A few months ago, an album was recorded in New York that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on. The pre-release featured several tasty tracks, and its evocative cover image also intrigued. The stars were aligned for a significant album, and so it was. How could it miss with pianist Michael Cain, guitarist Keith Price and drummer Pheeroan akLaff?
It is one of those albums that jazz lovers, whatever their taste, are bound to enjoy. The cover art was prophetic, as its soft golden light and evocative silhouette figures characterised the music perfectly. It is an album to be played through, then played again, and each listening will delight. There’s a sense of place (or should I say places) evident, as the titles reference far-flung locations, but the most important maps traversed are those engraved on the human heart.
‘O’Neil’s Bay’ (Price) is lovely – a bluesy Americana-fused number. The bay in question is familiar to me, nestled against New Zealand’s forest-clad Waitākere Ranges–a hidden bay accessible only on foot. Price lives nearby and has captured the mystical essence of that wild, unspoiled coastline, keyboards, guitar and drums painting with sound.
Another track has the intriguing title ‘Poetry Legroom Okinawa Children’ (akLaff). It unfolds like a miniature suite, adding layer upon layer. Cain’s keyboards arpeggiate over Price’s shimmering chords; the mesmerising drums adding to the feeling of suspension. Like every track that unfolds, you sink inside, holding the moods carefully so as not to spoil the moment.
With ‘Solodos’ (Cain), you understand why Cain is such a well-regarded pianist. The history and the wonder of his music are encapsulated there.
In an album of gems, ‘Waxing Gibbous’ (Cain/Price) is the kicker. Underneath the tune’s languid minimalism, endless aural vistas unfold, displacing time and space into the eternal now. Never has spoken-word poetry been so carefully encapsulated, and the open-hearted colourist drumming of akLaff astounds.
All three musicians have written tunes for the album, and while their approaches differ, they drink from the same creative well. There are no burners, although a quiet intensity is evident as the meditative moods draw the listener into beguiling atmospheric worlds. We live in an era of madness, and albums like this are exactly what we need to assuage our battered senses. Shifting Paradigm Records Bandcamp and streamers.
JazzLocal32.com was rated as one of the 50 best Jazz Blogs in the world by Feedspot. The author is a professional member of the Jazz Journalists Association, a Judge in the 7VJC International Jazz Competition, and a poet & writer. Some of these posts appear on other sites with the author’s permission.
Rattle Records released these excellent albums a few weeks apart. They demonstrate that New Zealand’s improvising musicians are of the highest calibre. Both feature Hayden Chisholm, and the albums enrich each other as if by design, although recorded at opposite ends of the world.
Embers (Unwind)
This album is the fifth by Unwind, and their second as a trio. The Unwind albums have all been striking for their unadorned beauty, each feeling like a high point. Yet the inventiveness appears endless as they maintain their upward creative trajectory. Only the best musicians can react to each other with such nuance, their quietism filling any listening space.
Much rests on Hayden Chisholm’s alto saxophone sound, which is preternaturally pure. It’s as clean as Desmond or Konitz, yet utterly unique. It has softness, but a softness that conveys strength and a fluidity that affords him endless possibilities. When playing live, his impact on audiences is palpable. The flute-like alto sounds he creates speak with unusual clarity, creating a balm that the world needs. Feted internationally, known for his skilful use of micro-tonality and throat singing, all his strengths are evident on this album.
A distinctive sound like Chisholm’s requires just the right musicians. Norman Meehan and Paul Dyne are that. In part, because they have been bandmates for years, but it is more than familiarity. On bass, Dyne carries the weight effortlessly, while Meehan’s blues-infused minimalism says as much in between the spaces as in the moments when the hammer meets the wire. You can feel the weight of his ideas behind every note. Thoughtful musicians like this know best how to optimise opportunities. They react instinctively, and nothing is overthought.
The first number, ‘Around Again’, opens with Chisholm’s plaintive alto keening through the silence, then Meehan’s evocative gospel chords follow. It is an elegant piece and a lovely opening to an album brimming with gems. It exudes a gentle strength that is the hallmark of this band.
