Jazz | Pint | At Birdland 1950 Revisited

One of the first CDs I bought was Audio Archives Collectors Edition – Charlie Parker - 18 Reflective Recording. It was a super cheap disc I found at Tower Music not long after I started playing the saxophone that was comprised of studio and live recordings featuring Charlie Parker. Aside from the track listing, that was it... no other information. I later found out that some of the tracks that had really stood out to me we’re live recordings that Columbia had released as One Night at Birdland. The mystery musicians alongside Bird were Fats Navarro, Bud Powell, Curley Russell and Art Blakey – quite the line up. I eventually got that LP while I was in New York City studying with Richard Tabnik... and it just happened to be one of his favourites and we listened to examples from it during my lessons on more than one occasion (Hi Richard!). That LP got plenty of air time when I got home until my turntable packed up shortly before I moved back to the US and the LPs were left in a box at the folks place until my return. I eventually found it on CD and ordered it only to discover two copies of disc 1 and the Birdland session was on the missing disc 2 (or the other way round... I forget). I still haven’t replaced my turntable (I know, it will happen ), so I’ve resorted to listening to online ever since. Recently Hatology/Ezz-Thetics reissued it and last month and Charlie Parker At Birdland 1950 Revisited arrived in the mail. So it’s been getting a spin or two. It’s a must for fans of Bird, Fats, and Bud - great live energy and simply some of the very best on record from all three. I think I’ll leave it there. Just do yourself a favour and check it out. I washed it down with a Riggwelter.

COVID-19 Level 3: Day 16

I might have one more day of Billie accompanying me at work before the commute kicks back in. Disc 7 marks the start of the alternate takes and the air-checks. These are super valuable for anyone undertaking study of these works. When I work with these, if multiple takes available, they get plenty of attention too. It can be interesting to compare recordings from different eras too. “All of Me” was the first piece I worked on during my studies with Richard Tabnik. At the same time I was also working with the Frank Sinatra version from the 1940s. Whenever I hear them I can’t help being taken back to that space and time. It wasn’t until I picked up this set and got back home that I worked on the alternate takes of “All of Me” (and others). For many years it was a regular part, and a large focus, of my practice, but these days I’m more likely to check back in with a particular recording or two here and there. Perhaps it’s time to ramp things but up again. 

I forget how young Billie was one the first couple of discs (the recordings start in 1933, aged 18). Quite remarkable. I was pretty lucky to have stumbled upon some of these recordings early on in my exploration of jazz. I’ve been listening to many of these recordings for 25 years (some closer to 30). I haven’t tired of them yet, and I doubt I will as I still get so much from them. They’re always there to turn to when you need them.

Lennie Tristano at 100

The music of Lennie Tristano holds a special place in my heart. No one told me to listen to him, I discovered him largely my accident - hearing Lee Konitz on Birth of the Cool was the kicker. That led to the recordings on Capitol, which remain some of my all time favorites - "Intuition" and "Digression" blew my 18-year old mind and they still do today.  My interest continued to grow as I saved up busking money to buy the Atlantic set on Mosaic records. The  exchange rate at the time made it horrendously expensive - but worth it!

Considering what Tristano's music means to me, I really haven't written much about him. That's true for a few other musicians that have affected me on a very deep level (Connie Crothers and Richard Tabnik). Maybe in time I will write more about them too, it just hasn't happened yet.

There was that period where it was rather hip to name drop Tristano (and/or Warne Marsh & Lee Konitz) as an influence. I don't hear it nearly as much nowadays. For the most part, it was simply a name drop, as any influence I could hear was largely superficial if it existed at all. And I'm not only taking about nuts and bolts (notes, rhythm, harmony) but aesthetics too. And while the name-droppers got some attention those with deep connection to Tristano were for the most part ignored.

For the week leading up to what would have been his 100th birthday, I've listening to Descent Into The Maelstrom. It's great the album has finally been re-issued by Jazz Records Inc. (the label founded by Tristano in the early 50s) - hopefully they delve into the archive and provide us with a few more gems. Originally released in the 1970s it features tracks selected from various sessions in the 50s and 60s.

The title track is a wonderful reminder of what a visionary Tristano was. In the early 50s many were still trying to come to terms with Bird, yet Tristano was blazing a path of his own. It's a shame it stayed unreleased until 1976, I wonder what the reception would have been like in 1953?

"Stretch", from 1966, is another track I have listened to a lot over the years. It was introduced to me during my studies with Richard Tabnik [one of the highlights of studying with RT was hanging out and listening to records.... everything from Prez to Lenny Bruce to Zappa to Konitz to Armstrong to The Beatles to Bach to Lenny Popkin and more!]. The drive is reminiscent of his work at the Half Note on Continuity (which also featured the pairing of Sonny Dallas and Nick Stabulas on bass and drums).

