Still in France... the fleur de lys getting a little tattered... but just happened to carry a stash of music with me... and have access to the net thanks to my hostess and dear old friend Caroline... so some of the show can still roll... rested now and the addictions are tugging... and mellowed after a damn good meal... one of the local specialties: 'Gangster Paté,' (not sure what 'go figure' is in French - if an equivalence exists) followed by an extremely good entrecote steak... yum... but back to the business...
Here's an oddity which I think was snaffled from the late lamented Bus Conductor Hines (those who know... do... those who don't – don't need to...). The late Lucky Thompson (maybe not so Lucky, given his star-crossed life) with Kenny Clarke and Peter Trunk and the inimitable Martial Solal. Recorded in France, 1961... subtle and swinging. Solal has a dry and sly wit... solid old-school bass from Trunk and the elegance of the fountainhead of bebop drums, Monsieur Clarke, who had decamped to France in 1956 or thereabouts... Also: given the circumstances of his life, the title is somewhat (very?) poignant. 'Lord, Lord, am I ever going to know?' (Obituary here...)
More from Thompson as soon as I get back to the U.K. - a truly great player... and another one enscribed on the roll of the mighty who suffered because he was not prepared to take any shit... (This link may still be active... an interview with Thompson... scroll down...).
That's the link Français sorted... on to Cecil Taylor... or rather two of his musicians in a game of tag from a famous concert in Stuttgart in 1978... oddly enough, I have just realised that I was in Stuttgart and environs that year... From the album 'One too salty swift and not goodbye' (answers on a postcard to the critic of your choice), the opening section: Jimmy Lyons,long term stalwart and one of the great post-Bird saxophonists plus Raphe Malik,who is also sadly no longer with us... died earlier this year at the absurdly young age 57... This track acts as an almost gentle intro to the storms to come... of which more soon... two poised and melodic criss-crossings...
To end this brief blog... Bird... I keep coming back to him recently and for the good reason that anyone interested in the musics has to... simple as that. From that famous Jazz at the Phil session, the cross mix of participants proving some point about the continuity of the music... it was always there, just sometimes obscured by factors that I have neither space or energy tonight to analyse or explicate... just dig... sublime...
Necessarily brief this time round... the usual rambling verbal ellipticals back very soon... you lucky people, as the late, great Tommy Trinder used to say... adieu...
Lucky Thompson (soprano & tenor saxophones); Martial Solal (piano); Peter Trunk (bass); Kenny Clarke (drums). Recorded in Paris, France in 1960.
Download
Lord, Lord; am I ever going to know?
Buy
Jimmy Lyons/Raphe Malik
(Jimmy Lyons: alto saxophone; Raphe Malik: trumpet).
Download
Duet (One too salty swift etc disc 1)
Buy
Charlie Parker
(Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Bennie Carter: alto saxophone; Flip Phillips, Ben Webster: tenor saxophone; Oscar Peterson: piano; Barney Kessel: guitar; Ray Brown: bass; J. C. Heard: drums).
Download
What is this thing called love
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Monday, October 30, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
Michel Devilliers and Lutina Pensard... improvised performance... Île De Groix... Saturday, 21 October, 2006...
I am not sure what the phrase 'Busman's Holiday' would be in French. Les vacances de driver d'autobus? Maybe there is no idiomatic equivalent, which is a shame as it would have given me a neat link... Among other things, I play music of the improvised variety and also run a small (yet wonderful) performance space in between the obsessional needs of writing this blog... All of which I was intending to sidestep/avoid like the plague etc for a week or so... a holiday was (urgently) needed... sanity is, after all, a desired state... But the omens were there... I landed in Nantes on the first leg of my journey to stay with my old and dear friend Caroline on the Île De Groix, situated off the coast of Britanny. I had originally intended to go to the Pannonica that night, as I had heard good reports, but decided against it due to excessive fatigue and – well – a desire to escape all of this as hinted at above... went for a walk before an early night – avoided the Pannonica succesfully... and ended up in a bar called 'The Blue Note.' Well... The ghosts of Lion and Wolff prodded me... I had to go in... And next morning, on Nantes railway station, waiting for my train to Lorient, bizarrely I saw this guy lurking who was the spitting image of Chet Baker. Whom, logically, I know is dead – but my friend Wild Bill told me a while back that he is still alive as the fall from the high window in Amsterdam had been some desperate junky bluff - and has been spotted in Nottingham, U.K. of all odd places (or maybe not,given Chet's drug problems and the, how shall we put it? - ease of access there). Wild Bill can be whimsical – in a gritty sort of East Midlands via upstate New York way- but can also be spot on: You takes your pick... But. Two harbingers... then Saturday night after a very good dinner chez Caroline... I was taken to a performance on the island – described in advance as 'improvised sax as a woman created a painting'... is there no escape? How could one refuse politely? But...some things you can't fight... fate, for one...
So... the busman went on holiday...
The performance space was a reasonable size, apparently also used as a small cinema, with incredibly comfortable seats that you could slump into after a good dinner... which we did... The basic premise was that Michel Devilliers would play saxophones, tenor and soprano, improvising over a backing track (presumably of his own creation) while Lutina Pensard would in synchronisation/reaction paint a picture on the canvas in front of us, both reacting to the other's imaginations. For a pre-determined period of time- 40 minutes or so...Perhaps the surprise was – to this jaded old observer – that it worked so well, both visually and aurally...
Lutina positioned herself in front of the canvas... Michel donned headphones and picked up his tenor. Cued the backing track... A fairly abstract but warm electronic intro going into string drones, arco strings, and a higher charango-like sound in places that gave a hint of South American flavours, as the sax started to play in real time and Lutina essayed a yellow line and some circular swirls to enclose the field initially... the first few minutes, given the (presumably) synthesised string textures and the full warm tone of the tenor reminded me of an old Stan Getz album – 'Focus' recorded in collaboration with arranger/composer Eddie Sauter - no mean comparison as it was was one of the few successful combinations of strings in jazz at the time (1961) – forget Bird – he only made those tracks work by the sheer power of his playing which dragged the rather saccharine arrangements (of 'Charlie Parker With Strings' ) along in his mighty slipstream... (but it was 1949, to be fair...)
Fairly soon in and the sax starts to push outwards... rhythmically and harmonically gently stretching the static harmony... black paint now... the backing track goes into light pattering rhythms – that throughout will veer between an almost Indian tabla feel and the South American nuances already mentioned... a synthesis of 'global' music which could be bland but actually works well enough here for the sax to bounce off with long-distance finesse. Lutina now painting a kundalini rising line of energy to mirror the music's movement...
Throughout, there is a relaxed, almost bucolic feel to the music, with various points of reference east and west that supply a 'world music' texture over which the more 'jazzy' timbre and phrasing of the sax flows effortlessly. Other simple devices will help to pace, diversify and add a loose, unifying structure. For example, an insistent bass pedal bomp boomp bomp eighth note quarter note eighth note or near it – more staccato and syncopated than the description conveys - which acts as an anchor and also provides some gentle swing... In the middle the painting seems to be getting muddy... a lack of definition... which interestingly will be resolved... almost shadowing the manner in which we will always float our attention off sporadically during a long piece. The drums kick in and out... adding some rhythmic variety... some nice double stopped bass... tablas again... The painting starts to swirl now into more interesting complexity... earthy colours... pulled into shape by the artist. Michel switches to soprano saxophone... that tabla nuance echoed with the eastern skirling bite that the higher horn can give...
This is unrushed but does not drag... easy and relaxed yet belying the skill of the artists...very clean playing which, although not as granularly abrasive and chromatic as much of the music in contemporary improvising genres usually is, holds the attention throughout... coming in part from jazz via the signifiers of 'sax' and phrasing out of 'jazz', but not 'jazz' as such, offering an accessibility done with skill and warmth... a few more squiggles of white then out... end of performance... and an added touch... the canvas is now separated into sixteen squares and the resultant portions sold at fifty euros a pop...I would have bought one but had no room to take it back with me, unfortunately...
Overall... the music matched the painting and vice versa... done with intelligence and a subtly disguised rigour underpinning the ongoing creation... I have frequently taken a shot at the pretentiousness and sheer alienation of audiences by performers and (more often) those that promote the gigs that I have encountered in so-called prestigious (and unfriendly) venues... and, we do some pretty austere and abrasive music in my own club... yet, hopefully, with a sense of humour... which was in evidence here tonight...
...and a gig is, admittedly, always easier in front of the home crowd... yet the road beckons... Michel and Lutina do their next show in Geneva at the La Ferme Sarasin on November 2nd... they get around... anyone in the vicinity should go and enjoy... It will be interesting to see how this translates into other venues. But I figure that there is enough space within the conception coupled to the inherent skill of the artists to take into account different performative circumstances. Which is part of the adrenal rush of improvisation, after all...
This busman enjoyed it...
And let us not forget Monique Garrigue... the organiser is always that very important and rarely credited factor in the success of a performance, after all...(and a personal thank you for her gracious hospitality in showing me some of the island a few days later...)
(Malheureusement, mes copains, although I shot a load of photos at the gig and also round the island over the last week, I can't upload them at present until I return to God's Little Acre... but watch this space...)
I wonder if that really was Chet Baker on Nantes railway station...
So... the busman went on holiday...
