Showing posts with label billy bang. Show all posts
Showing posts with label billy bang. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Bill Evans/Lee Konitz/Warne Marsh... Matthew Shipp... Billy Bang... Cannonball Adderley...

Bill Evans and the Kings of Cool – Konitz and Marsh. 'Speak Low.' This is sparkling, frothy stuff. Evans leads off in rhapsodic mode before Konitz takes the theme and lifts it into steady rhythm. Warne Marsh joins in to weave round the alto in a high-stepping dance. Eddie Gomez springs a line across Evan's chording, firm-fingered, high up the neck. Konitz up next. Followed by Bill Evans, Warne Marsh. Listening to all of them stretch phrases across bar-lines and chorus demarcations is a fascinating master-class in modern jazz improvised melody. Evans returns then there is an almost old-school ride out by the ensemble... Not to get tangled up in racial stereotyping, but this is not the blues end of bop, out of the fountainhead, Bird, and the Afro-American vanguard , rather the oblique white line coming out of Lennie Tristano (which of course came out of the same vanguard, Bird with a large dash of Lester Young, yadda yadda)– yet there is plenty of tension and emotion, delivered on its own cultural terms. Joyous...

Matthew Shipp and 'Density and Eucharist' from his album 'Critical Mass.' Observing the late-night eucharist here in the Eagle's Nest, trying to get it back on track over Budweisers and a chocolate orange. High living... And no intentional blasphemy here – the antinomian takes his or her own way through... But it's a loaded word... Density follows... Led in again by piano, a loping line underscored by some biting harmonies before the violin enters, riding across an increasing complexity from bass and drums. Shipp solos, thick-fingered clusters and swirls, prodded by Parker especially, locking into the occasional almost groove. Manieri comes back in finger-plucking strikes, before returning to his bow. Grappelli it ain't, this is the astringency of contemporary classical whammed across into free jazz. Or the reverse, take your pick... Tension building with heavy deep piano chords bombing across the drummer's rising clatter. Dickey takes his solo before the violin comes back to utter some wrenched phases, answered by the hurly burly piano. Shipp solo – fast track moves that leap the registers before a crunching chordal phrase summons the violin. More fast-it whirligig piano. Slowing down into more reflective mood, yet suddenly criss-crossed by Parker arco, duetting with the violin. Bass switches back to a fast strum as the tempo ups again. Some percussive and also lyrical bass from Mr Parker throughout, the deep heartbeat that links it all together. Density a plenty... The violin gives it that trans-idiomatic riff, as Mr Braxton might say... And much is coming together here – in the interplay of the musicians and the resonance of the title:

'The Eucharist is generally... thought to have its antecedents in common meal practice of uncertain origin, which gradually developed into a rite central to the Roman Church in the first two to four centuries of the Common Era.' (From here...).

Meeting to participate in the easygoing practice and commonplace necessity of eating which will transcend the gathering to a higher plane and purpose... I just re-read Paul's 'First Epistle to the Corinthians,' the first biblical reference to the Eucharist, while also checking the etymology of 'εὐχαριστία' as my classical Greek is shaky after all these years and was struck (again) by the Will to Order implicit and explicit in that text – especially with regard to women and those who speak in tongues as opposed to prophesying as defined by Paul – this argument especially interesting in a jazz context, perhaps re fire musics and the neo-orthodoxies. Nietszche famously said that the Will to Order displayed a lack of integrity, if I remember correctly. But enough...

More violin... Billy Bang – whom I first heard with the String Trio of New York way back and loved instantly... This is from an album where he recorded a load of standards in a pretty straight-ahead setting. 'Sweet Georgia Brown' the title. Bang a player who can go all the way out yet here playing pretty much inside – the fire and attack reminding of earlier maestros like the great Stuff Smith – or to give him his splendid full name: Hezekiah Leroy Gordon "Stuff" Smith. Must dig some of his music out – sure I have some somewhere... Smith was always capable of enthusiastically looking forward, as a master musician from an earlier generation. Bang as a master musician from more contemporary times looks back in celebration of the lineage:

'Violinist Billy Bang is a marvelous bridge from early jazz - [a] strong influence [was] Stuff Smith - to the most cutting-edge innovations of the avant-garde.' (From here...).

