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New Jazz Adds – 11/11/2016
Author: Dave Rogers
New Jazz Adds – 11/11/2016
Lou Blackburn – The Complete Imperial Sessions (Blue Note): 1963 recordings recorded for and released by Imperial Records and later remixed and reissued by Blue Note. Though not terribly popular at the time, many reviewers have praised the flexibility and musicianship of the band. The line-up includes Lou Blackburn (trombone), Freddie Hill (trumpet), Horace Tapscott (piano), John Duke (bass) and Leroy Henderson (drums). Blackburn composed eleven of the songs. Certainly, a comfortable fit with the Blue Note sound. Click here and click on the LP cover to listen to the songs on this disc.
Don Cherry – Complete Communion (Blue Note): In Don Cherry’s words, “”Complete Communion” is the way in presentation and performance for each sound to have a completeness in emotion and color to connect the overall oneness, which makes up our complete communion.” The second track is…a fantasy dealing with direct emotion, loosey controlled, leaving each listener the freedom to bring his imagination into play.’’ In addition to Cherry (cornet), the group includes Leandro “Gato” Barbieri (tenor sax), Henry Grimes (bass) and Edward Blackwell (drums). The music steps outside of the standard bop form from time to time, but it is clearly based in it. Click here to listen to the first track.
Kait Dunton trioKAIT – Casual (Self-produced): Pianist / arranger Kait Dunton leads her trio bassist Cooper Appelt and drummer Jake Reed and several guests through her arrangements of several pop and jazz songs, including No Doubt’s “Don’t Speak”, John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps”, Michel Legrand’s “I Will Wait For You”, Erroll Garner’s “Misty” and Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely”. Additional guest musicians who join in on various songs include Andrew Synowiec (guitar), Aaron Sertaty (percussion), Jeff Driskill (flute), Bob Sheppard (clarinet), Phil Poppam (oboe), Carolyn Beck (bassoon) and Philip Lassiter (synthesizer, trumpet stacks). Click here to listen to samples from this disc.
Erroll Garner – Ready Take One (Octave Music/Legacy): Fans of Erroll Garner and jazz piano in general take notice! This disc features Garner playing 14 previously unknown recordings of songs he truly loved from “Misty” and “Wild Music” to “Caravan” and Bobby Hebb’s “Sunny”. These in studio performances have never been heard except by those present for the recording sessions until now. It stands as an excellent showcase for Garner’s chops in general, including a few being heard for the first time. Supporting musicians include Jimmie Smith and Joe Cocuzzo (drums), Ernest McCarty Jr, Ike Isaacs, Larry Gales and George Duvivier (bass), and Jose Mangual (conga). The recordings date from 1967 through 1971. Click here and scroll down to listen to the songs on this disc.
Grant Green – Am I Blue (Blue Note): Remastered 1963 session featuring Grant Green (guitar), Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Johnny Coles (trumpet), John Patton (organ) and Ben Dixon (drums). The disc opens nicely with “Am I Blue”, then takes a while to recover from the group’s uninspired version of the country classic “Take These Chains From My Heart”, and gives its strongest performance on the the closer, an upbeat version of “For All We Know”. Click here to listen to “For All We Know”.
Grant Green – Talkin’ About (Blue Note): This session from 1964 features a slimmed down lineup of Green (guitar), Larry Young (organ) and Elvin Jones (drums) and they offer a lively set with a moody version of “You Don’t Know What Love Is”. Even their version of “I’m An Old Cowhand” jumps and plays with the song in the most energetic and delightful manner. Larry Young’s two original compositions are highlights as well. Click here to listen to the songs on this disc.
Jason Hainsworth – Third Ward Stories (Origin): Sax player / composer Jason Hainsworth’s second release features five original compositions, one composition from trombonist Michael Dease, who also plays throughout the disc, and covers of Wayne Shorter’s “Prince Of Darkness” and Hoagy Carmichael’s “The Nearness Of You”. Other players includes Josh Evans (trumpet), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Adam Olszewski (bass) and Jonathan Blake (drums). The playing is an offshoot of cool jazz that swings and flows. Very nice. Click here for a brief sample of a song on this disc.
Tigran Hamasyan/Arve Henriksen/Eivind Aarset/Jan Bang – Atmospheres (ECM): Tigran Hamasyan is an Armenian jazz pianist who “plays mostly original compositions, which are strongly influenced by the Armenian folk tradition, often using its scales and modalities.” (Wikipedia) On this disc, he is joined by Arve Henriksen (trumpet), Eivind Aarset (guitar), and Jan Bang (live sampling, samples). The music is mostly airy and light on this collection, but Hamasyan loves many styles and states he has been influenced classical, rock, jazz and folk styles. Fans of the “ECM atmospheric styles” will definitely want to check this out. Click here to listen to a sample from this disc.
