Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, & Ben Riley: So Many Lovely Things: Live In Brecon

 

   Yusef Lateef, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Hubbard, Joe Henderson, Booker Ervin, Stan Getz: just a small sampling of the illustrious jazz figures who have given pianist Kenny Barron plenty of work since his recorded debut on brother Bill Barron’s 1961 Savoy album The Tenor Stylings Of Bill Barron. Besides being a much in demand sideman, Barron has also recorded over 50 albums as leader. A new addition to his discography is the recently unearthed So Many Lovely Things: Live In Brecon, a 1995 performance featuring the impeccably balanced trio of Kenny Barron, Ray Drummond, & Ben Riley. Recorded before an appreciative audience in the 400-seat Christ College Auditorium in Brecon, Wales, this set offers over 90 minutes of pure enjoyment. Barron, whose exquisite touch and elegant sense of swing are in evidence from the first note, starts off the show with Oh, Look at Me Now, a melody by Joe Bushkin that goes back to the early 1940's. Barron must have spending some time listening to the Tommy Dorsey band. That song, and the contemporaneous Bob Russell composition Time Was are the oldest songs in the program. Like most well-traveled pianists, Barron probably knows hundreds of tunes, and he writes some of his own as well. He plays two originals for the Welsh crowd. His gently relaxed Silent Rain is a solo piano feature, while the enchanting Nikara’s Song is explored at length by the trio. The balance of the program includes Freddie Hubbard’s Up Jumped Swing, two pieces by Thelonious Monk (a solo excursion on Shuffle Boil, and a mildly uptempo trio version of Ask Me Now), and three well-loved standards. As bassist Drummond comments to Ted Panken in the liner notes, “Kenny’s universe includes many dimensions.” Barron himself notes that he “likes music, and I like all of it.” And he loves to play all of it, too, as this lovely set proves. Happily recommended. 

Elemental 5990464 (Lp and CD); Kenny Barron (p) Ray Drummond (b) Ben Riley (d); Brecon, Wales, August 12, 1995; Disc 1 (54:08): Oh, Look At Me Now/ Up Jumped Spring/ Shuffle Boil/ Time Was/ Silent Rain/ Ask Me Now. Disc 2 (53:40): Nikara’s Song/ The Surrey With the Fringe on Top/ The Very Thought of You/ Canadian Sunset. www.elemental-music.com

Treasures From The Vaults: Art Pepper, Bill Evans, Cecil Taylor, Freddie King, Michel Petruccciani, & Roy Hargrove

     Record Store Day was started in 2008 to “celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store” and it has led to a flood of special releases, with all genres represented. In improvised music, there have been dozens of previously unreleased concerts, many of which were developed and produced by Zev Feldman. In this chronologically arranged roundup of new releases, all except the Art Pepper set, which came out in February, are tied to Record Store Day. Vinyl versions will be out on April 18, with CD sets scheduled to appear a week later. 

    Maybe all you really need to know about the four-CD package Everything Happens To Me:1959-Live At The Cellar is that alto saxophonist extraordinaire Art Pepper is in superb form and that his saxophone is way up front in the amateur recordings that were made. Pepper seemed to pour his heart into every single note that he played, and his otherwise unsung bandmates are nearly always right there to provide him with the sensitive and swinging support he relished. The music was recorded (in well-balanced mono) during a 10-night engagement at The Cellar in Vancouver, British Columbia. Pepper had worked on his Modern Jazz Classics album in March and May of that year, but after that had been reduced to playing tenor in a rock and roll band, a Latin band, and, writes Kirk Silsbee in the booklet, “even country outfits at North Hollywood’s Palomino Club.” Silsbee goes to say that the Cellar shows “would prove to be a tonic for him.” With enthusiastic audience response in front of him and a responsive rhythm section behind him, Pepper’s repertoire choices range among standards, ballads, jazz tunes, and more. His playing is invariably convincing and impressive. In the pantheon of popular music, there are many performers who merit listening to and learning from every scrap of recorded sound that remains. Art Pepper is definitely in that category. Even with a substantial recorded legacy, there’s always more to discover. Strongly recommended. 

Omnivore OVCD-607; Art Pepper (as, ts) Chris Gage (p) Tony Clitheroe (b) George Ursan (d); Vancouver, BC, various nights from the summer of 1959; Disc 1 (59:53): When You’re Smiling*/ Cherokee/ Over the Rainbow/ All The Things You Are/ Indiana (Back Home Again in Indiana)/ Lover Man/ Yardbird Suite/ Sweet Georgia Brown*. Disc 2 (60:35): What is This Thing Called Love?*/ Yardbird Suite/ Band Intros/ What’s New?*/ Holiday Flight/ Stompin’ at the Savoy/ Allen’s Alley/ These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You)*. Disc 3 (62:29): Holiday Flight/ Tangerine/ The Way You Look Tonight/ Everything Happens to Me/ Bernie’s Tune/ I Surrender Dear/ Over the Rainbow/ Allen’s Alley. Disc 4 (59:11): Brown Gold*/ Holiday Flight/ Strike Up the Band/ Somebody Loves Me/ There Will Never Be Another You (part 1)/ There Will Never Be Another You (part 2)/ Allen’s Alley/ Walkin’*. Tracks marked with * are incomplete. omnivorerecordings.com

