Wane Shorter, Juju, Blue Note (1965)

• Wayne Shorter: tenor sax
• McCoy Tyner: piano
• Reginald Workman: bass
• Elvin Jones: drums

Here is a classic by Wayne Shorter, released the year I turned three! Yup, that’s well over half a century ago. Like any older recording, the first thing I noticed was the sound quality. The sax sounds overly harsh and brittle while the bass and piano lack depth. But interestingly, by the second cut I found myself not minding the sound quality at all.

This recording is generally considered to have the most Coltrane influence of anything ever released by Shorter. I would have to agree that the Coltrane sound is immediately recognizable. Another characteristic of this recording is the modal approach. This was the era when lots of jazz musicians were steering away from the chord progression based structure of bebop and Shorter is no exception. As such, this recording is a reflection of the era in which it was produced, and yet… what struck me right off the bat was how incredibly contemporary this music is. If someone else released this music today; complete with modern recording techniques and studios, I’m pretty sure it would get extremely good reviews. I’m not one of those curmudgeons who thinks that the old days were the best or that we should try to go back in time. As a listener who tends to like contemporary sounds better than old sounds, this recording really struck a chord with me. If you don’t already own it, by all means, go out and get it.

Roy Hargrove, Earfood, Groovin’ High Records, 2008

• Roy Hargrove: trumpet & flugelhorn
• Justin Robinson: alto sax & flute
• Gerald Clayton: piano
• Danton Boller: bass
• Montez Coleman: drums

This was Hargrove’s second to last release as a leader. I previously reviewed the final recording, Emergence, a 2009 release featuring his big band. This CD features his working band in the studio; a standard quintet with Justin Robinson on alto sax and flute. A brief look at his complete discography shows that he participated in at least ten further recordings as a side-man following these last two releases of his; the final one in 2018, the year of his untimely death: a collaboration with the acclaimed British indie pop band, The 1975. Interesting as that may be, today’s topic is Hargrove’s final recording with his quintet. Being that it was a full ten years before his death, I get the sense from this CD, that his struggle with drugs had yet to really drag down his playing, but then again I’m only guessing. Some totally strung out musicians have produced masterpiece recordings in the midst of complete chaos in every other aspect of their lives. Whatever the case, this is a wonderful recording of music that just hits the right spot over and over again.

Hargrove states his goal for this project in the liner notes. “My goal in this project, is to have a recording that is steeped in tradition and sophistication, while maintaining a sense of melodic simplicity.” It would be hard to draw any other conclusion than that he convincingly succeeded in attaining that goal. It’s music that draws you in. I don’t know how to summarize it all in a few words so I’ll just include all the notes I jotted down as I listened.

1. I’m Not So Sure: Great first cut. Funky, upbeat, with raucous solos from Hargrove. Piano solo adds lots of funk.
2. Brown: medium tempo with a light, ballad like melody, muted trumpet, makes you want to skip
3. Strasbourg/St. Denis: bass intro leads into another funky horn riff that serves as a theme; another skipping frolic
4. Starmaker: mellow ballad, begins with a long sax and trumpet melody played in unison, mesmerizing sound. Eventually the horns take turns soloing; Hargrove first, unmuted, followed by Robinson on sax, then piano
5. Joy Is Sorrow Unmasked: another ballad, opens with trumpet melody, mid section features horn interplay
6. The Stinger: medium tempo, opens with two horn unison melody again, standard four beat, sax solos first, The title implies a faster, more pointed tune, but in reality it has a loping bass line and just bops along
7. Rouge: starts out as a grandiose sounding ballad… intentionally slow and drawn out intro… and never goes beyond that… just ends as if it were nothing more than an intro for the next song
8. Mr. Clean: another funky, mid-tempo, laid back bass line and funky solos
9. Style: bass solo intro leads into sax melody line… mid tempo… trumpet solo has an unusually clear and bright sound, as does the piano solo… long bass solo, much darker sound and lots of humming…
10. Divine: opens with trumpet melody… slow and deliberate with piano accompaniment… piano solos first with very slow Tynerian lines, left hand very subdued, closes with trumpet solo… slow to the end
11. To Wisdom The Prize: picks up the tempo a bit; four beat… once again, horns begin in unison creating that unique tonal quality… and then move into harmony… trumpet solo goes slow over the faster base; gradually picking up pace… sax solo follows… the beat is what makes this cut attractive; sort of draws you in.
12. Speak Low: Another slow cut, starting with classic dusty sounding Hargrove. Gloriously slow lope. Lush!
13. Bring It On Home To Me: live recording of his classic closing number. A bluesy tune that you end up humming all the way home.

