COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 12

This afternoon I wrapped up the tour of Root 70’s discography with the self-titled debut album released in 2000. Plenty of youthful exuberance here. Will the lads don the drag if the 20^th Anniversary Tour takes place later in the year once this shitshow is over? A couple or three quick takeaways from the discography tour. The albums are nicely recorded. Jochen and Matt are one of my favourite rhythm section pairings. The blend – in separate sections (the horns and rhythm) and together as a whole. The overall ensemble sound is one of balance. They bring some old-school sensibilities (group sound, recording techniques) into a contemporary setting. 

A keen eye would have noticed that I skipped the vinyl version of Fahvergnugen (with Wolff Parkinson White remixes and an alternate take) as I still don’t have a turntable.... maybe I’ll take it off the shelf and stare at for a bit. Meanwhile, I wait for the box to arrive and throw the "Root 70 Plays Root 70" idea out there once again.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 9

A frustrating day of work was alleviated by some very enjoyable sounds. Kicking off the day was the new disc featuring unreleased recordings by Lennie Tristano - The Duo Sessions. It features Tristano is duo with Lenny Popkin, Connie Crothers, and Roger Mancuso. I’m a huge fan of all involved so this is going to get a lot more listening time. Due to the pandemic Dot Time Records were unable to post the physical disc but gladly sent me a digital copy.

Then I continued with my tour of the Root 70 discography with Getting Rooted. I hadn’t listened to this one for a while and was a little surprised how well I remembered it. Then I recalled just how much I used to listen to this album and I was somewhat less surprised. In turn, I started recalling the time I first heard this album - New York City, 2004 (ahh nostalgia). And realized that these two albums are linked, as NYC 2004 also happened to be when I met Connie. Time Flies. Kind of. In some respects in seems like yesterday, and then suddenly it feels like another lifetime.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 8

This morning kicked off with the latest from The Melancholy Babes – The Rat of the Riot. While the music is intense, it’s not all just crash and bash... as I don’t think I could handle that so early in the morning (it’s a very “room-sounding” recording and I think that takes a little of the edge off too). I don’t have all of their recordings, but it would be worth while working through the trio’s discography at some stage.

And now for something completely different... later in the day it was Root 70’s Heaps Dub getting a spin. This album marked a departure for them, the previous outings (I can never remember if this was their 3^rd or 4^th release... out around the time of Fahvergnugen) featured all original compositions, but on Heaps Dub they tackle the work of Burnt Friedman. Surely then, this must be considered the first of the conceptual series that followed? Something to mellow out to.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 7

Last the couple of mornings have seen early starts, and this time round I had Kim Paterson’s The Duende giving me a hand (along with a cuppa oolong). And the opening track, Coltrane’s “5^th House” was a great wake up call. I enjoy hearing Mike Nock and Kim Paterson together, and it made wonder why that hasn’t been a more regular occurrence. A duo album or something with a lot of percussion would be interesting....but I would happily settle for a regular ol’ quartet outing.

Later in the day it was Root 70’s Fahvergnugen to keep me company. I’m a fan of the alto saxophone/trombone front line. We hear a lot of tenor/trumpet combos but it makes a nice change.

The album title translates to something along the lines of “The pleasure of driving”, but for today I’ll pretend it’s the “pleasure of not driving” - it’s made a nice change not having to hit the road each day.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 6

Root 70 On 52^nd 1/4 Street got the day rolling. The 1^st of the conceptual series, features original lines written over the harmonies of classics from the American Songbook. It has been fun revisiting the Root 70 catalogue at a time when the pandemic shut down their 20^th Anniversary Tour. Only a few more albums to go.

Then the afternoon saw some more overdue listening, and it made for a definite change of pace from the morning as we moved into the realm of free improvisation. This time it was Wet Robots by Fay Victor’s SoundNoiseFunk. This one has been my radar for a while due to a couple of reasons. 1) The couple of times I heard Fay live I was really impressed but I’m not at all familiar with her recorded work. 2) Sam Newsome. I’ve spent quite a bit of time with his solo recordings, and increasingly want to hear him in ensemble settings. Wet Robots checks both boxes (and much more!). Fay recently posted that the follow-up album is in the can. I won’t wait so long this time.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 5

The tour through the Root 70 catalogue continued today with the 2010 release, Listen to Your Woman – an all-blues outing and part 2 of the conceptual works. When I studied with Hayden in Greece during 2009 he mentioned this up coming recording and played me a little bit of the boogie piece he was writing (the albums opener, “Rusty Bagpipe Boogie”). This is the first , and only, Root 70 album to contain compositions from each of the members.

