Jazz Times 2015 Vol.45 No2 (March) PDF

JOHN SCOFIELD ON SONNY ROLLINS | TRACK BY TRACK
SINAT
00
Tony Bennett,
Michael Feinstei
& John Pizzarelli
on the Great Ameri
ANNUAL
FAREWELLS THE PSYCHOLOGY
FEATURE OF BANDLEADING
CHARLIE HADEN by John Patitucci with Maria Schneider
HORACE SILVER by Jason Moran & Darcy James Argue
JOE SAMPLE by Bob James
GERALD WILSON by John Clayton Chucho Valdés
KENNY WHEELER by Norma Winstone A Listening Session
PACO DE LUCÍA by John McLaughlin
IDRIS MUHAMMAD by Lou Donaldson
+ many more plus
Jazz & the Police Protests
Antonio Sanchez
on his Birdman score
Guest Column:
The New Cuba
by Arturo O’Farrill
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inside MARCH 2015 VOLUME 45 NUMBER 2
06 JT Notes by Evan Haga

08 The Gig by Nate Chinen
09 Solo What the new Cuba could mean
for jazz, by Arturo O’Farrill
10 OPENING CHORUS
10 Hearsay Charlie Haden tribute concert,
Jeff Coffin, Antonio Sanchez on his
Birdman film score, Joe Albany biopic,
NYC Winter Jazzfest, news and
farewells, Jazz Connect in photos
20 Before & After Chucho Valdés
24 Overdue Ovation Paul Carr
56 SOUND ADVICE
56 AudioFiles Brent Butterworth on
digital-to-analog converters
58 Chops Darcy James Argue, Arturo
← Frank Sinatra and O’Farrill and Maria Schneider on the
arranger Axel Stordahl psychology of bandleading
(standing at right) rehearse 59 Gearhead The latest musical instruments,
during a Columbia session accessories and educational resources
in New York in 1947
60 REVIEWS
60 CD Reviews
69 Vox
71 Jazz Directory
72 Artist’s Choice John Scofield discusses
26 THE 2014 EXPANDED CRITICS’ POLL Sonny Rollins’ Now’s the Time! LP
Our writers choose the best musicians, labels, festivals and more.
28 FRANK SINATRA @ 100

outside
AT J A Z Z T I M E S . C O M
With help from Tony Bennett, Michael Feinstein, John Pizzarelli
and others, Christopher Loudon considers the abiding legacy MP3S
of the Voice. promotions - jazz MP3s
JazzTimes Spins & Riffs, a free podcast
featuring vocalist René Marie and JT publisher
Lee Mergner
36 RISE OF THE TROMBONE
Historically overshadowed, the trombone has nonetheless been a EXCLUSIVE CONTENT
catalyst for change throughout jazz history—especially today, as the articles - columns
ax of choice for a pack of innovative bandleaders and composers. Interviews with Snarky Puppy’s Michael League and
By Michael J. West. Peggy Lee biographer James Gavin; photo galleries:
the Jazz Education Network conference and a
survey of jazz in New York in 2014; live reviews:
“The Nearness of You Benefit Concert” with
42 IN MEMORY OF Paul Simon, James Taylor, Dianne Reeves, Bobby
In this annual feature, top jazz artists remember their collaborators, McFerrin, Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette and others,
mentors and heroes who died during the past year. Blue Note Records supergroup Our Point of View
featuring Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire
and Lionel Loueke, Arturo O’Farrill’s Afro Latin Jazz
Orchestra; theater review: Café Society Swing; plus
video interviews, news, reviews and more!
Cover and Table of Contents photos (both 1947) by William P. Gottlieb/Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
EDITOR EVAN HAGA
[email protected]
GROUP PUBLISHER LEE MERGNER
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DIRECTOR, SALES & MARKETING ROBIN MORSE
ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER MIENE SMITH
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CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
David R. Adler, Larry Appelbaum, Bill Beuttler, Shaun Brady, Philip Booth, Brent Burton, Russell Carlson,
Nate Chinen, Sharonne Cohen, Thomas Conrad, Owen Cordle, Brad Farberman, Colin Fleming,
Andrew Gilbert, Fernando Gonzalez, Steve Greenlee, Don Heckman, Geoffrey Himes, Marc Hopkins,
Willard Jenkins, Mike Joyce, Ashley Kahn, David Kastin, Aidan Levy, Christopher Loudon, Bill Meredith,
John Murph, Ted Panken, Britt Robson, Giovanni Russonello, Lloyd Sachs, Sam Sessa, Mike Shanley,
Perry Tannenbaum, George Varga, Michael J. West, David Whiteis, Josef Woodard, Ron Wynn
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

Greg Aiello, Ed Berger, Skip Bolen, Stuart Brinin, Enid Farber, Ken Franckling, Peter Gannushkin, Ronnie
James, Ben Johnson, Jimmy Katz, R. Andrew Lepley, Alan Nahigian, Jan Persson, John Rogers, Nick
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4 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

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[JT]Notes
Life Cycle
by Evan Haga
T
o keep JazzTimes from reading like an unending obituaries of panel sessions, forums and workshops, it aims to unite the
section, we forgo tributes to departed musicians throughout scores of enthusiastic musicians, concert producers, label owners,
our annual schedule. Instead, we include in each March book journalists, broadcasters and other professionals whose network
“In Memory Of,” a lengthy feature wherein jazz notables has been broken apart by a struggling music industry and the
remember their deceased colleagues and mentors. Of course we can’t absence of a proper yearly tradeshow.
cover every notable musician who passed away during the prior The second fete is NYC Winter Jazzfest, which is always in flux
year, but I believe we assemble an homage that hits the most notable but was as fun and inspiring as ever throughout its 11th edition.
figures while respecting jazz’s stylistic range, from the mainstream to For an expert, detailed take, see Aidan Levy’s festival report
fusion to the avant-garde to vocal-jazz. And some tributes you don’t beginning on p. 16. But I look forward to this festival like children
find here, like those to honor Jackie Cain, Lionel Ferbos and Herb anticipate Christmas, so I’ll toss my two cents in as well. Essentially,
Jeffries, will be posted prominently at JazzTimes.com. every clueless, utterly false notion you’ve read or heard about jazz
If it sounds like depressing work to think so hard about all the being stagnant or marginalized or unlikable to a larger audience can
great musicians and people we’ve lost, it absolutely can be. For- be put to rest after an hour of making the rounds at Winter Jazzfest.
tunately, I complete this issue to the backdrop of two events that I absorb jazz for a living, but I can still count on a grip of discoveries
prove how jazz talent and the community that surrounds it never over these long nights. Here I’ll mention just one, more of a redis-
truly leave us, they only regenerate. The first is the two-day Jazz covery: baritone José James, whose Billie Holiday program thrilled
Connect conference, a collaboration between this magazine and me. He’s a new favorite—a hip, arty dark horse occupying a welcome
an organization called the Jazz Forward Coalition. It began in niche among current male soul and jazz singers, somewhere be-
2012 and moved this year to a new location, Saint Peter’s Church tween the quirks of Bilal and the big heart of Gregory Porter. Like so
in Midtown Manhattan, that turned out to be ideal. A series much else happening in jazz in 2015, he was marvelous. JT
KEVIN EUBANKS
STANLEY JORDAN
DUETS
Kevin Eubanks and Stanley Jordan – both
masters of their domains – discovered an
empathy when playing together live a
summer or two ago. Duets’ repertoire bridges
literally decades in its range from Eden Ahbez’
classic Nature Boy to dance diva Ellie Goulding’s
Lights, and many clever spontaneous studio
arrangements (Blue In Green, Summertime,
A Child Is Born).
mackavenue.com * get it at iTunes.com/MackAvenue

[the]Gig
What Are We to Do?
By Nate Chinen
Sometimes a piece of music waits for its moment. Heroes + Misfits, Of course, there’s ample precedent for
the rock-and-R&B-steeped debut by pianist Kris Bowers, was released on Concord social protest in jazz, notably during the
last March, and for a while I regarded it a bit warily: Though I admired its clarity of civil-rights movement: Charles Mingus,
purpose and execution, I couldn’t fully embrace the album’s urgent, portentous air. Max Roach with Abbey Lincoln, Rahsaan
Roland Kirk, Archie Shepp. One thing
Then I saw Bowers and his band at the “Race happens in the gap between that has differentiated their contempo-
Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, in Harlem’s appearance and the perception of dif- rary heirs is the wildfire pace and viral
Marcus Garvey Park. More to the point, ference,” writes the cultural scholar Jeff potential of social media. (Bowers was
I heard them play an electrifying version Chang in Who We Be: The Colorization really on to something when he settled
of “#TheProtester,” track three on the of America, a brilliant and ambitious on “#TheProtester” as a song title; its
album, with an imploring ad-lib vocal by new book from St. Martin’s Press. An in- typographical flourish grew ever more
Chris Turner. terrogation of the rise of multicultural- relevant in the wake of #BlackLivesMat-
“Who are we?” Turner sang plaintively. ism over the last 40 years, Chang’s study ter and a related, Eric Garner-inspired
“What are we?/What are we to do?” He re- is dispassionate in tone but pointed Twitter hashtag, #ICantBreathe.) An-
peated those questions as a refrain, mak- in its stance. (Compare the declara- other distinguishing factor has to do with
ing meaningful tweaks—like “Who are tive swagger of “Who We Be” with the the terms of debate: Our present moment
we to you?”—before lowering the boom, pained ambiguity of Turner’s lyric “Who is riven by bickering about whether a
with anguished allusions to the situation are we?”) so-called “post-racial” society, one that
on the ground in an American city. It was Three pages into the introduction has seen the reelection of a black presi-
late August, and I’m certain that no one of Who We Be, Chang cites an as-yet- dent, could possibly be as troubled as it
in that age-diverse Harlem crowd needed unpublished essay by pianist-composer seems. That might be one reason why
to be told that Turner was invoking Vijay Iyer, making the case for music as the commentators in jazz’s ranks fixate
Ferguson, Mo., where citizen protests had an instrument of empathy, a means by on specific, unequivocal tragedies rather
been going strong in the wake of a police which African-Americans have histori- than more nebulous, systemic problems.
shooting, two weeks earlier, that took the cally elided those stubborn perceptions I’m thinking not only of Iyer but also
life of an unarmed 18-year-old African- of difference. It’s no coincidence that pianist Orrin Evans—and trumpeter
American, Michael Brown. Poignant and Iyer, perhaps more than any jazz artist of Ambrose Akinmusire, whose 2011 Blue
raw, the performance resonated with the our time, has applied his musical output Note debut includes a track dedicated to
national mood—and altered my percep- toward the cause of social justice. Oscar Grant. Last year Akinmusire re-
tion of Bowers’ album, which no longer The centerpiece of Wiring (Intakt), leased The Imagined Savior Is Far Easier
felt quite so overdetermined. a superb recent album by the avant- to Paint, an impressively assured follow-
By almost any measure we’ve been garde collective Trio 3, featuring Iyer up that included “Rollcall for Those Ab-
living through an era of deep tensions in as a guest, is his “Suite for Trayvon sent,” a litany of names including Grant,
this nation, driven in large part by insti- (And Thousands More),” a three-part Trayvon Martin and Amadou Diallo.
tutionalized racial injustice. The slaying composition that opens in swinging an- Akinmusire’s next album could well
of Michael Brown came only weeks after gularity, proceeds to a Julius Hemphill- include a memorial tribute to Mike
Eric Garner, another unarmed black like groove section and concludes in a Brown and Eric Garner—and 12-year-
man, was choked to death by a New mournful dirge. old Tamir Rice, and 18-year-old Antonio
York City police officer. Mass protests Late in 2014, during Iyer’s three-night Martin, and whoever follows in their
across the country, sparked by a grand residency at the Brooklyn Academy of grim example. There’s obvious reason
jury’s decision not to indict Garner’s Music, he began each concert with a to exhort Akinmusire, Iyer and Bowers
killer, found a rallying cry in “Black striking tableau: human bodies lying to continue these efforts. And from this
Lives Matter”—an activist movement strewn across the stage, and then engag- soapbox, I’d like to urge others in our
ILLUSTRATION BY THEO PULFER-TERINO
launched the previous year, when a ing in a semaphore familiar from our ranks to join them. (Surely Wynton Mar-
Florida jury acquitted George Zimmer- long season of protests, notably the rhe- salis, the influential force behind Blood
man in the death of Trayvon Martin. torical gesture of both hands raised. “The on the Fields and Black Codes [From the
That verdict, in turn, had arrived just as music coalesced into rhythmic, tolling Underground], has something to say at
the movie Fruitvale Station, about the modal chords,” wrote Jon Pareles in his this juncture?) Art can be not only a
killing of Oscar Grant at the hands of review for the New York Times. “‘Black mirror for society but also a catalyst. But
Oakland transit police, was opening in Lives Matter’ read the screen overhead. It only if we grant it those powers, and only
theaters nationwide. was an activist elegy.” if it finds a means of expression. JT

Solo
We Speak African
WHY U.S./CUBA EXCHANGE WILL CHANGE EVERYTHING
By Arturo O’Farrill
I
n 1947, Chano Pozo and Dizzy Gillespie began a conversa- well in the halls of elitism and nationalism. It is a universal truth
tion. Looking for an exotic flavor to spice up his music, owned by no man and no country. By the way, jazz doesn’t need
Dizzy had asked Mario Bauzá to recommend a percussionist. to be called classical music—it is already art of the highest form.
The two hit it off, and Dizzy is famously quoted as saying, Then there are those who use jazz to demonstrate and defend
“He doesn’t speak English and I don’t speak Spanish but we both their particular political ideology. Their love of capitalism has
speak African.” blinded them to the troubling images of mass incarceration, the
Dizzy was on to something. He and Chano recognized them- shootings of unarmed minority youths and the ever-widening
selves in each other. Neither saw the other’s music as a subset of income inequality and polarization that we Americans are now
his own art. Quite the opposite, they discovered vital informa- famous for. Is this what we want jazz to represent?
tion—a missing piece in their understanding of themselves and Don’t get me wrong. I love my nation, my city, my block. But
where they came from musically. I love it for precisely the same reason I love Cuba: because of the
Frequently, in order to understand where one is going, amazing diversity of colors, aesthetics and viewpoints. However,
one must know where one is coming from. And thus the there are always those who yell the loudest, demand attention
conversation began in earnest that was charting the future and commandeer the conversation for their gain.
directions and possibilities for this great art form. Opening up Cuba, the re-engagement of the conversation has
Then, in the proverbial words of the prophets, shit happened. incredible implications. We’ll be forced to acknowledge genera-
Chano was murdered in tions of musicians for whom African folkloric forms are not seen
We will be a bar in ’48. One govern-
ing ideology was traded for
as something to evolve from but something to return to, and to
acknowledge a people who are achieving at the highest levels in
forced to another and a great divorce the arts, education, medicine and culture, all without motivations
ensued. Two peoples that of profit or (that destructive word) career. For there is little hope
acknowledge were in love with each other of achieving either in their poor but rich nation.
that even though culturally were separated We will be forced to acknowledge that even though we have
and the conversation was everything we are starving, and even though they have nothing
we have disrupted. In time, even the they are gorging on the richest of all human achievements—love
everything we great Dizzy Gillespie joined of pueblo, love of community. All for all; if my neighbor has
the ancestors. need, then I am incomplete. Quite different from our fixation on
are starving. Oh, we still have some record deals, unit sales, career objectives, the education product
semblance of the conversa- and so many other noisemakers that distract us from the original
tion. Jazz institutions and festivals have their 10-15 percent of purposes of our lives: to make music, to create art, to progress
total programming devoted to “Latin” jazz, but it is still largely and to use our God-given gifts for healing—not for branding. We
ignored by jazz education programs. Let’s face it: Most of those cannot keep what we truly don’t own. We can only give it away
don’t understand the premise that Diz and Chano were begin- and pray that it inspires the same behavior in others. If enough of
ning to see, that these two musical traditions were actually so us do this, the world will change.
interwoven they were essentially two sides of the same coin. We have people of vision here and there are people of greed
Most jazz musicians look upon Cuban music with great inter- there. I don’t mean to paint a black-and-white picture. I just mean
est. They put on their lab coats and remark on how exotic those to engage in conversation: a conversation about different values,
crazy rhythms are. Latin musicians put jazz on a marble pedestal different viewpoints, different ideologies, different ways to think,
and venerate the mighty gringos and their spang-a-lang. Neither be and act. A conversation much like the one Dizzy and Chano
side is fully accepting of the other; neither side understands that first engaged in decades ago. A conversation of discovery.
we are coinheritors of a mighty river that flows from the rich- Who knows where it will lead? Peru, Colombia, India, the
ness of Africa. We are like blind men who think that the trunk world? One can only hope! JT
we are feeling is the elephant.
The really silly ones insist that they own or are the elephant.
In these dark days we still have folks running around saying that Pianist-composer Arturo O’Farrill, the son of
jazz is an American invention and America’s classical music. late Afro-Cuban jazz icon Chico O’Farrill,
You can no more say that than call classical music an invention leads the New York-based Afro Latin Jazz
REBECCA MEEK
Orchestra. His band’s next album, Cuba: The

of Austria. Jazz is an infinite ocean born of a cataclysm called
Conversation Continues, recorded in Havana
the slave trade, a shout of victory over the oppression and suf-
in December, is due out in May.
fering that took place throughout the Americas. It doesn’t do
JAZZTIMES.COM 9
OPENING
CHORUS )) Stay in tune ) )
Inside
10 Hearsay
Charlie Haden tribute
concert, Jeff Coffin,
Antonio Sanchez on
his Birdman film score,
Joe Albany biopic, NYC
Winter Jazzfest, news and
farewells, Jazz Connect in
photos
20 Before & After

Chucho Valdés
← Carla Bley, on piano, with Steve Swallow playing bass guitar at back, leads an incarnation 24 Overdue Ovation
of Charlie Haden’s Liberation Music Orchestra at the Town Hall in January Paul Carr
Charlie’s Angels
PLAYING AND SPEAKING, WORLD-CLASS MUSICIANS PAY in Old and New Dreams and elsewhere,
LOVING TRIBUTE TO CHARLIE HADEN IN NEW YORK CITY explained how listening to their recordings
helped him to love and understand a dad
I
n that beautiful, no-holds-barred, heroin addiction he conquered and that who didn’t raise him. (Redman appeared in
Irish-wake sort of way, Charlie no doubt inspired his sometimes obnox- a quartet with Jack DeJohnette, Kenny Bar-
Haden’s friends and collaborators ious need for control. Denardo Coleman, ron and Scott Colley.)
let the late iconic bassist have it at whose game-changing father, Ornette, But of course you learned how life-
New York’s Town Hall on Jan. 13. The made Haden’s name but couldn’t attend altering Haden’s presence could be, because
occasion was “Charlie Haden: A Memo- the memorial due to illness, recalled an there was the music. Among the highlights:
rial and Celebration of His Life,” an arduous stint as the men’s road manager. “I Bill Frisell and Haden’s four children
admission-free program that stretched don’t think I ever found a hotel [Charlie] invoked his “Cowboy Charlie” youth with
beyond three hours and brought to- liked,” he said. Haden’s lawyer, Fred Ansis, “Voice From on High” and “Oh Shenan-
gether a mighty cast of headliner-caliber offered hilarious anecdotes, including one doah.” Henry Butler brandished his oper-
musicians. Jazz is a culture whose ability in which the bassist made a label-related atic voice on the hymn “Deep River.” Ravi
to revere and tributize, after so much request and placed follow-up calls with Coltrane, Geri Allen and harpist Brandee
practice, is state-of-the-art. Still, the loss an urgency usually reserved for house Young, summoning the spirit of Alice Col-
expressed here felt deeper and wider. fires. But Haden’s charmful innocence trane, aimed heavenward on Haden’s “For
Many of the musicians spoke, and many made everything OK, and quirks aside, his Turiya.” And two incarnations of Haden’s
of the speakers weren’t musicians but impact could be profound. “It was love,” namesake ensembles were rightly saved
family, industry colleagues and lifelong Pat Metheny remarked of their relation- for last. In his Quartet West, Colley filled
friends. Unlike most posthumous ship, after delivering a gorgeous acoustic the bass chair and tenorman Ernie Watts
genuflections before jazz greats, you got solo medley of Haden compositions. Brad delivered show-stealing solos. And the
a palpable sense of the man. Mehldau, who performed a near-mystic Liberation Music Orchestra, with arranger
And the man, as more than a few at- blues improvisation with Lee Konitz, inti- Carla Bley on piano and bass guitarist Steve
JACOB BLICKENSTAFF
tested in good humor, was an irrepressible mated that Haden helped to guide him out Swallow, served as a glorious reminder of
neurotic with a heart of gold. “As soon of his own struggles with substance abuse. Haden’s devotion to people-first politics.
as I put my bass down, I’m in trouble,” Joshua Redman, whose father, saxophonist Especially in these times, it was a reminder
Haden once said, a reference to the Dewey Redman, collaborated with Haden Haden would have loved. EVAN HAGA

Chris Botti 8 Jamie Cullum 8 Cassandra Wilson celebrates Billie Holiday
Arturo Sandoval 8 Dr. John 8 Snarky Puppy 8 Jon Batiste and Stay Human
Michel Camilo/Hiromi Piano Duets 8 Maria Schneider Orchestra 8 Christian McBride
Jack DeJohnette’s Made in Chicago with Henry Threadgill and Muhal Richard Abrams
Ms. Lisa Fischer and Grand Baton 8 Cécile McLorin Salvant 8 José James
+TXKP/C[ƒGNF0GY1TNGCPU,C\\1TEJGUVTC8 Pat Martino 8 Hiromi: The Trio Project
Conrad Herwig’s Latin Side of Horace Silver fea. Michel Camilo 8 Bill Frisell 8 Kneebody
John Hollenbeck 8 Ambrose Akinmusire 8 Steve Lehman 8 Fred Hersch
#TVWTQ1Ũ(CTTKNNŨU#HTQ.CVKP,C\\1TEJGUVTCfea. Rudresh Mahanthappa
James Carter 8 Tom Harrell 8 Kenny Garrett 8 Lucky Peterson
Mike Stern/Bill Evans 8 Lou Donaldson 8 Billy Childs
Jon Faddis 8 Gerald Clayton 8 Bria Skonberg 8 Herlin Riley
Matana Roberts 8 Johnathan Blake 8 Wycliffe Gordon
Scott Robinson 8 Jason Lindner 8 Peter Evans
$GTMNGG%QPEGTV,C\\1TEJGUVTCwith Sean Jones
+PVTQFWEKPI,QG[#NGZCPFGT
©Ayano Hisa. Lisa Fischer, 2010 Newport Jazz Festival®
www.newportjazzfest.org
Artists not in play order, and are subject to change. Original works to debut at the festival are ®
made possible in part by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The Newport Jazz Festival® is a
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OPENING CHORUS Hearsay
No Wrong Notes
FOR MULTIREEDIST JEFF COFFIN, DILIGENT MUSICIANSHIP PLUS HUMAN IMPERFECTION EQUALS ART
J
eff Coffin has played concerts in front of tens of thou- In a more comfortable moment during the Drom show,
sands of fans with the Dave Matthews Band. But when Coffin took a cue from Kirk, effortlessly playing his tenor and
he stepped onstage at the East Village club Drom in alto saxophones simultaneously. “The word improvisation
November, to celebrate the release of Side Up (Ear Up), comes from a Latin root—improvisus—meaning ‘unexpected’
his Mu’tet’s sixth studio album, the multireedist had a rare or ‘surprise,’ and Kirk epitomized that,” says Coffin.
moment of performance anxiety. He sat down at the piano and Adapting to the unexpected is the core mantra of the
proceeded to play an unaccompanied sonata. Mu’tet, which takes its name from the concept of mutation.
“It’s scary every time I play,” admits Coffin, who is not a For Coffin, all that remains constant is his goatee. “If you’re
trained pianist. “I know that I’m going to mess something up, falling down the hill, how do we land on our feet? It’s going
even though it’s very simple.” to be through listening,” Coffin says. “This band has some
The 49-year-old erstwhile reedman for Béla Fleck and the incredible listeners in it … able to get out of any jams we get
Flecktones composed the piece, “And So It Begins,” the open- into—no pun intended.”
ing track to Side Up, for two friends who got married at his Side Up features former Flecktones bandmate Roy “Fu-
Nashville home in 2013. The bride had been diagnosed with tureman” Wooten, bassist Felix Pastorius, keyboardist Chris
breast cancer two weeks before the wedding, but the couple Walters and trumpeter Bill Fanning, with numerous guest
went forward despite the uncertainty, and she is now cancer- appearances, including tabla virtuoso Zakir Hussain, who
free. “If the art is reflecting our lives, there will be mistakes. I overdubbed his part from India, percussionist Herlin Riley
always tell students, ‘Don’t even think about playing a perfect and Coffin’s wife, Ryoko Suzuki, on harmonium.
gig. Aspire to perfection; have an ideal. But you’re never going Instead of playing the Drumitar, the guitar-shaped elec-
GREG KESSLER
to reach it, and that’s OK,’” Coffin says in New York, munching tronic drum machine Wooten invented, he opted for a
on a pre-show snack of raw kale. “I come back to Roland Kirk. modified acoustic kit. “I always wanted to get the bass drum
He says there are no wrong notes, only incorrect resolutions.” on its side [slightly elevated, with the head facing skyward],

because to me the most valuable real estate of the bass drum For Coffin, genre hybridization and odd time signatures
is out of reach,” Wooten says. “Futureman is known for doing stem from melody. “Mogador” incorporates tabla rhythms,
electronic innovation, but when I get to the drums, you see me while the funk tune “Scratch That Itch” employs pedal effects
still heading to the future with that instrument.” for what Coffin calls “electro-sax” and “space trumpet.” Rhyth-
In creating Side Up, most of the mutations occurred at the mically, the Latin groove “Low Hanging Fruit” is in 5, “The
harmonic level, with Coffin first composing the melody and Scrambler” is mostly in 7 and “Yukemi” floats over nuanced
form, then collaborating with the band on the conceptual polyrhythms.
and textural elements. “The way Chris and Felix hear is more Despite the complexity, however, Coffin strives for acces-
vertical than I hear,” says Coffin. “So the way I’ve described it sibility and lyricism. “When I read interviews with people
is that I have the bones and they put on the flesh.” like Trane and Ornette, they want to connect,” he says. “It’s
Coffin orchestrated one of the album’s most daring har- not about trying to estrange anybody.” Coffin pays tribute to
monic shifts on “Steppin’ Up,” based on the chord progres- Albert Ayler on “Albert’s Blue Sky,” a gospel waltz that homes
sion to “Giant Steps.” Underneath the stylistic recasting of in on the avant-garde progenitor’s spiritual roots, as heard on
an organ-driven New Orleans brass band, Coffin juxtaposes the 1964 recordings that became the Black Lion release Goin’
Coltrane’s dense changes with a modal bridge. The piece Home. “I had heard about him being ferociously avant-garde.
evolved from a master class Coffin gave at the Nashville Jazz And I heard this record and thought, ‘This is some of the most
Workshop on the notoriously difficult chopsbuster. “Every- beautiful music I’ve ever heard in my entire life. What are
body was frustrated and nobody sounded good. One girl was people talking about?’” says Coffin.
brought to tears,” Coffin recalls. “So I said, ‘Let’s do it like a Still, Coffin can’t resist a challenge. “I’m just interested in
funk tune. Let’s do it like a reggae tune. Let’s do it as a New what the saxophone can’t do,” he says. “I haven’t found any-
Orleans second-line tune.’” thing yet. And I’m still looking.” AIDAN LEVY
Birdsong
ANTONIO SANCHEZ CRAFTS
AN INNOVATIVE DRUM SCORE
TO DRIVE ONE OF LAST YEAR’S BEST FILMS
T
here’s no film quite like Birdman, Alejandro González
Iñárritu’s dark comedy about a fading former star of
superhero movies (Michael Keaton) battling personal
demons while mounting a Broadway comeback. One
reason for Birdman’s distinctive flavor is its intense, intricate,
highly original solo drum score, composed and performed by
Antonio Sanchez—a bandleader and a drummer for groups led
by Pat Metheny, Gary Burton and others.
Sanchez and Iñárritu first met in 2002, when the filmmaker
approached the drummer backstage after a Metheny gig in Los
Angeles. Sanchez was already quite familiar with Iñárritu, not
only from his award-winning films, but also from his work
on the popular Mexican radio station WFM, where Iñárritu
had served as on-air host and station director. “The first time I
ever heard Pat Metheny actually was on their night show,” says
Sanchez, 43. “I was a big fan, just because they played really hip
music.”
Though Sanchez comes from a family deeply rooted in
cinema (his mother Suzanna is a noted Mexican film critic, his
grandfather the legendary actor Ignacio López Tarso), Birdman
was the drummer’s first compositional work for film. “I was
excited and terrified at the same time,” says Sanchez. “There
were no references for me, like, ‘Oh, I’m gonna check out this
movie that only has drums that I can get ideas from.’ ... Then I
JUSTIN BETTMAN
thought, [Iñárritu] knows what he’s doing, so we’re gonna be

able to pull it off.”
Sanchez’s first pass at the score took a more conventional
approach than the wildly improvisational final product. “I pay a Though Sanchez was nominated for Golden Globe and
lot of attention to film scores, and it’s common knowledge that BAFTA Awards for his Birdman score, as well as winning
you have themes. ... So I said, maybe I’ll write different rhythmic numerous critics’ prizes and the Hollywood Music in Media
themes for the characters, so every time you see Michael Keaton Award, the drummer’s work was deemed ineligible for Acad-
walk onstage, you hear this beat that kind of identifies him. I did emy Award consideration; the Academy claims that the film’s
a few demos and sent them to Alejandro, and he wrote me back soundtrack, which also features excerpts of works by Mahler
and said, ‘This is exactly the opposite of what I’m looking for.’” and Tchaikovsky, violates their rules against “scores diluted by
When the director brought the Birdman production to New the use of tracked themes or other pre-existing music, dimin-
York, he and Sanchez spent several days in the studio laying ished in impact by the predominant use of songs, or assembled
down demos and rhythmic concepts. As none of the finished from the music of more than one composer.” In a statement
film was available for Sanchez to view, Iñárritu would sit at the quoted in Variety, Sanchez expressed his disappointment with
foot of the drummer’s kit while he improvised, directing him the decision, which was upheld on appeal, “even after [the Acad-
with hand gestures to cue emotional reversals and narrative emy received] a detailed cue sheet, a letter from the president of
twists. music at Fox Studios and a description of the [scoring] process
These tracks had a different sound than the final score, from both Alejandro and myself. … Some of the finest compos-
recorded in Los Angeles after principal photography wrapped. ers are members of the Academy, and I’m saddened my score
(The onscreen drummer seen briefly in Birdman is Nate Smith, didn’t resonate with the decision makers.”
a friend of Sanchez whom the drummer recommended to Iñár- Nevertheless, Sanchez is applying the lessons of his Birdman
ritu when tour obligations prevented him from appearing in the experience to an upcoming album with his band Migration,
scenes himself.) “One of the things Alejandro didn’t particu- due out this year. The recording, featuring saxophonist Seamus
larly like about the demos was the sound itself. Since the film Blake, pianist John Escreet and bassist Matt Brewer, will show-
happens in the bowels of this old Broadway theater, he wanted case an hour-long Sanchez composition, The Meridian Suite.
something that sounded rusty and dirty and old and beat-up, “From watching Alejandro at work, I wanted to write
so I prepared the drums in a way that I would get more of that something where I didn’t have to worry about how long it was,”
vibe. ... I had the snare drum sounding really loose with a lot Sanchez says. “Just kind of be like a movie: This scene needs to
of ring to it, and then I stacked up a bunch of different types of be this long, then it needs to be this long. It’s the first time I’ve
cymbals so they would sound really dry, almost like they were written something like that. Instead of being short stories, it’s
broken. That worked a lot better for the purpose of the film.” like a novel, or a movie.” MATT R. LOHR
Everyday Joe
UNSUNG PIANO MASTER JOE ALBANY STRUGGLES THROUGH THE ’70S
IN A QUAINT, SHARP NEW INDIE FLICK
Chet Baker documentary Let’s Get Lost, was shooting a TV

commercial in Los Angeles when he met Amy-Jo Albany, Joe’s
daughter, who was in the crew. She was playing Baker’s music
on a boom box. “I told him I knew Chet, and that he was a
friend of my dad’s,” she says.
Recounts Preiss, “Amy said, ‘I never meet non-musicians that
know my dad’s music.’”
Preiss’ independent film, with Oscar nominee John Hawkes
(Winter’s Bone) as Albany, Elle Fanning as his daughter, Glenn
Close, Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea and Peter Dinklage, is
likely to bring much-deserved attention to Albany. The pianist
and composer, born in Atlantic City, played with Benny Carter,
COURTESY OF OSCILLOSCOPE LABORATORIES
Lester Young, Charlie Parker and Miles Davis in the ’40s, and
made his debut as a leader with the 1957 Riverside label LP The
← John Hawkes (as Joe Albany) and Elle Fanning (as Amy-Jo Right Combination, featuring Warne Marsh. He worked briefly
Albany) in Low Down with Charles Mingus in the mid-’60s and began recording again
in the early ’70s. Albany, known for agile improvisations on
LOW DOWN, THE JAZZ-SOAKED FILM INSPIRED BY uptempo pieces, a lyrical approach to ballads and a soft spot
the life of underappreciated bebop pianist Joe Albany, owes its for compositions by Billy Strayhorn and Parker and from the
birth to a bit of serendipity. Jeff Preiss, best known for his gor- American Songbook, fought heroin and alcohol addiction for
geous black-and-white cinematography in the impressionistic much of his life. He died in New York in 1988, at age 63.

