Keith Jarrett, Charlie Haden, Last Dance

The death of bass-master, leader, seminal new jazzman Charlie Haden has been having something of a delayed effect on me. As the days go by I think more and more of the wealth of gifts he has given us, as Ornette Coleman's original and most original bassist, as a leader of the wonderful Liberation Music Orchestra, as the bassist in Keith Jarrett's bands through the early seventies, and in myriad other contexts this was an artist whose impact was perhaps subtle but thoroughly penetrating.

He was a bassist with a one-of-a-kind sound born of an enormous tensile grip, with the biggest, woodiest tone of anyone after 1960, nevertheless wholly HIS sound, with a deliberate, perfect intuitive sense of what to play whether it was harmolodic Ornette and the kaleidoscope of multiple key centers, the adventuresome post-Ornette of Keith's first bands, the diversity of his own music or just plain old bop and changes. He excelled and was himself at all times. He showed us that strength can top speed when it's inspired.

And now he is gone. That's hard to bear. But we have his recordings.

As a kind of final gesture of musical impact, we have a somewhat surprising release, a reunion with his old leader, Keith Jarrett, doing a series of deeply felt standards in duet, Last Dance (ECM 2399 B0020803). It's just Charlie and Keith in the latter's Cavelight Studios, getting together one more time.

This album is not about flash, about velocity, though there is a bit of it here and there. Charlie's playing was never that anyway. But Keith too is in a subdued mood. Each carefully pick their notes, try and make the most out of the old chestnut tunes, and they surely succeed.

"Goodbye", the final cut, moves with the hindsight that this WAS goodbye for Charlie, one of them anyway. But in any event the entire album has that perfect concentration on essentials. No, this isn't Keith the technical wizard at work, not primarily. He and Charlie are playing for themselves, getting inside the songs, not playing for the big auditorium or the cutting contest.

After you listen a few times it hits you. This is not about anything but what notes they lay down on top of the classic standard song structures. And they try and make it count.

It's a moving testament to an old musical relationship that created magic most every time out, to the fundamentals of jazz expression.

So long and thanks so much, Charlie. You gave us so much and we are grateful.

Dan Phillips BKK Trio, Bangkok Edge

Any CD that starts out with a nicely rhythmically displaced version of Sam Rivers' beautiful "Beatrice" will get my attention. And the Dan Phillips BKK Trio's Bangkok Edge (Music+) does that. Phillips plays electric guitar and apparently teaches at a University in Bangkok, Thailand. His trio of Chanutr Techatana-nan, drums, and Pornchart Viriyapark, bass, is solid and they are joined by tenorist Jakob Dinesen to make it a quartet for half the set.

Dinesen is certainly good but Phillips is the main draw here. He has a sophisticated chordal sense, hammers-on or straight-picks his way through some nice soloing. He's mainstream-hip without necessarily sounding like one particular player--so in that way he's got his own voice. And he bursts over with improvisational ideas so it is a most interesting set.

Along with "Beatrice" there are two originals and some choice jazz and songbook standards--"Wine and Roses," but also "A Flower is a Lovesome Thing" from Strayhorn (in a very interesting arrangement), a couple from Trane and Monk, etc. Changes are implied and stated mostly and the solos go well with them, to give you an idea of what's going on.

It's a feather in Dan Phillips's cap for sure. He's come through and it sounds good!

Ken Hatfield Sextet, For Langston

February 1st of this month marked the release of guitarist-composer-arranger Ken Hatfield's For Langston (Arthur Circle Music 6854). It's an ambitious song cycle honoring Renaissance Harlem's poet laureate Langston Hughes. February 1st also marks Langston's would-be birthday.

It's a sextet performing music set to the poetry of Hughes, covering a wide range of poems and creating a modern, somewhat cool jazz ambiance that fits the exceptional wordplay without attempting a completely literal correspondence between the two.

The sextet showcases the vocal presence of Hilary Gardner, who has a pleasing, musical way about her. Ken Hatfield's nylon stringed acoustic guitar has plenty of space and solo time, which he puts to good use. The striking sound world of Jamie Baum's alto flute brings a third solo voice into the mix and she responds with nicely turned phrasing and a beautiful sound. The group is grounded by solid rhythm section work from Hans Glawischnig, Jeff Hirschfield and Steven Kroon, on bass, drums and percussion.

What results is a series of memorable songs, well sung and well played, that get the deepening of Langston Hughes's thoughtfully expressive poetry as the basis of it all. It's not asphalt jungle anguish so much as lyrical homage. Once you get with the premises, there is very much good music to enjoy. I am sure there are more than a few songs here that could stand fully erect on their own in new versions by other artists.

It's an absorbing listen. The songs, the poetry and the improvisation work together nicely.

Natalie Cressman and Secret Garden, Unfolding

Good heavens, Natalie Cressman is only 20 and she's pulling things together like she's twice that. Here we have Natalie Cressman and her band Secret Garden, giving us her debut CD Unfolding (self-released). It's Natalie playing a very hip, very burnished trombone in a post-JJ way, fronting the three horn front line with trumpeter Ivan Rosenberg and tenorist Chad Lefkowicz-Brown (with Peter Apfelbaum guesting on one cut), then there's Pascal Le Boeuf on keys, Reuben Samama, bass, Jake Goldbas, drums. It's a very capable band.

