Every Month is Jazz Month; Every Day is Jazz Day

Officially Tho, April is Designated as Jazz Appreciation Month in the USA

I guess it’s good to have a Jazz Appreciation Month designated. Symbolic gestures are generally confusing to me. The point may be one thing, but what actual purpose is ultimately served when all is tallied up eludes me. Too often it’s sound and fury, signifying nothing. I don’t tie a yellow ribbon around a tree, nor hold hands with people in a human chain to fight world hunger. Recently, an organization in my town was shaving people’s heads to raise awareness of childhood cancer. I’m still sporting my ponytail. Losing it would have accomplished what?

That aside, if there is a month where people play more jazz, or try to put jazz in more of a public eye, then I’m OK with it. I have consistently said exposure is jazz music’s biggest problem and I do believe it’s one that could be vastly improved upon and it shouldn’t be that hard. For me, Jazz Day is Every Day. And my lobbying for it doesn’t cease -- As it is for practically every jazz journalist and member of the “jazz community” that I know. A good lot, they are.

The music is in my head every day.

In the interest of Jazz Month, I’m bringing to bear thoughts from musicians who weren’t born here, for whom jazz became so important that it became their way of life. Their happy salvation.

[PHOTO: Christian Scott Band plays JAZZ, baby, at the Lake George Jazz Festival in 2010. © R.J. DeLuke]

There’s been a lot of talk recently, sparked by one excellent trumpet player’s thoughts on the word “jazz,” as to what the music is and isn’t, what the word means or doesn‘t mean. Most people already know in their bones the answer to that, even if it isn’t describable. Wherever the word came from, it has meant this music, this American art form, and NOTHING more, for many, many decades. So please stop whining that it came from bordellos. No one cares. No one remembers. Like many other words in many languages, there is sometimes evolution. Jazz has evolved to one thing. America’s art music. Send me to a jazz festival any day of the week.

Please.

Those from outside America don’t seem hung up on the word. Like the majority of jazz musicians here, they embrace it. We all should. Words for any music genre don’t encompass its totality. Words are inadequate for that. But you take what’s there - Jazz - and kind of know what it stands for and appreciate it. Sonny Rollins said recently, “There are so many other battles to fight …I think I would agree if you could wave a magic wand and we could change it into American music, or something like that, overnight with a wand. Yeah. But how could that happen? So I accepted it.”

“When I have to speak about jazz, I can go on forever.”

That’s how trumpeter Enrico Rava of Italy closed a lengthy conversation with me in 2005. Brought into the fold after experiencing Miles Davis play live in 1957 (“He has so much charisma. You would look at him all the time. Even when he wasn’t playing everybody kept looking at Miles. I was fascinated. It’s like the first time I saw a movie with Marlon Brando, ‘On the Waterfront.’ I didn’t look at anybody else on the screen. With Miles it was the same thing.”), Rava jumped into music and never looked back. “Jazz gave me some of the most beautiful moments, as a listener and as a player. Also it gave me a good life. The music kind of saved my life, in a way.,” he said. ”I consider my first job is to be a jazz fan. Then I play. I’m a jazz fan that decided to play.”

“It’s a music of immigrants, because this is a country of immigrants,” said Paquito D’Rivera in 2010. “The contribution of everybody here, and every ability, special to jazz, makes it unique. I love the state of jazz in general. All the styles. I am existing in a very creative environment. There are creative people and very ingenious people around in the jazz community.”

D’Rivera risked his life escaping from Cuba, where playing jazz was a privilege, but had to be hidden from the government by being blended with other forms, and using different names. “Even the name Irakere is an African name used to hide the jazz element in our playing,” he said of the renowned Cuban band that made international waves in the 1970s.

“I am a musician in general. But jazz is my main type. I like all different new scenes around, but jazz, in my mind, is like my black beans and rice,” said the NEA Jazz Master. “Jazz is very special to me. Pretty close to my heart.”

“The feeling of what you do when you can improvise,” is the flame that draws trumpeter Diego Urcola of Argentina to jazz, he told me in 2011. “It’s a feeling you wanted … it’s really hard to leave. When you play other kinds of music, you like it because maybe some great writers or composers. But that thing about improvisation is so, so strong. The interaction with other musicians that are improvising with you at the same time. That’s jazz. That conversation. That interaction. It’s not about swing or Latin or whatever type of rhythm or elements. It’s a concept of improvisation and interaction. Spontaneous interaction. That’s what really attracts me.”