The performance space was a reasonable size, apparently also used as a small cinema, with incredibly comfortable seats that you could slump into after a good dinner... which we did... The basic premise was that Michel Devilliers would play saxophones, tenor and soprano, improvising over a backing track (presumably of his own creation) while Lutina Pensard would in synchronisation/reaction paint a picture on the canvas in front of us, both reacting to the other's imaginations. For a pre-determined period of time- 40 minutes or so...Perhaps the surprise was – to this jaded old observer – that it worked so well, both visually and aurally...
Lutina positioned herself in front of the canvas... Michel donned headphones and picked up his tenor. Cued the backing track... A fairly abstract but warm electronic intro going into string drones, arco strings, and a higher charango-like sound in places that gave a hint of South American flavours, as the sax started to play in real time and Lutina essayed a yellow line and some circular swirls to enclose the field initially... the first few minutes, given the (presumably) synthesised string textures and the full warm tone of the tenor reminded me of an old Stan Getz album – 'Focus' recorded in collaboration with arranger/composer Eddie Sauter - no mean comparison as it was was one of the few successful combinations of strings in jazz at the time (1961) – forget Bird – he only made those tracks work by the sheer power of his playing which dragged the rather saccharine arrangements (of 'Charlie Parker With Strings' ) along in his mighty slipstream... (but it was 1949, to be fair...)
Fairly soon in and the sax starts to push outwards... rhythmically and harmonically gently stretching the static harmony... black paint now... the backing track goes into light pattering rhythms – that throughout will veer between an almost Indian tabla feel and the South American nuances already mentioned... a synthesis of 'global' music which could be bland but actually works well enough here for the sax to bounce off with long-distance finesse. Lutina now painting a kundalini rising line of energy to mirror the music's movement...
Throughout, there is a relaxed, almost bucolic feel to the music, with various points of reference east and west that supply a 'world music' texture over which the more 'jazzy' timbre and phrasing of the sax flows effortlessly. Other simple devices will help to pace, diversify and add a loose, unifying structure. For example, an insistent bass pedal bomp boomp bomp eighth note quarter note eighth note or near it – more staccato and syncopated than the description conveys - which acts as an anchor and also provides some gentle swing... In the middle the painting seems to be getting muddy... a lack of definition... which interestingly will be resolved... almost shadowing the manner in which we will always float our attention off sporadically during a long piece. The drums kick in and out... adding some rhythmic variety... some nice double stopped bass... tablas again... The painting starts to swirl now into more interesting complexity... earthy colours... pulled into shape by the artist. Michel switches to soprano saxophone... that tabla nuance echoed with the eastern skirling bite that the higher horn can give...
This is unrushed but does not drag... easy and relaxed yet belying the skill of the artists...very clean playing which, although not as granularly abrasive and chromatic as much of the music in contemporary improvising genres usually is, holds the attention throughout... coming in part from jazz via the signifiers of 'sax' and phrasing out of 'jazz', but not 'jazz' as such, offering an accessibility done with skill and warmth... a few more squiggles of white then out... end of performance... and an added touch... the canvas is now separated into sixteen squares and the resultant portions sold at fifty euros a pop...I would have bought one but had no room to take it back with me, unfortunately...
Overall... the music matched the painting and vice versa... done with intelligence and a subtly disguised rigour underpinning the ongoing creation... I have frequently taken a shot at the pretentiousness and sheer alienation of audiences by performers and (more often) those that promote the gigs that I have encountered in so-called prestigious (and unfriendly) venues... and, we do some pretty austere and abrasive music in my own club... yet, hopefully, with a sense of humour... which was in evidence here tonight...
...and a gig is, admittedly, always easier in front of the home crowd... yet the road beckons... Michel and Lutina do their next show in Geneva at the La Ferme Sarasin on November 2nd... they get around... anyone in the vicinity should go and enjoy... It will be interesting to see how this translates into other venues. But I figure that there is enough space within the conception coupled to the inherent skill of the artists to take into account different performative circumstances. Which is part of the adrenal rush of improvisation, after all...
This busman enjoyed it...
And let us not forget Monique Garrigue... the organiser is always that very important and rarely credited factor in the success of a performance, after all...(and a personal thank you for her gracious hospitality in showing me some of the island a few days later...)
(Malheureusement, mes copains, although I shot a load of photos at the gig and also round the island over the last week, I can't upload them at present until I return to God's Little Acre... but watch this space...)
I wonder if that really was Chet Baker on Nantes railway station...
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
3 Phasis to Barbed Wire Maggots... Cecil Taylor... Peter Brotzmann... Charles Mingus... Borbetomagus
Tis but a chance he's gone to France, to wearrrr the fleurrr de lys... Added rrrs to approximate the Ulster timbres that deliver the chorus of the Mc Peake Family's old song which we all jokily adopted many years ago in the relentless criss-crossing the channel many of us were engaged in. So – off I go to don the fleur de lis encore – on Thursday, flying out to Nantes on the way to see an old friend of mine and chill out for a few days. And hope to catch a gig at the Pannonica club... I may not be blogging much for the next week if at all so here are a few meaty tracks to leave you all with... comments are brief (you lucky people...) as on the run today...
Cecil Taylor recorded '3 Phasis' in 1978... this is track five, the last section of this mammoth live performance. A mighty band including Raphe Malik on trumpet (who died earlier this year) and Ramsey Ameen alongside Jimmy Lyons in the front line, Sirone and Ronald Shannon Jackson down in the boiler room.
The Peter Brotzman octet burned our synapses in 1968 with 'Machine Gun,' a mighty statement of intent from the European avant-garde. Here's another track from the same album - 'Responsible'...
... and the opening track from his Albert Ayler tribute 'Die like a dog.' Opens on bleary Brotzmann sax and proceeds with Ayler-like fanfare homage between the horns before they sprint into a long workout. Kondo especially is a revelation here – Bill Dixon on DMT... his use of electronics on this album is exemplary...
Mingus from 1959 – 'Gunslinging Bird' – or, if I remember rightly the the sardonic Mingus alternative name, 'If Charlie Parker were still alive, there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats.' Or something. Wild and exciting.
Totally different... 'Far Wells, Mill Valley,' from the same album, had always been a favourite. The presence of Teddy Charles is interesting – parts of this remind me of the vibes player's Tentet material – and of course Mingus had played with him previously.
A skronking, screaming run-out to leave some turbulence in my brief absence...
Borbetomagus have been together for a long time. This is side A from their fourth album (but the first to feature the two sax and electric guitar line-up exclusively), recorded in 1982 – but still sounding freshly disturbing. Borbetomagus can be regarded as antecedents of the contemporary noise scene which straddles rock and improvised music via free jazz as well as participants in the 'jazz' improvising milieu. Music to rattle your fillings and change the molecular structure of your sound system...
Cecil Taylor
(Cecil Taylor, piano; Jimmy Lyons, alto saxophone; Raphé Malik, trumpet; Ramsey Ameen, violin; Sirone, bass; Ronald Shannon Jackson, drums).
Download
Track 5
Buy
Peter Brotzmann
(Peter Brotzmann: tenor, baritone saxophones; Willem Breuker, Evan Parker: tenor saxophones; Fred Van Hove: piano; Peter Kowald, Buschi Niebergalll: basses; Han Bennink, Sven-Ake Johansson: drums).
Download
Responsible (First take)
Buy
Peter Brotzmann
(Peter Brötzmann, alto and tenor saxophones, tarogato; Toshinori Kondo, trumpet, electronics; William Parker, bass; Hamid Drake, drums, frame-drum.)
Download
Fragments of music, life and death of Albert Ayler no. 1
Buy
Charles Mingus Tentet
Richard Williams (tp) Jimmy Knepper (tb) Jerome Richardson (fl, bars) John Handy (as) Booker Ervin, Benny Golson (ts) Teddy Charles (vib -1/5) Roland Hanna (p -1/5) Nico Bunick (p -6) Charles Mingus (b) Dannie Richmond (d, timp)
Download
Gunslinging Bird
Far Wells, Mill Valley
Buy
Borbetomagus
(Don Dietrich, Jim Sauter: saxophones, Donald Miller: guitar).
Download
Side A
Buy
Cecil Taylor recorded '3 Phasis' in 1978... this is track five, the last section of this mammoth live performance. A mighty band including Raphe Malik on trumpet (who died earlier this year) and Ramsey Ameen alongside Jimmy Lyons in the front line, Sirone and Ronald Shannon Jackson down in the boiler room.
The Peter Brotzman octet burned our synapses in 1968 with 'Machine Gun,' a mighty statement of intent from the European avant-garde. Here's another track from the same album - 'Responsible'...
... and the opening track from his Albert Ayler tribute 'Die like a dog.' Opens on bleary Brotzmann sax and proceeds with Ayler-like fanfare homage between the horns before they sprint into a long workout. Kondo especially is a revelation here – Bill Dixon on DMT... his use of electronics on this album is exemplary...
Mingus from 1959 – 'Gunslinging Bird' – or, if I remember rightly the the sardonic Mingus alternative name, 'If Charlie Parker were still alive, there'd be a whole lot of dead copycats.' Or something. Wild and exciting.
Totally different... 'Far Wells, Mill Valley,' from the same album, had always been a favourite. The presence of Teddy Charles is interesting – parts of this remind me of the vibes player's Tentet material – and of course Mingus had played with him previously.
A skronking, screaming run-out to leave some turbulence in my brief absence...
