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Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Music Week

April archive (finished).

Music: Current count 33179 [33137] rated (+42), 221 [226] unrated (-5).

Trying desperately to wrap up the month today, and don't feel like writing much anyway. I will say that the concentration of A- records in the Old Music is mostly due to opening up a stash of downloads, shared by friends and stashed away for months or maybe years. I found them while looking for some more recent jazz records. Also found a few non-product offerings that I won't bother reviewing but someday may find time to listen to. (They exist because Robert Christgau deemed them worth reviewing; e.g., Gary Giddins' post-WWII roadmap, and an Adam Schlesinger playlist. There's also something called "The Sound of the City Pt. 1" -- probably a Charlie Gillett compilation, but I don't know which one: looks chronological, 1946-1951, and I recognize most, maybe all, of the songs, from "I Wonder" to "Cry.")

In new music, Fiona Apple's Fetch the Bolt Cutters appears to be the best-reviewed new record of 2020 (so far), rating 94 (23 reviews) at AOTY, 100 (24 reviews) at Metacritic, topping both lists. It's in 2nd place in my metacritic file, behind Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud. I played it twice last week, and wasn't blown away, but I suppose I'm still open to persuasion (if I bother playing it again). At least I hear something there, which I can't say for Rina Sawayama's well-regarded Rina (far and away the second highest ranked 4/17 release).

Fewer musician deaths this week. The one I know best was disco artist Hamilton Bohannon (1942-2020). I only have one of his LPs in my database (1976's Dance Your Ass Off), but I could swear I had 4-5 at the time, so I have to wonder how much more got lost to my shabby 20th century bookkeeping. I didn't consider any of the albums great, but I did love their minimalist dance grooves. When I moved on to CDs, I picked up Deep Beats: Essential Dancefloor Artists Vol. 4 (1973-75 [1994], Castle/Deep Beats), a very solid A-.

I'm much less familiar with Detroit DJ Mike Huckaby (1966-2020), but for an expert appreciation, see Michaelangelo Matos: Remembering Mike Huckaby, a towering figure in Detroit house music. I can add that the Record Time store in Roseville, MI that Huckaby worked at was a favorite haunt of mine on my trips to Detroit, and the collection of electronic dance music there regularly boggled my mind (although I spent more time in their slightly more modest store in Ferndale, much closer to where I was staying).

Also on the list was Ian Whitcomb (1941-2020), a one-hit wonder from 1965 ("You Turn Me On!"), who wrote the first popular history of rock and roll that I read, After the Ball (1972 -- the second was Charlie Gillett's The Sound of the City). I do have Whitcomb's 1965 LP in my database at B+ (I managed to track it down in the 1970s, but it's long gone now).

PS: Haven't yet done the normal monthly accounting for the April Streamnotes file. I'll wrap that up later in the week. I should also note that I've decided to add all December 2019 releases to the 2020 Music Tracking file, and also to the Metacritic file. I had previously decided to include 2019 releases that hadn't picked up any votes in the 2019 EOY Aggregate. Since EOY lists tend to appear before the year is done, most publications are already skewed by at least a month, so I thought I should reflect that. The Jazz Critics Poll's official year-end definition is Thanksgiving, so I'm getting close to that. I use the Music Tracking file to help count JCP ballots, so this change will have some practical value.

New records reviewed this week:

Against All Logic: 2017-2019 (2017-19 [2020], Other People): Nicolas Jaar, electronica producer in New York, records under aliases as well as his own name, this the second compilation of his work as AAL. B+(***)

Robby Ameen: Diluvio (2019 [2020], Origin): Drummer, from Connecticut, plays Afro-Cuban jazz, third album as leader, broke in with Dizzy Gillespie in 1984, many side credits (e.g., with Ruben Blades, Dave Valentin, Conrad Herwig, Kip Hanrahan). High octane. B+(*) [cd]

Fiona Apple: Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020, Epic): Singer-songwriter, fifth album since 1996, increasing elapsed times between albums: 3, 6, 7, 8 years. Previous albums built around her piano, but this one is drums, practically all drums, even the vocals arranged as chants. Probably the best-received album so far this year, but while I have to credit its distinctiveness, I don't particularly get it (or expect to). B+(***)

#Bloomerangs: Moments and Fragments (2020, Instru Dash Mental): Piano trio (Clay Wulbrecht, Stefan Lenthe, Chris Parker) plus guitar/banjo (Rodrigo Cotelo), the latter providing most of the writing credits and listed as producer, with everyone else claiming a song or two. B+(*)

The Ian Carey Quintet + 1: Fire in My Head: The Anxiety Suite (2019 [2020], Slow & Steady): Trumpet player, Bay Area, seventh album, lively postbop sextet with alto sax, bass clarinet, keyboards, bass, and drums. B+(**)

Chicago Underground Quartet: Good Days (2018-19 [2020], Astral Spirits): Long running duo, Rob Mazurek (trumpet, electronics) and Chad Taylor (drums), with 7 albums 1998-2014, sometimes Trio (4 albums 1999-2007), one previous Quartet album (2001) -- guitarist Jeff Parker returns here, with along with newcomer Josh Johnson (synth bass, organ, piano). Played this a lot, and keep bouncing up and down on it. B+(***) [cd]

Alex Cunningham & Claire Rousay: Specifically the Water (2020, Astral Spirits): Violin and drums duo, free jazz at its most elemental, abstract and rather scratchy. B+(*) [cd]

Kaja Draksler Octet: Out for Stars (2019 [2020], Clean Feed): Slovenian pianist, half-dozen albums since 2008, second Octet effort, again with two singers, two reeds (Ab Baars, Ada Rave), viola, bass, and drums. Strikes me as scattered and aimless, which I blame the vocals for (gets better when they shut up, but still leans operatic). B-

Colin Fisher Quartet: Living Midnight (2019, Astral Spirits): Bio describes him as North American multi-instrumentalist, probably Canadian, plays saxophone (tenor/alto) here, guitar elsewhere, has a couple previous albums and a dozen-plus side credits. Quartet, with Daniel Carter on sax (clarinet/flute), Brandon Lopez (bass), and Marc Edwards (drums). Avant, three long pieces (71:37). B+(***) [cd]

Nick Fraser/Kris Davis/Tony Malaby: Zoning (2019, Astral Spirits): Canadian drummer and pianist, the saxophonist a long-time associate of Davis; two more names in smaller type and half of the pieces: Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax) and Lina Allemano (trumpet). Rather abstract. B+(**)

Gordon Grdina Septet: Resist (2017 [2020], Irabbagast): Canadian guitar/oud player, builds this group around East Van Strings -- well-known jazz musicians Jesse Zubot (violin), Eyvind Kang (viola), Peggy Lee (cello), and Tommy Babin (drums) -- adding saxophonist Jon Irabagon and drummer Kenton Loewen. B+(*)

Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid: Shards and Constellations (2019 [2020], Intakt): Piano-cello duo, from London and Chicago. B+(**)

James Brandon Lewis/Chad Taylor: Live in Willisau (2019 [2020], Intakt): Terrific tenor saxophonist, although the raw tone wears thin on me here and there. Pretty good drummer, too, in some ways even more impressive here. Note that every time he switches to mbira something special happens. A-

Luís Lopes Humanization 4tet: Believe, Believe (2018 [2020], Clean Feed): Portuguese guitarist, group name from the title of a 2008 album, although the group is unchanged, and everyone writes: Rodrigo Amado (tenor sax), Aaron Gonzalez (bass), and Stefan Gonzalez (drums). B+(***)

Laura Marling: Song for Our Daughter (2020, Chrysalis/Partisan): British singer-songwriter, seventh album since 2008. "Features more sparse and minimal arrangements to create an intimate sound." Never sounded more like Joni Mitchell, although my favorite Mitchell albums have a bit more spunk. B+(**)

Brian Marsella: Gatos Do Sul (2020, Tzadik): Pianist, American (I think) but closely linked to Brazilian percussionist Cyro Baptista, who sets the groove here, fluffed up by acoustic guitar, accordion, violin, voice, and flutes. B [dl]

Joe McPhee/Dave Rempis/Tomeka Reid/Brandon Lopez/Paal Nilssen-Love: Of Things Beyond Thule Vol. 1 (2018 [2020], Aerophonic): Two saxophonist (McPhee also plays pocket trumpet), cello, bass, and drums, limited edition vinyl from a show at the Hungry Brain in Chicago. B+(**) [dl]

The Mountain Goats: Songs for Pierre Chuvin (2020, Merge): Front cover continues: "10 new songs. March 2020." John Darneile's alias, operating solo here, 18th album since 1994, a short one (27:17). B+(**)

Simon Nabatov: Time Labyrinth (2019 [2020], Leo): Russian pianist, moved to America, long based in Cologne, Germany; many records since 1988. Septet here, four horns, no drums, so it fractures and meanders a lot. B

Simon Nabatov: Plain (2019 [2020], Clean Feed): Cover continues: "with Chris Speed [tenor sax, clarinet], Herb Robertson [trumpet, cornet, voice], John Hébert [bass], Tom Rainey [drums]." B+(*)

Chris Poland: Resistance (2020, Ropeadope): Guitarist, started out in thrash metal band Megadeth, more recently led fusion bands OHM and OHMphrey, occasional solo albums since 1990. Lead song starts with some vocal then a Rhymefest rap, but nothing else follows in that vein. Finds its groove with a nice, spacey "Maiden Voyage" (Herbie Hancock). B+(*) [cd]

Quelle Chris & Chris Keys: Innocent Country 2 (2020, Mello Music Group): Detroit rapper Gavin Tennille, eighth album since 2012, offers a sequel to his 2015 album, also with SF producer Keys. B+(***)

Tom Rainey/Ingrid Laubrock: Stir Crazy (2020, self-released): Drum and sax duo, based in Brooklyn, started recording and releasing weekly improv pieces at home during the lockdown, this rolling up the the first four (57:18), with a fifth installment also on their Bandcamp, and most likely more to come. Nice rapport. B+(**) [bc]

Rina Sawayama: Sawayama (2020, Dirty Hit): Pop singer, born in Japan, family moved to London when she was five, has done some modeling and acting, first album after the EP Rina. Music aims for arena rock, sometimes with a bit of dissonance, but that doesn't help either. B-

Serengeti: Ajai (2020, Cohn): Chicago rapper David Cohn, many albums since 2002, this one produced by Kenny Segal. B+(**)

Viktor Skokic Sextett: Basement Music (2020, Jazzland): Swedish bassist, born in Gothenburg, father Croatian, first album as leader, wrote all the music. Group has trumpet, two reed players (bass clarinet), piano, and drums. Fractured postbop, sly, sneaks up on you. B+(***) [cd]

Emilio Solla Tango Jazz Orchestra: Puertos: Music From International Waters (2019, Avantango): Pianist, from Argentina, based in New York, debut was a quartet album in 2010, not sure how much more he has. Large ensemble here, mostly NY names although Pablo Aslan (bass) and Julien Labro (bandoneon, accordion) are experts. Leans toward lush. B+(**)

STRFKR: Future Past Life (2020, Polyvinyl): Portland, Oregon group, released 2008 eponymous debut as Starfucker, shortened name for fourth album (2013, the only one that charted). Light vocals, a lot of shimmer to the guitar(s), can enjoy riding out a riff. B+(**)

The Strokes: The New Abnormal (2020, Cult/RCA): A big deal c. 2000, especially in New York, diminishing returns after their debut, with Julian Casablancas' solo career dead-on-arrival. First album since a 2013 effort I didn't bother with after giving their 2011 album a C-. New one has a great title for the moment, and an opener that reëstablishes their groove cred. On the other hand, the singer can still get on my nerves. B+(*)

Dave Stryker With Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band: Blue Soul (2019 [2020], Strikezone): Guitarist, long resume, in front of a standard big band with Mintzer arranging and conducting as well as featured on tenor sax. One song each from the leaders, the cover standards including Marvin Gaye, Prince, and "Wichita Lineman." B+(*) [06-05]

Thundercat: It Is What It Is (2020, Brainfeeder): Singer-songwriter Stephen Bruner, has dabbled in punk and funk and settled in whatever this is, some obscure but surprisingly popular postmodern strain of pop. B

Anne Waldman: Sciamachy (2020, Fast Speaking Music): Poet, 40-some books, recorded an album with John Giorno in 1977, has several more since 2011 with nephew Devin Brahja Waldman producing and playing sax, with spots here for Ambrose Bye (synth), William Parker (n'goni), Laurie Anderson (violin), and others. B+(**) [sc]

Lucinda Williams: Good Souls Better Angels (2020, Highway 20): Singer-songwriter from Louisiana, father a poet and literature professor so she grew up with words, although at this point she probably likes her guitars more. After a long string of brilliant albums, I couldn't find her post-2011 albums, so I was initially shocked at how worn her voice had become, and how much fury she expressed. Several plays later she's still fraying my nerves, but this feels pretty damn substantial. A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

African Head Charge: Churchical Chant of the Iyabinghi (1991-94 [2020], On-U Sound): Adrain Sherwood's dub group, outtakes from the period's albums (Songs of Praise, In Pursuit of Shashamane Land), 10-13 years after their debut. Beats and echo, as if that's all you need in this world. B+(**) [bc]

Old music:

Blue Lu Barker: 1946-1949 (1946-49 [2000], Classics): Jazz/blues singer from New Orleans, married to guitarist Danny Barker (whose Sextet is credited with the first eight songs here), recorded for Decca 1938-39 (on Classics 704), for Apollo in 1946 and Capitol 1948-49 -- the later ones are collected here, including her best-known song, "Don't You Feel My Leg." A- [dl]

Lil Green: Romance in the Dark: 1940-1946 (1940-46 [1971], RCA): Blues singer, born in Mississippi, moved to Chicago, where she started recording in 1940, and died young (34?) in 1954. Wrote her two most famous songs here ("Romance in the Dark," "Knockin' Myself Out"), most of the others by Joe McCoy or Big Bill Bronzy (who plays on most of them, along with piano and bass; the final "Blowtop Blues" uses a big band). A-

Orüj Güvenç & Tümata: Rivers of One (1997, Interworld): Turkish clinical psychologist, musicologist, and Sufi sheik, group possibly an acronym for "Group for the Research and Promotion of Turkish Music." His 1995 Ocean of Remembrance was my sister's favorite album ever, much praised for calming the spirits -- something I'm naturally skeptical of, but can attest to nonetheless. Played ney, oud, and rebab, and sung a little. Three more pieces here, nothing hurried, not a problem. A-

The Lee Konitz Quartet: Tranquility (1957, Verve): With Billy Bauer on guitar, Henry Grimes on bass, and Dave Bailey on drums, playing one original each by Konitz and Bauer, "Lennie Bird" by Tristano, and some typically subtle standards. B+(***)

Myra Melford/Zeena Parkins/Miya Masaoka: MZM (2014-16 [2017], Infrequent Seams): Piano (some prepared), harp/electronics, 21-string koto. Saw a review of this as a new record and sought it out, but looks to be several years old. Deeply fractured sound earns its obscurity, as well as your attention. B+(*)

Sarah Riedel/Carl Svensson/Viktor Skokic: Perfectly Still (2012, Footprint): Swedish jazz singer, wrote two songs here, three from bassist Skokic, one from guitarist Svensson, guest spots for reeds and percussion, other covers (notably "Surabaya Johnny," "All or Nothing at All"), all but one in English. [4/12 tracks on Napster, others on label website] B+(*)

Lucinda Williams: The Ghosts of Highway 20 (2016, Highway 20, 2CD): Fourteen leisurely songs, runs 86:13, including long side-closers at 9:05 and 12:44, for a rather low-key, easy-going album. Starts with words from her father, Miller Williams, then from Woody Guthrie, includes two songs invoking heaven (the more insistent one goes "open up the doors of heaven/let me in"), and ends trad. ("Faith & Grace"). B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Brian Andres Trio Latino: Mayan Suite (Bacalao) [05-15]
  • Brian Landrus/Fred Hersch/Drew Gress/Billy Hart: For Now (BlueLand) [05-15]
  • The MacroQuarktet: The Complete Night: Live at the Stone NYC (2007, Out of Your Head, 2CD) [05-01]
  • Josh Nelson Trio: The Discovery Project: Live in Japan (Steel Bird) [05-01]
  • Viktor Skokic Sextett: Basement Music (Jazzland)
  • Michael Thomas: Event Horizon (Giant Step Arts, 2CD) [05-08]

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Sunday, April 26, 2020

Weekend Roundup

It's rather staggering how much stuff one can come up with to read in a week. Also how little of what follows directly concerns the 2020 elections, which should be pivotal -- especially, now that it so clear to all concerned that the stakes are critical -- yet seems way above the heads of the party leaders. There are three items below that touch on Biden: one on his PAC's worrisome China-baiting ad (Bessner); one on his ambitious stimulus proposal (Grunwald); one on his VP choices (Hasan). I suppose you might count a fourth (Kilpatrick) on Sanders' campaign and supporters, but I don't mention Biden there, and I'm pretty much done with looking at campaign post-mortems. I also saw, but didn't link to, various articles arguing that Biden needs to veer left to unify the party and/or to develop a more effective campaign (I suppose the Warren-for-VP push might count there). Actually, I don't much care who Biden picks (aside from my getting irritated by how pushy the Stacey Abrams campaign has become), or whether Biden starts giving lip service to left arguments. In some ways, the less of that he does, the less he'll wind up walking back from when/if he wins. And, quite frankly, Warren and Sanders will be more effective in Congress, outside of the Biden administration -- not that I don't wish them luck steering some patronage to people who actually do have the public interest at heart.

On the other hand, there are tons of Trump pieces below: many of the Trump is a moron/Trump is insane variety, which is probably the easiest call to make. Some align with the Trump is an autocrat/fascist meme, some going so far at to insist that he is bent on the destruction of democracy. I don't stress pieces in that vein. There's no reason to think Trump wouldn't be amenable to a right-wing putsch, I see him mostly as a front man and a diversion. It's other Republicans -- the serious ones -- who are the real threat, as should be clear from the more obscure articles below, the ones about corruption, about their relentless assault in the environment, about their efforts to skew the electorate in their favor to perpetuate their graft and their imposition of anti-democratic ideology. Personally, I wouldn't mind dispensing with the Trump show, but he does do a remarkable job of illustrating the derangement of his apparatchiki.

Some scattered links this week:

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Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Music Week

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33137 [33094] rated (+43), 226 [216] unrated (+10).

Late getting this out, mostly because I got caught up in updating the Metacritic file, or maybe I was just putting off the task of writing about dead musicians. I did find that several lines had gotten dropped from the file, so I've started to patch them up again, but I may have lost information along the way (the most prominent contenders I'm aware of were Grimes and US Girls). Aside from consulting AOTY and Metacritic, I brought most of the jazz sources up to date.

When I wrote up a list with 12 musicians last week, I forgot to mention Hal Willner. Some obituaries emphasize his association with Saturday Night Live, but I credit him with a series of brilliantly eclectic tribute albums, the best being his 1985 Lost in the Stars: The Music of Kurt Weill.

Some more recent deaths of note here:

Tidal has an April 20 survey of Remembering the musicians felled by Covid-19, including Grimes, Logan, Konitz, and Willner, others I reported on last week, plus a few I had missed, like avant-disco chanteuse Cristina Monet (went by first name, I have her down for 3 A-list albums 1980-84, so I was a pretty big fan). Two more I'm less familiar with are: Marcelo Peralta and Moraes Moreira.

I wound up spending much of the week playing to Lee Konitz records I had missed. The collected grade list is here. The new finds didn't match the previous peaks, but some are quite remarkable, and some high B+ records below could grow on me if given the chance -- one thing you can count on with Konitz is that he's thinking ahead of you. Aside from the records reviewed below, his list includes the following (all A- except as noted):

  • Lee Konitz: Subconscious-Lee (1949-1950 [1991], Prestige OJC) A
  • Lee Konitz/Gerry Mulligan: Konitz Meets Mulligan (1953, Pacific Jazz)
  • Lee Konitz/Warne Marsh: Lee Konitz With Warne Marsh (1955 [2006], Atlantic/Rhino)
  • Lee Konitz: Live at the Half Note (1959, Verve)
  • Lee Konitz: Motion (1961 [2003], Verve) A
  • Lee Konitz: Motion (1961 [1998], Verve, 3CD)
  • Lee Konitz: I Concentrate on You (1974, SteepleChase)
  • Lee Konitz: Jazz à Juan (1974, SteepleChase)
  • Warne Marsh/Lee Konitz: Two Not One (1975 [2009], Storyville, 4CD)
  • Art Pepper Presets "West Coast Sessions!" Volume 3: Lee Konitz (1980 [2017], Omnivore)
  • Lee Konitz/Martial Solal: Star Eyes 1983 (1983 [2009], Hatology)
  • Lee Konitz/Harold Danko: Wild as Springtime (1984 [1997], Candid)
  • Lee Konitz/Barry Harris: Lullaby of Birdland (1991, Candid)
  • Lee Konitz: Jazz Nocturne (1992, Evidence) A
  • Lee Konitz: Another Shade of Blue (1997 [1999], Blue Note)
  • Lee Konitz: Sound of Surprise (1999, RCA)

Konitz continued producing excellent records well into his 80s, even past his 90th birthday: the last four I have under his name I have at B+(***), including last year's Nonet album Old Songs New (as good as any of his 1970s Nonets). Another B+(***) not on the grade list is Dan Tepfer's Duos With Lee (2008). Another is Grace Kelly's GraceFulLee (2007). Yet another is Ethan Iverson's Costumers Are Mandatory (2013).

Looks like Napster has another 75-80 Konitz albums I haven't heard, but they are getting hard to place, and I could use a break. In fact, I'm thinking I'll slow down this week, and do some house cleaning. I started pitching old music magazines, which no one seems to have any interest in. I thought about donating CDs to a library somewhere, but dropped the ball on that. Laura's nagging me about books, too. I don't see that as much of a problem, but in general it would be good to lighten the load and open up some space. Maybe clear my head a bit, then figure out what to really work on next. I'm at wit's end now.

New records reviewed this week:

Omer Avital Qantar: New York Experience (2019 [2020], Jazz & People): Israeli bassist, long based in New York, group named for his 2016 album, with two tenor saxophonists (Asaf Yuria and Alexander Levin), piano (Eden Ladin), and drums. Big, sweeping sound, strikes me as overly splashy but has its moments. B+(*)

The Chats: High Risk Behaviour (2020, Bargain Bin): Australian punk group, founded 2016, bassist Eamon Sandwith sings, closest they've come to an album (14 songs, 28:08). Got form, clear too, so you can understand when they get muddled. B+(*)

Chris Dingman: Embrace (2020, Inner Arts Initiative): Vibraphone player, third album, quite a few side credits (including Steve Lehman). Trio with Linda May Han Oh (bass) and Tim Keiper (drums). B+(*) [bc]

Jimmy Greene: While Looking Up (2020, Mack Avenue): Saxophonist, from and based in Connecticut (teaches at Wesleyan), was a bit younger than the "tough young tenors" lionized in the 1990s but fits in nicely -- first album was a SteepleChase Jam Session with Mark Turner and Don Braden. Got unwanted fame when his daughter was killed in the Sandy Hook massacre in 2012, and he responded with a well-received album Beautiful Life -- I much preferred his 2017 album, Flowers: Beautiful Life Volume 2. Plays soprano on three cuts here, tenor on seven, flute, clarinet, and bass clarinet. Backed by Aaron Goldberg (piano), Lage Lund (guitar), Reuben Rogers (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums), with marimba/vibes on two tracks (Stefon Harris). The soprano may be closer to heaven, but the tenor is more soulful, which is what matters here. B+(***)

Jeff Hamilton Trio: Catch Me If You Can (2019 [2020], Capri): Drummer, co-leader of the Clayton-Hamilton big band, half-dozen albums as a leader, most (or all?) piano trios like this one. You have to open the gatefold to find out who he's playing with: Tamir Hendelman and Jon Hamar. Eight standards, two from Hamar. B+(*) [07-17]

Hailu Mergia: Yene Mircha (2020, Awesome Tapes From Africa): Ethiopian keyboard player, part of the Walias Band in the 1970s, toured the US in 1981 and stayed, spending many years driving a DC taxi cab. Rebooted his career after this label released some of his old tapes. Trio with bass guitar and drums, playing candy-colored groove pieces. B+(**)

Ras Michael: Live by the Spirit (2020, Hen House Studios): Michael George Henry, from Jamaica, Rastafarian, learned nyabinghi drumming, alled his 1970s-80s band Sons of Negus. He's always projected a remarkable calmness, and at 76 has slowed down even more -- most obvious on his remake of a classic, "By the Rivers of Babylon." B+(**)

Mono: Before the Past: Live From Electrical Audio (2019, Temporary Residence): Instrumental rock group from Japan, founded 1999, three pieces here, LP-length (29:27) but not in any hurry, slowly building, gently fading away. B+(*) [bc]

Farnell Newton: Rippin' & Rumblin' (2020, Posi-Tone): Trumpet player, originally from Miami, moved on through Philadelphia and Denver to Portland, where he got his degree. Fourth album since 2011. Earns its title, with Brandon Wright even hotter at tenor sax, Brian Charette on organ, and Rudy Royston on drums. B+(**)

Porridge Radio: Every Bad (2020, Secretly Canadian): British indie band, singer-songwriter-guitarist Dana Margolin, fifth album since 2015 (although this is the first on a label anyone might notice). Can get a bit dense, but "Long" is a song where they make that work. B+(*)

Samo Salamon/Igor Matkovic/Kristijan Krajncan: Common Flow (2019 [2020], Sazas): Slovenian guitarist, wrote all the songs here, is joined by trumpet and drums. Keeps a moderate pace going, letting the trumpet shine, clear and lucid. A- [cd]

Samo Salamon/Igor Matkovic/Kristijan Krajncan: Rare Ebb (2019 [2020], Sazas): Same group, recorded same day, saving the more atmospheric pieces. B+(**) [cd]

Diane Schuur: Running on Faith (2020, Jazzheads): Standards singer, 25 or so albums since 1982, starts with two Percy Mayfield songs, mostly goes with rock-era songs (Carole King, Paul Simon, "Let It Be"), the lesser knowns more striking, and stronger as it ends with "Swing Low Sweet Chariot." With Ernie Watts on tenor sax, as co-producer. B+(***) [05-08]

