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| Jazz Junction Album Review: Conrad Herwig/A Jones For Bones Tones/Criss Cross 1297 |
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Conrad Herwig's new release, A Jones For Bones Tones (one wonders if the title wasn't influenced by Chick Corea's tune “Tones For Joan's Bones) is another superb effort from one of today's premier jazz trombonists. The session honors Herwig's trombone heroes and predecessors such as Frank Rosolino, Slide Hampton, J.J. Johnson and Curtis Fuller.
Herwig is joined by another contemporary trombone great, Steve Davis. The unique pairing of two trombones harks back to the legendary Jay and Kai sound of J.J. Johnson and Kai Winding, although this recording exhibits a restless edge to move forward and further the context. With Herwig on the left channel and Davis on the right, the 'bones are aided by a killer rhythm section comprised of pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Donald Edwards. It is really a powerhouse group, capable of moving between balladry and intense rhythms with equal facility.
There's a lot of captivating music on this album – from straight-ahead to Latin rhythms - and the two 'bone players both compliment and urge each other. Herwig has played in Latin band leader Eddie Palmieri's group since 1987 and has led projects such as “Sketches of Spain y Mas” and the Grammy nominated recordings “Another Kind of Blue – The Latin Side of Miles Davis” and “The Latin Side of John Coltrane”. Herwig and former Jazz Messenger Steve Davis are remarkably adept at getting around on their instruments and thoroughly stimulating while playing in whatever context they find themselves – from in-the-pocket to straight-ahead, Latin and balladry. They impress through the quality of their ideas and execution and are present day 'bone masters.
One cannot say enough for how well the rhythm section does its job on this recording. The consistently exciting Orrin Evans is never laid back – always putting down intriguing chords and comping in a manner that is ofttimes a thrilling counterpoint to the other soloists. Evans is one of those musicians with a unique voice – able to move deftly from Bill Evans-like sensitivity to double-handed chords and outside runs. Solid bassist Boris Kozlov exhibits magnificent taste and range on his instrument, and drummer Donald Edwards keeps the session percolating with a wide variety of percussive embellishments.
A Jones For Bones Tones is the latest in a steady succession of fine recordings from Conrad Herwig. The “jones” will likewise be experienced by the listener in repeated calls to return to this recording.
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| Album Review: Spike Wilner/Three to Go/Positone |
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Big joys come in small packages – a felicitous occasion in the case of well-realized jazz recordings on compact disc. New York City pianist Spike Wilner has released his latest recording, Three To Go, on the Positone label and it is a pleasure.
Wilner has been building a catalog of recordings as leader over the past decade as well as participating in the collective ensembles Planet Jazz (In Orbit-Sharp Nine Records) and The Uptown Quintet (Cellar Live Records) with such companions as guitarist Peter Bernstein, trumpeter Joe Magnarelli and tenor saxist Grant Stewart. Three To Go is a quintet session featuring trumpeter Ryan Kisor, tenor saxist Joel Frahm, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Montez Coleman. The group is in cohesive and stimulating form on this recording.
The album features a diverse program of material ranging from an upbeat version of the standard "How Am I To Know" to Wilner's post-boppish title track, a langorous "Brown Penny" from Billy Strayhorn's unerrring pen, a delightfully airy treatment of "The Breeze And I", an upbeat "The Lamp Is Low", some good cooking on Hamp Hawes' "Black Forest", an idyllic visitation of Ellington's "Reflections in D", rounded out with a lengthy take on Gillespie's "Con Alma" and some unbridled smoking on "Mr. Mags". It's a good program that plays out well through the tracks.
As one who has not been that familiar with Wilner's playing, this proves an opportunity to hear another fine, up-and-coming voice on the piano. Wilner is extensively involved in the New York City jazz scene: having been house pianist at the now defunct Village Gate and playing Sundays at Small's with Planet Jazz. He has toured with Maynard Ferguson's "Big Bop Nouveau" and has been a faculty member of The Turtle Bay Music School, Brooklyn Conservatory and Scarsdale Music School. Having studied under Walter Davis, Jr., Jaki Byard and Barry Harris, and working upon publishing a book of transcriptions of the Harlem stride pianist Willie "The Lion" Smith , Wilner's style is a distillation of past influences and thus embraces a wide breadth of jazz improvisation. It is, as well, imbued with a personal touch and exhibits a well-proportioned exuberance with captivating flourishes and chords.
