Trying to Keep Tempo with Jazz

One thing I have always wish I did better here in The Room is offer up a bit more discussion of different musical genres, particularly jazz. Sure, there have been the occasional post, but as I look back over the posts, this blog is definitely heavy in the indie-rock-folk-pop-etc. vein which does not necessarily reflect the balancing of listening that goes on here in the homefront. I think that is in part due to, at least, three things.

One, I haven't found a good way to write about music that I have listened to for a long time and have been more focused on new music. That is related to the second item which is that I don't buy as much new jazz as those other categories (or classical for that matter) which leads to the third reason, which is that I tend to think of jazz albums as having more staying power and therefore I am willing to listen to them more often over time and feel less need to search out more or new albums.

Now I believe I have a solution to the first problem which I will be trying my hand at soon. As for the third reason, while the staying power of certain jazz albums is accurate I think, it is also a mistake to assume there is not more and different efforts coming out that deserve a listen (which means I am just being lazy, right?). Which leads back to the second issue of searching out and checking out (literally) more jazz. So over the last few days, here and there, I have been trying to track down different resources for finding new jazz. Here are a few that I have found interesting and will be checking in with in one form or another.

In the obvious category, Downbeat is still the staple and serious consideration to renewing a subscription is occurring. Actually, I just need to do it, in part, because their website is, well, not really all that helpful, which I find curious.

The Checkout is an NPR a show by Josh Jackson about new jazz music which appears on the big jazz station WBGO streaming out of Newark, but The Checkout also has a great website where you can keep up with new music and hear live studio sessions like this nice interview and session last week with Gretchen Parlato whose new album is on the to get list. WBGO also has a fine blog for keeping up with the jazz goings-ons. And, of course NPR also has it's own blog devoted to jazz, A Blog Supreme, which is worth following.

Another interesting effort, which we recently tweeted about is Nextbop which is a site by two young guys trying to offer up jazz catalogs on line for folks to check out--although they have been running into a few hiccups that will be familiar to all of us who have been discussing post take downs, recording companies, and the ethics of what we try to do with music blogs.

Lastly is Jazz.com which has got a great aggregator page of perpetually updated links to all the jazz news that is breaking at other sites--just point and click. They also have a fine blog.

That is a start. Obviously there are a lot more out there and I would love to hear about resources you follow for jazz, whether they be print, web, Twitter or somewhere else. And hopefully, this will all lead to a bit more jazz talk here in The Room.

9/14/09 Update: A Blog Supreme just launched Jazz Now designed to introduce jazz artists of the present--great idea!

Your Call is Very Important to Us!

So there I was in the bookstore about to pick up the new Downbeat when my eyes were drawn to a "jazz" magazine I was not familiar with called JAZZIZ. It came in a tempting plastic wrapper with the promise of a sampler disc of "cool summer jazz." Who could resist?

Well, the cover should have been the first clue. I mean really, it is just too cool for words isn't it? But I thought--hey, the Playboy jazz festival has had some great players grace its stage right? And alas, I wasn't able to ascertain what tunes were on the sampler, but I had my hopes. And so I plucked it and abandoned the old standby.

I didn't actually get to throw that sampler in until the next morning in the car. This fine morning happened to involve Neats and the boys taking me to the train. So what could be more soothing on a trip through the morning rush than some "cool jazz." I think we made it through about four or five tracks (with skipping ahead involved). Neats kept making jokes about elevators and I kept feeling like I was on hold, waiting to speak to some corporate customer representative who was going to give me no satisfaction and so they were trying to soothe me with this music.

Of course a quick tour through the JAZZIZ site reveals that while they might talk to a variety of artists, the sampler disc is really selling "teh jazz" that you hear on radio stations with handles like "The Breeze" and "The Wave." I could be wrong here, so fans of JAZZIZ should let me know if I am. But what, you might ask, was I hoping for?

Well, when it comes to summer jazz, I hope for one of two things--deep south, hot New Orleans influenced jazz and blues, or, what I would think of as hip, cool jazz. Since it is the latter that got me suckered in here, let me suggest a few discs that exemplify that and you can add your own.

1. Let's start with Brazilian influenced jazz which is definitely a summer orientation for me. How about some Luciana Souza who is a fabulous vocalist. I might suggest Duos II which has her paired with a variety of different guitarists.
2. Not into vocals and have heard enough versions of "Girl from Ipanema" to last you forever? Then check out Joe Henderson's Double Rainbow featuring music of Carlos Jobim first with some great Brazilian players and then with a tight quartet on the jazz side including Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette and Christian McBride.
3. More upbeat but still with that dancing beat? How about Charlie Hunter's Ready . . . Set . . . Shango! with some great guitar work along with sax and drums--and, well, killer beats.
4. And when you get done with that surfin', dance party, you can also cool out with some fine west coast jazz on Chet Baker's and Art Pepper's joint effort, The Route, which benefits form Pete Jolly on piano and Leroy Vinegar on bass among others.
5. And finally, when you awake and are enjoying that first cup of java while the cool night air still lingers, throw on Frank Morgan's Easy Living with the fabulous Cedar Walton on piano.

Now that would be cool jazz.

Mike Clark: It's About the Jazz

Summertime isn't necessarily a heavy jazz-listening season for me, but I have had Mike Clark's 2008 effort stacked up in my potential blog posts for a while, so I thought we would switch gears for a minute here and talk a little jazz.

