New Stuff on Jazz Note

I have deleted a lot of numbers with very low ratings.  I can see no sense in some of the deletions, but what other guide do I have?  I am adding some more music to challenge my listeners. 

Rebus, by Ken Vandermark (sax), Joe Morris (guitar), and Luther Gray (drums) is one of those albums that caught my ear and wouldn’t let go.  It’s both raw and abstract‑all the cuts are labeled Rebus 1, Rebus 2, etc. 

I also nailed a couple of recordings by Oliver Lake.  Dedicated to Dolphy is a superb tribute to a jazz genius frequently celebrated on this blog.  Here is the Quintet:

• Bass – Belden Bullock
• Drums – Cecil Brooks*
• Piano – Charles Eubanks
• Saxophone – Oliver Lake
• Trumpet – Russel Gunn*

I am playing ‘245’, a Dolphy composition.  It is a hearty blues with a surprisingly old timey feeling. 

Also by the Oliver Lake Quintet is Talkin’ Stick.  This is a must have for your collection.  I am playing ‘Hard Blues,’ a Julius Hemphill composition.  Everything is here.  Ringing swing, avant garde digressions, hard bop energy, and amazing sax. 

• Acoustic Bass – Belden Bullock
• Alto Saxophone – Oliver Lake
• Drums – Cecil Brooks III
• Piano – Geri Allen
• Vibraphone – Jay Hoggard

I note Geri Allen on piano.  I really like her style.  I also note Jay Hoggard’s vibes.  He lends the number a soft, magic touch. 

I also have a rocking good melody by Wayne Shorter from Wayning Moments. 

• Bass – Jymie Merritt
• Drums – Marshall Thompson
• Piano – Eddie Higgins
• Tenor Saxophone – Wayne Shorter
• Trumpet – Freddie Hubbard

Trust me.  Finally I have a lyrical piece of such beauty that one can only point to it.  William Parker’s Raining on the Moon will water the driest heart.  ‘Old Tears’ is exquisite. 

• Bass – William Parker
• Drums – Hamid Drake
• Saxophone [Alto] – Rob Brown (4)
• Trumpet – Louis Barnes*

Trio 3 is killer jazz

I am a big fan of jazz drummer Andrew Cyrille, bass player Reggie Workman, and horn master Oliver Lake, so I can’t help buying up the recordings of the Trio 3.  This week I got Open Ideas.  It’s a pretty good example of avant garde on the more accessible end.  I am playing ‘Casino,’ which features some vocal chants.  I don’t know who is chanting, but I love the slow blues.  I am also playing ‘Hooray for Herbie’. 

So I might as well add more.  I am playing ‘Crooked Blues’, a splendid number that will appeal to hard bop fans.  It is from the album Encounter.  Lake’s horn is lavish and seductive.  Workman rides over Cyrille’s beat like he knows more than you know about the heart.  Finally, I added a number from At This Time, by The Trio 3 Plus Geri Allen. 

All three albums are superb.  Nail ‘em down.  

The Used Jazz Record Bin

It's not quite dead, yet.  There is no point in complaining about the steady disappearance of jazz sections in record stores when record stores are all but extinct.  It was a little disconcerting when I discovered that the modern jazz section of the Music Factory in New Orleans was all but gone.  It is pretty clear that jazz artists aren't going to sell their recordings at those venues.  However, this is not really anything new.  How many record stores have ever carried good jazz sections or even good alternative rock sections for that matter?  No record store in my hometown ever carried Patti Smith's great recordings.  What is new is that you can get almost anything you want online. 

What I am really sad to see go are the bins where you could find good second hand jazz CDs.  I did manage to find a couple of gems this weekend at Cheapo Records in the Twin Cities.  I have a respectable collection of Elvin Jones recordings, but I didn't have the double album Illumination/Dear John C. until now.  Well, I did have Illumination.  I was glad to get the second half for a very good price. 

Dear John C., as you might have guessed, is a tribute to Trane.  The lineup is Elvin Jones on drums, Charlie Mariano on alto sax, Roland Hanna and Hank Jones on piano, and Richard Davis on bass.  It's worth a listen.  I am playing the title cut and 'Love Bird'. 

I picked up Natural Illusions by Bobby Hutcherson.  It is a 1972 recording that seems to be rather lack luster, but it does fill out my Hutcherson collection. 

I was pleased to find Revue, by the World Saxophone Quartet.  This all star, all sax group is something you want to check out if you think, as I do, that the saxophone is the main register of modern jazz.  The quartet features Hamiet Bluiett on baritone sax and also clarinet; Julius Hemphill on alto, soprano, and flute; Oliver Lake on the same; and David Murray on tenor sax and bass clarinet.  There is enough texture here that you could float on it. 

I am playing the title cut and 'David's Tune'.