    In March 1965, Bill Evans and his second edition of his working trio with bassist Chuck Israels and drummer Larry Bunker recorded about 70 minutes of music for BBC2's Jazz 625 series of filmed concerts. Although the performances on At The BBC have never previously been issued on record, the show was released on laserdisc and DVD. The prolific producer Zev Feldman ran across the laserdisc and became enchanted with the music. He proclaims this set as “an amazing part of his recorded legacy ...” in the introduction that leads off the booklet. Feldman gathers the typical array of commentary for this release, which is the fifteenth Evans package he’s put together in the last few years. Liner notes are handled by Marc Myers, who puts this British appearance in the context of Evans’ career. There are reminiscences and commentary by Chuck Israels, James Pearson (artistic director at Ronnie Scott’s London jazz club), and pianist Jamie Cullum. All of which is well and good, and the music is indeed superlative. The only real problem is the intrusive presence of the evening’s host, Humphrey Littleton. As a video presentation, the program might be quite enjoyable when you can watch the musicians at work. But as far as listening at home goes, there are dozens of hours of Bill Evans music that I would turn to before playing At The BBC again. 

Elemental Music 5990548 (CD and LP); Bill Evans (p) Chuck Israels (b) Larry Bunker (d); London, England, March 19, 1965; Set 1: Intro by Humphrey Lyttelton into Five (theme)/ Elsa/ Summertime/ Come Rain or Come Shine/ My Foolish Heart/ Re: Person I Knew/ Israel/ Five (theme). Set 2: Intro by Humphrey Lyttelton into Five (theme)/ How My Heart Sings/ Nardis/ Who Can I Turn To/ Someday My Prince Will Come/ How Deep is the Ocean?/ Waltz For Debby/ Five (closing theme); 70:15. www.elemental-music.com 

    I am a long-time devotee of the master pianist Cecil Taylor. I remember seeing him perform, either solo or with a band, in many different locations, from a sweaty night at Keystone Korner to a solo performance at San Francisco’s Grace Cathedral. But all of those performances were at night, which seemed right for Taylor’s turbulent music. Until the overwhelmingly powerful Fragments arrived in the mail, I never would have thought of the Taylor Unit playing in the afternoon. This 2-CD or 3-Lp set offers two performances on the same day as part of the 8th Paris Jazz Festival, a very long afternoon set and a shorter evening set. This quartet, with Sam Rivers on tenor and soprano saxophones and flute, Jimmy Lyons on alto saxophone, and Andrew Cyrille on drums lasted about a year. In an interview, Rivers noted that what impressed him at the first rehearsal “was how much of an extension of Cecil Jimmy was on the horn,” and wondered if he fit in. That was in January 1969 and after rehearsal sessions that could last anywhere from four to seven hours, it’s obvious from just the first few minutes of listening that he fits in very well. The inimitable and seriously under appreciated Lyons, with his fluidity and fluency on the alto sax, had been with Taylor since 1961, and they would go on to log more than two decades playing together. Cyrille, who is still active at age 86, became a member of the Unit in 1965 and continued to work with Taylor over the next eleven years. This edition of the Unit is poorly documented; before Fragments, there was only Nuits De La Fondation Maeght, Volumes 1-3 from March 1965 (known in the U.S as The Great Concert Of Cecil Taylor). The Taylor Unit played 15 times as part of the Newport Jazz Festival tour of Europe that fall, and at every show the quartet worked on Fragments of a Dedication to Duke Ellington. No other tapes from this tour have come to light, so this release is a real treasure for fans of Taylor’s music, decently recorded by INA in France. To augment the music, Taylor’s biographer Phil Freeman contributes a highly informative liner essay to the booklet. There is also an invaluable piece by drummer Cyrille as he reflects on Cecil Taylor from the first time he met him, a reminiscence by Lyons’ widow, bassoonist Karen Borca, along with shorter pieces with Monique Rivers, Sam Rivers’ daughter, and the late Jack De Johnette, who was on the same tour as a member of the Miles Davis Quintet and loved following the Taylor Unit on the bill because “the stage was reverberating when that band had finished.” Finally, in a thought-provoking essay, pianist Matthew Shipp discusses his own experiences with Taylor’s music, Taylor’s influence on his own playing, and much more. The music is ferocious, explosive, and utterly beautiful. Highly recommended. 

Elemental Music 5990455 (CD and LP); Jimmy Lyons (as) Sam Rivers (ts, ss, fl) Cecil Taylor (p) Andrew Cyrille (d); Paris, France, November 3, 1969; Fragments of a Dedication To Duke Ellington: Disc 1 (70:10):Evening Set Version/ Afternoon Set Version Part 1. Disc 2 (71:45): Afternoon Set Version Part 2. www.elemental-music.com