So first off, I am going to bet that the name Mike Clark is not all that familiar even to jazz listeners--at least it wasn't to me until this album. That is probably for two reasons. One, I am hopeless about attending to who plays on what album in supporting roles. Two, I am not a big fusion fan and so don't have a lot of Herbie Hancock coming through the Headhunter phase. And it is there that Mike Clark got his real recognition, playing with Hancock on several albums though the mid-70s.

But with this album, which is part of a series intended to focus on "some of jazz music's eminently worthy but less widely known innovators," Clark, according to the liner notes, is out to

defy the stereotype of my identity as a funk or fusion drummer. I have devoted my entire life to playing jazz--the music I love the most--both before and after my successful association with Herbie Hancock's Headhunters. While I made a name of myself during the early years with Hancock, specifically on the Thrust album, and I love that music, has has always been where my strongests talent lies and my devotion begins.

Many seem to believe he succeeded as this album was clearly well received, getting solid reviews including making Downbeat's Best of 2008 list.

This is definitely a strong album--with Christian McBride on bass, Patrice Rushen on piano, Christian Scott on trumpet, Donald Harrison on alto (who many think steals the show) and Jed Levy on tenor (see that is me attending to the cast of characters)--but you have definitely got to be into the bop and still a little bit into the funk for this one--don't be hanging around waiting for the slow-swinger here.

Now, I have to say that I am not a huge follower of bands led by drummers with the notable exception of Art Blakey. The reason is that I am not real keen on either drum solos (which in my estimation should be left to live performances as they are in part visual spectacle) or, quite frankly, the drums being way out in front musically. Don't get me wrong, I love a strong drummer in the rhythm section who drives the beat and a well-done drum fill is a thing of beauty, but I am too hooked on melody to have the drums leading the song. And in some cases, that is a problem on this album for me, but only a little.

The tunes have a certain quality that is reminiscent of some great 50's Blue Note bop with the theme laid down and the band, which is definitely tight, passing the improvs around but with the theme re-emerging throughout. From a musical performance standpoint, you can see why the album received high marks. Most of the songs are straight jazz and even when they do veer into a funky attitude, it fits. Clark's drumming is quick and light, although very omnipresent in these songs--space is not really the goal here.

Ultimately, you gotta like the bop and you gotta like the drums and a lot of sound to dig this album. Here are three tracks to give you a taste. First up is the opener "In The House" which is a really solid opening track but a perfect example of a drum solo that is more an interruption to me than a highlight. Next up is Tim Ouinette's fine composition, "10th Ave. 1957" which brings some fine New Orleans swagger to the album. And last up is "Loft Funk" which brings the bop/funk sound fully together.

See what you think.

Blueprints of Jazz, Volume I (Buy Album)

In The House

10th Ave. 1957

Loft Funk

Trying to Get into the Present Tense with James Carter

I remember the first time College Roomy had me sitting in his back room (post college) and put on James Carter's 1995 release, The Real Quietstorm which opens with the phatest baritone sax openings of "Round Midnight" one could ever imagine. It was a sound that made you melt the minute you heard it. That whole album, which I picked up the first chance I could after I heard it, was simply wonderful all the way through with that totally sexy late night jazz feel to it. I thought, this is a player I am going to be listening to for a very long time. Carter's contrbutions on Robert Altman's 1996 Kansas City soundtrack did nothing but confirm that sense as Carter's distinctive growl on any saxophone he touched--whether bari, alto or soprano--and on any style of song he played, was both distinctive and a pleasure to listen to. As Pico puts it:

When you hear Carter play the saxophone, it's pretty unmistakable that it's him: he's got the soul of Lester Young, the grit of Eddie Harris and the technical proficiency of John Coltrane.

But alas, I didn't keep up (at all) and it was only recently that I picked up my second James Carter album--his 2008 release Present Tense. Now you have to be a real curmudgeon to not enjoy Carter's playing, but I can also understand some of the slightly, er, nuanced reactions to this album. It has exquisite playing throughout and great mixes and each song is worthy of comment, but it doesn't quite hold together as a whole.

Carter plays just about anything that has a reed and requires wind and then throws in a little flute for good measure--so talent is not an issue. And the album contains a variety of influences from standard swing, to Latin, to alternative jazz, so you have to respect the variety. And all of it does have a certain Carter touch--this isn't just a cat with a sax showing off his skills . . . but it still doesn't move me as a great disc (although it has, for the most part received some very solid reviews).

The disc opens with "Rapid Shave"--a swinging Blue Note era sounding bop tune by Dave Burns that sets the tone. That is followed by "Bro. Dolphy"--a Carter original that leans toward the atonal, alternative jazz Dolphy played and Carter, on the bass clarinet of course, does Dolphy justice. That said, the tune throws off the album for me as it is as if I just hit the shuffle button on the iPod and jumped from one era to the next. Eclectic and wide-ranging yes, but not really how I like my discs to flow.

In fact, I think it is this moment in the disc which is the real hitch for me as after that we settle in with a Django ballad (never can you go wrong there) and a slow cha-cha piece where Carter's growling sax is at its best--slow and menacing. We then move into a pretty nice mix of pieces although I have to say I am not real keen on jazz albums where the artist is dueling himself on a multi-track mix of, well, himself, which we get on "Song of Delilah." The disc has some nice pieces in the later half with a great swinging version of Gigi Gryce's "Hymn of the Orient" and some nice Latin-flavored pieces.

