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Frankly, jazz has been kind of quiet, but not because there was a dearth of good music. Surely, the regular routines commence: concerts, festivals, a thousandish recordings…but very few of these recordings received public notice. Some attempts at coalescing urban and traditional sounds to gain the attention of Hip-hop Nation were interesting, but most failed miserably.

Lacking sufficient radio exposure, some excellent talent is being ignored. So, I now attempt to steer potential fans to places that will introduce and ratify what is best about this age-old, struggling genre.

Fly. Fly. Savoy Jazz. 

The most interesting CD I heard in the past year was one of those “found” groups that occurs when musicians do things outside of their intended venues. Mark Turner, a saxophonist who has always investigated the edges of the genre, found a colloquial duo in bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard. This trio put together an invigorating, enlightening set of originals and covers that satisfies most every sensual and intellectual interest. The basic format features a pensive Turner searching for ideas while Grenadier and Ballard provide spirited ambiance—in modern trio music, percussion is the key, and Ballard, especially, is able to prance and drive his mates into alternately pulsating and solemn moments of pure improvisational joy. A special treat is their version of Jimi Hendrix’s “Spanish Castle Magic,” presented with a marching beat that re-empathizes the rugged rhythm of the original while playing around with the guitar master’s chromatic chordal displays. This album is a fine example of what jazz can do for music.

John Abercrombie: Assorted Recordings. ECM: rarum XIV. 

This collection of Abercrombie “hits” is one of the finest of its genre. Here (no doubt aided by the wisdom of John himself) is a truly representative list of the guitarist’s 30-year work for ECM, beginning with the classic tone poem “Timeless,” and featuring moments with his initial progressive improvisational trio Gateway (with hall of fame mates Dave Holland and Jack DeJohnnette); a contribution to an album by trumpet star Kenny Wheeler; his duo classic with Ralph Towner, “Sargasso Sea,” that typified the kind of modern chamber music ECM was known for; his second basic trio with Marc Johnson and Peter Erskine; and ultimately his work with organist Dan Wall and the painfully little-appreciated Adam Nussbaum. There’s nothing weak or puzzling about this arrangement. A real treat.

A Fortnight in France. Patricia Barber. Blue Note. 

While most of America is going ga-ga over the pop versions of “jazz” singers, one voice stands out. Patricia Barber, a very talented singer and piano player from Chicago who does not benefit from automatic acceptance of fans-of-necessarily-gorgeous-performers, nevertheless provided us with the best vocal album of 2004. Fortnight is, perhaps, Blue Note’s answer to Verve’s Live in Paris with Diana Krall, and it is better. While Barber has dipped into the jazz-pop genre (Nightclub), her career and reputation has been built on modernistic tropes and approaches (exemplified by the 90’s classic Modern Cool) that are much more cerebral than sensual, although she can sing “hot” when she wants to. The operating irony is that Barber is gay, a fact that brings all sorts of rainbow tensions to her songs, especially when she covers tunes like “Witchcraft” and “Norwegian Wood,” where she sings Lennon’s words about a fling with a woman with equal facility and tension. One major difference in musical approach, when you compare her work with Krall’s, is the accompanying guitar playing. Here, Barber’s longtime band mate Neal Alger provides a more angular, edgy tone that neatly melds with Barber’s alternately thoughtful and tense phrasings. The recording is excellent, the band tight, and the music never dull.

I’m All for You. Joe Lovano. Blue Note

Frankly, albums consisting of all or mostly ballads tend to be boring. Even the great Coltrane’s collection on Impulse has its moments of non-sublimity…just because a lot of jazz has to do with swing, and ballads don’t swing unless the musicians demand it. That’s why I decided to give veteran saxophonist Joe Lovano’s latest CD a chance—because he never fails to bring his big band arrangement credentials along for the ride. Another reason was to hear him play with three exemplary musicians: the eloquent decade-spanning pianist Hank Jones, the flexibly accompanying bassist George Mraz, and the multilingual percussionist Paul Motion. Another important factor was the material. Along with one original (the title cut), Lovano split the album with tunes by jazz greats (including Monk and Coltrane) as well as from Broadway writers. The only way for me to determine if this CD was worth the money was to swallow hard and listen to the umpteenth version of “Stella By Starlight.” The result is that kind of “forced swing” and inverted approach to the melody that is part of the essence of real jazz, taking this production away from the sterility of studio jazz and into the kind of jam that special players produce. Once again, Lovano—deftly tightrope-walking his solos up and down the scale—and his friends create top-drawer, singular art that keeps jazz from getting stale. (Note: Lovano and his crew have a new CD, Joyous Encounter, out that seems to be a bit peppier…I’ll let you know.)