    If you were looking for a Cecil Taylor fan who also loves the music of Freddie King, then you’ve come to the right place. Freddie King first made his mark in the blues world with a series of singles on the Federal label in 1960 and 1961. The instrumentals Hide Away and San-Ho-Zay established his guitar prowess and songs like I’m Tore Down and Have You Ever Loved a Woman proved him to be a passionate singer. His career had its ups and downs after he left Federal Records, and Cary Baker does a first-rate job of describing them in his liner essay. Several live recordings have surfaced over the years, with Feeling Alright: The Complete 1975 Nancy Pulsations Concert offering the full range of a King performance. Clocking in at a little over two hours, King and his killer band put on quite a show for the vocally enthusiastic French audience. Most rock fans are aware of King’s powerful influence on guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, and so many others, so there’s not much to discuss. The one thing that kept King going and made his audiences love him, was the broad reach of his repertoire. In Nancy, he naturally played some of his hits. But get a look at all the songs by other artists that he made his own. It’s hard to think of another bluesman that performs tunes like Guitar Slim’s The Things I Used to Do, Jimmy Rogers’ That’s All Right, T-Bone Walker’s Stormy Monday Blues, B.B. King’s Sweet Little Angel, Big Joe Turner’s Wee Baby Blues, Percy Mayfield’s The Danger Zone (written for Ray Charles), and, perhaps most surprising of all, Dave Mason’s Feeling Alright, all on the same program. Along with Baker’s illuminating essay, the booklet features a reminiscence by Wanda King, Freddie’s daughter, an appreciation by guitarist Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and a batch of photos from this very show. King, just a year before his early death at the age of 42, is in fantastic form for this festival performance and his crackerjack ensemble is with him every step of the way. I’d recommend anything that Freddie King ever recorded, and Feeling Alright is up there with the best of his work. Totally recommended. 

Elemental Music 5990457 (CD and LP); Freddie King (g, vcl) Ed Lively (g) Alvin Hemphill (org) Lewis Stephens (p) Benny Turner (b) Calep Emphrey (d); Nancy, France, October 10, 1975; Disc 1 (66:00): Have You Ever Loved a Woman?/ Whole Lot of Lovin’/ Medley: Hey Baby; Mojo Boogie/ The Things I Used to Do/ Messin’ With the Kid/ That’s All Right/ Going Down/ Stormy Monday Blues. Disc 2 (59:08): Medley: Sen-Sa-Shun; Looking Good; Boogie Chillun/ Sweet Little Angel/ Got My Mojo Working/ Sweet Home Chicago/ Wee Baby Blues/ The Danger Zone/ Feeling Alright/ You’re The One; Finale. www.elemental-music.com 

     The Kuumbwa Jazz Center is a small (200 seats) venue in Santa Cruz, California, about 75 miles south of San Francisco. Founded in early 1975, Kuumbwa continues to present 130 concerts annually in a remarkable display of longevity. It’s always been an important stop on a West Coast tour, and in 1987 the center hosted pianist Michel Petrucciani and his trio with Dave Holland on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums. Their two sets on that Monday night were recorded, and now nearly two hours of passionate and exploratory jazz have been released as Kuumbwa. Petrucciani had been touring widely in the Eighties with Zigmund, a veteran of the Bill Evans trio, and for a long time the bassist was Palle Danielsson. When Danielsson left the band, Petrucciani would pick “different bass players for each group of gigs,” explains Zigmund in his booklet essay. For this West Coast tour, Holland was recruited, and the ever inventive bassist, who gets a solo spot on every track, is in superb form. Zigmund was always ready for whatever the pianist might throw at him, and of course, Holland was always prepared for anything that might happen on stage. The trio seems to have quickly developed an amazing amount of mutual interplay and finesse. Zigmund comments that “what made Michel special was the way he put his heart into the music.” You can hear that in every note of this music. In addition to Zigmund’s piece on playing with Petrucciani, there are liner notes from Thierry Pérémarti, Petrucciani’s son Alexandre offers his memories in a short reminiscence, a brief note from Tim Jackson, one of the co-founders of Kuumbwa, and finally, pianist Enrico Pieranunzi’s reflections on the work of Petrucciani. As Pérémarti notes, Petrucciani was just 24 years old when he played in Santa Cruz, with “the authority of his expression unmistakable.” Throughout the two sets, Petrucciani is playing like a master with his deeply emotional and flowing style. The trio performs lengthy investigations of material that includes a few originals, Charles Lloyd’s Sweet Georgia Bright, and compositions that were staples of the Miles Davis quintets of the Fifties (Autumn Leaves and Stella By Starlight), and Sixties (Limbo and Nardis). This trio was a one-time lineup, and with the release of Kuumbwa, jazz fans around the world will have a chance to hear the beautiful music they made one Monday night on the California coast. Easily recommended. 

Elemental Music 5990459 (CD and LP); Michel Petrucciani (p) Dave Holland (b) Eliot Zigmund (d); Santa Cruz, CA, May 11, 1987; Disc 1 (56:25): Limbo/ Eugenia/ Mike P. Blues/ Stella By Starlight/ The Prayer/ Autumn Leaves. Disc 2 (57:47): My Funny Valentine/ All the Things You Are/ Morning Blues/ Nardis/ Sweet Georgia Bright/ Someday My Prince Will Come. www.elemental-music.com