Ultimately though the breadth of styles becomes a bit too much of a mish-mash for me. I don't want it all to be the same, but I would really have liked a bit more sense of how it all fits together. Perhaps I am a bit too wed to a certain type of jazz album and am just still trying to figure out how to move forward with jazz rather than being hung up in the classics of the past. There are many wonderful moments here (with Dwight Adams' trumpet work and D.D. Jackson's piano providing great complements to Carter's sensibilities) and it is definitely worth a listen. It just doesn't reach the level of classic to me--a high bar I suppose, but one that this guy has the talent to reach. Of course to be fair, I should listen to something from the previous 15 years (and if you have a sense of offerings between Quietstorm and Present Tense that should be looked into, please advise).

Check these out, which I think are a few highlights of the album (which you can buy here).

Rapid Shave

Sussa Nita

Hymn of the Orient

And if you haven't heard this from Real Quietstorm which you can also buy here, well then let me share!

Round Midnight

And lastly, check out this swinging tune from Kansas City, on which JC takes a rippin solo (oh and you can buy that there too).

Moten Swing

Oasis, Coltrane, Soundgarden and Originals: Must be Brad Mehldau

Covering the waterfront doesn't quite capture what Brad Mehldau and his trios (and other iterations) have been doing for the last decade. This is a guy who can not only do the whole soft jazz trio thing and then jump to some serious bop tunes with a wall of notes, he can also move into a free jazz frenzy or play the blues. And of course, what a Mehldau group might be most known for is identifying modern pop tunes and moving them into the jazz genre in such a way that you feel like you are fortunate enough to be listening to that moment when a song gets wrenched from its origins to become known as a jazz standard rather than just a jazz cover of the latest rock or pop tune.  And what I think makes Mehldau different on this front is his ability to choose the right songs from the Beatles to Radiohead.

So it should have come as no surprise to me when I first heard Mehldau's latest effort with bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard and the disc opened with a cover of "Wonderwall" by Oasis.  Well, cover doesn't really, er, cover it.  The guys take a great pop tune (regardless of what you think of those Gallagher brothers),  and turn it into an absolutely fun nine-minutes of swinging jazz, highlighted by Grenadier's wonderful funky bass line underneath Mehldau's great sense of melody and improvisation.

But that is really only the beginning of this fine two-disc compilation from their 2006 stint at the Village Vanguard in which they play everything from slow lovely standards such as Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You" to rippin John Coltrane pieces such as "Coutndown" to a 23 minute version of Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" (which gets a bit too free jazzy for me, but just for a moment).  In addition, there are some great Mehldau originals here, the best being "Ruby's Rub" which really shows off the trio's range of abilities.

The playing, as always seems to be the case with a Mehldau trio is Keith Jarrett trio tight.  I have to say that I really like Jeff Ballard's work on this effort.  I am no expert on drummers (and would have to go back and listen more closely to Jorge Rossy on earlier trio albums to see how it compares), but something about Ballard's touch which seems quick and very responsive to Mehldau's keyboard work--almost as if they are in a conversation at times--really rounds out the trio on this album.

So here is the trick.  Since the shortest track on this outing is almost nine minutes (and I know that most folks aren't hanging around here that long), I am hard pressed to pick out one track to share.  I really want everyone to take a listen to "Wonderwall" and as I said "Ruby's Rub" is an excellent and representative piece--but you can hear samples of those along with "Blackhole Sun" over at the official site.  So here is O Que Sera by Doris Day Chico Buarque.  This no simple bossa nova tune, but rather more of a laid back samba feeling blues which slowly moves into a more up-tempo musical back and forth between these three talented players.  

Enjoy and use that buy the album link as this one gets a 95/100 from the TR.

O Que Sera (Buy Album)

Silver Spring: The New Brooklyn?

Odd how music intersects with life. I haven't listened to Branford Marsalis' award winning 1992 jazzy-blues effort I Heard You Twice the First Time for a loooong time, but it used to be a frequent listen, particularly during hot summer days (it always seemed like a disc designed for hot sultry summer nights). But then this past Monday a colleague from work and I were working hard to catch a cab since we were two of the thousands stranded in downtown D.C. due to the awful accident on Metro's red line which we ride daily.

We were at Union Station, but the taxi line there was a gazillion folks long, so we walked over to a hotel where cabs normally congregate only to find, well, no cabs. However, we were able to flag one down and jumped in quickly as we were, of course, competing for the driver's attention. From there, the conversation went something like this:

Us: We are going to the Silver Spring Metro stop.

Cabbie: Uuuhhh . . . .

Us: Silver Spring Metro stop?

Cabbie: Pulls over toward hotel where someone is shouting they need a ride to a recognizable location nearby.

Us: Silver Spring?

Hotel Bellman: These guys are going to Cleveland Park.

Cabbie: Hmmm, I know Cleveland Park.

Us: No, Silver Spring.

Pause . . .

Us: Do you know where that is?

Cabbie: No.

Us: Ah! We will direct.

And we did and he was gracious about it all--weaving in and out of DC streets to get to that foreign land known as Maryland (and yes, we made it worth his time). But the whole time, I kept thinking about the opening track of Branford's album. Now don't get me wrong--I am not suggesting there was anything remotely racial going on as is the case in this tune, it just made me think about it and made me break this album out.