Borbetomagus have been together for a long time. This is side A from their fourth album (but the first to feature the two sax and electric guitar line-up exclusively), recorded in 1982 – but still sounding freshly disturbing. Borbetomagus can be regarded as antecedents of the contemporary noise scene which straddles rock and improvised music via free jazz as well as participants in the 'jazz' improvising milieu. Music to rattle your fillings and change the molecular structure of your sound system...
Cecil Taylor
(Cecil Taylor, piano; Jimmy Lyons, alto saxophone; Raphé Malik, trumpet; Ramsey Ameen, violin; Sirone, bass; Ronald Shannon Jackson, drums).
Download
Track 5
Buy
Peter Brotzmann
(Peter Brotzmann: tenor, baritone saxophones; Willem Breuker, Evan Parker: tenor saxophones; Fred Van Hove: piano; Peter Kowald, Buschi Niebergalll: basses; Han Bennink, Sven-Ake Johansson: drums).
Download
Responsible (First take)
Buy
Peter Brotzmann
(Peter Brötzmann, alto and tenor saxophones, tarogato; Toshinori Kondo, trumpet, electronics; William Parker, bass; Hamid Drake, drums, frame-drum.)
Download
Fragments of music, life and death of Albert Ayler no. 1
Buy
Charles Mingus Tentet
Richard Williams (tp) Jimmy Knepper (tb) Jerome Richardson (fl, bars) John Handy (as) Booker Ervin, Benny Golson (ts) Teddy Charles (vib -1/5) Roland Hanna (p -1/5) Nico Bunick (p -6) Charles Mingus (b) Dannie Richmond (d, timp)
Download
Gunslinging Bird
Far Wells, Mill Valley
Buy
Borbetomagus
(Don Dietrich, Jim Sauter: saxophones, Donald Miller: guitar).
Download
Side A
Buy
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Mingus in Paris... Lacy/Rudd/Mengleberg/Carter/Bennink...Charlie Parker et al... John Lewis... the MJQ/Giuffre... Ornette Coleman... Sonny Rollins...
As promised – some Mingus – from a Paris concert in 1964. With Jacki Byard in the piano chair... these overlapping themes get complicated... and spinning ever outwards...
There is some confusion over which concert date these tracks come from- I don't intend to get embroiled in that issue. Let us just go with the music...
'Parkeriana' is a homage to Bird, as the title suggests, interwoven throughout with famous Parker themes. Mingus and Richmond start it up, joined by the horns – a suitably choppy riff. The usual shuffle boil of stops starts and tempo changes and the variety that Mingus gets out of just a five-piece band ensues. (Johnny Coles, the trumpeter, had been taken seriously ill and they had to rapidly re-align the arrangements...). The Bird tunes poke out at various junctures as an aid to overall form. Byard takes a wonderful solo – starting off single note then launching into his usual recapitulation of jazz piano history – some dancing stride for example. Mingus seems to be able to create enough imaginative space for this not to clash with the overall structure - and not just here: think of how he had brought in many older musicians down the years – Roy Eldridge, for example – and poured them into the fiery sonic stews he cooked up- a dash of swing, a dash of hard bop, a dash of new wave. Somehow the recipes always works... After Byard, Jordan blows hot bop, Dolphy blows hot... Dolphy - assimilating Parker but sending him back blended in his own harmonic and linear vision. Behind the horn solos – the other horn can be heard in places with a Parker line as obbligato and reference – somewhat off-mike, a ghostly presence. Intentional or not – this works in quite a spooky way... This was one hell of a band – bolstered by the mighty drums and bass of Richmond and the leader.
'23 Skidoo' was apparently an old slang expression in America meaning 'beat it' – in the sense of 'vamoose.' Or 'scram.' A veritable Pandora's box can be opened here... check out this, for example.... And here, for the more arcane inclined, out of WSB and Robert Anton Wilson, say... ... In jazz- a composition by Herbie Nichols, in my selection given the workover by Steve Lacy and company... Mengleberg opens briefly then the theme arrives – a slow unsteady processional. A strong flavour of Monk – enhanced by Mengelberg's choppy piano. Lacy takes the first solo – he always seemed a very poised and unhurried player, bending his way through the Nichols harmonies before Rudd comes in with smearing muted trombone, a hint of astringent mockery in his tone. Intriguing mixture of old and new – homage to tailgate. Mengelberg next, bouncing nicely off the theme. Inclining into Monkish space, but with a few clanging surprises of his own. Carter gives a liquid and deep chorus before the horns return to finish. Bennink fairly reticfent by his standards throughout but solid.
I mentioned Jazz at the Phil recently... here's Bird with a few others courtesy of the patronage of Norman Granz, doing the 'Funky Blues.' A slow drag ensemble seesawing riff with Hodges taking the last four bars of the twelve before going into his solo – slow, slurring, understated blues power. Bird follows – listen to the second chorus where he repeats a figure- then flies off with a delicate filigree run. Benny Carter matches, elegance underslung with a contained strength... Petersen essays some rippling lines up and down the keyboard. Barney Kessel does some twangy blues licks. Shavers blasts out some stirring trumpet – Ben Webster comes whooshing in, Phillips delivers some churning, gritty figures. Is this what they call granularity, Roland? Petersen again then the out chorus. A pretty amazing document – look at the sax lineup...
The piano intro by John Lewis then into the theme - I realised that I had not heard this Bird track for a very long time – but could still remember every note. Red Rodney had a large and fat brassy tone and was a more than adequate partner for the altoist. John Lewis takes a sprightly solo. 3 minutes fifteen seconds of compressed heaven.
Both of the above were on a treasured Verve compilation from my teenage years... a strong original part of the long journey...
John Lewis was the mainstay of the Modern Jazz Quartet. But he always liked to play the blues... Here he is solo with 'Two degrees east, three degrees west.' Another track from my teenage years and early infatuation with jazz, in the version recorded by, I think, a west coast line-up including Bud Shank and Bob Cooper, which I must track down... A brief intro then the theme is picked out in the treble, musingly, dropping an octave and fleshed out in the second chorus. A jerky feeling throughout, some background humming from Lewis, giving the feeling that the pianist is sat late night, just playing for himself. Sparse left hand, bebop style... Late Lewis...
Jimmy Guiffre recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn in the fifties – a kind of temporary autonomous zone where musicians were brought into an academic environment out of the hurly burly of the clubs – some interesting developments ensued – much of the so-called 'Third Stream' flowed from this source (especially if you include Ornette Coleman's work for chamber ensembles and full orchestra – 'Skies of America' etc...).
'During its final years, 1957-1960, a significant Music Inn innovation was their School of Jazz. Showcasing the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) as group-in-residence and its leader John Lewis as artistic director, the school's curriculum allowed “students” to develop in an environment that fostered experimentation and creativity. The faculty list is a who's who of '50s and '60s jazz as George Schuller, one of the film's co-producers and a NYC musician himself notes, “John Lewis said, why not get Max Roach, Oscar Peterson, Lennie Tristano and Jimmy Giuffre to teach the students performance. My father (Gunther Schuller, a co-founder of the so-called Third Stream along with Lewis) and Marshall Stearns taught a history class, Bill Russo taught arranging while George Russell was brought in to teach his theoretical analysis.” ' (From an interesting article here...).
Quintessential MJQ plus clarinet, I suppose, displaying Lewis' desire to meld his European theoretical knowledge out of Bach with his jazz techniques. Giuffre is limpid and breathy and fits in well – the lines criss-crossing and underpinned by an understated swing from Kay and the ever-reliable Percy Heath. Quiet stuff...
Ornette Coleman was picked up on early by John Lewis who became a strong champion of his music ... here he is live from 1969, in the company of the late Dewey Redman – 'Comme il faut.' Well – I'm off to France next thursday so it fits... n'est ce pas? A thrumming bass solo from Charlie Haden, then Don Cherry, calling the people home. Two intriguing saxophone solos from Redman and Coleman. Denardo was about thirteen, I think – and plays beyond his years... One of those Ornette pieces with a slow theme and underlying fast rhythm that create so much space for the instruments to move in and do the freedom jazz dance...
Looping back... Sonny Rollins made some recordings with the MJQ back in the early fifties... here he is in 1958 with a Beatles' song 'Till there was you.' from the 'Freedom Suite' album. (Later recorded by the Beatles, taken from the 'Music Man' score). Deep dark tone, a leisurely prod at the theme, unhurried soloing. With the bass offering a strong buttress, he has so much space to move in. Max Roach is hardly audible – some swish of cymbals when Pettiford takes his solo – almost sublimal. Rollins returns, slithers over the theme majestically and ends down low. Tenor playing hewn from the mighty oak of the Hawkins lineage.
In the Videodrome...
Mingus...
and again...
The MJQ...
Please note... the two long tracks 'Parkeriana' and 'Comme il faut' are on Savefile and available for slightly longer – but they probably won't play in the Hype Machine juke box like the others...
Charles Mingus
(Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute), Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), JakiByard (piano), and Dannie Richmond (drums), Charles Mingus (bass) ).
Download
Parkeriana
Buy
Charlie Parker
(Red Rodney (tp) Charlie Parker (as) John Lewis (p) Ray Brown (b) Kenny Clarke (d) ).
Download
Swedish Schnapps
Buy
Jam Session
(Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Bennie Carter: alto saxophone; Flip Phillips, Ben Webster: tenor saxophone; Oscar Peterson: piano; Barney Kessel: guitar; Ray Brown: bass; J. C. Heard: drums).