Yves Tumor: Heaven to a Tortured Mind (2020, Warp): Sean Bowie, born in Miami, raised in Knoxville, now based in Turin, Italy. Fourth album. I have him filed under electronica, but he's far outgrown that niche, projecting like an arena rock star, like Bowie in the 1970s but, fitting our changing times, at once grander and more ephemeral. That, at least, is my impression on one hearing. If I were serious about covering pop/rock trends these days, I'd have to give him many more. B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Noah Howard: Live in Europe Vol. 1 (1975 [2020], Sconsolato): Alto saxophonist, originally from New Orleans, released two fiery avant records on ESP-Disk in 1966, moved to Europe, died in France in 2010. Quintet with Takashi Kako on piano, Kent Carter on bass, and two drummers, playing less avant fare, like "Lift Every Voice and Sing" and a 12:04 take of Coltrane's "Olé." B+(**) [bc]

Old music:

Miles Davis/Stan Getz/Gerry Mulligan/Lee Konitz/Sonny Rollins/Zoot Sims: Conception (1949-51 [1956], Prestige): Various artists compilation, starts with a 6-song 10-inch Lee Konitz LP (New Sounds), followed by two-sided singles from Davis, Getz, and Mulligan, with Davis appearing on four of the Konitz sides (along with Sal Mosca, Billy Bauer, Arnold Fishkin, and Max Roach; the other two are duets with the guitarist), with Rollins on the Davis tracks, and Sims on one of the Mulligan tracks (along with JJ Johnson and Kai Winding, so go figure). The Konitz tracks are intriguingly off kilter, the others more conventionally boppish/cool. B+(**)

Bill Evans Trio With Lee Konitz & Warne Marsh: Crosscurrents (1977 [1992], Fantasy/OJC): With Eddie Gomez on bass and Eliot Zigmund on drums plus the two saxophonists, on six standards (the CD reissue expanded with three alternate takes). B+(***)

Jasper Høiby: Fellow Creatures (2016, Edition): UK-based Danish bassist, cites Naomi Klein for title. Quintet with Mark Lockheart (sax), Laura Jurd (trumpet), piano, and drums. Slippery postbop with intriguing horn figures. B+(***) [bc]

Illinois Jacquet Quartet: Live at Schaffhausen, Switzerland March 18, 1978 (1978 [2015], Storyville): Texas tenor, always a jazz swinger but back in the 1940s spawned a wave of honking saxes that broke into r&b jukeboxes. Quartet with Hank Jones (piano), George Duvivier (bass), and J.C. Heard (drums), with Jacquet singing several songs. Runs 77 minutes, with breaks for piano and bass solos, and some patter. B+(***) [bc]

Lee Konitz: At Storyville (1954 [1988], Black Lion): Alto saxophonist, early in a career that only ended at 92 this year, a disciple of Lennie Tristano and one of the inventors of cool jazz. Live shot from Storyville Club in Boston, a quartet with Ronnie Ball (piano), Percy Heath (bass), and Alan Levitt (drums). Some stock patter, but Ball impresses, and Konitz is light as a feather. A-

Lee Konitz: Konitz (1954 [1989], Black Lion): In the label's Storyville series, but actually a studio session in New York, with Ronnie Ball (piano) plus bass and drums. Padded out with alternate takes -- the last six first appearing on CD. B+(**)

Lee Konitz: Body and Soul (1954 [2003], Black Lion): Same group as on Konitz, more New York City sessions, started as a 10-inch LP, eventually padded to 48:13 with alternate takes, including three of "Bop Goes the Leesel," where the play on the title matches the twists in the music, and four equally twisted takes on "Nursery Rhyme." B+(***)

Lee Konitz: In Harvard Square (1954-55 [1996], Black Lion): More from Storyville in Boston, seven short (max 4:01) tracks with the quartet from Konitz, three longer live ones (22:37) with the At Storyville quartet. B+(**)

Lee Konitz: Inside Hi-Fi (1956, Atlantic): Quartet, one side with Billy Bauer (guitar) ad Arnold Fishkind (bass), the other with Sal Mosca (piano) and Peter Ind (bass), both with Dick Scott on drums. B+(***)

Lee Konitz: The Real Lee Konitz (1957, Atlantic): Quartet with Billy Bauer on guitar, plus bass (Peter Ind) and drums (Dick Scott), with trumpet added for two songs. Three originals, the rest covers including "You Go to My Head," "My Melancholy Baby," "Sweet and Lovely," and "Easy Livin'." A-

Lee Konitz: The Real Lee Konitz (1957, Atlantic): Quartet with Billy Bauer on guitar, plus bass (Peter Ind) and drums (Dick Scott), with trumpet added for two songs. Three originals, the rest covers including "You Go to My Head," "My Melancholy Baby," "Sweet and Lovely," and "Easy Livin'." A-

Lee Konitz: Very Cool (1957, Verve): With Don Ferrara on trumpet, who also wrote two (of six) songs (vs. one for Konitz), and Sal Mosca on piano. Ends with an upbeat but not especially interesting "Billie's Bounce." B+(*)

Lee Konitz: An Image: Lee Konitz With Strings (1958, Verve): Arrangements and orchestra conducted by William Russo, with the alto saxophonist featured throughout. Working with strings seems to have been on every saxophonist's bucket list. Strings here are slightly above average, but Konitz is less consistent in topping them. B

Lee Konitz: You and Lee (1959 [1960], Verve): Large ensemble, arranged by Jimmy Giuffre, with 5-6 brass but Konitz's alto sax is the only reed, Bill Evans (piano) plays on half, Jim Hall (guitar) on the other, plus bass (Sonny Dallas) and drums (Roy Haynes). B

Lee Konitz Quintet: Peacemeal (1969 [1970], Milestone): Label founder Dick Katz produces, plays keyboards, contributed three songs -- matching Konitz himself and Bela Bartok, with "Lester Leaps In" and "Body and Soul" the covers. With Marshall Brown (valve trombone), Eddie Gomez, and Jack DeJohnette. I don't get much of anything from Bartok, but the covers and "Subconscious-Lee," sure. B+(*)

Lee Konitz: Spirits (1971 [1972], Milestone): Discogs gets the credits backwards here: they read the (*) cuts as adding Sal Mosca (piano), but in fact they are the ones that were recorded in a second sessions, adding bass and drums. The three other tracks are alto sax/piano duos, all Lennie Tristano pieces. Tristano dominates the album, with five of his pieces, one by Warne Marsh, plus three by Konitz. The duos are sharp line drawings, but only fleshed out with the full band. B+(***)

Lee Konitz: Lone-Lee (1974 [1987], SteepleChase): Solo alto sax, two songs, "The Song Is You" and "Cherokee," the former 19:25 on the 1976 LP but stretched to 38:41 for the CD, the latter 17:47. B+(**)

Lee Konitz: Lee Konitz Nonet (1977, Chiaroscuro): Inconsistent packaging, the front cover centering a smaller "Nonet" under the artist name, like that alone is the title, but the back cover offers an eponymous The Lee Konitz Nonet. This is the second of four 1976-79 Nonet albums: two trumpets, two trombones, two saxes, piano-bass-drums. The large group swallows him while building on group effort. B+(***)

Lee Konitz: Tenorlee (1977 [1978], Candid): Plays tenor sax for a change, backed by Jimmy Rowles (piano) and Michael Moore (bass) -- the title song a short Konitz original, the rest standards. Rowles excels, but Konitz could just as well be someone else. B+(*)

Lee Konitz Nonet: Yes, Yes, Nonet (1979 [1986], SteepleChase): Trombonist Jimmy Knepper is the workhorse here, contributing four (of seven) songs. B+(**)

Lee Konitz Quartet: New York Album (1987 [1988], Soul Note): Napster misfiles this under pianist Harold Danko -- for no reason I can see, but most of their albums wind up in the wrong bins. Also with Marc Johnson (bass) and Adam Nussbaum (drums). B+(***)

Lee Konitz: Zounds (1990 [1992], Soul Note): Quartet with Kenny Werner (piano/synth), Ron McClure (bass), and Bill Stewart (drums). Seems typically idiosyncratic, the sweet spots coming toward the end when they're least concerned with breaking ground ("Taking a Chance on Love," "Piece for My Dad," "Soft Lee"). B+(**)

Lee Konitz Trio: Free With Lee (1993, Philology): Alto sax with two guitarists (Augusto Mancinelli and Donovan Mixon), playing standards (most from jazz figures like Brubeck, Davis, Ellington, Evans, and Shorter), plus the joint improv title track (two takes). B+(**)

Lee Konitz/Renato Sellani: Speakin' Lowly (1993 [1994], Philology): Duets, alto sax and piano, all standards, mostly ballads, starting with "Laura" and "Speak Low," ending with "My Funny Valentine" and "Yesterdays." Nicely paced, quite lovely. A-

Lee Konitz: It's You (1996, SteepleChase): Trio with Ron McClure (bass) and Billy Hart (drums), four Konitz originals, one from McClure, "Angel Eyes" the only cover. B+(***)

Lee Konitz: Dearly Beloved (1996 [1997], SteepleChase): Quartet, with Harold Danko (piano), Jay Anderson (bass), and Billy Drummond (drums) -- probably his most standard group for the decade, playing six standards, all stretched out between 7:45 and 14:24. A-

Lee Konitz: Pride (1999 [2000], SteepleChase): Quartet, with George Colligan (piano/organ), Doug Weiss (bass), and Darren Beckett (drums). Two Jobim songs, oblique originals, sentimental standards. B+(***)

Lee Konitz: Parallels (2001, Chesky): Quintet, with Mark Turner (tenor sax), Peter Bernstein (guitar), bass and drums. B+(**)

Giuseppi Logan: More (1965 [1966], ESP-Disk): Alto saxophonist, from Philadelphia, recorded two avant-jazz albums for ESP-Disk in 1964-65, nothing much for a long time, then surfaced for a couple more in the 2010's. This is his second, also playing flute and bass clarinet, with Don Pullen on piano, Milford Graves on drums, and either Eddie Gomez or Reggie Johnson on bass. Pullen is pretty young here (21), but turns some heads. B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Tetuzi Akiyama/Nicolas Field/Gregor Vidic: Interpersonal Subjectivities (Astral Spirits -19)
  • Robby Ameen: Diluvio (Origin)
  • Josh Berman/Paul Lytton/Jason Roebke: Trio Discrepancies (Astral Spirits -19)
  • Chicago Underground Quartet: Good Days (Astral Spirits)
  • Chris Cogburn/Juan García/Ignaz Schick: Anáhuac (Astral Spirits)
  • Alex Cunningham & Claire Rousay: Specifically the Water (Astral Spirits)
  • Colin Fisher Quartet: Living Midnight (Astral Spirits -19)
  • Nick Fraser/Kris Davis/Tony Malaby: Zoning (Astral Spirits -19)
  • Dylan Hayes Electric Band: Songs for Rooms and People (Blujazz)
  • KVL: Volume 1 (Astral Spirits -19)
  • LP and the Vinyl: Heard and Seen (OA2)
  • Chris Poland: Resistance (Ropeadope)
  • Charles Rumback: June Holiday (Astral Spirits)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, April 19, 2020

Weekend Roundup

Covid-19 continues to dominate the news, as it will for months (or maybe years) to come. You can subdivide the pandemic into two essential topics: public health issues, and economic consequences of fighting the pandemic by shutting down a big part of the economy. Unemployment in the US has surged to about 20%, and despite wild talk about reopening businesses, it looks like those numbers have yet to peak -- not least because infections and deaths continue to rise. The US has more deaths than any other country in the world, and the number of deaths has blown past previous markers like the number killed on 9/11 and the larger number of Americans sacrificed in the post-9/11 Bush Wars (sure, Obama and Trump have extended them, but the initial decision rests clearly with GW and his "Vulcans").

A third dimension has started to appear: the struggle for control of the political narrative around the pandemic. The Democratic Party primary campaign has ended with Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren endorsing Joe Biden, who won Wisconsin 62.93% to 31.78% over Sanders, and Wyoming 72.18% to 27.82% -- both states that had favored Sanders over Hillary Clinton in 2016. Still, Biden has been all but invisible during the crisis, so virtually all of the political maneuvering has been by Republicans: Trump denies any responsibility for mishandling the crisis, and vows to re-open the economy real soon now; supporting him are the "protesters" who have turned out for various photo-ops demanding an end to state lockdowns. (The Michigan protest has been clearly identified as funded by the De Vos family, and I expect the others will be linked to other billionaire donors. The placards are blatantly tied to Trump, some so extreme you have to doubt it's been officially sanctioned -- although with Trump it could be.)

Some Democrats would like to blame Trump for the whole crisis -- at least one article below refers to the "Trump plague," and many point out various failures to recognize the pandemic early and act decisively to stop or at least mitigate it. I don't see much point in singling Trump out -- I doubt any president would have grasped what was happening much faster or moved much more decisively, as most of the problems I've seen look to me like they have much more systemic roots. Of course, it is fair to note that Trump and his minions have made the system more fragile and inept than it already was. The desire to wring every ounce of profit out of the economy has left us with fragile supply chains and woefully inadequate public support. (I'm surprised not that the "national stockpile" is inadequate but that such a thing exists at all.) Then there's the fact that we don't have universal health care, and that private insurance is tied to employment. And there's a dozen other things, most tied back to a system designed not to do what people need but to make money off those needs, dumping waste as it goes.