For Siggi Loch, owner of the Germany-based ACT record label, who heard jazz as a child in Europe in the 1940s, the origin of the word had no relevance. It was American music with a special quality that reached beyond pop. Loch went on to be a producer and promoter, eventually starting ACT in 1992, which produces a lot of quality jazz. He’s now in his 70s. “What fascinated me more than anything was this idea of individual freedom in a group of equals. That was a fascinating thought for a young boy like myself after World War II. It was very fascinating from a political aspect, not just from a musical aspect. I guess that was fascinating not just me but a lot of my young people of my generation at the time.

He added, “Some people argue about the artist mixing (jazz) with world music. But jazz was world music by definition when it was founded in New Orleans. It was nothing but the result of the music from a melting pot, music from different parts of the world. The key element was the individual, who expressed himself by the way of improvising. That’s what makes jazz. That’s exactly what is still is today. Some people feel after free jazz there’s no more jazz. I’m not interested in that kind of discussion. It doesn’t matter.”

For saxophonist Will Vinson of the United Kingdom, improvisation and lightning-fast communication is his what fascinated him and caused him to mover to the Big Apple. “In New York the level of musicianship is so high, the level of listening is so high. People listen to each other and they really do, on a good day, create things that haven’t happened before. That’s amazing. That’s really a unique thing to jazz. Not that we’ve created what hasn’t happened before, but that we do so just by getting together and taking out our instruments and playing. I think that’s an amazing quality of jazz. That’s what makes it interesting to go and see it. That’s why it’s interesting to go and see a band you’ve already seen before. It’s not going to be the same, even if they’re playing the same music. That’s why it’s interesting to be on the road and to play the same music every night, but, if you’re in the right company, to have something new and different and amazing happen to it every night.

‘If you’re playing music that isn’t improvised every night, it doesn’t matter how good the music is in the first place, it might change a little bit, but it’s basically going to be the same every night. In jazz you can have wildly different things happen every night on the same music. Which is just endless joy and an endless source of inspiration.”

“I love jazz,” saxophonist Tineke Postma of Holland summed up for me last year. “The improv part of it and of course we live in a time with many challenges and this effects the jazz world as well. Art is very important to keep people inspired, critical and in touch with spiritual and social parts of life. Jazz can make people grow and develop creative thinking, it touches all those aspects. Jazz is life!”

Indeed.

Get some Jazz! It will enrich your life!

Brian Patneaude Adds to Quality Discog with 'All Around Us'

Compositions, as well as the performance, shine again for saxophonist

The Capital District region of New York state is pretty rich in musical talent and has a strong jazz scene, even if it’s one that suffers the same trials and tribulations as the national scene. One of it’s attributes is saxophonist/composer Brian Patneaude, a fine player and arguably the face of the local jazz scene whether he humbly eschews that (and he does) or not. Annuals polls by Metroland and the Albany Times Union newspapers bear that out.

As Brian is quick to point out, there are many talented folks around Albany, NY. (the answer to ‘Where is the Capital of New York?’ for those who might be reading from outside the region and think NYC is the capital -- or all that New York state consists of.) True. And people all have their favorites. That’s good. But the area is fortunate in that most weekends Patneaude and those of his ilk can be found playing somewhere.

Another good thing is that Patneaude has released his fifth CD as a leader, "All Around Us," celebrated with a CD release concert on March 3 at the College of St. Rose in Albany. It’s another very strong outing, adding top a discography that is remarkable in its consistency -- high-quality consistency. Not a clunker in the bunch and each has shit that can bring you back for repeated listens. All very satisfying.

That’s not as common as one might think.

Reviewing CDs isn’t something I normally do. (Generally, too much pontification that is pretty much masturbation in that genre). But there may be somewhat more along those lines in this blog over time. (To paraphrase Buddy Rich’s response to a fan’s song request: ‘I’ll write what I want. It’s my blog.’) But this really springs out of the release concert, where Patneaude played all eight selections from the recording, of which six are originals.