The interweaving lines on "Pastime" was something that grabbed me this week. It reminds me a little of his trio sides from the 40s moreso than the slightly later Capitol sides. I like the way he and Billy Bauer (the forgotten man of jazz guitar?) bounce off each other on those trios sides. The recordings of the trio from the 40s tend to be overshadowed by his later work, but don't sleep on them! But here, and on "Ju Ju", Tristano weaves contrapuntally with his own overdubbed lines. I'd have to look it up, but I think those two overdubbed tracks kind of slipped under the radar when they were released. Not so once Tristano was recording on Atlantic. It's funny how, due to the overdubbing, there was uproar when Tristano released "Line Up", yet less than 8 or 9 years later Bill Evans wins a Grammy and gets a 5-star review for Conversations with Myself." 

There are times when I have binged on all of his recordings (the last time was probably with the release of Chicago April 1951). Do I listen to his music as much as I used to? No, these days I'm more likely to listen to a track or two here and there. But his music still travels with me every day, and it still thrills me.

More from Kazzrie Jaxen

As I mentioned earlier the music of Kazzrie Jaxen has been pumping out of the speakers of late.

Released in late 2013, A Million Shimmering Fish (New Artists Records NA1057) comes from a 2010 duo concert with writer Mark Weber at the Outpost Performance Space in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
The album draws largely from the first set - the 10-part poem sequence "Undulations Water & Clouds." For the most part, the format has Mark speaking followed Kazzrie freely improvising with exceptions being parts 3 & 5, where Kazzrie improvises as Mark speaks. At first I was a little disappointed with the lack of concurrent playing, but I was soon drawn into it and the sense of space it gave the album as a whole. The breaks following the poems had me waiting in anticipation for the surprises Kazzrie had in store (her playing is breathtaking).
Part 3, "On Breathing Down The Spine" also appears on Live at The Stone/NYC (New Artists Records 1046) with Mark appearing alongside the Connie Crothers Quartet.
The last four pieces come from the concert's second set - one solo piano piece ("Catharsis"), two pieces that feature Kazzire's vocals (in addition to piano) along with text from Mark ("Timebounce" & "How Deep Is The Ocean") and a delightfully fun encore. An engaging duo.

Mark has posted about the concert and the album (including the text for "Undulations") along with photographs on his blog - I wonder if the 2nd set (Kazzrie solo) will get released?

My introduction to Kazzrie's music came via the New Artists Records sampler disc which contains "Shine The Warrior's Heart" from her 1998 solo piano album For The Beauty Of The Earth (New Artists Records NA1030). I picked up not too long after hearing the sampler disc.

Around that time (2003 & early 2004) some albums that had plenty of repeated listens included:
Richard Tabnik - In The Moment (NA1015) and Life At The Core (NA1016). The trio and quartet albums that I discovered by chance at Tower Records online (if you can imagine that!).
Connie Crothers - Perception (SCCD31022)
Connie Crothers Quartet Ontology (New Artists NA1035)
These two albums of Connie's would accompany me on late night walks from Newtown over to Lyall Bay.
Lenny Popkin - Self-titled trio album on Lifeline Records (LR101) with Rich Califano (b) and Carol Tristano (d)
I was living in a flat with three other musicians and I remember them all being into trumpeter Terence Blanchard at the time. They had a live recording of his group that went on to record Bounce for Blue Note (I think it was from an IAJE performance that one of them went to). For whatever reason, it just didn't grab me. However, the half a dozen albums listed above did.

Notebook 2: One Free Note

Here's part two from the Notebook Series (Part one is here).  

This exercise was part of my lessons with Richard Tabnik. What struck me was the simplicity, fun, and effectiveness of Richard's ideas.

He introduced this exercise to me when we started working on free improvisation. It most definitely had a flow on effect when I played tunes too - loosening and opening up the lines I played. 

Over the years I have worked on it by myself, with friends (great for duos), used it as a daily warm up, and applied it to tunes (this is something I want to do more of). 

Start with a single note. Hear and feel the note. Play the note - it can be loud, quiet, long or short - whatever you feel in the moment.

Relax, breathe, listen and play your next free note.

The note is what it is in that moment - don't aim to control it. Let it be free. Listen to it as you play. 

Stay playing single notes until it feels right to move on to two notes - Don't rush, take your time.

Now's the time for two free notes. The process is the same. Play the note you hear in the moment, listen to that note and then play your second free note

Hear and feel the note-to-note connection between the two notes!