Download
Funky Blues
Buy
John Lewis (solo piano)
Download
Two degrees east, three degrees west
Buy
MJQ+ Jimmy Guiffre
Jimmy Giuffre: clarinet; John Lewis:piano; Milt Jackson: vibraphone; Percy Heath: bass; Connie Kay: drums).
Download
Fugue for Music Inn
Buy
Steve Lacy
(Steve Lacy: alto saxophone; Roswell Rudd: trombone; Mischa Mengelberg: piano; Kent Carter: bass; Han Bennink:drums).
Download
23 Skiddoo
Buy
Ornette Coleman
(Don Cherry (cor, Indian fl), Ornette Coleman (as, tp, vln), Dewey Redman (ts, cl),
Charlie Haden (b), Denardo Coleman (d))
Download
Comme il faut
Buy – good luck - you'll have to search for this one...
Sonny Rollins
(Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone; Oscar Pettiford: bass; Max Roach: drums).
Download
'Til there was you
Buy
There is some confusion over which concert date these tracks come from- I don't intend to get embroiled in that issue. Let us just go with the music...
'Parkeriana' is a homage to Bird, as the title suggests, interwoven throughout with famous Parker themes. Mingus and Richmond start it up, joined by the horns – a suitably choppy riff. The usual shuffle boil of stops starts and tempo changes and the variety that Mingus gets out of just a five-piece band ensues. (Johnny Coles, the trumpeter, had been taken seriously ill and they had to rapidly re-align the arrangements...). The Bird tunes poke out at various junctures as an aid to overall form. Byard takes a wonderful solo – starting off single note then launching into his usual recapitulation of jazz piano history – some dancing stride for example. Mingus seems to be able to create enough imaginative space for this not to clash with the overall structure - and not just here: think of how he had brought in many older musicians down the years – Roy Eldridge, for example – and poured them into the fiery sonic stews he cooked up- a dash of swing, a dash of hard bop, a dash of new wave. Somehow the recipes always works... After Byard, Jordan blows hot bop, Dolphy blows hot... Dolphy - assimilating Parker but sending him back blended in his own harmonic and linear vision. Behind the horn solos – the other horn can be heard in places with a Parker line as obbligato and reference – somewhat off-mike, a ghostly presence. Intentional or not – this works in quite a spooky way... This was one hell of a band – bolstered by the mighty drums and bass of Richmond and the leader.
'23 Skidoo' was apparently an old slang expression in America meaning 'beat it' – in the sense of 'vamoose.' Or 'scram.' A veritable Pandora's box can be opened here... check out this, for example.... And here, for the more arcane inclined, out of WSB and Robert Anton Wilson, say... ... In jazz- a composition by Herbie Nichols, in my selection given the workover by Steve Lacy and company... Mengleberg opens briefly then the theme arrives – a slow unsteady processional. A strong flavour of Monk – enhanced by Mengelberg's choppy piano. Lacy takes the first solo – he always seemed a very poised and unhurried player, bending his way through the Nichols harmonies before Rudd comes in with smearing muted trombone, a hint of astringent mockery in his tone. Intriguing mixture of old and new – homage to tailgate. Mengelberg next, bouncing nicely off the theme. Inclining into Monkish space, but with a few clanging surprises of his own. Carter gives a liquid and deep chorus before the horns return to finish. Bennink fairly reticfent by his standards throughout but solid.
I mentioned Jazz at the Phil recently... here's Bird with a few others courtesy of the patronage of Norman Granz, doing the 'Funky Blues.' A slow drag ensemble seesawing riff with Hodges taking the last four bars of the twelve before going into his solo – slow, slurring, understated blues power. Bird follows – listen to the second chorus where he repeats a figure- then flies off with a delicate filigree run. Benny Carter matches, elegance underslung with a contained strength... Petersen essays some rippling lines up and down the keyboard. Barney Kessel does some twangy blues licks. Shavers blasts out some stirring trumpet – Ben Webster comes whooshing in, Phillips delivers some churning, gritty figures. Is this what they call granularity, Roland? Petersen again then the out chorus. A pretty amazing document – look at the sax lineup...
The piano intro by John Lewis then into the theme - I realised that I had not heard this Bird track for a very long time – but could still remember every note. Red Rodney had a large and fat brassy tone and was a more than adequate partner for the altoist. John Lewis takes a sprightly solo. 3 minutes fifteen seconds of compressed heaven.
Both of the above were on a treasured Verve compilation from my teenage years... a strong original part of the long journey...
John Lewis was the mainstay of the Modern Jazz Quartet. But he always liked to play the blues... Here he is solo with 'Two degrees east, three degrees west.' Another track from my teenage years and early infatuation with jazz, in the version recorded by, I think, a west coast line-up including Bud Shank and Bob Cooper, which I must track down... A brief intro then the theme is picked out in the treble, musingly, dropping an octave and fleshed out in the second chorus. A jerky feeling throughout, some background humming from Lewis, giving the feeling that the pianist is sat late night, just playing for himself. Sparse left hand, bebop style... Late Lewis...
Jimmy Guiffre recorded with the Modern Jazz Quartet at Music Inn in the fifties – a kind of temporary autonomous zone where musicians were brought into an academic environment out of the hurly burly of the clubs – some interesting developments ensued – much of the so-called 'Third Stream' flowed from this source (especially if you include Ornette Coleman's work for chamber ensembles and full orchestra – 'Skies of America' etc...).
'During its final years, 1957-1960, a significant Music Inn innovation was their School of Jazz. Showcasing the Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ) as group-in-residence and its leader John Lewis as artistic director, the school's curriculum allowed “students” to develop in an environment that fostered experimentation and creativity. The faculty list is a who's who of '50s and '60s jazz as George Schuller, one of the film's co-producers and a NYC musician himself notes, “John Lewis said, why not get Max Roach, Oscar Peterson, Lennie Tristano and Jimmy Giuffre to teach the students performance. My father (Gunther Schuller, a co-founder of the so-called Third Stream along with Lewis) and Marshall Stearns taught a history class, Bill Russo taught arranging while George Russell was brought in to teach his theoretical analysis.” ' (From an interesting article here...).
Quintessential MJQ plus clarinet, I suppose, displaying Lewis' desire to meld his European theoretical knowledge out of Bach with his jazz techniques. Giuffre is limpid and breathy and fits in well – the lines criss-crossing and underpinned by an understated swing from Kay and the ever-reliable Percy Heath. Quiet stuff...
Ornette Coleman was picked up on early by John Lewis who became a strong champion of his music ... here he is live from 1969, in the company of the late Dewey Redman – 'Comme il faut.' Well – I'm off to France next thursday so it fits... n'est ce pas? A thrumming bass solo from Charlie Haden, then Don Cherry, calling the people home. Two intriguing saxophone solos from Redman and Coleman. Denardo was about thirteen, I think – and plays beyond his years... One of those Ornette pieces with a slow theme and underlying fast rhythm that create so much space for the instruments to move in and do the freedom jazz dance...
Looping back... Sonny Rollins made some recordings with the MJQ back in the early fifties... here he is in 1958 with a Beatles' song 'Till there was you.' from the 'Freedom Suite' album. (Later recorded by the Beatles, taken from the 'Music Man' score). Deep dark tone, a leisurely prod at the theme, unhurried soloing. With the bass offering a strong buttress, he has so much space to move in. Max Roach is hardly audible – some swish of cymbals when Pettiford takes his solo – almost sublimal. Rollins returns, slithers over the theme majestically and ends down low. Tenor playing hewn from the mighty oak of the Hawkins lineage.
In the Videodrome...
Mingus...
and again...
The MJQ...
Please note... the two long tracks 'Parkeriana' and 'Comme il faut' are on Savefile and available for slightly longer – but they probably won't play in the Hype Machine juke box like the others...
Charles Mingus
(Eric Dolphy (alto saxophone, bass clarinet and flute), Clifford Jordan (tenor saxophone), JakiByard (piano), and Dannie Richmond (drums), Charles Mingus (bass) ).
Download
Parkeriana
Buy
Charlie Parker
(Red Rodney (tp) Charlie Parker (as) John Lewis (p) Ray Brown (b) Kenny Clarke (d) ).
Download
Swedish Schnapps
Buy
Jam Session
(Charlie Parker, Johnny Hodges, Bennie Carter: alto saxophone; Flip Phillips, Ben Webster: tenor saxophone; Oscar Peterson: piano; Barney Kessel: guitar; Ray Brown: bass; J. C. Heard: drums).
Download
Funky Blues
Buy
John Lewis (solo piano)
Download
Two degrees east, three degrees west
Buy
MJQ+ Jimmy Guiffre
Jimmy Giuffre: clarinet; John Lewis:piano; Milt Jackson: vibraphone; Percy Heath: bass; Connie Kay: drums).
Download
Fugue for Music Inn
Buy
Steve Lacy
(Steve Lacy: alto saxophone; Roswell Rudd: trombone; Mischa Mengelberg: piano; Kent Carter: bass; Han Bennink:drums).
Download
23 Skiddoo
Buy
Ornette Coleman
(Don Cherry (cor, Indian fl), Ornette Coleman (as, tp, vln), Dewey Redman (ts, cl),
Charlie Haden (b), Denardo Coleman (d))
Download
Comme il faut
Buy – good luck - you'll have to search for this one...
