Rolling Jazz Thread 2018

I finally bought Starebaby and I love it. I'm planning to go see that group at this year's jazz festival, maybe Herbie Hancock and Angles 7 too.

Saw Kamasi Washington last night (he was opening for Alt-J at Forest Hills Stadium; the rest of his US tour is club dates, I think). Two songs from Heaven & Earth, one from Harmony Of Difference, one from The Epic. I hadn't seen him live since 2015, when The Epic was just out. Really good show, and the overwhelmingly young, indie-rock crowd was really into it (I think having their skulls crushed by the double drummers helped a lot).

A bassist I've done some playing with put out his debut as a leader, don't know what I expected but it's really lovely:
https://shiftingparadigmrecords.bandcamp.com/album/dear-friend-2

Has some folk elements that remind me of the Fellowship.

x-post- Kamasi Washington is also on new Florence and the Machine album coming out June 29, and doing some shows opening for her/them

Silkheart is putting their catalog up on Bandcamp.

https://silkheart.bandcamp.com/

Tons of crucial early titles by Charles Gayle (they were the first label to record him), David S. Ware, Other Dimensions in Music, Matthew Shipp, and a ton more. All for just $7 each.

So I'll be in NYC (staying in the Village) June 23-July 1, and I'm hoping to use the opportunity to hear some jazz. There's quite a bit going on, e.g., William Parker, David Murray, Ravi Coltrane, and JD Scott afterhours at Smalls (not to mention a lot of other stuff). As I've never been to NYC for jazz, any must-see things or places?

!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DhnVAXn22k

Wow

If any band can give shredding a worthy context...

My latest Stereogum column is up. This is such a ridiculously stacked month: Kamasi Washington, John Coltrane, JD Allen, the R+R=NOW record, two new Thumbscrew albums, albums by Shamie Royston and Tia Fuller (they're sisters)...

I'm so glad someone has mentioned that ace Matt Penman album, some really nice pulsating fender rhodes work from Parks on there as well, I love it!

I saw Craig Pedersen Quartet the other night. They put on a really good show, with a lot of out playing but always grounded in melodic themes and (complex) grooves. The quintet CD from last year that I picked up is really good too: took a couple of listens to digest. Thierry Amar (GYBE) is probably the most famous guy who plays in the band but Linsey Wellman's circular breathing and extended techniques on sax probably make the group for me.

Angles 7 tonight.

They put on a really good show, playing things from the last couple of Angles 9 albums, I gather. Drummer kept a solid 4 or 12 most of the time, with intricate but still singable horn riffs and out breaks. We caught Tanya Tagaq doing an outdoor set from the fence on the way home too, which was great. (I feel a bit bad about not paying but I rationalize that I've spent a lot on the festival and have paid to see her twice.) Dan Weiss/Starebaby tonight: I'm most excited about this; I haven't seen Monder live before.

love that Starebaby album!

Yeah, I've been playing it all the time since getting it.

Just came across this interview which seems to have a lot of interesting detail: http://jazzprofiles.blogspot.com/2018/05/milt-bernhart-have-trombone-will-travel.html

Also, how was that show? Did you talk to Ben?

just listening to the new Jamie Saft Quartet - Blue Dream. Finding it most agreeable.

Starebaby were very good, even inspiring. So tight and precise. They were playing from sheet music. I was a little surprised that some of the lines on the album that I thought were played on guitar were actually synth/keyboard parts and vice versa. Monder played really fast, really complex parts without missing a beat, playing a note out of place, or making a facial expression. I introduced myself and looked at his pedals afterwards but got nervous and left him alone.

I almost feel bad that I didn't coach you ahead of time about how to talk to him but maybe what works for James Redd wouldn't work for Sund4r.

Herbie did a great all-electric set last night. Age isn't slowing him down. Loueke was dazzling, getting all sorts of timbres out of his guitar and effects and singing through a harmonizer.

Wait is there some sort of festival going on there?

Yeah, it finished today.

You didn’t go to see Russell Malone, did you?

I didn't. I had to pick my events this year, for a couple of reasons, but I'm not that familiar with Malone tbh. Listening to him on Youtube, he sounds pretty good.

https://cps-static.rovicorp.com/3/JPG_500/MI0004/252/MI0004252938.jpg?partner=allrovi.com
his last album could be a nom for worst lp covers of our era, but it's excellent.

He’s a super nice guy , too.

Came to ask Phil if he has ever interviewed Harold Mabern or thought about doing so.

I have never talked to him, no. I liked his last album, though.

Harold Mabern, To Love And Be Loved (Smoke Sessions)
Pianist Harold Mabern has been on the scene since the 1950s, recording more as a sideman than as a leader, though he’s got over 20 albums to his name. This is his third release for the Smoke Sessions label, and his first since 2012 not to feature bassist John Webber and drummer Joe Farnsworth; instead, Nat Reeves is on bass and Jimmy Cobb (the last living member of the band from Miles Davis’s Kind Of Blue) is behind the kit, with Eric Alexander on tenor sax, Freddie Hendrix on trumpet on three tracks, and Cyro Baptista contributing percussion to the opening title track. Mabern has done everything from accompanying singers to playing smooth jazz-funk electric piano to playing with multi-piano ensembles. Here, though, he’s in hard bop mode, leading the band through standards like “If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You,” “My Funny Valentine,” and “I Get A Kick Out Of You.” They also play Lee Morgan’s “The Gigolo” (Mabern was in Morgan’s final band, and was present the night he was shot and killed by his girlfriend, in 1972), which is an excellent showcase for Hendrix’s fiery trumpet. The version of “So What,” from Kind Of Blue, is less successful, mostly because Reeves pushes the bass line too forcefully instead of letting it drift along. Still, this is a great, straightforward “jazz-club jazz” album by a crew of veterans.

