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

The music I most enjoyed in the plague year

 Yes, it was an awful year. I'm glad it's over. Here's some of the music that helped me through it:

JD Allen - Toys/Die Dreaming (Savant) 

Ran Blake & Frank Carlberg - Grey Moon (Red Piano)

Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut - Live In Graz (Multiphonics Music)

Bill Frisell - Valentine (Blue Note)

Gato Libre - Koneko (Libra)

Lafayette Gilchrist - Now (Lafayette Gilchrist Music)

Fred Hersch - Songs From Home (Palmetto)

Ray Mantilla - Rebirth (Savant)

Aruán Ortiz with Andrew Cyrille & Mauricio Herrera - Inside Rhythmic Falls (Intakt)

Jason Palmer - The Concert: 12 Musings for Isabella (Giant Step Arts)

Ivo Perelman & Matthew Shipp - Amalgam (Mahakala Music)

Jorge Roeder - El Suelo Mio (self-released)

Jim Snidero - Project-K (Savant)

Micah Thomas - Tide (self-released)

and, like every year, there was some special music unearthed 

Art Blakey - Just Coolin’ (Blue Note)

Paul Desmond - The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings (Mosaic)

Hank Mobley - The Complete Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 (Mosaic)

Sonny Rollins - Rollins In Holland (Resonance)

and heartfelt thanks to the publicists, labels, and musicians 

who persevered in spite of the obstacles

Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers: Just Coolin’

It was passed over for initial release, then omitted from a series of Blue Note vault issue programs, but now, 60 years after it was recorded in Rudy Van Gelder’s Hackensack studio, we all get to hear Just Coolin’, a March 1959 session by Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers. This was a short-lived edition of the band, with tenor saxophonist Hank Mobley back in the group for a few months, Lee Morgan on trumpet, Bobby Timmons on piano, and Jymie Merritt on bass. Four of these pieces were recorded live for the band’s At The Jazz Corner Of The World double-album about six weeks after this studio session. Mobley’s three numbers (Hipsippy Blues, the finger-snapping M&M and the title track) plus Bernice Petkere’s Close Your Eyes made it to the Birdland stage, so this album stayed on the shelf. There are plenty of flashes of brilliance throughout, especially from the perennially underrated Mobley (who suffers from a squeaky reed on Timmons’ hip but otherwise unrecorded Quick Trip and elsewhere) and the much-praised Morgan. But as a band effort the music doesn’t always cohere, and for a ensemble that had so many great days in the studio and documented in performance, this set seldom rises to the heights. Still, previously unheard solos by Lee Morgan are always a plus, and from a historical perspective, this set adds insight into a transitional period for the band. It’s also a curious fact that this 60-year old music sounds as fresh as yesterday, while in 1959, styles that were prevalent even just 30 years before seemed terribly dated. Recommended.
Blue Note; Lee Morgan (tpt) Hank Mobley (ts) Bobby Timmons (p) Jymie Merritt (b) Art Blakey (d); Hackensack, NJ, March 8, 1959; Hipsippy Blues/ Close Your Eyes/ Jimerick/ Quick Trick/ M&M/ Just Coolin’; 38:57. www.bluenote.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

Jeremy Pelt: The Art Of Intimacy, Volume 1

Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt had a yen to play with some elders, and he could not have picked better collaborators for The Art Of Intimacy, Volume 1 than pianist George Cables and bassist Peter Washington. Back in the Fifties, there was the idea of “mood music,” epitomized in the jazz world by Prestige Records’ Moodsville imprint. As a listener to the Bay Area radio station KJAZ-FM in the Seventies, I recall their “dinner jazz” segment for two hours every night. Pressing “play” on The Art Of Intimacy quickly brought those developments to mind. There’s always a place for a low-key ballad-heavy project in the jazz world, and given the crazy times we live in, a soothing set of genuinely warm music is truly welcome. While a trio of trumpet, piano, and bass is pretty rare among jazz recordings, Pelt, Cables, and Washington make it sound like the most natural blend in the world. Pelt has selected some uncommon material for the date. Rodgers and Hart’s Little Girl Blue is the most familiar of the standards, played here with graceful finesse and featuring an especially fine arco solo by Washington. Always On My Mind (by Johnny Green and Norman Newell) was sung by Sarah Vaughan for Roulette in 1963, but has seldom been recorded since. The trio gives it a lovely and unhurried reading, with Pelt’s Harmon-muted horn leading the way. I’ve Just Seen Her, a song by Charles Strouse and Arthur Schwartz, is similarly obscure, with only a handful of recordings over the years. The mute stays in place for a typically melodic and elegant performance. Another rarity is Lucky Thompson’s While You Are Gone, which as near as I can tell was recorded by the composer just once, on a 1960 French TV appearance released decades later on the Fresh Sounds label. It’s a genuinely charming melody, which Pelt describes as “singable,” proving the point with his horn. There are a few breaks from the trio format. Ab-o-lutely is a spontaneous blues duet by Pelt and Washington. Pelt and Cables play a luscious duet on the pianist’s Ebony Moonbeams and conclude the disc with a tender rendition of I’ll Never Stop Loving You, written by Nicholas Brodzsky and Sammy Cahn, and made famous by Doris Day in the 1955 film Love Me Or Leave Me. Here it’s the occasion for some particularly beautiful rhapsodizing by Cables and a succinct melody statement by Pelt, the perfect ending for a beautifully heartfelt session. Warmly recommended.
HighNote HCD 7334; Jeremy Pelt (tpt) George Cables (p) Peter Washington (b); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, August 22, 2019; Live is Simple/ Little Girl Blue/ Always on My Mind/ I’ve Just Seen Her/ Then I’ll Be Tired of You/ Ebony Moonbeams/ While You Are Gone/ Ab-o-lutely/ I’ll Never Stop Loving You; 52:22. www.jazzdepot.com