What you're welcome to blame Trump for is having a blathering, careless idiot at the helm of the federal government. If you weren't embarrassed by that before, you certainly should be now. He may not be to blame for the economy collapsing, but he's petty enough to want credit for attaching his name to relief checks. He may not be to blame for thousands of people dying, but he still wants credit and praise for . . . well, beats me, but you better be nice to him. I'm not sure when or why the media decided we need to hear from the president every time a news story breaks, but Trump is one president who never has anything enlightening or comforting to say.

Another thing: Laura suggests you watch Vic DiBitetto, the man with a plan.

Also: I've cut way back on links to New York Intelligencer after running into a paywall. I saw my first warning a few weeks back, and decided at that point to stop clicking on articles by Jonathan Chait and Ed Kilgore, as I usually wound up arguing with them anyway. Missing Eric Levitz and Sarah Jones, but still seems pricey for my taste. I cut way back on The Atlantic a few months ago, and Foreign Policy a year or two back (no link handy; as I recall, even more expensive for even less value). At this point, I don't know what I would do if Vox starts to tighten the screws: they're my first go-to each week, and far and away my most valuable source. I should also note that while I don't spend for web access, my wife subscribes to a bunch of things, and I sometimes piggyback on her accounts. She's the true news junkie in the family. Without her, I doubt I'd bother finding any of this.

Some scattered links this week:

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Monday, April 13, 2020

Music Week

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33094 [33056] rated (+38, 216 [216] unrated (-0).

Bernie Sanders endorsed Joe Biden today. I don't think he needed to do so this early, but he seems to be building a personal relationship which will make him more influential as the campaign progresses, and hopefully after Biden wins. Those of us who don't know Biden personally still have some distance to go to embrace the idea. But one thing that's long been clear to me is that even the worst Democrats are open to discussion of progressive ideas, while Republicans are not, locked into their right-wing echo chamber. I'd also add that Biden, unlike ideological centrists like Schumer and the Clintons, is a guy who is happy to roll with the waves. He's never been a principled defender of working people, of civil rights, of peace and justice, and that's left him with a very shoddy record to run on. But he's not a steady opponent either, and when reality shifts he tries to stick with it. That may not be what we want, but it could be what we need.

Worth reading here (and I'm sure there'll be more by the weekend):

I filled out my DownBeat Critics Poll ballot last week, the evening before the deadline. I started quite late, and quickly grew exhausted, so I wound up racing through the 20-odd pages of the ballot. Normally I take notes as I go along (this year's are here), but I wound up referring to them more than revising them. To rush things along, I wound up simply repeating last year's picks in most categories. I haven't even sorted out the jazz albums lists, and didn't bother even copying the blues and "beyond" album lists -- safe to say I've heard virtually none of the blues albums (I wound up writing in Al Gold's Paradise, the only A-list blues album I've heard all year long). Maybe I'll return to the file and clean it up a bit later -- or just try to forget this year. I've noticed that my votes rarely register in the published totals anyway, and I've never been very keen on ranking musicians, so maybe it's best not to put much effort in.

More old records this week than new ones. Not my intent, but Storyville Records keeps adding to their Bandcamp page (207 records at the moment), and I found a Buddy Tate record that tempted me. That led me into a deeper dive into Tate and his fellow Texas Tenor Arnett Cobb. Nothing I found this week quite matches their Very Saxy (with Coleman Hawkins and Lockjaw Davis), Cobb's Part Time, or Tate's two Buck & Buddy albums (with Buck Clayton), but Cobb's lesser Prestiges are pretty consistent, and Tate is often terrific (even when his bands aren't). I didn't exhaust their later European live dates, but did look out for records on France's Black & Blue label -- most were reissued c. 2000 in their Definitive series, and I've found a lot of great records there.

Some of the records below were recommended in Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide: April, 2020 (subscribers only). He also reviewed a non-album, attributed as Adam Schlesinger: The End of the Movie (Carl Wilson Spotify playlist), collecting scattered works by the late Fountains of Wayne singer-songwriter. If you're interested, you can find it in the Carl Wilson article linked below. [PS: OK, tried it, doesn't work. The playlist widget in the Consumer Guide file only gives you short fragments of each song, so it's worse than useless. Maybe if you subscribe to Spotify, you'll have better luck] I don't see any point in reviewing non-product. I saw FOW once and was bored out of my skull, although I eventually heard a couple of albums that I rather liked (in the comfort of my home): Welcome Interstate Managers (2003), and Out-of-State Plates (2005).

Of more concern, to me at least, is Christgau's dive into John Coltrane's recorded work. This is what he came up with (including a related extra; I'm adding recording dates and, in brackets, my own grades, and footnote numbers):

  • John Coltrane: The Best of John Coltrane (1956-58, Prestige) A- [B+] (1)
  • John Coltrane: Ken Burns Jazz (1956-67, Verve) *** [A-] (2)
  • John Coltrane: The Africa Brass Sessions, Vol. 2 (1961, Impulse!) A [A] (3)
  • John Coltrane: "Live" at the Village Vanguard (1961, Hallmark) A [A-] (4)
  • John Coltrane: A Love Supreme (1964, Impulse!) A- [A+] (5)
  • Pharoah Sanders: The Impulse Story (1966-73, Impulse!) *** [A-] (6)

Footnotes, before going further:

  1. Review doesn't specify release date (mine is 2004), but notes that "it does seem to be the first disc of Prestige Profiles: John Coltrane" (2005), which I also have at B+. On the other hand, I gave an A- to the 6-CD Fearless Leader box, which covers the same 1956-58 span. I don't usually upgrade boxes, but I probably got lost in sheer breadth and depth, but I seriously doubt that he did much on Prestige that rivals his early Impulse! period. Also, I don't particularly care for jazz best-ofs. Replaying this one tonight, I haven't heard anything that blows me away, or that I don't like. I'll also note that I was warned off the 16-CD The Prestige Recordings, which expands to include all of Coltrane's sideman dates. Some, of course, are important (like "Tenor Madness" with Sonny Rollins and the quickies Miles Davis cut to break his contract), but you also get a lot of him playing second fiddle to Red Garland, Kenny Burrell, and lesser lights (not that I don't like Paul Quinichette).

  2. My grade based on the 1995 2-CD release of The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions, graded A -- although note that I had previously graded Africa Brass Volumes 1 & 2 (a 1988 single-CD release which had the two albums in original order) at A-. [PS: I managed to build a playlist matching the album, and gave it a spin; could be A or A-. By the way, even though the first Africa/Brass album was credited to the Quartet, all tracks have 15-18 musicians, mostly extra brass but Eric Dolphy is hard to miss.]

  3. Coltrane barely got mentioned in Burns' Jazz documentary, but the product tie-ins were more sensibly distributed. I'm not a big "Giant Steps" fan, so I wouldn't single out that omission (among dozens of others -- especially since the Giant Steps album yields two other equally famous songs), but damn near everything that did make the cut is not just good but iconic, and the Miles Davis Quintet opener and the Rashied Ali duo closer stretch the timeline as far as one can imagine. 13:40 of "My Favorite Things" makes the point (that all future tenor saxophonists will also have to learn to play soprano), and A Love Supreme is represented with a 7:46 taste.

  4. The Hallmark release is a straight reissue of the 1962 Impulse! album (3 tracks, 35:50), which has been reissued many times (Discogs lists 90 editions, 80 on Impulse!, 1 on Verve [which owns Impulse!]; the rest are European reissue labels which picked the record up after the EU's 50-year copyright limit lapsed). Hallmark's appeared in 2014, but since it's identical to Impulse!'s original, why cite it? My A- grade came from a quick Rhapsody stream. I previously graded the expanded Live at the Village Vanguard: The Master Takes (1998) and the 4-CD The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings (1997) at A, and no doubt would have done the same with the original had I not seen it as inferior value.

  5. I also gave an A to A Love Supreme [Deluxe Edition] (2002), which adds a second CD with a longer live version from Paris. By the way, I never gave much thought to this record as being spiritual. It just struck me as the most perfectly plotted single piece of jazz ever recorded.

  6. After his debut in ESP-Disk, Sanders recorded a dozen albums for Impulse, my favorites Tauhid (1966) and Village of the Pharoahs (1973), but he was less consistent than Coltrane, so I considered the survey more useful. Of course, there is also a Coltrane The Impulse Story, another solid A-.

Christgau mentions favorably Giant Steps and My Favorite Things -- two 1959-61 Atlantic albums which were eventually boxed as The Heavyweight Champion: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1995, 7-CD once you pack all the extra takes in). Coltrane was a good saxophonist at Prestige (1956-58), during which time he played in important groups with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk, but he didn't become special until he figured out how to exploit modes and turn them into expansive sheets of sound. The classic formulation of that was on Davis's Kind of Blue (1959), one of the most beloved of all jazz records. Coltrane's Atlantics expanded on that discovery -- my favorite album there is the last, Olé. He put his Quartet together when he moved on to Impulse! (which later issued a box called The House That Trane Built: The Best of Impulse Records), and from 1961-64 it's hard to think of anything he did wrong (well, aside from the Johnny Hartman album, though even it has fans) -- Crescent is a good example, like one of the second tier Himalayan peaks, overshadowed by Everest and K2 but still massive and 25,000 feet high.

From 1965-67 he kind of freaked out, inventing (or maybe just radicalizing) the squawkiest strain of the avant-garde. I hated Ascension (1965) for the longest time before I kind of got into it, and still have Sun Ship graded C+, but his Rashied Ali duo on Interstellar Space (1967) is marvelous. Since his death, Coltrane has become the most influential tenor saxophonist since Hawkins and Young, or saxophonist period since Parker. By the 1990s, it seemed like everyone was trying to play like him (at bit less so now). Pharoah Sanders had the most direct claim -- in his trinity, he was the son, Coltrane the father, and Albert Ayler the holy ghost -- and it's tempting to say that the very best posthumous Coltrane records are Welcome to Love (1990) and Crescent With Love (1992). More recently, Nat Birchall has the sound down cold.

You can find my Coltrane grade list here. I've written much of this before, now collected in Recorded Jazz in the 20th Century, which you'd have to download all of to pick out the Coltrane pages.

Looking forward, I have some downloads that look promising, especially from Astral Spirits, but I haven't listened to them yet because they're a pain in the ass. Also got some vinyl I've been too lazy to check out, again a bunch of extra work (assuming the gear still works).

People have been dying recently, including musicians. Without looking hard, here are a few of the obituaries and tributes I've noticed:

Some of these pieces came from a longer list published by the New York Times. I noticed today that legendary Formula One driver Stirling Moss has died, age 90, evidently of something else. I was a big F1 fan as a teenager, and he was already long retired. I remember him as a very astute writer, covering the circuit for Road & Track (which I thought at the time was the best edited magazine in the world). Another prominent figure of my youth died, at 85: Al Kaline. I don't recall being conscious of baseball before 1957, but can still recite the 1957 all-star teams (that was the year Cincinnati stuffed the ballot boxes -- the NL ordered that several Reds be dropped in favor of players they beat, like Willie Mays and Hank Aaron; it was also a year when the AL picked a bunch of Tigers, including starting pitcher Jim Bunning; no one doubted that Kaline belonged in right-field, next to Mickey Mantle in center and Ted Williams in left -- nor did the NL have a problem with Frank Robinson joining Mays and Aaron).