      Thus far, producer Zev Feldman’s latest venture, Time Traveler Recordings, has concentrated on vinyl reissues from the extensive Muse Records catalog. But his latest project for the label presents the first release of a Roy Hargrove concert in 2000. The audience in Bern welcomes the Hargrove quintet with great enthusiasm, and the band does not disappoint. Hargrove’s initial album releases on Novus came out in 1990; by the end of the decade, he was a major figure on the scene. On this night the trumpeter was joined in the front line by Sherman Irby on alto sax, with the rhythm section of Larry Willis on piano, Gerald Cannon on bass, and Willie Jones III on drums providing a firm foundation. The incredibly versatile Willis had lengthy associations with Jackie McLean, the Fort Apache Band, Freddie Hubbard, and Blood, Sweat, and Tears, among others, along with a slew of his own record dates. His ability to adapt to virtually any musical situation made him a natural for a Hargrove band, since the leader was known to explore many different styles, working with an array of hip-hop, alternative rock and neo-soul artists. The quintet leads off their hour-long appearance at the International Jazzfestival with the hard-swinging Stranded, composed by trombonist Frank Lacy. Willis offers a respite in the middle of the 16-minute performance with a quietly meandering unaccompanied solo before leading the group in a energetic return to the theme. Depth is the first of two Hargrove originals, first recorded in 1989 for the Alfa label in Japan. This version is distinguished by fine flugelhorn playing, a funky piano solo by Willis, and explosive drumming by Jones. Hargrove’s ballad feature, the standard Never Let Me Go, is taken at a very slow pace, emphasizing Hargrove’s phrasing on the lovely melody. Willis shines once again with a calm solo before ceding the spotlight to bassist Cannon, who delivers a tender solo, gently prodded by Willis’ piano chords. Hargrove returns to once again caress the melody as he brings the piece to a close. Hargrove’s other original is Caryisms, recorded just once before for The Vibe, a 1992 session that included pianist Marc Cary. It’s a medium-tempo groove tune with a hint of funk, and both Hargrove and Willis are at their best. The trumpeter wows the crowd with an extended stop-time section, and Willis contributes a propulsive solo. Irby’s testifying turn on alto is another highlight of this performance. For the finale, Hargrove reaches back to 1949 for Circus, a song by Louis Alter and Bob Russell that’s been performed by such disparate performers as the Four Freshmen, Chris Connor, Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers, and alto saxophonist Jimmy Woods. Hargrove and company give it a brisk ride, with everyone getting a share of the spotlight. Hargrove generously gives his sidemen lots of solo space, and together they stretch nearly every piece to last more than 10 minutes. The Swiss audience loved this hour, and it will be equally enjoyed at home, with the added bonus of being able to hear it again and again. Recommended. 

Time Traveler TT003 (LP and CD); Roy Hargrove (tpt, flgh) Sherman Irby (as) Larry Willis (p) Gerald Cannon (b) Willie Jones, III (d); Bern, Switzerland, May 4, 2000; Stranded/ Depth/ Never Let Me Go/ Caryisms/ Circus; 59:35. 

Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy: The Mighty Warriors

  Mal Waldron & Steve Lacy first played and recorded together in 1958, when Waldron was the house pianist for Prestige Records and the soprano saxophonist was making his second album for the label’s New Jazz imprint. That album, called Reflections: Steve Lacy Plays Thelonious Monk, is a wonderful exploration of Monk tunes at a time when programs of only Monk songs was a rarity. Lacy and Waldron bonded over their mutual love of Monk. Waldron went through a very rough period in the Sixties, after a breakdown caused by a drug overdose. Treatment left him without the ability to play piano, and he relearned it over several years. His sound had grown darker and somewhat obsessive when he re-emerged late in the decade. He settled in Munich in 1967. Lacy became an expatriate as well, moving to Paris in 1970. Their proximity in Europe led to a reunion in 1971 when they made Journey Without End, a quartet session recorded for the Japanese Victor label. The continued to meet in studios and on stage throughout the Seventies, Eighties, and the early Nineties. Their work, recorded once or twice a year in a wide variety of formats including duets, has been documented on many different labels in Europe and Japan, and finally, in 1990, on an American label, with the duo set Hot House for Novus. The release of The Mighty Warriors brings their awe-inspiring collaboration to a rousing conclusion, with 98 minutes of music from a 1993 concert celebrating Waldron’s 70th birthday in Antwerp, Belgium. Bassist Reggie Workman and drummer Andrew Cyrille are on hand to help “lift the bandstand,” a saying of Monk’s that Lacy took to heart. “That's magic, man,” he said in an interview, “when the bandstand levitates. I didn't know how to do it but I knew what he was talking about. Old dreams but they're still valid." The professionally recorded tapes of the concert were in the archive of Patrick Wilen, son of Belgian saxophonist Barney Wilen. The program, which was played without an intermission, starts with a lengthy version of Waldron's hard-driving What It Is, a perennial feature of Waldron’s set after its initial appearance on a 1981 quartet session. Epistrophy follows, the first of two Monk pieces that surround Lacy’s recent Monk-like composition Longing. Workman’s mini-suite Variation of III gives everyone a chance in the spotlight. The concert ends with a spectacular excursion through Snake Out, an insistent Waldron original that was frequently performed by Waldron after it debuted on a 1973 Enja album that featured Workman and drummer Billy Higgins. Among the many highlights of the Antwerp performance are Cyrille’s beautifully constructed solo on Monk’s Dream and his no holds barred assault on Snake Out, the interplay between Waldron’s piano and Workman’s bass on Variation of III, Lacy’s wide-ranging solo on Snake Out, and Waldron’s unaccompanied introspective solo Variations on a Theme by Cecil Taylor, curiously played before the return to the theme of Snake Out. The booklet, filled with Hugo Peeters’ black and white photographs of the performance, includes informative liner notes by Adam Shatz, a reminiscence by Hiromi Waldron (Mal Waldron’s widow), and reflections by Andrew Cyrille, Reggie Workman, Jane Bunnett, David Virelles, Dave Liebman, Vijay Iyer, and Evan Parker. Together, these personal and musical memories help to paint a fuller picture of their long-running collaboration. Great music in superb sound, loving comments, and pictures of the band on stage: what more could you ask? Heartily recommended. 

