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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Your Gateway to Music and More from a Christian Perspective Slow down as you approach the gate, and have your change ready.... |
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Jazz
in 2004, Part One
By Jeff Cebulski After a long hiatus, here’s some jazz music I’ve had the pleasure to hear over the past few months…and some commentary, not necessarily in order of preference but rather in order of the pile: Wynton Marsalis Quartet, The Magic Hour. Blue Note. Wynton Marsalis’ move from Columbia to Blue Note has not changed him or his approach to music; that will be solace to his fans and fodder for his detractors. While the negative vibrations any mention of him produces are basically products of an elitist, culturally-correct media posse, this latest CD does nothing to improve his position as a jazz paterfamilias either. Essentially, Marsalis is in the process of managing his next generation of disciples, using groupings carved from the Lincoln Center Orchestra. On The Magic Hour, three younger veterans, whom the trumpet king has nurtured from their teens, join him on eight selections, two of which feature guest vocalists Dianne Reeves and Bobby McFerrin. In tandem with the group’s provenance, the CD’s theme appears to be an amalgamated Sesame Street message of discovery, relationship, and playfulness. On the positive side, the recording reestablishes Marsalis as a gifted wonder who is capable of most anything out of his horn. On the negative side, some of the compositions appeal to a cutesy-pie sentimentality (which drives some of us crazy in this here 21st Century) that will help record sales to a bourgeois audience. Nevertheless, cuts like “Free To Be,” with its driving momentum; “Big Fat Hen,” a Nawleans down-home cut-up; and “Sophie Rose-Rosalee,” a pleasant waltz with some great brushing from drummer Ali Jackson and prescient piano coloring from Eric “the Professor” Lewis, showcase this master and his friends as among the finest in jazz, so long as they stay the course and not gravitate to goofy, overarranged patchwork quilt items like the title cut. The Bad Plus, Give. Columbia. This newly-crowned jazz savior band delivers, in its second disc for Columbia, pretty much the same kind of music their first CD presented: proportionally produced, sometimes dynamic, often bombastic compositions that clearly evince each member’s contribution while occasionally getting lost in its own forest of noise. Somewhat ironically, for this group, as the drummer goes so goes the trio. Depending on where the critic comes from, David King is either the great bridge between the rock world and jazz or the great pounder and thrasher who destroys any dynamic improvisation merely by the power of beat. King’s most egregious moment is during his own “Layin’ A Strip For The Higher-Self State Line,” when he could have used a dose of Joe Jonesish swing juice to enhance pianist Ethan Iverson’s terrific riffing as the song rolls on. Yet, King’s other tune, “Frog And Toad,” supplies the disc with its most inventive music, featuring the highly resonant bassist Reid Anderson. As far as rehashings go, the first cut, “1979 Semi-Finalist,” seems to be a slightly abridged version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit,” one of the trio’s workings of rock classics that have gained critical attention. Ornette Coleman’s “Street Woman” gets a respectful, if not inspirational, reading. The Pixies’ “Velouria” receives the most oppositional treatment, beginning pensively before blowing into a full-fledged neo-classical triad. Later, Ozzy’s “Iron Man” gets a somewhat less creative visit, with the band stopping the song for periods of percussive noodling that may play better live than on disc. Overall, some of the band’s wit (such as in “Cheney Pinata”) and its penchant for compositional experimentation resurfaces enough to make Give an interesting album that ultimately leads one to wonder what follows after this new wave persona dries up. Charles Lloyd and Billy Higgins, Which Way is East. ECM. The presumed last recording of the late, great percussionist Billy Higgins is an uneven though thoroughly creative two-disc affair recorded during the final months of Higgins’ life. His longtime friend and compatriot, the saxophonist Charles Lloyd, convinced Higgins to expand his offerings to other instruments to coincide with the personal flavor of the album. What we often get is something much different than we have gotten before from one of most respected musicians in the world. After all was recorded, the material was ordered into eight “suites” with thematic titles like “What Is Man,” “Desire,” “Devotion,” and “Surrender.” Each section features four separate compositions in which, for the most part, the musicians are pared off. In the items that will appeal to jazz buffs, Lloyd sometimes plays alto sax, a change from the Coltranesque tenor he usually plays, perhaps to signify a “higher” sensibility on this album tinged with Eastern spirituality. Meanwhile, Higgins does what he did bestaccompany and drive his mate’s music. In this case, though, Lloyd is careful not to become the driving soloist; he seems to allow Higgins to dictate the music at crucial times using a wide assortment of percussion. In other places, Higgins (for the first time) demonstrates his abilities on exotic percussion, guitar and voicesymbolizing this master’s late-growing recognition of artistic freedom in the face of