Sioux City native Ryan Kisor is in as fine a form as I have heard, elicting finely burnished notes and getting around on the trumpet with agility and well-executed thoughts. Tenor saxist Joel Frahm is perhaps not as well known as his talent warrants; he's been on the scene for many years and possesses a warm, robust tone amidst marvelously constructed solos. We do not get to hear much in the way of soloing from the bassist and drummer, although each has an opportunity – Ugonna Okegwo on "Black Forest" and "Mr. Mags" and Montez Coleman on "The Lamp Is Low", yet in their traditionally supporting role these individuals are superb – Okegwo's crisp bass lines provide a solid foundation that resonates throughout and Coleman, never obtrusive, propels the festivities and embellishes the mood from track to track.
You should get a kick out of this recording. It is always a pleasure to hear a comparatively new voice and savor unique arrangements of familiar tunes as well as listen to good arrangements of infrequently visited compositions. In a year that is off to a great start for exciting jazz releases, Three To Go is a winner. |
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with host Rick Erben, Saturday nights at 9pm on KIOS
| Listen now, as an ordinary doctor of hard bop pits his resources, a burgeoning stack of recorded elixirs and a clan of faithful listeners named Susie, against the open air space. That the sounds of bebop, blues, the Hammond B3 and Latin rhythms might blossom springlike from speakers everywhere; that someday bills of each denomination might bear the likenesses of Bird, Duke, Miles and Coltrane and that, at anytime, one might confidently activate their tuner, behold the sounds emanating therefrom and exclaim, “Cool! This frequency is cookin’!” Thus do we aspire at the Jazz Junction.* | |
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Artwork by Jim Flora.
Visit his website at http://www.jimflora.com/index.html
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Yes, that’s right, we’re here to have a ball at the Jazz Junction every Saturday night between nine and eleven on Omaha Public Radio as we embark upon our traditional journey down the jazz tracks – a little get-together that we’ve been having over the airwaves for some eighteen years on KIOS-FM. Many moons ago, now, that meant tracking a needle through the grooves of a record, and on occasion we spin a venerable LP as there are still some wonderful recordings that have not been reissued in the more prevalent non-grooved format. Our intent is to embrace the period from the bebop years in the mid-forties through the present day with emphasis upon the mainstream, embellished with the increasing influence of Latin rhythms permeating this music and with jazz’s
inherent blues-based roots underpinning the whole affair.
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Credit: Blue Note records, Francis Wolff
Ingredients in a Recipe for Jazz Radio
Those seemingly ubiquitous prescription medications (commercials
for which permeate the television airwaves) may work for some,
but we specialize in a form of wellness that has no harmful side-effects.
Your faithful engineer and jazz doctor at the control board endeavors
to fill a prescription with what is needed to cure one’s blues
with a variety of tonal hues.
There is, of course, Vitamin B3 - administered in ample doses of the
Hammond B3 organ as preached and implemented by such masters
as Jimmy Smith, Larry Young, John Patton and Joey DeFrancesco
– just a few of the fine stylists on this instrument.
But a well regulated diet of jazz also includes such nourishments
as Vitamin T, for trumpet, received in healthy quantities from such
great healers as Dizzy Gillespie, Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard and
Brian Lynch (to name just a few, once more).
There is the staple of a jazz diet, Vitamin S, for saxophone,
and you’ll hear pleasing decibels (for our medication in measured
as sound rather than by milligrams) of Charlie Parker,
John Coltrane, Cannonball Adderley, Hank Mobley and numerous
exciting players carrying the torch forward.
Also advisable for a balanced tonal diet and thus dispensed
at the Jazz Junction are sufficient audible quantities of other
instruments; all in pleasing doses that we hope provide good
medicine for your eardrums and serve to elevate your mood,
embellish your activities and temp your sensibilities. This tall
order would not be possible without the rich heritage of so many
influential artists and a continuum of exciting musicians
whereby the feeling of jazzflourishes today; so rooted in its past
and yet committed to evolve and explore further.
This ain’t the commercial jazz foisted upon the marketplace as some
sort of fashionable tranquilizer in syrupy cascades of notes and
wistful balladry. No sir and madam; this is straight from the heart
and soul, go for broke Mainstream - owing its big bang to the early
thrust of Armstrong and Ellington that finally burst into galaxies of
Be-Bop, the Birth of the Cool, the advent of take-no-prisoners,
feel good Hard-Bop, West Coast jazz, Hammond organ based
soul jazz, the modal explorations of Miles and beyond; with
influences of Afro-Cuban and Brazilian rhythms becoming
assimilated into the context and compositional legacy of this music.
