David Murray & James Blood Ulmer Dirty Dozen Brass Band

DownBeat
Bill Evans // David Murray & James Blood Ulmer // Dirty Dozen Brass Band // Ken VandermarkSEPTEMBER 2012

BieyelofltheEvans
storm
Newly released
recordings show his
tranquility during the
turbulent ’60s

Ken Vandermark
Defeating Expectations

Keyboard School
»» Fred Hersch
Master Class
»» Brad Mehldau
TranscriBED
»» Frank Kimbrough
september 2012 U.K. £3.50
BlindfoldED
»» Michael Wolff
Pro Session

downbeat.com
 SEPTEMBER 2012
Volume 79 – Number 9

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 SEPTEMBER 2012

On the Cover

26 Bill Evans
The Softer Side of
the Revolution
By john mcdonough

A two-CD set of previously

unreleased 1968 performances by
Bill Evans—Live At Art D’Lugoff’s
Top Of The Gate (Resonance)—
provides yet another reminder

32
of the singular genius of the
pianist, who was elected into the
DownBeat Hall of Fame in 1981.

jack vartoogian/frontrowphotos
Features

2 David Murray &

3 James Blood Ulmer (left) and David Murray at The Iridium in New York City
James Blood Ulmer Cover photo of Bill Evans by Jan Persson. Image above by Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos.
Total Freedom
By Howard Mandel
8 The Dirty Dozen Brass
3
Band’s 35-Year Parade
By Frank-John Hadley

44 Ken Vandermark
Defeating Expectations
By Alain Drouot 62 Don Braden/Karl Latham 63 The Cookers 65 Marianne Solivan 70 Return to Forever

48 Indie Life

Keyboard School Departments
76 Master Class
by Fred Hersch
8 First Take 22 Players 86 Jazz On Campus
78 Pro Session Alfredo Rodríguez 90 Blindfold Test
10 Chords &
by Michael Wolff Román Filiú O’Reilly Frank Kimbrough
Discords
Kelly Hogan
80 Transcription 13 The Beat Antonio Adolfo

82 Toolshed 17 European Scene 57 Reviews

6 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 First Take | By bobby reed

Dizzy Gillespie (in top hat) at the press conference in Los Angeles, 1964

Robert Skeetz/Downbeat archives

Ain’t Even Funny
I f laughter is the best medicine, then the jazz world could be in trouble.
Does anybody remember laughter? What about daring, gleeful,
enthusiastic showmanship? There seems to be a dearth of these elements
among the majority of today’s successful, gifted, high-profile jazz tech-
nicians. Yes, these musicians impress us with their astounding virtuosi-
ty, but can they make us guffaw, chuckle or even giggle?
Previous generations included numerous artists who could make
your jaw drop with their musical improvisations and then make you bust
a gut with laughter: Lionel Hampton, Cab Calloway, Lester Bowie, Tito
Puente and, of course, Dizzy Gillespie.
The cover story of the Nov. 5, 1964, issue of DownBeat was about an
unusual presidential candidate—John Birks Gillespie. Dizzy held a press
conference at Shelly’s Manne-Hole in Los Angeles, where he discussed
his platform and explained who would be in his cabinet if he were elect-
ed. The Minister of Foreign Affairs would be Duke Ellington, and the
Minister of Defense would be Max Roach. The Minister of Agriculture
would be Louis Armstrong because, according to Gillespie, Satchmo
“knows all about growing things.” The head of the CIA would be Miles
Davis. Gillespie stated that his choice for vice-presidential running mate
is Phyllis Diller because she “seems to have that sua-a-a-a-ve manner”
and she “looks far into the future.”
Besides displaying his terrific wit at this press conference, Gillespie
also addressed serious subjects, such as civil rights, racism, the war in
Vietnam and the policies of Sen. Barry Goldwater and President Lyndon
B. Johnson. (This fascinating article is included in our 75th anniversary
book, DownBeat—The Great Jazz Interviews.)
With a presidential election coming up this fall, who among today’s
jazz musicians would dare to declare his or her faux candidacy in a
press conference that included jocularity and intelligent commentary?
We don’t mean to imply that funny jazz musicians are nonexistent today.
Drummer Matt Wilson, baritone saxophonist Gary Smulyan, pianist/
vocalist Harry Connick Jr. and reedist Paquito D’Rivera are all that rare
breed of artist who is a combination of virtuoso musician, sly comedian
and clever showman. They are entertainers in the best sense of the term.
We’d like to hear your thoughts on this subject. Tell us about your
favorite artist who mixes mirth and musicianship on the bandstand,
whether it’s someone in jazz, blues or Beyond music, such as the witty
Nellie McKay. Send an email to editor@downbeat.com and Like us on
Facebook. Toss in a jazz joke while you’re at it.DB

8 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 Chords Discords 

Ire for Iyer? New Orleans Artistry,” July). Years ago, when
It is curious to contrast the critics’ assess- my wife and I were dating in New Orleans, we
ment of Vijay Iyer with that of the jazz- spent many hours on the floor at Preservation
listening public (“A Bounty of Exploration,” Hall sipping on a Hurricane from Pat O’Brien’s
August). Iyer’s trio recently played a date at while the band soared. As I recall, if you
Orchestra Hall here in Detroit. The seasoned, wanted the PHJB to play “When The Saints
knowledgeable jazz listeners were under- Go Marching In,” it was a $5 item even then.
whelmed, and a startling number of them Don Creswell
headed for the exits between each tune. San Carlos, Calif.

I’ve been attending jazz concerts there for

many, many years, and I have never wit- Powell’s Power
nessed so many attendees exercise their There are conventional wisdoms that raise
option to leave early. Evidently, the public is their not very attractive heads in James Hale’s
less infatuated with Iyer than the critics are. review of The Quintet: Jazz At Massey Hall
John Lieberman (Historical column, August). Hale discusses
Detroit “ragged edges” and blames them possibly
on Bud Powell’s “mental state.” I challenge
Editor’s Note: Vijay Iyer had wins in five Hale to find even a single 256th note that
categories of the 2012 DownBeat Crit- is ill placed by Mr. Powell on this recording.
ics Poll, and our readers obviously like Powell, as was his custom when play-
him, too. His trio’s album Historicity (ACT) ing with other established giants, cuts the
was in the top 10 of the 2010 DownBeat other musicians throughout the concert.
Readers Poll, and his CD Solo (ACT) was
Marshall Zucker
in the top 20 of our 2011 Readers Poll. Wantagh, N.Y.

Trumpeting Norwegians Corrections

The biggest laugh I get each year comes from „„ In the August issue, the Blindfold Test
reading the DownBeat Critics Poll. Today’s did not indicate that Sunnyside Re-
three best trumpeters are Arve Henriksen, cords is the label that released the
Mathias Eick and Per Jørgensen, none of album Eternal Interlude by the John
whom was even mentioned in the Trumpet Hollenbeck Large Ensemble.
category of your ridiculous, wasteful poll. „„ In the August issue, a review of the album
Egill Oscar Gustafson Double Portion by Edmar Castaneda
San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas misspelled the song title “Zeudi.”
Mexico
DownBeat regrets the errors.

Preservation Memories
have a chord or discord?
That was a great article by Jennifer Odell on E-mail us at editor@downbeat.com
the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (“50 Years of or visit us on Facebook and twitter

10 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 News & Views From Around The Music World

The
Inside 
16 I Riffs
17 I European Scene
18 I Béla Fleck and
Marcus Roberts
20 I Rio Das Ostras
22 I Players

Amazing From left: SMV members Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten

Bass
Stanley Clarke Among
the Many Highlights at
Montreal Jazz Fest

A
free outdoor performance by pop artist
Rufus Wainwright and two indoor
concerts by veteran singer-songwrit-
er James Taylor helped kick off the 33rd annu-
al Festival International de Jazz de Montreal
on June 28, boosting attendance figures and
raising enthusiasm to predictably high levels.
But it was a series of shows revolving around
acoustic/electric bass master Stanley Clarke
that delivered the goods to jazz devotees who
showed up en masse to this year’s edition of the
world’s largest jazz festival.
One of this year’s two Invitation Series art-
ists at Montreal, Clarke started his four-concert
run that same day in a duo performance with
the young piano sensation Hiromi, with whom
he shares a deep rapport. Friday night, Clarke
Diane Moon

teamed up with the Harlem String Quartet, a

cutting-edge modern classical group that not
only proved itself capable of nailing Clarke’s complex charts but also tion. Their chops alone were enough to blow minds, not to mention the
demonstrated great capacity for content-rich improvisation. fact that they managed to play through meaningful, intricate arrange-
This wasn’t the kind of string section that pads and sweetens; first ments without getting in each other’s way or muddying up the mix.
violinist Ilmar Gavilan, second violinist Melissa White, violist Juan Amid countless jaw-dropping solos, these three heroes executed actu-
Miguel Hernandez and cellist Paul Wiancko collaborated with Clarke al “parts” for two straight hours without relying on cheat-sheets, and
as an artistic entity that displayed top-notch chops, sensitive ears and audience members threw decorum to the wind as they screamed and
surprising guts. It was their first time performing with Clarke, who whistled their approval throughout the set. It all added up to a great big
solicited his regular pianist Ruslan Sirota and drummer Roland Bruner birthday party for Clarke, who turned 61 that day.
to serve as the rhythm section for the evening. Clarke’s final performance, on July 1, featured his regular quartet of
Clarke joined fellow bassists Marcus Miller and Victor Wooten on Sirota, Bruner and guitarist Charles Altura—each about 30 years his
June 30 for one of the most seismic and exciting concerts ever present- junior—playing songs from the 2010 CD The Stanley Clarke Band
ed at the Montreal Jazz Festival. Billed as SMV and performing mate- (Heads Up) as well as new material that showcased the ensemble’s wide
rial from their 2008 CD Thunder (Heads Up) and subsequent tour, this dynamic range and highlighted each member’s dazzling solo chops.
three-bass reunion easily scored above 5.0 on the funk Richter Scale, Like an aftershock to SMV’s Saturday-night spectacle, bass and
shaking Montreal’s elegant Théâtre Maisonneuve to its very founda- alto saxophonist Colin Stetson roared with hurricane force during his

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 13

solo set at the intimate Salle de Gesù. A native of Montreal, Stetson
took his hometown by storm, treating listeners to his unbelievably
original compositions, which initially came across as free-jazz
improvisations but eventually revealed themselves as actual tunes
that have a slight resemblance to whale songs. Employing extend-
ed saxophone techniques such as circular breathing, multiphonics,
rhythmic key-pad thumps and simple vocalizations, Stetson sus-
tained riveting, tempestuous spheres of theme-and-variation that
seemed to emanate from some otherworldly orchestra.
Compelling performances were in abundance during the first
weekend of the festival. Ninety Miles—featuring vibraphon-
ist Stefon Harris, trumpeter Nicholas Payton (in place of origi-
nal member Christian Scott), tenor saxophonist David Sánchez,
pianist Edward Simon, bassist Ricardo Rodriguez, percussionist
Mauricio Herrera and drummer Henry Cole—conducted a syn-
copated cultural exchange that brought together Afro-Caribbean
and straightahead jazz genres in Montreal’s Club Soda. Pianist/
vocalist Eliane Elias achieved similar results in the same room
with guitarist Rubens de la Corte, bassist Marc Johnson and
drummer Rafael Barata the following night, placing particular
emphasis on bossa nova grooves. Guitarist/vocalist Kelly Joe
Phelps brought his regular steel-string and his National slide gui-
tar to the Guitarissimo stage for a soul-searching solo set of deep-
rooted, bluesy spirituals and highly personal gospel reflections.
The festival’s artistic director, André Ménard, expressed opti-
mism for this year’s event based on solid programming, the comple-
tion of several construction projects on the festival grounds and the
quieting-down of student protesters who had recently taken to the
streets of downtown Montreal in response to tuition hikes.
“The feeling is great here, and the festival vibe is out of this
world,” Ménard said. “Stanley Clarke has played with lots of peo-
ple, and he’s about all sorts of music—acoustic, electric. But main-
ly I wanted SMV. I was very jealous when they did their [original]
tour because they could not stop in Montreal; they went straight to
Europe. For this year’s Invitation Series, I told Stanley, ‘We have to
do SMV.’ He said, ‘You talk to the two other guys, I don’t mind.’”
This year’s recipient of the Bruce Lundvall Award, which
originated in 2009 to honor an individual who has contributed to
the development of jazz through the media or the record industry,
went to producer and archivist Michael Cuscuna. The festival’s
Spirit Award, which since 2006 has been given to a musician in
the pop realm for contributions to the music world at large, went
to Taylor—whose studio and touring bands frequently include
jazz artists such as keyboardist Larry Goldings, saxophonist Lou
Marini, trumpeter Walt Fowler, bassist Jimmy Johnson, drummer
Steve Gadd and percussionist Luis Conte.
Picking up the Invitation Series baton from Stanley Clarke,
Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen settled into the intimate confines
of Salle de Gesù for four nights on July 4–7. Gustavsen opened his run
with the quartet featured on his recent ECM release, The Well: sax-
ophonist Tore Brunborg, bassist Mats Eilertsen and drummer Jarle
Vespestad. Gustavsen never forced any driving agenda as he worked
gorgeously in tandem with Brunborg’s tenor. With Eilersten’s bass
steering and responding like a deep rudder, the collective aesthet-
ic of the ensemble was quietly spellbinding. To Gustavsen, each note
seems to hold sacred power. During a solo concert later that week,
under the evocatively illuminated Gesù, Gustavsen communed,
backed arched, with the solitary gravitas of the “Phantom Of The
Opera.”
The final engagment of the Invitation Series reached an exquisite
peak when Gustavsen met compatriot vocalist Solveig Slettahjell,
who sang both in Norwegian and English. Slettahjell revisited sacred
songs from the album she recorded with Gustavsen in Bethlehem,
as well as heartbreaking renditions of Abba’s “Winner Takes It All”
and trumpeter Sjur Miljeteig’s “Leave Me Here.” —Ed Enright
 (Additional reporting by Michael Jackson)
 Bobby Sanabria

Riffs 
Louis Armstrong

Preserving Louie: The Louis Armstrong

House Museum was awarded $150,000
in discretionary funds from the Partners in
Preservation grant contest. The funds will

Latin Jazz Grammy Category Reinstated

be utilized to help preserve Armstrong’s
Garden, in which the trumpeter famously

I
celebrated his 71st birthday before passing
away two days later. Throughout the sum- n April 2011, the Board of Trustees for The highest standards of excellence.” He said the
mer, the museum will host a series of free Recording Academy enacted a sweeping major factor in Latin jazz being a category again
public events in honor of Armstrong, includ- change by slimming the number of Grammy was a proposal sent to the Academy.
ing concerts and a book signing. award categories from 109 to 78, partially by “[The proposal] included information and a
eliminating the gender distinction in some cate- rationale that we felt warranted the Academy’s
Sing Thing: The New Jersey Performing gories. The action impacted the Hawaiian, Native support,” Portnow said. “The Latin jazz commu-
Arts Center (NJPAC) and WBGO-FM 88.3 American, Cajun/zydeco, r&b, gospel and con- nity was very proactive.”
announced the first annual Sarah Vaughan temporary jazz fields. But the loudest hue and As for the class-action lawsuit, Portnow com-
International Jazz Vocal Competition, cry came from the elimination of the Latin Jazz plained that there was no basis for it: “It cost the
which is set to take place on Oct. 21. The category. In June, the Academy reversed its deci- Academy money to defend it, which took away
five finalists, who will be selected by the sion, reinstating Latin Jazz Album as a category funds that might have been used otherwise, such
Jazz Education Network, will perform at
for the 55th annual Grammy awards. as for scholarships.”
NJPAC’s Victoria Theater in Newark, N.J.
“I’m not gloating that the Board of Trustees Percussionist and historian John Santos is
decided to make a wise decision,” said percus- skeptical about the decision. “Basically, I feel it’s
Off-Air Drama: On July 13, Boston-based
WGBH-FM canceled its “Eric In The
sionist and bandleader Bobby Sanabria, a prom- a hollow victory,” Santos said. “They pushed all
Evening” and “Jazz WGBH With Steve inent opponent to the elimination. “One of the of us overboard, tossed a life vest to two or three
Schwartz” programs, which both have biggest things I learned was you only lose when of us 14 months later, and are trying to spin it as
had a profound influence on the prolifera- you don’t fight.” if they are good citizens. … We fought hard for
tion of area venues and artists. The public Sanabria attributed part of the success to a the right to be included. They arbitrarily took it
has since formed two Facebook groups, “multidimensional front” that swayed the vote away with no good reason and now all is well?”
including “Save Jazz At WGBH,” which to reinstate Latin Jazz as a viable award cate- Santos added that there was a dignity to their
petitions for the company to rescind its gory. “We used the Internet, made phone calls, protest. “[Our victory] is little more than a thorn
initial decision. wrote letters and sent in petitions, and a lot of in their foot and a small pain in the ass,” he said.
stars came out in support of us,” Sanabria said. “But it means a great deal to many of us. They
Creative Curator: New York-based He added that Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, have proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that
independent label 577 Records has begun Bonnie Raitt, Paquito D’Rivera and Paul Simon music is entertainment and money above all else
its new curator series, which will result in publicly expressed concern. “T.S. Monk even for them. It is identity, education and honoring
the release of three titles featuring an artist wrote an articulate three-page letter in protest.” the ancestors for us.”
and songs from other artists with whom Sanabria also teamed with performers Mark As for other categories, Portnow said that
he or she collaborates. The label has as- Levine, Eugene Marlow and Ben Lapidus to file Cajun and zydeco are now included in the
signed the first curation to area saxophon- a lawsuit against the Academy. While the suit American Roots category. “The people we’ve
ist David Schnug.
was thrown out of court in April 2012, Sanabria talked to feel it’s more meaningful to be there,”
and company had planned to appeal. But since he said. “They’re receiving nominations in a big-
Farewell to Abram: Trumpeter and
the reinstatement of the category, the lawsuit has ger playing field instead of having the same art-
composer Abram Wilson died of cancer in
London on June 9 at the age of 38. The Brit-
been dropped. ists be in the same category every year.”
ish musician, who won a BBC Jazz Award Academy President and CEO Neil Portnow Sanabria said he hopes the victory will
for best new album in 2007, was famous for said the lawsuit didn’t directly contribute to the inspire other musicians to fight for the other cat-
performing with trumpeter Roy Hargrove, reinstatement of the Latin Jazz category. “We egories that were eliminated. “After all, that’s the
the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and chose several years ago to review the entire pro- DNA of America,” he said. “We felt we had a
Ruth Brown. cess of giving out awards,” Portnow said. “We moral obligation to speak out against the injus-
wanted to insure that the process resulted in the tice. We had no other recourse.”—Dan Ouellette

16 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

European Scene | By Peter Margasak

Rudi Records: A Product of Live Production Massimo

Iudicone

Massimo Iudicone fell for jazz at a to the freewheeling, deeply inven- live at one of his events. Live In
young age as part of his sweeping tive Italian Instabile Orchestra. Ventotene was actually recorded
interest in the arts. At 17, Iudicone “It was love at first sight,” Iu- back in 2002 at the first install-
began organizing concerts and dicone said. He began managing ment of Iudicone’s Festival Rumori
exhibitions and sought ways to the group and working on festival Nell’isola. For other projects, he
combine dance, visual art, cinema productions with saxophonist assembles bands himself, such as
and music. Mario Schiano, a longtime mem- the bracing trio of alto saxophonist
Twenty-five years later, Iu- ber of the group. “After concerts, Sandro Satta, bassist Roberto Bel-
dicone is still obsessed with the we would often meet with musi- latalla and drummer Fabrizo Spera
arts. He’s never stopped trying to cians in the lounges of the hotels on Re-Union.
make things happen, but in the and enjoy a good whiskey, talking “Authenticity is the basis of my
last two years, his work has turned about projects and the need to work with the label,” Iudicone said.
to something more archival and document certain types of music,” “With improvised music, when a affini and fellow trombonist Sebi
portable. Iudicone’s young Rome- Iudicone said. “In 2008, Italy had musician has something to com- Tramontana on the improvised
based label, Rudi Records, has a drastic cut in public funding to municate, to share, they are forced duo album Wind & Slap to lesser-
quickly become a valuable part of culture, and many of the festivals to do so if it’s a genuine gesture known artists such as composer
Italy’s diverse jazz and improvised- and exhibitions that I organized as an expression of their unique- and flutist Massimo De Mattia. De
music scenes. It focuses largely couldn’t continue. Hence, starting ness. It’s no coincidence that I Mattia finds an unusual intersec-
on homegrown players and their my own label in November of 2010 prefer, when possible, to have the tion between chamber jazz, con-
collaborations with musicians from was almost natural.” recordings taken from concerts. A temporary music and free impro-
abroad, whether it’s bassist Silvia Since then, Rudi has released performance is unique and unre- visation on his meticulous Black
Bolognesi improvising with New 10 albums with a couple of more peatable.” Novel.
York reedist Sabir Mateen on Holi- due by year’s end. Iudicone sees In addition to recording Ma- “I’m definitely very interested
days In Siena, or the Iranian per- production and recording as an teen, Rudi has also released an- in documenting Italian music,” Iu-
cussionist Mohssen Kasirossafar extension of his work as a festival other Bolognesi collaboration with dicone said. “Often, some of the
working with pianist Antonello Sa- programmer. “Now I produce al- American players: Hear In Now, greatest musicians are ignored
lis and trombonist Giancarlo Schi- bums that are purely artistic proj- a terrific string trio featuring New because there is little about them
affini on Live In Ventotene. ects, artists that I would’ve wanted York violinist and singer Mazz Swift in the media. But I certainly do
Iudicone said the turning point to invite to my festivals,” Iudicone and Chicago cellist Tomeka Reid. not preclude the chance to con-
in his aesthetic interests occurred said. In fact, quite a few of the Rudi The label’s Italian talent ranges tinue working with musicians from
in 2000, when he was introduced founder’s releases were recorded from well-known players like Schi- around the world.”DB

Festival Favorites
and Fond
Farewells
The 34th edition of the Playboy Jazz Festi-
val, which took over the Hollywood Bowl
on June 16–17, was a showcase of crowd-
pleasers, including bluesman Keb Mo (pic-
tured). Master of Ceremonies Bill Cosby,
who has emceed the festival for the last 31
years, announced that 2012 would be the fi-
nal year of his tenure.
As part of this year’s program, Cosby
handpicked a series of performers to make
their festival debut. This year’s “Cos Of
Good Music” included pianist Farid Barron,
bassist Dwayne Burno, drummer Ndugu
Chancler, saxophonist Tia Fuller, bassist
Matthew Garrison, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen
and percussionist Babatunde Lea. Other
festival highlights included performances by
the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Christian
McBride and Spectrum Road (with Vernon
Reid, Jack Bruce, John Medeski and Cindy
Earl Gibson III

Blackman Santana).

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 17

Finding Common Ground
Béla Fleck and Marcus Roberts Embark on Collaborative Musical Journey

A
fter-hours jam sessions at Béla Fleck (left) and Marcus Roberts
jazz festivals can be inspir-
ing events that reunite one-
time bandmates and introducing
young, local players to their heroes.
For banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck and
pianist Marcus Roberts’ trio with
bassist Rodney Jordan and drum-
mer Jason Marsalis, it was a chance
meeting in Georgia back in 2009
that quickly led to a beautiful musi-
cal friendship.
“Béla and my group were both
playing the Savannah Music
Festival,” Roberts said. “There’s a
jam session on the last night. My
group was up there, and he just
came up and played with us.”
Roberts added, “A lot of soul—
that’s what I remember about his
playing. He has a remarkable
command of his instrument: He’s
got virtuosity, but not without
substance.”
“I just remember how much
fun it was to play with Marcus,”
Fleck said when asked about his

John Douglas AND Ben Moore

recollection of the initial meet-
ing. “I wasn’t expecting him to
be so open to a hybrid musician
like me, especially coming from
his deep jazz background. We
had a pretty amazing connection from the traditional jazz piano trio has been limited. what works.”
first note.” He recalled a session he recorded with McCoy He added, “I think that because we are so
A veteran of several Wynton Marsalis Tyner, which included a few tunes with bass- in sync on rhythm and time, we are not hav-
groups and an accomplished solo perform- ist Ron Carter and drummer Jack DeJohnette. ing the kinds of issues that folks typically run
er and bandleader, Roberts kept in touch with “That was a trial by fire, and was an experi- into when guitarists and pianists play at the
the eclectic banjoist. (In addition to leading ence that I treasure,” Fleck said. “But this is same time. ”
his own Flecktones group, Fleck has collab- quite different. Roberts and Fleck each have long-running
orated with Chick Corea, Zakir Hussain and “For one thing, the rhythmic understand- bandmate relationships. The pianist and
Edgar Meyer.) The quartet returned to play ing is so different in every group, and the way drummer Marsalis have been playing togeth-
the Savannah Music Festival together in 2011 a group feels time impacts how things go er since 1994. Fleck founded his longstanding
and recorded an album, which Roberts and when I play with them,” Fleck explained. “In Flecktones group in 1989.
Fleck co-produced. this group, the time sense is so precise, that “We’re not struggling to manage what
Across The Imaginary Divide was released it makes it very easy for banjo—which is in we’re going to do, so it’s comfortable,” Roberts
on June 5 by Rounder and features six origi- some ways a percussion instrument—to fit in said of his trio. “We’re creating interactive col-
nals by Fleck and six by Roberts. “The range and find a groove. laboration, and we certainly welcome anyone
is most attractive to me,” Roberts said. “I wrote On May 23, the four musicians embarked coming out of soul and blues.”
with Béla in mind. on the first part of a two-leg North American “The Marcus Roberts Trio is an incredibly
“I wanted to celebrate his virtuosity and tour, which will conclude in Atlanta on Nov. flexible and able ensemble,” Fleck explained.
also introduce it to our trio concept,” he added. 10. Touring and gigging has increased consid- “Despite my need for growth in harmony and
“His [compositions] have a bluegrass sound erably for Fleck and Roberts since their two in ear training, somehow things seem to work.
but are not limited to that. It’s fascinating how Savannah Music Festival performances and “A reason it’s going well could be because
much ground we cover.” subsequent studio sessions. of the banjo’s role in some of the early jazz
The instrumental setting was unusual, “The more I relax, the better this thing that these guys really know and love. So they
though not new, for all the participants: “The goes, and it doesn’t work if I am meek,” Fleck are not biased against me in principle; in
great Danny Barker really taught me about said. “Marcus has encouraged me to go ahead fact they are on my side, and very encour-
playing the blues,” Roberts recalled. “And I and play whenever I want, including during aging,” he concludes. “And because the five-
love the sound of my instrument and its rhyth- his solos, and that’s great because I can usual- string banjo has never had a place in legit
mic feel.” ly find a role for myself if I start playing. But jazz, they understand how hard I am working
Fleck said his experience playing with a if I lay out all the time, I’ll never figure out to find one.” —Yoshi Kato

18 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 From left: Jeff, Gerald and John Clayton

Shannon J. Effinger
Caught Heritage, Mentorship
Celebrated in Pittsburgh
D uring the first weekend of June, locals
and tourists celebrated Pittsburgh’s rich
jazz heritage. Thanks in part to Director Janis
“Mirrors,” but Jones’ playing reflects an array
of influences. Although he said that the num-
ber was “spiritual” and not religious, Jones
Burley Wilson, the Second Annual Pittsburgh closed out with a stirring improvisation of
JazzLive International Festival mirrored gospel singer Donnie McClurkin’s “Speak To
much of its host city’s character—laid-back, My Heart.”
inviting and intimate. The festival’s late-night jam sessions
Much of the festival’s lineup recognized allowed fans to interact with artists in smaller,
Pittsburgh-bred giants such as Erroll Garner, more intimate settings. Drummer Jeff “Tain”
George Benson and Art Blakey, and a key Watts, a Pittsburgh native, played with numer-
theme was honoring the role that their men- ous groups throughout the weekend—from
torship continues to play in jazz. the David Budway Band featuring saxophon-
The Clayton Brothers’ set provided the ist Steve Wilson to trumpeter Jerry Gonzalez
memorable image of bassist John Clayton and his Fort Apache Band. Young players
smiling down on his son, pianist Gerald like Gerald Clayton and keyboardist Robert
Clayton, with admiration. Joined by saxo- Glasper intently studied Watts as if they were
phonist Jeff Clayton, trumpeter Terell Stafford taking a master class. Glasper focused on
and drummer Obed Calvaire, the group material from his new album, Black Radio
opened with “Big Daddy Adderleys” from the (Blue Note), but also nodded to the Herbie
album Brother To Brother (ArtistShare). The Hancock classic Head Hunters.
group pulled no punches with the tight harmo- The theme of mentoring continued with
nies on the straightahead number. the arrival of two surprise additions to
“You shouldn’t be shy about swinging if the lineup: saxophonist Donald Harrison
it’s in your soul,” John Clayton said. Jazz and trumpeter Brian Lynch. Harrison and
history is populated with well-known sib- Lynch joined promising young upstarts The
ling teams, and it’s no secret that such an Curtis Brothers and veteran drummer Ralph
intrinsic bond can often give familial bands Peterson Jr. to kick off the final day of the fes-
a slight edge. tival. Having Jazz Messenger alumni perform
Trumpeter Sean Jones, the festival’s artist- illustrated how far-reaching Blakey’s vision
in-residence, was charismatic on “Liberty for jazz truly was.
Avenue Stroll,” an original composition that “Art Blakey was one of the greatest
he dedicated to Blakey and another Pittsburgh human beings to walk the planet,” Harrison
legend, drummer Roger Humphries. Jones said. “The most important thing he gave
delivered strong phrasing on “Transitions,” young musicians was the experience of play-
about the “roller coaster ride” that comes with ing night after night with a true master of jazz.
turning 30, and lingering, steady tones on a He, in effect, passed down the history of the
more somber number, “B.J.’s Tune,” off his music to each of his musicians, and The Jazz
2005 album Gemini (Mack Avenue). There Messengers maintained the essence of main-
were tonal similarities to Freddie Hubbard’s stream modern jazz.” —Shannon J. Effinger
 Caught Conquering the Elements in Brazil
Amid Stormy Weather, Armand
Sabal-Lecco
Michael Hill