New records reviewed this week:

John Anderson: Years (2020, Easy Eye Sound): Country singer, looks pretty weathered on the cover although he's still five years younger than me. His voice is still in good shape, and he has Dan Auerbach producing, a solid album. B+(**)

Thomas Anderson: Analog Summer (Four-Tracks and Then Some) (2020, Out There): Singer-songwriter from Oklahoma, has been releasing quality albums since 1988 (or '89 or '90, sources vary; Discogs counts 5, Wikipedia 7, I have 10 in my database). Subtitle suggests this is a continuation of his Four-Track Demos from 2012 and Four-Track Love Songs from 2013. Seems sloughed off until he finds a band for "You Should Be With Me" and "Johnny Wah-Wah." B+(**)

Erlend Apneseth: Fragmentarium (2019 [2020], Hubro): Norwegian, plays Hardanger fiddle, a folk instrument and not the only one here (Ida Løvli Hidle plays accordion, Stein Urheim plays fretless bouzouki as well as guitar). But they don't fall into customary grooves, their jazz touches keeping the tension palpable. B+(***)

The Exbats: Kicks, Hits and Fits (2020, Burger): Twelve punk anthems, not sure what the breakdown is between new and old songs ("I Got the Hots for Charlie Watts" was a 2018 album title but not a song thereon). B+(***)

Grrrl Gang: Here to Stay (2017-18 [2020], Damnably, EP): Indonesian group, from Yogyakarta, in English, three members, one female, short compilation of previously released singles and 5-cut "mini-album": still only adds up to eight songs (two takes of "Dream Grrrl"), 25:52. Less punk than the alt-side of pop. B+(**)

Kirby Heard: Mama's Biscuits (2019, self-released): Folk singer-songwriter, formerly from "a big city in the Midwest," now settled into "a sleepy southern town," first album aside from a bluegrass duo with "Bob." Seems a little vague, but I'll hang onto "I guess you don't have to know Jesus to write a gospel song." B+(**)

Heroes Are Gang Leaders: Artificial Happiness Button (2020, Ropeadope): Jazz-poetry group, the latter mostly Thomas Sayers Ellis, although other voices predominate (most female). Saxophonist James Brandon Lewis is the other principal here, with four more names on the second line, and various guests (including William Parker and Jaimie Branch). Reminds me of Funkadelic as a community, but the funk is much bent and twisted, the messages mixed and sometimes oblique, but the interludes are transcendent. A-

Jasper Høiby: Planet B (2019 [2020], Edition): Danish bassist, based in UK, best known for group Phronesis. Trio with Josh Arcoleo (sax) and Marc Michel (drums). Spoken word intro is politically astute -- one of his groups, Fellow Creatures, derives from a Naomi Klein book -- and the music follows, impressively. A- [bc]

Large Unit/Fendika: EthioBraz (2018 [2019], PNL): Norwegian drummer Paal Nilssen-Love's avant big band plus elements from Ethiopia and Brazil, notably the Ethiopian group Fendika, its singers and dancers, Brazilian percussionists, and guitarist Terrie Ex. Closer to world music than to jazz, but the edginess is quite remarkable. A- [bc]

Ashley McBryde: Never Will (2020, Warner Nashville): Country singer-songwriter from Arkansas, based in Nashville, second album (or fourth counting two self-released efforts). Strong voice, big production. B+(**)

Grant Peeples: Bad Wife (2020, Rootball): Another folkish singer-songwriter from Florida, claims to have learned the words to every Roger Miller song by the time he turned twelve (that would be 1969), Discogs lists three albums but his store has close to a dozen. Eleven songs "written by women I've worked with in one way or another," though it wasn't easy to find the credits. B+(*)

Matthew Shipp/Mark Helias/Gordon Grdina: Skin and Bones (2018 [2019], Not Two): Piano/bass/guitar (or oud) trio. Piano and bass lock together tightly, much as I'd expect, the guitar another dimension. B+(***)

Lou Volpe: Before & After (2020, Jazz Guitar): Guitarist, from New York, recorded an album in 1973, another in 2006, not much more. No explanation of title, but front cover has pictures now and as a child with a toy guitar, back cover as a young man. Two covers, rest originals, various bass and drum combos suggest this has been recorded over some time, but no details. Nice, sweet sound. B+(**)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Future/Zaytoven: Beast Mode (2015 [2020], Epic/Freebandz): Short mixtape by rapper Nayvadius Wilburn, working with producer Xavier Dotson. B+(**)

Lennie Tristano: The Duo Sessions (1968 [2020], Dot Time): Pianist, went his own way in the 1940s when everyone else was chasing Bird, Diz, Bud, and Monk, snaring a few acolytes like Warne Marsh and Lee Konitz. Previously unreleased, not sure when recorded but after he stopped performing in 1968, before he died in 1978. Six duets with tenor saxophonist Lenny Popkin (much like Marsh), two with pianist Connie Crothers (who often played with Popkin), and eight with drummer Roger Mancuso. B+(**)

Old music:

Arnett Cobb and His Orchestra: 1946-1947 (1946-47 [1999], Classics): The Texas Tenor's first recordings as a leader, prefaced by four credited to various leaders with "the Hamptone All Stars" -- Cobb started playing in Lionel Hampton's band in 1942. Mostly jump blues, a few with vocals, already a powerhouse. B+(***)

Arnett Cobb: Smooth Sailing (1959, Prestige): Tenor saxophonist from Texas, came up in big bands in the 1930s, succeeding Illinois Jacquet in Lionel Hampton's band (1942), nicknamed "the wild man of the tenor sax." He cut eight LPs for Prestige 1959-62 -- best known his Party Time and the four-sax jam Very Saxy. This seems to be his first with Prestige, a quintet with trombone, organ, bass, and drums. Soul jazz with some muscle. A-

Arnett Cobb: Movin' Right Along (1960, Prestige): Backed by piano trio -- mostly Bobby Timmons, but one cut with Tommy Flanagan -- plus congas. Less "wild man," more ballads, but "Exactly Like You" has never been done so jaunty. A-

Arnett Cobb With the Red Garland Trio: Blue and Sentimental (1960 [1993], Prestige): Reissue combines two albums, Sizzlin' and Ballads by Cobb, both with Garland on piano and J.C. Heard on drums, bass split between George Tucker and George Duvivier. The former sizzles less than Cobb's norm. His ballads are gorgeous, but the pianist could have been anyone. B+(***)

Arnett Cobb: Deep Purple [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1973 [1995], Black & Blue): Recorded in Toulouse, with Milt Buckner (organ), Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (guitar), and Michael Silva (drums), originally released as Again With Milt Buckner, reissue moves the title song up front and adds one extra. Not great organ, but the saxophonist easily transcends such limits. B+(***)

Arnett Cobb: Jumpin' at the Woodside [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1974 [2001], Black & Blue): Live shot in Paris, with Lloyd Glenn (piano), Tiny Grimes (guitar/vocal), Roland Lobligeois (bass), and Panama Francis (drums). Originally a 6-cut LP, expanded here to 11. Cobb sounds terrific here, his blues jumping, his ballads soaring. A-

Arnett Cobb: The Wild Man From Texas [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1976 [1997], Black & Blue): Cobb has several compilations with this title, mostly early work from his post-Basie juke box days. He was less wild as he aged, but developed his knack for ballads. From Paris and Toulouse, nine musicians, including a second tenor sax (Eddie Chamblee), Earl Warren (alto sax), Milt Buckner (organ), and Panama Francis (drums). B+(***)

Arnett Cobb/Jimmy Heath/Joe Henderson: Tenor Tribute Vol. 2 (1988 [1993], Soul Note): Five more songs from the same 1988 session that produced Tenor Tribute (released 1990), including three every tenor saxophonist must know but few dare: "Cotton Tail," "Tenor Madness," "Flying Home" (on the other hand, everyone's played "'Round About Midnight"). Three tenor saxes (nearly as impressive as the quartet, including Cobb, on Very Saxy), backed by piano trio (Benny Green). B+(***)

Duke Ellington: At the Hollywood Empire (1949 [2004], Storyville): I haven't listened to much live ELlington from the late 1940s, although between The Treasury Shows and the Carnegie Hall Concerts there is quite a lot to choose from. This is a live radio shot, 17 songs, 71 minutes, an announcer introducing songs and identifying soloists -- especially triple threat Ray Nance (trumpet, violin, vocal, much bluesier than Al Hibbler's croon). B+(***)

Dexter Gordon: Jazz at Highschool (1967 [2002], Storyville): A "jazz clinic" for music students at Magleaas High School, picked up and broadcast by Danish National Radio. Gordon had moved to Denmark, found American expats Kenny Drew and Al Heath available, and was joined by Denmark's most famous bassist, Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. B+(***)

Al Grey/Arnett Cobb: Ain't That Funk for You (1977 [2002], Black & Blue): Trombone and tenor sax, backed by Ray Bryant (piano), John Duke (bass), and JC Heard (drums). Closer to blues and swing than funk, but who's complaining? B+(***)

Sun Ra: Celestial Love (1984 [2015], Enterplanetary Koncepts): Originally released 1984, I count 11 musicians plus singer June Tyson on two cuts -- pretty straightforward standards ("Sometimes I'm Happy," "Smile"). They also do two Ellington pieces. [CD reissue 2020, Modern Harmonic] B+(*)

Buddy Tate: Celebrity Club Orchestra (1954 [2016], Black & Blue): Tenor saxophonist from Texas, played with Andy Kirk in the 1930s, and Count Basie 1939-48. Same title as a 1968 album, causing much confusion: both were recorded in Paris, this one with a septet plus occasional singer Inez Washington, a swing throwback where the saxophonist sounds exceptionally poised. A-

Buddy Tate/Claude Hopkins: Buddy and Claude (1960 [1999], Prestige): Hopkins was a stride pianist, spent a couple years in Paris with Josephine Baker and Sidney Bechet, returned to the US and led bands in the 1930s, and continued playing well into the 1970s. He led a 1960 album with Tate (tenor sax) and Emmett Berry (trumpet), Yes Indeed!, which is combined here with another 1960 album, headlined by Tate and featuring Clark Terry (trumpet), but no piano. B+(**)

Buddy Tate/Milton Buckner: When I'm Blue [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1967 [1995], Black & Blue): Buckner plays organ and vocalizes (a lot) -- neither very inspired, even if he does seem awfully pleased with himself. With Wallace Bishop on drums, and some tasty tenor sax. B+(*)

Buddy Tate: Buddy Tate & His Celebrity Club Orchestra [The Definitive Black & Blue Sessions] (1968 [2002], Black & Blue): Live shot from Paris, not the 1954 Celebrity Club Orchestra which Black & Blue also released. With Bud Bascomb (trumpet), Ben Richardson (flute, alto/baritone sax), Dicky Wells (trombone), Skip Hall (piano/organ), John Williams (bass), Billy Stewart (drums). Well steeped in the blues. B+(***)

Buddy Tate: Buddy Tate and His Buddies (1973, Chiaroscuro): All-star session, joining Tate is fellow Texas Tenor Illinois Jacquet, with Roy Eldridge (trumpet), Mary Lou Williams (piano), Steve Jordan (guitar), Milt Hinton (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums). B+(***)

Buddy Tate: The Texas Twister (1975 [1987], New World): A studio session in February of a year when he ultimately produced a lot of live records while touring Europe. Paul Quinichette offers a second tenor sax, allowing Tate to also play clarinet and sing (he's a pretty good blues belter). With Cliff Smalls (piano), Major Holley (bass), and Jackie Williams (drums). B+(***)

Buddy Tate: The Texas Tenor (1975 [2014], Storyville, 2CD): Two sets, one Live at La Fontaine with a European band (with Tete Montoliu on piano), the other from Antibes with a group that billed itself as All Stars Jive at Five: Doc Cheatham (trumpet), Vic Dickenson (trombone/vocal), Johnny Guarnieri (piano), George Duvivier (bass), and Oliver Jackson (drums). The Stars do shine, but Tate is often better without the competition. [NB: These sets were previously released as Tate A Tete at La Fontaine and Jive at Five.] B+(**)

Buddy Tate: Body and Soul: Live in Dublin 1976 (1976, [2008], Nagel Heyer): Live set, backed with what looks like a local piano trio (Tony Drennan, Jimmy McKay, Jack Daly), sounds as distinctive as ever on the slow ones, but still enjoys hard swing. B+(**)

Buddy Tate/Abdullah Ibrahim: Buddy Tate Meets Abdullah Ibrahim: The Legendary 1977 Encounter (1977 [1996], Chiaroscuro): Five quartet tracks, with Cecil McBee (bass) and Roy Brooks (drums), tenor sax and piano. No piano on the first tracks, no sax on the last two. B+(**)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • #Bloomerangs: Moments and Fragments (Instru Dash Mental)
  • Gordon Grdina Septet: Resist (Irabbagast)
  • Heroes Are Gang Leaders: Artificial Happiness Button (Ropeadope)

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, April 12, 2020

Weekend Roundup

I have little to add to the comments below, and frankly am exhausted and want to put this week behind me. Seems like I could have found more on Bernie Sanders, the end of his campaign, and the consolidation behind Joe Biden. Still seems premature for that, not least as Biden continues to be such an underwhelming front-runner. I watched only a few minutes of Steven Colbert's interview with the Pod Saves America crew last week. They're usually sharp guys, but their "ecstasy" over Biden's win seemed awfully rehearsed and forced. They all previously worked in the Obama White House, and one couldn't help but think they're lining up for new jobs under Biden.

Looks like Joe Biden won the Alaska Democratic primary, 55.31% to 44.69% for Bernie Sanders. The primary was conducted by mail. No results yet in last week's messy Wisconsin primary. Biden was averaging about 53% in polls there. We've voted by mail in Kansas, where the primary is run by the party, not by the state. Ballots here are due May 4. We voted for Sanders. Ranked choice was an option here, but in a two-person race, I didn't see any point in offering a second choice (which could only have been Elizabeth Warren; with five names on the ballot, had I ranked them all Biden would have come in fifth).

I've seen some tweets touting Warren as a VP choice, and I wouldn't object. Indeed, I think she would be very effective in the role. I'm reminded of a business maxim I associate with David Ogilvy, who passed it on to his middle management: if we always hire people greater than ourselves, we will become a company of giants; if we hire people lesser than ourselves, we will be a company of midgets. Biden would probably prefer a safe, mediocre pick like Tim Kaine (or Joe Biden), but this is one chance to rewrite his story (assuming his handlers let him).

Some scattered links this week:

PS: Right after I posted Weekend Roundup, I noticed a pretty inflammatory tweets

Reza Aslan @rezaaslan: Breaking news: @DemSocialists endorses Trump for President.

DSA @DemSocialists: We are not endorsing @JoeBiden.