Elemental Music 5990446 [CD; also on vinyl]; Steve Lacy (ss) Mal Waldron (p) Reggie Workman (b) Andrew Cyrille (d); Antwerp, Belgium, September 30, 1995; Disc 1 (48:32): What It Is/ Epistrophy/ Longing/ Monk’s Dream. Disc 2 (50:11): Variation of III/ Medley: Snake Out, Variations on a Theme by Cecil Taylor. www.elemental-music.com

Albert Ayler: Revelations

  “Music is the healing force of the universe” intones Mary Parks on the first track of Revelations, a 5-Lp or 4-CD compilation of Albert Ayler’s July 1970 appearances at the Fondation Maeght in St. Paul-de-Vence, France. Ayler died about 4 months later, and these are his final recordings. The first two CDs plus track one on disc 3 present Ayler in a quartet setting on July 25, with Parks on vocals and soprano saxophone, Steve Tintweiss on bass, and Allen Blairman on drums. The rest of the collection offers the set the band played on July 27, with pianist Call Cobbs added to the ensemble. (Cobbs had been delayed in transit.) Some of this material has been issued in the past, by ESP-Disk and Shandar, but Revelations has been derived from superior-sounding recordings made by French Radio. Much commentary and criticism has been directed at Ayler’s music since he burst onto the scene in Scandinavia in the early 1960's, soon making his way to new York. But as producer Zev Feldman notes in his introduction to the extensive booklet that accompanies the music, “Describing this music is a challenge beyond words.” The listener will either be absorbed by the intensity and passion of Ayler’s music - or that listener will run away as quickly as possible. I’ve been excited by Ayler’s approach to sound and improvisation since I first ran across his 1964 ESP-Disk debut Spiritual Unity many decades ago. The freedom and raw power of his sound really appealed to me, and while his music is not designed for casual listening, in the right circumstances, there is nothing like spinning Witches And Devils or Vibrations with Don Cherry in the band (both 1964). Starting in 1968, Mary Parks added a new element to the Ayler cauldron with her free vocalizing and soprano saxophone playing. She’s prominent on this collection, and while her vocal style is somewhat of an acquired taste, her work with Ayler moved his music into a (slightly) more approachable dimension. Music historian and researcher Ben Young, in his essay for the booklet, writes that Parks “was [Ayler’s] companion in and out of music, sometime concert promoter, his managing agent, and eventually co-star." He goes on to note that she “had an artistic vision that she thought could benefit from Albert Ayler’s thrust. Very few from the Ayler camp look on their music this way.” Be that as it may, Ayler’s music did change after he met Mary Parks, and by the time of this weekend in France, her contributions are often front and center to the group sound. The presence of Cobbs’ churchy and calm piano stylings provides a tighter focus to the ensemble on the July 27 show, with a buoyant and confident Ayler opening the set with majestic versions of Truth is Marching In and Zion Hill (a/k/a Universal Message). It’s just the start of a truly inspired presentation of “free jazz” by a master of the era, playing to a receptive and enthusiastic audience. About three-quarters of the tunes presented at the Maeght were debuted on Ayler’s final three Impulse! albums, New Grass (1968), Music Is The Healing Force Of The Universe and The Last Album (both 1969). No earlier live performances of these songs have surfaced to date. Spread over both sets are six improvisations titled Revelations, featuring consistently strong playing by Ayler and Parks on a variety of themes. The balance of the program is judiciously drawn from Ayler’s earlier compositions. Ghosts, dating from 1964 and probably his best known piece, is rapturously received in this performance, prompting an immediate reprise. The other pre-Mary Parks tunes are Holy, Holy and Spirits (both 1964), Holy Family and Spirits Rejoice (1965), Truth is Marching In (1966), Zion Hill (1966), and Love Cry (famously performed at John Coltrane’s funeral in 1967). In addition to an introduction by Zev Feldman and a history of the venue and Ayler’s appearance by Ben Young, the expertly assembled booklet includes extensive song notes by saxophonist and Ayler devotee Jeff Lederer, reminiscences by Steve Tintweiss and Allen Blairman, appreciations by Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, David Murray, Joe Lovano, John Zorn, Reggie Workman, Patty Waters, James Brandon Lewis, Carla Bley, Bill Laswell, Marc Ribot, Carlos Santana, and others, a wealth of photographs from the concerts, and even a picture of the tape reels. Revelations is itself a revelation, and an important addition to the legacy of Albert Ayler. 

Elemental Music (Deluxe limited-edition of 180g hand-numbered 5 LP-set or 4-CD edition; Albert Ayler (ts, ss, bagpipes, vcl) Mary Parks (ss, vcl) Call Cobbs (p on July 27 only) Steve Tintweiss (b, melodica) Allen Blairman (d); Saint-Paul-de-Vence, France, July 25* & July 27, 1970; *Disc 1 (43:38): Music is the Healing Force of the Universe/ Birth of Mirth/ Masonic Inborn/ Revelations 1/ Oh! Love of Life/ Island Harvest/ Heart Love; *Disc 2 (63:59): Ghosts/ Love Cry/ Desert Blood/ Revelations 2/ Revelations 3/ Revelations 4/ Speaking in Tongues. Disc 3 (71:55): *Truth is Marching In/ Zion Hill (a/k/a Universal Message/ Again Comes the Rising of the Sun/ Holy Family/ Revelations 5/ In Heart Only/ Revelations 6/ A Man is Like a Tree; Disc 4 (66:40): Holy Holy/ Spirits Rejoice/ Spirits/ Thank God for Women/ Music is the Healing Force of the Universe/Mary Parks Vocal Announcement & Curtain Call. www.elemental-music.com