She writes all the numbers here (except a couple of standards) and they go from from masterful hard-boppish lines to singer-songwriter songs that have a lot to them.

Then she sings too. It's a very personal sort of voice, sweet, soulful, jazz inflected.

The album travels through a lot of territory without seeming out-of-place. It's some very good freewheeling, musically straightahead sounds that impact from the sheer musicality of it all, as jazz, as good horn playing, as very attractive vocalisms.

I'd say, "Welcome Natalie Cressman, welcome to the Schwann Catalog," only I don't know if they are still publishing it (you know, the bible of available recordings for many years). At any rate welcome Natalie Cressman. She is a most welcome artist to the scene. This CD is very lovely.

Cynthia Felton, Freedom Jazz Dance

There are new generations of singers on the scene now, lots of them. Few have the talent and capabilities of Cynthia Felton, as her new album Freedom Jazz Dance (Felton Entertainment 003) attests.

For this one she covers some great jazz and songbook standards like "Take Five," "Lost in the Stars," "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love," etc. She is well served by a cast of accompanists that include Cyrus Chestnut, Ernie Watts, Terri Lyne Carrington, Wallace Roney and other lesser known but no less sympathetic musicians. The arrangements are straightforward to allow her voice to shine brightly.

And it does. She has perfect intonation, soul, a charming sounding voice, beautiful phrasing, the ability to deviate convincingly from a straight rendering of the fake book sort, and she can scat nicely without relying upon it.

There's nothing bad to say about a singer like this! Sometimes she reminds me of a Syreeta Wright with more heft and jazz sensibility. This album showcases her considerable talents very nicely. A jazz singer for today she truly is. And the album is a gas to hear!

Tim Carey, Room 114

Electric bassist-composer Tim Carey comes to the fore with his debut effort after a significant apprenticeship playing around Seattle and around the world with a varied cast of worthies that includes Julian Priester, George Cables, and others.

Room 114 (self-released TCM-001) is the disk. It puts together a mellow yet lively sort of fusion that branches out of Pat Metheny's later work but then goes its own way. Tim is joined by the lucid guitar of Brendan Odonnell, piano and keys by Eric Verlinde, drums and percussion by Jeff "Bongo" Bush and more drums on selected tracks by Tarik Abouzied. The band is on the mark and Tim contributes some very nice post-Jaco soloing.

The songs and ensemble riffing got my attention on first listen and they continue to do so. It's a tasteful blend that has a kick to it now and again and manages to stand out from the pack. Give it a listen!

Jimmy Halperin and Dominic Duval, Changing Tranes

Tenorist Jimmy Haperin and bassist Dominic Duval have teamed up for a number of excellent recordings, with or without a drummer, devoted to the music of Monk and Trane. The latest to be released is Changing Tranes (CIMP 390), recorded in 2009.

For this one they scale back to the duo setting to explore the middle-period music of Coltrane. So there are such pieces as "Like Sonny," "Syeeda's Song Flute," "Countdown," and others not often recorded these days.

As with previous related projects the small-group format and their own inclinations allow for creative latitude. They work within the changes for the most part, spinning some very inventive improvisations on and around the songs. Head themes can be loosely or more strictly stated, or dispensed with occasionally to get right to the improvising.

This is another very good outing. Jimmy and Dominic react to one another dynamically. It is remarkable to hear Dominic's elaborate, fully developed way around the walking concept. He adds and subtracts to the pulse, solos as he keeps or implies the four-square soundings along with everything else he is doing. Jimmy waxes lucid, loose and exploratory yet holds to the basic framework of the changes implicitly or explicitly. He is inspired and sounds great to boot.

It's a remarkable performance. One of the very best in the series. Get this one and support the artists and the small-scale but essential CIMP operations.

Jamie Ousley, "A Sea of Voices"

Bassist/jazz tunesmith Jamie Ousley is onto something on A Sea of Voices (Tie Records 1276). Take the Jarrett Trio at its brightest and bubbliest, make Gary Peacock the musical director, sprinkle the nicely turned originals with just a few well-chosen standards ("How Deep is the Ocean," "Rocky Top," "Shenandoah") and then of course be yourself because you AREN'T the Jarrett Trio. That is more or less what is happening on A Sea of Voices.

Ousley and pianists Joe Davidian and Gabriel Saientz (who share the piano chair) sound phenomenal, and not always Jarrettesque, Austin McMahon drums us into a great place with his natural and creative propulsion, and Carlomagno Araya gives us the added spice of percussion when needed.

A high point is a very stunning and unexpected version of "Shenandoah", with the beautiful vocals of Nanami Morikawa and Ousley's well conceived bass and that's all. But this is good music top-to-bottom. Bassists will appreciate Ousely's solo work, as will anyone who loves a good go from the bottom end. And it will appeal to anybody who likes their mainstream freshly served and not warmed-over leftovers.

This one brightens the corner where you live!