I'm not a member of or in any way involved with DSA, but I don't see any problem with them, as an organization, not endorsing Biden, especially at this time. (Had I been involved, I would have advised them keeping the door open by adding "at this time.") Assuming Biden is the Democratic Party nominee against Trump, I wouldn't be surprised if they endorse Biden as the November election approaches. That would be consistent with what I assume is their raison d'être, which is to advance socialism within the Democratic Party and to support the Democratic Party in general elections.

However, non-endorsement now (4-5 months before the convention) doesn't even remotely imply a preference, let alone an endorsement, for Trump, so Aslan is just being deliberately, provocatively stupid. Sadly, he's not alone in this regard, as I've run into a constant stream of presumed Democrats who are so hepped up on attacking what Howard Dean memorably called "the democratic wing of the Democratic Party" -- an obsession that actually does little more than further discredit "centrism" in the eyes of those who actually care about progressive reforms for real and pressing problems. It's especially hard to credit that people engaging in this kind of innuendo or slander think they're actually helping Biden (or helping defeat Trump -- by the way, I'm not doubting their sincere loathing of Trump, although they do like to doubt others, as Aslan does above).

Relevant to but not directly à propos of this, I noticed this tweet (and later a follow up):

'Weird Alex' Pareene @pareene: I truly thought the fact that no one really feels personally invested in a Biden presidency would make the timeline a bit less wild this time but it's actually somehow worse because they're already preemptively blaming you for him losing

'Weird Alex' Pareene @pareene: (To be clear I do not believe it's a fait accompli he will lose which makes it even weirder that we're already on the recriminations stage.)

By the way, good chance I will eventually write an endorsement for Biden before November's election, much like the one I wrote for Kerry in 2004. But not until he is definitively the nominee, and not until it's reasonably close to the election time. And sure, it's going to focus more on how bad Trump is than on how good Biden will be, because the former is proven, while the latter is at best hypothetical, and not strongly grounded in the track records of Biden and whoever is likely to be involved in his administration.

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Monday, April 6, 2020

Music Week

April archive (in progress).

Music: Current count 33056 [33307] rated (+49), 216 [219] unrated (-3).

Surprised by the high rated count, but I guess I haven't been doing much else. Lists by Chris Monsen (although I also should have looked here) and Phil Overeem gave me some ideas to check out.

Last week I noted that I had been working on my Jazz Guide files, bringing them up to date, and I published links to the ODT files. Now I've updated an additional series of files, where I've scraped up my non-review political, music, and miscellaneous writings (most easily from the Notebook. I've written up an Index page that provides links to the ODT files. You are welcome to download those files and read them (although not to copy, modify, or redistribute them without my permission. The ODT file format is used by the free software suite LibreOffice. The format is publicly available, so it's possible that other programs can import and display the files (e.g., Microsoft Word since 2010). I need to look into possibly exporting the files into other formats (certainly, PDF is possible). I imagine E-book format(s) would be more useful, but I'm not a user let alone expert, so that's something I'll need to learn more about.

The writing in these "books" is almost identical to things I've published elsewhere on the website. (I've corrected errors where I noticed them, but have done very little editing, even though I understand that a lot of editing is called for.) Most of this was done by cut-and-paste from web browser or from my trusty emacs text editor (which preserves a bit less markup). The main thing about these files is that the Jazz Guides are sorted by era then artist name, while everything else is presented oldest-to-newest (FIFO, as opposed to the LIFO you get reading a blog).

It remains to be seen how much editing I will eventually manage to do, but the collection phase completion makes it much easier to do something with the writing. I've always wanted to write books, and I sense that time is running out for that. My wife has taken a stab at sifting through the 2000-09 political blogs, but hasn't come up with as much as a plan there. I have a few rough ideas, and I'll try to develop them as I find time. One thing I wonder about now is how easy it would be to organize the music reviews into a reference website (possibly using Mediawiki). I doubt they are adequate as is, but wonder if other people might find them a useful framework to build on. Would be nice to have some kind of comment framework here, as I could use some feedback.

By the way, I got one letter last week which raised my spirits. Also noted how hard it is to find vaguely remembered things on the website, so I cobbled together a Google-based Website Search function, which appears on many (but far from all) pages (bottom of the left nav section on blog pages). This is based on code I had written for Robert Christgau, and does nothing more than add "site:tomhull.com" to a Google search string, redirecting the output to a new tab/window. Still, I've already found it faster than my relatively knowledgeable guesses as to where things are. A while back I realized that the ancient Sitemap needs a major revision. I did a tiny bit of work on it, then dropped the ball.

Someone pointed out that Wikipedia's page for John Coltrane's A Love Supreme cites my A+ grade under "Professional ratings." As a side effect, whoever did that created a stub redirect page for Tom Hull (critic), which is currently empty (aside from the useless redirect).

Got an invite to participate in DownBeat's critics poll, but they're on a tight deadline this year, which I'll be up against soon. They claim one can fill the ballot out in 45 minutes, but it usually takes me 6-8 hours (and not just because I find so much to gripe about along the way).

Got Democratic Primary ballots from the state party today -- due back early May. That one was easy: ticked the box for Bernie Sanders, signed the ballot, and sealed the envelope. The state has refused to pay for presidential primaries in the past, so the parties have been left to organize caucuses. The last two caucuses I attended (2008 and 2016) involved hours of waiting in line, after which they just counted votes and sent us on the way, so this one will be much more efficient. They're even allowing for ranked choice voting, but in what is now a two-person race I didn't see any value in that. This system was figured out before Covid-19 wrecked everything. We also filled out the census online, so no anxiety there either.

New records reviewed this week:

Harrison Argatoff: Toronto Streets Tour (2019 [2020], self-released): Tenor saxophonist, based in Toronto, second album this year after a quartet with Harry Vetro called Harrison²: Trout in Swimwear. This one is solo, with a couple bits of voice neither helping nor hurting. Fairly long at 70:45. B+(*)

Jeich Ould Badou: Music From Saharan WhatsApp 03 (2020, Sahel Sounds, EP): From Mauritania, plays tidnit (a form of lute), accompanied by drum machine, recorded at home on an iPhone 7. Part of a monthly series of EPs that seems to be vanishing as fast as they appear. B+(*) [bc]

Kelsea Ballerini: Kelsea (2020, Black River): Pop-country singer-songwriter, from Knoxville, TN, third album. B+(*)

Marshall Chapman: Songs I Can't Live Without (2020, Tall Girl): Country singer-songwriter, alt before that was a thing, did three albums on Epic, one on Rounder, then found herself on her own label. Past 70 now, with a bucket list set of nine covers. Opens with Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song," spends time from Nashville to Memphis, closes with "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" -- tailored for today. B+(**)

Childish Gambino: 3.15.20 (2020, RCA): Rapper/TV star Donald Glover, fourth album since 2011, has twice as many mixtapes. No titles, just time markers in what coceptually is a single track. Music feels like a spoof on the Beach Boys, but doesn't work as such, and I'm not getting much of anything else out of it. B

Gerald Cleaver: Signs (2017-19 [2020], 577): Drummer, from Detroit, tries his hand at electronics. His strong suit is rhythm, and the album flags when he forgets that. B

Avishai Cohen Big Vicious: Big Vicious (2020, ECM): Trumpet player, from Israel, based in New York, formed band -- with guitar, electric bass, two drummers -- six years ago, first album. Shiny but not so splashy, long on texture, with a bit of funk bass moving it along. Vicious? Big? B+(**)

Jennifer Curtis & Tyshawn Sorey: Invisible Ritual (2020, New Focus): Violin and drums duo. B+(**) [bc]

Jay Electronica: A Written Testimony (2020, Roc Nation): From New Orleans, age 43, Wikipedia gives his name as Elpadaro F Electronica Allah, but likely some of that came with conversion to Islam. Released a mixtape in 2007, has various guest appearances but this is his first album. B+(*)

Lily Hiatt: Walking Proof (2020, New West): Singer-songwriter, father John Hiatt, grew up in Nashville, fourth album. B+(**)

Sigurd Hole: Lys/Mørke (2019 [2020], Eivesang, 2CD): Norwegian bassist, tenth record, second solo, divided into "Light" and "Dark" sides. B+(*)

Gabe Lee: Farmland (2019, Torrez Music Group): Nashville singer-songwriter, first album, DIY folkie production, can do a pretty good John Prine voice, throwing in the occasional Dylan inflection. B+(**)

Gabe Lee: Honky Tonk Hell (2020, Torrez Music Group): He's got a band this time, and blasts out of the gate, sounding more like rockabilly than honky tonk. Eventually reverts to form, just louder. B+(**)

Grégoire Maret/Romain Collin/Bill Frisell: Americana (2020, ACT Music): First two names (harmonica and keyboards) above the title, guitarist below, drummer Clarence Penn in the fine print on the back. The European leaders (from Switzerland and France) don't dig very deep for their "Americana": covering Mark Knopfler and Jimmy Webb, borrowing two from Frisell, and writing the rest in a similar vein, which they breathe extra life into. B+(**) [cd] [04-24]

Mr. Wrong: Create a Place (2020, Water Wing, EP): Portland punk trio, three women, first "album" called Babes in Boyland, this another short one at nine songs, 15:33, fun as it goes. B+(***) [bc]

Mythic Sunship: Changing Shapes: Live at Roadburn (2019 [2020], El Paraiso): Danish "space rock" band, eighth record since 2010, previous titles include Another Shape of Psychedelic Music. No vocals, four 7-12 minute tracks, could pass for fusion but they'd rather go for dense and heavy than anything transcendent. B+(**)

The Necks: Three (2020, Northern Spy): Long-running Australian piano trio, formed 1987, with Chris Abrahams (piano), Tony Buck (bass), and Lloyd Swanton (drums). Three long pieces (21:00-22:46), the first especially strong on rhythm. B+(**)

Gard Nilssen's Supersonic Orchestra: If You Listen Carefully the Music Is Yours (2019 [2020], Odin): Norwegian drummer, mostly in his Acoustic Unity project although I probably noticed him first in Cortex. Goes big here with ten horns (seven saxophones and three brass), three bassists, and three drummers. Lives up to their name. A-

Onipa: We No Be Machine (2020, Strut): London group, name connects to Ghana as does vocalist KOG (Kweku of Ghana), paired with guitarist Tom Excell (Nubiyan Twist), plus synth bass, drums, and electronics. Title song is ironically mechanical, but most songs pick up the slack, with South African idioms bleeding into West. B+(***)

Tineke Postma: Freya (2018 [2020], Edition): Dutch saxophonist (alto/soprano here), seventh album, quintet recorded in New York with Ralph Alessi (trumpet), Kris Davis (piano), Matthew Brewer (bass), and Dan Weiss (drums). B+(**)

Princess Nokia: Everything Is Beautiful (2020, Platoon): New York rapper Destiny Frasqueri, her 1992 Deluxe much praised ("the most complete New Yorker to hit hip-hop since Heems if not Nas"), splits her follow-up into two, divided by good/bad and/or nice/naughty tropes. Leans toward the former, but so offhanded it's hard to tell. 12 tracks, 31:07. B+(***)

Princess Nokia: Everything Sucks (2020, Platoon): Slightly shorter (10 tracks, 24:41), more mischievous early on, although by midway she's just doing her thing. Either/both could grow on me if I made the effort. B+(**)

Jessie Reyez: Before Love Came to Kill Us (2020, Island): Canadian singer-songwriter (lyrics anyway), parents Colombian, first album after two EPs, pop with some hip-hop, including a couple of featured big name rappers (Eminem, 6lack). B+(**)

Andreas Røysum Ensemble: Andreas Røysum Ensemble (2020, Motvind): Norwegian clarinet player, composer, individually credited with middle name Hoem. Most pieces run 8-9 pieces, one short one dropping down to reed quartet. Opens with a swirling dervish of sound, compelling until it breaks down in cacophony near the end. B+(**)

Skepta, Chip and Young Adz: Insomnia (2020, SKC M29): British MC Joseph Junior Adenuga, sixth album, joined by two more rappers, keeping it sharp and pithy. B+(**)

Torben Snekkestad/Agustí Fernández/Barry Guy: The Swiftest Traveler (2018 [2020], Trost): Norwegian, plays tenor and soprano sax, trumpet, and clarinet, backed by piano and bass. Joint improv, except for a bit at the end credited to Paul Hindemith. B+(**)

Soccer Mommy: Color Theory (2020, Loma Vista): Sophie Allison, born in Switzerland, grew up in Nashville, singer-songwriter, has some solid songs. B+(***)

Sufjan Stevens & Lowell Brams: Aporia (2020, Asthmatic Kitty): Stevens is a vastly talented singer-songwriter who once planned on making an album for every state in the union, but never got past his Illinois masterpiece. Brams is his stepfather and business partner, whose 2009 album was called Library Catalog Music Series: Music for Insomnia. This was sorted from jam sessions, is all instrumental, billed as "new age." I'd say resplendent background music, won't put you to sleep, wake you up either. B+(*)

Nora Jane Struthers: Bright Lights, Long Drives, First Words (2020, Blue Pig Music): Nashville singer-songwriter, born in Virginia but grew up in New Jersey. Fifth album since 2010, plus two in a duo with her father, Alan Struthers.

