Mix 3/Cecil Taylor/ Plexus/ Horace Tapscott/Martin Carthy/Cyril Tawney/Sinatra/Mal Waldron/Charles Mingus/Harlan T. Bobo/Pet Shop Boys/Tubby Hayes

Early in the morning of Sunday... a strange Christmas – quiet and much confinement to barracks due to chest infection in a combo with the usual physical crap that lays me down frequently. But you use these periods – reading and listening – and plotting. And maybe drinking too much – but that's the traditional hazard of the season's turn – somewhat enthusiastically embraced, maybe, to counteract the stuttering of the body's clumsy passing through this time continuum. We still aim towards the light, to transcend that downdrag...

I hope everyone has had the Christmas they wanted – here's another mix...

1.Cecil Taylor – an encore...
2.Plexus – extract from 23 September – suite 4
3.Horace Tapscott – A Dress for Renee
4.Martin Carthy – Scarborough Fair
5.Cyril Tawney – Sally free and easy
6.Frank Sinatra – Last night when I was young
7.Mal Waldron – You don't know what love is
8.Charles Mingus – Solo Dancer (First track from 'Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.').
9.Harlan T. Bobo – Bottle and Hotel
10.Pet Shop Boys – King's Cross
11.Tubby Hayes Orchestra – The Killers of W.1

I was watching John Huston's last movie, 'The Dead,' earlier... which I haven't seen for a long time.
It raised a lot of memories... 'Lass of Loughrim' especially – I'd forgotten where I first heard that song... bittersweet stuff...

But we move on... 2008 looms...

WordsandmusicXmasMix3
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Charles Mingus... George Russell... Benny Golson... Tal Farlow

Time has just run away this week – we are still waiting for the date to move house which is annoying but it will be very soon. So a quick post, little chat (You lucky people, to quote the immortal Brit Comedian Tommy Trinder).

As promised, a couple of follow-ons... here's the opening track from George Russell's 1959 album 'New York N.Y.' An ever-fascinating reconstitution of 'Manhattan.' Jon Hendricks jives in to open the suite – then the orchestra glance and feint at the theme. Bob Brookmeyer, Bill Evans, John Coltrane solo – a neglected masterpiece.

More from 'Mingus at the Bohemia.' 'Septemberly' runs two standards together – 'Tenderly' and 'September in the rain.' Mingus was always looking for new forms and structures – his exploratory work in the fifties is especially fascinating...

Benny Golson -another oddity. Not sure where I acquired this from (the late-lamented Rab?) – but a fascinating album. Golson arranged and conducted the sessions for his 1962 album 'Just Jazz' from which I have selected the old Bird line, 'Ornithology.' Alto here is by Eric Dolphy... like some kind of avant-garde skater – performing miraculous leaps and veering so close to running out of the area. A skittering grace... And absolutely stunning... Running onwards all too briefly with the baton...

I had a request to re-up the Tal Farlow from the other week, so here it is - 'Just one of those things.' To the commenter - I don't put up whole albums for various reasons - there are plenty of sites who do, for one. But if you want the complete set - check the original comment for my email and send me a message - I'll send you a link...

More cardboard boxes have arrived - off to go and sort out more crap to be packed...

In the Videodrome...

Sheila Jordan chats about George Russell...

I hear a guitar rhapsody...


Shoot the liquor to me Artie Boy... Pity they didn't shoot the asinine commentator...

Cecil T in Hamburg, 1995. This really is fascinating...


George Russell
Art Farmer, Ernie Royal, Doc Severinsen (tp) Tom Mitchell, Frank Rehak (tb) Bob Brookmeyer (vtb) Hal McKusick (as) John Coltrane (ts) Sol Schlinger (bars) Bill Evans (p) Barry Galbraith (g) Milt Hinton (b) Charlie Persip (d) George Russell (arr, cond) Jon Hendricks (nar)
Manhattan
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Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus (b) Eddie Bert (tb) George Barrow (ts) Mal Waldron (p) Willie Jones (d)
Septemberley
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Benny Golson
Bill Hardman (tp) Grachan Moncur III (tb) Eric Dolphy (as) Bill Evans (p) Ron Carter (b) Charlie Persip (d) Benny Golson (arr, cond)
Ornithology
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Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow (g) Claude Williamson (p) Red Mitchell (b) Stan Levy (d)
Just one of those things
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Max Roach: A small tribute... part two... with Clifford Brown... Charles Mingus... Thelonious Monk... George Russell

