recommendations: July 2006 Archives

One For All, The Lineup (Sharp Nine). I have groused often enough, maybe too often, about soundalike improvisers in the younger generations of jazz players. One For All have their audible influences but for the most part they are happy exceptions to the carbon copy rule. In addition, tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander, trumpeter Jim Rotondi, trombonist Steve Davis, pianist David Hazeltine, bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth are a band, not just a bunch of guys thrown together to record. The album is consistently satisfying. One For All's version of "Sweet and Lovely" is a gem.

Neil Blumofe, Piety and Desire (Horeb). If you know New Orleans, you recognize Piety and Desire as the names of streets. If you know Jewish liturgy, piety and desire have additional meaning. If you think you know New Orleans music, you are likely to find surprises in this melding of Jewish and secular wedding themes, protestant hymns, blues, street parade rhythms, the sensibilities of traditional and modern New Orleans jazz and the spirit of a city determined to recover from disaster. Blumofe is a cantor with a clear voice, a clear vision and roots in the Jewish and jazz traditions. His ten sidemen include drummer Jason Marsalis, bassist Roland Guerin, saxophonist Alex Coke and the formidable tuba player Matt Perrine.

Jan Lundgren in New York (Marshmallow). The great young Swedish pianist teams with two of the brightest rhythm players in New York, both named Washington; Peter on bass, Kenny on drums. Lundgren and the Washingtons give satisfaction in a program of classic standards plus originals by John Coltrane, Wayne Shorter, Benny Golson and the pianist himself. With the exception of a speedy "Cherokee," Lundgren holds the fiery side of his nature in abeyance, but compensates with his touch, harmonic riches and gift of melodic invention. His refractive lines in solo on Shorter's "This is For Albert" are a particular pleasure. Ordering information for Marshmallow, a Japanese label, is available by e-mail.

This is not, precisely, a DVD. It is a portion of the only known video of a collaboration between Stan Getz and John Coltrane, tenor saxophonists of different styles who admired one another's work. (Coltrane once said of Getz, "We'd all sound like that if we could.") The occasion was a Jazz at the Philharmonic concert in Dusseldorf, Germany, in 1960. The rhythm section is Paul Chambers, bass; Jimmy Cobb, drums; and Oscar Peterson, who is seen at the beginning relieving Wynton Kelly at the piano. There is more video of this encounter, but I haven't been able to turn it up on the web, and it is not available commercially. Thanks to Bobby Shew for alerting me to this rarity. The piece Getz and Coltrane play, coincidentally, is "Rifftide." To see it, go here and scroll down to the third item. Be sure your RealPlayer is up to date.

Ashley Kahn, The House That Trane Built: The Story of Impulse Records, Norton. John Coltrane's dominance of the jazz of the 1960s intensified after he moved from Atlantic to Impulse!, a new label. His success made it possible for Impulse! (the exclamation point was part of its name) to record dozens of other important musicians as stylistically varied as Pee Wee Russell and Albert Ayler. Kahn's story-telling ability, reporter-like objectivity and thorough research make what might have been dull corporate history a valuable reference work that is also a good read.

Ralph Burns, Perpetual Motion (Fresh Sound). Infrequently mentioned today, Burns was one of the great jazz arrangers of the 1940s and 50s, with a later career scoring for radio, TV and motion pictures. His arrangements were central to the success of several Woody Herman herds. The final movement of his "Summer Sequence" for Herman gained additional fame as "Early Autumn." This CD brings together two of his mid-fifties albums, Ralph Burns Among the JATP's and Jazz Studio 5. The soloists include Jazz at the Philharmonic regulars Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Roy Eldridge Flip Phillips and Bill Harris as well as comers like Joe Newman, Davey Schildkraut and Herbie Mann. But the star throughout is Burns' brilliant writing. His setting of Alec Wilder's "I'll Be Around" for Newman's trumpet is a quiet masterpiece.

Jenny Scheinman, 12 Songs (Cryptogramophone). Scheinman is the violinist who mesmerized a Portland Jazz Festival audience earlier this year as a member of guitarist Bill Frisell's Unspeakable Orchestra. Frisell is aboard here as a member of Scheinman's band, and much, but no means all, of the album's energy comes from the sparks flying between the two. The music by her seven-piece band ranges across a number of genres, including calypso, bluegrass-cum-Caribbean, what sounds like a schottische, and dirges. For all its eclecticism and free-ranging nature, the thread of Scheinman's personality runs through the twelve pieces. The album's charm, cohesiveness and sense of fun lie as much in her canny arranging as in the joyful peformances. I cannot classify this music and won't try to, but I've found myself listening to it often.

John La Barbera, On The Wild Side (Jazz Compass). This has been out for three years, but I just caught up with it. I'm glad that I did. La Barbera's arrangements for Buddy Rich and Woody Herman impressed me years ago, and so does this new batch. The album bears endorsements by Elmer Bernstein and Horace Silver. It features La Barbera's older brother Pat on tenor saxophone and younger brother Joe on drums and has other gifted players including trombonists Andy Martin and Bruce Paulson; trumpeters Wayne Bergeron and Clay Jenkins; saxophonists Tom Peterson and Kim Richmond; bassist Tom Warrington; pianists Bill Cunliffe and Tom Ranier; plus a guest appearance by Bud Shank. La Barbera's writing, marked by a judicious use of ensemble power, is among the most exciting by contemporary arrangers. I see that he has released a followup CD on Jazz Compass. If it is as satisfying as this one, I look forward to it.

Keith Jarrett, Tokyo Solo (ECM). With this magnificent DVD, the pianist banishes worries that his years under seige by chronic fatigue syndrome may have ended his solo career. He demonstrates, too, that he has learned the discipline of self-editing, reducing the average length of his inventions while sacrificing nothing of intensity, creativity or daring. Except for three encores, "Danny Boy," "Old Man River" and "Don't Worry 'Bout Me," his pieces have part numbers, not names. That may seem inelegant. The playing is not. The shortest piece is less than three minutes, the longest more than twenty. The instantaneous composition in one section of a piece inspires ideas for the next, and although the segments vary in shape and style, we witness the continuity of a fecund mind at work. As Jarrett wound down the ravishing "Part 1b," it occurred to me that it must have been something like this when Mozart improvised.

Catherine Dinker Bowen, Miracle at Philadelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention, May-September 1787 (Back Bay). With all of today's arguments about what is, isn't or should be constitutional, Bowen's classic offers a refresher course on the original arguments, who made them, why, and how the foundation of US liberty was built by a few men sweltering in a big room during a blazing hot summer. The book reads like a great novel, but most novels don't have this interesting a cast of characters.