Roy Hargrove passed before his time. The story is sad, all too common among talented musicians and artists… but if nothing else, we are fortunate that he left us a significant amount of recorded music that speaks to his legacy and that of contemporary jazz as well.

 

Roy Hargrove Big Band, Emergence, Emarcy (2009)

• Roy Hargrove: Trumpet, Flugelhorn, Vocals
• Roberta Gambarini: Vocals
• Frank Greene: Trumpet
• Greg Gisbert: Trumpet
• Darren Barrett: Trumpet
• Ambrose Akinmisure: Trumpet
• Jason Jackson: Trombone
• Vincent Chandler: Trombone
• Saunders Sermons: Trombone
• Max Seigel: Bass Trombone
• Bruce Williams: Alto Sax, Flute
• Justin Robinson: Alto Sax, Flute
• Norbert Stachel: Tenor Sax, Flute
• Keith Loftis: Tenor Sax, Flute
• Jason Marshall: Baritone Sax, Flute
• Geral Clayton: Piano
• Danton Boller: Bass
• Montex Coleman: Drums
• Saul Rubin: Guitar
• Roland Guerrero: Percussion

Last week I heard the sad news of Roy Hargrove’s passing. Another great talent from the neo-trad school is gone. And he was only 49… Discovered in high school by Wynton Marsalis, Hargrove went on to have a very productive career spanning thirty years. Clearly he wasn’t at his best in the latter years, held back by the same demon that has plagued the careers of so many incredible jazz musicians. But other than his forays into electronic stuff, I’ve always grabbed pretty much anything he released. As I looked over my collection of his CDs I discovered that the last two he released were missing so I promptly ordered them online and this one arrived first. He was an inspiration to many other musicians and I hope his successes as well as his failures will continue to provide wisdom to jazz performers for a long time.

I enjoyed this recording from beginning to end. Big band isn’t necessarily my favorite format, but when done well, it is really rich and this is a good example. Hargrove wasn’t a cutting edge sort of musician, but rather one who took the art and made it more beautiful. He does that in a variety of styles on this CD. Ballads, mid-tempo, latin, vocals, swing and much more. It’s all there. I will definitely treasure this CD, along with the rest of my Roy Hargrove CDs now that he is gone. Peace to his memory.

 

Buster Williams & Something More; Audacity, Smoke Sessions (2018)

• Buster Williams; bass
• Steve Wilson; saxophone
• George Colligan; piano
• Lenny White; drums

Buster Williams is a veteran bassist who first gained widespread recognition in the sixties. On this outing he is paired up with three musicians, each from different generation. Colligan on the piano is the youngest at age 48. Steve Wilson on the sax is 57. Lenny White, a legendary drummer in his own rite, is 68 and Leader Buster Williams on the bass is 76. According to Colligan’s liner note, they have been working together on and off, for fifteen years. 

Interestingly, both White and Williams have spend a good deal of time in the fusion world. In fact White is considered one of the founders of fusion jazz and Williams worked with Herbie Hancock for a long time. But on this recording the fusion influence is almost invisible, although there are a couple of numbers that have a bit of a funky hop to them. Williams choice of numbers features almost as many slow ballads as up-tempo numbers, with a couple somewhere in between. 

I think I would enjoy seeing this group live, which bringing me to my only major complaint about this CD. It’s the sound quality. But I can’t say anything more without one disclaimer. I just got new hearing aids. While I’ve been pretty happy with their performance in the music listening room, I still haven’t had them long enough to be able to critique the sound quality of a particular recording without, at some point, saying to myself… “I wonder if it’s the hearing aids?” Nevertheless, one thing is for sure. Williams uses a pickup on his bass, which is really unfortunate but rather common among bass players of his generation. While I’m no expert, I get the feeling that pickups not only give the bass an electric, flat, and shallow sound but also affect how the instrument is played. This is evident in several of the ballads where you might be tempted to think Williams is playing an electric bass, the way he holds out the notes nice and long. Clearly a pickup trick. In addition to the shallow and distinctly un-woody sound of the bass, I wasn’t happy with the sound quality of the sax (mostly soprano I think) and piano. This is where I begin to wonder if it’s the little sound system in my ear that’s ruining things. The sax sounds incredibly tinsel-like at times. The piano sounds like a cheap electric piano at times. I know a lot of jazz albums from the sixties and seventies sounded like this and I’m not sure if this CD was a conscious return to the “sound” of that era, or something else. 

Once I turned down my hearing aids and started to get used to the brittle sound, I was reminded that by and large this CD is full of great music by great musicians. Perhaps someone else with normal hearing can clear this up for me. Either way, good music all around!!!