It is a great set of blues driven jazz tunes with Branford's band at the time including Kenny Kirkland on piano, Jeff "tain" Waits on drums and Robert Hurst on bass. The guests on the album are a who's who of blues: B.B. King, Russel Malone, John Lee Hooker, Brother Wynton, Linda Hopkins and others. Neats and I also had the pleasure of seeing a version of this cast of players during our first stint here in DC.

The album runs the gamut from Branford's boppy jazz orientation to the KC/Chicago blues sounds of B.B. and John Lee to New Orleans jazz scene and generally explores all the connections between jazz and blues even looking back at working songs brought over from the fields of Africa. So here are a few samples for those of you who dig that wonderful intersection of jazz and blues (although it is hard to pick enough samples to represent the whole diversity that is this disc).

So why not just pick it up for yourself over at Branford's page.

Brother Trying to Catch a Cab (On the East Side)

Rib Tip Johnson

Mabel

Hiromi Makes Me Smile

So I realize that I haven't been bringin the love lately on the albums I have reviewed and I had every intention of posting about what has been my favorite find of the summer tonight (and promise I will in the next couple of days), but truth is it just wasn't in the cards today. I just returned from taking the family up to Cleveland this weekend where they are going to hang a few days before we head up for vacation on the big lake and had to return for a few more days of work and that just put a damper on the mood.

But while finishing up some work around the house and dealing with the prolific garden, I heard a great interview on WPFW with Hiromi Uehara who is playing at Blues Alley this weekend. Now Hiromi is someone who has been getting a lot of attention for the last few years as a young jazz/fusion piano player because one, she can play the ivory right off of the piano keys and two, because she is a young phenom who seems to attract some of the greats of jazz--Ahmad Jamal, Chick Corea, Stanley Clarke and more. But I am a bit stodgy about jazz, so I have my reservations.

But in her interview today, Larry Applebaum asked her what she thought success was for an artist and she said she just wanted people to smile--and was she was so damn sincere and innocent sounding, you had to believe her. So a little poking around on the tubes led me to some various tunes, and watching and listening to them, I could not help but, well, smile. And that is truly a wonderful thing. So while I am not able to offer up much critical reflection on her music (happy to hear it, if you got it), I am going to share a couple videos that will hopefully make you smile as well.

First up is some totally funked out jazz.

Next up, Oscar Peterson meets Tom and Jerry.

Autumn with the Nuttree

The weather is turning. The track of the sun is getting southerly and creating those great slanted shadows. The air is starting to have that crisp feeling and the hint of leaves turning has begun. It is the time of year that turns my musical interests to listening to jazz and thinking about wandering through the streets of the city to a jazz club to hear some swinging music while sipping on something in a tall, cool glass--or these days at least trying to create that atmosphere even while the boys are running around like maniacs at home. And here is a nice new disc to help create that atmosphere.

The Nuttree Quartet is John Abercrombie (g) Jerry Bergonzi (ts) Adam Nussbaum (d) and Gary Versace (B3) and the new(ish) disc is Standards which is a solid disc of (mostly), well, standards with a few more jazz-fan oriented pieces (by standards writers) thrown in. The majority of tunes are played by the full quartet although there are a couple trio settings as well that mixes things up nicely. The musicians are all proven performers in their own right. In fact, in one sense, it is tempting to see the disc as too straightforward and too standard--what's new about four veterans playing standards afterall. But that is a mistake.

As Ken Micallef notesin the Downbeat review: "Playing standards may be as old as Job, but what better way for modern-day masters to weigh in on the state of the art?" And they weigh in nicely.

For the most part the arrangements are upbeat and free-flowing with Bergonzi’s tenor often taking the lead pass. His sound is big but not overbearing at all. The solos are fluid and a nice mix between lyrically driven riffs and a bit more free-ranging takes—although this is always pretty straight-forward jazz. Abercrombie’s smooth guitar, both as part of the rhythm section and in his solos, serves as a nice counterbalance to the bigger sax sound and Nussbaum is on the mark throughout whether on brushes or driving the more upbeat pieces where I think he really excels.

If I have one reservation it is the B3 parts—not because I don’t like the B3 (I. in fact, love it) or even because I don’t think Versace does some nice work here. When I saw the line-up for this album, I was imagining the album being a bit more driven by the B3 and since Versace is in more of a traditional rhythm section role here (with some notable solo exceptions) I almost wish they went all acousitic here, but that is a minor note in an otherwise perfectly enjoyable effort.

I am going to give you three real standards here to sample. Although keep in mind that there are a some more chilled out pieces mixed in with tunes like these.

Our Love Is Here To Stay
All Or Nothing At All
Naima

Three To Consider: Daytrotter Sessions

If you don't know about Daytrotter (or haven't visited in a while) you should get yourself over to the Horseshack and check it out. What happens there is that bands and performers of all stripes stop in, drop a few live tracks down on Sean and the gang that they then roll those original performances back out one a day. And the lists of bands who have stopped in to do sessions over the last few years is simply damn impressive.

Still, I am not sure that justifies the level of self-righteousness in their "About statement." I mean really, we don't all have studios and a crew to produce music with and many of us are trying to ethically promote music and artists. But I digress.

The point is that Daytrotter provides a way to hear new music and original recordings of bands you already love. Here are three from the last week that are all on my "to get" list. Click on Daytrotter's embed player to listen, but also you really should follow the links in each description to read the session notes as well.

