"Weird Means Something You Never Heard Before": Rolling Jazz D-bag Thread 2015

Been doing some really interesting interviews this week. Talked to bassist Cecil McBee midweek (if you're not listening to The Cookers, get on that—all four of their albums smoke in a strictly-for-the-hardcore kind of way), and this afternoon I spent an hour on the phone with André Martinez Reed, who was a percussionist/drummer with Cecil Taylor, off and on, from about 1981 to 1992, and had some amazing stories to tell.

Wow, I didn't know Cecil McBee was still around! Love his playing with Andrew Hill, and on Marc Levin's The Dragon Suite.

xxxpost jaymc yeah some of us talked about Brian Blade Fellowship's Landmarks on I Don't Know etc (Rolling 2014 version of this thread). Good album.

Landmarks is amazing! It's grown on me and I love it, but it still doesn't top Season of Changes.

I just put the opening tape-effect track on a mix btw, wish there were more curveballs like that.

whoa, that Cindy Blackman story. she's an amazing drummer.

Got an interesting looking Braxton disc in today's mail - a reissue of Trio and Duet, from 1974; first track/side is Braxton, Wadada Leo Smith on trumpet and other stuff, and Richard Teitelbaum on synth, doing one of his originals. The second side is Braxton and Dave Holland doing standards - "The Song Is You," "Embraceable You," "You Go To My Head," "On Green Dolphin Street," "I Remember You."

Also got the new Jeremy Pelt, which features him playing with two drummers - Billy Drummond and Victor Lewis. Not the guys I would ordinarily expect to double up, but I figure it'll be interesting - he does versions of Clifford Jordan's "Glass Bead Games" and Wayne Shorter's "Vonetta," but there's no saxophonist on the disc. I like Pelt a lot; looking forward to hearing this.

Bought Joe Henderson's At the Lighthouse last night—it's a reissue of his 1970 live album If You're Not Part of the Solution, You're Part of the Problem with a few extra tracks from the same shows added, and the band is absolutely killer: Henderson, Woody Shaw on trumpet, George Cables on Fender Rhodes, Ron McClure on bass, Lenny White on drums, and Tony Waters on congas on a few tracks. Really looking foward to listening to it.

impressive line up indeed

http://subculturenewyork.com/event/a-conversation-made-in-chicago/
A CONVERSATION WITH JACK DEJOHNETTE, MUHAL RICHARD ABRAMS, AND HENRY THREADGILL
MON - 02/23/15
DOORS: 06:00 PM / SHOW: 06:30 PM

At Kitano for something called the Cuba Brazil New York Connection, or words to that effect

How was it?

great interview with Ndugu Chancler on my friend's new podcast: http://www.thetrapset.net/

Archie Shepp Attica Blues Orchestra: been wondering about this Grammy nominee, anybody heard it? Loved the original Attica Blues, haven't heard subsequent live versions, excerpted here, with additional material not on the original LP (although there was a 2-LP edition also, right?)Wondering about his later technical difficulties; this says "He still has some chops," which doesn't read all that reassuringly/reassured:
http://www.popmatters.com/review/180151-archie-shepp-attica-blues-orchestra-i-hear-the-sound/

I've heard it. It's OK, not great. When I interviewed Shepp last year, he mentioned that he likes the second version better.

Thanks. Have you heard Ornette's New Vocabulary?

I have not. I requested a copy from the label but it was never sent and right now I don't have a buying-music budget.

The New York-Cuba-Brazil Connection show was really good, three guys with tons of both straight jazz and Latin Jazz chops playing well together.

Has this been posted?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krDxhnaKD7Q

A+

Got some good stuff in today's mail:

Jim Snidero, Main Street (Savant): Snidero's an OK alto saxophonist - bluesy, melodic, nothing fancy - but he's got a killer band behind him: pianist Fabian Almazan, bassist Linda Oh, and drummer Rudy Royston. This disc is worth hearing just for those three. Out now.

Donny McCaslin, Fast Future (Greenleaf): McCaslin on tenor sax, Jason Lindner on piano and synths, Tim LeFebvre on electric bass, Mark Guiliana on drums, David Binney on vocals and synths (and producing), Nina Geiger on vocals, Nate Wood on guitar, Jana Dagdagan doing spoken word on one track. Strongly influenced by EDM, but also Weather Report (the vocals are wordless and remind me of "Nubian Sundance" from Mysterious Traveller); includes a version of Aphex Twin's "54 Cymru Beats." Out 3/31.