Albany’s LP with saxophonist Marsh, and Other Fairy Tales From Childhood. available to Preiss. The screenplay, co-
a rehearsal session recorded at the L.A. Low Down initially was optioned by written by Albany and Topper Lilien,
home of a jazz fan and focused mostly on a major studio, but when production went through 16 drafts, along the way
standards, resonated strongly with Preiss. wasn’t greenlighted, it again became evolving from a narrative overview of
“It’s a very mysterious album,” he says. “It’s
so casual, so relaxed, so offhand and so at
home. On ‘Angel Eyes,’ I could hear a true
heartbroken sadness, like the essence of
a broken heart was in that solo. I’d never
been moved so specifically by something
like that.”
So when Preiss met Amy-Jo, he
already felt a kinship with her father,
and sought out recollections of her time
with Joe. She offered up tales of a time
and place—L.A. in the mid-’70s—when
jazz musicians and other creative art-
ists struggled to eke out a living in the
shadow of Hollywood’s dream factory,
and to fight their own demons. “I loved
listening to her tell stories—her ability to
spin an oral history is amazing,” Preiss
says. “I wanted to make a movie with her
right away.” The two corresponded when
the filmmaker returned to New York.
In 2003, those pieces were published as
Amy-Jo’s memoir, Low Down: Junk, Jazz,
CENTRUM PRESENTS
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July 19-26, 2015
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Images by Jim Levitt Register Early. Space Limited.
JAZZTIMES.COM 15
the pianist’s life, with four actresses playing Amy-Jo at various double, thanks largely to the tutelage of multi-instrumentalist
ages, to one with a tighter focus, concentrating on a two-year Ohad Talmor. Talmor, a fan of The Right Combination since he
period beginning when she was 13. “It wasn’t a great time for was 16, contributed his own compositions and arrangements of
him, as far as his creative output, this window of time that Albany’s tunes to the soundtrack, which also includes recordings
we were together and he couldn’t get work,” she says. During by Albany, Monk and Max Roach. (The cast of musicians Talmor
those days, Albany scraped for occasional jobs at Donte’s jazz employed to perform his score included some of current jazz’s
club and elsewhere, most often playing casually with friends, best young players, like pianist Jacob Sacks and drummer Dan
including a couple of obscure trumpet players portrayed by Weiss.) “Joe Albany is not known as a vanguard player, but he
Flea in the film as a composite character named Hobbs. “They embodies the strengths of a certain artistic period—the reality of
were so passionate when they were playing. You had this sense a deeply rooted blue-collar jazz musician that has honesty and
that when they would be in a good place, they would be get- integrity and a voice of its own,” Talmor says. “He was always
ting lost in it,” she says. someone important to me. It was very personal, and I wanted to
Flea, a passionate jazz fan and trumpeter Amy-Jo first met do it justice in that sense.” A soundtrack CD is slated for release
during her days at Hollywood High, and Chili Peppers front- on the Light in the Attic label.
man Anthony Kiedis played a significant role in helping make Low Down, shot on 16mm for a visual feel that is more grit-
Low Down a reality. Elle Fanning signed on as Albany’s daugh- ty and naturalistic than slick, is as much a coming-of-age story
ter, after initially being cast as a younger version of Amy-Jo, as a biopic. It is also, Albany says, as much a jazz film as it is
then also slated to be played by her sister Dakota Fanning. a dramatic reverie on characters who might be viewed as lost
Hawkes, who already had skills on guitar, bass and keyboards, but are driven by their own creative passions: “It’s a jazz film, a
managed in just a few weeks to learn aspects of jazz piano well love story, a poem to my father, but also to Los Angeles.”
enough to perform Albany’s parts without requiring a hand PHILIP BOOTH
← Terri Lyne Carrington, David Murray and Geri Allen (partially obscured) at the Minetta Lane Theatre in New York in January
Institution of Invention
IN ITS 11TH YEAR, NYC WINTER JAZZFEST STRIKES A PITCH-PERFECT BALANCE
BETWEEN RISING TALENT AND AVANT-JAZZ TITANS
J
azz festivals have long been dominated by late-career ing a burgeoning avant-garde subculture of young, mostly
legends presented in an idyllic context that can seem stale, Brooklyn-based players and composers who have strayed as
JOHN ROGERS
celebrating their innovations but overlooking the gritti- far as possible from genre conventions. In its 11th year, WJF
ness and immediacy of their origins. Over its first decade, continued to chart a paradigm shift, with prestigious acts and
NYC Winter Jazzfest challenged that tradition, document- a bold marketing push that ranged from a print campaign to a

CUNEIFORM
THE SET WAS A COMBUSTIBLE RIPOSTE
TO THE RECENT WAVE OF POLITICAL TURMOIL,
RECORDS
w w w. c u n e i fo r m re c o rd s. c o m
AS [DAVID] MURRAY PARRIED [SAUL] WILLIAMS’
VERBAL RALLYING CRY. “I’M A CANDLE! SOFT MACHINE
Switzerland 1974
CHOP MY NECK A MILLION TIMES,
I STILL BURN BRIGHT AND STAND, YO!” CD/DVD release featuring
Allan Holdsworth, Karl
Jenkins, Mike Ratledge,
Roy Babbington & John
Marshall.
stylish YouTube promotional video. Yet and mid-’70s fusion, with a frontline
as WJF has gone from minor to major consisting of trumpeter Duane Eubanks
and gradually been embraced by the and saxophonist Donald Harrison. The
cultural establishment, the festival has electric set included the Blackbyrds hit SCHNELLERTOLLERMEIER
maintained its progressive roots. “Walking in Rhythm” and Byrd’s “(Fal- X
Meandering through its marathon on lin’ Like) Dominoes,” tunes that could
Jan. 9 and 10, what ostensibly looked like have been a nostalgia trip in previous An experimental,
time-capsule jazz felt startlingly prescient. years but were uncannily reflective of instrumental ‘post
jazz / punk jazz’
A throwback to the legacy of jazz educa- contemporary pop’s funk turn. power trio making
tion taking place in the wee hours at the The tenor of not-so-rosy retrospec- their US debut.
club, headlining veterans shared the stage tion was established on Jan. 8, with
with up-and-coming protégés in a way the Jazz Legends for Disability Pride
that was mutually beneficial; the elder concert at the Quaker Friends Meet- MIKE OSBORNE
statesmen raised the level of the young ing Hall. Pianist Mike LeDonne, who Dawn
lions, as the next generation proved just spearheaded the event, began the eve-
how relevant the past still is to the future ning with a trio interpretation of “My Over one hour of
of the music. Of the 100-plus scheduled Funny Valentine.” Each act performed previously unreleased
material from 1967 &
acts, Oliver Lake explored the harmonic two tunes, not deviating from standard 1970 in great sound
palette of Larry Young with organist Jared repertoire, but it was invigorating to from a Brit-jazz icon.
Gold and trumpeter Josh Evans. Arturo hear well-worn fare, especially if they
O’Farrill’s Boss Level Septet was a family wrote it. Ron Carter performed in a
affair with his sons, drummer Zack and drummer-less trio with Russell Malone THE KANDINSKY EFFECT
trumpeter Adam. Butler, Bernstein & the and Renee Rosnes, while the voluble Somnambulist
Hot 9 injected some much-needed New raconteur Benny Golson led a group
Orleans heat, with pianist Henry Butler with Jimmy Cobb, Buster Williams,
The Kandinsky Effect
leading a multi-generational group sans Eddie Henderson and LeDonne. Cobb, blends the borders of
co-leader/slide trumpeter Steven Bern- who turned 86 on Jan. 20, was joined jazz, rock, electronica,
hip-hop and
stein; their spirited take on “The Saints” by the band from his 2014 release, The experimental sounds.
was dedicated to Bernstein’s son, Rex, Original Mob, with Brad Mehldau, Peter
who died on Jan. 10. Bernstein and bassist John Webber, and
There were other, similarly backward- followed by Bill Charlap, who flaunted
looking sets that interpreted the jazz masterful precision on a lithe rendering HENRY KAISER & RAY RUSSELL
The Celestial Squid
totems with stylistic updating to bridge of “I’ll Remember April.” The concert
the historical gap. Rudresh Mahan- closed with George Coleman, a 2015
Two legendary guitarists
thappa culled music from his forthcom- National Endowment for the Arts Jazz accompanied by an
ing Charlie Parker-inspired album, Bird Master, who passed the torch to tenor 8-piece band of jazz
and experimental
Calls, with Adam O’Farrill occupying saxophonist Eric Alexander on “On all-stars.
the Miles Davis role comfortably. Green Dolphin Street.” The living jazz
Trumpeter Russ Johnson’s “Still Out history lesson was contrasted that same
to Lunch” riffed on Eric Dolphy, with night by “Blue Note Now” at Le Poisson
saxophonist Roy Nathanson emulating Rouge, a follow-up to last year’s Blue cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.com
Dolphy at his most frenetic, while mul- Note 75th anniversary concert, featur-
tireedist Oran Etkin reimagined Benny ing the reunited Robert Glasper Trio Buy these and thousan
Goodman, 75 years after the 1938 Carn- with bassist Vicente Archer and drum- of other interesting rele
egie Hall concert. Pianist and Black- mer Damion Reid; singer José James, at our online store:
byrds co-founder Kevin Toney paid paying tribute to Billie Holiday; Derrick waysidemusic.com
tribute to Donald Byrd’s acoustic output Hodge; and Kendrick Scott.
JAZZTIMES.COM 17
OPENING CHORUS
This aesthetic juxtaposition framed the conversation for
the marathon, a delicate balancing act of the liminal sphere Farewells
between a respect for jazz forebears and a penchant for Buddy DeFranco, who jazz, blues and rock, and
experimentation and hybridization. Organizers estimated brought the clarinet into the found stardom as a solo
the all-inclusive attendance figure at 6,500, with periodic bebop era and maintained artist in the smooth-jazz
long lines at the Bitter End, SubCulture and the intimate a seven-decade career, genre, died Jan. 1 in New
but overcrowded Zinc Bar. New venues mostly aided crowd died Dec. 24 in Panama York due to complications
City, Fla. The cause was not of progressive supranuclear
control and contributed to festival diversity; the Greenwich
disclosed. DeFranco was palsy. Golub lost his sight
House Music School hosted trad acts, while the Players in 2011, following the
91. In the years following
Theatre hewed more toward the avant-garde. Standout the dominance of swing collapse of his optic nerve.
programming took place at the Minetta Lane Theatre, a clarinetists such as Benny He was 59.
400-seat black box with a balcony, which was sometimes Goodman and Artie Shaw,
too small to accommodate demand, and the expansive DeFranco adapted the Al Belletto, a saxophonist,
Judson Church, which was introduced into the venue lineup instrument to the new type of clarinetist and bandleader
last year. With its high-ceilinged Renaissance architecture jazz being introduced by the who was a staple of the New
and stained-glass windows, it was the ideal setting for the likes of Dizzy Gillespie and Orleans scene and began
Campbell Brothers’ gospel-tinged pedal-steel recasting of A Charlie Parker, both of whom his lengthy career there in
were collaborators of his. the 1940s, died Dec. 26
Love Supreme.
in Metairie, La. The cause
Minetta Lane’s lineup included Nicholas Payton; Marc of death was not disclosed.
Jeff Golub, a guitarist who
Ribot, performing a kind of postmodern soul revue with, crossed seamlessly between Belletto was 86.
among others, second guitarist Mary Halvorson and bass-
ist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, an alumnus of Ornette Cole-
man’s Prime Time; and sets from the reconstituted Lounge News from JazzTimes.com
Lizards, the Cookers and AACM stalwart Amina Claudine
Myers, whose organ-driven rendering of “Angel Eyes” re- • The lineup for the 2015 Newport Jazz Festival has
called her bluesier side. But the revelation came with David been announced by founder George Wein. The festival
Murray, the galvanizing force at this year’s festival, who per- will take place July 31–Aug. 2 and will feature Chris Botti,
formed three sets. Murray opened his series with “Clarinet Cassandra Wilson, Jamie Cullum, Snarky Puppy, Maria
Summit,” enlisting Don Byron, David Krakauer and World Schneider, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jon Batiste, Kneebody,
Saxophone Quartet bandmate Hamiet Bluiett, an homage to Hiromi, Christian McBride, Bill Frisell, Dr. John and many
others.
Murray’s erstwhile clarinet group of the same name. Murray
next led a trio with Geri Allen and Terri Lyne Carrington,
effortlessly expanding and contracting over 20-minute
• With virtually no publicity, a new album featuring
Ornette Coleman was released on the System Dialing
modal improvisations, navigating from a simple riff to the
label just prior to the New Year. New Vocabulary is by
most otherworldly dissonances and altissimo harmonics, a group of the same name which features, in addition to
then wending his way back to the tonic without ever relying Coleman on alto saxophone, Jordan McLean on trumpet
on reflexive facility. and electronics and Amir Ziv on drums, with keyboardist
Murray’s WJF run reached a climax with his Infinity Adam Holzman on some tracks. Look for coverage in JT
Quartet, featuring longtime bassist Jaribu Shahid, pianist next month.
Orrin Evans and drummer Nasheet Waits alongside Saul
Williams at Le Poisson Rouge. Murray first met Williams
at Amiri Baraka’s funeral in early 2014, where the firebrand
poet premiered his jazz-inflected elegy, “Rottweiler Choir,”
and they began collaborating. Evocative of both Gil Scott-
Sour Note
Heron’s Pieces of a Man and Baraka’s work with the New Due in part to misleading anniversary of Stravinsky’s
York Art Quartet, the set was a combustible riposte to the press notes, the review of The Rite of Spring two
recent wave of political turmoil, as Murray parried Wil- Vijay Iyer’s performance years ago. It premiered at
in Bethesda, Md., that UNC Chapel Hill in 2013,
liams’ verbal rallying cry. “I’m a candle! Chop my neck a
appeared in the January/ not in Bethesda last year.
million times, I still burn bright and stand, yo!” Williams February issue requires The creation of Radhe
shouted insistently, adapting a line from a Rumi poem. The correction and clarification. Radhe’s score did not
set stood as a vindication of the late Newark griot’s radical The Radhe Radhe: Rites of follow the release of Iyer’s
screed against jazz appropriation, “Swing—From Verb to Holi project was initiated Mutations album. Finally,
Noun,” part of Baraka’s seminal history, Blues People. Em- by Iyer, not film director the electronic sounds
bodying Baraka’s iconoclastic spirit, Murray and Williams Prashant Bhargava, and is referred to in the review as
the result of a commission “drum loops” and “synth
worked to reverse jazz exploitation, as did WJF as a whole;
given to Iyer by Carolina chords,” even though they
this was jazz, from noun to verb, actively engaging with the Performing Arts at the functioned as such, were
music’s history and politics—what has changed and what University of North in fact recordings of the
needs to change, and what promises to never be played the Carolina at Chapel Hill, strings manipulated by Iyer.
same way twice. AIDAN LEVY to commemorate the 100th JT regrets the errors.

JAZZ CONNECT 2015
THE THIRD ANNUAL JAZZ CONNECT CONFERENCE,
organized by JazzTimes and the Jazz Forward
Coalition, was held Jan. 8-9 at a new venue, Saint
Peter’s Church in New York City. The conference
attracted roughly 700 attendees from all segments
of the jazz world—artists, concert producers, label
executives, journalists and more.
This year’s keynote speaker was the acclaimed
bassist and bandleader Christian McBride. The in-
augural Bruce Lundvall Visionary Award, named for
the beloved former head of Blue Note Records (who
was in attendance and addressed the audience), was
given to SFJAZZ founder Randall Kline. More than
a dozen panel discussions, workshops and plenary
sessions addressed a wide range of important jazz-
related issues, including marketing and branding,
the effect of streaming music, the state of jazz radio,
strategies for interviewing artists, the grant process,
ALL PHOTOS BY JEFF TAMARKIN, EXCEPT MCBRIDE/KLINE BY GREG “FRITZ” BLAKEY
the struggle to retain artists’ rights and more.
← Clockwise from top left:

Bruce Lundvall, Christian
McBride (left) and Randall
Kline, René Marie (right)
and Laurie Antonioli,
Francisco Mela, Greg
Osby, Jason Moran, a
session titled “Replenishing
the Audience for Jazz” is
held in the sanctuary,
Somi and Marc Ribot
OPENING CHORUS Before & After
CHUCHO VALDÉS
JUST BEAUTIFUL
By Ashley Kahn
T
o say that Chucho Valdés feels at home in Barcelona is musicians—Norah Jones, Joe Lovano, Dianne Reeves and Bill
an understatement. The warmth and embrace the Cuban Charlap among them—as part of a day-long musical salute to
piano legend, 73, is given by the city’s music community the man who had helped bring so many to public recognition
is almost legendary—sold-out shows, invitations to fine (including, and especially the Cuban pianist). Valdés delivered
restaurants and what has become an annual headlining slot a spontaneous outburst of melodies and energy that chanelled
in the city’s premier jazz festival. The most recent edition of the classical music of his native island, along with Flamenco and
the Voll-Damm Barcelona International Festival of Jazz, in its blues flavors and persistent postbop excitement. The inspired,
46th consecutive year, included Valdés leading his group the free-flowing tour-de-force revealed much of Valdés’ omnivorous
Afro-Cuban Messengers in a number of popular workshops musical awareness, and left the wheel-chair-bound Lundvall
at the Conservatori Liceu, the city’s leading music school for smiling, almost levitating.
jazz. Those sessions led up to a triumphant concert celebrating
the groundbreaking Cuban supergroup Irakere, the band that
launched Valdés’ reputation and career outside of Cuba. 1. Emiliano Salvador
This Before & After listening session was held in the Conser- “Emiliano’s Blues” (Pianissimo, MusicHaus). Salvador, piano.
vatori’s primary auditorium and was open to students and the Recorded in 2002.
public, as part of a workshop and speaking series sponsored by
Sergi Ferrer-Salat, founder of the city’s renowned wine restau- BEFORE: It’s somebody close to McCoy [Tyner]. Some of the
rant Monvínic. It was the final event in a 10-day series, during phrases are 100-percent McCoy, but I also hear some chops that
which the pianist was generous and willing to participate and McCoy wouldn’t play, and his attack is not as strong as McCoy.
share. It was well attended—almost 100 students and music If it is McCoy, he’s playing some stuff I never heard before from
fans—and found the pianist in a relaxed mood after the stellar him. But I think it’s somebody who plays very well and is very
Irakere tribute the evening before. Joan Anton Cararach, artistic close to McCoy’s style.
director of the festival, helped translate.
The choice of music to play for Valdés was inspired by a AFTER: Ahh, wow—Emiliano! Bueno. He’s the Cuban player
brief solo performance he gave this past August at Brighton most influenced by McCoy I would say, but on this song you can
Gardens, an assisted-living facility in northern New Jersey that really feel the difference, what he was doing that was from his
VICTOR PUIG
former Blue Note president Bruce Lundvall now calls home. influences and who he was, especially in his attack on the piano.
Valdés had flown in on his own dime to join other well-known That you don’t forget: Everyone knew that sound in the 1980s in

Havana. I was very surprised that it was Emiliano. This was not
familiar to me but I liked it. JAZZ TAKES
CENTER STAGE!
!'+' ')%& !'&

2. Erroll Garner
“St. James Infirmary” (Afternoon of an Elf, Mercury).
Garner, piano. Recorded in 1955.
BEFORE: The only one who plays like this is Michel Camilo.
Maybe that’s wrong, but anyway, Michel is one of the best not
only in the Latin, Afro-Cuban field but as a general piano
player. If it’s Michel, congratulations—this is a great song. If it is
not, it’s somebody who really follows him.
Would you be surprised if I told you this was recorded in the NJPAC’s Brick City Jazz Orchestra
1950s—more than 20 years before Michel came on the scene?
Dorthaan’s Place Jazz Brunch
[laughs] Then I think Michel got a lot of elements from this Carrie Jackson
player. We all take elements from everybody, you know. & Her Jazzin’ All Stars
,&- )! 0 % (%
AFTER: Erroll Garner? Madre mía! I love him. He is one of my
NICO Kitchen + Bar
top piano players of all time. I felt that the facility that Michel
has in playing octaves made me think it could be him. I didn’t
recognize this particular tune, but I feel that there’s some strong Bill Charlap Bill Charlap presents
Latin roots in it. It’s familiar for him but I didn’t recognize the Bird Lives!
piece. It’s a New Orleans piece? That’s the reason I didn’t think
A Salute to Charlie Parker
Phil Woods, Charles
of Erroll Garner—it felt so Cuban. McPherson and Jesse Davis
+,)- ()"$ 0 (%
3. Vijay Iyer
“Epistrophy” (Solo, ACT). Iyer, piano. Recorded in 2010.
Dorthaan’s Place Jazz Brunch
BEFORE: Whoever it is, he’s playing Monk—“Epistrophy”— Junior Mance Trio
but very different. The playing is complex and very creative. It ,&- ()"$ 0 % (%
reminds me a little of the style of Brad Mehldau. If it’s not Brad, NICO Kitchen + Bar
it’s someone else who likes to play with a very complicated tech-
nique—and not just technique, but a very large imagination to
do all those inventions on Monk’s tune, fading in and out of the Michael Franks
melody and going off into other things, other variations. If it’s not Michael Franks
Brad, it’s someone from this new generation. with Raul Midón
+,)- - 0
(% (%
AFTER: Vijay! I was close. I’m a fan: mucho, mucho, mucho. He
has a really broad imagination, and I’ve listened to a lot of his
music and also Brad Mehldau. There’s a piece on my [2010]
record, Chucho’s Steps, that was inspired from my listening to
Vijay—I keep listening to him, all the time. We met in Vienna
All-Female Jazz Residency
#$"% $ * !
one time, in the airport, and I told him about that piece. He’s
just a very original musician. ,$-
/
Join NJPAC and jazz legend Geri Allen

at a one-of-a-kind opportunity for
4. James Booker young women from across the country!
“Malaguena a la Louisiana” (Let’s Make a Better World!, Amiga).
Booker, piano. Recorded in 1977.
For tickets and a full schedule visit njpac.org
or call 1.888.GO.NJPAC Groups 973.297.5804
BEFORE: Claro—he’s playing [Ernesto] Lecuona’s “Malagueña.” NEW JERSEY PERFORMING ARTS CENTER One Center Street, Newark, NJ
I can identify players more when they improvise, which isn’t so
much on this performance. But he’s a great piano player, because
he’s handling Lecuona with all of his complexities and playing
the full range of the piano—and it’s a live recording. His left hand
JAZZTIMES.COM 21
OPENING CHORUS Before & After
I SPENT YEARS TRANSCRIBING [WYNTON KELLY’S] SOLOS IN CUBA—

NOT FOR SCHOOL OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT, JUST FOR ME. LISTENING,
LISTENING AGAIN, ESPECIALLY ALL THE SOLOS HE PLAYED WITH MILES.
LATER I WOULD SHARE ALL THE TRANSCRIPTIONS WITH EMILIANO SALVADOR
AND THE OTHER PIANO PLAYERS IN CUBA. THAT’S HOW WE DID IT.
reminds me a lot of the style of Erroll Garner, because like I said, concert of five pianists who played 20 minutes each: Ahmad
everyone’s listening to someone else, and you can know someone Jamal; Martial Solal, who’s a monster also; a young piano player
by listening just for what they’re borrowing from others. I think from Turkey who was amazing; myself; and Tete. Grandioso.
Lecuona would be very happy with this version, because you can
hear the piano player respects the melody and understands the
rhythm. I was very lucky to have met Lecuona, playing in his home, 7. Chick Corea
and then I played for him. That was a very special day for me. “Children’s Song No. 6” (Solo Piano – Part One: Originals,
Stretch). Corea, piano. Recorded in 1999.
AFTER: Again the New Orleans/Cuba connection. I’m going
to have to look for the music of this piano player, because he’s BEFORE: You can’t confuse Chick’s touch with anyone else; it’s so
really a genius. Gracias! clear and consistent. It’s like it comes with its own label. His piano
playing is one of the best of the 20th century, and now the 21st and
I’m sure in the 25th and 29th. He played music that made history
5. Hank Mobley and will last through history. … I’m still studying him and he’s still
“This I Dig of You” (Soul Station, Blue Note). Mobley, tenor creating important new music all the time. He’s a master.
saxophone; Wynton Kelly, piano; Paul Chambers, bass; Art
Blakey, drums. Recorded in 1960.
8. Mulgrew Miller
BEFORE: [laughs] Este pianista siempre me ha puesto a gozar! This “If I Were a Bell” (Live at Yoshi’s, Volume One, MaxJazz). Miller,
piano player always makes me enjoy the music—always, always. Of piano; Derrick Hodge, bass; Karriem Riggins, drums. Recorded
all the piano players who played with Miles Davis, Wynton Kelly is in 2003.
my favorite. Sorry, Chick [Corea]. For me, no one played with more
swing and with more joy. You can hear that on this track—with BEFORE: I know who it is but I want to listen more. [listens
Hank Mobley, correct? I recognize [Kelly’s] sound and his swing for another minute] When Wynton Kelly played this tune on the
immediately. You know, I spent years transcribing his solos in recording with Miles, Wynton’s solo drove me crazy; I destroyed
Cuba—not for school or anything like that, just for me. Listening, that record just playing it again and again. I know that this guy is
listening again, especially all the solos he played with Miles. Later I not Wynton—this guy is playing Mulgrew Miller phrases. If it’s not
would share all the transcriptions with Emiliano Salvador and the someone from that school of piano it’s Mulgrew Miller himself.
other piano players in Cuba. That’s how we did it.
AFTER: He died very young [in 2013]; it was a shame because
he was only 57. But in a way he’ll never leave us, because his
6. Tete Montoliu Trio music is still here. Once we played a two-piano version of “Blue
“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” (Catalonian Fire, Inner Monk,” Mulgrew and me, for a CBC Radio station in Canada
City). Montoliu, piano; Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, bass; and it was amazing, just beautiful. I hear a lot Wynton Kelly
Albert “Tootie” Heath, drums. Recorded in 1974. in Mulgrew’s playing, because Wynton is a school of playing
[unto] himself. I think everybody has a bit of Wynton in them,
BEFORE: This is a piano player we are always going to miss. I especially if they swing or play bebop.
could tell the sound of Tete’s piano since I first heard him on the
radio, when he was playing the 1966 Barcelona Jazz Festival and
Willis Conover and Voice of America broadcast the music and 9. George Shearing
I could get that on the shortwave radio in Cuba. That’s when I “It Never Entered My Mind” (The Shearing Piano, Capitol).
discovered Tete—and he is one of the best ever in the history of Shearing, piano. Recorded in 1956.
piano jazz. That’s one of the most famous standards, so beauti-
ful, and I cannot remember the name. … [sings melody] Oh yes, BEFORE: I was listening to the melody, and usually I will
“A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square.” Just beautiful. recognize the piano player when they start improvising, and
I did get to play with Tete once, in 1994 at a festival in Nice, sometimes I’ll recognize them just by their sound. This reminds
France, that was organized by Michel Legrand. He did this one me a lot of the sound of George Shearing. It’s not Bill Evans,

though there was a lot going on that sounds like Bill—classi-
cal and jazz. It’s a very expressive piano player. It’s a version
of a very beautiful standard that I can say in Spanish but
not in English because I can’t pronounce it well. But it’s very
beautiful, very well played. It’s George Shearing, si?
AFTER: We got to recognize Shearing down in Cuba. He

played a lot of Latin music too, and with Latin spirit, how he
put together great bands with the bassist Al McKibbon, the
Cuban percussionist Armando Peraza, Cal Tjader on vibes.
So we noticed him. One of his records, “Tenderly,” had a
huge impact on me when I was young—in fact, on all of the
musicians in Cuba; also his solo piano version of “Laura” and
another version of “Tenderly.” I consider Shearing a magician
of chord changes, a genius. On this track I recognized Shear-
ing was playing two melodies, classical and jazz: Satie and the
standard “It Never Entered My Mind.”
10. Kenny Barron/Dave Holland

“Day Dream” (The Art of Conversation, Impulse!). Barron,
piano; Holland, bass. Recorded in 2014.
BEFORE: This reminds me a lot of Bill Evans’ waltz-time

pieces, the sound and the ambience, but it’s not the phrasing
I identify with Bill. Also, the communication between the
piano and the bass is not how Bill did it. Maybe it’s someone
who is close to that sound. [listens more] It could be Tommy
Flanagan, someone from that beautiful school of piano that I
like so much. This standard is very nice. I’ve heard it in many
versions. It’s a Duke composition? Any more clues? [laughs]
Well, it’s two musicians who are staying at the same hotel
as you. I think you’ve seen them in the lobby.
AFTER: Oh, Dave Holland and Kenny Barron. They’re playing

tonight—esta noche, si? Wow. I’m going to miss this concert
because I’m leaving today. I haven’t heard Dave so much in
this context; this is new for me. I need to hear this album. But
I know that Kenny is very fanatical about Tommy Flanagan. I
know because I’ve played with Kenny as a duo twice, once in
Havana and once in Montreal. Kenny Barron is the essence of
a complete piano player: He can play anything, with anybody,
and make it work. It’s always a pleasure to be at festivals, but es-
pecially [to be] here for 10 days and meet musicians like Danilo
Pérez again, and Wayne Shorter and Dave Holland, and to be
with Kenny Barron and remember when we played together.
I want to end with a story. In 1979, at Mexico City’s first jazz
festival, I was playing with Ron Carter, his group that had a
piccolo bass—Ron, Ben Riley and Buster Williams. We got to
the theater early before we had to play, and we went into the
hall to listen to the sound. I was standing very close to Kenny,
who was at the piano, but he didn’t know I was there. To pass
the time, he would play different tunes and then solo on them
in different styles, like he was trying different clothes to see
what fit best—Ellington, Bud Powell, Flanagan, Wynton Kelly,
McCoy, even Cecil Taylor. Kenny just really knows all the
styles, and also has his own style. [to audience] Whatever
you do, don’t miss him tonight. JT
OPENING CHORUS Overdue Ovation
talent while accruing a following for his own solo career.