Sonny Rollins
(Sonny Rollins: tenor saxophone; Oscar Pettiford: bass; Max Roach: drums).
Download
'Til there was you
Buy
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monk's Birthday... Mal Waldron... Duke Jordan (R.I.P)... Art Tatum... Jaki Byard with Roland Kirk and Eric Dolphy... Mingus...
A mixed bag – continuing a pianists theme and leading into some Mingus via Roland Kirk and Eric Dolphy... but first just to mention that it is Thelonious Monk's birthday today... born 89 years ago... perversely, none of his work today... I post plenty anyway - with more to come soon. So...
First up - Mal Waldron. Not so far from Monk, maybe... For me, immortalised in Frank O' Hara's poem about the death of Billie Holiday, 'The Day Lady Died.' (Text here...).
'then I go back where I came from to 6th Avenue
and the tobacconist in the Ziegfeld Theatre and
casually ask for a carton of Gauloises and a carton
of Picayunes, and a NEW YORK POST with her face on it
and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of
leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT
while she whispered a song along the keyboard
to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing.'
The last two lines especially just hit... anyway... this is Waldron playing with a trio – the old Sonny Rollins tune 'Airegin' – introduced slowly and obliquely before the tempo ups. Fleet runs - some nice re-quoting and re-aligning the tune back and forth. Monkish... Some surging left hand thunder and right hand eloquence before a fast walk from the bass – solid nothing fancy four on the floor – leading into drums and fours with the piano – Waldron pounding out some thumping figures in response. Restates the theme and slows into a rhapsodic section as the bass and drums drop out briefly. Then speeding up again - a fascinating deconstruction/reconstruction of this well known piece. Waldron spent many years in Europe where he sadly died a couple of years ago (in Brussels) and often displayed his considerable versatility in his duets with Steve Lacy (I have a live concert of the two of them I will post some selections from soon).
Duke Jordan had been around... he made his first record session in 1945 with the splendidly named Floyd Horsecollar Williams and came to prominence in the Charlie Parker quintet a couple of years later (of which personnel, only Max Roach now survives). He also wrote the classic 'Jordu' – one of my favourite tunes - and went on to become an elder statesman of the keyboard art until his death recently (August 8th 2006) in Copenhagen at the age of of 84. This is a slow reading of 'Here's that Rainy Day,' complete with archetypal bop quote early in - 'Jingle Bells.' Well, it was getting near Christmas – this was recorded in late November 1973. Classic modern jazz piano from a master. There is a good obituary/appreciation of his life here...
Art Tatum – the master of them all? Who knows... I don't go in very much for saying that so and so is the best or the greatest – but he is surely very near the top of the tree if not at the pinnacle. This is solo Tatum, playing 'Willow weep for me.' Dazzling as ever – teasing in the middle eight as it seems he is about to go into a stride bass a couple of times but holds back. Later this surfaces for brief sections of a few bars - enough to establish the strong rhythm underneath but interestingly continually disrupted by torrents of notes. Tatum pretty much had it all...
I thought I had some solo Jaki Byard somewhere but have been so far unable to dig it out. Here he is playing with the wild and wonderful Roland Kirk, on a track taken from 'Rip Rig and Panic,' recorded in 196 Kirk sticks to the stritch and produces a skirling, joyous solo. Byard runs his usual stylish gamut commencing on some bluesy figures and ending on a vamp that lets Kirk back to state the theme. Some telling bass throughout from the wonderful Richard Davis- high plucked guitar-like notes to low and solid walking. Elvin Jones is sharp, firing off short fast bursts that kick the track along like sharp bursts on the accelerator. A stunning rhythm section...
Byard again – with Eric Dolphy on the album 'Far Cry' from which I have selected two tracks – 'Left Alone'and the leader's stunning solo rendition on alto of 'Tenderly.' The first - a slow theme stated by Dolphy's flute and marked out by Haynes' hi hat backbeat. Dolphy swirls off into his solo – an elegance to his playing here, the purer timbre of the flute making his line seem less jagged than on saxophone. Haynes supplies some busy counter-rhythms. Ron Carter steps up for his solo – fluently leading the way for Byard who enters thoughtfully - single note runs unusually all the way for his brief section before Dolphy leads them out again.
'Tenderly' is a feature for solo alto saxophone (in the lineage of Coleman Hawkins 1940 classic 'Picasso')... his first such and an assured - and groundbreaking - performance. (Anthony Braxton's classic solo outing 'For Alto' was recorded in 1968). He seems to smooth out his line somewhat, while still being recognisably Dolphy. His later solo performances would invariably feature the bass clarinet, as if the deeper horn added some ballast he thought necessary for solo work... but I speculate...
Finally to Charles Mingus... I suppose that every week I hear something that gives me pause and says to me: this is the essence of what I understand as jazz. Some weeks it could be Jelly Roll Morton, others Monk. Or Bunk Johnson. Or Albert Ayler... Or... well, you get the idea. Jazz in its short history has produced so much... Mingus at Carnegie Hall in 1974. Playing an old Ellington piece, 'Perdido.' A long, rip-roaring hogsnorting wahoo of a live track, bursting with joyous and impassioned performances from the constituents – which you want to go for ever as they transcend time. It reminds me of some of the old Jazz at the Phil sessions produced by Norman Granz... and it is just sheer fun and exhilaration... one of those tracks that you figure could convert any jazz non-believer... Danny Richmond belts the ensemble along mightily and seems to have a crash cymbal that was made out of a tin tray - resounding bashes. A stellar solo lineup - check out the horns: saxophone heaven - including Roland Kirk (I aim for some weird continuity). Plus some storming Pullen - to round off the piano theme...
In the Videodrome...
Roland Kirk in Hamburg...
and encore une fois
Jimmy Smith... take a walk on the wild side...
Mal Waldron
(Mal Waldron:piano; Julian Euell: bass; Al Drears: drums).
Download
Airegin
Buy
Duke Jordan
(Duke Jordan: piano; Mats Vinding: baass; Ed Thigpen:drums).
Download
Here comes that rainy day
Buy
Art Tatum
Download
Willow weep for me
Buy
Roland Kirk
(Roland Kirk: Stritch; Jaki Byard: piano; Richard Davis; bass; Elvin Jones: drums).
Download
Black Diamonds
Buy
Eric Dolphy
(Eric Dolphy: flute,alto saxophone; Jaki Byard: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Roy Haynes: drums).
Download
Left Alone
Tenderly
Buy
Charles Mingus
(Charles Mingus (acoustic bass); George Adams (tenor saxophone); Hamiet Bluiett (baritone saxophone); Don Pullen (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums). Additional personnel: John Handy (alto & tenor saxophones); Charles McPherson (alto saxophone); Rahsaan Rolan Kirk (tenor saxophone, stritch); Jon Faddis (trumpet) ).
Download
Perdido
Buy
First up - Mal Waldron. Not so far from Monk, maybe... For me, immortalised in Frank O' Hara's poem about the death of Billie Holiday, 'The Day Lady Died.' (Text here...).
'then I go back where I came from to 6th Avenue
and the tobacconist in the Ziegfeld Theatre and
casually ask for a carton of Gauloises and a carton
of Picayunes, and a NEW YORK POST with her face on it
and I am sweating a lot by now and thinking of
leaning on the john door in the 5 SPOT
while she whispered a song along the keyboard
to Mal Waldron and everyone and I stopped breathing.'
The last two lines especially just hit... anyway... this is Waldron playing with a trio – the old Sonny Rollins tune 'Airegin' – introduced slowly and obliquely before the tempo ups. Fleet runs - some nice re-quoting and re-aligning the tune back and forth. Monkish... Some surging left hand thunder and right hand eloquence before a fast walk from the bass – solid nothing fancy four on the floor – leading into drums and fours with the piano – Waldron pounding out some thumping figures in response. Restates the theme and slows into a rhapsodic section as the bass and drums drop out briefly. Then speeding up again - a fascinating deconstruction/reconstruction of this well known piece. Waldron spent many years in Europe where he sadly died a couple of years ago (in Brussels) and often displayed his considerable versatility in his duets with Steve Lacy (I have a live concert of the two of them I will post some selections from soon).
Duke Jordan had been around... he made his first record session in 1945 with the splendidly named Floyd Horsecollar Williams and came to prominence in the Charlie Parker quintet a couple of years later (of which personnel, only Max Roach now survives). He also wrote the classic 'Jordu' – one of my favourite tunes - and went on to become an elder statesman of the keyboard art until his death recently (August 8th 2006) in Copenhagen at the age of of 84. This is a slow reading of 'Here's that Rainy Day,' complete with archetypal bop quote early in - 'Jingle Bells.' Well, it was getting near Christmas – this was recorded in late November 1973. Classic modern jazz piano from a master. There is a good obituary/appreciation of his life here...
Art Tatum – the master of them all? Who knows... I don't go in very much for saying that so and so is the best or the greatest – but he is surely very near the top of the tree if not at the pinnacle. This is solo Tatum, playing 'Willow weep for me.' Dazzling as ever – teasing in the middle eight as it seems he is about to go into a stride bass a couple of times but holds back. Later this surfaces for brief sections of a few bars - enough to establish the strong rhythm underneath but interestingly continually disrupted by torrents of notes. Tatum pretty much had it all...
