The OGJB Quartet: Bamako

The OGJB Quartet is a new band with four long-established musicians. The initials stand for saxophonist Oliver Lake, cornetist Graham Haynes, bassist Joe Fonda, and drummer Barry Altschul. As Fonda tells the story in the lengthy and copiously annotated booklet for their initial release, Bamako, his original plan was a trio with Altschul and Lake. When Kunle Mwanga of Earth Art Productions suggested adding Haynes to make it a quartet, Fonda and Altschul thought it was a great idea. Judging by this impressive debut, it seems they made the right choice. The program revisits previously recorded compositions, including Altschul’s Be Out S’Cool and Just a Simple Song, and Lake’s Stick and Is It Alright?, adds a couple of new tunes, and concludes with two examples of balanced and friendly group improvising, totaling about 10 minutes. Fonda and Altschul have performed together frequently, first in the FAB Trio with Billy Bang, and then The 3DomFactor with Jon Irabagon. These connections, and many more, are explored in Lawrence Donohue-Greene’s richly informative liner essay, and that web of relationships is evident in the “perfect synergy” that Joe Fonda finds within this unit. Haynes and Lake blend their instrumental voices with great care, with a range that extends from their peacefully entwined solos on Just a Simple Song to the more jagged and aggressive call and response on Lake’s Is It Alright? Their most unexpected collaboration is Haynes’ musical setting for Lake reading his poem Broken In Parts, with the composer on dousn’gouni, Fonda on bass, and Altschul on mbira. All told, an inspired and inspiring release. Warmly recommended.
TUM CD 050; Graham Haynes (cnt; dousn’gouni on *) Oliver Lake (as, ss; recitation on *) Joe Fonda (b) Barry Altschul (d, perc; mbira on *); Listen to Dr. Cornel West/ Bamako*/ Be Out S’Cool/ Stick/ GS #2/ Just a Simple Song/ Is It Alright?/ 3 Phrase 09/ OGJB #2/ OGJB #1; 63:17. www.tumrecords.com

Dave Douglas: Devotion

Let’s stipulate that when the ever-astonishing drummer Andrew Cyrille is present on a recording session, it will be music well worth hearing, again and again. And so it is with Devotion, as Cyrille joins trumpeter Dave Douglas and pianist extraordinaire Uri Caine for a beautifully realized collection of original compositions by Douglas, plus the title track, an 1818 composition by Alexander Johnson. Douglas and Caine have been playing together for decades at this point. As a duo practice, they’ve been working with the Sacred Harp tradition of choral music. That’s where the Johnson tune comes from, but the influence permeates Douglas’ pieces. Especially potent in this regard is the solemn ode to Dizzy Gillespie that Douglas calls We Pray. As Douglas informs us in a brief liner note, most of the pieces are devoted to specific individuals, including a pair for Italian pianist Franco D’Andrea (the quick-moving D’Andrea and the smooth ballad Francis of Anthony) and another pair for influential pianist and composer Carla Bley (the poised and bouncy Miljøsang and False Allegiances, a dark tango). The trio situation is a particularly fertile setting for powerful improvising and interactivity, and this unit certainly makes the most of its considerable resources. With three musical masters committed and at the top of their games, Devotion is a very special recording, with some stunning music that is often touched by something like grace. Not to be missed. Greenleaf Music GRE-CD-1071; Dave Douglas (tpt) Uri Caine (p) Andrew Cyrille (d, perc); Astoria, NY, September 23, 2018; Curly/ D’Andrea/ Francis of Anthony/ Miljøsang/ False Allegiances/ Prefontaine/ Pacific/ Rose and Thorn/ We Pray/ Devotion; 54:21. www.greenleafmusic.com