Jerry Bergonzi: Nearly Blue

Tenor saxophonist Jerry Bergonzi has been playing with organist Renato Chicco for decades, and with drummer Andrea Michelutti nearly as long. The three first appeared as a unit on 2016's Spotlight On Standards. They’re back with Nearly Blue, a collection of mostly standards with a few Bergonzi originals in the mix. Ask a horn player about the perfect rhythm section, and you’ll likely get a variant of Bergonzi’s answer: “I look for a rhythm section that makes me sound good.” Chicco and Michelutti are just right for Bergonzi’s gruff lyricism, and over time the three have developed a deep rapport. The saxophonist picked some excellent tunes for this session, kicking the proceedings off with a spirited rendition of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s It Might As Well Be Spring, a favorite of improvisers since its debut in the 1945 film State Fair. John Coltrane’s Countdown is up next, a bit surprising in this context, particularly when it’s performed as slowly as it is here. Taking the tune at this medium pace allows Bergonzi to, in his words, “avoid playing vertically and focus on the horizontal.” With their ability to swing hard at any tempo, standards like On Green Dolphin Street and Nice Work If You Can Get It are artfully reconfigured and adapted to play to the trio’s strengths. I don’t want to neglect Bergonzi’s attractive originals. He offers the seductive Tectonic Plates with its uncommon harmonies, Nearly Blue, an extended blues that gives the CD its title, and the light bossa feel of While You Were Out, written when a music student failed to appear for a lesson. If I was forced to single out one track, it would be the trio’s sensuous exploration of the Fischer-Laine vehicle We’ll Be Together Again. But this is 65 minutes of jazz with abiding appeal. Definitely recommended.
Savant SCD 2180; Jerry Bergonzi (ts) Renato Chicco (B-3 org) Andrea Michelutti (d); Udine, Italy, March 22, 2019; It Might as Well Be Spring/ Countdown/ How About You?/ Tectonic Plates/ Nearly Blue/ On Green Dolphin Street/ We’ll Be Together Again/ While You Were Out/ Nice Work If You Can Get It/ Laura; 64:50. www.jazzdepot.com

Alvin Schwaar/Bänz Oester/Noé Franklé: Travellin’ Light

The world of improvised music is full of surprises. Travellin’ Light, a sumptuous release by the trio of Alvin Schwaar, Bänz Oester, & Noé Franklé, is a welcome and unusual excursion by European improvisers into the realm of jazz compositions and well-known standards. The senior member of the band is bassist Oester, active since the Eighties, who has worked extensively with pianist Michael Wintsch and drummer Gerry Hemingway in the WHO Trio. Pianist Schwaar and drummer Franklé are making their recording debuts. There is a charming aspect to the trio’s interactions, as their mutual delight in the music becomes the dominant feeling. The most obscure of these selections is Duke Ellington’s Heaven, from the first Sacred Concert. The band caresses the melody, and their restraint at a very slow pace is impressive. Then they turn right around for a raucous dissection of All the Things You Are, sneaking up on the famous melody just when I was thinking that they’d never get to it. The trio gets a little lost when playing My Ideal, a song from 1930 by Leo Robin, Richard Whiting and Newell Chase. Their sparse arrangement doesn’t give them much to work with, and it is a bit mystifying that the track clocks in at just over ten minutes. They’re back on track with a dynamically vigorous version of Bill Evans’ Very Early, a mainstay of the pianist’s repertoire from 1962 to his final appearance in New York in June 1980. John Coltrane’s Big Nick, a jazz tune also premiered in 1962, receives an appropriately gritty and interactive performance. Another Ellington composition ends the set, the timelessly beautiful Prelude to a Kiss. No experimentation here, and none needed: it’s a gently melodic and faithful rendition that’s utterly pleasing. Hemingway graciously pens a brief liner essay, where he discusses some of the strategies the trio offers. He concludes by noting that “musicality is a sense that grows and matures over time. It is present in these three musician’s intentions and continually evolving in our ears as we together enjoy the space that music can create for us simply to be.” Travellin’ Light is happily recommended.
Leo CD LR 875; Alvin Schwaar (p) Bänz Oester (b) Noé Franklé (d); Basel, Switzerland, August 19, 2019; Someone to Watch Over Me/ I Have a Dream/ Heaven/ All the Things You Are/ My Ideal/ Very Early/ Big Nick/ Prelude to a Kiss; 64:31. www.leorecordsmusic.com