Myra Melford, Snowy Egret (Enja): Melford on piano, Ron Miles on cornet, Liberty Ellman on guitar, Stomu Takeishi on acoustic bass guitar, Tyshawn Sorey on drums. Haven't listened to this one yet, but the band intrigues me. Out 3/10.

Last one does look interesting. Ron Miles is great. And a couple of guys who play with Henry Threadgill.

This one is even better
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nKL2It6XzHA

love me some myra melford

Donny McCaslin, Fast Future (Greenleaf)

urgh Greenleaf has pulled its samples off Soundcloud. This ticks a lot of boxes for me, thanks for the heads up

I'm hoping to premiere a track on Burning Ambulance. Will post a link if it happens.

those Jeremy Pelt tracks are great. the double drummer thing in a more or less straight-ahead context thing adds a lot, i like how it's mixed too.

btw i'm curious to hear Dave Douglas' upcoming record with Shigeto involved. i haven't listened to him in years, but it could be interesting to have a serious electronic producer (who's also a jazz musician) involved. i remember hearing some DD electric record that sounded like aimless fusion, hoping this one works.

Jay Babcock retweeted
Marc Urselli ‏@MarcUrselli

in the studio with #JohnZorn #Dreamers w/ #JoeyBaron #TrevorDunn #MarcRibot #JamieSaft #CyroBaptista #KennyWollesen

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B-E6hjOIcAA9v-G.jpg

y'all know clean feed records have a stock clearance on at the moment?
skads of cool stuff on offer:
my picks:
WHO trio / joe morris & barre phillips duos / joe morris & nate wooley duos / whit dickey / rob brown trio / michael dessen trio / bass drum bone / tony malaby's tamarindo / rafael toral & davu seru
consume !

Second Tony Malaby's Tamarindo.

apart from the live cd with leo smith. love smith but he doesn't fit in that band

Burning Ambulance is streaming the new album by Finnish saxophonist Eero Koivistoinen—weirdly, it's on Svart, which is a Finnish label specializing in metal, psychedelic hard rock, doom, and occult folk music. (But they also put out that excellent Sonny Simmons album with the psych-rock group Moksha Samnyasin last year.)

About to dive deep into 70s fusion - I just ordered 5CD "Original Album Series" boxes by Stanley Clarke, Billy Cobham and Jean-Luc Ponty.

Was just thinking it's Tristano time again, and came across this mention on Tom Hull's site---no mention of Billy Bauer, but good anyway?

Lennie Tristano: Chicago April 1951 (1951 [2014], Uptown, 2CD): with disciples Lee Konitz and Warne Marsh, of course, a slightly stranger shade of bebop. A-

(Didn't Becker & Fagen produce an album for a combo co-led by Marsh? And he maybe took a turn on a Steely Dan album?)

Oh yeah, Apogee: http://www.allmusic.com/album/apogee-mw0000332933

http://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20150303/8d/e0/1a/c9/2206e44df2909a57e26cf1d4_274x280.jpg

CONCORD MUSIC GROUP CELEBRATES 40th ANNIVERSARY
OF LEGENDARY TONY BENNETT/BILL EVANS SESSIONS
WITH FOUR-LP BOX SET:
THE COMPLETE TONY BENNETT/BILL EVANS RECORDINGS
DUE OUT APRIL 28.

180-gram vinyl package contains alternate takes and bonus tracks.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Forty years ago, renowned entertainer Tony Bennett joined together with legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans for their first of two duet albums. The result was 1975’s The Tony Bennett / Bill Evans Album, followed by Together Again the following year. To celebrate this incredible coupling of talents, Fantasy Records, a unit of Concord Music Group, will release a deluxe, 180-gram vinyl box set. Venerated as a special moment in the history of jazz, the two albums, plus two discs’ worth of alternate takes and bonus tracks, are combined in this four-LP, 180-gram vinyl collection, The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings. Included is a collectible 12x12 photograph of the two musicians, as well as a deluxe 12-page booklet featuring rare images and extensive liner notes by Will Friedwald (co-author of Tony Bennett’s autobiography, The Good Life).

This unique pairing began with 1975’s The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album, recorded during an intimate session at Fantasy Studios (producer Helen Keane and an engineer were the only other people present). At work in equal partnership, Bennett and Evans selected the tunes, worked out the arrangements semi-spontaneously, and, later, picked the final takes to be used. Bennett recalls that the pair didn't even discuss song choices before the session: “I would name a tune, and Bill would say, ‘That's good, let’s do that.’ We'd find a key and then the two of us would work it out.”