Bill Evans: Behind The Dikes - The 1969 Netherlands Recordings

  The influential pianist Bill Evans has so many available recordings that even hard-core fans need a reason or two to acquire yet another live release. The latest posthumous release is Behind The Dikes - The 1969 Netherlands Recordings, a double-CD (or triple-LP) set has several attributes to recommend it. First, Evans and his trio with Eddie Gomez on bass and Marty Morell on drums are in superb form for the Hilversum session of March 26, which takes up all of the first CD plus three songs on disc 2. The sound quality is exceptionally good as well, since the performance was recorded in a studio with an audience. As Morell tells co-producer Zev Feldman, in Holland “the audiences absolutely loved Bill. Bill could do no wrong.” You can practically feel the energy that the crowd supplies to the band, inspiring a first-rate performance. Then there’s the fact that while Evans generally chose his tunes from a relatively limited batch of songs, the Hilversum show includes the only known Evans recording of Duke Ellington’s I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart. It’s one of the highlights of the set, along with especially fine versions of the perennial favorite Waltz For Debby and the hard-swinging set closer, Someday My Prince Will Come. Evans typically gave a lot of solo space to his bassist, but the pianist seems to have been in an expansive mood for this show, and bass solos are held to a minimum. Two more tracks that make this a desirable acquisition for Evans’ many devotees are Enrique Granados’ Granadas and Gabriel Fauré’s Pavane featuring the trio accompanied by the Metropole Orkest and recorded the night before the Hilversum trio set. The arrangements were by Claus Ogerman, orchestrated for a 1965 Verve album. Evans had been playing both pieces since sometime in the Fifties; a solo piano medley of the two turned up on Practice Tape No. 1, officially released on E3 Records. These two tracks were recorded for Dutch radio, though not broadcast at the time. It’s not exactly my cup of tea, but the nine minutes provide a glimpse of Evans’ work in a different light than the usual trio setting. Filling out the set is the trio’s complete set of six tracks from a festival concert recorded in Amsterdam towards the end of the year. The ever-resourceful Gomez is more prominently featured on this occasion. There’s a 32 page booklet as part of the CD set, with period photos, reminiscences and profiles of the Dutch presenters by music journalist Bert Vuijsje, interviews with Eddie Gomez (“It was a very special time in my life.”) and Marty Morell (“... my dream gig ...”), a talk with pianist Vijay Iyer about Evans’ legacy, and more. It seems that you can never have enough Bill Evans to listen to, and Behind The Dikes is a worthy addition to the shelf. 

Elemental Music 5990441 (2xCD or 3xLP); Bill Evans (p) Eddie Gomez (b) Marty Morell (d) on %, add Metropole Orkest under the direction of Dolf van der Linden, arranged by Claus Ogerman ; Hilversum, The Netherlands, March 26, 1969, except *Amsterdam, The Netherlands, November 28, 1969; and %Hilversum, March 25, 1969; Disc 1 (59:40): You're Gonna Hear From Me/ Emily/ Stella By Starlight/ Turn Out the Stars/ Waltz for Debby/ ‘Round Midnight/ I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart/ Alfie/ Beautiful Love/ My Funny Valentine/ Spartacus' Love Theme. Disc 2 (57:42): One for Helen/ Quiet Now/ Someday My Prince Will Come/ Very Early*/ A Sleepin' Bee*/ Turn Out the Stars #2*/ Autumn Leaves*/ Quiet Now #2*/ Nardis*/ Granadas%/ Pavane%. www.elemental-music.com

Woody Shaw Quintet: Basel 1980 & Tokyo 1981

The dynamic and musically astute trumpeter Woody Shaw formed his first quintet in late 1977. By the time of the Woody Shaw Quintet’s performance in Basel 1980, pianist Larry Willis and bassist Stafford James had replaced Onaje Allen Gumbs and Clint Houston, while saxophonist Carter Jefferson and drummer Victor Lewis remained in the band. As Michael Cuscuna, producer of many Woody Shaw sessions, writes in his liner notes to this set, “It is a testament to Woody’s leadership that the character of the band, though altered by new members, remained essentially the same.” It’s a typically accurate judgment from Cuscuna, and the proof lies in the high quality of Shaw’s releases over a period of years, plus a number of live recordings that have surfaced since he passed away in 1989. Shaw was a fine composer as well as a trumpet master, and his sets would usually feature a few of his own tunes along with well-chosen standards and jazz compositions. For their Swiss audience, the band presented Shaw’s Stepping Stones and Theme For Maxine, plus tunes by drummer Victor Lewis (Seventh Avenue) and bassist Stafford James (the uptempo Teotihuacan). Dave Brubeck’s In Your Own Sweet Way, possibly his most-frequently covered tune and a favorite of Miles Davis, was also a staple of Shaw’s sets. Another pianist’s popular tune, Thelonious Monk’s ‘Round Midnight also makes an appearance, in a delicately paced performance that features some lovely improvising by Shaw and Willis. The third song penned by a pianist is Joe Bonner’s Love Dance, the title track of Shaw’s 1975 Muse album and a piece he really loved to play. The lone standard in Basel is Bronislaw Kaper’s Invitation, which opens the show. Shaw and company really liked to stretch out when performing for an audience, and they use the time for extended and boldly investigative soloing. Only the closing Theme For Maxine is less than 11 minutes long, and one of the joys of a Woody Shaw set is the continued sense of fresh discovery that the band makes evident on stage. It’s an excellent set, very nicely recorded, and the enthusiastic Swiss audience wanted even more. Our bonus track is a quartet exploration of the Carl Fischer-Frankie Laine standard We’ll Be Together Again, taken from an appearance at the 1981 Lustenau Jazz Festival in Austria. Once again the band has changed, with Mulgrew Miller at the piano and Tony Reedus on drums, with Stafford James still on bass. It’s not as well recorded, and at first the performance is a bit lackluster when compared to the Basel material, but after a sparkling piano solo by the much-missed Miller, Shaw takes charge and plays a powerful solo before taking the tune out. The booklet includes Cuscuna’s notes, an essay by Woody Shaw III, and well-chosen photographs of the musicians. Totally recommended, like pretty much everything that Shaw ever played.

