fit in well, which led to the vibraphonist’s first Blue Note appearance, on McLean’s One Step Beyond, recorded on April 30, 1963. Further sideman appearances on Blue Note and other labels came along throughout the year, and at the end of December, 1963, his first session as leader. The Kicker went unreleased at the time, finally seeing light of day in 1999. By the time the label shut its doors in 1979, only Hutcherson and Horace Silver still remained from the Fifties and Sixties. This package collects eleven albums, fitting them on seven CDs. Six of these (Dialogue, Components, Happenings, Stick-Up!, Total Eclipse, and San Francisco) were issued contemporaneously, while five more sessions (The Kicker, Spiral, Patterns, Medina, and Oblique) came out much later, in various vault issue programs headed by none other than Michael Cuscuna. These CDs have been sequenced in chronological order, so The Kicker comes first. Along the way, we get to hear such notables as trumpeter Freddie Hubbard, reedmen Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, James Spaulding, and the perpetually underrated Harold Land, and pianists Andrew Hill, McCoy Tyner, Herbie Hancock (1965-67), and Stanley Cowell (1968-69). On bass, the players include such luminaries as Richard Davis, Bob Cranshaw, Ron Carter, Reggie Workman, and Reggie Johnson. Joe Chambers is on drums for all but three of the dates. In typical Mosaic fashion, there are seven previously unissued alternates, and one previously unissued Stanley Cowell composition, Photon in a Paper World, recorded for the 1968 Medina album. There are three dozen atmospheric black and white photos taken by Blue Note co-founder Francis Wolff. Sound, as always, is impeccable, with the latest mastering techniques brought to bear via high-resolution transfers of the original analog tapes. 

Bobby Hutcherson was a wonderfully inventive and hard-swinging performer, particularly on marimba, a fine composer, and a genuine catalyst for group interaction. A previous Mosaic Select 3-CD set collected Hutcherson’s final five Blue Note albums from 1974-77. Classic Blue Note Sessions completes the picture of one of the most significant and influential vibraphonists of his era. Totally recommended. 

Mosaic MD7-278 (limited edition of 5,000 sets, available here; Disc 1 (74:48): The Kicker, Dialogue. Disc 2 (71:52): Dialogue concluded, Components. Disc 3 (69:51): Happenings. Disc 4 (71:06): Stick-Up!. Oblique. Disc 5 (75:32): Oblique concluded, Patterns. Disc 6 (78:56): Total Eclipse, Spiral, Medina. Disc 7 (78:00): Medina concluded, San Francisco. Complete discographical details available here 

Louis Hayes: Artform Revisited

  I started my day listening to Lee Morgan’s 1962 Riverside album Take Twelve, with Louis Hayes on drums. When I checked my mail in the afternoon, there was a promotional copy of Hayes’ fresh new release, Artform Revisited. Sixty plus years seemed to vanish in a flash as I listened to Hayes and his devoted quintet of Abraham Burton on tenor sax, Steve Nelson on vibes, David Hazeltine at the piano, and bassist Dezron Douglas, who also acted as co-producer with Hayes. This unit was first heard on 2021's Crisis, followed by 2023's Exactly Right!, both on Savant. For his third release for the label, Hayes had it in mind to revisit, in Maxine Gordon’s words, “the music that had influenced him and the musicians who were so important to his life.” That translated to the band tackling compositions from Dizzy Gillespie (with a jumping Tour de Force to start things out), John Lewis (Milestones), Ray Brown (the classic Ray’s Idea), Billy Strayhorn (the timeless A Flower is a Lovesome Thing, here spotlighting Nelson’s flowing vibes), and no fewer than three Charlie Parker gems in My Little Suede Shoes, Cheryl, and Dewey Square. There’s also the lesser-known Bobby Troup composition You’re Looking At Me, featuring Burton at his balladic best, and a pair of original compositions to round out the program. Hayes’ Ruby, dedicated to his mother, is a bouncy tune that came into his mind all at once, sympathetically arranged by Hazeltine. Closing the session is G, a straight-forward piece that Douglas describes as a “Kansas City barbecue style blues.” The tune rolls right along, a fitting capstone for the date. Hayes was quite happy with the sound that engineer Chris Sulit got for his drums on his last session, so they want back to Paramus, NJ, to make this one. It helps immensely that the drummer was working with a group where, he writes, the individuals “enjoy each other’s company and ... communicate as friends.” Good tunes, a convivial band, and the best working conditions all contribute to the goal to “play the music on the highest level possible and always respect the past.” Mission accomplished. It’s another winning outing for NEA Jazz Master and national treasure Louis Hayes. 

Savant SCD 2218; Abraham Burton (ts) Steve Nelson (vib) David Hazeltine (p) Dezron Douglas (b) Louis Hayes (d); Paramus, NJ, January 25, 2024; Tour de Force/ Milestones/ My Little Suede Shoes/ You’re Looking at Me/ Ruby/ Cheryl/ Ray’s Idea/ A Flower is a Lovesome Thing/ Dewey Square/ G; 50:32. www.jazzdepot.com

Mathias Højgaard Jensen: Is As Is

  On his first recording session, bassist and composer Mathias Højgaard Jensen sounds remarkably self-assured. For Is As Is, he has gathered a deeply compatible quartet with alto saxophonist David Mirarchi, pianist Jacob Sacks, and drummer Stephen Crammer. Sacks, the veteran of the band, has recorded with the likes of Eivind Opsvik (who mixed and mastered this CD), Jacob Garchik, David Binney, and Dan Weiss, among others, since he first appeared on record towards the end of the Nineties. He anchors the rhythm section with a brisk angularity and incisive harmonic choices. Saxophonist Mirarchi, making his own debut on record, has a sweet and unhurried sound, and happily seems more devoted to the realization of Jensen’s tricky compositions than to showing off what he can do on his horn. About those tunes: it’s hard to get a handle on the way Jensen writes his tunes because they continually move in unexpected directions. But the craftsmanship of the arrangements and playing, plus the undeniable flow of the music, make for an extremely attractive listening experience. Highlights include a long series of trades by Sacks and Mirarchi on Forbigået, with lively accompaniment by Jensen and Crammer, the gently rolling Is As Is featuring a prominent bass part and carefully modulated brush work by Crammer, Sacks’ robust piano solo on Hill, and Jensen’s delicate solo on Post August Blues. Vijay Iyer has written about what he calls the New Brooklyn Complexity, noting the “particular amalgamation of high-modernist compositional knowhow and cutting-edge improvisational expertise,” a description that seems eminently suited to Is As Is. Happily recommended. 

Fresh Sound New Talent FSNT 678; David Mirarchi (as) Jacob Sacks (p) Mathias Højgaard Jensen (b) Steven Crammer (d); Brooklyn, NY, September 29, 2022; Off-Set/ Sleeping Silver/ Hjemstavn:Hometown/ Afklaret/ Forbigået/ Kastle/ Is As Is/ Hill/ Post August Blues; 51:53. www.freshsoundrecords.com