The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album features a selection of classics from the Great American Songbook (“The Days of Wine and Roses,” “Young and Foolish,” “The Touch of Your Lips”), as well as a moving rendition of the Evans’ classic tune "Waltz for Debby" (with lyrics written by Gene Lees). A consistently enthusiastic and balanced musical team, Bennett and Evans shine both individually and in tandem.

Following the recording, the pair performed live on a number of occasions and made several television appearances, including a stop on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show.

In 1976, Bennett and Evans returned to the studio for Together Again. Another low-lights, high-improv date of standards that opens with an Evans solo rendition of “The Bad and the Beautiful” and continues with such moving renditions of “Lucky to Be Me,” “You’re Nearer,” and “You Don't Know What Love Is.” Another Evans original, “The Two Lonely People” (with lyrics by Carol Hall), also graces the playlist.

Both sessions — in which Bennett and Evans recorded together in the same room, not in isolation booths (a recording preference that Bennett has practiced throughout his recording career)— yielded several fine alternate takes that are included, as well as bonus tracks from the second date.

With such palpable energy and nearly telepathic interplay, these recordings have garnered critical awe over the years since their release. London’s The Guardian noted in 2009, “The outcome of this intimate duet highlighted the sublime creative accompanist in Evans, and the deep jazz sensitivities of the vocal legend … the two sound as if they’re having the time of their lives.” The BBC mused, “It seems impossible that these two giants of understated musical sophistication went into the studio with no idea of what they would record … They plucked one definitive performance after another out of thin air to produce a nine-track album — called, with straightforward simplicity, The Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Album — that was bettered only by its solitary follow-up, the following year’s Together Again.” AllMusic simply called the collaboration an “excellent jazz-pop hybrid in which both musicians were shown off to advantage.”

The Complete Tony Bennett/Bill Evans Recordings joins several recent and forthcoming releases, celebrating the career of Bill Evans. Aside from a handful of reissued albums on vinyl, fans can also look forward to CD box set reissues The Complete Riverside Recordings and The Complete Fantasy Recordings this spring and fall, respectively. Also available is the highly acclaimed deluxe LP box set The Complete Village Vanguard Recordings, 1961, which hit store shelves in the fall of 2014.

maybe this will be the album that makes me understand the appeal of tony bennett?

Have you never previously heard the Tony Bennett Bill Evans Album?

i have not. i haven't heard all kinds of stuff. i take it this is something i should rectify? I'll queue it up now.

It's great IMO, but you kind of need low lights and a glass of whiskey to enjoy it

evans sounds great on contact but i guess i'm never gonna get bennett
and it's not an aversion to old white guys; i dig mel torme
bennett always sounds weirdly strained and uptight to me

I come at it from the opposite perspective, sort of; I remember finding Bennett innocuously pleasurable when he had his "Tony Bennett is hip now!" moment in the early '90s. (I bought the Steppin' Out album.) On the other hand, when he's not playing behind Miles Davis, Bill Evans puts me right the fuck to sleep. I will definitely be passing on this one.

good interview with Mike Clark here, it's interesting how conscious he was of getting typecast as a funk drummer with Herbie (to the point where he was reticent about taking the gig), and that even then he had to fight to get his signature linear on record: http://www.thetrapset.net/past-episodes/

*linear beats

that interview was very informative in terms of vocabulary! i liked how he talked frankly about what bores him too.

Mike Clark is the kind of drummer who makes me just want to give up. Psyched to listen to that interview though.

one of the best shows i saw in college was a band of his (billed as the Headhunters i think) with Larry Goldings, Paul Jackson, Bill Summers, Fred Wesley, and Skerik.

FWIW, listened to the beginning, and I like the host's point about jazz drummers who can't play funk, but I also find that I like Mike Clark playing funk much better than playing any "swing-feel" jazz.

when he's not playing behind Miles Davis, Bill Evans puts me right the fuck to sleep

And there was I thinking everybody digs Bill Evans

agreed, i looked up some clips of him playing straight-ahead on Youtube after listening to it. he sounds great and it's clearly where is heart is, but listening blind it could be any good jazz drummer (although to be fair, it was in the context of workshops with student combos). but his funk style is so distinct.

xp

I am really feeling that Tomeka Reid Quartet album, she was aces on the AACM album with Nicole Mitchell as well and joy of joys she has Halvorson on board.

http://hullworks.net/jazzpoll/15/critics.php
more end of year lists here than you can shake a shitty stick at!

Dig the new thread: The dog trots freely thru the Rolling Jazz Canto Thread 2016

I'm wrapping this thread up for the year. If I missed something or if a track comes available sometime in the future, bump here to let me know and I'll add.

Rolling Jazz 2015 Thread Spotify Playlist