With the addition of trombonist Steve Turre, the same Woody Shaw band that appears on the bonus track from Austria is presented on Tokyo 1981, recorded in December of that year. Shaw and Turre were both members of the 1973 edition of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers, and they continued to be close friends and musical partners. When I worked as a soundman at Keystone Korner in this period, I had the good fortune to be working on a Monday when the Shaw quintet played for one night while they were either on the way to Japan or on the way back to New York. It was a great night of music, and part of the excitement was the novelty of hearing two brassmen as the front line. From Tokyo 1981's introduction in Japanese, it seems that this set was sourced from a radio broadcast. Kicking off with Shaw’s enduring composition Rosewood, the band is playing at their usual high level of swing and melodic invention. Two songs from the Basel show reappear, Monk’s ‘Round Midnight (with a bravura ending solo by Shaw) and the snippet of Theme for Maxine that concludes the set. The performance includes a compelling extended version of Shaw’s Song Of Songs, which served him well after its debut as the title track of his 1972 Contemporary album. Miller’s churning Apex really inspires Shaw, who tears off a spectacular solo, with drummer Reedus kicking it along in high gear. Another Shaw composition, the mellow ballad From Moment to Moment, was relatively new at the time, but the quintet sounds thoroughly at home with it. Turre’s gravelly solo on the bass trombone is a highlight, as is Miller’s inventive solo. Shaw’s closing announcement, delivered over the introduction to Theme For Maxine, is greeted with warm applause from the audience. I almost found myself applauding at home. The bonus track for this CD is a version of Shaw’s Sweet Love Of Mine, excerpted from a Dutch performance with the Paris Reunion Band, described by Michael Cuscuna as “a collective formed in 1985 by American musicians who had transplanted themselves on the active Paris jazz scene of the late ‘60s.” The tune first appeared on Jackie McLean’s Demon’s Dance, recorded at the end of 1967, and the attractive melody was a staple of the Paris Reunion Band’s book for the three years that the group lasted. The rhythm section of Kenny Drew on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Billy Brooks on drums gives the piece a samba feeling, and Woody plays a genuinely inspired solo before yielding the spotlight to tenor saxophonist Johnny Griffin, another consummately reliable soloist. We also hear from pianist Drew and drummer Brooks in a series of exchanges with the band before they return to the theme. Shaw’s numerous recordings depict him as ever-evolving and growing as a player, and it’s always a pleasure to savor some newly uncovered examples of his artistry. Recommended, of course.
Basel 1980: Elemental Music 5990432; Woody Shaw (tpt, flgh) Carter Jefferson (ts, ss) Larry Willis (p) Stafford James (b) Victor Lewis (d); Basel, Switzerland, January 16, 1980; exc * Shaw (t) Mulgrew Miller (p) James (b) Tony Reedus (d); Lustenau, Austria, June 20, 1981; Disc 1 (63:57): Invitation/ Seventh Avenue/ In Your Own Sweet Way/ Stepping Stone. Disc 2 (61:47): Love Dance/ ‘Round Midnight/ Teotihuacan/ Theme for Maxine/ We’ll Be Together Again*. 
Tokyo 1981: Elemental Music 5990429; Woody Shaw (tpt, flgh) Steve Turre (tbn, perc) Mulgrew Miller (p) Stafford James (b) Tony Reedus (d); Tokyo, Japan, December 7, 1981; exc. * The Paris Reunion Band [Shaw, Dizzy Reece (tpt) Slide Hampton (tbn) Johnny Griffin (ts) Nathan Davis (ts, ss) Kenny Drew (p) Jimmy Woode (b) Billy Brooks (d); Den Haag, The Netherlands, July 14, 1985; Rosewood/ ‘Round Midnight/ Apex/ From Moment to Moment/ Song of Songs/ Theme for Maxine/ Sweet Love of Mine*; 73:30. elemental-music.com

Dexter Gordon: At The Subway Club 1973 & Tokyo 1975

I’ve been enjoying a significant series of historical releases on the Elemental Music label featuring bandleaders tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon and trumpeter Woody Shaw. These previously unreleased tracks have been sitting unheard since they were recorded between 1965 (Gordon in Germany) and 1981 (Shaw, with one track by the Paris Reunion Band in 1985). Now licensed and fully authorized, each set offers bonus tracks drawn from other performances. 

