Lambic Jazz Vol.11

Here we are again. Tonight was the final class of the semester, so I'm celebrating with a beer and a couple of albums of been listening to this past week.

Wayne Shorter: Odyssey of Iska (Blue Note)
Shorter (ss/ts) Dave Friedman (vibes/marimba) Gene Bertoncini (g) Ron Carter, Cecil McBee (b) Billy Hart, Al Mouton (d) Frank Cuomo (d/prec.) .... is it just me or but I think I hear some harmonica in there too?
I've enjoyed making my way through Wayne Shorter's Blue Note albums this year. This was one of the albums that was new to me and I'll post more on it soon. But for now I'll keep things brief - I enjoy Shorter's sense of economy and the way he can float over dense accompaniment yet still be rhythmically interesting.

Christian Weidner: Dream Boogie (Pirouet) 2012
Weidner (as) Achim Kaufmann (p) Henning Sieverts (b) Samuel Rohrer (d)
Back in Vol. 6 I mentioned that I was planning on picking up his last couple of quartet albums. Well, the first of those has arrived and the other is on the way. Although I've give it a couple of spins this week I'm yet to really give it a solid listen. As is the case with many European (or non-American) musicians, I don't hear Christian mentioned much here in the U.S. Like Choral, the tracks are concise with 10 of 11 tunes between 3-5 minutes and even the "long" track (the opener "Windchoral") is a reasonable 7 and half minutes. It keeps things moving - moods, feeling, tempos and textures shift at a nice rate of change while maintaining unity across the album. All involved make strong contributions. Kaufmann replacing Colin Vallon is the only change in personnel from The Inward Song and I feel it had a positive effect. This album will be in for many more listens and I'm looking forward to spinning it back to back with Every Hour of the Light and Dark when it arrives.

Tonight's music was accompanied by Lambickx (Wambeek, De Troch). And now it must be about time to tune in to the fourth test - India vs England. India are up 2-0 in the series (of 5) and it looks like England won the toss and will bat.

The Lambic Jazz Series: Vol.10 - Vol.9 - Vol.8 - Vol.7 - Vol.6 - Vol.5 - Vol.4 - Vol.3 - Vol.2 - Vol.1

Lambic Jazz Vol.10

With Thanksgiving done and dusted classes resume as does the 10th edition of Lambic Jazz. I have a number of recordings of Third Stream - that curios blend of jazz and classical - it manages to draw me in even though not much of it really appeals to me. So following a short practice, here I am relaxing after class with a glass of Boon Ode Geuze while listening to The Modern Jazz Society Presents a Concert of Contemporary Music (Verve).

The recording dates from March 14, 1955 and of the six pieces, J.J Johnson’s “Turnpike” (which is a rehearsal take only) is the lone composition not from the pen of John Lewis with the arranging duties split between Gunther Schuller and Lewis for the remaining pieces. 

The ensemble size varies from 9-10 players consisting of J.J. Johnson (trb) Gunther Schuller (f.horn/arranger) James Politis (f) Aaron Sachs/Tony Scott (cl) Lucky Thompson/Stan Getz (ts) Manuel Zegler (bassoon) Janet Putnam (harp) John Lewis (p/arranger) Percy Heath (b) Connie Kay (d) with Thompson, Getz, Scott, Sachs and Johnson being the featured soloists. I was pleasantly surprised how nicely Lucky Thompson's tenor playing slotted in to the overall sound. 

Although I have enjoyed listening to this album this week (and tonight), it's not really my cup of tea. Overall it's a pretty mellow album and perhaps at times it's a little samey mood wise, but I wouldn't hesitate recommending it to fans of John Lewis, Gunther Schuller or the Third Stream. 

"Turnpike" (a variation on Monk's "Thelonious"?) gets things moving along. Strangely, the false start take of this song kicks off on the same track as the preceding "Sun Dance." That's not the only oddity. The original notes from John Lewis are printed on the back cover and the booklet contains notes from Gunther Schuller. However, Schuller's notes suffer from some poor copy editing - how didn't they notice that the middle third of the notes are missing only to have the first page repeated?!

While we're on the subjects of edits..... courtesy of a free subscription, a copy of Jazziz arrived in the mail yesterday. It's the first copy I have picked up in ages. Someone managed to miss that the Donny McCaslin article had a page missing.....oops. While it's pretty mainstream stuff it was refreshing to flick through a jazz magazine and not be bombarded with jazz education related articles and advertising.