Superposition: Superposition (2018-19 [2020], We Jazz): Finnish group, led by drummer Olavi Louhivuori, with two saxophoists -- Adele Sauros (tenor) and Linda Fredriksson (alto/baritone) -- and Mikael Saastamoinen (bass). First album. They sound great out of the gate, then inexplicably slow things down. Eventually they make something of that, too. B+(***)

Tamikrest: Tamotaït (2020, Glitterbeat): Tuareg group, from deep in the Algerian Sahara, got some notice at the Festival au Désert in 2008, toured Europe in 2010 and started recording, this their sixth album -- even one piece in English, but mostly notable for their take on the Saharan guitar grind. B+(**)

Sophie Tassignon: Mysteries Unfold (2020, RareNoise): Singer, born in Belgium, based in Berlin, backed by her own electronics and overtracked voice for a classical choral effect. Eclectic song choice. The one I'm most familiar with is "Jolene" -- deep and gloomy. B+(*) [cdr] [04-24]

The Tender Things: How to Make a Fool (2020, Spaceflight): Austin-based country group, Jessie Esbaugh the singer-songwriter, originally from Kentucky, aiming at Gram Parsons. B

The TNEK Jazz Quintet: Plays the Music of Sam Jones (2020, TNEK Jazz): Jones (1924-81) was an important hard bop bassist, led a dozen albums, played on hundreds, especially with Cannonball Adderley. This group covers six of his songs, plus one from Kenny Barron. The front cover lists bassist Kent Miller first, followed by drums, piano, two saxophonists. B+(*)

Stein Urheim: Downhill Uplift (2018 [2020], Hubro): Norwegian guitarist, plays many other instruments and sings some, tenth or so album since 2009. B

Wako: Wako (2019 [2020], Øra Fonogram): Norwegian quartet: Martin Myhre Olsen (sax), Kjetil André Mulelid (piano), Bárður Reinert Poulsen (bass), and Simon Olderskog Albertsen (drums). Fourth album since 2015. Feel varies considerably, especially with the guests -- including some lush strings. B+(*)

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Tony Allen/Hugh Masekela: Rejoice (2010 [2020], World Circuit): Nigerian drummer (started with Fela Anikulapo Kuti) and the late (d. 2018) South African trumpet player, a worldwide jazz star. About what you'd hope for: a strong afrobeat ensemble with extra brass lustre and stellar solos. A-

Cadence Revolution: Disques Debs International Vol. 2 (1970s [2020], Disques Debs/Strut): Zouk from the French Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, selected from the archives of Henri Debs' label, which was founded in the 1950s and released over 100 records in the 1970s. One of my favorite records is the Earthworks 1988 compilation Hurricane Zouk, and this reminds me enough (as it happens, I just replayed it yesterday) to recommend it. A- [bc]

Jamaica All Stars [Studio One] (1970-74 [2020], Studio One): Reissues two label samplers, Vol. 1 from 1972, Vol. 2 from 1974. Not sure how far they look back, but those I've managed to track down are fairly recent. And while I recognize most of the names, the songs aren't classics (ok, "Happy Go Lucky Girl" is pretty classic). B+(*)

Léve Léve: Sao Tomé and Principe Sounds 70s-80s (1970s-80s [2020], Bongo Joe): Two small islands in the Gulf of Guinea, uninhabited until colonized by Portugal from 1493, turning them into slave depots and sugar plantations. They gained independence in 1975, their music African but with pan-Portuguese (especially Brazilian) airs. Sixteen songs from ten groups (Africa Negra tops with three), 5 minutes the median. B+(***)

Ana Mazzotti: Ninguem Vai Me Segurar (1974 [2019], Far Out): Brazilian singer, recorded two jazz-inflected samba albums 1974-77, this the first, produced by José Roberto Bertrami. Starts nice and bouncy, with a change of pace for a cover of "Feel Like Making Love." B+(**)

Ana Mazzotti: Ana Mazzotti (1977 [2019], Far Out): A second album, short and sweet. B+(***)

Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical: (Limited Dance Edition) ([2020], Analog Africa): Cumbia group from Iquitos on the Amazonian side of Peru, led by singer Raúl Llerena Vásquez, aka Ranil. No dates on these songs -- indeed, Discogs has no dates for 13 albums, only one date for his singles (1977), and one previous compilation (2010). Wish I knew more about this, but unclear to me even whether Vásquez is still alive. But the music is, seductive too. A- [bc]

Ranil Y Su Conjunto Tropical: Stay Safe and Sound Ranil Selection!! ([2020], Analog Africa): This one is even less clear, running 10 songs, 28:10 (vs. 14, 40:01 above), evidently available as a free sampler (but no dupes from other volume). B+(***) [bc]

Yabby You: King Tubby's Prophecies of Dub (1976 [2020], Pressure Sound): Little agreement on who did this or what the title is: cover looks like The Prophets, elsewhere I've seen The Aggrovators -- both group names Vivian Jackson (aka Yabby You) has used. Bandcamp page drops King Tubby's from the title (clear on the cover), pointing out that Pat Kelly was the enginer, and that "Tubby had partly stepped back from mixing work, but was still credited with most of the music coming out of his studio." Still, sounds like vintage King Tubby. B+(***) [bc]

Old music:

Disques Debs International Volume 1: An Island Story: Biguine, Afro Latin & Musique Antillaise 1960-1972 (1960-72 [2018], Disques Debs/Strut): Hugo Mendez (Sofrito) and Emile Omar (Radio Nova) compiled this selection from Henri Debs' label, following the evolution of music in the French Caribbean from folk and neighboring influences into its own distinctive style, marked chiefly by infectious rhythm, chanting voices, and splashy horns. B+(***) [bc]

Mr. Wrong: Babes in Boyland (2017, Water Wing, EP): First short album, not counting their 2016 Distraction Demo (only 2 of 7 songs on Bandcamp). This one has nine songs, 17:57. Ends strong. B+(**) [bc]

Papa Bue's Viking Jazzband: Greatest Hits (1958-70 [1989], Storyville): Danish trombonist Arne Bue Jensen founded this trad jazz band in 1956, died in 2011, recorded a couple dozen albums (some with visiting heroes like George Lewis, Wingy Manone, Edmond Hall, Wild Bill Davison). There's a story that Shel Silverstein gave them their name (he called them "Danish Vikings") in a review where he noted that they play New Orleans and Chicago jazz better than any American band. Not sure I'd go that far, but they're pretty impressive. Even sold a million copies of one of their hits here ("Schlafe Mein Prinzchen"). B+(***) [bc]

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • The Ian Carey Quintet + 1: Fire in My Head: The Anxiety Suite (Slow & Steady) [04-24]
  • Dave Stryker With Bob Mintzer and the WDR Big Band: Blue Soul (Strikezone) [06-05]

Ask a question, or send a comment.

Sunday, April 5, 2020

Weekend Roundup

I wanted to write an intro this week objecting to people who are still ragging on "Sanders-ites," as in:

one of the most discouraging things about the Sanders-ites who continue to rail against Biden is their appalling lack of understanding of how government works. Their schematic recitations of corporate behemoths who apparently control the every move of Biden, Schumer, and Pelosi reflect a profound lack of any grasp of the realities of American political life, which is that action and reaction occur in a lot of different and even hidden places.

I don't have any problems with arguing that it's more realistic to aim for incremental reforms than for ideal solutions, but this isn't about tactics or goals. The point here is to disparage people for wanting something more than the centrists/moderates are willing to argue for. I can't help but take these attacks personally. Even if there are people on the left too pig-headed to compromise their principles, I don't see any value in attacking them personally, let along generalizing and slandering them as a group. But every day I see attacks on "Sanders-ites" like this, and I'm getting sick and tired of them, and their high-handed authors.

Should write more, but will leave it with I'm more sad than angry or anything else that Joe Biden is the presumptive Democratic Party nominee. I'm not especially bothered by his positions or his record -- needless to say, not for lack of points I'd argue with -- but I do worry that he'll prove an inarticulate and hapless campaigner (as we already have much evidence of). Still, the sad part has little to do with Biden personally. It shows that most Democrats are reacting to fear -- not just of Trump and the Republicans, but of their expected reaction to the changes Sanders is campaigning for. That may go hand in hand with being uninformed and/or unimaginative, but I can't fault anyone for excessive caution -- especially in the middle of a crisis so unprecedented no one can honestly see their way beyond.

Some scattered links this week:

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Monday, March 30, 2020

Music Week

March archive (done).

Music: Current count 33007 [32971] rated (+36), 219 [212] unrated (+7).

Not an exceptional week, but as expected, rated count topped 33000. Unless things change, that's more a measure of time than anything else. I'd reckon my average haul per week is about 30, so I chalk up another thousand every 30-35 weeks, roughly 7-8 months. Looking back, I crossed 32000 the week of September 2, 2019, so I must be averaging a bit more. This week got off to a slow start, but picked up speed when I delved into Pharoah Sanders' back catalog. Didn't find anything there I had missed as good as Tauhid (1966), Village of the Pharoahs (1973), Africa (1987), Welcome to Love (A+ in 1990), or Crescent With Love (1992).

Spent some time last week adding recent reviews to my Jazz Guide draft files. Got up to December, so I should finish that task this week. Page counts up to 835 (20th Century, 335k words) and 1855 (21st, 857k words). I'm also collecting non-jazz capsules (827k words, but works out to 1928 pages with a less dense font). The guides are sorted by artist, so that can get tedious. The non-jazz capsules are just collected in order published, so that's easier.

You can download the guides here and here. They are in LibreWriter ODT format. LibreOffice is free software, with a word processor, spreadsheet, database, presentation editor, and other programs -- presumably everything that's in Microsoft Office. You can download and install it on Linux, Microsoft, and Apple computers, at no charge. You can import most file formats (including Microsoft Word), and can use it to generate PDF and HTML files. You can probably open an ODT file in Microsoft Word (post-2010 releases).

I doubt if these are very useful, other than that they consolidate widely scattered reviews by artist, in some kind of order (by recording date for 20th, release date by 21st). It would be an insane amount of work to turn these into a useful guides: the most obvious step would be to move the biographies to the artist heads, even though that may reduce most record "reviews" to mere grades. I'm thinking now that it may be best to copy them to a website (perhaps using Mediawiki?). Presumably, the current editing is a necessary step in that direction (although it also feels like a time sink).

March had five Mondays, so more records than usual this month: 186. The monthly archive is here.

New records reviewed this week:

Lakecia Benjamin: Pursuance: The Coltranes (2020, Ropeadope): Alto saxophonist, from New York, third album, bassist Reggie Workman co-produces. No credit details for the "over 40 jazz heavyweights" employed here, but Jazzmeia Horn, Brandee Younger, Georgia Anne Muldrow, and Dee Dee Bridgewater sing (or scat), and the Last Poets narrate, with mentor Gary Bartz opening and Greg Osby closing. De trop, but pans out here and there. B+(*)

Jerry Bergonzi: Nearly Blue (2019 [2020], Savant): Tenor saxophonist, many records since 1984, recorded this in Italy with Renato Chicco (organ) and Andrea Michelutti (drums). Three originals, seven standards. His best records have been his most straightforward, and this is no exception. A-

Andy Bianco: NYC Stories (2020, Next Level): Guitarist, based in New York, couple previous albums, cover singles out Wayne Escoffery (tenor sax) and George Burton (piano) for "featuring." B+(*)

Vito Dieterle: Anemone (2018 [2020], Ride Symbol): Tenor saxophonist, based in New York, first album (shares release date with a second, recorded later, mainstream affair with organ (Ben Paterson), guitar (Kris Kaiser), and drums (Aaron Seeber). One original (the title song), with two Billy Strayhorn songs always catching my ear. B+(***)

Vito Dieterle/Joel Forrester: Status Sphere (2019 [2020], Ride Symbol): Duets, tenor sax and piano, five songs by the pianist, seven by Thelonious Monk. B+(**) [cd]

Amina Figarova Edition 113: Persistence (2018 [2020], AmFi): Azerbaijani pianist, clasically trained in Baku, based in New York. More than a dozen albums, this one distinguished by Rez Abbasi on guitar, but also dotted with flute, EWI, and guest vocals. B [cd] [04-10]

Monika Herzig: Eternal Dance (2019 [2020], Savant): German pianist, previous album called Sheroes, credits "Monika Herzig's Sheroes" on the cover, including Jamie Baum (flute), Reut Regev (trombone), Lakecia Benjamin (alto sax), Leni Stern (guitar), and Akua Dixon (cello), others on bass, drums, and percussion. Five originals, one each from Regev and Stern, covers of Queen, Bowie/Eno, and "Motherless Child." B+(*) [cd]

Dua Lipa: Future Nostalgia (2020, Warner): English pop star, parents Albanians from Kosovo, second album, multiple co-writers and producers everywhere, eleven tight songs (only one over 3:41), mixes the hardest dance grooves up front, peaking with "Physical" (as in "let's get"). A-

Harold Mabern: Mabern Plays Mabern (2018 [2020], Smoke Sessions): Pianist from Memphis, moved to New York in 1959 and landed a gig with "Sweets" Edison. He cut his first album in 1968, and this looks to be his last, from a three day stand that previously yielded Iron Man: Live at Smoke, before dying in September 2019. The latter was a quartet, with Eric Alexander (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums). This set, with two covers, five Mabern originals, and one by Alexander, adds Vincent Herring (alto sax) and Steve Davis (vibes), making it a little busy. B+(**)