Rio Das Ostras Artists

Bring Musical Thunder

N avigating the winding Brazilian boule-

vards en route to Rio Das Ostras
requires an astute comprehension of fluctu-
ating terrain, temperamental climate, whirl-

hilary Brown
wind directional changes and the welfare of
your travel companions. Rounding out the
weekend programming of the seaside town’s

cezar Fernandes
Kenny
namesake Jazz & Blues Festival, which ran Barron
June 6–10, was an erudite clan of genre-
infusing pros who embraced this exploratory
mindset on weather-torn stage setups. Mike Stern (left) and
Romero Lubambo
Michael
Rodriguez
For the first time in the fest’s 10-year
existence, Producers Stenio Mattos and Big

cezar fernandes
Joe Manfra combatted the wrath of the ele-
ments. The peninsular Búzios venue Praia da
Tartaruga became a tidal battering ram, forc-
Johnathan
ing the production team to rescind on a slew Blake
of beachfront performances. But with some
hurried rescheduling, the production team

cezar fernandes

Cezar Fernandes
allowed inhibition-free late-night jams on the
muddied grounds of the Costazul mainstage.
Touching on the works of Duke Ellington
and Billy Strayhorn, pianist Kenny Barron Lagoa de Iriri stage

diligently guided his pack with trademark

elegance and narrative approach. Drum wun-
derkind Johnathan Blake unbridled a flood of

cezar fernandes
chaotic fills and extemporized time chang-
hilary brown

es that garnered a wave of applause. Blake

has a talent for creating dynamics or rein-
venting straight-shooting post-bop in a way ture Yamaha into sinewy, honeyed romps his Miles Davis days, and provided a flashy
that’s freer, faster and more penetrating. With and effortless successions of hammering, but yet open-ended centerpiece for his counter-
Blake, it’s always a roller coaster of intensi- then showcased an obvious ability to swing parts to flex their obvious chops. The cir-
ty, yet you’re confident you’ll get off safely— as he dropped into cool-hued, harder bop cular, classic Cobham tune “Stratus” was a
there’s a combination of full-throttle drama jaunts. Drummer Lionel Cordew and bassist delightful musical theater for the smolder-
and effortless gliding. He propels himself Janek Gwizdala contributed spot-on, under- ing bends and high-end neck work of gui-
into the cookers but can also pull on the stated rhythmic side conversations. On the tarist Jean-Marie Ecay as bassist Michael
reins and backpedal into the pocket. Bassist throwback “Chromozone,” Stern and his fel- Mondesir cemented the mixture with unfal-
Kiyoshi Kitagawa definitely knows how to low axmen spun into an unruly, climactic tering drive. What truly set the performance
hold down the fort with precise, no-nonsense three-way joust that thundered off the rocks ablaze, however, were fiery but even-keeled
walkers and lighthearted, quixotic material. of Tartarugas prior to the storms. attacks on the steel pan by percussionist
A master of fluidity, trumpeter/flugelhorn- A strong contrast existed between the Junior Gill.
ist Mike Rodriguez maintained an intuitive, venues, as smaller stages functioned as prop- Bassist Armand Sabal-Lecco is a cham-
melodious slant on each tune. er battlegrounds for groove-infused, insou- pion of global infusion whose sound can
Ever-evolving modern jazz guitar pundit ciant jamming versus the epic storyboard- be defined by innate multicultural sensi-
Mike Stern served up a panoramic, autobi- ing of the larger bandstands. Drummer Billy tivity and versatile, technical mastery. His
ographical outing saddled to his aptly titled Cobham and his longtime French faction band scurried feverishly through a bevy of
release All Over The Place (Heads Up/ performed a frenzied collection of fusion West African rhythms and call-and-response
Concord). Stern is a genre-mixing adven- tunes on the windy, war-torn Costazul main- anthems such as “1 For Ilda,” a solicitation
turer whose lengthy resume wreathes with stage on Saturday, while their Sunday eve- of rampant pentatonics from keyboardist
shifting geography. Leave it to his perfect- ning set on the intimate Lagoa de Iriri stage Barney McCall amid Sabal-Lecco’s low-end
ed miscellany of rhythmic support and an consisted of more laid-back wanderings from linguistics. Sabal-Lecco interspersed slap-
unlikely onstage partnership with home- Cobham’s forthcoming album, Tales From bass technique with dexterous slides against
town hero Romero Lubambo to deliver two The Skeleton Coast, and the groove-infec- drummer Nathaniel Townsley’s heart-pump-
sets of experimental upsurges and ballad- tious 2010 disc Palindrome. On either stage, ing flash. McCall, in contrast, settled in nice-
ic vales. Alternately, Stern threw his signa- Cobham similarly explored the dynamic of ly on double-decker keys. —Hilary Brown

20 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 Players 

Alfredo
Rodríguez
Unexpected Twists

P ianist Alfredo Rodríguez is a study in con-

trasts. His playing can be brash, but sud-
denly turn to a subdued tranquility. Offstage,
his well-behaved, respectful demeanor is a far
cry from the rapid-fire deliveries and unex-
pected twists of his performances. The con-
trast raises a question: Is there no giant ego to
go with that embarrassment of musical riches?
At the Gilmore International Keyboard
Festival in Kalamazoo, Mich., two sold-out
shows by Rodríguez’s trio—with bassist Peter
Slavov and drummer Francisco Mela—fea-
tured music from his 2012 debut Sounds Of
Space (Mack Avenue). The music was all over
the map, a travelogue of Latin confections, all
of it spiced with a fully developed, idiosyncrat-
ic Cuban take on jazz.
During a lively conversation with the
26-year-old Cuban native, Rodríguez dis-
cussed his move to the United States (docu-
mented by his songs and varied instrumen-
tation on Sounds Of Space) and the key role
Quincy Jones has played in his life.
“I was born into a musical family,”
Rodríguez says in strong but slightly broken

Anna Webber
English. “My father is a Cuban singer. At 3
years old, I went to the conservatory in Havana.
We in Cuba are very selective with these kinds from Keith Jarrett, The Köln Concert. I didn’t the United States. There are a lot of Cubans
of careers. The education is free, but you have have any idea of piano improvisation before who have done what I did. I didn’t have the
to be selected by the teachers who work at the that. When I heard that CD, I said to myself, ability to share in Cuba as much as I can share
schools. You have to be good, and you have to ‘Oh, wow, this is something more. You’re play- here. And to travel when I wanted to, and for
have the passion. And in Cuba, we just have ing the piano and whatever comes into your my learning process. He was telling me he
classical music schools—not jazz. But we have mind. So why not start to do that?’ Nobody wanted to help with my career.”
a great foundation.” told me before that moment that I could just Rodríguez’s career received a kick-start in
For Rodríguez, however, that foundation sit at the piano and play. And I found a lot of 2006, when he performed at the Montreux
needed some additions. “If you walk in the CDs from Thelonious Monk, Bud Powell and Jazz Festival and in fest founder Claude Nobs’
streets in Cuba,” he notes, “you will see peo- Lennie Tristano.” home. Rodríguez prepared for the important
ple who are not in the conservatory, but they If Rodríguez wasn’t going to stay and teach event. “I put together three songs,” he says.
play the music really good. They feel the music, as part of his deal with the conservatory, but “When Mr. Nobs told me Quincy was com-
they feel the drums and they dance really good. continue to pursue this new adventure, he ing to his house, he asked if I wanted to play a
It’s in their blood. So, in the Cuban music, had to leave. Jones had shown interest in his song for him. And that is what I did.” Clearly,
you take this drum and start playing. And, in work, and the pianist desperately wanted to he clicked with Q, who co-produced Sounds
order to start playing, with nobody telling you come to the United States to work with the Of Space with the pianist. (Rodríguez has
what you have to do, you are improvising. As legendary producer. In 2009, after Rodríguez described Jones as being “like a new father.”)
a kid, I had that balance between the roots of had played some engagements in Mexico, he As for what lies ahead, Rodríguez describes
the country and the Cuban people just doing flew to Laredo, Texas, where he was arrested another kind of contrast. “A lot of different
those kinds of improvisations without words. and held by the border police. They eventual- things are coming up with my trio,” he says,
At the same time, I had the opportunity to be ly released him, and he started his new life in referring to festival and club gigs. “But at the
part of the academy through the classical music America. Rodríguez composed the complex, same time, I’m composing my first big piece for
of the school.” (Rodríguez studied music at the adventurous “Crossing The Border”—a mem- a symphony orchestra. It’s very different from
Conservatorio Amadeo Roldán and then the orable track on Sounds Of Space—during the the music that I compose for my trio because
Instituto Superior de Arte.) first week he lived in the States. it’s more based in the classical, contempo-
Then lightning struck. “When I was 13 or “I defected,” he explains. “The only way I rary works, which I love—Igor Stravinsky or
14,” Rodríguez recalls, “my uncle gave me a CD could work with Quincy was coming here to Prokofiev or even Messiaen.” —John Ephland

22 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Román Filiú
O’Reilly
Pushing Forward
F or his New York debut in April at the Jazz
Gallery, alto saxophonist Román Filiú
O’Reilly presented his quartet music with pianist
David Virelles, bassist John Hébert and drum-
mer Marcus Gilmore. It was heady, virtuoso fare,
conjured from complex rhythmic and harmon-
ic structures that evoked a variety of moods and
served to springboard ebullient melodic improvi-
sations by each band member.
Some of the music in the set list appears on
Filiú’s second leader date, Musae, a September
release on Dafnis Prieto’s imprint, Dafnison.
Prieto shares drum duties with Gilmore, propel-
ling Virelles, guitarist Adam Rogers and Cuban
bassist Reinier Elizarde, who gathered to record
larisa López

the album in 2010 in Madrid, where Filiú has

resided since his move from Havana in 2005.
“I’ve always admired and looked to Román’s Shorter; later, John Coltrane and Dexter Gordon.
work,” said Prieto, who met Filiú 20 years ago, “Steve would take a certain subject—Charlie
when both attended Havana’s Instituto Superior Parker, Bud Powell, Von Freeman, Henry
de Arte. “He’s always been extremely creative, Threadgill, Andrew Hill, his own music—and
part of a small circle of Cuban musicians who are we’d work on it all day,” Filiú says. “It was like
trying to push the music forward.” a lightning bolt. In Cuba, the players show off,
The “muse” in the title refers to Filiú’s wife— like they’re demonstrating something. But these
to whom he addresses the gorgeous love ballad masters know how to move you, shake you from
“Venus”—and a dramatic thread that runs through inside. I want to feel the same way when I play.”
the songs: “I want to tell stories about what I come Filiú relocated to Madrid while touring
from, people I know, what inspires me.” Europe with Irakere. Once ensconced, he
A native of Santiago de Cuba, Filiú, 39, grew played shows and studio dates, exchanged lead-
up in a household of classical musicians. His er and sideman roles with fellow Cuban emi-
father is a pianist and professor of theory; two gres (bassists Elizarde and Alain Pérez; pianists
brothers play violin; an older sister plays bass; Iván “Melón” González and Javier “Caramelo”
and another brother and sister are conductors. Massó), and in 2006 released the world-class
His grandfather introduced him to jazz via a Latin jazz CD Blowin’ Reflections (BOST
Saturday jazz show on Radio Marti. Espacio Creativo). He also learned to navi-
At 14, Filiú moved to Camagüey to attend gate blues-inflected African American dialects
conservatory, then in 1992 to Havana. There via apprenticeships with Coleman’s own men-
he supplemented studies with salsa gigs (before tor, drummer Doug Hammond, and with tenor
joining the band Irakere in 1997, he played tenor saxophonist David Murray. Filiú showcased his
saxophone with, among others, vocalist Isaac improvisational skills on the 2011 album David
Delgado) and paid close attention to French clas- Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole
sical saxophone repertoire. “The piano parts are en Español (Motéma).
beautiful—a lot of harmonies and different tex- Now a New Yorker, Filiú savors the chance
tures,” Filiú said. “Playing that music made me to absorb wisdom from elders such as Threadgill
want to learn how to write it. It opened my ears to and Muhal Richard Abrams. “David Virelles
harmony, taught me to sing on a melody.” told me to come with him to a lesson with
Dissatisfied with the creative limitations of Henry—after I’d been writing a song all day, but
playing the same repertoire on a nightly basis didn’t like the ending,” he related. “I was tired,
with Irakere, Filiú found a mentor in Steve but I went, and listened to what Henry said about
Coleman, who visited Cuba frequently in the music and different things. When I went home, I
late ’90s and early ’00s. “He was school, like a finished the piece and did two more.
spark of lightning,” said Filiú, who had previous- “Steve and Henry and Muhal and David
ly learned hardcore jazz vocabulary from study- Murray have the power to free your mind. They
ing the works of several tenor saxophonists— teach you to look where nobody looks.” 
first, Michael Brecker, and Atlantis-era Wayne  —Ted Panken
 Players 

Kelly Hogan
A Better Mousetrap
W hen Kelly Hogan croons a jazz standard
or belts out an r&b original, her mus-
cular, emotive vocals can evoke bitter sorrow,
vocals to more than 70 CDs—drew on her past
recording experiences to make Pain a gem.
“The day I walked in that studio [in April
sublime yearning or ecstatic joy. 2011], it took everything that I had done to
Following recent work as a backing vocal- date to not pee my pants,” she recalled. “It was
ist for Neko Case, Jakob Dylan and Mavis intimidating. But I always like a challenge.”
Staples, Hogan went into EastWest Recording The ensemble quickly meshed and enjoyed
Studios in Hollywood to record her fourth CD, swapping tales during breaks: “One day, Booker
I Like To Keep Myself In Pain (Anti-). Her T. goes, ‘Kelly, you’re a lot like Otis Redding.
band, which was assembled specifically for His mind worked like yours. He was hearing
the sessions, included iconic organist Booker music all the time. You hear three parts—the
T. Jones (Booker T. & The MG’s), drummer harmonies and the melody.’ I had gravy coming song about Frank Sinatra written by M. Ward.
James Gadson (Herbie Hancock, Bill Withers), out of my mouth at lunch. To work with those Against the gentle strum of Ligon’s guitar,
bassist Gabriel Roth (The Dap-Kings) and people—I still can’t believe it happened.” Hogan sings, “Miami, you were my clean, dry
multi-instrumentalist Scott Ligon (NRBQ). Jones’ majestic organ work adds emotional scotch/ Milan, you were the gold seam in my
“Andy Kaulkin, the honcho at Anti- heft to the domestic drama of “We Can’t Have crotch/ Palm Springs, in the red-hot palm of
Records, likes to prove that music is the uni- Nice Things,” and he adds a gospel flavor to the my hand/ And nobody will ever belong the way
versal language by putting disparate elements poetic love letter “The Green Willow Valley.” that I used to belong.”
together,” Hogan said. “Plus, when you bait Along with the self-penned “Golden” (a “My vocals on that song were going though
your mousetrap with Booker T., people come moving anthem of perseverance), Hogan solic- the same echo chamber that Frank Sinatra’s
and say, ‘Hey, whatcha got over there?’” ited songs from artists such as Andrew Bird, vocals went through—so I didn’t want to be
Hogan—who formerly fronted the band Robyn Hitchcock and Vic Chesnutt. haunted by him,” she said. “I had to get right
The Jody Grind and who has contributed A standout track is “Daddy’s Little Girl,” a with God before I sang that.” —Bobby Reed

24 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Antonio Adolfo
Student Becomes Teacher
T he first words the intimidating Nadia
Boulanger told Brazilian pianist Antonio
Adolfo were “You are five minutes late.”
Exhausted by the demands of the booming
Brazilian music industry in Rio de Janeiro in
the early 1970s, Adolfo had wanted to focus
on his technique far away from Brazil. And he
had driven to the meeting through Paris traffic,
when he should have taken the train.
Adolfo recently recounted this meeting
during a break at his music school, in Holly-
wood, Fla., where he has lived off and on since
1996, and more permanently since 2005.
Boulanger—the great teacher of Aaron
Copland, Burt Bacharach and so many others—
Paul Constantinides

had given him precisely 15 minutes for an exam-

ination-recital. “When I played the classical exer-
cises I brought, Nadia put her arm over my hands
and said, ‘Stop,’” Adolfo recalled. “When she
said to play what I like, I improvised. Finally, she AAM label have found growing audiences in the
smiled. She told me about Michel Legrand, her States, both for his nimble piano arrangements
student. She talked about Chick Corea and Keith and the vocals by his daughter Carol Saboya. An
Jarrett. ‘You may come next Wednesday,’ she accomplished singer, Saboya has a girlish tone
said. I studied there for two years. like Stacey Kent’s and a delicate delivery for jazz
“People couldn’t understand it. They said, standards. In her Portuguese-sung numbers, her
‘All that success and now you go to study?’ I was full range of emotional power is unmistakable.
really impressed with her, and the spiritual way The father-daughter teamwork, backed by
she taught a lesson. Because of that experience, the skillful drummer Rafael Barata, along with
later I became a teacher.” electric bass and rhythm guitar, earned their Lá
When Adolfo went to France, he had been e Cá/Here And There a Latin Grammy nom-
earning a good living as a composer, arrang- ination in 2010. That recording of mostly jazz
er and session musician in bossa nova, Música standards contains the original Adolfo compo-
Popular Brasileira, jazz and Tropicália. After sition “Cascavel,” which is built on a deft, cas-
Brazilian rhythms became so important to cading piano riff. Adolfo’s latest CD, Chora
jazz and pop, some of Adolfo’s compositions Baião, explores the rich two-beat rhythms of the
became international hits. His “Sá Marina,” Northeastern Brazilian interior.
with its irresistible melody, was first sung by On a recent visit to the States for a concert,
Brazilian diva Elis Regina, with whom Adolfo Saboya talked about working with such a metic-
toured for two years. Stevie Wonder and Sérgio ulous producer as her father. “He’s a great advi-
Mendes both had great success with the song, sor and understands what I like to sing,” said
redone with English lyrics as “Pretty World.” Saboya, whose just-released U.S. solo debut CD
While with Regina, Adolfo contributed to the of Brazilian jazz, Belezas, was produced and
well-known “Aquarela do Brasil,” a collabora- arranged by Adolfo. “He gives me good song
tion with harmonica master Toots Thielemans. paths to follow.”
Adolfo, 65, continues to interpret Brazilian Even though the pianist doesn’t consider
traditional music. His genius reworkings of himself a purely jazz musician, his solos dis-
Brazilian songwriters like Guinga and Chico play a lightly percussive sound influenced by
Buarque are harmonic rethinkings of melodies Bill Evans. Adolfo doesn’t hesitate when asked
that fuse West African, European and Moorish what influences his improvisation: “Brazilian
musical cultures. Since 1985, he has educated percussionists, more than anything else.”
thousands of Brazilians at his successful music Adolfo underscored the complex relation-
school, Centro Musical Antonio Adolfo, with its ship in Brazilian jazz between the percussion
two branches in Brazil and another in Florida. and the soloists. “Every musician who plays
Although he has done sessions in the United Brazilian has to understand what the percussion
States with Frederico Britos and Claudio Roditi, players are doing; it’s not just improvising over it.
he performs primarily in Brazil, where he In this music, the phrasing itself comes mainly
remains a potent force. Recent recordings on his from the percussion.”  —John Radanovich
Bill Evans in Copenhagen, 1964
B
By John McDonough | Photo by Jan Persson

y the end of October 1968, America seemed to be disintegrat-

ing. The Rev. Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were
dead. If you found yourself in downtown Chicago in August,
you might have felt the tingle of tear gas in your throat and a
mood of anarchy in the air. The moral clarity of the civil rights
movement was sliding into separatist factions, and anti-war
fervor was flirting with Maoist fantasies of political terror.
bill evans

The jazz world was in its own spiral of radi- Eddie Gomez can be heard with remarkable presence on a new
calism by 1968. Tearing down established forms
onstage at the
1967 Newport two-CD collection, Live At Art D’Lugoff’s Top
was fashionable in the inner councils of the Jazz Festival
Of The Gate, from Resonance Records, part of
music’s avant-garde, even as old-timers such as the non-profit Rising Jazz Stars Foundation that
Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Benny Goodman, George Klabin founded in 2005. (Resonance
Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Brubeck Records is also offering audiophiles a numbered,
and even Louis Armstrong continued to anchor limited-edition box set of three 12-inch vinyl
the major festivals and draw large mainstream discs recorded at 45 rpm.)
crowds. Pharoah Sanders, Archie Shepp and It’s the latest in a pair of important Evans dis-
Albert Ayler were seen by some as reflections coveries to come along recently, the first of
of the larger rise of societal frustration and rad- which, Bill Evans: The Sesjun Radio Shows (Out
icalism among African Americans. On another of the Blue), arrived about a year ago and offered
flank, fusion and jazz-rock were bridge-building three ’70s performances from the Netherlands.
to a more lucrative segment of the pop market. To Both belong to that category of release that often
some critics, it was a bridge to nowhere; to oth- is accompanied by such phrases as “the lost ses-
ers, the next important wave. Like the rest of the Photo by Tom Copi © Tom Copi sions of …” or “newly discovered”—descriptions
nation, jazz was alive with anger and argument intended to incite a collector’s sense of recovered
and living dangerously. history. Often the price of such history is poor
Dangerous times are easy to romanticize sound. But not so here. Both the Sesjun and Gate
when the dangers have all passed. It’s the peo- performances shed important new light on Evans
ple who keep their heads in the chaos who are and were recorded with uncommon care, the lat-
often easy to overlook. Such a case can be made “Bill was definitely ter by Klabin himself, who says his tapes were
for Bill Evans. The pianist had come to wide a contemporary neither lost nor rediscovered, merely held in safe
attention in a more temperate period when the keeping to ripen.
tranquility of the ’50s still prevailed, first on musician, but he Klabin came to Columbia University as a
Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue (which displayed his chose to explore freshman in 1964 and a year later began pro-
compositional skills via “Blue In Green” and gramming jazz at the college’s radio station,
“Flamenco Sketches”) and on his own 1960 trio what was right in WKCR. (When he left in 1969, he was succeeded
album for Riverside, Portrait In Jazz. The trio front of him.” by Phil Schaap, a noted jazz historian and impre-
was a uniquely balanced partnership between sario who continues to be heard on the station.)
Evans, bassist Scott LaFaro and drummer Paul “Because KCR was non-profit,” Klabin says, “I
Motian. Evans turned the keyboard into a cham-  —Eddie Gomez could record musicians and play the tapes on the
ber orchestra of subtle pastels. His spidery body station. They’d get a free recording out of it, and
seemed to droop deep over the keys like a weep- I’d get them on the air. After a while, musicians
ing willow, his head cocked to one side as if wait- Top of the Gate charged no cover or minimum. would invite me to record on location.”
ing for them to reveal some intimate secret. His That October, the trio received $1,000 a week. In this, Klabin was following in the footsteps
first DownBeat cover came in December 1960. Out of that, Evans paid Morell $175 a week and of Jerry Newman, who had come to Columbia
Eight years later, in a noisy world of agitation Gomez a bit more. Manager Helen Keane pre- as a student in 1941 just as WKCR was going on
and the street theater of insurrection, Evans was sumably received a percentage, leaving Evans a the air. Newman took his recording equipment
killing them softly with his songs, presiding in a net of around $400 a week. But it was surpris- to Minton’s Playhouse, recorded the first formu-
wistful nimbus of civility and seduction and qui- ingly sufficient, Gomez recalls. “We were always lations of bebop—with Thelonious Monk and
etly probing the overlooked corners of the Great working.” Charlie Christian—and played them on WKCR,
American Songbook. The contrast was even Evans’ sense of tradition, even in 1968, just as Klabin would do a generation later.
more striking because he spent so much of his seemed a throwback to an earlier era in jazz. Newman became something of a model for
time in that great womb of Bohemian discon- Without irony or postmodern snark, he relied on Klabin, who began his own odyssey of location
tent—Greenwich Village. the built-in restraints of the old-fashioned 32-bar recording for WKCR in 1965. The contact with
The trio became a pillar of the Village, first song as completely as others were so eager to Evans began with a radio interview he recorded
at the Village Vanguard on Seventh Avenue; and abandon them. Perhaps those restraints were around 1966. “I remember George as very eager
then at Art D’Lugoff’s Top of the Gate, a mod- more “experimental” to him than the feral, do- and ambitious,” Gomez recalls. But as gradua-
erately upscale restaurant-and-bar retreat over your-own-thing world of “freedom” that increas- tion approached in June 1968, Mark Rudd led
D’Lugoff’s more famous basement-level Village ingly surrounded him. In part this is because the a student strike that occupied the office of uni-
Gate at 158 W. Bleecker Street. When Evans tunes were so familiar. He had to reach higher versity president Grayson Kirk. “I stayed away
debuted in the room on Oct. 15, 1968, launching and search harder to find their fresh fruit. It was a from that,” Klabin says, but notes that all final
a four-week stand, he and bassist Eddie Gomez search he seemed to enjoy. exams were suspended that spring. “How many
were joined by new drummer Marty Morell. It “That’s exactly what Bill would have said,” students graduate without finals?” Having grad-
would initiate the longest-running trio of Evans’ Gomez speculates. “When you repeat repertoire, uated, he remained with the radio station anoth-
career. For the next six years it moved often therein is the challenge—to dig deeper and find er year, long enough to make the Evans tapes at
between the Vanguard and the Top of the Gate, new things. And Bill was always about that. He the Top of the Gate.
sometimes clocking 30 weeks a year between could be lyrical but also pointillistic. He liked By then he was acquainted with Keane,
the two rooms. “There was no rhyme or rea- some atonal approaches, too: [‘Twelve Tone Evans’ manager and producer since 1963. “She
son,” Gomez says of the gig schedules. “One Tune’] was serially composed but with tradi- called me or I called her,” says Klabin. “I knew
did not preclude playing the other.” The week tional harmony. He was definitely a contempo- that Bill was breaking in a new trio at the Top
Evans opened at the Gate, his picture appeared rary musician, but he chose for the most part to of the Gate, and she asked if I’d like to record
on DownBeat’s cover for the fifth time. explore what was right in front of him.” it—or I asked. Anyway, she gave me full permis-
The economics of the New York club scene The intimacy and intelligence of Evans’ sion, and I recorded two sets.” Klabin had by now
were modest then by today’s standards. The music at this particular moment 44 years back become a fairly accomplished engineer. He used

28 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

bill evans

a two-track recorder, four mics and a single ste- Marty Morell would never wing it. He would choose his mate-
reo mixer. It all happened without any sense of rial carefully and find a way to perform a com-
occasion. There was no sound check, no time to position before he would present it. He thought
set a balance. Any adjustments were made “on these things out very carefully before he would
the fly.” include a tune in a set. But if you listen carefully,
Large enough for 150 to 200 people and there’s nothing that’s routine.”
sometimes a bit noisy, the room remained an inti- The Bill Evans Trio had a fourth member:
mate setting for a trio. Nevertheless, Klabin want- silent partner, manager and producer Helen
ed to avoid too much ambiance. So he placed his Keane. Whatever label Evans recorded for after
microphones close to the instruments. The result 1963, Keane’s name appeared as producer. She
is a recording full of detail but with enough room was intimately involved in his work. “She was
sound to suggest a physical environment. present the night I recorded,” Klabin says. “I
While the trio created a refuge of order loved Helen. She was fair and tough and wouldn’t
upstairs—spinning graceful webs from the mel- let people take advantage of him. Always had his

Photo courtesy of Marty Morell

odies of Richard Rodgers and Jerome Kern— best interests at heart.” This view is shared by
outside on Bleecker Street, fashionable hippies Evans’ biographer, Peter Pettinger, critic Gene
and would-be Weathermen mingled with curi- Lees and others close to the pianist. “She was
ous tourists out to experience “the Sixties.” What Bill’s guiding angel,” Gomez says. “The world
may be most interesting about Evans at this high- doesn’t always recognize his kind of artistry. She
water moment of cultural revolution is that he helped see to it that it did by being a bridge to
was quietly becoming a major force in contem- record companies and clubs. She would suggest
porary music using essentially counter-revolu- “Bombs could be projects and concepts they could use.”
tionary materials. To listen to the serene pro- going off and Bill But there were also quiet tensions between
ceedings in the Top of the Gate today, one can’t Evans and Keane. “There were a couple of proj-
help noting how remote from the barricades he was still going to ects she pressed that were not in Bill’s comfort
intended to make himself. play ‘My Foolish zone,” says Gomez.
“Bill was not one to get into politics through Morell is more specific, nodding to the 1972
his music,” Morell says. “He stood apart in a lot Heart’ with warmth LP Living Time with the George Russell
of ways. It insulated him from a lot of the excess and love.” Orchestra. “She always tried to get herself
of the time. Bombs could be going off and he involved musically,” Morell says. “And some-
was still going to play ‘My Foolish Heart’ with times it was a problem. I know at times he dis-
warmth and love.”  —Marty Morell agreed with her approach, but he always gave her
“In that climate there was a lot of music try- the courtesy of doing her job as she saw fit.”
ing to break through in different directions,” It had been quite a coup when the trio signed
Gomez says, “which only shows that you can do rhythmic and harmonic role, of course, and solos with Columbia in 1971, and Evans’ first LP, The
a lot of good things with old tools.” as much as Bill. There was a lot for me to do at Bill Evans Album, won two Grammys. So Keane
Evans had a considerable catalog of his own a high level, and I was not on such sure ground convinced Columbia that Evans deserved a big-
songs by now and “Waltz For Debby” was because I had so much to learn. I was hoping Bill ger budget next time. She got $25,000. “Helen
becoming a jazz standard. But the two sets that would be patient with me, and he was.” had always wanted to do some big, earth-shat-
night included only one Evans tune, “Turn Out One of the closely guarded secrets in jazz tering project,” Morell says. “So it turned out
The Stars.” Maybe it was because this was a new involves the element of spontaneity. Yes, the to be with Living Time. When Helen commis-
trio still in a break-in period. Morell was in his license to improvise is genuine. But even in a trio, sioned Russell to write some large ensemble
second week with the group. So, how did he fit it typically takes place within a careful design thing for the trio, George brought in this music
into the deeply established relationships of a trio? that is thought through before the first audience he had already composed and wanted to record.
“I’d listened to Bill for years,” says Morell. “I hears a note. Part of the jazz art is the art of illu- He just stuck the trio in somewhere. I said, ‘What
knew what he was doing so I felt equipped from sion, a deception intended to keep those designs the hell is going on? The trio is getting eaten up.’
the start. I knew his book. You familiarize your- out of sight and invite listeners to believe it’s all The record was a huge flop, not what Bill’s peo-
self with the details in the moment. At that level, materializing for the first time. “A good metaphor ple wanted to hear. Columbia dropped him.
you either play right or you don’t. It’s never a might be a play,” says Gomez. “Jazz is a kind of “Basically, Bill just wanted to show up and
question of discussing music details. We never theater. You have to come at it prepared with cer- play, and he needed someone like Helen to man-
rehearsed. He never suggested any changes in tain pre-planned structures, then let things devel- age the things he didn’t want to manage. When
my playing. You either felt it or he’d find some- op within those real-time moments. The exposi- she would start managing the music, sometimes
one else. By the time he heard me, I had listened tions and recapitulations were the same. It was he knew it was wrong, but he would just kind of
to the group for so long that in my mind, I had always about the development in the middle, not go along with it because she had done well by
been there. The first night at the Top of the Gate, unlike a sonata allegro.” him before. Bill was very apathetic, and Helen
after we finished, Bill said, ‘Wow, you sound like The clocklike precision of the trio’s inner was very strong. She did a lot of good things. So
you’ve been playing with us for years.’ I said I machinery is evident on the Top Of The Gate you’ve got to go with the averages, and there was
had.” sets. Consider the two versions of “Emily” and more good than bad.”
Gomez remembers that his own induction “’Round Midnight.” Each proceeds through a Gomez agrees. “Ultimately, I think she did
into the trio two years earlier in Chicago had nearly identical series of cues and supporting incredible things for Bill,” he says, “and I think
come with a degree of uncertainty. “I was fraught ideas. Each finishes within a second or two of he was very much aware of it.”
with tension, to say the least,” he explains, its mate. They are like signatures, unmistakably After Klabin taped the trio at the Top of the
“because the job was not mine to have yet. It had alike but never the same. Gate in 1968, he made copies for Evans, played
been a dream of mine to play with Bill when he “Bill had everything organized,” Morell them once on his radio show and put them away.
asked me to do a short tour as a kind of audition. says. “We had arrangements on every tune with Nearly 40 years later, he started the Rising Jazz
That first week was harrowing. Bass plays both a a format for an introduction and solo order. He Stars Foundation. In 2009, he hired Zev Feldman

30 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 on board,” he says. “Everyone was treated fairly.”
Today, the old Top of the Gate is a CVS drug
store. D’Lugoff died in 2009 at age 85. Gomez,
67, lives a few blocks north of the old Gate, con-
tinues to work in a variety of settings and adds
new work to his large discography. The latest is
Per Sempre on BFM Jazz. Morell, 68, teaches at
the University of Central Florida, emphasizing to
his students the need for versatility. Evans died in
1980 at 51, but he continues to cast a huge influ-
Photo by Fred Seligo © Delia Seligo. Fred Seligo Archives – CTS Images

ence over musicians and scholars. A 20-year-old

jazz studies major at Northwestern University
recently received a research grant to transcribe a
body of Evans’ work.
For the Oct. 17, 1968, issue of DownBeat,
Evans provided a handwritten transcription of his
composition “Very Early.” It was accompanied
by a brief interview in which Marian McPartland
asked the pianist to share his advice for young
players. Evans said, “If you play too many things
Bill Evans (left) and Eddie Gomez at Shelly’s Manne-Hole, 1968 at one time, your whole approach will be vague.
You won’t know what to leave in and what to
to help run Resonance Records. One day Klabin erly,” Feldman says. “So I said I could help.” take out. I would say to a young musician: Know
happened to mention that he had recorded the He began with the Universal Music Group and very clearly what you’re doing and why—play
Evans trio when he was at Columbia University. Verve Records, which held Evans’ recording much less, but be very clear about it. It’s much
“What?” Feldman gasped. “Bill Evans!” Born contract at the time. (Evans had just complet- better to spend 30 hours on one tune than to play
six years after the tapes were made, Feldman saw ed a solo album, Alone, two days before Klabin 30 tunes in one hour.”
them as treasured artifacts from a golden age he taped at the Gate.) “They were real mensches,” Evans’s performance on Top Of The Gate
had missed. He became the main advocate for Feldman says, “and cooperated fully.” He went certainly reflects his “digging deeper” approach.
putting them out. on to contact Evan Evans, Bill’s son; then Gomez However well Resonance Records does with this
“George had never wanted to get involved in and Morell, and even Art D’Lugoff’s surviving new release, the ultimate profit will be to the Bill
securing the necessary clearances to do it prop- family. “I’m happy we were able to get everyone Evans legacy. And it will be considerable. DB

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 31

James Blood Ulmer
(left) and David
Murray in New
York City, March 7
A
By Howard Mandel | Photography by Jack Vartoogian/FrontRowPhotos

big, bearish man sat before a microphone at the lip of the stage, growling out simple,
declarative rhymes while plucking raw discords and jagged melody fragments from a
Gibson electric guitar in his lap. To his left, 15 cramped musicians fixed their eyes on the
hand gestures and body language of their conductor, a somewhat smaller man in a blue
suit and open-collar white shirt, who sometimes turned to face the audience and blow his tenor sax.
When he did so, he thrust his head forth and sound check on that day early last spring. “He is as much a part of harmolodics as Ornette. To
jaw out, puffed his cheeks, hunched his shoul- was the first horn player to read my music off me, harmolodics grew out of the way Blood plays
ders and, rocking in rhythm, projected a stream the score. When he’d just come to New York”— naturally.”
of burry notes that cut a broad path through which was in 1978, as a graduate of Pomona Ulmer’s natural way of playing is earthy, rich
the thicket of sound he’d just waved up from College in California—“he played on six of with overtones, insistent yet also unpredictable.
the musicians, demonstrating the myriad ways my records, starting with Are You Glad To He grew up poor in St. Matthews, S.C., and first
a song might turn or take off. His musicians Be In America? and in the Music Revelation played a contraption his father made him. Ulmer
responded with dense, bristly parts that mirrored Ensemble, too. recalled that it was built “out of a bow, a fat piece
the gutsiness of the vocalist and expanded along “David studied music, and now he’s got of wood and an old milk can, strung with some
the lines their leader had set. something he wants to do: to arrange. So he wires,” adding, “I used to beat it with a stick—
The singer-guitarist was James Blood Ulmer, called me. He hooked up with the right person, bing, bing, boom, boom!” As he remembered
the conductor-saxophonist David Murray, and because if I can get him to arrange my music doing that some 70 years ago, his eyes sparkled
the ensemble David Murray’s Blues Big Band, from the standpoint of how I play my guitar, he and his face crinkled up along laugh lines.
raising a sweetly blistering ruckus in March at could take arranging to a whole new level, add- Ulmer progressed to a real instrument (what
The Iridium jazz club in Midtown Manhattan. It ing to what Duke Ellington, Count Basie and the he calls a “tempered guitar”) and was gig-
was their second gig. The previous one had been other brothers did before him.” ging with soul bands by the early 1960s. By the
in January at Teatro Manzoni in Milan. “This project actually started when I was early ’70s he’d recorded with organists Hank
Big band aside, Ulmer and Murray have about 18 and saw Blood play with Ornette at Marr, John Patton and Larry Young. But he first
worked together for more than 30 years, playing the Keystone Korner in San Francisco,” Murray unveiled the full extent of his strikingly original
some of the most freely improvised small-group mentioned during a break from the sound check approach on Tales Of Captain Black, a scorch-
music imaginable. Big band convened, they were at The Iridium. “It was my first time being up ing album from 1978 with Ornette Coleman on
reinvigorating an aspect of the jazz tradition close with Ornette, and he introduced me to alto sax, his son Denardo Coleman on drums,
almost as old as jazz itself. Either way, they are a Blood. I loved their kind of music, the harmolod- and bass guitarist Jamaaladeen Tacuma. Blood
mutual admiration society. ic thing,” he said, referring to Coleman’s concept had developed an open tuning for his instrument,
“I love David—David was in the first band I of harmony, motion and melody moving as one in which he used its lowest string essentially as
got,” Ulmer said during a conversation before for unfettered musical expression. “To me, Blood a drone.