Michael Vlatkovich 5 Winds: Five Of Us

One of my favorite aspects of the first wave of jazz recordings in stereo, around 1957 and 1958, was the direct relationship between where musicians were positioned physically in the studio and the spatial dimensions of the finished product. When, for example, the baritone saxophone player was at the far left, he was also on that side of your listening room. The peripatetic and imaginative trombonist Michael Vlatkovich creates different musical situations for himself wherever he goes. Five Of Us is new from the innovative pfMENTUM label, source of many Vlatkovich projects, and the music is presented in that old school style. The ensemble is Michael Vlatkovich 5 Winds, with a line-up, from left to right, of the great David Mott on baritone saxophone, Lina Allemano on trumpet, Mr. Vlatkovich in the dead center with his trombone, Nicole Rampersaud on trumpet, and Peter Lutek on tenor saxophone and frankenpipe, which I discovered is “an attempt at converting a traditional Highland bagpipe into a MIDI controller.” (Lutek also expertly recorded, mixed, and mastered the disc.) Vlatkovich, who wrote all the pieces, authors some of the most cheerfully odd music you’ve ever heard, as you might guess from a glance at some of his song titles. The first nine tracks comprise the 5 Winds Suite, and there’s so much beauty packed into the melody and arrangement of Part 1: Six, the listener is ready for anything, secure in the feeling that whatever the 5 Winds throw at you will make you happy. And so it is, for more than an hour. It seems that limitations, particularly self-imposed ones, often lead to creative breakthroughs. Three brass and two reeds is an unusual combination, but a potent one when the players are as self-assured and accomplished as Vlatkovich and his partners. Key attractions are the leader’s limber and expressive trombone, the sheer beauty of the melody of For You, the gorgeous brass wail on a piece like Part 5: Five, Mott’s creamy baritone, and Vlatkovich’s inventive charts. I’ve enjoyed quite a lot of Vlatkovich’s music over the years, but Five Of Us might be his best outing of all. Heartily recommended. pfMENTUM PFMCD130; Lina Allemano, Nicole Rampersaud (tpt) Michael Vlatkovich (tbn) Peter Lutek (ts, frankenpipe) David Mott (bari s); Toronto, ON, June 3, 2015; Please Help Me I’m Blowing Bubbles/ 5 Winds Suite (Part 1: Six; Part 2: Twenty-Six; Part 3: Nineteen -> No. 7, Part 4: Zero; Part 5: Five; Part 6: One; Part 7: Twenty-Four; Part 8: Nineteen; Part 9: Ninety-Three)/ For You/ Natural Identical Flowers/ People in My Wallet/ (Alt), The Recognition of Rhythm in the Life of Worldly Things/ What Question Did the Man with Seven Ears and Three Eyes Ask the Plastic Surgeon?/ For the Protection of Yourself and Others You’ll Need to Wear Your Space Suit; 64:44. pfmentum.com

Andrew Munsey: High Tide

Drummer Andrew Munsey makes his bandleading debut with High Tide, powering a quintet with Steph Richards on trumpet and flugelhorn, Ochion Jewell on tenor saxophone, Amino Belyamani on acoustic and electric pianos, and Sam Minaie on bass. As recordist and/or drummer, Munsey has worked closely with Richards on all of her recordings. Bassist Minaie played on Richards’ Take The Neon Lights and along with keyboardist Belyamani, is a member of saxophonist Jewell’s quartet. That makes for plenty of shared history within the group, so the quintet’s ability to seamlessly shift gears comes as no surprise. Munsey wrote all the pieces, except for Les Cing Doigts: Lento, the sixth section of Igor Stravinsky’s 1921 piano composition, respectfully arranged for quintet. Munsey’s originals come in a variety of styles. His drums lead us into the opening title track, a vaguely boppish number with an enticingly twisted melody line. Belyamani takes a nicely flowing piano solo on this one. On pieces like the brief Petite Feast and the even shorter Driftwood, the structure blurs the line between a solo and its accompaniment. Then there are more developed songs like Seedling, with a charming tenor solo, and Requite, a thoughtfully styled ballad with a theme out of the Fifties or Sixties. It sounds a bit like a Horace Silver tune played very slowly. The performance is graced by a peaceful and mildly obsessive piano solo by Belyamani and an unexpectedly lyrical solo by Richards on flugelhorn. Undertow is a dark and brooding number, with moans from the saxophone, brassy wheezes from the trumpet, and some mildly creepy stabs of electric piano. Schema is poised and minimal, as a nervously repeated piano note, complemented by rudimentary drumming and a simple bass line, underpins the occasional melody played in unison by Jewell and Richards. Bassist Minaie makes the most of his solo spot. Minaie’s delicately buzzing arco introduces the short Prelude: Tree Fruit, which features a stately melody imparted by saxophone and trumpet. The theme is elaborated and caressed in the slow groove of Skyline, which closes the set on a warmly exultant note. Tidal Wave is tough to pigeonhole, which is a good thing. This exciting and absorbing batch of well-played modern instrumentals is well worth hearing.
Birdwatcher; Steph Richards (tpt, flgh) Ochion Jewell (ts, kalimba) Amino Belyamani (p, Rhodes el p) Sam Minaie (b) Andrew Munsey (d); Brooklyn, NY, no dates specified; High Tide/ Petite Feast/ Seedling/ Driftwood/ Requite/ Undertow/ Schema/ Les Cing Doigts: Lento/ Prelude: Tree Fruit/ Skyline; 51:58. birdwatcherarts.org