fatal odds. Those who have enjoyed the music each of these players have presented over the years will be challenged to appreciate the wider culture offered here, but may link to it emotionally as they respectfully allow this fine man one last musical statement before he met his God whom he searched for in his final years. Ken Peplowski, Easy to Remember. nagel hayer. After a few years away from Concord, for whom he recorded many albums, clarinetist and saxophonist Ken Peplowski has emerged with a well-produced and smartly-played CD that exhibits his experience and growth as a soloist as well as a pleasantly distributed session that takes advantage of all of the participants. Peplowski, like so many of nagel heyer’s lineup, represents a slowly dying generation that was nurtured in swing and bop. European and American late middle-agers still consider that music to be quintessential jazz even though much of the material that is played in concerts and recordings has been overexposed to the point of triviality. So it takes a true jazz artist to make old music listenable. Peplowski is one of them. Even though the song list is loaded with composers like Porter, Strayhorn, Ellington, and Coleman, this veteran knows how to twist melody and arrange solos so that the musicians, not the song, become the things that are “easy to remember.” The first evidence, after a breezy rendition of the title song featuring the classic crooner Bobby Short, is cut two, “Restless,” in which Peplowski’s tenor interplays with the slyly smooth guitar of Joe Cohn, whose solos call to mind the intricate picking of Jim Hall. Peplowski’s solo teeter-totters from melody to scat as smoothly as if he were taking a rhythmic stroll. On “Copi,” Peplowski cops some Desmond vibe as he searches the upper register for beautiful music, leading to a tasty solo by another crafty veteran, pianist Ted Rosenthal. The clarinet emerges on Ira Coleman’s “With Every Breath I Take,” and Peplowski elliptically caresses the melody to create intimacy with a hint of mystery. He stays with that reed into Jobim’s “Louisa” and into Porter’s not-too-often recorded “Everything I Love.” Produced with proper studio echo by Frank Nagel-Heyer, this performance reaches chamber music excellence that is matched later on by his extended solo of Ellington’s beautiful “Single Petal of a Rose.” The only nod to modern music is a rendition of Paul McCartney’s “Junk,” with Kim Liggett on vocal. For this crew, it’s a perfect vehicle for sensitive playing, something both Peplowski and Cohn excel at. Another exceptional performance occurs toward the end, a bluesy playing of “Smoke Rings,” where Peplowski conjures the ghosts of Stan Getz and Coleman Hawkins to swing through a trio treatment that makes the listener wish for ten minutes more: his invention never fails. Jason Lindner, Live/UK. Sunnyside. I have been a fan of this NYC-based pianist ever since Impulse released a collection of “underground” artists several years ago who were recorded live at the intimate (read: really tiny) but fabled jazz venue Smoke. Jason Lindner has always seemed to have his sensibilities at the cusp of emerging jazz motifs. His playing and compositions are informed by world beats, placing him squarely in the progressive tradition of people like Dizzy Gillespie. He has recorded albums that display his penchant for applying pure rhythm and smart arrangement, such as his composition dedicated to Mary Lou Williams on which he interrupted an ensemble to allow a respectable rapper to talk a story. On Live/UK, a 2002 concert recorded in London, Lindner leads a quartet consisting of Jimmy Greene on reeds, Omer Avital (another Smoke alum) on bass, and Marlon Browder on drums. What occurs is non-stop swing within several sub-genres that suggests a latter day Thelonious Monk presentation. Not to say that Greene is Charlie Rouse; his playing bends toward smooth jazz phrasing at times (similar to Michael Brecker) but he is capable of scintillating solos, such as his rolling flute and percussive sax work on the Latin-bop tune “The Five Elements & The Natural TrinityPart 1,” one of three performances that carry over 10 minutes (one is at 18). Lindner’s arrangements slide toward the Latin in general; his music never sits still. “Information Kiss” is a prime example, with the pianist’s Tyner-like riffs pushing Greene into a long, rollicking soliloquy. Afterward, the pace turns gospel on “Take It to Church” (think of SNL’s closing theme), with a nice moment from bassist Avital leading to tasty, upright playing from Lindner, who again demonstrates his superb knowledge and dexterity. This is a musician everyone should check out, capable of pleasing every ear. * * * And, finally, a concert note. If you have the chance to catch Dave Brubeck and his quartet in concert, do it. This Spring, my daughter and I attended one in Chicago. When the four silver-headed musicians crossed the stage, we were all ready for some good, old, pleasant tunes from these veterans. What we got was a full-blown effort that shocked everyone. These guys are playing for keeps with few holds barred. Bobby Militello’s alto crossed several lines; Michael Moore is a great bassist who can handle anything Dave throws at him; and Bobby Jones is one the finest straight-up drummers around. Brubeck always swings, but he is exhibiting nerve that a lot of us thought disappeared a decade ago. He just happens to have three friends who think just like he does. Great, great music.
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