Blog Entries [450 - 459]

Monday, April 13, 2020

Music Week

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33094 [33056] rated (+38, 216 [216] unrated (-0).

Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden today. I don't think he needed to do so this early, but he seems to be building a personal relationship which will make him more influential as the campaign progresses, and hopefully after Biden wins. Those of us who don't know Biden personally still have some distance to go to embrace the idea. But one thing that's long been clear to me is that even the worst Democrats are open to discussion of progressive ideas, while Republicans are not, locked into their right-wing echo chamber. I'd also add that Biden, unlike ideological centrists like Schumer and the Clintons, is a guy who is happy to roll with the waves. He's never been a principled defender of working people, of civil rights, of peace and justice, and that's left him with a very shoddy record to run on. But he's not a steady opponent either, and when reality shifts he tries to stick with it. That may not be what we want, but it could be what we need.

Worth reading here (and I'm sure there'll be more by the weekend):

I filled out my DownBeat Critics Poll ballot last week, the evening before the deadline. I started quite late, and quickly grew exhausted, so I wound up racing through the 20-odd pages of the ballot. Normally I take notes as I go along (this year's are here), but I wound up referring to them more than revising them. To rush things along, I wound up simply repeating last year's picks in most categories. I haven't even sorted out the jazz albums lists, and didn't bother even copying the blues and "beyond" album lists -- safe to say I've heard virtually none of the blues albums (I wound up writing in Al Gold's Paradise, the only A-list blues album I've heard all year long). Maybe I'll return to the file and clean it up a bit later -- or just try to forget this year. I've noticed that my votes rarely register in the published totals anyway, and I've never been very keen on ranking musicians, so maybe it's best not to put much effort in.

More old records this week than new ones. Not my intent, but Storyville Records keeps adding to their Bandcamp page (207 records at the moment), and I found a Buddy Tate record that tempted me. That led me into a deeper dive into Tate and his fellow Texas Tenor Arnett Cobb. Nothing I found this week quite matches their Very Saxy (with Coleman Hawkins and Lockjaw Davis), Cobb's Part Time, or Tate's two Buck & Buddy albums (with Buck Clayton), but Cobb's lesser Prestiges are pretty consistent, and Tate is often terrific (even when his bands aren't). I didn't exhaust their later European live dates, but did look out for records on France's Black & Blue label -- most were reissued c. 2000 in their Definitive series, and I've found a lot of great records there.

Some of the records below were recommended in Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide: April, 2020 (subscribers only). He also reviewed a non-album, attributed as Adam Schlesinger: The End of the Movie (Carl Wilson Spotify playlist), collecting scattered works by the late Fountains of Wayne singer-songwriter. If you're interested, you can find it in the Carl Wilson article linked below. [PS: OK, tried it, doesn't work. The playlist widget in the Consumer Guide file only gives you short fragments of each song, so it's worse than useless. Maybe if you subscribe to Spotify, you'll have better luck] I don't see any point in reviewing non-product. I saw FOW once and was bored out of my skull, although I eventually heard a couple of albums that I rather liked (in the comfort of my home): Welcome Interstate Managers (2003), and Out-of-State Plates (2005).

Of more concern, to me at least, is Christgau's dive into John Coltrane's recorded work. This is what he came up with (including a related extra; I'm adding recording dates and, in brackets, my own grades, and footnote numbers):

  • John Coltrane: The Best of John Coltrane (1956-58, Prestige) A- [B+] (1)
  • John Coltrane: Ken Burns Jazz (1956-67, Verve) *** [A-] (2)
  • John Coltrane: The Africa Brass Sessions, Vol. 2 (1961, Impulse!) A [A] (3)
  • John Coltrane: "Live" at the Village Vanguard (1961, Hallmark) A [A-] (4)
  • John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (1964, Impulse!) A- [A+] (5)
  • Pharoah Sanders: The Impulse Story (1966-73, Impulse!) *** [A-] (6)

Footnotes, before going further:

  1. Review doesn't specify release date (mine is 2004), but notes that "it does seem to be the first disc of Prestige Profiles: John Coltrane" (2005), which I also have at B+. On the other hand, I gave an A- to the 6-CD Fearless Leader box, which covers the same 1956-58 span. I don't usually upgrade boxes, but I probably got lost in sheer breadth and depth, but I seriously doubt that he did much on Prestige that rivals his early Impulse! period. Also, I don't particularly care for jazz best-ofs. Replaying this one tonight, I haven't heard anything that blows me away, or that I don't like. I'll also note that I was warned off the 16-CD The Prestige Recordings, which expands to include all of Coltrane's sideman dates. Some, of course, are important (like "Tenor Madness" with Sonny Rollins and the quickies Miles Davis cut to break his contract), but you also get a lot of him playing second fiddle to Red Garland, Kenny Burrell, and lesser lights (not that I don't like Paul Quinichette).

  2. My grade based on the 1995 2-CD release of The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions, graded A -- although note that I had previously graded Africa Brass Volumes 1 & 2 (a 1988 single-CD release which had the two albums in original order) at A-. [PS: I managed to build a playlist matching the album, and gave it a spin; could be A or A-. By the way, even though the first Africa/Brass album was credited to the Quartet, all tracks have 15-18 musicians, mostly extra brass but Eric Dolphy is hard to miss.]

  3. Coltrane barely got mentioned in Burns' Jazz documentary, but the product tie-ins were more sensibly distributed. I'm not a big "Giant Steps" fan, so I wouldn't single out that omission (among dozens of others -- especially since the Giant Steps album yields two other equally famous songs), but damn near everything that did make the cut is not just good but iconic, and the Miles Davis Quintet opener and the Rashied Ali duo closer stretch the timeline as far as one can imagine. 13:40 of "My Favorite Things" makes the point (that all future tenor saxophonists will also have to learn to play soprano), and A Love Supreme is represented with a 7:46 taste.

  4. The Hallmark release is a straight reissue of the 1962 Impulse! album (3 tracks, 35:50), which has been reissued many times (Discogs lists 90 editions, 80 on Impulse!, 1 on Verve [which owns Impulse!]; the rest are European reissue labels which picked the record up after the EU's 50-year copyright limit lapsed). Hallmark's appeared in 2014, but since it's identical to Impulse!'s original, why cite it? My A- grade came from a quick Rhapsody stream. I previously graded the expanded Live at the Village Vanguard: The Master Takes (1998) and the 4-CD The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (1997) at A, and no doubt would have done the same with the original had I not seen it as inferior value.

  5. I also gave an A to A Love Supreme [Deluxe Edition] (2002), which adds a second CD with a longer live version from Paris. By the way, I never gave much thought to this record as being spiritual. It just struck me as the most perfectly plotted single piece of jazz ever recorded.

  6. After his debut in ESP-Disk, Sanders recorded a dozen albums for Impulse, my favorites Tauhid (1966) and Village of the Pharoahs (1973), but he was less consistent than Coltrane, so I considered the survey more useful. Of course, there is also a Coltrane The Impulse Story, another solid A-.

Christgau mentions favorably Giant Steps and My Favorite Things -- two 1959-61 Atlantic albums which were eventually boxed as The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1995, 7-CD once you pack all the extra takes in). Coltrane was a good saxophonist at Prestige (1956-58), during which time he played in important groups with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, but he didn't become special until he figured out how to exploit modes and turn them into expansive sheets of sound. The classic formulation of that was on Davis's Kind of Blue (1959), one of the most beloved of all jazz records. Coltrane's Atlantics expanded on that discovery -- my favorite album there is the last, Olé. He put his Quartet together when he moved on to Impulse! (which later issued a box called The House That Trane Built: The Best of Impulse Records), and from 1961-64 it's hard to think of anything he did wrong (well, aside from the Johnny Hartman album, though even it has fans) -- Crescent is a good example, like one of the second tier Himalayan peaks, overshadowed by Everest and K2 but still massive and 25,000 feet high.

From 1965-67 he kind of freaked out, inventing (or maybe just radicalizing) the squawkiest strain of the avant-garde. I hated Ascension (1965) for the longest time before I kind of got into it, and still have Sun Ship graded C+, but his Rashied Ali duo on Interstellar Space (1967) is marvelous. Since his death, Coltrane has become the most influential tenor saxophonist since Hawkins and Young, or saxophonist period since Parker. By the 1990s, it seemed like everyone was trying to play like him (at bit less so now). Pharoah Sanders had the most direct claim -- in his trinity, he was the son, Coltrane the father, and Albert Ayler the holy ghost -- and it's tempting to say that the very best posthumous Coltrane records are Welcome to Love (1990) and Crescent With Love (1992). More recently, Nat Birchall has the sound down cold.

You can find my Coltrane grade list here. I've written much of this before, now collected in Recorded Jazz in the 20th Century, which you'd have to download all of to pick out the Coltrane pages.

Looking forward, I have some downloads that look promising, especially from Astral Spirits, but I haven't listened to them yet because they're a pain in the ass. Also got some vinyl I've been too lazy to check out, again a bunch of extra work (assuming the gear still works).

People have been dying recently, including musicians. Without looking hard, here are a few of the obituaries and tributes I've noticed:

Some of these pieces came from a longer list published by the New York Times. I noticed today that legendary Formula One driver Stirling Moss has died, age 90, evidently of something else. I was a big F1 fan as a teenager, and he was already long retired. I remember him as a very astute writer, covering the circuit for Road & Track (which I thought at the time was the best edited magazine in the world). Another prominent figure of my youth died, at 85: Al Kaline. I don't recall being conscious of baseball before 1957, but can still recite the 1957 all-star teams (that was the year Cincinnati stuffed the ballot boxes -- the NL ordered that several Reds be dropped in favor of players they beat, like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron; it was also a year when the AL picked a bunch of Tigers, including starting pitcher Jim Bunning; no one doubted that Kaline belonged in right-field, next to Mickey Mantle in center and Ted Williams in left -- nor did the NL have a problem with Frank Robinson joining Mays and Aaron).

New records reviewed this week:

John Anderson: Years (2020, Easy Eye Sound): Country singer, looks pretty weathered on the cover although he's still five years younger than me. His voice is still in good shape, and he has Dan Auerbach producing, a solid album. B+(**)

Thomas Anderson: Analog Summer (Four-Tracks and Then Some) (2020, Out There): Singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, has been releasing quality albums since 1988 (or '89 or '90, sources vary; Discogs counts 5, Wikipedia 7, I have 10 in my database). Subtitle suggests this is a continuation of his Four-Track Demos from 2012 and Four-Track Love Songs from 2013. Seems sloughed off until he finds a band for "You Should Be With Me" and "Johnny Wah-Wah." B+(**)

Erlend Apneseth: Fragmentarium (2019 [2020], Hubro): Norwegian, plays Hardanger fiddle, a folk instrument and not the only one here (Ida Løvli Hidle plays accordion, Stein Urheim plays fretless bouzouki as well as guitar). But they don't fall into customary grooves, their jazz touches keeping the tension palpable. B+(***)

The Exbats: Kicks, Hits and Fits (2020, Burger): Twelve punk anthems, not sure what the breakdown is between new and old songs ("I Got the Hots for Charlie Watts" was a 2018 album title but not a song thereon). B+(***)

Grrrl Gang: Here to Stay (2017-18 [2020], Damnably, EP): Indonesian group, from Yogyakarta, in English, three members, one female, short compilation of previously released singles and 5-cut "mini-album": still only adds up to eight songs (two takes of "Dream Grrrl"), 25:52. Less punk than the alt-side of pop. B+(**)

Kirby Heard: Mama's Biscuits (2019, self-released): Folk singer-songwriter, formerly from "a big city in the Midwest," now settled into "a sleepy southern town," first album aside from a bluegrass duo with "Bob." Seems a little vague, but I'll hang onto "I guess you don't have to know Jesus to write a gospel song." B+(**)

Heroes Are Gang Leaders: Artificial Happiness Button (2020, Ropeadope): Jazz-poetry group, the latter mostly Thomas Sayers Ellis, although other voices predominate (most female). Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis is the other principal here, with four more names on the second line, and various guests (including William Parker and Jaimie Branch). Reminds me of Funkadelic as a community, but the funk is much bent and twisted, the messages mixed and sometimes oblique, but the interludes are transcendent. A-

Jasper Høiby: Planet B (2019 [2020], Edition): Danish bassist, based in UK, best known for group Phronesis. Trio with Josh Arcoleo (sax) and Marc Michel (drums). Spoken word intro is politically astute -- one of his groups, Fellow Creatures, derives from a Naomi Klein book -- and the music follows, impressively. A- [bc]

Large Unit/Fendika: EthioBraz (2018 [2019], PNL): Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love's avant big band plus elements from Ethiopia and Brazil, notably the Ethiopian group Fendika, its singers and dancers, Brazilian percussionists, and guitarist Terrie Ex. Closer to world music than to jazz, but the edginess is quite remarkable. A- [bc]

Ashley McBryde: Never Will (2020, Warner Nashville): Country singer-songwriter from Arkansas, based in Nashville, second album (or fourth counting two self-released efforts). Strong voice, big production. B+(**)

