Jazz Consumer Guide (20):
A Summer Suite of Harmonic Disorder

Transcending roots and relishing every moment, whether you've got the rhythm section or not

by Tom Hull

Pick Hits

Satoko Fujii Orchestra New York: Summer Suite (Libra) With esteemed free thinkers at every position -- like Elery Eskelin and Tony Malaby at tenor sax and Steven Bernstein and Herb Robertson at trumpet -- this big band packs fierce solo power, but Fujii flexes all that muscle masterfully. Her suite runs the loud-quiet, sweet-sour gamut, a model of tight composition and daring arrangement, driven by a rhythm section that hews close enough to the beat, with a trio of trombones doing the heavy lifting. A

The Matthew Shipp Trio: Harmonic Disorder (Thirsty Ear) His early records were strictly avant-garde piano, often in improv duos, but when he took command of this experimental rock label's jazz series he cranked up the electronics and folded in DJ beats, inventing avant-jazztronica on such releases as Nu Bop and Harmony and Abyss. Lately he's reverted to solo and trio albums, less to shore up his jazz pianist cred than to prove he never really needed electronics to deliver dense harmonics and snappy rhythm. Nods to Monk and Powell recall roots he's moved beyond. A

Arild Andersen: Live at Belleville (ECM) One of the young Norwegians George Russell took under his wing in the late 1960s. Bassist Andersen isn't as well known as Jan Garbarek or Terje Rypdal, with a big chunk of discography under Masqualero, a group now better known for Nils Petter Molvaer. Just a trio here. His playing is masterful, but it's hard to concentrate on bass when tenor saxophonist Tommy Smith gets up a full head of steam. A MINUS

Patricia Barber: The Cole Porter Mix (Blue Note) She takes Porter as a fellow modernist and drags him into a world where modernity's future has dimmed. The songs are slower, sadder, hazier, their flippant irony transmuted into ambiguity. The guitar-driven music is, if anything, even more art deco and elegant than her singing. Chris Potter's tenor sax breaks grab you every time, then fade into the smoke. A MINUS

Jorge Lima Barreto: Zul Zelub (Clean Feed) Impromptu solo piano constuctions over João Marques Carrilho's ambient electronics -- random radio sweeps on the 45:12 "Zul," four CD players cycling air-earth-water-fire ambience on the 30:10 "Zelub." It's never clear whether it's Barreto or the listener who turns the randomness into meaning and makes conceptual art real. A MINUS

François Carrier/Michel Lambert/Jean-Jacques Avenel: Within (Leo) Canadian alto saxophonist Carrier started out chasing that old Trane, but with long-time drummer chum Lambert he finally caught the spirit and found his own sound. Steve Lacy bassist Avenel pushes them even further inside their telepathic free jazz vein. A MINUS

François Carrier: The Digital Box (Ayler) A scrapbook of the saxophonist's trek spread out on seven downloadable CDRs: one from 1999 with Dewey Redman, plus various 2004-06 sets -- two duos with drummer Michel Lambert, the rest adding bass and sometimes guitar. De trop, you might think, but the introspection keeps drawing me in as he fleshes out his world. A MINUS

Bill Cole's Untempered Ensemble: Proverbs for Sam (2001, Boxholder) A belated tribute to alto saxophonist Sam Furnace, who died two years later, but who in this Vision Festival set holds the musical center ground with super-bassist William Parker while the leader's squeaky Asian double-reeds (soona, shenai, nagaswarm, digeridoo), Cooper-Moore's diddly bow, and multiple percussionists swarm in pursuit of their otherworldly avant-exotica. A MINUS

Satoko Fujii Trio Trace a River (Libra) The pianist plays a jaunty little figure, then the notes descend into a loud crash. She wends her way through meditative quiet, then all hell breaks loose. The often inscrutable bassist Mark Dresser finds he can push a groove as hard as anyone, and drummer Jim Black relishes every moment. A MINUS

Oleg Kireyev: Mandala (Jazzheads) Born in Bakshiria, perched in the Urals on the ancient seam between Europe and Asia, saxophonist Kireyev's Feng Shui Jazz Project plays delicately balanced east-west grooves, with a bit of throat singing, a lot of sinuous guitar, a Senegalese conga player, and spiritual encouragement from John Coltrane. A MINUS

William Parker Quartet: Petit Oiseau (AUM Fidelity) Two free-wheeling horns backed by the hardest working rhythm section in avant-jazz -- the leader on bass and Hamid Drake on drums -- this has been a glorious group ever since *O'Neal's Porch* dropped in 2000. Here, surprisingly, the horns hew to the heads and the pulse conjures hard bop. That's what happens when the leader's writing evolves from scenarios into full blown songs. A MINUS