Hank Mobley: The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970

The influential jazz writer and producer Leonard Feather dubbed Hank Mobley the “middleweight champion” in the liner notes for the 1961 Blue Note album Workout, an apt epithet for the tenorman in an era when Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Stan Getz, Sonny Rollins, and John Coltrane were all active performers. Heavy company to keep, and because it has always seemed difficult for the jazz press to have more than one or two heroes on a particular instrument at any given time, Mobley’s contributions to the art have often been undervalued. As the ever-astute Bob Blumenthal writes in his lengthy and highly informative essay, “Mobley’s time has not come yet, but it draws ever closer.” As I’ve discovered over the years, the more you hear him play, the more you want to hear him play, which makes Mosaic’s The Complete Hank Mobley Blue Note Sessions 1963-1970 a very special release, and the perfect complement to the now out of print Complete Blue Note Hank Mobley Fifties Sessions (Mosaic MD6-181).
Before you even start to listen to the music, statistics are one way to look at a Mosaic boxed set. This 8-CD package collects a dozen albums, totaling 8 hours and 43 minutes of prime hard bop. Of the 75 tracks, just one is previously unissued, an alternate take of Me ’N You from the No Room For Squares session of October 2, 1963. To me, the most interesting fact about this set is how many of these tracks went unreleased until years after the recording dates. Only seven of these albums came out contemporaneously, while five dates had to wait until Michael Cuscuna got into the Blue Note vaults in the late Seventies and had them released for the first time. That’s a lot of music to sit unreleased, and I suppose that label honchos Alfred Lion and Francis Wolff had their reasons at the time, or it’s possible they were just too busy. Whatever the case, those belated releases had the effect of keeping Mobley’s legacy alive, although Mobley himself was none too pleased with the situation. In one of his infrequent interviews, Mobley had groused to John Litweiler, saying “There’s no point going through two-three months trying to rehearse if they put it on the shelf.”
The high quality of Mobley’s albums were partly due to the top-notch musicians that played on them. Trumpeters Donald Byrd, Freddie Hubbard, Blue Mitchell, and Woody Shaw all make appearances, and there’s a generous helping of the great Lee Morgan, who performs on six out of the thirteen sessions that are included. The piano players include such eminences as Herbie Hancock, Andrew Hill, Barry Harris, McCoy Tyner, and Cedar Walton. Most of the drum chores are handled by the wonderful Billy Higgins; there are also appearances by Philly Joe Jones and Leroy Williams. Bob Cranshaw is often the bassist, and we also hear from Paul Chambers, Walter Booker, and Ron Carter, among others. As the recording units expand from the typical quintet format, we have the added pleasures of hearing from musicians including trombonist Curtis Fuller, saxophonists James Spaulding and Jackie McLean, and guitarists Sonny Greenwich and George Benson. The familiarity and cohesion of the players, combined with the superb engineering of Rudy Van Gelder on all but one of these dates, and Mobley’s acknowledged penchant for writing suitable material make for a deeply appealing and swinging collection.
One of the best decisions that Mosaic ever made was to package their CD collections in LP sized boxes. The 20-page booklet that comes with this set includes a generous helping of Francis Wolff photographs that were taken at the recording sessions. A small CD-sized booklet could not do justice to Wolff’s evocative black and white images, nor would it have been as easy to read Bob Blumenthal’s liner essay. All told, this is another top-quality production from the good folks at Mosaic, in an edition limited to 3,000 collections. It’s available directly from Mosaic Records at their website: mosaicrecords.com
Mosaic MD8-268; Disc 1 (77:26): Sessions A (3/7/63) & B (10/2/63); Disc 2 (62:45): Session B & C (2/5/65); Disc 3 (61:47): Sessions D (6/18/65) & E (12/18/65); Disc 4 (59:30): Sessions E & F (3/18/66); Disc 5 (66:34): Sessions G (6/17/66) & H (2/24/67); Disc 6 (76:27): Sessions I (5/26/67) & J (10/9/67); Disc 7 (75:40): Sessions K (1/19/68) & L (7/12/69); Disc 8 (42:59): Session M (7/31/70). Complete discographical details are available here

Johnny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis: Ow! Live At The Penthouse

Tenor saxophonists Johnny Griffin & Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis co-led a fairly successful quintet that recorded ten albums for Prestige Records and Riverside Record’s Jazzland imprint between September 1960 and February 1962. The band’s last recording session, in May 1962, was an experiment in balladry which went unissued until I had the pleasure of compiling Pisces, released for the first time in 2004. The same group that recorded Pisces, with Horace Parlan on piano, Buddy Catlett on bass, and Art Taylor on drums, hit the road that spring, and the producers at Reel To Real Records have unearthed an hour of music from that tour. Ow! Live At The Penthouse is another set extracted from the cache of tapes made from the original radio broadcasts from the club on Seattle’s KING-FM, and the music is just as great as you’d expect from this crew. Nobody energized a band quite like drummer Taylor, and it’s a total joy to hear him, starting with the terrifying tempo of the two-tenor classic Blues Up and Down, complete with the drums and horns trading the fastest four bars I’ve heard in some time. Dizzy Gillespie’s Ow!, Ary Barroso’s Bahia, and Edgar Sampson’s 1935 tune Blue Lou round out the first show. It’s an intense dose of hard bop, and if you heard it on the radio on May 30, you surely would have wanted to make the scene at the club to experience the quintet in person. The group is back on the air one week later with a different batch of tunes, once again kicking off their half-hour with a burner, Second Balcony Jump, reprising the Dexter Gordon and Gene Ammons feature with the Billy Eckstine Orchestra in the mid-Forties. A lengthy exposition of How Am I to Know? is next, followed by a ballad feature for Griffin, Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady. The set concludes with Lester Young’s Tickle Toe, a popular blowing vehicle over the years and the Griffin-Davis unit does not disappoint with a forceful version powered by Art Taylor’s potent drumming. Co-producers Zev Feldman and Cory Weeds have put together another exemplary package. The 28-page booklet includes plenty of photos and memorabilia, liner notes by Ted Panken, plus reminiscences by Bob Wilke, who produced the original broadcasts, and Charlie Puzzo, Jr., son of the Penthouse Club’s proprietor. Also featured are observations by pianist Michael Weiss and drummer Kenny Washington, both of whom played with Griffin, and saxophonist James Carter, who opines on two of his musical heroes. A total gas from start to finish, Ow! is not to be missed.
Reel To Real RTR-CD-003; Johnny Griffin, Eddie “Lockjaw” Davis (ts) Horace Parlan (p) Buddy Catlett (b) Art Taylor (d); Seattle, WA, May 30, 1962* or June 6, 1962; Intermission Riff*/ Blues Up and Down*/ Ow!*/ Spoken Introduction*/ Bahia*/ Spoken Introduction*/ Blue Lou*/ Second Balcony Jump/ Spoken Outro/ How Am I to Know?/ Spoken Introduction/ Sophisticated Lady/ Spoken Introduction/ Tickle Toe/ Intermission Riff; 58:44. cellarlive.com