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 33

David murray & James blood ulmer

The resulting sound was primal, something Ulmer (left) plays guitar while Murray conducts at The Iridium
like the bold, blunt guitars on early Muddy
Waters and Howlin’ Wolf records. Ulmer’s back-
ground, however, was in gospel music. The blues
were strictly verboten by his religious family. Of
course, the two forms are not so distant, repre-
senting the Saturday night and Sunday morning
of African American vernacular song, and listen-
ers have long claimed to hear the blues or its rural
folk roots in Ulmer’s sound. Yet the guitarist—
who the night before the interview had played
a tribute to Robert Johnson at a benefit for the
Blues Foundation at the Apollo Theater—said
that wasn’t so: “I waited till 2000 to really try to
play the blues. Vernon Reid got me into it.”
Guitarist Reid had been on the bill of that
Johnson tribute with his band Living Colour,
along with Taj Mahal, Keb Mo, Bettye LaVette,
Shemekia Copeland, Todd Rundgren and Otis
Taylor. “I learned so much playing in this blues
thing,” Ulmer mused. “Everybody was playing
Robert Johnson style. Trying to. It’s hard. I think Blood: The Sun Sessions, produced in 2001 by to sing in front of the Blues Big Band.
Robert Johnson was the first true harmolodic Reid (who played second lead guitar), Ulmer Murray first thought of putting Ulmer up to
blues guitar player. But I wasn’t looking to sound switched to covering songs by Waters, Wolf, John that task after seeing a video of George Benson
like him on guitar. I was just singing his story. I Lee Hooker, Willie Dixon and Son House. The with the Count Basie Orchestra. “Benson came
played it my style.” repertoire was a perfect fit. Ulmer and Reid fol- on and played his guitar for a couple of num-
In truth, Ulmer’s embrace of the blues pre- lowed up with No Escape From The Blues: The bers,” he recalled, “then walked off and the band
dates 2000. He recorded Forbidden Blues for the Electric Lady Sessions and Bad Blood In The did a number. Then he came back and just sang
Japanese DIW label in 1996; he cut Blue Blood City: The Piety Street Sessions, which included with the band. It was out-of-sight. And I thought,
with bassist Bill Laswell in 2000. Both albums some songs—Bessie Smith’s “Backwater Blues,” ‘I’d like to do that with someone in my genera-
spotlighted his original tunes. On Memphis for one—that Murray has reconfigured for Blood tion now, and Blood is the perfect cat.’”
David murray & James blood ulmer

Murray blowing saxophone with the 17-member big band

T he blues singer/big band format reaches back

at least as far as 1926, when Bessie Smith cut
“Gin House Blues” with Fletcher Henderson’s
wouldn’t have expected.”
It’s inevitable that Murray would get these
calls, since at age 57 he has become an acknowl-
a big band, to change meter or delete meter under
a singer—you’re asking for trouble. There are lit-
tle moments where we do that, but I can’t base a
Orchestra. Basie’s band famously featured blues edged champion of the jazz sax legacy, able to whole hour program on that. You might hear five
singers, including Jimmy Rushing, Big Joe address its lineage from Ben Webster to Albert minutes of us sliding around, but we need to hold
Turner and Joe Williams. None of them, how- Ayler and beyond. Hailed early in his career it together.
ever, played guitar. Nor has a Murray big band, for launching an avant-gutbucket movement, “Blood and I both have done stuff so far out
of which there’ve been several iterations, ever Murray has now demonstrated his mastery of you can’t even guess where the one [downbeat]
before had a singer or focused on the blues genre. tenor sax and bass clarinet in solo, duo, trio, quar- might be. And that’s great. But when you’ve got
Murray’s collaborations with Ulmer typical- tet, quintet, octet and big band formations of his 17 people on the stage, somebody needs to know
ly have been akin to free-funk, hard-driving but own design. In 1991 he won Denmark’s Jazzzpar where that thing is.”
with little attention to conventional chord pro- Prize and recorded with Pierre Dørge’s New The 15 somebodies in Murray’s big band at
gressions. “I’ve played with Blood in many sit- Jungle Orchestra; he’s made five albums with The Iridium all knew, thanks in part to the sta-
uations,” the saxophonist said, “but I’ve always the Gwo-Ka Masters hand-drummers; and he’s a bility and flexibility of a rhythm team compris-
wanted to build a big band around him. This was mainstay of the World Saxophone Quartet, pen- ing the leader’s faithful bassist Jaribu Shahid,
our chance.” ning charts for himself with James Carter, Oliver drummer Chris Beck and pianist Steve Colson.
This chance arose as Murray has turned Lake and Hamiet Bluiett. Though usually identified as a member of the
increasingly to writing and arranging during the Give Murray a challenge and he delivers. experimental Association for the Advancement
past year, most notably the 19 parts for strings, Leave him alone and he challenges himself. of Creative Musicians (AACM), Colson has
brass and rhythm on the 2011 album David Melding the blues’ eternal three-chord progres- worked with Murray off and on since ’85. He
Murray Cuban Ensemble Plays Nat King Cole sion and harmolodics’ implicit embrace of a lim- didn’t find the blues-harmolodics hybrid to be a
En Español (Motéma). “I’ve kinda flipped into itless vocabulary may be his most daring feat yet. stretch at all.
being a music director now,” he said. “I’m writ- “The whole idea of harmolodic music is to “I’ve been playing blues quite a while,” the
ing for Macy Gray.” Indeed, the David Murray allow you total freedom,” Murray said. “It allows pianist stated. “Muhal [Richard Abrams, fre-
Blues Orchestra tours with Gray this sum- you to play in other people’s harmonics—that’s quent conductor of the AACM Experimental
mer and fall, starting in Finland and ending in the beauty of it. As a player, once you understand Band] would go from era to era and often get
Turkey. He’s on the r&b/soul singer’s new album, it, you become completely free. That’s an objec- into some romping blues mixed with more avant-
Covered (429 Records), and Gray told the New tive for me in playing with Blood—to become garde type stuff. This is a more stable projection,
York Times, “Whenever I do horns now, I’m totally free. I couldn’t do that before.” because Blood is such a blues guy. But still, the
going to send them his way.” Murray also has Murray’s saxophone solos are recognized for Ornette thing is in it. So it’s kind of crazy but a
recently scored an Afro-beat project for Tony raging unhampered from the horn’s honking bot- lot of fun.”
Allen, a drummer who played with Fela Kuti; tom to shrill overblown effects. But isn’t it hard to Trumpeter Shareef Clayton, whose solos
Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s Afro-Picks free up the blues’ rhythmic DNA, its fundamen- with the Blues Big Band demonstrated deep
revue; and a Detroit Motor City Remix with tal 4/4 backbeat? understanding of the use of mutes, agreed. “It’s
Amp Fiddler. The latter two projects took place “Well,” Murray replied, “with this band, our always fun to solo with a big band,” he said. “I
in Paris, where Murray resides. “All this stuff aggregation, we’re not trying to take it really far play in David’s Cuban Ensemble, too, and in his
writing for horns seems to have come to me,” he out, because the harmonies are so far out already. big band where we do his own compositions.
said, feigning surprise, “from weird situations I We play a lot of meter, yes, a lot of shuffles. With You have to watch David closely, though—if

36 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

you miss a hit that he’s conducted, he definite-
ly doesn’t like it.”
Clayton has worked with Stevie Wonder,
The Roots and Bobby Sanabria’s big band,
among others, and from that vantage point was
impressed with Ulmer’s power. “I pick up main-
ly on his singing; that’s what I try to emulate,
although he’s singing through his guitar playing,
too,” Clayton said. “The little things he does, the
details—not necessarily the notes he plays, but
his emphasis, how he feels it, how he lays back
on certain things—that’s what makes people get
into it more. Details distinguish one musician
from the next. I mean, anybody can get up to sing
the blues, but can you really sing it?”
The band member most impressed with
Ulmer may be Mingus Murray, David’s son. His
image as a toddler may be familiar to devotees
from the cover of the saxophonist’s 1991 octet
album Hope Scope, but now Mingus is a 23-year-
old guitarist and visual artist who has released
his own album, Mingus. He has been playing
with his father for three years, having taken les-
sons from some of David’s colleagues, such as
Kelvyn Bell and Ulmer, whom he called “a big
inspiration.”
“He’s one of the guys who’s leading the way
for guitar players,” Mingus said. “After Jimi
Hendrix, it’s him. I wouldn’t say he’s experimen-
tal—he’s just interesting. He’s thought out what
he does.” So has Mingus, whose rhythm chords
added to the Blues Big Band’s James Brown-like
groove, never obscured anything, always meshed
with and supported Blood.
Ulmer was appreciative of Mingus, too.
“He’s a young harmolodic soldier,” said the older
guitarist. “That’s what I call them, ‘harmolodic
soldiers,’ all the brothers who’ve rebelled against
Western European music and have tried to trans-
form their instruments into other sounds than the
way they were given. Believe me, this is happen-
ing. Cats come up to me and say, ‘Blood, I want
to be a harmolodic soldier.’ I tell them, ‘You are
a harmolodic solider!’”
Which makes David Murray a senior officer,
if not a general, of a harmolodic army, though
he seemed sensitive to scaring off potential
audiences of his Blues Big Band (a.k.a. “Blues
Orchestra”) with that description.
“What I’m trying to concentrate on here is
the blues aspect,” Murray noted before stepping
onstage for a rehearsal, “which actually brings
the music more inside than what I usually do. It
sounds ‘out there,’ anyway. But I had to go back
to school in terms of the blues to do this project. I
think we’ve come up with something that people
who appreciate both my and Blood’s musics can
enjoy, together, plus maybe bring some new peo-
ple in, too. Some people who don’t like the blues
might like what we’re doing, and people who
don’t like jazz might like what we’re doing. It’s
not a matter of selling out—it’s a matter of mak-
ing music people might like. Including myself.”
With that, the avant-gutbucketeer went up to
command his troop of irregulars through a quick
review of their harmolodic-blues paces. DB

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 37

The Dirty Dozen Brass Band has a new album, Twenty Dozen, on Savoy Jazz.
C
By Frank-John Hadley | Photo by Michael Weintrob
oncerts by The Dirty Dozen Brass Band are peppered with shouts of encour-
agement from the musicians onstage: “Get up! Shake it! Put a wiggle in your
walk!” This band knows everybody loves a parade, and they take their New
Orleans street pageantry to dizzying extremes by giving revelers jolt after jolt
of their patented funk-jazz. Over the course of 35 years, they have strutted
and shuffled their way to status as a Crescent City music institution and estab-
lished themselves as globetrotting ambassadors in the familial line of Louis
Armstrong.
Founding members Roger Lewis and Kevin you got to play all different kinds of music. We about the origins of the band. The
Harris (on saxophones), Gregory Davis and play r&b, trad jazz, modern jazz, anything at Hurricane and Tornado brass bands
Efrem Towns (on trumpets and flugelhorns) and any given time. Over the years we’ve recorded merged into the Original Sixth Ward
Kirk Joseph (on sousaphone) never flag in their with Elvis Costello, Manhattan Transfer, Dizzy Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
high regard for the tradition of brass bands in Gillespie, Branford Marsalis, the Black Crowes, KH: [Trombonist] Charles Joseph was the
New Orleans. They always find room for clas- Widespread Panic, Chuck D, BeauSoleil, even one who recruited me. I was driving a tow truck.
sic second line numbers in their repertoire and Dr. John and the great Eddie Bo. We’re all over He kept coming around and coming around, so I
sometimes can be found in happy-sad funer- the place. finally started going to rehearsals. We rehearsed
al processions back home. But from their very Gregory Davis: We’ve always had an for like two years before the Dirty Dozen first
start in 1977, the Dirty Dozen has taken a left influx of younger musicians coming into the walked out and played anywhere.
turn away from brass band conventionalism— band—keeping youth involved and really listen- RL: Charles introduced me to Kevin. Kevin
stiff oompah rhythms, for starters—and flaunted ing to the music that’s out now and continuing played tenor. I said to myself, We don’t need no
their delight over modern jazz and Big Easy r&b. to adapt to what’s there. I’m proud of relating to band with two tenor players. I’ll play baritone,
Today, with drummer Terence Higgins (a master audiences. Even if we had the same audience we like I was with Fats Domino. It was probably
of clave rhythm who joined in 1996) and young started out with 1977, that audience is 35 years a good thing because it gave the band a unique
new keyboardist Kyle Roussel rounding out the older and as long as people live, the more chang- sound. They didn’t use baritones in brass bands.
group, its hyper-animated parade music manag- es they go through. But we’ve been able to con- The baritone don’t just function as a background
es to maintain an air of fresh discovery. sistently identify a new audience. We’ve done instrument because it also functions as a lead
The Dirty Dozen’s recent visit to the Paradise
shows and tours with rock bands, jazz bands and instrument. Sometimes the baritone player plays
Rock Club in Boston, part of a long Stateside tour
r&b bands—we’ve always been able to reach what the trumpet player should be playing. It’s a
interrupted by a festival date in Japan, was typ-people in those audiences. free agent.
ically riotous, with the formidable front line of We just did a show with Trombone Shorty.
Davis, Towns, Lewis and Calvin Johnson (fill- We’re with the same booking agency. We were Gregory, is the trumpet another free
ing in for Harris) proving their jazz bona fides out on the road and Shorty was opening for us, agent?
with inside-outside solos, bebop unisons, riff- so that meant most of the people that were com- GD: It depends. Most of the time the trum-
ing counter-melodies, old-time polyphony. ing to show were Dirty Dozen fans, and probably pet is viewed as the lead or melody instrument,
Performing original tunes off their new album, most of them were older than Shorty, who’s in his depending on the song and what’s necessary at
Twenty Dozen (Savoy Jazz), along with time- twenties. But now he’s really hot and our agency the time. You just have to be able to adapt and
tested favorites, they harnessed bravura techni- flipped the script, and we’ve done some shows provide what’s needed—listen to a song, listen
cal flourishes just enough to keep the sonic masswhere we opened for Shorty. So to look into the to an arrangement, figure out where you belong,
of jubilation from spiraling out of control over an
audience and see some people in their late teens find your proper place.
85-minute set. and early twenties is really a gratifying situation.
Rested up and all set for more road work, Kevin Harris: There was one gig we What was the original musical con-
three Dirty Dozen stalwarts—plus Scott recently did at the Iowa State Fair. There were cept for the band?
Billington, producer of their best records—sat people dancing out there. This one particular girl RL: When we first started out playing—a lot
down to talk about their 35 years together. decided to push her mama off the stage, so all the of people don’t realize this—we played tradi-
other kids decided to push their parents off the tional New Orleans music, the marches like
DownBeat: What’s the secret to this stage, too. The next thing you know, we just got Paul Barbarin’s “Bugle Boy March” and hymns
band’s longevity? kids dancing to the music. Now in that audience, like “I’ll Fly Away.” But what we did was [this]:
Roger Lewis: We don’t put ourselves in you had the kid, the mother of the kid, the father Everybody had an opportunity to play whatever
one particular musical box. My background is of the mother, and the father of that father—so kind of music they wanted to play. Period. If you
r&b—I was in Fats Domino’s band quite a few you had four generations! want to play a Michael Jackson song, all right,
years, played gigs with Big Joe Turner and Bobby we’ll learn some Michael Jackson. I say, why
Bland—but when you grow up in New Orleans, There are several different stories don’t we play “Blue Monk” because I like “Blue

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 39

Monk,” so we played it in the second line and people were dancing off
“Blue Monk.” The same for “Bongo Beep,” a Charlie Parker tune. We start-
ed putting all these contemporary songs in, mixing it in with the tradition-
al music of New Orleans, and the people loooved it!
KH: The truth of the matter is that we wanted to play the kind of
music we wanted to play. We wanted to play the avant-garde jazz because
we were listening to Dizzy, Bird, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, even
Weather Report’s “Birdland.” That was the basic understanding.

Not everyone approved.

KH: The established traditional jazz guys didn’t want to hear nothin’
but New Orleans music on the streets, but after the first parade the people
dictated what was played so that’s how that went [laughs].
RL: Our music was keeping the tradition aaaalive! Not only that but
we started playing original music. I remember one Mardi Gras Day we
was playing for the marching club way uptown—you know, the march-
ing club before the parade starts. It was like 7 o’clock in the morning as
we started playing “Reveille,” what they usually played on the bugle when
waking up the troops, right? We marched around the street playing that
and then someone started playing “The Flintstones” TV theme. We got
“Reveille” and “The Flintstones” going on, then we added “The Star-
Spangled Banner” [laughs]. All three of those things happening, right? We
just kept that up all day!

The band had its first performances at a downtown place

called Daryl’s. But it was your Monday night gigs at the
Glasshouse that brought you wide recognition, right?
RL: Yeah, that was the spot. We used to put chairs in front of us as a
partition because we played on the floor and the dancers would bump into
us. One night we was there playing, and I looked out in the audience—
if you put 25 people in there you got a packed house, and that night we
must have stuffed about 75 in there—and I said, Wait a minute, that’s
Dizzy Gillespie and Bernard Purdie sitting at that front table! It can’t be;
I must be trippin’ [because] I had too much of whatever. Then I looked
over at the bar. It’s Fats Domino over there! Man, this can’t be happen-
ing! I looked at the back of the room and there was Manhattan Transfer!

Kevin, you’ve encountered scores of musicians from

various musical camps over the decades. Is there one
individual who stands apart from all the rest?
KH: Danny Barker. He was the one who influenced so many young
musicians in and around New Orleans. He started the Fairview Baptist
Church Band. I was in the first one he started [in 1972]. He influenced me,
and Efrem was in the next band after me, with countless other musicians.
Danny did a lot for revitalizing the brass band thing, getting it started back
up again because there weren’t too many people in it when we started. We
were the youngest ones at that time.
The Olympia Brass Band was a pretty good influence also. Everybody
wanted to play like Olympia—and that was the premier group for as long
back as before I was born. We’re from a different generation, and after
us, the Rebirth Brass Band’s from a different generation, and after that,
Trombone Shorty’s from another generation. He used to walk with us
when he wasn’t as tall as his trombone. The tradition goes back a long way.

The band’s played thousands of times all over the world.

Is there a one performance that stands out?
KH: In 1984, we hooked up with Dizzy Gillespie in Nice, France. That
was incredible because on that show too was the Texas Tenors [including
Illinois Jacquet and Buddy Tate], J.J. Johnson, Al Grey, Jimmy Woods,
Clark Terry, all these people we idolized. Here we come, a jazz band from
New Orleans, in Europe for the first time, and we go on after the Tenors.
The crowd went berserk. We hit them with some traditional stuff that was
great, but then we threw avant-garde jazz on them, like Bird’s “Bongo Beat”
and “Moose The Mooche.” The crowd just couldn’t believe a jazz band
from New Orleans with a different flavor to it that they shake their butt to—
that took it to another level. At the end of the set, these people we idolized
 Kirk Joseph (left) and Kevin Harris, 2010 New Orleans Jazz Festival Roger Lewis at Tipitina’s, 2006

erika Goldring

Erika goldring
for all of our short lives at that point were con- go out and do the show and then board the tour
gratulating us on making the next step. Even Diz bus or plane and hopefully resolve the differenc-
said, “Man, you all doing a good thing!” I’m talk- es. You hope you do settle things most of the time
ing about within the first five years of the band. and sometimes you don’t, but you got to go on for
Later, one of the memorable things was to hear the sake of the marriage.
Miles Davis in Washington, D.C.—James Brown
was there, too—and Miles actually walked into The new album reunites you with
the dressing room and looked at us and said, [imi- Scott Billington, who produced five
tating Davis’ distinctive voice] “You guys are all of your albums in the 1980s and early
right.” Then he walked out [laughs]. ’90s.
RL: The highlight for me was when we GD: We’ve always loved and respected Scott
played a concert with the Blind Boys of Alabama as a human being, but especially the work he had
[in late 2002 at the Keswick Theatre in Glenside, done, not only with the Dirty Dozen but with a
Pa.]. All the years I’ve been playing with the lot of other groups. We needed a neutral, honest
Dirty Dozen, all the gigs usually are good, but voice to say, “This song doesn’t work,” or “Add
this gig was exceptionally good. It was like this, take that out.” You’ve got to have somebody
everybody was on the same page. This one was who’s knowledgeable and honest to say what
so spiritual. There was so much feeling. they think works and what doesn’t work. You
don’t want to have some celebrity producer pat
What effect did Hurricane Katrina you on the back and go, “That’s great,” when it
have on the band? really might not be. Scott tells it like it is.
GD: We had to deal with the same human
things that everyone else had to deal with: the Scott, what’s your take on the mak-
flooding of your home and property, the displace- ing of Twenty Dozen?
ment of your family and friends. But because we SB: It was like coming home again. I’m
were touring all the time, anyway, Katrina real- always about trying to capture as much as possi-
ly didn’t have much of an impact on the band. ble live in the studio, especially with a band that
Instead of being able to say, OK, the tour bus is plays together all the time. You can feel the dif-
going to be at spot A in New Orleans, so have ference. We may go back to work on solos, or to
your family let you off, now we had to fly to the fine-tune an ensemble part, but the feeling has to
bus because we were all located in different cit- be there before we have a take. At the Music Shed
ies. I was in Houston, Roger was in Vicksburg, in New Orleans, we had separate glass-front-
Kevin was in Baton Rouge, and so on. ed rooms for the sousaphone, drums and guitar
amp, so there were good sight lines for everyone.
Has it been hard to keep everyone The trick is to get the arrangements tight enough
friendly with each other for so many that everyone can forget about them when we’re
years? finally going for it.
GD: It’s like a marriage: Sometimes it works
best to solve problems by knowing when to get How has the band changed?
away, knowing when to shut up, and knowing SB: The parade drums—separate bass and
when to say it. We’ve gone through all of those snare drum players—have been replaced by a
emotions. Once in a while we’ve gone through standard drum kit. It allows the band to take a
some brutal arguments about different things, step away from the marching-style second line
and after you have one of those, you still got to sound, and to expand the scope of what they can
get out and play the show. Sometimes we’ve had play, especially with a drummer like Terence
some of the best shows right after a big knock- Higgins. He was on it every take. There’s also
down, drag-out argument and fight. But every- a guitar on this record. Jake Eckert’s parts con-
one’s professional enough to put that aside and tribute mightily to the Afro-Caribbean feel of
many of the songs. The band stepped up with
very strong compositions. The writing is stron-
ger than ever. Without songs this good, no mat-
ter how good the band plays, you don’t have a
record. Overall, the band has become more of an
über-funk jazz band, while retaining every bit of
the New Orleans soul and grit that set them apart.

It’s been more than a decade since

you’ve loaded an album with mate-
rial from within the band.
GD: Well, on this record we have original
contributions from all of us that were in the orig-
inal band, and Terence has a contribution, too. So
being able to contribute stuff from all of the guys
is satisfying because it lets us know that every-
body has something to say. We don’t necessarily
have the same ideas or listen to the same types of
music, which has always been good for the band.
We put it all together just like a real good pot of
gumbo. You have some shrimp in it, some crab,
some people put okra in it, some people like it
with rice, some people like it without rice. It has
its own flavor, which can always get better.

Your song “Get Up” is a crowd-

pleaser.
GD: It was inspired by music that I had been
listening to by singer Deniece Williams, who
was produced by Earth, Wind & Fire. She has
a song on one of her records that had a 6/8 feel to
it. So I thought I would experiment with 3/4 or 6/8,
and at the same time I was listening to a lot of
Lee Morgan and Charles Mingus. Then one day
while I was on the tour bus, I came up with the
opening melody. I played around with it, and two
days before we recorded it, it came out right.

Kevin, your contribution is “Best Of

All.”
KH: It takes on a whole new experience. It
has a Brazilian kind of beat. We’ve had a couple
of different drummers in the band, but Terence is
the only one who can produce the Brazilian beat.
It came off great.
I must commend one of the members of the
band—Efrem Towns. He has never written a tune
in all the years [laughs]. His tune “Tomorrow” is
excellent. It’s some of the best stuff coming out
of a jazz player, and it has a lot of promise. I say
to him, “You’ve been writing 30 years.” He says
[imitating Towns’ speaking voice], “You got to
get it right. You can’t just put anything out there.
It took 30 years—so what!” [laughs] That makes
everybody a writer now.

Do you have another 35 years in you?