First up is Rural Alberta Advantage who recently released their debut album, Hometowns. Not shockingly this indie rock band hails from Alberta, Canada and writes and sings about just that. They sound great here in this session and appear to be on the way to a successful start. Hell, even Pitchforklikes them! Check out the full Daytrotter session and their album can be picked up atSaddle Creek Records.

Next up is Nomo, the Ann Arbor, MI "post-Afro-beat dance explosion" jazz band that plays, as Sean describes in the full session notes, "street jazz or the kind of jazz that academics do when they're slumming it and actually enjoying themselves a little more than they thought was possible." Bottom line--whole bunch of folks, making a whole bunch of sound. You can pick up Invisible Cities and other efforts at Ubiquity Records.

Last up is the one I am most excited about from listening to the Daytrotter sessions and that Daytrotter seems most responsible for pushing out there into the noise of all the music floating around the nets: Union Suit Characters. This Joliet, IL duo earns the title of Daytrotter's "Favorite Lo-Fi Wonders" in the full session notes (which you must read). And, really, you have to give Sean and crew props here since once you go looking for the album you will find it is only available from the band directly and in mp3--all of those options are available over at their MySpacey place.

So if you haven't already, get on over to Daytrotter and check out the wonderful stuff they are doing. You can also follow their daily tweets so you know when each new session is up.

Holiday Music: Squirrel Nut Zippers

The first two installments of holiday music have been beautiful acoustic albums, so let's step it up a bit. One might suggest that this week's installment would be better categorized as a jazz album rather than a pop influenced album, but my sense of the Squirrel Nut Zippers is that they were always about making their brand of jazz influenced music popular.

The SNZ have always been true to their wonderful mix of Dixie-influenced jazz that has a certain bluegrass feel to it and always has that great feel of music made in the mountains of Carolina. Their holiday effort is no exception. On top of that, this effort has that feel of musicians who grew up and experienced the holidays through the lens of the 1950's or 60's. The beauty here is that you know this is all history and a passing down of tradition.

So put on SNZ's Christmas Caravan, stir up a batch of egg nog, get out your Lionel train set and imagine yourself in the snow covered southern appalacian mountains and enjoy some holiday fun.

Squirrel Nut Zippers (Buy Album)

Winter Weather
Carolina Christmas
Hot Christmas

Rambling Boy Rambles

Let’s start with this. I love Charlie Haden. First off he has a discography that is simply amazing both in terms of its breadth and in terms of the number of different musicians and bands with whom he has collaborated. Now if you are not a jazz fan (primarily) you may not know Charlie Haden—although his collaborations with Pat Metheny has brought him more mainstream attention I suspect. But you don’t have to be a jazz fan to like this album. In fact, I suspect some Charlie Haden jazz fans won’t totally dig this album.

See Charlie Haden started out as a member of his family’s country and bluegrass band singing on radio shows in the 1940s and 50s (beginning when he was two years old) and this album is his return to that genre. This time, however, it is with his own children and family (and the help of an impressive line-up of friends).

Now these me and “all-my-famous-friends” discs can often be less than notable and rarely hold together as albums, but in this case it does. The songs and the music are well arranged both musically and sequentially (with exceptions noted below). The stars fit into the overall theme rather than standing out like odd additions or a random collection of famous folks. For example, I love Elvis Costello, but lately it seems he has been showing up everywhere in not so subtle ways; but here he blends in just fine—as does Bruce Hornsby, Vince Gill, Rosanne Cash, Ricky Skaggs and even Jack Black.

Yes, that Jack Black. See he is married to one of the Haden triplets who are central to the album as this is, after all, a family affair. And let’s talk about the family. First off, the pieces where the triplets—Petra, Tanya and Rachel—are singing together or in duets are wonderful and run throughout the album. Josh, the son, also has a great solo piece on the album. But ultimately, I have to say the weak pieces are the solo efforts by the daughters—and as the album is very long (18 songs) it could benefit from some editing.

Now, who am I to say that Charlie Haden, who has played with Ornette Coleman, Keith Jarrett, Kenny Barron, Pat Metheny, Ricki Lee Jones and on and on, doesn’t have the right to let his daughters (who have their own musical credentials) sing solos? “No one” is the answer. And actually, I am getting attached to the whole disc as it is as a family effort (with great musicians supporting them), but my first reaction was to edit this down by three or four tunes.

Ultimately this is a fun album from a great artist and his family and it is worth more than a listen.

Buy Album

Here is a sample of the trio (a song my wife seems to take great pleasure in), a guest, the son, the son-in-law and Haden himself.

Single Girl, Married Girl

20/20 Vision

Spiritual

Old Joe Clark

Oh Shenendoah

You Can Call Me Al

Shall we begin? Indeed. So the July issue of Downbeat has some recommendations to consider. But first, it was pointed out to me the other day that all lovers of music might not be aware of Downbeat as a resource for jazz fans—off to the Wiki with you. Okay back to business.

DB gave a number of albums 4+ stars which represents “Excellent” in the DB world—for those who don’t know this pub, 5 stars are pretty doggone hard to come by. So here are a few of the contenders from this issue.