I thought I had some solo Jaki Byard somewhere but have been so far unable to dig it out. Here he is playing with the wild and wonderful Roland Kirk, on a track taken from 'Rip Rig and Panic,' recorded in 196 Kirk sticks to the stritch and produces a skirling, joyous solo. Byard runs his usual stylish gamut commencing on some bluesy figures and ending on a vamp that lets Kirk back to state the theme. Some telling bass throughout from the wonderful Richard Davis- high plucked guitar-like notes to low and solid walking. Elvin Jones is sharp, firing off short fast bursts that kick the track along like sharp bursts on the accelerator. A stunning rhythm section...
Byard again – with Eric Dolphy on the album 'Far Cry' from which I have selected two tracks – 'Left Alone'and the leader's stunning solo rendition on alto of 'Tenderly.' The first - a slow theme stated by Dolphy's flute and marked out by Haynes' hi hat backbeat. Dolphy swirls off into his solo – an elegance to his playing here, the purer timbre of the flute making his line seem less jagged than on saxophone. Haynes supplies some busy counter-rhythms. Ron Carter steps up for his solo – fluently leading the way for Byard who enters thoughtfully - single note runs unusually all the way for his brief section before Dolphy leads them out again.
'Tenderly' is a feature for solo alto saxophone (in the lineage of Coleman Hawkins 1940 classic 'Picasso')... his first such and an assured - and groundbreaking - performance. (Anthony Braxton's classic solo outing 'For Alto' was recorded in 1968). He seems to smooth out his line somewhat, while still being recognisably Dolphy. His later solo performances would invariably feature the bass clarinet, as if the deeper horn added some ballast he thought necessary for solo work... but I speculate...
Finally to Charles Mingus... I suppose that every week I hear something that gives me pause and says to me: this is the essence of what I understand as jazz. Some weeks it could be Jelly Roll Morton, others Monk. Or Bunk Johnson. Or Albert Ayler... Or... well, you get the idea. Jazz in its short history has produced so much... Mingus at Carnegie Hall in 1974. Playing an old Ellington piece, 'Perdido.' A long, rip-roaring hogsnorting wahoo of a live track, bursting with joyous and impassioned performances from the constituents – which you want to go for ever as they transcend time. It reminds me of some of the old Jazz at the Phil sessions produced by Norman Granz... and it is just sheer fun and exhilaration... one of those tracks that you figure could convert any jazz non-believer... Danny Richmond belts the ensemble along mightily and seems to have a crash cymbal that was made out of a tin tray - resounding bashes. A stellar solo lineup - check out the horns: saxophone heaven - including Roland Kirk (I aim for some weird continuity). Plus some storming Pullen - to round off the piano theme...
In the Videodrome...
Roland Kirk in Hamburg...
and encore une fois
Jimmy Smith... take a walk on the wild side...
Mal Waldron
(Mal Waldron:piano; Julian Euell: bass; Al Drears: drums).
Download
Airegin
Buy
Duke Jordan
(Duke Jordan: piano; Mats Vinding: baass; Ed Thigpen:drums).
Download
Here comes that rainy day
Buy
Art Tatum
Download
Willow weep for me
Buy
Roland Kirk
(Roland Kirk: Stritch; Jaki Byard: piano; Richard Davis; bass; Elvin Jones: drums).
Download
Black Diamonds
Buy
Eric Dolphy
(Eric Dolphy: flute,alto saxophone; Jaki Byard: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Roy Haynes: drums).
Download
Left Alone
Tenderly
Buy
Charles Mingus
(Charles Mingus (acoustic bass); George Adams (tenor saxophone); Hamiet Bluiett (baritone saxophone); Don Pullen (piano); Dannie Richmond (drums). Additional personnel: John Handy (alto & tenor saxophones); Charles McPherson (alto saxophone); Rahsaan Rolan Kirk (tenor saxophone, stritch); Jon Faddis (trumpet) ).
Download
Perdido
Buy
Friday, October 06, 2006
Influence and Obscurity... Jason Moran... Jaki Byard... Andrew Hill... Cecil Taylor... Thelonious Monk ... and others...
Tracking influence is of course a great amateur critical sport. Jason Moran mentioned in interviews quoted in earlier posts that his first influence was Monk – and that there were three others who stood large in his career development – Jaki Byard, with whom he studied, Muhal Richard Abrams and Andrew Hill. Monk and Byard in particular have that sense of historical awareness in their work – odd refractions of stride and swing and more earthy styles in Monk especially. Solo and playing a stark blues you get odd whispers of Jimmy Yancey, say... Byard always seemed able to channel the piano history from ragtime to the avant garde at any given point in a performance – which is why he suited Charles Mingus and Roland Kirk so well, perhaps, two figures who are difficult to pigeonhole because of the ways that they can veer sharply and entertainingly through the gamut of jazz styles and foreground their influences and awaress of the past. This can flirt with preciousness and turn pastiche sticky – I've never been such a great fan of Mingus's 'Jelly Roll Soul,' for example. When Monk plays stride, it rarely seemed affected - even if used occasionally for deadpan purpose (although you never know with Monk...) but just what is necessary at that moment. (Of course, like all true fans, I'm biased...). Awareness of the tradition can be just a revivalist exercise in the wrong hands – in all genres. But when used with finesse, these homages help, perhaps, to bring in the spirit of older jazz, some barrelhouse vibe to counterbalance the sometimes over-serious modern sensibility. And act as a vital link with the past... think of Albert Ayler and his take on New Orleans polyphony, for example, compared, say, to a lumpy Dixieland tribute band...
To start with Jason Moran. Who learned his lessons well – here is a trio performance from 'Black Stars.' A rolling vamp in the left hand underpins at first and re-occurs throughout, a device he uses a lot – a small kernel to build outwards from and a unifying device – conception from Monk, technique via Byard? The piano falls back to let the drums have their say – a tight trio performance although the bass is not heard to best advantage in the mix. Some rattling and crunching chording towards the end – a two fisted player, as I have said several times recently...
I don't have any Jaki Byard solo to hand (or any Muhal Richard Abrams apart from a big band session) – but do have several albums on which he played as sideman. Another strand to this post is obscurity – I am always fascinated by the stories of those who never quite made it, made it and were critically hated/ignored, or arrived and disappeared in a short space of time. Here is Byard on a Don Ellis date from the early sixties – in company with Charles Persip, sublime Ron Carter and- Al Francis on vibes. Who came and went. (As did Don Ellis, although more flamboyantly – the Stan Kenton of the 70's in some critical eyes and ears, he died in 1978 froma heart attack). Something about vibes players? Earl Griffiths, Walt Dickerson? Early death or obscurity? Solo Ellis commences the track – muted and sharp. the chord sequence sounds like 'Sweet Georgia Brown' Byard solos first, single note lines, two handed chordal passages, a hint of stride, some skilfully executed overlapping lines in each hand. In a brief space of time, Byard shows what we are talking about here – he plays the history and adds his own flavours. Ellis solos on open trumpet – fleet – he and they all must know this sequence backwards. Francis enters on vibes – things hotting up behind him as Persip comes more to the fore, prodding and poking and Byard is all over the piano. An ensemble passage and a fairly abrupt ending.
Byard played with Eric Dolphy on some sessions – including 'Far Cry,' from which I have selected 'Miss Anne.' On the edge of bop still – the first tracks on the album are dedicated to Charlie Parker - before Dolphy really took it out. He solos first, buzzsaw tone and odd intervallic leaps in place even if the shadow of Bird still looms strong (as it is over much of the album) but defiantly working his way to his own territory. Booker Little soars when he steps up – an exciting player. Then Byard – single notes first again – as if launching off from the bop platform before he surges into a complex contrapuntal passage. A brief solo again – but telling... Much more than the standard bebop piano out of many of Bud's followers. Exchanges between the front line – rapid two bar catch. A fun four minutes...
The Andrew Hill track is a long track (14 mins plus) showing his solo skills. Taken from 'Verona Rag,' recorded in 1986, this is 'Retrospect.' A slow thoughtful beginning... Hill shows how he has solved the problem of what to do with the left hand, beyond just marking chords off, comping style – independent lines, reaching down to a resounding bass in places. His right hand - firmly struck single notes in long streams, alternated with chordal thickening. A searching improvisation... Godoggo mentioned in one of his comments to a previous post that he could hear Andrew Hill in Jason Moran – compare... Hill's career had veered off the track by the 70's – yet he is one of the lucky ones who were able to held on until the world caught up...
A bumpy link...
'The best real free jazz I’ve ever seen was Cecil’s quartet at the Iridium. There were no egos involved. Just incredible music.' (Jason Moran speaking in an interview here...).
Someone who started off being vilified and ignored and who ended up in the pantheon somewhat quicker than Hill (although he still has a capacity to piss people off as witnessed at his last London concert). Cecil Taylor, and a rather obscure album – 'Spring of Two Blue J's' from 1973. Which comprises two versions of the eponymous title track, one with a band – and one solo. I often think that this is the best way for people new to Taylor to approach his music. It's dense, of course... but not entwined with over-enmeshed lines and rhythms from his various band members. Providing (hopefully – I'm convinced it is a journey worth making) a less complicated route into his music. His solo performancehere display touches of an almost pastoral beauty in places with much light and shade - this track is no exception.And as if to prove that he did not spring ex nihilo and to justify his entry in this post apart from the mention above by J M – listen to some of the stomping bass left hand towards the end. And plenty of crushed notes that invoke the blues...