It had been a while since I had listened to Bernie McGann, and 1966 had been on my list for a while now. Bernie is so distinctive and Kim Paterson is under-recorded (or at least I’m missing out on albums I don’t know about!) and it’s the earliest recording I have heard from all involved

The fidelity isn’t the greatest – totally listenable though - and the music and historical importance more than makes up for it. Great energy throughout.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 2

Root 70’s Riomar kicked off the day. This is quartet’s album with a string trio and it had a darker vibe than I remembered (or maybe it was the cloudy skies and pouring rain, as the music brightened up along with the weather after lunch). If they ever return to the “Conceptual Works” series, may I suggest “Root 70 Plays Root 70”, featuring compositions from the band members’ other projects.

Then later in the day it was time for Magic Ocean Tree – an EP from The Woods. I’ve only managed to catch them live once and it was a fun evening. It’s taken me too long to pick up their two recordings. If you’re after groove-heavy, feel-good instrumental music, The Woods could be place to find it. It was a nice way to mellow out at the end of the day. Very rarely do I listen to music while at work so this is making a very pleasant change.

COVID-19 Lockdown: Day 1

I’m not sure whether I’ll post every day while the lockdown is in place (probably not), but here we are at Day 1. In the morning, Root 70’s Wise Men Can Be Wrong kept me company at work. This is part 4 of their conceptual series – an all-standards outing. Then for the afternoon it was Chris Aiello’s Green Grow The Lilacs - another all-standards outing (and one I’ve been meaning to listen to for ages..... finally got around to it Chris!). On a day that has been anything but standard, it has been a “standards” day for me.

Countdown to Lockdown

As of midnight tonight New Zealand moves into lockdown in efforts to combat the spread of CONVID-19. So it seems like a good time to resurrect the blog with a series of brief posts. I purchased a bunch of albums from Bandcamp that will accompany me as I work from home over the next four weeks (or longer). Most of these were well-overdue purchases, and the first of those got a spin today too - Adam Caine and Robert Dick's The Damn Think. As Root 70’s 20^th Anniversary Tour was scuttled due to the virus, I’ve decided to bust out their catalogue. I’m working in reverse chronological order, so Luxury Habits got the ball rolling today. I've put in my order for the 20th Anniversary Box Set too - but I'm guessing that might take a while to get here.

NZ Music Month: Root 70 - Luxury Habits

Root 70: Luxury Habits (nWog Records)
Nils Wogram (trb) Hayden Chisholm (as) Matt Penman (b) Jochen Rueckert (d)

The latest album from one of my favorite groups arrived in the mail last week. Luxury Habits is the 8^th album by Root 70 (9th if you include Heaps Dub… but that’s a different thing really).

As far as contemporary jazz groups (i.e. active during my time) go, Root 70 is one of the two that I have listened to the most (the other being the Connie Crothers Quartet). One similarity between the two is the long-standing relationships between the members. A difference is repertoire. Whereas the CCQT drew from a relatively small body of works and recorded the same pieces on multiple occasions, Root 70 record new pieces with each album. As usual Nils takes on the bulk of the composition duties. Jochen contributes one and it very much fits the vibe of the album.

After a few themed albums based on standards (On 52 ¼ St and Wise Men Can Be Wrong), blues (Listen to Your Woman), and an album with strings (Riomar), Luxury Habits recalls some of Root 70’s earlier releases and I couldn’t help thinking of their first three albums while listening this week. I didn’t make any side-by-side comparisons but I plan to. Initial impressions are that some of the youthful exuberance has refined over the years.

There’s still plenty of energy though and the balanced ensemble sound continues to be a highlight for me. It’s all the more impressive in that they don’t play together as a unit all that often (although Matt and Jochen play together a bit in other groups), but they only come together as Root 70 a couple of times a year  - in fact they just wrapped up a tour this week. Listening to Nils and Hayden makes me realize how underutilized the trombone/alto front-line pairing is. And I'm sure I've said it before but…. the combo of Matt and Jochen is one of my favorite rhythm section pairings - a great balance between the tradition and the now (plus the Root 70 albums always seem to capture Matt’s bass sound so nicely).

There’s plenty to digest and I’m looking forward to give Luxury Habits plenty more attention.