Brad Shepik: Human Activity Suite (Songlines) The liner notes lecture on anthropogenic climate change, and namedrop a reading list I can vouch for as some of the best nonfiction of the last decade-plus. The music is a different sort of human activity. Shepik's guitar, saz, and tambura skitter across a world of rhythms, most obviously from the Balkans, where Ralph Alessi's trumpet and Gary Versace's accordion converge. A MINUS

Cedar Walton: Seasoned Wood (High Note) A 74-year-old pianist does a lot of little things he rarely gets credit for, like writing for horns -- Vincent Herring and Jeremy Pelt never enter a song here unless they have something cogent to say, which isn't always the case on their own albums. The pianist is in top form too, maybe because Peter Washington and Al Foster leave him no slack. A MINUS

Honorable Mention

Count Basie Orchestra: Mustermesse Basel 1956 Part 1 (1956, TCB) Early New Testament band, the arrangements just barely sub-atomic, but with Old Testament virtues, like soloists who aren't just cogs in the machine.

Jimmy Rushing: The Scene (1965, High Note) His blues touched by grace, charm, and swing, a singer who could bring out the old-time religion in brothers Sims and Cohn.

Raoul Björkenheim/William Parker/Hamid Drake: DMG @ the Stone: Volume 2 (DMG/ARC) Slash and grind guitar supported by *the* rhythm section, with a snake-charming shawm bonus.

Diana Krall: Quiet Nights (Verve) Warmed by soft Claus Ogerman strings, melting the heartbreak of the cold north with nice little samba songs.

Bebo Valdés & Javier Colina: Live at the Village Vanguard (Calle 54/Norte) Cuban classics made simple, just bass supporting the 86-year-old master.

Ahmad Jamal: It's Magic (Dreyfus) An old pianist with a light touch, his trio fluffed up with extra percussion, his catchy melodies undiminished.

Bridge Quartet: Night (Origin) Saxman Phil Dwyer cooks up some Rollins, Parker, Monk, with an intriguing spice from "Isfahan."

Andy Middleton: The European Quartet Live (Q-rious) A saxophonist with patient poise on the slow ones, fierce resolve on the fast ones.

Michael Bates: Clockwise (Greenleaf Music) Bassist-led pianoless quartet, the tight writing neatly binding a dense, complex thrash of trumpet and sax.

Evan Parker/The Transatlantic Art Ensemble: Boustrophedon (ECM) Roscoe Mitchell leads a feisty American contingent to this avant-garde summit, but Parker prevails, his soprano sax rising above it all.

Gato Libre: Kuro (Libra) Natsuki Tamura's avant-folk quartet, with Kazuhiko Tsumura's tart guitar and and Satoko Fujii's swaying accordion.

Luis Lopes: Humanization 4Tet (Clean Feed) Guitarist-composer's date, but all the choice spots go to heavyweight tenor saxophonist Rodrigo Amado.

Brad Leali-Claus Raible Quartet: D.A.'s Time (TCB) Swing saxophonist in a bebop quartet brings out the Bird but also the funk.

Todd Coolman: Perfect Strangers (ArtistShare) A quintet of hard bop all-stars play seven compositions mailed in by strangers.

Donald Bailey: Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 3 (Talking House) Jimmy Smith's old drummer gets the call, and flares out to Odean Pope who crashes upfield, with Charles Tolliver kicking the extra point.

Craig Enright: La Belleza (CDBaby) Straightforward Omaha saxophonist leads Afro-Cuban group, transposing "Iowa Folk Song" and "Bata Boogie."

Roger Davidson & Raúl Jaurena: Pasión por la Vida (Soundbrush) Pianist Davidson writes a batch of tangos; Jaurena's bandoneón renders his fascination classic.

Burnt Sugar/The Arkestra Chamber: Making Love to the Dark Ages (Live Wired) Embracing the real dark side: furtive, resilient, so clever it could pass harmlessly as mood music.

Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii: Chun (Libra) Husband-wife duets, his trumpet warm and supportive, her piano stark and brash.

Satoko Fujii/Myra Melford: Under the Water (Libra) Two avant-pianists square off for three duets and a solo apiece, rumbling and waxing eloquent.

Scotty Barnhart: Say It Plain (Unity Music) Basie ghost trumpeter runs rings around the post-Marsalis neotrad playpen.

John Ettinger/Pete Forbes: Inquatica (Ettinger Music) Violinist and drummer, switching on keyboards and setting up loops -- compelling fast, intriguing slow, lovely when they tune in "Stardust."