Grant Peeples: Bad Wife (2020, Rootball): Another folkish singer-songwriter from Florida, claims to have learned the words to every Roger Miller song by the time he turned twelve (that would be 1969), Discogs lists three albums but his store has close to a dozen. Eleven songs "written by women I've worked with in one way or another," though it wasn't easy to find the credits. B+(*)

Matthew Shipp/Mark Helias/Gordon Grdina: Skin and Bones (2018 [2019], Not Two): Piano/bass/guitar (or oud) trio. Piano and bass lock together tightly, much as I'd expect, the guitar another dimension. B+(***)

Lou Volpe: Before & After (2020, Jazz Guitar): Guitarist, from New York, recorded an album in 1973, another in 2006, not much more. No explanation of title, but front cover has pictures now and as a child with a toy guitar, back cover as a young man. Two covers, rest originals, various bass and drum combos suggest this has been recorded over some time, but no details. Nice, sweet sound. B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Future/Zaytoven: Beast Mode (2015 [2020], Epic/Freebandz): Short mixtape by rapper Nayvadius Wilburn, working with producer Xavier Dotson. B+(**)

Lennie Tristano: The Duo Sessions (1968 [2020], Dot Time): Pianist, went his own way in the 1940s when everyone else was chasing Bird, Diz, Bud, and Monk, snaring a few acolytes like Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz. Previously unreleased, not sure when recorded but after he stopped performing in 1968, before he died in 1978. Six duets with tenor saxophonist Lenny Popkin (much like Marsh), two with pianist Connie Crothers (who often played with Popkin), and eight with drummer Roger Mancuso. B+(**)

Old music:

Arnett Cobb and His Orchestra: 1946-1947 (1946-47 [1999], Classics): The Texas Tenor's first recordings as a leader, prefaced by four credited to various leaders with "the Hamptone All Stars" -- Cobb started playing in Lionel Hampton's band in 1942. Mostly jump blues, a few with vocals, already a powerhouse. B+(***)

Arnett Cobb: Smooth Sailing (1959, Prestige): Tenor saxophonist from Texas, came up in big bands in the 1930s, succeeding Illinois Jacquet in Lionel Hampton's band (1942), nicknamed "the wild man of the tenor sax." He cut eight LPs for Prestige 1959-62 -- best known his Party Time and the four-sax jam Very Saxy. This seems to be his first with Prestige, a quintet with trombone, organ, bass, and drums. Soul jazz with some muscle. A-

Arnett Cobb: Movin' Right Along (1960, Prestige): Backed by piano trio -- mostly Bobby Timmons, but one cut with Tommy Flanagan -- plus congas. Less "wild man," more ballads, but "Exactly Like You" has never been done so jaunty. A-

Arnett Cobb With the Red Garland Trio: Blue and Sentimental (1960 [1993], Prestige): Reissue combines two albums, Sizzlin' and Ballads by Cobb, both with Garland on piano and J.C. Heard on drums, bass split between George Tucker and George Duvivier. The former sizzles less than Cobb's norm. His ballads are gorgeous, but the pianist could have been anyone. B+(***)

Arnett Cobb: Deep Purple [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1973 [1995], Black & Blue): Recorded in Toulouse, with Milt Buckner (organ), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (guitar), and Michael Silva (drums), originally released as Again With Milt Buckner, reissue moves the title song up front and adds one extra. Not great organ, but the saxophonist easily transcends such limits. B+(***)

Arnett Cobb: Jumpin' at the Woodside [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1974 [2001], Black & Blue): Live shot in Paris, with Lloyd Glenn (piano), Tiny Grimes (guitar/vocal), Roland Lobligeois (bass), and Panama Francis (drums). Originally a 6-cut LP, expanded here to 11. Cobb sounds terrific here, his blues jumping, his ballads soaring. A-

Arnett Cobb: The Wild Man From Texas [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1976 [1997], Black & Blue): Cobb has several compilations with this title, mostly early work from his post-Basie juke box days. He was less wild as he aged, but developed his knack for ballads. From Paris and Toulouse, nine musicians, including a second tenor sax (Eddie Chamblee), Earl Warren (alto sax), Milt Buckner (organ), and Panama Francis (drums). B+(***)

Arnett Cobb/Jimmy Heath/Joe Henderson: Tenor Tribute Vol. 2 (1988 [1993], Soul Note): Five more songs from the same 1988 session that produced Tenor Tribute (released 1990), including three every tenor saxophonist must know but few dare: "Cotton Tail," "Tenor Madness," "Flying Home" (on the other hand, everyone's played "'Round About Midnight"). Three tenor saxes (nearly as impressive as the quartet, including Cobb, on Very Saxy), backed by piano trio (Benny Green). B+(***)

Duke Ellington: At the Hollywood Empire (1949 [2004], Storyville): I haven't listened to much live ELlington from the late 1940s, although between The Treasury Shows and the Carnegie Hall Concerts there is quite a lot to choose from. This is a live radio shot, 17 songs, 71 minutes, an announcer introducing songs and identifying soloists -- especially triple threat Ray Nance (trumpet, violin, vocal, much bluesier than Al Hibbler's croon). B+(***)

Dexter Gordon: Jazz at Highschool (1967 [2002], Storyville): A "jazz clinic" for music students at Magleaas High School, picked up and broadcast by Danish National Radio. Gordon had moved to Denmark, found American expats Kenny Drew and Al Heath available, and was joined by Denmark's most famous bassist, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. B+(***)

Al Grey/Arnett Cobb: Ain't That Funk for You (1977 [2002], Black & Blue): Trombone and tenor sax, backed by Ray Bryant (piano), John Duke (bass), and JC Heard (drums). Closer to blues and swing than funk, but who's complaining? B+(***)

Sun Ra: Celestial Love (1984 [2015], Enterplanetary Koncepts): Originally released 1984, I count 11 musicians plus singer June Tyson on two cuts -- pretty straightforward standards ("Sometimes I'm Happy," "Smile"). They also do two Ellington pieces. [CD reissue 2020, Modern Harmonic] B+(*)

Buddy Tate: Celebrity Club Orchestra (1954 [2016], Black & Blue): Tenor saxophonist from Texas, played with Andy Kirk in the 1930s, and Count Basie 1939-48. Same title as a 1968 album, causing much confusion: both were recorded in Paris, this one with a septet plus occasional singer Inez Washington, a swing throwback where the saxophonist sounds exceptionally poised. A-

Buddy Tate/Claude Hopkins: Buddy and Claude (1960 [1999], Prestige): Hopkins was a stride pianist, spent a couple years in Paris with Josephine Baker and Sidney Bechet, returned to the US and led bands in the 1930s, and continued playing well into the 1970s. He led a 1960 album with Tate (tenor sax) and Emmett Berry (trumpet), Yes Indeed!, which is combined here with another 1960 album, headlined by Tate and featuring Clark Terry (trumpet), but no piano. B+(**)

Buddy Tate/Milton Buckner: When I'm Blue [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1967 [1995], Black & Blue): Buckner plays organ and vocalizes (a lot) -- neither very inspired, even if he does seem awfully pleased with himself. With Wallace Bishop on drums, and some tasty tenor sax. B+(*)

Buddy Tate: Buddy Tate & His Celebrity Club Orchestra [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1968 [2002], Black & Blue): Live shot from Paris, not the 1954 Celebrity Club Orchestra which Black & Blue also released. With Bud Bascomb (trumpet), Ben Richardson (flute, alto/baritone sax), Dicky Wells (trombone), Skip Hall (piano/organ), John Williams (bass), Billy Stewart (drums). Well steeped in the blues. B+(***)

Buddy Tate: Buddy Tate and His Buddies (1973, Chiaroscuro): All-star session, joining Tate is fellow Texas Tenor Illinois Jacquet, with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Mary Lou Williams (piano), Steve Jordan (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums). B+(***)

Buddy Tate: The Texas Twister (1975 [1987], New World): A studio session in February of a year when he ultimately produced a lot of live records while touring Europe. Paul Quinichette offers a second tenor sax, allowing Tate to also play clarinet and sing (he's a pretty good blues belter). With Cliff Smalls (piano), Major Holley (bass), and Jackie Williams (drums). B+(***)

Buddy Tate: The Texas Tenor (1975 [2014], Storyville, 2CD): Two sets, one Live at La Fontaine with a European band (with Tete Montoliu on piano), the other from Antibes with a group that billed itself as All Stars Jive at Five: Doc Cheatham (trumpet), Vic Dickenson (trombone/vocal), Johnny Guarnieri (piano), George Duvivier (bass), and Oliver Jackson (drums). The Stars do shine, but Tate is often better without the competition. [NB: These sets were previously released as Tate A Tete at La Fontaine and Jive at Five.] B+(**)

Buddy Tate: Body and Soul: Live in Dublin 1976 (1976, [2008], Nagel Heyer): Live set, backed with what looks like a local piano trio (Tony Drennan, Jimmy McKay, Jack Daly), sounds as distinctive as ever on the slow ones, but still enjoys hard swing. B+(**)

Buddy Tate/Abdullah Ibrahim: Buddy Tate Meets Abdullah Ibrahim: The Legendary 1977 Encounter (1977 [1996], Chiaroscuro): Five quartet tracks, with Cecil McBee (bass) and Roy Brooks (drums), tenor sax and piano. No piano on the first tracks, no sax on the last two. B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • #Bloomerangs: Moments and Fragments (Instru Dash Mental)
  • Gordon Grdina Septet: Resist (Irabbagast)
  • Heroes Are Gang Leaders: Artificial Happiness Button (Ropeadope)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Weekend Roundup

I have little to add to the comments below, and frankly am exhausted and want to put this week behind me. Seems like I could have found more on Bernie Sanders, the end of his campaign, and the consolidation behind Joe Biden. Still seems premature for that, not least as Biden continues to be such an underwhelming front-runner. I watched only a few minutes of Steven Colbert's interview with the Pod Saves America crew last week. They're usually sharp guys, but their "ecstasy" over Biden's win seemed awfully rehearsed and forced. They all previously worked in the Obama White House, and one couldn't help but think they're lining up for new jobs under Biden.

Looks like Joe Biden won the Alaska Democratic primary, 55.31% to 44.69% for Bernie Sanders. The primary was conducted by mail. No results yet in last week's messy Wisconsin primary. Biden was averaging about 53% in polls there. We've voted by mail in Kansas, where the primary is run by the party, not by the state. Ballots here are due May 4. We voted for Sanders. Ranked choice was an option here, but in a two-person race, I didn't see any point in offering a second choice (which could only have been Elizabeth Warren; with five names on the ballot, had I ranked them all Biden would have come in fifth).

I've seen some tweets touting Warren as a VP choice, and I wouldn't object. Indeed, I think she would be very effective in the role. I'm reminded of a business maxim I associate with David Ogilvy, who passed it on to his middle management: if we always hire people greater than ourselves, we will become a company of giants; if we hire people lesser than ourselves, we will be a company of midgets. Biden would probably prefer a safe, mediocre pick like Tim Kaine (or Joe Biden), but this is one chance to rewrite his story (assuming his handlers let him).

Some scattered links this week:

PS: Right after I posted Weekend Roundup, I noticed a pretty inflammatory tweets

Reza Aslan @rezaaslan: Breaking news: @DemSocialists endorses Trump for President.

DSA @DemSocialists: We are not endorsing @JoeBiden.

I'm not a member of or in any way involved with DSA, but I don't see any problem with them, as an organization, not endorsing Biden, especially at this time. (Had I been involved, I would have advised them keeping the door open by adding "at this time.") Assuming Biden is the Democratic Party nominee against Trump, I wouldn't be surprised if they endorse Biden as the November election approaches. That would be consistent with what I assume is their raison d'être, which is to advance socialism within the Democratic Party and to support the Democratic Party in general elections.

However, non-endorsement now (4-5 months before the convention) doesn't even remotely imply a preference, let alone an endorsement, for Trump, so Aslan is just being deliberately, provocatively stupid. Sadly, he's not alone in this regard, as I've run into a constant stream of presumed Democrats who are so hepped up on attacking what Howard Dean memorably called "the democratic wing of the Democratic Party" -- an obsession that actually does little more than further discredit "centrism" in the eyes of those who actually care about progressive reforms for real and pressing problems. It's especially hard to credit that people engaging in this kind of innuendo or slander think they're actually helping Biden (or helping defeat Trump -- by the way, I'm not doubting their sincere loathing of Trump, although they do like to doubt others, as Aslan does above).

Relevant to but not directly à propos of this, I noticed this tweet (and later a follow up):

'Weird Alex' Pareene @pareene: I truly thought the fact that no one really feels personally invested in a Biden presidency would make the timeline a bit less wild this time but it's actually somehow worse because they're already preemptively blaming you for him losing

'Weird Alex' Pareene @pareene: (To be clear I do not believe it's a fait accompli he will lose which makes it even weirder that we're already on the recriminations stage.)