Another number, ‘Good Friday’, conjures subtle emotions. It captures a nostalgic essence, as if evoking a time long past. One we cannot fully recall – a reaction best described by the Japanese term ‘Sabi’. I have seldom heard a piece of Western music that captures that emotion as perfectly as this ballad. And everything in the album flows similarly. Meehan’s compositions are a joy.
During the album release concert, a particular moment had the audience gasping. After setting the shruti-board drone in motion, the alto began the intro. The pianist was ‘laying out’, listening intently, unaware that his foot had depressed a pedal. An ethereal resonance soon became evident as the harmonics of the alto reacted with the piano. Realising, Chisholm edged closer to the piano and worked with it. A sublime moment of happenstance that had musicians and audience smiling in delight.
It is our good fortune that Chisholm regularly returns to Aotearoa, the country of his birth. He has an extensive offshore discography, but when playing with old friends, there is a special Kiwi kind of synergy. A reminder that spiritual jazz lives here too. The album is available from Rattle Records in either digital or CD form. https://rattle.co.nz/catalogue/releases/embers
Release and Return (Chisholm/Crayford)
‘Release and Return’ is a duo album featuring Jonathan Crayford on piano and Hayden Chisholm on alto saxophone. It is another standout album, but in a different way from Unwind (reviewed above). It feels more exploratory and is not as consciously introspective. The album captures the joy of master musicians engaging without preconception. As a duo album, the sonorities can be explored more fully.
Both of these musicians are adept at working with harmonic resonances: Crayford, who prefers audiences to refrain from clapping until the decaying echoes of a final chord are exhausted, and Chisholm with his skillful use of microtonality.
Mature improvisers like these can draw on everything that they have experienced; it is what forms musical character. Both have travelled widely and listen with open minds to what other cultures or genres offer, be it classical, Carnatic, Spanish or Japanese traditions.
Crayford’s lovely ‘JC Ballad’ hints at Bach, and in Chisholm’s playing, the influence of Eastern musical traditions is evident, especially when he plays against a drone. In ‘Eldest Daughter’, the wistful opening tune (Crayford), the melody plays softly above, while Crayford’s right hand sounds at times like a feather stroking the strings of a Koto, his left hand, meanwhile, finds the pulse and swing.
Release and Return stirs deep emotional responses in the listener with its visceral lines, sometimes tender, sometimes raw, as the human condition is examined. This album speaks of freedom and the uncontrived nature of the music that makes it so.
I was idling my way through the morning when a message from a friend in the UK lit up my phone. ’I’m sitting in a Jazz club in Dublin, and I have a Kiwi couple with me whose daughter is an Auckland-based jazz musician. She plays in a band with guitarist Keith Price, do you know her?’ I know Price well and have attended many of his gigs but the name Francesca Parussini didn’t ring a bell. I had missed Price’s last gig so I checked through my invitations and saw that she was a saxophonist and a member of Price’s new band LacLu. The other band member was Maximilian Crook, a versatile, tasteful up-and-coming drummer. I messaged Price for more information and learned that LacLu had recently recorded, resulting in an EP album, due for release later in the year.
Fast forward to last week, when a review download arrived. I listened and was delighted by what I heard. The LacLu album taps into an expansive realm akin to Spiritual/Astral Jazz, whose definition has expanded over the years to encompass improvised music reverencing the natural world. As human-induced chaos and degradation of the environment assails us, music that invites us to reflect on nature is increasingly appealing. The influences cited in the liner notes are Frissell, Lovano and Motian. While influences are evident — touches of Americana, colourist drumming and content-rich minimalism — the album is forward-looking and more than a tribute.
The opener, ‘Winter Fog Morning’, is in two parts. Beginning with haunting pedalled phrases on the guitar, gentle drum and cymbal taps, and whispery phrases from the horn, each underscoring the other as they paint a landscape with deft sonic strokes. You hear what could be bird calls rising out of the fog. The scene has been set and part two expands the vista. What follows at a lilting gait is a melodically and texturally rich tapestry that is both raw and caressing. I live where Price lives, among the Waitākere hills, ragged coastlines and foggy wooded valleys, and the band has captured the beauty of that landscape.