As Gaston Bachelard wrote:

'True poetry is a function of awakening. It awakens us, but it must retain the memory of previous dreams. ' (Gaston Bachelard: L'eau et les rêves (Water and Dreams) 1942, quoted from here...).

Blimey. Let's move one...

The Cannon and brother Nat playing 'Soon,' from his album 'Them Dirty Blues.' Julian Adderley could, of course, get down with the best, but like his mentor, Charlie Parker, was capable of fast, complex flights while remaining drenched in the blues. I was just thinking that he was part of a great Miles Davis sextet – the one that made 'Kind of Blue' – and his position between the clenched minimalist burn of the leader who learned his trade on Bird's bandstands and the swooning swooping fire of John Coltrane, maybe gives an hint of where to place him on the rolls. Bobby Timmons opens the game lightly before hitting a heavier chordal vamp as Nat Adderley takes the theme on muted cornet and solos first – the two beat gait alternating with the four walk from the bass to give a curious lopsided dance. Cannonball takes it onwards, the band switching to straight-ahead behind him as he unreels some dazzle and flash. Louis Hayes hits rimshots on the fourth beats, ticking off the bars in Philly Joe mode. Sam Jones displays his credentials, supple melodic bass. Timmons grounds it back as the cornet picks up the theme and that heavy piano chordal figure surfaces to end the track.


Bill Evans
Lee Konitz (as) Warne Marsh (ts) Bill Evans (p) Eddie Gomez (b) Eliot Zigmund (d)
Speak Low
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Matthew Shipp
Matt Manieri (v) Matthew Shipp (p) William Parker (b) Whit Dickey (d)
Density and Eucharist
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Billy Bang
Billy Bang (v) Billy Bang (v) D.D. Jackson (p) Akira Ando (b) Ronnie Burrage (d)
Sweet Georgia Brown
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Cannonball Adderley
Cannonball Adderley (as) Nat Adderley (ct) Bobby Timmons (p) Sam Jones (b) Louis Hayes (d)
Soon
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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Thomas Chapin... Art Tatum... Mal Waldron/Marion Brown... Hampton Hawes... Billy Bang...

The music called 'jazz' has moved at an incredible speed of development since its murky beginnings, sometime in the early years of the last century. I use the brackets intentionally, as I often do, because so many strands have split off from the origins that it can be difficult sometimes to define what is and what isn't 'jazz.' Many famous musicians have been unhappy with the word, seeing it as either a form of defamation, intentional or otherwise, that links their artistic endeavours to the whorehouses of New Orleans via one of the etymological meanings of the word and some of the social uses of the early music – or, in an expanded point from this argument, as a limiting term that binds into formal constrictions and punishes innovation. Further, there is probably a resentment by often (but not exclusively) African-Americans at the trivialising and misunderstanding of their art by critics, however well-intentioned – or just plain hostile. Leaving this debate aside, what I find fascinating is the variety achieved in what can be very loosely grouped within the common understood parameters – in the contemporary world where New Orleans/Dixieland styles co-exist with retro swing bands, where the mainstream has shifted to bebop, where the neocons of the Lincoln Center bunker glower across at the antics of those who continue their explorations in the 'free jazz' lineage. And vice versa, no doubt... A world where the benefit of some hindsight and temporal distance now enables the listener to track the continuities that were not always so evident in earlier days – especially from bop onwards, perhaps the first great perceived rupture. With some generosity of spirit, one could (should?) widen the field (in an Olsonian sense) to include rather than exclude...

To start – the traditional count – 'One two three four' – and a bouncing vamp on tuba buttressed by the brass section introduces 'Golgotham' by the Thomas Chapin Trio, playing with an expanded line up (that calls to mind Coltrane's 'Africa Brass,' perhaps). The bright, searing sonorities of the trumpets blended into the trombones giving more than a hint of past big band glories. The tuba – a link back to the twenties... but here taking a ride through the expanded timbral palette of splutter, spit and odd phonics, in an interlude that bridges the opening and Chapin coming in to solo over the heavy backbeat – he sails effortlessly over the ensemble, a squalling, bluesy smeary honking performance from his wide range of stylistic devices. A track that collides many years of the music into a glorious live performance that you could dance to. Continuing with growling and unmuted brass call and response and simultaneous lines, emphasizing the timbres acquired early on in the 'jazz' sound world. Stop time breaks as bass and brass duel... drum solo that flows over the implicitness of the rock vamp rhythm that underpins the track – followed by chants from the band. Ensemble through-composed for a section that then falls into a free for all as the track drops out of the rhythm and the band are name-checked by the leader (?)to the audience, picking up the beat again to suddenly end. Inside and outside... a sprawling riffingly joyous track big-hearted as the city it was conceived in, almost at odds with the punning title – 'Place of skulls?' Sardonic...