And while we are on that subject...... jazz education, in a similar way to third stream music, also draws me in. Not because I'm sold by what it has become (far from it) but because I'm curious to find out what people have to say on the topic. I was exposed to the "chord scale" method during my undergraduate studies (actually, now that I think about things, it would have been slightly prior to that via some Aebersold play-alongs) and it never really agreed with me. The pervasiveness of the "chord scale" method in education is unsurprising due to it's black and white nature. And while I don't subscribe to it as a method for improvising, I picked up these two books - The Chord Scale Method & Jazz Harmony by Barrie Nettles and Richard Graf (Advance Music) and The Berklee Book of Jazz Harmony by Joe Mulholland and Tom Hojnacki (Berklee Press) - for some light entertainment and comparison. So far the newer of the two (the Berklee publication) seems a little more direct and to the point but I'm only about 20 pages into each - lets see if I can stick with them.

Lambic Jazz Vol.9

Frank Gratkowski Trio: Quicksand (Meniscus)

I reorganized my CDs last week and maybe Quicksand lodged somewhere in my mind as I’m not sure what made me reach for this album tonight. Pianist Georg Graewe and percussionist Paul Lovens join Frank’s alto sax, clarinet and bass clarinet for a set of four free improvisations recorded live at Stadtgarten in 1999. At times it's an intense 44 minutes and I'm pretty sure my wife would have preferred something else, but it suited me just fine (even with the volume down low).

I tend to go through periods of listening to Frank's music and it had been a while since I had one of his albums on. Last week I picked up his first solo recording, Artikulationen, but I'm yet to give it a spin so it (along with tonight's listening) might just get me revisiting a few of his albums.

I’ve been lucky to hear Frank in concert on a three occasions (with three different groups). Although his music sometimes moves away from my aesthetic preferences, there is always plenty to take away from the performance (or recording). Without question he is one of the best saxophone players I have heard in the flesh (he's ain't half bad on clarinets either!). One piece in particular by his trio with Achim Kaufmann and Wilbert de Joode from a gig at Roulette in 2009 featured some jaw-dropping alto playing I would love to hear again. Who knows, maybe it would disappoint on the second time around. Listening to recordings of gigs you attended is similar to listening recordings of your own playing - things get accented that you missed in the moment, other memories are lost on the recording. That in itself is interesting.

Even though I'm still finishing off the Mike Nock biography, I have started on Allen Lowe's That Devilin' Tune: A jazz history, 1900-1950. I started reading it a while back but got distracted and put it down and now I'm finally getting back in to it. Lowe spends a nice amount of time on pre-jazz without limiting himself self to the usual Africa-blues-ragtime-jazz timeline. It's an interesting read and recommended for those of you interested in the roots of the music.

Tonight's listening was accompanied by a dry Hanssens Artisanaal Oude Gueuze. And now it's time to tune into the second test between India and England (the first day of New Zealand v Pakistan was washed out).

Lambic Jazz Vol.8

Connie Crothers and Roger Mancuso: Deep Into the Center (New Artists)
This seemed like the perfect choice last night, as I am using this disc for one of my school assignments. However, plans changed and I ended up going out after class so here I am this afternoon catching up. The added bonus was that today I had more time to listen and gave the album three spins.

At the time of the recording (circa 1994) Connie and Roger had been playing together for 30 years but I think this was their first recording together since Connie's 1974 debut, Perception. As I listen today, two words leap out - unity and flow. The connection between the drums and piano is deep, creating a seamless series of duets. Many times I have turned to this album for calm and floated away on a magic carpet of improvisation.

While it can be exciting to hear people playing together for the first time, as relationships develop the music takes on a different quality that only comes with time. And it can, perhaps counter-intuitively, even heighten the surprise factor in the music. There were many long-standing collaborations in Connie's music - the quartet she co-led with Lenny Popkin and the more recent Connie Crothers Quartet (that along with Roger also another included long-time collaborator, saxophonist Richard Tabnik) immediately come to mind. And then there are some other favorite groups of such as the Steve Lacy Quintet, the ICP Orchestra and Root 70 (new album due in May 2017). There's something to be said for groups that maintain stable personnel.

If you are in the NYC area on Sunday come on down to Roulette for Connie's memorial concert - Love and Music: Celebrating Connie Crothers

The Compositions of Paul Motian Vol. 1 arrived in the mail the other day. It covers his works from 1973-1989 (over 60 tunes). I had a quick browse through before class last night and a flick-through today. Printing it as a facsimile of the original handwritten lead sheets is a nice touch.