RL: I’m 70 years old, and it’s time to mellow
out a little bit. I’m on the verge of beginning to
really play the saxophone. I’m still working on
it. I’m getting close, though. I’m thinking it’ll be
another five or six years, if God spares my life,
to really play that thing. I guess that’s my future;
something to look forward to is waking up one
day and really playing my ass off [laughs]. You
have to keep it real, you know. DB

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 43

 Ken Vandermark

By Alain Drouot Photo by Mark Sheldon

K
en Vandermark is a perpetually inquisitive musician. “With improvised music, how can you
be spontaneous if you’re generating all the material?” he asks. “That paradox has always
messed with my head.”
The Chicago-based saxophonist and clari- set by his quartet Made To Break. Vandermark struggles when asked about his latest releases
netist has displayed a rare dedication in his also will premiere a commissioned composi- attest to the range of his work. Recent releases
quests to solve questions related to compo- tion with The Resonance Ensemble. include the solo recording Mark In The Water
sition, improvisation and ways to present his In the past, Vandermark’s good fortunes (NotTwo), Platform 1’s debut album Takes Off
music. Disciplined and outspoken, he has ruf- have been mixed blessings. When he received (Clean Feed), The Resonance Ensemble’s What
fled a few feathers along the way. a 1999 MacArthur Foundation grant at age 35, Country Is This? (NotTwo) and Cement (PNL)
Vandermark, who was born in Warwick, controversy ensued in certain corners of the by Double Tandem. New recordings by Made
R.I., earned a bachelor’s degree in film and jazz community. Detractors accused Daniel To Break, Topology II and Lean Left, as well
communications from Montreal’s McGill Kraus’ 2007 documentary Musician—which as a DKV Trio box set, are slated for the fall.
University. After working as a musician in used Vandermark as its subject and accurate- During an appearance at Milwaukee’s
Boston in the mid-’80s, he moved to Chicago ly depicted his day-to-day activities—of giv- Palm Tavern as part of Okka Fest, Vandermark
in 1989. Three years later, his life could have ing the wrong representation of the lifestyle of adopted funky modes on the tenor, went pas-
taken a totally different course, but circum- most jazz musicians. toral on the clarinet and swung hard on the
stances started to shift. A group of players Vandermark’s intense focus on his music baritone. After the gig, he paused to reflect on
around the same age, who shared similar artis- has helped him weather this type of criticism. some key moments in his career, the life of a
tic interests, joined forces to develop a thriv- And it should be noted just how much hard touring musician and his wide-ranging artistic
ing scene for improvised music in Chicago. work it took for him to achieve his current sta- pursuits.
Vandermark can be credited for bringing cut- tus. Nowadays, he keeps a positive outlook
ting-edge jazz to rock clubs and to a young- and relishes new challenges. He believes, for DownBeat: Did you move to Chicago to find
er audience in search of something differ- instance, that great opportunities are available a better outlet for your music?
ent, most notably with the series he curated because of the unprecedented access to record- Ken Vandermark: No. I felt I had an
with John Corbett at the Empty Bottle in the ed history that musicians currently enjoy. If understanding of the situation in Boston. The
Ukrainian Village neighborhood. the pitfall of duplication is eschewed, he sees reason for moving was not just musical; it was
The city that saw him blossom into an the possibility to create new shapes and forms also personal. I felt that I needed to leave and
international star acknowledged his contribu- through the investigation of musical aspects try something else. I knew I could always go
tions by inviting him to be the artist-in-resi- that have never been fully developed or exploit- back because there were musicians I was play-
dence at the 2012 Chicago Jazz Festival. The ed before. ing with there. So, I did not have a vision of
lineup for the free fest, which runs Aug. 30– Last year, he retired The Vandermark 5, what was going to happen.
Sept. 2, includes Ambrose Akinmusire, Steve one of his earlier and best-known groups, in
Coleman, Jerry Gonzalez, Roy Haynes, Dianne order to force a reassessment of his music. Is it true that after moving to Chicago you
Reeves and Allen Toussaint with Don Byron Indeed, over the years Vandermark has under- reached a point where you considered quit-
and Marc Ribot. Vandermark will play in a vari- taken a slew of musical endeavors in parallel to ting the business?
ety of configurations, including a duo perfor- this quintet. A quick look at his extensive dis- Well, not quitting the business, but going
mance with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love and a cography and the fact that Vandermark himself back to Boston. I moved to Chicago in

44 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Ken Vandermark at Abrons Arts Center, New York City, June 8, 2011
ken vandermark

September of 1989. The first couple of years, support. I’ve always been trying to find self- lationship you have developed with Paal
I tried to find musicians to play with and it sustainable situations outside of institutions Nilssen-Love?
didn’t work out. I am not a schooled player. I and grants. Ironically, I got the MacArthur, but Paal is in a lot of key groups for me.
am more or less self-taught, and a lot of people I never knew I was in the running for it. Through the creative aspect of playing, being
I was encountering did not like the way I was on the road together and dealing with the chal-
working. Then in January of 1992, [bassist] Is there a parallel between the Chicago lenge of trying to remain creative while on
Kent Kessler called me because he was putting Tentet, which you have been a member of, tour, [our] relationship has become extremely
a group together with [percussionist] Michael and your own project Resonance? These close. I trust him very much as a friend and as
Zerang. I did a few gigs with them. But even are two bands that have about the same a musician, which is fundamental for the type
then, I was really going to move back to Boston size/instrumentation and include musicians of music we’re playing. My work with the duo
because people I knew there, like [drummer] from various geographical areas. probably shows more development of my per-
Curt Newton, were still playing music, and I can see your point, but it was never really sonal playing than anything else I’ve done.
I could get more done with them. Michael thought out that way. With the Peter Brötzmann What I discover outside our relationship I bring
Zerang convinced me to stay. He asked me to Chicago Tentet, especially in the second phase, back to the duo, and I believe it is also true for
give it a year because we had just started this the music has been improvised, but I have Paal. It is the most basic unit possible for a sax-
band. Also, at that time, I met one my idols, always had an interest in writing music. With ophone player. You’ve got melody and rhythm,
Anthony Braxton, during a master class in Resonance, the organization of the group is time and sound.
Champaign-Urbana [in central Illinois]. My the result of a collaboration with [NotTwo
wife, Ellen Major, recommended I bring a cas- label head] Marek Winiarski. After going to Is there any type of music you’ve been listen-
sette. He listened to about 15 minutes of music Krakow many times, I wanted a project with ing to recently that is influencing your work?
and was very complimentary. That was a huge musicians from that area. Marek also suggest- The work that some members of The Ex
moment for me. This and Michael asking me ed [trombonist] Steve Swell, whom I had never have been doing with Ethiopian musicians
to stay were the two key factors that helped worked with before. A big part of it, too, was has had a really big impact on me. The way
me regain my confidence. I owe Michael and to acknowledge the importance of Michael Ethiopian music works has opened up a lot
Braxton a lot. Zerang’s playing. I had only played with him in of ideas for me rhythmically, melodically and
the Tentet and the Vandermark Quartet, which structurally. The phrasing and the rhythms
You became a MacArthur Fellow in 1999. was a tipping point in terms of defining the are truly amazing. Also, in the last few years,
How did this grant help further your career? music I wanted to play. I also needed people in my interest in working with electronics has
It gave me economic freedom for five the band who understood what I wanted to do had more impact, too. I like to work in elec-
years. I was able to put together the Territory musically and who I was familiar with, espe- tro-acoustic groups primarily because it pushes
Band—bringing musicians from Europe to cially having people from Ukraine or Poland I the sound palette for me. I am really passionate
play with Chicago players. The money helped had never played with. So, the band was based about extending the sonic capabilities and pos-
me organize a North America tour for the on different principles than the Tentet, and the sibilities on the horns. The way musicians like
Peter Brötzmann Chicago Tentet; it subsi- music is also radically different because of Christof Kurzmann or Lasse Marhaug think is
dized subsequent tours by The Vandermark 5 the way I organize it. There are parallels, but very different. I think that I found a better bal-
or School Days. My hope was that the funds they’re more like coincidences. ance between working with music I am com-
would give the music some traction in North posing and projects with just open impro-
America, which was naive in retrospect. The You have two piano trios. Free Fall does not vised situations. This balance is very important
biggest problem the music faces today is time have drums, and Side A has no bass. Would because those two things inform each other.
and money. We very rarely get any time to you be interested in a project with a com-
rehearse. We are putting out a huge amount of plete rhythm section? How have the challenges of a solo perfor-
music with a little budget. I don’t really think in those terms. mance evolved for you?
The MacArthur [grant] did not alter the Personnel is a big factor in those decisions Pretty dramatically. Solo is the hardest for-
working methods but the possibilities of the rather than instrumentation. [Pianist] Håvard mat. There is nothing worse than being alone
working methods. Doing that, it taught me a lot Wiik and I didn’t want to do a conventional on stage with nothing to play. In the early days,
about writing for large groups and touring. It jazz quartet; we thought in terms of players we my focus was to come up with a system to orga-
was really hard, but being the tour manager for wanted to work with. One of the big issues for nize the playing and not copy what had already
the Chicago Tentet was a priceless experience me and other musicians I work with is to have been done. I was fascinated by Braxton’s ideas
that not a lot people get to do. That’s part of our music defined for what it is and not put in about discovering these language types. I went
my DNA now. The things I learned then affect a box before you even play the first note. Our through my own clumsy process of trying to
everything I do now. goal is to defeat expectations and to liberate the find ways to do this. At some point, I used not
situation. notated material but visualized constructions.
You’re going to be the artist-in-residence It worked for a while, but once I figured out
at the upcoming Chicago Jazz Festival. Do Why did you decide to discontinue The Van- how to do it, I got bored with it. Then, I started
you think you have always received proper dermark 5? writing specific pieces for solo reed, and half of
recognition in Chicago? It was a very difficult decision. I got very it was completely improvised. Following that
I was very surprised when [the festival pro- frustrated at a certain point in trying to get lis- period I considered going the route of [trom-
grammers] got in touch with me. But I have teners and journalists in the United States inter- bonist] Paul Rutherford and just get on stage
received tons of acknowledgments for my work ested in my many other projects. An impor- and play. The way he dealt with improvisation
in Chicago and internationally. A lot of peo- tant reason for my decision was for people to was radical. You had the feeling he was getting
ple use the city to define me. Jazz institutions understand that my other projects are just as on stage and that’s what he was going to dis-
in Chicago are not interested in me because important as that group in shaping my ideas as cover at that time. So, I made the decision to
I work outside those frameworks. … In the well as my improvisational and composition- play without any guidelines or anything to lean
United States, creative artists can’t rely on sub- al approach. on. What I found is that the room becomes the
sidies, and I’m not interested in the amount of other: the deadness or live-ness of the room,
compromises you have to make to get financial Could you talk about the collaborative re- the way sound kicks.

46 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Do you have a favorite reed instrument economic model. I don’t know why. In a way, selves. I use it to get information out on what
among the four you play? Does your prefer- that might be good because how many people is happening on a tour, to share my experienc-
ence change? show up in a room might become a major fac- es and give my perspective on situations. I’d
It changes from night to night. Maybe 10 tor for presenters who no longer can rely on a rather do that than spend energy trying to cor-
years ago, I did a gig with only one horn, and subsidized system. rect what the media say. I also know that people
that’s when I realized I was a multi-instrumen- who follow my posts on Facebook are shocked
talist because I really missed the other ones. You’ve been using social media outlets. to learn about what we are dealing with. And
For instance, I was hearing something for the What is your take on them? Can they help that’s positive. Some musicians also get frus-
clarinet and it wasn’t there. Each horn is its own the music? trated at [unauthorized] YouTube posts. But we
universe. I am not a virtuoso, and I try to dis- I don’t spend much time on Facebook, and can’t fight it. Instead, we need to find a way to
cover what I can with each of the horns. But I use Twitter for updates. It’s well known that use it, because you cannot make an argument
the basis is the tenor. Probably because it’s the I have issues with the media, and systems like to a kid who can get anything for free on the
one I’ve played the longest but also because my Facebook can help musicians express them- Internet to pay for it. DB
fundamental stance comes from the tenor. And
I compose 80 percent of the time with the tenor.

You have the habit of dedicating your piec-

es, and you have sometimes been chas-
tised about it. How do you proceed with the
dedications?
There is a big misunderstanding about the
dedications, and I can see why. Especially
when I dedicate a piece to another musi-
cian, people think there might be a correla-
tion between the piece and the individual’s
music. But all the dedications are really thank-
you notes. Extremely rarely is there a correla-
tion between the piece itself and the nature of
the work of somebody else. They are not por-
traits but acknowledgments of people who had
a big impact on me. And the dedications come
after the work is done or even recorded. Also, it
might encourage people who are following my
music to check out those people’s works.

How do you deal with your grueling sched-

ule, one day in London, the next in Geneva,
and then bound for Barcelona? How does
it affect the quality of your performances?
The situation with touring is very problem-
atic. Since I started touring heavily about 10
years ago, there’s been an erosion of possibil-
ities. You used to be able to go to Europe for
a few weeks and tour in one country. In recent
years, it has become difficult to play a city
more than once. When you do one-nighters, the
only people who know what’s happening with
the music are the band, not the audience. And
now, the one-nighters are country to country.
You can’t sustain that; it’s brutal. And you have
to deal with the fact that the audience expects
you to perform at your best because it is your
job and responsibility. The adrenaline rush that
you get is what makes it possible every night.
Like with athletes, it’s the psychology of reach-
ing for the highest level. Also, what helps me
is that I’ve learned how to sleep standing up or
anywhere.

How have things changed in Europe since

you started going there?
Without Europe, I wouldn’t be able to sur-
vive as a musician. The big change in Europe is
about subsidies. The Netherlands and Sweden
used to be artistic utopia from an American
standpoint. Now they are using the American

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 47

INDIE LiFE

Chris Greene
Network Builder
C
By Ed Enright | Photo by Ozzie Ramsay

hris Greene is serious about spreading the word through social media out- Greene perpetually promotes his art. His
lets and harnessing the power of aggressive fun- tools? Enticing email blasts. Personal notifi-
his art. But when it comes draising techniques, promotional giveaways, cations via Facebook and Twitter. Homemade
to promoting his quartet creative marketing tactics and innovative online YouTube video trailers and testimonials that
distribution channels, the Chris Greene Quartet serve as commercials for the quartet’s gigs
and drumming up support for new has developed a devoted fan base and solidified and recordings. Creating a band logo and band
recordings and live shows, nothing its reputation among important music present- merchandise. Offering VIP seating packages
is off the table. ers on the Chicago scene. for special performances. Sharing free DVDs
“We’re just using the tools of the time,” and bonus audio tracks with select customers.
Greene has shown that he can run an indie said Greene, who has been able to give his Increasing his online sales through websites
marketing campaign that hits harder and ranges band’s new CD, A Group Effort (Single Malt like ArtistData.com and Bandcamp.com. This
wider than most jazz musicians ever dreamed Recordings), a strong promotional push thanks is just a partial list of the myriad yet inexpen-
possible. The tenor/soprano saxophonist and in part to a successful fundraising campaign sive methods Greene uses to generate excite-
bandleader has embraced many of the promo- through Kickstarter. “It’s always a daunting ment about his band, connect with listeners and
tional methods that have long been utilized by task to promote your own stuff, but the cool turn potential new followers into true believers.
musicians in the pop and hip-hop communi- thing is there are so many ways to get the word And when audiences show up and express their
ties but are often overlooked by jazz artists. By out there.” appreciation, he goes the extra mile to make

48 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

sure they keep coming back for more. and give you some great ostinatos, and that’s
“I have this theory that when it comes to what I need—a guy who can do both.
jazz musicians, we’re 10 to 15 years behind “Same thing with our drummer, Steve
your typical indie rock or hip-hop band,” said Corley,” Greene continued. “He comes out of
Greene, a native of Evanston, Ill., who turns playing on Chicago’s South Side gospel scene.
40 this August. “They’re doing things like giv- He knows how to respond and build music up
ing songs away as free downloads, and they’re and bring it down to a whisper—great dynam-
diligent about maintaining their email lists. Or ics. And just like Marc, when it comes to laying
even shaking hands with people in the audience down some funk, I can call up that feel and he’s
and thanking them for coming—something right there.
like that goes a long way, and that’s the kind of “Our pianist, Damian Espinosa, grew up lis-
thing we tend to drop the ball on because we’re tening to Rush and The Police, but he’s also got a
so into playing our music and being original. strong classical background and a ton of harmon-
That’s fine, but there’s a way to build an audi- ic knowledge. He makes our songs sound hipper
ence doing this, too.” than they actually are and gets a lot of mileage
To illustrate his point, Greene recalls an out of his voicings.”
epiphany he experienced after attending a Greene prides himself in leading a quartet
show by the rap/funk/soul band Spearhead whose members are locked-in regulars. Since
in the 1990s. “At the time, no one knew who its formation in 2007, the Chris Greene
Spearhead was, but [bandleader Michael Quartet has undergone only one personnel
Franti] gave everyone a four-song cassette after change (when Corely was brought onboard
the show,” Greene recalled. “He asked every- last August). “I wanted to have a steady group
one to listen to it and share it with their friends, of musicians, where if I handed a club owner
and said they’d be back at the venue in a month. a demo CD, at the very least, the guys you
And I thought, ‘This dude is crazy. He’s gonna hear on the recording are going to be the same
go broke giving away all this music.’ But I’ll be guys you see on the night of the gig,” Greene
damned—I was just [barely] able to get a tick- said, noting that his bandmates often contrib-
et to go see that second show because it was ute compositions of their own to the set list.
packed, based on the strength of the buzz he “That goes a long way toward building our
built up with that simple cassette. So nowadays, sound and developing our repertoire, but also
you have streaming audio, not to mention the building a relationship with a club. They know
whole Radiohead thing where people pay what there’s going to be that consistency. It’s not just
they want for music on various websites. Tools me and three guys I can find; it’s the four of us
like that go a long way toward cultivating a rela- together onstage. I’m always loyal to them, and
tionship between a band and the people on the they’re just as loyal to me.”
scene who are willing to follow you around The importance of consistency carries over
from club to club.” into Greene’s work ethic, too. “There are cer-
It doesn’t hurt that the Chris Greene Quartet’s tain work habits that can make your life easier
music is rich in content, as well as just downright when it comes to building an audience or pro-
fun. Soulful, funky and rhythmically layered, A moting a gig,” he said. “It’s our job, as much as
Group Effort presents a highly interactive ensem- any other thing, and the way I conduct myself
ble that’s well-schooled in straightahead jazz yet as a business helps sustain a sense of profes-
has deep connections to more modern, popular sionalism. Sometimes that can be a drag, but
genres. Recorded live last October at Chicago’s if you combine it with Facebook and Twitter—
intimate Mayne Stage theater, the album con- which are, after all, social networks—you’re
sists of six groove-heavy tracks (including five able to inject some personality and humanity
originals and a backbeat-heavy interpreta- into the procedure. So you’re not just a work-
tion of Kenny Dorham’s “Blue Bossa”), each of ing machine; you actually look like somebody
which lasts 10 minutes or more. Catchy melodies who’s an interesting human being.”
abound, textures change at the drop of hat and And it pays off. After putting so much work
excitement levels intensify as each improvisation into the production and promotion of A Group
unfolds. Effort, Greene has learned just how much audi-
“The one overarching thing that I like about ence potential exists out there, waiting to be
everybody in the quartet is that we are all osten- tapped. He says he was overwhelmed by how
sibly jazz musicians, but we came up listening much money the Kickstarter campaign generat-
to a variety of different things as kids of the ed, far exceeding his goal of $3,150. “I discov-
’80s,” said Greene, seated at a sidewalk café ered that we’ve built up an incredible amount
in his hometown. “We’re addressing tradition- of good will over the years,” he said. “There’s
al elements, but at different angles. I grew up a good market out there for us indie artists who
listening to early hip-hop and Prince and Public are grinding away every day trying to push the
Enemy, and my parents were big soul fanatics. music. As an independent jazz band, we can
Marc Piane, our bass player, is really into Frank complain about how jazz is ignored, but the
Zappa and music that has those textural shifts, fact that people put up their hard-earned money
much like that song ‘Stat’ on the new CD. Marc in this economy to back what we’re doing was
loves Ray Brown, Paul Chambers and guys who really flattering. It’s nice to know we’ve got a
can swing, but on a dime he can turn around support system out there.” DB

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 49

INDIE LiFE

50 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 51
INDIE LiFE

Ben Powell
Industrious Violinist
S
By Bob Gendron | Photo by Ryan MacDonald

ome guys are born lucky. and a move to Boston followed. During his first probably doing the same thing as you. You’re
week at the school, he supported legends such not the only one. I was lucky. I recorded my
And some guys combine as Herbie Hancock and Paul Simon at one of first proper CD during my last year at Berklee.
good fortune with hard the institute’s anniversary concerts. I wanted to have something out so that I could
In spite of his good fortune, Powell—who send it to people and start to get the word out.”
work to make things happen. straddles Hot Club jazz and classical music— Powell’s name continues to spread. The lyr-
Ben Powell grew up in a household in doesn’t lay claim to a silver spoon. Rather, the ical violinist’s chamber-flavored album New
which his mother taught Suzuki violin and his 25-year-old instrumentalist relies on his affa- Street contains four original compositions,
father worked as a cellist. A native of England, ble demeanor and savvy networking skills to as well as tracks that pay tribute to Stéphane
he began studying classical violin at the age make ends meet, forge personal connections Grappelli. Three songs on the self-released set
of 2, started balancing classical and jazz vio- and advance professional aims. feature vibraphonist/Berklee instructor Gary
lin techniques at 12 and learned the drums for “Entering the world as a self-employed Burton and guitarist Julian Lage (a fellow
fun. As a teenager, he played in the National musician after being in a bubble as a student Berklee alumnus). They appear on the stand-
Youth Orchestra of Great Britain. There, his at a conservatory music school is really daunt- out track “Gary,” which Grappelli penned for
multidisciplinary approach drew the attention ing,” admits the extroverted Powell the morn- Burton shortly after the duo teamed up on
guest conductor Keith Lockhart, who told him ing after a gig at Chicago’s legendary Green 1969’s Paris Encounter. When Lage introduced
about Berklee College of Music. A scholarship Mill. “The nice thing is that your friends are Powell to Burton, and the latter found out about

52 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

the protege’s intent to honor Grappelli, histo-
ry came full circle. Burton, more than four
decades removed from receiving the compo-
sition, finally played “Gary” for the first time
during the New Street sessions.
For Powell, this collaboration was the
result of dogged self-promotion and a knack
for anticipating hoped-for possibilities. He
turned a Tanglewood Jazz Festival appear-
ance into a springboard for wider recognition
by paying someone to videotape the perfor-
mance. Powell augmented the idea by shoot-
ing an EPK video.
“I was already thinking about how I could
expose myself from that experience while per-
forming at a level that I wanted to see myself
doing more of,” Powell says. “We can use
those opportunities as leverage to get other
things. You have to know how to work with
what you’ve got in order to get more.”
Powell cleverly employs technology to
achieve such goals. “I can introduce myself to
people who have ‘met’ me through promotion
online,” he says. “Every year, I meet more peo-
ple on the Internet, and then meet them in per-
son and end up playing with them. In the Hot
Club/Django [Reinhardt] world, it’s a small
community. It’s easy for me to contact them
and get on their radar.”
At home, the Boston resident supplements
his income by teaching classical students
about jazz and by playing weddings with the
International String Trio. On the road, he lim-
its expenses by crashing on friends’ couches,
and he reaches out to leaders in the local music
community wherever he goes.
“Trips like this are important because I’m
meeting people who will probably hire me to
come back here—people who present festi-
vals,” he explains. “As much as I dial in on the
Internet to get in touch with musicians around
the world, I make even more effort to see how
I can meet those people in person. The human
element to any relationship remains in the
memory more than any licks you play.”
Indeed, word-of-mouth recommendations
have landed Powell spots on other artists’ CDs.
These jobs help the classically trained instru-
mentalist pursue world and Hot Club music
leads. Despite having only a handful of gigs
lined up in advance, Powell recently complet-
ed a six-month stint in Paris. For the jazz vio-
lin devotee, eking out a living while playing
with Gypsy musicians and seeing Grappelli’s
old apartment first-hand proved irresistible.
“There wasn’t much money the first
month,” he recalls. “It was jump in and meet
everybody you can meet. You play in front
of anybody you can, and you just hope your
music and playing does the talking for you.
I got gigs at a restaurant here, a coffee shop
there. I was in a wine cellar at 3 a.m. playing
with people I could not communicate with lin-
guistically, but could musically. That’s a real-
ly powerful experience to have. I’ll never for-
get it.” DB

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 53

INDIE LiFE

Household Flourishes
A label founder reflects on his company’s silver anniversary

N
By Josef Woodard

ow 25 years old, the inde- Headless Household, from left: Dick Dunlap,
Tom Lackner and Josef Woodard

pendent label Household

Ink Records qualifies as
an accident that morphed into a tra-
dition that refuses to die. Spawned
as the “home” of the band Headless
Household, the willfully diverse la-
bel traces its roots back to a natural
alliance of oddball musicians, rest-
lessly needing a collective expres-
sive outlet in the beach-side tourist
haven of Santa Barbara, Calif., in
the fall of 1983.

kim Reierson
The lineup included Dick Dunlap on key-
boards, Tom Lackner on drums and percus- Nate Birkey
sion, Chris Symer on bass, and myself on gui-
tar. Armed with an apparently endless fount
of original compositions and concepts with
dubious commercial potential, we decid-
ed a band branding was in order. As Headless
Household—headless vis à vis both a demo-
cratic, leaderless ideal and an early avoidance
of musical “heads” (an idea soon violated)—we
culled various interests in free improvisation,
sundry jazz inklings, ECM-ish lyricism, pro- Julie Christensen
gressive-rock notions, hints of folk traditions and
other inklings ill-suited to the pantheon of avail- album Inside/Outside USA (on compact disc) in nist Karen Hammack and drummers Jeff Ballard
able, definable and salable musics of the day. 1993. This was our tipping point of “labeldom” and Kenny Wollesen. Alto saxophonist David
A few years into the adventure, we had a as we branched out, inviting others into the fold. Binney has been a fly-in soloist on several CDs.
growing oeuvre that hadn’t been documented Soon, the label’s roster included the alt-rock band Piltch, who spent years in singer k.d. lang’s
and no likely prospects for a record deal. Around flapping, Flapping; the art-folk group Dudley; band, recorded with Headless Household and
the same time, in my day-job mode as a music and the fusion band Lean-To. released his genre-crossing album Minister Of
journalist, I was working on a story about New Fast-forward to now, and Household Ink The Interior with a list of guests that included
Music Distribution Service, launched by pianist Records has 36 titles and no sign of slowing lang and guitarist Bill Frisell.
Carla Bley and others as a clearinghouse for down, settling into the era when digital down- In the label’s jazz niche, Birkey has been a
independent and artist-run record labels, espe- loads supply more income than physical prod- vital force, with six albums out and a gospel
cially from “new music” and alternative musi- uct does. Logistically, the label’s business model disc in the works. “I believe I have been dubbed
cal enclaves. In a hot, crammed New York City hovers around the idea of an artists’ co-op: The the token ‘straightahead jazz’ artist for the
office, Yale Evelev, then head of the operation, musicians cover most of the costs of produc- label, which is fine by me,” he said. “They have
told me, “Everyone should have a label.” Voilà, tion, while the label provides infrastructure and a always been supportive of whatever I come up
a motto and motivation. Thanks, Yale. “corporate” home base. with, from my Ballads album, to my all-original
In 1987, we released our eponymous debut. Eight of the current roster’s albums are by album The Mennonite, to my Christmas album.”
Our new label was dubbed Household Ink, a Headless Household. Among the other Twenty-five years after the origins of
twist on Household Inc. Naturally, one outlet for Household artists are trumpeter/vocalist Nate Household Ink, independent and artist-run labels
this debut vinyl LP was New Music Distribution Birkey, singer Julie Christensen and bassist are far more common, and the very nature of a
Service, whose catalogue blurb opined, “It’s hard David Piltch—all connected to the expandable, record label is in flux. But whatever the techno-
to categorize these guys, though their music’s guest-heavy Household band. logical trappings and economic challenges of
playful, quirky, sometimes downright silly, Along the path, Household Ink titles inter- our modern times, an independent record label
sometimes quite soothing.” sected with established figures from the jazz and remains grounded in the raw necessity of musi-
After years of languishing and recovering, pop worlds. Christensen’s dedicated “jazz” proj- cians heeding the urge to make music manifest,
Headless Household put out the sophomore ect, Something Familiar, included longtime pia- by whatever means necessary. DB

54 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 55
 Masterpiece ★★★★★ Excellent ★★★★ Good ★★★ Fair ★★ Poor ★
Inside 
61 I Jazz
64 I Blues
69 I Beyond
73 I Historical
74 I Books

Orrin Evans
salvatore corso

Orrin Evans seat vibe. The disc’s first track, Faith In Action found Evans turn- passages and full-tilt pummeling.
Flip The Script Eric Revis’ “Question,” can be ing a corner. His blend of expres- “The Answer” finds them feed-
Posi-Tone 8100 considered an answer of sorts—if sionism and design attained its ing Evans all sorts of gear-shifting
HHHH you were trying to determine how long-sought nexus. Flip The Script lines to mess with. You can feel
quickly three musicians could give continues that confluence. The the crackle of their interplay dur-
There’s a reason action movies do abstraction an architectural feel jaunty theme of “TC’s Blues” ing the ballads, too. “When” fea-
so well at the box office. Audiences while consistently recalibrating makes room for hard-driving tures Edwards with mallets, giv-
crave drama, tension, explosions momentum. Album openers are swing and fitful eloquence. Evans ing the pianist’s forlorn theme
and the lulls that nurture the supposed to provide a preview of is a Thelonious Monk man in this extra impact. Even the wistful solo
power of these elements. Listening what’s ahead, and this one spells regard. His fingers are jackham- update of MFSB’s “The Sound
to Orrin Evans’ best records, or out Script’s thesis: Punchy inter- mers, and whenever he needs to Of Philadelphia” reaches out and
catching the pianist on an espe- play is paramount. punctuate a note, his jabs trigger slaps you a bit, just to make sure
cially hot gig, can be similar to Corralling agitation is some- big reactions from his colleagues. you’re knee-deep in melancholy.
absorbing the twists of a blow- thing this bandleader has been Both Wolfe and Edwards are  —Jim Macnie
’em-up flick. It’s not two minutes working at for more than a decade. down with the boss’ aesthet- Flip The Script: Question; Clean House; Flip The
into Flip The Script that the cre- His records for Criss Cross and ic. The bassist is expert at milk- Script; When; Big Small; A Brand New Day; TC’s
ative chaffing between bassist Posi-Tone never shun lyricism, but ing groove via counterpoint, and
Blues; Someday My Prince Will Come; The An-
swer; The Sound Of Philadelphia. (45:20)
Ben Wolfe and drummer Donald they always shoot for (and usually one of the drummer’s strengths Personnel: Orrin Evans, piano; Ben Wolfe,
bass; Donald Edwards, drums.
Edwards elicits an edge-of-your- achieve) a palpably physical feel. is transitioning between feathery Ordering info: posi-tone.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 57

 Tomorrow Sunny, Elliot Humberto Kavee
plays drums here, bringing with him a textured
and unforced sensibility, a marked difference
from his less subtle precursor, Dafnis Prieto.
Cellist Christopher Hoffman seems complete-
ly at home contributing fragments to the the-
matic whole or bowing a brief, stacatto solo.
The march component that had been part of
Threadgill’s writing is now more slight, insin-
uated in Jose Davila’s understated tuba. Space
has opened up and what was once fairly sparse
now has lots of air in it, which serves a fine
improviser like guitarist Liberty Ellman well.
Shards of melody pass, sometimes congeal-
ing into a fully realized line, played in tandem
Henry Threadgill Zooid even, but otherwise left an implication, barely
Tomorrow Sunny/ recognized, transparent as a ghost. Cassandra Wilson
The Revelry, Spp Someone could feel that Tomorrow Sunny Another Country
Pi 43 is too sketchy, but stick with it: The disc eOne Music 2412
HHHHH dares not to overstate. At the end of “See The HHH1/2
Blackbird Now,” Threadgill’s bass flute plays a
Henry Threadgill’s uncompromising stand as a line, typically fascinating, and the track’s ecol- Great singers typically find a strength and build
composer and leader has been manifest in a ogy snaps into line. There are passages orga- on it. Cassandra Wilson has shown what can
number of working bands. The trio Air gave an nized more along his earlier conventions, like be done with a weakness. Her monochromatic
early glimpse of his brilliance, and, later, with “Ambient Pressure Thereby,” with its pivoting, range resides in a narrow, whispered and wind-
his Sextett and Very Very Circus and Make A off-kilter funk, recalling the thrilling maneu- blown voice that invites a nocturnal, meditative
Move he developed the basic germ, which had vers with Air. But the string-centric chamber focus that can be remarkably expressive and,
to do with finding the seam between coherence planet that Threadgill has cultivated is utterly patience permitting, lulling to the senses. In
and fracture, asserting interdependence with magnetic, even at its least overt. Another Country, her move from Blue Note to
a high degree of independence among play-  —John Corbett eOne seems no occasion for breaking conspic-
ers, cultivating short solos and exploring the Tomorrow Sunny/The Revelry, Spp: A Day Off; Tomorrow Sun- uously new ground. Her work here has a good
thresholds of melodic identity. With this incar- ny; So Pleased, No Clue; See The Blackbird Now; Ambient Pres-
sure Thereby; Put On Keep/Frontispiece, Spp. (44:13) deal in common with her earlier efforts.
nation of Zooid, Threadgill has yet again found Personnel: Henry Threadgill, alto saxophone, flute, bass flute;
Liberty Ellman, guitar; Christopher Hoffman, cello; Jose Davila,
As before, she works in a spare and spa-
the ideal vehicle for his evolving ideas. trombone, tuba; Stomu Takeishi, bass guitar; Elliot Humberto cious environment that never crowds her sound
As on the extraordinary discs that preceded or rolls over her words. Though supported by a
Kavee, drums.
Ordering info: pirecordings.com
soft, rippling percussion and the ambient purr
of Julien Labro’s occasional accordion, these
Christian Scott calm, acoustic pieces feel more like dry duets
Christian aTunde Adjuah with producer Fabrizio Sotti, a silky smooth
Concord Jazz 33237 guitarist whose only other exposure in the jazz
HHH sector (that I know of) was in 2003 on Wilson’s
Glamoured CD for Blue Note.
It’s great to hear Christian Scott stretch out on As usual, the repertoire is a mix of styles
this project that signals his transformation to a and inspiration, though it includes one famil-
new name embracing his heritage as a Mardi iar melody to which Wilson adds her own
Gras Indian and fearlessly takes on social Italian lyric: “O Sole Mio.” Beyond that,
issues. But while Scott rises to moments of the tunes are merely original collaborations
penetrating emotional truth, there is a lot of between Wilson and Sotti, few of any note.
chaff on this bloated epic. The rewards are in the manner, not the matter.
But wheat first. Scott’s high wail and We get a bit of blues (“No More Blues”), bossa
Matthew Stevens’ dark, repeated guitar riff nova (“Almost Twelve”) and the just plain odd-
on “New New Orleans” feels as inexorable as ball: “Olomuroro” is a simple four-bar African
floodwater itself. In a warmer spirit, Stevens’ refrain. There is little that a singer of Wilson’s
guitar solo lights up “Vs. The Kleptocratic talent can bring to it, so she simply rides the
Union,” soaring over delightfully interactive delivering a message as straightforwardly as repeated interludes with a gentle but rather
bass and drums. Even on these strong tracks, possible.  —Paul de Barros pointless counterpoint.
though, Scott is at best an episodic soloist— Christian aTunde Adjuah: Disc One: Fatima Aisha Rokero 400;
“Olomuroro” also uses a children’s choir in
stabbing, wailing and tumbling with a gor- New New Orleans (King Adjuah Stomp); Kuro Shinobi; Who They much the same way Wilson deployed a similar
Wish I Was; Pyrrhic Victory Of aTunde Adjuah; Spy Boy/Flag Boy;
geous tone and terrific articulation, but rarely vs. The Kleptocratic Union (Mrs. McDowell’s Crime); Kiel; Of Fire ensemble in “Waters Of March” on her Belly
grabbing the thread of a story. When he turns (Les Filles de la Nouvelle Orleans); Dred Scott; Danziger (60:31).
Disc Two: The Berlin Patient (CCR5); Jihad Joe; Van Gogh; Liar Liar; Of The Sea album a decade ago. 
to personal issues, like his marriage (“I Do”), I Do; Alkebu Lan; Bartlett; When Marissa Stands Her Ground; Cu-
mulonimbus; Away (Anuradha & the Maiti Nepal); The Red Rooster;
 —John McDonough
the trumpeter glistens with the regal clarity Cara (58:43).
Don Cherry achieved with the group Codona.
Personnel: Christian Scott, trumpet, siren, sirenette, reverse flugel- Another Country: Red Guitar; No More Blues; O Soli Mio; Deep
horn; Matthew Stevens, guitar; Jamire Williams, drums; Kris Funn, Blue; Almost Twelve; Passion; When Will I See You Again; Another
So it might be wise for Scott to leave tracks bass; Lawrence Fields, keyboards; Kenneth Whalum III, tenor
saxophone (Disc Two, 5); Louis Fouche III, alto saxophone (Disc
Country; Letting You Go; Olomuroro. (43:41)
Personnel: Cassandra Wilson, vocals (1–3, 5–8, 10); Fabrizio Sotti,
like “Who They Wish I Was” to self-impor- One, 9; Disc Two, 8); Corey King, trombone (Disc One, 9, 10; Disc
Two: 4, 10).
Cassandra Wilson (1), guitar; Julien Labro, accordion; Nicola Sora-
to, bass; Mino Cinelu, Lekan Babalola, percussion.
tant folks like Kanye West and concentrate on Ordering info: concordmusicgroup.com Ordering info: eonemusic.com