Black Art Jazz Collective: Armor of Pride, HighNote, 2018

• Wayne Escoffery: tenor saxophone
• Jeremy Pelt: trumpet
• James Burton III: trombone
• Xavier Davis: piano
• Vincente Archer: bass
• Jonathan Blake: drums

Black Art Jazz Collective was formed in 2016 and has released at least one other CD prior to this one. I hadn’t heard of them before but the musicians are all familiar names. When I see that many names of musicians I like on one CD cover, I’m inclined to buy without reservation. Not knowing what to expect, I got situation in my listening room, foot-rest on the recliner fully extended, cold IPA on the table next to my chair, and everything else I’m in the habit of doing while listening to jazz. I hit the play button and was immediately struck by the familiarity of the sound. It reminded me of various super-bands of the nineties. But once the solos got started things began to get fatter.

Of the eight cuts on this recording only two are ballads and one is a mid-tempo piece. The rest are all rather similar in their relentless, driving tempo. These guys seem quite comfortable being intense, if that’s even possible. Of course the real question is where that leaves the listener. But I was able to enjoy this music from beginning to end.

Partway thru the listening session it dawned on my that sound quality may be an issue here. Not that it’s particularly bad, but then again, a sense of visceral presence is sort of missing. The bass sounds distant and the drums are emphasized on the high end without enough body to even out the overall sound.

I found it kind of hard to pin down the overall sound of this group, but one thing is for sure. It’s about as different from Wynton’s band at Jazz at Lincoln Center, as one could imagine. J@LC always sounds intentionally complex, thick and heady, and supremely demanding on world class musicians. By contrast, this recording is much more down to earth and feels accessible. 

After the onslaught of fast, intense, driving tempo tunes, it is actually quite refreshing when the last cut turns out to be a mid-tempo number. Another thing that sets this number apart is the funky swing. If one thing is missing in all the other numbers it has to be a sense of funk. The music just doesn’t really swing on an emotionally intense level. This final cut was a happy exception to that observation. Finally these guys decide to swing.

There was nothing earth shattering about this recording, and yet at the same time, I am going to be keeping my eyes open for this group’s previous CD and will likely add it to my collection when I find it. There is no doubt, these guys are good.

Joey Alexander, Eclipse, Motema Records (2018)

• Joey Alexander, piano
• Reuben Rogers, bass
• Eric Harland, drums
• Joshua Redman, tenor sax

This release was a quick follow up to Joey’s live Monk recording. It’s a very different sound, but I guess anything that isn’t Monk sounds “very different” when compared to Monk’s music. Perhaps that says more about the latter than the former… Joey is featured as composer on this outing, having penned six of the eleven cuts. It takes a degree of confidence to mix one’s own compositions with the work of masters like Coltrane, John Lennon, Ray Noble, Bill Evans and Fannie Crosby. Yes you church going folks, that last one wasn’t a typo! Joey chose the classic hymn, Draw Me Nearer as the third cut and first standard for this recording. So what you end up with is a somewhat quirky mix of styles covering the spectrum from bebop to gospel, smooth jazz to almost fusion. Does it work? Sure does! One of Joey’s strengths has always been his ability to listen and play with others like a seasoned pro. This outing only reinforces that reputation of his. It is a very unified and tight group sound from beginning to end. 

Joey Alexander, Joey. Monk. Live!

• Joey Alexander, piano
• Scott Colley, bass
• Willie Jones III, drums

If you follow Joey Alexander at all you’ve probably already read about how he started learning to play jazz as a wee little tot by listening to and imitating Monk… It’s one of those iconic stories that will get passed down for generations. What is significant here is that finally, on his third commercial release, Joey has done a Monk recording. He clearly has a deep respect for and understanding of Monk’s music and this recording truly does justice to the master.

The opening cut is Round Midnight and I can honestly say that it’s one of those “blow your mind” performances that Joey seems to be able to pull off at will. He goes solo for this one and the intro, while sounding absolutely nothing like the original version, is captivating, engaging, and eventually leads beautifully into the more familiar tune. If I knew more about music I might be able to analyze the chord progressions of the intro and identify how it’s all linked to the original… but I’m not and so I’ll just have to leave that to someone else. From the second cut Joey is accompanied by Scott Colley on bass and Willie Jones III on drums. These aren’t names that pop right up on my radar but it took very little research to learn that the problem lies in my lack of knowledge rather than either of their reputations. Both are long-time, well established jazz performers with impeccable credentials. 

While Joey always shines as a piano player, his arranging skills are on display here as well. His arrangements consistently seem to accomplish to incredibly difficult task of making a deeply familiar tune sound fresh and re-energized, while at the same time respectfully serving all due homage to the original. The energy levels are really high, and the sound is deep and rich. 