And that wraps up NZ Music Month for 2017. I the meantime, add to the NZ jazz listening list two releases due out in June on Rattle Records -  Reuben Bradley Trio's Shark Variations and Jim Langabeer's Secret Islands (it's rare these days that someone is under-recorded, but Jim definitely is!). And for those wanting more from Hayden, the second Slowfox album has just been released. 

You can read previous NZ Music Month posts here: C.L. Bob and Bleakley/Crayford/Donaldson and Lucien Johnson.

A few tracks on a Sunday afternoon

I spent some time on Sunday listening to a few tracks from three albums that have been getting regular airtime since I picked up just before Christmas. In addition to some distinct individual voices, all three groups display a sense of ensemble unity and conception.

Benjamin Schaefer: Quiet Fire (Nwog)
"Snow Globe Night Watch," "Nautilus" and "Elegy." I'm this group has the chance to work and record together more.

Nils Wogram Quartet: Construction Field (Altrisuoni)
"Tricky's Food," "Quiet Place" and "Hostile Moves." I haven't checked too much of Nils' playing outside of his work with Root 70 and I'm keen to check out his trombone quartet - Vertigo.

Root 70: Wise Men Can Be Wrong (Nwog)
"You Stepped Out of a Dream," "Darn That Dream" and "Too Marvelous for Words." The latest from one of my favorite groups is an all standards affair. Hayden and Nils weave effortlessly while Matt Penman and Jochen Rueckert are one formidable rhythm section.

2014 Round Up

This is not a "best of" and it's far from a comprehensive overview of my listening over the past 12 months - just a taste of albums I enjoyed that were new to me during 2014 (I've not focussed on new releases). Aside from the 2014 releases being first, things are in no particular order.


Connie Crothers: Concert In Paris (New Artists)

Perhaps I biased, but you'll find Connie's albums on any favourite's list of mine. Recorded in October 2011 (not long after I returned to NZ following a period studying with her) and released in August during Connie's residency at The Stone - another highlight from 2014. I'm always left wondering, "how does she do it?"

Slowfox: The Wood (Jazzwerkstatt) Root 70 with Strings: Riomar (Nwog)

As with Crothers, I'm a big Hayden Chisholm fan. The Wood got plenty of spins this year and I hope this trio record more in the future. There are a few videos of concerts from them floating around YouTube too. I may be a little cheeky including the Root 70 album here as I got it in 2013 but listened to it more in 2014.

Lennie Tristano: Chicago, April 1951 (Uptown)

Two discs of previously unreleased live recordings, tells you this is essential for anyone interested in Tristano, Konitz and Marsh et al.. The sound quality is pretty descent and the music is excellent. Lets hope for more releases from the Tristano vaults. For whatever reason, this one didn't quite get the same media attention as the Guiffre release.

The Jimmy Giuffre 3 & 4: New York Concerts (Elemental Music)

Another important historical release of previously unissued concert recordings, filling a gap during the post-Free Fall years that went unrecorded. Giuffre (on tenor and clarinet) along with trio (b/d) and quartet (p/b/d), fascinating listening and excellent notes too.

Kazzrie Jaxen Quartet: Callicoon Sessions (New Artists) A Million Shimmering Fish (New Artists)

Kazzire's lush piano shines across both of these quite different releases.  The latter features Kazzrie's piano and the poetry of Mark Weber - mostly piano responding to the spoken word (as opposed to the piano accompanying the spoken words). The Quartet has just released a new album which I am yet to hear.

Lester Young: Lady Be Good (unreleased alternate take)

From the collection of George Avakian comes an alternate take from the 1936 "Jones-Smith Inc." session. I hope someone dives in to the collection and discovers more gems such as this. The find of the year?

Paul Bley: Homage To Carla (Owl)

I do enjoy hearing Bley play Bley and this solo disc was on heavy rotation for a while (along with a few other Paul Bley albums). I'll be keeping an eye out for his trio disc on Steeplechase that tackles Carla's songs. In general, I still feel Paul Bley is under appreciated by the jazz community.

Various: West Coast Soundings (EWR)

I got this from Frank Gratkowski after his gig at Constellation (which was excellent). This is two discs of compositions that I guess fall into the the "new music" category. There's a lot of minimalism and drones. My interest was sparked when Frank mentioned there were times during the recording that he felt every note he played was too loud - I think he did pretty well. This was a nice accompaniment as I worked on school stuff.

Steve Lacy: Spirit of Mingus (Freelance) Steve Lacy & Evan Parker: Chirps (FMP)

As usual I listened to my fair share of Lacy this year. It was great hearing the master play a full set of Mingus tunes and how could I resist the Lacy/Parker duo (Parkers debt to Lacy is evident).

