|
An occasional blog about populist politics and popular music, not necessarily at the same time. LinksLocal Links My Other Websites Music Politics Others Networking Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: Recent Reading
Music DatabaseArtist Search: Website SearchGoogle: |
Music Week [0 - 9]Monday, September 2, 2024 Music Week
September archive (in progress). Music: Current count 42905 [42869] rated (+36), 30 [34] unrated (-4). Yesterday's Speaking of Which slacked off a bit, only citing 141 links, less than half of the previous week's 290 (although the word count only dropped by 28%, as I got off on more tangents; also last week included an extra day plus extra adds, whereas this one appeared on schedule, and I haven't tallied up what little I've added since). Music Week is also coming in a day short. Rating count got a boost as my dive into Houston Person's old records carried over from last week, and led me to a new one. Also the A-list bounced back after only one record each in three of the last four weeks (but 7 for the week of August 20. Three of those came from promos I had been sitting on until their late August release dates. (An extra day would have added Patricia Brennan's Breaking Stretch, but that's banked for next week.) I'm still updating the 2024 Jazz list, which has already reached a ridiculous A-list length (70+3 new music, 16+1 old music). I haven't sorted out the Non-Jazz yet, but at this point it's unlikely that I have half as many albums in any subdivision. Four pop records I tried I played multiple times before leaving them in the B+ ranks: Sabrina Carpenter, Lainey Wilson, Buoys, Magdalena Bay. The latter's Mercurial World was one of my favorite records of 2021, but only hints at that level toward the end. Same fate seems likely for Beebadoobee's This Is How Tomorrow Moves next week, but there's a lot to like there. I started to write up a "to do" list in my Aug. 30 notebook entry, and hope to get back to it soon. I did cross a couple items off today already: I updated and did the indexing for August Streamnotes. I was surprised to find I have more patience for that kind of work early in the day. Joan Didion's Where I was From is the first (of three) books I picked up in the brick-and-mortar bookstore last week. I've never read her fiction, but have read two books of political reporting: Political Fictions (2002), and Fixed Ideas: America Since 9.11 (2003), by which time she was a recovering Republican. Less of a memoir than I expected, but interesting as history, even as drawn from novels. I have more typical political books "on the nightstand" (Zack Beauchamp, Danielle Allen, Henry Farrell/Abraham Newman), but figured I could use a break. New records reviewed this week: The Buoys: Lustre (2024, Sony): Australian indie rock band, Zoe Catterall the lead singer and only constant member since 2016. This seems to be their first album, following several EPs (as far back as 2017). On first play, they're about as good as a dozen similar bands going back at least to the Go-Gos in the early 1980s. B+(***) [sp] Bex Burch: There Is Only Love and Fear (2023, International Anthem): Percussionist, from London, but ranges far and wide (Ghana and Berlin are mentioned), makes her own instruments, calls this first album "messy minimalism." It's messy, but that's where the charm emerges. A- [sp] Gunhild Carling: Jazz Is My Lifestyle! (2024, Jazz Art): Jazz singer-songwriter from Sweden, started in her cornetist father's trad-oriented big band, also plays trombone, likes it bold and brassy. Group credit could be expanded "Big Band with Strings" (Prague Strings Chamber Orchestra). B+(***) [cd] Sabrina Carpenter: Short n' Sweet (2024, Island): This month's pop sensation, started posting YouTube videos when she was 10, became a Disney teen actor, first album at 16, fourth at 25. Slick, or sleek, took me a while, and I'm still not there, not that I quarrel with "refreshingly light" or "cheeky, clever, and effortlessly executed." B+(***) [sp] Bill Charlap Trio: And Then Again (2024, Blue Note): Mainstream pianist, albums started on Criss Cross in 1995, moved to Blue Note in 2000. Trio with Peter Washington (bass) and Kenny Washington (drums) formed in 1997, their boast as "one of the great working jazz groups of our day" well earned. Eight standards, with Barron, Monk, and Brubeck from the jazz side, the show tunes even more impeccable. B+(***) [sp] Doechii: Alligator Bites Never Heal (2024, Top Dawg/Capitol): Rapper Jaylah Hickman, third mixtape, has a couple EPs. B+(**) [sp] Girl in Red: I'm Doing It Again Baby! (2024, Columbia): Norwegian indie pop singer-songwriter Marie Ulven Ringheim, second album after a couple EPs, short at 27:51 (10 songs). B+(**) [sp] The Haas Company [Featuring Frank Gambale]: Vol. 2: Celestial Latitude (2024, Psychiatric): Drummer Steve Haas, credits keyboardist Pete Drungle as the fusion group's musical director, with Gambale the featured guest guitarist (replacing Andy Timmons from Vol. 1, an improvement). B+(**) [cd] Javon Jackson/Nikki Giovanni: Javon & Nikki Go to the Movies (2024, Solid Jackson/Palmetto): Tenor saxophonist, started with Art Blakey 1987-90, led his first album on Criss Cross in 1991, moved to Blue Note 1994-99, then to Palmetto through 2008. He's been much less prominent since then, mostly on his own label, but got some notice in 2022 for his album with the famed poet (22 years his senior). They return here with a mixed concept album. She's featured on three tracks, spread out to make room for the movie-themed standards sung superbly by Nicole Zuraitis, lavishly burnished with Jackson's saxophone. A- [cd] Magdalena Bay: Imaginal Disk (2024, Mom + Pop): Synthpop duo, Mica Tenenbaum (vocals) and Matthew Lewin (arrangements), with lots of strings and brass. I thought their first album was terrific, but this one is less immediately appealing. B+(**) [sp] Mavi: Shadowbox (2024, Mavi 4 Mayor Music): Rapper Omavi Ammu Minder, grew up in Charlotte, NC; third album since 2019. B+(**) [sp] Nicole Mitchell and Ballaké Sissoko: Bamako Chicago Sound System (2017 [2024], FPE): The AACM flautist hosts the Malian kora player and his cohort, most notably Fassery Diabaté (balafon) and Fatim Kouyaté (vocals), for a session that's much more theirs than hers, even with backing from additional jazz musicians Jeff Parker (guitar), Joshua Abrams (bass), and JoVia Armstrong (percussion). This is pretty delightful. A- [sp] Houston Person/Peter Beets: Live in Holland: Houston Person Meets Peter Beets Trio (2024, Maxanter): I get nervous when I see a live album without the recording date, especially when the star up around 89. His first notes here sound as strong as ever, but that was also true of his eature turn in Emmet Cohen's Master Legacy Series Volume 5, which I have reliably dated to 2023. Beets is a Dutch pianist I should probably learn more about: he has several albums on Criss Cross (Chopin Meets the Blues is one on a recurring theme), other albums back to 1997, ranging from Concertgebouw to an ICP quartet with Han Bennink, with an Oscar Peterson tribute along the way. Beets is in Peterson mode here. Norman Granz would love this. A- [sp] Catherine Russell/Sean Mason: My Ideal (2023 [2024], Dot Time): Standards singer, eighth album since 2006, had a famous father but their lives only overlapped seven years, with a great distance between his early peak in the late 1920s and her late emergence (first album at 50). Backed with just piano here, a young pianist steeped in blues and stride, which makes her sound rather like Bessie Smith. (I'm assuming that the August 2003 recording date is a typo.) A- [cd] Taliba Safiya: Black Magic (2024, self-released, EP): Singer-songwriter from Memphis, some rhythm, more blues, first release, seven songs, 19:17. B+(*) [sp] Sault: Acts of Faith (2024, Forever Living Originals): British r&b group, members mysterious, eleventh album since 2019, one track of 32:09. Their best stuff reminds me of Chic. The rest reminds me they're not as good as Chic. B+(*) [yt] Philip Weberndoerfer: Tides (2023 [2024], Shifting Paradigm): Guitarist from Germany, 26, based in New York, seems to be his first album, seven originals plus two covers, backed by bass and drums, with saxophonist Dayna Stephens joining on five tracks. Billed as "a sonic portrayal of the human condition," I found it reassuringly pleasant. B+(**) [cd] Lainey Wilson: Whirlwind (2024, BBR): Country singer-songwriter, fifth album since 2014, sounds great at first, upbeat, one could even say rocks out. B+(***) [sp] Miguel Zenón: Golden City (2023 [2024], Miel Music): Alto saxophonist, from Puerto Rico, has explored his roots music extensively, but is mostly a postbop guy, with an Ornette Coleman tribute on his résumé. Some Latin tinge here (but not much, or at least not the main point), in an expansive set of pieces commissioned by the Hewlett Foundation and SFJAZZ, themed for San Francisco, performed by an all-star nonet that hits all the bases. A- [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: None. Old music: Ashtyn Barbaree: Debut EP (2018, self-released, EP): Country/Americana Singer-songwriter from Fayetteville, plays ukulele and guitar, voice somewhat quirky, backed with guitar, piano, bass, and drums, for six songs, 19:31. Followed up with a 2022 album, and has a new one coming out late October. B+(*) [bc] Ashtyn Barbaree: Better Luck Next Time (2022, self-released): First album (9 songs, 29:10), after an EP (2018) and a couple of singles. Nice enough, but little stands out. B+(*) [bc] Houston Person: Broken Windows, Empty Hallways (1972 [2004], Prestige): The tenor saxophonist's tenth album on Prestige, a fairly large group arranged and conducted by Billy Ver Planck, with Cedar Walton on piano and Ernie Hayes on organ. Reissue adds a second album from the same sessions, originally released as Sweet Buns & Barbeque. Both feature recent rock tunes, the first starts with Randy Newman and moves on to "Mr. Bojangles" and "Imagine" before slipping in a Monk and an original; the second kicks off with a swell "A Song for You" and winds up funky. B+(***) [sp] Houston Person: A Little Houston on the Side (1977-94 [1999], 32 Jazz): Compiled from the tenor saxophonist's Muse albums, not so much his as the occasions where he appeared on others' albums. Discogs has artist credits, and undated source albums (some from other 32 Jazz comps with their own lapses), so so this could really use better documentation. Two Etta Jones vocals, one from Charles Brown. He is solid as ever. B+(**) [sp] Houston Person: My Romance (1998, HighNote): Same quartet, but slower, as Person's evolving into one of the great ballad saxophonists. B+(**) [sp] Houston Person: Soft Lights (1999, HighNote): Grady Tate takes over on drums, and guitarist Russell Malone joins in -- adding another dimension, where more saxophone might have been better. B+(**) [sp] Houston Person: In a Sentimental Mood (2000, HighNote): Quartet with Stan Hope (piano), George Kaye (bass), and Chip White (drums), playing well-worn standards. B+(***) [sp] Houston Person: Blue Velvet (2001, HighNote): Quartet with Richard Wyands (piano), Ray Drummond (bass), and Grady Tate (drums), for another luscious batch of standards. B+(***) [sp] Houston Person With Ron Carter: Dialogues (2000 [2002], HighNote): Tenor sax and bass duo, a third album after two on Muse: Something in Common (1990), and Now's the Time (1993). B+(**) [sp] Houston Person: Sentimental Journey (2002, HighNote): Another very nice set of standards, a little more upbeat, backed by Richard Wyands (piano), Peter Washington (bass), and Grady Tate (drums), with guitarist Russell Malone in on four (of nine) tracks. B+(***) [sp] Houston Person: Social Call (2003, HighNote): Another batch of standards, mostly drawing on jazz composers -- leads off with title piece by Gigi Gryce, followed by Tadd Dameron, Horace Silver, and Benny Carter, with Cedar Walton and "Daydream" coming later. Quintet with Stan Hope (piano), Paul Bollenbeck (guitgar), Per-Ola Gadd (bass), and Chip White (drums). He's been so consistently superb, and so casual about it, that it's picking any album as a breakthrough is arbitrary. But no ballad master has ever offered a better "Bewitched," and that's just one example. Bollenback is an especially nice fit. By the way, Person's next album, To Etta With Love, is even better. A- [sp] Houston Person: The Melody Lingers On (2014, HighNote): I heard nearly all of his albums from 2004's To Etta With Love on in real time, but this one slipped by. Quintet with Lafayette Harris (piano), Steve Nelson (vibes), Ray Drummond (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums). B+(***) [sp] Houston Person: Something Personal (2015, HighNote): Another easy one, with Nelson (vibes) again, John Di Martino (piano), James Chirillo (guitar 4/10 tracks), Drummond and Nash, the title song the only original. B+(**) [sp] Houston Person: Rain or Shine (2017, HighNote): Past 80, his duo album with Ron Carter, Chemistry, was one of my top albums in 2016. Here he augments his quartet -- Lafayette Harris (piano), Matthew Parish (bass), Vincent Ector (drums) -- with guitar (Rodney Jones on 8/9 cuts) and cornet (Warren Vache on 5). B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Tuesday, August 27, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42869 [42830] rated (+39), 34 [34] unrated (-0). Once again, Speaking of Which took an extra day, and I'll probably spend more time today adding to it than I spend writing here. [PS: I did wind up adding another 63 links, 2607 words.] Good reason to get this organized early, which means collecting the reviews here, and also opening up a new draft file for September, as this is the last installment in the August archive. Meanwhile, I've been playing old Motown comps, and now some Sonny Boy Williamson -- things I can enjoy immensely without having to think (or write) about. A-list shrunk back this week, with the Ottaviano coming early, and nothing else coming very close (although I may have cheated Houston Person, knowing that better albums were coming; maybe also Dyani, whose 1978 Song for Biko is a favorite). The old music offered welcome relief from the August doldrums. Phil Overeem mentioned Dyani, and I realized that my ex-LP Music for Xaba was missing from my database (memory pegged it at B+, and the YouTube recheck refined that). I noticed Person when I was looking at the late guitarist Russell Malone's discography. But before getting to the albums Malone played on, I thought I'd check out some of Person's early Prestige releases. We'll get to the later stuff, and maybe some of Malone's own work, next week. I mostly followed up recent posts from Michael Tatum, Christian Iszchak, Chris Monsen, and Dan Weiss. It's worth noting that despite critical pans damn near everywhere else, Iszchak and Tatum A-listed the Eminem album, while Weiss liked it about as much as I did (from one quick and not very focused play, I must admit). Some small progress on my house projects. After four failed attempts, I gave up and hired an electrician to install the back door light, so that's done. Key thing he did was to install a box to mount the light to, whereas the old one was hung on the vinyl siding cover. Still, the main trick was standing on a ladder while holding the dead weight of the new fixture and securing all of the wires. I'm supposed to be getting a quote on repairing the fallen plaster ceiling. So if it's reasonable, we can knock that off. I did manage to do one small project on my own: shimming a counter top to keep water from pooling and dripping. Next project will be to try to weld a broken plastic garbage can lid. I bought a tool, but I've never tried using it. Also note that the electrician looked at the loose camera wire, and decided he couldn't fix it, so I'm on my own there. Just one more chapter in the late Lewis H Lapham's Age of Folly: America Abandons Its Democracy. Takes me back to much history I lived through, starting in the late 1980s, but mostly focuses on 2001-05, during the early days of the war on the abstract noun. Sharp analysis, with many delicious turns of phrase. One could go back and mine the book for aphorisms. I should see if I can recover a few. One he uses several times is the strange belief that "money is good for the rich, but bad for the poor." I stopped by Barnes & Noble last week, for the first time I've been in a bookstore since the pandemic, possibly some years longer. I picked out three books that I wouldn't have thought of to buy had I not seen them first, so they're likely to be next up. For most of my life, I headed to bookstores 3-4 times a week, so it took considerable business malpractice to end that habit. (Borders closing was a major blow, after which B&N seemed to morph into some kind of glorified toy store. I was even under the impression that B&N had stopped carrying magazines, but they still had a fairly substantial section.) Next up should be a return to the library. I need to figure out how to make use of local library resources to do anything along the lines of the research I need. My future direction is very uncertain. But I've been getting some help recently on the Jazz Poll, which makes it more likely to continue. New records reviewed this week: Neil Adler: Emi's Song (2024, self-released): Pianist, also plays harmonica, and incorporated that into his website. Seems to be his first album, a quartet with bass, drums, and congas, on a wide range of covers along with three of his own. B+(**) [cd] Erlend Albertsen Basspace: Name of the Wind (2024, Dugnad Rec): Norwegian bassist, second album as leader, group a quintet, mostly strings and keyboards, with Albertsen also playing some soprano sax, plus: Ellie Mäkelä (viola, Hardanger fiddle), Egil Kalman (modular synth, double bass), Simon Albertsen (drums, synth), and Hogne Kleiberg (piano, synth). B+(**) [sp] Gonçalo Almeida: States of Restraint (2023 [2024], Clean Feed): Portuguese bassist, based in Rotterdam, prolific since 2014. With Susana Santos Silva (trumpet) and Gustavo Costa (percussion), for "a set of remarkable minimalist tone poems distinguished by their brooding crawl-time intensity and austere meditative aesthetics." B+(***) [sp] Marc Ciprut: Moonshine (2024, White Label): Guitarist, from New York, plays fusion/funk, various lineups, mostly electric keyboards (or organ), electric bass, drums. B+(*) [cd] Walter Crockett: Children So Long (2022, self-released): Folk singer-songwriter, from Massachusetts, seems to be his first (and only) album, although he looks like he's been around a long time, dropping hints like "drives through Michigan or Kansas in the '40s and '50s," "listening to Elvis in 1955," "Mom is 98 now," and he dates his songs back to 1976. B+(**) [sp] Eminem: The Death of Slim Shady (Coup de Grâce) (2024, Shady/Aftermath/Interscope): Twelfth studio album since 1996, namechecks the title character of his 1999 megahit, still sells enough he can laugh off the bad reviews (46/15 Metacritic, 50/15 AOTY, 4.8 at Pitchfork). I don't know what the beef is, and midway through I hadn't noticed much one way or the other, but "Houdini" is pretty damn catchy, and tuning in on words the next few songs was interesting enough, even though the only words I jotted down were "deep down I'm a dork." B+(**) [sp] Signe Emmeluth: Banshee (2023 [2024], Motvind): Danish alto saxophonist, based in Oslo, debut album in 2018 launched her group, Emmeluth's Amoeba. B+(***) [sp] Flukten: Flukten (2023 [2024], Odin): Norwegian quartet, second album, I have the filed under saxophonist Hanna Paulsberg but the writers this time are drummer Hans Hulbækmo (6) and guitarist Marius Hirth Klovning (2); also with Bárður Reinert Poulsen (bass). B+(***) [sp] Sahra Halgan: Hiddo Dhawr (2024, La Région/Danaya Music): Singer from Somaliland, which is a "de facto independent state" broken away from Somalia in 1991 but still unrecognized by most other countries. Second album, combines Ethiopian and Arabic influences, with some of the flavor of the "Saharan rock" common in Niger and Mali. B+(***) [sp] Eirik Hegdal Eklektisk Samband: Turnchest (2022 [2024], Particular): Billed as "a new Scandinavian Super band!" with the Team Hegdal saxophonist the "initiator," joined by Thea Grant (voice/electronics), Per Texas Johansson (tenor sax/flute/clarinets), Anja Lauvdal (piano/synth/pump organ), Ole Morten Vågan (bass), and Hans Hulbækmo (drums/percussion/mouth harp). As is often the case, it's the vocals that turn me off, but while my usual complaint is arch or starchy, this time it's deliriously disruptive. B+(*) [sp] Danny Jonokuchi Big Band: A Decade (2022 [2024], Bandstand Presents): Trumpet player, has at least one previous album (hype sheet says four, and mentions an ISJAC award), leads a conventional big band through one original and a batch of nicely done standards, ending with his vocal on a bonus take of "Skylark." B+(*) [cd] I. Jordan: I Am Jordan (2024, Ninja Tune): British electronica producer/DJ, previously released an EP as India Jordan, seems this is first album. Opener is dead (or worse), but gets better after finding a beat. Much better. B+(*) [sp] JPEGMafia: I Lay Down My Life for You (2024, AWAL): Rapper-producer Barrington Hendricks, half-dozen albums since 2016, last year's Danny Brown collaboration Scaring the Hoes got a lot of critical applause, but I never made any sense out of it. I can't say much about this one either, but with only three "feat." slots, it mostly dwells in dank and dark noise -- I've seen comps to Death Grips, which does even less for me (perhaps because of the occasional break one catches here). B+(*) [sp] Move: Free Baile: Live in Shenzhen (2023 [2024], Clean Feed): Free jazz trio, Portuguese and/or Brazilian: Yedo Gibson (sax), Felipe Zenicola (bass), João Valinho (drums). Second album, a rabble-rousing crowd-pleaser. B+(***) [sp] Simon Nabatov Quartet Feat. Ralph Alessi: Lovely Music (2021 [2024], Clean Feed): Russian pianist, left at 20 in 1979, ostensibly for Israel but wound up in US, studying at Juilliard, becoming a US citizen in 1986, but he's lived in Germany since 1989, which is shortly after his discography kicks off (Discogs credits him with four 1988 albums). Quartet is rounded out with Sebastian Gille (sax), David Helm (bass), and Leif Berger (drums), so doesn't count the featured guest on trumpet. Rather grand and, sure, lovely. B+(***) [sp] Navy Blue: Memoirs in Armour (2024, Freedom Sounds): Rapper Sage Elesser, albums since 2020 (after a string of EPs back to 2015). Underground, "conscious," flows about as well as ever, not much sticks though. B+(***) [sp] Nils Økland Band: Gjenskinn (2021-22 [2024], Hubro): From Norway, plays Hardnager fiddle, debut 1986, third group album since 2015, draws on folk and aims for ambient. B+(**) [sp] Roberto Ottaviano/Danilo Gallo/Fernando Faraò: Lacy in the Sky With Diamonds (2023 [2024], Clean Feed): Italian soprano saxophonist, fairly long list of albums since 1985, here with bass and drums, playing seven Steve Lacy songs plus a few originals/improvs with a bit of "These Foolish Things." A- [sp] Jerome Sabbagh: Heart (2022 [2024], Analog Tone Factory): French tenor saxophonist, postbop, dozen or so albums since 2004, trio with Joe Martin (bass) and Al Foster (drums), three originals and five standards (from Ellington to "Body and Soul"). B+(**) [cd] [08-30] Spanish Harlem Orchestra: Swing Forever (2023-24 [2024], Ovation): Latin jazz 13-piece big band led by pianist Oscar Hernández, ninth studio album, with Doug Beavers co-producing, and guest vocalist Gilberto Santa Rosa. Seems like records like this always sound great to start, but tiring by the end. B+(**) [cd] Aki Takase Japanic: Forte (2023 [2024], Budapest Music Center): Japanese pianist, long based in Berlin, Quintet with Daniel Erdmann (tenor/soprano sax), Carlos Bica (bass), Dag Magnus Narvesen (drums), and Vincent von Schlippenbach (turntable), with guest credits for Nils Wogram (trombone) and her husband, pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach. First track hints at things Japanese, but the rest careens wildly, which can provide a thrill, or not. B+(**) [sp] Zach Top: Cold Beer & Country Music (2024, Leo33): Country singer-songwriter from Washington State, 25, first album, no hint that's not his original name, serves up a nice batch of country clichés -- title song is wedged between "[My Life] Sounds Like the Radio" and "Cowboys Like Me Do," along with "Dirt Turns to Gold," "The Kinda Woman I Like," "Bad Luck", "Ain't That a Heartbnerak," "I Never Lie," and "Things to Do" (that's not all, but you get the drift). B+(**) [sp] Luis Vicente Trio: Come Down Here (2023 [2024], Clean Feed): Portuguese trumpet player, many albums since 2012, this a trio with bass (Gonçalo Almeida) and drums (Pedro Melo Alves). B+(**) [sp] Jack White: No Name (2024, Third Man): Singer-songwriter, founder of White Stripes and other alt/indie groups, sixth studio album under his own name, such as it is. I've never liked his solo albums, aside from the first (and even then not much), but this "back to roots" effort is pretty crunchy. B+(**) [sp] WHO Trio: Live at Jazz Festival Willisau 2023 First Visit (2023 [2024], Ezz-Thetics): Trio of Michel Wintsch (piano), Bänz Oester (bass), and Gerry Hemingway (drums/voice); have at least a half-dozen albums since 1999. Live improv based (loosely) on Ellington compositions. B+(***) [bc] Wilco: Hot Sun Cool Shroud (2024, Nonesuch, EP): Six decent songs, isolated bits of showy guitar, 17:36. B+(*) [sp] X: Smoke & Fiction (2024, Fat Possum): Postpunk band from Los Angles, debut 1980, John Doe and Exene Cervenka the singer-songwriters, with D.J. Bonebrake on drums and Billy Zoom on guitar (except for 1986-99, missing only one album, but it took them even longer, until 2020, to come up with another). This is supposed to be their last ever. I was never much of a fan, but don't have any complaints here. B+(*) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: None. Old music: Johnny Dyani With John Tchicai & Dudu Pukwana: Witchdoctor's Son (1978 [1987], SteepleChase): South African bassist (1945-86), one of the Blue Notes who went into exile in 1964, along with Pukwana (alto/tenor sax), joined here by the Afro-Danish alto/soprano saxophonist, and a global rhythm section of Alfredo Do Nascimento (guitar), Luez "Chuim" Carlos de Sequaira (drums), and Mohamed Al-Jabry (congas/percussion), with Dyani also on piano and vocals. Some two sax sections are quite wonderful. B+(***) [sp] Johnny Dyani Quartet: Mbizo (1981 [1995], SteepleChase): Bassist-led quartet with two saxophonists -- Ed Epstein (alto/baritone) and Dudu Pukwana (alto/soprano) -- and drums (Churchill Jolobe). B+(***) [sp] Johnny Dyani Quartet: Angolian Cry (1985 [1986], SteepleChase): Bassist-led quartet with John Tchicai (tenor sax/bass clarinet), Harry Beckett (trumpet/flugelhorn), and Billy Hart (drums). B+(**) [sp] Johnny Dyani/Okay Temiz/Mongezi Feza: Music for Xaba (1972 [1973], Sonet): South African bassist, Turkish drummer, South African trumpet player, recorded in Stockholm, two pieces rooted in South Africa, two joint improvs. B+(***) [yt] Johnny Dyani/Okay Temiz/Mongezi Feza: Music for Xaba Volume Two (1972 [1980], Sonet): Five more tracks from the same session, the opener by Feza, the rest by Dyani. B+(**) [yt] Houston Person: Underground Soul! (1966, Prestige): Tenor saxophonist, b. 1934 in South Carolina, now regarded as one of the great mainstream tenors ever, started here at Prestige, where he also did a&r work for Prestige -- continuing with Muse from 1976-94, and HighNote after 1996. Soul jazz quartet with trombone (Mark Levine), organ (Charles Boston), and drums (Frank Jones). Gets off wrong-footed with a chintzy cover of "What the World Needs Now Is Love," but rights that with a couple of originals, which get the organ working, and show off some already impressive sax. B+(*) [yt] Houston Person: Blue Odyssey (1968, Prestige): They cut 'em fast and loose at Prestige, so this was number four, but the earliest reissue I've found to stream, a sextet session that kicks off with two songs by pianist Cedar Walton, followed by four covers, most expressively on "Please Send Me Someone to Love." With Curtis Fuller (trombone), Pepper Adams (baritone sax), Bob Cranshaw (bass), and Frank Jones (drums). B+(**) [sp] Houston Person: Goodness! (1969, Prestige): Sixth prestige album, only horn in a sextet with organ (Sonny Phillips), guitar (Billy Butler), electric bass, drums, and congas. B+(***) [sp]> Houston Person: Legends of Acid Jazz (1970-71 [1996], Prestige): A volume in a series that each collected two relatively obscure soul jazz albums onto a single CD, tied in to the then-current "acid jazz" genre, which sometimes sampled albums like those included. Person's entry combines the 1970 album Person to Person! (with Virgil Jones on trumpet, Grant Green on guitar, Sonny Phillips on organ/piano, plus electric bass, drums, congas) and 1971's Houston Express (two groups with Billy Butler on guitar, one with a lot of extra horns arranged by Horace Ott. B+(*) [sp] Houston Person: Person-ified (1996 [1997], HighNote): The tenor saxophonist followed Joe Fields from Prestige to Muse to HighNote, where this rather mellow quartet was his first album -- a session with Teddy Edwards was recorded earlier in the month, but not released until later, and in any case gave Edwards first billing. This one is impeccably mainstream, with Richard Wyands (piano), Ray Drummond (bass), and Kenny Washington (drums), playing one Person piece and a batch of standards. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Tuesday, August 20, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42869 [42830] rated (+39), 34 [34] unrated (-0). Delayed a day, because that's how long the week's Speaking of Which took (219 links, 12161 words, before whatever I add today). Probably just as well, given that (as I noted yesterday) my week was light, which I can only partly blame on time out to cook a nice dinner on Saturday. I made no attempt to count calories, which ingredients suggest were astronomical, but can now report that my weight is down 0.2 lbs today, compared to a day or two before, so maybe I can afford to indulge on the rare occasions when I can line up some willing guests. I've been bemoaning my inability (and sometimes incompetence) at getting routine maintenance tasks done around the house. One of those came crashing down after dinner on Saturday: a big chunk of plaster-on-lath ceiling in one of the upstairs bedrooms. I've been aware of a crack growing there at least since 2005, viewing it with increasing alarm over the past few months. I even started to plot out possible ways to fix it. After the first pieces broke away, I got up and tore out some extra, so now I have about a 4 sq. ft. patch of exposed lath. In some ways it's less troubling (certainly less ominous) now, especially as I can gauge the thickness of the plaster (about 3/8-inch, the state of the lath (ugly but dry), and how solid what's remaining is (looks like I'll wind up doubling the size of the patch, but nothing else is likely to fall down on its own). In the past, I would have figured out how to fix this, but we've started looking for help. Same for some other small projects. Barely topped 30 albums below, but the A-list -- after only one album each of the last two weeks -- came roaring back. I'm also pretty caught up with the demo queue, although I still have a lot of albums in hand for September into mid-October. I spent some time re-checking older albums, so came up with a couple re-grades. I guess I can finally mention now that Fifth Column Filmworks has a web page with a 4:52 trailer for a feature documentary about saxophonist Sam Rivers, based on the extraordinary 764-page book, The Sam Rivers Sessionography by Rick Lopez. I considered using "we" in the opening line, because this film was originally my idea, but about all I did was to introduce Rick, an internet friend for over 20+ years, and Mike Hull, my nephew and the filmmaker who previously directed and produced Betrayal at Attica, dump some starter money into the project, and let them work it out. New records reviewed this week: Okaidja Afroso: Àbòr Édín (2024, Chechekule): Singer-songwriter and traditional dancer from Ghana, has a couple previous albums. B+(*) [sp] John Alvey: Loft Glow (2022-23 [2024], Jazz Music City): Nashville-based drummer, first album, wrote first song, local-based band members added two more, plus some jazz covers (Benny Golson, Ron Carter, John Stubblefield), nice postbop group with a little swing. B+(**) [cd] [08-25] Charlie Apicella & Iron City Meet the Griots Speak: Call to Action/Call to Prayer (2022 [2024], OA2): Guitarist, his Iron City group has mostly played funk-fusion since 2008, but his griots are from another musical planet, mostly veterans of the old NYC loft scene, like Daniel Carter, William Parker, and Juma Sultan. B+(**) [cd] Art Baden: How Much of It Is Real (2023 [2024], Rainy Days): Tenor saxophonist, born in Russia, first album, also plays bass clarinet and flute, leads a quartet with Joe Locke (vibes/keyboards), Jay Anderson (bass), and Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums, recorded in his studio). B+(**) [cd] George Dearborne: Lotta Honky Tonkin' Left in Me (2024, Wingate): Country singer, from Beaumont, Texas, started out as a drummer in the 1970s, started leading bands in the 1990s, released his first album in 2020. No original songs, but most are new to me (exceptions: Doug Sahm, Merle Haggard). B+(**) [sp] Jeff Evans Porkestra: Willow Pillow (2024, self-released, EP): Evans is "a seasoned figure in Atlanta's roots and alt-country scene," seems to have had a previous group called Chickens and Pigs, calls this "a musical rewrite" of their 2021 album Guitars Food Music Beer Dog, which I can find no corroborating evidence for (although Spotify has three other Chickens and Pigs albums, none in Discogs). Six songs, 22:31. B+(***) [sp] Claudia Gibson: The Fields of Chazy (2024, self-released): Austin-based folk singer-songwriter, second album, has some appealing songs. B+(**) [sp] Russell Haight: Go Forth (2023 [2024], OA2): Saxophonist (tenor pictured), studied at Texas, was based in Austin until moving to Saratoga Springs and Skidmore college. Has a previous album, also a book on Odd-Meter Etudes for Saxophone. Quartet with Sean Giddings (piano), bass, and drums. Original pieces. Strong on upbeat pieces. B+(***) [cd] Joel Harrison & Alternative Guitar Summit: The Middle of Everywhere: Guitar Solos Vol. I (2024, AGS): Harrison, a notable guitarist in his own right, is credited as producer here, with eleven other guitarists doing the heavy lifting. No recording dates given, but AGS has at least existed for 14 years, so they're probably working off some backlog. Only two names don't ring a bell for me, but check yourself: Fareed Haque, Nguyen Lê, Nels Cline, Liberty Ellman, Anupam Shobhakar, Camila Meza, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Anthony Pirog, Cecil Alexander, Miles Okazaki, Henry Kaiser. Not ambient exactly, but insider plays I suspect are more to impress each other than to excite fans. B+(*) [cd] Hyeseon Hong Jazz Orchestra: Things Will Pass (2023 [2024], Pacific Coast Jazz): Korean composer and band leader, based in New York and/or Seoul, has a previous album from 2017, leads a conventional big band with saxophonist Rich Perry getting a "featured" credit. B+(**) [cd] Ice Spice: Y2K! (2024, 10K/Capitol/Dolo): Rapper Isis Gaston, first studio album (10 songs, 23:17) after a well-received EP in 2023 (13:08, then 16:01, then finally in a 24:15 "deluxe edition," which is the one I liked). B+(***) [sp] Eric Jacobson: Heading Home (2023 [2024], Origin): Trumpet player, based in Chicago, couple previous albums, this a postbop quintet with Geoff Bradfield (tenor sax), Bruce Barth (piano), bass, and drums. B+(*) [cd] Boldy James/Conductor Williams: Across the Tracks (2024, self-released): Rapper James Clay Jones III, several albums per year since 2020, various producer/collaborators, this one is Denzel Williams, from Kansas City, coming off joints with Stik Figa and Conway the Machine. B+(**) [sp] Kirk Knuffke: Super Blonde (2023 [2024], SteepleChase): Cornet player, albums since 2007 range from free to mainstream, often superb either way. This one is mostly standards, sharply etched, with a mainstream rhythm section of two bassists (Jay Anderson and Thommy Andersson) and drums (Adam Nussbaum). A- [sp] David Liebman & the CNY Jazz Orchestra: If a White Horse From Jerusalem . . . (2022 [2024], CNY Jazz Arts Foundation): This should probably be filed under Bret Zvacek, who is music director of the Syracuse-based Central New York Jazz Orchestra -- spine credit is just CNY Jazz Orchestra -- a conventional big band -- but the featured soprano saxophonist gets top billing on the cover. Zvacek composed the title suite (4 parts, 25:27), with others arranging the rest of the program, including covers of "Somewhere" and "Where or When." B+(**) [cd] Lux Quartet: Tomorrowland (2023 [2024], Enja/Yellowbird): Co-led by Myra Melford (piano) and Allison Miller (drums), with Dayna Stephens (tenor sax) and Scott Colley (bass). Relentlessly inventive postbop, the pianist can delight and dazzle, the sax more tentative but substantial,the rhythm always en garde. A- [cd] Matt Mitchell: Zealous Angles (2024, Pi): Pianist, one of the best to have emerged in the last decade, presents a trio of Chris Tordini (bass) and Dan Weiss (drums), playing a batch of original pieces. B+(***) [cd] ØKSE: ØKSE (2023 [2024], Backwoodz Studioz): Free jazz quartet with an electronic twist -- "sound chemist" Val Jeanty plays electronics, while bassist Petter Eldh also wields sampler and synths, along with saxophonist Mette Rasmussen and drummer Savannah Harris -- but four (of eight) pieces also feature guest rappers: Elucid, Billy Woods, Maassal, and Cavalier. Remarkable on all counts. A- [sp] Jonathan Powell: Mambo Jazz Party (2022 [2024], Circle 9): Trumpet player, from Florida, based in New York, has played in Latin jazz bands, leading this one, a powerhouse outfit. B+(***) [cd] Alvin Queen Trio: Feeling Good (2023 [2024], Stunt): Drummer, born in New York, credits start in 1970, picking up after he moved to Switzerland in 1979. Trio with Carlton Holmes (piano) and Danton Boller (bass), playing standards, and doubling down on Cedar Walton. B+(*) [sp] Ayra Starr: The Year I Turned 21 (2024, Mavin Global Holdings): Pop singer-songwriter, born in Benin, grew up in Lagos, titles so far note her age -- debut was 19 & Dangerous. B+(**) [sp] Linda Thompson: Proxy Music (2024, Storysound): Much beloved as the better half of a 1970s duo with then-husband Richard Thompson, spotty solo career since then with several decade-plus breaks, no longer sings but co-wrote a batch of songs, performed by various family and friends, with son Teddy Thompson most involved. B+(*) [sp] Tinashe: Quantum Baby 2024, Nice Life): R&B singer-songwriter, born in Kentucky but grew up in California, last name Kachingwe, seventh album since 2014, single "Nasty" her biggest since 2014's "2 On." B+(**) [sp] Piet Verbist: Flamenco Jazz Summit: El Mar Empieza Aquí (2023 [2024], Origin): Belgian bassist, has several albums, none particularly like this foray into Spanish flamenco, represented with bansuriney (Carmelo Muriel), guitar (Carlos Cortés), and drums (Juan Sainz), mixed with piano (Milan Verbist) and alto/soprano sax (Tom Van Dyck). B+(***) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: África Negra: Antologia Vol. 2 (1979-90 [2024], Bongo Joe): Band, established in the early 1970s by Horacio and Emidio Pontes, in the formerly Portuguese colony of São Tomé and Principé, islands in the Atlantic of the west coast of Africa, fitting midway between Nigerian highlife and Congolese soukous. A- [sp] Phil Haynes' 4 Horns and What?: The Complete American Recordings (1989-95 [2024], Corner Store Jazz, 3CD): Drummer, mostly associated with the late trumpet player Paul Smoker (on all three sets here), also with Ellery Eskelin (tenor sax, on the first two sets) and Herb Robertson (on the last two, credited here with "multi-brass"). Other horns here include Andy Laster (alto/bari sax/clarinet/flute on all three sets), Joe Daley ("low brass" on the first), and John Tchicai (tenor sax on the third). It's a formula that generates a lot of excitement. A- [sp] Old music: Okaidja Afroso: Jaku Mumor (2022, Chechekule): From Ghana, earlier album has a nicer flow. B+(**) [sp] Ellery Eskelin/Drew Gress/Phil Haynes/Paul Smoker: Joint Venture (1987, Enja): Free jazz group, artist names -- tenor sax, bass, drums, trumpet -- on cover but appears conceived as an eponymous group album, first of three albums through 1993, although their intertangled histories continued much longer. Starts with two covers, a slow "Day Dream" and a "Just in Time" which picks up momentum before getting into the originals. B+(***) [bc] Rosie Tucker: Lowlight (2015, self-released, EP): Singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, first album if you count it -- nine songs, 23:26, as best I can figure was 17 at the time, very much on her own. Her latest album sent Christgau back to her 2019 "debut," which I will get to in due course, but this one is very impressive in its own right, with several songs I'm tempted to quote not just lines but verses from, including two where she advises guys to look for love elsewhere, with one turning to suicide instead. A- [sp] Rosie Tucker: Never Not Never Not Never Not (2019, New Professor): With 11 songs, we'll call this a proper album, but still only runs 26:40, with only one song topping 3:04. She also has band backup here, but maybe the new songs needed that -- they're not as immediately