It is this potent combination that makes over-the-airwaves jazz
vitamins significantly more effective than over-the-counter medications.
So there you have it, a general description of the ingredients
making for our two hour jazz journey each Saturday night beginning
at 9pm. I invite you to check out our good medicine for the eardrums
at 91.5-FM or on the web at KIOS.org.
Disclaimer: There is no express or implied warranty concerning the effects
of these tonal medications. Most jazz-based tonal vitamins work in conjunction
with the soul and have been found to instill sensations of warmth and
exuberance in laboratory hipsters. Exposure to intense quantities of jazz
vitamins has also been found to cause certain individuals to run out and purchase
musical instruments, high wattage speakers and amplifiers, earphones and
compact discs (often in quantities disproportionate to available listening opportunities).
Users of jazz-based tonal vitamins are advised to watch for these signs of indulgence,
however, no action is otherwise required as we have not lost a laboratory hipster yet. |
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Artwork by Jim Flora.
Visit his website at http://www.jimflora.com/index.html |
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Wallace Stevens, "The Man with the Blue Guitar" (excerpt)
The man bent over his guitar,
A shearsman of sorts. The day was green.
They said, "You have a blue guitar,
You do not play things as they are."
The man replied, "Things as they are
Are changed upon the blue guitar."
And they said then, "But play, you must,
A tune beyond us, yet ourselves,
A tune upon the blue guitar
Of things exactly as they are."
*The creed expresses a nod toward the nighttime
radio artistry of Bill Ardis, whose Ardis Against The Night from 50,000 watt clear-channel WHAM-AM, Rochester, NY back in the 1960s filled the east coast and Midwest airwaves every weekday night from
midnight to 5am with commercial free jazz;
he was almost as if a radio version of
Steve Allen - a great ad-lib maestro obviously enjoying what he was doing and thus fostering an enjoyable framework from which to present the music.
GENUINE ARDIS AGAINST THE NIGHT
CLUB CARD
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Below: Reproduction of legendary jazz DJ Al Collins’ Bandidos
sticker that was available through Impulse Records. It translates to
“I don’t got to show you no stinkin’ badges”!! My “badge” was affixed
to the side of a 1968 Triumph motorcycle.
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Lee Moore
Another radio icon from the past – this time from
1170 WWVA-AM, Wheeling, WV:
Lee Moore hosted the all-night Jamboree Party from
midnight to 5am with a down homey blend of country favorites and his own guitar pickin'. Not your jazz station, by any means,
however, a taste of improvised, personal radio. Almost hourly,
Lee had a “coffeedrinkin' time” when he would uncork the thermos and pour himself a “big, hot cup of coffee”, then add cream and sugar and rattle his spoon against the cup with a 50,000 watt kicker; thereafter taking a big sip and exclaiming, “Ahhh, that's delicious!” Usually
he would pick and sing a tune once reinforced. There were
commercials for mail order baby chicks and the Nashville Bible House, plus tunes from Kitty Wells, Mac Wiseman and other country and bluegrass legends including a healthy dose of truck driving tunes.
One would often hear Lee come drifting in over the AM airwaves atop a
Coltrane solo, as 1180 WHAM-AM was bracketed by two other
50,000 watt clear channel giants – WWVA 1170 and WOWO 1190 in
Ft. Wayne, IN. Depending upon atmospheric conditions, smatterings of
all three stations' programming might be heard while situated at one spot
on the dial. So imagine listening intently to a recent Coltrane or Miles
release, in the middle of which comes Lee Moore pickin' and singin'
“The Cat Came Back” - only to drift out and be replaced by WOWOs
rock and roll. It was all a part of listening to AM programming
late at night in a time before satellite radio and broadcasting
on the internet.
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Jean Shepherd
Shep: One of this person's earliest radio-listening experiences was
that of tuning in to 710-AM WOR in New York City in the evening to
catch Jean Shepherd's broadcast. More well known as the creator
of the immensely popular movie “A Christmas Story”, that is actually
a collection of a few of his on-the-air monologues transited to a new
medium, Shepherd was a radio icon from the fifties until well into the
seventies when he turned his talents and attention more toward
television, i..e. PBS, and movies.
Eclectic and irrepressible, Shepherd regaled his audience with
observations, insights, stories about his childhood, working in the
steelmill, etc. and was an active participant in “the scene”
- being associated with Kerouac, performing on a Charles Mingus
album (narration on “The Clown”), acting in plays
(Destry Rides Again) and writing several books. Listening to
Shepherd on the radio was a ritual for many. Some of my first
trips on my own from Philly to the Big Apple were made in order
to spend a Saturday night at Greenwich Village's The Limelight,
where Shepherd aired a live broadcast every Saturday night during
the 1960s.