This post was accompanied by Boon Geuze Marriage Parfait.

Previous editions of Lambic Jazz: Vol.1 -- Vol.2 -- Vol.3 -- Vol.4 -- Vol.5 -- Vol.6 -- Vol.7

Lambic Jazz Vol.7

No class last week, but there was tonight so I'm back for the Wednesday night post-class hang.

A couple of days ago two discs arrived via CD Baby. On Monday and Tuesday I listened to Virgo Dzurinko (p) & Ryan Messina (trpt) Undertow (New Artists) and tonight Carol Liebowitz (p) & Nick Lyons (as) First Set (Line Art Records) is getting it's first spin. Nick was the first person Connie Crothers introduced me to when I came to NYC to study with her and a couple of days later I met Carol at a session with Nick (at which they played duo). Over the years it's been great to hear them play together and now a moment of that relationship (in concert during 2012) has now been captured.

I've heard Carol and Nick improvise - freely and on standard forms -  many, many times and there are always surprises. The bonus here is that they play two lines written by Connie ("Carol's Dream" and "Roy's Joy"). Of interest to me is the final track - "Another Time." Even though it was recorded five years earlier (2007) and the energy is a bit different (studio vs live perhaps?) it doesn't distract from the flow of the album. This was recorded before I had met Carol and Nick (although I did have a couple of Carol's albums) and I'm curious to see if I pick up on anything I hadn't noticed before. Duos are a favorite format of mine so I expect these two albums will be getting plenty more airtime. Tonight's music was accompanied by De Troch Oude Gueuze.

I'm looking forward to hearing them play (Virg & Ryan too) as part of the Connie Crothers celebration concert on November 13th. If you're in the NYC area get on down to Roulette and check it out. The full line-up is here.

Yesterday Norman Meehan's Serious Fun: The life and music of Mike Nock came off the shelf and I started re-reading it this afternoon. This will be the third (I think) time reading it in full, although I do read a few pages or a chapter on a semi-regular basis. Norman has another book due out in December - New Zealand Jazz Life (Victoria University Press). I'm looking forward to it.

Now I'm going to keep an eye on the first few hours of the first test between Australia and South Africa (looks like I've already missed a bunch of the action!) as game 7 in the World Series goes right down to the wire.

Lambic Jazz Vol. 6

Tonight's listening was Christian Weidner's Choral (Pirouet). Alongside Weidner's alto sax are Antonio Palesano (p) and Daniel Schroteler (d). This album dates back to 2004 but it didn't land in my ears until a few years later (I guess it was sometime between 2008 & 2009 I think) - it escapes me now, but I may have been introduced to his playing by James Wylie. I was fortunate to spend some time with Christian (and James!) back in 2009 at Music Village. Not only was it fantastic to hear him in person but he also was very helpful and encouraging. I remember being blown away by how good his ears were.

Christian's alto tone is one of my favorites and it is melded with a wonderful melodic and lyrical conception which yields a very distinctive sound. Notes aren't thrown away - they all count. Weidner's improvisations make great use of the song's melody, why this approach isn't more widespread baffles me (you gotta play your chord scales and hip licks..... so killing!).

The album is very spacious and open, yet the individual pieces are no longer than 5 and half minutes and over half of the tracks clocking in at under 3 minutes. There is a flow and continuity throughout that feels almost suite-like. Even when the density increases the overall focus of the album remains. As I listen tonight a word that comes to mind is clarity. The clarity of the three individual's roles/lines/accompaniment and how it fits into the group and album overall. It is a recording I can return to again and again. Highly recommended.

Considering how much I enjoy his music I have been slack in not getting the last two quartet albums (it's on the cards!).

Accompanying the music tonight was Gueuze Girardin and up next is Sam Newsome's interview from the October 2016 issue of the NYC Jazz Record. Usually I read the online edition but I picked up the print version from Constellation last week.

I'll be back with more next week, here are the previous editions if you're interested: Vol.1 - Vol.2 - Vol.3 - Vol.4 - Vol.5 

Lambic Jazz Vol.5

I'm running a little behind schedule, last night I did get to some lambic and jazz but I'm only just getting to write about it now.