58 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Hot Box
The

CD Critics 

Orrin Evans
John McDonough John Corbett Jim Macnie Paul de Barros

★★★★ ★★★★½ ★★★★ ★★★

Flip The Script

Henry Threadgill Zooid ★★½ ★★★★★ ★★★★ ★★★★

Tomorrow Sunny

Cassandra Wilson ★★★½ ★★★ ★★★ ★★★★

Another Country

Christian Scott ★★★½ ★★★★ ★★★ ★★★

Christian aTunde Adjuah

Critics’ Comments

Orrin Evans, Flip The Script

A modest trio set perhaps, but Evans is a complete package—hard-swinging piano power laced with an
instinct for seasoning straightahead arcs of notes with the offbeat non-sequitur or occasional flash of quirk. In
the larger historic context, nothing unusual. But in the moment, a pleasure to hear. —John McDonough
Absolutely winning program. Perfect swinging little outfit, as well balanced as the classic Herbie Nichols
trios, with the modest goal of repaying attentive listening. The music has edges and corners and—within its
constraints—takes chances.   —John Corbett
Philadelphia pianist Evans speaks deeply from the blues and gospel, but unlike Eric Reed, say, in a warm and
supple voice tempered with Thelonious Monkish quirks. I love how Evans colors outside the lines on “Big
Small” and that he never plays the melody on “Someday My Prince Will Come” but still gets to the heart of it.
Sometimes he seems to stop too soon, though. I’d like to hear him get more expansive.   —Paul de Barros

Henry Threadgill Zooid, Tomorrow Sunny

Evenly split between high-strung anxiety and caprice, which is pleasantly coherent and in the moment; and
a barren stillness in which the music seems entrapped in a contented stupor. The leader’s flute has a taciturn
grace, while his alto tends to bark its passions. More for the loft than the club scene. —John McDonough
This is Zooid’s quiet album. All the signature syncopation is still in place, but a hush is dominant. A reliance
on strings and the prominence of the leader’s flutes give this one an eerie feel. Pithy fragments stack up, and
Threadgill shows how deep his designs actually are. —Jim Macnie
It’s no accident Threadgill played with a group called Air all those years. The space in between is as important
in his music as the sculptural solids of the notes themselves. There’s something irresistibly, straightforwardly
happy and random here, like an Alexander Calder mobile spinning in the breeze. The guitar and cello provide
a soft contour for Threadgill’s spitting alto; the tuba is a droll anchor. —Paul de Barros

Cassandra Wilson, Another Country

The folky matrix for the singer was established in the Craig Street years, maybe never done better. While I
appreciate his fluidity, Fabrizio Sotti doesn’t bring the sound of surprise to these tracks that Brandon Ross
and Kevin Breit did. The new songs and their production are too ordinary for such an extraordinary voice as
Wilson.  —John Corbett
Waxing sketchy is the essence of her art. A whisper here, a growl there—her voice carries the day in sparse
settings, and the backdrop provided by guitarist Sotti is more hushed than usual. The downside is mood
sometimes overwhelms melody.  —Jim Macnie
I’ve been waiting a long time for a new Cassandra Wilson album I could really love. Brighter, crisper, faster
and so much less self-involved than usual, Wilson sounds passionate and plausible, even on the bel canto
warhorse “O Sole Mio.” Like she says, “Close your eyes, hear the beat and you can feel the heat.” I sure can.  
 —Paul de Barros

Christian Scott, Christian aTunde Adjuah

New name and tribal-despot pose, needless distractions for an accomplished talent, who overplays a rich
sound and graceful technique in flashy, high-wire flurries and fanfares. Protest angle is a strained program-
matic conceit. I don’t get the hype. A strong voice still in search of something to say. Nice muted musings
recall Miles Davis. —John McDonough
Much more interesting than earlier Scott releases, factoring a Radiohead curveball into the expansive
proceedings. Drummer Jamire Williams propels the leader’s ambitions, keeping things loose even when they
need power. Scott’s tunes seem to want to assert their significance, which makes more spacious moments
like “Vs. The Kleptocratic Union” welcome.  —John Corbett
Scott gets a pat on the back for the ambition. His venture into soundscape narrative is impressive. But this
is a book that demands less chapters. Several of the pieces rely on mood, not interplay, to tell their story. A
single album could have had more punch. —Jim Macnie

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 59

 other players and the singer’s phrasing sug-
gest as to why these three may have put this
music together in the first place. While their
take on Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo” even-
tually seems to drag, it’s still filled with obvi-
ous sincerity. And Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower
Is A Lovesome Thing” reminds us how the
song will always be revisited by artists patient
and desirous enough to mine its immense col-
ors and moods. That’s a lot to realize in a sing-
er, even a veteran like Silvano, who, no doubt,
sings this song a tad differently than she did
when she was 20 years younger.
That’s not to say the upbeat numbers don’t
communicate. Irving Berlin’s “It Only Happens
When I Dance With You,” an unconvention-
al inclusion, does have that bounce, Silvano’s Kenny Wheeler Big Band
Judi Silvano movements with Tomlinson suggesting a real The Long Waiting
Indigo Moods dance on the floor. And Antonio Jobim’s “If You Cam Jazz 5044
Jazzed Media 1058 Never Come To Me” provides a window into HHH
HHH Silvano’s scat sensibilities along with perhaps the
best example of this trio playing as one. Ending Kenny Wheeler sits in the shadows, biding his
To hear a singer sing without a net like Judi this set with two lovelorn melodies—a reinven- time. Well, not really, but on The Long
Silvano does on her Indigo Moods is to invite tion of Thelonious Monk’s “Ugly Beauty” with Waiting, he lets his superb band do a lot of the
an intimacy that ought to be germane to the art lyrics for “Still We Dream” and the short, sweet flashy lifting. Wheeler is a soloistic presence
of singing ballads and torch songs. Channeling duet with Jacobs on “I’ll Be Seeing You”—prof- on the album, of course—his flugelhorn nim-
the spirits of Rosemary Clooney and Ella fer the kind of simple delight in a song that seems bly jumping from tones in the middle of his
Fitzgerald, Silvano takes her own path in the rare, indeed. —John Ephland range to stratospheric squeals—but his band-
end, sidling up to trumpeter Fred Jacobs and mates equally share the spotlight.
pianist Peter Tomlinson for 14 standards that An alto saxophone takes the pole position
Indigo Moods: Mood Indigo; You’ve Changed; Skylark; Let’s
Fall In Love; But Beautiful; If I Had You; If You Could See Me
stay pretty much in a 20th-century time frame. Now; It Only Happens When I Dance With You; A Flower Is A
Lovesome Thing; If You Never Come To Me; You Don’t Know on “Canter N. 6” and “Canter N. 1/Old Ballad,”
Silvano’s slight vibrato is most expressive What Love Is; Embraceable You; Still We Dream; I’ll Be Seeing
You. (61:00)
taking the melody and running with it. It’s a
on the slower tunes, like Tadd Dameron’s “If Personnel: Judi Silvano, vocals; Peter Tomlinson, piano; Fred smooth, breezy sound that establishes the pace,
You Could See Me Now,” where the gait of the and the playfulness, of the album. But vocalist
Jacobs, trumpet.
Ordering info: jazzedmedia.com
Diana Troto is one of the biggest beneficiaries
of Wheeler’s waiting approach and might be
Dafnis Prieto one of the main musicians, aside from Wheeler
Proverb Trio himself, who is responsible for the tone of the
Dafinson Music 003 album. Troto appears on every tune, but not
HHH½ always in a featured role, alternating between
taking a lead and simply being a part of the
Drummer, composer and MacArthur ensemble. On most tunes, her voice is merely
Fellowship recipient Dafnis Prieto has led another layer in the rich big-band concoction.
1,000 lives since emigrating from Cuba Wheeler does take the lead on the title
in 1999. With five albums as a leader and track, a ballad. His fragile solo melody sits
many more as a sideman, Prieto has prov- atop a soft bed of brass, buffeted by wood-
en himself as one of the most inventive of wind fills at the ends of phrases. Soft vocals
young jazz drummers around. in the background blend with the instruments.
While Prieto’s earlier records largely The piece is at odds with most of the uptempo
reflected Cuban culture, Proverb Trio modern tracks.
is more open-ended and free of stylis- The Long Waiting is also about parallels and
tic and ethnic constraints. Joined by key- the continuation of tunes across an entire work.
boardist Jason Lindner and vocalist/poet By forging track links throughout the album,
Kokayi, Proverb Trio flies through ubiquitous pleasant vocal ramblings. Proverb Trio’s truly Wheeler has created connections to engage the
scalding rhythms, scat-and-funk groove mon- remarkable achievement is its utter lack of pre- listener. The mid-tempo “Four, Five, Six” is
sters, hippie-fueled electronic reveries (“What tense. Even within spiraling, occasionally Joe slowed down in its mirror “Seven, Eight, Nine,”
Have We All Done”) and even boiling second- Zawinul-inspired synths (“Vamos A Jugar”), with the melody becoming more disjunct and
line swing. Though Prieto boasts, “Everything classical intimations (“At War”), hyperactive jumpy. Ideas from “Canter N. 6” are echoed in
was improvised, we did the album in six hours,” drum grooves and the trio’s fabulous fortitude, “Canter N. 1/Old Ballad.”  —Jon Ross
there is plenty of structure and ordered arrange- this is not a “fusion” group in the classic, or The Long Waiting: Canter N. 6; Four, Five, Six; The Long Waiting;
ments to lead one through what is a very joy- infamous, sense. —Ken Micallef Seven, Eight, Nine; Enowena; Comba N. 3; Canter N. 1/Old Ballad;
Upwards. (68:33)
ous, spontaneous outing. Lindner is the glue Personnel: Kenny Wheeler, flugelhorn; Pete Churchill, conductor;
Proverb Trio: Into The Light Love; You And Me; The Magic Danzo-
that holds the merriment togetherwith his con-
Diana Troto, vocals; Ray Warleigh, Duncan Lamont, alto saxo-
nete; Extasis; You Got It; In War; Vamos A Jugar; Talking Too Much; phone; Stan Sulzmann, Julain Siegel, tenor saxophone; Julian
versational Rhodes piano and bubbling, Jan What Have We All Done; Dirty Us; Mystery Man; Mother Nature.
(65:34)
Arguelles, baritone saxophone; Henry Lowther, Derek Watkins,
Tony Fisher, Nick Smart, trumpet; Dave Horler, Mark Nightingale,
Hammer-worthy synths while Prieto scalds Personnel: Dafnis Prieto, drums; Jason Lindner, keyboards; Ko-
kayi, vocals.
Barnaby Dickinson, trombone; Dave Stewart, bass trombone; John
Parricelli, guitar; Chris Laurence, bass; Martin France, drums.
the senses and Kokayi provides nonsensical if Ordering info: dafinsonmusic.com Ordering info: camjazz.com

60 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Jazz | By james hale

Simpatico
Gonzalo Rubalcaba

Keys
Bruce Barth’s simpatico pairing with
vibist Steve Nelson on Three Things
Of Beauty (Savant 2119; 62:10
HHHH) is one more beautiful thing
to add to the list. Supported by Ben
Street and Dana Hall, the duo ex-
plore the harmonic possibilities of six
Barth originals and breathe new life
into “My Man’s Gone Now” and John
Coltrane’s “Big Nick.” Both Barth and
Nelson are masters of single-note ar-
ticulation, and the effect of combining
their voices is like expanding the tonal
range and color of both their instru-
ments. Their exchanges flow seam-
lessly, particularly on Barth’s hard-
swinging “Final Push.”
Ordering info: jazzdepot.com
Piano trios often distinguish
themselves by the way the balance
is shifted between the instruments.

mario garcia
On Some More Love Songs (Pir-
ouet 3062; 49:04 HHH1/2), Marc
Copland gives bassist Drew Gress
priority in the sound mix, heightening the less, too.
tentative romanticism in the seven standards Ordering info: smallsjazzclub.com
here. Gress’ taut, lyrical lines contrast with If Germanson’s live outing strives for time-
Copland’s rhapsodic approach, which keeps lessness, Gonzalo Rubalcaba aims squarely
the focus on the melodic beauty of songs for modernity with XXI Century (5Passion
like “When I Fall In Love” and Joni Mitchell’s 010; 48:49/40:45 HHHH) featuring his trio of
ruminative “I Don’t Know Where I Stand.” Matt Brewer and Marcus Gilmore and numer-
Ordering info: pirouet.com ous guests. With a recurring undercurrent of
Understated but vibrant, Amina Figarova’s Cuban rhythm, the pianist bows to his roots,
Twelve (In + Out 77114; 63:35 HHH) displays but he seems as interested in taking his mu-
the easygoing confidence and collaborative sic to a more slippery realm, one where time
nature of a mid-’60s Blue Note date. Inspired becomes more elastic and hammered arpeg-
by her decision to relocate from Europe to New gios move against backgrounds that slide
York City—along with her husband, flutist Bart in and out of focus. Brewer and Gilmore are
Platteau—the dozen original compositions ideal compatriots for this kind of voyage, and
display a wide range of moods, from the bris- Rubalcaba makes the most of their ability to
tling “Make It Happen” to the gauzy “Morning groove while keeping the ground shifting un-
Pace.” With trumpeter Ernie Hammes and der your feet. A secondary theme is the radical
saxophonist Marc Mommaas out front, Figa- revoicing of compositions by Bill Evans, Paul
rova’s sextet sounds tight and vigorous. Bley and Lennie Tristano, each of whom did
Ordering info: inandout-records.com similar sleight of hand during their own time.
So timeless in nature that the setting might This is smart, adventurous fun that works well
be 1961 or 2011 (it’s the latter), Rick German- on several levels.
son’s Live At Smalls (smallsLIVE 0024; 53:50 Ordering info: 5passion.com
HHHH) makes the point that bandstand-level Could there be a more fitting image of the
communication remains central to post-bop jazz diaspora than Akiko Tsuruga, clad in a tra-
improvisation. The Milwaukee-native’s quartet ditional kimono and playing greasy U.S. East
is rock solid with trumpeter Eddie Henderson, Coast organ music? Sakura (Self-released;
drummer Lewis Nash and the underexposed 65:57 HHH) pays homage to Tsuruga’s B3 he-
Paul Gill on bass, and the set—recorded over roes, and if there’s nothing here that Dr. Lonnie
two nights—is structured expertly. Turning on Smith, Groove Holmes and Charles Earland
Germanson’s thoughtful solo performance haven’t played previously, Tsuruga’s quartet
of Ellington’s “The Single Petal Of A Rose,” can’t be faulted for failing to bring energy to
the recording’s sweep—from the bossa nova the project. Tart-toned guitarist Bob DeVos is
groove of Bobby Timmons’ “So Tired” to the particularly spirited. DB
charging fire of Germanson’s “Edge”—is time- Ordering info: akikojazz.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 61

 Will Bernard Trio Johnnie Bassett
Outdoor Living I Can Make That
Dreck To Disc Happen
HHH1/2 Sly Dog 3012
HHH
Guitarist Will Bernard doesn’t
hurt for references. The Berkeley Guitarist Johnnie Bassett has been
native has recorded with Don a Detroit mainstay for 60 years.
Cherry and Stanton Moore. He’s His musical style is as even-tem-
jammed with Charlie Hunter, pered as the man himself—jazzy
Dr. John and John Medeski. And flourishes blended with r&b grit.
he’s collaborated with Tom Waits, This album follows in the same
Spearhead and hip-hop ensemble the Coup. While a diverse palette tradition as his earlier CDs: big-band boogie that remembers when the
informs his sixth record, so does experience-garnered restraint. “blues” in rhythm-and-blues meant something. Although his sound is a
Bernard’s history with organist Wil Blades and drummer Simon throwback to the ’50s, Bassett is not afraid to deviate from that format.
Lott also accounts for the natural vibe absent from a majority of similar “Proud To Be From Detroit” is a funked-up tribute to his city, featur-
fusion-based affairs. Until recently, each member lived in a different city ing understated bass from James Simonson. Covering Jimi Hendrix has
yet became close from the hours they spent clustered in a tour van. The become a blues cliché, but Bassett’s remake of “The Wind Cries Mary”
album title even alludes to the road lifestyle and its array of topography. is surprisingly tasteful. Elsewhere, Bassett has no trouble summoning
Slaving to the groove, the collective develops rounded instrumentals classic jump-blues. He pulls off a great duet with Thornetta Davis on
amidst uncluttered, wide-open soundscapes in which warm New “Teach Me To Love,” gets slow and low down on “Spike Boy” and show-
Orleans funk, crackling Memphis soul and ’60s-era San Francisco psy- cases a great house rocking instrumental on “Dawging Around.” 
chedelia intersect. On occasion, Bernard steps on spacey effects pedals  —James Porter
and brings the noise (“Roaming Charges”) or turns his guitar into a horn I Can Make That Happen: Proud To Be From Detroit; Love Lessons; Spike Boy; I Can Make That
(“Nature Walk”). But the bandleader prefers to say more with less. He Happen; Cry To Me; Teach Me To Love; Dawging Around; Cha’mon!; The Wind Cries Mary; Motor City
Blues; Let’s Get Hammered. (40:55)
abides by James Brown’s time-honored “give the drummer some” adage Personnel: Johnnie Bassett, guitar, vocals; Skeeto Valdez, drums, percussion; James Simonson,
electric and acoustic bass; Chris Codish, piano, electric piano and organ; John Rutherford, trombone;
and allows Blades to smear greasy jive all over “Morgan Deux,” dur- Bob Jensen, trumpet; Mark Byerly, trumpet; Keith Kaminski, baritone and tenor saxophone, tambou-
ing which you can practically picture the Leslie cabinet’s rotary speaker
rine; Brett Lucas, guitar; Thornetta Davis, vocals; Dwight Adams, trumpet; Jim “Moose” Brown, acous-
tic guitar, dobro.
spin.  —Bob Gendron Ordering info: mackavenue.com

Outdoor Living: Nature Walk; Morgan Deux; Nooksack; 6B; Roaming Charges; Point Blank; Squeaky
Chug Chug; Katskan; Implitude. (50:05)
Personnel: Will Bernard, guitar; Wil Blades, Hammond B3 organ; Simon Lott, drums
Ordering info: willbernard.com Kate McGarry
Girl Talk
Palmetto 2152
Don Braden/ HHHH
Karl Latham
Big Fun(k) Live Over the course of 20 years and five
Creative Perspectives Music 3001 albums, vocalist Kate McGarry has
HHH1/2 taken her jazz and global music
background to create a songbook
Recorded over a series of gigs at that stylishly delves into folk, rock
Cecil’s Jazz Club in West and adult pop. In preparing for her
Orange, N.J., Big Fun(k) Live first more traditionally oriented
brings together a powerhouse album since 2001’s Show Me, McGarry took the unusual step of listen-
quartet of old friends who seem ing to interviews of great female jazz vocalists rather than to their spe-
hell-bent on having a ball. It’s a cific music recordings.
funky, electrified jam on seven contemporary-leaning original tunes and “There was something so compelling about hearing their speaking
two covers (Beyonce’s “Deja Vu” and Lennon/McCartney’s “Lucy In voices detailing the struggles and triumphs of their lives and journeys,”
The Sky With Diamonds”) spanning a range of styles from bebop to she writes in Girl Talk’s liner notes. The result is performed with her
rock. The title, an obvious reference to one of Miles Davis’ electric-era excellent working band with an inspired modernity.
albums, pretty much says it all. “We Kiss In A Shadow” opens Girl Talk, with its arrangement ded-
Saxophonist Don Braden was playing instrumental rock and funk icated to a future that includes marriage equality. Producer (and
long before he ever became known as a Young Lion of straightahead McGarry’s husband) Keith Ganz’s guitar and Gary Versace’s piano
jazz in the ’80s—and it shows in his well-developed, hard-hitting solos, comping provide open support for her wistful interpretation, with her
which unfold with brains and brawn over the bedrock laid down by vocals artfully layered after Versace’s solo. The title track floats on
drummer/co-leader Karl Latham, electric bassist Gary Foote (of Blood, Versace’s lush organ chords and drummer Clarence Penn’s buoyant
Sweat And Tears fame) and New York synth man Nick Rolfe. Big Fun(k) cymbal and hi-hat. The joy heard in “I Just Found Out About Love,”
Live is thick with compelling improvisations by outstanding instrumen- reflected in McGarry’s scatting and Reuben Rogers’ bass solo, recall
talists who are clearly enjoying every minute spent together onstage. Shirley Horn’s recording from 1991. Kurt Elling makes for an ideal
The tunes are decent, but the real meat of this recording can be found vocal duet partner on “O Candtador,” while the guitar-and-vocals ver-
in the expertly executed arrangements and the high-flying solos, which sion of Jimmy Rowles and Cheryl Ernsts’ “Looking Back” encapsulates
must have been a gas to see and hear live in the club.  —Ed Enright McGarry and Ganz’s multi-tiered connections.  —Yoshi Kato
Big Fun(k) Live: High Rise; Deja Vu; A Foote In The Door; Having A Ball; Lucy In The Sky With Dia- Girl Talk: We Kiss In A Shadow; Girl Talk; I Just Found Out About Love; The Man I Love; O Cantador;
monds; The Funky View; Heads Up; Confusion; Song For Mother; Grover Miles. (73:15) This Heart Of Mine; I Know That You Know; Looking Back; Charade; It’s A Wonderful World. (44:42)
Personnel: Don Braden, tenor saxophone (1–8, 10), alto flute (9); Karl Latham, drums; Nick Rolfe, Personnel: Kate McGarry, vocal; Keith Ganz, guitars; Gary Versace, organ, piano; Reuben Rogers,
keyboards; Gary Foote, bass. bass; Clarence Penn, drums, percussion; Kurt Elling, vocal (5).
Ordering info: bigfun-k.com Ordering info: palmetto-records.com

62 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Jesse Davis Quintet The Cookers
Live At Smalls Believe
SmallsLive 0026 Motéma 92
HHHH HHHH
The Jesse Davis Quintet’s Live At Trumpeter David Weiss put The
Smalls oozes presence. It’s what Cookers together in 2007 for a trib-
a live recording should feel like: ute to Freddie Hubbard’s Night Of
five musicians playing 20-min- The Cookers. The group has gone
ute pieces broken up by what on to release three albums, most
seems like a speedy rundown of recently the scintillating Believe.
“Body And Soul.” This is a concept that lends itself to the intimate setup The septet gives off the feel of a collective. Composing and soloing
at Small’s Jazz Club in New York. Recorded over three days, Live At duties were spread throughout the group. Save for saxophonist Billy
Smalls is Davis as a subtle force. His rich alto is matched perfectly with Harper’s pieces, Weiss wrote all the arrangements, which do an excel-
Ryan Kisor’s resonant trumpet: Neither is a flashy player, and both musi- lent job of balancing heads, solos and backgrounds. Harper’s “Believe,
cians have just enough to say to fill the allotted space. For It Is True” and Wayne Shorter’s “Free For All” are worth the price
Stretching out is at the center of Live At Smalls. Davis’ band is in of admission alone. The former has an angular melody over a medium
peak condition, providing an encouraging backing for solos. “I’ll Close slow start/stop groove, and Harper’s aggressive and penetrating solo is
My Eyes” slowly evolves into different grooves, the rhythm section one of the album’s highlights. With burning solos by Harper, trumpet-
growing soft for solos, over the song’s nearly 20-minute length. Davis er Eddie Henderson, Handy, pianist George Cables and drummer Billy
is at his most vertiginous on the original “Piece Of The Apple,” but Hart, the nearly 12-minute “Free For All” has all of the grit, swagger
he stays away from pyrotechnics. “Body And Soul” and Davis’ “Pray and fire of the original recording. Harper’s programmatic “Quest” opens
Thee/Beyond The Storm” are the most introspective—the latter show- with a ragged four-horn fanfare before settling into a regimental head
casing Peter Washington’s bass on an opening duet with Davis. The for- that’s ordered by Hart’s quasi-martial drums. Cables’ playful waltz “But
mer has Kisor blowing on the A section and Davis playing the B section, He Knows” cools things off before bassist Cecil McBee’s outward-lean-
a further example of the expert mingling of their tone colors.  ing “Tight Squeeze” and Hart’s uptempo “Naaj” close the set. 
 —Jon Ross  —Chris Robinson
Live At Smalls: I’ll Close My Eyes; Piece Of The Apple; Body And Soul; Pray Thee/Beyond The Storm; Believe: Believe, For It Is True; Temptation(s); Ebony Moonbeams; Free For All; Quest; But He Knows;
Journey From The Lighthouse. (75:15) Tight Squeeze; Naaj. (64:03)
Personnel: Jesse Davis, alto saxophone; Ryan Kisor, trumpet; Spike Wilner, piano; Peter Washington, Personnel: Craig Handy, alto saxophone; Billy Harper, tenor saxophone; Eddie Henderson, David
bass; Billy Drummond, drums. Weiss, trumpet; George Cables, piano; Cecil McBee, bass; Billy Hart, drums.
Ordering info: smallsjazzclub.com Ordering info: motema.com
 Blues | By frank-john hadley

Carefree &
Cello-Enhanced
The Strata-Tones: Dressed Up To Fess Up
(Fruition 001; 46:16 HHH1/2) This Califor-
nia Central Coast-based band, with singer
Valerie Johnson and guitarist Bruce Krupnik
out front, really gets going three tracks into
their first record when they swing “Did You
Ever?” with an elation worthy of the now-
defunct Lil’ Charlie & The Nightcats. Show- Bela Fleck &
ing more restraint, Johnson and Krupnik
join harp player Kevin McCracken in bring-
The Marcus Roberts Trio
ing lyricism to the love-affirming “Together Across The Imaginary Divide
For Some Time,” a second gem composed Rounder 11661-9142
by the guitar player. Take cover: Johnson HHH1/2
throws emotional control to the wind and
douses Janis Joplin-like napalm all over the Banjo-man Bela Fleck and pianist Marcus
one concert track, “Ball & Chain.”
Roberts team up for one of this year’s strang-
est collaborations on Fleck’s Across The
Ordering info: thestratatones.com
Seth Walker: Time Can Change (Roe
Imaginary Divide. Both have been known to
1201; 45:37 HHH1/2) Walker’s singing has
an insouciant quality that is central to the ap-
mix it up, especially the more eclectic Fleck.
peal of the blues- and soul-streaked songs You could say the disc is like playground
that he and collaborators Gary Nicholson music, manic at times, but also, well, play-
and Jarrod Dickenson have written about ful. With bassist Rodney Jordan and drummer
Jason Marsalis in tow, the originals by both
kasie dorsey

romance for his sixth album. Even when

things don’t work out, sunshine and tender- Seth Walker leaders suggest Fleck’s playing could just as
ness suffuse the material. Calling out to Ray easily have been the role a violinist or flautist
Charles and Percy Mayfield, “What Now?” sounding original songs here. Alvin Young- would play. Instead, it’s a banjo, and it works.
finds Walker spinning out a little beauty of a blood Hart, drawn to material concerning Fleck is no stranger to working with jazz
blues guitar solo. race in the Old South, has a stronger pres- pianists, his duo collaboration with Chick
Ordering info: sethwalker.com ence than the other musicians, who some- Corea (The Enchantment) perhaps his most
Larry Hoffman: Works Of Larry Hoff- times function on the fringe of parody. Stick noteworthy. And choosing Roberts’ trio to
man—Contemporary American Music with their first album, Home Sweet Home. spin these tunes with makes perfect sense.
(Dbbk Works 701; 60:11 HHH1/2) Former Ordering info: cduniverse.com
The music, generally speaking, falls into two
blues journalist and record producer Hoff- Curtis Salgado: Soul Shot (Alligator
categories: uptempo swingers along with
man has the integrity and compositional 4947; 46:41 HH) Long a noted soul-blues
those that might contain a definite Latin tilt.
acumen to raise awareness of how classical singer and harmonica player in the Pacific
compositions can support a blues sensibil- Northwest, Salgado has the ability to pos-
In the latter slot Fleck is more the guitar-pick-
ity without coming off stilted or contrived. sess a cover song and refashion lyrics to in’ banjo player, using single lines to state the
(Others who’ve succeeded include William fit into his own spectrum of emotions. But melody and solo. Hear Fleck’s slinky, coun-
Russo, La Monte Young and Diamanda Ga- aside from personalizing O. V. Wright’s “No- try-flavored “I’m Gonna Tell You This Story
lás.) The music of his “String Quartet #1: body But You,” he loses his footing thanks One More Time” and Roberts’ toe-tappin’
The Blues,” performed by the Atlantic String to busy, overblown production that trivializes “Topaika” for good examples. Then there are
Quartet, breathes and flows interestingly for songs by Bobby Womack, Otis Redding, the busy numbers that cook, like Fleck’s title
more than 14 minutes. “Blues Suite For Vio- George Clinton and Salgado himself. track, which combines a refreshing lyrical
loncello Solo,” less a cohesive whole than a Ordering info: alligator.com quality along with an almost fusion-like fer-
bunching of five short incantations of bluesy Paul Thorn: What The Hell Is Going vor as the song becomes a tour de force for
ache and solace, is a triumph for both the On? (Perpetual Obscurity 467582; 48:07 both players. “Across The Imaginary Divide”
composer and the virtuosic cellist Kristin Os- HHH1/2) Singer-songwriter Paul Thorn, a might have you trying to catch your breath if
tling, whose phrasing is more flexible than hit with the Americana crowd, radiates deep you stay on this uptempo swinging merry-go-
rigid. But “Blues For Harp, Oboe And Violon- identification with no-nonsense Southern round for all of its 4 minutes and 45 seconds.
cello” is cerebral and static. Two more works blues much the way his guests here, Elvin A bit slower is Roberts’ “Let’s Go,” which
don’t concern blues at all. Bishop and Delbert McClinton, have done swings right out of the gate, a feature for the
Ordering info: larryhoffman.com for decades. The native Mississippian slaps pianist even as Fleck gets some room to shine
South Memphis String Band: Old his own personality onto Bishop’s title song
on the back end.  —John Ephland
Times There… (Memphis International and other good ones borrowed from Allen
0227; 38:27 HH1/2) Despite the best of in- Toussaint, neo-soul man Eli Reed and sev- Across The Imaginary Divide: Some Roads Lead Home; I’m
tentions, these four advocates of early 20th eral free-spirited Southerners with country Gonna Tell You This Story One More Time; Across The Imaginary
Divide; Let Me Show You What To Do; Petunia; Topaika; One Blue
century blues just don’t show the unity and connections, including Wild Bill Emerson Truth; Let’s Go; Kalimba; The Sunshine And The Moonlight; That
dynamic of a true-to-life string band when and Ray Wylie Hubbard. DB Old Thing; That Ragtime Feeling. (62:51)
Personnel: Bela Fleck, banjo; Marcus Roberts, piano; Rodney
they perform traditional tunes and old- Ordering info: paulthorn.com Jordan, bass; Jason Marsalis, drums.
Ordering info: rounder.com