A couple Jean Shepherd websites:
http://www.keyflux.com/shep/
http://www.flicklives.com/
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Notable jazz releases of 2009
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As is customary at this time of the year, Mike Jacobs, Chris Cooke and I are listing our "ten best" releases of 2009. Those below are not listed in any particular order, as it is difficult enough to whittle an outstanding year's succession of releases down to ten. So one more is added for good luck:
The Clayton Brothers - Brother To Brother - An unabashedly swinging tribute to some of the great brothers in jazz music – the Adderleys and Jones's – the Clayton Brothers' new release is a fine brother act of itself. Co-leaders, alto saxist Jeff Clayon and bassist John Clayton, are accompanied by John's son Gerald Clayton at the piano, Terrell Stafford playing trumpet and Obed Calvaire at the drums for feel good music served up in thoroughly spirited musical fashion.
Vitaly Golovnev - To Whom It May Concern - This debut recording from the semi-finalist at the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition immediately raises a listener's interest and assures that Golovnev will be a welcomed addition to the jazz recording scene. A bedrock session, coming right out of the gate with fascinating compositions and cohesive skill by the group that includes tenor saxist Jake Saslow, pianist Miki Hayama, bassist Boris Kozlov and drummer Jason Brown.
Charles Tolliver Big Band - Emperor March - Tolliver has been a strong composer and soloist dating back to the sixties. Lately he has come to prominence with the 2007 release of "With Love" on Blue Note and now the compelling release of another big band session "Emperor March". This is exciting, well-arranged and brilliantly played music from an excellent band and one of this music's great artists.
Stacy Dillard - One - Dillard's tenor playing possesses a full-bodied sound with an edge. His compositions provide captivating settings for the soloists that include James Hurt playing Fender Rhodes, Craig Magnano at the guitar, Amin Salim, bass and Donald Edwards, drums. Dillard has his own sound, both informed by his peers and assertive of individuality, with considerable fire and expertise.
Carl Allen/Rodney Whitaker - Work To Do - A wonderful collaborative date from drummer Carl Allen and bassist Rodney Whitaker. "Work To Do" features first-class musicianship in a well-conceived program including treatments of "What's Going On", "Eleanor Rigby" and some smoking originals.
Lauren Sevian - Blueprint - A startlingly fine debut from a lady baritone saxophonist! Sevian gets around all over the monster horn with convincing chops, and a rhythm section including pianist George Colligan in exceptional form, as well.
Louis Hayes - The Timekeeper - Veteran drummer Hayes has some fine companionship in the blowing of Abraham Burton, vibist Steve Nelson, an atypically fiery Helio Alves at the piano and the excellent bassist Santi DeBraino. They keep the program scintillating through a series of originals and Horace Silver numbers. Louis Hayes sets the clock on Now.
Bill Heid - Wylie Avenue - While organ sessions have experienced increased popularity of late, Heid remains one of the Hammond B3's long-time adherents and an original with stylistic roots to some of the past masters in this genre. With the superb guitarist Peter Benstein, this is another in a succession of first-class B3 dates from Bill Heid.
Gerald Wilson - Detroit - The nonagenarian band leader and composer is back with another stellar album featuring top-class musicianship and stimulating arrangements in a program commissioned for the 2009 thirtieth anniversary Detroit International Jazz Festival.
One For All - Return Of The Lineup - The cooperative post-bop band comprised of Eric Alexander, Jim Rotondi, Steve Davis, David Hazeltine, Peter Washington and Joe Farnsworth issue another in their growing discography of exhilarating albums. We don't have Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers anymore, yet One For All may eventually be regarded as the equivalent in this day.
Kurt Elling - Dedicated To You - The highly versatile vocalist Elling recreates the atmosphere of the classic meeting between the John Coltrane Quartet and singer Johnny Hartman in this marvelously conceived and delightfully executed album recorded at New York's Lincoln Center. | |
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| Jazz Junction Album Review: FOUR OF A KIND – JIM ROTONDI – Positone 8034 |
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Four Of A Kind is to trumpet and flugelhorn player Jim Rotondi the equivalent of the classic Blue Note album Candy to the great Lee Morgan – a stunning example of trumpet virtuosity, placing Rotondi at the forefront of present day jazz masters on the instrument.