The world-renowned trumpeter Terell Stafford first learned
the fundamentals of jazz while playing with Carr at Takoma
Station in the late 1980s, when Stafford was studying classical
music at the University of Maryland. “I called him and said,
‘Do you need a trumpet player?’” Stafford says. “He said yeah,
paid me a bit of money, let me sleep on his couch. Paul Carr was
fundamental in starting any kind of career I have in jazz.”
He adds, “There was some tough love in there, because that’s
kind of how he learned it: He pretty much told me the songs we
were playing and to check them out on the recording, and if I
had any additional questions we’d sit down and he’d explain it.”
Carr was also responsible for sinking jazz’s hooks into Braxton
Cook, a 23-year-old alto saxophonist who now tours with Chris-
tian Scott and was a semi-finalist at the 2013 Thelonious Monk
competition. “Paul just came and met me where I was,” Cook
says, remembering that he didn’t get serious about practicing the
sax until Carr became his teacher. “I asked [another of Carr’s stu-
dents] what they did in his lessons, and it was completely different
from mine. That’s when I realized Paul is one of those people who
were meant to teach. He knows how to talk to people.”
There’s a humility associated with sticking to your hometown
jazz scene, forgoing a shot at New York City’s higher stakes.
But there’s also a healthy kind of pride: Staying at home, where
the pool is smaller but the roles are less strictly defined, you
can double as protagonist and enabler, keeping a connection
between your own work and the seeds that it sows.
Carr’s knack for ginning up passion and gently challenging his
PAUL CARR students landed him work as a teacher almost immediately after
his graduation from Howard in 1983. He taught for years in the
PLAYER, EDUCATOR, ORGANIZER, MOTIVATOR Maryland public schools and at summer camps, then founded the
Jazz Academy of Music, or JAM, in 2003. Initially a three-week
By Giovanni Russonello camp, it grew into a year-round ensemble program that’s now one
of the region’s sturdiest jazz-education institutions.
P
aul Carr still remembers the day he tried out for the house And since 2010 he has run the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival, a
band at the One Step Down, a small club in Washington, redoubled version of the former East Coast Jazz Festival. Held
D.C., where a local legend, the pianist Lawrence Wheat- every year in February, it boasts a star-filled lineup of straight-
ley, ran the jam session. It was the mid-1980s, and Carr ahead acts, and is loaded with performance opportunities for
was a student at Howard University. He’d been sitting in on tenor student ensembles.
saxophone for months, so he had a grip on the band’s usual rep- The audience it attracts is a victory in itself: Largely subur-
ertoire. But nothing was ever certain with Wheatley, an abstruse ban and majority black, mostly between the ages of 40 and 80,
figure who dressed in a Monk-like beret and sunglasses and the festival’s patrons tend to care deeply for jazz but often feel
adamantly refused to let his music be recorded. When Carr came under-sought by typical concert presenters. The festival takes
up Wheatley drew a wild card, calling the treacherous bebop tune place at a Hilton in Maryland, giving it an oddly convention-
“Dexterity.” Carr had never heard the band play this one. like feel at first, but the venue makes it an easy destination for
“I had to look at him and say I didn’t know it,” Carr recalls. “He families. “Basically, you get a little on-land cruise,” Carr says.
called another tune, and I looked a bit spacy, so he put his hand “There are always musicians that are skeptical. I talk to them on
on the piano and said, ‘Well, you know, you can just play one gig the phone and on email, but then they get to Mid-Atlantic and
and quit.’” Of course the saxophonist went home and memorized they say, ‘Oh, man, I had no idea it was like this.’ I take it all in
“Dexterity.” Wheatley called the tune again at the next session, stride. Being a musician I see it from all angles.”
and Carr prepared for vindication. But then Wheatley named In his own career as a saxophonist, Carr keeps his sights set on
the key: D-flat. Uh-oh. “I got through it,” Carr says. But at that broader exposure. His 2014 release, B3 Sessions (DC-NY) (PCJ
moment he was grateful for the leader’s ban on recording: “It was Music), is the latest in a string of albums that have made their way
probably horrible.’’ toward the top of the JazzWeek charts. Carr’s music is big-boned but
Carr got the gig, thanks to a combination of bright, bluesy clean-cut, full of soul signifiers and finely polished verve.
tenor playing and steadfast grit. Before long he was running his In everything he does, the saxophonist positions himself as
STEVEN PARKE
own jam session at Takoma Station, a nearby club. And in the a defender of “real jazz” (to him, that’s principally bop-derived
quarter-century since, he’s carried Wheatley’s mantle, becoming music from the middle of the 20th century). B3 Sessions mines
one of the most important jazz educators in a city spilling with a chapter of that tradition with a particular significance for

Carr: the soulful organ jazz that he grew up hearing during
the 1960s and ’70s. The album draws from various parts of
the organ-jazz songbook—from Larry Young’s “Beyond All
Limits” to the Melvin Rhyne ballad “Dorothy” to “Sunshine
Alley,” popularized in the 1970s by Stanley Turrentine.
Half of the record’s eight tracks were recorded with a
quintet in D.C., featuring Bobby Floyd on organ and Bobby
Broom on guitar; the rest was made in New York, with a
quartet powered by the organist Pat Bianchi and the drum-
mer Lewis Nash. Gauzed but brawny, the album keeps a tem-
perament of faithful service; Carr states his melodies clearly,
and the rhythm section supports its soloists with a steady,
unflagging drive. On his solos he often leaps far into alto
range, and raises the intensity by pushing ahead of the beat.
Carr celebrated the album’s release with a brief tour of the mid-
Atlantic region, and he hopes to do more traveling in the future.
“That’s the next frontier, to put some dates together and go on an
extended tour,” he says over lunch at a restaurant in downtown Sil-
ver Spring, Md. “Maybe on the next release, with the next project.”
In the meantime he has other people’s futures to look out
for: Throughout our conversation, he hops in and out of
phone calls, making arrangements to bring his JAM students
to the Jazz Education Network’s 2015 conference in San
Diego. “Get the kids out, get them some exposure and experi-
ence,” he says. “That’s the way to learn.”
ttt
CARR WAS BORN IN HOUSTON ON SEPT. 5, 1960.
His mother played jazz records constantly, as well as the R&B
hits of the day. It primed Carr for the exposure he’d soon
receive as a young adult—hearing live performances from
famous Texas tenors like Arnett Cobb and benefiting from a
network of strong jazz bands in schools.
Entering high school in Houston, Carr was blessed with two
good options: attend the city’s prestigious High School for the
Performing and Visual Arts, as his junior-high instructor wanted
him to do (and as Jason Moran, Robert Glasper, Eric Harland
and other jazz notables later would), or go to Kashmere, where
the esteemed saxophonist and composer Conrad O. “Prof ”
Johnson led the school’s Stage Band, a group recognized across
the country for its dynamic renditions of contemporary funk
tunes (it’s the subject of a 2010 documentary, Thunder Soul).
Carr chose Kashmere, where he was struck by Johnson’s abil-
ity to relate to his students while maintaining strict classroom
order. “I would bring him a Grover Washington Jr. record,
and he’d say, ‘Oh, yeah, Grover’s great. Have you checked out
Dexter Gordon?’” Carr recalls. “We would have rehearsals, and
there would be an audience section. … They were just there
listening to the band. It had its followers. Sixth-period band,
there was just kids hanging, listening. But there was never any
discipline issue—Prof wouldn’t have put up with that.”
Carr carries that legacy forward today, mixing strictness
and empathy and the expertise of a master practitioner.
“Improvisation is a very personal thing,” says Cook, who is
set to graduate from Juilliard this year. “It’s very easy to hurt
14-year-olds by saying they don’t sound good, which a lot of
older people do. Paul can make you want to be better without
being harsh. He can compliment you and motivate you at the
same time. That was crucial for me.” JT
year in review ’14
The 2014 Expanded
CRITICS’ POLL
FOR THIS YEAR’S EXPANDED CRITICS’ POLL, A FOLLOW-UP TO LAST ISSUE’S
YEAR IN REVIEW FEATURE, 30 OF OUR TRUSTED CONTRIBUTORS PARTICIPATED
IN AN ONLINE SURVEY FEATURING MOST OF THE SAME CATEGORIES
AS OUR YEARLY READERS’ POLL. OUR WRITERS WERE ASKED TO FOCUS ON
ARTISTS’ ACHIEVEMENTS DURING 2014 RATHER THAN CAREER ACCOMPLISHMENTS.
Winners are bolded; runners-up are listed below in order of number of points. THE EDITORS
BEST OF ALL Big Band/ Festival

Large Ensemble t NYC Winter Jazzfest
t Maria Schneider t Montreal International
New Artist Jazz Festival
t Melissa Aldana Orchestra
t Arturo O’Farrill’s t Monterey Jazz Festival
t Julian Lage
Afro Latin Jazz t Newport Jazz Festival
t David Virelles
t Jon Batiste Orchestra
t Orrin Evans’ Nightclub
Captain Black t Village Vanguard
Artist of the Year Big Band t Jazz Standard
t Miguel Zenón
t Henry Butler/ t Bohemian Caverns
t Ambrose Akinmusire
Steven Bernstein t Dizzy’s Club
t Bill Frisell
& the Hot 9 Coca-Cola
t Mark Turner
Vocal Group Syndicated Radio
h Best New Artist Melissa Aldana BEST GROUPS t New York Voices Program
t The Manhattan Transfer t The Checkout
Acoustic Group/Artist t Tillery t JazzSet With
t Jason Moran & the t Sweet Honey in Dee Dee Bridgewater
Bandwagon the Rock t Jazz After Hours
t Tom Harrell With Jim Wilke/
FROM TOP: BILL DOUTHART/COURTESY OF CONCORD MUSIC GROUP, JIMMY KATZ

Colors of a Dream/Trip Blues Group/ Jeff Hanley
t Ambrose Akinmusire Artist t Jazz Night in America
Quintet/Sextet t Tedeschi Trucks Band
t Charles Lloyd New t Dr. John Podcast
Quartet t Gary Clark Jr. t A Noise From
t Bettye LaVette the Deep With
Electric/Fusion/ Dave Douglas
Contemporary Group/ BEST OF THE t The Jazz Session
With Jason Crane
Artist
t Pat Metheny JAZZ INDUSTRY
Unity Group Book
t Dave Holland Prism Record Label t Herbie Hancock:
t Robert Glasper t ECM Possibilities
Experiment t Blue Note by Herbie Hancock
t Eric Harland t Pi Recordings and Lisa Dickey
h Artist of the Year Miguel Zenón Voyager t Motéma (Viking)

t Do Not Sell at Any Alto Saxophone Guitar
Price: The Wild, t Miguel Zenón t Julian Lage
Obsessive Hunt for t Rudresh Mahanthappa t Bill Frisell
the World’s Rarest t Kenny Garrett t John Scofield
78rpm Records by t David Binney t Pat Metheny
Amanda Petrusich
(Scribner) Soprano Acoustic Bass
t ART: Why I Stuck With t Christian McBride
a Junkie Jazzman by
Saxophone
t Dave Liebman t Dave Holland
Laurie Pepper (APM) t John Patitucci
t Wayne Shorter
t Benson: The Auto- t Linda Oh h Best Female Vocalist
t Branford Marsalis
biography by Cécile McLorin Salvant
t Jane Ira Bloom
George Benson and
Alan Goldsher
Electric Bass
Baritone t Steve Swallow t Steven Bernstein
(Da Capo)
t Matthew Garrison (slide trumpet)
Saxophone
t Stanley Clarke t Grégoire Maret
BEST MUSICIANS t
t
Gary Smulyan
James Carter
t Victor Wooten (harmonica)
t Ronnie Cuber
Trumpet/Cornet/ t Josh Sinton Vibraphone Male Vocalist
Flugelhorn t Stefon Harris t Gregory Porter
t Ambrose Akinmusire Clarinet t Gary Burton t Andy Bey
t Sean Jones t Anat Cohen t Warren Wolf t Kurt Elling
t Avishai Cohen t Ken Peplowski t Bobby Hutcherson t Freddy Cole
t Terence Blanchard t Don Byron
t Paquito D’Rivera Drums Female Vocalist
Trombone t Brian Blade t Cécile McLorin Salvant
t Conrad Herwig Flute t Nasheet Waits t Dianne Reeves
t Wycliffe Gordon t Nicole Mitchell t Jack DeJohnette t Cyrille Aimée
t Robin Eubanks t Charles Lloyd t Eric Harland t Cassandra Wilson
t Ryan Keberle t James Newton
t Jamie Baum Percussion Composer
t Pedrito Martinez t Maria Schneider
Violin t Zakir Hussain t Vijay Iyer
FROM TOP: BEN JOHNSON/CTM PHOTOGRAPHY, PAOLO SORIANI/COURTESY OF ECM RECORDS, JEFF TAMARKIN
t Regina Carter t Cyro Baptista t Wadada Leo Smith

t Jenny Scheinman t Roman Díaz t Chick Corea
t Mark Feldman
t Sara Caswell Miscellaneous Arranger
Instrument t Maria Schneider
Piano [4 Winners] t Steven Bernstein
t Jason Moran t Béla Fleck (banjo) t Vince Mendoza
t Fred Hersch t Erik Friedlander (cello) t Rufus Reid
t Vijay Iyer
t Craig Taborn
h Best Organist
Electric Keyboards Dr. Lonnie Smith
t Herbie Hancock
h Best Tenor Saxophonist t Craig Taborn
Mark Turner t Jason Moran
t John Medeski
Tenor Saxophone Organ

t Mark Turner t Dr. Lonnie Smith
t Joe Lovano t Joey DeFrancesco
t Chris Potter t Gary Versace
t Sonny Rollins t Larry Goldings
JAZZTIMES.COM 27
WORLD ON A STRING:
SINATRA
100
@
DECONSTRUCTING
THE UNSTOPPABLE
LEGACY OF
AMERICA’S
GREATEST SINGER
“Cent’anni.” Frank Sinatra’s favorite toast. “May you live 100

years.” Sinatra, born Dec. 12, 1915, only made it to 82. But, in this, the year of
his centenary, his music remains as vital and influential as ever. As early as the
1940s, major jazz artists began recognizing him as a touchstone and teacher.
According to author and critic Nat Hentoff, Lester Young “never played a
ballad without first learning the lyrics. I asked him his source for the lyrics.
Pointing to a stack of recordings near his chair, he said, ‘Frank Sinatra.’” Miles
BY CHRISTOPHER LOUDON Davis, adds Hentoff, “told me the same thing. He learned to get inside the
ballads from Frank Sinatra.” In a 1956 survey conducted by Leonard Feather
for that year’s edition of the Encyclopedia Yearbook of Jazz, nearly half of the
120 musicians polled named Sinatra as their all-time favorite vocalist—play-
ers including Duke Ellington, Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Bud Powell, Gerry
Mulligan, Horace Silver, Cal Tjader and, again, Young and Davis.

← Sinatra, not far from his
commercial nadir but given a
surprising big-budget session by
Columbia, goes over charts in
New York in 1947
WILLIAM P. GOTTLIEB/COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS
JAZZTIMES.COM 29
K
urt Elling, currently touring with the book and its practitioners, avers that “Sinatra absolutely
finely tailored homage “Elling Swings reinvented the way the American popular song is heard.
Sinatra,” is usually more strongly linked … He created, or at least crystallized, a new way to hear
to Mark Murphy. But, he says, “I have these songs that is pretty much the way most people want
certainly studied and adopted certain to hear them now.”
habits of his craft. I’d be a fool not to. Further afield, Sinatra has been cited as an important
Sinatra sets a great example both in influence by such disparate artists as Bono, who devoted
stagecraft and in the natural and emotional delivery of a New York Times op-ed piece to the topic in 2009, Bob
American song.” John Pizzarelli, who paid album-length Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, both of whom performed
tribute with Dear Mr. Sinatra in 2006, recalls growing up on the televised celebration Sinatra: 80 Years My Way in
in New Jersey to the “ubiquitous sound of Sinatra in our 1995. (Dylan’s new Columbia album, Shadows in the Night,
house. When I was in my 20s, I’d go back to my apartment is composed entirely of standards previously recorded
at night and put on In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning by Sinatra.) “Hail, brother, you sang out our soul,” said
and think, ‘What is it about this record?’ Every time you Springsteen, dedicating his rendition of “Angel Eyes” to Ol’
put it on you find something new.” Blue Eyes.
Michael Feinstein has twice celebrated Sinatra’s musical And, of course, a direct line can be drawn from Sinatra
sensibilities, with 2008’s The Sinatra Project and, from to Bobby Darin, who modeled his brassy persona on his
2011, the companion Volume II. Feinstein, arguably the hero. More recently, Harry Connick Jr., Michael Bublé,
world’s foremost authority on the Great American Song- Jamie Cullum and Tony DeSare can be classified as Sinatra
acolytes, particularly in the early phases of their careers.
And strong echoes of Sinatra are evident in the ice-
coolness of Sachal Vasandani and the intensely personal
balladry of Andy Bey.
Why does Sinatra’s sound endure? It’s complicated,
primarily because of the near-impossibility of separat-
ing the music from his larger-than-life mystique: the
booze-fueled bacchanals; the jet-setting antics; the
sophomorically charming Rat Pack camaraderie; the
murky trails of mob-connected danger. From career
onset he remained a remarkable mélange of paradoxes:
a loner who couldn’t stand being alone; a womanizer
who revered women; a quick-fisted bully whose munifi-
cence, usually unheralded, was immense; an egomaniac
capable of tremendous selflessness.
XXXX
MOST CRITICAL, AND COMPELLING, are the antimo-
nies within the music itself. First, that the dreamy-eyed,
almost fragile Sinatra of the 1940s is an entirely different
singer, both tonally and stylistically, than the red-blood-
ed, cocksure one who emerged in the 1950s. Second, and
more important, is the sharply dichotomous nature of his
material from the 1950s onward, with his unique mas-
tery of emotional extremes. In one of his most famous
quotes, Sinatra described himself as an “18-carat manic-
COURTESY OF FRANK SINATRA ENTERPRISES
depressive. And having lived a life of violent emotional

contradictions, I have an over-acute capacity for sadness
as well as elation.” Place “I’m a Fool to Want You” aside
“Come Fly With Me” and his skill at navigating both
poles is immediately obvious.
Early on, even before Sinatra’s brief 1939 sojourn
with Harry James and then his jump to stardom with
←Sinatra performs in Tommy Dorsey in the early ’40s, there was Bing Crosby
London during the early ’60s to contend with. Crosby was the most popular enter-
tainer in America, dominating radio, records and films microphones, reducing shouting to crooning, generations
with his easy, affable charm. Though Sinatra, like every of singers must thank Sinatra for taking mic technique to
other aspiring male vocalist of the day, would sing along an entirely new stratum. Throughout the 1940s, jokes were
to Crosby’s records, he wisely recognized that Bing was commonplace about Sinatra clutching the mic, seemingly
unbeatable at a game he’d invented. So he purposefully hanging on for dear life. In fact, since mics were then
set out to create a distinctive sound, one based more on anchored to the floor and couldn’t be handheld, Sinatra’s
the swing bands—Goodman, Ellington, Basie. He also “clutching” was strategic maneuvering, riding his levels to
studied Billie Holiday, mirroring her ability to infuse lyr- heighten emotional intensity. As he told Hamill, “I discov-
ics with supercharged emotion. And, as Feinstein tells it, ered very early that my instrument wasn’t my voice, it was
the cabaret singer Mabel Mercer greatly informed Sina- the microphone.”
tra’s developing style. “He told me that [she] was one of Through the mid-to-late 1940s, Sinatra was a tenor with
his greatest influences,” says Feinstein. “He said he used a pure, crystalline tone in the Italian bel canto tradition.
to go and listen to her all the time and loved the way that For Tony Bennett, a lifelong friend and surely the only
she told the story of the song.” male pop singer of comparable iconography, this was
If Bing was the likable guy-next-door, Sinatra would Sinatra at his best. “Right after he left Tommy Dorsey’s
become the urbane lothario. As Pete Hamill observes in
his Why Sinatra Matters, “Crosby made us feel comfort-
able and, in some larger way, American. But there was a
tension in Sinatra, an anxiety [his fans] were too young FROM CAREER ONSET HE REMAINED
to name but old enough to feel.” Jo Stafford, with whom
Sinatra was paired in the Pied Pipers when he joined A REMARKABLE MÉLANGE OF PARADOXES:
Dorsey, described to Hamill the first time she heard him.
Onstage, she says, appeared “a very young, slim figure with A LONER WHO COULDN’T STAND
more hair than he needed. We were all sitting back—like, BEING ALONE; A WOMANIZER
‘Oh, yeah, who are you?’ Then he began to sing.” Stafford’s
reaction: “Wow! This is an absolutely new, unique sound. WHO REVERED WOMEN;
Nobody had ever sounded like that. In those days most
male singers’ biggest thing was to try to sound as much A QUICK-FISTED BULLY WHOSE
like Bing as possible. Well, he didn’t sound anything like
Bing. He didn’t sound like anybody else I had ever heard.”
MUNIFICENCE, USUALLY UNHERALDED,
Though Sinatra’s tenure with the Dorsey band lasted WAS IMMENSE; AN EGOMANIAC CAPABLE
just two and a half years, it proved an invaluable class-
room. Like most great vocalists then and now, he learned OF TREMENDOUS SELFLESSNESS.
more from listening to instrumentalists than to other sing-
ers, and the Dorsey outfit was crowded with fine teachers:
drummer Buddy Rich, pianist Joe Bushkin, trumpeters
Bunny Berigan, Ziggy Elman and Sy Oliver (who, writes orchestra,” says Bennett, “for about seven straight years
Hamill, taught Sinatra “how to ride or glide over the he sang the most beautiful songs and shaped the best
rhythm base of a tune, not repeat it in his vocals”) and the performances he ever gave. When it comes to intimate
bandleader himself. By closely observing Dorsey on trom- interpretations of great songs, it is the best singing I’ve
bone, he discovered how to sustain long breaths and sing ever heard from anybody.” Bennett’s Perfectly Frank, from
through a lyrical phrase, thereby never interrupting the 1992, stands as one of the finest tributes yet recorded. In
narrative, an invaluable lesson for any singer (and one that the liner notes he compares Sinatra’s artistry to that of
Elling in particular has taken to heart). As Feinstein re- Michelangelo, enthusing, “He has given us all a legacy to
calls, “There was a 1965 Look magazine article I was read- aspire to and a standard to live by.”
ing and in it he criticizes Ella Fitzgerald and Judy Garland Bennett, now 88, and Sinatra met in the early 1950s in
for not breathing in the right place. … He said, ‘Oh, Ella New York. Bennett was a newcomer, riding high with his
Fitzgerald is great, but she breathes in the wrong place, first hit, “Because of You,” and had been offered a sum-
because you can’t breathe in the middle of the phrase if mer TV series, to be presented live in front of a studio
you’re telling the story.’ Breath control mattered greatly to audience. Nervous at the prospect, he looked up Sinatra,
him, how he would breathe and then sing the phrase for as then headlining the Paramount. “I went backstage,” Ben-
long as it needed to be sung to import the meaning.” nett recalls, “and he gave me the best advice. It changed
Though Crosby is widely credited with transforming my entire career. He said, ‘Just know that the public
the art of singing in the 1930s by mastering then-new senses when you’re nervous, and they’ll help you and
JAZZTIMES.COM 31
SO-SO SINATRA
A LACKLUSTER NEW BOX SET IS SALVAGED BY A KILLER LIVE DVD
I
n the 30 years since the advent of the compact disc, few “The Gypsy” and “We’ll Gather Lilacs in the Spring” seem
artists have been as exhaustively packaged and repack- entirely out of character.
aged as Frank Sinatra, not always for the better. But in The album isn’t, however, without its merits: Sinatra
2002, there commenced a superlative sequence of box sets, delivers solid readings of “The Very Thought of You,”
spanning various labels, that might loosely be called the “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” and “A Garden
Sinatra travelogue series. First was Sinatra in Hollywood in the Rain.” Augmenting the studio tracks are Sinatra’s
1940-1964, a six-disc set assembling the bulk of his film comments about them on a BBC radio program. Again he
recordings. The five-disc Sinatra: Vegas, serving up plenty sounds blasé, dishing out bland promotional pabulum.
of rare concert material, came in 2006, followed three years The second CD offers previously unreleased material
later by the five-disc Sinatra: New York, covering previously from the Great Britain sessions, covering six of the album’s
unreleased live dates from 1955 to 1990. tracks. Nothing terribly insightful: a few false starts and
Now arrives the slightly slimmer Sinatra: London (UMe/ missed lyrics, and the occasional colorful remark from
Sinatra Enterprises), three CDs plus a DVD, 60-page Sinatra. The balance of the disc is filled with a 14-minute
booklet and other ephemera. It is the first in the series BBC Big Band show from 1953, Sinatra singing three tunes,
built around a studio album. Among American fans, 1962’s including one, “London by Night,” that would resurface on
Sinatra Sings Great Songs From Great Britain is the most Great Britain nine years later. He is just on the verge of his
obscure of his Reprise platters. Recorded in London, it dramatic Stateside comeback and is in good though not
was released only in the U.K. and has remained relatively spectacular voice, the proceedings jovial if corny.
unknown on this side of the Atlantic. Nor is it Sinatra’s fin- Disc three moves the timeline forward three decades,
est hour. Arranged and conducted by Robert Farnon, who for a 1984 concert at the Royal Albert Hall, conducted by
favors syrupy strings and leaden charts, it’s a generally list- Joe Parnello. This is Stadium Sinatra, that rather sanitized,
less collection of vintage tunes crafted by British songwrit- late-career show pony—more feisty grandfather than
ers. Sinatra, never a paragon of patience, sounds tired and freewheeling playboy—nearing the tail end of his run. The
disengaged. In ’62 he was at the height of his ring-a-ding- playlist is safe, blending sturdy standards with guaranteed
ding bravado, and hoary chestnuts like “Roses of Picardy,” crowdpleasers like “My Way” and “Strangers in the Night.”
The voice is all but shot, yet that incomparable Sinatra
charisma, faded as it is, still filters through.
• The three-CD-plus-DVD The accompanying DVD includes two concerts at Royal
Sinatra: London collection Festival Hall, eight years apart. The second is from 1970,
conducted by Sinatra’s long-running sidekick, Bill Miller.
The cockiness that became more pronounced as the years
rolled on is on full display. He’s in a playful mood, gleefully
indulging in the jejune hokum and careless lyrical ad-libs
that had become his stock-in-trade. Vocal rust is evident,
yet he can still shape a killer “One for My Baby” and knock
“Come Fly With Me” out of the park.
Then there’s the footage from 1962. It’s a long set, over
90 minutes, covering 29 songs. Purely in terms of musical
quality, it is arguably the finest live Sinatra performance
ever caught on tape. Singing in front of a crowd that in-
cludes Queen Elizabeth, fronting a tight American sextet
anchored by Miller at the piano, Sinatra, then 46, is the
epitome of subdued elegance. Patter is kept to a mini-
mum. The focus is on the finest standards in his book,
along with a handful of expected hits. Modest, sincere
and impeccably polished, he is exquisite.
CHRISTOPHER LOUDON
support you.’ He taught me that the audience is a friend. And say, “It was all Mondays.” The cumulative lows, particularly
to this day I have complete respect for audiences.” Another his failed romance with Gardner, would prove essential fodder
sign of Bennett’s unequivocal respect for the Chairman: When for the saloon songs and lonely ballads that would thereafter
he and his wife opened a school in 2001, rather than name it shape half his musical persona.
for themselves they branded it the Frank Sinatra School of the Light finally broke. He won an Oscar for his sterling perfor-
Arts. “I use his name to teach the students to never compro- mance as scrappy Italian-American soldier Angelo Maggio in
mise,” he says. “When you go to the Sinatra School you hear From Here to Eternity and was redeemed in Hollywood. Then
his recordings over the loudspeaker, so that when the students Capitol Records offered him a one-year contract. (As biogra-
graduate and go on to college, they’ll all be truly creative art- pher James Kaplan notes in Frank: The Voice, when Sinatra’s
ists. Sinatra inspires that.” hiring was announced at a Capitol sales conference, “everyone
in the room groaned.”) When arranger and conductor Axel
XXXX Stordahl, who had almost single-handedly defined Sinatra’s
THE PERIOD FROM 1950-53 WAS THE MOST CRITICAL sound in the ’40s, proved unavailable for the first important
for Sinatra, establishing the style and sound that would define Capitol session, he found himself partnered with Nelson
the rest of his career. First, he hit rock bottom. Out of favor Riddle. Thanks to the landmark rapport he immediately found
with fans, he couldn’t get a hit record to save his life and was with Riddle and, later, Billy May, a star was not just reborn but
dropped by Columbia. Then, he lost his voice, his vocal cords reset at maximum intensity.
hemorrhaging. When he began singing again, the choirboy Over the following decades, across more than 50 albums,
tenor, which had been steadily lowering since the late ’40s, including such seminal releases as In the Wee Small Hours of the
fully emerged as a rich baritone. These were also the years of Morning, Come Fly With Me and Sinatra at the Sands, Sinatra
Ava Gardner, the gorgeous firebrand who could match him would alter the musical landscape in a variety of ways. With
drink for drink and curse for curse. Their headline-grabbing Riddle, May and other arrangers (notably Johnny Mandel, Don
relationship started in 1949, culminated in marriage in 1951 Costa, Neal Hefti and Quincy Jones), he established the idea
and ended in ’53. Throughout, it proved a vicious cycle of red- of the concept album—moonlight songs, travel songs, songs of
hot passion and plate-throwing fury. As Gardner would later heartache and dejection. He also started taking liberties with
JAZZTIMES.COM 33
← Sinatra and lyrics, a long-since commonplace practice among pop Cahn and Jimmy Van Heusen as his personal
Tony Bennett duet and jazz singers. Feinstein, a stickler about the sanctity tunesmiths. “They knew precisely how to speak in
on the 1977 ABC of lyrics, has decried much of Sinatra’s wordplay (and his voice,” says Pizzarelli. “[Sinatra] screwed around
TV special Sinatra has often been taken to task for it). “One night at the with the words a lot,” adds Feinstein, “but not with
and Friends. “He [Henry] Mancini house at a party,” he says, “Quincy Sammy’s lyrics. Sammy said, ‘That’s because I wrote
has given us all a Jones was there, and I said, ‘OK, we start the conversa- to order.’” The Cahn-Van Heusen playlist—“Come
legacy to aspire to tion by saying that Frank Sinatra is the greatest singer Fly With Me,” “High Hopes,” “Ring-a-Ding-Ding,”
and a standard to of the 20th century. So, assuming he’s the greatest, why “My Kind of Town,” “Come Blow Your Horn,” “The
live by,” Bennett does everybody give him a pass for changing lyrics so Tender Trap,” “The September of My Years” and
once wrote. much?’ Quincy Jones got so mad at me, and said, ‘Gee, dozens more—is so indelibly woven into the Sinatra
it’s too bad Frank Sinatra didn’t have you around to tell fabric that the songs are seldom covered by other
him how to sing a song.’” pop or jazz singers, in their way as sacrosanct as such
Indeed, some of Sinatra’s lyrical liberties, particu- personal statements as James Taylor’s “Fire and Rain”
larly as he grew older, were ill advised. Feinstein and or Janis Ian’s “At Seventeen.”
Pizzarelli both point to the downright silly changes he And Sinatra taught all that followed the art of
made to “Mrs. Robinson” in 1969, mangling it with choosing appropriate material. Recalling a conversa-
lines like “How’s your bird, Mrs. Robinson?” and “the tion with pianist-composer Dave Frishberg, Pizzarelli
PTA, Mrs. Robinson, won’t OK the way you do your says, “He got [one of his songs] to Sinatra, and the
thing—ding, ding, ding!” Paul Simon was so furious response was ‘Where’s the chick?’ He knew what he
he threatened to sue. But, concedes Feinstein, “Some needed to make it work for him. This is a guy who had
of his changes, not necessarily lyrical, are fantastic. everything you could possibly have, and he can make
He had a [jazz artist’s] skill for making alterations that you think he’s a saloon singer who’s walked into your
were wonderful, and actually made the songs more local bar. The amazing actor inside the guy could really
interesting.” make you believe he had the world on a string but also
XXXX make you believe he didn’t.”
IN A SENSE, SINATRA ALSO PRESAGED THE As early as 1963, Sinatra understood the fundamen-
singer-songwriter era that began in the mid-’60s tal reason for his musical durability. “Whatever else
JIM BRITT
and exploded in the ’70s. Sinatra wrote relatively has been said about me personally is unimportant,” he
few songs, but was clever enough to employ Sammy told Playboy. “When I sing, I believe, I’m honest.” JT