Based on my chat with him at The Jazz Standard on the 4th I think he would be an excellent interview subject.

Cool interview earlier this year with Steve Swallow and John Scofield.

Gets into some of the different jazz scenes around NY and elsewhere. Found out that Ian Underwood later of The Mothers of Invention and LA studio player was college friend of Swallow and they played music together then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZe7HoJhcIY&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZe7HoJhcIY&feature=youtu.be

Just recorded an interview with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt for the podcast. It started out rough - he answered my first three or four questions with single sentences - but then we clicked into gear and the stories started flowing. It's gonna be a good one.

Will check that one. And speaking of Harold, leave us not forget this 'un with Wes:

Finally, this is legit and remastered from original: live in '65 Paris, Wes is into Trane, shadowed by Harold Mabern, and later Johnny Griffin shows up, intriguingly enough (astute excerpts and comments by Kevin Whitehead)https://www.npr.org/2018/01/31/582118519/in-paris-recording-guitarist-wes-montgomery-shows-his-head-for-melody

― dow, Friday, February 2, 2018

Yeah, that's a great album.

― grawlix (unperson), Saturday, February 3, 2018

this new Binker and Moses, alive in the east album is so good.

the drummer is an absolute star.

Just got wind of a new bio written by Maxine Gordon about Dexter that is coming out at the end of this year which seems likes it’s going to be really good.

https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520280649/sophisticated-giant

https://www.maxinegordon.com/bio/

Wow, that ought to be really good indeed. I've just requested a review copy from the publisher. I had no idea about the whole Woody Shaw - Maxine - Dexter thing, or that she was the mother of Woody's son.

Yeah, I never knew that either.

been on a bit of a Dave Liebman tip recently, of his more recent stuff his Fire album w/ DeJohnette/Holland/Werner is well worth checking out.

Wayne Shorter is putting out a 3CD set, Emanon ("no name" backwards), on August 24. It's one studio CD with his quartet + an orchestra, and two live CDs by the quartet. Plus it comes with an 84-page comic book written by Shorter. Pre-orders are up. The standard edition is $75; the deluxe edition (the 3 CDs, the comic, and the same music on 3 LPs, plus it's signed) is $175.

Whoa. Most interested in the comic tbh.

I'm so happy to find this high-quality video of Elvin Jones' band with Eric Lewis, which remains one of the most transcendent shows of my life:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxmdm1xTtp0

Whoa. Most interested in the comic tbh.

Ha! I couldn't be less interested in the comic. In fact, I'm almost certain to buy the music as a download rather than a physical object.

Now I'm listening to Eric Lewis' (aka ELEW) trio record with Reginald Veal & 'Tain' Watts from 2016, and it's excellent. Glad he made this after the solo stuff, he's so fun to listen to in a group. Such a powerhouse.

https://✧✧✧.shop✧✧✧.com/s/files/1/0003/8961/1572/products/GB1541_PACK_SHOT_1024x1✧✧✧@2✧.j✧✧?v=1532534610

From Gearbox Records:
Mønk

Clear vinyl 180 gram 33rpm LP (Street date: 28th September 2018)
- Strictly limited edition, only 500 available*
- Individually hand-numbered
- Heavy-weight tip-on sleeve
- Signature-embossed Val Wilmer photographic print (limited to 500)
- AAA release

Hot on the heels of Impulse’s recent unearthed Coltrane number one hit album comes another beauty from Jazz’s ‘holy trinity’. This is a previously unreleased, precious lost treasure from Monk’s most critically acclaimed line-up; Charlie Rouse on saxophone, John Orr on double bass, and Frankie Dunlop on drums. Without a widely agreed must-have Monk release, could this fill the void as the Monk everyone should own? Recorded live in Copenhagen in 1963 at the peak of Monk’s career. A year later he was to feature on the cover of TIME magazine, one of only for 4 Jazz artists ever to do so.

Cut in-house with Gearbox’s 1967 Haeco Scully lathe, the exact same lathe set-up as Blue Note used back in the day.

Line-up:
Thelonious Monk - piano
Charlie Rouse - tenor saxophone
John Orr - double bass
Frankie Dunlop - drums

Track Listing:
A1 Bye-Ya A2 Nutty B1 Bye-Ya B2 Body and Soul B3 Monk's Dream

More info: https://store.gearboxrecords.com/collections/vinyl/products/thelonious-monk-collectors-edition-pre-order *There's also a "standard black LP" option, according to Vinyl Factory, may not be limited ed., or as limited. Don't see that on the Gearbox site, though. Maybe it'll be available later, after they sell out the ltd.

Apparently not a boot, given the Wilmer connection, unless that's booted too.

The Tohru Aizawa Quartet's Tachibana was reissued today by BBE, the label that put out that excellent J-Jazz compilation earlier this year. It's heavy post-Coltrane/Tyner blare from 1975. Not life-changing or anything, but worth a listen.