Steve Herberman Trio: Ideals (Reach Music) Subtly hinting at Wes Montgomery groove and Joe Pass craftsmanship.

Wolfert Brederode: Currents (ECM) Another gray world, the palette thinned down to acoustic piano and clarinet.

Jamie Davis: Vibe Over Perfection (Unity Music) Forty years ago he would have been a terrific soul singer, but the moment passed, so he looks back to Basie.

Michel Sajrawy: Writings on the Wall (Ozella) Israeli guitarist who feels Palestinian plays Montgomery lines with Arabesque fillips.

Bo's Art Trio: Live: Jazz Is Free and So Are We! (Icdisc) The poet's sane revolution is just for fun, like Bo van de Graaf's sax.

Billy Harper: Blueprints of Jazz, Vol. 2 (Talking House) Amiri Baraka's blues people from Africa to be-bop and hip-hop, atop church sax vamps and big band breaks.

Junk Box: Sunny Then Cloudy (Libra) More Satoko Fujii-Natsuki Tamura jousts, with John Hollenbeck's fractured martial drums stirring up trouble.

Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya: Sanrei (Bamako) An exhilarating blast of sci-fi fusion with occasional squawkfests and crashes.

Anthony Braxton/Kyle Brenders: Toronto (Duets) 2007 (Barnyard) Tight sax dialogues, mostly soprano/sopranino, depend on little things signifying.

Duds

Tim Ries: Stones World: The Rolling Stones Project II (Sunnyside) A worldwide tour, promoting the Stones' great idea: miscegnation. B

The Blue Note 7: Mosaic (Blue Note) Too mod for the Bill Charlap trio; too congested for the extra horns and guitar. B

East West Quintet: Vast (Native Language Music) Not only don't they know how to fuse jazz and rock, this Brooklyn groups is even confused about its name. C PLUS

Addresses

Notes

I count 1736 words. I have more than that leftover, so I figure
it's best to cram what you can into the print edition, then slip
the rest into the web page(s). I recommend cutting deepest from
the Honorable Mentions, especially the middle of the list:

  Bridge Quartet (19), Ben Stapp (19), Andy Middleton (23),
  Luis Lopes (22), Todd Coolman (19), Donald Bailey (33),
  Craig Enright (19), Roger Davidson/Raul Jaurena (23),
  Scotty Barnhart (18), Steve Herberman (16), Michel Sajrawy (18),
  Bo's Art Trio (29), Billy Harper (30)

That gets you down to 1448. From the main list there's Kireyev (55),
Barreto (64), and Carrier's Digital Box (63). If that's not enough,
let me know. HMs are listed in given order, not priority; would like
to save Carrier in print if possible (although being a download,
there's a certain poetic justice to making it web only).

Pick hit contacts:

  Fujii: Ann Braithwaite 
  Shipp: Rob Beam 

Sorry this dragged out a bit. Thought I would finish it on vacation
first two weeks of July, but they nearly finished me instead.

Rated

This table provides a working guide to how the JCG is shaping up. This does not include anything moved to bk-flush: these include items relegated to Surplus, reviewed in Recycled Goods, or just passed over. Entries in black are written, gray graded but not written, red ungraded but with prospect notes (all these are at the bottom of their approximate grade levels, alphabetized). A-list, B-list and Duds are alphabetical; HM lists are ranked, with breaks for three-two-one stars.

Album count: 47; Word count: 1717 (graded 20: 1099; additional 27: 618).

Prospecting

I try to write up an informal note on every jazz record I hear the first (or sometimes second) time I play it. Those notes are collected over the course of a week, then posted in the blog. They are also collected here.

Surplus

The surplus file collects final notes when I decide that I cannot realistically keep a record under active consideration for the Jazz Consumer Guide. These notes are mostly written at the end of a JCG cycle and posted to the blog when the column is printed. In effect, they are the extended copy to the column. There are various reasons for this. For especially good records, it is often because Francis Davis or someone else has already reviewed it and my two cents would be redundant. For old music it is often because I wrote something in Recycled Goods and figure that was enough. Sometimes good records have just gotten old. Most of the time the records aren't all that interesting anyway. I can handle 25-30 records per column. It just doesn't make sense for me to keep more than 60-80 graded records in the active list at the start of a new cycle. In many cases, I decide the prospecting notes or Recycled Goods review suffices, so note that in the file.

Pending

Working on the following (both new and old). When done they will go to the print or done or flush file. When the column is published, the done entries will be dumped into notebook.