The third track, ‘Stella by Starlight’, pays tribute to a loved standard but pared back, reduced to its essence and done in a way that only skilled improvisers could pull off. Scant phrases of the loved melody appear, change and evaporate. Here especially, Price shows us what he is made of, his playing is evocative and tasteful. This is a gem and it is hard to believe that the drummer and saxophonist are not seasoned performers like Price. They are recent jazz school graduates, but despite the disparity in years and experience, the band performs as equals. The last track, ’Friends and Whanau’ rounds the album off nicely, reminding the listener of our human connections, and the interconnectedness of all life. Here the warm shadings of Americana are most evident.
Throughout there is spaciousness, seamless interaction and open improvisation around composed motifs. The name Laclu references a lake in Ontario and a general locality. The area is described as having ‘indistinct boundaries’. Price grew up near there but never visited the lake and perhaps that is the perfect metaphor for the album. What appears to be place-specific is more than that. It is any place where nature rules, places we can call home if we work with nature, not against it.
Keith Price (guitar), Francesca Parussini (tenor saxophone), Maximilian Crook (drums) – Ainsley Duyvestyn-Smith cover photography, recorded at the Kenneth Myers Centre Tāmaki Makaurau. The album is available on Bandcamp and streaming platforms – click through here at laclu3.bandcamp.com/album/laclu-self-titled
JazzLocal32.com was rated as one of the 50 best Jazz Blogs in the world by Feedspot. The author is a professional member of the Jazz Journalists Association, a Judge in the 7VJC International Jazz Competition, and a poet & writer. Some of these posts appear on other sites with the author’s permission.
News that a live recording of Alice Coltrane’s previously unreleased 1971 Carnegie Hall concert was about to drop caused excitement in Jazz circles. 2024, designated by Impulse ‘The Year of Alice’, will see other Alice projects realised, and Shiva Loka is the opener. The quality is great, even though it doesn’t have the degree of sound separation a studio recording has, but that is no bad thing. Being live, the album captures the excitement in the moment and invites us to breathe the spiritual air surrounding Coltrane. And as you take in what is unfolding, the sheer joy of it, it is impossible not to picture the audience sitting about you in rapt absorption. This is an immersive experience and, as such, it reveals the beating heart of Spiritual jazz.
There are four tracks and from the first note played you are present in that great hall. Track one ‘Journey in Satchidananda’ is a tranquil, mesmerising piece. At first, gentle cymbals reminiscent of a temple gong, then a long vamp on bass and with drums answering; out of nowhere, harp strings, Coltrane making them sing like a choir of celestial angels. At that point, you discern voices quietly chanting, followed by flute, then saxophone. The magic has arrived and it never leaves throughout.
The second track, while also tranquil, has a questioning spirit. Arpeggiating harp, arco bass, tiny percussion instruments and then the saxophones keening. Archie Shepp and Pharoah Sanders interact conversationally, as new sonic textures are opened up. An intensity develops as the album unfolds with the tranquil opening tunes followed by incrementally wilder, ecstatic pieces.
We hear two sides of Alice Coltrane in this recording. Both are astonishing in different ways and there is never a moment of doubt about who holds the musical centre. On the first two tracks, she reigns as a peaceful goddess; on the last two, surrounded by an army of titans, she is the epicentre of an ecstatic storm. There was a time when she was primarily regarded as the keeper of John’s flame, but here, she is revealed as the unrivalled queen of Spiritual Jazz, extending his legacy and claiming her own.
The last two tracks ‘Africa’ and ‘Leo’ are compositions by John Coltrane, but it would be wrong to regard these as mere covers as they transform the material into something not heard before. For these last two numbers, Coltrane switches from harp to piano and the fiery goddess radiates her power. She is percussive, with stinging chords, and snatches of chromaticism. Here, and in the last track especially, the rawness and power of the band has been fully unleashed. Thunderous percussion and pounding bass, staccato utterances from the horns and raining down on the keys, Coltrane’s hands.