Speaking of sound, this is a live recording from The Appel Room at Jazz at Lincoln Center, but if you have come to expect diminished sound quality from live recordings, this one may surprise you. More than anything, I was struck by the sense of presence in the recorded sound. In the liner notes Joey thanks Jason Olaine (producer) and Rob Macomber (mixer) for “making this sound good”.  I guess we just have to take Joey’s word for it and conclude that these guys seriously know what they are doing. 

The CD concludes with another solo piece, this time featuring a pretty faithful rendition of Pannonica. In the short time since Joey first emerged on the international jazz scene I’ve become a pretty serious fan of his. This CD is no exception and I only hope there are many more to follow. The good news is that I already have his next release in hand and will be reviewing it shortly.

Fred Hersch Trio, Live in Europe, Palmetto Records (2018)

• Fred Hersch: piano
• John Herbert: bass
• Eric McPherson: drums

Fred Hersch is another name I’m not too familiar with, but I think I’ve encountered it a few times over the years. I only picked this one up because I listened to it in the store briefly and liked what I heard. It’s an unusual release because Hersch didn’t even know he was being recorded at the time of the performance in late 2017. Given that fact, the sound quality is really quite impressive. First, a word about Hersch. The first thing one notices when looking at photos of him in this CD jacket or other places on the web is that he does not look well. He appears to have suffered extreme weight loss. To his credit, he has been fighting HIV since 1984 and yet has continued to work almost continuously. Ten years ago he fell into a coma and didn’t regain consciousness for two months. Relearning how to play the piano after that experience must have been a monumental task. I only mention these things because it made me glad I discovered this recording when I did. I just hope and pray that he will be able to continue making great music for some time.

While the core of this CD is the six originals, it opens and closes with Monk tunes. And I have to admit that they are both really nice. In particular, the opening We See starts things off with a wonderful feel. It’s smooth, it’s mellow but it swings. After that we get into several Hersch originals that tend towards an intentionally disjointed feel that I find less than pleasing. But gradually things pick up, and then by the last cut we are back to Monk. I’ll be honest, I sort of dozed off during the last several cuts. But over all this is a sound that I find rather nice and will definitely be listening to this CD again before long.

 

Renee Rosnes, Beloved of the Sky, Smoke Sessions Records (2018)

• Renee Rosnes: piano
• Chris Potter: Saxophones & flute
• Steve Nelson: vibraphone
• Peter Washington: bass
• Lenny White: drums

My only other Renee Rosnes CD dates back to 1990. But I took a listen to this one at the store and decided to bring it home. Smoke Sessions releases were initially almost all live recordings at the New York jazz club, Smoke. But they have gradually expanded to include studio sessions like this one, her second on the label. I haven’t followed Rosnes’ career very closely over the years but in getting caught up, learned that she is married to another jazz pianist, Bill Charlap. It isn’t too often that musicians who play the same instrument in the same type of music get married, but here you go. She played with vibe master Bobby Hutcherson for something like twenty years, which is a testament to her holding power and relevance. I saw her live some time back in the eighties, in Seattle with Lonnie Plaxico, Greg Osby and Cecil Brooks III. My most significant memories are that the show was almost an hour late in getting started, due to technical difficulties, and that Plaxico was really shining, and basically functioned as the glue that held the entire show together. Rosnes has showed up on a few other CDs in my collection over the years but I was glad for the chance to see her in the leader role again.

The CD starts off with a very distinct sounding cut that reminded me of the M-base sound of the eighties and nineties. Rosnes isn’t considered one of the insiders of the M-base collective, at least not by the self-appointed gate keeper, Steve Coleman. But she was closely associated with others who were in the collective like Plaxico, Gary Thomas and Greg Osby. I probably shouldn’t even bring up the M-base topic because it’s so hard to pin down and seems to spend as much time telling the world what it isn’t than anything else. Nevertheless, this first cut sort of sounded reminiscent to me. The second cut is closely connected to a painting by Emily Carr that served as inspiration for the whole album and source of the album title. The sound is slow and slightly ethereal. The fourth cut stood out as sounding more conventional that most of the other music on this CD. Sure enough, turns out it is a Hutcherson composition in honor of his late wife. The sixth cut has an almost bluesy feel to it with an enticing tom-tom lick that just keeps going. Perhaps Rosnes’ own description of it is the most telling; “a meditation warmed by the blues”. The eighth cut is a moody ballad with a midnight smoky blues feeling. It also contains a wonderful bass solo; probably the only one on the entire CD. The final cut is a fun, bouncy hop that isn’t quite as edgy as some of the other tunes.