I mentioned Monk in relation to his early influence on Jason Moran. I can tie this all up by presenting him playing a more obscure number from his songbook – 'Gallop's Gallop.' With Gigi Gryce, whose album 'Nica's Tempo' this is taken from. Monk and Gryce are backed by Percy Heath and Art Blakey. One is tempted to say that this is all you need to know... Gryce solos first and Monk comps fairly quietly behind him. There is a pleasing lyricism to the altoist's playing and he negotiates Monk's tune fluently. Monk rolls into his own solo, close to the theme as ever with less disruption to the flow of the line than usual – apart from a couple of unexpected twists and turns– going into fours with Blakey at the end. Gryce recorded with Monk on 'Monk's Music' with the powerful horn lineup of Hawkins and Coltrane – and, almost to balance the alto player off, looking back from 2006, Ray Copeland, another well-respected player who is perhaps not so well known now. Apart from his early Blue Note dates, Monk seldom featured an alto player (Phil Woods on 'Monk at Town Hall' and with the Nonet that toured Europe would be the only other one I can think of without checking). Grice is out of Bird, of course, but was a fluent enough player (and a very good composer – an echo of Oliver Nelson, not as good an alto player, perhaps, although I like him, who was luckier to find more avenues for his work). He disappeared off the scene into teaching and died in 1983 – the jazz muse was ever a harsh and demanding presence:
'As hard bop was being battered by the avant-garde on one side and the burgeoning pop-rock juggernaut on the other, Gryce, a more conventional soloist, found his musical work drying up... Subsuming his former personality under his Muslim name of Basheer Qusim, he became an inspirational teacher of music and other subjects at public schools in hardscrabble areas of New York. His contribution there was so monumental, that an elementary school in the Bronx was renamed in his honor after his early death from a heart attack.'
(Taken from a book review by Ken Waxman of Gryce's biography 'Rat Race Blues' here...).
So – out of Moran, through some of his influences, bringing in a couple of undeservedly obscure players, some Cecil, just because I like him... and out... Next time – who knows? Maybe some Mingus...
In the Videodrome...
Phineas Newborn
Stan Kenton...
The Tradition Trio
Abdelhai Bennani Quintet
Please note - the long files (Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor) are put up on Savefile - which may not be recognised by the Hype Machine blog aggregator juke box...
Jason Moran
(Jason Moran: piano; Nasheet Watts: bass; Taurus Mateen: drums).
Download
Draw the light out
Buy
Don Ellis
(Don Ellis: trumpet; Al Francis: vibes; Jaki Byard: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Charles Persip: drums).
Download
Natural H
Buy
Eric Dolphy
(Eric Dolphy: alto saxophone; Booker Little: trumpet; Jaki Byard: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Roy Haynes: drums).
Download
Miss Anne
Buy
Andrew Hill
(Andrew Hill:piano).
Download
Retrospect
Buy
Cecil Taylor
(Cecil Taylor: piano)
Download
Spring for Two Blue J's
Buy (if you are lucky...)
Thelonious Monk/Gigi Gryce
(Thelonious Monk: piano; Gigi Gryce: alto saxophone; Percy Heath: bass; Art Blakey: drums).
Download
Gallops's Gallop
Buy
To start with Jason Moran. Who learned his lessons well – here is a trio performance from 'Black Stars.' A rolling vamp in the left hand underpins at first and re-occurs throughout, a device he uses a lot – a small kernel to build outwards from and a unifying device – conception from Monk, technique via Byard? The piano falls back to let the drums have their say – a tight trio performance although the bass is not heard to best advantage in the mix. Some rattling and crunching chording towards the end – a two fisted player, as I have said several times recently...
I don't have any Jaki Byard solo to hand (or any Muhal Richard Abrams apart from a big band session) – but do have several albums on which he played as sideman. Another strand to this post is obscurity – I am always fascinated by the stories of those who never quite made it, made it and were critically hated/ignored, or arrived and disappeared in a short space of time. Here is Byard on a Don Ellis date from the early sixties – in company with Charles Persip, sublime Ron Carter and- Al Francis on vibes. Who came and went. (As did Don Ellis, although more flamboyantly – the Stan Kenton of the 70's in some critical eyes and ears, he died in 1978 froma heart attack). Something about vibes players? Earl Griffiths, Walt Dickerson? Early death or obscurity? Solo Ellis commences the track – muted and sharp. the chord sequence sounds like 'Sweet Georgia Brown' Byard solos first, single note lines, two handed chordal passages, a hint of stride, some skilfully executed overlapping lines in each hand. In a brief space of time, Byard shows what we are talking about here – he plays the history and adds his own flavours. Ellis solos on open trumpet – fleet – he and they all must know this sequence backwards. Francis enters on vibes – things hotting up behind him as Persip comes more to the fore, prodding and poking and Byard is all over the piano. An ensemble passage and a fairly abrupt ending.
Byard played with Eric Dolphy on some sessions – including 'Far Cry,' from which I have selected 'Miss Anne.' On the edge of bop still – the first tracks on the album are dedicated to Charlie Parker - before Dolphy really took it out. He solos first, buzzsaw tone and odd intervallic leaps in place even if the shadow of Bird still looms strong (as it is over much of the album) but defiantly working his way to his own territory. Booker Little soars when he steps up – an exciting player. Then Byard – single notes first again – as if launching off from the bop platform before he surges into a complex contrapuntal passage. A brief solo again – but telling... Much more than the standard bebop piano out of many of Bud's followers. Exchanges between the front line – rapid two bar catch. A fun four minutes...
The Andrew Hill track is a long track (14 mins plus) showing his solo skills. Taken from 'Verona Rag,' recorded in 1986, this is 'Retrospect.' A slow thoughtful beginning... Hill shows how he has solved the problem of what to do with the left hand, beyond just marking chords off, comping style – independent lines, reaching down to a resounding bass in places. His right hand - firmly struck single notes in long streams, alternated with chordal thickening. A searching improvisation... Godoggo mentioned in one of his comments to a previous post that he could hear Andrew Hill in Jason Moran – compare... Hill's career had veered off the track by the 70's – yet he is one of the lucky ones who were able to held on until the world caught up...
A bumpy link...
'The best real free jazz I’ve ever seen was Cecil’s quartet at the Iridium. There were no egos involved. Just incredible music.' (Jason Moran speaking in an interview here...).
Someone who started off being vilified and ignored and who ended up in the pantheon somewhat quicker than Hill (although he still has a capacity to piss people off as witnessed at his last London concert). Cecil Taylor, and a rather obscure album – 'Spring of Two Blue J's' from 1973. Which comprises two versions of the eponymous title track, one with a band – and one solo. I often think that this is the best way for people new to Taylor to approach his music. It's dense, of course... but not entwined with over-enmeshed lines and rhythms from his various band members. Providing (hopefully – I'm convinced it is a journey worth making) a less complicated route into his music. His solo performancehere display touches of an almost pastoral beauty in places with much light and shade - this track is no exception.And as if to prove that he did not spring ex nihilo and to justify his entry in this post apart from the mention above by J M – listen to some of the stomping bass left hand towards the end. And plenty of crushed notes that invoke the blues...
I mentioned Monk in relation to his early influence on Jason Moran. I can tie this all up by presenting him playing a more obscure number from his songbook – 'Gallop's Gallop.' With Gigi Gryce, whose album 'Nica's Tempo' this is taken from. Monk and Gryce are backed by Percy Heath and Art Blakey. One is tempted to say that this is all you need to know... Gryce solos first and Monk comps fairly quietly behind him. There is a pleasing lyricism to the altoist's playing and he negotiates Monk's tune fluently. Monk rolls into his own solo, close to the theme as ever with less disruption to the flow of the line than usual – apart from a couple of unexpected twists and turns– going into fours with Blakey at the end. Gryce recorded with Monk on 'Monk's Music' with the powerful horn lineup of Hawkins and Coltrane – and, almost to balance the alto player off, looking back from 2006, Ray Copeland, another well-respected player who is perhaps not so well known now. Apart from his early Blue Note dates, Monk seldom featured an alto player (Phil Woods on 'Monk at Town Hall' and with the Nonet that toured Europe would be the only other one I can think of without checking). Grice is out of Bird, of course, but was a fluent enough player (and a very good composer – an echo of Oliver Nelson, not as good an alto player, perhaps, although I like him, who was luckier to find more avenues for his work). He disappeared off the scene into teaching and died in 1983 – the jazz muse was ever a harsh and demanding presence:
'As hard bop was being battered by the avant-garde on one side and the burgeoning pop-rock juggernaut on the other, Gryce, a more conventional soloist, found his musical work drying up... Subsuming his former personality under his Muslim name of Basheer Qusim, he became an inspirational teacher of music and other subjects at public schools in hardscrabble areas of New York. His contribution there was so monumental, that an elementary school in the Bronx was renamed in his honor after his early death from a heart attack.'
(Taken from a book review by Ken Waxman of Gryce's biography 'Rat Race Blues' here...).
So – out of Moran, through some of his influences, bringing in a couple of undeservedly obscure players, some Cecil, just because I like him... and out... Next time – who knows? Maybe some Mingus...
In the Videodrome...
Phineas Newborn
Stan Kenton...
The Tradition Trio
Abdelhai Bennani Quintet
Please note - the long files (Andrew Hill and Cecil Taylor) are put up on Savefile - which may not be recognised by the Hype Machine blog aggregator juke box...