• Live / Brad Mehldau Trio (4 stars): I really love Mehldau’s stuff and he also gets a mention earlier in the issue for being one of the first jazz artists for covering Radiohead tunes. Definitely going on the “consider to pick up next time I am shopping list.”
• Tragicomic / Vijay Iyer (4 stars): just picked it up and listening to it as I write--more after I give it a closer listen. First blush: very boppy, but with overarching melodies that are quite accessible.
• Standards / Nuttree Quartet (4 stars): just the line up and instrumentation will make me pick this up. John Abercrombie (guitar) Jerry Bergonzi (tenor saxophone) Adam Nussbaum(drums) Gary Versace (Hammond B-3).
• Vignettes / Marilyn Crispell (4 and ½ stars): Somebody help me here as I don’t have any of her stuff, but I feel like I should know more about her.

Okay, so there are a lot of other artists featured in the issue I will try to get to. But one article that caught my attention was the write up and interview with Al Green about his new album Lay It Down which they describe as an “instant classic.” This caught my attention because I had just read about it in Rolling Stone in their “Buy It Now” write up. I have some of the Reverend’s music and appreciate his place in musical history, but am not some fanatical fan. Still, the seemingly universal praise for this effort--not to mention the folks who are hanging out with him on this disc--makes me consider checking it out.

So let’s open up the fan lines on Al Green. What do you all think? Anyone have the new album or any of his recent efforts? Are the critics right on this one--worth the purchase? Need a promo prompt--here you go.

Harps and Angels

Randy Newman might love LA, but his verbal delivery always puts me in smack dab in the middle of New Orleans, which somehow seems appropriate today. That sense is magnified by many of the tunes having a NOLA jazz feel to the arrangements, although some sound more like something from a musical. But if you like Newman's style of telling you a story more than singing you one, and the synthesis of stage and jazz is something you appreciate, you are going to really love this album.

Of course, on any Newman album, lyrics are key--I mean how many people can work "arrhythmic" into a song. That would be part of his heart attack/near death title track in which God and his angels provide the following advice:

When they lay you on the table
Better keep your business ("bid-ness") clean
'Fore they lay you on the table
Better keep you business clean
Don't want no back stabbing, ass grabbing
You know exactly what I mean
Alright girls -- we're outta here

Is it inappropriate of me to laugh at the idea of God calling his angels girls? Speaking of girls, how about these heartfelt lines for his daughter in "Potholes":

I even love my teenage daughter
There's no accounting for it
Apparently I don't care how I'm treated
My love is unconditional or something

Of course, all of these edgier observations that make the soft songs all the more sincere.

But ultimately, much of this album is political commenatry on the state of our country, particularly the direction we have been heading as of late. There is this from "A Piece of the Pie":

Jesus Christ it stinks in here high and low
The rich are getting richer
I should know
While we're going up
You're going down
And no one gives a shit but Jackson Browne

And then there is the most direct criticism of the album offered up in "A Few Words in Defense of Our Country"--here are a few choice verses.

I'd like to say a few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren't bad
Nor are they mean
How the leaders we have
While they're the worst that we've had
Are hardly the worst
This poor world has seen

Take the Ceasars for example
Within the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister,
Stashing little boys in swimming pools
And burning down the city
And one of 'em, on of 'em
Appointed his own horse to be Consul of the Empire
That's like vice president or something
Wait a minute, that not a very good example is it?

[snip]

A President once said,
"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now we're supposed to be afraid
It's patriotic and color-coded
And what are we supposed to be afraid of?
Why being afraid
That's what terror means, doesn't it?
That's what it used to mean

You know it kind of pisses me off
That this Supreme Court is going to outlive me
A couple of young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now, too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world,
to find me two Italians as tight-assed as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother, well
Pluto's not a planet anymore either.

The end of an Empire is messy at best
And this Empire is ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada adrift on the sea
We're adrift in the land of the brave and the home of the free

Somehow, Newman's concerns about this country's leadership seem appropriate given the news from both ends of the Mississippi today. Let us sincerely hope the the focus today and this week is on the natural event as opposed to the political one.

The Right Profile

Just a little more navel-gazing here as we get the site started up while I have a few people checking in (I think?). Here is my question: Where do you get your musical news/info/insights? Of course, the very premise of this blog is that one primary way is by sharing with friends. But, I also surmise that most of us check out some publication here or there, or read a blog, or are lucky enough to have a decent local paper that reviews music . . . in short, we have our particular sources.

So what are they? I am looking to build up the resources over there on the right-hand side of this blog, but I would like to be deliberate about that. I don’t want those lists to be nothing more than some long list of links that is so overwhelming that no one finds them helpful (remember, the idea here is to be a kind of friend’s clearinghouse of musical ideas).

For instance, David Byrne’s Journal which is the only one listed just now in that category (another h/t to College Roommate) is simply a really interesting blog on music and many other things. I know lots of artist have promo-sites, but I am looking for more than that. I am looking for sites that help inform the conversation and that you would think others would appreciate.

Similarly, I have added some mainstream music pubs, but there are a whole mess of them out there—what do you consult?

Finally, I am looking for music specific sites. There are lots of folks who post occasionally on music, but the goal is quality, not quantity. So for instance I have added Jazz & Blues Music Reviews (who, by the way beat me to weighing in on Vijay Iyer's new album) to the list of other bloggers writing about music because of that blog's focus on, well, jazz and blues.

So tell me where you go, and if there should be a whole new category over there on the right side, let me know that as well.