Relax, breathe and listen before moving onto your next two free notes. It becomes quite meditative.

Again, continue until it feels right to move on to three free notes. And so it goes on through up to seven free notes - phrased in one breathe with rhythm, articulations, dynamics, tempo etc as you feel them in the moment.

Once you spend some time playing seven free notes it feels quite natural to move into free phrases - these do not need to be more than 7 notes (they can be though).  Approach the free phrases the same way as you have the 1-7 notes groupings.  Relax, breathe, listen and then play a free phrase - repeat.

Working your way back down from free phrases to seven free notes all the way back to one free note can be a blast. How does playing one free note differ now to when you started?

Find someone to trade free notes with - this is a blast. I have done this with a couple of friends, working from one note up to free phrases. Just simply trade notes - you play one free note, they play one free note etc. Eventually one player will change to two free notes, then three free notes and so on.

As I said earlier, this was passed onto me by Richard Tabnik - a wonderful alto player. Be sure to check out his music. His latest recording is Symphony for Jazz Trio (New Artists Records 2012) with Adam Lane (b) and Roger Mancuso (d) - a 2CD set featuring live and studio recordings of his three movement work "A Prayer For Peace" (plus half a dozen other pieces too).  His work and teaching have had a profound impact on me - Thanks Richard!! 

Here's the original notebook page typed up.

=============================================================================================

* One Free Note (RT) *

• Play It => 1 note! (could it be any easier?)
• Hear It
• Feel It
• Long, Short, Slow, Fast
• FF, pp
• Free It
• Sing It
• ! Be Relaxed !
• 2 Free Notes, 3, 4, 5 etc (up to 7)
• One Free Phrase (hear it, feel it)
• Another
• Another

+ Great to play/trade with another person/other people

+ Try it when playing a session/on a tune

+ By the time you have done 7 free notes for a while, Free Phrases will naturally flow - trade Free Phrases with someone.

+ After playing 1, 2, 3 etc Free Notes after Free Phrases work backwards... Free, 7, 6, 5 etc to 1 - it's quite a different feeling.

============================================================================================

Notebook 1: Old Music New Music

On and off I keep a notebook of thoughts on music and saxophone playing. Earlier this week I flicked through the pages of one that is about a year old and decided to start posting some of my pre-blog ramblings.

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* Don't Be Afraid Of Old Music * * Don't Be Afraid Of New Music *

About 12 years ago I asked a pianist friend of mine who they were listening to - Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau were the answers.  I followed up by asking if they listen to any pianists from earlier in the jazz lineage - "Not really" they replied.  Why not? They figured their favorite players were influenced by the earlier masters and that influence would be passed on to them.  Plus they didn't like the sound of old recordings!
One of the most in demand players in town and they had never checked out the likes of Art Tatum, Erroll Garner, Teddy Wilson, Duke Ellington, Bud Powell.  I was very surprised. Perhaps Teddy Wilson could have opened some new avenues to explore that weren't apparent in the music of Keith Jarrett.
I have always loved going back and listening to those who influenced my favorite artists.  Here's a page from the notebook (click on it to enlarge) where I've plotted players around saxophonist Richard Tabnik - it doesn't take long for the web to expand (and it is by no means complete). Some of these artists I am quite familiar with, others less so but I have listened to them all.

What's new to you may be contemporary, from another era, underground or mainstream.  It may be old to others.

In 2009 I attended over 100 gigs during a six month stay in NYC - lots of great music, plus plenty that did nothing for me - It's good to find out what you don't like! Why don't you like it? Revisit it - tastes change.  I first heard Evan Parker in concert. It was intriguing so I had a listen to a couple of recordings and didn't like them at all (these were full-throttle type things). I shelved him. Then a couple of years ago, I spotted an album (Time Will Tell) and gave it a shot - this time I quite enjoyed it. Whilst I can't say I enjoy all of his vast discography there are a few nice ones in there for me (they tend to be at his mellower end).

The Music Village workshop in Greece opened my ears to a lot of new music - Alexander Berne, Morton Feldman, Kaum Quartet, Fo[u]r Alto, Stockhausen among others. Working on Stockhausen was another new challenge and I took those pieces with me (they are still a challenge). Frank Gratkowski's composition for 14 Alto saxes playing multiphonics was not like anything I had been part of before. It was very exciting playing this music to a crowd of people that arrived not knowing what to expect and left having been part of a great night.
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This page has been a nice reminder to give Chu Berry a spin.... Sittin' In, Chuberry Jam, Limehouse Blues, Monday At Minton's, Blowing Up A Breeze, Body & Soul have been playing as I type. NICE!
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The week in NYC

I’m back in Chicago after a week in New York City - great view of the city and its surrounds on the way home yesterday afternoon. In fact it was quite clear all the back to Chicago with wonderful views of the great lakes. Anyway.... Here’s a quick run down of the last week.

