Saturday, May 4, 2013

The Gerry Hemingway Quartet

From time to time as I explore the Penguin Guide to Jazz (may it be praised) I find an artist who reminds me of what all this jazz is about.  Tonight it was the Gerry Hemingway Quartet.  Hemingway is a drummer largely devoted to avant garde.  He has played with Anthony Braxton and appears, I believe, on one of the Reggie Workman albums that I frequently feature. 

I am playing 'Back Again Some Time' from Devil's Paradise.  This album blends the avant garde sensibility to solid, bluesy melodies in a way that will move you way past the red line.  Here is the lineup:
You might think that Mark Dresser is a warning sign.  Don't worry.  This is no space music experience.  It is a digging down to the mother lode of jazz flavor.

I am also playing 'Waitin', from The Whimbler.  
 The horn work on both albums is glowing.  I especially liked Anderson's trombone. 

Thursday, May 2, 2013

A little Trane


I have added some Coltrane to my L365 station.  I finally got around to purchasing Interstellar Space (1974).  I believe it was Trane's last studio album.  It's a duet with  Rashied Ali on drums.  It is very avant garde in spirit, but any Coltrane fan will appreciate it.  I am playing 'Venus'.

I also added 'The Believer' from the box set Fearless Leader.   This is from an album released ten years earlier but was recorded in 1958.  That was the title cut.  I am adding another cut from the same sparse album 'Do I Love You Because You're Beautiful'.  The Believer featured the great rhythm section of Garland, Chambers, and Taylor.   This was the heroic period in jazz. 

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

John Lindberg

I have had admired bassist John Lindberg's work for some time, but I haven't listened to it recently.  What a pleasure!  Lindberg recorded three albums in the early 90's with Albert Mangelsdorff on trombone and Eric Watson on piano: Dodging Bullets, Quartet Afterstorm, and Resurrection of a Dormant Soul.  The latter two included Ed Thigpen on drums.  Together, the three make for a very fine document of a brilliant jazz leader and bass player.  Sitting down and listening to the three together will be one powerful jazz experience. 

Lindberg's sentimentality certainly tilts to the avant garde.  These albums keep close, however, to the hard bop taste.  I can't think that any jazz fan will not find something here to treasure.

I am playing the title cuts from the first two albums and 'E.t.p.' from the last.  I would note that Eric Watson's playing on the last album is channeling Thelonious Monk.  Listen to it, if you are a Monk fan and tell me you don't wonder if master's ghost is in the keys. 

This is wonderful music. 

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Two Daves

I have been playing a lot of Dave Holland on my Live365 station.  Holland is a brilliant bass player and equally brilliant band leader.  He has his own label now, Dare2Records.  I purchased a two record recording from the site, including Pathways, by the Dave Holland Octet, and a Flamenco duet with Holland and guitarist Pepe Habichuela.  The latter isn't jazz, but it is great if you have been in Madrid recently. 

Pathways is well worth listening to.  I am playing 'Blue Jean'.   Here is the lineup:
  • Antonio Hart (Alto Sax and Flute), 
  • Chris Potter (Tenor Sax and Soprano Sax), 
  • Gary Smulyan (Baritone Sax), 
  • Alex "Sasha" Sipiagin (Trumpet & Flugelhorn), 
  • Robin Eubanks (Trombone), 
  • Steve Nelson (Vibraphone and Marimba), 
  • Dave Holland (bass), 
  • Nate Smith (drums)
 I am also playing a cut from Extensions (1990) by the Dave Holland Quartet.  This is an interesting, slightly fusionesque offering (chiefly due to the electric guitar sound).  Here is the lineup:
Meanwhile I have added a couple of numbers from Dave Murray's Black Saint Quartet (2008).  From the Live in Berlin album: 'Dirty Laundry' and 'Banished'.  This is one of the many truly great jazz albums that go without recognition.  Please seek it out and nail it down. 