The show was sweet, the saxophonist is fine form and his band in synch. Bassist Mike Delprete is a solid sumbitch, strong sound, on the money. engaging soloist. Drummer Danny Whelchel has been with Patneaude about 15 years and is very simpatico. Good time and colors the music. Doesn’t think he’s Tony Williams. What you get is what’s needed, tastefully laid out. Pianist David Caldwell-mason’s style, which plays a lot with the harmonics of the structures, is well-suited. Good stuff. As with all live jazz, the show in the college’s really nice, cozy Massry Center brought the tunes even more to life. A wonderful evening of jazz.

Highlights included the funky “Bluocele,” that was delightfully greasier than the recorded version; the song written for his fiancé, Melissa, “Aimless Antithesis,” and “Too Vast for Malice.” Hell, it was all good, take your pick. Same with the CD. The show was robust. Patneaude’s playing is outstanding, a sound that stays away from being harsh. It can have elements of John Klemmer when Patneaude goes into his delightfully softer, melodic moments. And he can burn, of course. But his solos have a logic, as well as the aspect of improv.

So does his writing, which seems to impress me more and more. Patneaude writes great songs. He has from the beginning. It’s never “this is what I learned at Berklee” excess.

Where a lot of musicians come out of the gate recording standards, so people get to know their playing, Patneaude never has. Getting away from the safety net of standards might have been somewhat of a gamble. His first CD, “Variations,” (all five are on WEPA Records) included originals and compositions from his mates. Since then, his compositions dominate and they should. They’re interesting, catchy, sophisticated. Some have a great simplicity that his bands build on to great result. And there’s no particular sameness that can lead to mundane. His composing is a great deal better than many “names” I could name. They should be played by people like Joe Lovano and that ilk. (Maybe they yet will). That’s no shit. All the recordings are that way. “Distance,” from 2005, is one I go back to. Don‘t really know why, because they’re all worthy.

The day is gone when albums would sit on your turntable for while, getting repeated playing. Hell, iPods have curtailed CDs sitting in the players for a while. So for any composer, the chance for a song to spread and have longevity is compromised somewhat. That’s just part of how technology has changed the way people listen. Off the top of my head, I thought music John Scofield wrote for “This Against That” might spread. But it hasn’t. Just another example.

But Patneaude’s writing is first-rate and should be -- hopefully will be -- not just for fans but musicians. Grab the new one. Listen to the aforementioned recordings, as well as “Riverview” and “As We Know It.” Different ones may become your favorite. You can’t go far wrong. For performance and for composition.

Consistency is a good thing. Consistency of quality even better. Brian gets high marks for both.

Albany jazz fans can continue to enjoy Patneaude’s live gigs. And anyone, anywhere can dig this new disk regardless of where you live. Go here, here or here.

At Last, the Miles Davis Stamp

U.S., France to honor Prince of Cool

Word is finally out now that the U.S. Postal Service, in some kind of conjunction with France (Don't ask me what. Do we ever know what France is up to? They are music lovers tho, and have proven over decades to be jazz lovers), is issuing a Miles Davis postage stamp this year.

The likes of Bird, Trane, Billie, Ella, Duke, and Pops have received the honored. Muddy Waters and Robert Johnson. This year the general Jazz Appreciation stamp was issued. Very cool. He and Edith Piaf, an iconic French singer, will have their stamps issued at the same time. Perhaps that's the French connection.

No word yet on when it will be available.

Of course, reams of material has been written about Miles, the man who changed music four or five times, and put an indelible stamp (no pun intended) on trumpet style. And the sound. The beautiful SOUND.("The Sound is Silenced" said the New York Post headline when Miles died).

No repetition here of all the reasons why Miles is Miles and his incredible impact on music. An impact that remains to this day and likely for as long as humans organize and emit musical sounds.

I did find a picture of what the stamp will be. I think it's a great choice -- the photo that can be found on "Tribute to jack Johnson" (Columbia, 1971), an album that actually solidified the body of work that got Miles elected to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It's a great image. Miles Workin'. Cookin'. Steamin' Not relaxin'. Miles doin' it.



Nice that these greats are honored periodically. Who will be next? My vote would be Sarah Vaughan. Yours?

On a related Miles front, there are now two movies headed for production about Miles.

Don Cheadle, a good actor, is involved in the project first suggested a few decades ago. Weird things being said about it. It won't be a typical "bio pic", but will try to capture Miles somehow. (a DIFFICULT task).

Another has surfaced based on a book by his son Gregory, "Dark Magus." problem is, the book isn't very good.