All in all, if you want some engaging jazz that doesn’t ever sound cliche or worn out, this CD just might fit the bill. Rosnes is more about drive and swing, but nevertheless, brings a genuine sense of soul to the table each and every time.

Wynton Marsalis Septet, United We Swing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas, Blue Engine Records (2018)

• Clarance Fountain: vocals
• Jimmy Carter: vocals
• Eric “Ricky” McKinnie: vocals
• Joey Williams: vocals
• Bobby Butler: vocals
• Bob Dylan: vocals, harmonica
• Ray Charles: vocals, keyboard
• Eric Clapton: vocals, guitar
• Audra McDonald: vocals
• Willie Nelson: vocals, guitar
• John Mayer: vocals, guitar
• Lyle Lovett: vocals, guitar
• Natalie Merchant: vocals
• John Legend: vocals, piano
• James Taylor: vocals
• Lenny Dravitz: vocals, guitar
• Jimmy Buffett: vocals
• Carrie Smith: vocals
• Susan Tedeschi: vocals
• Derek Trucks: guitar
• Wynton Marsalis: trumpet, piano, vocals
• Wess “Warmdaddy” Anderson: alto saxophone, clarinet
• Fab Dupont: alto saxophone
• Victor Goines: tenor saxophone, clarinet
• Wycliffe Gordon: Trombone
• Ronals Westray: trombone
• Dan Nimmer: piano
• Eric Lewis: Piano
• Richard Johnson: piano
• John Batiste: piano
• Doug Wamble: guitar, vocals
• Carlos Henriquez: bass
• Regiinald Veal: bass
• Herlin Riley: drums, vocals

In recent years Wynton Marsalis had released a lot of music that was recorded quite some time ago. In one sense it is a testament to his prolific work over the past thirty years. In particular there is a tremendous volume of recorded music produced in conjunction with the “Jazz At Lincoln Center” organization. I don’t know if there was simply too much to release at the time it was recorded, if there were legal issues that complicated timely release of the recordings, or if there were other reasons; but in recent years we have been privileged with new access to a lot of previously unreleased recordings. This is basically a good thing. At the same time, one can’t help but wonder why Wynton isn’t releasing as much new music as he did in the past. Has he lost motivation, has he focused on other things, has he grown tired of the studio… One can only guess. Ansel Adams was a landmark artist in another art form; photography. He was largely responsible for the recognition of landscape photography as a genuine art form. His work from the thirties, forties, fifties and early sixties was groundbreaking in many respects. But he lived until 1984 and was blessed with good health and a passion for photography as well as preservation of the nature that he loved to capture in image, right until the end. But here is the interesting thing. Almost all of his significant works are from the thirties, forties and fifties. There are only a handful of “important” images of his taken in the sixties and the last one was taken in 1964. For the final two decades of his life he focused almost exclusively on working in the darkroom, making new prints from old negatives. One could liken that work to the mixing studio of the music world. There are various opinions about Adam’s final two decades, and I’m not going to get into that debate, but sometimes I wonder if that is where Marsalis is headed… I don’t know, and clearly he isn’t there yet. He still performs a lot and occasionally releases new recordings of new music. Nevertheless, I sometimes wonder.

So here I am, listening to his latest release, United We Sing: Best of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Galas. It is a collection of songs recorded with a wide variety of contemporary “non-jazz” musicians, featuring their well known songs. The idea was to try something similar to what happened in earlier decades when jazz musicians embraced and adapted to their own art form numerous classic tunes from the American songbook… songs from contemporary musicals, movies and other “non-jazz” forums. In this series of recordings, which were made between 2003 and 2007, Marsalis and company are doing something similar with tunes from the seventies, eighties and nineties. Most numbers are arranged by Wycliffe Gordon, Marsalis or Richard DeRosa and take on a distinctly different form than the original. So how does it work?

Well, for starters, there are sixteen cuts on the CD and each one represents a unique and distinct sound or vibe. So while there is a certain sense of conceptual coherence for the whole CD, musically it’s a bit of this and a bit of that. And I should say that as we’ve come to expect from JLC stuff, the musicians and performances are top notch from beginning to end. Nevertheless, I think I prefer CDs that are a bit more consistent in sound and mode. I found myself googling a number of the featured artists as I listened. After all, how many jazz listeners know about Susan Tedischi and Derek Trucks or Natalie Merchant? This CD does serve as a testament to the flexibility of Marsalis and company, and their eager willingness to cross or even blur stylistic boundaries in music. In summary, I think this is a CD that would be fun to play for other folks who are into music; just for the fun of it; and for the myriad unique combinations presented here.