64 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 Billy Martin/Wil Blades
Shimmy
The Royal Potato Family 1123
HHH
It’s got to be a daunting prospect for an
organist to take the stage beside Billy
Martin. The prolific drummer is best
known for his long-standing partnership
with John Medeski, both in the jam/jazz
trendsetting trio Medeski Martin & Wood
and in their duo project, Mago. But if Wil
Blades felt any compunction about pairing
with Martin, it doesn’t show on their new
duo outing. Shimmy is a completely differ-
ent beast than Mago, more high-spirited
and celebratory than Martin’s more com- Every tune possesses its own identity; the
JD Allen Trio plex jousting with Medeski. Les McCann/Eddie Harris tribute “Les And
The Matador And The Bull Blades brings a diversity of sound to this Eddie” kicks off from a shuffling soul-jazz
Savant 2121 two-man revel mainly through his use of the groove but suddenly blossoms into a rafters-
HHHH clavinet alongside his B3. On the swampy filling gospel testimony. On “Pick Pocket,” the
creep of “Deep In A Fried Pickle,” he employs duo become a two-man MGs, with Blades tog-
In the liner notes for The Matador And The Bull, a hiccupping, voice-like tone for the melody, gling between dueling guitar and bass sounds
saxophonist JD Allen says listeners might refer then wails on a solo that might as well be an along with his organ groove.  —Shaun Brady
to the 12 brief tracks that constitute the album overdriven electric guitar. The axe tone returns
as part of his jukebox aesthetic. But while the on “Give,” where Martin’s arsenal of exot- Shimmy: Brother Bru; Mean Greens; Deep In A Fried Pickle; Les
And Eddie; Pick Pocket; Down By The Riverside; Toe Thumb; Little
longest track clocks in at 4:45 and each tune can ic percussion sets the stage for Blades’ warm, Shimmy; Give; Dehna Hunu. (47:43)
Personnel: Billy Martin, drums; Wil Blades, organ, clavinet.
be taken as a glimpse of the trio in miniature, blooming psychedelic buzz. Ordering info: theroyalpotatofamily.com
The Matador And The Bull is really a long, qua-
si-programmatic concept album. Allen, with his
laid-back, never-rushed style, spewing 16th-note ing the song’s story, yet steering clear of cheap
runs in odd meters, seems to float atop the music. emotion. On first hearing, she might be mis-
Rudy Royston creates musical tension with his taken for a cabaret singer. But few on-the-beat
splashy drums, playing off Allen’s relaxed man- musical theater thrushes would risk the vul-
ner. Gregg August holds it all together, sounding nerability of Solivan’s duets with guest bassist
bullish on his bass. Christian McBride.
The album’s effervescence is achieved by a On the McBride exchanges—“All Or
bit of clever architecture. On the opening and Nothing At All” and Billy Strayhorn’s “Day
closing tracks, Allen, August and Royston are all Dream”—Solivan plays her jazz cards wise-
playing in different meters. August’s loping bass ly. She’s loose with the text of the former, sub-
plugs around in the background in five, while tly playing with phrasing and accent place-
Royston, creating a tension that stays through- ment. On the latter, the clarity of her voice and
out the entire album, no matter the meter, clangs straight-ahead delivery allow the bass to come
away in three. Allen, given this polymetric back- in behind the beat, embellish the melody, or lay
ground, charges ahead in four. The conceit gives out all together. It was smart to play off of rath-
the music a free-flowing quality. er than compete with McBride.
The Matador And The Bull is Allen’s fourth Marianne Solivan The instrumental accompaniment is a col-
album with the group, and there’s a complete Prisoner Of Love lective model of effective economy. Whether
ease between the musicians. Allen sounds like Hipnotic 10007 it’s Peter Bernstein’s guitar or Xavier Davis’s
he’s expending minimal effort while playing HHHH piano, Solivan seems to require nothing
intricate phrases on his horn, and August and more than chords simply stated or implied.
Royston seem to know intuitively how to follow Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt produced this album, Michael Kanan’s spare piano contribution to
him. They function as a unit. And the unit slow- which places New York-based singer Marianne her unadorned reading of Cole Porter’s “After
ly builds up in intensity through the album, with Solivan in minimal but supremely musical set- You” would be at home at the old Café Carlyle.
“Santa Maria (Mother)” and other quiet tunes tings. In so doing, he gives maximum exposure Pelt himself makes one brief appearance on
providing brief respites from the more energet- to her low-level dynamic of an alto voice. In a “Moon Ray,” but it’s a meaningful turn.
ic pieces. way, she’s a throwback to the Julie London/Jeri Two Betty Carter-associated numbers, “I
Questions about if the album is actually pro- Southern school of jazz-informed torch sing- Can’t Help It” and “Social Call,” swing moder-
grammatic—is Allen the matador, August the ers of the 1950s. Exact diction, sure intonation, ately with recessed blues feeling and rhythmic
bull?—don’t really matter in the presence of such emotional longing coolly held in check and a aplomb.  —Kirk Silsbee
compelling music.  —Jon Ross well-chosen repertoire of melancholy ballads Prisoner Of Love: Bliss; The Lonely One; All Or Nothing At All;
link Solivan with her supper club forbearers. Prisoner Of Love; I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry; Moon
Solivan is most comfortable in her chest
The Matador And The Bull: The Matador And The Bull (Torero); A Ray; May I Come In; I Can’t Help It; Day Dream; After You; Social
Suit Of Lights; Ring Shout!; Santa Maria (Mother); Cathedral; Pas- Call. (48:54)
eillo; Erlanger; Pinyin; Vuela (The Whisperer); The Lyrics Of Summer
And Shadow; Muleta; The Matador And The Bull (Toro). (40:46)
and throat tones. She uses her upper register Personnel: Marianne Solivan, vocals; Jeremy Pelt, trumpet (6);
Peter Bernstein, guitar (1, 6, 7); Xavier Davis, piano (2, 4, 8, 11);
Personnel: JD Allen, tenor saxophone; Gregg August, bass; Rudy judiciously, never pushing the voice beyond its Michael Kanan, piano (5, 10); Christian McBride, bass (1, 3, 16);
Ben Wolfe, bass (2, 4, 8, 11); Johnathan Blake, drums (2, 4, 8, 11).
attractive level. Solivan’s a fine balladeer, tell-
Royston, drums.
Ordering info: jazzdepot.com Ordering info: mariannesolivan.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 65

 Ralph Bowen Antibalas
Total Eclipse Antibalas
Posi-Tone 8097 Daptone 028
HHH HHHH
Hitting his stride on his fourth Antibalas last released an
recording with Posi-Tone, Ralph album five years ago, but the
Bowen steps back into the studio band’s members haven’t been
with a new group to buttress his idle in the interim. Several
dexterous saxophone playing on members worked on Bill Jones’
Total Eclipse. Bowen maintains stage musical Fela!, about
a leisurely air of confidence over Nigerian afrobeat pioneer Fela
an hour’s worth of original tunes. Kuti, which is as fitting a proj-
His big band background is implicit in the title track, which wins its ect as possible, given the band’s debt to Kuti.
way into favor courtesy of the saxophonist’s brawny chops and superi- The band’s faithful afrobeat rendering works so well for a few rea-
or feel for what swings. “Behind The Curtain” projects a different vibe, sons. First, they embraced the sound before any of their contemporaries.
introducing itself with a skittering organ and drums pairing that feeds More importantly, the musicians understand how afrobeat feels, and that
a jumpy rhythm and one of many deftly performed, appealingly odd is key to creating compelling new material in a well-defined genre. Also,
organ solos from Jared Gold. Bowen’s sinewy progressions bulge and the band has a Nigerian singer—the rhythms of afrobeat are built part-
bend the melody like a rubber band in “On Green,” while his lightning- ly around the rhythms of Yoruba and pidgin English speech, and hav-
fast lines on “Dowsing Rod” foreshadow the explosion of virtuosity and ing a frontman who lives with that rhythm is huge. Antibalas sounds on
soulful rhythm work on “Hip Check,” the album’s highlight. Differences form here. The horns hit hard on “The Ratcatcher,” the saxophonists reel
in tone and tension among Gold, Mike Moreno and Rudy Royston keep off compact, memorable solos and the band’s new rhythm section burns,
the textures malleable. Moreno’s pretty guitar trills soften Gold’s futur- especially on closer “Sare Kon Kon,” which slips into a unique groove
istic organ work, while his honeyed phrases balance out Bowen’s solos. that plays with the form without losing it.  —Joe Tangari
Though the material here is isn’t exactly revolutionary, Bowen’s latest Antibalas: Dirty Money; The Ratcatcher; Him Belly No Go Sweet; Ari Degbe; Ibeji; Sare Kon Kon. (42:33)
effort is consistently satisfying, and undeniably fun.  —Jennifer Odell Personnel: Amayo, lead vocals, Gbedu Spirit drum, Agogo bells, congas; Victor Axelrod, organ, elec-
tric piano, sticks; Stuart Bogie, tenor saxophone; Marcos García, guitar, backing vocals; Aaron John-
Total Eclipse: Total Eclipse; Behind The Curtain; Into The City; The Dowsing Rod; On Green; Arrows son, trombone; Jordan McLean, trumpet; Luke O’Malley, guitar, backing vocals; Martín Perna, baritone
Of Light; Exosphere; Hip Check; In My Dreams. (61:25). saxophone, backing vocals; Miles Arntzen, drums; Marcus Farrar, shekere, sticks, background vocals;
Personnel: Ralph Bowen, tenor saxophone; Jared Gold, organ; Mike Moreno, guitar; Rudy Royston, Nikhil Yerawadekar, bass; Reinaldo De Jesus, congas; Cochemea Gastelum, tenor saxophone, alto
drums. saxophone; Dave Guy, trumpet; Giancarlo Luiggi, shekere, background vocals; Yoshi Takemasa, con-
Ordering info: posi-tone.com gas, bell; Shaneeka Harrell, Afi McLendon, Lucinda Slim, background vocals.
Ordering info: daptonerecords.com

Jazz Arts Trio

Swing Of Many El Portal
Colors New Trophy
JRI Recordings J131 CamJazz 3312-5
HH1/2 HHH
Make no mistake, Swing Of There are a couple of conceptual
Many Colors is a classical entry points when first listening
recording disguised as a jazz to El Portal’s New Trophy. The
one. Even though the instru- first is the group’s origins back
mentation is the jazz stan- in the autumn of 2006, when all
dard-bearing piano trio format five members (who hail from the
and the tunes are vintage repertoire from heavyweights such as Ahmad Midwest and East Coast) were
Jamal, Oscar Peterson, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and a few others, the sequestered in a Floridian house during a hurricane and conceived a
Jazz Arts Trio takes a deliberate approach to the material. new band. The second is its atypical instrumentation—tenor saxophone,
One can’t deny the craftsmanship from the individual musicians. electric guitar, Fender Rhodes, bass and drums.
Frederick Moyer excels at mimicking Jamal’s smile-inducing synco- “Vortex,” the first of an entire album’s worth of original composi-
pated rhythms and orchestral flourishes as well as, say, Jarrett’s explor- tions by saxophonist Nolan Lem, offers tight yet mesmerizing melodic
ative approach at interpreting standards. Underneath Foyer are bassist lines. The playing initially sounds disciplined and unified enough to be
Peter Tillotson and drummer Peter Fraenkel, a seemingly alert rhythm through-composed, though Lem’s explorative soloing further in carries
section, capable of shifting gears, ranging from streamlined shuffle and an improvised sound and spirit. A sharp guitar and drum attack com-
swing to more extravagant cross-dialogues. mences “Chrunch I,” which has a teasing syncopated approach before
But when listening to the trio’s reenactments of Jamal’s delightful morphing into a straightahead burner. Conversely, “Chrunch II” stretch-
eight-song “The Pershing Suite,” Peterson’s swaggering “Night Train” es out over a more deliberately explorative tempo.
or Corea’s cliff-hanging “Matrix,” the ultimately question quick- The lovely “A Portrait Of Paul” unfolds in a dignified manner, with
ly becomes, “Why do I need this if I either have the originals or have Lem’s saxophone and Joe Rehmer’s bass coming across as particular-
access to the originals?” There’s the mild enjoyment of hearing exam- ly expressive. And there’s a fun, almost mischievous communal attack
ples of superb transcription and execution. Still, for those who don’t on closing track “Tazerpolis” as guitarist Rainer Davis and keyboard-
want to engage in that erudite exercise, Swing Of Many Colors amounts ist Paul Bedal subtly jockey for advantage like competitive but loving
to a little more than nifty audio doppelgangers.  —John Murph brothers.  —Yoshi Kato
Swing Of Many Colors: But Not For Me; The Surrey With The Fringe On Top; Moonlight In Vermont; New Trophy: Vortex; Triptych; New Trophy; Chrunch I; Chrunch II; The Logic In My Life; Portrait Of
Music! Music! Music!; There Is No Greater Love; Poinciana; Woody ’N You; What’s New; Billy Boy; Night Paul; Y–Y; Hysteresis; Tazerpolis. (43:52)
Train; Fly Me To The Moon; All The Things You Are; For All We Know; Matrix. (68:15) Personnel: Nolan Lem, tenor saxophone; Rainer Davis, electric guitar; Paul Bedal, Fender Rhodes;
Personnel: Frederick Moyer, piano; Peter Tillotson, bass; Peter Fraenkel, drums. Joe Rehmer, bass; Dion Keith Kerr IV, drums.
Ordering info: jrirecordings.com Ordering info: camjazz.com

66 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Evan Parker/Eddie musicians who play them, and much of the music
Prévost/John Edwards on Impossibility In Its Purest Form feels more
All Told: Meetings like the result of a patient search than something
With Remarkable that is made to happen. Prévost is credited with
Saxophonists percussion, but it sounds like he’s restricted him-
Volume 1 self to a bowed tam-tam. While each player’s
Matchless Recordings 81 sounds can be harsh, their interactions contain a
HHHH stillness that is quite affecting.
All Told, on the other hand, is all about move-
Sebastian Lexer/Eddie ment. Evan Parker sticks to tenor saxophone, and
Prévost/Seymour Wright Prévost plays a drum kit; the lineup is no dif-
Impossibility In Its ferent than that on Way Out West. I doubt that
Purest Form these players, who have worked with each other
Matchless Recordings 82 in various combinations for decades, consid-
HHHH er themselves any less committed to freedom
than Prévost’s workshop fellows, but the music
Percussionist Eddie Prévost not only co-found- who participate in the improv workshop he behaves quite differently. The intricate bass fig-
ed the British improvising collective AMM convenes every month in London, and on the ures, brushed drums and gruff-toned, spiraling
more than 45 years ago, he is its chief anno- other with a pair of high-powered players who horn lines are constantly on the move, twisting
tator and its sole consistent member. With put Prévost in touch with his jazz roots. around each other in an ongoing exchange of
these dual roles he has both explained the aes- The guiding principle of Prévost’s workshop challenge and support. The music doesn’t always
thetic, political and ethical dimensions of an is to be open to all sonic possibilities. Participants swing, but its propulsion feels even more elemen-
enterprise dedicated to constant self-examina- can have distinctive personal styles, and neither tal, and every bit as involving as the starker play-
tion and on-stage negotiation, and ensured the of his colleagues here could be mistaken for any- ing on Impossibility In Its Purest Form. 
music’s immediacy through the agency of his one else—Seymour Wright extracts long, grainy-  —Bill Meyer
exactingly tuned-in playing. But before he did textured ribbons of sound from his alto saxo- All Told: All Told–Part 1; All Told–Part 2. (72:03)
any of that, he was a fine jazz drummer with a phone, while Sebastian Lexer plucks a myriad of Personnel: John Edwards, bass; Evan Parker, tenor saxophone;
thing for Max Roach. Since AMM plays only barely perceptible utterances from his electroni-
Eddie Prévost, drums.

occasionally, Prévost does most of his work in cally enhanced piano. But they must be willing to Impossibility In Its Purest Form: Trilinear α; Trilinear ß; Trilinear γ;
Impossibility In Its Purest Form. (71:13)
other settings. These two trio recordings show let personal expression go in order for the music Personnel: Sebastian Lexer, piano; Eddie Prévost, percussion;
Seymour Wright, alto saxophone.
him on the one hand working with associates to emerge. It can seem almost independent of the Ordering info: matchlessrecordings.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 67

 Harris Eisenstadt the ensemble’s delivery of the highlife-derived
Canada Day III melody of “The Ombudsman 4,” for example,
Songlines 1596 sounds a bit tentative.
HHHH Eisenstadt’s material on Canada Day III is
at least as complex and more diverse, but more
Harris Eisenstadt persuasively put across. The disc’s eight pieces
Canada Day Octet encompass a variety of moods and styles, often
482 Music 482-1080 within a single composition. “A Whole New
HHH½ Amount Of Interactivity” uses an abstract-
ed calypso theme to anchor highly contrast-
The spirit of rapprochement infuses the music ing solos, while the bristly “Nosey Parker” jux-
that Harris Eisenstadt composes for his work- taposes Wooley’s elongated, sandpaper tones
ing group, Canada Day. The Toronto-born, with constantly changing rhythms.
New York-based drummer reconciles accessi- This group can also sustain an atmosphere
ble melodies and loping grooves with intricate to great effect, most notably on the slow, sweet
structures and challenging improvisations. streams of Eisenstadt’s work. He has made dirge “King Of The Kutiriba.” Wooley, tenor
The musicians in his quintet, all of whom save four previous records with large bands, usual- saxophonist Matt Bauder and vibraphonist
relative newcomer bassist Garth Stevenson ly working musicians assembled solely for that Chris Dingman are all adroit soloists, danc-
have been members since the band’s incep- project. Rather than build another group from ing lightly upon Eisenstadt’s sharp and shift-
tion, display equal facility not only playing scratch, this time he expanded Canada Day ing meters, and they seem comfortable enough
inside and out, but bridging the two in ways with three additional horn players. This gave with the material to bring its many strengths
that make sense within the structure of a musi- them a head start on mastering what sounds into sharp relief.  —Bill Meyer
cal composition. In Eisenstadt’s world, we can like a very demanding score full of precise Canada Day III: Slow And Stead; Settled; A Whole New Amount
all get along. transitions between passages of choral brass Of Interactivity; The Magician If Lublin; Song For Sara; Nosey
Parker; Shuttle Off This Mortal Coil; King Of The Kutiriba. (54:57)
Most of Canada Day Octet is devoted to and stripped-back drums-vibes dialogues. Personnel: Nate Wooley, trumpet; Matt Bauder, tenor saxophone;
Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Garth Stevenson, bass; Harris Eisen-
a lengthy multi-part suite called “The The horns do a swell job of realizing the stadt, drums.
Ombudsman.” According to Eisenstadt, the colorful arrangements, and the soloists, espe-
Ordering info: songlines.com

piece is intended to mediate between those cially trumpeter Nate Wooley and alto saxo- Canada Day Octet: The Ombudsman 1; The Ombudsman 2; The
Ombudsman 3; The Ombudsman 4; Ballad For 10.6.7. (46:33)
who appreciate creative music and those who phonist Jason Mears, are consistently engag- Personnel: Nate Wooley, trumpet; Matt Bauder, tenor saxophone;
Chris Dingman, vibraphone; Garth Stevenson, bass; Harris Eisen-
just don’t get it. ing. But one wonders if the band needed just a stadt, drums; Ray Anderson, trombone; Dan Peck, tuba; Jason
This recording merges two recurring bit more time to get comfortable with the tunes;
Mears, alto saxophone.
Ordering info: 482music.com

Ray Anderson
Pocket Brass Band
Sweet Chicago Suite
Intuition 71306
HHHH
Ray Anderson’s Pocket Brass Band usually
sounds bigger than a three-brass-and-drums
quartet, if only because trombonist Anderson
and trumpeter Lew Soloff so often mix it up.
They stay on each other so the texture rare-
ly has a chance to thin out. Charles Mingus
used that everybody-stay-busy gambit in his
small groups. So did Chicago bands from King
Oliver’s to the Art Ensemble: bands where
brass players might dive into guttural timbres,
to thicken the stew.
Anderson’s joyous Sweet Chicago Suite Day.” “Chicago Greys” starts subdued, a
has been kicking around for a decade—he graveyard-bound procession. New Orleans’
performed it to understandable acclaim at Matt Perrine may thicken the front line har-
the city’s jazz festival in 2002. The composer monies on sousaphone, the marching-band
had left Chicago decades earlier, but had no tuba, though more often he puffs out pow-
trouble tapping into fond memories, of back- erful, limber bass figures. Bobby Previte’s
alley views, record shopping at the Maxwell tom-tom heavy big-beat drumming embodies
Street market and early AACM concerts. Two the band’s make-a-racket esthetic. His cym-
newer encores are equally infused with the bals tend to punctuate the action rather than
blues. All that said, the brass band instrumen- crowd the high frequencies—the better to let
tation, raucous interplay and rhythm players’ the horns’ rich overtones ring out. 
street beats conjure the Big Easy more than  —Kevin Whitehead
the Big Onion. The suite reminds us how Sweet Chicago Suite: Sweet Chicago Suite (Chicago Greys;
closely connected New Orleans and Chicago High School; Magnificent Mistifiyo; Going to Maxwell Street; Get to
It; Same Day); The Stingray March; Next March. (58:45)
are, sharing a love of vocalized brass playing, Personnel: Ray Anderson, trombone; Lew Soloff, trumpet; Matt
Perrine, sousaphone; Bobby Previte, drums.
and a blues with a mambo beat, like “Some Ordering info: challengerecords.com

68 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Beyond | By zach phillips

Original Occupy
Songster
It’s fitting that Woody Guthrie’s 100th birth-
day coincides with the Occupy era. Crooked
bankers, fast-talking lawyers, calls for populist
uprising—these were staples in the Oklahoma-
born singer-songwriter’s anthems, and nowa-
days they sound almost prophetic. As he sings
on “Pretty Boy Floyd”: “Some will rob you with
a six-gun / Some with a fountain pen.” Make
that a subprime mortgage.
Smithsonian Folkways celebrates a cen-
tury of Guthrie by digging into his treasure
trove of recordings and assembling a handy
new retrospective, Woody Guthrie At 100:
The Woody Guthrie Centennial Collec-
tion (Smithsonian Folkways SFW 40200;
60:03/60:02/60:12 HHHH1/2). Packaged in a
150-page book featuring essays, track notes
and the singer-songwriter’s drawings, the

eric schaal
three-disc set succeeds by managing a careful
balancing act. The song selection, a varied col- Woody Guthrie

lection with such essentials as “Jesus Christ,”

“Jolly Banker” and “Riding In My Car,” makes Guthrie’s later years in the hospital. (The pro-
Woody Guthrie At 100 a safe jumping-off point cess is shown in the included documentary,
for casual listeners and anyone too daunted Man In The Sand.) What emerged was a folk-
to sift through stacks of his compilations. The rock triumph that updated Guthrie’s sound
generous bonus material—21 new tracks and while maintaining a timeless quality.
six never-before-heard songs—makes the set The Complete Sessions features the re-
equally relevant for fans and scholars. sulting albums, Mermaid Avenue, Vol. I and
Right away, listeners are rewarded with the Vol. II, with a slightly crisper, albeit unneces-
alternate version of “This Land Is Your Land,” sary, remastering job by Bob Ludwig. The set
featuring the original lyrics (i.e., the verse about also includes Vol. III, a scattered but strong
a sign that “said ‘private property’ / But on the new outtakes disc.
back side it didn’t say nothing / This land was The best Mermaid Avenue songs capture
made for you and me”). The third disc features not Guthrie the populist folk singer but Guth-
a handful of unreleased standouts, particularly rie the earthy mystic and family man. Even the
“Them Big City Ways,” a ditty that chronicles roof-raising numbers—“Christ For President”
good people corrupted by the pitfalls of urban and “All You Fascists”—maintain his sense of
living. Throughout, Guthrie infuses the material whimsy. Vol. I has since gone on to become a
with his trademark empathy, even when he’s at modern classic with such gems as “California
his most political. Musically, what’s striking is Stars,” “She Came Along To Me,” “Ingrid Berg-
what a charismatic powerhouse he was with man” and “Hesitating Beauty.” It was followed
just an acoustic guitar and harmonica. up two years later, in 2000, with the nearly as
But despite his knack for writing politi- strong second volume, featuring “Airline To
cally charged numbers, it’s Guthrie’s children’s Heaven,” “Joe DiMaggio Done It Again” and
songs that epitomize his rare gift. They often the sublime “Remember The Mountain Bed.”
straddle the line between playful sing-alongs But the real draw here is Vol. III for its bo-
and mature folk standards. The pro-union “All nus tracks, and on this disc, Wilco especially
Work Together” would sound at home in Bruce delivers the goods. “When The Roses Bloom
Springsteen’s hands as a hollering stomp. “My Again,” a dirge about a fallen soldier’s last wish
Little Seed” might as well be a metaphor for to be reunited with his lover, would have been
the perseverance of the human spirit. a standout on Vol. I or II. The straightforward
In the late 1990s, post-punk British song- cover of “The Jolly Banker”—recorded more
writer Billy Bragg and Wilco brought Guthrie’s recently than the rest of the material, in 2009—
playful spirit to the recording of Mermaid Av- rivals Guthrie’s original. The album ends with
enue, now compiled in the box set Mermaid Bragg singing “I’m Out To Get,” a rollicking
Avenue: The Complete Sessions (None- number about a have-not’s dream of rising up
such 529926; 49:20/49:47/59:57 HHHH1/2). against his unkindly landlord. The sentiment
Guthrie’s daughter Nora had asked them to might be misdirected, but as with Guthrie’s
write songs around her father’s melody-less best songs, it has an irresistible charge. DB
lyrics, which had piled up in reams during Ordering info: folkways.si.edu; nonesuch.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 69

 Return To Forever been the rough edges, a raw quality that you
The Mothership Returns were most impressed with. But then you hear
Eagle Rock Entertainment 202572 (and see) tunes like Clarke’s “Dayride” and
HHHH1/2 “School Days,” what with their seemingly
perennial youthful pluck and funk, and you
Chick Corea’s music can be so portable. Just rethink the timetable. And yes, each of these
listen to how this new edition of Return selections includes some 21st century tweaks
To Forever (IV) re-enlivens his “Señor that remind listeners that these guys have
Mouse.” It’s a song filled with possible gam- moved on, keeping the music from collect-
bits, twists and turns, at times funky, filled ing dust, taking what they’ve learned along
with counterpoint, endlessly musical. Here, the way and inserting something new here
it’s handled in the best kick-ass way possi- and there.
ble, with former colleagues violinist Jean- As for the DVD, the documentary “Inside
Luc Ponty and guitarist Frank Gambale in The Music” is an impeccable recording that
the fold, joining original member Stanley plays like a elongated press release. The video
Clarke along with another early member, goes in and out between black-and-white and
drummer Lenny White. that hold musical interest regardless of their color as the band members talk on cam-
“Señor Mouse” is part of the recently context. era, all of it interspersed with parts of songs
recorded three-disc (two CDs/one DVD) The same could also be said for Clarke’s from different shows filmed in September of
set The Mothership Returns, a package that “School Days,” another song that’s remark- 2011. The Mothership Returns does contain
suggests a flair for the dramatic, in terms of able in part because of its simplicity, its bare- two complete, uninterrupted performances
self-referencing and backward glances. But naked contrast to practically everything else of Clarke’s “After The Cosmic Rain,” where
for fans of this band, there are bound to be here, which generally tends toward a kind one gets the sense that ’70s prog-jazz-rock
lots of hosannas as they revisit all the high of highly arranged, detail-oriented funk. lives, featuring one of Clarke’s crowd-pleas-
points of what has been a curious history, one “School Days,” instead, just rocks, and with ing, show-bizzy, pyrotechnically blistering
that’s become more “reunion” than actual, a catchy theme, to boot. electric bass solos.
since the band essentially split up after 1976’s Another highlight apart from Corea’s pen One of the less colorful RTF tunes,
Romantic Warrior. is a ’70s anthem of Ponty’s that the band “Rain” is complex without the zingers found
What this band has going for it is not only takes full advantage of. “Renaissance,” like elsewhere. Not so with the other one, Corea’s
longevity but a corner on fun. John “School Days,” offers a contrast to the typical “The Romantic Warrior,” where, once again,
McLaughlin, Wayne Shorter, the late Joe RTF vibe of intricacy and narrative extrav- the band’s flair for the dramatic, and for fun,
Zawinul and Tony Williams, even Ponty, agance. As with “School Days,” it’s another is amply displayed, but with music that refus-
among others, don’t have access to this vehicle for pure jamming off a sweet chord es to ever sound dated. —John Ephland
world nowadays like RTF, thanks not only progression. The Mothership Returns: Disc One: Medieval Overture; Senor
to Corea’s pen but Clarke’s and White’s as Listening to The Mothership Returns, one Mouse; The Shadow Of Lo/Sorceress; Renaissance (53:58). Disc
well. The creative medley of two White com-
Two: After The Cosmic Rain; The Romantic Warrior; Concierto
might ask: Is it polish or age that accounts for de Aranjuez/Spain; School Days; Beyond The Seventh Galaxy
positions make for a major highlight here, as the sound and look of these revisits? If you (58:29). DVD: Return To Forever: Inside The Music; After The
Cosmic Rain; The Romantic Warrior; The Story Of Return To For-
the band takes advantage of Ponty’s lyrical were to check out any YouTube performanc- ever (1:52:26).
Personnel: Chick Corea, piano, keyboards; Stanley Clarke,
style to sidle up next to a reinvention of “The es of this band back in the day or were there acoustic and electric basses; Lenny White, drums; Jean-Luc
Shadow Of Lo” with “The Sorceress,” tunes
Ponty, violin; Frank Gambale, electric and acoustic guitars.
to see them live, youngsters all, it might’ve Ordering info: eaglerockent.com

