Andrew Hill and the Penguin Guide Lists

I chanced upon a some jazz lists this afternoon, and that put me back in that classical mood.  First there is the Jazz Calendar Page.  Did you know that today is Charlie Christian's 94th birthday?  Happy Birthday, Charlie, in that great jazz club in the sky.  

Better yet, here is a site that presents all the four star rankings from the Penguin Guide to Jazz (may it be praised).  I have relied heavily upon the Penguin Guide in my collecting, and I think it is the only standard for collectors.  This stalwart soul lists all the albums that have received a four star ranking in any of the nine editions of the Guide.  He also notes those that got a crown (author's favorite) and those that get a "core collection" rating.  I have almost all of the core entries from my well worn Eighth Edition.  If you are collecting, get the most recent Guide.  The reviews are very helpful.  Either way, download the lists from this site linked above.  It is very helpful.

For example: I noticed a recording by Andrew Hill from the Ninth Edition that I didn't know about.  I am waiting for the 10th!  So I downloaded it from Amazon for a cool seven smackers.  Hill is one of those artists I first approached because of the PG.  His Point of Departure is one of the greatest jazz recordings, IMHO.  Nearly as good is Andrew!  Both make the PG core.  

Dance with Death (a 2004 reissue of a 1968 recording) isn't in that circle of heaven, but it is quite good.  The song titles, like the album title, remind one of Wayne Shorter's great spooky albums.  Unlike Shorter's works, the music isn't really very spooky in feel. That's okay.  If you like Hill, you will like this one. Here is the lineup, from the AllAboutJazz review:

Personnel: Charles Tolliver (trumpet), Joe Farrell (tenor sax, soprano sax), Andrew Hill (piano), Victor Sproles (bass), Billy Higgins (drums)

And here is a sample, excerpted from the first cut.  

Andrew Hill/Yellow Violet/Dance with Death

 Even the flower thing reminds me of Shorter.  Tolliver's trumpet is exquisite.  Put this one on your Christmas List.  

Meanwhile I am contemplating a list of the Top Ten Jazz Men (1950-1965).  I am thinking about artists who are stand out in fame and impact on the music.  Okay, Miles and Trane are going numbers one and two.  If you have any ideas, let me know. 

More Big Band with Joe Henderson

I did a little calculation tonight.  The Penguin Guide to Jazz, may it be praised, claims 14,000 reviews.  Here's the thing: if you listened to each reviewed disc for five minutes, about the average length of a single number, that would add up to 70,000 minutes, or 1167 hours.  At eight hours a day, that would be 146 days.  I trust that the authors of the Guide have nothing else to do.  

I have more than 900 jazz albums, according to my iTunes program.  Of course, that includes every single disc in my three Bill Evans box sets.  No wonder I am behind in my listening.  

But tonight (it's payday!) I added another gem: Joe Henderson's Big Band.  I have a very warm spot in my heart for Joe.  His deep heart dredge has gotten me through more than one funk.  I listed his State of the Tenor as one of the ten best jazz recordings.  Maybe Sonny Rollins is "greater".  I would rather spend my time with Joe.  

As I said in my previous post, jazz big band albums are frequently concertos: a dialogue between an instrumentalist and an orchestra.  It kinda reminds me of baseball.  Joe, with his sax, squares off against a field of horns and mallets.  Anyway, Henderson's Big Band is a marvelous album.  Everything you want in a Henderson album is there, with that lush sound behind him.  I got it from Amazon for a song.  Here's a sample:

Joe Henderson/Inner Urge/Big Band

Air

With a collection of about a thousand jazz albums, for the most part carefully selected, and drawing on limited resources, the question is always where to go next.  This evening I returned to my jazz Bible, the Penguin Guide, and started at the beginning.  It didn't take long to arrive at Air.

Air is a trio consisting of Henry Threadgill, who seems to play just about every horn, with Fred Hopkins on bass and Steve McCall on percussion.  eMusic had a Penguin Guide recommendation, Air Song, with four cuts at one download each.  After listening to some brief samples, I pushed the button.  As I listening to the recording, it pushed all of my buttons.

Air Song was recorded in 1975, the year I graduated from high school, and kissed my now sainted Grandmother after the ceremony.  The trio originally came together to record the music of Scott Joplin.  Let me tell you: Air Song is not Scott Joplin. 

It is page four free jazz, but it is my favorite kind of free jazz.  It certainly abstracts from melody, but it follows a coherent thread from beginning to end.  You can almost hum it.  Almost.  But every line makes you feel like you should have known that was coming.  Of course!  Given the preceding twenty seconds, this had to come next. 

With a multi-instrumentalist horn player backed by a bass and drums, you would expect the latter to be mere sidekicks.  Not so.  If in fact the bass is second fiddle, it is a very big fiddle.  Fred Hopkins carries the ball for substantial portions of the songs, and his four strings are very well recorded.  Air Song is proof that free jazz doesn't have to sacrifice that feelin'.  All the way along each cut, this trio is following the arteries right through the depths of the heart. 

Here is a sample from Air Song.  Join eMusic and get the darned thing.

Untitled Song

Berkman's Workmen

My copy of the Penguin Guide to Jazz is not the most recent edition. I was somewhat shocked to discover, when I thumbed through the Ninth Edition, that piano David Berkman's entry had disappeared. In my copy the piano man is described as "a composer of substance." This certainly seems right to me, after listening to a couple of Berkman recordings.

Communication Theory, and Leaving Home, both prominently feature the three main saxophones, alto, tenor, and soprano. But Berkman's piano is exquisite and luminous behind them. His compositions are impressionistic: page three and four jazz in structure, but with a lot of feeling suggested by even the most abstract episodes. This is jazz worth savoring.

The first recording is the better one, I think. Sam Newsome (ss), Steve Wilson (as, ss), Chris Cheek (ts, ss), Ugonna Okegwo (b), and Brian Blade (d). Here is a sample:

David Berkman/Blutocracy (Blues for Bluto)/Communication Theory

On the second disc, Dick Oats (as) replaces Wilson. I think this one reminds me a bit of a Wayne Shorter composition, but less creepy than advertised:

David Berkman/Creepy/Leaving Home

Both discs are available at eMusic.