Christian McBride: The Movement Revisited: A Musical Portrait of Four Icons (2013 [2020], Mack Avenue): Mainstream bassist, has been working on this since 1998, when he first performed it, his icons Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Muhammad Ali, and Martin Luther King Jr., a decade later adding Barack Obama with "Apotheosis: November 4th, 2008." With big band, choir, narrators reciting inspirational words -- although Obama's conciliatory inaugural address elicits more sadness than anything else today. Several monologues break into song. By far the best is least political, most cultural victory, "Rumble in the Jungle." B+(**)

Thollem McDonas/William Parker/Nels Cline: Gowanus Sessions II (2012 [2020], ESP-Disk): Piano/bass/guitar, the cover listing only the former's first name (as usual), the others' surnames. Leftovers from their 2012 album, two LP-sized jams (18:42/18:49). Cline doesn't do much other than add color here. B+(**)

Arúan Ortiz With Andrew Cyrille and Mauricio Herrera: Inside Rhythmic Falls (2019 [2020], Intakt): Cuban pianist, based in New York, the others drums and percussion (the latter is also Cuban), all three also credited with voice -- mostly on the opener. B+(**)

Painted Faces: Tales From the Skinny Apartment (2017 [2019], ESP-Disk): Florida "weirdo" David Drucker, moved to New York in 2011, has more than a dozen albums starting in 2009, announces his intentions here with "Chicks That Are Into Beefheart (and Jandek)." I checked this out because it's on a label that's into adventurous avant-jazz releases, but with their "only the artist decides" aesthetic, they're susceptible to weirdos of all stripes, and have trouble sorting them out. Guitar and reverb, lo-fi noise, aleatory vocals, not devoid of interest but more work than I care to exert. B-

Vanderlei Pereira and Blindfold Test: Vision for Rhythm (2020, Jazzheads): Brazilian drummer, long based in New York, Discogs lists 15 albums since 1986 he's played on, but this may be his first as a leader. Shifting rhythms and textures. B+(*) [cd] [05-22]

Radical Empathy Trio: Reality and Other Imaginary Places (2017 [2019], ESP-Disk): Thollem McDonas (keyboards), Nels Cline (guitars), and Michael Wimberly (drums). Two tracks conceived as LP sides (18:30 and 18:31). B+(*) [bc]

Dave Sewelson: More Music for a Free World (2018 [2020], Mahakala Music): Baritone saxophonist, first album the precursor this is more of, but I've been aware of him for a while, in groups like Microscopic Septet, Fast 'N' Bulbous, and William Parker's big bands. Quartet with Steve Swell (trombone), Parker (bass), and Marvin Bugalu Smith (drums). Two long improv pieces, a shorter one to close. A-

SFJazz Collective: Live: SFJazz Center 2019: 50th Anniversary: Miles Davis In a Silent Way and Sly & the Family Stone Stand! (2019 [2020], SFJazz): Group started in 2004 with Joshua Redman as artistic director, Gil Goldstein arranging and composing, and Bobby Hutcherson eminent, but they were gone by 2007, as the evolving group has turned into a premier repertory jazz ensemble -- as evidence by this program, the two 1969 albums intercut. Martin Luther McCoy sings Sly's parts. Ensemble is down to a septet, all recognized names, with Warren Wolf keeping the vibes prominent, and guitarist Adam Rogers visiting from New York. Nice concept for a concert. B+(**)

Shabaka and the Ancestors: We Are Sent Here by History (2015 [2020], Impulse!): British saxophonist Shabaka Hutchings, born in London, grew up in his parents' native Barbados, a prominent member of two of England's most successful jazz outfits (Sons of Kemet, The Comet Is Coming), second album with this group, recorded in Johannesburg with South African musicians. Expands on pan-African roots with spirit of Coltrane and Sanders. A-

Kandace Springs: The Women Who Raised Me (2020, Blue Note): Standards singer, jazz/soul crossover, third album, has an intriguing voice, styles this as a tribute to a dozen iconic women singers ranging from Billie Holiday to Norah Jones (the one who shows for a duet). Backed by Steve Cardenas, Scott Colley, and Clarence Penn, with various featured guests (notably two Chris Potter cuts). Has some moments, but turned me off toward the end. B

Ohad Talmor: Long Form (2015 [2020], Intakt): French saxophonist, grew up in Geneva, based in New York, not much under his own name but he met Lee Konitz in 1989, and has frequently toured and recorded with him. Sextet, with Shane Endsley (trumpet), Miles Okazaki (guitar), Jacob Sacks (piano), bass, and drums. B+(***)

Waxahatchee: Saint Cloud (2020, Merge): Katie Crutchfield, from Alabama, fifth album since 2012, doesn't rock much, and I'm too slow on the uptake to figure out the rest. Still, after several plays, gets me in the end. A-

Recent reissues, compilations, and vault discoveries:

Antoinette Konan: Antoinette Konan (1986 [2019], Awesome Tapes From Africa): Singer-songwriter from Côte D'Ivoire, first album, arranged by Bamba Moussa Yang. B+(*) [bc]

New Improvised Music From Buenos Aires (2012-17 [2019], ESP-Disk): Various artists, only a few I've heard of (Pablo Ledesma, Paula Shocron), fourteen tracks, compiled by Jason Weiss. Interesting stuff, my favorite a piece by avant-sax trio Cinética, "Improvisation 0681." B+(***) [bc]

Charlie Parker: The Savoy 10-Inch LP Collection (1944-48 [2020], Craft, 4LP): I don't have the slightest interest in the packaging: four 10-inch LPs (6-8 songs each), packed in a box with a booklet I haven't seen. The music is essentially the same as I first head on 1976's 2-LP Bird/The Savoy Recordings (Master Takes) (later on a single 1985 CD, which unlike this is organized chronologically by session), and has been repackaged numerous times since. I must have a half-dozen copies of everything here, and at various times have graded it anywhere from B to A-, varying by how crummy the sound was, whether any vocal tracks were included, and how bad a mood I was in. I'm not going back to systematize those grades, but figured a quick streaming pass would give me a temperature check. The music originally appeared on 78s. The 10-inch LPs this is modeled on appeared as New Sounds in Modern Music (1950-52), followed by 12-inch LPs like Charlie Parker Memorial (1955). I recognize almost everything, noting that Parker (like Monk) tends to reuse his pet ideas, also that the singles format compresses many pieces to the point of claustrophobia, the hour-plus wearing me thin and sore. I'd never buy this packaging, but shouldn't dock it: perhaps it helps to break it up into 15-20 minute chunks. B+(**)

Pharoah Sanders: Live in Paris 1975 (1975 [2020], Transversales Disque): Tenor saxophonist, a decade into his career, he has plenty of material to work with. Quartet with Danny Mixon (piano/organ), Calvin Hill (bass), and Greg Bandy (drums) -- the sung finale a cosmic hoedown. B+(**)

Old music:

John Coltrane Featuring Pharoah Sanders: Live in Seattle (1964 [1994], Impulse!, 2CD): His famous Quartet plus a second tenor sax (Sanders) and Donald Garrett (bass clarinet), often muddying the waters. First released in 1971 as a 2-LP (72:36), expanded here (same six tracks, but now 132:44). B+(*)

Harold Mabern: Iron Man: Live at Smoke (2018, Smoke Sessions, 2CD): Pianist, pretty good shape for 81, quartet with Eric Alexander (tenor sax), John Webber (bass), and Joe Farnsworth (drums). One to remember him by, even if he's frequently upstaged by Alexander, who hasn't sounded this vigorous in ages. A-

Charlie Parker: In Sweden 1950: The Complete Recordings (1950 [2002], Storyville): Live shot, based on three shows, with a pick up band, notably Rolf Ericson on trumpet. LP (10 tracks) originally appeared on Sonet in 1959. Storyville reissued it in 1973, and Spotlite came up with a more complete 2-LP in 1973, matching these 14 tracks. Storyville's 14-track version bears the label's 50th Anniversary sticker, suggesting 2002, but the Bandcamp date is 2020. (Definitive also reissued all 14 tracks in 2002.) Sound is so-so, but give Parker some breathing room, and he eventually he'll do something with it. B+(**) [bc]

Pharoah Sanders: Deaf Dumb Blind (Summun Bukmun Umyun) 1970, Impulse!): Two sidelong pieces, draws on Arabic for the title, Africa for the rhythms, and the cosmos for shimmering aura. With Woody Shaw (trumpet), Gary Bartz (alto sax), Lonnie Liston Smith (piano), and pretty much everyone adding to the percussion. B+(***)

Pharoah Sanders: Thembi (1970-71 [1971], Impulse!): A mixed bag, with with some sax close to and some beyond the pain threshold, exotic flutes and fifes, and various other diversions. Title cut is wonderful, but nothing else works out nearly as well. B+(*)

Pharoah Sanders: Black Unity (1971, Impulse!): One 37:21 piece, originally split over 2 LP sides, mostly groove and jive, with a few rough spots. B+(**)

Pharoah Sanders: Live at the East (1971 [1972], Impulse!): Starts strong with a 21:43 "Healing Song," ends in typical fashion, drags in the middle. B+(*)

Pharoah Sanders: Love in Us All (1972-73 [1974], Impulse!): Two extended pieces, "Love Is Everywhere" and "To John" (which no doubt means Coltrane). With James Branch adding to the flute, Joe Bonner on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, lots of percussion. B+(**)

Pharoah Sanders: Love Will Find a Way (1978, Arista): First of two albums he did with Norman Connors on Arista. It's not a very fruitful pairing, with chintzy strings and Phyllis Hyman vocals. Occasionally the saxophone peeks through. B

Pharoah Sanders: Save Our Children (1998, Verve): Second Verve album, last chance he had to show off on a major label, and he does indeed offer a neat encapsulation of his worldview -- exotic percussion from Trilok Gurtu and Zakir Hussain, funk keyboard by Bernie Worrell, electronic mix by Bill Laswell. Doesn't short change the saxophone but keeps it bound up. B+(*)

Pharoah Sanders/Graham Haynes: With a Heartbeat (2003, Evolver): His discography thins out after 2000, with this the last (or latest?) album listing his name first, although he's popped up in guest slots at least through 2014. Not especially strong here, but Haynes (cornet/electronics) and Bill Laswell (producer, bass, keyboards, flute, arrangements) have turned out a fitting extended treatment of Sanders' long-established cosmic vibe. B+(***)

Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:

  • Harrison Argatoff: Toronto Streets Tour (self-released -19)
  • Jerry Bergonzi: Nearly Blue (Savant)
  • Jeff Hamilton Trio: Catch Me If You Can (Capri) [07-17]
  • Monika Herzig: Eternal Dance (Savant)
  • Samo Salamon/Igor Matkovic/Kristijan Krajncan: Common Flow (Sazas)
  • Samo Salamon/Igor Matkovic/Kristijan Krajncan: Rare Ebb (Sazas)
  • Diane Schuur: Running on Faith (Jazzheads) [05-08]
  • The TNEK Jazz Quintet: Plays the Music of Sam Jones (TNEK Jazz)
  • Sophie Tassignon: Mysteries Unfold (RareNoise) [04-24]
  • Lou Volpe: Before & After (Jazz Guitar) [04-01]

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Sunday, March 29, 2020

Weekend Roundup

News this week is pretty much all coronavirus. Most striking number below is Anthony Fauci's projection that coronavirus will kill more than 100,000 Americans, and that millions will be infected. The US now has more confirmed cases than any other nation -- even China, despite a head start and nearly four times as many people (see How the US stacks up to other countries in confirmed coronavirus cases; note the graphs, which plot spread over time; also note how little testing has actually been carried out in the US).

Or, if you're more concerned about money than people, the number of new unemployment filings last week broke the previous record, by a factor of five. We're now seeing projections that unemployment will shoot to 20%, and that this quarter's GDP will drop by more than 10%. For comparison, the total drop in the 2008 "Great Recession" over two quarters was 4.3%. Congress passed a $2 trillion "stimulus" bill late last week. I'd call it more of a stopgap. I'm especially struck by how eager Republicans are to break the bank when one of their own is president, compared to how chintzy and vindictive they are when a Democrat is in the White House. Much like Republicans managed to undermine Obama's $700 billion stimulus bill in 2009, Democrats worked hard to make this bill more fair to workers and the newly unemployed than Trump initially wanted.

Ran through this rather quickly, without many comments. You can look up the technical stuff yourself (here's the Vox index; American Prospect has a relatively good political-oriented series, including David Dayen's "COVID-19 Daily" briefs). Occasionally I note speculation on what happens "after" -- still, I find this impossible given that I don't have any real idea how far this falls apart, or when (if ever) a "new normal" stabilizes. I've seen pieces comparing coronavirus to global warming, but don't find them to be very credible (yet). Also, not much below on politics. Nothing in the last week (or month) has convinced me that Biden is the right person to take on Trump, yet it feels unseemly to try to convince his Democratic supporters of that at this particular moment. It seems significant that this poll shows only 24% of Biden supporters to be very enthusiastic, vs. 53% of Trump supporters. (His 24% not only compares poorly to Trump, but to Hillary Clinton's lame 32% four years ago.)

Some scattered links this week:

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