By the way, good chance I will eventually write an endorsement for Biden before November's election, much like the one I wrote for Kerry in 2004. But not until he is definitively the nominee, and not until it's reasonably close to the election time. And sure, it's going to focus more on how bad Trump is than on how good Biden will be, because the former is proven, while the latter is at best hypothetical, and not strongly grounded in the track records of Biden and whoever is likely to be involved in his administration.

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, April 6, 2020

Music Week

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33056 [33307] rated (+49), 216 [219] unrated (-3).

Surprised by the high rated count, but I guess I haven't been doing much else. Lists by Chris Monsen (although I also should have looked here) and Phil Overeem gave me some ideas to check out.

Last week I noted that I had been working on my Jazz Guide files, bringing them up to date, and I published links to the ODT files. Now I've updated an additional series of files, where I've scraped up my non-review political, music, and miscellaneous writings (most easily from the Notebook. I've written up an Index page that provides links to the ODT files. You are welcome to download those files and read them (although not to copy, modify, or redistribute them without my permission. The ODT file format is used by the free software suite LibreOffice. The format is publicly available, so it's possible that other programs can import and display the files (e.g., Microsoft Word since 2010). I need to look into possibly exporting the files into other formats (certainly, PDF is possible). I imagine E-book format(s) would be more useful, but I'm not a user let alone expert, so that's something I'll need to learn more about.

The writing in these "books" is almost identical to things I've published elsewhere on the website. (I've corrected errors where I noticed them, but have done very little editing, even though I understand that a lot of editing is called for.) Most of this was done by cut-and-paste from web browser or from my trusty emacs text editor (which preserves a bit less markup). The main thing about these files is that the Jazz Guides are sorted by era then artist name, while everything else is presented oldest-to-newest (FIFO, as opposed to the LIFO you get reading a blog).

It remains to be seen how much editing I will eventually manage to do, but the collection phase completion makes it much easier to do something with the writing. I've always wanted to write books, and I sense that time is running out for that. My wife has taken a stab at sifting through the 2000-09 political blogs, but hasn't come up with as much as a plan there. I have a few rough ideas, and I'll try to develop them as I find time. One thing I wonder about now is how easy it would be to organize the music reviews into a reference website (possibly using Mediawiki). I doubt they are adequate as is, but wonder if other people might find them a useful framework to build on. Would be nice to have some kind of comment framework here, as I could use some feedback.

By the way, I got one letter last week which raised my spirits. Also noted how hard it is to find vaguely remembered things on the website, so I cobbled together a Google-based Website Search function, which appears on many (but far from all) pages (bottom of the left nav section on blog pages). This is based on code I had written for Robert Christgau, and does nothing more than add "site:tomhull.com" to a Google search string, redirecting the output to a new tab/window. Still, I've already found it faster than my relatively knowledgeable guesses as to where things are. A while back I realized that the ancient Sitemap needs a major revision. I did a tiny bit of work on it, then dropped the ball.

Someone pointed out that Wikipedia's page for John Coltrane's A Love Supreme cites my A+ grade under "Professional ratings." As a side effect, whoever did that created a stub redirect page for Tom Hull (critic), which is currently empty (aside from the useless redirect).

Got an invite to participate in DownBeat's critics poll, but they're on a tight deadline this year, which I'll be up against soon. They claim one can fill the ballot out in 45 minutes, but it usually takes me 6-8 hours (and not just because I find so much to gripe about along the way).

Got Democratic Primary ballots from the state party today -- due back early May. That one was easy: ticked the box for Bernie Sanders, signed the ballot, and sealed the envelope. The state has refused to pay for presidential primaries in the past, so the parties have been left to organize caucuses. The last two caucuses I attended (2008 and 2016) involved hours of waiting in line, after which they just counted votes and sent us on the way, so this one will be much more efficient. They're even allowing for ranked choice voting, but in what is now a two-person race I didn't see any value in that. This system was figured out before Covid-19 wrecked everything. We also filled out the census online, so no anxiety there either.

New records reviewed this week:

Harrison Argatoff: Toronto Streets Tour (2019 [2020], self-released): Tenor saxophonist, based in Toronto, second album this year after a quartet with Harry Vetro called Harrison²: Trout in Swimwear. This one is solo, with a couple bits of voice neither helping nor hurting. Fairly long at 70:45. B+(*)

Jeich Ould Badou: Music From Saharan WhatsApp 03 (2020, Sahel Sounds, EP): From Mauritania, plays tidnit (a form of lute), accompanied by drum machine, recorded at home on an iPhone 7. Part of a monthly series of EPs that seems to be vanishing as fast as they appear. B+(*) [bc]

Kelsea Ballerini: Kelsea (2020, Black River): Pop-country singer-songwriter, from Knoxville, TN, third album. B+(*)

Marshall Chapman: Songs I Can't Live Without (2020, Tall Girl): Country singer-songwriter, alt before that was a thing, did three albums on Epic, one on Rounder, then found herself on her own label. Past 70 now, with a bucket list set of nine covers. Opens with Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song," spends time from Nashville to Memphis, closes with "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" -- tailored for today. B+(**)

Childish Gambino: 3.15.20 (2020, RCA): Rapper/TV star Donald Glover, fourth album since 2011, has twice as many mixtapes. No titles, just time markers in what coceptually is a single track. Music feels like a spoof on the Beach Boys, but doesn't work as such, and I'm not getting much of anything else out of it. B

Gerald Cleaver: Signs (2017-19 [2020], 577): Drummer, from Detroit, tries his hand at electronics. His strong suit is rhythm, and the album flags when he forgets that. B

Avishai Cohen Big Vicious: Big Vicious (2020, ECM): Trumpet player, from Israel, based in New York, formed band -- with guitar, electric bass, two drummers -- six years ago, first album. Shiny but not so splashy, long on texture, with a bit of funk bass moving it along. Vicious? Big? B+(**)

Jennifer Curtis & Tyshawn Sorey: Invisible Ritual (2020, New Focus): Violin and drums duo. B+(**) [bc]

Jay Electronica: A Written Testimony (2020, Roc Nation): From New Orleans, age 43, Wikipedia gives his name as Elpadaro F Electronica Allah, but likely some of that came with conversion to Islam. Released a mixtape in 2007, has various guest appearances but this is his first album. B+(*)

Lily Hiatt: Walking Proof (2020, New West): Singer-songwriter, father John Hiatt, grew up in Nashville, fourth album. B+(**)

Sigurd Hole: Lys/Mørke (2019 [2020], Eivesang, 2CD): Norwegian bassist, tenth record, second solo, divided into "Light" and "Dark" sides. B+(*)

Gabe Lee: Farmland (2019, Torrez Music Group): Nashville singer-songwriter, first album, DIY folkie production, can do a pretty good John Prine voice, throwing in the occasional Dylan inflection. B+(**)

Gabe Lee: Honky Tonk Hell (2020, Torrez Music Group): He's got a band this time, and blasts out of the gate, sounding more like rockabilly than honky tonk. Eventually reverts to form, just louder. B+(**)

Grégoire Maret/Romain Collin/Bill Frisell: Americana (2020, ACT Music): First two names (harmonica and keyboards) above the title, guitarist below, drummer Clarence Penn in the fine print on the back. The European leaders (from Switzerland and France) don't dig very deep for their "Americana": covering Mark Knopfler and Jimmy Webb, borrowing two from Frisell, and writing the rest in a similar vein, which they breathe extra life into. B+(**) [cd] [04-24]

Mr. Wrong: Create a Place (2020, Water Wing, EP): Portland punk trio, three women, first "album" called Babes in Boyland, this another short one at nine songs, 15:33, fun as it goes. B+(***) [bc]

Mythic Sunship: Changing Shapes: Live at Roadburn (2019 [2020], El Paraiso): Danish "space rock" band, eighth record since 2010, previous titles include Another Shape of Psychedelic Music. No vocals, four 7-12 minute tracks, could pass for fusion but they'd rather go for dense and heavy than anything transcendent. B+(**)

The Necks: Three (2020, Northern Spy): Long-running Australian piano trio, formed 1987, with Chris Abrahams (piano), Tony Buck (bass), and Lloyd Swanton (drums). Three long pieces (21:00-22:46), the first especially strong on rhythm. B+(**)

Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra: If You Listen Carefully the Music Is Yours (2019 [2020], Odin): Norwegian drummer, mostly in his Acoustic Unity project although I probably noticed him first in Cortex. Goes big here with ten horns (seven saxophones and three brass), three bassists, and three drummers. Lives up to their name. A-

Onipa: We No Be Machine (2020, Strut): London group, name connects to Ghana as does vocalist KOG (Kweku of Ghana), paired with guitarist Tom Excell (Nubiyan Twist), plus synth bass, drums, and electronics. Title song is ironically mechanical, but most songs pick up the slack, with South African idioms bleeding into West. B+(***)

Tineke Postma: Freya (2018 [2020], Edition): Dutch saxophonist (alto/soprano here), seventh album, quintet recorded in New York with Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Kris Davis (piano), Matthew Brewer (bass), and Dan Weiss (drums). B+(**)

Princess Nokia: Everything Is Beautiful (2020, Platoon): New York rapper Destiny Frasqueri, her 1992 Deluxe much praised ("the most complete New Yorker to hit hip-hop since Heems if not Nas"), splits her follow-up into two, divided by good/bad and/or nice/naughty tropes. Leans toward the former, but so offhanded it's hard to tell. 12 tracks, 31:07. B+(***)

Princess Nokia: Everything Sucks (2020, Platoon): Slightly shorter (10 tracks, 24:41), more mischievous early on, although by midway she's just doing her thing. Either/both could grow on me if I made the effort. B+(**)

Jessie Reyez: Before Love Came to Kill Us (2020, Island): Canadian singer-songwriter (lyrics anyway), parents Colombian, first album after two EPs, pop with some hip-hop, including a couple of featured big name rappers (Eminem, 6lack). B+(**)

Andreas Røysum Ensemble: Andreas Røysum Ensemble (2020, Motvind): Norwegian clarinet player, composer, individually credited with middle name Hoem. Most pieces run 8-9 pieces, one short one dropping down to reed quartet. Opens with a swirling dervish of sound, compelling until it breaks down in cacophony near the end. B+(**)

Skepta, Chip and Young Adz: Insomnia (2020, SKC M29): British MC Joseph Junior Adenuga, sixth album, joined by two more rappers, keeping it sharp and pithy. B+(**)

Torben Snekkestad/Agustí Fernández/Barry Guy: The Swiftest Traveler (2018 [2020], Trost): Norwegian, plays tenor and soprano sax, trumpet, and clarinet, backed by piano and bass. Joint improv, except for a bit at the end credited to Paul Hindemith. B+(**)

Soccer Mommy: Color Theory (2020, Loma Vista): Sophie Allison, born in Switzerland, grew up in Nashville, singer-songwriter, has some solid songs. B+(***)

Sufjan Stevens & Lowell Brams: Aporia (2020, Asthmatic Kitty): Stevens is a vastly talented singer-songwriter who once planned on making an album for every state in the union, but never got past his Illinois masterpiece. Brams is his stepfather and business partner, whose 2009 album was called Library Catalog Music Series: Music for Insomnia. This was sorted from jam sessions, is all instrumental, billed as "new age." I'd say resplendent background music, won't put you to sleep, wake you up either. B+(*)

Nora Jane Struthers: Bright Lights, Long Drives, First Words (2020, Blue Pig Music): Nashville singer-songwriter, born in Virginia but grew up in New Jersey. Fifth album since 2010, plus two in a duo with her father, Alan Struthers.