Until he formed his own quartet in the late Seventies, the magisterial tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon toured most often as a single, assembling new bands in every town. The welcome release of the two-CD set At The Subway Club 1973 provides a few snapshots of three different editions of the Dexter Gordon Quartet. The main event, mostly well recorded at a German night club in September 1973, takes up all of the first disc plus the first tune on disc 2. His comrades for this evening were pianist Irv Rochlin, bassist Henk Haverhoek and drummer Tony Inzalaco. Not exactly household names, even in the most jazz-obsessed home, but they acquit themselves quite well. The leader is in a typically expansive mood, stretching out even on tunes not usually in his repertoire, like Wave, the Antonio Carlos Jobim classic that opens the show. Jimmy Webb’s Didn’t We is next, with Gordon in story-telling mode as he limns the melody after reciting a few lyrics. The whole crew flies through On the Trail, from Ferde Grofé’s Grand Canyon Suite (1933), which has been a staple for improvisation for decades. A muscular romp through another favored Gordon song, Secret Love from the Webster-Fain musical Calamity Jane (1953), concludes the first CD. Leading off the second disc is a 27-minute excursion through the Jule Styne-Sammy Cahn standard It’s You or No One. This was one of Dex’s favorite vehicles for improvisation, and he soars through the song to close the set. To fill out the second disc, the producers have come up with material from two earlier European performances. We get to hear him play Fried Bananas, a Gordon original that he played frequently, and to caress the ballad Some Other Spring, best known from Billie Holiday’s 1939 recording, from a 1971 appearance in the Netherlands quality and the all-Dutch rhythm section of Cees Slinger on piano, Maarten van Regteren Altena on bass, and Martin van Duyhoven on drums. Then we slip further back into the past for renditions of Monk’s ‘Round Midnight and Tadd Dameron’s Lady Bird taken from a 1965 German concert with the curious grouping of George Gruntz on piano, Jimmy Woode on bass, and Stu Martin on drums. Sound quality on the Dutch set is acceptable, though I would be happier with more saxophone in the mix. The 1965 material is a bit murky, with the drums way down in the mix, but Dexter is in good form. It’s the earliest known performance of the Monk tune by Gordon, though he sounds thoroughly at home with it. Short liner essays by Maxine Gordon, Dexter’s widow and biographer, and Michael Cuscuna, who produced a number of Dexter Gordon albums in the late Seventies and early Eighties, provide valuable context and background for this very satisfying release. Recommended. 

When the Dexter Gordon Quartet played a night in Tokyo 1975, the personnel was a group that the saxophonist played with frequently in Copenhagen, his home at the time. Fellow expatriate Kenny Drew was on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen was on bass, and Albert “Tootie” Heath was on drums, an exceptionally swinging and supportive rhythm section. The audience is quite enthusiastic as the quartet offers another helping of Fried Bananas, follows up with Days of Wine and Roses, a Henry Mancini-Johnny Mercer song that appeared on Gordon's Tangerine Lp (Prestige, 1972), and the much-loved Erroll Garner song Misty, before the set ends with Gordon singing a couple of choruses on the Billy Eckstine blues Jelly, Jelly, Jelly. Drew and NHØP play on the first bonus track, a version of Monk’s Rhythm-a-Ning recorded in 1973 in the Netherlands with drummer Espen Rud on board. Gordon is in a fun mood in a long exchange with Rud before the out-chorus. The last track jumps ahead in time to 1977, for a gorgeous version of Old Folks, a tune from 1938 by Dedette Lee Hill and Willard Robison. The rhythm section of pianist Ronnie Mathews, bassist Stafford James, and drummer Louis Hayes is the same as on his well-received Homecoming album, recorded in late 1976. Mathews shines here, with a dynamic solo sandwiched between two of the saxophonist’s forays. Informative liner notes by Maxine Gordon and Michael Cuscuna plus period photos in a 16-page booklet made a perfect complement to the music. 

Subway Club: Elemental Music 5990433; Dexter Gordon (ts) Irv Rochlin (p) Henk Haverhoek (b) Tony Inzalaco (d); Köln, West Germany, September 11, 1973; exc. *Gordon (ts) Cees Slinger (p) Maarten van Regteren Altena (b) Martin van Duyhoven (d); Den Haag, The Netherlands, March 22, 1971; and #Gordon (ts) George Gruntz (p) Jimmy Woode (d) Stu Martin (d); Stuttgart, West Germany, November 23, 1965; Disc 1 (68:12): Wave/ Didn’t We/ On the Trail/ Secret Love; Disc 2 (76:50): It’s You or No One/ Fried Bananas*/ Some Other Spring*/ ‘Round Midnight#/ Lady Bird#. 

Tokyo 1975: Elemental Music 5990428; Dexter Gordon (ts; vcl on #) Kenny Drew (p) Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen (b) Albert “Tootie” Heath (d); Tokyo, Japan, October 1, 1975; exc. * Gordon (ts) Drew (p) Pedersen (b) Espen Rud (d); Laren, The Netherlands, July 18, 1973; and #Gordon (ts) Ronnie Mathews (p) Stafford James (b) Louis Hayes (d); New Haven, CT, May 5, 1977; Fried Bananas/ Days of Wine and Roses/ Misty/ Jelly, Jelly, Jelly#/ Rhythm-a-Ning*/ Old Folks#; 63:42. elemental-music.com