Got straight into things on my first night in town. The New York Jazz Workshop held an interview with saxophonist John O’Gallagher. The two hours served as an introduction to O’Gallagher’s workings with twelve tone techniques in jazz composition and improvisation and coincided with Advance Music’s publication of O’Gallagher’s book on the subject - available this month... It’s a thick volume accompanied with two CDs. An interesting talk but don’t expect this method to be a quick fix - it is very involved and I imagine would take many years to absorb and use these ideas spontaneously.

A number of my friends have been playing at the Friday evening jam session hosted by pianist Galen Pittman at Tender Trap in Williamsburg. It’s nice and low key without the ego you associate with some jam sessions around NYC. It was great hearing them play again but the evening was somewhat frustrating as the soreness in my arm (I had been playing a little in the afternoon and it didn’t agree with me) was stopping me joining in. The guys really enjoy playing there so hopefully it continues to develop.

Richard Tabnik Trio

A few of us left the session early to head out to ibeam for the Richard Tabnik Trio - RT (as) Ken Filiano (b) Roger Mancuso (d). I was stoked to be in town when Richard had a gig. The trio improvised on standards and played a couple tunes from Richard’s later album. These three are full of surprises - Mancuso & Filiano are great pairing and there is something about Richard’s tone that needs to be experienced in the flesh for its full spectrum to be revealed.

Tagged along with some friends to another Williamsburg jam session on Sunday night. This one is hosted by saxophonist Matt La Von at Ba-sik. There’s a little attitude on show here (mostly from just 1 or 2 players) but for the most part it’s pretty good. We arrived in time to hear Nick Lyons tearing it up. Nice to hear some flute too (hi David). Afterwards there was a fun hang over falafel sandwiches.

Ba-sik Jam Session

About nine of us got together for a session at Carol’s on Monday night. Over the span of the evening I played four pieces - three free improvisations (duo & trio) and “Out Of Nowhere” with a larger group. I was careful to pace myself leaving time between tunes to rest my arm - there was some aching towards the end of the night .... I would have loved to played more but I'm glad I didn’t over do it. Lorenzo was quick to sense the tiger balm. Considering the lack of playing of late I was pleasantly surprised - sure, my execution wasn’t always top shelf but I feel I contributed to the music. Great company too.

I was glad to be in town for Connie’s opening class at Jazz at Lincoln Center. This week the focus was on Billie Holiday (Lester Young got a bit of attention too). Many of my favourite tracks were played including.... "All of Me", "What a Little Moonlight Can Do", "Them There Eyes", "God Bless The Child", "Body & Soul", "Foolin' Myself", "Laughing At Life", "A Sailboat In The Moonlight" among others.

The message from the night - "Sing with these recordings!" - Tristano said that singing with records was his greatest teaching discovery and the key to transmitting jazz feeling to the student.

If you are a student of the music and want your playing to open up invest some time into singing with the great jazz soloists - it's a blast!

Played a duo session with Pianist/Vocalist Carol Liebowitz - a mix of standards and free improvising. Again, I took things pretty easy so as not to aggravate anything. Similar feeling to Monday night - while I wasn't at 100% we still made some nice music.

Roulette was the venue for my last night in NYC and then scene of a spellbinding set of solo piano improvisations from Connie Crothers. The next morning I made a few notes in the gig book - Mesmeric, Relaxed Intensity, Nuance, Sound Transformation, Clarity, Surprise, Dynamic. It really was a thrilling experience... I could go on and on.
This was my visit time at the new location - very nice space. Thankfully the roadworks out front didn’t bleed into the concert hall.

Lots on this weekend too. The ICP Orchestra is in town - they have gigs on Saturday & Sunday night and Ab Baars is playing a solo set on Sunday afternoon.

Off to NYC

Off to NYC for a week - I have a few concerts to get to:

Friday 29: Richard Tabnik Trio at Ibeam - with Ken Filiano (b) & Roger Mancuso (d)

Saturday 30: Pauline Oliveros at Roulette - with David Arner (p) Doug van Nort (electronics) & FILTER (computer)

Tuesday 2: Connie Crothers at Jazz at Lincoln Center's 'Swing University' or see my post.
Wednesday 3: Connie Crothers at Roulette - solo piano

Also, I would like to make it out to Louis Armstrong House if time allows and may go to John O'Gallagher's masterclass at New York Jazz Workshop tonight....

No doubt there will be some playing too - I wonder how the thumb will get on? (and the lip!!).