Paul Plimley & Lislie Ellis: Kaleidoscopes (HatArt)

This was a surprise disc that I picked up purely because this duo (who I was unfamiliar with) was playing the music of Ornette Coleman. I thoroughly enjoyed this album and recommend it to anyone interested in Coleman's music.

Lol Coxhill: Ear of Beholder (Esoteric) Milwaukee 2002 (Emanem) Alone and Together (Emanem)

There has been a steady stream of Coxhill on throughout the year. His personal approach to the soprano has drawn me in - there's a vulnerability and a rambling quality that appeals to be - a very distinctive player. The opening (included here) and closing tracks on Behearer hit my funny bone.

Ran Blake: Plays Solo Piano (ESP) Free Standards (Fresh Sound)

The fidelity of the solo disc is far from ideal but that didn't stop me from enjoying the music. On the duo disc I found that the original compositions written by the producer didn't grab my attention the way the standard tunes (solo & duo) did.

Ornette Coleman: In All Languages (Harmolodic/Verve)

Around the middle of the year I revisited some album's of Ornette's I hadn't listened to for some time. Along the way I picked up this one which I hadn't heard. The disc splits Prime Time and a reunion of the original quartet and it's worthwhile checking out the two groups takes on the same songs.

Art Tatum: Exactly Like You

This comes from a mid-1940s live recording (sorry but I've misplaced the full info!). Lewis Porter played this to us in class early last year. Check out striking chorus of single note lines.

John Surman: Fragments (ECM) Thimar (ECM) A Biography Of The Rev. Absalom Dawe (ECM)
Stranger Than Fiction (EMC)

I haven't listened to much John Surman over the years. For me, he's a player that has slipped through the cracks so this year I made bit of an effort to listen to some of his work. I focused on his soprano work but he is strong on baritone sax and bass clarinet too. It was enough for me to want some more.

Norman Winstone: Somewhere Called Home (ECM)

I went to the Jazz Record Mart on New Year's eve hoping to find Jay Clayton's Sound Songs. They didn't have it and I was in the mood for some vocals so on a whim I picked this up - a nice mellow way to take out 2014.

Workshops and Masterclasses

I came across a list of workshops and masterclass I have attended over the years. Most of these took place at NZSM. It is not a complete list but I decided to add a few brief notes from what I can remember from them.

Evan Parker & Steve Lacy
These two were separately involved in the 1999 Wellington Jazz Festival (the masterclasses were at The Space). At the time I knew very little of both artists (I had heard a couple of recordings of Lacy (Reflections and Evidence from memory) and something by Parker) and at first was a little disappointed neither played but soon found what they had to say was very interesting - I have no idea if these sessions were recorded but I would love to hear what they had to say now that I'm more familiar with their work. I enjoyed their concerts too - Parker's second set (a duo with Richard Nunns) was later released on Leo Records.

Mike Nock - I wrote a little on this one here.

Bernie McGann Trio (2000) He spoke very highly of Art Pepper (particularly the album Meets The Rhythm Section) but I don't remember much else from this session. The trio played a tune or two and there was some Q&A.

Frank Gratkowski (August 2009)When I attended music village an added bonus was the presence of Frank Gratkowski. One afternoon Hayden Chisholm handed the baton to Frank for a session. Frank spoke of his experiences in music, aesthetics, music he listens too, work he has done, played recordings etc - fascinating stuff. Here’s a short feature on Frank that Hayden produced & filmed in the village square of Agios Lavrentios.

The Thing (Mats Gustaffson, Paal Nilson-Love, Ingebrigt Haker Flaten) This one was hands-on practical and very inclusive. The trio had everyone up playing as part of an improvising ensemble. We moved around the circle playing solo improvisations, duos, trios and eventually everyone all in. The emphasis was on making music. A fun session.

Root 70 (Nils Wogram, Hayden Chisholm, Matt Penman, Jochen Rueckert)(2007) Another very hands-on session. There was an emphasis developing a balanced ensemble sound (something Root 70 definitely achieve). At one stage there were about eight horns playing background riffs behind a bass solo (on a blues). The message - if you cannot hear the bass you're playing too loud. We also had a crack at playing trades on one of Root 70's odd-meter tunes. Hayden invited 5 or 6 sax players to get together before the sound check the following day for an extra session. Here he introduced ideas that I would explore further during his annual workshop in Greece.