Max Roach founded a quintet with Clifford Brown in the early 1950s – here is a track from their album 'Study in Brown.' 'Jacqui' was composed by the band's pianist, Richie Powell – Bud's brother - who died in the same tragic car crash that took Brownie. The young trumpeter had also played with the other drum giant of hard bop, Art Blakey. With Max, he had a band that during their brief existence arguably stands shoulder to shoulder with the Messengers. Brown was a stunningly fiery yet beautiful player who had no problems digging out the linear gold from the density of bop harmony at synapse-baffling high speeds. No matter the tempo, he never sounds rushed - it always seems as if he has the quiet interior space and time to figure things out and spin them into patterns of melodic wonder. To get a snapshot of Max in 1955 – listen to his solo here. A lighter touch than Blakey but those rolls contain a power held in subtle reserve. Harold Land is his underrated best and it's always worth remembering Richie P.

Max and Mingus, from 'Mingus at the Bohemia.' 'Percussion discussion.' Ominous dark bowed bass and the talking drums communicate on a strange track which is edging some way from the hard bop norms of 1955 – an epochal year in jazz, symbolised by the death of Charlie Parker. In a blindfold test, I suspect this might baffle a few people as to the recording date – it sounds pretty contemporary to me, outside of the bop chink a ching cymbals into a new rhythmic ground – it slips into conventional rhythm here and there but, in the main, this is searching stuff. And another great 'conversation' (thinking of those amazing duets between Mingus and Eric Dolphy) – two iconoclasts overheard discussing the future... Max was a drummer who had a deep interest in the melodic and timbral aspects of drumming and Mingus – well, no matter how abstract he might get, that powerful, pleading, raging voice is never far away to ground things into the all-too human, channelled through the bass and his various ensembles... Interesting how this prefigures later duo performances that found Max with a variety of musicians from Cecil Taylor to Dizzie Gillespie – a track that shows his range and curiosity.

The lines criss-cross and collide – Max had played with Monk on several famous sessions and Sonny Rollins had come into his and Brownie's band a couple of years earlier. Roach and Monk, colossi of the New York scene, also originally came from North Carolina way back, Newland and Rocky Mount respectively, although Monk was a few years older. This is them all together on 'Bemsha Swing' from the 'Brilliant Corners' album. Max switches between conventional jazz kit and tympani, which gives a deep rolling bottom resonance to Monk's theme. When Max solos, it is almost like a collision between the classical and the jazz world. Conventional wisdom always states that Blakey was Monk's best drummer – and they certainly recorded some wonderful tracks. But Max is well up to the mark on this album. And he fires off a couple of rolls that equal the mighty Blakey, to show his own power. Ernie Henry has a searing bluesy edge – yet another one who died young. And Clark Terry always seemed to be easy in whatever company he found himself in – but to slip into Monk's world so gracefully points to open ears beyond mere eclecticism...

Finally: a big band session with George Russell – 'A helluva town' is taken from the composer's 1958 album 'New York, N.Y.' Lot of Max on here... he introduces the track before Jon Hendricks enters with his proto-rap: 'Think you can lick it, get to the wicket.' Etc. Then he powers the band in – noted as a small group drummer in the main, Max had played with several big bands in the forties when he was starting out so he knew the form. Hard-hitting where required or subtle cymbal work in smart flicks of the percussive whip – this last track on the album (Charlie Persip was in the chair for the rest of the session) boots along nicely – leading into a solo section where he lets rip... A helluva town. A helluva drummer...