Who knows when these will surface. I'm prepared for them to miss the mark, as Hollywood so often does, and pretty much suck. But I'll be there to view them, hoping I'm wrong. I'm as willing to bet on the sucking part tho, as strongly as I'm willing to bet the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots this weekend in the Super Bowl. By alot.



The best books on Miles are the autobiography, the bios penned by Ian Carr and John Szwed, and the one on his electric period by Paul Tingen. There are some other worthy ones. "The Man in the Green Shirt" is great for photos and has decent commentary.

So -- Miles lives on. As ever.

In Praise of DeJohnette

Recent NEA Jazz Master is among best drummers ever

It was nice to see the recent National Endowment for the Arts annual Jazz Masters awards ceremony and concert broadcast online recently from the Jazz at Lincoln Center. All the honorees were fitting, and all--the ones present--eloquent. Particularly trumpeter Jimmy Owens speaking about the needs of aging musicians (and the lack of support from jazz club owners in that regard), and the good works of the Jazz Foundation of America.

Among this year’s class, that includes Von Freeman, Owens, Sheila Jordan and Charlie Haden, the one that stands out for me is drummer Jack DeJohnette. And what prompts these reflective remarks is listening to a CD received today by the excellent pianist Luis Perdomo, titled Universal Mind,(RKM Music) a trio outing with Drew Gress on bass and DeJohnette on drums. DeJohnette is enlightening on the drums. As always.

And it reminds me of what I have been telling people for some time. DeJohnette is the best drummer on the planet. In spite of how unreasonable it is to use such a term “best” in any endeavor, particularly art. There are sooooo many fine drummers out there, and superb young guys coming up like Kendrick Scott, Eric Harland, Marcus Gilmore, Johnathan Blake, Rudy Royston, Jamire Williams, Justin Faulkner and on and on and on. But listen to DeJohnette albums, or those of the Keith Jarrett Trio, or whomever. Miles at the Isle of Wight. Or see Jack with any of his fine formations.

See Jack Play.

[Photos: Above, Jack DeJohnette at Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival, 2011. Below, Luis Perdomo and Drew Gress playing with Ravi Coltrane’s quarter at the Newport Jazz Festival, 2011. © R.J. DeLuke]

Sheee-it. It’s mesmerizing. And always so musical, even at his most volcanic.

The Perdomo disk, which will be released on Valentine’s Day, is a helluva recording. Check it out when possible. DeJohnette’s playing is so compelling, matching neatly with Perdomo, who is also consistently terrific. It’s always thus.

At Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival in 2007, with Trio Beyond -- guitarist John Scofield and organist Larry Goldings joining Jack -- it was hard to keep one’s eyes off the drummer and the waves of sound (not to be confused with sound waves) that came from his drum kit. Last year’s Saratoga fest featured DeJohnette’s group with sax fiend Rudresh Mahanthappa, kicked ass, propelled, of course by the force of Jack. The Force of Nature. The Natural.

And nothing is more natural than DeJohnette’s playing, even when frantic.

He’s a total musician, having been trained as a classical pianist during his upbringing in Chicago. At a concert with guitarist John Abercrombie and bassist Ron McClure in 1977, in a small auditorium on the campus of Utica College of Syracuse University, DeJohnette spontaneously left his chair behind the drums, walked over to a piano that was pushed aside for the trio -- not part of the show -- and started wailing. It was impressive.



Everything about Jack is impressive. (Check out John Kelman’s excellent story on DeJohnette at All About Jazz). Pick up any album. And by all means see him and his bands.

“I consider myself a world musician,” he told me in a 2007 interview. “No matter what the instrument is, you’re a musician. You’re playing music on the instrument. I consider myself a world musician or world drummer. It’s not set in stone. It’s always pliable. It’s always changing.” Regarding his being held in high esteem by the next generation of drummers: “It’s nice to be respected and appreciated that way. It inspires me to keep doing more of what I’m doing. More experimenting, keep challenging myself and just doing the best every time I’m playing the music.”

He sure does.

At the NEA ceremony, DeJohnette was also impressive expressing his thoughts. He spoke of music being a vital part of the “emotional and spiritual development of people.” He spoke of an artist’s responsibility to always address that. He noted that times have changed since his musical growing up in the turbulent 1960s and 1970s, but “one thing that we should never lose is a commitment to the highest level artistry and integrity an individual can add to the collective voice … In a mediocre world this is more important than ever.”