Marion Brown in a duo with Mal Waldron – a pianist who moved easily across the piano styles. Slow resonating chords, the overtones ringing in the spaces between the phrases, going subtly into a rocking rhythm as Brown enters on ruminative alto – a touch of Johnny Hodges in his tone, the swooping bend round the long-held notes. Sweet and sour... A track that uses space intriguingly, unhurried in its movement. Waldron takes a solo, a sparse melody twisting in interesting directions. Brown rejoins, playing off a repeated note. Two musicians moving through the tradition – this could have been recorded anytime within quite a large abitrarily agreed timeframe...

Art Tatum made a slew of recordings before his untimely death that document his supreme virtuosity and stature in the canon. This selection is a trio playing 'Hallelujah' - Lionel Hampton and Buddy Rich – the latter having the sense to pull back from his usual 'Traps the boy wonder' pyrotechnics by switching to brushes. Bubbling virtuosity from two timeless players as Hampton matches the pianist's speed of thought. Tatum steps up for a solo, stride piano figures disrupted by those tumbling moves up and down the keyboard. Hampton back for some stunning interplay – Rich comes through strongly here. Anyway you slice it, collective improvisation of the highest order. Hot jazz...

Hampton Hawes, playing 'What is this thing called love.' Arpeggiated chords and a ripple of Tatum almost in the introduction (I also hear a distant echo of Erroll Garner) before it picks up tempo and the bass and drums enter. Hawes was self-taught, but acquired the technique necessary to play bop – as evidenced here. Fleet and powerfully swinging, well-supported by Red Callender on bass and Chuck Thompson on drums. He acknowledged a great debt to Charlie Parker who "influenced me more than anybody, even more than piano players." (quoted from here – a very good review of Hawe's autobiography that gives an extensive overview of his career).

Billy Bang would usually be associated with the more radical end of contemporary jazz. Here he is leading a quartet through a swaying swinging version of 'Willow weep for me.' Cutting violin, an instrument that can veer into the lachrymose (I've never liked Grappelli for that reason, undoubtedly fine musician that he was). Swarming bluesy piano- two handed testifying... Bang takes a solo – fire and soul, trenchant bowing... pretty mainstream, if you ask me...

In the Videodrome...

Art Tatum on T.V....

Thomas Chapin at Newport...

Late Billy Holiday swinging out – with Mal Waldron on piano...

The Duke...

... can't leave out the Count – here with a late incarnation of the Kansas City Five...

John Kirby plays for dancers...

... more dancing and playing from a great movie (Slim Gaillard in there somewhere)... a sadly missed old friend of mine was in the English stage show of Hellzappopin'...

... Billy Bang et al in Antwerp


Thomas Chapin
Thomas Chapin (as, f) Mario Pavone (b) Michael Sarin (d) Al Bryant, Frank London (t)
Curtis Fowlkes, Peter McEachern (tr)Marcus Rojas (tuba)
Golgotham
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Art Tatum
Art Tatum (p) Lionel Hampton (vi) Buddy Rich (d)
Hallelujah
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Mal Waldron/Marion Brown
Mal Waldron (p) Marion Brown (as)
Soul Mates
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Hampton Hawes
Hampton Hawes (p) Red Callender (b) Chuck Thompson (d)
What is this thing called love
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Billy Bang
Billy Bang (v) D.D. Jackson (p) Akira Ando (b) Ronnie Burrage (d)
Willow weep for me
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Thursday, March 22, 2007

Steve Coleman... Alice Coltrane... Nels Cline/Wally Shoup/Chris Corsano... Billy Bang... Ornette Coleman...