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Slide
The
Effect
Historically essential but long
overshadowed, the trombone
just might be the most promising Jelly Roll Morton, King Oliver and Louis
Armstrong. Jack Teagarden, like Ory an
instrument on the jazz bandstand today Armstrong alum, used the instrument
to set standards of virtuosity during
the 1920s and ’30s. The trombone, in
I
t’s Monday night in Washington, ley—takes a full 32-bar solo, all of them short, has been integral to jazz from the
D.C., and the Bohemian Caverns lively and swinging in milk-chocolate beginning. But since bebop arrived in the
Jazz Orchestra is holding court. and sepia hues. 1940s, the horn has been overshadowed
The rainy and near-freezing De- Even in a contemporary big band, this by the trumpet and saxophone—to say
cember weather and light turnout have kind of showcase is unusual. It hardly the least. Often it’s neglected altogether.
led the 16-piece big band, named for sets the pace for the rest of the evening, Except for big bands, where they’re
the venerable club at which it’s based, to which includes just one more trombone needed to occupy the brass section’s tenor
scale back to a single set. The band has solo. But if it stands out for its rarity, it’s register, trombones aren’t considered a
a guest trumpeter, Toronto’s rising star also noteworthy because of the future it staple on jazz bandstands.
Tara Kannangara. Given the truncated portends for the jazz trombone. “I think in small-group settings it was
program, one might expect her features never accepted as a frontline instru-
to dominate the set. ttt ment,” says Robin Eubanks, a longtime
One would be wrong. The opening BUDDY BOLDEN STANDS NEXT member of the SFJAZZ Collective who’s
number, “Just Friends,” is a feature for to a slide trombonist in the only known one of the most prominent jazz trom-
the four-piece trombone section. They photograph of the legendary cornetist’s bonists working today. “The joke with
carry the melody while the trumpets band. Edwin “Daddy” Edwards played trombonists is that a band that has five
and reeds ornament it with obbligatos. it on the Original Dixieland Jass Band’s horns will swear that ‘If we had a sixth, it
Then, each of the trombonists—Steve 1917 “Livery Stable Blues,” regarded as would definitely be a trombone.’”
“Nature Boy” Shaw, Ben Ford, Shannon the first jazz recording. Kid Ory was an “The history of the music we love is
Gunn and bass trombonist Chris Buck- indispensable member of bands led by not kind to trombonists,” agrees Reginald

h Bandleaders and trombonists Glenn Miller
(left) and Tommy Dorsey were genuine musical
celebrities during the late 1930s and into the ’40s
BY MICHAEL J. WEST
Cyntje, an up-and-coming trombone my Young, “Tricky Sam” Nanton and was because of the link to minstrelsy,”
player based in D.C. “I was told you have Dicky Wells illuminated the ensembles of says Alex W. Rodriguez, a trombonist and
to be better than [most] to just be noticed. Jimmie Lunceford, Duke Ellington and jazz historian and a doctoral student at
… If great players like Steve Turre or Count Basie, respectively. UCLA. “Smearing and sliding was a way
Kuumba Frank Lacy played saxophone Uptempo swing tunes were still delib- of ‘blacking up,’ imitating the ‘primitive
they would receive wider recognition. erately paced not to outrun human feet. Negroes.’ Those were the kinds of things
Bits of rueful conventional wisdom— Then came bebop, which was interested that beboppers were distancing themselves
say, that the trombonist is the “last hired, in fast tempos and complex harmonies from. If Louis Armstrong was a subject
first fired”—abound. So do jokes, no less rather than danceable rhythms. Even of their critiques, then someone who was
rueful. “How can you tell the trombon- the best slide trombonists couldn’t make sliding around and mugging wasn’t going
ist’s kid on the playground?” cracks Con- the transition; the instrument’s technical to jibe with their aesthetic either.”
rad Herwig, a top-tier trombonist who demands, unlike those of the trumpet
also teaches at Rutgers University. “He and saxophone, were unsuited to the new ttt
can’t swing, and he’s afraid of the slide.” high-speed music. “For instance,” Eu- SOMEONE WOULD HAVE TO
It adds up to a kind of self-deprecating banks explains, “if you go from F to G be- thoroughly reconceive the instrument’s
acceptance from trombonists of their low middle C on the trumpet, sax, piano possibilities before it could be compat-
diminished role in jazz. or guitar, you move your fingers maybe an ible with bebop, and someone did: a kid
inch. But to play that same interval on the from Indianapolis named James Louis
ttt slide, you have to move about 12 inches.” “J.J.” Johnson, who by 23 was already
IN THE LATE 1930S AND ’40S, At tempos around 300 beats per minute, a veteran of the Benny Carter, Count
the trombone gave jazz some of its big- the difficulty is tremendous. Basie and Illinois Jacquet bands. After 70
JAZZTIMES ARCHIVES
gest stars. Tommy Dorsey and Glenn Technique wasn’t the only obstacle years he remains the most famous and
Miller were both trombonists and between the trombone and bebop; politics influential of postwar jazz trombonists,
bandleaders—two that stand as emblems were involved too. “Part of the reason why who regard him as one of the greatest
of the swing era. Sidemen such as Trum- the trombone was popular [in early jazz] musicians of the 20th century. Johnson
JAZZTIMES.COM 37
h Trombonist
Conrad Herwig leads
his Latin Side All-Stars
at the Blue Note in
New York in August Those circumstances scared many
young trombonists away from jazz. There
were still places for them, and they became
a predominant feature of Latin-jazz
ensembles. Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers
(along with a few others) had a trombone
seat, but by no means was it consistently
filled; when budgets were tight, it was
the most expendable position. There was
a brief flash-in-the-pan fad of multiple-
trombone recordings, such as the 27-horn
The Trombones Inc. from 1958 (which
required enlisting both New York and L.A.
players, with separate sessions on each
coast).
Big bands still needed trombone sec-
tions, where they largely filled a utilitar-
ian role—with exceptions like Al Grey,
a star in the 1950s for the Basie “New
Testament” band—and those players of-
“I HAVE A LITTLE TREPIDATION ABOUT SAYING, ten filled managerial roles for the band as
well. In addition, a remarkable number of
‘WE’RE IN A SECOND TIER,’ BECAUSE THERE jazz’s greatest arrangers have been trom-
IS SOME VALIDITY TO THAT, BUT MAYBE IF WE bonists, including Sammy Nestico, Melba
Liston and Bob Brookmeyer. (Johnson
ALLOW PEOPLE TO PUT US IN ONE, WE ARE.” himself eventually turned to arranging
—CONRAD HERWIG and composing in Hollywood.) This, says
Eubanks, was a practical maneuver: “If
subverted not only the smears and slides trombonist Steve Turre. “He was the only you played ’bone in a big band, the only
of early jazz but also the unbroken chro- one who could cut it.” way you got a solo was if you brought in
matic lines and triplet rhythms of Charlie Others would follow the trail Johnson the arrangement!”
Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. Instead, his blazed, among them Kai Winding (with Even so, for a few generations trom-
signature comprised staccato four- and whom Johnson formed a successful bone students who were determined
five-note bursts (sometimes stuffed quintet, Jay & Kai, in the mid-’50s), Curtis to play jazz would very often switch to
between long tones) that used triplets Fuller and Slide Hampton. Frank Roso- saxophone or trumpet; those set on the
frugally. “So all of a sudden the whole lino, a veteran of the Gene Krupa and Stan trombone would go into classical or
floor got cleared, except for J.J.,” says Kenton big bands, inspired a trombone pop. The arrival of the avant-garde in
school of his own with his coarser tone, the 1960s should have been paradise for
higher register and a phrasing vocabu- trombonists, since it not only opened up
lary altogether different from Johnson’s. musical and technical possibilities but
Carl Fontana, another Kenton alum, also explored the minstrel trappings that
inspired a third lineage using a gentler had alienated beboppers. But with a few
approach and simplified bebop lines. exceptions, like Roswell Rudd (who be-
But there was no deluge—partly gan in Dixieland) and Grachan Moncur
because the techniques required a rare III (the scion of a musical family), there
virtuosity, and partly because the in- just weren’t many young jazz trombonists
HERWIG BY DINO PERRUCCI/COURTESY OF HALF NOTE RECORDS
vations were too instrument-specific. around to explore the New Thing. Like-
There was no figure, even Johnson, wise, the paucity of trombone in bebop
like Parker or Miles Davis—players placed it outside the 1980s Young Lions’
whose ideas shaped every player on bebop-revival ideology.
every instrument. “That kind of fig-
ure excites people, listeners as well as ttt
musicians,” says trombonist Ryan Ke- NOT EVERYONE FEELS THAT
berle. “When someone forms a band the trombone has been overlooked. Con-
with an electric piano, it’s because they rad Herwig, for one, has little time for that
want to have their own Chick Corea notion. He grew up in Honolulu, where he
hat they can show off. When someone was inspired to become a jazz trombonist
forms a band with a trombone, it’s ‘Hey, by Trummy Young’s leadership of a local
here’s a novel idea!’” quartet. “I thought every jazz quartet was

led by trombonists,” he says. “I thought with ‘Night Train,’ on the trombone.
there were lots of famous trombonists: “All these people that I mentioned
Curtis Fuller was big, on Coltrane’s Blue could really play the trombone,” Turre
Train and with the Messengers, and Jay adds. “But it stopped being about re-
& Kai was a very successful commercial ally playing it. … I think the level of the
band. I considered Slide Hampton a huge music and of playing the instrument was
star. Then there were the recording staples, much higher before, because it wasn’t all
like Urbie Green in New York and Dick about the electronics. If you’re just eating
Nash in L.A. [Crusaders trombonist] the mic, and the sound is all produced
Wayne Henderson, I idolized him.” [See because you got the mic inside the bell
“In Memory Of,” p. 50.] of your horn, then people aren’t hearing
Herwig has never hurt for work. He’s your real sound. Back in the day people
played in big bands led by Buddy Rich, had to have a real sound!”
Toshiko Akiyoshi and Mario Bauza; “I have a little trepidation about saying,
worked with Frank Sinatra; and has been ‘We’re in a second tier,’ because there is
a member of the Mingus Big Band for 20 some validity to that, but maybe if we
years. He’s also played extensively with Ed- allow people to put us in one, we are,”
die Palmieri, and is probably best known Herwig says. “I’m not trying to be a con-
currently for his own Latin Side recording trarian, but we make our own realities.”
series, Afro-Cuban recastings of the music
of Miles, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, ttt
Coltrane and, most recently, Joe Hender- THERE IS SOMETHING, HOWEVER,
son. “I’ve played salsa and Latin all my life, that everyone agrees on: Things are
and trombones were always very impor- looking bright for the trombone today.
tant in those fields,” he says. Elders like Fuller and Hampton are still in
Turre, on the other hand, suggests that the game, while mid-careerists Eubanks,
any jazz-trombone shortfall is attributable Turre and Herwig are doing superlative,
to two things: business calculus and lack even innovative work. But the real excite-
of commitment from trombonists. “It’s ment is in the rising generation. Eubanks
really about what is considered popular, rattles off a list of names he’s watching:
what they think is going to sell. It’s only “Elliott Mason; Michael Dease; Corey
about money,” he says. “It has nothing to King; Ryan Keberle; Josh Roseman; Dana
do with people enjoying or not enjoying Leong; Natalie Cressman, who plays and
the instrument. If I recall, Tommy Dorsey sings; Doug Beavers; Corey Wilcox; Alan
sold more records than Charlie Parker or Ferber; Andy Hunter; Marshall Gilkes—a
Coltrane. After Tommy Dorsey, Bennie whole lot of them.” (And New Orleans
Green had a jukebox hit called ‘Blow Your certainly shouldn’t be ignored. The city’s
Horn.’ Buddy Morrow had a Top 30 hit brass-band tradition, with its emphasis on
FROM TOP: ELIZA MARGARITA BATES, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, JAY BLAKESBERG
h From top: Trombone

luminaries Jacob Garchik,
Steve Turre and Robin
Eubanks (seen here, at
center, with the SFJAZZ
Collective)
JAZZTIMES.COM 39
BEST BONES
FIVE CURRENT JAZZ TROMBONISTS YOU NEED TO KNOW
1 2
1. SAMUEL BLASER
A native of Switzerland, Blaser wields a conservatory-bred virtuosity on the
instrument. But he’s an experimenter, working in frequently atonal contexts and
unafraid to create unusual melodic shapes, stretch out into odd intervals or even,
if need be, strangulate his otherwise flawless tone.
2. LUIS BONILLA
Few have done more than Bonilla to demolish the conventional definitions of
Latin jazz. He uses the tradition as a launch pad for investigations of a stylistic
spectrum that ranges from old-style brass bands to postmodern impressionism.
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: JOHN GUILLEMIN, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, LINDSAY BEYERSTEIN,
Bonilla blends colors like a painter and backs every endeavor with a peerless
onstage intensity.
3. WYCLIFFE GORDON
GISELLA SORRENTINO/COURTESY OF FABIO MORGERA, COURTESY OF THE ARTIST

As J.J. Johnson was to the first wave of bebop, so was Gordon to the Young
Lions. He was the first trombonist who could make his instrument work within the
neo-traditional aesthetic, and he did it with long, breathless lines, brash swing
and a fondness for Harmon and plunger mutes.
4. RYAN KEBERLE
The 34-year-old from Spokane, Wash., aims to raise the profile of the trombone
5
as a lead instrument. He’s headed a Double Quartet and, now, the pianoless
quintet Catharsis. Even as a sideman, however, Keberle finds adventure: He was
recently a featured soloist on “Sue (Or in a Season of Crime),” David Bowie’s
collaboration with the Maria Schneider Orchestra.
5. JOSH ROSEMAN
Primarily known as an avant-garde player, Roseman runs the gamut, freely
combining small- and large-ensemble jazz with rock, R&B, dub, minimalism and
European and African musical components. To put it another way, Roseman is
a world-jazz trombonist with an added penchant for sound effects (organic and
electronic) and unusual instrumentation. MICHAEL J. WEST

voice-like articulation, has always had a los Muertos. He’s also a prolific arranger, for the Broadway musical In the Heights,
critical place for the trombone, and has especially for the contemporary classical and is a member of both the Maria Schnei-
created genre-blurring players like Troy ensemble Kronos Quartet. His album The der Orchestra and Darcy James Argue’s Se-
“Trombone Shorty” Andrews, a depend- Heavens featured a trombone choir of up cret Society. Lately, however, he has pared
able crowdpleaser on both the jazz- and to eight instruments and was one of the his gigs down to the latter two—and his
rock-festival circuits.) most acclaimed jazz recordings of 2012. own band, the pianoless quintet Catharsis.
“There’s a bumper crop of talent coming “The nature of the trombone means that “I don’t do the non-jazz commercial stuff
up, man,” agrees Turre, who teaches at you have to have a varied career,” he says. anymore,” he says. “I want to be a soloist,
Manhattan School of Music. “The students (Garchik also plays tuba, sousaphone and and I want the jazz trombone to be a viable
I’ve had in recent years have really wanted accordion.) He’s had no difficulty find- small-group thing, and a leadership thing.
to learn to play on the highest level, have ing work—and not as a novelty. “I find And that’s what I’m trying to accomplish
really wanted to learn the intricacies of the two things to be true of ensembles with by putting all my energy into Catharsis.”
styles, from the plunger to modal to bebop trombones,” he says. “The composers love “Trombonists and tenors should be
to blues—all of it. To learn the depth of to have this tenor range to work with; it interchangeable, in terms of what we can
the music. It’s really inspiring to see young opens up new possibilities. And in my do and the range we bring,” Keberle adds.
trombone players who really want to learn case, they value me as a creative impro- “And the fluency that the current crop
how to play for real, rather than just get viser, bringing ideas to the group just like of trombonists brings to the table means
over and be a star.” any jazz performer.” there’s no reason we can’t be interchange-
Jacob Garchik is one of Turre’s students, Keberle, another former student of able with the trumpet, too.”
known for the sheer eclecticism of his Turre’s, likewise has a startlingly diverse Ironically, it’s because of Keberle, Gar-
career: He is a member of the Lee Konitz résumé. He has toured with indie-rock chik and their mentors and peers that such
Nonet, Matt Pavolka’s Horns Band, the singer-songwriter Sufjan Stevens, recorded interchangeability is increasingly unneces-
Alan Ferber Big Band and the John Hol- with R&B singers Alicia Keys and Justin sary. After decades as a second-class jazz
lenbeck Large Ensemble, in addition to Timberlake, performed with the Saturday instrument, the trombone is once again
leading his own Mexican band, Banda de Night Live Band and in the pit orchestra coming into its own. JT
JAZZTIMES.COM 41
IN MEMORY OF...
Jazz greats who passed in 2014
are remembered by their
colleagues, protégés and admirers
HORACE SILVER Vanguard, at this thing they were doing for teachers. So I didn’t
know him, but I really enjoyed looking at him, as a man. You see
9.2.28–6.18.14 those old films and photos, and his posture at the piano, how he
By Jason Moran would hunch his shoulders, how he would use his body in mak-
ing those rolling figures. That’s amazing to watch and to study:
AFTER THELONIOUS MONK, the first thing I learned on How’s he sitting? How’s he getting the sound out?
piano, including the solo, was Horace Silver’s “Song for My There are things I wish very much I’d been able to see from
Father.” At the time it was as much as anything else about an era before me, and one of them is to see an essential Horace
pleasing my parents, by learning a song that was dedicated to a Silver set, at the Vanguard or on 52nd Street. But I love him,
parent. But an awful lot of things came from that. too, because he made the territory very rich to walk through
We don’t think often of Horace Silver the pianist—at least in terms of catalog. That’s what we have remaining of him, and
not as a trio pianist, because he was one of the few pianists the fact that he’s gone, and the fact that he wasn’t playing much
who maintained a horn-driven band. So in many ways he’s in the last few years of his life, has made it important to relish
about composition. Certainly he had a way of letting a story what we have of Horace Silver.
evolve that I think we as younger composers aspire to—and
that includes his solos: He made statement solos.
The way so many different layers of language came together By Randy Brecker
in his playing had a profound effect on me. Horace thought in IT WAS WAY BACK IN ’67—I WAS 21—when I joined Horace
groove, for one thing. I don’t know what it was that he said to Silver’s band. It was a great opportunity. He broke the band
his drummers to get them to play in those grooves that he had up after a year and a half. My brother Mike and I joined what
formulated. Albums like Horace-Scope had such great breaks. It became Dreams, did that for a couple of years, and when that
always seemed to me, listening to that album and other Horace broke up we rejoined Horace for another year.
Silver records in the late ’80s, that this was stuff that hip-hop Horace was quite the mentor. I think he’s had more influ-
artists should be sampling all over the place. ence on me as a musician or bandleader than anyone. He was
Combine those great grooves, though, with Horace’s really the best of both worlds: He let us stretch out on certain tunes,
great voicings. He would play in a way that seemed so emo- while other tunes were more funk-oriented and he wanted us
tionally wrought; his vision of how to play this hard bop was to maintain a funk attitude.
so singular. There was this thing he would do while playing He also taught me not to be verbose or play too long; you had
with Art Blakey that was almost like making a fist with his left to make a statement, and he didn’t like long solos. I remember
hand and just rumbling along on the bottom. No other pianists once we were listening to some saxophone player, and the guy
did that! Pianists are very conscious of the left hand; it’s the was playing a bunch of choruses. Horace said in my ear, “Listen,
right hand that everyone notices, and of course Horace had the guy’s already starting to repeat himself!” In 1997, when
this grooving, soulful thing in his right. But the left gives you Mike and I did A Prescription for the Blues with Horace, my
context; if you’re Horace Silver, the left gives you turmoil. I had brother got carried away on a tune and played a lot of notes. And
a friend in high school who used to hate when Horace would Horace, in the middle of the take, stopped the whole thing. He
do that—and that made me love it all the more! chastised Mike: “I told you I didn’t want any 16th notes on this
I must add that I only met Horace once: at the Village tune!” He was serious about what he wanted, when he wanted it.

← Horace Silver
at Lee Morgan’s
Indeed! session,
November 1956
Horace had a very spiritual outlook; he thought music was We stayed in touch after he moved to Malibu. He was
for healing. And he cautioned all of us about using drugs and always very nice to me in the ensuing years. I knew his
things that we shouldn’t—not that we paid attention to him wife, Barbara, and I was around when his son, Gregory, was
at the time. But he related most things to healing, and had a born. In 2007—and I remember this clearly, because it was
definite spiritual side to him. A lot of things that he lectured us only about a week after my brother passed away—there was
about, I try now to use as a springboard, so to speak. a large tribute to Horace held at Disney Hall in L.A., and
He was also notoriously thrifty. He saved every receipt, and Horace was there. He was somewhat ill; he was in a wheel-
he didn’t pay much; by the end of the week we usually ended chair. But we dedicated the whole night to him and played
FRANCIS WOLFF/MOSAIC IMAGES
up owing him money. We’d have to find the cheapest hotel in all his tunes, with various all-star bands of people who had
town: I remember in San Francisco, we had one that was 15 played with him. So that was a wonderful evening and that
dollars a week! So you can imagine what that was like. Horace was really the last time I saw him.
was in splendor up the street, paying eight dollars a night. He It hit me hard when he died. I did have time to prepare,
explained to me at one point that his father had taught him the to think about it, but I think it hit all of us who knew him
value of thrift … and thrifty he was. But the gig was so much hard. Horace was one of a kind.
fun that we weren’t in it for the money. [Both Silver tributes as told to Michael J. West]
JAZZTIMES.COM 43
IN MEMORIAM
JACK BRUCE check himself; he had the ability for self-

reflection.
5.14.43–10.25.14 In 2008 the quartet that would later
By Vernon Reid be billed as Spectrum Road formed. We
played our first shows at the Blue Note in
SOME OF MY EARLIEST MEMORIES OF Tokyo, and they were just magical. Cindy
rock music were hearing Cream on the ra- Blackman Santana was on fire, and John
dio, and I knew that there was something Medeski is such an extraordinary musi-
fundamentally different happening in cian. The first time we performed, Jack
that music. It was built on what had come had this big smile on his face. Even though
before but it was much more freewheeling, Spectrum Road was together only for a
the structures were looser. Later, my friend brief period, we weren’t a “project,” were a
Reggie Sylvester, a drummer in the jazz band—we had a band vibe. We made the
workshop at my high school in
Brooklyn, he was a huge fan of
Jack Bruce. He started talking
JOHN BLAKE JR. to me about Songs for a Tailor

and Carla Bley’s Escalator Over
7.3.47–8.15.14 the Hill. He turned me on to all
of that, and I heard Lifetime,
By Steve Turre and that’s when I got a sense
I MET JOHN THROUGH CELLIST that Jack was this journey-
and composer Akua Dixon, who was man, this real risk-taker of
the leader of the first jazz string quartet a musician. … I asked Jack
in New York in the early 1970s. He about this later. I was saying,
was playing with her at the time, and “You played with Jimi Hendrix,
we immediately bonded and became and Tony Williams, and Carla
friends, as we both loved a good joke. Bley…” And he said, “Vernon,
We were always laughing and telling we live so many lives in the life
stories. Even more than his incredible we have.” And it just hit me.
musical abilities, I remember him as It was one of those moments
one of the warmest and most giving, of clear truth. He was saying
fun-loving and inspirational human that there is a way to live with
beings I have ever had the privilege to all your contradictions and all
know. We played together many times your impulses. Who are you ← Spectrum Road in 2011 (from left): John Medeski,
and he is on several of my recordings. beyond the definitions? Cindy Blackman Santana, Vernon Reid and Jack Bruce
He always brought such a positive When I recorded and
spirit and energy to the moment. He toured with him, he didn’t want me to album and we did a tour where we got to
was a great master in the lineage of play like Clapton or Hendrix or Robin play Europe and the States. Every night
Stuff Smith, Claude “Fiddler” Williams, Trower. He was interested in what I was was special, and we wanted so much to do
Ray Nance and the like. He could really doing, what I was talking about, and that more of it. But sadly that was not to be.
swing and really play the blues with was a challenge on one hand but it was Taking a trip to his funeral in London
the right soul and feeling—more than also inspiring and affirmative. Losing him was sort of harebrained, but I said, “I gotta
just licks. He could play many styles felt very personal, because a lot of the go.” I went to support the family. I had to
FROM LEFT COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, JIMMY & DENA KATZ
and with many types of musicians, legendary guys, it’s almost as if there’s no say goodbye. He meant a lot to me. At one
from gospel to McCoy Tyner to Grover actual person left, there’s only the legend. point Medeski sidled up to me, and it was
Washington Jr. and more. Many folks Jack was not like that. He responded to such a feeling of fellowship. And Ginger
don’t know that he was an excellent what was happening in the moment; he Baker was there, and Clapton was there. It
pianist as well. wasn’t handcuffed by the past. And he was very emotional. During the ceremony
John never received the recogni- was just a wonderful person. He could be they had his Warwick bass on a stand, and
tion I felt he deserved. All those who prickly, but he was also very mischievous. on either side were roses in the shape of bass
really knew him understand the great One thing I loved about Jack is that he clefs. That was his bass that he took with
humanity he possessed: how he was so would get over himself. He was the kind him all over world, and it’s an instrument I
much more than a great musician, his of figure who, if he was unhappy and know well. And I thought to myself, “That’s
contagious laugh and quick smile. We he went to that place, he could freeze the riderless horse.” It was so stark to see it
will miss him dearly! everything in the room. But he would standing there. [As told to Evan Haga]
BUDDY DEFRANCO ← DeFranco and
spouse in New York,
2.17.23–12.24.14 September 1947
By Eddie Daniels
IT’S RARE IN YOUR LIFE TO HAVE
someone who’s older than you and
supports you almost like a good par-
ent would. Buddy DeFranco was like
that for me: a great, supportive friend
and a kind person.
When I was 13, Benny Goodman
was my idol—I played more in that
realm. Then I started listening to the
records of the day, Stan Getz, Miles
and Coltrane; I was no longer trying
to play like Benny on the clarinet,
but I was stuck in this place of not
knowing where to go. And I found one
record of Buddy’s called Mr. Clarinet,
a great, great record from 1957. I
heard the sound on the clarinet and
the way Buddy was doing it, and from
that record I said, “Holy cow! This is
the direction for me!”
And that’s all I needed. I didn’t
even need to buy all the records: I just
had the one record that was my re-
cord, that I loved. I would just listen
to one tune on the record over and
over, picking up on how he would
flow through the chord changes in
a different way than the swing guys
would. When he came out in his early
20s, playing bebop clarinet with all
the beboppers like Charlie Parker, he
never sounded like Charlie Parker.
He found his own way. I’ve never
understood why he didn’t get more
credit for that. He was an innovator. He was the way I wanted to be with young feel pretty good for a guy who feels pretty
played in a bebop style, but it was a be- players. And it’s what I try to do now: bad.” That gives you a sense of the humor
bop style that nobody else really played. find something that will make them feel that this guy had! When I last spoke to
He was a total original. good about their playing, the way Buddy him, I said, “Are you playing?” He said,
When I met him we became more did for me. “No.” I asked why, and he said, “Because
than just great friends. Most musi- He was a very good spirit. Like I hate the way it sounds!” He was having
cians who play the same instrument Buddy, my mother died in her early 90s. trouble with his lips, his physicality and
are very competitive with each other. She had issues with her mental as well his ears. So I said, “Then play but don’t
I’ve even known clarinet teachers who as her physical health, and you expect listen!” And he enjoyed that.
didn’t like it when their students got that. But Buddy never lost it. He might I can’t overstate what a loving, sweet,
good! But Buddy looked at me and saw have been a bit slower here and there, supportive man he was. Eighteen years
that we were on a trail together, and he but I’d call him up and he’d be his usual ago, when my Vivaldi album, The Five
kind of handed me the baton. He really self, funny and with a great sarcastic Seasons, came out, he wrote me a note
respected that someone would start attitude. He was Buddy. that said, “Eddie, this is a masterpiece.”
from his example but then take it his I last spoke to him probably two weeks And whether it is or not, what more do
or her own way. He was so supportive, before he died. His great line to me, when you need? We all should have a father
and it was so beautiful. I knew that that I’d ask him how he was feeling, was “I figure like that. [As told to Michael J. West]
JAZZTIMES.COM 45
IN MEMORIAM
← De Lucía (left) on tour, and the three of us were onstage.

