Month: March 2011

The ‘Jazzman’ Revolution and Mary Lou

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Unless I was talking about a specific artist I would normally use gender neutral language when discussing Jazz musicians.    This is because there has been a few under-valued but brilliant women in the revolutionary advance guard of this music.   I will however confess my reasons for using this title later in the piece and the clue is the ‘jasmine revoution’.

When I think of jazz women I think of Mary Lou Williams,  because she was there from the near beginnings of jazz.   She often managed to reach into the future; landing at the forefront of the next ‘hot’ style, just as it officially arrived and quite a few Jazz icons such as Monk and Dizzy benefitted from her brilliant tuition.    She was a stride to swing musician who assisted at the birth of BeBop.  Like a will-o-the-wisp she moved to hardbop and even free jazz.     Many jazz pianists born well before the swing-era played piano with an unmistakably bluesy style and she was no exception.  this was not blues at the cross-roads; a deal with the devil delta-blues.  This was the voice of the soul of her people and perhaps the soul of all mankind.   She proved her soulfullness in many ways, by teaching and helping out-of-work musicians; running a soup kitchen in Harlem.

I fell in love with the big chords she used, which contained a lot more humanity, than those used by the merely technically-proficent.    She had started playing organ as a toddler on her mothers knee, because her mother was an organist in the  ‘sanctified church’.  Her small hands would evidently reach up and search for the chords.  By the 1920’s she was recording and later went on to make some famous swing era big bands look good.  She was a great arranger/composer and her charts were utilised by the ‘King of Swing’ Benny Goodman.  She was ‘the girl that swung the band’ for Andy Kirk’s, ‘Clouds of Joy’ and in the end a big band leader in her own right.    She wrote complex orchestral works which are still performed today, but mostly she was an innovative and utterly engaging pianist.

Mary Lou played in hundreds of small clubs and in the big halls of Europe where they adored her.   She always pleased the fans.   She was a striking looking woman when younger, but as old age advanced you could see the pain she often experienced mirrored in her face.

Now there are dozens of truly great female jazz instrumentalists and most will tell you that Mary Lou is their role model.   Why this post and this title?  Firstly because I love Mary Lou Williams and promote her whenever I can.   The second reason is a bloggers reason; choose a title that has a topical but not too topical phrase in it.   The Jasmine Revolution will bring me a few dozen extra hits and who knows.  After wondering why they got here, they might sample some jazz.

Best compositions : ‘Scratchin in the gravel’, ‘What’s the story morning glory’

London Vogue

Larry Koonse; Jazz Guitarist

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Larry Koonse may be one of the nicest guys in Jazz but he is a killer guitarist.   He has recorded under his own name and toured or recorded extensively with such famous artists such as Bob Brookmeyer, Karrin Allyson, Mel Torme,  Joe La Barbera, Billy Childs, Terry Gibbs, Warne Marsh, Johnny Dankworth, Jimmy Rowles, Alan Broadbent, Charlie Haden, Toots Thielmans and many others.   At the invitation of Nelson Mandela and UNICEF he was once asked to perform in South Africa.   He has been the featured soloist with the LA Philharmonic plus other orchestras and has performed in Carnegie Hall.   He sometimes performs with his father Dave Koonse (who is also a jazz guitarist, having played at the ‘Lighthouse’ with John Grass).  Larry is a well seasoned and gifted musician and he is always a joy to listen to.

I first saw Larry perform when he came to New Zealand with Joe La Barbera and Tom Warrington.  It was Kiwi big band leader Roger Fox who had organised for the trio to come out here and many were grateful that he did.   Larry’s guitar playing captivated me throughout the concert and I marveled at how the Tom Warrington trio’s “You must believe in Spring’ could somehow reverence Bill Evens and Lennie Tristano at the same time.   Larry’s cool-style is perfectly balanced by the warm tones that he elicits from his guitar and in his playing you can hear hints of Johnny Smith, and even Bill Bauer.  I loved every note of it.

After the concert some of the band came out to mingle with the crowd and I got to speak to Larry about his music.  Joe La Barbera was there as well, chatting and signing CD covers .  Larry is a very friendly guy and we have met once since then and exchanged emails.   Making contact with world class musicians in clubs or after concerts is one of the great joys of being a jazz fan and I often wonder if that chance exists in any other musical genre.

I have many recordings featuring Larry and in each of them I hear new subtleties.  Sometimes his long lines are unmistakably of the Tristano school (especially in his co-led LA Jazz Quartet),but with the Tom Worrington trio he can sound closer to the style of Herb Ellis or Johnny Smith.   The best place to purchase Larry’s music is from the ‘Jazz Compass’ label online.   Alternately go to his next gig and purchase the music there.    He tells me that he will probably be in in New Zealand in Late May 2011 and I will certainly keep you posted on that.