Steve Heckman – Legacy: A Coltrane Tribute (Jazzed Media): This is a live performance in tribute to John Coltrane featuring Steve Hackman (tenor, soprano sax), Grant Levin (piano), Eric Markowitz (bass), and Smith Dobson V (drums). The performance covers such Trane songs as “Impressions”, “Dear Lord”, “Fifth House” and “Resolution” and a Heckman original, “The Legacy”. Heckman was thunderstruck from the first time he heard Coltrane’s music and while he has performed with many established jazz players, his love for Trane has never diminished. Sharing his love of the music is the purpose of the performance and recording of the great man’s work. The playing is solid throughout. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Andrew Hill – Grass Roots (Blue Note): Pianist / composer Andrew Hill was the leader of these 1968 sessions featuring Lee Morgan (trumpet), Booker Ervin (tenor sax), Ron Carter (bass) and Freddie Watts (drums) on the first session and Woody Shaw (trumpet), Frank Mitchell (tenor sax), Jimmy Ponder (guitar), Reggie Workman (bass) and Idris Muhammad (drums). All songs are Hill’s compositions. Both sessions are really on it! Click here to listen to the opening tracks.
Jeff Libman – Strange Beauty (Cellar Live): Guitarist Jeff Libman is an Assistant Professor of Jazz Studies at Arizona State University offers his 5th or 6th disc with the help of Michael Kocour (piano), Ben Hedqvist (bass) and Dom Moio (drums). The interaction is delightful across the group and the guitar / piano connections are stellar. Libman composed three of the eight songs on offer with the others ranging from Horace Silver to Lennon & McCartney to Rodgers & Hart. Melodic and swinging. Click here to listen to the title song.
John Moulder – Earthborn Tales Of Soul And Spirit (Origin): Interesting offering from guitarist / composer John Moulder. He composed all of the songs on the disc and, at times when another soloist takes over, he practically disappears. Three of the compositions are in two or more parts, but depending upon who is soloing, it almost sounds like a different group the horn and piano players step up as leads. The personnel include Donny McCaslin (tenor sax), Marquis Hill (trumpet), and Jim Trompeter (piano) with Steve Rodby, Eric Hochberg and Larry Gray rotating on bass and Paul Wertico and Xavier Breaker rotating on drums and Kalyan Pathak on tablas. The ensemble is in great form throughout. Click here and scroll down to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Tim Ray Trio – Windows (Whaling City): Pianist / leader Tim Ray, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Mark Walker cover a lot of ground on this disc, offering three originals and songs from Ellington to Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea to Keith Jarrett and even Lyle Lovett! They sound equally comfortable all the way around. Beautiful playing, great trio work, and it’s fun. Click here to listen to the title song.
Bria Skonberg – Bria (OKeh): This appears to be vocalist / trumpeter Skonberg’s third release and first on a major label following being awarded the Jazz At Lincoln Center Swing! Award in 2015. Her voice is somewhat reminiscent of Peggy Lee. The disc includes five original compositions and covers of songs from Benny Goodman and Cole Porter to “Malaguena” and “Trust In Me” from Disney’s “Jungle Book”. Other players here are Evan Arntzen (vocal, clarinet, tenor sax), Stefan Harris (vibes), Aaron Diehl (piano), Reginald Veal (bass) and Ali Jackson (drums, percussion). Click here to listen to the opening song on this disc.
Cory Weeds Quintet – It’s Easy To Remember (Cellar Live): This is a live performance of the Cory Weeds Quintet at Small’s Jazz Club (NYC) and the performance is bebop all the way. The group consists of Cory Weeds (tenor sax), David Hazletine (piano), Joe Magnarelli (trumpet), Paul Gill (bass) and Jason Tiemann (drums) and the setlist includes one original each from Weeds and Hazeltine, a couple of American songbook standards with the remainder more recent compositions. The performance itself is smooth and the band is tight. Weeds and Hazleton stand out, but the unit itself gives a fine performance throughout. One of the most striking performances here is the bop update of “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes”. The recording is live and there is applause between songs, but no announcing, making it seem more like a “live-in-studio” gig. Bop fans will definitely find much to like here. Click here to listen to samples of songs on this disc.
The Westerlies – The Westerlies (Songlines): Here’s an unusual and interesting set of performances by this brass quartet. The players are Riley Mulerkar and Zubin Hensler (trumpets) and Andy Clausen and Willem de Koch (trombones). With the exception of three songs, the music consists of original compositions by various members of the group. The performances are more in the vein of concert music, but the interactions are intriguing and the playing solid. The players have diverse musical experiences which shape the compositions, but their performance is wonderfully unified. Click here to listen to songs on this set.
Jordan Young – Jazz Jukebox (Posi-Tone): This is Jordan Young’s third release and it features a variety of styles as do most jukeboxes. Drummer Young is joined by Matt Chertkoff (guitar), Brian Charette (organ) and Nick Hempton (tenor sax) on songs ranging from Larry Young’s “Paris Eyes”, Wayne Shorter’s “ESP” and Monk’s “Rhythm-a-Ning” to Lennon & McCartney’s “I’m Only Sleeping” and Jim Croce’s “Time In A Bottle”, adding one original by organist Charette and one of his own “Sao Paulo Nights”. The disc is successful overall, though some some songs clearly show more energy and creativity. All-in-all a good outing especially for B-3 fans. Click here to listen to samples of the songs on this disc.
Kopasetically,
Professor Bebop