Steph Richards times four

There was a time when I could keep pretty good track of all the musicians in the jazz world that I was interested in hearing. By tracking musicians from album to album, I would discover yet more names to follow. Alas, there are always more players to listen to, I'm getting older, and the existence of the internet mocks my internal database of improvisers. Still, there’s plenty of value to be gained by tracing a particular musician’s path, enjoying her work and, in the process, discovering yet more music to savor. The work of trumpeter Steph Richards occasions these thoughts.

 

My first exposure to her playing was Trio Music, a 2017 recording by Vinny Golia, Steph Richards & Bert Turetzky. I’ve been a Golia fan for ages, and I know he’s a busy guy. Double bass wizard Bert Turetzky is in his eighties. So based on her companions, I gathered that Steph Richards will be someone definitely worth hearing, and now having listened I’m not disappointed. Her dark sound seems to be infinitely adaptable, from wobbly to clear and bright. The quickness of her responses and her self-assured attitude in this freely improvised batch of performances are a delight. Turetzky, with his arco rumbles, and Golia, with his panoply of woodwinds and “ethnic aerophones,” are lively collaborators who first recorded as a duo back in 1986 for Golia’s Nine Winds imprint. Previous trio sessions for the pair have added such luminaries as trombonist George Lewis (1996 and 2003), trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith (1997), and bassist Barre Phillips (1998), which puts Richards in very good company. Over the course of a dozen fairly short improvisations, the trio explores a range of moods and approaches. The spaciousness of the music and the superbly recorded and mixed sound (thanks to Andrew Munsey, who we’ll get back to in this post) are a real plus here, helping the listener truly appreciate the individual sounds of each musician. While I have my favorites, including the buzzy and gnarly Cerberus (and what a great name for a trio improv!) and the unsettled slip-slide of Atazoy, any music fan that listens to Trio Music with an open heart will find much to enjoy. pfMENTUM PFMCD117; Steph Richards (tpt, flgh) Vinny Golia (winds, ethnic aerophones) Bert Turetzky (b); San Diego, CA, April 23, 2017; Solana/ Proprioception/ Cerberus/ As I was Saying…/ $19.95/ SunnySide Up/ Desert Wind/ Hector Shear makes his entrance…(could they really exist in Maine?)/ Atazoy/ The Paradox of Zazu Pitts/ Descendant Un Escalier/ The Duo That Became A Trio; 53:26. pfmentum.com