It is hardly surprising that she chose these particular musicians as they have all been associated with her or John at some point. Coltrane on harp, piano and vocals, Pharoah Sanders on saxophones and flute (at times chanting through the flute), Archie Shepp on saxophones and flute, Jimmy Garrison and Cecil McBee on bass, Ed Blackwell and Clifford Jarvis on drums, Tulsi Reynolds on tamboura, Kumar Kramer on harmonium. As you listen you marvel at the beauty and raw power. It is an album that will stay with you for a long time. It is out on Impulse too, which explains the warm embrace of the sound.
The concert was recorded the year she released ‘Journey to Satchidananda’, her fourth Impulse album and not long after another acknowledged masterpiece ‘Ptah, the El Daoud’. My first thought was, why wait so long to release such an exceptional album, but on reflection, it was a good decision. Now is the time to fully acknowledge Alice Coltrane’s legacy. Available online or from the better local retail outlets.
Ancient Relics ~ Lucien Johnson
As ‘The Year of Alice’ gets underway it is great to acknowledge this release by Aotearoa/New Zealand saxophonist-composer Lucien Johnson. It is fresh material that references the tradition of Astral/Spiritual Jazz and it does so with reverence while bringing a local perspective. It is natural for those born under our South Pacific skies to gaze upward; far-dreaming Pacific star-gazers discovered our islands. That sense of worlds beyond is evident throughout, as it references space clutter and objects left over from the past. It could also reference the cluttered inner orbits of our minds.
As the album begins, the unhurried pace appeals instantly, informing you that this is a place for deep listening. On the title track, ‘Ancient Relics’, Johnson’s effortless melodicism floats over texturally rich vamps reminiscent of drones while piano and harp shimmer, and merge. This opener is unmistakably Alice-like and wonderfully so. The languid measured bass lines are perfect too, anything more would have spoiled the mood, with the gentle pulse from percussion and drums, whispering, quietly through the mix.
My favourite tracks are ‘Space Junk’ and ‘Satellites’, evoking the wonders of space while reminding us of our responsibilities as galactic sojourners. Space is the theme, but closer to home than the distant stars. If ‘Ada’ refers to the protocol of distance between objects in orbit, then all of the tunes appear to reference space junk; the ever-increasing proliferation of satellites circling the Earth. A recent report pointed out that every reentry leaves debris and puts the Earth’s magnetic field at risk.
This is an exceptional group of musicians and the right ones to bring Johnson’s vision home. All are from Aotearoa/New Zealand, some receiving accolades beyond our shores. Johnson is better known in Europe where he gained a reputation playing in free-jazz ensembles and composing for theatre. Since returning he has quickly established himself as an important local recording artist, recently receiving a Jazz Tui for composition.
Jonathan Crayford on piano (also a Jazz Tui recipient), has a solid international reputation, often playing in London, New York and across Europe. Percussionist Julien Dyne is another internationally recognised artist as is harpist Natalia Lagi’itaua Mann. Rounding off the ensemble bassist Tom Callwood, and drummer Cory Champion, both respected musicians. I was especially delighted to see improvising harpist Mann in the lineup as it has been a while since I saw her perform. Her World-Jazz Rattle album ‘Pasif.Ist’ is an absolute gem.
The album is available at Rattle Records, Bandcamp
JazzLocal32.com was rated as one of the 50 best Jazz Blogs in the world by Feedspot. The author is a professional member of the Jazz Journalists Association, a Judge in the 7VJC International Jazz Competition, a contributor to All About Jazz, poet & writer. Some of these posts appear on other sites with the author’s permission.
Jim left us in January, and the shock of his unexpected passing robbed me of the right words. In the following weeks, I mulled over my inaction, wanting to do justice to his story? Then I caught covid and more time passed. While it is usual to post an obituary within days of someone passing, I paused and reflected. And as I deliberated, I could sense his presence, knowing that he would approve of my waiting until the right words appeared. Jim’s life was a Zen koan, and you can’t rush a koan.