The clip has Bruce Forman on the left and Larry Koonse on the right as you face the screen.

Healing Jazz; Katrina and other natural disasters

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At a time when we are facing one natural disaster after another, music is a healing force.   Where jazz is concerned  that feels especially so and it is not surprising as the music arose out out of the miseries of slavery and transcended that abomination.  While the depths of sadness may have informed early jazz, it was in the end a joyful and healing music.   This power to surprise and to give pleasure also applies to the arts surrounding jazz.  I recently purchased the large coffee table book ‘Jazz’ by Herman Leonard.    Herman Leonard is arguably the greatest of jazz photographers and that is no small claim in a field already crowded with photographic genius.   Anyone possessing a reasonably sized jazz CD or LP collection will have sighted Leonard’s work even if they did not know it was him. His powerful images of jazz musicians have appeared on many an album cover and and no book about jazz is complete without a few Herman Leonard photographs.

Late one night in 1949 Leonard, a skinny jewish kid, son of migrants, turned up at the Royal Roost club and the pictures he took pleased the performing artists.   The artists were Charlie Parker and Miles Davis.  Quincy Jones said “I used to tell cats that Herman Leonard did with his camera what we did with our instruments”.    Even before success came, the musicians loved having him around as he made them look good.

Herman Leonard was in his eighties when hurricane Katrina destroyed his home in New Orleans and along with it his vast archives (including 10,000 prints).   Without hesitation he continued his important work which he described as ‘creating an image of what he was hearing’.   His record of the Jazz life is beyond compare.    Herman Leonard died in 2010.

After Katrina the Jazz musicians of New Orleans organised a number of concerts to lift peoples spirits and above all to convince them that the old ‘Latin Quarter’ had life in it yet.  Being able to swing so mightily in the face of terrible adversity is what jazz is about.  A profound music that reaches beyond the moment.

Dex

Google Herman Leonard for more images;

Mike Nock; outrunning the pack

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Mike Nock is one of the best Jazz musicians New Zealand has produced and when he visits; we listen to him and feel proud that he is one of us.  Small town New Zealand could never contain him and in a sense nor could America.  Departing New Zealand (as a stowaway) in 1958 he was soon to establish himself on the Sydney/Melbourne Jazz scene; but just when his co-lead ‘3-Out Trio’ had achieved success he moved on again.  This time he moved to the USA, taking up a Down Beat scholarship at the prestigious Berklee School of Music.  He was soon gigging in New York and other cities where he played and recorded with many of the jazz greats like Yusef Lateef.  Mike’s stay in the USA was to span 25 years but he seldom stood still and often left good bands just when his tenure was the most secure.

I always felt that Mike was a restless musician outrunning the established grooves of the moment.  He would listen to what was going on, in what ever scene he was in and then move it up a notch.  This meant that he was often ahead of the record buying market and a good example of this was his ECM album ‘Ondas’.  Mike was a perfect fit for ECM, but the ‘Ondas’ album never sold in the numbers it should have.  His band mates on that album were Eddie Gomez(bs) and John Christenson(dm).  This album fits perfectly into post-2000 ECM offerings, but it was cut in 1981.  It is a lovely album and the sense of space and depth tells a very New Zealand story.   He eventually returned to the Southern hemisphere, settling in Sydney.   Since then Mike Nock has travelled across the ditch at regular intervals and we can say that he is home again.    For a full account of Mikes life I highly recommend the Norman Meehan book ‘Serious Fun – the life and music of Mike Nock’.  This book is extremely well written, rich in detail and as a bonus it conjures up wonderful snapshots of the Australasian Jazz scene.  Mike appears less restless now but his music still pushes hard at the boundaries.   This is after all the imperative of jazz, as the music was never meant to stand still.

Improvisation is a high wire act and the bolder the steps the greater the reward when the artist succeeds.  Mikes recent album ‘An Accumulation of Subtleties’ is an embodiment of that principle.

The sublime odyssey of Hank Jones

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I have never met a Jazz aficionado who did not like the pianist Hank Jones.  Because he was still recording so frequently at age ninety one it was tempting to think that he would live for ever.   To see footage of Hank playing was to love him because he radiated a rare warmth and a humanity.  His early influences in Jazz piano were Fats Waller and Art Tatum.  He was also there from the inception of Bebop but somehow he seemed to span the whole history of Jazz in his chordal voicing; which stretched from stride to post bop .   Joyous music ran out of his fingers like water from a faucet and we loved him because he was a Jazz god living among us. He believed that good Jazz should be infused with the blues and he practiced what he preached.  As he got older you could hear him happily sigh and chuckle as he played.  His deep throated vocalisations though quiet, somehow gave additional joy to his already joyous swinging music.