The music I most enjoyed in 2019

another year, another list ...

here's an alphabetical list of the releases of 2019 that I most enjoyed:

Whit Dickey - Tao Quartets (AUM Fidelity)

Dave Douglas - Devotion (Greenleaf Music)

Lafayette Gilchrist - Dark Matter (Lafayette Gilchrist Music) 

Iro Haarla/Ulf Krokfors/Barry Altschul - Around Again: The Music of Carla Bley (TUM)

Rich Halley - Terra Incognita (Pine Eagle)

Lapis Trio - The Travelers (Shifting Paradigm)

Matt Mitchell - Phalanx Ambassadors (Pi Recordings)

Miles Okazaki - The Sky Below (Pi Recordings)

William Parker/In Order To Survive - Live/Shapeshifter (AUM Fidelity)

Tomeka Reid Quartet - Old New (Cuneiform)

Steph Richards - Take The Neon Lights (Birdwatcher)

Adam Rudolph’s Go:Organic Orchestra/Brookyn Raga Massive - Ragmala (Meta/BRM)

Tyshawn Sorey/Marilyn Crispell - The Adornment Of Time (Pi Recordings)

Dan Weiss Trio Plus 1 - Utica Box (Sunnyside)

and let's not forget some reissues and historical releases:

John Coltrane - Blue World (Impulse!)

Eric Dolphy - Musical Prophet : Expanded 1963 New York Studio Sessions (Resonance)

Bill Evans - In London (Resonance)

Esbjørn Svensson Trio - e.s.t. Live In Gothenburg (ACT Music)

special thanks to all the labels, publicists, and musicians for 

persevering in such dark times

Franco Ambrosetti Quintet: Long Waves

The highly regarded Swiss trumpeter Franco Ambrosetti has been playing with jazz stars throughout his professional life. The earliest recording of his that I can find is from a 1963 concert with his father, saxophonist Flavio Ambrosetti, and the stellar rhythm section of Joe Zawinul, Sam Jones, and Louis Hayes. Long Waves, the latest release by the Franco Ambrosetti Quintet, finds the now 78-year old veteran leading another all-star ensemble with guitarist John Scofield, pianist Uri Caine, bassist Scott Colley, and drummer Jack DeJohnette. There’s a palpable warmth to this session, a feeling from the very start of Ambrosetti’s original composition Milonga that the listener is being invited to share in the good spirits and congenial atmosphere that the music delivers. Ambrosetti brought three other tunes to the date, the snappy Try Again, and two songs dedicated to his wife, Silli’s Long Wave, a mid-tempo groover with inspired soloing by Scofield and Caine, and the ultra-relaxed Silli’s Waltz. The winning program is rounded out by One For the Kids, a piece by pianist George Gruntz that Ambrosetti recorded previously on his 1997 Enja album Warm Breeze, and a pair of tunes that have long been popular with improvisers, Willard Robison’s 1938 composition Old Folks, played very slowly, and an extended look at Bronislaw Kaper’s On Green Dolphin Street, taken at a cheerful toe-tapping tempo with solos by all hands. As the ever-astute Bob Blumenthal writes in his liner notes, the “sincerity and affection” on display throughout the program made him “feel like part of the family.” He’s right on the mark, and spending the better part of an hour with Long Waves is practically guaranteed to make your day a little brighter. Warmly recommended.
Unit UTR 4907; Franco Ambrosetti (tpt, flgh) John Scofield (g) Uri Caine (p) Scott Colley (b) Jack DeJohnette (d); NYC, January 30-31, 2019; Milonga/ Try Again/ Silli’s Long Wave/ One For the Kids/ Old Folks/ Silli’s Waltz/ On Green Dolphin Street; 53:33. www.unitrecords.com