Superposition: Superposition (2018-19 [2020], We Jazz): Finnish group, led by drummer Olavi Louhivuori, with two saxophoists -- Adele Sauros (tenor) and Linda Fredriksson (alto/baritone) -- and Mikael Saastamoinen (bass). First album. They sound great out of the gate, then inexplicably slow things down. Eventually they make something of that, too. B+(***)

Tamikrest: Tamotaït (2020, Glitterbeat): Tuareg group, from deep in the Algerian Sahara, got some notice at the Festival au Désert in 2008, toured Europe in 2010 and started recording, this their sixth album -- even one piece in English, but mostly notable for their take on the Saharan guitar grind. B+(**)

Sophie Tassignon: Mysteries Unfold (2020, RareNoise): Singer, born in Belgium, based in Berlin, backed by her own electronics and overtracked voice for a classical choral effect. Eclectic song choice. The one I'm most familiar with is "Jolene" -- deep and gloomy. B+(*) [cdr] [04-24]

The Tender Things: How to Make a Fool (2020, Spaceflight): Austin-based country group, Jessie Esbaugh the singer-songwriter, originally from Kentucky, aiming at Gram Parsons. B

The TNEK Jazz Quintet: Plays the Music of Sam Jones (2020, TNEK Jazz): Jones (1924-81) was an important hard bop bassist, led a dozen albums, played on hundreds, especially with Cannonball Adderley. This group covers six of his songs, plus one from Kenny Barron. The front cover lists bassist Kent Miller first, followed by drums, piano, two saxophonists. B+(*)

Stein Urheim: Downhill Uplift (2018 [2020], Hubro): Norwegian guitarist, plays many other instruments and sings some, tenth or so album since 2009. B

Wako: Wako (2019 [2020], Øra Fonogram): Norwegian quartet: Martin Myhre Olsen (sax), Kjetil André Mulelid (piano), Bárður Reinert Poulsen (bass), and Simon Olderskog Albertsen (drums). Fourth album since 2015. Feel varies considerably, especially with the guests -- including some lush strings. B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Tony Allen/Hugh Masekela: Rejoice (2010 [2020], World Circuit): Nigerian drummer (started with Fela Anikulapo Kuti) and the late (d. 2018) South African trumpet player, a worldwide jazz star. About what you'd hope for: a strong afrobeat ensemble with extra brass lustre and stellar solos. A-

Cadence Revolution: Disques Debs International Vol. 2 (1970s [2020], Disques Debs/Strut): Zouk from the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, selected from the archives of Henri Debs' label, which was founded in the 1950s and released over 100 records in the 1970s. One of my favorite records is the Earthworks 1988 compilation Hurricane Zouk, and this reminds me enough (as it happens, I just replayed it yesterday) to recommend it. A- [bc]

Jamaica All Stars [Studio One] (1970-74 [2020], Studio One): Reissues two label samplers, Vol. 1 from 1972, Vol. 2 from 1974. Not sure how far they look back, but those I've managed to track down are fairly recent. And while I recognize most of the names, the songs aren't classics (ok, "Happy Go Lucky Girl" is pretty classic). B+(*)

Léve Léve: Sao Tomé and Principe Sounds 70s-80s (1970s-80s [2020], Bongo Joe): Two small islands in the Gulf of Guinea, uninhabited until colonized by Portugal from 1493, turning them into slave depots and sugar plantations. They gained independence in 1975, their music African but with pan-Portuguese (especially Brazilian) airs. Sixteen songs from ten groups (Africa Negra tops with three), 5 minutes the median. B+(***)

Ana Mazzotti: Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974 [2019], Far Out): Brazilian singer, recorded two jazz-inflected samba albums 1974-77, this the first, produced by José Roberto Bertrami. Starts nice and bouncy, with a change of pace for a cover of "Feel Like Making Love." B+(**)

Ana Mazzotti: Ana Mazzotti (1977 [2019], Far Out): A second album, short and sweet. B+(***)

Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical: (Limited Dance Edition) ([2020], Analog Africa): Cumbia group from Iquitos on the Amazonian side of Peru, led by singer Raúl Llerena Vásquez, aka Ranil. No dates on these songs -- indeed, Discogs has no dates for 13 albums, only one date for his singles (1977), and one previous compilation (2010). Wish I knew more about this, but unclear to me even whether Vásquez is still alive. But the music is, seductive too. A- [bc]

Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical: Stay Safe and Sound Ranil Selection!! ([2020], Analog Africa): This one is even less clear, running 10 songs, 28:10 (vs. 14, 40:01 above), evidently available as a free sampler (but no dupes from other volume). B+(***) [bc]

Yabby You: King Tubby's Prophecies of Dub (1976 [2020], Pressure Sound): Little agreement on who did this or what the title is: cover looks like The Prophets, elsewhere I've seen The Aggrovators -- both group names Vivian Jackson (aka Yabby You) has used. Bandcamp page drops King Tubby's from the title (clear on the cover), pointing out that Pat Kelly was the enginer, and that "Tubby had partly stepped back from mixing work, but was still credited with most of the music coming out of his studio." Still, sounds like vintage King Tubby. B+(***) [bc]

Old music:

Disques Debs International Volume 1: An Island Story: Biguine, Afro Latin & Musique Antillaise 1960-1972 (1960-72 [2018], Disques Debs/Strut): Hugo Mendez (Sofrito) and Emile Omar (Radio Nova) compiled this selection from Henri Debs' label, following the evolution of music in the French Caribbean from folk and neighboring influences into its own distinctive style, marked chiefly by infectious rhythm, chanting voices, and splashy horns. B+(***) [bc]

Mr. Wrong: Babes in Boyland (2017, Water Wing, EP): First short album, not counting their 2016 Distraction Demo (only 2 of 7 songs on Bandcamp). This one has nine songs, 17:57. Ends strong. B+(**) [bc]

Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband: Greatest Hits (1958-70 [1989], Storyville): Danish trombonist Arne Bue Jensen founded this trad jazz band in 1956, died in 2011, recorded a couple dozen albums (some with visiting heroes like George Lewis, Wingy Manone, Edmond Hall, Wild Bill Davison). There's a story that Shel Silverstein gave them their name (he called them "Danish Vikings") in a review where he noted that they play New Orleans and Chicago jazz better than any American band. Not sure I'd go that far, but they're pretty impressive. Even sold a million copies of one of their hits here ("Schlafe Mein Prinzchen"). B+(***) [bc]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • The Ian Carey Quintet + 1: Fire in My Head: The Anxiety Suite (Slow & Steady) [04-24]
  • Dave Stryker With Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band: Blue Soul (Strikezone) [06-05]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Weekend Roundup

I wanted to write an intro this week objecting to people who are still ragging on "Sanders-ites," as in:

one of the most discouraging things about the Sanders-ites who continue to rail against Biden is their appalling lack of understanding of how government works. Their schematic recitations of corporate behemoths who apparently control the every move of Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi reflect a profound lack of any grasp of the realities of American political life, which is that action and reaction occur in a lot of different and even hidden places.

I don't have any problems with arguing that it's more realistic to aim for incremental reforms than for ideal solutions, but this isn't about tactics or goals. The point here is to disparage people for wanting something more than the centrists/moderates are willing to argue for. I can't help but take these attacks personally. Even if there are people on the left too pig-headed to compromise their principles, I don't see any value in attacking them personally, let along generalizing and slandering them as a group. But every day I see attacks on "Sanders-ites" like this, and I'm getting sick and tired of them, and their high-handed authors.

Should write more, but will leave it with I'm more sad than angry or anything else that Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic Party nominee. I'm not especially bothered by his positions or his record -- needless to say, not for lack of points I'd argue with -- but I do worry that he'll prove an inarticulate and hapless campaigner (as we already have much evidence of). Still, the sad part has little to do with Biden personally. It shows that most Democrats are reacting to fear -- not just of Trump and the Republicans, but of their expected reaction to the changes Sanders is campaigning for. That may go hand in hand with being uninformed and/or unimaginative, but I can't fault anyone for excessive caution -- especially in the middle of a crisis so unprecedented no one can honestly see their way beyond.

Some scattered links this week:

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Monday, March 30, 2020

Music Week

March archive (done).

Music: Current count 33007 [32971] rated (+36), 219 [212] unrated (+7).

Not an exceptional week, but as expected, rated count topped 33000. Unless things change, that's more a measure of time than anything else. I'd reckon my average haul per week is about 30, so I chalk up another thousand every 30-35 weeks, roughly 7-8 months. Looking back, I crossed 32000 the week of September 2, 2019, so I must be averaging a bit more. This week got off to a slow start, but picked up speed when I delved into Pharoah Sanders' back catalog. Didn't find anything there I had missed as good as Tauhid (1966), Village of the Pharoahs (1973), Africa (1987), Welcome to Love (A+ in 1990), or Crescent With Love (1992).

Spent some time last week adding recent reviews to my Jazz Guide draft files. Got up to December, so I should finish that task this week. Page counts up to 835 (20th Century, 335k words) and 1855 (21st, 857k words). I'm also collecting non-jazz capsules (827k words, but works out to 1928 pages with a less dense font). The guides are sorted by artist, so that can get tedious. The non-jazz capsules are just collected in order published, so that's easier.

You can download the guides here and here. They are in LibreWriter ODT format. LibreOffice is free software, with a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation editor, and other programs -- presumably everything that's in Microsoft Office. You can download and install it on Linux, Microsoft, and Apple computers, at no charge. You can import most file formats (including Microsoft Word), and can use it to generate PDF and HTML files. You can probably open an ODT file in Microsoft Word (post-2010 releases).

I doubt if these are very useful, other than that they consolidate widely scattered reviews by artist, in some kind of order (by recording date for 20th, release date by 21st). It would be an insane amount of work to turn these into a useful guides: the most obvious step would be to move the biographies to the artist heads, even though that may reduce most record "reviews" to mere grades. I'm thinking now that it may be best to copy them to a website (perhaps using Mediawiki?). Presumably, the current editing is a necessary step in that direction (although it also feels like a time sink).

March had five Mondays, so more records than usual this month: 186. The monthly archive is here.

New records reviewed this week:

Lakecia Benjamin: Pursuance: The Coltranes (2020, Ropeadope): Alto saxophonist, from New York, third album, bassist Reggie Workman co-produces. No credit details for the "over 40 jazz heavyweights" employed here, but Jazzmeia Horn, Brandee Younger, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Dee Dee Bridgewater sing (or scat), and the Last Poets narrate, with mentor Gary Bartz opening and Greg Osby closing. De trop, but pans out here and there. B+(*)

Jerry Bergonzi: Nearly Blue (2019 [2020], Savant): Tenor saxophonist, many records since 1984, recorded this in Italy with Renato Chicco (organ) and Andrea Michelutti (drums). Three originals, seven standards. His best records have been his most straightforward, and this is no exception. A-

Andy Bianco: NYC Stories (2020, Next Level): Guitarist, based in New York, couple previous albums, cover singles out Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax) and George Burton (piano) for "featuring." B+(*)

Vito Dieterle: Anemone (2018 [2020], Ride Symbol): Tenor saxophonist, based in New York, first album (shares release date with a second, recorded later, mainstream affair with organ (Ben Paterson), guitar (Kris Kaiser), and drums (Aaron Seeber). One original (the title song), with two Billy Strayhorn songs always catching my ear. B+(***)

Vito Dieterle/Joel Forrester: Status Sphere (2019 [2020], Ride Symbol): Duets, tenor sax and piano, five songs by the pianist, seven by Thelonious Monk. B+(**) [cd]

Amina Figarova Edition 113: Persistence (2018 [2020], AmFi): Azerbaijani pianist, clasically trained in Baku, based in New York. More than a dozen albums, this one distinguished by Rez Abbasi on guitar, but also dotted with flute, EWI, and guest vocals. B [cd] [04-10]

Monika Herzig: Eternal Dance (2019 [2020], Savant): German pianist, previous album called Sheroes, credits "Monika Herzig's Sheroes" on the cover, including Jamie Baum (flute), Reut Regev (trombone), Lakecia Benjamin (alto sax), Leni Stern (guitar), and Akua Dixon (cello), others on bass, drums, and percussion. Five originals, one each from Regev and Stern, covers of Queen, Bowie/Eno, and "Motherless Child." B+(*) [cd]

Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia (2020, Warner): English pop star, parents Albanians from Kosovo, second album, multiple co-writers and producers everywhere, eleven tight songs (only one over 3:41), mixes the hardest dance grooves up front, peaking with "Physical" (as in "let's get"). A-

Harold Mabern: Mabern Plays Mabern (2018 [2020], Smoke Sessions): Pianist from Memphis, moved to New York in 1959 and landed a gig with "Sweets" Edison. He cut his first album in 1968, and this looks to be his last, from a three day stand that previously yielded Iron Man: Live at Smoke, before dying in September 2019. The latter was a quartet, with Eric Alexander (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums). This set, with two covers, five Mabern originals, and one by Alexander, adds Vincent Herring (alto sax) and Steve Davis (vibes), making it a little busy. B+(**)

Christian McBride: The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons (2013 [2020], Mack Avenue): Mainstream bassist, has been working on this since 1998, when he first performed it, his icons Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King Jr., a decade later adding Barack Obama with "Apotheosis: November 4th, 2008." With big band, choir, narrators reciting inspirational words -- although Obama's conciliatory inaugural address elicits more sadness than anything else today. Several monologues break into song. By far the best is least political, most cultural victory, "Rumble in the Jungle." B+(**)

Thollem McDonas/William Parker/Nels Cline: Gowanus Sessions II (2012 [2020], ESP-Disk): Piano/bass/guitar, the cover listing only the former's first name (as usual), the others' surnames. Leftovers from their 2012 album, two LP-sized jams (18:42/18:49). Cline doesn't do much other than add color here. B+(**)

Arúan Ortiz With Andrew Cyrille and Mauricio Herrera: Inside Rhythmic Falls (2019 [2020], Intakt): Cuban pianist, based in New York, the others drums and percussion (the latter is also Cuban), all three also credited with voice -- mostly on the opener. B+(**)

Painted Faces: Tales From the Skinny Apartment (2017 [2019], ESP-Disk): Florida "weirdo" David Drucker, moved to New York in 2011, has more than a dozen albums starting in 2009, announces his intentions here with "Chicks That Are Into Beefheart (and Jandek)." I checked this out because it's on a label that's into adventurous avant-jazz releases, but with their "only the artist decides" aesthetic, they're susceptible to weirdos of all stripes, and have trouble sorting them out. Guitar and reverb, lo-fi noise, aleatory vocals, not devoid of interest but more work than I care to exert. B-