Jason Moran
(Jason Moran: piano; Nasheet Watts: bass; Taurus Mateen: drums).
Download
Draw the light out
Buy
Don Ellis
(Don Ellis: trumpet; Al Francis: vibes; Jaki Byard: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Charles Persip: drums).
Download
Natural H
Buy
Eric Dolphy
(Eric Dolphy: alto saxophone; Booker Little: trumpet; Jaki Byard: piano; Ron Carter: bass; Roy Haynes: drums).
Download
Miss Anne
Buy
Andrew Hill
(Andrew Hill:piano).
Download
Retrospect
Buy
Cecil Taylor
(Cecil Taylor: piano)
Download
Spring for Two Blue J's
Buy (if you are lucky...)
Thelonious Monk/Gigi Gryce
(Thelonious Monk: piano; Gigi Gryce: alto saxophone; Percy Heath: bass; Art Blakey: drums).
Download
Gallops's Gallop
Buy
Steve Reich...
I went to the Steve Reich concert at the Barbican in London last night - 'The Cave' - and got back late so not quite up to speed today... The gig was great and I intend to write some kind of a review over the weekend... The Barbican is a good venue for this type of audio-visual extravaganza - big enough but intimate. Although the booze is over-priced - but I had visited a couple of bars beforehand - reluctantly driven in by the incessant rain. There will be an mp3 post later today as well - just tidying it up... apologies for the erratic posting schedule recently - due to circumstances more or less beyond my control, health issues, other projects and technical gremlins - laptop screwed up but now fixed - hopefully...
a tout a l'heure, mes braves (got to start practicing - off to France in a couple of weeks...)
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Cecil Taylor... Jason Moran... Sam Rivers...
After the marathon review – let's relax with some Cecil Taylor...
Or perhaps not... I jest... After the recent 'soft jazz' comments – some diamond hard playing...
Cecil Taylor recorded 'Unit Structures' in 1966. Cyrille's drums usher in the horns and keening arco bass over the other bass's low rumble -then Cecil spins out a motif to be answered by the ensemble. Brief pause – then into a mutated bebop line. And off it goes – a wild, yet not-unstructured piece that, with the other tracks from this album, still defiantly stands as an uncompromising masterpiece from the sixties. Taylor plays with a different intensity to the soul-searching of Coltrane, the refracted blues of Ornette or the swelling emotional vibrato-laden tenor of Ayler:
'Taylor's uniqueness: his "free jazz" was also "free" of the melodrama that permeated Coltrane's and Coleman's music. Despite all the furor, Taylor's music always sounded firmly under the control of a cold intelligence.' (From here... scroll down...)
I would dispute the adjective 'cold' – but certainly Taylor has always managed to keep a tricky balance between control and abandon – you can hear this on 'Unit Structures' which seems more chaotic and sprawling than it actually is – because the fiery brio with which it is played disguises, perhaps, the underpinnings:
'That album took us four months of rehearsal. We had to learn the music: me, Eddie Gale, Ken McIntyre, Jimmy [Lyons], Andrew [Cyrille], and Henry [Grimes]. That and "Conquistador" are well-structured pieces of music, not what people would normally think of as "free jazz". To this day people have yet to realise this.' (Interview with Alan Silva here...).
I first encountered Jason Moran's music when I bought one of his cd's a couple of years ago in a second hand shop – I vaguely knew the name but it was my first encounter with his music. Here, he is playing with veteran Sam Rivers, 'Earth Song' from that album, 'Black Star.' Moran's trio had already become a tight unit and the then 26-year old pianist does not sound ill at ease in the august presence of Rivers. Moran is a two-fisted, stomping piano player who knows his history. Rivers sounds a little overwhelmed about half way in – maybe this was the mix...
Sam Rivers was over here in the U.K. a while back presenting a big band, for which he has always had a fondness. Here's a track – 'Bursts' – from his 1974 album 'Crystals.' Blasting horns, soon going into a fleet bass-led walk as scalding tenor soars. Descending into a maelstrom of dense squalling sections. This is what the modern big band should sound like... Wahoo...
In the Videodrome...
Some Brit jazz – the Tubby Hayes Big Band... Suddenly Last Tuesday
Some Wes Montgomery... with a European/American line up... Blue Grass... Ronnie and the boys holding their own in the company of Wes and Johnny Griffin...
who play Blue Monk with the same rhythm section...
Note: most of my mp3 's will play on the Hype Machine mp3 aggregator site juke box – so you can listen without downloading. Longer files, however, such as the Cecil Taylor here (17 minutes) go on the Ezarchive site – which may not be picked up by Hype Machine as it only recognises certain download sites...
Cecil Taylor
(Cecil Taylor: piano; Eddie Gale Stevens: trumpet; Jimmy Lyons: Alto Saxophone; Ken McKyntyre: reeds; Henry Grimes, Alan Silva: basses; Andrew Cyrille: drums).
Download
Unit Structure/As of now/Section
or if a problem download here...
Buy
Jason Moran
(Jason Moran: piano; Sam Rivers: tenor saxophone: Nasheet Watts: bass; Taurus Mateen: drums).
Download
Earth Song
Buy
Sam Rivers
(Overall personell numbers 64 for this album – including Hamiet Bluiett, Richard Davis, Bob Stewart, John Stubblefield, Bill Barron, Robin Kenyatta, Julius Watkins, Norman Connors, Andrew Cyrille, Billy Hart, Ahmed Abdullah, Charles Sullivan, Clifford Thornton, Grachan Moncur, Ronnie Boykins, and Reggie Workman).
Download
Bursts
Buy
Or perhaps not... I jest... After the recent 'soft jazz' comments – some diamond hard playing...
Cecil Taylor recorded 'Unit Structures' in 1966. Cyrille's drums usher in the horns and keening arco bass over the other bass's low rumble -then Cecil spins out a motif to be answered by the ensemble. Brief pause – then into a mutated bebop line. And off it goes – a wild, yet not-unstructured piece that, with the other tracks from this album, still defiantly stands as an uncompromising masterpiece from the sixties. Taylor plays with a different intensity to the soul-searching of Coltrane, the refracted blues of Ornette or the swelling emotional vibrato-laden tenor of Ayler:
'Taylor's uniqueness: his "free jazz" was also "free" of the melodrama that permeated Coltrane's and Coleman's music. Despite all the furor, Taylor's music always sounded firmly under the control of a cold intelligence.' (From here... scroll down...)
I would dispute the adjective 'cold' – but certainly Taylor has always managed to keep a tricky balance between control and abandon – you can hear this on 'Unit Structures' which seems more chaotic and sprawling than it actually is – because the fiery brio with which it is played disguises, perhaps, the underpinnings:
'That album took us four months of rehearsal. We had to learn the music: me, Eddie Gale, Ken McIntyre, Jimmy [Lyons], Andrew [Cyrille], and Henry [Grimes]. That and "Conquistador" are well-structured pieces of music, not what people would normally think of as "free jazz". To this day people have yet to realise this.' (Interview with Alan Silva here...).
I first encountered Jason Moran's music when I bought one of his cd's a couple of years ago in a second hand shop – I vaguely knew the name but it was my first encounter with his music. Here, he is playing with veteran Sam Rivers, 'Earth Song' from that album, 'Black Star.' Moran's trio had already become a tight unit and the then 26-year old pianist does not sound ill at ease in the august presence of Rivers. Moran is a two-fisted, stomping piano player who knows his history. Rivers sounds a little overwhelmed about half way in – maybe this was the mix...
Sam Rivers was over here in the U.K. a while back presenting a big band, for which he has always had a fondness. Here's a track – 'Bursts' – from his 1974 album 'Crystals.' Blasting horns, soon going into a fleet bass-led walk as scalding tenor soars. Descending into a maelstrom of dense squalling sections. This is what the modern big band should sound like... Wahoo...
In the Videodrome...
Some Brit jazz – the Tubby Hayes Big Band... Suddenly Last Tuesday
Some Wes Montgomery... with a European/American line up... Blue Grass... Ronnie and the boys holding their own in the company of Wes and Johnny Griffin...
who play Blue Monk with the same rhythm section...
Note: most of my mp3 's will play on the Hype Machine mp3 aggregator site juke box – so you can listen without downloading. Longer files, however, such as the Cecil Taylor here (17 minutes) go on the Ezarchive site – which may not be picked up by Hype Machine as it only recognises certain download sites...
Cecil Taylor
(Cecil Taylor: piano; Eddie Gale Stevens: trumpet; Jimmy Lyons: Alto Saxophone; Ken McKyntyre: reeds; Henry Grimes, Alan Silva: basses; Andrew Cyrille: drums).
Download
Unit Structure/As of now/Section
or if a problem download here...
Buy
Jason Moran
(Jason Moran: piano; Sam Rivers: tenor saxophone: Nasheet Watts: bass; Taurus Mateen: drums).
Download
Earth Song
Buy
Sam Rivers
(Overall personell numbers 64 for this album – including Hamiet Bluiett, Richard Davis, Bob Stewart, John Stubblefield, Bill Barron, Robin Kenyatta, Julius Watkins, Norman Connors, Andrew Cyrille, Billy Hart, Ahmed Abdullah, Charles Sullivan, Clifford Thornton, Grachan Moncur, Ronnie Boykins, and Reggie Workman).
Download
Bursts
Buy
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