and McLaughlin The music was just amazing this night,
in 1987 all three of us were really burning, and it
got so good at one point that Larry stood
up from his chair and started dancing! It
was so spontaneous and funny, Paco and I
started laughing out of control!
Paco was a deep, funny, spontaneous
human being. Traveling together we talked
about everything. I spoke to him about my
research into the “inner world,” the search
I’ve always had for self-discovery, and he
would speak to me about the unspoken
traditions in flamenco and the world of
the Gypsy in Andalucia. Of course he
would speak about his continuing search
into music and his desire to enrich the
flamenco traditions, in particular the
harmonic possibilities. An indication of
how I revere Paco is in one of my tracks
to be released on an upcoming CD. The
title is “El Hombre Que Sabia”; translated,
it means “The Man Who Knew.” To me it
has real depth.
I know this sounds very cliché, but in
the end I believe only love knows how to
find the way, and that was it. That was the
excitement, the risks, and the affection and
admiration that existed between all of us.
PACO DE LUCÍA lived, in England, this was impossible. I

was introduced to Paco by hearing him
12.21.47–2.26.14
By John McLaughlin
on French radio and I was able to contact
him, and we actually met shortly after. I KENNY DREW JR.
saw the other side of Paco then, that he 6.14.58–8.3.14
PACO WAS A RADICAL. HE NEVER was a genial person with an irresistible
By Larry Coryell
broke the rules of his musical traditions, sense of humor. When I had the opportu-
but he definitely bent them to accommo- nity to play with Paco in 1978, it was one MUSICIANS LIKE TO TALK SHOP.
date his new perception of harmony and I couldn’t ignore since I had been unable Somebody hears somebody new, like
rhythm; he was the first guitarist to inte- to find a teacher in flamenco when I was a player with something really differ-
grate improvisation into the mainstream of young. I proposed the idea of using three ent, and that somebody will tell his
flamenco. He was heavily criticized by the guitarists, the other being Larry Coryell. or her colleagues about it: “There’s a
purists for playing with me, but purists are Paco loved the idea, and we began work cat in town who’s blowin’ some new
idiots, and subsequently Paco was lauded right away. and heavy stuff! You should check it
for further developing flamenco. He was Paco was aware of my love and admira- out!” Word got out around town and we
on the leading edge and had an insatiable tion for his traditions. From the very begin- checked KD out. Donald Harrison and
thirst for knowledge. What truly impressed ning it was a dream collaboration. I believe I went down to Bradley’s in New York
me about his playing was his impeccable we brought a certain complicity to the mu- to hear him—he was playing solo. I had
sense of time and rhythm, and the imagi- sic, which was from the outset a kind of fu- heard Kenny a few months before in
nation in his falsetas. sion. It combined Paco’s flamenco brilliance Toronto and hipped Donald to Kenny’s
I’ve loved flamenco music since I was with the jazz side of acoustic guitar from playing. So we went and we were blown
14—the opening piece on the very first Larry and me, and brought Paco into the away. There was that urgency in Kenny’s
Mahavishnu Orchestra album (“Meet- world of improvisation, which is what he playing that smacked of high-level vir-
DETLEV SCHILKE
ing of the Spirits”) is heavily influenced was truly searching for. We had some fun tuosos like Brecker and Coltrane. You
by flamenco—and I actually wanted to times too. Once in 1979, when Larry was know that urgency—Freddie Hubbard
become a flamenco guitarist. Where I in the trio, we were somewhere in Europe and Art Tatum also come to mind. It’s a
with humility and respect. He didn’t so
much play for people as dazzle them. JEFF GOLUB
We had so much fun doing that 4.15.55–1.1.15
album with Scott Elias from Random
By Dave Koz
Act Records. Kenny found joy in his
musical life. There was always a refer- IT WAS FUNNY: WHEN HE WALKED
ence for Kenny that would bring us back into the room, no matter what the
to something musical. I recall, during situation, you felt like you were in the
the sessions, when Scott announced, presence of a real rock star. He had the
“The sandwiches are here.” We had been swagger, he had the big flop of perfectly
toiling diligently in the studio and had unkempt blond hair, he wore the tight
built up some hunger. Kenny broke into black jeans and the dark glasses—even at
a tune from the musical Oliver! called night. It always made me smile, because
“Food, Glorious Food,” and he broke out this effect he had on a room was accom-
into a big smile as he sang. Then we took panied by the most disarming affability
our break in the engineer’s room and ate, and warmth. That was the beauty of Jeff
laughing about stuff, just hangin’ out and Golub: He was a walking essay in con-
havin’ a good time. It was beautiful. trast. He could tear it up like nobody’s
great quality; it gets your attention. Scott had us do some interviews about business on guitar, with searing solos
Kenny was intense. We got to play our careers and about the music we that cut you to the core, and then he
together from time to time in the Mingus were recording. Kenny opened up in the could make you weep with one sustained
Guitars—when John Hicks couldn’t make interviews and I heard him talk about note that he’d bend just so. The way he’d
it—doing things like “Sue’s Changes,” his early days in New York, and about his contort his body to accompany the riff
with that Promethean piano part. And family—the famous father who played he was playing, and those crazy facial
yeah, Kenny could sight-read like no- with Trane—and how he felt about all expressions—that was a show in itself.
body’s business. that, which was, understandably, some- He was also one of the kindest human
When I got the privilege to record with times ambivalent. beings I ever had the pleasure of know-
Kenny, for what would become 2011’s We did some nice gigs on the strength ing. I am so grateful our lives connected.
Duality, I had to do my homework. Ken- of the recording, including some local And I already miss him like crazy.
ny brought in a lot of challenging stuff, things in Florida, where we lived. But the Indeed, we lost one of the greats on
and the passing of Hank Jones at that best gig was at Scullers in Boston. The New Year’s Day. It seems oddly poetic
time prompted Kenny to compose, in place was packed and we sold CDs and that he’d pass on such an auspicious day,
Hank’s honor, a piece called “Goodbye, Kenny was happy—and, hey, me too, I but that’s the way he did things. He was
Mr. Jones.” This was not so much a tune was diggin’ it. I got a lot of emails from a very pure, mild-mannered and elegant
as a composition, kind of like the differ- fans asking that we make a followup man. Quietly, in his sleep, he slipped into
ence between, say, “Tenor Madness” and record. the next dimension—the ultimate New
“Autumn in New York.” “Goodbye Mr. But that was about it. We never really Year’s resolution. For all of us friends and
Jones” was fresh and different, with sev- connected again, although I stayed aware
eral sections plus a special ending—all of what he was doing; I was always hop-
the elements that give longevity to a great ing we could get some more gigs like that
jazz composition. one at Scullers. And suddenly, it seemed,
FROM TOP: SCOTT ELIAS, COURTESY OF CHAPMAN & CO. MANAGEMENT
But the most inspiring characteristic Kenny passed. I was devastated. You
of “Goodbye” was the soulfulness of the don’t want to see that happen to someone
lines and the uplifting use of the pedal- so young, but these things are out of our
point passages. It was hard to play but hands.
it was beautiful and worth it: a paean What I am left with is the brilliant art-
of redemption and love from a devoted ist who was a great guy when his demons
disciple to a great master. were under control, and who partook in
Well, if I can continue in that vein, this life’s feasts when he was able to. Kenny
missive of mine is a similarly compli- generously shared the joy of his power-
mentary attempt. Kenny was a master ful genius with those around him. I’m
jazz musician; he was gifted with talent sad that KD Jr. is gone but so grateful I
and he honed that talent with hard work. was able to “feast” with him when he was
He could have been utterly intimidating here. He taught me a lot about music.
but his playing was cut with a benefi- RIP, Kenny Drew Jr., we won’t forget you.
cent love-of-music facet that gleamed Ever.
JAZZTIMES.COM 47
IN MEMORIAM
← Haden in Germany in 1972

fans, though, it was too soon. With so
much more to do, so many more shows
to play, so many more days to be a loving
father to two amazing boys, Chris and
Matthew, and so many more moments
to share with his beautiful wife, Audrey
(who, by the way, is a true hero in this
story), this just seemed so unfair and
so abrupt.
One must remark, when talking about
Jeff, about the last couple years of his life.
It might be to some the most interesting
aspect of his public life—his losing his
eyesight in one eye first, then the other
eye, and then slowly watching as this
disease would end up taking over his
whole body. But to focus on this aspect
alone would be to ignore so much of the
essence of the man.
I learned volumes from Jeff Golub—
onstage and off, in the studio or simply
by sharing stories and a cocktail over
the dinner table. I hired him to be the
guitarist in the band on the short-lived
The Emeril Lagasse Show, and no matter
the song style I never had to worry about
Jeff bringing the fire. He was an ace in the
hole, every single time. Spending the day
with Jeff, Audrey and the boys one sum-
mer’s day, tooling around the Hamptons
in his convertible, I was also able to see
the family-man side of Jeff. He gener-
ously gave this California boy a day I will
always remember, soaking up the East
Coast sun.
And even when he was dealing with CHARLIE HADEN With Charlie, what blew me away was
the effects of the disease on his body, he 8.6.37–7.11.14 how he remained a folk musician. In the
still stood out, taking his beloved guide way that blues musicians are folk musi-
dog on the road with Mindi Abair and
By John Patitucci cians, Charlie maintained a deep folkloric
David Pack. He continued doing the MY EARLY BASS INFLUENCES WERE element in his playing, and when he played
Smooth Jazz Cruise for several years, guys like Ray Brown, Ron Carter and Paul those slow-moving solos, they were almost
making his way around the ship on his Chambers, but after high school I simulta- like beautiful nursery rhymes—just gor-
own or with the help of fans. neously got into Charlie and Dave Holland. geous melodies that were so clear. There
And while this was all going on, not a They played quite differently from each was no posturing or trying to impress peo-
peep from Jeff publicly. He accepted his other, but I was amazed by the sound, the ple. He was very concise, and he was very
JOHANNES ANDERS/COURTESY OF ECM RECORDS
situation with grace, faith and under- concepts, the depth of their focus and the mature in the way he expressed himself.
standing. He showed us, by example, depth of their interpretation of the music Each note was crafted and delivered with a
how to be at peace with our lot in life that each was involved in. They both had lot of emotion. It was straight-up soul.
and how to focus on what matters most. instantly identifiable sounds, but they were When he would get ready to solo, he
But his most important and enduring quite opposite in the way they touched the would often have everyone in the band sit
lesson might just be the simple exit he bass. Charlie played light but got this big out and he’d be alone, working his spell on
made: showing us how to seize the most sound. Both were very valid and incredibly the audience. Even though I knew it was
while we’re here, how to make that big interesting, and I wanted to incorporate coming, it’d still make me cry. It was like,
splash, bringing so many smiles to peo- their approaches into what would one day “I know what he’s going to do, but he’s still
ple’s faces and then, in an instant, how to become my sound. going to get me, I know it.” [laughs]
seamlessly segue to the next song.

h The Manhattan
Transfer in 2006
(clockwise from
top left): Alan Paul,
Cheryl Bentyne,
Tim Hauser and
Janis Siegel
This is someone who had such a long
and prolific career and had his own voice,
so there’s so much to talk about: the Or-
nette records, his work with Keith Jarrett,
his work with Michael Brecker, Steal Away
with Hank Jones, Beyond the Missouri Sky
with Pat Metheny, also 80/81. In the early
’80s, I remember going to see Old and New
Dreams with Don Cherry, Dewey Redman,
Charlie and Ed Blackwell. It was an amaz-
ing concert at Royce Hall at UCLA. I talked
about that concert recently with Scott Col-
ley, who flourished under Charlie’s teach-
ing. He’s a great bass player, very creative,
very sensitive, with a beautiful sound.
Charlie could be a traditionalist in the
way he fulfilled the foundational role of the
bass player, but he was also very wide open
and free in his playing, and used the bass
in coloristic ways. Of course the Ornette
Coleman Quartet was a revolutionary band.
Here was a bass player in a saxophone-led
group who was encouraged to wear many
hats and fulfill different voices within the en-
TIM HAUSER
semble. And that’s certainly what I’ve experi-
enced over the years with Wayne Shorter. ing the deliciousness of his homemade
He knew that Danilo Pérez and Brian Blade 12.12.41–10.16.14 Eggs Benedict and pooling our money
and I wanted to be very sensitive about how for some Greenwich Village souvlaki.
to make the whole orchestration fly. Wayne
By Janis Siegel We shared a love of folk music, tennis,
realized we weren’t going to throw our tradi- TRUE FRIENDSHIP IS A RARE HARMONY. bluegrass, Slim Gaillard, R. Crumb
tional roles out the window, so he encour- As Timothy DuPron Hauser’s friend, and bebop.
aged us to stretch and break free and take on musical partner and collaborator for Together, in harmony with our
different sounds. Because of Ornette’s open 42 years, I will say exactly the same partners Alan Paul, Laurel Massé and
approach, I imagine he was encouraging thing that I said at his wedding, where then Cheryl Bentyne, we gave form and
that sort of thing as well. There is a com- he joined his beloved Barb. There are reality to Tim’s visions and made them
mon thread there, with the compositional maybe a handful of people in one’s life work. His boundless creative generos-
freedom we were given. who really make a difference, who set ity was one defining characteristic that
I got to know Charlie personally a bit you off in a new direction, who change set him apart from other people I knew.
because I had this big Vuillaume bass, the very particles of your being. For me, One story comes to mind that clearly
which was made not long after the famous Tim was one of these people. illustrates Tim’s beautiful and expansive
Vuillaume that he had. So we talked about Tim Hauser changed my life com- heart. In 1981 the Manhattan Transfer
our basses, and he was always really funny pletely, when he suggested we set off on made its first trip to the Philippines. We
about it: “Mine’s better!” [laughs] At one this musical adventure together in 1972. turned on the TV when we arrived at
point both of our Vuillaumes were at He opened me up to the beautiful music our hotel, and to our complete amaze-
David Gage’s shop in New York, and he of the ’30s and ’40s, to the soulfulness of ment we saw that a popular noontime
would sort of want people to play his bass doo-wop singing, and to the worlds of show was sponsoring a contest for Man-
but not really; he really wanted them to Joseph Schillinger, political economist hattan Transfer “sound-alikes.”
say how great it was—and it was great, it is Henry George and Edgar Varèse. Along A young man, an aspiring musician
great. I have a picture of me at Gage’s with with his sister Fayette, he turned me on named Noel Espenida, heard the news,
both instruments side by side. When they to Art Deco, vintage clothing and world- arranged some vocals in TMT style and
were both there being worked on, Charlie class performance art. joined the competition with his church
COURTESY OF THE ARTIST
would call David and say, “Yeah, so John’s Together we explored ancient Mayan choir. We were asked to be present for
bass is there too. … Sounds good, yeah. … ruins, castles in Spain and jazz clubs in the final judging. Noel’s choir won both
But mine’s better, right?” Moscow, as well as our interior worlds. second and third place. After the show,
[As told to Evan Haga] In the early days, Tim and I sat around Tim approached Noel, congratulated
for hours listening to records, savor- him and invited him to our final show
JAZZTIMES.COM 49
IN MEMORIAM
at the Folk Arts Theater. Noel brought Tim taught me how to dream—far- view, and will always admire his produc-
his whole choir, and after the show Tim reaching and impossible dreams, dreams ing chops, especially on projects such as
again singled him out and spoke to Noel gilded with enthusiasm—and certainty our Vocalese and Brasil albums. His A&R
at length about his dream of studying that set me on my course. I was not suggestions for TMT were always on the
music. For Noel, to study music was a dreamer when I met him; I was a mark (“Operator,” “A Nightingale Sang
only a crazy dream due to the financial worker. And so ours was a true creative in Berkeley Square,” “Corner Pocket”
constraints of his family. Tim gave Noel partnership, where one person could and “Tuxedo Junction” were a few of
one of his souvenir L. Dorado Caddy T- not do what the other could. In fact, all I his ideas) and his baritone/tenor voice
shirts and asked for his complete name could do was stand back in awe and try graced songs like Tom Waits’ “Foreign
and address. to hang on by doing the day-to-day work Affair,” “Zindy Lou,” Djavan’s “Soul Food
Little did Noel suspect that Tim had a that needed to be done. I didn’t grasp to Go” and certainly “Java Jive.”
plan. A month later, Noel received a let- then that dreams are the seeds of reality. He was thrilled to know the effect that
ter from Tim offering him a scholarship But I do now, all thanks to him. Dreams the Manhattan Transfer has had on so
to study music, which Noel did, and he are truly the ability to project oneself many aspiring vocal-jazz students and
is currently a successful full-time music through time. on programs in universities. This was
director and arranger in the Philippines. As his friend I’ll miss his many enthu- truly his dream: to make everyone feel
This is because someone saw his beauti- siasms, and I’ll miss traveling around the the joy that he felt while listening to and
ful potential and gave him the oppor- world with him, discovering new places singing this music. I loved him deeply,
tunity. This is because Tim opened the and new experiences. As his musical feel his missing part in every song, and
door to make his dreams real. partner I’ll miss his unique point of will miss him now and always.
as commercial success or a career, but sician. When he played a solo, he made

← Henderson Wayne gave us all hope. Because as the the rhythm section sound great. When
in 1961 ’70s and the ’80s came around, it was he played the melody, he made everyone
really happening with Wayne and the else in the band sound great. Wayne gave
Crusaders. so much to so many other people. He
He laid this whole thing out for us, but transcended the trombone and he added
he’s still one of the world’s most under- so much to other people’s albums.
rated trombonists. When you hear J.J. Some of my favorite Crusaders tunes
Johnson or Slide Hampton, it’s so virtuo- may not even have a ’bone solo. In fact,
sic it’s jaw-dropping. Wayne didn’t have the first thing that first knocked me out
to use virtuosity to get over. With him was their ’bone-and-tenor sound, which
the intensity came through in the musi- was their signature. It was so soulful and
cal lines and the musical ideas he had. so meaty and I thought it was a great
He didn’t need to scream in the upper combination, that sound of the tenor and
register or play double- or triple-time. He the ’bone playing melodies and pretty
was able to create interest just through simple harmonies in unison. Some-
the direction of his musical ideas, which times the ’bone would take the lead and
were solid and soulful and meaningful. the tenor would be underneath. It was
Critics and musicians are knocked out powerful. There were other records I had
when someone comes up with a new heard with trombone as the leader, but
harmonic or technical treatment, but there was something so amazing about
listening to the Crusaders is like going the Crusaders. The most hardcore jazz
home, and Wayne was an accessible, musicians and critics loved the Crusad-
understandable trombone player. As a ers; people who like rock loved them;
young trombonist I was really into Slide people who like soul loved them. Some
WAYNE HENDERSON and J.J. and Curtis Fuller too, but Wayne
was just as hip.
people who don’t even like jazz love the
Crusaders. When I was in high school,
9.24.39–4.5.14
RAY AVERY/CTSIMAGES
As an educator I’m often asked for ad- all of my friends were into rock and
By Conrad Herwig vice, and one of the things I always say is when they would come over to the house
“Learn how to make others sound great.” I’d put on the Crusaders and they’d say,
BEING A TROMBONE PLAYER IS NOT That is one thing Wayne Henderson “Yeah, man, I like that!”
the easiest thing on the planet as far epitomized in everything he did as a mu- [As told to Jeff Tamarkin]
FRED HO Orchestra during the ’90s. Later, after his
cancer started, I returned to work with him
8.10.57–4.12.14 up through the present Green Monster Big
By Hafez Modirzadeh Band.
I know that it was important to Fred how
TURNING THE MONKEY TRICKSTER he and his work would be remembered.
loose, Fred says in rare cryptic form on While the work stands, the performing of
a subway platform, “Are you ready when the work must advance with healthy spirit,
the time comes to put down the saxo- in order to advance the consciousness that
phone and pick up a shovel?” While the brought us together in the first place. Fred’s ress with any relevance at all (other than
train approaches, thoughts turn the metal growth in this area, along the way, was a historical), then no dictatorial claims can be
of horn and shovel into the earth for either process that involved his band members, who made by anyone involved in performing his
a burial or vegetable garden, and the con- went “toe-to-toe” with him to make sure that music—never exclusion, but only affirma-
versation takes on a martial stride—further we could play with the correct spirit of unity tion for any one carrying on the music in
down the line, having turned defensive, the and purpose. When I played in his groups, a multitude of ways, and with final word
instruments are now weaponry. This is my we often had meetings of reconciliation before coming from the collective, always—this
stop, and in reluctant shape-shifter fashion, a performance, in order to “set things right” if would be an improvement on this facet of
Fred’s war call becomes his love call and we something was bothering the collective mind Fred’s legacy … blown from the rooftop!”
embrace, two family members, different and soul. Once I recall several of us telling HM (June 24th, 2014; Kumasi, Ghana)
yet the same: one pursuing revolution; the Fred to “listen to your musicians, or we will
other, resolution. Here is but one Fred Ho fire YOU from the group!” He appreciated A few months later, the night after a
moment, for me: intense and direct, brutally this sincere expression very much—as you tribute to Fred in Oakland, I awoke in
truthful, raising consciousness at whatever may know was his style—and I believe this some kind of observatory—it was still
the cost, with an unparalleled love for life. helped him along his legacy-building of ideals night, people were waiting around there
Ultimately, reflected in his sound is a hero’s that champion, above all else, strength and in the dark, looking at me in some unsure
automythography, forcing open an aperture unity of spirit. We didn’t always reach it, way. Realizing I was there for Fred, I
for all resonances to exist together, without but it was an ideal worth playing for, and it looked and looked, but he wasn’t there!
any one colonizing the other. Shortly after became something way beyond the legacy of Then, things shifted to home, and I was
Fred’s passing, I sent the following to mem- one man’s work, or personal life. This is the sitting on the bench in our doorway. It
bers of his Green Monster Big Band: facet of his legacy I will always celebrate and was already daybreak yet it was getting
want to share. strangely darker for me, so I moaned
Dear Friends of Fred’s Music, Any of us who has been through the fire loudly knowing that’s how to get all the
Now seems a good time to send you best with Fred deserves a special badge of honor: way back. When it was over, the body was
wishes, since my dear brother, Fred, passed He wasn’t easy to work with, and there were vibrating intensely; while this travel was
on. I was part of Fred’s first Afro-Asian En- many bridges burned along the way—this happening it seemed I was lying con-
semble generation, back in 1986-87, and we is NOT the legacy he would wish to see scious in bed the whole time. The mes-
were very close through many of his projects, continue, but forgotten! Now, with the man, sage came across loud and clear, like the
including the special saxophone “hidden has passed all that conflicted spirit on earth, horn: Fred’s not in any dark place waiting.
concerto” he wrote for me in his Monkey and if performing his music is to prog- He’s in a bright place now.
← Muhammad at IDRIS MUHAMMAD rhythm control was there. He worked

with me off and on for about three or
11.13.39–7.29.14
FROM TOP: ROBERT ADAM MAYER, FRANCIS WOLFF/
Lou Donaldson’s four years. He brought me some money