Vanderlei Pereira and Blindfold Test: Vision for Rhythm (2020, Jazzheads): Brazilian drummer, long based in New York, Discogs lists 15 albums since 1986 he's played on, but this may be his first as a leader. Shifting rhythms and textures. B+(*) [cd] [05-22]

Radical Empathy Trio: Reality and Other Imaginary Places (2017 [2019], ESP-Disk): Thollem McDonas (keyboards), Nels Cline (guitars), and Michael Wimberly (drums). Two tracks conceived as LP sides (18:30 and 18:31). B+(*) [bc]

Dave Sewelson: More Music for a Free World (2018 [2020], Mahakala Music): Baritone saxophonist, first album the precursor this is more of, but I've been aware of him for a while, in groups like Microscopic Septet, Fast 'N' Bulbous, and William Parker's big bands. Quartet with Steve Swell (trombone), Parker (bass), and Marvin Bugalu Smith (drums). Two long improv pieces, a shorter one to close. A-

SFJazz Collective: Live: SFJazz Center 2019: 50th Anniversary: Miles Davis In a Silent Way and Sly & the Family Stone Stand! (2019 [2020], SFJazz): Group started in 2004 with Joshua Redman as artistic director, Gil Goldstein arranging and composing, and Bobby Hutcherson eminent, but they were gone by 2007, as the evolving group has turned into a premier repertory jazz ensemble -- as evidence by this program, the two 1969 albums intercut. Martin Luther McCoy sings Sly's parts. Ensemble is down to a septet, all recognized names, with Warren Wolf keeping the vibes prominent, and guitarist Adam Rogers visiting from New York. Nice concept for a concert. B+(**)

Shabaka and the Ancestors: We Are Sent Here by History (2015 [2020], Impulse!): British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, born in London, grew up in his parents' native Barbados, a prominent member of two of England's most successful jazz outfits (Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming), second album with this group, recorded in Johannesburg with South African musicians. Expands on pan-African roots with spirit of Coltrane and Sanders. A-

Kandace Springs: The Women Who Raised Me (2020, Blue Note): Standards singer, jazz/soul crossover, third album, has an intriguing voice, styles this as a tribute to a dozen iconic women singers ranging from Billie Holiday to Norah Jones (the one who shows for a duet). Backed by Steve Cardenas, Scott Colley, and Clarence Penn, with various featured guests (notably two Chris Potter cuts). Has some moments, but turned me off toward the end. B

Ohad Talmor: Long Form (2015 [2020], Intakt): French saxophonist, grew up in Geneva, based in New York, not much under his own name but he met Lee Konitz in 1989, and has frequently toured and recorded with him. Sextet, with Shane Endsley (trumpet), Miles Okazaki (guitar), Jacob Sacks (piano), bass, and drums. B+(***)

Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud (2020, Merge): Katie Crutchfield, from Alabama, fifth album since 2012, doesn't rock much, and I'm too slow on the uptake to figure out the rest. Still, after several plays, gets me in the end. A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Antoinette Konan: Antoinette Konan (1986 [2019], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Singer-songwriter from Côte D'Ivoire, first album, arranged by Bamba Moussa Yang. B+(*) [bc]

New Improvised Music From Buenos Aires (2012-17 [2019], ESP-Disk): Various artists, only a few I've heard of (Pablo Ledesma, Paula Shocron), fourteen tracks, compiled by Jason Weiss. Interesting stuff, my favorite a piece by avant-sax trio Cinética, "Improvisation 0681." B+(***) [bc]

Charlie Parker: The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection (1944-48 [2020], Craft, 4LP): I don't have the slightest interest in the packaging: four 10-inch LPs (6-8 songs each), packed in a box with a booklet I haven't seen. The music is essentially the same as I first head on 1976's 2-LP Bird/The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) (later on a single 1985 CD, which unlike this is organized chronologically by session), and has been repackaged numerous times since. I must have a half-dozen copies of everything here, and at various times have graded it anywhere from B to A-, varying by how crummy the sound was, whether any vocal tracks were included, and how bad a mood I was in. I'm not going back to systematize those grades, but figured a quick streaming pass would give me a temperature check. The music originally appeared on 78s. The 10-inch LPs this is modeled on appeared as New Sounds in Modern Music (1950-52), followed by 12-inch LPs like Charlie Parker Memorial (1955). I recognize almost everything, noting that Parker (like Monk) tends to reuse his pet ideas, also that the singles format compresses many pieces to the point of claustrophobia, the hour-plus wearing me thin and sore. I'd never buy this packaging, but shouldn't dock it: perhaps it helps to break it up into 15-20 minute chunks. B+(**)

Pharoah Sanders: Live in Paris 1975 (1975 [2020], Transversales Disque): Tenor saxophonist, a decade into his career, he has plenty of material to work with. Quartet with Danny Mixon (piano/organ), Calvin Hill (bass), and Greg Bandy (drums) -- the sung finale a cosmic hoedown. B+(**)

Old music:

John Coltrane Featuring Pharoah Sanders: Live in Seattle (1964 [1994], Impulse!, 2CD): His famous Quartet plus a second tenor sax (Sanders) and Donald Garrett (bass clarinet), often muddying the waters. First released in 1971 as a 2-LP (72:36), expanded here (same six tracks, but now 132:44). B+(*)

Harold Mabern: Iron Man: Live at Smoke (2018, Smoke Sessions, 2CD): Pianist, pretty good shape for 81, quartet with Eric Alexander (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums). One to remember him by, even if he's frequently upstaged by Alexander, who hasn't sounded this vigorous in ages. A-

Charlie Parker: In Sweden 1950: The Complete Recordings (1950 [2002], Storyville): Live shot, based on three shows, with a pick up band, notably Rolf Ericson on trumpet. LP (10 tracks) originally appeared on Sonet in 1959. Storyville reissued it in 1973, and Spotlite came up with a more complete 2-LP in 1973, matching these 14 tracks. Storyville's 14-track version bears the label's 50th Anniversary sticker, suggesting 2002, but the Bandcamp date is 2020. (Definitive also reissued all 14 tracks in 2002.) Sound is so-so, but give Parker some breathing room, and he eventually he'll do something with it. B+(**) [bc]

Pharoah Sanders: Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) 1970, Impulse!): Two sidelong pieces, draws on Arabic for the title, Africa for the rhythms, and the cosmos for shimmering aura. With Woody Shaw (trumpet), Gary Bartz (alto sax), Lonnie Liston Smith (piano), and pretty much everyone adding to the percussion. B+(***)

Pharoah Sanders: Thembi (1970-71 [1971], Impulse!): A mixed bag, with with some sax close to and some beyond the pain threshold, exotic flutes and fifes, and various other diversions. Title cut is wonderful, but nothing else works out nearly as well. B+(*)

Pharoah Sanders: Black Unity (1971, Impulse!): One 37:21 piece, originally split over 2 LP sides, mostly groove and jive, with a few rough spots. B+(**)

Pharoah Sanders: Live at the East (1971 [1972], Impulse!): Starts strong with a 21:43 "Healing Song," ends in typical fashion, drags in the middle. B+(*)

Pharoah Sanders: Love in Us All (1972-73 [1974], Impulse!): Two extended pieces, "Love Is Everywhere" and "To John" (which no doubt means Coltrane). With James Branch adding to the flute, Joe Bonner on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, lots of percussion. B+(**)

Pharoah Sanders: Love Will Find a Way (1978, Arista): First of two albums he did with Norman Connors on Arista. It's not a very fruitful pairing, with chintzy strings and Phyllis Hyman vocals. Occasionally the saxophone peeks through. B

Pharoah Sanders: Save Our Children (1998, Verve): Second Verve album, last chance he had to show off on a major label, and he does indeed offer a neat encapsulation of his worldview -- exotic percussion from Trilok Gurtu and Zakir Hussain, funk keyboard by Bernie Worrell, electronic mix by Bill Laswell. Doesn't short change the saxophone but keeps it bound up. B+(*)

Pharoah Sanders/Graham Haynes: With a Heartbeat (2003, Evolver): His discography thins out after 2000, with this the last (or latest?) album listing his name first, although he's popped up in guest slots at least through 2014. Not especially strong here, but Haynes (cornet/electronics) and Bill Laswell (producer, bass, keyboards, flute, arrangements) have turned out a fitting extended treatment of Sanders' long-established cosmic vibe. B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Harrison Argatoff: Toronto Streets Tour (self-released -19)
  • Jerry Bergonzi: Nearly Blue (Savant)
  • Jeff Hamilton Trio: Catch Me If You Can (Capri) [07-17]
  • Monika Herzig: Eternal Dance (Savant)
  • Samo Salamon/Igor Matkovic/Kristijan Krajncan: Common Flow (Sazas)
  • Samo Salamon/Igor Matkovic/Kristijan Krajncan: Rare Ebb (Sazas)
  • Diane Schuur: Running on Faith (Jazzheads) [05-08]
  • The TNEK Jazz Quintet: Plays the Music of Sam Jones (TNEK Jazz)
  • Sophie Tassignon: Mysteries Unfold (RareNoise) [04-24]
  • Lou Volpe: Before & After (Jazz Guitar) [04-01]

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Sunday, March 29, 2020

Weekend Roundup

News this week is pretty much all coronavirus. Most striking number below is Anthony Fauci's projection that coronavirus will kill more than 100,000 Americans, and that millions will be infected. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other nation -- even China, despite a head start and nearly four times as many people (see How the US stacks up to other countries in confirmed coronavirus cases; note the graphs, which plot spread over time; also note how little testing has actually been carried out in the US).

Or, if you're more concerned about money than people, the number of new unemployment filings last week broke the previous record, by a factor of five. We're now seeing projections that unemployment will shoot to 20%, and that this quarter's GDP will drop by more than 10%. For comparison, the total drop in the 2008 "Great Recession" over two quarters was 4.3%. Congress passed a $2 trillion "stimulus" bill late last week. I'd call it more of a stopgap. I'm especially struck by how eager Republicans are to break the bank when one of their own is president, compared to how chintzy and vindictive they are when a Democrat is in the White House. Much like Republicans managed to undermine Obama's $700 billion stimulus bill in 2009, Democrats worked hard to make this bill more fair to workers and the newly unemployed than Trump initially wanted.

Ran through this rather quickly, without many comments. You can look up the technical stuff yourself (here's the Vox index; American Prospect has a relatively good political-oriented series, including David Dayen's "COVID-19 Daily" briefs). Occasionally I note speculation on what happens "after" -- still, I find this impossible given that I don't have any real idea how far this falls apart, or when (if ever) a "new normal" stabilizes. I've seen pieces comparing coronavirus to global warming, but don't find them to be very credible (yet). Also, not much below on politics. Nothing in the last week (or month) has convinced me that Biden is the right person to take on Trump, yet it feels unseemly to try to convince his Democratic supporters of that at this particular moment. It seems significant that this poll shows only 24% of Biden supporters to be very enthusiastic, vs. 53% of Trump supporters. (His 24% not only compares poorly to Trump, but to Hillary Clinton's lame 32% four years ago.)

Some scattered links this week:

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Monday, March 23, 2020

Music Week

March archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 32971 [32935] rated (+36), 212 [216] unrated (-4).

I did a bit of website work last week. Robert Christgau told me that he's working on a piece on his wife Carola Dibbell's novel, The Only Ones, which is set in a post-pandemic dystopia, something more immediately imaginable this week than a month or two ago. Her website got wrecked when my server bit the dust last year, and I've been slow to rebuild it, so he wanted me to do some work on that: in particular, to restore the Notices page, with its collection of links to reviews and interviews. I did that, and fiddled with the menus a bit. He also sent me Carola's 1998 B-52s piece, and I scrounged up a previously missing 2003 Gaby Kerpel review.

A bigger chunk of work was taking a twitter thread Carola wrote in September 2019 about her cancer treatment, and formatting it as a plain old web page. This still needs some work. I haven't yet figured out how to do the video links. The images are handled a bit better, but still not right. With one exception, I'm using the ones cached by Twitter, but they're in various sizes, given somewhat uniform treatment by transformations and windowing in the CSS code. The thing that would help the most would be to vertically center the clipping rectangle over the image, instead of positioning it from the top. That's more/less what Twitter is doing, but don't quite see how.

I did set it up so you can click on an image and see the original, although that may not be obvious. I'll try to do some more work on this in the next week or two. One thing worth checking out is the Bibliography, particularly if you can find and submit any of the currently missing pieces. My plan is to move the archive from Christgau's website to Carola's, probably duplicating their joint pieces.

Three 2019 releases in this week's A- haul: two (Jeb Bishop, Wojtek Mazolewski) didn't appear on any 2019 lists, so I'm including them on my 2020 list; the other (Ben Webster in Denmark) was one that I knew about and looked for, but it's only recently become accessible via Storyville Records' Bandcamp page. Also found the first volume to the Hank Jones set I reviewed last week, and a few more items of interest. Storyville is a Danish label which has specialized in picking up archival recordings of American stars, especially on tour in their environs. Also a fair number of releases by Scandinavian artists. I'm looking forward to exploring the label further.