Summertime Sunday

Sunday often means a day of listening to WPFW, a great jazz-oriented community radio station here in DC. The Sunday line-up is killer (in fact it is the whole reason I am a member and I suspect others are as well). It starts with Tom Cole and his show "G-Strings" focused on guitar and other string-driven jazz--perfect for a Sunday morning paper and a cup of coffee. It is followed by "Sunday Kind of Love" hosted by Miyuki Williams who tends to focus on vocals, particularly women vocalists. Then you get "Guy's Groove" with Guy Middleton in the afternoon with a great mix of bop and R&B. And finally, there is "Sound of Surprise" with Larry Applebaum who spins lots of new releases and reissues.

I find the whole day perfectly timed--particularly for a cool fall or winter Sunday--or even a warm summer day when you are trying to get the basement refinished (like today). I would definitely suggest you check it out if you are in town or hanging around your computer on a Sunday (link to the main page over in the right hand column).

I was particularly glad that I tuned in today as when I did I immediately noticed that they were playing a bunch of Eva Cassidy. It soon became clear that the reason was that a new collection of previously unreleased tunes were being released today on a new disc entitled Somewhere. For those who don't know Eva's music and her story, she passed in 1996 at only age 33, but left a serious imprint on the music scene with her amazing vocals.

My first experience with her music was on a beautiful November morning driving home from a meeting in downtown DC about 6 years ago. As I drove north on 16th Ave., her rendition of "Autumn Leaves" from Live at Blues Alley came on. It didn't hurt that the sun was slanting through the trees lining the street and colored leaves were floating gently to the ground. Needless to say, that album was quickly added to my collection and I would recommend it to anyone--great live music that ranges from Irving Berlin to Curtis Mayfield to Sting to Al Green with a tight band.

Miyuki had the new disc in the studio along with Eva's parents who were there for an interview. The samples were all solid--but I particularly found the arrangement of "Summertime" both wonderful to listen to and heartbreaking as I imagined her folks listening to these lyrics. The arrangement was caught on Live @ Pearls (a bootleg as far as I know) and is used here on this YouTube contribution--I recommend closing your eyes and listening.

Three to Consider: Hidden Holiday Treats

I am still happily preoccupied with seasonal activities (and less happily still dealing with work too close to the big day). So here is a lazy offering to fill the time let's take a look at a new category--holiday tunes that appear on regular albums as opposed to included on entire holiday albums. They just sort of pop-up on these albums.

In many cases, I am not a big fan of these as they seem terribly out of place to me. For instance, one of my all time favorite jazz artists is Dexter Gordon and one of my favorite tunes of his is "The Panther" which is on the album with the same title (it is also the reason our big black and white cat's name is Dexter). Anyway, in the midst of this album comes Dex's version of "The Christmas Song." It is a great version and, in fact, leads off a nice jazz holiday compilation album I have . . .  but it is totally out of place there.

Now this is surely part of my over-the-top rules about holiday music which shall never be played before Thanksgiving our after New Year's Day (really, that is enough isn't it?). Of course, as with all hard-and-fast rules, there are exceptions and here are three of mine. The key to all of these very different tunes is that they all work as holiday songs and as songs on the albums they appear on.

First up, we have The Waitresses with "Christmas Wrapping"--and this is a bit of stretch since it was first released as an EP, but I have it where I suspect many do which is on their Best Of album. So we find it mixed in with other holiday favorites such as "I Know What Boys Like" and "They're All Out of Liquor, Let's Find Another Party." And yet, it works--perhaps cuz it is so eighties danceable, who knows.

Next we have an absolutely beautiful retelling of the Christmas story from Bruce Cockburn. No sap here, just a great storyteller putting his spin on a narrative that has been told a million times. I love, in particular, how he characterizes Joseph as the miffed-jealous partner and how Mary sets him straight. "Cry of a Tiny Babe" sits in the midst of a great Cockburn album Nothing But a Burning Light which is held together by a theme of searching for the character of a man's soul (and for Bruce, I do think it is about a man's character), which is perhaps why this fits so well.

And last, we have Chrissie Hynde singing "2000 Miles" from the Pretenders Learning to Crawl album. This tune is really a song of love and longing, but the use of Christmastime as a place-holder for happier times and the snow imagery make it a fine holiday tune, although it also serves as a wonderful closing tune to this album.

Christmas Wrapping
Cry of a Tiny Babe
2000 Miles

Tres Bien! Hot Club of Detroit

So Neats and I are going to escape to Montreal for the weekend where we have not been since we honeymooned there (as children--without children) nearly 20 years ago.  This gives me the perfect opportunity to talk about the new album, Night Town, by the Hot Club of Detroit since jazz and Montreal are clearly just one step away from Paris, n'est-ce pas?    Obviously named after the Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt and violinist Stéphane Grappelli, this is a guitar-based, 1930's-influenced swing band focused on Django-compositions,  but there is more.

These guys clearly love the Django and so do I.  In fact, I generally don't want hear anyone trying to copy Django as I almost always react to bands trying to emulate him and his band by thinking of Emmet Ray in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown--Emmet was the greatest guitar man in the world . . . except Django--and often I feel the same way about Django influenced groups.

But with that caveat,  I have got to say that I have been really enjoying this album by Hot Club of Detroit (HCoD), both for it's straight up Hot Club sound (and all of Paris clubs and cafes that it evokes) but also their efforts to expand the repertoire to include other jazz idioms.  And there is no denying that these guys can swing.  If you aren't into Django and the 30's sound you won't like it.  If you are but can't accept a modernized and cleaner sound of that music (which I understand), you also won't like HCoD.   But if you are into Django and can deal with a bit more polished sound  (and you also dig the move from the 30's swing sound to the Blue Note years), I am going to bet you enjoy this effort.