Amen.

And DeJohnette is Always holding up his end of the bargain.

For a Night, Jazz Shines in America

Sonny Rollins receives Kennedy Center Honor on CBS television

It actually happened a few weeks ago, the night Theodore Walter Rollins was among people from the arts receiving the Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C., in front of the President and First Lady and hundreds of people associated with the arts. But the event aired tonight (Dec. 27) on CBS television … a national network. Once upon a time that might not be a big deal for jazz, but in recent decades, national exposure is rare. And who better to be the man this year than Sonny. Age 81 and still going strong.

It’s awarded annually for exemplary lifetime achievement in the performing arts. Sonny, the great living master of jazz, has repeatedly said it is one he accepted for people like Coleman Hawkins and Thelonious Monk and their ilk … the greats he admired who never got to attain such awards. He appreciates that through the award, jazz--America’s classical music, as he and others dub it--gets exposure through the event. (Sonny also received, earlier this year, the National Medal of Arts, the highest award given to artists by the U.S. government. He felt similarly about that award).

[Photo: Sonny Rollins at Newport Jazz Festival, 2008, © R.J. DeLuke]

It was a good night for jazz. The network spent about 20 minutes on Meryl Streep, well known as one of the great actresses. You can’t find anyone who doesn’t know who she is. Sonny’s portion followed on the broadcast, and they didn’t scrimp. It was about the same length, started by a witty, yet to-the-point, intro by Bill Cosby, a valued friend of jazz, and including a short bio film summarizing Rollins’ career. Short, but this is TV. It was still presented to a national audience and was fair treatment.

Then the public got some real sweet jazz performed by musicians like Joe Lovano and Ravi Coltrane, who were great, backed by people like Christian McBride, Billy Drummond, Herbie Hancock, Jack DeJohnette. Jimmy Heath was there, as was Roy Hargrove. Truncated for TV, yes, but what there was, was a fine taste of jazz. Yo Yo Ma, another of the honorees, was digging it, as the cameras cut to the box where the honoress were seated. So was Michele Obama, who Sonny says is the REAL jazz fan of the First Family, formed by a long time of listening to the music in her household while growing up. The great Rollins classic “St. Thomas” ended the musical segment, even though many watching probably didn’t know the song.

I’ve seen networks give jazz VERY short shrift on occasions when it could have done sooooo much better. CBS gets a thumbs up this time from me. It was a good night. The jazz was cookin' and presented with some elegance to the nation. And Sonny is surely happier about that than his own accolades. All over the world, he notes, people love jazz. But he feels the U.S. needs to do more. The government needs to do more to help the musicians who play it, and help get the music to wider ahttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifudiences.

It had to be a great weekend--the weekend of Dec. 4 when it actually took place and was filmed by CBS--for the saxophone colossus. He was toasted by Bill Clinton and lauded by Obama (not on the telecast). But fun? “Well, not fun. It’s not exactly my style,” Rollins said to me last week. Sonny is a private man, modest. He knows his place in the pantheon of the music, but his life is about learning, exploring music, and “trying to get along and do the right things.”

So as the audience gave him a great ovation on a couple of occasions, Sonny stood, modest but distinctly noble, and accepted the admiration. But he’http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifs already on to his next thing. Off the road for a bit, his tour schedule is being compiled for 2012 and there are other things on the horizon. (Story on Sonny coming to All About Jazz near you, soon).

Viva Sonny Rollins. And let’s hope his desire to see jazz blossom more on its native soil, like it has around the globe, comes to fruition.

Best Albums of 2011

That time again. A reluctant glance at some fine records. Take with two grains of salt ... a pint of ale and two fingers of Wild Turkey ain't a bad idea either ...

The annual process of selecting any list of “best” for the year is a precarious endeavor, especially in music where one man’s Miles is another man’s Megadeath. But it’s an entertaining exposure and it also is a good way to look back and remember what good disks were produced.

Another problem is that each year there is sooo much good music recorded. Some great music. Bit that is also in the ear of the behearer. Additionally, while as a writer I do get exposure to more music than the average fan, there is a ton of music I don’t receive (I am not a CD reviewer). For example, I would have loved to have heard Bill Frisell’s John Lennon project and John Scofield’s ballad album, among others. And hopefully I will, eventually. But what I don’t hear, obviously, isn’t up for inclusion.