I will flag a slight caveat on Irreversible Entanglements: I'm not fully satisfied with my understanding of the record, but I usually limit Bandcamp releases to two plays, after which I go with my best guess. I also gave an A- to their eponymous first album, and a B+(**) to their EP. On the other hand, I've never given Moor Mother (vocalist Camae Ayewa) better than a B+(**) for her hip-hop albums. I like the jazz group quite a bit, but she's still something of a mystery to me.

Still another week before I have to close out March Streamnotes. Assuming a normal week, the rated count should clear 33,000.

PS: Just heard that pianist Mike Longo, 83, is a casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic -- see Nate Chinen's obituary. I have four of his albums in my database, notably [B+(***)] Step On It, a 2013 trio with Bob Cranshaw and Lewis Nash.

New records reviewed this week:

Daniel Bingert: Berit in Space (2019 [2020], Moserobie): Swedish bassist, father is saxophonist Hector Bingert (originally from Uruguay, where Daniel lived as a child), first album, composed, arranged, conducted, and produced but doesn't play: Torbjörn Zetterberg plays bass, with Per Texas Johansson and Jonas Kullhammar the saxophonists, Karl Olandersson on trumpet, Charlie Malmberg on piano, and Moussa Fadera on drums. Elegantly composed pieces, nothing too harsh. B+(***)

Jeb Bishop Flex Quartet: Re-Collect (2015 [2019], Not Two): Trombonist, originally from North Carolina, made his mark in Chicago (especially in the early Vandermark Five), where this was recorded. Quartet with Russ Johnson (trumpet), Jason Roebke (bass), and Frank Rosaly (drums). What you look for in a pianoless quartet: two freewheeling horns, the main distinction here that the trombone gives as good as it gets. A-

Jeb Bishop/Jaap Blonk/Weasel Walter/Damon Smith: JeJaWeDa: Pioneer Works Vol. 1 (2019, Balance Point Acoustics): Trombone, voice/electronics, drums, bass. Much noise, Blonk's appetite for chaos seems boundless, and the other have fun -- more than the listener, I'm sure. B+(*) [bc]

CP Unit: One Foot on the Ground Smoking Mirror Shakedown (2018 [2020], Ramp Local): Led by alto saxophonist Chris Pitsiokos, who also contributes electronics, backed by electric guitar (Sam Lisabeth), electric bass (Henry Frazer), and drums/more electronics (Jason Nazary). Fourth group album, short at 4 tracks, 32:29, gets a bit overheated toward the end. B+(***)

Aaron Diehl: The Vagabond (2020, Mack Avenue): Pianist, from Columbus, Ohio, fifth album, a solid, thoughtful trio with bass and drums. B+(*)

Expansions: The Dave Liebman Group: Earth (2018 [2020], Whaling City Sound): Plays soprano sax and recorder here. Quintet dates from 2013, fourth album, with members contributing songs: Matt Vashlishan (wind synth), Bobby Avey (piano), Tony Marino (electric bass), Alex Ritz (drums/kanjira), while Liebman ties this to a series of previous albums with other groups: Water (1997), Air (2006), and Fire (2016). B+(*)

Fire! Orchestra: Actions (2018 [2020], Rune Grammofon): Free jazz orchestra, grew from Mats Gustafsson's Fire! trio, picking up a wide swath of mostly Scandinavian avant-jazzers. This is a single 40:01 piece by Krzysztof Penderecki, recorded live at a festival in Krakow. B+(**)

Elliot Galvin: Live in Paris at Fondation Louis Vuitton (2018 [2020], Edition): British pianist, a "young Django Bates" if you like, has appeared on albums recently with Laura Jurd and Binker Golding, goes solo for this one, a bit commandeering. B+(*)

Naama Gheber: Dearly Beloved (2019 [2020], Cellar Music): Standards singer, born in Israel, based in New York, first album, backed by Ray Gallon's piano trio plus Steve Nelson, whose vibraphone gently washes over the nicely done classics. B+(**) [cd] [04-10]

The Good Ones: Rwanda, You Should Be Loved (2019, Anti-): Group from Rwanda, led by singer-guitarist Adrien Kazigira, with Janvier Havugimana and Javan Mahoro adding background vocals and percussion. B+(*)

Alex Goodman: Impressions in Blue and Red (2019 [2020], Outside In Music, 2CD): Guitarist, from Canada, based in New York City, sixth album since 2007. Two discs, two quartets with the same lineups (alto sax, bass, drums) but different musicians. B+(***)

The Haden Triplets: The Family Songbook (2020, Trimeter): The late bassist Charlie Haden's daughters (Petra, Rachel, Tanya), second group album (Tanya has by far the most substantial solo career). Old songs, tight harmony, guitar. B+(**)

Paul Heaton/Jacqui Abbott: Manchester Calling (2020, Virgin EMI): The singer-songwriter star behind my favorite 1990s group, the Beautiful South, and the group's alternate singer (1994-2000). Fourth duo album, occasional blasts of the old songcraft, nothing that's really sunk in given the short time I've allocated -- a far cry the the hundreds of spins I gave Welcome to the Beautiful South (1990) and 0898 Beautiful South (1992). Then comes "A Good Day Is Hard to Find" and I wonder if I've given it short shrift. B+(**)

Lisa Hilton: Chalkboard Destiny (2019, Ruby Slippers): Pianist, from California, two dozen albums since 1997. Quartet with JD Allen (tenor sax), Luques Curtis (bass), and Rudy Royston (drums). Not her first album with Allen, who is an asset here, though not as strong as on his own albums. B+(**)

Idle Hands: Solid Moments (2019 [2020], Posi-Tone): Label artists, assembled by producer Marc Free into a house supergroup: Will Bernard (guitar), Behn Gillece (vibes), Sam Dillon (tenor sax), Art Hirahara (piano), Boris Kozlov (bass), Donald Edwards (drums). Lively mainstream mix. B+(*)

Irreversible Entanglements: Who Sent You? (2019 [2020], International Anthem): Voice and texts by Camae Ayewa, better known as Moor Mother, backed here by a free jazz quartet -- sax (Keir Neuringer) and trumpet (Aquilles Navarro), bass (Luke Stewart) and drums (Tcheser Holmes), with extra percussion from all. A- [bc]

Landgren & Lundgren: Kristallen (2018 [2020], ACT Music): Swedish duo, Nils & Jan, trombone/vocals and piano, active since 1984 and 1993, respectively. Nils' vocals are nothing special, but occasionally touching (e.g., "The Nearness of You"), even though I'd rather hear his trombone. Jan is in both cases a sensitive accompanist. B+(**)

Thomas Marriott: Trumpet Ship (2016 [2020], Origin): Trumpet player, from Seattle, twelfth album, quartet with Orrin Evans (piano), Luques Curtis (bass), and Mark Whitfield Jr. (drums). Title song from Sonny Simmons, most others originals. B+(*) [cd]

Wojtek Mazolewski Quintet: When Angels Fall (2019, WMQ/Agora Muzyka): Polish bassist, at least ten albums since 2008, released an impressive Polka album in 2014, turns here to his country's premier jazz composer, Krzysztof Komeda (1931-69). Quintet with trumpet, tenor sax, piano, and drums. Some remarkable passages here, surprise shifts, maybe a bit much drama. A-

Roscoe Mitchell With Ostravska Banda: Performing Distant Radio Transmission Also Nonaah Trio, Cutouts for Woodwind Quintet and 8.8.88 (2019 [2020], Wide Hive): As the Art Ensemble of Chicago founder and mainstay turns 80 this year, his work is being adapted for various classical ensembles, with his participation. I wish it worked better. B+(*) [03-27]

Shunzo Ohno: Runner (2019 [2020], Pulsebeats): Japanese trumpet player, eighteenth album since 1975, first I've heard, although he has moved in circles I may have crossed, such as his work with Gil Evans. Not seeing any string credits, but his "symphonic vision" is much in evidence. Short (29:45). B [cd] [04-03]

Charles Pillow Ensemble: Chamber Jazz (2019 [2020], Summit): Alto saxophonist, also plays flute and other woodwinds (including oboe and English horn here), often found leading or in big bands. This is billed as a nonet but I count a few extras, even before getting to the strings. Extravagantly lush, gets on my nerves. B

Jure Pukl: Broken Circles (2019 [2020], Whirlwind): Slovenian saxophonist (soprano, tenor, bass clarinet), half-dozen albums since 2010. Quintet with guitar (Charles Altura), vibes (Joel Ross), bass (Matt Brewer) and drums/kalimba (Kweku Sumbry). B+(**)

Tim Shaghoian: Gentle Beacons (2019 [2020], Origin): Tenor saxophonist from California, first album, all originals, nice, highly textural postbop with guitar, piano, bass, and drums. B+(*) [cd]

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

16-17: Phantom Limb (1995-2018 [2020], Trost): Hardcore noise group, sax-bass-guitar-drums, recorded in Switzerland in 1995, vocals dubbed in recently in San Francisco, mixed and mastered by saxophonist Alex Buess (also credited with electronics), and palmed off as metal (on an avant-jazz label). B

Duke Ellington: Uppsala 1971 (1971 [2019], Storyville): Vault tape, a concert in Sweden, with his great 1960s orchestra starting to give way (Johnny Hodges died in 1970, and the only name left from his legendary brass section is Cootie Williams, with Cat Anderson most irreplaceable). Paul Gonsalves gets a nice feature spot, there's a long (and rather messy) "Tone Parallel to Harlem," a "Medley" with vocalists, followed by Money Johnson growling his way through "Hello Dolly." B+(**)

Hank Jones: In Copenhagen: Live at Jazzhus Sklukefter 1983 (1983 [2018], Storyville): Previously unreleased piano-bass-drums trio date from Copenhagen, with Mads Vinding on bass and Shelly Manne on drums. They stretch out on a nice set of standards, including one from Bud Powell and two from Charlie Parker. B+(***) [bc]

Ben Webster: Ben Webster's First Concert in Denmark (1965 [2019], Storyville): Tenor sax great, visited Copenhagen in 1965 and liked it enough to move there. Opens with a bit of solo piano -- Webster's first instrument, and he still pounds out a respectable beat. Then quartet, with Kenny Drew (who had moved to Denmark some years earlier), Niels-Henning Ørsted Pederson (bass), and Alex Riel (drums). His standard fare, from "Pennies From Heaven" to "Cottontail," and as gorgeous as it gets. A- [bc]

Old music:

Jeb Bishop: 98 Duets (1998, Wobbly Rail): Trombonist, based in Chicago, a key member in Vandermark 5. No idea what the title signifies, as I count only 12 duets with 6 partners: Josh Abrams, Hamid Drake, Mats Gustafsson, Fred Lonberg-Holm, Wadada Leo Smith, and Ken Vandermark. No big surprise that this is all fairly marginal. B+(*)

Jeb Bishop Trio: 2009 (2009, Better Animal): Trombone trio, with bass (Jason Roebke) and drums (Frank Rosaly). B+(***)

Jeb Bishop: Three Valentines & Goodbye (2016 [2017], 1980): Solo trombone with "later processing." Gets a little harsh. B [bc]

Dexter Gordon: Atlanta Georgia May 5, 1981 (1981 [2003], Storyville): Tenor sax great, emerged in the 1940s, moved to Europe in 1962, back to US in 1976, recordings thin out quickly after 1980, with his death in 1986, so this live set is rather late. Quartet with Kirk Lightsey (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Eddie Gladden (drums). B+(***) [bc]

Archie Shepp/Don Cherry/J.C. Moses/John Tchicai/Don Moore: Archie Shepp & the New York Contemporary Five (1963 [2004], Storyville): Recorded live in Copenhagen four days after the set initially released on Sonet and later on Delmark (2010), with several of the same songs -- this one initially appearing in 1972. Two saxes (Shepp on tenor and Tchicai on alto), cornet, bass, and drums. A-

Archie Shepp/Lars Gullin Quintet: The House I Live In (1963 [1980], SteepleChase): A radio shot from Jazz Club Montmartre in Copenhagen, with the tenor saxophonist early in his career, the baritonist late, Tete Montoliu on piano, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen on bass, and Alex Riel on drums. Four tracks, 9:20 to 19:00, standards, Shepp blowing hard but harder to place the usually swinging Gullin. B+(***)

Ben Webster: At Montmartre 1965-1966 (1965-66 [2003], Storyville): Two quartet sets, NHØP (who else?) on bass for both, Kenny Drew and Alex Riel on the longer (9 songs, 50:51) January 1965 set, Atli Bjørn and Rune Carlsson on 3-song, 22:52 appendix. Common songbook gems, nicely but unexceptionally done. B+(**) [bc]

Ben Webster: In Norway (1970 [2013], Storyville): Live at PUB Trondheim, with a presumably local piano trio -- Tore Sandnaes, Bjørn Alterhaug, Kjell Johansen. Emphasis on ballads, as gorgeous as ever, plus tamer than usual takes on his Elliigton classics, "C Jam Blues" and "Cottontail." B+(**) [bc]

Ben Webster: Live at Stampen Stockholm 1969-1973 (1969-73 [2004], Storyville): Tracks from three sets (2-3 each), all backed with piano-bass-drums (Red Mitchell from 1971, Teddy Wilson and Ed Thigpen in 1973), most with trumpet (Arne Ryskog or Roffe Ericson). Webster died six months after the last session. My impression has long been that he faded a few years before, but he gets quality help here, especially on a 12:43 "Satin Doll." Note that they shuffled the 1971 set to the end, so it ends with the sax up front. B+(***) [bc]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Vito Dieterle: Anemone (Ride Symbol)
  • Vito Dieterle/Joel Forrester: Status Sphere (Ride Symbol)
  • Amina Figarova: Persistence (AmFi)
  • Grégoire Maret/Romain Collin/Bill Frisell: Americana (ACT Music) [04-24]
  • Vanderlei Pereira and Blindfold Test: Vision for Rhythm (Jazzheads) [05-22]

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Sunday, March 22, 2020

Weekend Roundup

I usually start gathering links with Matthew Yglesias's page at Vox. For a while I was putting his links up front -- back when he was writing a regular "most important stories of the week" feature -- but later I moved him back into alphabetical order. This week he wrote quite a bit, and I commented there with a few things I might have saved for an introduction, so decided to list him first.