striking, nor are they obviously not. B+(***) [sp] Rosie Tucker: Sucker Supreme (2021, Epitaph): Fourteen songs, 35:43, semi-major label dropper her after one album, music continues to develop, lyrics get harder to follow, or maybe just more complex and elusive. This seems to be the consensus pick among her albums, but I don't quite get it. B+(***) [sp] Grade (or other) changes: Chappell Roan: The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess (2023, Amusement/Island): I played this last year, wrote virtually nothing on it, so must not have been paying much attention, losing the single "Red Wine Supernova" after the later ballad fare, which on closer inspection turns out to be pretty good, too. [was: B+(**)] A- [sp] Rosie Tucker: Utopia Now! (2024, Sentimental): I played this when it came out, and liked it but didn't get much. Christgau picked it, went into her back catalog, and was even more smitten by Sucker Supreme. Various others have seconded his approval. So I figured odds were good that I had been hasty, and her previously unreported Lowlight raised my expectations even higher. Working forward confirmed her smarts and added chops and (less often) hooks, but as her increasing chops brings extra clutter, I'm getting less and less satisfaction out of her records. When I played this last night, I wound up inclined to save myself the paperwork by leaving my original grade. Playing it again today, I'm finally hearing lots of interesting stuff, but I'm still not enjoying it enough -- perhaps her voice, the time shifts, other little things I don't have any idea how to characterize. But her rep is certainly earned. [was: B+(**)] B+(***) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Monday, August 12, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42798 [42761] rated (+37), 34 [39] unrated (-5). I went ahead and pushed Speaking of Which out late last night, on schedule for the first time in many weeks. I'm probably not done with it, but figured that at 270 links, 12539 words -- I do love that little counter I programmed in a week or two ago -- I figured I had enough to present. Anything additional I come up with today will be flagged by the red border bar. [PS: Not much. Today's been shot to shit.] Writing this mid-afternoon Monday. I probably won't post until late, but I wanted to get it ready, so I don't slip up and delay it again. At this point, I'd much rather work more on Speaking of Which than on Music Week, not least because I find it easier and more relaxing to do, but also because I feel like I know what I understand what I'm reading there, and I'm able to write about it with some coherency. Whereas with music I just drop a lot of names and dates, and arbitrary knee-jerk reactions, and have little if any inspiration to write actual criticism. That feeling is being reinforced today as I'm only fifth straight B+(*) or less album -- trying to whittle down the demo queue while unpacking this week's haul pushed it back up again, all the more aggravated because I can't see the small print I need to file it all properly. (Optometrist has been telling me for years that I need cataract surgery, but somehow I flunked the surgeon's exam a couple weeks ago, so have to wait until inevitably become even more debilitated.) I suppose my self-doubts were pricked by the latest batch of Questions and Answers, only one of which is less than a year old. I thought the one on Michael Brecker was worth not just answering but putting a bit of time and thought into. That took some time getting to, and in the end turned out rather unsatisfactory, as I still can't point to any albums that justify his reputation. I started to explain more here, then decided to add that as a PS, and leave it there. I don't have much to say about the music below. Again, only one A- record, which like Jay Skeese last week, sounded qualitatively superior from the beginning, although I don't see it coming close to the top of the annual list. Some leftover hip-hop and country from the previous week's searches, some jazz from poll ballots and the demo queue, and a lot of old stuff from the Q&A. Gabriel Sielawa was recommended by a reader in a Q I just decided to treat as a tip. I have an essay in a new book, The Death Project: An Anthology for the Living, edited by Gretchen Cassel Eick and Cora Poage. The essay is called "Reading the Obits," which has been significantly revised from an old blog post. Very pleased to be part of this project. New records reviewed this week: Livio Almeida: The Brasilia Sessions (2024, Zoho): Tenor saxophonist from Brazil, based in New York, has mostly worked with Arturo O'Farrill, second album as leader (first on a real label), quartet with keys, bass, and drums. B+(**) [cd] Robby Ameen: Live at the Poster Museum (2024, Origin): Drummer, from Connecticut, based in New York, early Latin influence with Dizzy Gillespie, Eddie Palmieri, and Horacio "El Negro" Hernandez. Sextet with two saxophonists (Bob Franceschini and Troy Roberts), trombone (Conrad Herwig), Fender Rhodes, and bass, playing "Oleo" and six originals. B+(**) [cd] Olie Brice/Rachel Musson/Mark Sanders: Immense Blue (2022 [2024], West Hill): British bassist, many groups since 2011, trio here with tenor sax and drums. B+(**) [bc] Bridgetown Sextet: Functionizin' (2023 [2024], Rivermont): Portland-based trad jazz group, "actually a septet" (see back cover photo), but I'm counting even more credits. Old songs, from Jelly Roll Morton through Fats Waller. B+(**) [sp] Melissa Carper: Borned in Ya (2024, Mae Music): Country singer-songwriter, from Arkansas, plays banjo and upright bass, started in a family band. half-dozen albums since 2015, appeared recently in Wonder Women of Country, along with Brennen Leigh, who co-wrote several songs here. She also pulls out two unexpected covers -- "That's My Desire" and "Every Time We Said Goodbye," and namechecks Hank Williams, Leadbelly, and Hazel Dickens in the title song. A- [sp] Morten Duun: Code Breaker (2024, Cmntx): Guitarist, from Denmark, aka Morten Duun Aarup, mostly a trio with trumpet (Brandon Choi) and drums (Wouter Kühne), plus piano on two tracks, interesting as far as it goes, but he adds voice on four tracks, which is where I lose interest. B+(*) [cd] Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk a Mile in My Shoe (2024, Imani): Pianist-led big band (less than conventional, at 11 pieces, but supplemented with guests -- among whom vocalist Lisa Fischer gets "very special" status) fifth group album since 2010. B+(*) [cdr] The Sofia Goodman Group: Receptive (2023 [2024], Joyous): Drummer, based in Nashville, couple albums, eight-piece group playing her original pieces. Fairly slick postbop, nicely arranged. B+(*) [cd] Richard Guba: Songs for Stuffed Animals (2024, self-released): "Veteran saxophonist, debut album": three original pieces, five jazz standards, nicely done, reminds me in spots of Horace Silver. B+(**) [cd] Monika Herzig's Sheroes: All in Good Time (2023 [2024], Zoho): German pianist, also plays electric, moved to US 1988, studied at Indiana, albums from 2000, formed her Sheroes band in 2016, currently seven women, with Jamie Baum (flutes), Reut Regev (trombone), Camille Thurman (tenor sax), Leni Stern (guitar), Gina Schwarz (bass), and Rosa Avila (drums), playing originals by her and Schwarz, plus a Beyoncé cover. B+(**) [cd] Ize Trio: The Global Suites (2024, self-released):
"Multi-cultural" trio of Chase Morrin (piano, compositions), George
Lernis (percussion), and Naseem Alatrash (percussion), jazz with
Middle Eastern flavors, joined here by John Patitucci (bass, get
a "featuring" on cover but plays on only 2 of 10 tracks) and by
singers Farayi Malek (2 tracks) and Heiraza (5 tracks).
Karen Jonas: The Rise and Fall of American Kitsch (2024, self-released): Country singer-songwriter from Virginia, seventh album since 2014. B+(*) [sp] Rosemary Loar: Vagabond Heart/Curação Vagabundo (2024, Atlor Music): Singer and actress, mostly theatrical, Discogs credits her one previous album, from 2003, but website claims four, and hasn't been updated for this one yet. Title song, from Caetano Veloso and Gal Costa, is the only Brazilian venture, and the only other non-English title is from Sting. Other than that, three originals, and a bunch of show tunes. With pianist Frank Ponzio as music director/co-producer, bass-drums-percussion, and a bit of harmonica in lieu of horns. B+(***) [cd] Mai-Liis: Kaleidoscope (2023-24 [2024], OA2): Canadian jazz singer-songwriter, has a previous album from 2021, backed by piano, guitar, bass, and drums, with guest spots for horns and vibes. B+(*) [cd] Paula Maya: Rio De Janeiro (2024, Yellow House): Brazilian singer-songwriter, last name Niemeyer, plays piano, her six originals supplemented by a Jobim standard. B [cd] Megan Moroney: Am I Okay? (2024, Columbia Nashville): Country singer-songwriter, second album, seems pretty good, quite consistent. B+(***) [sp] Sam Newsome/Max Johnson: Tubes (2023 [2024], Unbroken Sounds): Saxophonist, started on tenor but has focused on soprano at least since 1998's The Tender Side of Sammy Straighthorn, and that's what he plays here, along with toys and treatments, accompanied by bass (often the most interesting thing here). B+(**) [sp] Miles Okazaki: Miniature America (2022 [2024], Cygnus): Guitarist, eclectic mix of albums since 2022, gathers ten musicians here for "22 vignettes exploring the wonder of chance encounters and 'found' compositions." The musicians are all prominent names (not all-stars, but people you should know, like Patricia Brennen and Jacob Garchik). Unfortunately, three of them are vocalists, and while they (Ganavya, Jen Shyu, and Fay Victor) don't always rub me the wrong way, they do so way too often for me here. B [cd] Michael Pagán: Paganova (2023 [2024], Capri): American pianist, based in Kansas City, debut album 1995, accent suggests Latin heritage, and there's much more than tinge here, driving the rhythms behind saxophonists Michael Herrera and David Chael. B+(***) [cd] The Palomar Trio [Dan Levinson/Mark Shane/Kevin Dorn]: The Song in Our Soul (2023, Turtle Bay): Swing trio from New York, with tenor sax/clarinet, piano, and drums, playing old standards, including Jelly Roll Morton and Edmond Hall. B+(**) [sp] Planet D Nonet: Echoes of Harlem: A Salute to Duke Ellington Vol. 2 (2024, Eastlawn): Detroit group, founded by James O'Donnell (trumpet) and RJ Spangler (percussion) back in 2010, when they were working with John Sinclair, and their repertoire extended from Bennie Moten to Sun Ra, only recently turning to Ellington. B+(***) [cd] Real Bad Man & Lukah: Temple Needs Water. Village Needs Peace. (2024, Old Soul Music/Real Bad Man): Los Angeles-based producer Adam Weissman, has a dozen albums since 2020, mostly collaborations with underground rappers, this one from Memphis. B+(**) [sp] Tarbaby: You Think This America (2022 [2024], Giant Step Arts): Pianist Orrin Evans, took this group name from his 2006 album, sixth group album since 2009, various horn players over the years but just the core trio here, with bass (Eric Revis) and drums (Nasheet Waits). Songs from each and nall, plus covers of Sam Rivers, Fats Waller, Oliver Lake, Andrew Hill, Paul Motion, and Bad Brains. B+(***) [bc] Juanma Trujillo: Howl (2024, Endectomorph Music): Guitarist, from Venezuela, based in New York, fifth album since 2018, quartet with Kevin Sun (tenor sax), Andrew Schiller (bass), and Matt Honor (drums). Slippery enough, but tends to slip past me. B+(**) [cdr] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Phil Ranelin: The Found Tapes: Live in Los Angeles (1978-81 [2024], ORG Music): Trombonist, moved to Detroit in the 1960s, did some Motown session work, in 1971 co-founded the Tribe (an important if very underground group with Wendell Harrison and Marcus Belgrave), later moving to Los Angeles where Horace Tapscott had been at the center of a similar community-oriented free jazz movement, going on to found a new band, Build an Ark. Previously unreleased live tapes, more tribal vibes. B+(***) [sp] Old music: Joanne Brackeen [Featuring Michael Brecker]: Tring-a-Ling (1977 [1978], Choice): Pianist, born JoAnne Grogan in California, married saxophonist Charles Brackeen in the 1960s but started releasing her own records in 1975, and easily eclipsed him. Fourth album, "featuring Mike Brecker," the saxophonist in the Brecker Bros. (1975-81), who already had a ton of studio work on rock albums. Brackeen pushes him hard here, and he responds credibly. B+(**) [yt] Michael Brecker: Don't Try This at Home (1988, Impulse!): Tenor saxophonist (1949-2007), his eponymous 1987 album wasn't technically his first but his run as a leader/star started there, with this as its sequel. Producer Don Grolnick took over piano on 2 tracks, and brought in big names -- Herbie Hancock, Charlie Haden, Jack DeJohnette, Mark O'Connor, Peter Erskine -- limiting Brecker's touring band to bit roles: Mike Stern (guitar, 6 tracks), Joey Calderazzo (piano, 2), Jeff Andrews (bass, 4), Adam Nussbaum (drums, 3). The result is pretty scattered, I'd say "not even fusion." Of course, if the saxophonist was as great as some critics claimed, it shouldn't matter (cf. Sonny Rollins). But he isn't, so it does. B- [sp] Michael Brecker: Now You See It . . . (Now You Don't) (1990, GRP): Third album, three Brecker originals, two each by producer Don Grolnick and keyboardist Jim Beard, ends with a Bobby Troup blues, with a revolving cast of guitar-bass-drums-percussion. That backing is rather lacklustre, but the saxophone, as least on the slow ones, sounds pretty good. B [sp] Michael Brecker: Tales From the Hudson (1996, Impulse!): With Grolnick gone, he's co-producing, lining up stars like Pat Metheny, Dave Holland, and Jack DeJohnette, with pianist Calderazzo spelled on two tracks by McCoy Tyner. With less muddle in the middle, he finally juices up the saxophone. B+(*) [sp] Michael Brecker: Time Is of the Essence (1998 [1999], Verve): Sixth album, George Whitty produced, group is reduced by a quartet, with Pat Metheny (guitar), Larry Goldings (organ), and any of three drummers (Elvin Jones, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Bill Stewart). I'm still not convinced he's a great saxophonist, but he can be a pretty good one, and Metheny can be a pretty good guitarist, too. B+(**) [sp] Don Grolnick [Featuring Michael Brecker]: Hearts and Numbers (1985, Hip Pocket): Pianist (1947-96), played in fusion groups Dreams and Brecker Bros. before recording a pair of well-regarded albums on Blue Note (I'm thumbs up on Nighttown but not Weaver of Dreams). This was his first, playing as much synth as piano, and taking the closing title song solo. B [sp] Herbie Hancock/Michael Brecker/Roy Hargrove: Directions in Music: Celebrating Miles Davis & John Coltrane: Live at Massey Hall (2001 [2002], Verve): Live set, piano, tenor sax, trumpet, backed by John Patitucci (bass) and Brian Blade (drums). Each brings an original in the style, they collaborate on one more, and cover the obvious bases, plus a version of "My Ship" that won a Grammy. B+(*) [sp] Pat Metheny: 80/81 (1980 [1981], ECM): 2-LP set, recorded over four days in May, 1980, the guitarist is backed by an exceptional rhythm section (Charlie Haden and Jack DeJohnette), and joined by two tenor saxophonists, Dewey Redman and Michael Brecker (both on three tracks, one with Redman only, three with Brecker only. short final track with neither). B+(***) [sp] Gabriel Sielawa: Terra (2022, Bangue): Brazilian, I think, sings and plays guitar, bass, cavaquinho; first (probably only) album, very little on the web, recommended by a virtual friend. B+(*) [sp] Brian Wilson: I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (1995, MCA): Beach Boys genius-turned-madman, promised to be coming out of all that when he released a solo album in 1988 that wasn't either, and wasn't followed up either, at least until this short (29:27) collection of remakes from the madman period dropped seven years later (or the solo album). Some of these songs once seemed like mad genius, but here the singer sounds tired, as if nostalgia is all there is left. B- [sp] Brian Wilson and Van Dyke Parks: Orange Crate Art (1995, Warner Bros.): Parks wrote all of the songs, so all Wilson had to do was sing. Parks wrote song cycles, long on concept with eclectic borrowings that should be interesting but, at least in my limited experience, aren't. B- [sp] Brian Wilson: At My Piano (2021, Lakeshore): Solo, no vocals, songs you no doubt know, may not impress as jazz, but the melodies are lovely as ever, harmony too. B+(**) [sp] Limited Sampling: Records I played parts of, but not enough to grade: -- means no interest, - not bad but not a prospect, + some chance, ++ likely prospect. Keith Jarrett: The Sun Bear Concerts (1976 [1989], ECM, 6CD): I still don't feel up to taking on the entire 6+ hours, but a 41:14 excerpt on YouTube ("Sapporo, Pt. 1") is really quite good. Maybe, someday. ++ [yt] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Tuesday, August 6, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42761 [42729] rated (+32), 39 [36] unrated (+3). I don't have much to say here, and want to move on, so let's keep this brief. Big Speaking of Which yesterday. I want to go back and edit a bit, but I'm afraid if I do it will drag on indefinitely. But if I post this now, I can go back with any revisions later (possibly including revisions here). I can also open a file for next week, which already has important stuff to report and comment on. Only thing to note here is that this week is mostly hip-hop, and mostly underground at that. I finally added HHGA's The Best Hip Hop Albums of 2024 to my Metacritic File, and listened to about half of the unheard albums on the list. I remembered that their The Best Hip Hop Albums of 2023 produced a bonanza of finds, and hoped that this mid-year list would be half as productive. It wasn't even close, with Jay Skeese the only A-, although most of the rest were worth hearing. Of 60 albums on their 2023 list, 14 made my A-list (5 previously known to me). So far this year, it's only 2 of the 32 I've heard (1 previously known: Heems; leaving 37 still unheard). I can't totally discount the possibility that my bad moods took a toll. And sure, one play (which is all nearly all of these got) has its limits, especially given how slow I am with words. I'll also admit that I spent a lot of time last week playing oldies. Also, the week was at least a day short, so I was surprised to find the rated count (32) as high as it is. No idea what next week will bring, other than that it's going to be hot. And we're officially in a drought now. Hopefully I'll get to some questions this week. New records reviewed this week: 21 Savage: American Dream (2024, Slaughter Gang/Epic): Rapper Shéyaa Bin Abraham-Joseph, born in London but raised in Atlanta, third solo album since 2017, also has three collaborations, all charted top-five in US. B+(**) [sp] Adeem the Artist: Anniversary (2024, Four Quarters): Country singer-songwriter, from North Carolina, several albums going back to 2011, but only came to my attention with Cast Iron Pansexual in 2021, followed by White Trash Revelry, both well off the beaten path, which wasn't their only appeal. B+(**) [sp] Apathy: Connecticut Casual: Chapter 2 (2024, Dirty Version): Connecticut rapper Chad Bromley, member of the Demigodz and Army of the Pharoahs, his own albums start in 2004, called a 2014 album Connecticut Casual, with hard beats and heavy vibes. B+(**) [sp] Arrested Development: Bullets in the Chamber (2024, Vagabond Productions): Hip-hop group from Atlanta, had a massive debut hit in 1992, broke up after their 1994 album, regrouped in 2000 and have released albums regularly ever since, to little notice (at least to no notice by me). B+(*) [sp] Awon & Parental: Sublime (2024, HHV): Rapper Antwan Wiggins, grew up in Virginia Beach, dozen-plus albums since 2008, working with French producer Raphaël Besikian, who favors jazzy vibes and explains that "hip-hop is the pinnacle of diversity and inclusion" and "one of the greatest blessings I've had." Ends with an instrumental version of the album, which is pleasant but unnecessary. B+(***) [sp] Beans: Zwaard (2024, Tygr Rawwk): Rapper Robert Edward Stewart II, started out in Antipop Consortium, joined here by Finnish producer Sasu Ripatti, better known as Vladislav Delay. B+(*) [sp] Blu & Evidence: Los Angeles (2024, Bigger Picture Music/New World Color): Rapper Johnson Barnes III, from Los Angeles, debut 2003, prolific since 2007, working here with producer Michael Perretta, who started with Dilated Peoples in the late 1990s. B+(**) [sp] Brother Ali & unJUST: Love & Science (2024, Travelers Media): Underground rapper since 2003, has a light touch. B+(*) [sp] Cavalier: Different Type Time (2024, Backwoodz Studioz): Rapper, from Brooklyn but based in New Orleans, couple albums since 