Horizon Reassembled. Bobby Watson & Horizon. Palmetto Records.

Sometimes the group is stronger than the individuals. That was always true for Horizon, the formidable quintet put together by saxman Bobby Watson and drummer Victor Lewis in the 1980’s and 90’s, which produced constantly strong albums for Columbia and Evidence. While Watson and Lewis were able to create strong individual personae, nothing either did (with the possible exception of work Watson did on the Owl label) was able to surpass the breadth and depth of Horizon’s repertoire. So when the group rejoined for this latest album, it was with surprise and curiosity that I engaged with it. What emerged was better than could be expected, given the near decade between recordings. The album has an energy and freshness missing from a lot of releases. It’s almost as though the guys have been saving tunes over the years just for this effort. Trumpet player Terell Stafford, having kept his chops in tune in various settings for European labels, seems to have a new life here—his solos have a vibrancy and pace not heard for a while. Both pianist Edward Simon and bassist Essiet Essiet have been among the finest session players; they seem to revel within this new material. Lewis has always been a favored percussionist; here he is recorded well (kudos to Matt Balitsaris at Maggie’s Farm) and shows much more energy and dexterity than in recent sessions. He and Watson always had exquisite ears and rhythm sense (always with an exotic touch), and this new disc rewards with each listening. I hope they tour a lot this year.

Night Call. Marc Copland with Greg Osby. nagel heyer.

The German label nagel heyer has two sides: the ultra-traditional bourgeois (for its aging European listeners) and the more modernistic, slightly experimental. The second tends to feature some of the better modern U.S. jazz players. One of the label’s better efforts of 2004 featured keyboardist Marc Copland and the seemingly ubiquitous saxophonist Greg Osby. Osby, who had his own decent album Public for Blue Note, is a player who has gained respect for his willingness to investigate varying forms and approaches over a two-decade recording career. On Night Call, the two merge on eight original improvisations and one interpretation. With Osby, you can always hear him thinking his way through a solo, evoking audio images of Sonny Rollins and Stan Getz while marking the music with his own off beat, note-holding nuances. In this case, with the erudite Copland at the helm, we get to hear how the young star juxtaposes his bop intuition with the more classical bent of the veteran. The result is musical interplay that never has too much space but is brilliantly paced and balanced—two musicians who want to make it work.

A label to watch: Hyena.

Monk “Round the World. Thelonius Monk. Hyena/Thelonius Records.
The Frank and Joe Show. Frank Vignola and Joe Ascione. Hyena.

The best music, lately, seems to come from the smaller labels that are working harder. One is Hyena Records, the NYC establishment that hosts its own and subsidiary material—wanting, it seems, to be a generator of jazz in the same way Palmetto is. The difference is the eclectic assortment.

A new label led by The Masked Announcer, Joel Dorn, called Thelonious Records has begun through Hyena, which has released two posthumous live recordings of Monk’s quartet of the early '60’s. The latest one, Monk ‘Round the World, is a collection of material recorded in the U.S. and Europe, along with a DVD of three tunes recorded on film (off a TV tape?) at a club in London. Most of the music has made appearances in several venues over the past 40 years…but one can never get enough Monk. One reason is that, even though the quartet played these songs over and over and over again, both the pianist and his partner-in-crime, saxophonist Charlie Rouse, find new angles and notes to include and discard during each performance. Each release by Dorn is accompanied by his offhand commentary, but this one features a short essay by one of the tallest jazz fans, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose provenance includes his father’s performances and influence. The DVD has a generally crisp showing of Monk’s last quartet—with bassist Larry Gales and drummer Ben Riley—playing “Rhythm a Ning,” “Nutty,” and “Criss Cross.” Here the uneducated can witness the wonderfully rich on-stage relationship between Monk and Rouse, one of the finest duos in jazz history.