One subject I didn't get to is business bailouts. Probably premature for that anyhow, although the option to postpone debt and rent payments, bankruptcy and foreclosure, is something that will be needed soon. Also, bridging loans, with various restrictions -- just enough to keep dormant businesses viable when/if the time comes to re-open them. I should also note that while I'm skeptical/hostile to short-term stimulus proposals, I do think it would be a good idea to start moving on longer-term efforts, like Green New Deal. One big problem with the 2009 stimulus package was the failure to include any infrastructure projects that weren't "shovel ready." (Reed Hundt's book, A Crisis Wasted: Barack Obama's Defining Decisions makes this point.) We need a lot of infrastructure work going forward, and that needs to be factored into any recovery plan.

There's going to be an attempt to stampede Congress to pass all sorts of business bailouts, because that's the way the whole system is designed to work. You and I are lucky if we have representatives who even remotely care about us (given where I live, I'm especially unlucky in that regard), but business interests have scads of lobbyists looking for profit angles, and lots of politicians already in their pockets.

As this plays out, we would do well to recall what happened in 2008-09: we heard a deafening cry for help from the big banks, which unquestioningly had to be bailed out to keep the economy from collapsing. They indeed got what they wanted -- a $700 billion slush fund and much more through the Fed's back door -- and survived, quickly returning to profitability, even as the rest of the economy continued collapsing. And once the banks were safe, only the most marginal efforts were made to help anyone else. (The auto industry bailout was a comparatively paltry effort, saddled with stringent requirements the banks never had to face.)

I was sympathetic to the bank bailouts at the time, but dismayed by the failure to protect more of the economy, especially the workers who wound up bearing the brunt of the recession. Only later on did I see an alternative approach that should have been obvious: let the businesses fail, but protect the workers and other people at the bottom. Business would bounce back, and the change of ownership would ultimately be a healthy thing. That sort of turnover may be even more beneficial this time: when/if the economy recovers, it is almost certain to be changed significantly from the one before the crash, reflecting changed views of what matters and how we want to live. We may, for instance, find that we still need airlines, but not as many. The cruise ship industry is probably finished, and would that be such a bad thing? A much larger potential collapse is in fossil fuels: even before the crash, demand for coal was falling, as were oil prices, and both will fall further as recession lowers demand. Given how they contribute to climate change, I don't see any reason to encourage their rebound. (In fact, this would be a good time for a stiff carbon tax.) On the other hand, we may decide that we need to have health care systems for all, including some excess capacity even before the next crisis. The list, no doubt, goes on and on.

While it's easy to jot down what you'd like to see happen, it's much harder to even guess about how this crisis will play out in the minds and attitudes of people around the world. Will we learn and adapt, or flail about, trying to force the new world into our old minds? I can't help but wonder whether the panic over Covid-19 hasn't been preconditioned by the (mostly denied) fear of global warming. A large political segment seemed determined to ignore or even denounce the science of climate change, only to find themselves desperate for scientific direction when faced with the pandemic: there is something immediate and personal about the latter that climate change never triggered. (I'm reminded of the adage about there being no atheists in foxholes. It seems there are no science-deniers in emergency rooms.) The 2008 financial collapse, like previous recessions, could be written off to bad business practices and even to periodic cycles, but this one is a direct assault on one's worldview. No one can predict where that kind of psychic shock may lead.

Meanwhile, I've been plodding through Adam Gopnik's A Thousand Small Sanities: The Moral Adventure of Liberalism. I picked it up in the library, thought it might be interesting to read an unapologetic defense of liberalism. I grew up believing in what Louis Hartz called "the liberal tradition in America," only to find that self-proclaimed liberals in the 1960s had turned into pretty unsavory characters -- especially in their rabid anti-communism, most immediately evident in their support for near-genocidal war against the Vietnamese. At the time, there wasn't much of a conservative threat (Barry Goldwater won the Republican nomination in 1964 but lost in a landslide), so I came to view "cold war" liberalism as the main enemy of fairness, decency, and justice in American politics. I read books like Kenneth Minogue's The Liberal Mind and Robert Paul Wolff's The Poverty of Liberalism (but no longer remember the specific critiques), and I delved further into Marxist critiques (not really of liberalism, but of its handmaiden, capitalism), and came to identify with the New Left (which was openly contemptuous of the Sino-Soviet orbit of Communist regimes, but more focused on our own world, especially of America's world-straddling hegemony).

But I stopped reading Marxist analyses after I left college, and while my practical political impulses never changed much, I've found myself growing sympathetic to liberal reformers over time, notably of Keynes in economics. Ever since I was a teenager, I've had a soft spot for utopian imagination, and I've often returned to that over the years, at least as teleology. But I lost whatever desire I might have had for revolution, and as I've aged have become increasingly willing to settle for liberal reformism, even in tiny. So I thought I might be open to Gopnik's formulation. Unfortunately, all he has to offer is a weird mixture of dashed hopes and anti-left vitriol. Regardless of whatever ideals liberals think they hold dear, their main function in politics today (and basically over the last 50-100 years) seems to be to castigate anyone who still believes that the liberty secured by a few in the great bourgeois revolutions of the past should be extended to everyone (i.e., the left).

I probably should have read David Sessions' review, The emptiness of Adam Gopnik's liberalism, before I wasted my time. Especially:

We might not have expected much more from Gopnik, but A Thousand Small Sanities' aimless joyride of free-associated clichés and its stubborn refusal to look at reality may indicate more broadly how little the American establishment has learned since the turn of the century. The climate crisis, more than anything, has highlighted the inadequacy of the liberal orthodoxy's self-congratulatory moderation and celebration of glacial incrementalism. It poses, in stark terms, the need for dramatic action and the inescapability of confronting the powerful interests behind the deadly carbon economy. The rapid degradation of the planet has made radicalism rational and incrementalism a kind of civilizational death drive. In this context, Gopnik's blissful ignorance reads not as comical but as deeply sinister.

The Democratic Party split in 1968 over the Vietnam War, with many of the hawks winding up as neoconservatives (a mostly Republican clan which still exerts powerful influence over today's Democratic hawks, especially the Clintons). Democrats are further split between middle class professionals and the working class base, with most successful Democrats (including Obama and the Clintons) gaining among the former while thanklessly banking the dwindling votes of the latter. In 2016 and 2020, those splits became clearer, with the left (dovish, mostly working class) rallying behind Bernie Sanders and the "moderates" (or merely cautious liberals, including hawks and/or professionals) ultimately flocking to Joe Biden.

Gopnik is an atavism in this split world, railing against a left that no longer exists in favor of an idealized center that is unable to accomplish anything (not least because their anti-left instinct keeps it from building a broad base, and because they are always willing to sell their reforms short). The key chapter in Gopnik's book is "Why the Left Hates Liberalism," but it should really be called "Why Liberals Hate the Left," where you could just as easily substitute "Masses" or "People" for "Left." But then it's hard to explain that without giving the impression that liberals are simply self-satisfied snobs -- dilettantes who imagine liking the idea of more people enjoying their comforts, but who hardly ever lift a finger to help them.

Some scattered links this week:

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Monday, March 16, 2020

Music Week

March archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 32935 [32897] rated (+38), 216 [223] unrated (-7).

Nothing much to say here. We're in a self-imposed lockdown, perhaps related to pandemic fears but with overtones of disappointment and maybe disgust at the world around us. Being "retired," and not uncomfortable, that's a luxury we can afford.

One technical matter I should note is that I've decided to add to the 2020 tracking file and associated lists records released in 2019 that I never noted in the 2019 tracking file. This mostly affects the 2020 metacritic file, which I've been building up to reflect favorable reviews as compiled by various sources -- the first big chunk came from December 2019 releases that Dave Sumner mentioned in his The Best Jazz on Bandcamp: January 2020.

I've always allowed for previous-year records to appear in current lists, especially for items that I received promos of after January 1, or sometimes for records that I simply had no cognizance of until after the calendar rolled over. The first example like that this year was François Carrier's Wide, released in Dec. 2019. I decided a fair test for this would be whether the record appeared in my music tracking list, since that incorporated everything that showed up in any tracked EOY list for 2019 (5170 records in the tracking file; 4912 in the EOY aggregate files). Since I only decided on this course last week, there may be a few records caught in the lurch.

Most of the carryover records were released in late 2019, but technically I'm allowing any unlisted 2019 records to appear in the 2020 lists. That includes the Schlippenbach-Narvesen Duo record below, which I certainly knew existed (but couldn't previously find) but somehow escaped my 2019 lists. (Also Duke Ellington's Uppsala 1971, which we'll deal with next week.) On the other hand, Muriel Grossmann's Reverence, out Dec. 15, 2019, had appeared on a couple of minor 2019 lists, so remains there, despite my "discovery" of it among Sumner's picks. So it's all a bit arbitrary, but is at least a system. (Occurs to me that I could go back into the 2019 list and pull out release dates after Thanksgiving -- Francis Davis's Jazz Critics Poll cutoff -- and include them in both lists. Need to think on that, but that might be the right thing to do.)

Under old music, I did take a flyer on some one Swamp Dogg records, since nearly all of them appear to have cropped up on Napster and/or the artist's Bandcamp. I didn't exactly get done, though I did get a bit exhausted. I'm still a big fan of his 1996 compilation, Best of 25 Years: F*** the Bomb, Stop the Drugs, as well as his 1970 debut, Total Destruction to Your Mind (which, if I recall correctly, didn't even figure in the comp).

Looked for but didn't find the Vol. 1 to go with the Hank Jones vault issue. Was pleased to find a Bandcamp page for an earlier Schlippenbach-Nardesen Duo release, but it only had two "bonus" tracks on it, not enough for a review. They did sound pretty good.