I’m truly grateful for the music I do receive, as it helps a person keep tabs on what’s out there; keep a finger on the pulse of the scene. And this year there are more people who are definitely not household names on the list, the result of being exposed to it. Every year some superb albums come from the less well-lit corners of the jazz scene.

[PHOTOS: From top: David Binney, Newport Jazz Fest, 2010; Ambrose Akinmusire, Newport Jazz Fest, 2011; Tineke Postma, North Sea Jazz fest, 2011; Joe Lovano, North Sea Jazz Fest, 2011; Gretchen Parlato, Newport Jazz Fest, 2010. All © R.J. DeLuke]

As always, compiling the list means worthy disks are left out. This isn’t the bible, it’s an observation about some of the outstanding music I’ve run across. They are not in any order and I do not decree a single Album of the Year.

Joe Lovano and Us Five: Birdsongs (Blue Note). Of course Lovano is a heavyweight no question. The quality of his albums -- and his playing -- is always. US Five is a great group and their exploration of Charlie Parker is innovative and exciting. Lovano is so fucking good. This band is also kick ass live and shouldn’t be missed.


Ambrose Akinmusire: When the Heart Emerges Glistening (Blue Note) Akinmusire is a unique musician and individual. This came close to breaking my Album of the Year edict, just by the way this trumpeter has achieved a personal approach to music and sound at a young age. And still developing. And eager to develop. My conversations with him have been enlightening and this is one cat to keep an ear on. Strong band, captivating music.

James Farm: James Farm (Nonesuch). James Farm is a relatively new band of extraordinary musicians that I hope steers this ship for a long time, even though they all are quite busy outside the group. Of course it’s Joshua Redman, Matt Penman, Eric Harland and Aaron Parks. Sometimes “star” groups go astray, but this is truly a group of comrades with no ego center and a communal approach. It’s only going to get better. Love this group!

Tineke Postma: The Dawn of Light, (Challenge Records) This young saxophonist from Holland has one of the sweet saxophone sounds I’ve heard come down the pike in a while. And her approach, full of warmth and wonder, is charming. She’s been gigging in the U.S. over the years and playing with heavy cats, including Terri Lyne Carrington’s Mosaic project. This is with her own band of guys from the Netherlands. They were excellent at the North Sea Jazz Fest in July.

Jonathan Kriesberg: Shadowless (New For Now Music) This is one slick guitarist with a fine band featuring Will Vinson’s sax. Love the smoothness of the tunes, the execution, solos. Very crisp and quite appealing.

David Binney: Graylen Epicenter (Mythology) Binney is a guy who's really emerging in the last couple years. Dynamic player with an open musical mind and a spirited attack. He plays with the best cats on the Brooklyn scene and is highly respected. A sharp musical mind with an eagerness to explore.


Chantale Gagne: Wisdom of the Water (CDBY) A fine piano player with a joyous expression to her touch, and a great band including Lewis Nash and Peter Washington. Joe Locke’s vibes are blissful throughout, matching the pianists buoyant feel. Look forward to more from this lady.


John Daversa; Junk wagon; the Big Band Album (BFM Jazz) This music has a lot of modern pop rhythmic things in places, including rap, and an electric bass. It’s dynamic and energetic. Daversa doesn’t take any ethereal flights of fancy like many of today’s arrangers. He’s charging out of the gate, but shows a lot of different colors and levels of intensity. Grows and stands strong with repeated listens.


Noah Haidu: Slipstream (Posi-Tone) This is kind of mainstream, though there are moments outside of that, but the group of younger cats wails throughout. Even with names like Jeremy Pelt and Jon Irabagon, there’s no question pianist Haidu is in charge. He got the right feel and the album is swinging fun throughout. Great execution.

Armen Donelian: Leapfrog (Sunnyside Records) This veteran pianist puts out consistently good music, this time choosing to investigate the quintet setting again. His writing is attractive and the overall feel is very cool. Mike Moreno’s guitar blends nicely with the melodies and harmonies and Tyshawn Sorey’s drums are always what the music calls for, fast or slow.