To give you a sample, here are three tracks.  First is "J'attendrai" which was, of course, recorded by Django (and others), followed by "Speevy" which is written by Reinhardt and Grappelli--these should give you the sense of the great playing by the band and thier reverence for the traditional Hot Club sound--particularly by lead guitarist Evan Perri.  Then to give you a sense of the expansionist sense of HCoD, we have "Blues Up and Down,"  a Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt tune that allows Carl Cafagna to show off a bit more muscular tenor sax (although he blends his alto well into many of the other tunes).  All around, a swingin' affair.

So open up the red wine, order some pommes frites, and take a listen.

Hot Club of Detroit:  Night Town (Buy Album)

J'attendrai

Speevy
Blues Up and Down

______________________________________________________

RIP: Freddie Hubbard

I was so entrenched in my family vacation visit, that I missed the passing of one of the greatest jazz trumpeters from the Blue Note era: Freddie Hubbard. He, of course, came up with all those great players in the late 1950s and early '60s. He had an absolutely wonderful ability to mix bop and smooth playing to create a beautiful lyrical sound that will carry on forever.

Here are a couple tunes that I love--one from his famous Ready for Freddie album and another from one of my favorite Herbie Hancock albums that Freddie played on, Takin' Off.

Crisis (from Ready for Freddie)
Watermelon Man (from Takin' Off)

And of course there is the Art Blakey connection as there is with so many of the greats. Here is a take on "Moanin'" from a Jazz Messenger classic with a young Freddie rippin the lead solo.

Incredible Shrinking Music Stores

I had to stop at the neighborhood Borders to pick up a couple copies of that new Dan Zanes kid disc for a couple upcoming birthdays, so I perused the bins a bit and came out with:

Al Green: Lay It Down
Ryan Adams and The Cardinals: Cold Roses
Son Volt: The Search

The Al Green I have obviously been toying with and the Ryan Adams, well that is a whole other post (still!), but the Son Volt is another story. I first looked for some Uncle Tupelo--Anodyne specifically on the recs of the good readers here. The only UT was an Anthology. Always a bit suspicious of "best of" albums I passed. So over to Son Volt although I had no real plan here. Not to worry there was one choice and I mean one--so into the collection it went.

That was the successful part of the exploring as next I would go over to the jazz section--and I use the term "section" loosely. This particular Borders is pretty new and for a while had a pretty good selection of music including jazz and classical. However about a month ago they "consolidated" and the music section went to about half its size and you can imagine what is going to suffer in that equation. It is little wonder given the options out there for getting music, and so that is where I end this, with a question.

Where do you get your tunes? Best shopping options including downloading (I guess)--although it was hard enough for me to go from albums to discs--I am not sure I can ever make the complete switch to not having a case, liner notes, etc. to fondle while listening to a new disc for the first time.

For Every Season

I realize I have yet to write much about what I think of a particular disc—hmmm, could it be that I am a bit nervous about not being cutting edge enough for this crowd? Well yeah, but here it goes anyway (kinda).

I didn’t actually ever have any Old 97’s in the collection until I picked up their recent effort Blame It On Gravity—although I had different cuts from my days of getting CMJ every month (CMJ, where I just learned that Boy George has been denied a visa for his US tour because he allegedly "chained up" some Norwegian dude who came to his place for a “photo shoot.” But I so digress.)

I don’t know why I never did more than dip my toe in with the 97's, because this disc is just a bunch of fun—which means I am looking for suggestions of where to go in their discography next. The music is definitely has great rock beats with that country twang hanging around and plenty of tracks have their own particular sound--cha-cha, tango, swing, etc.

The lyrics are, on one hand, light-hearted with nice hooks, but on the other hand they aren’t superficial. The Rolling Stone review captures this mix of upbeat songs with serious/dark lyrics best with this from lead singer Rhett Miller:

"Strum it on a Telecaster/Sing it like a train-disaster song," sings Miller. It's a perfect mission statement from four Texans raised on the Beatles and Johnny Cash in equal measures, whose shiny melodies, and fatalistic character studies, do their forefathers proud.

Favorite first lyrics are from track two “Dance With Me”

He takes your hand, tenderly
He whispers sweet surrender
Nothing is how he feels
About girls like you with your flip-flop smiles and
Your big blue eyes on vacation

Dance with me into the ocean
Roll with me into the sea
Don’t tell me the world is in trouble
Do you want to dance with me?

This tune exemplifies to me why the album is a great pick up for the summer—a sort of escapism that acknowledges larger issues out there, but let’s ignore it all for a while and get lost in this music—yeah, I get that the song isn’t quite about that, but I am talking about the experience of listening to this disc (or at least mine).

This brings up another issue for me which is the idea of music being seasonal. I am wondering if others think about music that way. I definitely listen to certain music at different times of the year. I think this album resonates more with me for having picked it up as summer started. Not really sure I can articulate why that is, but I know it is true.

I tend to listen to more rowdy stuff in Spring and Summer and tend to be more jazz and classical oriented as we move through Fall and into the Winter. I suspect for me it has to do with my strong orientation to the academic calendar, but even that doesn’t hold perfectly. Of course, there are exceptions to that (and obviously mood has a lot to do with that), but it is a phenomenon I am acutely aware of in my listening habits and I am curious if any others have a pattern of music listening that you see as tied to time of year, weather, etc.?