We had spoken on the phone a week before he died and arranged a ‘hang’ in a nearby coffee bar. It was sometimes hard to catch him on the phone, but when he picked up you could feel the warmth radiating from the handset. The conversations were slow grooves. He would speak softly, radiate peace and intersperse his comments with periods of reflective silence. Jim seldom rushed his words, and the silences felt all the more weighty for it. He spoke as he played because he understood the power of space between sounds.
I had known him for over a decade, but I wished I had known him for longer. He was a musician’s musician; the term used to describe a player of significance but one who is scandalously under-acknowledged. He had been on the Jazz scene his entire adult life and had played alongside some of the greats, but his natural habitats were in the Spiritual Jazz and avant-garde scenes. Many assume that the music of the avant-garde is strident. In Jim’s hands, the music was reflective, spiritual and embedded in indigenous culture.
He could crack open a note and let it breathe in multi-phonic splendour. He could whisper into a flute and then unexpectedly send forth a flurry of breathy overtones. He had great chops and visionary ideas, but he was not egotistical. Jim was about the music and not about himself. He was an educator and an empowerer. It was about transmission – telling the story, enjoying the moment and passing on the flame.
He had written the liner notes for one of the first American Spiritual Jazz albums incorporating his Buddhist name (Tony Scott’s ‘Music for Zen Meditation). He’d recorded with poets and acolytes and played alongside Dave Liebman and Gary Peacock. He also had a presence on many New Zealand albums but seldom as a leader. At first, I put this down to modesty, but now I think otherwise. His musical journey inclined him towards humility; he possessed that in the best sense. Gentle souls leave softer footprints.
He gave more to music than he received; to understand why you should know something else about Jim, his long involvement with Zen Buddhism. It was a particular connection that we had. Each of us had connected with Buddhism in our youth which informed our attitude towards in-the-moment music. Although I meditated then, mine was of the Beat variety of Zen, remaining a lazy ‘psychedelic’ Buddhist. Jim took his practice seriously, spending time in Zen Mountain Monastery, Mt Tremper, upper New York State.
While on that scene he performed with other spiritually engaged Jazz musicians like Gary Peacock, Chris Dahlgren and Jay Weik. And amazingly, performed with famous Beat poets like Alan Ginsberg and Anne Waldman who had an association with the centre, and together, had set up the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at the Naropa Institute. In New York, he connected with Tony Scott and Dave Liebman. Later, Jim established a New Zealand Sangha in the ZMM lineage and brought out their first teacher.
I recall messaging him when I was last in San Francisco to tell him I was seeking the forgotten Jazz Clubs, the homes of lost poets and the San Francisco Zen Centre. Names leapt across the cyber-void, Black Hawk, Kerouac, Kaufman and DiPrima. Back and forth we messaged during that week. He, tapping out fragmentary reminisces of his Dharma experiences in America and recalling some of the Jazz musicians he’d encountered (eg. Jaco Pastorius, Rashid Ali, Arthur Rhames, Gary Peacock, Dave Leibman).
I, responded with pictures of a priceless Rupa as I stood in the Zen Centre Meditation room; buying a new translation of Han Shan’s Cold Mountain poems and sending him a picture of the cover. And me, reliving Ginsberg’s visions of Moloch as I wandered the corridors of his trippy nemesis, the Sir Francis Drake hotel. Buddhist practice, poetry and improvised music are old acquaintances. It was our instinctive connection.
I would bump into Jim at gigs. And he would say, “I hoped you’d be here, I have this for you” passing over a booklet on Finnish Jazz or a CD. He would press them into my hand without explanation and carry on talking about other things. These were Zen puzzles for me to unravel. I realised what treasures they were only later.
He came to my seventieth birthday, a house party where he enjoyed the young musicians playing. He was photographed, deploying his best smile as he posed among us. On that occasion, he handed me a bag of goodies, a limited edition double album – a live concert featuring Arthur Rhames, Jaco Pastorius and Rashid Ali. Handwritten by sharpie was the cryptic inscription ‘jimjazz ⅕’ – another koan to solve. Did he record this?