John Escreet: The Age We Live In (Mythology Records) This young Brit transplanted to Brooklyn is making a strong name for himself. These tunes are searching and propulsive, aided by Binney, who seems to be on a lot of good albums over the last couple years. Serious music.


Michael Pedicin: Ballads … Searching for Peace (Jazz Hut) This album is just what it says it is. And wonderfully refreshing on a scene where everyone is trying to be “different” and “innovative” to varying degrees of success. These are ballads featuring the big, luscious tenor sound of Pedicin. Guitarist John Valentino provides a couple originals, but ballads. Barry Miles piano is equally sweet. This is first-class gorgeous music that we should never lose. It’s not just old standards either. Wayne Shorter and McCoy Tyner’s divine “Search for Peace” are there. I recommend it for getting laid. (Does it HAVE to always be the art?)


Jimmy Owens: The Monk Project (IPO) I like Owens’s treatment of Monk material for seven musicians including Marcus Strickland, Kenny Barron, Wycliffe Gordon and Howard Johnson. It has interesting twists and stellar solos. Nice.

Sonny Rollins: Road Shows: (Doxy Music) Another grouping of live Sonny from past shows. Anything liver from Sonny is worthy of high praise. This one includes the historic encounter with Ornette Coleman, which, frankly, doesn’t do a lot for me, though I understand the significance. But Sonny rules, as always.


Stan Killian: Unified (Sunnyside) Didn’t know who this cat was when I first spun the disk. Rich tenor sound; fluid and full of ideas. He’s got that something extra that will push him from the pack, perhaps. Solid tunes, good band, and appearances by Binney and Pelt and Roy Hargrove. This is a very sharp recording.

Ernie Krivda: Blues for Pekar (Capri) I just like the way this veteran tenor sax man rips through the material. He’s got an edge. Kind of no-holds-barred. A tarnished sound and he wails throughout this. I probably paid attention to it first because I liked the late writer/cartoonist Harvey Pekar. But it quickly moved beyond that. This is just basic hot 11 p.m. nightclub, here-it-is jazz.


Silvano Monasterios: Unconditional (Savant) This is a piano player I didn’t know from Adam, but it’s a cooking disk of original music that has different moods, but always driving and engaging. Keep it up.

Bill Carrothers Trio: Live at the Village Vanguard (Pirouet) A fine piano trio outing from a very tasty and talented player. Group interplay and many bright moments throughout. Love the live feel. Carrothers flies under the radar, but he’s one talented cat.

It’s here I’m going to mention a few Pirouet Records, which seems to crank out quality music each month. Jochen Reuckert’s Somewhere Meeting Nobody is the drummer’s record, but features the wonderful tenor of Mark Turner and some tasty guitar from Brad Shepik. The stalwart Penman is on bass. This could have made people’s lists, as could the piano-guitar duets outing of Marc Copland and John Abercrombie, Speak to Me. Abercrombie sounds great, melodic and harmonic, away from the wild side. Another Marc Copland record, Crosstalk, features Greg Osby’s sax. Sweet., And Copland is a good player. Some kudos to Pirouet.

HISTORICAL ALBUM:

Miles Davis Quintet, Live In Europe 1967, The Bootleg Sessions. What else? This could be the best music put out in 2011. Or since who knows when. One could argue that this group -- Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Tony Williams, Ron Carter, Miles -- is the greatest ever, anywhere. And many do argue that. This is live music from the and the apex of their collective powers. Three disks and a DVD. A stone-cold motherfucker.

VOCAL ALBUMS:

Not a lot pop to my head this year, but everything Kurt Elling does is worthy and The Gate (Concord) is no exception. Pop Tunes like “Norwegian Wood” exposed in new lights, and jazz stuff like “Blue and Green.”

Gretchen Parlato’s style and delivery is unique. The Lost and Found (Obliqsound) is filled with unusual tunes but her emotive quality and sense of seeking bring the art together. And she enlists first-rate cats like pianist Taylor Eigsti and drummer Kendrick Scott. This grows on you.

Karrin Allyson’s voice and harmonious piano sounds shine brightly on Round Midnight (Concord), a collection of standards done is classy, sensual style. I haven’t heard enough of this disk yet, but thought enough of the quality that it belongs here. She’s a very consistent and quality artist who really puts herself into her music.