Hank was born in 1918 into a musical Mississippi family and his younger brothers Thad and Elvin became Jazz greats in their own right.  In his later years wide-spread recognition came his way but his innate modesty meant that the praise washed over him.  Hank was a great teacher and he never failed to support up-and-coming musicians.  A number of careers benefited from his support and this was a gift that he bestowed right up until his passing.   Hank left us in 2010 and the loss is still keenly felt.  A visit to the official Hank Jones web site will lessen the blow, because as you hear him welcome you, the realisation comes that his legacy and above all his music will remain with us always.

Stan Getz – a testimony to genius

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The Stan Getz ‘People Time’ box set has just won the ‘Down Beat’ award for ‘best box set of the year’ and deservedly so. It is wonderfully recorded and deeply moving, as Stan plays with a subtle intensity that can catch you quite off guard. Stan Getz was a very sick man at this point in his life and according to his bandmates in considerable pain. This concert was the penultimate performance of his life and it draws a line under what was by Jazz standards a very successful career. Stan’s legacy is considerable and you only need to look at his discography to see the importance of what he left behind. It is well known that he was not an easy man to get along with and he appears to have burned off a number of friends along the way. Zoot Sims referred to him as ‘an interesting bunch of guys’. Genius often has its deficits and that is especially so with Jazz. The imperative is to touch the sun each time you play and Stan sometimes achieved that. Like Daedalus however he came crashing to earth afterwards. His demons were the usual suspects plus a few extra thrown in for good measure. Life on the road can be gruelling and lonely but for Stan performance was everything. One of his most successful collaborations was with Kenny Barron (piano) and this duo performance needs no commentary as it speaks for itself. Kenny Barron had performed with Stan frequently over the years and happily he is still very much with us. I almost hesitated to show this clip as Stan looks so ill, but the music paints the truer picture.

‘Old Wine New Bottles’ out of copyright reissues

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I have for some time been delighting in the re-issues of classic Jazz albums. Many I had missed purchasing first time out on CD or else I only possessed a worn out LP version. These are generally produced in the EU and most often in Spain. In the early days, the re-mastering could be dire, but in recent years many high quality re-issues have appeared. Lonehill, Gambit, Essential Jazz Classics and Poll Winners Records would top the list as they are readily available and at very good prices in New Zealand. Besides the competitive pricing, the CD will often include new out-takes or hard to source out-of-print albums by the same artist.

A good example of this is the ‘Poll Winners 27220’, which is the seminal recording of the George Russell classic; ‘New York, New York’ (1959). It is pure joy from start to finnish and why wouldn’t it be, as it features John Coltrane, Benny Golson, Art Farmer, Bill Evans, Bob Brookmeyer, Jimmy Cleveland, Phil Woods, Hal McKusick, Barry Galbraith, Milt Hinton, Max Roach and John Hendricks. In addition to the above embarrassment of riches the marvelous Russell- Schuller ‘All about Rosie’ (plus alternate) is included. This last offering features the famous and astonishing solo by Bill Evans. Another good example is the latest Essential Jazz Classics ‘Boss Tenor’ by Gene Ammons which includes the hard to locate ‘Angel Eyes’ album as a bonus.

There are some traps for the unwary as some of the albums have already been released in recent times but with different cover art. This can result is duplicates being purchased unwittingly. In this matter I am a repeat offender and my friends (or Real Groovy Records) benefit from my mistakes. My ‘Curtis Counce Complete Studio Recordings’ on Gambit are a work of art in all respects except one. The album is beautifully re-mastered and has a great cover photo by ‘William Claxton. What is missing however is the cheeky art work that accompanied, ‘You Get More Bounce With Curtis Counce’ and the ‘Landslide’ artwork. For completists among us this can sometimes be overcome by downloading the original artwork from an online source or begging a friend to copy it for you. I will attempt to locate some good sites for the artwork deprived, but in the meantime you could try: birkajazz.com/archive/variousUS_3ihtm .