Iro Haarla, Ulf Krokfors & Barry Altschul: Around Again: The Music Of Carla Bley

In a perfect balance of artists and repertoire, the trio of Iro Haarla, Ulf Krokfors & Barry Altschul offers a dozen compositions by Carla Bley on their luminous Around Again: The Music Of Carla Bley. Drummer Altschul, of course, played some of these tunes when he was in the Paul Bley trio which introduced Closer, Batterie, And Now, the Queen, and Start in the mid-Sixties. That was at the beginning of this master drummer’s career, and a lifetime of wide-ranging experiences make him uniquely suited for this project. Pianist Haarla and bassist Krokfors have performed together frequently over the years in a number of different musical situations. Their intuitive interactions come as no surprise, and the supremely musical Altschul seems to be immediately on their wavelength, with the entire program of a dozen songs recorded on a single day in the studio. The TUM label’s extensive documentation for this session includes revealing statements by the members of the trio, along with biographical notes and comments on the songs and their histories. While it’s a nice bonus to have all those words bringing an added dimension to the enjoyment of this disc, it’s the impeccable playing and the obvious affection of the musicians for one another and for Carla Bley’s music that make Around Again an important and affecting 67 minutes. One of the best releases of the year, absolutely recommended.
TUM 054; Iro Haarla (p) Ulf Krokfors (b) Barry Altschul (d); Helsinki, Finland, November 11, 2015; Closer/ Vashkar/ Batterie/ Ida Lupino/ Around Again/ Olhos de Gato/ Intermission Music/ King Korn/ And Now, the Queen/ Útviklingssang/ Start/ Jesus Maria; 67:01. 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

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

George Cables: I’m All Smiles

George Cables, a master of modern jazz piano, has had more than his share of health problems over the last few years and was unable to play for a while. But he’s back on the scene, and his latest trio venture, I’m All Smiles, functions as the best “thank you” to his many well-wishers that they could have hoped for. Many of the selections impart definite messages, like the opening Young at Heart, the popular Love is a Many- Splendored Thing from 1955, and the title track, first heard on Broadway in The Yearling (1965). The nicely balanced program also includes Wayne Shorter’s Speak No Evil, Consuelo Velázquez’s immortal Bésame Mucho, Freddie Hubbard’s durable Thermo, Jaco Pastorius’ Three Views of a Secret, one Cables original (the brightly optimistic Celebration) and a pair of tunes by Thelonious Monk. A curiously upbeat and choppy version of Ugly Beauty is performed by the trio, while a spirited solo piano rendition of Monk’s Mood ends the disc with a flourish. Suffice it to say that Cables sounds strong and is swinging as hard as ever. Essiet Essiet on bass and the veteran Victor Lewis provide impeccable support throughout. This disc was recorded in a single day in the studio, and I can’t help but get the feeling that Cables was champing at the bit to get back to music-making. Welcome back, George Cables! I’m All Smiles is a real winner, and happily recommended.
HighNote HCD 7322; George Cables (p) Essiet Essiet (b, exc. on *) Victor Lewis (d, exc. on *); NYC, October 26, 2018; Young at Heart/ I’m All Smiles/ Speak No Evil/ Besame Mucho/ Ugly Beauty/ Love is a Many-Splendored Thing/ Celebration/ Three Views of a Secret/ Thermo/ Monk’s Mood*; 58:24. www.jazzdepot.com

David Kikoski: Phoenix Rising

Pianist David Kikoski leads a quartet with Eric Alexander on tenor, Peter Washington on bass, and Joe Farnsworth on drums on Phoenix Rising, his debut release for HighNote Records. No surprise given these personalities, but the band is swinging like mad on the opening title track, co-composed by Kikoski and Alexander. It’s also no surprise that they keep it up throughout this winning session. Kikoski, who has been heard on many recordings since his debut with drummer Fabio Jegher in 1982, is probably best known for his extended relationship with the great drummer Roy Haynes from the mid-Eighties through the early part of this century. To my mind, no one needs a stronger recommendation than the imprimatur of Mr. Haynes to seriously spend some time with Kikoski and friends. Except for the opening track, and Alexander’s Kik It, a jumping blues that follows it, the repertoire is a considered selection of standards plus John Coltrane’s Lazy Bird. Jimmy Webb’s Wichita Lineman, made famous by Glen Campbell in 1968, may raise a few eyebrows, but a quick glance at a discography tells me that it’s been recorded over 50 times by jazz musicians, including J.J. Johnson, Freddie Hubbard, and Sonny Stitt. From Kikoski’s lush introduction, it’s easy to hear why it’s so appealing: a fascinating chord progression, a memorable melody and a sense of drama, even without the lyrics. The quartet does it justice, at just about the original tempo, with Kikoski and Alexander soloing in a relaxed manner. Save for the two originals, the balance of the program is older than Webb’s classic, and from the straightforwardly swinging way that everyone’s playing, you could be forgiven for listening to this disc blindly and thinking that the music is thirty or forty years old. Respecting the tradition, of course, is far from a bad thing, especially when the match of players and program is as well-designed as it is here. Standout tracks include a romp through If I Were a Bell, in the Miles Davis arrangement but with the twist of an extra tag, a rollicking version of Love For Sale, and a supersonically charged look at Lazy Bird, with Alexander and Kikoski deftly navigating this classic theme. But truth to tell, you really can’t grow wrong dipping into this CD anywhere. Alexander and Kikoski have been pals for years, but this is the first time that the two have recorded together. Here’s looking forward to more collaborations from this well-matched pair. Easily recommended.
HighNote HCD 7328; Eric Alexander (ts) David Kikoski (p) Peter Washington (b) Joe Farnsworth (d); Englewood Cliffs, NJ, December 20, 2018; Phoenix Rising/ Kik It/ Wichita Lineman/ If I Were a Bell/ Emily/ Love for Sale/ My One and Only Love/ Lazy Bird/ Willow Weep for Me; 59:16. www.jazzdepot.com