Alligator Bogaloo [laughs]: We had two or three hit records
By Lou Donaldson with him—“Alligator Bogaloo,” “Mid-
session in 1967
I WAS IN NEW ORLEANS IN THE ’60S, night Creeper.” He did about 10 record-
and my guitar player told me there was ings with me, all of them good sellers.
a good drummer in town: It was Idris. It was at the right time because Blue
So I told him to come sit in, he played Note was sold to Liberty Records, so it
and that did it. I hired him right there. wasn’t Blue Note anymore. The A&R
MOSAIC IMAGES
I liked him right from the start. What I men were suggesting that we cover a lotta
liked about him was his steadiness in the tunes, like “Who’s Making Love” and
groove—the groove was there, and the all that kinda stuff which normally we
JAZZTIMES.COM 51
IN MEMORIAM
wouldn’t have played. When we recorded two copies. Same record two months want him to play my music. Idris had
it we were laughing about it, but the damn later … you sell 100,000 records. So it’s that rhythm and I’m telling you, you
records sold! And Idris was pushing that a matter of how the audience is reacting don’t find that in everybody, I don’t care
beat on there. We laughed right on into the to the records. But Idris had that beat, where they’re from. When he first came
bank. I still get a lotta requests for “Alliga- that rhythm which was undeniable I felt that right away, and I hired him
tor Bogaloo” and “Midnight Creeper.” when you’re making a record. New immediately. And he never left until he
You know what it is about records? Orleans or New York—wherever he’d went with Roberta Flack, who paid him
It’s a matter of timing. You could make have been he had talent. I don’t look for a lotta money.
a record this month and you won’t sell anything special in a drummer, I just [As told to Willard Jenkins]
mind and we did them in New York and being extremely tough on drummers
it was fun and he was very cooperative. when they weren’t giving him what he
When I listened to Joe Sample play, he was looking for. Not like Buddy Rich,
inspired me to dig deeper. It always felt who didn’t have much of a sense of
to me that every note meant something humor about it [when he criticized his
to him. I could feel it when I listened musicians]—Joe was laughing at the
to his touch, the way he went from one same time that he was coming up with
note to the next. It was very deliberate; every profanity he could think of.
he was very rhythmic, and there was a But underneath, [his criticism] had
strong feeling about where the pulse and a little bit of that Miles Davis thing in
the groove were on every note. I always which he was calling upon his sidemen
responded to his minimalism; he was to raise their standards, to play better:
very much a single-note type of player “Come on, give me more! What else you
as a soloist, which I totally related to. He got?” I think he had a very strong ego as a
didn’t solo in a flashy, virtuosic style, and leader and knew exactly what he wanted.
I’ve always tried to approach the piano He went for it, and if the drummer or the
the same way, rather than playing a bass player weren’t giving it to him, he
whole lot of notes. would not hesitate to give it right back to
We were pretty parallel in age, and them. So the one time I had a chance to
in the ’70s we were going through the work with him one on one, I was a little
same thing at the same time, hearing bit afraid that he was going to launch into
the differences in the way drummers me. But I got off lightly!
JOE SAMPLE were playing and the shift from acoustic

bass to electric bass and rock rhythms
[As told to Jeff Tamarkin]
2.1.39–9.12.14 finding their way in. These changes were

happening to Joe in his way and hap-
By Bob James
PIANO PLAYERS DON’T VERY OFTEN
pening to me in mine, but we were both
influenced by the Fender Rhodes and JIMMY SCOTT
get to know each other as well as players both called upon to play it. I discovered 7.17.25–6.12.14
that I could play the Rhodes in a way that
of other instruments because there’s only
had a distinctive feeling, but ultimately
By Renee Rosnes
one per gig. But through various mutual
friends Joe Sample and I did meet, and at we both ended up coming back to the big THERE WAS NEVER A PURER SPIRIT.
some point I decided I would try to cre- instrument, the grand piano. He had such vulnerability, such a
ate a way for Joe and I to work together. Joe was outrageous. He was maybe haunting sound. When I worked with
I was doing an album that ended up the funniest guy I’ve known. He was very Jimmy Scott in some New York clubs, I
being 2001’s Dancing on the Water. It colorful in his language—and brutal in remember it felt a little like a religious
had started out as a solo piano project, some ways about other musicians and experience. When he sang, there was
but I wasn’t really comfortable with be- other music that didn’t live up to his a reverence in the room. The audience
ing alone so I decided to do some duets standards. But it was all done with this listened intently, moved by the raw
and I asked Joe. He had a reputation for sense of humor that you couldn’t resist. intensity of his voice. He was a joy to
being very specific about his taste and He would say the most outrageous things accompany. The soulfulness of his tone
what he did and didn’t want to do, so I to the guys who played with him. I only and his magical elastic phrasing in-
was flattered that he accepted my offer. heard most of the stories after the fact, spired me. He was comfortable in the
I’d written a couple of tunes with him in but I know that he had a reputation for silences. He once said, “When I sang, I

soared. I could soar higher than all those Lord.” Years later, I still cannot listen to
hurts aimed at my heart.” Every time he his performance without hearing the
performed, Jimmy reached down to his prophetic tone of the lyric: “Precious
emotional core, and it was impossible Lord, take my hand, lead me on, let me
not to feel something in your gut. stand/I am tired, I am weak, I am worn/
His life was filled with profound Through the storm, through the night,
emotional and physical challenges. lead me on to the light/Take my hand,
When Jimmy was 13, he tragically lost precious Lord, lead me home.”
his mother in a car accident, and about Jimmy Scott’s divine talent led him to
the same time he was diagnosed with become one of the most influential vo-
Kallmann syndrome. However, he saw calists in history, inspiring such diverse
his suffering as his salvation and was lib- artists as Billie Holiday, Ray Charles and
erated by it, and this bravery was always Nancy Wilson, all the way to Elton John,
at the core of his artistry: “All I needed David Bowie, Lou Reed and Madonna.
was the courage to be me,” he said. “That His life exemplified the power of truth
courage took a lifetime to develop.” and beauty over adversity. He said, “If
In late August 2001, just days before we’re in the moment, if we’re truly root-
the tragedies of 9/11, Jimmy went into ed in what we’re doing when we’re doing
Lower Manhattan’s Greene St. studios to it, we can work through all the bad
record But Beautiful, his third album for George Mraz, drummer Lewis Nash and stuff. In that sense, we can all be singers
Milestone, produced by Todd Barkan. I a few choice guest soloists. The recording singing away our sadness.” When Jimmy
had the privilege of writing the arrange- closes with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Scott sang, his performances were not
ments and playing along with bassist favorite hymn, “Take My Hand, Precious just beautiful—they were transcendent.
U. SHRINIVAS the way we do. From the first note it was

just amazing. It was like he’d been made for
play anymore, but I kept imitating the strange
expressions and then the whole band just fell
2.28.69–9.19.14 Shakti. He grew up listening to Shakti, so in apart laughing. From that point on, every
a sense it was all there from the start. day Shrini would come to me and ask me
By John McLaughlin Shrinivas’ instrument and mine were to “please make the funny faces,” and off he
I FIRST SAW SHRINIVAS WHEN HE WAS 14. made for each other. They were like elder would go laughing his head off.
He was mature well beyond his actual age. I and younger sisters. He added a highly Shrini was like an angel come to Earth
had the distinct impression that he’d been here distinctive sound to our group, which, to share his light and affection with his fel-
on Earth many times before. He had a look prior to him, had featured a violin. He low musicians. We would speak about the
in his eyes that was at once totally pure and already had a mastery of rhythmic and ways of enlightenment, especially the ways
suggested there was nothing he hadn’t seen in melodic expression that I heard when he in India and the ancient traditions toward
some other time. He had been a star in India was 14, so the demands on me were in a enlightenment. He was a beautiful soul, and
since he was 7 years old and I can truthfully way even greater than when Shankar was my life is blessed to have a part of his.
say he blew my mind when I first saw him. in the group.
He was playing pure Carnatic music on an Shrinivas was thirsty to collaborate with ← Shrinivas (right) and McLaughlin in 2014
electric mandolin plugged into a Fender Twin Western musicians, just like I desired to
FROM TOP: TOM PICH/COURTESY OF THE NEA, RAJKUMAR RAJAMANI
Reverb. It was unbelievable, and I knew right collaborate with musicians from India
away I had to play with him one day. or elsewhere. It’s not that Shrinivas or I
That was in 1983. Then, in 1997, Zakir wished to play each other’s music; we just
Hussain and I tried to reunite the original wanted the opportunity to play with great
Shakti group with L. Shankar and Vikku players.
Vinayakram for a tour of the U.K. We were He had a great sense of humor and would
unable to find Shankar, so we invited flutist laugh at the silliest jokes. One time we were
Hariprasad Chaurasia to replace him. The on tour, playing in the extreme southwest
tour was a phenomenal success, especially of the U.K., and frankly the audience didn’t
musically. Zakir and I decided to continue have a clue about what we were doing. There
playing together, and Remember Shakti were some very strange facial expressions in
was born. I suggested inviting Shrinivas to the audience, and I started imitating them
replace the unfindable Shankar, since Hari- onstage, which was very irreverent on my
prasad is older and not too keen on touring part. Shrini started laughing and couldn’t
IN MEMORIAM
for more than 40 years, it has never lost planation for the title! He also used to say
← Wheeler and its magic for me. I am still excited to sing of himself, “He don’t say much, and when
Winstone in 1990 those beautifully complex lines. he does he don’t say much.” But this was
I was always moved by his music and not true. He didn’t say much, but what he
his persona. He was absolutely serious did say was very considered and would
about music. He listened constantly to often be very funny.
all kinds of music, including new music I think my favorite anecdote, which
sent to him by young musicians, and I says a lot about him, is when he took
know he always tried to respond to them some spectacles to the optician to be
in an encouraging way. I can remember mended. There were screws and arms
watching him standing between two missing because he was always dropping
musicians and he looked from one to the his glasses. He told me that there was a
other as the conversation went on. He nice young lady behind the counter and
said nothing at all, just listened. I was he asked, “Could you do something with
moved to tears! these?” She thanked him and said that
So Ken was never an effusive person, they would send them to Ethiopia where
but he was surprisingly funny. He loved they had a great need for them. He just
puns and wordplay, as is obvious from left them with her without saying why
his song titles. I once asked him where he’d taken them there in the first place.
the title of the album Deer Wan came He didn’t want to disappoint her!
from, and he said that when he was a I feel very lucky to have stood next to
child his father would often take the him so often, trying to match my sound
KENNY WHEELER family for a drive on Sunday afternoons,

and there was always a program on the
with his and hearing him create those
lines in his improvisation that were so
1.14.30–9.18.14 radio that had the signature tune which unpredictable and so recognizably his.
By Norma Winstone began, “Dear one, the world is waiting for His writing and playing were absolutely
the sunrise.” The photograph suggested original—two notes and you knew it was
I FIRST MET KENNY IN THE LATE ’60S. for the cover reminded him of those him. He was a giant, and I’m sad that
I had heard his Windmill Tilter record- journeys, driving through the Canadian there will be no more music from him.
ing with the John Dankworth Orchestra countryside. Maybe he thought of elk (or How wonderful, though, that he has left
and fallen in love with it, playing it over deer, who knows?), but this was his ex- us with so much.
and over. I’d never heard big-band writ-
ing like that. It was just one gorgeous
melody after another, and such indi-
vidual performances. I was invited to
join in some free-improvisation sessions
organized by drummer John Stevens JOE WILDER and speak about the music with him. My
students had great relationships with him.
in which Kenny was also playing, but I 2.22.22–5.9.14 He was very serious about the music, in
don’t remember saying anything to him.
By Victor Goines his sophisticated, elegant, polite way, and
I was shy, and he seemed even more shy he was very serious about his students. I
and therefore unapproachable to me. WHEN I CAME TO THE JUILLIARD think that the greatest lesson he brought
Our paths crossed more in different School in 2000 to run the jazz studies to them was that you could be yourself
musical groups, and out of the blue he program, I wanted to get somebody who and do whatever you want to do and still
asked if I’d like to do a broadcast with was instrumental in the creation of the be classy.
his big band and said that he would ar- music, so I hired Mr. Wilder. (I never The dedication he had for his instru-
range a standard for me. I don’t remem- called him Joe, not once.) But I felt that ment was easily translated to students
ber much about that broadcast, as I was that was a privilege, that he was actually in a way that they could understand it,
probably too nervous, but some time allowing me to hire him. Philosophically, specifically trumpeters. Mr. Wilder came
later he asked if I’d like to do another I always believed that students should up through Manhattan School of Music
CAROLINE FORBES/ECM RECORDS
broadcast with the band: This time he study with people who are doing what with the intention of studying classical
had written me an “instrumental” part, they want to do, and Mr. Wilder did what music, and he was certainly talented
no words. What followed were years of he wanted to do. He allowed me to lead enough to do it, but the struggles of
unforgettable music for me—because the program, but at the same time he was racism at the time prohibited him from
as anyone who has played his music always there for me to tap into his ideas doing what was probably his first dream.
knows, it is a joy to play. Although and his life experience, and my students I was impressed by Mr. Wilder’s musi-
Kenny’s music has been part of my life benefited from being able to sit in a room cianship. The clarity in his trumpet play-

ing could be heard at any point through- for human beings always came through
out his life. But what impressed me most his music.
was that he actually carried the spirit of The last time I saw Mr. Wilder he was
jazz inside of him. He was so passionate being honored at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Co-
about what he did and passionate about la. He would always thank me for having
the individuals he worked with. He was him at the Juilliard School, which was
just a phenomenal man who made you kind of odd because my vibe was thank
feel really warm when you were around you for being a part of it. Mr. Wilder was
him. I think that’s even more important really intriguing to me because he was
than the musicianship, because people such a world-renowned musician, he was
want to be around you when you show a great person and he was a gentleman:
some compassion and sensitivity toward Everything about him was what every-
them. Music is what we do but it gives body aspired to be—but not everyone
us the chance to allow our personalities can be. He possessed everything.
to come out. Mr. Wilder’s compassion [As told to Jeff Tamarkin]
every note on that record and have and shed 30 years when the music started.
always been especially drawn to Duke’s Another thing people don’t know
arrangement of “Imagine My Frustra- is that Gerald wrote all the time. Even
tion.” Wrong! It is a Gerald Wilson ar- with severe eyesight problems, our hero
rangement, and I had to embarrass myself would dictate the notes to one of his
to find out the truth. sons, who would then write the notes
I transcribed the song for our Clay- onto a score page.
ton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra to feature Gerald told me that back in the day he
Regina Carter playing Ella’s role on her would write arrangements for big band
violin. Gerald came to the concert. I with no score. He’d just write 16 separate
announced to thousands of people that parts for the musicians, which required
the arrangement was by Duke Elling- that he remember every note he had writ-
ton. The next day, I got an earful from ten for every instrument. It is fascinating
maestro Wilson! He let me know that and unheard of today. Gerald Wilson’s
he was the one who did the arrange- memory was absolutely perfect until
ment, as well as others on that and the end. He could recall events, dates,
GERALD WILSON other recordings for Duke. “Perdido” is

another killer Gerald Wilson reworking
names and various details about any
period—and he would be spot-on. I actu-
9.4.18–9.8.14 for Duke: Check out the version Duke ally witnessed a few times how he would
By John Clayton recorded in the ’60s. recall something from, say, the 1940s,
I recall seeing Gerald’s band when I and Harry “Sweets” Edison or Snooky
GERALD WILSON IS AN ICONIC AND was a teenager. They were playing in Los Young would be right there to tell him
influential figure for me. He helped to Angeles at Shelly’s Manne-Hole. I had that they remembered it that way as well.
guide the direction my music has taken, never seen anything like that! Bobby More often, he would remember with an
FROM TOP: TOM PICH/COURTESY OF THE NEA, CURTIS MCELHINNEY
and there’s no hiding it: If you’ve seen me Bryant, Blue Mitchell, Jimmy Bond, uncanny clarity that even his friends and
conduct, you know that a lot of my style Jimmy Cleveland, Jerome Richardson colleagues did not have.
and concept comes from Gerald Wilson. and so many other L.A. giants played. Like all of the writers I know—in-
What most people don’t know is that He would hover over the saxes with his cluding his son, Anthony—he was very
Duke Ellington held Gerald in such high arms extended over his head, dancing thoughtful about what he wrote. His
regard he became a ghostwriter for Duke. from side to side, moaning and growling music was serious. His songs were often
If maestro Ellington had a project with their parts, possessed and spewing energy written about or for people and events.
a tight deadline, he would have Gerald that forced everyone to play with intense He loved bullfights, for instance, and
write for him. In some cases, Gerald focus. Wow! Imagine what an impact that there are several examples that show this
would only get paid his fee and not had on a 19-year-old. One of the most influence in his music.
receive an arranging credit on the album. remarkable things is that he conducted We’re so grateful that Gerald Wil-
Still, Gerald was ready for the next oppor- with those broad sweeps, drawing sound son’s music is here for us. I’m especially
tunity. One of my desert island albums from his band with his hands. He might grateful that I got to hear, know and be
is Ella at Duke’s Place, from 1965. I know hobble onto the stage, but he came to life influenced by the man and his music. JT
Sound
advice
AudioFiles
←AudioQuest
Drag
Music Boxes
A SEPARATE DIGITAL-TO-ANALOG CONVERTER CAN MAKE
YOUR HI-FI OR HEADPHONES SOUND HEAVENLY
By Brent Butterworth ←Audioengine D3
U
pgrading your hi-fi system usually requires some ex- work as “digital preamps,” with as many as a half-dozen digital
pertise. You have to put your new speakers in just the audio inputs, while some offer only USB input. Some are porta-
right places, position your phono cartridge within 1 ble, while some take up an entire shelf (or two) in an equipment
mm or so, and dig deep into onscreen menu systems rack. Many now incorporate headphone amps. A closer look at
to get your audio/video receiver properly configured. But there a few models will give you a better idea.
is an upgrade you can make that’s as simple as plugging in one
extra box: adding a separate digital-to-analog converter.
A digital-to-analog converter, or DAC, converts digital audio Road Song
i l f d nloaded or streamed files, or Most of today’s most affordable DACs are tiny models intended
Ds and Blu-rays, into analog for portable use. Some are no bigger than a typical USB mem-
hat can be amplified and played ory stick—for example, AudioQuest’s $149 v1.2 DragonFly and
kers. Digital-to-analog convert- Audioengine’s $149 D3. Both can handle digital audio files up
nto computers, smartphones, to 24/96 resolution. Just shove either one into your computer’s
CD/DVD players, but in most USB port, and connect a set of headphones or use a 1/8-inch-
DAC is a generic chip chosen stereo-to-dual-RCA cable to connect the DAC to your stereo. I
w cost rather than its high have and like both products; to my ears, the Audioquest sounds
ance. subtly brighter, the Audioengine subtly mellower.
ore of an audiophile-grade One downside to these products is that they hang out of your
te DAC is a high-performance computer just like a USB stick, so it’s easy to accidentally knock
l-to-analog converter chip (or them loose. An alternative is the Cambridge Audio DacMagic
or four of them), supported by XS, a $189, matchbook-sized DAC that connects with a short
ean, well-filtered power supply USB cable and includes volume up/down buttons. It handles
d high-quality preamplifier files in resolution up to 24/192.
rcuits. Typically you’ll hear less
noise, more detail and smoother
and more natural sound in
general. Low-
quality DACs built
←Musical Fidelity V90-DAC
computers tend to
n the details or add
← Cambridge Audio of unnatural edge
DacMagic XS to the sound.
Almost all separate
DACs sold today support high-resolution music
files; the more expensive ones often handle exotic,
ultra-high-resolution digital formats such as DSD
files and/or 24-bit/384-kilohertz PCM files. Some

←Pro-Ject Stream Box
←Audioengine D2
←Jolida Glass FX Tube DAC III
Comin’ Home Baby

Any of the DACs listed above will work in a home system, but some mix of advanced features such as DSD capability, pro-
you can only use them with the USB output on a computer or fessional-style balanced outputs, more inputs, remote control
smartphone. At home, you probably have some other digital and perhaps a built-in volume control that lets you connect the
audio sources that could benefit from a good DAC, such as a DAC directly to an amplifier, eliminating the need for a pre-
CD/DVD/Blu-ray player, an Internet streaming box like Apple amp. You can even get DACs that incorporate vacuum tubes,
TV or even your TV itself. In this case, you’re better off with a such as Jolida’s $499 Glass FX Tube DAC III. The tubes are used
DAC designed for home use, one that includes multiple inputs as the output amplifiers, to give the sound a warmer tone.
besides USB. Typically, home DACs will sound better, too. Poke around a few audiophile-oriented retail websites and
There are innumerable home DACs available, at prices rang- you’ll find plenty more options. There’s Audioengine’s $399
ing from about $300 to more than $30,000. A popular starter D2, a USB DAC that transmits sound from your computer to
model is Musical Fidelity’s $299 V90-DAC, a 7-inch-wide box your stereo system. Or the $1,999 Pro-Ject Stream Box RS, a
with four digital inputs: one USB, two optical (great for Apple DAC that can also stream music from any computer or hard
TV and most TV sets) and one coaxial (good for most disc drive on your network. Whichever way you go, one thing’s for
players). It handles files up to 24/96 resolution through USB sure: It’s almost certain to deliver a substantial improvement
and 24/192 resolution through coaxial. over the DAC built into your laptop. And all you have to do is
If you step up to a more expensive model, you will likely get plug it in. JT
JAZZTIMES.COM 57
Sound
advice
Chops
None But the Brave
INTERESTED IN LEADING A LARGE ENSEMBLE?
TAKE SOME ADVICE FROM THREE OF TODAY’S
TOP COMPOSER-BANDLEADERS ← Maria Schneider, Darcy
James Argue and Arturo
By Shaun Brady O’Farrill (clockwise from above)
F
rom the burst of laughter that follows, it’s clear that Maria that doesn’t necessarily mean
Schneider is (mostly) joking when she says her first piece that they’re wrong for the job.
of advice to someone contemplating forming a big band Your duty as a bandleader is to
would be “Turn around and run.” But given the challenges get the most out of their skills.
that face any ensemble in today’s economic and cultural climate, “There are musicians who are
perhaps it’s good advice to any but the most dedicated bandleader. going to respect your purpose
“It’s sort of like going through labor,” Schneider continues. “It’s and vision and there are those
the most painful thing in the world and then all of a sudden it’s who are not. And if you take
like, ‘Look at this child! It’s the most beautiful thing ever!’ So when that personally, you might as
somebody says they’re starting a band, I look at them the way well just go back to bed and
some people look at other people when they say, ‘We’re pregnant.’ pull the covers up over your head. No matter what happens, you
Congratulations, and, oh boy, are they ever in for a life.” have to have incredible respect for your musicians. You have to
It’s the rewards that most potential bandleaders have in mind understand that life as a musician is really difficult, and you’re
when they envision assembling a big band, and many are will- asking a lot of people who are working really diligently to hone
ing to put in the long hours of composing, arranging, recruit- their craft to come together and, to some degree, leave their
ing and rehearsing. But it’s an executive position as well as an individuality behind.”
artistic one, and many may find themselves unprepared for the On the other hand, Schneider says, bandleaders have to be sure
additional responsibilities of managing personnel, raising funds, not to squelch too much of a performer’s individuality in favor
finding gigs, navigating contracts and dealing with logistics. “It’s of their own vision. “It’s challenging, but you really have to be
a full-time job even without the music part,” Schneider insists. sensitive to not limiting somebody with what you think, because
So how does a beginning bandleader make the transition from they might come up with something creatively that you wouldn’t
musical aspiration to practical action? The first step, according think of,” she says. “It’s a really delicate balance, because you get
to some of the most successful big-band leaders in modern jazz, diminishing returns when a player feels like you’re micromanag-
is to make sure that you’re confident in your own vision and to ing them. But there are other times when I’ve felt that I could have
project that to the musicians under your baton. According to gone further in telling them what I’m hearing to help them.”
Arturo O’Farrill, director of the Afro Latin Jazz Orchestra, “In a That doesn’t mean that you don’t correct them when their
group of 21 people there will always be three or four who think efforts fail to align with your overall concept, however. “Obvi-
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: WHIT LANE, LINDSAY BEYERSTEIN, REBECCA MEEK
you’re an idiot and that they could do it better. And they may be ously you can’t recommend the whole Buddy Rich approach in
right! Nonetheless, you’re the person out front, and if you’re not this day and age,” says Argue, referencing the recorded diatribes
in charge of your people then there’s going to be anarchy.” of the famously irascible drummer-bandleader. “You have to
With few, if any, musicians able to keep a permanent work- remain incredibly patient, calm and collected and offer positive
ing orchestra together full time à la the Ellington or Basie bands reinforcement. You have not only your own ego to think about
of old, rehearsal time is at a premium. In order to maximize the but everyone else’s in the band, and the most positive musical re-
scant hours available, all three bandleaders we spoke with recom- sults usually come from trying to describe what needs to happen
mended introducing a new piece by focusing on its most challeng- as opposed to getting upset that it’s not happening.”
ing sections before attempting to run through the composition as Ultimately, those are the moments that make all of the strug-
a whole. “What is the absolute most essential thing you need to gles worthwhile—the moment when the baby is born, to return
address first?” poses Darcy James Argue, leader of the 18-piece to Schneider’s analogy. “When things are going well and the
Secret Society big band. “If we’re going to get through this on the sound coming out of the band recreates the feeling that inspired
gig without it being a train wreck, where do we have to direct our you to write the music in the first place,” Argue says, “that’s the
attention?” best feeling in the world. That’s the sensation that makes it worth
No matter how passionate you are about your own voice, all the incredible logistical and financial challenges that go hand
O’Farrill says, not every musician will share your tastes, but in hand with such an unreasonable way of making music.” JT

GearHead
Alto by New From Vic Firth
Rock, jazz and jazz-rock
i Selmer veteran Steve Smith has added
a product to his multi-rod-like
ts new SeleS Tala Wand line. The new TW4
Henri Selmer Tala Wand – Slats (pictured)
cently released features a foam center covered
s, an alto sax with four flat bamboo slats wrapped in PVC. Volume-wise, the Slats aims to
cording to the be louder than Smith’s Tala Wand and Rute models but quieter than a standard
any, “provides drumstick, with wide-ranging textural and dynamic capabilities and excellent
laying comfort feel. “I particularly love using the TW4s in groove situations,” Smith says in a
with its spe- press release.
cially adapted In other Vic Firth news, the company has released barrel-tipped versions of its
keywork and ubiquitous American Classic 5a and 5b sticks. vicfirth.com
at mechanical
bility.” The horn,
d in France, D’Addario Select Jazz Alto Mouthpiece
s leather pads D’Addario’s Select Jazz alto model shoots for the ideal that so
metal resona- many current mouthpiece manufacturers have their sights set on: a
nd ships with a vintage-inspired design achieved through computer-driven
Selmer Paris S-80 manufacturing precision. The mouthpiece is milled out of solid
C* mouthpiece and a rod rubber rather than molded, is available in three tip openings
backpack-style case. (5, 6 and 7) and features a medium chamber and facing length.
$6,499 retail. selmer.fr $149 online. daddario.com
New From Hal Leonard ing a few choice new books worth checking out. Journeyman bassist
Hal Leonard’s recently launched PlayAlong is a game-changing edu- and educator Andy McKee’s 72-page 101 Upright Bass Tips: Stuff All
cational resource, even within the burgeoning market of tablet apps. the Pros Know and Use ($14.99, with audio download code) is the
Programs featuring interactive sheet music, play-along tracks and sort of book you can keep around and dip into now and again to
practice tools are many at this point, but never has an app integrat- pick up a fresh, pithy nugget of musical wisdom. McKee’s “tips” are
ed its features as smartly and attractively. Start obviously born of professional experience, he’s a breezy, conver-
with the sheet music, which is hyper-clean and sational writer and his expertise runs the gamut, from technique
easy to read and can be easily marked up and and instrument maintenance to travel logistics and
adjusted (in note size, transposition and more). more open, even philosophical musical advice,
Then there are the backing tracks— like the importance of the blues and developing
facsimiles of iconic music that are a deep rapport with your drummer. Also in the
as convincing as re-recordings bass-book stack is the 92-page Charlie Parker for
get—which can be slowed down Bass ($19.99), a collection of 20 heads and sax solos
or sped up without changing the arranged for electric bass, in standard notation
music’s pitch or diminishing audio and tab. You can already hum the tunes—and
quality. Other tools include tuners, probably most of the solos: “Anthropology,” “Bil-
metronomes and straightforward lie’s Bounce,” “Confirmation,” “Donna Lee,” “Ko
recording functions via the tablet Ko,” “Ornithology,” etc. Grab your fretless and a
mic or a selection of iOS interfaces. percussionist and do your best Jaco. Finally there’s
Right now the song selection is strong but not Jack Eskridge’s 184-page Blues to Jazz ($24.95), a book that
extraordinary. At the time of this writing, in mid- serves to guide players through a common guitarists’ cross-
January, a search for “jazz” turns up 215 results. roads: absorbing the more advanced harmonies and chord
But the company no doubt has oodles of content shapes of jazz after having developed a working knowledge
being prepped for addition. Prices aren’t all that of the blues. Eskridge explains the various jazz-inflected
cheap—a score/audio package for a single song runs $4.99; just the blues progressions (say, the Be-Bop Blues, derived from “Blues
audio is $.99—but shouldn’t dissuade you from giving the app a go. for Alice”) before presenting a compendium of triadic “rhythm
For those who prefer the slightly more streamlined technology of chord” shapes. Want to comp those lab-band charts? Start here.
ink and paper, Hal Leonard recently published or began distribut- halleonard.com
JAZZTIMES.COM 59
Reviews
CDs
60 69
Vox
Iyer’s approach is at once angular and
melodic, at turns delicate and muscular.
At this point, Crump and Gilmore know
him so well, and vice versa, that every
moment of interaction is completely
empathetic, almost telepathic. That ethos
is firmly in place on the latter half of
“Taking Flight,” as Gilmore’s drumming,
incorporating elements of reggae and
hip-hop, leads the band while Crump
and Iyer punctuate perfectly. “Chorale”
is a study in tightly woven contrasts, Iyer
skipping and galloping across the keys
over Crump’s lumbering bass and Gilm-
ore’s restlessly skittering percussion.
Each tune brims with tension and
dynamics, even one as simple as “Hood,”
which employs the acoustic rhythm
section as a conduit for techno music.
Despite the repetition and minimalism,
the song never flags; rather, the drama
←“About creative destruction”: Pianist Vijay Iyer, flanked by bassist Stephan Crump (left) builds, as Iyer plops his notes and chords
and drummer Marcus Gilmore ever so slightly off the beat, just enough
to create a sense of foreboding. There are
pretty songs, such as “Wrens” and other
VIJAY IYER TRIO crowd when pairing with a poet or lead- tunes named for birds, and there are
BREAK STUFF (ECM) ing ensembles featuring electronics and creative revisions of challenging com-
Vijay Iyer has been up to a tabla. But to create music so distinctive positions: a redo of Thelonious Monk’s
lot since his trio recorded in the most common of combos? That “Work” that adds spaces and pauses,
its last album, 2012’s takes some ingenuity. Like the greatest a twist on John Coltrane’s “Count-
fantastic Accelerando. Iyer pianists in jazz history—Bud Powell, Art down” that incorporates West African
is the most celebrated Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans— rhythms, and a beautiful solo take of
pianist in jazz—he may be the most Iyer could never be mistaken for anyone Billy Strayhorn’s “Blood Count.” The title
celebrated musician in jazz right now— else. Whether playing jazz standards, track brings to bear every aforemen-
and that gives him great creative license. covering pop songs or performing one of tioned element—lovely lines, powerful
He’s used it. With spoken-word artist his own compositions, Iyer’s attacks and punctuations, breakbeats and a devotion
Mike Ladd, he led a multimedia effort nuances are immediately identifiable, so to the dramatic. In the final analysis, it
about soldiers returning from war (2013’s obviously his. The wild part is that, for an is Iyer’s vision and individuality, but also
Holding It Down: The Veterans’ Dreams artist so obsessed with precision and so his bond with his trio, that makes Break
Project). In 2014 he released third-stream enamored of a mathematical approach, Stuff such a smashing success.
music with a string quartet (his ECM his music is so accessible. STEVE GREENLEE
leader debut, Mutations), and performed Break Stuff is about creative destruc-
his score to a mesmerizing film (Radhe tion—as well as “the break,” a phrase that REZ ABBASI
Radhe: Rites of Holi, now on DVD and Iyer uses to describe “a span of time in ACOUSTIC QUARTET
Blu-ray) that used Stravinsky’s The Rite of which to act.” With his longstanding trio INTENTS AND PURPOSES (Enja)
Spring as a starting point. In the featuring bassist Stephan Crump and The conceit behind Intents
meantime he was also awarded a drummer Marcus Gilmore, Iyer reimag- and Purposes is a nifty one:
MacArthur Fellowship and got himself ines tunes by jazz giants, recasts pieces seminal fusion tunes,
JUAN HITTERS/ECM RECORDS
appointed to the faculty at Harvard from his 2013 large-ensemble project rendered in the gentler tex-
University. “Open City,” reconstructs material from tures of acoustic guitar
For all his experimenting, it is with the his 2012 Museum of Modern Art com- (Rez Abbasi), vibraphone (Bill Ware),
simplest format—the piano-bass-drums mission “Break Stuff ” and trots out new bass (Stephan Crump) and drums (Eric
trio—that Iyer has most distinguished tunes. They all intertwine so perfectly McPherson). Abbasi’s Acoustic Quartet
himself. Anyone will stand out from the with one another. makes its point handily in one track:

Return to Forever’s “Medieval Overture,” and concise. Brewer’s achievement is to bassline alludes to Bach’s cello prelude—
one of the era’s most obnoxious record- merge five strong personalities into his or the ballroom. The latter defines the
ings. Here, layers and layers of sound concept while leveraging their strengths. Latin arrangements: not only “Besame
(and bombast) fall away, revealing an That concept gravitates toward Mucho” and “Libertango” but standards
impressive composition that glows idiosyncratic lyricism, spare but fervent. “Alone Together” and “Poinciana,” all of
within Abbasi and Ware’s interplay. Even Brewer wrote all the tunes but one. They which essentially become tangos (very
McPherson’s long drum solo, based in are mostly neo-ballads that veer and elegant, danceable ones). Guests include
timbral variation, outdoes the original. evolve unpredictably. The instrumenta- violin soloists John Blake Jr., who shines
Not that the rest of the album is re- tion provides opportunities for unusual on “Haitian Fight Song,” and Regina
dundant; most of it is even better. “There color blends and lush harmonies. Tunes Carter, who shines on everything she
Comes a Time” makes swing out of the are carefully arranged. Players stay in touches (“Freedom,” “A Gozar Con Mi
Tony Williams Lifetime acid-rock jam, their roles, but when they emerge from Combo,” “Libertango”); bassist Kenny
with Abbasi’s easy bends and Ware’s quiet the ensemble, they burn. “Moorings” is Davis, whose appearances allow Dixon
fills making Lifetime seem oddly labored floating, indeterminate and haunting. to thicken the ensemble textures rather
in comparison. “Black Market” tones Turner and Lund each give it specific than vamp; and, on “Haitian Fight Song,”
down Weather Report’s funk to empha- personal meaning, even as they smoke it. drummer Orion Turre, Dixon’s son.
size airy lyricism instead. “Red Baron” Those two also offer compact, detailed, Her daughter Andromeda Turre also
does the opposite, maintaining Billy complete elaborations of “Rose Hill,” a appears to sing “Lush Life,” a version
Cobham’s good-time groove even with song that hovers over Virelles’ incanta- that is close to definitive. This, and the
much subtler contributions all around tory vamp. Turner and Lehman are a aching rendition of “Moon River,” with
(especially from McPherson, who’s smart lethal duo, scissoring into one another solos by violinist Patricia Tomassini and
and engaging without Cobham’s busy- at the opening of “Fighting Windmills.” violist Ina Paris, is the album at its most
ness). Virtuosity, too, persists despite Then Virelles briefly abandons his obses- transcendent.
subtlety, whether in four-way interac- sive cycling figures and flows free. The As one of her solos, Dixon sings a
tions like “Butterfly,” or in solos like title track is a teetering sing-song made wordless improvisation on “It Never
Ware’s sumptuous syncopation on Pat from two-saxophone counterpoint. It is Entered My Mind.” The others com-
Martino’s “Joyous Lake.” Abbasi has a re- Lehman’s feature. His solo is a rarefied prise a moaning romance on “Alone
markable fretless line on “Butterfly” and dissertation, rich in content. Together” and a defiantly staccato arco
a gorgeous, unaccompanied baritone- On Ornette Coleman’s “Free,” Turner line on “A Gozar.” That she doesn’t
guitar performance (with an English folk and Lehman, synchronized, hurtle solo on the two aforementioned best
redolence) of Larry Coryell’s “Low-Lee- together through the head, reimagining tracks might say something about the
Tah.” Intents and Purposes is one of the 1960, channeling Coleman and Don importance of artistic selflessness. Still,
first great records of 2015. Cherry. Then Brewer takes one of the good as it is, it’d be nice to hear more
One caveat: Abbasi’s choices include most creative, far-reaching bass solos of Dixon on her namesake album.
Mahavishnu Orchestra’s “Resolution,” in recent memory, demonstrating that MICHAEL J. WEST
to which there isn’t much—it’s more he is a special improviser as well as a
or less a film cue in search of a titles promising new bandleader. RED GARLAND TRIO
sequence. The quartet, better than this THOMAS CONRAD SWINGIN’ ON THE KORNER:
material, does what it can. LIVE AT KEYSTONE KORNER (Elemental)
MICHAEL J. WEST AKUA DIXON When discussing jazz’s
AKUA DIXON (Akua’s Music) great pianists, Red Garland
MATT BREWER Akua Dixon made a usually gets mentioned late
MYTHOLOGY (Criss Cross) baffling choice in self- in the conversation, if at
Matt Brewer’s recording titling her second album, all. Despite his centrality
debut as a leader is an which features the cellist in to the first great Miles Davis quintet, his
underground all-star a string quartet, plus work with John Coltrane and his
project. Underground special guests. It’s a declamatory successful run as a trio leader, Garland’s
because the players here presentation, but what is she declaiming star has dimmed considerably since his
are critics’ favorites but not exactly when she solos exactly three times on the death in 1984. Swingin’ on the Korner,
festival draws; all-star because they are entire album? That said, Akua Dixon is a a two-CD or three-LP collection of
heavy hitters on the frontier of the jazz beautiful, sometimes exquisite recording. previously unreleased recordings from a
art form. They are alto saxophonist Steve Its flavor is much more chamber- 1977 run at San Francisco’s Keystone
Lehman, tenor saxophonist Mark Turner, classical than jazz, compared to, say, Korner, argues that Garland deservers a
pianist David Virelles, guitarist Lage the Turtle Island (String) Quartet. bigger place in the pantheon.
Lund and drummer Marcus Gilmore. Most of it doesn’t swing, except for the Garland is joined by bassist Leroy
Their playing is edgy, clean and intel- opener, “Haitian Fight Song,” Ellington’s Vinnegar and Davis rhythm-section co-
ligent. But Mythology is an atypical all- “Freedom” and the second half of “Lush hort Philly Joe Jones on drums. The gig
star session. Even with all the individual Life.” Otherwise it adheres to Euro- marked the only time these musicians
firepower in this band, solos are selective pean tradition—Dixon’s “Moon River” comprised Garland’s trio, and they are
JAZZTIMES.COM 61
Reviews
in fine fettle as they work out a program teased-out opening vamp and impec- include trombonist John Gove, whose
of pop and jazz standards. Garland cably intonated trills of “Trocando Em fat tone and nimble slide work liven up
combines clanging Erroll Garner block Miudos,” a 1978 pop song about the Bob Berg’s “Friday Night at the Cadillac
chords with moments of single-note material divisions of divorce. It’s in the Club”; trumpeter Dave Len Scott, doing
whimsy on “I Wish I Knew,” and his lapping intensity and restraint of the Arturo Sandoval proud on the Cuban
feel for melodic space gives a melan- trio’s version of Djavan’s 1980 lament maestro’s exultant “Caprichosos De La
choly ache to the obscure ballad “If I’m “Triste Baia Da Guanabara,” and in Habana”; and alto saxophonist Marc
Lucky.” Jones’ snare bombs and hissing the way Goldberg holds the notes on Russo, who wails jubilantly on “Mercy
cymbals punch along Garland’s hard- Toninho Horta’s gorgeous late-’80s waltz Mercy Mercy” and “Let the Good Times
swinging take on “Bags’ Groove,” and “Francisca.” Roll.” Russo is joined on the latter by
“Dear Old Stockholm” epitomizes the Goldberg adds his own kindred waltz, guest vocalist Kenny Washington, who
drummer’s facility for solos that thunder “The Wind in the Night,” a love song also rings forth with a joyful wordless
while never losing the beat. Vinnegar that has Rogers alternately providing the solo on “I Didn’t Know What Time It
proves himself a master of the walking brace for him to lean on and the balm Was,” his crystal-clear voice a pleasing
style on “The Best Things in Life Are to limber up his phrasing. Harland is contrast to Aaron Lington’s deep-in-the-
Free,” and he gives “On Green Dolphin likewise crucial to The Now. Goldberg pocket baritone sax.
Street” a sturdy foundation while Gar- specifically fetes him on “E-Land,” leav- But thinking back on The Tommy Igoe
land coaxes fire from one of jazz’s most ing prime sonic real estate for the drum- Groove Conspiracy, it’s less the solos one
seductive melodies. mer’s fills and then tossing out some remembers than the sheer driving force
The music collected here ignores riffage for the drummer’s counterpoint. of the booming unison brass-and-reeds
the cataclysmic shifts in jazz since But Harland is actually more impressive arrangements. Whether darting their
Garland’s days with Davis; if told these snaking his snare beats hard on the heels fleet-footed way through the intricate
recordings had been made in 1957 of Goldberg’s sinuous line during Warne lines of Joshua Redman’s “Jazz Crimes”
instead of 20 years later, one wouldn’t Marsh’s “Background Music,” and other- or having a ball on guest bassist Michael
bat an eyelash. But when musicians wise shading the rhythm with a delicacy League’s (Snarky Puppy) richly funk-ified
with this much skill and harmonic that is an unheralded component of his “Quarter Master” (on which Igoe cuts
synchronicity tackle even the most fa- overall expertise. loose with a ripping march-cadence solo),
miliar standards, magic can take place, The only song that doesn’t fit is the the TIGC brings high-flying energy and
and Swingin’ on the Korner is as deeply closer, “One Life,” an emotional compo- exhilarating musicianship to the table.
pleasurable as it is vital to the restora- sition in tribute to a child of Goldberg’s MATT R. LOHR
tion of Garland’s legacy. friends who has passed away. It’s the
MATT R. LOHR longest song and only non-trio piece, JUSTIN KAUFLIN
with guest Kurt Rosenwinkel dominant DEDICATION (Qwest/Jazz Village)
AARON GOLDBERG on guitar. The change is abrupt, and Expectations for Justin
THE NOW (Sunnyside) carries too much freight. Cherish it later, Kauflin’s second album,
The Now marks the fifth not in the woven context of The Now. produced by Quincy Jones,
tersely titled disc in 16 BRITT ROBSON have been high following
years for pianist Aaron the success of Keep on
Goldberg’s trio with THE TOMMY IGOE Keepin’ On, the award-winning docu-
drummer Eric Harland GROOVE CONSPIRACY mentary about the young pianist’s close
and bassist Reuben Rogers. An obvious THE TOMMY IGOE friendship with nonagenarian trumpet
parallel to this persistent dedication to GROOVE CONSPIRACY (Deep Rhythm) legend and jazz educator Clark Terry.
art and craft is the Brad Mehldau Trio, The Tommy Igoe Groove Kauflin, who has been blind since age 11,
led by another pianist who suffers facile Conspiracy, the drummer/ met Terry—he affectionately calls him
comparisons to Bill Evans and Keith bandleader’s 15-piece “CT”—as a jazz student at William
Jarrett. But Goldberg and his rhythm collective, is all about big: Paterson University in New Jersey, where
section (who also pair up behind Charles big band, big sound, the Terry is permanent artist-in-residence.
Lloyd) have steadfastly refined a mixture big buzz they’ve generated during their After Kauflin’s graduation, Terry
of elements that is at once distinctive and Tuesday-night residency at Yoshi’s in the continued to tutor him despite Terry’s
familiar: thoughtful Goldberg originals Bay Area. The band’s self-titled debut own serious health problems, including
that are usually either postbop or recording doesn’t stint on size, either. It’s failing vision due to diabetes.
balladry; slightly skewed covers of a bold, brassy collection of R&B and When filming began five years ago,
mid-20th-century jazz tunes; and some funk-inflected tracks with no shortage of the 23-year-old Kauflin confessed,
exquisite Latin American jazz, pop or speed, soul and swing. “My sound is not where I want it to be.
folk songs. The occasional guest star is Igoe’s drumming, splashy and full of When you hear CT playing the horn,
added for seasoning. hard-hitting runs, solidly supports the you know that it’s Clark. ... I have to
Much of the depth and soul of The ensemble, but the bandleader is happy figure out how to be me.” Kauflin, whom
Now stems from Goldberg expressing to largely cede the spotlight to a gifted the film depicts as suffering from crip-
the saudade of Brazilian music. It’s in the collection of musicians. Standouts pling stage fright, can relax: The album

is a mature artistic statement by a young Brazilian Nights suffers from the lack MICHAEL MANTLER
pianist who is, by leaps and bounds, real- of a human rhythm section. The drums THE JAZZ COMPOSER’S
izing his potential. and percussion are programmed, and too ORCHESTRA UPDATE (ECM)
The 12 Kauflin originals on display often the leaden, robotic rhythms weigh Michael Mantler organized
here are mainstream and melodic, down the melodies. On “Corcovado,” the original The Jazz
reflective and spacious, with blues and G’s performance is burdened by clank- Composer’s Orchestra
Americana influences; he uses the ing, plodding beats, while metronomic album in 1968, as a
clean, disciplined arrangements as a percussion encumbers the gentle sway manifestation of his and
springboard for some serious soloing. of the sweet title track. A more organic then-wife Carla Bley’s activities in the
His classical training is apparent in his rhythmic approach and more inventive new jazz scene in New York. The music,
delicate touch, clear articulation, and arrangements would have served G better. all penned by Mantler, featured dense,
his ability to unspool long, graceful, LUCY TAUSS long-toned backdrops (inspired by
improvised melodic lines. Throughout
he is ably backed by Billy Williams on
drums and Christopher Smith on bass,
with occasional appearances by guitarists RUDRESH MAHANTHAPPA
Matt Stevens and Etan Haziza. BIRD CALLS (ACT)
The title, Dedication, has two mean- Alto saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa has usually
ings: seven of the 12 songs are dedicated been most riveting when engaged in collaborative projects. While
to Kauflin’s teachers, relatives and friends, Raw Materials, his duo with pianist Vijay Iyer, is probably most
including the late Mulgrew Miller. It also renowned, Mahanthappa’s best creative partnerships have often
refers to the perseverance and commit- been with fellow alto players, including Steve Lehman in Dual
ment to craft that Kauflin has so demon- Identity, Bunky Green in Apex and the Carnatic master Kadri Gopalnath on the
strably learned from his great friend CT. 2008 record Kinsmen.
ALLEN MORRISON With Bird Calls, we can put Charlie Parker at or near the top of that distin-
guished list. The influence of Parker has been apparent in Mahanthappa’s style as
KENNY G much for the way he attacks a song with an uncompromising blend of rapid force
BRAZILIAN NIGHTS (Concord) and lyrical flow as for any specifics in harmony or rhythm. But this album puts
In the liner notes to Mahanthappa’s enriched Parker scholarship on ingenious display, using different
Brazilian Nights, Kenny G elements of songs from Bird’s catalog as inspirations, interpolations, excerpts and
declares, “I’ve been in love deconstructions for eight of Mahanthappa’s own compositions and five snip-
with bossa nova my whole pets entitled “Bird Calls.” Some connections are fairly obvious (especially with
life.” Whether that’s the publicity materials and liner notes providing a cheat sheet). “Both Hands”
actually true or just a marketing line, the removes the rests from the melody of Bird’s “Dexterity” to further tromp the
smooth-jazz saxophonist demonstrates a throttle. “Maybe Later” keeps the rhythm but changes the notes to Bird’s indelible
genuine affinity for Brazilian music on solo from “Now’s the Time.” The links between “On the DL” and Bird’s “Donna
this album, a mix of classics and original Lee,” or “Sure Why Not?” and “Confirmation,” are less apparent.
tracks composed by G and his longtime More to the point, however, Bird Calls uses the inspiration of Parker to channel
collaborator Walter Afanasieff, all Mahanthappa’s abundant energy. He wields the familiar riff from “Parker’s Mood” into
performed with palpable enthusiasm. an incandescent, modern alto workout that sprawls but never goes awry, becom-
G, who plays soprano, alto and tenor ing a brand new song that pays tribute to his 2-year-old son with the title “Talin Is
saxes here, doesn’t stray too far from Thinking.” Further juice is provided by
the sound that made him a commercial trumpet phenom Adam O’Farrill (the
behemoth. Those who love his lyrical 20-year-old son of Arturo O’Farrill)
melodies punctuated by those trade- in the Dizzy Gillespie role, and by
mark fluttering, rapid-fire runs won’t be dynamo drummer Rudy Royston, a
disappointed, and those who consider G superb choice for this setting. (Pianist
a blight on jazz probably won’t have their Matt Mitchell and bassist François
minds changed by this album. Moutin round out the band.)
But while G places his unmistakable You don’t have to be a Parker acolyte
stylistic stamp on the tracks on Brazilian to appreciate Bird Calls—indeed, bebop
Nights, he also demonstrates a willing- literalists will be disappointed by the
ness to seek new ways to present some frequently torrid liberties taken. But if
very well-known tunes. He offers a you crave the jolt of a horn player on
bright, cheery take on Paul Desmond’s fire, you’ll be drawn to these conflagra-
JIMMY & DENA KATZ
“Bossa Antigua,” the tempo picked up tions whether or not you recognize
slightly, and delivers an expansive ver- • “Rapid force and lyrical flow”: Bird shadow-dancing in the light.
sion of the Jobim classic “Corcovado” Rudresh Mahanthappa BRITT ROBSON
that’s both lyrical and agile.
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Reviews
European avant-garde classical works) The musicianship is not at issue, with Maybe it’s their shared Colorado
layered with improvisations by Don the quartet members all contributing roots, but Miles and Frisell exude a
Cherry, Larry Coryell, Roswell Rudd and strong work. Marsalis’ rounded tone ex- sense of parochial community, often
Cecil Taylor, among others. Saxophonist udes wistful emotion on “Nancy (With by varying the timbre of their instru-
Pharoah Sanders created the most brutal the Laughing Face),” and his muted ments in an acutely sensitive yet ever-
piece, shrieking for three minutes over a wah-wah effects grant the band’s take dynamic fashion. There is a prideful,
relentless march pattern that suggested on the Sesame Street theme a wonky knee-pumping pomp to their interac-
Bernard Herrmann’s theme from Psycho. playfulness. Bassist John Clayton tion on “Comma” that nevertheless
While digitizing his numerous scores weaves pensive phrases on “I’m Confes- feels as innocent as the town square
recently, Mantler hit upon the idea of sin’,” and drummer Marvin “Smitty” on a holiday afternoon. They imbue
updating those early works for perfor- Smith breaks out the bongos to give Charles Mingus’ “Jive Five Floor Four”
mance. The 19-piece Nouvelle Cuisine “But Beautiful” a Latin-tinged essence. with an unguarded, near-slapstick feel-
Big Band essentially maintains the Pianist Ellis Marsalis’ minor-keyed ing of goodwill. “Dancing Close and
same instrumentation, while an ampli- harmonics lend tension to Delfeayo’s Slow” is their latest affectionate tribute
fied string quartet and guitarist are composition “The Secret Love Affair,” to the gently melodic country-blues
both added. Mantler also plays several and when the trombonist lays out on “If ballads of yore.
trumpet solos, something he’s rarely done I Were a Bell,” the senior Marsalis rises But the trio’s maturation on this out-
in recent years. The tracks—all labeled to the occasion with a fast-paced take ing is perhaps most due to the enhanced
“Updates” and numbered to evoke their on Frank Loesser’s melody. influence of Blade. With his Fellowship
original “Communications” number—are But so intent is Marsalis on honoring Band and his 2009 Mama Rosa project,
more concise, with nothing over eight his forebears that any sense of invention the drummer-composer had long dem-
minutes. They lack the brutality of the or idiosyncrasy is stifled. With hundreds onstrated his affinity for the distinctive
original album, with the ominous lower of versions of these tunes in circula- way Miles and Frisell approached Amer-
brass traded out for more expansive tion, none of the renditions on The Last icana jazz. But the familiarity he gleaned
arrangements of sound. Harry Sokal’s Southern Gentlemen make a convincing during the Quiver sessions pays off with
tenor saxophone does seem to evoke argument for their necessity, a problem a fuller membership in the proceedings
Gato Barbieri’s wails on the original. But exacerbated by the fact that many tracks here. Be it from his perch in the back-
on “Preview,” Sanders’ showcase, radio. run at least a minute longer than such ground—the rich textures of his percus-
string.quartet.vienna’s sawing sound is standard readings need to. “Speak Low,” sion on “Comma,” the jaunty weight he
mixed lower, putting more emphasis on for example, offers Smith’s vigorous subtly adds to Miles’ uncharacteristically
the ensemble’s staccato punches. rhythms and a sprightly solo from Ellis, bold title track—or his more central,
None of this means Update pales in but its nearly eight-minute length tests a propulsive role on “The Flesh Is Weak”
comparison to its predecessor. These listener’s patience. and another Mingus cover, “Reincarna-
works are equally rich in the way that the The Marsalises have sometimes tion of a Lovebird,” Blade increasingly
ensemble’s instruments intertwine or clash been disparaged for championing feels irreplaceable. BRITT ROBSON
with each other. The recording, captured tradition at the expense of progres-
live in Vienna, has a sonic clarity lacking sion. While these criticisms have often JEREMY PELT
in the original, thereby ultimately bringing borne a whiff of sour grapes, the argu- TALES, MUSINGS AND OTHER REVERIES
out the nuances in Mantler’s writing. In ment carries water this time around. (HighNote)
all, it feels like a new set of music rather MATT R. LOHR The Miles Davis influence
than a recreation of an older one. is immediately evident in
MIKE SHANLEY RON MILES Jeremy Pelt’s timbre,
CIRCUIT RIDER (Enja/Yellowbird) phrasing, linear struc-
DELFEAYO MARSALIS Guitarist Bill Frisell is the tures—even his tonguing
THE LAST SOUTHERN GENTLEMEN foremost, if not founding, technique. Like Miles, he builds tension
(Troubadour Jass) practitioner of Americana with tightly wound note clusters, then
A fine line separates old jazz. But the ambiance releases it by breaking into piercing
school from old hat, and conjured by that subgenre ascents or extended lines, and a lot of
Delfeayo Marsalis’ The Last is never more beguiling than when his improvisational conceits sound
Southern Gentlemen dances Frisell sidles into projects led by his adapted directly from the Davis canon.
that line from beginning to longtime friend and cohort, cornetist- What sets him apart, however, is the
end. The album is styled as a throwback, trumpeter Ron Miles. Circuit Rider context he creates—especially, in this
its languid mood and program of continues the lineage of their duet disc, case, the rhythmic context: two
time-worn chestnuts meant to conjure, as Heaven, from 2002, and Quiver a decade drummers, Billy Drummond and Victor
the trombonist states in his liner notes, later, which inaugurated their current Lewis, intertwine so unerringly that
an era “when men were gentlemen.” trio by adding Brian Blade on drums. All they sound like “one drummer with a
Unfortunately, the result, despite some three albums feature songs that are as split personality” (as Pelt puts it in his
moments of inspiration, has an antiquat- firm, earthy and countrified as heirloom liner notes). At several points, pianist
ed feel that warrants only a cursory listen. tomatoes. Simona Premazzi and bassist Ben

eatured the tenor-sax leaders recreating
ne of their famous horn battles from the
nightclubs in South Central L.A. This may
lack the historical importance of Parker’s
bebop inventions, but it’s an undeniable
pleasure to hear the gruff, brawny Gordon
trade phrases with the sweeter, more agile
Gray—and pleasure is what made it sell.
Gordon, a native Angeleno, made his first
important recordings for his hometown
label, including an attempt to duplicate
the success of “The Chase” with “The
Duel,” featuring Teddy Edwards.
Marmarosa, a gifted pianist who never
realized his potential, made his most
important recordings for Dial, not only as
• Dream team: Tommy Potter, Charlie Parker, Max Roach (partially obscured), Miles Davis part of Parker’s rhythm section but also as
and Duke Jordan (from left) at the Three Deuces; New York City, August 1947 co-leader of a sextet with McGhee and as
leader of an unusual trio featuring drums
VARIOUS ARTISTS tions, is just one of the jazz classics that and cello. Marmarosa was never the same
THE COMPLETE DIAL resulted from that freedom. Other Parker- after a beating by five sailors in Philadel-
MODERN JAZZ SESSIONS (Mosaic) composed jazz standards that originated phia, and his Dial sides are a tantalizing
To understand the at Dial include “Moose the Mooche,” hint of what might have been.
significance of Dial “Yardbird Suite,” “Ornithology,” “Bird of The two dates with Gillespie were
Records, a good place to Paradise,” “Scrapple From the Apple” and hampered by chaotic sessions and inferior
start is the tune “Relaxin’ at “Klact-Oveeseds-Tene.” sound, problems that prompted Russell to
Camarillo.” Camarillo is 50 “Relaxin’ at Camarillo” also sounded move to more professional studios. There
miles northwest of Los Angeles, where better than the Savoy sessions because he recorded Gordon with Melba Liston,
Dial was founded in 1945 by Ross Russell, Russell took advantage of the fact that Erroll Garner playing solo piano and
the young owner of the Tempo Music Hollywood had the finest recording Fats Navarro with and without vocalist
Shop, the record store he had opened the studios in the world in the late ’40s—not Coleman. Except for two outlier sessions,
year before. The Camarillo State Mental because of jazz or pop music, but because all the Dial jazz recordings were made in
Hospital is where Charlie Parker landed the local movie studios wanted the best a 21-month period between Feb. 5, 1946
after being arrested for public nudity audio quality for their soundtracks. Back- and Dec. 17, 1947. Much of it is enjoyable,
following a disastrous 1946 Dial session at ing up Bird on the four takes of the song even admirable, but Dial Records will
which a whiskey-dosed Bird had trouble are such fellow Dial bandleaders as saxo- always be remembered for its immortal
standing, much less playing in tune. phonist Wardell Gray, trumpeter Howard Parker recordings, every bit as essential
After getting out of the hospital in De- McGhee and pianist Dodo Marmarosa. as the groundbreaking Savoy sessions
cember, Parker showed up at Hollywood’s All of these intersecting themes are and definitely better than the valuable but
C.P. MacGregor Studios on Feb. 26, 1947, documented on The Complete Dial Mod- inconsistent Verve sides to come.
for a Dial session with four new composi- ern Jazz Sessions, a nine-CD, 185-track For many of his Dial sessions, Parker’s
tions, including “Relaxin’ at Camarillo.” box set newly released by Mosaic Records. trumpet foil was the 19-to-21-year-old
The “relaxing” in the title was as important This is essentially a re-release of a Japa- Miles Davis. Davis acquired habits both
as the “Camarillo,” for the 12-bar blues nese box set from 1995, The Complete good and bad from his mentor, and the
was taken at an unhurried pace, allowing Dial Recordings, with much the same good ones unquestionably led to the bril-
Bird to emphasize his astonishing lyricism tracks and notes, albeit with remastered liance of Davis’ later career. But there are
rather than the athletic speed that had sound that brings new clarity to these per- only occasional hints of that future glory
marked his Savoy recordings on the East formances. Of those 185 tracks, including in Davis’ tentative solos in these sessions.
Coast. all existing alternate takes, 101 feature The youngster who shone brighter was
“They are played too fast,” Parker told Parker, 82 as a leader (he’s also heard the 23-year-old Max Roach, who joined
Russell. “They are not my kind of music. backing up Dizzy Gillespie, Red Norvo Parker’s band when the saxophonist and
I have my own tunes I want to record.” and singer Earl Coleman). Dial moved their operations to New York
Bird signed a contract with Dial only after Dial’s bestseller was not one of its Park- in 1947. Roach was already a very smart,
getting the authority to choose his own er discs, however; it was “The Chase” by very muscular drummer who could
tempos, repertoire and sidemen. “Relaxin’ the Dexter Gordon-Wardell Gray Quintet. absorb Parker’s odd rhythms and throw
at Camarillo,” with its arresting melodic This nearly seven-minute-long recording them back at the leader with a new twist
content and surprising harmonic inven- was spread over two sides of a disc and every time. GEOFFREY HIMES
JAZZTIMES.COM 65
Reviews
Allison lay out; the resulting horn/drums continues, unerringly and unobtrusively, settles into an extended trumpet-drums
discourses may recall the groundbreaking while accompanying as well as during her dialogue—part funeral march, part
duo effusions of Coltrane and Elvin Jones, solos.) battle cry, all ritual call-and-response.
but there are also echoes of Billy Brimfield Pelt’s “Harlem Thoroughfare” teems DAVID WHITEIS
and drummer Hamid Drake’s interplay on with life; both its stop-start structure
some of saxophonist Fred Anderson’s early and Pelt’s twisty, skittering solo evoke CHRIS POTTER
live recordings. (Premazzi, by the way, New York traffic as well as the gait of an UNDERGROUND ORCHESTRA
deserves special mention: When she’s awestruck pedestrian stopping repeat- IMAGINARY CITIES (ECM)
onboard, she consistently challenges and edly to take in the vitality and wonder Some of Chris Potter’s best
prods Pelt with her quick-shifting all around him. “Ruminations on Eric recordings are by the
rhythmic variations and scurries into, out Garner” is both a call to arms and a group he calls Under-
of and back into conventional chordal and benediction: After an appropriately ground, with Craig Taborn
harmonic patterns—all of which she tumultuous, angst-ridden opening, it on Fender Rhodes, Adam
Rogers on guitar and Nate Smith on
drums. His new album introduces an
expanded version of the Underground
quartet. It adds Steve Nelson (vibes and
marimba), Scott Colley (bass), Fima
Ephron (bass guitar) and a string quartet
with Mark Feldman, Joyce Hammann,
Lois Martin and David Eggar. Imaginary
Cities is a breakthrough for Potter as
composer, arranger and conceptualist.
Near Washington, DC at a Leading Camp for Adults!
The title piece, a four-movement
Innovative Curriculum suite, portrays Potter’s “non-specific
utopian ideas” about what modern
Outstanding Faculty urban life might be. Its richness and
- Music Theory Clinic July 11 depth are stunning. He manipulates
- Jazz Camp July 22, 23, 24 11 voices (seven of which are stringed
- Public Concerts July 21 & 24 instruments) into complex textures
and contemplative moods (“Compas-
Family & Military Discounts sion”), or releases them into furious
Artistic Director: Jeff Antoniuk 443-822-6483 motion (“Dualities”). The shriek of his
soprano saxophone renders the crisis
www.marylandsummerjazz.com of “Disintegration,” but the brooding
violins make the story more poignant
than turbulent. Themes evolve and
recur across 36 minutes like haunted
thoughts. The suite is an organic whole.
A four-note motif like a call of hope is
introduced in the first movement by the
violins and Potter’s tenor saxophone.
After flowing through many corollary
forms, it returns forcefully at the end
of the fourth movement and completes
the arc.
The suite also provides unprecedent-
ed inspiration for Potter the soloist.
He has never played on record with
more focus and power. On “Compas-
sion,” his progress from notated clarity
to wild catharsis is wrenching. Rogers
and Nelson, in their infrequent, vivid
solo statements, enlarge the emotional
domain of Potter’s work.
The other half of the album is four
strong new compositions. “Shadow
Self ” sounds like a Bartók string quar-
tet welded to a jazz septet. “Lament”