2014. B+(**) [sp] Common & Pete Rock: The Auditorium Vol. I (2024, Loma Vista): Big-name rapper, debut 1992 as Common Sense, when his ambitions were more modest, has done quite a bit of acting since 2002, as well as producing a steady stream of quite respectable albums. Rock (Peter Phillips) produces, goes back as far, especially for his duo with CL Smooth. B+(***) [sp] Flo Milli: Fine Ho, Stay (2024, RCA): Rapper Tamia Carter, from Alabama, second album or third mixtape -- the distinction eludes me, all with Ho in the title. B+(**) [sp] Future & Metro Boomin: We Don't Trust You (2024, Epic/Freebandz/Republic Boominati Worldwide): Rapper Nayvadius Cash, from Atlanta, best-selling albums since 2012, working here with producer Leland Tyler Wayne, first of two collaborative albums this year, but they go back at least to 2013. Runs 17 tracks, 59:39, and they weren't done yet. B+(**) [sp] Future & Metro Boomin: We Still Don't Trust You (2024, Epic/Freebandz/Republic/Boominati Worldwide, 2CD): So, less than a month later, they released another 25 tracks, 88:33, the last seven overflowing to a second CD. Strikes me as maybe a tad catchier, but not sure the difference is worth quantifying. B+(**) [sp] Gangrene: Heads I Win, Tails You Lose (2024, ALC): Hip-hop duo, Alchemist and Oh No, fourth album since 2010. B+(**) [sp] Fred Hersch: Silent, Listening (2023 [2024], ECM): Eminent pianist, more than 50 albums since 1984, mostly trios but I count 16 solo albums, including this one -- I'm not a big fan of solo piano, but 2015's Solo is an exception. This one, as the title implies, winds up a bit thin. B+(*) [sp] The Hot Toddies Jazz Band: The Hot Toadies Jazz Band (2019-22 [2023], Prohibition Productions): New York-based trad jazz outfit, first album, considerable turnover between early and later sessions, the constants being Justin Poindexter (guitar/vocals), Gabe Terracciano (violin/vocals), and Patrick Soluri (drums), with featured singers Queen Esther (2019) and Hannah Gill (2022). B+(***) [bc] Lupe Fiasco: Samurai (2024, 1st and 15th Too): Chicago rapper, 2006 debut was a breakout hit. Still has a pop touch. B+(**) [sp] Roc Marciano: Marciology (2024, Marci Enterprises): Rapper Rakeem Myer, has a regular stream of albums since 2010, many plays on his alias, this being even more inscrutable than most. B+(*) [sp] Masta Ace & Marco Polo: Richmond Hill (2024, Fat Beats): Rapper Duval Clear, from Brooklyn, started 1988 in Juice Crew, debut album 1990, more after 2000, teaming up with Canadian beatmaker/producer Marco Bruno in 2018. B+(**) [sp] James McClaskey & the Rhythm Band: Later on Blues (2024, BigTone): From New Orleans, plays tenor guitar and sings, second album for band (has another supporting Annabelle Zakaluk), mostly blues, three originals, but also covers from Tiny Grimes (one Charlie Parker, another Art Tatum) and Coleman Hawkins. B+(**) [sp] Midnight Sons: Money Has No Owners (2024, Chong Wizard): Philadelphia rapper Stephen Zales, aka Zilla Rocca, with Canadian DJ Chong Wizard, with most cuts featuring others (the ones I recognize are Blu, AJ Suede, and Alaska). Has a jazzy underground vibe. B+(**) [sp] Moses Rockwell Featuring Plain Old Mike: Regular Henry Sessions (2024, Hipnott): Rapper from Rochester, has at least one previous album, don't know anything more about his partner here, but cover photos two bearded blokes, and Mike gets the producer credit, earning his "jazzy" cred. B+(***) [sp] ShrapKnel: Nobody Planning to Leave (2024, Backwoodz Studioz): Hip-hop duo, Curly Castro and Mark Debuque, third album. Kind of patchy, sketchy too. B [sp] Jae Skeese & Superior: Testament of the Times (2024, RRC Music/BarsOverBs): Rapper from Buffalo, fifth album since 2020, producer is Marcos Oviedo (German "with Spanish descents"), his first album 2009. Underground, smart, really nice flow. A- [sp] Daniel Son & Futurewave: Bushman Bodega (2024, WavGodMusic): Toronto rapper Daniel Borley, Discogs credits him with 18 albums since 2017, 7 with producer Martin Budik (Futurewave). B+(*) [sp] Kelsey Waldon: There's Always a Song (2024, Oh Boy): Deep country singer-songwriter from Kentucky, ninth album since 2010, fourth on John Prine's label. Always has that deep holler voice and vibe, but leans heavily on guests to stretch eight songs (including covers as well worn as "Hello Stranger," "Uncle Pen, and "Travelling the Highway Home") out to 27:45. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Sonny Rollins: A Night at the Village Vanguard: The Complete Masters (1957 [2024], Blue Note Tone Poet, 2CD): Long regarded as a major item in the tenor saxophonist's oeuvre, but I've never been much of a fan. The original 1958 LP (6 tracks, 44:17; one afternoon track with Donald Bailey and Pete La Roca, the rest from the evening sets with Wilbur Ware and Elvin Jones) was expanded to two CDs in 1987, picking up tracks from 1975's 2-LP More From the Vanguard (which I once owned). I've certainly underrated those CDs (in my database at B- and B, with the 1999 2-CD reissue at B+, and now this one, conceived as a 3-LP set but also available as 2-CD (130:00), adding nothing new of consequence (possibly some extra patter). I might complain of too many drum solos, but they're not bad, and the saxophone is majestic. Still, I have enough experience with really great Rollins to find this a tad overrated. B+(***) [sp] The Louis Stewart Trio: Louis the First (1975 [2024], Livia): Irish guitarist (1944-2016), seems to have been his first album (although he had previous side-credits, including Clark Terry, Benny Goodman, and Jesus Christ Superstar). Mostly trio, with Martin Walshe (bass) and John Wadham (drums), dropping down to solo or bass duo on occasion. B+(***) [bc] Old music: Pat Metheny: Bright Size Life (1975 [1976], ECM): First album for the now-famous guitarist, a trio with Jaco Pastorius (bass) and Bob Moses (drums). Before he found his fusion schtick, he had a lot going on. B+(**) [sp] Jumaane Smith: I Only Have Eyes for You (2014, self-released): Trumpet player, also sings (but not much here), first album, side credits include Rashied Ali in 2005, also Alicia Keys and Michael Bublé, the latter opening with a guest vocal here. Some nice trumpet, but song selection is odd, and the string backdrops uninspired. B- [sp] Jumaane Smith: When You're Smiling (2020, Zinn Music): Trumpet player, plays hot, sings with some enthusiasm, picks more upbeat songs this time. I'm not finding any credits. But he hasn't totally lost the strings. Or the milquetoast guest singers? B [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, July 31, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42729 [42703] rated (+26), 36 [23] unrated (+13). My Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll threw me off the usual Sunday/Monday post schedule, although the sheer quantity of news I reaped for yesterday's Speaking of Which would have been excuse enough (249 links, 11258 words before today's additions). ArtsFuse published my intro/overview essay, Diversity Brings Riches: A Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, on Friday, at which time I enabled the totals and ballots on my archival website:
There was a glitch early on where the points totals in the tables on ArtsFuse got mangled, so had to be fixed. I've received some feedback on the poll, but not very much. I sent a notice out to my "jazzpoll" mailing list, but as best I can figure, only about half of those messages get past the spam traps (gmail seems to be exceptionally harsh). I put out two announcements on X, but the first (link to essay) only has 164 views (1 retweet, 3 likes), and the second (link to updated Music Week) got 222 views (2 retweets, 5 likes). I also did two notices on Facebook, like this one, with 1 share and 5 likes. A Google search reveals:
Also, a couple critics published their ballots (which are all available through the link above). Chris Monsen wrote up his extended mid-year list. I also suspect that I provoked All About Jazz into polling their writers for this all-star break edition list. (As I understand it, their call went out a week after my invites, but they were first to press.) I've scarcely touched my metacritic file, but should get back to it if/when demands on my time lighten up. Its main value is as a prospecting tool, which I haven't much needed while I had so many jazz albums to search out. I'm pretty sure I'll return to it when the year-end lists start coming in, but between now and then it's likely to only be an occasional hobby. I'm also not sure I'll continue updating my Best Jazz Albums of 2024 file, although it's pretty comprehensive for now. An even more vexing question is whether I'll make a serious effort at the download links I've been accumulating. More pressing is that I've fallen behind the queue of promo CDs (although much of that mail I just opened today). I did manage to wrap up the July Streamnotes file, and to open a new one for August. Rated count is light this week, as I've had several days where I didn't want to multitask while writing, or didn't feel up to it. I also found myself tiring of looking for unheard albums that got poll votes, especially as many proved inaccessible. Still 189 left in the tracking file, so maybe I just need a break. It's tempting to just take August off. I have a lot of stuff to do around the house. Also a couple of web projects that need attention. I need to rethink my writing ambitions. There are also some health questions. I've just finished reading Amy Kaplan's Our American Israel: The Story of an Entangled Alliance. It's a pretty good general history of Israel since the 1940s, with its long drift from left to right, fought mostly on the level of myth, where the intertwined alliance brings out the worst in both. That focus often ignores real political issues -- like the American preoccupation with the Cold War and the postcolonial order of petrostates, and how Israel could somehow deny Arabs (especially Palestinians) any real agency in their fate. They are always treated as an irreconcilable other, to be fought and subdued, and there is nothing they can do about it, so they cycle endlessly between violence and conciliation, only to find that neither stance makes any difference. This fixed gaze saves Kaplan from having to give them any consideration. The section on Lebanon is pivotal, as Israel shifted direction from justifiable defense to unconscionable offense. Of course, we now know that the latter was always part of the game plan, which is part of the reason we forget how brutal the shift appeared at the time. There is a passage here describing the devastation of West Beirut that will make you think of Gaza today. By that point the right-wing had taken charge in Israel, with Begin as PM, and Sharon running the war. And as the left in America (and to some ultimately fruitless extent in Israel as well) started to have misgivings, the American right embraced the Israeli right ever more firmly. The book's coverage of Christian Zionism is the most detailed I've read, and is truly scary -- in large part because it's really hard to grasp that people can actually believe such nonsense. The book then moves on to neocon militarism, and to the war on terror (with Israel as its guiding light, and "start up" profiteer). Along the way, the focus on myth offers in-depth discussions of such cultural artifacts as the books/movies from Exodus to Schindler's List to The Late Great Planet Earth to Homeland to World War Z. New records reviewed this week: Daymé Arocena: Alkemi (2024, Brownswood): Afro-Cuban jazz singer, first appeared in Jane Bunnett's Cuban group Maqueque, fifth album since 2015, all on this British label. B+(*) [sp] Carlos Bica: 11:11 (2024, Clean Feed): Bassist, from Portugal, wide range of albums from the late 1990s on (last one was Playing With Beethoven, and I didn't much care for it). This is a quartet which can run rough or refined, with José Soares (sax), Eduardo Cardinho (vibes), and Gonçalo Neto (guitar/banjo). Has a bit of vocal. B+(**) [sp] Zach Bryan: The Great American Bar Scene (2024, Belting Bronco/Warner): Country singer-songwriter, one I've underrated in the past, and may well again, as he has a knack for making exceptional songs seem ordinary. Runs over an hour. B+(**) [sp] Chick Corea & Béla Fleck: Remembrance (2024, Thirty Tigers): Piano and banjo duo, third album together, after The Enchantment (2007) and Two (2015). No recording date(s) given, but this "last project" (which includes audience applause) was obviously recorded before pianist's death in 2021. B [sp] Jon De Lucia: The Brubeck Octet Project (2023 [2024], Musæum Clausum): Alto saxophonist, several albums, modeled on Dave Brubeck's early (1948-50) group, with trumpet, trombone, two more saxophones (Scott Robinson on tenor), piano (Glenn Zaleski), bass, and drums. Nice sense of group interplay. B+(***) [cd] Divr: Is This Water (2022 [2024], We Jazz): Swiss piano-bass-drums trio (Philipp Eden, Raphael Walser, Jonas Ruther), first album. B+(*) [sp] FUR [Hélène Duret/Benjamin Sauzereau/Maxime Rouayroux]: Bond (2023 [2024], Budapest Music Center): French-Belgian trio: clarinets, guitar, drums. Nice atmospherics B+(**) [sp] Marshall Gilkes and WDR Big Band: Life Songs (2022 [2024], Alternate Side): Trombonist, debut 2004, often drawn to big bands (Maria Schneider, John Fedchock) and Latin (Brian Lynch), third album with the German radio orchestra. Vibrant and lush, the Sabeth Pérez vocal a plus. B+(***) [sp] Ciara Grace: Write It Down (2024, self-released): Singer-songwriter, can't find much about her, had to look the album up by title as artist name didn't do the trick (found me a single, instead). First impression is I like her, though. [PS: Would have found out more had I gotten her name right, including a previous album from 2016.] B+(***) [sp] The Gringo Pistoleros: The Rise and . . . Subsequent Fall of the Texas Alien (2024, self-released): Recorded in Austin, with Cory Grinder (presumably from somewhere else) just passing through, "named in homage to the great Tim Henderson" (who? Discogs lists 11 with that name, pictures 0). B+(**) [sp] Christopher Hoffman: Vision Is the Identity (2024, Out of Your Head): Cellist, has a couple previous, core group here has keyboards (Frank LoCrasto) and drums (Bill Campbell), but four (of seven) tracks add guests: Henry Threadgill (alto sax), Ryan Scott (guitar), Anne Webber (flute), Alfredo Colón (EWI). Short (24:20). B+(*) [sp] Johnny Blue Skies: Passage Du Desir (2024, High Top Mountain): "Metamodern" country singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson, not sure if his name is on the cover or not but it appears everywhere the record is mentioned. B+(**) [sp] Norah Jones: Visions (2024, Blue Note): Singer-songwriter, tends to be slotted as jazz given her record label, but little reason to read much into that. Her 2002 debut was a huge crossover hit, with US sales topping 11 million. Ninth studio album, co-wrote most songs with producer Leon Michels. B+(*) [sp] Pat Metheny: MoonDial (2024, BMG): Popular jazz guitarist, mostly played fusion since 1975 but has occasionally ventured off the beaten path, which in recent years has included novel instruments. Here he plays baritone guitar, not technically novel, but going deep into "the instrument's nature," he finds "resonant contemplation." B+(*) [sp] Kim Myhr & Kitchen Orchestra: Hereafter (2020 [2024], Sofa Music): Norwegian guitarist, various albums since 2005, also credited here with voice, organ, synthesizer, drum machine, and piano, with a fairly large postclassical ensemble (but no real string section). B+(*) [sp] O.: WeirdOs (2024, Speedy Wunderground): "O. (15)" at Discogs, "jazz-fusion duo from London, UK," Joe Henwood (baritone sax) and Tash Keary (drums), first album after a single and an EP, instrumental, sort of a funk-grunge synthesis. B+(*) [sp] Revival Season: Golden Age of Self Snitching (2024, Heavenly): Atlanta producer Jonah Swilley and rapper Brandon Evans, first album. B+(***) [sp] Splitter Orchester: Splitter Musik (2024, Hyperdelia, 3CD): Berlin-based composer-performer collective, founded 2010, with members of ten different nationalities, fourth album, each disc a single piece (51:47, 41:36, 78:00). Sort of an ambient industrial feel. Hard to nail down much on an album this long because it's impossible to concentrate like that, but just let it go, and you may wind up suspecting there's something to it. B+(**) [sp] Stemeseder Lillinger Quartet: Umbra II (2023 [2024], Intakt): Austrian pianist Elias Stemeseder, with German drummer Christian Lillinger, cover adds "feat. Peter Evans & Russell Hall" -- trumpet and bass. They've done this before -- not just Umbra but Penumbra and Antumbra. B+(***) [sp] Kevin Sun: The Fate of the Tenor (2022 [2024]. Endectomorph Music): Tenor saxophonist, impressive Trio debut in 2018, has been on a roll ever since, knows his history and lore. Live set here, another trio, with Walter Stinson (bass) and Matt Honor (drums). B+(***) [sp] Kenny Warren: Sweet World (2023 [2024], Out of Your Head): Trumpet player, based in Brooklyn, played in Slavic Soul Party, has several albums on his own, this one with cello (Christopher Hoffman) and drums (Nathan Ellman-Bell). B+(**) [sp] Stian Westerhus & Maja S.K. Ratkje: All Losses Are Restored (2024, Crispin Glover): Norwegian guitarist and vocalist, at least established as such in careers established in the early 2000s, but credits aren't clear here, and two voices intertwine. Hard to tell how deep the story line is, as despite considerable skill I never care enough to follow. B [sp] Wimps: City Lights (2023, Youth Riot): Punk rock trio from Seattle, fourth album since 2013, 13 songs, 26:43. B+(***) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Fingers: The Complete Fingers Remember Mingus (1979-93 [2024], Jazz in Britain, 3CD): British quintet -- Lol Coxhill (soprano/tenor sax), Bruce Turner (alto sax/clarinet), Michael Garrick (piano), Dave Green (bass), and Alan Jackson (drums) -- recorded Remember Mingus in 1979, the five tracks (plus "Softly, as in a Morning Sunrise") there doubled here for two CDs, and supplemented with later BBC shots for a third. B+(***) [bc] Pat Smythe Quartet: New Dawn: Live 1973 (1973 [2024], British Progressive Jazz): British pianist (1923-83), probably best known for his 1960s work with Joe Harriott; quartet here features fusion guitarist Allan Holdsworth (1946-2017), with Daryl Runswick (bass) and Soft Machine drummer John Marshall. B+(***) [sp] Old music: Mike Cooley/Patterson Hood/Jason Isbell: Live at the Shoals Theatre (2014 [2020], Southeastern): Three singer-songwriters, all started out in the Drive-By Truckers, Isbell went solo circa 2007, Hood has a couple solos albums, Cooley just one from 2012 but gets lead billing here because the theatre seems to have been his childhood dream. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Thursday, July 25, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42703 [42668] rated (+35), 23 [15] unrated (+8). [07-26]: The Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll is public now. ArtsFuse has published my essay, Diversity Brings Riches: A Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, which includes the leader board (top 50 New Releases, top 20 Rara Avis). I've unlocked the complete results on my jazzpoll website:
ArtsFuse has a comment facility. Thus far I've seen one comment, and tried replying to it. I'm tracking these comments in my notebook. I'm hoping they'll give me some fodder for my FAQ file. You can also query or comment direct to me. Later today I'll send out a notice to the Jazzpoll mailing list: the usual links, of course, but also an appeal for voters to do some publicity of their own, possibly writing pieces about what they've learned from poll. I'm also looking ahead to the end-of-year poll. This has been a valuable practice run for what could be a much more ambitious task. One thing I would like to do between now and then is to redesign the website to make it into a better integrated whole. This might wind up with putting all of the data into a single multi-year database, so we can track voters, artists, etc., over multiple years. I'm also curious about more statistical analysis. But even before that, we have to identify the missing pieces, and the questions they raise. If you are interested and willing to do some work, you can figure out how to get in touch. By the way, according to my tracking file, I have rated 633 albums so far this year, of which 427 (67.4%) are jazz. So I'm not doing a very good job of easing into retirement. I'm slowly decompressing after deep burial in the work of running my Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll. The website is up, but the results won't be public until ArtsFuse publishes my introductory essay -- which I turned in on Tuesday, so it shouldn't be much longer. After some initial panic, I finally counted 90 ballots, which is a bit more than half of the 159 ballots we received for the 2023 Poll. A couple dozen more invitees wrote back with apologies, mostly due to the very limited voting period I allowed and other demands on their time, but several just didn't like the idea (while expressing an interest in year-end voting -- I know of other critics who just don't like the idea of polls and lists in general, but they had taken themselves off my mailing list). Voters were asked to vote for up to 10 "new releases" (first releases of new music recorded no earlier than 2014) and up to 5 "rara avis" (reissues or newly released music from 2013 or earlier). The 90 critics voted for 366 "new releases" and 109 "rara avis" albums. If memory serves, 3 albums got votes in both, and 3 more received one vote in the wrong time frame, so the total number of albums that received votes was 472, which is 5.24 per voter. I'd hazard a guess that about half of those records got 1 vote each. Also, at least half of them weren't in my tracking file before the poll, so were new to me. I've added them all now, and over the last 3-4 weeks I've listened to a lot of jazz I wasn't previously aware of (including all 5 A- records this week, and most of the high B+ records too). As I've probably mentioned, I find lists most useful as a means for checking what I do and do not know. Donald Rumsfeld once made the distinction between "known-unknowns" and "unknown-unknowns." Well, I keep the former are on a list as such, leaving only the latter as still unaccounted-for unknowns. So, thanks to the last few weeks, I now know much more about what I don't know. When the results are published, so can you. As part of this exercise, I went ahead and prematurely compiled a Best Jazz Albums of 2024 file. (I didn't bother compiling the companion Best Non-Jazz list, because I didn't need it, and didn't want to bite off the extra work, least of all in maintenance -- indeed, I may not maintain the Jazz file until the need arises come November.) The most notable thing here is that the A-list has already reached 60 albums, whereas for recent full years, it has never grown beyond 87 albums. I can imagine three possible explanations for this bounty: this is a really great year for new jazz; I'm much better informed this year than ever before; and/or I'm growing soft and addled in my old age. Still, I've retained enough wits to discriminate between these 60 A/A- albums and 108 with B+(***) grades, and another 193 with lower grades. (Let's see: in 2023, that split was 85 A/A-, 225 B+(***), 532 lower, so comparing this year so far to last gives us: 70.5%, 48.0%, 36.2%.) So, sure, that's skewed pretty significantly. But I can't think of anything to do about it. The grading scale was never conceived of as a curve, and it's too late to change much now. While working on the essay, I slowly pieced together a Speaking of Which, which wound up straddling the Republican Convention, Biden's withdrawal, and Kamala Harris's clinching of the Democratic nomination. The domestic politics did at least take my mind away from the international situation, which as far as I can tell is still very much out there -- especially the atrocities in and around Israel. One story I avoided was Netanyahu's speech to Congress. I thought the most telling moment there was when Biden praised and gave thanks to Joe Biden, and Republicans stood and applauded. Of course, it wasn't Biden they were applauding. Nor were they really showing how supplicant they are to Netanyahu (although they clearly are). They mostly relished how Netanyahu's embrace disgraced Biden and his administration. As I've noted many times before, the only time Republicans are up for a "bipartisan" deal is when they see it as a wedge between the Democratic leaders and their base. All of Washington may be in thrall to Israel, but it's not a good look for the self-anointed leaders of the free world. Of course, I didn't really finish with last week, so next week's Speaking of Which will start as soon as this Music Week posts. And as I'm unlikely to be done on Sunday, next Music Week should again be delayed -- perhaps enough to give me most of a week (as long as I wrap up before the end of July, I'll be happy.) After that, I hope to slow down a bit, and take stock. I have lots of projects to work on around the house. I have some doctor stuff on tap. I also have a new website to think about. And I need to rethink the whole writing life. Besides, August is usually pretty miserable here in Wichita. Meanwhile, a couple mid-year lists to check out:
New records reviewed this week: أحمد [Ahmed]: Giant Beauty (2022 [2024], Fönstret, 5CD): Five more shows, each on its own disc each a single piece 44:15-49:40 long, from five consecutive nights in Stockholm (August 10-14, so after the April 2 Glasgow date on Wood Blues). Too intense to play straight through, possibly redundant if you're satisfied with Wood Blues, but something where you can just pick a disc at random when the mood strikes. A- [sp] Alliance [Sharel Cassity/Colleen Clark]: Alliance (2024, Shifting Paradigm): Supposedly a group name, but two of the four women pictured on the cover are named in smaller print at the bottom: Cassity plays flute and alto/soprano sax, Clark drums, along with Hannah Meyer (piano) and Carmani Edwards (bass). A very sprightly hard bop outing. B+(**) [sp] Beholder Quartet: Suspension of Disbelief (2024, Sachimay): Streaming sources list this as Beholder Trio, but cover says Quartet, as does a previous album -- a still earlier trio is simply credited to Beholder. Group of Dan DeChellis (piano), John Philip Tomasic (guitar), Jeffrey Slater (electric bass), and Zach Martin (drums). DeChellis has albums back to 1998, including a 1999 trio with Tomasic, and a later series of albums with avant saxophonist Gary Hassay. Very interesting album, even in the slow spots. A- [sp] Oddgeir Berg Trio: A Place Called Home (2024, Ozella): Norwegian pianist, home is the island of Rolla, which is pretty far north, fifth trio album since 2018, with Audun Ramo (bass) and Lars Berntsen (drums). B+(*) [sp] Isaiah Collier & the Chosen Few: The Almighty (2023 [2024], Division 81): Saxophonist, from Chicago, group is a quartet with piano-bass-drums, but aims higher, starting off with a gospelized Dee Alexander vocal, then a spiritual spot for Ari Brown. Three more tracks: more yearning, more vocals, more rafters-raising saxophone. B+(**) [sp] Nick Dunston: Colla Voce (2022 [2024], Out of Your Head): Bassist, fifth album since 2019, also credit for "post-processing," on what is billed as "a warped narrative of sorts, hurtling from acoustic universe to electric universe, string to scream, raw to produced, New York to Berlin, and real to surreal." The strings and voices give it an air of opera, but very warped indeed, and I'd add, saved by the drums. B+(**) [cd] Isabelle Duthoit & Franz Hautzinger: Dans le Morvan (2021 [2024], Relative Pitch): French clarinetist, also credited for voice (which is more like audible breathing), in a duo with the Austrian playing quarter tone trumpet. Second duo album, very sketchy. B+(*) [sp] Nick Finzer: Legacy: A Centennial Celebration of JJ Johnson (2024, Outside In Music): Trombonist, eighth album since 2012, quartet with Renee Rosnes (piano), Rufus Reid (bass), and Lewis Nash (drums), all veterans of Johnson's 1980-90s groups. B+(***) [sp] Gregory Groover Jr.: Lovabye (2023 [2024], Criss Cross): Tenor saxophonist, from Boston, name sounds like a smooth jazz alias (well, maybe not as much as Euge Groove), but he studied and teaches at Berklee, has his debut on a mainstream label, and lined up a batch of stars for backing: Joel Ross (vibes), Aaron Parks (piano), Vicente Archer (bass), Marcus Gilmore (drums) and Matthew Stevens (guitar on 3 tracks). B+(**) [sp] Giovanni Guidi: A New Day (2023 [2024], ECM): Italian pianist, about a dozen albums since 2007, quartet here with James Brandon Lewis (tenor sax), Thomas Morgan (bass), and João Lobo (drums). He plays nicely, nowhere close to challenging his guest star, who nonetheless reveals that he'll probably make a great ballad album some day. B+(**) [sp] Jo Harrop: The Path of a Tear (2024, Lateralize): British singer-songwriter, slotted jazz but not necessarily so, third album, has a nice feel and touch, and songs. B+(***) [sp] Xaver Hellmeier: X-Man in New York (2022 [2023], Cellar Music): German drummer, based in Munich, but went to New York to study with Joe Farnsworth, which set him up for a first album recorded in Van Gelder Studios with what must be his dream band: Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), Eric Alexander (tenor sax), David Hazeltine (piano), and Peter Washington (bass). I've long admired that group (and Farnsworth), but it's been a while since they've put their skills to such inspired use. A- [sp] اسم ISM [Pat Thomas/Joel Grip/Antonin Gerbal]: Maua (2022 [2024], 577): London-based piano-bass-drums trio, at least one previous album, they also form the core of the quartet known as [Ahmed]. Two pieces, the 41:15 title track, plus a 6:22 extra, with a very nice Bösendorfer grand that may have slowed the group down a bit, just to relish the sound. Title means "flowers" in Swahili. Not as dramatic as the [Ahmed] albums, but this should help Thomas get recognition as one of jazz's top-tier pianists. A- [dl] Tobias Klein/Frank Rosaly/Maria Warelis: Tendresse (2022 [2024], Relative Pitch): Bass/contrabass clarinetist, originally from Germany (Saarbrücken), based in Netherlands, not much as leader but side credits since 1997 (most often in the group Spinifex). Backed here with drums and piano. B+(**) [sp] Christian McBride/Edgar Meyer: But Who's Gonna Play the Melody? (2024, Mack Avenue): Bass duo, with each musician switching to piano for two tracks. McBride is probably the most famous jazz bassist of his generation, but I had to look Meyer up: 12 years older, from Tennessee, has a distinguished career in classical music, but also ventures into bluegrass with Mark O'Connor, Béla Fleck, and Chris Thile. Often engaging, but kind of self-limiting. B+(*) [sp] The New Wonders: Steppin' Out (2024, Turtle Bay): Trad jazz septet, led by Mike Davis, who plays cornet, sings, and composed or arranged everything. Second album. B+(***) [sp] Carlos Niño & Friends: Placenta (2022-23 [2024], |International Anthem): Based in Los Angeles, "an internationally celebrated producer, arranger, composer, musician, radio host, DJ, music consultant, writer, poet, and event organizer," "involved in the production of more than 100 records," although the only groups I recognize are Build an Ark and Hu Vibrational, and they're both a tad obscure. Fourth group album on this label -- Discogs shows earlier ones back to 2009 -- a sprawling (77:07) jumble of synths, flute (André 3000), horns, rhythm, voices. B [sp] Omawi [Marta Warelis/Onno Govaert/Wilbert De Joode]: Waive (2023, Relative Pitch): Piano-drums-bass trio, fairly abstract in an intimate framework. B+(**) [sp] Hery Paz: River Creatures (2023 [2024], Porta Jazz): Tenor saxophonist, from Cuba, second album, trio with Nate Wooley (trumpet) and Tom Rainey (drums). B+(***) [sp] Frank Paul Schubert/Michel Pilz/Stefan Scheib/Klaus Kugel: Live at FreeJazz Saar 2019 (2019 [2024], Nemu): German free jazz saxophonist (alto/soprano), a couple dozen albums since 2005, here in a group with bass clarinet, bass, and drums, joint improv on a piece called "Where Is Charles?" -- no answer or further explanation offered, not that any is needed. B+(***) [cd] SML: Small Medium Large (2022-23 [2024], International Anthem): Quintet of Anna Butterss (electric bass), Jeremiah Chiu (synths), Josh Johnson (sax/electronics), Booker Stardrum (drums), and Gregory Uhlmann (guitar), pieced this together from four sets of improv, with an ear toward finding an irresistible groove. B+(***) [sp] Space: Embrace the Space (2024, Relative Pitch): Swedish piano-bass-drums trio, Lisa Ullén, Elsa Bergman, and Anna Lund. Second album, improv pieces, pretty tight. B+(***) [sp] Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii: Aloft (2023 [2024], Libra): Trumpet and piano duo, husband and wife, many records together (mostly in larger groups, all the way to big bands), but this is the basic mix, and very striking when they grab your attention. B+(***) [cd] Terton [Louie Belogenis/Trevor Dunn/Ryan Sawyer]: Outer, Inner, Secret (2023 [2024], Tzadik): Tenor/soprano sax, bass, drums trio. B+(***) [sp] Marta Warelis/Andy Moor: Escape (2022 [2024], Relative Pitch): Polish pianist, has been making the rounds since 2017, here a duo with one of the Ex guitarists. B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Cannonball Adderley: Burnin' in Bordeaux: Live in France 1969 (1969 [2024], Elemental Music): Alto saxophonist, a hard bopper who actually scored some crossover r&b hits, probably did his best work in the late 1950s, but had a strong series of albums with Riverside in the early 1960s, more mixed results later on with Capitol, before he died at 46 in 1975. So this is rather late in his career, a quintet with his brother Nate Adderley on trumpet, Joe Zawinul on keyboards, Victor Gaskin on bass, and Roy McCurdy on drums. A solid but not exceptional set, in a very nice package. B+(**) [cd] Cannonball Adderley: Poppin' in Paris: Live at L'Olympia 1972 (1972 [2024], Elemental Music): A bit later, after Joe Zawinul left for Weather Report, with George Duke adding some funk on keyboads, Walter Booker the new bassist, Ray McCurdy back on drums, and brother Nat the stand out on cornet. B+(***) [cd] Atrás del Cosmos: Cold Drinks, Hot Dreams (1980 [2024], Blank Forms Editions): Reportedly the first free jazz group to come out of Mexico, but not much known about they: this reissue is their only album in Discogs (which doesn't have the original), nor is there much evidence of members Ana Ruíz (piano), Henry West (sax), Evry Mann (drums), or Claudio Enriquez (bass). Opens with heavy piano (think Cecil Taylor), adds in the sax, then evolves into their own milieu. A- [sp] Charlie Mariano: Boppin' in Boston 1947-1953 (1947-53 [2024], Fresh Sound, 2CD): Alto saxophonist (1923-2009) from Boston, a remarkably fluid player, was very quick to jump on the bebop bandwagon -- much quicker than the bands he played in early, judging from the opening tracks here. Digital breaks this into two volumes, the first ending with a Jan. 27, 1953 session, the second from later that year, a bit more consistent. B+(**) [sp] Gerry Mulligan: Night Lights (1962 [2024], Philip): Baritone saxophonist, in a laid back mood with Art Farmer (flugelhorn), Bob Brookmeyer (valve trombone), Jim Hall (guitar), bass, and drums. B+(*) [sp] The Oscar Pettiford Memorial Concert (1960 [2024], SteepleChase): A concert organized in Copenhagen shortly after the bassist's death at 37, features a number of local acts -- Erik Mosenholm Trio, Max BrÜel Quartet, Bengt Hallberg Trio (plus Alice Babs), Jazz Quintet '60 (with Svend Asmussen on violin), Louis Hjulmand Quartet -- finishing with Stan Getz (backed by Hallberg's Trio). Nice evening. B+(*) [sp] Old music: Beholder: Claim No Native Land (2017, Sachimay): Trio of Dan DeChellis (piano), Philip Tomasic (guitar/loops/effects), and Zack Martin (drums/electronics), seems to be their first album, nothing in Discogs on any of the group albums, although DeChellis and Tomasic had a trio album with a different drummer in 1999, and Tomasic had a solo guitar album the same year. B+(*) [sp] Beholder: The Cicada Sessions (2022, Sachimay): Again, no doc here, other than same trio lineup, more varied, ends a bit ambient. B+(**) [sp] Beholder Quartet: Omni Present (2023, Sachimay, EP): The piano-guitar-drums trio expands a bit, adding Jeffrey Slater on electric bass. Just a proof-of-concept 15:52 single. B+(*) [sp] اسم ISM [Pat Thomas/Joel Grip/Antonin Gerbal]: Nature in Its Inscrutability Strikes Back (2014 [2015], Café Oto): British piano-bass-drums trio, the full significance of its iconography way beyond me. Three pieces, 62:47. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, July 17, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42668 [42624] rated (+44), 15 [20] unrated (-5). I put out the call for a Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll back on June 30, offering a July 14 deadline for ballots, which would give me a few days to wrap things up before ArtsFuse returns from vacation on July 17. Sure, I expected a light turnout: mid-year lists, while increasingly common as click-bait, don't have the same gravitas as year-end wrap-ups, so fewer voters would be prepared let alone interested; there are vacations and other distractions; the voting period was much shorter than for the year-end poll; and I didn't want to work as hard at rounding up voters. (Last year's 159 voters took a lot of hustle on my part, but in taking the poll over from Francis Davis, I really wanted to prove that I could do it, and it was very wearing.) I didn't do any prospecting for new voters, and hoped that sending a single message to my Jazzpoll mailing list would do the trick. It didn't: by last Wednesday, I had only about two dozen ballots counted, with another dozen promises to vote later, and a half-dozen polite declines, out of approx. 200 invitees. I had figured that 50% (let's say 80) ballots would still be a good showing, and would generate a lot of information. But 25% struck me as way too low. I had reason to suspect that a big part of the problem was that many messages from my server were being flagged and sequestered as "spam," especially by the gmail servers. So I rebooted, and sent a second round of invitations out to a subset of the list -- the ones I hadn't heard from, skipping a few who hadn't voted in recent years -- in MailMerge-customized letters from my regular email account (which has been dicey enough of late). That took many hours I had wanted to avoid, but got an almost immediate response. I streamlined the invitation a bit, and extended the deadline to July 17 (tonight, or effectively tomorrow morning). As of last night, I had 78 ballots counted, and as I'm writing this I have 2 more in my inbox, so I'm happy with my 50%. [PS: By posting time, the count increased to 86.] I'll need to move on from this to write an essay (intro, overview, whatever), as well as footnotes on various oddities and discrepancies in the voting. I've struggled with the essay the last couple years, so fear I may again. On the other hand, the data is really extraordinary, so just dive into that. And every time I do this, I come away even more impressed with the extraordinary knowledge and exemplary judgment of the fine people who participate in this Poll. There's nothing we need more in this increasingly complex and scatter-brained world than smart people who develop and share their expertise so that we all may benefit. I'm proud to do my bit, and to help them do theirs. I might as well start here and disclose my own ballot:
As lists go, this feels pretty haphazard and tentative. I keep an ongoing ranked list, but don't put much effort into maintaining it. What usually happens is that once I decide an album is A-, I scan the list from the top or bottom (depending on whether it's a real solid A- or a somewhat iffy one), find something that is roughly comparable, and insert the new record above or below that reference point. I fiddled with these a bit, but didn't do much rechecking. Fact is, I never do much rechecking. This week's batch of reviews are mostly albums that popped up on ballots. I wasn't previously aware that the Kenny Barron, Ivanna Cuesta, Welf Dorr, and [Ahmed] albums existed. Tomeka Reid was one of those download links I've been sitting on -- I probably have nearly 100 stashed away, but I'm loathe to do the extra work when it's so easy to play a promo or stream something -- but it did well enough I felt obligated to listen to it. (Same for Braxton, with all 8 hours + 10:36, available on Bandcamp.) Beger, Borca, and Brötzmann were promo CDs, but they too can be found complete on Bandcamp. I learned about the Armstrong from hype mail the day it became available to stream. I started to prepare a file with all of my 2024 jazz reviews, similar to my 2023 best jazz, but it isn't ready to be presented yet. I'll clean it up if I decide I want to mention it in my poll essay, or just discard it until end-of-year. (Once I've started it, it's just another thing to try to keep updated.) One thing I can note here is that when I divvied the 2024 file up into jazz and non-jazz sections, the split among new A/A- records was 52-to-25, with old music 12-to-5. That seems like a lot, given that I wound up with only 84 for all of 2023 (and 75 for 2022, 77 for 2021, 86 for 2020, 77 for 2019, 67 for 2018, 84 for 2017, 75 for 2016, 81 for 2015, 69 for 2014, 87 for 2014 -- that's as far as the file series goes back, and the record as far as I can easily tell. Makes me wonder if I'm going soft in my old age, but other explanations are possible, including that the Mid-Year Poll has made me aware of 237 albums I didn't previously have in my tracking file. Most I haven't played yet, but the dozens I have gotten to contributed to this skew. Given all the extra work on the Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, I didn't get around to Speaking of Which until Saturday, when I started with a long section on why Biden should withdraw from the Democratic presidential nomination. This all seems so obvious that it's hard to fathom the negligence and nonsense of whoever's conspiring to keep Biden in the race. On the other hand, much else that popped up in the week's news is hard to fathom. I certainly haven't had the time to figure it out. The Trump shooting remains a story I know very little about, and have very little interest in pursuing, unless it turns out that my suspicion, as yet purely based on cynicism, that it was a staged PR ploy, turns out to be valid. (By the way, we've been watching the old Jane Marple mysteries. In one of them, the killer creates a blackout, kills someone else, then shoots herself, nicking the ear, so that when the lights come back on, she appears to have been the target (and very lucky). The ear was chosen because it bleeds readily but not seriously. It also emphasizes the luck involved, because it's generally very hard to shoot someone's ear without hitting their head. Of course, there are other ways to fake it, at little risk to Trump. The whole thing would take skill and timing, which seems beyond Trump and his cronies, the chances of such a scheme getting exposed are high, and it's hard to imagine that even Trump could lie his way out of it. On the other hand, how gullible is just about everyone involved so far? So it can't possibly be true, but they're playing it just like it was scripted. And everyone else seems to be falling for it. Hardly any adds to Speaking of Which today: fixed a couple broken links, some typos. I'll open a file for next week after Music Week goes up. It'll be lower priority than the Poll, but good for the occasional break from thrashing on the Poll essay. I haven't been following the RNC, but I'm sure the people who have will be able to explain in its all its true horror. There's also this story: Inae Oh: [07-16] The DNC's plan to force Biden's nomination is everything people hate about the DNC. If they go through with this, it won't have been the first time they gamed the rules to help Biden escape normal Democratic procedures: derailing the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary, where Biden had performed poorly in 2016, while making South Carolina the first primary, eliminated the most likely path for someone more credible than Dean Phillips to challenge Biden, so no one risked it. This would be shabby in any case, but is especially galling from the people who sell themselves as the guardians of democracy. The marvelous Swiss avant-jazz pianist Irène Schweizer has died at 83:
Here's my Grade List. I first got acquainted with her work when I reviewed a 2-CD compilation of her work in 2006:
Her duos with drummers were extraordinary, especially the ones with Han Bennink (1995 and 2015). The latter was my number one jazz record of 2015:
New records reviewed this week: أحمد [Ahmed]: Wood Blues (2022 [2024], Astral Spirits): British quartet of Pat Thomas (piano), Joel Grip (bass), Antonin Gerbal (drums), and Seymour Wright (alto sax), originally formed as a tribute to bass/oud player Ahmed Abdul-Malik (1927-93), fourth album since 2017, unless the 4-CD Giant Beauty box came out ahead of it (looks like it did, by 4 days). I've had people tell me this is the best live band on the planet. They probably thought the same of Cecil Taylor in the 1970s. A- [sp] Kenny Barron: Beyond This Place (2024, Artwork): Pianist, I first really noticed him as a duet partner for Stan Getz (People Time, 1991), but he started in the early 1970s (cf. Peruvian Blue, 1974), is a DownBeat hall-of-famer, one of the most storied jazz educators in history, and still pretty sharp entering 80s. Helped out here by Steve Nelson (vibes), Kiyoshi Kitagawa (bass), Johnathan Blake (drums), and especially Immanuel Wilkins (alto sax). A- [sp] BassDrumBone: Afternoon (2023 [2024], Auricle): Mark Helias, Gerry Hemingway, and Ray Anderson: I've been filing their records under the trombonist since 1986. This one seems a bit muted, but that just brings out the craft in the BassDrum. B+(***) [cd] Jamie Baum Septet+: What Times Are These (2023 [2024], Sunnyside): Flute player, debut 1996, Septet -- including Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Sam Sadigursky (reeds), Brad Shepik (guitar), and Luis Perdomo (piano) -- has four albums 2004-18, expands to nine credits here plus four more vocalists picking their spots. Choice cut is "Sorrow Song," even beyond Kokayi's words. Other vocalists don't fare so well. B+(*) [sp] Albert Beger/Ziv Taubenfeld/Shay Hazan/Hamid Drake: Cosmic Waves (2023 [2024], No Business): Tenor saxophonist, born in Istanbul, grew up in Israel, studied at Berklee, has a 1995 album, came to my attention with a pair of 2005 albums with William Parker under Hamid Drake's name. The others play bass clarinet and bass, for a dicey free jazz jam, with the drummer as impressive as ever. A- [cd] Anthony Braxton: 10 Comp (Lorraine) 2022 (2022 [2024], New Braxton House, 10CD): Alto sax legend, credited with "saxophones, electronics" here, with each composition (numbered 423-428, 432-435) running from 41:31 to 60:09. The first six are trio with Adam Matlock (accordion/voice) and Susana Santos Silva (trumpet); the last four are quartet, with a second saxophonist (James Fei) and two bassists (Zach Rowden, Carl Testa). Way too long for anything other than a glancing view, but the first trio has limited appeal: sure, the accordion isn't as grating as Braxton's bagpipe albums, but that's the direction, and the operatic vocals have no more appeal when sung over abstractions than they do over schmaltz. The quartet is similar musically but with fewer annoyances, which doesn't necessarily make it more interesting, or even listenable (though sometimes it is). Length: 490:36. B+(*) [bc] George Cartwright & Bruce Golden: Dilate (2024, self-released): Saxophonist and drummer, played together in the final iteration of Cartwright's group Curlew (founded 1979, but I think we're talking 2002-03 here). Sounds mostly like electronics and percussion, but all the credits have to say is: "george licked sounds; bruce nailed sounds." Some bits I really like, but others wear me down and out. B+(*) [bc] Ivanna Cuesta: A Letter to the Earth (2023 [2024], Orenda): Drummer, from Dominican Republic, studied there and at Berklee, based in Boston, first album, composed by, also credited with electronics, with Ben Solomon (sax), Kris Davis (piano), and Max Ridley (bass) -- all terrific here. Bit of guest vocal at the end (Pauli Camou). A- [sp] Jeremiah Cymerman: Body of Light (2022-23 [2024], 5049): Clarinet player, fifteen-plus albums since 2007, first two pieces here appear to be solo, credits including synths, percussion, sequences, bass. The other two (longer) tracks add drums (Mike Pride) and either guitar-cello or violin. Either way this mostly comes off as ambient. B+(*) [sp] Welf Dorr/Elias Meister/Dmitry Ishenko/Kenny Wollesen: So Far So Good (2022 [2024], self-released): Alto saxophonist, born in Germany, based in New York, first album appears to be a Flowers for Albert thinking of Einstein not Ayler, unless it was the group called Funk Monk. Backed by guitar, accordion/electric bass, and drums, has traces of soul jazz and funk fusion, but mostly as a vehicle for distinguished saxophone. A- [bc] Edition Redux: Better a Rook Than a Pawn (2023, Audiographic): I lost track of Ken Vandermark's projects when he pulled most of his work behind the paywall, so I jumped on this new group as soon as I noticed it: Erez Dessel (piano/synth), Lily Finnegan (drums), Beth McDonald (tuba/electronics), and Vandermark (reeds, notably baritone sax). Piano tends to lead, but the real power remains the saxophonist. B+(***) [bc] Bill Frisell: Orchestras (2021-22 [2024], Blue Note): Guitarist, long-established, leads a trio with Thomas Morgan (bass) and Rudy Royston (drums), featured here surrounded by symphony orchestras (Brussels Philharmonic, Umbria Jazz Orchestra), his (and some other) compositions scaled up by Michael Gibbs. Quick take is that the full strings on the first disc are a turn off. Dispensing with them, the second disc is rather enaging. B+(**) [sp] Paul Giallorenzo Trio: Play (2021 [2023], Delmark): Chicago pianist, first trio album in 2012, second with this trio of Joshua Abrams and Mikel Patrick Avery. B+(*) [sp] Erik Griswold/Chloe Kim/Helen Svoboda: Anatomical Heart (2023 [2024], Earshift Music): Pianist, based in Brisbane, Australia, a dozen-plus albums since 2002, has a fondness for prepared piano. Trio with drums and bass. The bit of jerkiness keeps it interesting. B+(**) [sp] Sarah Hanahan: Among Giants (2024, Blue Engine): Alto saxophonist, first album, quartet with Marc Cary (piano), Nat Reeves (bass), and Jeff "Tain" Watts (drums), with extra percussion on 4 (of 8) tracks. Mainstream, with considerable power, and more than a little finesse. B+(***) [sp] Simon Hanes: Tsons of Tsunami (2024, Tzadik): California-born, based in New York, plays baritone guitar here, has mostly worked under group names (Tredici Bacci, Trigger, Shimmer, Guerilla Toss; Tsons of Tsunami was the group name for a 2013 album called Fearless Riders of the Holy Curl. He describes these compositions as "surf-based," backed with trombone, horn, waterphone, vibraphone, and drums. B+(**) [sp] Roger Kellaway: Live at Mezzrow (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): Pianist, first album 1963, first new one since 2019, with bass (Jay Leonhart) and drums (Dennis Mackrel) plus guest Roni Ben-Hur (guitar). He's always been a bop era pianist with a little stride in his style. B+(*) [sp] Brian Landrus: Plays Ellington & Strayhorn (2023 [2024], Palmetto): Baritone saxophonist, also plays similar instruments, plus some piccolo and flutes, backed quite capably by Dave Stryker (guitar), Jay Anderson (bass), and Billy Hart (drums), playing fourteen songs you can't go wrong with. B+(***) [cd] Nduduzo Makhathini: Unomkhubulwane (2024, Blue Note): South African pianist, started leading albums in 2014, got a big profile boost when Blue Note picked him up in 2020. Third album there, sings some (not fancy or dramatic, but quite agreeably), backed by Zwelakhe-Duma Bell le Pere (bass) and Francisco Mela (drums). B+(***) [sp] Fabiano do Nascimento & Sam Gendel: The Room (2024, Real World): Brazilian guitarist, several albums since 2011 -- I particularly liked 2015's Dança Dos Tempos -- here in a very nice duo with soprano sax. B+(**) [sp] Madeleine Peyroux: Let's Walk (2024, Just One Recording/Thirty Tigers): Jazz singer-songwriter, born in Georgia but grew up in France, ten or so albums since 1996, aimed early for Billie Holiday phrasing, returns after a six-year pause with a new batch of songs that defy expectations. I could see this one being taken for Americana, if you pardon the bit of French (in my book, that's a plus). B+(***) [sp] Tomeka Reid Quartet: 3+3 (2023 [2024], Cuneiform): Cellist, based in Chicago, helped revitalize the post-2000 AACM, and has an impressive list of albums since her 2015 Quartet, finally a MacArthur "Genius" Fellow in 2022. Same group here, with Mary Halvorson (guitar), Jason Roebke (bass), and Tomas Fujiwara (drums). Three longish pieces: sags a bit in the middle but closes real strong. A- [dl] Michael Shrieve: Drums of Compassion (2024, 7D Media): Drummer, played in Santana 1969-74, formed Go in 1976 with Stomu Yamashita and Steve Winwood, with later groups like Spellbinder. I recognized the name, and found him in my database, but in the New Age section, with two unheard albums (1984, 1989). Not much jazz there, but some of his many collaborators here count, starting with percussionists Jack DeJohnette, Zakir Hussain, Airto Moriera, and Babatunde Olatunji. Not just drums, but keyboards, sax (Skerik), and electronics (Amon Tobin). B+(*) [sp] Harry Skoler: Red Brick Hill (2022 [2024], Sunnyside): Clarinet player, three albums 1995-99, this is only his third since, following a Mingus study in 2022. Strong support here on vibes (Joel Ross), bass (Dezron Douglas), and drums (Johnathan Blake), with one-track guest spots from Marquis Hill (trumpet), Christian Sands (piano), and Grégoire Maret (harmonica). B+(**) [sp] Something Else! [Featuring Vincent Herring]: Soul Jazz (2024, Smoke Sessions): Mainstream "supergroup," alto saxophonist gets featured spotlight but Jeremy Pelt (trumpet) steals as much spotlight. Also with Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax), Paul Bollenback (guitar), David Kikoski (piano), Essiet Essiet (bass), and Otis Brown III (drums). They swing a little, swagger too. B+(*) [sp] Gregory Tardy: In His Timing (2023, WJ3): One of many mainstream tenor saxophonist to emerge in the 1990s, starting out on Impulse!, but mostly recording on SteepleChase since then. But he plays clarinet here, paired with violin (Regina Carter), backed by piano-bass-drums. Sometimes the mix pays dividends, sometimes not so much. B+(*) [bc] Alan Walker: A Little Too Late (2024, Aunt Mimi's): Singer-songwriter, started in a group I've never heard of, the Brilliant Mistakes (three albums 1998-2008), second solo album. Plays piano, some pop craft, some strings. B+(*) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Louis Armstrong: Louis in London (1968 [2024], Verve): A previously unreleased BBC radio shot from July 2, 1968, billed as his "last great performance," three years before his death in 1971. He had been in decline for several years, often unable to play trumpet, but his vocals remained endearing, with a couple songs turning into big pop hits. He's credited with trumpet here, which seems good enough, his voice even better, as he runs through thirteen songs, most signature hits, a proper career summary. A- [sp] Derek Bailey/Sabu Toyozumi: Breath Awareness (1987 [2024], NoBusiness): British guitarist (1932-2005), a major figure in the avant-garde (albeit one that I've only lightly sampled, and never really gotten the hang of), in an improv duo with the Japanese drummer. Scratchy, abstract, requires close listening, sometimes rewards it. B+(***) [cd] Karen Borca Trio Quartet & Quintet: Good News Blues: Live at the Vision Festival 1998 & 2005 (1998-2005 [2024], No Business): One of the few bassoon players in any branch of jazz, especially in free jazz, she led groups so rarely that this is her first collection as leader, but Discogs credits her with 30 albums, many with her husband, Jimmy Lyons, also Cecil Taylor, William Parker, Joel Futterman, Alan Silva, Bill Dixon. The early set here has Parker and Rob Brown (alto sax). Brown returns for the late set, with Reggie Workman, and is stellar throughout. A- [cd] Peter Brötzmann/Toshinori Kondo/Sabu Toyozumi: Complete Link (2016 [2024], NoBusiness): Tenor sax/tarogato, trumpet/electronics, drums. Within our ten-year window for "new releases," with both of the principals recently departed, this feels more like an archival find. They had a fairly long run together in the quartet, with William Parker and Hamid Drake, named for their first album, Die Like a Dog. I always found their records a bit too abrasive, but here I'm not only not bothered, I'm feeling a bit nostalgic. A- [cd] Nat King Cole: Live at the Blue Note Chicago (1953 [2024], Iconic): Pianist and singer (1917-65), had his first r&b hits in 1942, cracked the pop top ten in 1944 with "Straighten Up and Fly Right," hit number one in 1946 with "For Sentimental Reasons," followed by "Nature Boy," "Mona Lisa," and "Too Young" -- all in these live sets, a quartet with guitar (John Collins), bass (Charlie Harris), and drums (Lee Young). B+(**) [sp] The Jazzanians: We Have Waited Too Long (1988 [2024], Ubuntu Music): In 1984, Dave Brubeck's son Darius organized a jazz program at the University of Natal, in South Africa. A few years later, he organized this "first multiracial student jazz ensemble from South Africa," and took them on tour, and into the studio. Best known player now is probably Zim Ngqawana (alto sax/flute). They kick off with a very infectious township jive groove. They're not all that delightful. B+(**) [sp] Charles Mingus: Incarnations (1960 [2024], Candid): The bassist recorded two sessions for Nat Hentoff's label, which immediately led to the albums Presents Charles Mingus and Mingus. In 1985, Mosaic collected those albums and outtakes for The Complete Candid Recordings of Charles Mingus, In 1990, Candid took some of those for Mysterious Blues. This albums grabs five more takes (one previously unissued). B+(**) [sp] Louis Moholo-Moholo: Louis Moholo-Moholo's Viva-La-Black (1988 [2024], Ogun): South African drummer, moved to Europe in 1964, emerged as a prominent free jazz drummer in the 1970s. Leads a sextet here, with Sean Bergin (tenor/alto sax), Steve Williamson (tenor/soprano sax), Claude Deppa (trumpet/flugelhorn), Roberto Bellatalla (bass), and Thebe Lipere (percussion). B+(**) [bc] Septet Matchi-Oul: Terremoto (1971 [2024], Souffle Continu): Label dedicated to "Treasures of the French Underground," this one-shot group led by Chilean-French pianist Manuel Villarroel qualifies nicely. No other names I immediately recognize, but some further research may be in order. B+(***) [sp] Sun Ra & His Arkestra: Pink Elephants on Parade (1985-90 [2024], Modern Harmonic): A "small sample" of songs from Walt Disney movies, eight from two dates in 1988-89, 5 more from 5 different venues, the first 9 tracks previously unreleased. Vocals on most tracks, none slick or particularly funny, but amused? Sure. B+(***) [sp] John Wright Trio: South Side Soul (1960 [2024], Craft): Pianist (1934-2017), born in Kentucky but moved to Chicago when he was two. First album, with bass (Wendell Roberts) and drums (Walter McCants). [sp] Old music: Albert Beger: The Primitive (1995, NMC): Israeli tenor saxophonist, plays some flute, first album, quartet with piano (John Bostock), bass guitar (Gabi Maier), and drums (Asaf Sirkis). B+(**) [sp] Albert Beger Quartet: The Art of the Moment (2000, Third Ear Music): Curious lack of information on this, label name appears on some streaming sites (NMC seems more likely), quartet with guitar, bass, and drums (no idea who). Impressive saxophonist, rhythm section has some spunk, flute I could do without. Need to work on that discography. B+(*) [sp] Welf Dorr: Funk Monk 2002 (2002 [2020], self-released): Alto saxophonist, from Germany, based in New York, led the band Funk Monk from 1996-2009, various lineups, released a Live at the Knitting Factory in 1999 but that seems to be all. Dorr salvaged this tape from Izzy Bar in July 2002, and claims all compositions, so no Monk tribute here: more horns (Antonio Dangerfield on trumpet, Melvin Smith on tenor sax, trombone on two tracks), backed by a bubbling array of keys, guitar, bass, and drums. B+(*) [sp] Welf Dorr: Flowers for Albert (2005 [202], self-released): The saxophone/flute player/composer has laid claim to this tape, although his name appears last on the cover, after Kenny Wolleson (drums), Jonathan Finlayson (trumpet), Hock Temesgen (bass), and Shoko Nagai (piano). Title comes from David Murray's tribute to Ayler, but Dorr's preferred Albert is Einstein, seeing this as the centennial of his three breakthrough papers on physics. B+(**) [sp] Welf Dorr Unit: Blood (2014 [2018], Creative Sources): Brooklyn group, leader plays alto sax and bass clarinet, backed by guitar (Dave Ross), bass (Dmitry Ishenko), and drums (Joe Hertenstein). Guitar runs a bit heavy. B+(*) [bc] Welf Dorr/Dmitry Ishenko/Joe Hertenstein: Pandemic House Sessions (2020 [2021], self-released): Previous Unit reduced to a trio, recorded at the drummer's apartment. Losing the guitar gives the saxophonist a lot more breathing room. B+(***) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Tuesday, July 9, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42624 [42580] rated (+42), 20 [29] unrated (-9). Some updates, although at this point [07-12] I might as well start working on next week's posts. I added a fair amount to extras I already added to the latest Speaking of Which: most tweets on Biden's probable withdrawal, plus a couple similar pieces including the George Clooney op-ed. I also added links to the Michael Tatum and Robert Christgau Consumer Guides, which are probably of more interest here:
I have a bit more information on the Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll, but that probably deserves a separate post, which I'm not up to at the moment. The most pressing matter is that response has been light, and I suspect that a bit part of that is due to email problems. As frequent readers may recall, I've been plagued by them for months and possibly years. I tried coming up with workaround strategies, one of which has been completely ineffective: which was to ask people to forward invites, and suggest a willingness to accept unsolicited invites. The only thing I got there was an offer by a long-time virtual friend, who is not really a credentialed critic but whose opinion I value highly, to submit a list. In a moment of weakness (or possible insanity), I offered to publish his list, and more like it if anyone bothers to submit them. So if you can imagine drawing up a credible list of up to 10 2024 jazz albums and up to 5 2024 archival jazz albums, take a look at the Non-Critic Ballot Invitation, and follow instructions. Those ballots won't figure into official totals, and counting them isn't a priority for me, but I will eventually publish all I receive, and I wouldn't be surprised if, as lists go, your batch winds up being as credible as the ones submitted by the pros. I will be surprised if they wind up being representative of jazz fandom, because I'm doing virtually nothing to promote this, and if you can only read about it here, you're in a very small minority (and I'll be lucky to get ten ballots). The links below to the Poll Website are still valid, and now point to somewhat more substantial information. On last update, I had 25 ballots. I'm resending the invitations -- a slow and painstaking process -- hoping to avoid spam traps and get some more responses. I will say that the data I have, though sparse, is really terrific stuff. It's a cliché in compiling these lists to say "this is a really great year," but when all is said and done, you'll see for yourself. Delayed until Tuesday again, because Speaking of Which took all of Monday, itself being pushed out by the seemingly futile notion that I could add a few Afterthoughts to the previous week's massive Speaking of Which. Seems like I could wind up delaying this post a second day, as it's already late as I'm writing this. Most of Tuesday got chewed up writing two long comments relating to the Biden nomination: one on a Matthew Yglesias post, the other an expansion of my Afterthoughts comment. None of this even mentions the seemingly important (if true) Ben Jacobs: [07-09] How the Democratic movement to dump Biden went bust. Or Nia Prater: [07-09] Why is the Squad backing Biden so forcefully? As Yglesias explained in his piece, the calculation for Democratic politicians is different than the one for journalists and pundits. New York Magazine, which published a number of pieces extremely critical of Biden (probably all op. cit. through my links above) has gotten so into circling the wagons, they've gone into live blog mode: Biden resistance appears to be waning in Congress. On the other hand, Eric Levitz: [07-09] is back with another piece: The arguments for Biden 2024 keep getting worse. Definitely no Afterthoughts this week, and I'm going to be hard pressed to do a Speaking of Which by Sunday or Monday. Most pressing thing after getting this up will be to follow up on the Mid-Year Jazz Critics Poll. Deadline remains Sunday, July 14. I've received 18 ballots so far, referencing a total of 177 albums. About 50% of those albums were not previously in my tracking file, so I've been using them for prospecting (three of the five A- albums this week came from ballots; the other two are promos I received, with no votes so far). Probably the most important thing I need to do is to compare the Jazzpoll mailing list, which is where I sent the invites, to the more authoritative list I made last year of people I actually sent invites to, especially the ones I voted. At some point I stopped automatically adding names to the Jazzpoll list, so chances are that a couple dozen people who should have been invited weren't. I'm also worried about invites being diverted into spam folders -- I know of at least two such cases, both with gmail. If I had the time and energy, I would follow up, but it's a lot of work. I also need to go back and review some couple emails I received after last year's poll -- a couple offers of help, at least one person who asked to be invited (and should be). To make up for these shortcomings in the invitation process, I asked people to inform and possibly invite their colleagues. Thus far I haven't received any takers, or for that matter inquiries. The only evidence I have is that some spam has started getting caught there. Not a lot, and none of it's getting through, but it's one more thing to deal with. At this moment, the website is a bit behind my local copy, but I will refresh it a couple times this week. I need to edit several documentation files, and change the methodology notes in the totals files. The main things of possible public interest are the invitation, the list of critics who have voted, and the list of new releases and rara avis that have received votes. The actual results won't be public until ArtsFuse publishes them. I've had very little time for updating my metacritic file, but I have added the mid-year lists I've been noting in the Speaking of Which music section, so there's been a bit of movement. File still needs a lot of work. I did, by the way, start counting all of the metal magazines at AOTY (but I've yet to go back and fill in the ones I skipped earlier). I wish their coverage of jazz, hip-hop, electronica, and country was as deep as their interest in metal, but it isn't. I haven't gotten around to sources like All About Jazz, Saving Country Music, and Hip Hop Golden Age, which would help remedy those deficits. No time, and not much energy these days. Also, I can barely see, so if I don't post this right away, it won't make it tonight. PS: Facebook blocked me, so I may give that a rest. New records reviewed this week: BbyMutha: Sleep Paralysis (2024, True Panther): Rapper Brittnee Moore, from Chattanooga, second album, Bandcamp page attributes it to "BIGMUTHA," but every other source goes as I have it, sometimes no-caps. B+(**) [sp] Beings: There Is a Garden (2024, No Quarter): New York-based quartet of Zoh Amba (tenor sax, mostly), Steve Gunn (guitar), Shahzad Ismaily (bass, synth), and Jim White (drums). I never thought of Gunn as a jazz musician, and he doesn't have to be one when filling in behind Amba's sax or piano (even more indebted to Charles Gayle than her sax), but when she sings, he presents a Velvet Underground vibe so she can be Moe Tucker. No attempt at fusion here. Just multiplicities. A- [sp] Chris Byars: Boptics (2023 [2024], SteepleChase): Tenor saxophonist, what you might call a retro-bebopper, probably the most talented musician to first appear on Luke Kaven's early 2000s Smalls label, which also produced exceptional records by two more musicians in this sextet: Zaid Nasser (alto sax) and Ari Roland (bass). They're joined here by Stefano Doglioni (bass clarinet), John Mosca (trombone), and Keith Balla (drums). B+(**) [sp] Kim Cass: Levs (2023 [2024], Pi): Bassist, second album, composed everything here, mostly for pianist Matt Mitchell, who he's supported in the past, and is striking (as usual) here. Also with Tyshawn Sorey (drums), and (except for 3-4 tracks) flute (Laura Cocks) and euphonium (Adam Dotson). B+(***) [cd] Ernesto Cervini's Turboprop: A Canadian Songbook (2022 [2024], Three Pines): Canadian drummer, based in Toronto, half-dozen albums since his 2015 Turboprop introduced his group name. Sextet with two saxophonists (Tara Davidson and Joel Frahm), trombone (William Carn), piano (Adrean Farrugia), and bass (Dan Loomis). Songs are sentimental favorites in his neck of the woods, but they travel well. B+(***) [bc] Coco Chatru Quartet: Future (2024, Trygger Music): Swedish group, named for "a legendary Swedish adventurer," label for bassist Håkan Trygger, who wrote four (of eight) pieces, with two each by Daniel Kåse (drums) and Linus Kåse (alto sax), zero by Charlie Malmberg (baritone sax). Slippery postbop, somewhat understated. B+(***) [lp] Alfredo Colón: Blood Burden (2023 [2024], Out of Your Head): Alto saxophonist, based in Brooklyn, first album, quartet with Lex Korten (piano/keybs), Steve Williams (bass), and Connor Parks (drums), original pieces plus a Son House blues. This develops impressively, in the "spiritual jazz" vein pioneered by Coltrane, Sanders, and Ayler, alongside more recent efforts by saxophonists like Nat Birchall. A- [cd] GloRilla: Ehhthang Ehhthang (2024, Cocaine Muzik Group/Interscope): Rapper Gloria Hallelujah Woods, from Memphis, two albums, this one's considered her second mixtape, crunk (I've read). Lot of b&n here (as in "ain't no b in me, n"). If you can roll with that, this should rock you. B+(***) [sp] Conrad Herwig: The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner (2024, Savant): Trombonist, born in Oklahoma, studied at UNT, joined Clark Terry's 1980s band, played with Joe Henderson, Toshiko Akiyoshi, Joe Lovano, Mingus Big Band; first leader album in 1987, joined Eddie Palmieri in 1994, and recorded his initial The Latin Side of John Coltrane in 1996, since followed by Shorter, Hancock, Henderson, Silver, Mingus, and now Tyner. This one has Alex Norris (trumpet), Craig Handy (tenor/baritone sax), Bill O'Connell (piano), with the usual percussion excitement, and a special guest slot for Palmieri. B+(**) [sp] Janel & Anthony: New Moon in the Evil Age (2024, Cuneiform): Janel Leppin (cello) and Anthony Pirog (guitar), self-released an album together in 2006, another for Cuneiform in 2012. They've since gone on to establish separate careers, but reunite here for what is effectively two albums: the first a ten-track suite of darkly engaging duet instrumentals, the second a singer-songwriter set with Leppin doing most of the singing -- jazz-influenced, no doubt, but not something one would note in a blindfold test. I find the songs a tad more appealing, but probably for the music, as I can't say much about the lyrics. B+(**) [cdr] Mathias Højgaard Jensen: Is as Is (2022 [2024], Fresh Sound New Talent): Danish bassist, lives in Brooklyn, probably his first album as leader (Discogs has three side credits since 2019, his website has 13), all his pieces, quartet with David Mirarchi (alto sax), Jacob Sacks (piano), and Steven Crammer (drums). This is very nice: subtle and intricate postbop that sneaks up on you. A- [cd] Malcolm Jiyane Tree-O: True Story (2020-21 [2024], New Soil/Mushroom Hour): South African trombonist, second group album. B+(**) [sp] Alex Kautz: Where We Begin (2024, Sunnyside): Brazilian drummer, based in New York, married to Mexican singer Magos Herrera (featured on two songs here), with John Ellis (tenor sax/clarinet), Chico Pinheiro (guitar), Helio Alves (piano), and Joe Martin (bass). B+(*) [cd] Cassie Kinoshi's SEED.: Gratitude (2023 [2024], International Anthem): British alto saxophonist, plays in the Afrobeat group Kokoroko, leads the large SEED Ensemble (first album in 2019, nominated for Mercury Prize, was upper case then but lower case now), which is a skeletal big band plus string quartet, flute, tuba, and turntables. Title piece runs 21:56, is packaged with a slightly smaller group on a 5:42 piece (so 27:38 total). B+(*) [sp] Charlie Kohlhase's Explorer's Club: A Second Life (2022 [2024], Mandorla Music): Saxophonist (alto, tenor, baritone), based in Boston, Discogs credits him on 48 albums since 1985 (many with Either/Orchestra) but Wikipedia hasn't noticed yet, third group album, an octet with tenor sax (Seth Meicht), trumpet (Dan Rosenthal), trombone (Jeb Bishop), tuba (Josiah Reibstein), guitar (Eric Hofbauer), bass, and drums. Originals plus covers from Elmo Hope, Ornette Coleman, John Tchicai, and Roswell Rudd. The bottom horns provide a lot of lift. A- [sp] Janel Leppin: Ensemble Volcanic Ash: To March Is to Love (2023 [2024], Cuneiform): Cellist, released the album Ensemble Volcanic Ash in 2022, same basic group and concept here but I'm annoyed by the typography, so this is my solution. The music can also annoy, but also can turn remarkable, even living up to this hype: "progressive chamber jazz with the steely avant-garde that descends from Julius Hemphill's 1972 LP Dogon A.D." Hemphill's secret was cellist Abdul Wadud, whose name appears in the opening "Ode." Sextet with Brian Settles (tenor sax), Sarah Hughes (alto sax), Anthony Pirog (guitar), Luke Stewart (bass), and Larry Ferguson (drums). B+(***) [cdr] Frank London/The Elders: Spirit Stronger Than Blood (2023 [2024], ESP-Disk): Trumpet player, has extensive experience in klezmer music (Klezmatics, Hasidic New Wave, Klezmer Brass Allstars, Klezmer Conservatory Band) as well as straight jazz -- here often evoking Ellington and Mingus, with tributes to Lester Bowie and Ron Miles. B+(***) [cd] Megan Thee Stallion: Megan (2024, Hot Girl): Rapper Megan Pete, fourth album (plus several EPs) since 2019, I usually like her raunch and roll, but runs long here, for mixed results. B+(***) [sp] Che Noir: The Color Chocolate, Volume 1 (2024, Poetic Movement, EP): Rapper Marche Lashawn, from Buffalo, Discogs lists as Che'Noir, cover looks more like Chè Noir. EP is four songs, 10:58, but Discogs has more cuts, and Wikipedia has nothing, which is odd given that Discogs lists seven songs and six singles/EPs. Even at this length, this feels pretty substantial. B+(**) [sp] Clarence Penn: Behind the Voice (2024, Origin): Drummer, has several albums, one original here plus a batch of soul & rock standards from the 1970s-80s, roughly Stevie Wonder to Prince, with sides of Peter Gabriel and Don Henley, employing five guest singers, with Kurt Elling the one you've heard of (but may not want to hear). B+(*) [cd] Ken Peplowski: Unheard Bird (2024, Arbors): Supposedly another chapter of "Bird with Strings": a first recording of arrangements commissioned for Charlie Parker. The leader, playing clarinet and tenor sax, is not a very obvious choice for this project, but if the idea is simply to make Bird cornier, who is? Peplowski leads a very capable quintet with Terell Stafford (trumpet), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Peter Washington ( bass), and Willie Jones III (drums), while Loren Schoenberg conducts an orchestra of strings, harp, and oboe. B- [sp] Ken Peplowski: Live at Mezzrow [Smalls Live Living Masters Series] (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): This is more like what he's done so consistently since 1989: tenor sax and clarinet, playing swing standards with the occasional bop reference (Monk, Hank Jones), leading a rhythm section that's been doing just that for decades: Ted Rosenthal (piano), Martin Wind (bass), Willie Jones III (drums). B+(***) [sp] Carla Santana/José Lencastre/Maria do Mar/Gonçalo Almeida: Defiant Ilussion (2023 [2024], A New Wave of Jazz): Electronics, alto/tenor sax, violin, bass quartet, recorded in Portugal. B+(***) [bc] Dirk Serries/Rodrigo Amado/Andrew Lisle: The Invisible (2021 [2024], Klanggalerie): Belgian guitarist, Portuguese tenor saxophonist, English drummer, recorded in Belgium, three pieces (56:44). Amado is superb when he gets out front. B+(***) [bc] Matthew Shipp: The Data (2021 [2024], RogueArt, 2CD): Pianist, brilliant, many albums since the late 1980s, probably has a dozen solos by now, with this one of the better ones, if you're at all so inclined. B+(***) [cdr] TV Smith: Handwriting (2024, JKP/Easy Action): T for Timothy, was singer-songwriter in British punk band the Adverts, released two 1977-78 albums, best remembered for the single "Gary Gilmore's Eyes," but the song I always think of is "One Chord Wonders." He formed another band, then went solo in 1983, and has recorded pretty regularly since 1992 -- way off my radar. Older now, which means slower, and anger ripened into bitterness, and therefore gravitas. B+(***) [sp] Anthony Stanco: Stanco's Time (2023 [2024], OA2): Trumpet player, second album, side credits back to 2011, half originals, half jazz standards from Ellington and early boppers (Parker, Monk, Dameron, Davis), half with "Time" in the title. With Randy Napoleon (guitar), Xavier Davis (piano), bass, drums, and on three cuts, Walter Blanding (tenor sax). B+(**) [cd] TiaCorine: Almost There (2024, South Scope/Interscope, EP): Rapper from North Carolina, merged her first two names together, omitting Thompson Shultz, mother is Shoshone, father has roots in Japan and Africa. She released an EP in 2020, an album in 2022, back here with eight songs, 16:38. Title is about right. B+(**) [sp] Ryan Truesdell: Synthesis: The String Quartet Sessions (2022-23 [2024], ArtistShare, 3CD): Composer/arranger/conductor, started as Maria Schneider's assistant, made his name with "Newly Discovered Works of Gil Evans," has conducted "The Music of Bob Brookmeyer." Here he's composed a bit and arranged or at least currated a lot of new compositions for string quartet, with a few strategic guest spots. B+(**) [cdr] Steve Turre: Sanyas (2023 [2024], Smoke Sessions): Trombonist, also plays conch shells, couple dozen albums since 1987, quite a bit of side work (Discogs lists 224 albums he played trombone on). Live sextet here with Nicholas Payton (trumpet), Ron Blake (tenor sax), Isaiah Thompson (piano), Buster Williams (bass), and Lenny White (drums). Starts with title track, which Turre wrote for Woody Shaw's The Moontrane (1974), evoking the classic trombone-augmented hard bop sextets of the 1960s. Ends with a very nice "These Foolish Things." B+(***) [sp] Lisa Ullén: Heirloom (2023 [2024], Fönstret): Swedish pianist, born in Seoul, South Korea, over a dozen albums under her own name since 2006, more side-credits. First solo album, each side with a variation on the same three-part suite. B+(**) [bc] Jack Walrath: Live at Smalls (2023 [2024], Cellar Music): Trumpet player, started out with Mingus in the mid-1970s, debut album 1979, had an impressive run in the 1990s, has five albums on SteepleChase since 2008 -- quite a bit of work I should catch up on. Quintet here with Abraham Burton (tenor sax), George Burton (piano), Boris Kozlov (bass), and Donald Edwards (drums), revisiting his songbook and adding to the legacy ("A Bite of Tunisia," "Mood for Muhal," etc.). B+(***) [sp] Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Fu##in' Up (2023 [2024], Reprise): Live album, from Tivoli in Toronto, reprising their 1990 album Ragged Glory, a pretty solid A- at the time, dropping one song ("Mother Earth"), renaming most of the rest (title song becomes "Heart of Steel"), length up 1:50. Hard to see this as necessary, but sounds good and gets better. B+(***) [r] Denny Zeitlin: Panoply (2012-23 [2024], Sunnyside): Pianist, 86 now, has recorded since 1964, while pursuing a parallel career in psychiatry. This offers a good survey of his range, from solo pieces (2012) to a trio (2019) with Buster Williams and Matt Wilson, plus home recordings in a duo with George Marsh (drums). B+(**) [sp] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Christer Bothén Featuring Bolon Bata: Trancedance [40th Anniversary Edition] (1984 [2024], Black Truffle): Swedish tenor sax/bass clarinet player, first albums were with Don Cherry, this was the first he led, Bolon Bata the band name, went on to a second album in 1988. Before this he lived and studied in Mali and Morocco, also playing doson n'goni and guimbri here, the large groups featuring other African instruments, and various vocals. A- [bc] Johnny Griffin Quartet: Live in Valencia 92 [The Jordi Suñol Archives 3] (1992 [2024], Storyville): Tenor saxophonist (1928-2008), distinguished himself with Thelonious Monk in the 1950s, had a major career in the 1960s, recorded consistently during the 1970s and 1980s (on widely scattered labels), enjoyed something of a comeback in the 1990s. Live set from Spain -- part of a series of archives that started with albums by Phil Woods and Mulgrew Miller -- with Hervé Sellin (piano), Reggie Johnson (bass), and Doug Sides (drums). Opens fast, closes gently. B+(***) [sp] Shelly Manne & His Men: Jazz From the Pacific Northwest (1958-66 [2024], Reel to Real): Drummer (1920-84), started in swing bands, quickly adapted to bebop and majored in cool jazz; played with Stan Kenton, André Previn, and Ornette Coleman; led small groups, his 1959 Black Hawk sets with Richie Kamuca and Victor Feldman are especially esteemed. Two LPs here, the first from Monterey in 1958 with Stu Williamson (trumpet), Herb Geller (alto sax), Russ Freeman (piano), and Monty Budwig (bass); the second from Seattle in 1966 has Conte Candoli (trumpet), Frank Strozier (flute/alto sax), Hampton Hawes (piano), Budwig, and Ruth Price (vocals). B+(**) [sp] Brother Jack McDuff: Ain't No Sunshine: Live in Seattle (1972 [2024], Reel to Real): Organ player (1926-2001), recorded 20-plus albums for Prestige 1960-66, establishing himself as one of the main soul jazz talents of the period, recording much less prolifically thereafter (for Atlantic, Blue Note, Cadet, and after 1992 for Concord). This is previously unreleased, a couple of nice sets with sax (Leo Johnson or Dave Young) and sometimes trumpet (unknown), as well as guitar and drums. B+(*) [sp] Shelly Manne & His Men: Jazz From the Pacific Northwest (1958-66 [2024], Reel to Real): Drummer (1920-84), started in swing bands, quickly adapted to bebop and majored in cool jazz; played with Stan Kenton, André Previn, and Ornette Coleman; led small groups, his 1959 Black Hawk sets with Richie Kamuca and Victor Feldman are especially esteemed. Two LPs here, the first from Monterey in 1958 with Stu Williamson (trumpet), Herb Geller (alto sax), Russ Freeman (piano), and Monty Budwig (bass); the second from Seattle in 1966 has Conte Candoli (trumpet), Frank Strozier (flute/alto sax), Hampton Hawes (piano), Budwig, and Ruth Price (vocals). B+(**) [sp] Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre: Live From Studio Rivbea: July 12, 1975 [Rivbea Live! Series, Volume 1] (1975 [2024], No Business): Tenor saxophonist (1936-2013), born in Arkansas, grew up in Chicago (AACM, two albums on Delmark), and on to New York, where he played in the streets, subways, and lofts, first recording as Kalaparusha in 1970, with an uptick in activity around 1998. The label has done a terrific job of releasing archival tapes by Sam Rivers, who was the central figure in New York's "loft scene, so it's nice to see them building out. B+(***) [cd] Sun Ra: Excelsior Mill (1984 [2024], Sundazed/Modern Harmonic): Solo organ performance, described here as "like a cross between a demonically riffing '50s horror movie villain and a futuristic congregation leader delivering the interplanetary gospel," and indeed this instrument often evokes church and/or horror movies. I'm not particularly fond of either. B [sp] Old music: Christer Bothén Trio: Triolos (2003-04 [2006], LJ): Leader plays bass clarinet, ngoni, guimbri; trio with David Stackenäs (guitar) and Peter Söderberg (theorbo, lute, guitar, low budget electronics). Rather abstract, more interesting than compelling. B+(**) [sp] Ernesto Cervini: Joy (2021 [2022], Three Pines): Toronto-based drummer, composer, several albums, also a tireless publicist for his fellow Canadian musicians (many, including guest vocalists, featured here), credits this as "inspired by Louise Penny's Gamache series of books and the qualities of goodness, decency, courage, and love that permeate them." B+(**) [sp] Maurice McIntyre: Humility in the Light of the Creator (1969, Delmark): Tenor saxophonist, first album, two suites ("Ensemble Love" and "Ensemble Fate"), the first dominated by George Hines' incantatory vocal, the latter picks up piano (Amina Claudine Myers) and more horns (Leo Smith on trumpet, John Stubblefield on soprano sax). B+(**) [sp] Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre: Forces and Feelings (1970 [1972], Delmark): Second album, cover has "Kalaparusha" in large type on top line, title (smaller, because it's longer) on second line, then "Maurice McIntyre" (smaller still) as third line, while the back cover credits tenor sax, clarinet, flute, and bells to "Kalaparusha Ahra Difda." Backed by guitar (Sarnie Garrett), bass (Fred Hopkins), and drums (Wesley Tyus), with vocals by Rita Omolokun. B+(**) [sp] Kalaparusha Maurice McIntyre Quartet: Peace and Blessings (1979, Black Saint): Italian label, became a major outlet for American "loft scene" veterans (especially David Murray). This was recorded in Milan, with Longineau Parsons on trumpet (both also playing related instruments), Leonard Jones (bass), and King L. Mock (drums). B+(**) [sp] Jack Walrath Quintet: In Europe (1982 [1983], SteepleChase): Trumpet player, played with Mingus in the 1970s (and later in various Mingus big bands), early in his career as a leader, with a relatively unknown group (Anthony Cox, on bass, is the only one I recognize), for a set in Copenhagen, playing four of his pieces. B+(*) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. Wednesday, July 3, 2024 Music Week
Music: Current count 42580 [42549] rated (+31), 29 [22] unrated (+7). Nominally a day late (ok, two days), but last Music Week was two days late, so this is still a short week. I started off most days with old r&b in the CD player -- especially Scratchin': The Wild Jimmy Spruill Story, which combined a few minor hits with some major studio work, leading me to tweet up two singles (Bobby Lewis, Tossin' and Turnin', and Bobby Long, The Pleasure Is All Mine). Beyond that, what I got to was pretty haphazard, with a fair amount of old music left over from the William Parker research. My piece was published by ArtsFuse, here: Celebrating bassist William Parker's lifetime of achievement. You can also find my 2003 CG, with its updated discography, and my notes file, which includes my full set of reviews of albums Parker. The former could still use some cleanup, especially to separate out the albums that Parker didn't play on -- the CG was originally focused on Matthew Shipp and the Thirsty Ear Blue Series he curated, until I started noticing how many more albums Parker played on and how central they were to the whole circle. The latter needs even more work, as most of it was cut-and-pasted from my book files (which are now several years out of date), with others copied with HTML markup (where they still have bold credits and letter grades). If I didn't fear getting sucked into a huge time sink, I'd go fix those, but for now I can only offer excuses. Besides, I have a much more urgent website project to work on. I've decided to use my Francis Davis Jazz Critics Poll contacts to run a Mid-Year straw poll. I explain this on the website (which still needs a good deal of work) and in the invite letter (which went out to approx. 200 critics on June 30). I'm asking for lists of up to 10 new releases (which can include newly discovered 2023 releases) and/or up to 5 "rara avis" (old music, recorded 10+ years ago, or reissues). Deadline is July 14, and ArtsFuse will publish the results, probably later that week. The Poll is a quickie experiment. I've simplified the rules to make it easier on voters (and hopefully on he who counts), and I've saved myself a lot of work by only sending out one batch of invites without trying to vet new voters. The problem with the "one batch" approach is that I'm using a server and software that has been known to run afoul of some spam traps. I especially fear that people with gmail addresses may have their invites diverted or discarded. But it's impossible to test and verify these things. I made an effort to research this problem before, to little avail, and I will make another one soon, but in the meantime, please read the following, and follow up if anything seems to apply to you:
Also, one key point to emphasize is that this isn't a big deal. I'm not asking you to exercise Solomonic (or Christgauvian) judgment over the jazz universe. Your list doesn't have to find the absolute best records (whatever that might mean). Nor does it have to be ranked. (Although blessed are the rankers, for they get slightly more points weighting for their efforts.) Nor does it even have to be a full list. Just jot down a few albums that you would like to recommend to other people. That's mostly how these lists will be used. Given the late date, the short deadline, my various shortcuts, and the fact that we've never done this before, I'm not expecting much, but even if we just get 50 voters (as opposed to the 159 in 2023), I think the lists will be interesting and informative. I started to track mid-year lists when they started appearing just before June 1 -- see my metacritic file, which is running behind at the moment, as the last couple weeks haven't allowed much opportunity to work on it -- and they both give me a broad sense of what's out there and a useful roster of prospects to check out. This also ties into my tracking file, which has a jazz selector (currently listing 400 jazz albums, of which I have 332; this list will expand as I receive your lists: from past experience, about 30% of the albums that show up in ballots are ones I hadn't previously tracked; there's also a no grade variant, for those who don't want to see my grades). The website started off as a clone of last year's, with minor hacks. As I do more work to it this week, it should become a more useful source of information about the Poll and its progress. For instance, I need to revise things like the FAQ and the Admin Guide. I also hope to get some work done on the older parts of the website, especially to fill in information that predates my involvement (in administration; I've voted every year, from the founding). I hope to make the website the best source for information about the Poll. But if you wish to follow, check my Music Week posts, and follow me on twitter (or "X" if you prefer; I haven't jumped ship yet, although at this point it's rare for one of my tweets to be viewed by as much as a third of my nominal followers, so the returns seem pretty slim). Some other website work: I've done an update to Carola Dibbell's website, as her novel, The Only Ones is being reprinted, and she has an event later in July. I haven't done my database update to Robert Christgau's website yet, but have all of the CG reviews in my private copy. I still have to do some cross-referencing work, but should update the website in a couple days. I have a question about Michael Brecker that I need to research a bit. Would be nice to have a couple more to gang it up with. We've gone through more email tsuris, as Cox has dumped all of their email customers (or at least us) onto Yahoo. It appears to be stable now, but Yahoo has a pretty poor reputation, so we'll see. I did post another food pic on Facebook, if you into that sort of thing: Indian chicken, potatoes, cabbage, eggplant, raita, and paratha. I posted a massive Speaking of Which late Monday night (290 links is probably a record; 11720 words isn't, but is quite a lot). I've added a few more things today, and will probably add some more before I get this posted. I'm inclined to hold off on further complaints about the horrible Supreme Court, but would like to capture as much of the initial reaction to the Trump-Biden debate as may be useful. I'm grateful that I didn't bother with anything written in advance of the debate. This particular post got delayed an extra day as I got stuck writing a long comment on Robert Christgau's Xgau Sez. And while I got that done by 5PM, the delay occasioned one last round of "addl" tags. New records reviewed this week: Arooj Aftab: Night Reign (2024, Verve): Pakistani singer-songwriter, born in Saudi Arabia, returned to Lahore when she was 10, on to US at 19, studied at Berklee, based in New York, fifth album, got some notice in 2023 whens he shared billing on Love in Exile with Vijay Iyer and Shahzad Ismally. B+(***) [sp] Alan Braufman: Infinite Love Infinite Tears (2024, Valley of Search): Saxophonist, had a few years in New York in the mid-1970s working around the lofts with Cooper-Moore and William Parker, then did something else until retirement age, when he reissued his one album (actually quite good) and some archival tapes, and started working on a new one. This follows up on the promise of 2020's The Fire Still Burns, with James Brandon Lewis (tenor sax), Patricia Brennan (vibes), Ken Filiano (bass), Chad Taylor (drums), and Michael Wimberly (percussion). B+(***) [r] Ani DiFranco: Unprecedented Sh!t (2024, Righteous Babe): Folkie singer-songwriter, had a lot of edge when she emerged in 1990. This one doesn't particularly grab me, but probably deserves another listen. [PS: It does, as her critique is sharp as ever, but the music still doesn't grab me.] B+(*) [sp] Dayramir González: V.I.D.A. [Verdad, Independencia, Diversidad Y Amor] (2024, self-released): Cuban pianist, based in New York, has a 2008 album with Habana Entrance, not sure what else. B [sp] Morgan Guerin: Tales of the Facade (2024, Candid): Self-described "prolific multi-instrumentalist and visionary composer," born "right outside New Orleans," studied at New School and Berklee, based in New York, side-credits since 2019, appears to have three previous albums, plays sax and related, keyboards, electric bass, and drums, but I can't find any credits here, and I'm thrown by all the vocals. B+(*) [sp] Goran Kajfeš Tropiques: Tell Us (2024, We Jazz): Swedish trumpet player, quite a few albums since his 2000 debut, quartet with Alex Zethson (keyboards), Johan Berthling (bass), and Johan Holmegard (drums), third group album. Has a wide, panoramic feel. B+(***) [sp] Bill Laurance/The Untold Orchestra: Bloom (2022 [2024], ACT Music): British pianist, member of Snarky Puppy at least 2006-20, own albums since 2012, his keyboards leading an orchestra, conducted by Rory Storm, of 18 strings. Reflects his roots in classical music, and probably impressive as such, but quite enjoyable, too. B+(**) [sp] Les Savy Fav: Oui, LSF (2024, Frenchkiss): Art punk band from Rhode Island, released five albums 1997-2010, return for another 14 years later. Still a potent combination of hooks and volume. Last song is triumphant: "We were there when the world got great/ We helped to make it that way." B+(**) [sp] Grégoire Maret/Romain Collin: Ennio (2024, ACT Music): Swiss harmonica player, eponymous debut 2012, second album with the French pianist, backed by guitar-bass-drums, with flute (Alexandra Sopp) and heavyweight vocal guests Gregory Porter and Cassandra Wilson. B+(*) [sp] Zara McFarlane: Sweet Whispers: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan (2024, Universal): British jazz/soul singer, fifth album, standards. I don't have a good feel for how representative they are, or even much of an idea how Vaughan sung them: I was so surprised by "Inner City Blues" I stopped the record to compare Vaughan's 1972 version. Vaughan's voice is unrivaled for stature and precision, but I rather like McFalane's softer, sweeter tone, and the loose swing of her arrangements. B+(**) [sp] Ngwaka Son Système: Iboto Ngenge (2024, Eck Echo): Spinoff from Kinshasa (Congo) group Kokoko, emphasis on electrobeats. Six songs, 28:22. B+(**) [sp] Normani: Dopamine (2024, RCA): R&B singer from Atlanta, last name Hamilton, formerly of the vocal group Fifth Harmony (3 albums, 2015-17), first solo album. B+(**) [r] Carly Pearce: Hummingbird (2024, Big Machine): Country singer-songwriter from Kentucky, fourth album since 2017, found herself in her age-marking 29: Written in Stone. This sounds pretty good -- even the Levi's jingle. B+(***) [sp] Dave Rempis/Tashi Dorji Duo: Gnash (2024, Aerophonic): Rempis plays his full range of saxophones (soprano/alto/tenor/baritone), with his usual fierce resolve, with Dorji pushing (and occasionally rivaling) on guitar. I'm impressed, as always, but doubt the harsh tone (or maybe the specific harmonics, or the lack of a drummer) will make this an album I return to. B+(***) [cd] Sisso & Maiko: Singeli Ya Maajabu (2024, Nyege Nyege Tapes): Tanzanian DJ Mohamed Hamza Ally, "figurehead" of the Sisso Records label, with one of his producer/keyboardists, for a volume of high velocity, klang-and-squiggle-filled dance beats. B+(*) [sp] Jason Stein/Marilyn Crispell/Damon Smith/Adam Shead: Spi-raling Horn (2023 [2024], Balance Point Acoustics): Bass clarinet player, has gotten steadily better since his 2007 debut, adds a stellar pianist to his recent bass-drums trio. A- [sp] Thollem: Worlds in a Life, Two (2024, ESP-Disk): Pianist, goes by first name, last name is McDonas, nominally a solo album, but draws on samples from previous albums, so side credits for William Parker (bass), Michael Wimberly (drums), Pauline Oliveros (MIDI accordion), Terry Riley (vocals), Nels Cline (guitar, effects, Mega mouth). B+(**) [cd] Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries: Alan Braufman: Live in New York City: February 8, 1975 (1975 [2022], Valley of Search): Saxophonist, aka Alan Michael or Alan Michael Braufman, recorded a 1975 album, Valley of Search, that he reissued to much acclaim in 2018, followed up by a new album, The Fire Still Burns, and reissue of some early tapes, like this one, a WBAI airshot with Cooper-Moore (piano), William Parker (bass), John Clark (French horn), Jim Schapperowe (drums), and Ralph Williams (percussion). B+(***) [r] DJ Notoya: Funk Tide: Tokyo Jazz-Funk From Electric Bird 1978-87 (1978-87 [2024], Wewantsounds/Electric Bird): Not sure how much credit the presenter deserves here. The music is closer to disco than to funk, and has minimal value as jazz. B- [sp] Charles Gayle/Milford Graves/William Parker: WEBO (1991 [2024], Black Editions Archive): Tenor sax, drums, bass, a major new find in the late drummer's archives, running just over 2 hours (2-CD, 3-LP). Gayle (1939-2023) was like the truest heir of Albert Ayler, pushed to extremes I found very difficult to take when I first ran into him, so my grades are scattered, and likely in need of revision -- e.g., I still have Repent (1992) as a B, but at least get Touchin' on Trane at A-. This is in the same ballpark, but perhaps better mixed to bring out the truly amazing bass and percussion. A- [sp] Ron Miles: Old Main Chapel (2011 [2024], Blue Note): Cornet player, from Denver, albums since 1987, signed with Blue Note for a 2020 album, shortly before he died at 58 in 2022. This is a live album, dating back to the trio he recorded Quiver with: Bill Frisell (guitar), and Brian Blade (drums). A decade later, this is a lovely memento. B+(***) [sp] Old music: Collective 4tet: Orca (1996 [1997], Leo Lab): Originally Heinz Geisser (drums), Mark Hennen (piano), William Parker (bass), and Michael Moss (reeds), for two albums 1992-93, before Moss was replaced by Jeff Hoyer (trombone), and they went on to record six more albums for Leo 1996-2009. Free jazz with chamber music intimacy. Several spots got me thinking this might be great, only to slip back into their framework. B+(***) [r] Collective 4tet: Live at Crescent (1997 [1998], Leo Lab): Live in Belfast, no idea why. Loses a bit of edge, while retaining the complexity, which is not exactly how live albums are expected to excel. B+(**) [r] Collective 4tet: Moving Along (2002 [2005], Leo): Recorded the same day as Synopsis. Three long pieces, in their zone, with trombone highlights. B+(**) [r] Collective 4tet: In Transition (2008 [2009], Leo): One more album, the trombonist departed, replaced by Arthur Brooks (trumpet/flugelhorn), who plays this close to the vest, as pianist Mark Hennen takes a more pominent role. B+(***) [sp] Marco Eneidi Quintet: Final Disconnect Notice (1994, Botticelli): Alto sax, second horn is Karen Borca's bassoon, an excellent pairing, especially when they get dicey, backed by two bassists (Wilber Morris and William Parker, who also plays some cello) and drums (Jackson Krall). B+(***) [yt] Marco Eneidi/Glenn Spearman: Creative Music Orchestra: American Jungle Suite (1995 [1997], Music & Arts): Discogs gives title as Creative Music Orchestra, which cover and spine confirm, while other sources cite the title of the 69:05 piece the 21-piece big-band-plus-violins plays. Led by the two saxophonists (alto/tenor), Eneidi does most of the composing, arranging one piece from Cecil Talor, while Spearman wrote the final movement (26:48). Some great potential here, but could use a conductor. B+(**) [sp] Marco Eneidi/William Parker/Donald Robinson: Cherry Box (1998 [2000], Eremite): Alto saxophonist (1956-2016), born in Portland, as a child took lessons from Sonny Simmons, moved to New York in 1981 to study with Jimmy Lyons, played with William Parker, Bill Dixon, Cecil Taylor, and Glenn Spearman. Trio here with bass and drums. Fierce leads, holding back only to let the others show off their magic. A- [sp] Marco Eneidi/Vijay Anderson: Remnant Light (2004 [2018], Minus Zero): Alto sax and drums duo, a home-recorded tape unearthed after the saxophonist's death in 2016. B+(**) [bc] Marco Eneidi Streamin' 4: Panta Rei (2013 [2015], ForTune): Alto saxophonist, American, active in free jazz circles since the early 1980s, picks up a like-minded group in Poland, with Marek Pospieszalski (tenor sax), Ksawery Wojcinski (bass), and Michal Trela (drums). B+(*) [sp] Heinz Geisser/Shiro Onuma: Duo: Live at Yokohama Little John (2007 [2008], Leo): Swiss percussionist, member of Collective 4tet, Discogs list 10 albums under his name (plus 37 side-credits), in a rare drums duo. B+(*) [sp] The Ivo Perelman Quartet: Sound Hierarchy (1996 [1997], Muisic & Arts): Brazilian tenor saxophonist, debut 1989, had released four albums through 1995, three more in 1996, then nine in 1997, of which this one looks most impressive on paper: Marilyn Crispell (piano), William Parker (bass), Gerry Hemingway (drums). Flexes some muscle, but not all that interesting. B+(*) [sp] Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Ask a question, or send a comment. -- next |
