COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 26

There was a little Sal listening over the weekend. Friday night, the duo tracks from Lee Konitz’ 1971 album Spirits had a spin and on Sunday night Jimmy Halperin’s Pslam had a run too. This morning I returned to Ruckus: Live at CJC (Creative Jazz Club Aotearoa) and my mood was such that I could focus in more that last week. I hadn’t heard any of DavidWard’s music in a long time and I really enjoyed re-connecting with it. He brings a slight quirky, fun approach to his music which went down well during the early start on Monday morning. Dave never was one for playing millions of notes, and this still seems to be the case. Not afraid of letting lines breathe is something that I’m aware of but that doesn’t mean it always happens! Nice band too – anything with John Bell (vibes) and Chris O’Connor (drums) is going to interest me. Rui Inaba (bass) was new to me and he slots in well. Nice sounding live recording too.

Following that, I wrapped up Sal Mosca’s Too Marvelous for Words with disc 5, containing the remainder of the Rotterdam concert and the Maastricht concert June 24 1981. In addition to some lines by Sal and Lennie Tristano, unsurprisingly, the repertoire across the five discs is drawn from the great American songbook (“Donna Lee” and “Hot House” get a couple of runs each too). He doesn’t really favour a particular tune “A Family Song” and “You Go To My Head” appear three times each, and plenty appear twice, but the set list stays pretty fresh concert to concert. Do I have a favourite concert? Well, I need to spent more time with the recordings and eventually one may stick with me a bit more than the others. Over the past several years I’ve moved away from playing standards. I still enjoying listening to them though and there’s no guarantee I won’t return to them at some stage. This set of discs serves as a lovely reminder of how much music can be extracted from these gems (and just how great Sal was).

Kazzrie Jaxen

Due to a couple of recent releases of late, I have been listening to Kazzrie Jaxen (formerly known as Liz Gorrill). For those of you unfamiliar with her work, you're in for a treat.

First up…. Callicoon Sessions (Candence Jazz Records CJR1243, 2013) by the The Kazzrie Jaxen Quartet with Charley Krachy (ts) Don Messina (b) Bill Chatin (d).

During the second half of 2009, I started playing with Don and Bill (along with Carol Liebowitz & Will Jhun) and they mentioned that the quartet had started playing together. In fact, "My Melancholy Baby" comes from the quartets' very first session together. The individual histories are much longer. Bill & Kazzrie go back to the early 70s, Charley & Kazzrie the late 70s (first recording together is from 1989), while Don & Bill have been playing together for about 30 years.

I feel these long standing relationships play an important role underpinning the eight standard tunes and one free improvisation. There is a casual, playful feel throughout the album, very much akin to old friends catching up.

"Foolin' Myself" somehow got lost amongst the shuffle and is seldom played these days. If you are looking to add some underplayed tunes to your repertoire this one is a gem.

Having heard Charley play "My Foolish Heart" live, I was keen to hear the quartets' interpretation - it didn't disappoint. Nobody over plays their hand - timely fills are added in the bass, piano accompaniment is supportive yet creative, swirling brushes and cymbals create a subtle wash and the melody is presented quite "straight" but with plenty of feeling (with out resulting to milking it). During the saxophone solo, the melody is never far away.

Contrast follows in "You Stepped Out Of A Dream." It kicks off with a  piano/drum duet of blurring lines, dense chords and crisp ride & snare that is full steam ahead.

The free improvisation "Callicoon" is made up of two parts "The River" & "The Train." The quartet move out of flowing pulse that is a feature of the album and break things up with rubato/free time and hinting at a shifting pulse.

Don gets a pretty sweet recorded sound from a DAT recorder and a single stereo microphone. He has recorded a number albums this way (the three BMC Trio discs, Jimmy Halperin's Cycle Logical and an album he and Bill made with Jon Easton, probably others too). Sometimes it makes me wonder why there can be so much fuss over studios and such.

I got my copy from CD Baby. It only arrived a couple of days ago but has already had multiple spins.

Of her two duets with guitarist Andy Fite I have been listening to Cosmic Comedy (New Artists Records 1012) - from a September 1990 concert at Greenwich House. These duets are excellent examples of the unlimited nature of tunes from the Great American Songbook. The two albums are full of surprising twists and turns, it feels like the music could go anywhere at anytime. The music goes places.