Another release by Hyena, The Frank and Joe Show, is one of the better albums—although a tad frustrating in places for the listener. On the other end of the jazz scale is the pre-modern approach of swing guitarist Frank Vignola and his drummer Joe Ascione. Five years ago I tabbed Vignola’s nagel heyer release Off Broadway as one of the best albums of the late 90’s because the musicians not only played original material with great energy and pace, but they were allowed to stretch out a bit as a venture into ensemble jazz. Six of the 15 selections were written by Ascione, whose tastes proved broad and enticing. On this album these two are again aligned with crack players (including Dr. John himself, Mac Rebennack). However, this album is pretty much a collection of standards, with the exception of a unique “Mozart Jam” and a generic “Sweet Rhythm.” Vignola, who carries the traditions of Django Reinhardt and Les Paul as well as anyone, is really on fire in this session. If you like speed in guitar playing, buy this CD. But be willing to be disappointed in a couple of cases where the song is faded out as the man is in the middle of a prolonged and intense solo. It appears that this CD is meant to mirror the material played in “The Frank and Joe Show” as it travels throughout the country; hearing it, one wants desperately to attend a live concert to see where Vignola’s solos end and whether or not his strings catch on fire getting there.

Three cats to pay attention to

Buzz. Ben Allison & Medicine Wheel. Palmetto
Live/UK. Jason Lindner. Sunnyside.
Lift: Live at the Village Vanguard. Chris Potter Quartet. Sonnyside/Confluences Series.

The future of jazz rests in the emergence and development of the so-called “young lions” of the genre, three of which released albums in 2004.

A member of a NYC-based non-profit organization, the Jazz Composers Collective, bassist Ben Allison is one of the more interesting new composers who find ways to weave 21st Century threads into their quilted music. Allison’s septet Medicine Wheel, consisting of fellow JCC members, interprets his eclectic motifs that suggest the influence of both old, blues-based jazz and new exotic forms. On Buzz, Allison and the group create musical tapestries of piano riffs and horn ensembles that sound like aural storytelling; in the liner notes, Allison refers to images of dramatic sequence, either on stage or in real life. He is also interested in symbolism—the title cut is meant to reflect the “buzz” of city life. Two covers reflect the broad scope of his tastes: one by Andrew Hill, another by John Lennon. His composing style, which reflects a Mingus-like karma, establishes a stern beat but allows room for his soloists to explore and juxtapose mood and pace. This material is refreshing, challenging, yet accessible, something for the new generation to chew on.

Pianist Jason Lindner’s unapologetic urban jazz approach has turned heads in New York for about a decade. First making a scene at the underground club Smoke, Lindner led an ensemble through a first release, Premonition, that included a rap in honor of Mary Lou Williams and showed he was a major talent in both composition and arrangement. Live/UK is a straight-ahead effort recorded live in London in 2001, which reflects Lindner’s propensity toward smooth Latin beats and citified rhythms. Other homegrown talents—bassist Omer Avital, drummer Marlon Browden, and saxophonist Jimmy Greene—confidently ride the waves of seven Lindner compositions, all of which swell and engulf the engaged listener, whether in the club or at home under the headphones.

One more live album features perhaps the hottest of the lions, saxophonist Chris Potter, who is now the sideman of choice for many leaders looking for a player who can adjust to most any generic challenge. Potter, who gained much positive vibration through his playing with the Dave Holland Quintet, has accompanied a broad band of talent, from pianist Renee Rosnes to bassist Steve Swallow to the jazz-influenced duo Steely Dan. His versatility and inventiveness is clearly shown on Extended Play, the two-disc live album by the Holland quintet. On Lift, Potter’s quartet features equally versatile pianist Kevin Hays, the wonderful bassist Scott Colley, and the exciting drummer Bill Stewart. It’s first cut, “7.5,” opens and closes with an irritating, repetitive keyboard riff that sounds like someone is trying to dial a push-button phone while Potter leads a hard bop groove. Outside of that diversion (a precursor to the quartet’s second studio album on Verve, Traveling Mercies), the group settles into some solid, percussive material that exemplifies the musicians’ strengths and interplay. Potter’s confidence and intensity, supported strongly by his backup pals, is clearly evinced by the sheer volume and range of his solos; all the while, Potter angles the band toward synchronistic moments that spell g-r-o-o-v-e.