Clifford Brown/Max Roach
Clifford Brown (t) Harold Land (ts) Richie Powell (p) George Morrow (b) Max Roach (d)
Jacqui
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Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus (b) Max Roach (d)
Percussion discussion
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Thelonious Monk
Clark Terry (tp) Sonny Rollins (ts) Thelonious Monk (p) Paul Chambers (b) Max Roach (d)
Bemsha Swing
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George Russell
Art Farmer, Ernie Royal, Joe Wilder (tp) Tom Mitchell, Frank Rehak (tb) Bob Brookmeyer (vtb) Hal McKusick, Phil Woods (as) Al Cohn (ts) Gene Allen (bars) Bill Evans (p) Barry Galbraith (g) George Duvivier (b) Max Roach (d) George Russell (arr, cond) Jon Hendricks (nar)
A helluva town
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Charles Mingus... Tal Farlow... Cecil Taylor... Sonny Rollins

Mingus in 1960. A stunning quartet sans piano, bravura stuff all round:

'This ensemble featured the same instruments as Coleman's quartet, and is often regarded as Mingus rising to the challenging new standard established by Coleman.' (From here...)

'What love' begins as slow meditation before the impeccable Ted Curson takes a long solo, starting mournful – a flamenco/spanish edge to it - becoming more jaunty with wonderful spiralling runs, over changing rhythms. Mingus next up, fast runs and pauses, a single note poked at several times – this is like eavesdropping on someone's private thoughts. Dolphy sidles in with low sinister bass clarinet before engaging in conversation with the leader. Richmond's cymbals join them then drums as the rhythm sort of staggers out – start stop start stop. One of the defining characteristics of 'jazz' was/is the manner in which instrumental tone was 'vocalised.' Here, you can hear them talking to each other, Dolphy especially hilarious as he imitates the rise and fall of a quizzical speech cadence. Answered by Mingus. They sound like a bickering couple. Funny and thought-provokingly brilliant – Mingus always painted on a broad canvas.

Linked to Mingus by his time with the Red Norvo trio, just before he branched out on his own, Talmadge Holt Farlow, a genius of modern jazz guitar, was something of an enigma. At the height of his fame, he dropped out of the profession and returned to his original career as sign-painter. Although he surfaced in later years (and sadly died of cancer in 1998), that return to small-town life has probably taken him off the radar for many. Listen to his blistering runs and odd phrases on 'Just one of those things.' It wasn't, believe me... Classic small combo modern jazz - he's well-supported by Red Mitchell and Stan Levy. Claude Williamson takes a matchingly fleet solo.

Cecil Taylor again. I like him... From his first album 'Jazz Advance,' and boy, it certainly was, 'Song,' featuring Steve Lacy on soprano saxophone. Now, this was recorded in 1956, the bass is solid, the drums unobtrusive, not stretched into the new pulses and time continua to come. Yet Taylor takes off in places to hint at what was not far round the corner. His piano fairly romps and stomps in places, blatting out clusters and dense runs. Lacy is cool, holding his own ground, seemingly unfazed by the surrounding furore.To have stepped out of Dixieland into this music was an interesting manoevre, to say the least. There is a wonderful freshness to this track, still retaining the virginal energies of its conception as new territories were joyfully explored. Hearing old masters still playing with youthful fire has been a special privilege the last couple of years - yet how much more thrilling must it have been for those who caught it the first time round...

Finally... Sonny Rollins. 'We kiss in a shadow,' taken from the ever-fascinating album 'East Broadway Rundown' that he recorded with Coltrane's rhythm section. (Freddy Hubbard was also on the session but only for one track). Contrast and compare time... Rollins, despite his own undeniable brilliance, lived so much in the shadow of Coltrane, despite out-living him and becoming a celebrated elder stateman of the tenor – perhaps we should consider these musicians more in the spirit of 'both/and' rather than 'either/or.' Partisanship is fine – and I am a stone archetypal fan in the sense of fanatic for a variety of musics. But it can get out of hand and lead to neglect of important contributors... Certainly in jazz... I'm thinking about figures like Jimmy Giuffre perhaps, or Lennie Tristano – or the sombre reality of being a genius unrecognised and unrewarded as in the case of the trombonist/free improvisor Paul Rutherford, who died earlier this week. Some bitter irony in the coverage of his death – I just noticed this extensive obit in the Guardian today by Richard Williams – as compared to the obscurity of much of his recent life, which poses many questions about how such cases of economic and artistic neglect can be dealt with – if at all... Ending on a sombre note – but it's a sad tale...


Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus (b) Eric Dolphy (b-cl) Ted Curson (t) Danny Richmond (d)
What Love
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Tal Farlow
Tal Farlow (g) Claude Williamson (p) Red Mitchell (b) Stan Levy (d)
Just one of those things
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Cecil Taylor
Cecil Taylor (p) Steve Lacy (ss) Buell Neidlinger (b) Dennis Charles (d)
Song
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Sonny Rollins
Sonny Rollins (ts) Jimmy Garrison (b) Elvin Jones (d)
We kiss in a shadow
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John Coltrane... Charles Mingus... Paul Motian... Jackie McLean...

...and I said that these posts would stabilise into more regular delivery. But: things have got hectic here at the Eagles Nest – which is yet again in transitional mode as we have to move again soon – hopefully to a more stable tenure. But one tries to keep it rolling...


With my usual amnesic panache – I neglected to mention the John Coltrane anniversary just passed, the fortieth anniversary of his death on July 17 1967.. Sorry John. So: here's a track from one of my favourite albums, 'Africa/Brass,' 'Song of the Underground Railroad.' Deep and sonorous brass drape round the sinuous folk theme before Coltrane comes belting out of the gates – full-tilt tenorboogie. Tyner solos next, restating the theme before taking off in a calmer yet sparkling diversion, underscored by spare brass passages. Coltrane returns, that keening edge slicing through before Tyner vamps over running bass and the track somewhat abruptly ends. Elvin Jones is superb throughout...

Mingus from the Fifties. Another restless, driven artist. 'Passions of a Woman loved.' Starting sedate and sombre before falling helter-skelter into stop-start rhythms and silences - Mingus early on was disrupting the frantic flow of the bop line. This spins off on into long melodic lines and rhapsodic piano jumping into a skittery walz-time and beyond - freely swirling passages amid cool and calm, Legge coltishly boppish scamperings, Hadi romantically eloquent, Knepper gruffly sardonic. Episodic evocation of a loved one? Like a cubist portrait maybe... This is one of the two unreleased tracks added to the CD re-issue (of the album recorded in 1957 but unreleased until 1961).

A synchronous segue – just pulled this out and the first track is 'Pithecanthropus Erectus,' the Mingus composition.. This blog runs on such improvisations... An unusual line up, the Paul Motian band with three electric guitarists, two tenors and no piano. Plenty of space to roam here – the guitars keep out of each others' ways. Lines drift across each other to form into a patchwork of some beauty...

Jackie McLean, the title track from his 1965 album 'Jacknife.' Lee Morgan was also on this date, but it's Charles Tolliver in the trumpet chair here, a fast, almost savage tune as befits the streetgang title. Cue metaphors for sharpness, cutting through etc... but you wouldn't be far wrong. Jack DeJohnette is the mainspring, swinging the ensemble powerfully, placing accents with a surgical skill, scalpel rather than jacknife, really...

Tomorrow I'm off to see the Pet Shop Boys at Newmarket Racecourse with the rather gorgeous Rachel who is their überfan... we have tickets for the Royal Enclosure - so this will be the first gig I have ever attended with a dress code... looks like fun, either way... I wonder if I have to wear socks? Which I never do from April to October as a rule. Damn the weather, in my head it is summer... a report soon...


John Coltrane
Song of the Underground Railroad
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Charles Mingus
Charles Mingus (b) Shafi Hadi (as) Jimmy Knepper (tb) Wade Legge (p) Danny Richmond (d)
Passions of a woman loved
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Paul Motian
Paul Motian (d) Steve Cardenas, Ben Monder, Jakob Bro (el-g) Jerome Harris (b) Chris Creek, Tony Malaby (ts)
Pithecanthropus Erectus
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Jackie McLean
Jackie McLean (as) Charles Tolliver (t) Larry Willis (p) Larry Ridley (b) Jack DeJohnette (d)
Jacknife
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