Luca Sisera ROOFER: Starlex Complex

Bassist Luca Sisera writes boldly complicated music for Luca Sisera ROOFER, his quintet with a front line of Marcus Twerenbold on trombone and Michael Jaeger on tenor sax, and a rhythm section of Sisera, pianist Yves Theiler, and drummer Michi Stulz. I’ve wondered about the band’s name, and the press release for Starlex Complex, the group’s third release, finally answers that question. Pirmin Bossart writes that “so-called ‘roofers’ are climbers who clamber up high structures without safety equipment ...” which makes perfect metaphorical sense for this wild and woolly compositions of Sisera and the utterly fearless performances of his band. When I reviewed the band’s first CD (Prospect, Leo Records, 2014), I wrote the listener can “never be exactly sure where the tunes are headed, but [one] can trust this unit to make the process a hell of a lot of fun.” A few years later, and with more playing time as a group, that statement seems more true than ever. The individual parts may not be too daunting, but the ways that Sisera puts them together are usually surprising and unexpected. It’s harder than usual to describe Sisera’s music in words, but let me try. The staccato theme of Starlex Complex quickly leads into a long boppish theme voiced by Twerenbold and Jaeger over the high-stepping rhythm section before the trombonist breaks the spell for a dark-toned solo. He’s joined by Jaeger for a duel of solos while piano, bass, and drums grow agitated and aggressive. As the rhythms calm down, Twerenbold takes over again and the piece abruptly comes to a halt. That description just begins to scratch the surface of what’s going on. This is music that demands and rewards repeated close listenings to appreciate the details of what Sisera and his bandmates are up to. The second track is the carefully paced Internal Body Messenger. That yields to the exuberant Struggle Bubble, with a theme that reminds me of Stevie Wonder’s Sir Duke, of all things, before moving on to an almost giddy group improvisation with a busily propulsive bass solo. The already blurred line between composition and improvisation is essentially erased for the spacy Nairs, seven minutes of whooshes, blurs, and cymbal hits. Until the last minute, there are occasional stately piano chords that are thrown in, seemingly at random, could come from a different piece altogether. But all of a sudden, Theiler’s piano grows more assertive and moves to the forefront in what amounts to a musical coup. Mama Helix is a favorite of mine. This starkly dramatic and swirling piece has parts that fit together in the strangest ways. There’s a section that features a trombone and saxophone chase, a lush solo piano interlude, and inspired drumming by Stulz. Missing Chan(n)els Part 1 offers a sweetly conversational bass solo before heading directly into Part 2, a upbeat bebop theme with a tenor solo that’s languid at first, slowly building up to some more intense playing. A similarly constructed piano solo follows, energetically supported by Sisera and Stulz. Making her only appearance on the date, Isa Weiss swoops in with some wordless vocalizing for Missing Chan(n)els Part 3, soaring above and harmonizing with trombonist Twerenbold and saxophonist Jaeger over a busy vamp by the rhythm section. Starlex Extro, a brief collective improvisation, concludes the disc with a sense of unresolved mystery. In sum, another exciting and absorbing collection from this endlessly provocative Swiss ensemble. Definitely recommended.
nWog 023; Marcus Twerenbold (tbn) Michael Jaeger (ts) Yves Theiler (p) Luca Sisera (b) Michi Stulz (d) Isa Wiss (vcl on *); Winterthur, Switzerland, October 29-31, 2018; Starlex Complex/ Internal Body Messenger/ Struggle Bubble/ Nairs/ Mama Helix/ Missing Chan(n)els Part 1/ Missing Chan(n)els Part 2/ Missing Chan(n)els Part 3*/ Starlex Extro; 47:25. www.nwog-records.com

Giant Step Arts: The First Three Releases

Jimmy Katz has been photographing jazz artists for more than thirty years, and his work has graced hundreds of magazine and CD covers, as well as been collected in four books. He’s also a recording engineer, and he brings all his skills to his latest project, the non-profit Giant Step Arts. Katz writes that he was “interested in supporting the highest level of creativity in ... jazz. Giant Step Arts will give musicians the opportunity to fulfill their dreams with no strings attached.” Katz also emphasizes “that the musicians have total control of their artistic projects.” The label is dedicated to premiere live performances, with their first three releases out now.

       First up is Rhyme And Reason by trumpeter Jason Palmer, with Palmer joined by tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, bassist Matt Brewer, and drummer Kendrick Scott. Recorded live at the Jazz Gallery in New York, Rhyme And Reason finds the band stretching out at length on eight of Palmer’s intricately attractive original compositions. There’s plenty of shared history among the musicians, which leads to a healthy environment for powerful improvising. And that’s what we get, with a bounty of inspired soloing by some of the most creative players around. Palmer and Turner make a exceptional team, with the trumpeter’s fire and personal logic matched by Turner’s usually cooler presence and slippery solo style. At first listen, it felt like nearly every tune seemed to go on to too long, with only Blue Grotto clocking in at under ten minutes. After spending more time with the discs, I’m more attuned to the way the quartet operates on stage. Obviously, a live concert and a studio recording make different demands on players and listeners, and it takes the right attitude and attentiveness to immerse yourself in a club date like this one. Among the many high points over an hour and three quarters of dynamic interplay are Palmer’s dark and adventurous solo on the opening Herbs in a Glass, the trumpeter’s brash unaccompanied introduction to the title song, the entwined melodic lines of bass, trumpet, and tenor on Blue Grotto, the bright funk of The Hampton Inn, Turner’s playful solo on Waltz for Diana, and the rousing solos by Turner and Palmer in the hard-charging Kalispel Bay that closes the show. The peppy and buoyant rhythm team of Brewer and Scott never falters in keeping the music moving along smartly. Katz’s detailed and transparent recording enhances the music, and like the best in-concert documents, puts the listener right in the middle of things. As the cliché goes, it’s the next best thing to being there.