Steve Coleman & the Council of Balance: Synovial Joints (PI). A few years back I used to listen Coleman's albums on a fairly regular basis at the library, but I haven't really heard anything after his solo saxophone album Invisible Paths. The factor that swayed my choice this time around was the ensemble size. I don't associate Coleman's music with a large ensemble (approximately 19 or 20 piece) and there were some surprises for me. It was not nearly as dense I imagined and led to quite a light feel at times with a floaty buoyancy.  A contributing factor may have been that the drums were less busy than on some of his other projects. I like the way that he managed the weight and balance of the ensemble sound and texture well balanced ensemble, although the album is a little static and same-y dynamic-wise. (a criticism that can be lobbed at a lot of music... mine included).

In general the writing grabbed me more than the soloists - of whom Coleman is the dominant voice throughout (other contributors include Jonathan Finlayson, David Bryant, Miles Okazaki and Maria Grand). Maybe it's not the place to start if you are new to Steve Coleman (check out some of his small group work), but definitely recommended for those interested in large ensembles and jazz composition.

Last night's listening was accompanied by Oud Beersel's Oude Geuze Ale. I may need to grab a couple more Lambics to carry this series through to the end of the semester.

Also pictured is Robert E. Sweet's Music Universe, Music Mind: Revisiting the Creative Music Studio, that I started reading this morning. Earlier in the year I noticed that there were a couple of 3 disc sets that had been released from the Creative Music Studio workshops. I wouldn't mind checking them out some time.

I picked up Synovial Joints on Monday night at Constellation at the Steve Coleman and Five Elements gig. This had been on the calendar for a while and I enjoyed getting out to some live music (I've been pretty slack this year) and of the venues I've been to in Chicago, Constellation is my favorite. This edition of Five Elements is comprised of  Steve Coleman (as, perc, vocal), Jonathan Finlayson (trpt, per), Kokayi (vocals), Anthony Tidd (bass), Sean Rickman (drums), and I have to say I enjoyed this gig more than the last time I heard the Five Elements (albeit with a slightly different line-up) a couple of years ago. I'm still not convinced by Finlayson. I'm not sure what it is exactly... intent maybe. The others in the group are very much, "here it is!" but sometimes I feel Finlayson is more, "is it here?" He seems like the odd one out at times. In saying that, I though he played much better than when I heard him with Coleman at the Chicago Cultural Center mentioned above. I enjoyed the effortlessness of Tidd on bass and Kokayi's vocals were the surprise package for me -great energy and he fit into the group sound well. It should be noted that they played one 2 hour set plus an encore - not bad!

Previous Lambic Jazz entries can be found here: Vol.1 -- Vol.2 -- Vol.3 -- Vol. 4

Lambic Jazz Vol. 4

On the cards tonight is the 3 disc set - Sonny Rollins Trio: Live in Europe 1959
Sonny Rollins (ts) Henry Grimes (b) Pete LaRoca, Joe Harris, Kenny Clarke (d)

I have fond memories of this recording. I hadn't been keeping an eye out for it and was pleasantly surprised to stumble upon it last week. A little background.....During my mid teens, if I was in town for a saxophone lesson or just hanging out in the city, often I would head to the Wellington City Library to listen to albums in the jazz collection. Not long after picking up a copy of Saxophone Colossus, one of these library visits led me to a vinyl copy of St. Thomas: The Sonny Rollins Trio Live in Stockholm 1959. It grabbed me, and on subsequent visits it was, more often than not, on the playlist.

The first seven tracks of disc 1 (my focus tonight) were on St Thomas but the rest of the set is new to me. I really can't remember the last time I heard these recordings. I was shocked at how much I remembered from those library listening sessions many moons ago. I remember copying the way Sonny plays the melody on "How High the Moon" and lifting his semi-tone shift on "There Will Never Be Another You" and using it a few years later in a big band arrangement I wrote for an arranging class. Back then my attention was firmly on Rollins but this time around my ears gravitated towards the bass playing of Henry Grimes. Although Sonny is out front (the star of the show), Grimes still gets plenty room to move. Plus his walking lines and hook up with Pete LaRoca make a great contribution to the music here. I will say that something I have noticed about my more recent listening vs when I was younger - these days I pay more attention to each of the individuals and the ensemble as a whole rather than exclusively focussing on the saxophone player.

I'm looking forward to the second and third disc. And based off the first disc, this set is a must-have for fans of the saxophone trio and Rollins in particular.

As it turns out, Wellington City Library has started stocking vinyl again (more info Here and Here). I have fond memories of grabbing a stack of recordings, donning the headphones and delving into something new.

Pre-class reading was the article on Spontaneous Music Ensemble from the latest issue of Wire and tonight's listening was accompanied by De Troch Winter Gueuze.

Previous weeks: Vol.1 -- Vol.2 -- Vol.3