The story of music copyright is extremely complex and the underpinnings of international copyright law face ongoing challenges. I have come to realise that there is an age-divide in attitudes about intellectual property and the ‘peer to peer’ generation just see it differently from older generations. I am caught somewhat in the middle over this argument as I strongly believe in an artists right to be paid royalties. I am not so sanguine about the rip offs that often occurred when the big studios signed artists though. ‘Kind of Blue’ is still earning well but the studio allegedly paid the Davis band peanuts. BeBop musicians confronted these rip-offs by constantly re-harmonising famous tunes like Body and Soul (and sometimes made an anagram out of the original song title); this in order to obtain royalties from the new but somehow familiar tune. The reason was simple; it was not a breach of copyright to re-harmonise over a set of chord changes because you can’t copyright chord changes (but you can a tune). Once upon a time copyright expired in America after 50 years, but when Irving Berlin (then a nonagenarian) complained to Congress they extended the period. In Europe 50 years is still the point of expiry and that is why we have Lonehill and Gambit records. The frequent takeovers of once viable record labels by fat-cat money men has resulted in some classic albums being thrown into a dark vault and forgotten about. Without ‘Gambit’ and ‘Lonehill’ we would arguably never live long enough to purchase those recordings.

Groove Jazz

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El Hombre Pat Martino

'El Hombre' Pat Martino, Birdland NYC

I was eagerly looking through the information about the up and coming visit from Sonny Rollins when I saw in the fine-print a list of the musicians who would be touring with him.    The inclusion of groove guitarist Peter Bernstein pleased me greatly    I am a fan of Peter Bernstein with his rapid fire, deep groove, Grant Green style.    He plays a lot in New York clubs and  when I was there recently I had hoped to see him.     As it turned out I missed him by a week but my desire to hear a Chicago – Philly style guitar, drums and organ trio was certainly fulfilled.   I turned up at ‘Birdland’ on a hot Autumn evening to find Pat Martino was playing and I thought that I had won the lottery.     My wife was a little horrified when she saw the ‘B3’ on the stage and I am the first to admit that it is an acquired taste.  Pat ‘El Hombre’ Martino played deep in the pocket and with an intensity that I have seldom witnessed.    His ‘Blue on Green’ was pure bliss and I still get a lump in my throat when I think of it.   Pat is a guitar hero on many levels and he didn’t disappoint that night.    He played his bop infused groove lines as if he were flying free of the world,with his trio in lock step.

Organ-Guitar Jazz is full throated, raunchy and intensely bluesy.   This style is redolent of an era when Jazz was losing part of its black audience to R & B and starting to fight back.   This funky backstreets music reclaimed some of that turf and found a home on what was termed the ‘Chitlins Circuit’.     Richard Groove Homes, Grant Green, Wes Montgomery, Pat Martino, Jimmy Smith, Brother Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Big John Patton. Shirley Scott and many others were associated with this style.     One of my favourites in this style was Gene Ammons (tenor sax) who liked to play the Chicago clubs when ever he could.    This was not often sadly because he was frequently in jail for narcotics violations.    His label Prestige indulged him and recored him frequently; knowing that he would be behind bars again before too long.     He is always associated with his ballad albums such as Gentle Jug (which his manager had insisted upon as a good career move), but I still like the badly recorded club dates such as the one where he is accompanied by Eddie Buster (B3) and Gerald Donavan (drums).  Those two are now long forgotten but didn’t they groove with ‘Jug’.    This is a happy music that sets the body swaying and I will often return to it after a period of listening to more cerebral offerings.   This is the intersection in my adolescent life where I discovered jazz and I have joyful memories of bunking off school and wearing out copies of an album called ‘The Chicago Sound’.

For this style of music look on You Tube for Pat Martino’s rendition of ‘Sunny’ with Joey DeFrancesco and prepare to be seriously ‘grooved’.

Miles: Jack Johnson and Jack DeJohnette

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Last night the ‘Dark Magus’ was among us again and what a joyful experience it was.   The DeJohnette band performed the often overlooked ‘Jack Johnson’ music, complete with the famous Jack Johnson film as back drop. The original Miles Davis album had been cut in 1970; not long after the more abstract ‘Bitches Brew’ and just before his free flowing ‘Fillmore’ excursions.   A very different sound was emerging and it is only now being properly evaluated.   Miles wanted to carve a pathway right into the hearts of the younger rock audiences and he achieved that without jettisoning all of his loyal Jazz audience.    At the time of its first release ‘Jack Johnson” alternately shocked or thrilled Miles fans.    The music was most definitely not rock music and if anything it was an edgier avante guard type of Jazz.     The brilliance of its execution and the raw electric energy created new fans to replace the older ones who stopped listing.   The  ‘Jack Johnson’ story-line is fundamentally about the issues of race and achievement against the odds, but there is a thread of good natured humour in this celebration of a likable man.    ‘Jack Johnson’ the soundtrack was pure Miles and pure genius.    It is obvious that Miles saw Jack Johnson as a role model.

