listening to…April 14-28, 2013

Craig Taborn – Chants (ECM)
Masabumi Kikuchi – Sunrise (ECM)
Quest – Circular Dreaming (enja)
Bud Powell – Bud Powell Trio (Roost/Roulette)
Bud Powell – the Amazing Bud Powell (Blue Note)
the Bill Smith Quartet with Jim Hall – Folk Jazz (Contemporary)
Jim Hall – Jazz Guitar (Pacific Jazz)
Jim Hall – …Where Would I Be? (Milestone OJC)
Jim Hall and Ron Carter – Alone Together (Milestone OJC)
Paul Desmond with Ed Bickert – Live (A&M)
John Stowell/Michael Zilber Quartet – Shot Through With Beauty (Origin)
Anthony Williams – Lifetime (Blue Note)
Anthony Williams – Spring (Blue Note)

Giacinto Scelsi – The Piano Works, Vol. 1 (Mode)
Giacinto Scelsi – The Piano Works, Vol. 4 (Mode)
Giacinto Scelsi – Music for High Winds (Mode)
Giacinto Scelsi – Works for Bass (Mode)

Led Zeppelin IV (Atlantic)
Led Zeppelin – Houses of the Holy (Atlantic)
Led Zeppelin – Physical Graffiti (Atlantic)
Rolling Stones – Some Girls (Rolling Stones Records)
Rolling Stones – Emotional Rescue (Rolling Stones Records)

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Tony Williams, Mosaic Select

Tony Williams – Mosaic Select

For a few years I’ve been following up on recordings by drummer Tony Williams that I had never heard, so I finally had to break down and get a copy of this little box. Five Blue Note albums on three CDs “in the tradition” from ’85-’91 make up this box. Electronic drums and machines on Foreign Intrigue sound tastefully dated, having both Bobby Hutcherson (vibes) and Mulgrew Miller (piano) in the same band forced the composer to tightly arrange the music so they don’t get in each other’s way.

Too bad Tony wasn’t more adventurous with the instrumentation, he always uses at least a front line of trumpet and saxophone with a piano in the rhythm section. The remaining four albums…maybe later I’ll listen deeper and check to find out how good the compositions are. After all that…Tony Williams was amazing, even on his most commercial/accessible releases.

• Mosaic listing
• Two AAJ reviews: #one and #two.

listening to… April 1-13, 2013

David Friesen & John Stowell – Other Mansions (Inner City)
David Friesen & John Stowell – Through the Listening Glass (Inner City)

I got hip to John Stowell a few years ago, I saw a lot of references to him in on-line Jazz guitar forums and thought I’d follow up. John turned out to have a unique approach to harmony, bringing out some very striking chord voicings.

There’s a few solo guitar albums that I really love, Resonance and Solitary Tales.  Those albums lead me to a few trios on Origin Records that were very nice. Recently I acquired a pair of early albums with bassist  David Friesen that show Stowell was already phenomenal in the late ’70s. There’s a bit of the influence of the chamber jazz sound of ECM Records and Gary Campbell’s soprano saxophone on Through the Listening Glass reminds one a bit of Oregon.

Muhal Richard Abrams – Black Saint/Soul Note box (CamJazz)

All new to me…fresh is the word. It turns out I’m crazy about this box, I’m glad I took the chance. These large group and “orchestra” bands are colorful and unpredictable. Sparkling, even.

Edgar Froese – Stuntman

I’m working on following up on early solo albums that I’ve never heard by Edgar Froese from Tangerine Dream. Old synths sound glorious.

Russ Lossing, Music of Paul Motian

Russ Lossing – Drum Music, Music of Paul Motian (solo piano) (Sunnyside)

Exactly what it says it is and I’m more impressed than I thought I’d be. Solo piano versions of tunes by the late Paul Motian…they’re kinda different, just like his drumming from his later years.

Wadada Leo Smith & Angelica Sanchez

Great concert by Wadada Leo Smith & Angelica Sanchez at the Greenwich House Music School, NYC last night. I was unfamiliar with Angelica’s piano playing, she took us into some very satisfying dense harmonic territory. Leo on trumpet is a legend, I’m blessed to have the opportunity to hop into town and hear him. Home by 11!

I’ve been to a few shows at Greenwich House in the last year, great location. I’ll be back for more soon.

Greenwich House, NYC.

Leo will playing in Brooklyn May 1-3, 2013.

The illustrious trumpeter-composer Wadada Leo Smith will present a complete version of the 5-hour work that stunned the jazz world last fall: The New York premiere of Ten Freedom Summers, a cycle of compositions about the American civil rights movement.

Ten Freedom Summers is the result of the research and reflection concerning the philosophical, social and political history of the United States of America. Ten Freedom Summers is programmed as three evenings of music, and is composed for Golden Quartet and the Pacifica Coral Reef Ensemble. The New York premiere will be held on May 1-3, 2013.

Performers: Golden Quartet, Pacifica Coral Reef Ensemble, Video Artist Jesse Gilbert

Roulette, Brooklyn