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Sonny Simmons' Unsung Genuis



There are a lot of Sonny’s in jazz.  It takes more than few clicks to scroll through my IPod library from Sonny Clark to Sonny Stitt.  Tonight I added a couple of albums by alto sax man Sonny Simmons.  Simmons has by God paid his dues.  He was born in 1933 and played with a number of jazz greats in the 1960’s, including Mingus, Dolphy, and Elvin Jones.  Then he disappeared for a couple of decades, apparently living on the streets for a spell.  He reemerged in the mid 90’s. 
Simmons is described in the Penguin Guide as one of the most underappreciated jazz masters.  From what I have been listening to, I am inclined to agree. 
I am playing cuts from the two albums both recorded in 1966.  The Penguin Guide suggests Music from the Spheres as the first Simmons album you ought to have.  It is certainly a robust new thing document, leaving no doubt that you are listening to an alto virtuoso and a compositional genius.  I am playing ‘Zarak’s Symphony’ and ‘Dolphy’s Days’.  The latter is a superb bit of chameleon jazz.  You want Eric Dolphy?  I can be Eric Dolphy!  From Discogs, here is the lineup:

1.       Alto Saxophone, Written-By – Sonny Simmons
2.      Bass – Juney Booth*
3.      Drums – James Zitro
4.      Piano – Michael Cohen (2)
5.      Trumpet – Barbara Donald

I am also playing ‘Metamorphosis’ from Staying on the Watch.  If Simmons was very explicitly channeling Dolphy in the other album, here he is evidently channeling Ornette Coleman. 

1.       Alto Saxophone – Sonny Simmons
2.      Bass – Teddy Smith
3.      Percussion – Marvin Pattillo
4.      Piano – John Hicks
5.      Trumpet – Barbara Donald

This is very energetic, compelling avant garde jazz.  The piano work by Hicks has to be noted as brilliant.  I haven’t yet heard any of Simmons’ later work.  I will be hunting. 

Saturday, February 23, 2013

Larry Coryell



One fine summer evening many years ago, I paid a call on a young lady.  James Taylor was scheduled to perform in Memphis and she graciously agreed to accompany me to that event.  Taylor was splendid.  His encore was ‘Fire and Rain’.  She grabbed my arm as he began to sing.  More than thirty years and two splendid children later, she is still holding on.  God has been good to me. 
As it so happens, Taylor’s warm up act was Larry Coryell.  I was already a big fan of that jazz guitar master.  Listening to him up on the stage all by himself was a special treat, even if I hadn’t been holding on to the love of my life. 
I just downloaded a recent Coryell album: Monk, Trane, Miles, & Me.  It’s very different from the Coryell recordings I listened to back then.  He was big into solo and duo music.  I have an LP of his with Philip Catherine that I wish I could get on my iPod.  The recent album is much more traditional.  The small group form continues its gravitational pull.  Here is the lineup:
  1.     Bass – Santi Debriano
  2.     Drums – Yoron Israel
  3.     Guitar – Larry Coryell
  4.     Piano – John Hicks (tracks: 1, 4, 5, 7)
  5.     Saxophone [Tenor] – Willie Williams (tracks: 3, 6)
I am playing the Monk piece ‘Trinkle Tinkle’ and 'All Blues'.  This is quite convincing.  Coryell is a real jazz story.  Give this one a few of your hard earned dollars.  The investment will pay off. 

Saturday, February 16, 2013

A Little more Vandermark



I loaded one of my Vandermark 5 recordings into my car’s player the other day.  I have been grooving to it over short trips ever since.  The Color of Memory is one of those spectacular jazz recordings that very few people will ever hear, or so is my guess. 
Ken Vandermark may be the single best sax player in the business.  He is completely fearless.  His recordings make no compromises.  One number will be very accessible while the next will be in the Twilight Zone.  He incorporates themes from every conceivable genre, yet keeps a blues/jazz bass always at hand.  I am a big fan. 
I have been playing ‘Vehicle’ for some time.  I have added ‘Chance’.  Enjoy.