A large part of Miles genius was in finding the right musicians and giving them the right push.    This resulted in some of the most successful collaborations in Jazz.   The original ‘Jack Johnson’ was actually a pared back version featuring Miles (t),Steve Grossmnan (ss), Herbie Hancock (ky), John McGlaughlin (g) Michael Henderson (b)Billy Cobham (d) and Brock Petters (v).  The first release was soon followed by ‘The Complete Jack Johnson Sessions’ and we saw a much enriched palette with the additional artists -Jack DeJohnette (d), Wayne Shorter(ss), Bennie Maupin (bcl), Chick Corea & Keith Jarrett (ky), Herbie Hancock (org), Sonny Sharrock (g), Ron Cater, Dave Holland, Gene Perla (b), Airto Moreira (perc), Hermeto Pascoal (v, d).

Last night master drummer Jack DeJohnette  presided over a new and updated version of ‘Jack Johnson’.    His guiding hand as a leader was in evidence every step of the way and with a smaller lineup than the original band he achieved the same result.  It was electrifying from start to finish as the soundscape ranged from the hauntingly beautiful (the boxers loneliness after winning the the world heavyweight title only to be ignored in his own country) to the dissonance  accompanying shocking Klu Klux Klan scenes.     The musicians were almost all multi-instrumentalists and their virtuosity on which-ever axe they picked up was evident.   There were two older musicians, Jack DeJohnette and Bass player, Jerome Harris; The rest were younger and all were very talented.   All respect to Byron Wallen for playing Miles so beautifully but the real accolade must go to Jack DeJohnette .   To see him sitting under a large projected image of Miles was to see see a perfect juxtaposition between past and present.

Concerts in the wind.

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Quick Concert update:

This Saturday we get to hear the amazing Jack deJohnette – colourist and straight ahead master of the ‘traps’- probably the greatest drummer alive.     Jack’s band is performing an update on the ‘Miles Davis‘ fusion classic ‘Jack Johnson‘.     Next month Herbie Hancock is returning to Auckland (Tuesday 26th March) and his new ‘Imagine Project’ band will include talented Benin Guitarist Lionel Loueke.   I was in touch with old friend Larry Koonse last week (gifted West Coast Jazz guitarist) and he told me that he will likely be here again in a few months with the Roger Fox Big Band.     He may even return with Joe La Barbera like last time.

Lastly saxophone colossus Sonny Rollins is going to be playing in Wellington this winter (July).    As grumpy as I am with Wellington for canceling the International Jazz Festival because of the World Cup I will attend.     Swapping Jazz for rugby is a cardinal sin (or it bloody well should be).

Night in Tunisia

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Youssef Dhafer at Moers Festival, June 2006, G...

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In the mid nineties I was lucky enough to visit Switzerland for two weeks. Walking happily and aimlessly around the beautiful shores of Lac Lemon, Geneva, one summer evening, I came across five North African musicians playing entrancing modal melodies on the traditional instruments of their region. As I recall there was an Oud, hand drums, a reed instrument and several other stringed instruments.  I stopped to listen and during a break in the music asked them the obligatory, “what country are you from?”  “Tunisia” they called out with huge grins indicating their traditional costumes.  “Dizzy Gillespie”,  I said turning to my friend Michael as I threw a few Swiss francs into the cap that lay in front of them. We had hardly walked on a dozen steps when a cheerful cry of  “hey English” accosted us.  As we turned round the musicians began channeling Dizzy and to my ears that version of ‘Night in Tunisia” sounded just wonderful. I marvelled that they should know that 1940’s American Be-Bop warhorse because they were barely more than teens.  Jazz can truly be a world-music.

Some years ago I listened to a not-so-successful attempt to use an Oud in Jazz. The band was about in the late 1950’s and the ‘fusion’ was far from convincing; a novelty at best.  As the ECM label broadened the scope of its Jazz offerings I began to hear marvelous improvised music on the Oud. In the late 90’s I purchased several CD’s by Tunisian Oud player Anouar Brahem (a Keith Jarrett influenced musician). The Oud creates a wonderful soundscape and the deep improvisations the instrument is capable of adds much to the musical lexicon.

In 2009 at the Wellington Jazz festival I decided on a whim to go to an additional concert. The group was lead by Sufi Tunisian Oud player Dhafer Youssef.  This concert was up-there  as an experience and I enjoyed every note. His band consisted of Marcin Wasilewski (piano), Michal Miskiewiscz (drums) and a great Canadian arco-stick-bass player whose name now eludes me. Dhafer sung his other worldly songs and played the Oud and the crowd was entranced.  Having the heart of the utterly brilliant Tomasz Stanko band as his rhythm section did not hurt either.

The Oud is just fine by me.