Mike Stern akin to the diluted music playing overhead in a

All Over The Place department store shoe section?
Heads Up 33186 In striving to touch on multiple styles,
H1/2 Stern does little else than sound like a pre-
tender possessing cursory knowledge of com-
Ever since Carlos Santana scored multiple plex traditions and fare. The rotating cast does
chart-busting successes with 1999’s Grammy- him few favors; names mean nothing if the
winning Supernatural, headlining musicians compositions are subpar. A stab at polyrhyth-
have increasingly given into the temptation mic funk via the easy-listening “Cameroon”
of loading albums with heavy-hitting collab- could’ve been on side one of Chicago 17; the
orators. Guitarist Mike Stern is no exception, smooth fusion of “Flipside” belongs in eleva-
flooding his prior two releases with associates tors. Stern has a few moments, but next time,
ranging from Eric Johnson to Randy Brecker. he’d be wise to pare the guest list and bar the
The former Blood, Sweat & Tears member door to the clubhouse.  —Bob Gendron
reprises the formula on All Over The Place. All Over The Place: AJ; Cameroon; Out Of The Blue; As Far As
However unintentional, the record’s title epit- We Know; Blues For Al; OCD; You Never Told Me; Half Way Home;
omizes the pitfalls of the all-but-the-kitchen-
Light; Flipside; All Over The Place. (75:23)
Personnel: Mike Stern, guitar; Jim Beard, piano, Hammond B3
sink approach. “OCD” on his new disc, evidence of his ten- organ; Victor Bailey, bass; Richard Bona, vocals, bass; Randy
Brecker, trumpet; Keith Carlock, drums; Lionel Cordew, drums; Al
Unlike Santana in the late ’90s, Stern ure with Miles Davis in the early ’80s remains Foster, drums; Bob Franceshini, saxophone; Kenny Garrett, saxo-
doesn’t seem to yearn for a revival on the in swing. But if he’s not pursuing commercial
phone; Dave Holland, acoustic bass; Anthony Jackson, contrabass
guitar; Tim Keiper, percussion; Tom Kennedy, bass; Will Lee, bass;
pop charts. He seldom operated within main- crossover appeal, how to otherwise explain Bob Malach, saxophone; Chris Potter, saxophone; Esperanza
Spalding, vocals, acoustic bass; Leni Stern, rhythm wah-wah gui-
stream parameters, and given the heart-quick- why the majority of this unfocused, meander- tar, N’goni Ba; Kim Thompson, drums; Dave Weckl, drums; Victor
Wooten, bass.
ening jam “Out Of The Blue” and bop-heavy ing and boredom-inducing set comes across Ordering info: concordmusicgroup.com

70 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 quintet front line. Marvuglio, a strong player
and improviser, also supplies the composition
that turns out to be the album’s longest track,
the floaty waltz “Why Cry?” Later in the set,
saxophonist Pignataro’s aptely named, lyrical-
ly brooding, minor mode number “Homesick”
continues a pensiveness on the album.
In the main, Per Sempre sticks to a fairly
understated musical plan of operations, empha-
sizing sensitive interactions and playing gener-
ally more about introspection than extrover-
sion. Even the album’s one nod to the standards
canon, “Stella By Starlight,” keeps a contem-
plative cool and a composed ensemble charac-
ter rather than heeding the will to burn on this
ultra-familiar chart.
Pianist Teo Clavarella’s “Pops & Alma” is
Eddie Gomez another waltz-time lovely, bittersweet in spirit,
Per Sempre and a good vehicle for Gomez’s bass solo, with
BFM Jazz 302 062 414 the bassist’s familiar singalong voice murmur-
HHH1/2 ing in the margins. He thinks, musically, in a
singing way, resulting in vocalization along the
On this fine, sensitive recording of bassist path from head to strings. Gomez’s own orig-
Eddie Gomez’s Italian-based quintet Bologna inals for the session cover a range from the
figures strongly in the geo-musical equa- sweetly melodic opener “Arianna” (with the
tion. The Italian city is the site of the record- bassist playing the head, arco, before his limber
ing and also the thematic hook on saxophonist pizzicato solo) to the supple ballad “Forever”
Marco Pignataro’s tune “Bologna d’Inverno,” and the brief bass solo “Epilogue,” which sup-
its moody modal air reminiscent of “Maiden plies the album a tender end statement. Here,
Voyage” and well-suited to this particular Gomez the celebrated bassist steps forward
ensemble’s crepuscular charms. alone, after serving roles as bandleader and
The inclusion of Matt Marvuglio on flute in foundation-keeper.  —Josef Woodard
the ensemble, along with Gomez’s own varied Per Sempre: Arianna; Bologna d’Inverno; Why Cry?; Forever;
approaches to his instrument, can give the tex- Pops & Alma; Stella By Starlight; Homesick; Epilogue. (55:00)
Personnel: Eddie Gomez, bass; Marco Pignataro, tenor and so-
tural balance a chamber-esque feeling, com- prano saxophone; Matt Marvuglio, flute; Two Ciavarella, piano;
Massimo Manzi, drums.
pared to a more standard sax/trumpet jazz Ordering info: bfmjazz.com

Sara Leib
Secret Love
OA2 2208
HH1/2
Young jazz singers often go through a phase of
pretending to be horns. That’s what Sara Leib
does on her sophomore effort. But Leib is not a
horn, and assuming that posture shortchanges
the emotional content of her material.
She has a sparkling alto that doesn’t want
for personality. Where she might use it most
effectively, on, say, “Ev’ry Time We Say
Goodbye,” she breezes through the song with
no more attention to the words than if she were
flipping through the day’s mail. Similarly, she
tries to hold her own with saxophonist Dayna blues-drenched keyboard counterbalance her
Stephens on “Some Day My Prince Will occasional excesses. She also connects to Bob
Come” and gets steamrolled. Drummer Eric Dylan’s “To Make You Feel My Love,” where
Harland sticks loudly; great for a full-bod- Leib exhibits a little developing soul. 
ied tenor saxophone, but here it sounds like  —Kirk Silsbee
so many drum and cymbal darts whizzing by
her voice. Leib sounds most effective on “The Secret Love: It Might As Well Be Spring; Night And Day; Ev’ry
Time We Say Goodbye; So This Is Love; The Thrill Is Gone; With
Way You Behold,” a ballad she co-wrote. She My Own Two Hands; To Make You Feel My Love; Some Day My
Prince Will Come; The Way You Behold; Willow Weep For Me; Se-
sings it straight, holding her notes with little cret Love; All I Have To Do Is Dream. (51:57)
or no monkeying. On “With My Own Two Personnel: Sara Leib, vocals; Dayna Stephens, tenor saxophone;
Taylor Eigsti, piano, keyboards (1, 2, 4–6, 10); Aaron Parks, piano,
Hands,” she’s rhythmically fearless, no matter keyboards (3, 7–9, 11, 12); Harish Ragahvan, bass; Eric Harland,
drums; Richie Barshay, percussion, tabla.
the results. Stephens’ tenor and Taylor Eigsti’s Ordering info: saraleib.com
 wit. The performances are also imbued with
a great deal of tenderness that translates into
a deliciously nonchalant sway but avoids nos-
talgia. This is accomplished with some major
support from the two rhythm sections, which
equally succeed at subtly altering their back-
drop even if that of the Minneapolis ensem-
ble tends to rely on a heavier and steady beat.
Ironically, the better-known pieces pro-
vide the highlights, which is also a tribute to
Delbecq’s skills as an arranger. “Blue Pepper”
is populated with alluring exotic sounds, and
the pianist adroitly transcends “Diminuendo
And Crescendo In Blue” to clearly establish
a link between past and present. But to bring
the set to a successful close, Delbecq takes
Benoît Delbecq the matter in his own hands with a solo rendi- John Abercrombie Quartet
Crescendo In Duke tion of “Fontainebleau Forest.” Within A Song
Nato 4375 While producer Jean Rochard must get ECM 2254
HHHH his share of credit for putting this project HHHH
together and drawing attention to musicians
This is a change of pace for French pianist deserving more recognition such as British The idea behind John Abercrombie’s latest
Benoît Delbecq, who has so far focused veteran Tony Coe, it is Delbecq’s talents release was for the guitarist to pay homage to a
most of his career on playing original music. that help conjure up a joyful celebration of single artist. The concept expanded to a more
The project is divided between, roughly, a Ellington’s music.  —Alain Drouot general tribute to Abercrombie’s formative
European band and an American combo with Crescendo In Duke: Bateau; Portrait Of Mahalia Jackson; Portrait influences, 1960s post-bop icons like Sonny
a strong Minneapolis connection and a more Of Wellman Braud; The Spring; Acht O’ Clock Rock; Whirlpool; Rollins, Bill Evans and Ornette Coleman. Still,
rock-tinged orientation. while the selections draw from a number of
Goutelas Suite: a) Fanfare; b) Goutelas; c) Get With Itness; d)
Something; e) Having At It; Blue Pepper; Tina; Diminuendo And
Delbecq being a resolute modernist, one Crescendo In Blue; Fontainebleau Forest. (65:27)
Personnel: Benoît Delbecq, piano, prepared piano, bass-station; sources, Abercrombie returns to the core influ-
might expect an iconoclastic agenda where- sax, soprano sax (2,soprano
Tony Coe, clarinet, sax (2, 6, 7–11, 14); Tony Malaby, tenor
6, 7–11, 14); Antonin-Tri Hoang, bass clarinet,
ence of Jim Hall, and particularly the guitar-
as the idea is driven by a desire to shed some alto sax (2, 6, 7–11, 14); Jean-Jacques Avenel, bass (2, 6, 7–11, 13, ist’s landmark partnership with Rollins.
light on lesser-known tunes from the Duke 7–11, 13, 14); Michael Nelson, trombone (1, 3, 5, 12); Steve Strand, On Within A Song, Rollins’ part is played
14); Steve Argüelles, drums, electronics, timpani, percussion (2, 4, 6,

Ellington repertoire—tunes for the most part trumpet, flugelhorn (1, 3, 5, 12); Dave Jansen, trumpet, flugelhorn (1,
3, 5, 12,; Kenni Holmen, tenor sax, clarinet (1, 3, 5, 12); Kathy Jen- by Joe Lovano, and the pairing proves ideal.
culled from his late period. The material is sen, baritone sax, alto sax, bass clarinet (1, 3, 5, 12); Yohannes Tona,
bass (1, 3, 5, 12); Michael Bland, drums (1, 3, 5, 12).
Enveloped by Abercrombie’s diffusive tone,
therefore treated with respect, dedication and Ordering info: natomusic.fr Lovano’s husky tenor lets a reedy vulnerability
show through the cracks, a fragility underlying
his strength. The album contains two selec-
Echoes Of Swing tions drawn from Rollins’ The Bridge: “Where
Message From Mars Are You” replaces the original’s bluesy moan
Echoes Of Swing 4506 with a tender yearning, while Abercrombie
HHHH fuses “Without A Song” with his titular origi-
nal piece on the disc’s liveliest number, buoyed
This admirable international quartet (trum- by the spring in Drew Gress’ walking step.
peter Colin Dawson, alto saxophonist Chris Hall was also a member of Evans’ band on
Hopkins, pianist Bernd Lhotzky, drummer the album Interplay, whose title tune allows
Oliver Mewes) mines the neglected pre- Lovano and Abercrombie to weave ravel-
bop swing of the 52nd Street vintage small ing lines around one another. And Sergio
bands. The spread-chord harmonies, trum- Mahanovich’s “Sometime Ago,” which clos-
pet and alto apportionment, and precision es the album on a wistful note, was a staple
ensemble work can fool the ear that this band of the Art Farmer-Jim Hall Quartet. Some of
is a larger unit. Resourcefulness isn’t limit- the leader’s knottiest playing can be found on
ed to the fine playing and the arrangements; Coleman’s “Blues Connotation,” which also
they have a nose for good, neglected mate- inspires a melodic fog of a solo from Joey
rial. Analogous originals—Dawson’s “Ghost belt modernism of Raymond Scott. Like the Baron. The drummer is also key to the hyp-
Of Marsden Grotto,” Lhotzky’s “His Honour Kirbyites, Echoes swings the classics beau- notic rendition of “Flamenco Sketches.”
And The Vermin” and Hopkins’ “Twilightnin’ tifully: “Butterfly Chase” is Lhotzky’s daz- All four musicians are more than capable
Hopkins”—make this group artistic kin to the zling chart on a Chopin’s etude; Fritz Kreisler of muscular playing and are well-versed in
best of the Arbors swing scholar/players, like and Shostakovich also receive canny jazz these standards; making a sprint through the
Howard Alden and Dan Barrett. recastings.  —Kirk Silsbee material an obvious option, they choose the
Instrumental synchronicity and flawless opposite tack. They examine each tune with
uniformity in dynamics immediately bring to an almost sensual delicateness. 
Message From Mars: Shake It And Break It; Message From
Mars; The Ghost Of Marsden Grotto; Don’t Explain; Butter-
mind the John Kirby Sextet. “Shake It And fly Chase; Goon Drag; Delirium; His Honour And The Vermin;
Moonlight Fiesta; Liebesleid; Twilightnin’ Hopkins; Don’t Save  —Shaun Brady
Break It” has such smooth ensemble cohesion Your Love For A Rainy Day; Odeon; Bughouse; Spring Is Here;
Gavotte. (58:39) Within A Song: Where Are You; Easy Reader; Within A Song/
that the band seems to be one multi-faceted Personnel: Colin T. Dawson, trumpet, vocals (4, 12); Chris Hop-
Without A Song; Flamenco Sketches; Nick Of Time; Blues Con-
notation; Wise One; Interplay; Sometime Ago. (61:11)
voice. Impeccable up-tempo execution on Sid kins, alto saxophone, piano (13); Bernd Lhotzky, piano; Oliver
Mewes, drums.
Personnel: John Abercrombie, guitar; Joe Lovano, tenor saxo-
phone; Drew Gress, bass; Joey Baron, drums.
Phillips’ title track channels the conveyor- Ordering info: echoesofswing.com Ordering info: ecmrecords.com

72 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Historical | By john ephland

Lighting Up
Miles Davis

Montreux
Comprising 10 discs and more than 18 hours
of music, The Definitive Miles Davis At
Montreux DVD Collection 1973–1991 (Eagle
Rock Entertainment 303669; HHHH) is a
one-of-a-kind document of how Davis evolved
as an artist/performer beyond the 1960s. A
48-page hard-cover booklet with liner notes,
a scant number of photos and a foreword by
festival founder Claude Nobs augment this
modestly designed package.
It all starts on July 8, 1973. And nobody
was doing a piece like “Ife” before or since
(including Davis). The camera is too focused
on Davis, missing other members of the band
(drummer Al Foster doesn’t appear until the
end). Also featuring reedist Dave Liebman, gui-
tarists Reggie Lucas and the late Pete Cosey,
Michael Henderson on electric bass and per-
cussionist Mtume, there’s lots of sweat and
on-stage choreography with this elongated,

downbeat archives
unconventional and mesmerizing downshift of
a funk staple.
Fast-forward to July 8, 1984, and it’s two
lengthy shows in one day. In this afternoon
set Foster and bassist Darryl Jones are busy master of dynamic range, his playing all over
working overtime as the reemergence of Davis this now-perennial favorite. Yet another new
at Montreux begins. The camera work is good, band emerges with the July 7, 1988, concert,
not great, as it focuses on Davis’ visual con- particularly Kenny Garrett on alto. The high-
nections especially with guitarist John Sco- light comes from the percussion/drums feature
field, who he seems to feel is the anchor to “Carnival Time.” Davis looks on in admiration
this band, which also includes reed player Bob as percussionist Marilyn Mazur threatens to
Berg, keyboardist Robert Irving III and percus- steal the show.
sionist Steve Thornton. It’s another new band for July 21, 1989,
The two-a-days continue through July 14, Davis sounding strong, a new arrangement of
1985. The afternoon show is energetic early “New Blues” taking it up a notch. Tenorist Rick
on with Davis’ tone clear, more resonant. The Margitza has replaced Garrett, and while he’s
high temperatures no doubt feeding the hot, no Berg, his playing on “Hannibal” turns the
bebop-like chops of Berg on tenor with Sco- song into a bona-fide, incendiary rocker. Sing-
field’s and Jones’ playing a close second. And er Chaka Khan enters the picture on “Human
yet, following a tender reading of “Human Na- Nature,” the camera work a tad shoddy. Sav-
ture,” Davis sounds like he’s still trying to find ing grace is Davis’ duet with her on the coda.
his groove, seeming to struggle with his tone But the closer, “Portia,” finds Davis playing a
on “Time After Time,” with or without the mute. short, seemingly uninspired solo as he leaves
The band comes out swinging, Davis seem- the stage prematurely.
ingly incapable of letting go of his horn, with Miles At Montreux climaxes with the right-
everyone on fire. fully acclaimed July 8, 1991, concert with
With evening-only sets now, the July 17, Quincy Jones conducting the combined,
1986, concert is a funk fest with everyone super-sized Gil Evans Orchestra and George
swinging hard from the git-go. On guitars, new Gruntz Concert Jazz Band, Garrett back on
members Robben Ford and Adam Holzman alto with trumpeter Wallace Roney in tow. Da-
add heft, Ford’s playing especially adding a vis allows himself one trip down memory lane
serious bluesy element to “Maze.” It’s more of with re-orchestrated versions from the Davis/
a playground setting as Davis moves around Evans playbook, primarily from Miles Ahead
the stage. “Human Nature” modulates from but also including selections from Birth Of The
its typical quiet to Ford moving it to a hard- Cool, Porgy And Bess and Sketches Of Spain.
rock, bluesy world. Guests George Duke and More symbol than substance, this concert

Subscribe
David Sanborn turn things upside down. San- finds Davis soldiering on despite his obvious
born’s exchanges with Berg on “Burn” and frailties and shows how tough Evans’ charts

877-904-JAZZ
Davis with Ford on “Portia” are standouts. were to execute. DB
The closer, “Jean-Pierre,” shows Davis as the Ordering info: eaglerockent.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 73

 Books | By james porter

The Raw Truth On

Soul Brother No. 1
Just like the man’s music, R.J. Smith’s biog-
raphy about James Brown is extremely blunt.
There is no getting around it. If you’re going to
pen a book on a person who already has one
thorough (for the most part) autobiography on
the market, you’d better find hidden truths, dig
up all the skeletons, surprise the readers and
generally come correct. Smith raided quite a
few secret stashes to explain why Brown was Miguel Zenón/Laurent Coq
the man he was in The One (Gotham Books).
The results don’t always cast him in a posi-
Rayuela
Sunnyside 1299
tive light, since he reportedly stepped on as
many people as he helped out, but the man’s HHHH
art still remains the central focus. The book
breaks down the evolution of Brown’s music In 1963, author Julio Cortazar encouraged read-
from standard 1950s r&b to pioneering soul ers to peruse the chapters of his revolution-
to otherworldly funk, especially crediting and ary novel Rayuela (“Hopscotch,” in English)
describing the bassists and drummers who non-sequentially, in the hopes that by becom-
helped it evolve. Testimonials from his musi- ing actively engaged with the work, they would
cians are key: They knew his quirks inside and uncover new meanings within it. From that
out and they prove more than willing to talk. those lines with accurate vision. While The One perspective, Miguel Zenón and Laurent Coq’s
Bobby Byrd, Richard “Kush” Griffith and Boot- is, essentially, a bootstraps story of success ambitious project is almost as much of a literary
sy Collins in particular add plenty of details. through hard work, it’s also a scary example achievement as it is a musical one.
Through it all, Smith’s book makes plain not of corrupted power. If James Brown was ever A series of “meditations” on events and
just the rhythmic meaning of the number that just another replaceable r&b singer, he got over
people in the book, Rayuela experiments with
is the book’s title, but also how Brown earned that trip quickly. Somewhere around the time
song structures and the connections between
that ranking for himself. of the groundbreaking James Brown Show
tunes to express emotions and motifs each art-
Along with such colleagues, Brown’s album (a.k.a. Live At The Apollo) in the early
friends, family, lovers, crucial (if lesser-known) 1960s, he became numero uno on the chain.
ist observed by reading the Argentine author’s
King Records employees and even rivals are If it took money or a pistol to keep him on top, masterpiece. And Zenón’s long held fascination
dealt with in detail. Smith talked with these then that’s just the way it went. with mathematical systems in music syncs per-
people where it was possible, and in the case But the narrative truly soars when it de- fectly with the story’s numeric compulsions.
of the deceased, sheds new light on oft-told scribes the post-1975 years. As the bandlead- The first clue that patterns affect meaning
tales, like the legendary violent feud with Joe er’s key sidemen left him, his music became comes in the disc’s packaging, where the tracks
Tex, which supposedly had its genesis when less original, and desperation began to fuel are printed out of numeric order against a hop-
Brown stole Tex’s wife. Several former band his business operations. This was when a scotch board background. A riff on the charac-
members, from the Famous Flames to the JBs younger crop of funk, and some rock, musi- ter “La Maga” appears opposite a song about the
to the Soul Generals, fully attest that Brown cians had caught up with (and in some cases death of her son (“La Muerte De Rocamadour”);
wasn’t the easiest boss. In Brown’s 1986 surpassed) Brown’s innovations. David Bowie “El Club De La Serpiente,” a reference to the
autobiography The Godfather Of Soul, his has a hit with “Fame,” which totally bit Brown’s salon of artists whose philosophical discus-
countless girlfriends and wives are limited to style to the point where he covered the exact sions are central to almost everyone in the story,
supporting roles; here, their involvement with same song as “Hot.” When Brown made his holds court at the top of the hopscotch board,
him is more vividly exposed. As his fame grew, mid-’80s comeback, he came close to be- even though the track is 10th on the record-
so did his circle of contacts. Everywhere he ing an oldies act, something he steadfastly ing. Such patterns continue within the compo-
went, there was always some mythical white fought against. While he was starting to gain
sitions: a reversed version of the tabla beat and
establishment figure blocking his every move, respect as an icon, he had to impress a new
piano refrain that open “La Maga” echoes in the
including record company presidents who set of youngsters who only know him through
introduction to Rocamadour’s elegy.
thought he was a little too “smart” for his own a cameo in the movie Rocky IV and a series
good. All of this gave Brown a unique insight of arrests. Smith does a superlative job of de- Most compelling, though, is the range of
into American society. Smith even recounts scribing the world changing around Brown, as emotions evoked by the album as a whole.
an appearance on “The Mike Douglas Show,” well as Brown’s reactions to those changes A sense of nostalgia permeates tracks like
where Brown argued openly with David Suss- and the tumult that followed. “Buenos Aires,” as Coq’s lush and stormy
kind about racial integration. The One hardly puts Brown on a pedes- piano foundations bolster billowing melodies.
Through it all, Smith’s writing makes the tal, as there are moments here where his dark Zenón’s sinuous lines intertwine Dana Leong’s
story come to life. While he is clearly a fan of side is on display in a glass case. For those bowing and Dan Weiss’ raindrop-like tablas on
the man’s work, his admiration is not blind, who are aware of his eccentric streak, but still “Talita.”  —Jennifer Odell
and he retains a sense of humor that never retain a love for him and his music, the book is
comes close to being snarky. With a personal- an intriguing read about a man who could be Rayuela: Talita; La Muerte de Rocamadour; Gekrepten; Beunos
Aires; Morelliana; Oliveira; Berthe Trepat; Traveler; La Maga; El Club
ity as complex as Brown’s, there were a lot of simultaneously infallible and human. DB de la Serpiente. (67:26)
Personnel: Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone; Laurent Coq, piano;
lines to be read through. Smith sees through Ordering info: us.penguingroup.com Dana Leong, cello, trombone; Dan Weiss, tabla, percussion.
Ordering info: sunnysiderecords.com

74 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 through Klucevsek’s joyful eclecticism and the
upbeat polyphony of his squeezebox, here via
Satie’s wryness, there via reference to a disparag-
ing accordion joke. Slovenian/American waltz-
es are represented but South American tango
traditions ostensibly bypassed; this isn’t cultur-
al tourism but closer to home, though the des-
ert-bound “Pink Elephant” sounds more Middle
Eastern than Balkan. Multi-instrumentalist
Jeffrey Barnes, listed on “ocarina, bag o’ birds,
harmonica, ukelele” and pictured on bass saxo-
phone, is resourceful, as is versatile co-produc-
er Carl Finch.
The disc starts hot with the fleet Bulgarian
beats of “Breathless And Bewildered” punctuat-
ed by tuba and tenor banjo. “Waltz For Sandy”
takes a mood shift after the circuitous melo-
Guy Klucevsek dy, adding a cameo from John Hollenbeck on
The Multiple Personality drums and xylophone. “Lädereld” is Hopalong
Reunion Tour Cassidy territory, featuring Ginny Mac, the lead-
Innova 819 er, on melodica and Finch on mouth percussion;
HHH1/2 “Hymnopedie No. 2,” a play on Satie’s influence,
is a chaste feature for Douglas. Cheese mixes
CD sleeve photos of accordion chameleon Guy with heartfelt nostalgia, Klucevsek the ringmas-
Klucevsek wearing five different hats belie still ter often surrendering limelight to fellow under-
more corners to his persona. A 2010 Collins sung musicians.  —Michael Jackson
Fellowship gave Klucevsek an opportunity to
compile his favorite music styles with help from The Multiple Personality Reunion Tour: Breathless And Bewil-
dered; Waltz For Sandy; Gimme A Minute, Please (My Sequins Are
Dave Douglas, Kenny Wollesen and associates Showing); Larsong; Ratatatatouille; Hymnopedie No. 1; Hymnope-
die No. 2; Hymnopedie No. 3; Pink Elephant; O’O; Lädereld; The
from polka and Texas swing traditions. C&M Waltz; Moja Baba Je Pijana. (45:28)
Klucevsek keeps his tour short and sweet Personnel: Guy Klucevsek, accordion; Alex Meixner, accordion,
trumpet; Brandon Seabrook, tenor banjo, acoustic guitar; Marcus
with several tracks under two minutes, tipping Rojas, tuba; Kenny Wollesen, drums, percussion; Pete Donovan,
bass; John Hollenbeck, drums, xylophone; Jo Lawry, Theo Bleck-
one or other hat to Bulgarian accordionist Ivan mann, Peter Eldridge, vocals (3); Ginny Mac, accordion; Dave
Milev, Basque trikitixa great Kepa Junkera, col- Douglas, trumpet; Jeffrey Barnes, saxophones, clarinet, ocarina,
bag o’ birds, ukulele, percussion, harmonica; Carl Finch, piano, or-
league Lars Hollmer plus Martin Denny, Erik Little Jack Melody,
gan, guitar, keyboards, accordion, percussion, mouth percussion;
fretless bass; Alan Emert, drums.
Satie and dancer Sandy Silva. Humor busts Ordering info: innova.mu

Citizen Rhythm
Of The People, By The People,
For The People
Strong Brew Music 06
HHH1/2
Everyone deals with standards in their own
sweet way. On Of The People, By The People,
For The People, the debut album from Bay
Area guitarist Terrence Brewer’s Citizen
Rhythm quartet, the strategy is to prop them
up on funk rhythms, replacing the sizzle of the
swing beat with the fire of soul-jazz drumming.
An early highlight on the album is the
transformation of McCoy Tyner’s pensive
“Passion Dance” into a rollicking affair featur-
ing a singing solo from Brewer, a long, thrill- But the pinnacle of is Brewer’s reimagining of
ingly precise fill from drummer Rob Rhodes Jimmy Heath’s “Gingerbread Boy.” Beginning
and frisky, uncluttered organ ruminations from with a fast, fusion-y riff fueled by the bash-
keyboardist Michael Coleman. On Charles ing of open hi-hats, Heath’s tricky bebop tune
Mingus’ “Nostalgia In Times Square,” the becomes a bouncy, ecstatic dance contest,
head is stretched over a mysterious odd-meter replete with thick, rubbery bass lines and juicy
groove, but solos are taken over a mellow dub wah-wah solos.  —Brad Farberman
reggae passage. “Softly, As In A Morning
Sunrise” is given new life by bassist Gabe
Of The People, By The People, For The People: Speak No Evil;
Passion Dance; Crystal Silence; Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise;
Davis’ sly classic rock arrangement, in which Gingerbread Boy; Wildflower; E.S.P.; Nostalgia In Times Square;
Prince Of Darkness; Crystal Silence; Nardis. (58:08)
the melody is stated over a crunchy electric Personnel: Terrence Brewer, guitar; Michael Coleman, keyboards;
Gabe Davis, bass; Rob Rhodes, drums.
piano vamp and steady rimshots on each beat. Ordering info: terrencebrewer.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 75

 Keyboard School Woodshed | Master Class
By Fred hersch

Back to Bach:
Keys to Jazz
Piano Prowess
P laying solo jazz piano is a tricky business.
The piano alone, in the hands of a great pro-
ponent of the art, can be many things at once—
or in succession: a large drum set with pitches,
an orchestra, two (or three or four) simultaneous
horn-like voices, a big band and more. One of
the keys to success as a soloist is how the hands
work together.
I have taught for many years, and with rare
exceptions, the student ends up playing for me
alone. And I have heard countless times, “I wish
you could hear me with a trio—I sound much
better.” Truly, the modern jazz piano approach
stresses “voicings” (chords without roots) in the
left hand and single-note lines in the right. At its
worst, the left hand sounds like what I call “the
claw” as it stabs out chords that are often played
by rote. Such voicings usually aren’t heard
clearly, due to the focus on the right-hand lines.
They don’t help the lines and are often too loud.
The hands hardly work together at all—partly
because the lower part of the right hand is not

marknis kanen
used at all, as it is only playing single notes and
has no chance to connect with the left.
I once heard it said that pianists practicing
alone should learn every tune three ways: 1) as each voice being rhythmically independent. But and not doubling any voices, one might get
a solo piece; 2) as if you are accompanying an in order to make voice leading effective, pia- Example 3. Remember that whatever chord
imaginary horn player or vocalist (that is, play- nists must learn from the root up, in four voices you start on will impact where you can go,
ing chords with roots in the lower and middle and by learning to pass the upper part of the left since you are restricted by the above-men-
range of the piano that convey some knowledge hand to the lower part of the right hand and vice- tioned limits.
of chord substitution and establish a groove); versa. Bach chorales are full of instances where Using only passing quarter notes—with and
and 3) as if you are playing with an imaginary the span between bass and tenor ranges from a without suspensions, and with half and whole
trio. To those I would add memorization, trans- 10th to an octave-and-five, so the tenor must be steps in the top voice—might yield something
position into at least two keys and perhaps play- picked up by the thumb of the right hand. Refer like Example 4.
ing in a variety of tempi and meters. to Examples 1a and 1b on the next page. Now, where it gets really interesting is when
The only textbooks I ever ask any student to I thought it would be a good exercise to you add in eighth notes and suspensions and
buy are the Charlie Parker Omnibook (I rec- apply the principles of the chorales to the first achieve four really independent parts, à la Bach.
ommend learning to play the heads and some of four bars of a jazz ballad made famous by See Example 5.
the solos in a relaxed, “non-fingery” and swing- Coleman Hawkins. Something that I have found This is not easy! But I am convinced that if
ing way—they are almost small jazz etudes helpful is to restrict the top voice so that it must you practice each step as I have outlined above
unto themselves) and 371 Harmonized Bach move on each successive chord but only up or for a significant, sustained period of time, it is
Chorales and 69 Chorale Melodies with Figured down a half step or a whole step. It’s harder than achievable.
Bass, Riemenschneider edition. jumping around but leads to smoother voice Pick a tempo that is manageable and try not
It’s also a good idea to collect as much mate- leading in the long run. If I were to do this lin- to stop—you may play a wonky chord, but just
rial by Great American Songbook compos- early with eighth notes, it might look something keep moving instead of stopping and looking for
ers as you can afford so you can learn the lyr- like Example 2. (By the way, this approach can a perfect solution. And try to challenge yourself
ics and the correct melodies. And I encourage be used by any improviser to familiarize your- not to repeat the same chords every chorus—
piano students to get the complete book of tunes self with a set of chord changes and to overcome this requires knowledge of basic nuts-and-bolts
by Thelonious Monk. I have never owned a Real fear of “avoid notes” or routinely jumping to jazz theory: passing chords, interpolated chro-
Book and am proud of that fact! safe, triadic “in the chord” pitches). Don’t look matic II-V chords, ascending and descending
The Bach chorale book is virtually a Bible of for the “perfect” note, just keep the flow going; bass lines, changing roots and changing chord
four-part voice leading. They were written to be and sustain all of these activities for a period of qualities (e.g., substituting a dominant seventh
sung by actual voices, so each part is melodic. time; I use a kitchen timer. chord with a suspended seventh, or a dominant
Voice leading, in addition to harmonically open- Now, using this top voice restriction, and seventh chord for a seventh/flat-five). But this is
ing up the tune, also serves a rhythmic function, changing chords/bass notes each half note, only possible if you are really hearing all four

76 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 Example 1a Example 1b

Example 2

Example 3

Example 4

Example 5

voices and your hands are used to passing lines approach with the next phrase—when done,
between them. string the first two phrases together. Then, in an
Getting back to the Bach chorales them- additive fashion, you will eventually play all the
selves: There is an approach to playing them phrases in sequence after you have taken each
that may be helpful for you. Take the first one apart.
phrase up to the fermata (usually two-to-three Do one Bach chorale each day, and you’ll
bars) and start by just playing the soprano and get through the entire book of 371 in about a
the bass, then alto and bass, tenor and bass, alto year. A small amount of time spent daily with
and tenor, soprano and tenor, and soprano and these treasures will yield enormous results on
alto—all the pairs of two voices. Then, play many levels. DB
through groups of threes: soprano, alto, bass;
soprano, tenor, bass; alto, tenor, bass; soprano,
alto, tenor. Only then should you proceed to Fred Hersch’s ninth solo piano disc, Alone At
play all four voices together. (You can also play The Vanguard (Palmetto), was nominated for
two 2011 Grammy Awards. Visit Hersch online at
three voices and sing the fourth.) Take the same fredhersch.com.