… waiting for the next disk from Roberta. (She knows who she is)

'Clark' is the Autobiography of a Jazz Giant

Clark Terry Tells His Story

Clark Terry is one of the bright, indomitable spirits in American music. Of course, jazz is his specialty and he’s never run from the term or tried to change or over-explain it. He embraces jazz and is unabashed about his love for it. That’s obvious to anyone who’s seen him perform over several decades. It’s reinforced and embellished in his autobiography released this year, simply titled Clark (University of California Press), written with the assistance of his wife of 19 years, Gwen.



It’s an enjoyable read, lighthearted like the man himself, told in a natural style. It’s not critical or analytical like a biography from an author looking in from a different view. It’s like a journal, but one that gives the reader pictures from the inside of one of the wonderful careers in music. And as many smiles as we’ve seen on the face of the man who will be 91 on Dec. 14, it’s not all glee. Terry experienced hardship, disappointment, racism and discouragement along the way. But he was unyielding. He always steered the course. Always came out on the other end better for it.

That’s been a great thing for jazz.

Terry’s an enjoyable storyteller, with flair and humor. He also speaks frankly and exposes his human blemishes. During his life on the road with the great big bands--including George Hudson, Charlie Barnett, Count Basie and Duke Ellington--Terry drinks, gambles, cavorts with ladies--All things that traveling musicians did back in the day. These are not horrible things. In fact, the book exemplifies that Terry is a man of character. Terry came from a family with a too-strict, physically abusive father whom he eventually had to leave--never to see again. He doesn’t say “woe is me.” In fact, he eventually comes to understand at least what was at the root of his father’s sternness and uses it as a source of strength through his life. Think many people today take those kinds of lemons and make them lemonade? Fat chance. He also reveals he never graduated high school because he impregnated a girlfriend. It was a source of severe disappointment. But again, terry is resolute.

Terry introduces a lot of colorful characters that flow in and out of his life, some having nothing to do with music, like his childhood friend “Shitty.” He constructed his first trumpet out of junk; that’s how badly he wanted to play. The agreeable Terry also had his limits. He knew how to box and carried a blade in case of trouble. He didn’t take shit from people. But he treated people with the respect they deserved. He knew all the cats in music. He mentored a young Miles Davis, who always called Clark one of his idols. Played with all of ’em. Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Charles Mingus (with whom he came close to one of those physical confrontations the enigmatic bass player was known for--but didn‘t back down), all the big band stalwarts. Loved Duke and Basie, and vice versa. He also recounts associations with people like Norman Granz and Billy Strayhorn. He has a great way of describing them and his stories illuminate the people and the era in which they thrived.

The trumpeter was the first black man on the NBC music staff and spent a long time with the Tonight Show band. His arranging and writing talents came to the fore working with large groups and Terry eventually reached his dream of having his own big band. He also championed the flugelhorn; like he championed the careers of so many young musicians. Those stories are all there. As is the genesis of his character “Mumbles,” the unique scat singer that was born on the Tonight Show during the popular “stump the band” segment and caught real fire after he recorded “Incoherent Blues,” a song employing the wordless vocal technique on the album Oscar Peterson Trio + 1 (Philips, 1964), produced by Granz. Peterson, he divulges, fell out laughing when he first heard Mumbles.

Terry toured everywhere, seemingly with everyone, and has appeared on more than 900 recordings (He’s the recipient of a Grammy Lifetime Achievement award, among his many honors). He‘s undoubtedly got more stories than he could fit into the book. But one touching and highly important aspect to Terry’s career that is explained and examined closely is his dedication to jazz education and helping young people develop. He was always generous with younger musicians, but the formal part of teaching started in the 1970s. It picked up speed at the behest of the great pianist/composer Billy Taylor (another feather in the cap of the multi-talented Dr. Taylor) who got Terry involved in conducting clinics.

“I knew this was something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” he writes. “I decided that my crazy schedule had to go. I had to make room to teach.” It led to years and years of enriching the lives of young musicians and also to a pair of books on trumpet instruction. The great pleasure Terry takes in having a positive impact on young folks is blissfully evident. His accomplishments are sooooo numerous. An “Honors and Awards” section runs for 8 1/3 pages, but the immeasurable impact of Terry’s mentoring perhaps supersedes them all (though many of those awards are related to education).

Clark is a breezy read, fast paced and enjoyable. Honest and genuine. It was a great idea for this young man to get it down on paper.