New records reviewed this week:

Steve Beresford & John Butcher: Old Paradise Airs (2019 [2020], Iluso): Avant-jazz duo, Butcher plays soprano and tenor sax, Beresford is credited with piano, objects, electronics -- not his usual kit, but after 40+ years as a gadfly I'm still not sure what is. B+(*) [bc]

Raoul Björkenheim: Solar Winds (2019 [2020], Long Song): Guitarist, born in Los Angeles but mother is Finnish and he grew up there, breaking in with drummer Edward Vesala before starting his fusion group, Krakatau, in 1988, and later, Scorch Trio. Quartet with violin (Emanuele Parrini), bass, and drums, playing six Coltrane tunes and two originals. Exciting to start, wears a bit toward the end. B+(***)

Cornershop: England Is a Garden (2020, Ample Play): British group, Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres, formed in 1991, fused Punjabi influences with electropop, released brilliant albums in 1997 and 2002, to which everything else more or less compares. This sounds much like them, reviving a sound we've been missing. A-

Day Dream: Originals (2019 [2020], Corner Store Jazz): Piano-bass-drums trio: Steve Rudolph, Drew Gress, Phil Haynes. Rudolph wrote four pieces, the others (much better known musicians) three each. Thoughtful, nicely balanced. B+(**) [03-27]

John DiMartino: Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn (2019 [2020], Sunnyside): Pianist, tends to look back at the tradition, as he does here, re-examining the usual book of Strayhorn classics. Eric Alexander (tenor sax) is in good form, and the rhythm section -- Boris Kozlov (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums) -- are impeccable. Raul Midón sings "Lush Life." B+(**) [cd] [04-10]

Liberty Ellman: Last Desert (2019 [2020], Pi): Guitar player, was a reputation as a producer, leads a sextet of label regulars -- Steve Lehman (alto sax), Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Jose Davila (tuba), Stephan Crump (bass), Damion Reid (drums). Clever postbop, surfaces slipping easily past one another. B+(***) [cd] [03-27]

Fat Tony & Taydex: Wake Up (2020, Carpark, EP): Houston rapper Anthony Jude Obi, father an engineer from Nigeria, has a handful of albums, depending on where you divide the short ones -- e.g., this one has nine tracks, 22:03. Don't know anything about the beat guy, but he earns his keep. B+(***)

Harrison²: Trout in Swimwear (2019 [2020], self-released): Toronto-based quartet, pronounced "Harrison Squared," the group name from Harrison Argatoff (tenor sax) and Harry Vetro (drums), with Mike Murley (tenor sax) and Steve Wallace (bass). Edgy postbop. B+(***) [cdr]

Kirk Knuffke: Brightness: Live in Amsterdam (2020, Royal Potato Family): Trumpet player, straddles avant and mainstream, prolific since 2009, leads a trio with Mark Helias (bass) and Bill Goodwin (drums). B+(*)

Urs Leimgruber/Andreas Willers/Alvin Curran/Fabrizio Spera: Rome-ing (2018 [2019], Leo): Swiss saxophonist (soprano and tenor), thirty-some albums since 1983, backed here with guitar, piano, and drums, from a live date in Rome. Four parts, 68:50, joint improv. B+(**)

Hayoung Lyou: Metamorphosis (2019 [2020], Endectomorph Music): Pianist, born in Korea, studied in Boston, based in New York, first album, quintet with two saxophones (Jasper Dutz on alto and Jacob Shulman on tenor), bass, and drums. Wonni Jung sings one song, similar to but less appealing than the slippery saxes. B+(***) [04-17]

Megan Thee Stallion: Suga (2020, 300 Entertainment, EP): Rapper Megan Pete, quickly follows last year's debug mixtape with a nine-cut, 24:33 EP. A-

Stephen Riley: Oleo (2018 [2019], SteepleChase): Tenor saxophonist, from North Carolina, steady stream of albums since 2005. Quartet with Joe Magnarelli (trumpet), Jay Anderson (bass), and Adam Nussbaum (drums), mostly playing Sonny Rollins songs (4, with "On Green Dolphin Street" and 4 more from Ellington, Coltrane, Charlie Parker, and Gigi Gryce). B+(***)

Caroline Rose: Superstar (2020, New West): Real name, singer-songwriter from Long Island, fourth album, first two country-ish (Napster lists her as "rockabilly revival"), since moved into pop, but title is a stretch. B

Felipe Salles Interconnections Ensemble: The New Immigrant Experience: Music Inspired by Conversations With Dreamers (2019 [2020], Tapestry, 2CD): Brazilian saxophonist, teaches in Massachusetts, just listed as composer and conductor here, with a full big band at his disposal. He's taken on ambitious projects of late -- The Awakening Orchestra, The Reunion Project -- and this is one of the most sweeping. B+(*) [03-20]

Carl Saunders: Jazz Trumpet (2019 [2020], Summit): Trumpet player, originally from Indianapolis, moved to Los Angeles, played with Stan Kenton, starting a long career of playing in big bands (Bill Holman, Bob Florence, Gerald Wilson, Clare Fischer), straddling a couple decades in Las Vegas. Quartet, backed by piano (Josh Nelson), bass (Chuck Berghofer), and drums (Joe Labarbera), about half originals, the rest bop-friendly standards. Good showcase for a fine trumpet voice. B+(***) [cd]

Schapiro 17: New Shoes: Kind of Blue at 60 (2019 [2020], Summit, 2CD): Big band, Jon Schapiro arranged and conducted, and wrote six pieces to go with five from Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and one from pianist Roberta Piket. Doesn't much remind me of the album, but something mysteriously infectious about it. B+(***) [04-03]

Alexander von Schlippenbach/Dag Magnus Narvesen Duo: Liminal Field (2018 [2019], Not Two): Piano-drums duo, second album together, the Norwegian drummer has impressed repeatedly since 2007. Still less remarkable than the pianist, who "morphs Monk" and more. A- [bc]

Paul Shaw Quintet: Moment of Clarity (2019 [2020], Summit): Drummer, from New Jersey, played in Air Force bands, first albums as leader, wrote all seven pieces, somehow wrangled what I'd call an all-star band: Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Brad Shepik (guitar), Gary Versace (piano), Drew Gress (bass). B+(***) [cd] [03-27]

Shopping: All or Nothing (2020, FatCat): British post-punk trio, Rachel Aggs sings and plays guitar, fourth album, all good, this short (10 songs, 30:54) one especially reminding me of Gang of Four. A-

Jay Som: Anak Ko (2020, Polyvinyl): Singer-songwriter Melina Mae Duterte, from California, parents Filipino. Fourth album since 2016. Has a quiet, subtle charm. B+(**)

Moses Sumney: Grae: Part 1 (2020, Jagjaguwar): Singer-songwriter from San Bernardino, CA; parents from Ghana, where he moved at age 10, before returning to study at UCLA. Second album, or first half of it (a Part 2 is promised for May). Has opened for Dirty Projectors, and if you imagine them trying to do soul, you might find yourself in his vicinity. B

Swamp Dogg: Sorry You Couldn't Make It (2020, Joyful Noise): Jerry Williams, started out as an Atlantic r&b producer, released a brilliant debut as Swamp Dogg in 1970, and has been fading in and out ever since, his best moments the ones farthest out. Plays it safe here with a round of soulful blues, but lured John Prine in to cameo on two nostalgic ones, which are daring enough. B+(**)

Torres: Silver Tongue (2020, Merge): Singer-songwriter Mackenzie Scott, fourth album since 2013, also writes poetry and short stories, and has a fondness for Broadway theatre. That develops into a density I've never found easy to parse. Not without its appeal, though. B+(*)

Oded Tzur: Here Be Dragons (2019 [2020], ECM): Israeli tenor saxophonist, based in New York, not his first album although this is touted as his "ECM debut." Backed by piano (Nitai Hershkovits), bass (Petros Klampanis), and drums (Johnathan Blake). Originals, ending with a cover ("Can't Help Falling in Love"). Nice balance, piano makes the strongest impression. B+(**)

The United States Air Force Band Airmen of Note: Air Power! (2019 [2020], self-released): Big band, 18 musicians plus Technical Sgt. Paige Wroble singing a couple songs, opens with standards before they bury the originals in the middle. Especially fond of high brass notes and sharp blasts of massed horns, perhaps trying to add a bit of irony to the title. B- [cd]

U.S. Girls: Heavy Light (2020, 4AD): Singer-songwriter Meghan Remy, from Chicago, married a Canadian musician and moved to Toronto in 2010. Seventh album. Read a review that refers to her as "a sound collagist and pop music obsessive," and I can hear more of that than I care to credit. Lots of scattered talk, and occasional heavy riffs. Not unimpressive, but I can't say as I like any of it. B-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Hank Jones Trio: Live at Jazzhus Slukefter Vol. 2 (1983 [2020], Storyville): The day after Vol. 1, released in 2019, with Jones on piano, Mads Vinding on bass, and Shelly Manne on drums. Standards, the pianist's touch as deft as ever. B+(***)

Arthur Russell: Iowa Dream (1974-85 [2019], Audika): Born 1951 in Iowa, died 1992 in New York, age 40, AIDS, at the time little known, mostly as a disco producer and occasional cellist with a couple of obscure records. Soul Jazz Records tried to make a case for him with their 2003 comp, The World of Arthur Russell, and his archives have since yielded a few more albums. This starts off with demos for Paul Nelson at Mercury, trying on the singer-songwriter mode of the time. Undistinguished, until he starts throwing us some curves, like the talkie "Barefoot in New York" (not that they always come close to the plate). B+(*)

Old music:

Marc Benham: Fats Food: Autour De Fats Waller (2016, Frémeaux & Associés): French pianist, first album, solo, mostly Waller pieces, sneaking in four originals. B+(*)

Martin Creed: Thoughts Lined Up (2016, Telephone): Scottish conceptual artist, won the Turner Prize in 2001, third albums since 2012, some more recent singles. Twenty-four short songs, all over the map, some interesting enough to justify Christgau's recent CG discovery, others . . . well, they'd take more work than I feel up to at the moment. B+(***)

Swamp Dogg: 13 Prime Weiners, Everything on It: The Best of Swamp Dogg (1970-76 [2013], Essential Media Group): Originally compiled in 1982 (on War Bride). Six songs from his 1970 debut, Total Destruction to Your Mind, leaving six more good ones, plus seven slightly later songs from Gag a Maggot (1973) and/or Greatest Hits (1976, nothing from the debut). His 1995 Best of 25 Years is a broader overview, but this covers a period when he was erratic but could be intensely soulful (as well as funny). A-

Swamp Dogg: You Ain't Never Too Old to Boogie (1976 [2013], Essential Music Group): Originally recorded by Vee-Jay and released on DJM in 1976. Sound is rather shoddy, but with organ and horns doesn't need much finesse. Songs are crude, too, from "It's a Bitch" to his epitaph-to-date, "I Had a Ball (I Did It All)." B+(**)

Swamp Dogg: Don't Give Up on Me: The Lost Country Album (1976 [2013], Essential Music Group): No info on when this was recorded, why it was "lost," or who found it. The "digitally remastered" CD is available at retailers, and it's on most streaming platforms, but hasn't been entered into the discographies at Discogs, Musicbrainz, or AMG. I did find them on The Excellent Sides of Swamp Dogg Vol. 5 (2007), attributed to "unreleased country album 'The Mercury Record'," following You Ain't Never Too Old to Boogie (1976), but couldn't find a Vol. 6 to pin the date down. Nine songs, runs 31 minutes, the title from Solomon Burke, no obvious country covers or production, but one song (evidently an original) is "He Don't Like Country Music (And He Hates Little Kids)." B+(*)

Swamp Dogg: Finally Caught Up With Myself (1977 [2013], Essential Music Group): Originally released by Musicor in the label's last days (only 4 more albums in the 2500 series, the last A Piece of the Rock by Disco Tex & the Sex-O-Lettes Starring Sir Monty Rock III. This one was attributed to Swamp Dogg & the Riders of the New Funk. Dabbles with funk and disco and winds up just a bit smoother than before. Among the puzzles: "Understanding California Women" (which he doesn't). B+(*)

Swamp Dogg: An Opportunity . . . Not a Bargain!!! (1977 [2013], Essential Music Group): Originally on Wizzard Ltd., recycles eight (of nine) songs from You Ain't Never Too Old to Boogie (1976), adding two new ones: "Shafts Mama" (a funny spin-off) and "Let's Do It Again" (and again and again). B+(***)

Swamp Dogg: Swamp Dogg (1981 [2013], Essential Music Group): Released on Wizard in 1981 and/or ALA in 1982. Five cuts, 34:39, most stretched out with disco grooves -- I keep expecting "Salty Dog" to morph into "YMCA." B

Swamp Dogg: Resurrection (2007 [2013], Essential Music Group): Originally on SDEG Records. Jump forward and he gets political, starting with "In a Time of War Who Wins" and asking "What kind of fool were we to let them crown an idiot king?" More on race too, including the 12:05 title song, a rant I don't feel like enduring again, even if I can respect the anger. B

Grade (or other) changes:

Gerald Beckett: Mood (2019 [2020], Pear Orchard): [cd]: erroneously listed label as Summit: B

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Naama Gheber: Dearly Beloved (Cellar Music) [04-10]
  • Thomas Marriott: Trumpet Ship (Origin) [03-20]
  • Tim Shaghoian: Gentle Beacons (Origin) [03-20]

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Sunday, March 15, 2020

Weekend Roundup

News this week was totally dominated by the coronavirus pandemic. A good overview is Dylan Matthews: 9 charts that explain the coronavirus pandemic. (For more, see: A coronavirus reading guide for the perplexed, the anxious, and the obsessive.) This has produced a lot of political and economic turmoil, most obviously (or at least best reported) in the United States. The Trump administration, which has worked so hard over the last three years at proving how incompetent, corrupt, and politically blinded government can be, has come off as insensitive, uncaring, and bumbling -- especially the president and his inner tier of henchmen. The one concern they do seem to have is how the disease effects the economy -- especially as the economy has long seemed to be the silver lining in their own political fortunes. The most obvious effects have been the cancellation of nearly all public gatherings (including the NCAA "March Madness" tournaments and the NBA season) and major (mostly but not all self-imposed) reductions in travel. That, in itself, is a big chunk taken out of the economy, with ripple effects to follow. I expect this will extend to a psychology averse to spending, which will persist for months or years.

Meanwhile, Joe Biden has continued to mop up Democratic primaries, winning Mississippi, Missouri, Michigan, Idaho, and probably even Washington last week. (Bernie Sanders did win in North Dakota.) More states will vote soon, but unless Biden stumbles catastrophically there is no chance Sanders can catch up. There is a debate between Sanders and Biden tonight. It should clearly favor Sanders, but I doubt it will have any effect. We seem to be primed for disaster, and willing to settle for just barely less.

Some scattered links this week:

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