and “Sky” are extended testimonies embrace of the R&B/gospel continuum in tained his loyal trio of bassist Rodney
that begin as ballads and intensify, all its funky, soul-stirring glory. Jordan and drummer Jason Marsalis,
sending Potter soaring. Taborn’s best DAVID WHITEIS called upon tenor saxophonist Stephen
moment comes on “Sky.” He barely Riley, an early cohort, then expanded
touches it, slowing it almost to a stop, MARCUS ROBERTS AND THE the ensemble threefold, bringing in
then flies away with it, heavenward. MODERN JAZZ GENERATION eight more horn players to flesh out his
THOMAS CONRAD ROMANCE, SWING, AND THE BLUES ideas. The setup, bursting with that
(J-Master) grandiosity that characterized the
DON PULLEN Marcus Roberts went large classic big bands, goes back several
RICHARD’S TUNE (Sackville/Delmark) with his latest. Financing decades—the specter of Ellington
Don Pullen, for all his the project with a Kick- surfaces often—but Roberts, with no
“out” reputation, was a starter campaign, the irony in sight, calls his new band the
deeply melodic pianist pianist-composer main- Modern Jazz Generation.
who never forsook the
diverse influences he
absorbed during his early years (church,
R&B, straight-ahead club/lounge gigs),
along with his immersion in the
’60s-era free movement and his famous
early ’70s tenure with Charles Mingus.
This disc, originally released on
Sackville in 1975 as Solo Piano Album,
was Pullen’s first under his own name;
on it, he effectively spanned the gamut Featuring appearances and performances by
of his aesthetic predilections to display
Charlie Barnet, Benny Goodman,
his fertile imagination, daunting
technique and trickster-like sense of Harry James, Jack Jenny, Gene Krupa,
humor. Alvino Rey and Joe Venuti.
The title track is a tribute to the
AACM’s Muhal Richard Abrams, one of Also includes nine newly restored jazz shorts
Pullen’s mentors and musical role mod- featuring such artists as Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong,
els. It’s a deft and evocative homage that Billie Holiday, Cab Calloway, Bessie Smith and more.
could also serve as a personal mani-
festo: Pullen breaks into spiky skitters,
runs and splashes, but always returns AVAILABLE AT
to the straightforward resonance of the
theme, inserting a few references to
Randy Weston’s “Hi-Fly” along the way
and summoning unabashed romanti-
cism alongside his tough-minded
avoidance of bathos. “Song Played
Backwards” pushes things further: It’s a
On Public Radio SiriusXM & iTunes
full-bore onslaught of creative audacity,
unfettered harmonic imagination and
technical wizardry.
Pullen pointedly avoids easy an-
swers—musical or otherwise—on “Suite
(Sweet) Malcolm (Pt. 1: Memories and
Gunshots),” melding sorrow, anger and
spiritual release to invoke the visionary
optimism that underlay Malcolm X’s
(too-often-stereotyped) militancy. The
highlight for many, though, will probably
be “Big Alice” (showcased in two ver-
sions, one previously unissued), Pullen’s
best known creation from his Mingus
days. Propelled by a New Orleans street-
parade beat, it’s a juke-fueled celebra-
tion on which Pullen recalls his early
JAZZTIMES.COM 67
Reviews
Romance, Swing and the Blues, built vides a smooth lead-in to a fiery Roberts frequently). The combination of composi-
around a suite initially commissioned volley. “Being Attacked by the Blues,” the tion and arrangement can be lethal, as
by Jazz at Lincoln Center in 1993, second disc’s 13-minute opener, is con- in the overloaded “Blue Abyss.” The tune
spreads out over two CDs. All of it was structed atop Jordan’s bass; he meanders flirts with blues and song and concert
written, produced and arranged in its solo at first, then solidly drives the rest forms, and packs even its transitional pas-
entirety by Roberts, and the solos, save of the crew. sages with chord changes and orchestral
for Roberts’ own, are rationed conser- That’s the romance and the blues. shifts such that one experiences whiplash
vatively; showcasing the individuals As for the swing, it’s never too far of the ear. Taken as a whole, though, the
takes a backseat to the wholeness of the away. Roberts may have gone for an album excels—a worthy swan song for
work. oversized statement with this one, an accomplished, often underappreciated
Yet there’s never a sense of pompos- but no one was about to tell him he career. MICHAEL J. WEST
ity or bloat; Roberts is careful to leave couldn’t have a little fun making it.
enough air and space for these tunes to JEFF TAMARKIN KENNY WHEELER
breathe. From the start, “The Mystery of SONGS FOR QUINTET (ECM)
Romance,” he strikes a balance, quickly JOE SAMPLE & Songs for Quintet is a
dispensing with the main theme on NDR BIGBAND surprisingly strong
piano, then giving it up to the battery CHILDREN OF THE SUN (PRA) benediction upon the
of horns. The piece shifts time often The late pianist Joe career of Kenny Wheeler,
and with great fanfare, and by the time Sample’s final work is also who passed away due to a
Roberts makes his return—burning hot easily his most ambitious: long illness nine months after this
now—the ensemble has already pushed an album-length suite December 2013 recording, his final
the pedal to the floor. exploring the emotional session with other musicians. Wheeler,
When a soloist does emerge, there’s landscape of slaves in the Middle on flugelhorn, lacks the voluptuous tone
no coyness: Ron Westray’s trombone Passage, written for Germany’s 20-plus- and impressive depth of phrasing that
spot on “It’s a Beautiful Night to Cel- piece NDR Bigband. At times the marked his prime, but he plays well
ebrate” is economical but feisty and pro- ambition is too much for its own good, enough to fulfill the trademark lyricism
but generally the results are impressive. and ingenuity embedded in these nine
Certainly the soloists are top-notch. new and old original compositions.
Sample’s deft touch and top-of-the- Deploying the same pianoless instru-
chords improvisation make his attack mentation as his classic Deer Wan, the
sound softer than it actually is, while quintet is especially evocative when
trombonist Nils Landgren displays Wheeler’s horn is twined with the tenor
remarkable consistency and coher- sax of Stan Sulzmann or the guitar of
ence across the album. But the writing John Parricelli.
is the real star of the show. The tropes There is a nice mixture of familiar
of large-ensemble composition might strengths and subtle surprises. “Pretty
suggest that Sample’s lush, tender side Liddle Waltz” reiterates Wheeler’s
dominates Children of the Sun; actually, mastery of the mysterious in that
he’s somewhere between that and his song form, with haunting horns and a
soul-jazz, Crusaders-y side. “Buttermilk steady, sometimes spooky pulse from
Sky,” for example, is built on a sweat- Parricelli and bassist Chris Laurence.
inducing funk beat and walloping brass “Old Time” is a whimsical, harmoni-
riffs, whereas the following “Islands of cally rich take on “How It Was Then”
the Mind” is all hushed melodic delicacy. from Wheeler’s stint in Azimuth. The
There are also distinct Caribbean (“Gold tango “Sly Eyes” is beefed up with Mar-
in the Cane”) and ragtime rhythms tin France’s martial beats, compared to
(“Creole Eyes”), and in some tunes, its version on Moon with John Taylor
multiple sections. Everything proffers from 2001. And both “The Long Wait-
Sample’s trademark clean, accessible ing” and “Canter No. 1” are quintet
lines and harmonies. reductions from the big-band treat-
But it’s not just about the compositions: ments they received on Wheeler’s The
The arrangements, by NDR conductor Long Waiting from 2012.
Jörg Achim Keller, are equally important Perhaps best of all is Songs for Quin-
and compelling. They’re also equally am- tet’s most concise track, “1076,” which
bitious: Keller favors dense counterpoint raises a rainbow-hued ruckus, equal
(on “Rumfire,” Claus Stötter’s trumpet parts sunrise and rooster. Wheeler
solo contains overlapping brass and reed will be missed for that sort of striking
backgrounds) and unusual voicings (flute, equipoise, and so many other things.
bass clarinet and muted trumpets appear BRITT ROBSON

ReviewsVox
by Christopher Loudon
VARIOUS ARTISTS
ROUND NINA: A TRIBUTE TO
NINA SIMONE (Verve)
A dozen years have passed
since Nina Simone left us,
yet it’s taken until now for a
substantial tribute album to
emerge. Making up for lost
time, this 10-track import pays superlative
homage to the singularly vibrant Simone
in all her musical hues.
Welcomingly, Round Nina is more a
voyage of discovery than an exercise in
backwards glancing. Recorded in Paris, in
settings ranging from sparse to orchestral,
the collection features an international
array of vocalists, many of whom will be
revelations to most Stateside listeners.
←
Two Americans, among the finest South Korea’s Youn Sun Nah is one of many great international singers featured on the new
contemporary vocalists around, also fig- Nina Simone tribute Round Nina
ure into the dynamic guest list. Gregory
Porter, accompanied by a somber string Cole and Krall proved, of course, Such enticing changes are ideally suited
orchestra augmented by harpist Chris- preternaturally gifted vocalists. Am- to her new album’s concept of swinging
tophe Minck, with Melody Gardot pro- sallem is not. Reminiscent of another dusty chestnuts (and several deftly
viding backing vocals, delivers a dense, instrumentalist who dabbled with vocals, chosen pop tunes) old-style.
near-sinister “Black Is the Color (of My Chet Baker, his voice is thin and slightly The conceit is hardly new: A gaggle
True Love’s Hair).” Gardot moves center atonal. As with Baker, it’s a voice that of female vocalists, stretching from Julie
stage for Simone’s most celebrated com- takes some getting used to, yet grows London to Diana Krall, has navigated
position, “Four Women,” and her reading increasingly captivating over time. that well-worn path. Still, Evingson keeps
is a reminder that the song speaks about Amsallem Sings was a solo, all-stan- the proceedings unique by teaming with
black women but for all women who face dards outing. This time around, he adds guitarist and clarinetist John Jorgenson,
oppression or discrimination. trio-mates Sylvain Romano (bass) and a fellow Minnesotan, and his pianoless
All eight remaining tracks are equally Karl Jannuska (drums) to positive effect. quintet. Jorgenson’s résumé includes
impressive, highlighted by British folk Again, the focus of the 10-track playlist is stints with Bob Dylan, Barbra Streisand
singer Lianne La Havas’ caliginous “Balti- standards, the mood oscillating between and Bonnie Raitt. But his true passion,
more,” South Korean jazz stylist Youn Sun jaunty (“Never Will I Marry,” “Just One masterfully exercised here, is classic
Nah’s nakedly powerful “Plain Gold Ring,” of Those Things”) and reflectively mel- Gypsy-jazz guitar (he even portrayed
Swiss-based Brit Sophie Hunger’s explo- low (“If You Could See Me Now,” “How Django Reinhardt in the 2004 Charlize
sive “I Put a Spell on You” and a soulful Deep Is the Ocean,” “The Second Time Theron flick Head in the Clouds).
“Feeling Good” from France’s Ben L’Oncle Around,” “Two for the Road”). Amsal- The vintage tunes—“Love Me or
Soul (who bears a striking vocal resem- lem, like Baker, emerges as a tremen- Leave Me,” “You’re Driving Me Crazy,”
blance to Simone). But the standout of this dously effective, often mesmeric story- “The Lamp Is Low” and such—are
olio is Nigerian Keziah Jones’ reggae-tint- teller, most notably on the album’s sole winningly rendered. More intriguing,
ed “Sinnerman,” as seismic a tour de force original, “Paris Remains in My Heart.” though, are Evingson and Jorgenson’s
as anything Simone ever crafted. Co-written with Elisabeth Kontomanou, sepia-toned reinterpretations of more
the tender postcard to Amsallem’s ad- contemporary material, including two
FRANCK AMSALLEM opted hometown is an absolute charmer. from Lennon and McCartney, “I’ll
SINGS, VOL. II (Fram) Follow the Sun” and “World Without
Algerian-born, French-raised CONNIE EVINGSON AND THE Love,” Keren Ann’s bewitching “Jardin
and Paris-based, Franck JOHN JORGENSON QUINTET D’hiver” and the too-rarely recorded vo-
Amsallem spent close to ALL THE CATS JOIN IN (Minnehaha) cal version of Black Orpheus’ “Manhã de
three decades establishing Throughout Connie Carnaval” (which, interestingly, Connor
himself as a fine pianist with Evingson’s recording career, covered in 1966). There’s also a clever
a dense, bright style that suggests equal parts spanning two decades and melding of the title tune with Lester
Keith Jarrett and Bill Charlap. Then, five nine previous albums, she Young and Jon Hendricks’ “Tickle Toe.”
years ago, he decided to follow in the has tonally and stylistically Hendricks himself steps in for brief
footsteps of Nat Cole and Diana Krall, maintained an uncanny similarity to Chris accompaniment. At 93, his voice is the
releasing Amsallem Sings. Clearly one for Connor. Now, suddenly, Evingson’s sound ghost of a raspy whisper, yet the bopli-
plainspoken titles, he now adds Sings, Vol. II. has grown plumper, richer and warmer. cious sass still seeps through.
JAZZTIMES.COM 69
Reviews
POLLY GIBBONS world-music/jazz hybrid co-created Long and the Short of It in 2005, he
MANY FACES OF LOVE (Resonance) with her husband, bassist Michael reunited with O’Neill two years later
Polly Gibbons is hardly Olatuja. for Still Dancin’.
the first female vocalist to Inching closer to pop-infused jazz, Like its predecessors, this third out-
bend an album to the arc Olatuja’s solo debut, a near-equal mix ing is a standards-focused affair. With
of a love affair, but her of originals and judiciously chosen cov- a spiky “A Night in Tunisia” (an ideal
navigation of an infatua- ers, is a more varied outing. It includes showcase for Washington’s Ella-worthy
tion-to-rebound storyline is among the among its highlights the soft shimmer scat skills), a noirish “It Ain’t Neces-
smartest. Though new to American of Brazilian singer-songwriter Djava’s sarily So” and a silken “Fly Me to the
audiences, the 30-year-old Gibbons, “Serrado” (featuring Christian McBride Moon,” the results are equally imagina-
whose dusky style hints at the great on bass); the gentle undulation of the tive and beautiful. Washington steps
Cleo Laine, has deservedly earned Michael Jackson hit “Human Nature” aside for the closer, leaving O’Neill to
hearty kudos in her native England. (Olatuja sounding eerily similar to Jack- shape a regal nine-minute “Nomali,”
And she attracts all-star accompanists, son); the roil of her own eight-minute composer Caiphus Semenya’s towering
including two from the Tierney Sutton “Truth in Blue”; and the soaring author- salute to Nelson Mandela.
Band, drummer Ray Brinker and bassist ity of “In the Dark.”
Kevin Axt; longtime Diana Krall The arrangements, including two JUDI SILVANO
guitarist Anthony Wilson; violinist from Laurence Hobgood, are gorgeously MY DANCE (JSL)
Christian Howes; and, as leader and sole spare, with the core rhythm section Across a kaleidoscopic
arranger, pianist Tamir Hendelman. of husband Michael, keyboardist Jon recording career that
Gibbons is also a gifted songwriter, Cowherd, guitarist David Rosenthal and recently entered its third
but here opts for an eclectic assort- drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. joined by decade, vocalist Judi
ment of pop, jazz and soul covers. Her assorted guests. Grégoire Maret expertly Silvano has worked with
romantic loop begins with an Axt- tackles the harmonica part on Stevie pianoless groups, all-female outfits, a
propelled reading of Percy Mayfield’s Wonder’s tender “Stay Gold,” pianist vocal ensemble performing a cappella,
“Please Send Me Someone to Love,” Christian Sands provides fairy-dust and even crafted, with husband Joe
progressing to the laidback content- accompaniment on “Over the Rain- Lovano, an album of music intended to
ment of Al Jarreau’s “So Good” and bow,” Jaleel Shaw’s sax propels Olatuja’s enhance hypno-massage. Through it all,
Bob Haymes’ “Make It Last” and the feisty “The One” and McBride returns she has only once recorded with just
sensuous fulfillment of Patti Austin’s to shape “Speak the Words,” her sharp piano. That was a dozen years ago, for
“That’s Enough for Me.” ode to self-actualization. The crystal- the superlative Riding a Zephyr,
Breakup ensues, defined by the line purity of her voice is, however, showcasing Silvano alongside Mal
Jarreau-associated tearjerker “Not best appreciated on the closing track, a Waldron.
Like This” and Dr. John’s drown-your- stunning rendition of “Amazing Grace” For this sophomore duo set, which
sorrows “City Lights.” Regret follows, in duet with Rosenthal. like the majority of her albums features
the ebony dejection of “Since I Fell for solely original material, Silvano reunites
You” paired with Rickie Lee Jones’ MICHAEL O’NEILL with Mike Abene, her pianist from
ruminative “Company.” Finally, round- & KENNY WASHINGTON 2004’s Let Yourself Go. Abene opens the
ing remorse’s curve, comes the discern- NEW BEGINNINGS (Jazzmo) 11-track session with thunderstorm
ment of Roger Kellaway and Alan and Though jazz singing force, jagged and threatening, before
Marilyn Bergman’s “I Have the Feeling suffered a significant loss settling into choppy waves to support
I’ve Been Here Before” and clear-eyed this past year with the Silvano’s angular “Dust.” It is the first
wisdom of British songwriter Carroll death of Jimmy Scott, who of the album’s six wordless selections,
Coates’ “Love Comes and Goes.” knew that a richly gifted each deftly mapped by Abene. Silvano’s
alternative has been waiting in the longstanding mastery of that tricky
ALICIA OLATUJA wings? Actually, San Franciscans have art is shown to maximum advantage,
TIMELESS (World Tune) known for a while. Like Scott, Washing- extending from the metronomic drone
If you happened to ton is small of stature (just 5-foot-2) but of “F Minor” to the exultant “Kokopelli’s
number among the big on talent, blessed with a similarly Dance” and joyous “Calypso.”
million-strong crowd that pure high baritone and a magical way When Silvano opts to sing actual
filled the National Mall for with standards. lyrics the results are just as exhilarating:
President Obama’s January Originally from New Orleans, the ghostly naturalism of “Our World
2013 inauguration, then you’re already O’Neill honed his musical skills with (Bass Space)”; the swirling intoxica-
familiar with Manhattan School-trained U.S. Navy bands and, after settling tion of “It’s So Amazing”; the list-song
mezzo-soprano Alicia Olatuja, whose in the Bay Area, spent eight years as finesse of “Make It a Classic,” its wide-
brief performance with the Brooklyn featured vocalist at the chic Top of the ranging references to artistic heroes
Tabernacle Choir earned her breakout Mark. But his recordings have been placing Van Gogh, Edgar Allan Poe and
accolades. Three days later she released few. Featured on lanky saxophonist Shakespeare shoulder-to-shoulder with
The Promise, a buoyant, blissful Michael O’Neill’s playfully titled The Ellington and Monk. JT

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A LISTENING SESSION
MICHAEL
FORMANEK
jazztimes.com
3 N
PLAYLIST
HIS ’60S BASS
JAZZTIMES.COM 71
ARTIST’S CHOICE
SONNY ROLLINS’
Now‘s the Time! LP
BY JOHN SCOFIELD
In his playing on these standard forms throughout Now’s the Time! (RCA Vic-
tor, 1964), Sonny shows us how he mixes it up to keep his solos engaging: short
phrases, long phrases, long tones, fast notes, space, melodies, intervallic
structures, thematic development. He uses everything, and it keeps us interested.
He never gets bogged down. He’s really on fire on this record.
“Now’s the Time” “St. Thomas”

Sonny Rollins, tenor saxophone/Herbie Hancock, Rollins, tenor saxophone/Carter, bass/McCurdy, drums
piano/Ron Carter, bass/Roy McCurdy, drums It’s as if the producer, George Avakian, said, “Hey, Sonny, why
This is one of the most beautiful, swingin’ examples of a modern don’t you play one of your tunes? If we’re going to play all these
jazz-blues. And there are parts of the solo [that] every time I tunes by Miles and Dizzy and Monk, why don’t you play one of
hear it, I start to sing along. Now’s the Time! is very personal for your tunes?” So this is a remake of “St. Thomas,” but it’s really,
me, because not only do I love it and know it really well, but it’s really beautiful.
[what I was listening to] when I was learning how to construct
modern jazz in my own playing. I comped a lot of the solos. “’Round Midnight”
Even though I wouldn’t learn the whole solo, just by ear little Rollins, tenor saxophone/Hancock, piano/Carter, bass/
phrases would pop in. McCurdy, drums
This song kills me, and Herbie Hancock just kills me with his
“Blue ’n’ Boogie” chords. The way he voices this stuff, it’s like Bill Evans-plus: his
Rollins, tenor saxophone/Bob Cranshaw, bass/ feel, the way he sets up a harmonic mood, the mood that he
McCurdy, drums evokes on this song. Sonny, of course, sounds so fantastic playing
They really stretch on this. The first tune is concise, but on “Blue this classic song, one of the great songs of all time.
’n’ Boogie,” because it’s a fast tempo, Sonny eats it up forever.
First he’s dissecting this funny little melody that “Blue ’n’ Boogie” “Afternoon in Paris”
is, and he really has a thematic improvisation concept at work, Rollins, tenor saxophone/Hancock, piano/Carter, bass/
where he’ll take a little phrase and he’ll play it all backwards and McCurdy, drums
forwards. And doing that in rhythm is a great thing that Sonny Somehow, in these three minutes you’re able to hear everyone
did: taking little note cells and using them rhythmically, playing playing something beautiful and shining in an improvisational
them on and off the beat. That’s a lesson right there. way. I love this track. I love the tune. I love Herbie’s voicings. I
love the way Sonny plays loose on this. He only gets two choruses
“I Remember Clifford” to do the whole tune, and he alludes to the melody at first and
Rollins, tenor saxophone/Cranshaw, bass/McCurdy, drums then plays some of his own stuff in between. It sounds inspired
It’s just one chorus. He plays little bits of the melody, but mainly and like a solo even though he’s still really playing the head.
Sonny solos over the whole thing and it’s incredible. It’s a lesson
in how to make a ballad recording. Because a lot of guys did that, “Four”
where they would play a little bit of the melody and get right to Rollins, tenor saxophone/Cranshaw, bass/McCurdy, drums
improvising, and Sonny does that. And he plays a lot of fantastic, Again, I can sing parts of the solo. I love the way he breaks it up
old-timey bits that almost sound like other tunes, other ballads, and trades with the band and lets them play and then comes back
other jazz songs. Sonny had this fantastic relationship with melo- in, rejuvenated and playing all this amazing stuff. JT
dies and songs, and he must know a million songs, because they
come through in his playing and he uses those melodies. [As told to Brad Farberman]
“Fifty-Second Street Theme”

Rollins, tenor saxophone/Thad Jones, cornet/Cranshaw,
bass/McCurdy, drums John Scofield is recognized as one of the best
SCOFIELD BY NICK SUTTLE
This is another one of those melodies where Sonny can mess with and most influential jazz guitarists in the world.
it. It’s this little theme and Sonny kind of takes it apart. It’s really He’s currently at work on a new album featuring
loose; you can tell he and Thad already know it, so they’re having his Überjam Band, to be released by Impulse! this
year. Visit him online at www.johnscofield.com.
fun with it.

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Spend 10 jazz- and blues-ﬁlled days and nights in the Greater Reading area!
Over 120 scheduled events, plus great shopping and dining in one area,
make the 25th annual Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest your perfect spring getaway.
For tickets, call Ticketmaster toll free at 1-800-745-3000 or visit
www.ticketmaster.com to order online.
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH WYNTON MARSALIS • WILL DOWNING • INCOGNITO • BRIAN CULBERTSON • DIANNE REEVES • BONEY JAMES • PIECES OF A DREAM
MINDI ABAIR & THE BONESHAKERS WITH SWEETPEA ATKINSON • THE SOUL OF JAZZ FEATURING JEFFREY OSBORNE, NAJEE, MAYSA, NICK COLIONNE, GERALD VEASLEY, BRIAN SIMPSON
NEW YORK VOICES AND THE READING POPS ORCHESTRA • BILLY COBHAM ‘SPECTRUM 40’ BAND FEATURING DEAN BROWN, GARY HUSBAND, RIC FIERABRACCI • GERALD ALBRIGHT
GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAZZ CELEBRATION: KIRK WHALUM, YOLANDA ADAMS, KEVIN WHALUM, JOHN STODDART AND THE DOXA GOSPEL ENSEMBLE • MARC ANTOINE • ALEX BUGNON
STRINGS ATTACHED FEATURING LARRY CORYELL, JIMMY BRUNO, VIC JURIS, JACK WILKINS, JOE COHN • PHILADELPHIA JAZZ ORCHESTRA DIRECTED BY TERELL STAFFORD
REMEMBERING JOE SAMPLE: BOBBY LYLE, WILTON FELDER, RAY PARKER JR., JEFF BRADSHAW, NICHOLAS SAMPLE, LIONEL CORDEW, LIZ HOGUE • BRIAN BROMBERG
NICK COLIONNE • JAZZ ATTACK: RICK BRAUN, PETER WHITE, EUGE GROOVE, ELLIOTT YAMIN • MARION MEADOWS • PAUL TAYLOR • JAZZ FUNK SOUL: CHUCK LOEB, JEFF LORBER,
EVERETTE HARP • FOURPLAY: BOB JAMES, NATHAN EAST, HARVEY MASON, CHUCK LOEB • KIND OF NEW: JASON MILES, INGRID JENSEN, RAY RODRIGUEZ, MIKE CLARK, JERRY
BROOKS PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS LIONEL LOUEKE, GARY BARTZ • PAT MARTINO TRIO WITH PAT BIANCHI, CARMEN INTORRE • LIVE AT THE FILLMORE: TRIBUTE TO THE ORIGINAL ALLMAN
BROTHERS • URBAN JAZZ COALITION • TOMMY KATONA & TEXAS FLOOD • FRANK VIGNOLA & VINNY RANIOLO • THE JOST PROJECT: TONY MICELI, PAUL JOST, KEVIN MACCONNELL,
ANWAR MARSHALL • ROYAL SOUTHERN BROTHERHOOD FEATURING DEVON ALLMAN, CYRILL NEVILLE, CHARLIE WOOTEN, YONRICO SCOTT, BART WALKER • JAMES HUNTER SIX • MIKEY
JUNIOR BAND • ANDREW NEU WITH CAROL RIDDICK, DAVID P STEVENS • DANCE HALL DOCS FEATURING BRENT CARTER • THE UPTOWN BAND FEATURING ERICH CAWALLA & JENIFER KINDER
GREG HATZA & TIM PRICE ORGAN QUARTET • PAT TRAVERS BAND • CRAIG THATCHER BAND • THE ORIGINAL GROOVEMASTERS • REGGIE BROWN AND BUNCH A FUNK
THE ROYAL SCAM • DJANGOHOLICS ANONYMOUS: JOSH TAYLOR,CHRIS HESLOP, BILL NIXON, MICHAEL NIKOLIDAKIS, TREY LARUE • SAX SUMMIT: NATHAN BELLOTT, SETH EBERSOLE,
ANDY MOHLER, GREG WILSON • RANDY HANSEN • CELEBRATE SINATRA: LOU DOTTOLI AND THE SOUNDS OF SUNNYBROOK DANCE BAND • U.S. ARMY JAZZ AMBASSADORS AND MORE!*
* LINEUP AS OF 1/12/15 Follow us on Twitter

SUBJECT TO CHANGE @berksjazzfest

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JOHN SCOFIELD ON SONNY ROLLINS | TRACK BY TRACK

We know charter jazz cruises. We invented them.

THE MOST LUXURIOUS JAZZ CRUISE EVER PRESENTED – BEYOND PERFECT

OUR CRYSTAL ANNIVERSARY (15TH) SAILING

FOR COMPLETE ARTIST LINEUPS

FABRIZIO SOTTI WITH HIS D’ANGELICO EX-SS

06 JT Notes by Evan Haga

28 FRANK SINATRA @ 100

LEAD DESIGNER LISA MALAGUTI

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS & ILLUSTRATORS

CHAIRMAN & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER JEFFREY C. WOLK

JAZZTIMES EDITORIAL OFFICE

Subscriptions 1-877-252-8139 | Foreign Subscriptions 1-903-636-1120

4 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

JASON MORAN HUTCHERSON SANBORN BRIAN BLADE

ANDREW HILL JACKIE MCLEAN ANTHONY WILLIAMS

GRANT GREEN BOBBY MCFERRIN MILES DAVIS

For a full list of Blue Note Authorized Dealers please go to www.recordstoreday.com

mackavenue.com * get it at iTunes.com/MackAvenue

6 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

8 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

Orchestra. His band’s next album, Cuba: The

20 Before & After

10 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

©Ayano Hisa. Lisa Fischer, 2010 Newport Jazz Festival®

12 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

thought, [Iñárritu] knows what he’s doing, so we’re gonna be

Chet Baker documentary Let’s Get Lost, was shooting a TV

14 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

Whether you’re a journeyman performer,

16 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

18 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

the struggle to retain artists’ rights and more.

← Clockwise from top left:

20 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

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Join NJPAC and jazz legend Geri Allen

I SPENT YEARS TRANSCRIBING [WYNTON KELLY’S] SOLOS IN CUBA—

22 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

AFTER: We got to recognize Shearing down in Cuba. He

10. Kenny Barron/Dave Holland

BEFORE: This reminds me a lot of Bill Evans’ waltz-time

AFTER: Oh, Dave Holland and Kenny Barron. They’re playing

talent while accruing a following for his own solo career.

24 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

The 2014 Expanded

BEST OF ALL Big Band/ Festival

FROM TOP: BILL DOUTHART/COURTESY OF CONCORD MUSIC GROUP, JIMMY KATZ

26 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

t Regina Carter t Cyro Baptista t Wadada Leo Smith

Tenor Saxophone Organ

“Cent’anni.” Frank Sinatra’s favorite toast. “May you live 100

28 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

depressive. And having lived a life of violent emotional

34 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

JazzTimes. It goes with you.

36 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

38 JAZZTIMES t MARCH 2015

h From top: Trombone

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