Important chroniclers like Norman Meehan have written about him, but I’m sure there is more to say. His family and musician friends will create a fuller discography, preserve his charts and update his filmography. It is important. Because he was not a self-promoter, he could surprise you when he appeared in line-ups. With Indian vocalists like Sandhya Sanjana, Tom Ludvigson & Trever Reekie’s Trip to the Moon band, at the NZ Music Awards, at numerous Jazz Festivals and on movie soundtracks. And he played and contributed to daughter Rosie Langabeer’s various out-ensembles. He played the flute on the ‘Mr Pip’ soundtrack and saxophone on daughter Rosie Langabeer’s soundtrack for the indie film GODPLEX
He released at least two notable local albums as a leader, but perhaps there are more? Jim’s Africa/Aroha album with Barry Young (SUPERBREW) was released as an LP by Ode in 1984 and re-released in 2007. It has remained popular with jazz lovers. Prophetically, his composition Aroha cropped up on the hospital Spotify playlist during his last hours. The album broke fresh ground in New Zealand with its freedom-tinged Afrobeat and World Jazz influences. It is gorgeous.
Around 2016 Jim undertook a research and performance project at the Auckland University Jazz School, where he was awarded a Masters’s Degree with first-class Honours. Out of that came his finest recording Secret Islands (Rattle). After recording, Jim phoned me and asked if I would write the liner notes and I was pleased to be on board. He also used my photographs.
I am an enthusiast of avant-garde music and a fan of Jim’s approach, so it was a labour of love. Secret Islands is one of a select group of albums that tells a New Zealand Jazz story. It could not have come from anywhere else. I had heard the band play a preview of the album and loved what I heard. The recording took things to another level. It featured an all-star lineup. With Jim’s vision and Rosie and the other player’s contributions, it was sure to hit a sweet spot. Later a live performance was reprised at the Audio Foundation with Jim on flute and tenor, Jeff Henderson on drums, Rosie Langabeer on Piano, Neil Feather on an experimental instrument and Eamon Edmundson-Wells on bass, with Roger Manins on Alto. It was a superb performance. I will never forget it. The Secret Islands album (clip above) featured Jim Langabeer on winds and reeds, Rosie Langabeer, piano and Fender Rhodes, Neil Watson, guitars, Eamon Edmundson-Welles, bass, Roger Manins, alto saxophone and Chris O’Connor, drums.
One last album that deserves mention is One Way Ticket – Daikajo. Released in 1995 by ‘Dharma Communications’ Zen Mountain Zen Monestry NY and produced by Jim. On it, he leads the ensemble on alto saxophone, silver flute and shakuhachi. Like most of Jim’s albums, it is Spiritual Jazz. A subgenre of improvised music that is experiencing revival worldwide.
Just before the first lockdown, I visited him at his Farm Cove home as I wanted to record an oral history. I switched on my recorder while the conversation ran for two or three hours. It often veered into the esoteric. When Ī played it back, I realised that I needed another session with a greater focus on Jim’s achievements. I can usually keep an interview on track, but in Jim’s case, words were like pebbles in a pond. A series of moments setting off ripples haiku-like.
Before I knew it the pandemic had arrived. I had lost my window of opportunity. Jim passed at the height of the second lockdown, and much as I wanted to attend his funeral, I couldn’t. I participated online and remembered him in silence, a copy of Secret Islands beside me and his tune Tangi playing softly in the other room. We loved Jim and mourn his untimely passing.
Footnote: The Rupa (Buddhist image) is an antique statue located in the San Francisco Zen Centre. It is likely the Bodhisattva Kuan Yin or Maitreya in Bodhisattva form. The video is Jim’s tune Ananda’s Midnight Blues which I filmed at CJC Jazz Club, Auckland. I have also included the clip ‘Tangi’ from Secret Islands. Lastly, I would like to fondly acknowledge Jim’s daughters, Rosie, Catherine and Celia Langabeer, and Jim’s partner Lyndsey Knight, who together, acted as fact-checkers.
JazzLocal32.com is rated one of the 50 best Jazz Blogs in the world by Feedspot. The author is a professional member of the Jazz Journalists Association, poet & writer.Some of these posts appear on other sites with the author’s permission.
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