Now that I knew that her work merited close attention, I latched onto Resonant Bodies, a duo project from 2015 featuring Stephanie Richards on trumpet, flugelhorn, and percussion, with percussionist Andrew Drury limiting himself to just a floor tom and timpani. When the pair listened to what they’d improvised, again recorded by Andrew Munsey, “the timbres suggested thawing glaciers to us--groaning, cracking, splitting, of large masses of ancient ice under extreme pressure, moving and melting.” Hence the album’s title, Thaw, with the fairly brief tracks named after glaciers on five continents. The duo conjure up some truly odd combinations of sounds, with the source often unrecognizable. There’s an appealing rawness to their encounters, as they ignore many of the usual qualities of music like melody, harmony, and tempo, in favor of brutal expression. It’s definitely not for everyone, but it’s a trip worth taking for fans of boldly adventurous improvising. Different Track 50004; Stephanie Richards (tpt, snare d, flgh, timpani) Andrew Drury (floor tom, timpani); San Diego, CA, November 2015; THAW/ Kilimanjaro 2040/ Fracture (for Larsen C)/ Mendenhall/ Drangajökull/ Kangiata Nunaata Sermia/ Nisqually/ Thwaites/ Panchchuli/ Snow Dome/ Athabasca/ RETREAT; 28:32. resonantbodies.bandcamp.com

Released, like Thaw, in the spring of 2018, Stephanie Richards’s first recording under her own name is Fullmoon. The format is another duet, this time with electronic musician Dino J.A. Deane who live-samples her trumpet and manipulates the results back into the mix. This makes for a wild and almost limitless encounter, sometimes busy, sometimes sparse, but always deeply intriguing. As a way of making music, improvised music in general is especially suited for headphone listening, and Fullmoon is a great example. Close listening reveals both the nuances of Richards’ mercurial trumpet and the finely honed interactions of instrument and sampler. By and large, Richards maintains a fairly clean, brassy sound, allowing Deane to “mess it up” with whatever effects he brings to bear. Highlights include the other-worldly atmosphere evoked on piano, the chilly purity of the very brief half moon, and the calmly meditative gong (part I). All told, a fascinating recital, rich in surprises and well worth a listen. Relative Pitch RPR1066 (CD, lp): Stephanie Richards (tpt, flgh, perc) Dino J.A. Deane (sampler); prob. San Diego, CA, no dates specified; new moon/ snare/ piano/ half moon/ gong (pt. 1)/ gong (pt. 2)/ timpani/ full moon (pt. 1)/ full moon (pt. 2); 32:46. www.relativepitchrecords.com

Steph Richards’ most recent release is Take The Neon Lights, where she helms a quartet with James Carney on piano, Sam Minaie on bass, and Andrew Munsey on drums. Richards, who composed all the tunes, co-produced the set with Munsey, who also mixed and mastered the session. Richards, who can whisper and growl with equal commitment, employs a wide vocabulary of shrieks, burbles, and fluttery bursts of sound. Add to that her careful manipulation of mutes and a trick bag of extended techniques, all allied to a fertile and fearless musical imagination. Richards’ open-ended compositions, doubtlessly influenced by her work with notable composers and bandleaders like Anthony Braxton and Henry Threadgill, also build on her unconventional approach to the trumpet. Tunes like the mysterious and hard-driving Brooklyn Machine, the disquieting Rumor of War, and the densely propulsive Stalked By Tall Buildings unfold in series of unexpected twists and turns. Richards’ peregrinations are, naturally, the main focus here, but pianist Carney is worth some attention as well. From his scattered inside-the-piano work on Time and Grime to his brisk and meaty solo on Skull of Theatres, Carney seems preternaturally attuned to the many nuances of Richards’ playing. With Minaie and Munsey maintaining a careful rhythmic scaffold, and the adventuresome Carney matching wits with Richards, Take The Neon Lights is a compelling and nearly irresistible release. Recommended. Birdwatcher BW008; Stephanie Richards (tpt, flgh) James Carney (p) Sam Minaie (b) Andrew Munsey (d); Paramus, NJ, no dates specified; Take The Neon Lights and Wear A Crown/ Brooklyn Machine/ Time and Grime/ Rumor of War/ Transitory (Gleams)/ Skull of Theatres/ Stalked By Tall Buildings/ All the Years of Our Lives; 44:02. birdwatcherarts.org

