Lambic Jazz Vol. 2

The post-class hang continues and I'm going to try and keep these going for the rest of the semester.

The night started off with Paul Motian: Time and Time Again (ECM) Paul Motian (d) Joe Lovano (ts) Bill Frisell (g)
I was introduced to the Motian by way of Lee Konitz (and come to think of it, that's how I first heard Frisell too) and I was taken by his playing, both as a soloist and as an accompanist. This album is a great feature of the latter. I enjoy the way he doesn't play time the way you might expect, breaking things up, creating dialogue with the rest of the trio, seamlessly moving between different pulses and textures so naturally and utilizing space in ways few drummers do. Lately, I'm enjoying Motian the composer and there are some really nice tunes here - "Wednesday," "Whirlpool" and "K.T." They have a uncluttered, folk-song or nursery rhyme simpleness that appeals to me.

This trio is a great showcase three very identifiable musical personalities and while I 'm not a huge fan of Joe Lovano, this is the setting in which I prefer to listen to his music. As opposed to degenerating into an all-star hit out, these personalities come together as one to form a true ensemble sound, although at times they provide the illusion of moving independently of one another - perhaps a side-effect of playing together for 20+ years.

Next up was Liz Gorrill (these days known as Kazzrie Jaxen) and Andy Fite: Cosmic Comedy (New Artists Records) - a live set of nine piano and guitar duets to round the night out. There are a couple of things that stand out to me listening to these two - Karrie's rhythmic nature and drive and Andy's articulation and tone with an emphasis on the acoustic side of his instrument (which seems to be a rarity). There are plenty of surprises as they take some familiar forms to new places, it's a wild ride but a lot of fun. I'm not sure I can really put this into words but I feel it's rare to hear jazz like this - spontaneous improvisation at its finest. The music feels as if it could go anywhere and often, at the blink of an eye, it takes off on another plane. The way Andy's lines slide over the piano dirge on "Blues for the Child" always gives me a kick, and then there's the counterpoint throughout the album. It's hard to play favorites but the quiet surge of "A Dream of April" snuck up on me tonight.

Accompanying the music tonight was St. Louis Fond Traditional Gueuze by Van Honsebrouck. And now it's time to tune in to the cricket (1st test NZ vs India). Yes that's right, I'm combining three of my favorite things tonight.... make that four as I played some sax before dinner!

Vol.1 can be found here.

Kenny Wheeler - Angel Song

It was sad news to hear of Kenny Wheeler's passing yesterday. Around 2000, when I was hunting out everything Lee Konitz, I discovered Wheeler's 1996 album Angel Song (ECM). Man, I listened to that album a lot that year or so (and later played "Onmo" in my final recital). It was the Konitz who initially grabbed my attention but I soon discovered that there was a lot more to this album than just his presence. Wheeler, Konitz, Dave Holland and Bill Frisell - four distinctive sounds combing as one made for compelling listening. Spacious, lyrical, wistful and powerful (in ways you don't normally associate that word being used), it seems odd that this was there only album together. My ear is drawn to a horn players tone first and from the start Wheeler had me - personal and expressive combined with lyrical phrasing. His tunes are a key ingredient to the album's overall feel. Listening to Angel Song yesterday afternoon and this morning has made me want to revisit these melodies. Although it had been a couple of years since I last gave it a spin it felt like returning home to old friends. Find some time to relax with this gem of an album.

Recent Listening: John Surman

John Surman is a player I have been meaning to check out for a while now. I’m not only interested in his soprano work but also the fact that his music crosses from the jazz realm into the “what do you call this?” abyss.

The Spaces In Between (ECM) – Surman (soprano/baritone sax, bass clarinet) and Chris Laurence (bass) joined by the string quartet of Patrick Kiernan, Rita Manning (violin) Bill Hawkes (viola) and Nick Cooper (cello). Very melodic playing at times blurs the line between improvisations and composed material. Overall the feel is unhurried, melodic and somewhat introspective. There’s almost a suite-like feel to the album with the pieces flowing together well – just as I felt it was getting a bit bogged down things picked up again. It was fun trying to pick which instrument Surman would play on each track as I listened to the introductions. Recorded in 2006 at the St. Gerold monastery in Austria, which I believe is where the Bley/Phillips/Parker album Sankt Gerold was recorded (also on ECM).

In The Evenings Out There (ECM) This one is usually listed under the leadership of pianist Paul Bley but the other musicians – John Surman (baritone/bass clarinet) Gary Peacock (b) and Tony Oxley (d) – share credit on the album spine.

The album mixes things up over the 12 tracks with solo (4 by Bley, 2 by Peacock, 1 by Surman on Baritone), duo (Peacock/Oxley, Bley/Peacock, Oxley/Bley) and 2 quartet performances (Surman on baritone and bass clarinet). The recording has a very open feel, there’s plenty of space for the musicians to play, listen and react – free and melodic. As usual when I hear Bley I wonder why I don’t listen to more from him. It would have been nice to hear a bit more from Surman. Apparently the pieces here were recorded at the session in 1991 that resulted in Adventure Playground that was released under Surman’s name – I’ll have to check that.