Rotondi has been recording for over a decade – this is his ninth album as leader – in a variety of contexts, including the group One For All. He is a consistently engaging player – rooted in the school of hard bop and having spent time, along with fellow One For All member Eric Alexander, in the late Hammond organist Charlie Earland's band. His style is not brash; Rotondi doesn't so much go for displays of technique ( although he possesses formidable chops) as he does richly crafted solos embracing both the warmth and expressiveness of his instruments. The result is a recording that sonorously unfolds with captivating arrangements of original tunes as well as several ballads and jazz standards.
It doesn't detract from the outing that Rotondi has a fine rhythm section, comprised of long-time musical associates David Hazeltine, piano and Fender Rhodes; John Webber, bass; and Joe Farnsworth, drums. These musicians are comfortable together and the recording benefits from the cohesiveness and affinity between musicians.
From the bittersweet melody of the album's opener "Ruth", this is an attractive album all the way through. The mellifluous combination of Rotondi's flugelhorn and Hazeltine's Fender Rhodes make "Falset" and "Manteca" real delights. There are up-tempo cookers: "Blues For BC" and "Minor Adjustment", a sensuous take of "Love For Sale", a delightful reading of Rodgers' and Hart's "It's Easy To Remember" and a funky arrangement of "What Kind Of Fool Am I?". Four Of A Kind documents a musician, in empathetic company, who is at the top of his game.
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| Jazz Junction Review: GIACOMO GATES – LUMINOSITY – DoubleDave Music DDM 3001 |
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The pantheon of male jazz singers includes some exciting voices and styles, from the velvet-voiced Billy Eckstine to the vocalese of Eddie Jefferson, the acerbic wit of Mose Allison and more recent stylists such as Kurt Elling and Kevin Mahogany. Yet, these days, there is a relative dearth of male jazz talent in this respect, at least as it relates to the mainstream – the unadulterated spirit of jazz singing. Thus when a talented performer in this genre establishes himself in a series of fine recordings, it is a welcomed presence.
And that brings us to Giacomo Gates and his new album, Luminosity. Gates has released four albums since the mid-nineties, as well as being featured upon the exquisite "Remembering Eddie Jefferson" (Berghem Records) under organ player Eddie Landsberg's name. Gates had been working at a variety of jobs in Alaska., such as the Alaskan pipeline, and none other than Sarah Vaughan heard him at the Fairbanks Jazz Festival and suggested that he get closer to the mainland if his talents were to be recognized. He subsequently moved to Connecticut in order to devote full attention to his music.
Gates has an agile, vibrant bass voice and an impassioned style that invigorates his performances. Once having heard him, there is no doubt that one is listening to a unique stylist. Not only that, but listening to Gates is just plain fun. He often begins a number with a brief introduction about the song before delving into the melody with wonderful vocalese flights before heading into several bars of scat singing, wherein his voice becomes the equivalent of an instrumental solo. His style is blessed with originality as well as being a progression in the rich heritage of previous great vocalese singers such as Jon Hendricks, the aforementioned Eddie Jefferson and King Pleasure.
Luminosity is just a joy to aurally behold. It opens with a swinging version of "Comes Love", featuring a burning scat flight before an equally vibrant tenor solo from Bob Kindred. Gates wrote lyrics to Monk's tune "Let's Cool One", entitled "Peace of Mind" in its vocal treatment. Vocally getting around a Monk melody isn't necessarily an easy task, yet Gates brings it off with coolly applied aplomb.
I should note that the accompaniment on this album is first rate, with a rhythm section comprised of pianist John DiMartino, bassist Ray Drummond and drummer Greg Bandy. Tony Lombardozzi's guitar work is also evident on several tracks, as is the tenor work of Bob Kindred. Their contributions are pleasing embellishments to the session.
Gates renders a torchy "The Beginning Of The End", a wonderful, feel-good treatment of the little heard Bobby Troup tune "Hungry Man", a joyously bluesy opus "The Blues Are Out Of Town" and even a treatment of Jimi Hendrix's "Up From The Skies". Luminosity also comes with a DVD that contains a live performance recorded at Jazz at Pearl's in San Francisco and includes treatments of "Melodious Funk", "Lady Be Good/Disappointed", "Since I Fell For You" and "Billie's Bounce". And that's not all – but you will have to discover the rest for yourself – or stay tuned to your jazz programs on KIOS-FM for further doses of our continuing prescriptions to ameliorate the blues at your feel-good point on the radio dial.
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