'Plagal Transitions.' Introduced by solo sax, before the funk groove starts up – with an echo of Ronald Shannon Jackson's electric lineups from way back... criss-crossing of lines by sax and trumpet before a trumpet solo joined by a harmonica and rippling keyboard who take over as the trumpet drops out – a latin-y groove overlaying in the back from the added percussion. Saxophone now overlapped by a sudden burst of vocalese, bwibbidy bee a roonie etc that subsides – then horns behind the sax. Some fascinating arranging going on here – the harmonica weaves in and out... An object lesson in combining 'jazz' (a word he would resist, but I use it here as convenient shorthand) and funk with a suppleness of rhythm usually lacking in these confrontations/combinations. An interesting tapestry ... shades of Ornette's linearity/harmolodics maybe, but Coleman has been an interesting figure in striking out into different territory – more concerned with harmony than Coleman, for example – a deep and fascinating theoretician. His web site here has much explication of his methods – and a stack of free music if you scroll through...

Dig infinity... as the late Lord Buckley once said... The late Alice Coltrane with her son Ravi and I noticed in checking the album details that on American Amazon one reviewer suggested that the album was 'good music for making sandwiches.' Very Zen – or just a put-down? Opening on piano, swirling through the treble and a deep bass note heralds the saxophone of Ravi...soulful meditation reminiscent of the father in ballad mood... the tempo firms up – her piano has quite a bit of bite... his soprano is intriguing, given the burden of history that is lashed to it... a welcome late return, but sadly, Alice died a couple of months ago...

Billy Bang from 1998, fronting a quartet. This is a burner – 'Bama Swing.' Bang always plays with a deep fire and intensity... this track is within conventional post-bop parameters and swings mightily - yet violin and D.D. Jackson's piano piano edge out into wilder territory here and there... Bang is an interesting representative of the 'loft jazz' era which he immersed himself in after his traumatic tour of duty in Vietnam – a driven man... here is a good interview with Fred Jung which explains more...

I mentioned Wally Shoup in a recent post – here he is with Nels Cline and flavour of the month drummer Chris Corsano – who gets around... from playing with Sunburned Hand of Man to free jazz wahooers like Paul Flaherty... this is short and fiery, the guitar tracking the alto's squeals on 'Lake of Fire Memories.' High frequency buzzing finally joined by Corsano's torrential drums underneath...

Some Ornette, from a more obscure album: 'Chappaqua Suite.' The music originally commissioned for Conrad Rooks' film that he never used in the end, preferring some Ravi Shankar. If I remember, he said that it was too good for his movie... about right. On a movie trivia note, according to the cast list, Ornette appeared in the film - as 'Peyote Eater.' Far out... This is track two, which would have been the complete second side of the first album in the original 2 lp set. Ornette bluesy across the steady bass and drums – and the vertical stripes of the ensemble that lay long-held dissonant chords behind him as he dances around and across... echoes of the third stream in this scoring (by Eric Dolphy – who also did similar work on John Coltrane's Africa/Brass sessions – which I must dig out again soon...), but the drums on the bottom and Ornette on the top with it all held together by David Izenson's bass give this music a pulse and vitality that much of the third stream lacked. A back-beat creeps in – to be turned round and about – as Ornette roams the wide open spaces – the ensemble are used very spartanly throughout, more brief punctuation than continual grammatical overlay... Moffett is especially good, booting it all along in grand style...


In the Videodrome...


Corsano with Sunburned...

...Patton and Zorn...

... a clip from 'Chappaqua' featuring the Fugs...

Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman (as) Ravi Coltrane (ts) Jonathan Finlayson, Ralph Alessi (t) Gregoire Maret (hca) Dana Leong (tr) Mat Maneri (vi) Craig Taborn (key) Anthony Tidd (el-b) Drew Gress (b) Dafnis Prieto (d) Ramon Garcia Perez (perc) Yosvany Terry (shekere) + various vocalists
Plagal Transitions
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Alice Coltrane
Alice Coltrane (p) Ravi Coltrane (ts, ss) Charlie Haden (b) Jack DeJohnette (d)
Translinear Light
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Nels Cline (g) Wally Shoup (as) Chris Corsano (d)
Lake of Fire Memories
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Billy Bang (v) D.D. Jackson (p) Akira Ando (b) Ronnie Burrage (d)
Bama Swing
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Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman
Ornette Coleman (as) David Izenson (b) Charles Moffett (d) Pharoah Sanders: tenor saxophone; 11 piece orchestra, arrangements by Eric Dolphy
Chappaqua Suite Part Two
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