Fragments (ECM) 
Another from Bley, is time with Bill Frisell (g) and Paul Motian (d) joining Surman (4 tracks on Bass Clarinet 2 each on Baritone and soprano and sits one track out). Of the nine tracks, there were a few that I had heard before (Frisell’s “Monica Jane” Carla Bley’s “Seven” and “Closer” and Annette Peacock’s “Nothing Ever Was, Anyway”). Quite a mellow set with Surman’s “Line Down” being the odd-one-out, but it does provide some contrast. Strong individual voices yet the quartet come together and work well.

The Biography of Rev. Absalom Dawe (ECM 1994)
This is the first solo album I’ve heard from Surman – he has recorded a few dating back to the late 1970s. The horns (baritone & soprano sax, bass clarinet, some alto clarinet too) get a pretty even spread across the album. Most of the tracks utilize some form multi-tracking with Surman accompanying himself on one or more horns or synth, although there is space for unaccompanied playing. Overall this one didn’t grab me as much as the discs with Bley, but there was still plenty to like (I could take or leave the synth parts). I feel like I’ll warm up to it – the second listen was better than the first. ”The Far Corner’s” did give me a chance to hear his soprano tone on its lonesome (aside from the ever-present ECM reverb).

Under the leadership of Tunisian oud player Anouar Brahem comes Thimar (ECM, 1997) with John Surman (soprano sax/bass clarinet) and Dave Holland (bass).

The album has an unhurried feel to it. The occasional (and very subtle) vocal from Brahem (on “Qurb” for example) adds a little extra of color to the fairly stripped-back feel of the album. Surman divides his time pretty evenly between two horns – four on bass clarinet and five of soprano (including an unaccompanied feature on “Wagt”) and he sits two tunes out. It would have been nice to hear him play some baritone too. At times his soprano summons an “eastern flavor” – not surprising considering the material. There is one composition each from Holland and Surman – the remaining nine are from Brahem.

Surman gets a rich tone on both baritone and bass clarinet and there’s a buzz to his soprano tone that I enjoy. He’s a melodic player with a sense on drama. Not someone I hear mentioned all too often but well worth checking out. I’m looking forward to exploring some more – perhaps some of his earlier work and the other session with Bley/Oxley/Peacock.

Chicago Jazz Festival 2013: Friday

Friday after was spent checking out some of the gigs in the marquee's in Millennium Park before the evening concerts on the main stage.

Mike Smith (as) Quartet with Jordan Baskin (p ) Jeff Hamann (b) & Brian Ritter (d). Straight-ahead blowing on standard tunes - That is Smith's thing. Not (m)any surprises here. The main reason I got along was to check out the Powell Silver Eagle saxophone in action!

Drummers Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang with the Tsukasa Taiko Youth Unit.
This was something completely different. As the Japanese Drum Ensemble played through it's routine Drake and Zerang, set up on either side, improvised along with them. I thought it came together quite nicely. Hamid Drake was the festival's Artist In Residence and it was great to see him working with kids - with added bonus points for not going down the "high school big band with featured soloist" route. While we're on the subject, there was a stage dedicated to school bands - unfortunately every time I stopped by it was been sets!

The evening concert on the main stage was delayed by about 40mins due to a big storm. Thunder, lightning, and rain…. apparently - we were evacuated to a tunnel under the park so I couldn't see any of it. Anyway, they got the concert going as soon as they could.

First up was Geof Bradfield's "Melba!" - a large ensemble suite dedicated to Melba Liston. 
Bradfield (ts/ss/b.clar) Ryan Cohen (p ) Victor Garcia (trpt/perc) Joel Adams (try) Mike Allemana (g) Clark Sommers (b) George Fludas (d).  Randy Weston joined the group for his composition "Africa Sunrise" (as there was a clap of thunder). I had a hard time getting into this gig. All very professional, nice and clean, but something was missing. One of those gigs where it seems no one makes a mistake - perhaps the focus on composition tempered the spontaneity.

The second show of the night was something I was quite keen to hear. I had read that this work (here's a  link to a page on the work) had been highly praised but hadn't managed to give it a listen yet. Wadada Leo Smith's "Ten Freedom Summers"
Joining Wadada Leo Smith (trpt/conductor) were his Golden Quartet (Anthony Davis p, John Lindberg b, Pheeroan akLaff  d) the string ensemble Pacific Red Coral  (Shalini Vijayan & Mona Tian violins, Andrew McIntosh viola, Ashley Waters cello, Alison Bjorkedal harp) and video artist Jesse Gilbert. 
Here are some translations from my note book scribbles (very messy!)
- Didn't over-write / over-use the strings. Enjoyed what he wrote for them
- Shared the music around the ensemble
- Trumpet sounded great
- At times the rhythm section and string group operated separately… it seemed about 20mins before the entire group were playing together.
- Video artist made a nice contribution…mostly video of the band with abstract lines moving over the top, or just the lines on their own.

Following the concert Wadada Leo Smith as presented with "Trumpeter of the Year" & "Musician of the Year" awards from the Jazz Journalists Association.

It was a powerful concert and perhaps the programmers got things a little muddled when assigning time-slots, as the set following paled in comparison.  A shame really, as this was another group I was keen to hear - Charles Lloyd & Friends feat. Bill Frisell. 
Alongside Charles Lloyd's tenor sax and alto flute and the guitar of Bill Frisell were Reuben Rogers (b) and Eric Harland (d). Pianist Jason Moran (p ) guested on the first two tunes. This set seemed to take a long time to get off the ground. It felt like they were just hitting their stride as the set was coming to an end. Jazz can do that to you sometimes!