Steve Coleman (circa Sept 2009) This was part of Coleman's ongoing series in NYC at the Jazz Gallery. Not surprisingly rhythm was at the fore - lots of clapping. A few people played - trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, a pianist and a guitarist. Coleman played a rhythmically altered “All The Things You Are” unaccompanied and sounded very nice. It was an interesting session but I felt well out of my depth! These sessions are well worth attending but only going to one (as I did) is probably not recommended. 

Dave Douglas (2002) Talked about busking on the streets of NYC and a little about his time with Horace Silver. Silver stressed to him the importance of voice leading, which Douglas demonstrated playing over a II-V-I progression, gradually adding to the complexity of the line while retaining the same 7-3 voice leading between chords. Another topic covered was using a metronome. He demonstrated by playing “All The Things You Are” with the metronome clicking in different places, such as every 5th beat and on up-beats.

Adam Simmons(circa 2003) One of the only things I remember from this was him singing the praises of Rahsaan Roland Kirk.

Vinny Golia - On the subject of his large ensemble, I remember him saying that many of the members were involved in contemporary classical/new music fields and he felt they were better suited to the demands of the written music as well as improvising in his large ensemble. And that many jazz players were boxed-in stylistically and it didn't fit with the group.

He told a great story from when he was into the music but not yet playing (he was a visual artist before becoming a musician and some of his work was featured on album covers - Dave Holland/Barre Phillips Music from Two Basses for example). One day he was walking (somewhere in NYC) when he heard a saxophonist practicing. Liking what he heard, he stood outside the apartment and listened to them going about there work. After awhile, the music stopped and out walked Archie Shepp. He came straight over to Golia and asked “Are you a saxophone player?” (Thinking Vinny was outside trying to steal his chops!), Golia replied “No, I’m a painter,” and Shepp was cool with that.

I must admit, there have been a couple of times when I've been walking around the city and stopped outside an apartment to listen to someone practicing.

Jon Gordon - I don’t remember much from the masterclass itself (scales in all intervals, II-V’s). However, following the masterclass I spoke with a few of the sax students at NZSM. The previous day they had private lessons with him and he had covered the same stuff in both - they were not impressed. Lesson learned - try and get your lesson with a visiting artist after the masterclass!

Gordon Brisker came through school twice a few years apart (early 2000s). Each time he handed out and ran through the same handout. I keep it but it is back in NZ - from memory it included some sound work, a scale routine and II-V-I licks.

Mike Brignola - Usually I try and take something positive away from masterclasses etc. In this case it was very hard to do. If there was one, it was that he mentioned/demonstrated overtones. The session ended with people sight-reading saxophone quartet charts. It didn’t seem as though there was much preparation.

Bob Mintzer - I've been to a couple from Mintzer (both in the late 2000s)

Composition/Arranging - he put across a simple message. When he was young, there was very little in the way on books etc. Play something and if you like it, write in down. If you don't like it, change it. That, and ask people questions - he said they (jazz greats and more experienced players) never really answered the question he asked but he learned something regardless.

Saxophone - making up your own little melodic ideas and playing them through all keys. It could be based on something you have transcribed or adapted from a classical étude - he recommended Eugene Bozza “Caprices” and Sigfrid Karg-Elert studies. He demonstrated something he took and adapted from Michael Brecker There's an article on his blog that deals with the subject. A more detailed article is online somewhere but after a quick search I couldn't find it - it could have be in JazzEd Magazine.

Pat Crumly (2001) He was leading the Ronnie Scott legacy band tour of New Zealand. Aside from him recommending you fry your spices when making a curry(!) I don't really remember the workshop. The first notes he played as a warm up for the concert was the "CMAR lick." This was a lick we had to learn for our improvisation class (along with a bunch of other stuff from Jerry Coker's Elements of Jazz). I was sitting with a few saxophone playing friends and we all cracked up - our teacher turned around smiling and gave us the thumbs up (Hi Colin!).

I have managed to get along to a few of the masterclasses held at PM Woodwind, the first being Ernie Watts. This was on before I re-launched the blog. It struck me when he said something along the lines of (I'm paraphrasing) - If you know all the scales that go with all the chords you can't play a wrong note - I don't know what to say about that…. I guess it's one way to look at things. Someone has posted video of the masterclass here.
I wrote about some of the other masterclass held at PM Woodwind -  Bob Shepard (Here) and David Liebman (Here) and Chris Potter (Here). I also got along to Jeff Coffin's masterclass but I either didn't take notes or I have misplaced them.