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 77

 Keyboard School Woodshed | pro session
By michael wolff

The ‘Tension
and Release’
Concept
of Rhythm,
Melody and
Harmony

T hink about taking a rubber band between

the thumb and index finger of your right
hand. Then take another part of it between
mic groove with a specific subdivision of the
time, the pulse feels like “home base.” As long as
we play rhythms that utilize only the home-base
the thumb and index finger of your left hand. subdivisions, we feel the groove is relaxed. The
Move each hand away from the other and minute we change the subdivision, perhaps from
slowly stretch the rubber band as tight as you duple (x2) to triple (x3), we create tension. Then,
can without breaking it. Slowly bring your when we return to our original subdivision, we
hands back together until the rubber band is feel a release.
not stretched at all. The same concept applies to notes in the
As you separate your hands, you see and feel scale. If we are in the key of C major, the C note
the rubber band getting more and more stretched, is the root, the home-base note. All other notes of
and you feel more and more tension in the rubber the scale feel like they need to resolve to the root
band until it is as tightly stretched as possible. As due to the tension we feel until the C is played.
you bring your hands closer together, you feel the Certain notes create more tension than others in
tension in the rubber band diminish. That is ten- that they seem to demand resolution in a stron-
sion and release. ger manner.
The same concept of tension and release The fifth degree of the C scale, G, has a very
exists in music. When we have a certain rhyth- strong need to resolve to the C. The seventh

78 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

degree of the scale, B, is very strong also. The actually F mixolydian, as it was an F dominant
fourth and the second notes of the scale, F and D, (F7) with a flatted seventh.
have a lesser pull to the C, though they do have His basic chords were stacks of the interval
tensions that need to be resolved, either by going of a fourth, and the primary structure of his
to the C or to a note that is less tense than itself. improvisations was the pentatonic scale, which
And finally, the third and the sixth of the scale to my mind is an extension or elaboration of a
have a lesser need to resolve to the C, but they do major triad.
have some tension in them that can be released When Tyner played the triads that were
by going to the I. “inside” the mixolydian scale, there wasn’t a
This same concept applies to chords. In the whole lot of tension. Some notes seemed fur-
key of C, the V chord (the dominant), G, is the ther away from the root than others, but they
most tense and has the most urgent need to be really seemed to sound as colors around the F
released to the root. That is the V-to-I progres- root. When Tyner played pentatonic scales, the
sion, the strongest in the diatonic tonal musical ones that only included the notes in the mixolyd-
world. The 7 diminished chord, a B diminished ian scale sounded “inside” to me. He was play-
triad, is almost as strong in its need to resolve to ing modally, utilizing the seven notes of the F
the C chord. The F chord, the subdominant, is mixolydian mode. In his right hand, Tyner was
next in the line to need to be resolved to the root playing F pentatonic, E-flat pentatonic and B-flat
chord. Similarly full of tension is the II chord, pentatonic scales based on the F, E-flat and B-flat
the D minor. triads.
The two diatonic chords that have the least With his left hand, Tyner played fourth
tension—and therefore the least pull to be chords that were also in the F mixolydian scale.
resolved—are the III chord (E minor) and the He seemed to move them around almost melod-
VI chord (A minor). Each of those chords con- ically, rather than thinking of them as separate
sists of three notes, two of which exist in the chord roots. He used them modally. The ones
root chord of C major. with perfect fourths—like F, B-flat and E-flat—
As we get more advanced in our theory of sounded very “home base”-like. The ones that
tension and release, we start feeling the tension had a perfect fourth and an augmented fourth—
of notes outside the diatonic scale and feel their like B-flat, E-flat and A—seemed to have a little
need to resolve to the root. It all feels like varia- more intensity to them, but they were still part
tions of the V-to-I chord tension. of the “home base” sound of F7 and the F mix-
This is a way to have an overview of rhythm, olydian scale.
melody and harmony. It is not merely intellectu- However, at certain points Tyner introduced
al, as I always feel these tensions and their sub- notes outside of the F mixolydian scale, and
sequent releases in my body, primarily in my that’s where I began to intuitively feel tension
solar plexus. being created. He might add an E-natural to the
I was first turned on to the tension and release fourth chords in his left hand, so that he’d play
concept of music when I was 18 years old and E-natural, B-flat and E-flat. This would feel like
beginning to study music at UCLA. I had an it needed to be resolved, and functioned like a
amazing classical piano teacher, Abie Tzerko, V7 chord (like a C7 in the key of F). But the bass
who taught a master class of five or six of us. He player stayed around the F pedal tone and didn’t
had been a prodigy of the great Beethoven inter- change to give the root of the V chord, C.
preter Artur Schnabel and was a fantastic pia- Tyner’s right hand also introduced scale
nist himself. He said, “Playing the piano is not tones outside of the F mixolydian scale, and more
about being relaxed. Your fingers can’t be loose tension was created.
and floppy. It is about having them flexed when A lightbulb went on in my head. That’s when
need be, and then relaxed when you no longer I began to figure out what my solar plexus was
need to use that particular finger.” As I practiced responding to when I listened to music and felt
after that, I would feel when I needed to use my tension come and go from the chords and melo-
strength and purposefulness in my fingers and dies I was hearing. I wanted to master and con-
hands, and when I could relax them. trol—or at least have a complete comprehen-
It was a little later when I was listening to sion of—this tension-and-release feeling I was
jazz pianist McCoy Tyner, trying to figure out experiencing.
and analyze his harmonic approach on a song Thus, I began to comprehend how harmony,
of his called “Passion Dance,” that I figured out melody and even rhythm work to create and
he was using tension and release in his melodic resolve tension in all kinds of music.DB
and harmonic concept. “Passion Dance” is based
on an F pedal tone, and the whole song revolves
around that F tonality. But Tyner ended up using Pianist Michael Wolff’s band with drummer Mike
every chromatic tone over that F. I began to hear Clark, Wolff & Clark Expedition, will release a
new CD next year on Random Act Records. Visit
and understand how he started in the key of F, Wolff online at michaelwolff.com.
 Keyboard School Woodshed | solo
By mark baynes

Brad Mehldau’s Brad Mehldau

Piano Solo on
‘Sky Turning Grey’
O n “Sky Turning Grey (For Elliott Smith)”
from Brad Mehldau’s 2010 CD Highway
Rider (Nonesuch), the pianist elegantly fuses
musical connectivity with compositional sophis-
tication. As is often the case with Mehldau’s
groove-based solos, instruments other than the
piano play a harmonic role, negating the prom-
inence of Mehldau’s otherwise active left hand.
Therefore, this transcription shows the treble
stave only.
The form is 64-bar AABC, where B and C
share the same melody but different changes. An
almost constantly descending bass line is spelled
out by Mehldau’s changes—largely a mixture of
diatonic chords derived from the key, some tri- es harmonic imposition within the first quarter
tone substitutions and elongated functional II-V-I of chorus one by playing a line derived from C#
cadences. An example of this harmony can be Locrian #2 mode over a Cm7b5, effectively side-
found at measures 14–17, where a II-V-I is played slipping up a semitone.
in Bb minor, however an Ebm/Bb extends the C In chorus two, an increased sense of intensi-
half-diminished sound for a measure, before the ty and drive is achieved with rhythmical features
V chord at measure 16. such as four-note chromatic or melodic triplets
Mehldau’s improvisation evokes a sense of (bar 68). Mehldau employs tension by way of
relaxed maturity and stylistic confidence. Chorus juxtaposing uncommon note choices; at measure
one includes strong references to the melody on a 74, he plays an A and B, the sharp ninth and per-
regular basis, such as measures 0, 6–7, 11, 16–18, fect 4th of Gb major. This precedes a D over a Db
26–28, 32, 40–41 and 55–60. There is much major chord in the next measure, spelling a flat
antiphonal content, too. The opening phrase, ninth—all risky choices, but placed within a firm
based on the first two notes of the melody, is a melodic context, they work well. At measure 77,
four-beat cell that is stated then answered during the solo culminates with a long 16th-note pas-
bars 1 and 2. The next phrase starts at measure sage from 77–80, then again at 87–89.DB
4, for two measures, and is answered during bars
6–7 before a blues figure at bar 8. Motivic repeti-
tion is heard in several places (e.g., bars 55–60); Mark Baynes is a jazz pianist in Auckland, New
Zealand. He is studying the music of Brad
also, chromatic references can be heard through- Mehldau for a Doctor of Musical Arts degree
out the improvisation, either acting transitional- at Auckland University. Baynes teaches at both
the New Zealand School of Music and Auckland
ly or to approach chord tones. Mehldau introduc- University. Visit Baynes online at jazzpiano.co.nz

80 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

solo continues …

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 81

 Keyboard School Toolshed 

Yamaha MOX6 Synthesizer

Deep Music-Production Capabilities
Y amaha’s newest entries in the workstation
market are the MOX6 and MOX8 music
production synthesizers. The MOX series uses
directly into your DAW over the USB cable.
There are a number of different ways to route the
signals, and the inputs can be routed through the
220,000-event sequencer with a couple of but-
ton-presses, then play in the patterns you like
and add tracks over it. This saves setup time and
the Yamaha Motif XS’s sound engine, comple- MOX internal effects—and this also applies to makes quick arranging a breeze.
mented by a huge array of features designed to live performance. You can also route your vocal Navigation through the sounds is set up in
enhance your live and computer setups. I test- through the nice-sounding vocoder on-board. Yamaha’s usual fashion, with patches and perfor-
ed the 61-key MOX6 for this review (the MOX8 The A/D conversion sounded good to my ears, mances being searchable by category, as well as
has a fully weighted 88-key manual). and the effects were very clean. In addition to being able to assign “favorite” status to your most
The first thing that I noticed upon unboxing the standard MIDI control you might expect, the used sounds. When you do pull up those sounds,
is the weight and construction of the unit. The VST mode of the MOX allows you to control the eight knobs are instantly active to adjust 12
MOX6 is all-plastic, which was no doubt a deci- your softsynths from the front panel and route of the most common parameters, as well as EQ,
sion made to reduce the weight of the instrument. them through the main audio outs in a live situ- effects and arpeggiator settings.
And while the plastic body may initially feel a ation, so all you need to bring to the gig is your And how are the sounds? Impressive. The
little chintzy, it is in fact a very robust case, and laptop. This feature is incredibly handy. synth sounds are particularly well done: warm
upon further inspection feels like it could weath- Included with the MOX is a copy of Cubase analog tones, crisp digital textures, and the D/A
er the rigors of live performance without inci- AI, Prologue (Steinberg’s VST vintage synth conversion really packs a punch. Few current
dent. Another unfortunate concession to weight emulator) and a clone-wheel VST from Yamaha, keyboards in this price range sound as solidly fat
is the wall wart—no internal power supply here, but the real treat for me was the included editor. as the MOX. As you would expect, there is a huge
which I think is necessary in a pro keyboard. The editor is deep and responsive, and enabled sample library of acoustic and electric instru-
However, this is a very portable board, weighing me to get into the nuts and bolts of the sound ments on-board, and for the most part, they are
in at just 15 pounds. engine right away. And these sounds are com- excellent. The CFIII piano does not disappoint,
The front panel includes a large, readable plex: They are the same eight element voic- either, and is useful in both live and recording sit-
display in the center, a bank of eight knobs to es found on the Motif XS, including Yamaha’s uations. The drum sounds are a bit of a mixed
access and tweak many parameters quickly, CFIII piano—totaling more than 1,200 avail- bag, but all the acoustic drum kits are great and
including two assignable slots, and lots of but- able sounds. Being able to get into those patches all of your electronica favorites are available.
tons to help navigate the deep capabilities of this and tweak everything onscreen in real time, with There are very few, if any, holes in this
synth. My favorite front-panel surprise is the real-time feedback from the front panel controls, synth’s arsenal. The 64 voices of polyphony did
level meter, which can be used for input or out- made it simple to adjust even the most complicat- feel a little restraining at times, but this was only
put monitoring—nice. The rear panel offers all ed patches. Kudos to Yamaha for spending the because the sequencer and Performance con-
the usual connections, but also two inputs with time to get the editor right—it feels like a part of structs are so powerful that you will likely want
switchable mic/line gain, and two separate USB the MOX, rather than an add-on. to keep adding sounds.
connections, one type A for connection to your In addition to the large library of patches, There is no aftertouch here, either, which
computer, and a type B for plugging in a USB there are Performances (saved presets), which many will lament, but at this price point, there is
key for data backup. include up to four patches in split or layer com- nothing to complain about. The concerns I had
The MOX6 is extremely well thought out binations and can also carry a dizzying array of about the build quality vanished as I got more
when it comes to computer connectivity. It arpeggiator options per part. And if you like one used to the feel, but be aware of it. Overall, the
includes a four-in/two-out USB audio inter- of these Performances so much that you want MOX6 (and MOX8) seems like a winner to me.
face, which allows you to record both the inter- to build a track around it, you can automatical-  —Chris Neville
nal sounds and sounds from the two audio inputs ly transfer all of these setting into the 16-part, Ordering info: yamaha.com

82 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

Kawai ES7 Digital Piano
Touch, Tone & Tweaks

K awai has incorporated the distinctive touch

and tone of its best acoustic grand pianos
into a portable, 256-note polyphonic digital key-
gives you the tools to
shape various piano
characteristics to your
board that you can tweak to the nines and take liking. These include
with you just about anywhere. The new Kawai touch sensitivity (from
ES7 digital piano has the best sound and feel of very light to very
any of the company’s portable boards to date, heavy, and also con-
and its potential for fine-tuning and editing/stor- stant), voicing (from
ing personalized settings is vast. mellow to bright, plus a
Sounds and polyphony are important to me “dynamic” voicing that
as a keyboardist, but it’s a digital piano’s touch changes tone depend-
that appeals to me the most. The ES7 has a rel- ing on the strength of a
atively new kind of weighted-key action that key strike), damper res-
Kawai calls Responsive Hammer 2. Highly sta- onance, string resonance,
ble with realistic movement, the RH2 action and subtle hammer and key-release noises. The
accurately mirrors the heavier bass hammers and Virtual Technician can also tune your piano any divides the keyboard into two
lighter treble hammers of an actual grand piano. way you want. equal parts so two people can
Combine that with Ivory Touch key surfaces— The ES7 is by no means limited to acoustic play at the same time—great for
made from a synthetic material that could easily piano sounds. It has a strong selection of electric teachers and students.
pass for the real thing—and you’ve got a virtual pianos and organs, complete with the appropri- Other highlights include a selection of 100
piano under your fingers. ate amp simulations to go with them. “Having a full rhythm-section accompaniments, MP3 and
The tones of the ES7 are beautiful in their variety of acoustic piano sounds is very benefi- WAV recording capabilities, an abundance of
complexity and realness. Kawai uses Progressive cial for all types of jazz music,” said Tom Love of connectivity options for easy access to com-
Harmonic Imaging technology to record and Kawai. “But there’s also a new collection of vin- puters and MIDI devices, and a built-in sound
reproduce all 88 keys of its best concert grands at tage electric piano sounds. Call up one of those, system that will fill a room without needing an
different dynamic levels. Several different piano lay an amp simulation on it, and you’re ready to external amp. A couple of foot-pedal options are
types are preset into the ES7’s sound banks, crank out some classic fusion.” available (including a three-piece setup) as well
including concert grands, studio grands, mel- Mallet instruments, basses, strings and as an optional designer stand and a soft road case
low grands and modern/rock pianos. The imag- choirs sound great when layered with the on wheels.
ing process also does a remarkable job of taking piano sounds in Dual mode. In Split mode, The ES7 comes in Elegant Gloss Black fin-
string resonance into account. you can get a fairly real-sounding wood bass ish, and an Ivory White version will become
One of the coolest parts of the ES7 is the going with your left hand while playing piano available this fall.  —Ed Enright
instrument’s built-in Virtual Technician, which lines with your right. And Four Hands mode Ordering info: kawaius.com

Golden Age Project Comp 54

Vintage-style Audiophile Compressor

G olden Age Project created a buzz

with its Pre-73 microphone pre-
amplifier in 2008. Based on the Neve
I ran the Comp 54 through vari-
ous tests, on both microphone and DI
instrument signals, and it performed
1073 console, it delivered a warm, vin- well in all cases. The Comp 54 gave
tage-style tone that was far beyond its vocal tracks a nice up-front quali-
modest $299 price tag. Once again ty and added just the right amount of
inspired by Rupert Neve, the company has compromises. The company accomplished this color to the tone. Rear-panel connections consist
released the Comp 54 Vintage Style Compressor. by manufacturing in China and also through the of both XLR and ¼-inch jacks as well as a link
As with the Pre-73, the Comp 54 is a single- use of Chinese transformers as opposed to the for connecting two units in stereo. On the front,
channel unit that resides in a half-rack sturdy significantly more expensive Carnhills found in there are dials for setting threshold, ratio, attack,
metal housing. An optional rack adapter allows the original Neves. After releasing the original release and output gain, and a high-pass filter for
for mounting two boxes side-by-side, useful for Pre-73, many users began to upgrade their boxes side chain operation. The VU meter can be set to
a stereo configuration or for pairing with a Pre- by swapping out the stock Chinese transform- indicate either the output level or amount of com-
73. Like the original 1970s Neves, the unit fea- ers for Carnhills. This was a fairly complicated pression being applied.
tures true class-A circuitry and uses no integrat- rewiring job, but the Comp 54 is designed with Golden Age Project has hit the mark a sec-
ed circuits in its signal path. Obviously, to offer upgrade-ready sockets that allow you to make ond time with this one. —Keith Baumann
the unit at $399, Golden Age had to make a few this alteration with plug-and-play simplicity. Ordering info: raddist.com

SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 83

 Keyboard School Toolshed | Gear Box

Cutting-edge Classic
Akai Professional has introduced MAX49, a USB/MIDI/CV con-
troller for use with virtually any MIDI or Control Voltage hardware Keys on the Move
and MIDI software. MAX49 offers a fully immersive experience Line 6 has released its Mobile Keys premium keyboard control-
with virtually all VST plug-ins and music software. Featuring 49 ler for iPad, iPhone, Mac and PC. Mobile Keys 25 and Mo-
semi-weighted keys, 12 MPC pads, LED touch faders and vin- bile Keys 49 are lightweight portable keyboards designed to
tage CV and Gate outputs, it combines cutting-edge Akai Pro control iOS music apps and double as USB MIDI control-
technology with classic capabilities. More info: akaipro.com lers for Mac and Windows computers. More info: line6.com

Real Drawbars
Full Accompaniment Clavia has updated its Nord C2 Combo Organ with the Nord C2D,
Lowrey’s Virtual Orchestra is a new digital product line with a variety which includes two sets of physical drawbars per manual. The Nord
of accompaniments. “Pianist” mode transforms the Virtual Orchestra C2D features a redesigned simulation of the characteristic mechani-
into a richly toned piano. When a player wants a complete band, they cal key clicks that are an essential component of the classic tone-
can select the “full band” mode. “Guitarist” mode yields a variety of wheel experience. The new left-hand preset sections offer better
guitar-based orchestrations and voicing sets. More info: lowrey.com hands-on control, and the upper manual and panel have been tilted
for improved ergonomics. An LCD display has been added for easier
access to programs and settings. More info: americanmusicandsound.com

Sound Sources
Casio has unveiled the XW synthesizer series. The XW-P1 is de- Control Freaks
signed for recording pros, and the XW-G1 (pictured) is suitable for Alesis’ Q-series USB MIDI controllers—the Q61, QX61 and QX25—are
dance music performers. Both synths are equipped with a step a no-nonsense way to add expressive MIDI control to any produc-
sequencer that lets artists build and mix performances as they go, tion or performance. Each controller features USB MIDI for easy
as well as a six-oscillator monophonic solo synth that uses Casio’s connection to Mac, PC, iOS devices and traditional MIDI hard-
Hybrid Processing Sound Source. More info: casiomusicgear.com ware modules, samplers and synthesizers. More info: alesis.com

84 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

 Jazz On Campus  School Notes 
Steve Zegree

Kirk Whalum (left) instructs students at Stax Music Academy

Hoosier Pride: The Indiana University

Ronnie Booze
Jacobs School of Music has announced
that internationally recognized vocal jazz
conductor and educator Steve Zegree will
join its faculty in the fall as the Pam and
Stax Schools on the Science of Soul Jack Burks Professor of Music and director

S
of the legendary Singing Hoosiers. Zegree
axophonist Kirk Whalum’s office at the creative outlets,” Parker said. currently serves as the Bobby McFerrin
Soulsville Foundation in Memphis, Tenn., Those outlets began with the Stax Music Distinguished Professor of Music at Western
is above the former home of r&b label Stax Academy, which started in an elementary Michigan University and will assume his new
Records. But when Whalum, Soulsville’s chief school and unveiled its own two-story build- position at IU this fall.
creative officer, discusses education, he refer- ing on the museum campus in 2002. About 80 Details: indiana.edu

ences another locally based business. students are enrolled in its programs and per-
“Memphis is the hub of FedEx,” Whalum form internationally. Drum Corps: Jazz drummers Joe Porcaro
said. “Any package that goes anywhere has to “If kids come in with some skill and a lot of and Ralph Humphrey led a series of in-
come here first. So I tell students, ‘You have a structional master classes at Los Angeles
passion, they’re perfect,” Whalum said. “We’ll
Music Academy’s Drummer’s Reality Camp
package to deliver that’s completely unique.’” make a connection between the music that is
on June 28. The camp, which ran from
In 2000, the Foundation started the Stax relevant now and music that was relevant then,
June 27–30, also included a roundtable
Music Academy, which has provided after-school especially the music that was recorded here.” with professional jazz percussionists, a
and summer music classes to more than 2,500 “You have to know what came before you to concert featuring Stanton Moore and Roger
students. Five years later, it opened the Soulsville move ahead,” added former Academy student Walter and a tour of the DW drum factory.
Charter School, a college-preparatory program Khari Alamin, who will attend Berklee College Details: lamusicacademy.com
serving 6th through 12th graders. Soulsville’s of Music this fall.
first high school graduation took place last May, Music is also a component of the Soulsville Unchartered Territory: Brooklyn Charter
and that entire class has been accepted into col- Charter School, and its rhythm and strings School recently developed a unique after-
lege. The 49 graduates have been offered schol- orchestra plays Stax hits. But Executive Director school program that focuses on percussive
arships that collectively total $3.8 million. NeShante Brown said its mission is “to provide studies from around the globe. The BCS
“The legacy of Stax Records was a natural a world-class education for kids who might not after-school percussion curriculum has also
seedbed,” Whalum said. “That legacy of have otherwise encountered such an education.” offered instruction from such Latin Percus-
achievement in spite of whatever you’re lack- Advance placement courses are offered to its 450 sion (LP) endorsers as Wilson “Chembo“
ing inspires us to make sure that these students students in all academic areas, but musical imag- Corniel, as well as author and educator
are not lacking.” es emerge even in history and math classes. Victor Rendón.
For years, Stax’s importance had been “Respect, integrity, scholarship, empathy Details: brooklyncharter.org

neglected, as was the surrounding neighbor- and community comprise our core val-
hood. Stax went bankrupt during the mid- ues,” Brown said. “We call our point system Scholarly Efforts: Tenor saxophon-
1970s, and its studio was torn down in 1988. ist Matthew Sieber-Ford, a senior in the
Grammys—a scholarship Grammy for giving
Rochester City School District’s School of
In the late 1990s, the Soulsville Foundation set a great answer in class.”
the Arts who also studies at the Eastman
out to rebuild the company’s legacy. One way With students coming from environments
Community Music School (ECMS), has
included constructing the Stax Museum of often described as “potentially at-risk,” Whalum been named this year’s recipient of the Xe-
American Soul Music, which opened in 2003, pointed to one success story that epitomizes what rox Rochester International Jazz Festival/
on the company’s former site. Foundation the school has accomplished. “A student here Eastman School of Music Scholarship.
board member Deanie Parker—a former Stax was, without question, otherwise going to be in Sieber-Ford was recognized on June 25
artist and publicist—said that music education a gang,” Whalum said. “Fast-forward, and he’s a during the festival’s annual scholarship
had to be part of this redevelopment. graduating senior, accepted to four colleges and performance.
“We had to have a program that would unbelievably gifted. He’s a microcosm of what Details: rochester.edu
focus on music industry education and provide can happen here.” —Aaron Cohen

86 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012

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BOOKS & MAGAZINES
DB Buyers Guide 
SEEKING OLD ISSUES OF DOWNBEAT
for a non-profit music education library.
Contact Dick Ford at 315-478-7840 or AAM Music.................73 Eagle Rock P. Mauriat
email: dford@signaturemusic.org. antonioadolfo.com Entertainment.............53 Saxophones..................9
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lessons eastmanmusic Records.......................51
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with Jeff Harrington, Berklee Professor, MIT alannarecords.com
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SEPTEMBER 2012 DOWNBEAT 89

 Blindfold Test | By ted panken

Frank Kimbrough
H ighly regarded as a solo and trio pianist of broad scope and imag-
ination, with 16 leader or co-leader albums in his oeuvre and many
more as a sideman (Jazz Composers Collective, the Maria Schneider
Orchestra, Ted Nash), Frank Kimbrough is a powerful presence on the
jazz landscape.

Vijay Iyer Trio

“Wildflower” (Accelerando, ACT, 2012) Iyer, piano; Stephan Crump, bass; Mar-
cus Gilmore, drums.
That was Herbie Nichols’ “Wildflower.” I’m not sure who it was [play-
ing]. About the third or fourth chorus, it started getting really nice. I
liked the interaction, and I think they played it true to Herbie’s spirit.
Herbie used dark, ambiguous voicings in the left hand; if you try to cop
that, you run the risk of sounding like you’re aping him, but at the same
time you want to give respect to his sound—it’s a fine line to deal with.
I wish they’d played the intro as an outro again, the way Herbie did, but
I’m fine with how they chose to end the tune. 4 stars.

Chick Corea/Eddie Gomez/Paul Motian

“Mode VI” (Further Explorations, Concord-Stretch, 2012) Corea, piano; Gomez,
bass; Motian, drums.
Paul Motian’s tune. Paul’s playing drums, right? I’ve played it—though

Jimmy katz
not with Paul—but I can’t remember the name. I have a whole book of
Paul’s tunes at home. Oh, this is Chick and Eddie Gomez. “Mode VI.”
This is from their two-week date at the Blue Note a few years ago. That Craig Taborn
was beautiful. I’m surprised it took me so long to recognize Chick, “Avenging Angel” (Avenging Angel, ECM, 2011) Taborn, piano.
because he usually gives himself away immediately. Playing with Paul That’s an interesting improvisation, to take one rhythmic idea basically
and playing Paul’s music put him in a different zone. I think it’s a bit and run with it. Is that Craig Taborn? That’s his new ECM record. He
of a stretch for him, but he played it beautifully. Sometimes, if you add maintained the vibe throughout the piece, expanding on it all the while.
one note to what Paul has on the paper, it sounds stupid. If you subtract The improvisation made sense, never got monotonous, and sounded like
one note, it sounds stupid. It’s about paying attention to the line and the itself throughout. That’s the hallmark of an improviser who thinks like a
phrasing. Even though Paul sometimes used upper partials of the har- composer. Nice sound. Nice ideas. 4½ stars.
mony, he liked simple harmony—he could say more with a triad than
most. Eddie Gomez sounds the best I’ve ever heard him. To play arco Aki Takase/Han Bennink
way up there, as he did on the melody, is one thing in the studio—where “Locomotive” (Two For Two, Intakt, 2012) Takase, piano; Bennink, drums.
you can go back and fix it—but to nail it like that onstage is extraordi- That’s “Locomotive” by Monk. It’s not Schlippenbach, is it, from Monk’s
nary. 4½ stars. I could easily give it 5. Casino? I haven’t heard that, but I’ve heard about it. At first it seemed
self-conscious, like the ideas were being forced, but later it felt more
Aaron Goldberg/Omer Avital/Ali Jackson natural. I liked the idea of melody somehow trumping changes in the
“Way, Way Back” (Yes!, Sunnyside, 2012) Goldberg, piano; Avital, bass; Jack- solo. That frees you up a lot. The drummer had a deep bass drum sound
son, drums. together with the trashy cymbal sound that reminded me of Tony Oxley,
Sounds like older cats, a working band, well attuned to each other. The but I’m sure it’s not him. 4 stars.
bass player was great. I heard an Oscar Peterson vibe, a “Blues For Big
Scotia” sound just before and coming out of the bass solo. The earth Ahmad Jamal
isn’t shaking under my feet, but it’s crisp, clean mainstream trio playing “Blue Moon” (Blue Moon, Jazz Village, 2012) Jamal, piano; Reginald Veal, bass;
like I heard in the clubs 30 years ago when I first came to New York. Herlin Riley, drums; Manolo Badrena, percussion.
3½ stars. Ahmad Jamal. He patented that sound. I think every trio in the last 55
years has come under his sway. Is this is from the new record, Blue
Alfredo Rodríguez Moon? It’s a beautiful vamp. Couldn’t be simpler. I love the way he takes
“Qbafrica” (Sounds Of Space, Mack Avenue, 2012) Rodríguez, piano, melodica; the simplest idea and can just work it for a whole day. Oh, this is “Blue
Peter Slavov, bass; Francisco Mela, drums. Moon.” He plays with so much intent, so organic. He has as much free-
It makes me think of Guillermo Klein. I’m hearing Brazil—the melody dom as he could want, phrasing the melody, returning to the melody at
reminded me a bit of Hermeto, but it’s not him. The melody was very any point, or just playing over the vamp. You can hear when somebody
catchy. Whoever the pianist was played well. The bass and the drums is just trying to get it right and when somebody is playing it because they
are solid, riding out that I-VI-II-V minor vamp, giving the pianist plen- mean it. 5 stars. DB
ty of space to do what he’s going to do. Just a simple melody, and the
rhythm grabs you right from the start; not much development of the The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured art-
idea in the solo, but that’s OK. The pianist has a lot of facility. Nice col- ist to discuss and identify the music and musicians who performed on
selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate each tune using
ors. 4 stars. a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.

90 DOWNBEAT SEPTEMBER 2012