Drummer Johnathan Blake, perhaps best known for his ongoing association with Tom Harrell’s band, has appeared on dozens of albums since his recording debut with Bob Berg in 2001. His third release as a leader is Trion, where he leads a trio at the Jazz Gallery with Chris Potter, sticking to tenor saxophone, and Linda May Han Oh on bass. Blake starts off the first disc with a two-minute drum solo before the trio gleefully dissects Sting’s Synchronicity 1 with a gruffly authoritative Potter leading the charge. Bassist Oh takes a powerful and moving solo as well, leading into Potter and Blake trading phrases with utter abandon. It’s a deeply involving performance, and that’s from someone who never could stand listening to The Police. The supremely melodic Oh takes center stage with an extended introduction to her own Trope. The song has a tricky theme, arranged as a delicate dance of bass and saxophone with Blake’s understated drums in support. Potter’s part is a tour de force of modern tenor playing, and Oh responds with another vigorous display of her prowess and formidable technique. The late bassist Charles Fambrough wrote One for Honor, and it first appeared on McCoy Tyner’s Horizon (1979). Here the appealing theme receives a high-spirited treatment, featuring more electrifying tenor work by Potter over furious swing from Blake’s drums and Oh’s testifying bass line. A pair of Blake originals concludes the first disc. High School Daze is a mid-tempo blues with a backbeat. Potter, who manages to sound at home in just about any musical environment, is really in his element with this pace and feeling. Oh is no slouch either, with a busy and spicy solo after Potter’s opening spot. She has the relatively rare bassist’s knack of constructing extended solos that maintain interest and never lose the pulse. No Bebop Daddy also features a potent bass solo, with Blake keeping up the pulse. A loose and bluesy Potter even sneaks a little bebop in at the end of his sax solo. Like the first disc, part two starts out with a few minutes of solo drums to set the stage. Two originals by Potter come next. Good Hope is the occasion for some deft triangulation with Oh’s throbbing bass, Blake’s assertive drums, and Potter’s angular saxophone lines in a friendly competition for the spotlight. My attention settled on the lightning fast interactions of the trio as they build this dynamic performance over 11 minutes. The first half of Eagle features a long melodic statement by Potter, shadowed by Oh’s complimentary bass line. Oh takes over for a characteristically involving solo before Potter returns with rough and tumble closing statement. Relaxin’ at Camarillo is a Charlie Parker tune, first recorded for Dial in 1947, which makes it by far the oldest tune in the set. The trio takes it out for a spin, and uncovers plenty of life left in this venerable blues. The calm Blue Heart was composed by Blake’s father, violinist John Blake, who passed away in 2014. This previously unrecorded tune gets a suitably respectful and emotional treatment from the trio. Johnathan Blake’s West Berkley St. ends the second disc with a bit of funky fun.
Trion presents a well-selected and sequenced program, highly effective soloing and the instantaneous interplay of a truly unified trio. Unreservedly recommended.

Over the course of more than forty albums as leader, saxophonist Eric Alexander has played with many piano masters, including frequent dates with such luminaries as Harold Mabern, John Hicks, David Hazeltine, and Mike LeDonne. But I could only find one instance, the 2016 Venus release Just One Of Those Things, in a trio format with just bass and drums. Leap Of Faith, drawn from two nights at the Jazz Gallery, reprises the piano-less trio with Doug Weiss on bass and Johnathan Blake on drums. The immensely fluent and imaginative Alexander seems set on exploring the freer aspects of the hard bop sound that he’s known for. Dispensing with a chordal instrument is a way for him to open up the music. Penning a new batch of tunes and working with two musicians that he has little history with contribute mightily to his new direction. Alexander says that he has “always incorporated bits and pieces of what people might consider the avant-garde into what I do, so this was just a matter of letting that take over.” Brawny and totally self-assured, Alexander takes off into the stratosphere on a quick-tempoed swinger like Mars, egged on by Weiss’ busy bass lines and Blake’s steady rolling drums and splashy cymbals. The two fairly short pieces, Corazon Perdido with a little taste of Alexander on piano, and Magyar, a trifle adapted from music by Bartók, don’t do much for me, but that leaves plenty of fine music. Standouts include the aptly named Hard Blues, with some ferocious tenor work, the smoothly evocative ballad Big Richard, the electrifying Frenzy, previously recorded by One For All and on Alexander’s Second Impression CD, and that album’s title track, a jumping blues which closes the disc with some intense Coltrane-inspired blowing. You think you know Eric Alexander’s playing? Take a Leap Of Faith and discover fresh aspects of his musicianship. Recommended.
Palmer: Giant Step Arts GSA001; Jason Palmer (tpt) Mark Turner (ts) Matt Brewer (b) Kendrick Scott (d); NYC, June 7-8, 2018; Disc 1 (47:34): Herbs in a Glass/ Rhyme and Reason/ Blue Grotto/ Sadhana. Disc 2 (58:39): The Hampton Inn (for Alan)/ Mark’s Place/ Waltz for Diana/ Kalispel Bay.
Blake: Giant Step Arts GSA002; Chris Potter (ts) Linda May Han Oh (b) Johnathan Blake (d); NYC, January 21-22, 2018; Disc 1 (61:47): Calodendrum/ Synchronicity 1/ Trope (Linda intro)/ Trope/ One for Honor/ High School Daze/ No Bebop Daddy. Disc 2 (51:21): Bedrum/ Good Hope/ Eagle/ Relaxin’ at Camarillo/ Blue Heart/ West Berkley St.
Alexander: Giant Step Arts GSA003; Eric Alexander (ts; p on *) Doug Weiss (b) Johnathan Blake (d); NYC, May 8 & August 7, 2018; Luquitas/ Mars/ Corazon Perdido*/ Hard Blues/ Frenzy/ Big Richard/ Magyar/ Second Impression; 57:15. www.giantsteparts.org

Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster

It’s taken many years for this concert to be issued, but it was worth the wait for about 90 minutes of Mark Turner Meets Gary Foster. The two saxophonists joined forces with the bass and drums team of Putter Smith and Joe La Barbera for this stirring performance at Claremont McKenna College in Southern California in 2003. With the repertoire stemming mainly from the co-leaders interest in composers in the Lennie Tristano orbit, the first set kicks off with Warne Marsh’s Background Music. Not surprisingly for this group of musicians, the emphasis is on hard swinging and unfettered melodic invention in extended, free-wheeling improvs. Everyone gets to solo on the opener, in a time-honored routine designed to introduce each player to the audience. First Foster, then Turner, Smith and La Barbara take their turns, before the saxophonists play a friendly call and response sequence then return to the head. Sonny Red’s ‘Teef is next, a tune introduced on a Louis Hayes album for Vee-Jay back in 1960 and a real favorite for Foster, who has recorded it half a dozen times since 1979. Putter Smith played on a few of those recordings, and he takes the first solo here. Foster follows with a beautifully flowing solo before ceding the spotlight to a seemingly off-hand but well-constructed solo by Turner. Tristano’s Lennie’s Pennies is up next in a delightfully brisk rendition which opens with the saxes in deep communion on the theme, then dives into a masterful duet before a powerhouse solo by Turner. An extended look at the Arlen/Mercer classic Come Rain or Come Shine, featuring an exciting opening cadenza by Turner, concludes the first set. Another Tristano classic, 317 East 32nd Street, opens the late show with more lovely sax styling and a warmly melodic bass solo by Smith. That’s followed by a relatively brief and tender look at What’s New?, and to close, a delicious and sensual quarter-hour with Lee Konitz’s Subconscious-Lee. It was crystal clear from statements by Foster and Turner (in the booklet for Our Métier, a Mark Masters Ensemble recording from 2017 that they both played on) that the two men form an inter-generational mutual admiration society. There are plenty of reasons why they might feel that way, and most of them are on full display in this most enjoyable documentation. Joyfully recommended.
Capri 74156; Gary Foster (as) Mark Turner (ts) Putter Smith (b) Joe La Barbera (d); Claremont, CA, February 8, 2003; Disc 1 (52:07): Background Music/ ‘Teef/ Lennie’s Pennies/ Come Rain or Come Shine. Disc 2 (35:18): 317 East 32nd Street/ What’s New?/ Subconscious-Lee. www.caprirecords.com

David Cruz: EP

Canadian guitarist David Cruz offers a musical calling card on his EP with half a dozen trio performances designed to entice listeners and maybe get himself a few gigs too. Cruz has a clean sound, an easy-going manner of soloing, and the good taste that leads him to program tunes like Sam Rivers’ Beatrice, Billy Strayhorn’s Take the ‘A’ Train, and John Coltrane’s Giant Steps. Sympathetically supported by bassist William Dietrich and drummer Miles Fuller, Cruz makes a strong first impression with this set. His version of ‘A’ Train is sweetly downtempo, bringing out the innate lyricism of Strayhorn’s much-beloved anthem. The vigorous In Hindsight, one of three original tunes, swings hard, with strong solos from all hands. Avery, another Cruz composition, is a tender ballad that lopes along with style. Giant Steps is the quintessential test for a modern saxophonist, and it sounds equally challenging on guitar. With Fuller’s drumming driving the trio, their version is fluid and dynamic, but at just over two minutes, they don’t give themselves much of a chance to improvise. The EP concludes with another Cruz original, Chocolate Blackout, a cheerful mid-tempo number that leaves this listener feeling pretty good. Spend half an hour with David Cruz’s EP and you’ll experience some enjoyable guitar - based jazz. Well worth a listen.
Self-produced; David Cruz (g) William Dietrich (b) Miles Fuller (d); Toronto, ON, February 2019; Beatrice/ Take the ‘A’ Train/ In Hindsight/ Avery/ Giant Steps/ Chocolate Blackout; 27:15. www.davidcruzguitar.com