Paul May & Carolyn Hume: Kill The Lights

When the drums and keyboard duo of Paul May & Carolyn Hume suggests that you Kill The Lights, they’re making a valuable suggestion for listening to their new Leo release. With the occasional quiet assistance of guitarist Bernd Rest, Hume and May devote the 44 minutes of Kill The Lights to a soundtrack for the flow of images that will seep into your mind if you rest easily in the dark as it plays. In essence, the musicians have subjected themselves to a disciplined sort of quiet improvisation so that listeners can be freed of any expectations in creating their own narratives. The overall sensation is peaceful and soothing. Hume is as dreamy on piano as she is on electronic keyboards, while May’s minimalist style is grounded in the deep thumps of a bass drum. Any kind of detailed discussion of the proceedings would be largely besides the point. But I do want to say that anyone who includes “intimate metals” as part of his percussion setup is okay in my book.
Leo CD LR 847; Carolyn Hume (p, kybds) Paul May (d, “intimate metals”) Bernd Rest (g); London, England, no dates specified; Horizontal Blue/ Sentry/ Surrender/ Shadow and Dust/ The Blacksmith and the Butcher’s Wife/ Kill the Lights; 44:24. www.leorecords.com

Houston Person: I’m Just A Lucky So And So

Veteran tenorman Houston Person is in his eighties, but he’s still blowing with his usual soulful and bluesy elegance on his latest HighNote release, I’m Just A Lucky So And So. The basic quartet, with Lafayette Harris on piano, Matthew Parrish, and Kenny Washington on drums, is augmented by trumpeter Eddie Allen and guitarist Rodney Jones on many of the pieces. A funky introduction by Jones is a bit startling at the beginning of Willow Weep For Me, but things settle down soon enough as Person caresses the familiar theme. One of the special pleasures of a Houston Person session is the care that he puts into song selection. A few of the pieces in the repertoire are familiar vehicles for improvisers, like Willow Weep For Me and Who Can I Turn To. But more often than not, Person has resurrected numbers that are not nearly as well-known. Music by Sammy Cahn, represented here by Wonder Why, I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry, and Day by Day, seems to be especially favored by Person. As pianist Harris, a Person associate since 2014, told Willard Jenkins for his liner notes, the saxophonist has opened him up to “so many great songs that musicians don’t play and sometimes haven’t even heard!” The biggest surprise is the funky closer, Next Time You See Me, a hit for Junior Parker back in 1957 and not a common vehicle for improvisers. The most obscure piece is Alone With Just My Dreams, a posthumously uncovered song by bassist George Duvivier which was the title track of a 1991 album by trumpeter Joe Wilder. Befitting the source, bassist Parrish takes the introductory chorus. Parrish, a long-time member of pianist David Leonhardt’s group who appeared on Person’s Rain Or Shine in 2017, fits in perfectly. Guitarist Jones contributes the date’s sole original composition, the blues-like Song for a Rainbow. Trumpeter Allen is in excellent form throughout. He’s especially effective on Billy Eckstine’s I Want to Talk About You. The rhythm section of Jones, Harris, Parrish, and Washington is warmly supportive and faultlessly swinging at any tempo. Houston’s graceful approach to melody and his unfailingly lovely saxophone sound make all of his projects a joy to listen to over and over, and I’m Just A Lucky So And So is no exception. Happily recommended.
HighNote HCD 7327; Eddie Allen (tp on 1,3,4,6,8-10) Houston Person (ts) Lafayette Harris (p) Rodney Jones (g on 1,2,5,6,8,10) Matthew Parrish (b) Kenny Washington (d); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, November 30, 2018; 1.Willow Weep For Me/ 2.Wonder Why/ 3. I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out to Dry/ 4.I’m Just a Lucky So and So/ 5.Who Can I Turn To/ 6.Day by Day/ 7.Alone With Just My Dreams/ 8.Song for a Rainbow/ 9.I Want to Talk About You/ 10.Next Time You See Me; 55:32. www.jazzdepot.com