Fred Fried and Core, "Encore," Eight-String Guitarist Shines in New Trio Session

Fred Fried is a very accomplished guitarist, plays an eight-string nylon stringed acoustic, and gives us one of his very best outings to date on Encore (Ballet Tree). It's the second release by his trio Core, which includes Michael Lavoie on contrabass and Miki Matsuki, drums, both playing a subtle and important accompanying role.

The disk presents 67 well-balanced minutes of the Fried guitar universe, which includes eleven nicely put-together Fried-penned items and a whole lot of guitar. He has an original contemporary feel for harmonic underpinnings, some very sophisticated voicings and melodic straightforwardness in his writing-execution. As an improvising guitarist he excels in the chordal and arpeggiated style that comes in part from his quite apparent classical training (NOTE: I am NOT correct in this assumption. See Fred's illuminating comment below); but he also shows an increasingly subtle finesse on single-line runs, especially at slower tempos. There are some similarities with Ralph Towner's neo-classical guitar style and brightness of form, but only as a touching point for what Fried is up to here.

This album goes very far in giving you the Fried artistry as it stands today. And that is something to treasure. Recommended.

Mike Baggetta Quartet, "Source Material," with Rigby, Opsvik, George Schuller

Mike Baggetta returns with Source Material (Fresh Sound). He brings in a very copacetic quartet of himself on electric guitar, Jason Rigby, tenor sax, Eivind Opsvik on the upright, and George Schuller on drums. It's a working band, and they show it with the kind of interlocking understanding such a situation makes possible.

Here we have an all-originals date. Baggetta assembles a very interesting set of his compositions that go well with the artists at hand. It's an often pretty lyrical, post-ECM sort of music, with space for some excellent rapport, the harmonic and single note thoughts of Mike, the very together tenor sound and solo pointedness of Jason, plus Eivind and George doing very sensitive work fleshing it out and getting things in motion.

Mike is developing his style from a contemporary, harmonically rich and notefully striking base. The facility, imagination and taste is there and he draws on the Jim Hall-and-beyond guitar innovators as he builds his own personal foundation. He can get very contemporary-chromatic, which he does especially well on "Momentum" as George and Eivind kick up a swingtime storm. Jason gets somewhere from where we are too, with a solidly built contemporary edifice of his own.

It's a total package at this point--pieces, improvisations and group distinctiveness. Mike is a guy to watch in the coming years, and even now!

Assaf Kehati Quartet, Flowers and Other Stories, 2011

Assaf Kehati, "jazz" guitarist and writer of interesting music for his quartet, has worked with George Garzone and Ran Blake, has a trio with Billy Hart, and lives up in Brookline, Mass., not far from where I lived for a time. He and his regular quartet emerged from the studio earlier this year with their second album, Flowers and Other Stories (AKJazz). It is a winning combination of lyrical tunesmithing a la classic ECM meets the spirit of Jim Hall and a winning performance by the quartet of Assaf, Alon Farber, saxophones, Daniel Sapir, acoustic bass, and Udi Shlomo, drums. Assaf has a very sophisticated melodic and harmonic sensibility. His guitar work has the sound sometimes of a middle period John Abercrombie and sometimes the chordal purity of a Jim Hall, though the end result is recognizably his own. Alon Farber plays notey contemporary solos that have a mellow coolness that can heat up in nice ways when the music crescendos. The rhythm team is very comfortable with the modern loose grooves that Assaf's songs call for.

It's a very fine set of music and Assaf's playing is very creatively lyrical. He strikes a nerve with his meditatively quiet lyricism and can crank it up when that is called for as well.

Flowers and Other Stories is a very beautiful album. It's accessible (my wife likes it, for example) yet there is nothing diluted or self-conciously pandering about it. This is the music, you can tell, that Assaf likes and needs to make right now. I'm glad he does! It's joyous and tender. Assaf is a new guitarist of great poise, with impressive ears and flawless technique. Very much recommended!

Young Bassist Michael Feinberg Presents Second Album, "With Many Hands"

Michael Feinberg is part of the generation just coming into play on the jazz stage. He's 22 and already releasing his second album With Many Hands (no label indicated). A cynic would say that an up-and-coming young player stands a better chance of paying for self-releases, assuming his or her parents have the money and are more willing to finance the production and promotion costs at this lifestage. Now that would be a nasty thing to insinuate. You get the money where you can and we all benefit from a finely turned recorded set such as this one. He may have been a thrifty lad. It isn't our business on anything other than on the level of the history-sociology-anthropology of jazz economics today (which IS interesting because man, things are changing out there). Indeed in the case of Michael Feinberg's Hands the music is of a such high caliber that one is simply glad the money was at hand to allow us to hear the music.

This is an "all youngster" outfit, as Ed Sullivan might have said. The oldest is 24. But generation and age aside, this is a band playing contemporary jazz well, with fire and a bit of electricity. Noah Preminger and his tenor we have encountered happily on his own album (see review at the Gapplegate Music Blog site, link on this page). He has poise and fire. His front line running buddy Godwin Louis on alto keeps the pace, solos well and interacts with Noah in ways one has to appreciate. The rhythm team, which includes Daniel Platzman, drums, and Julian Shore, pianist, pushes the music along well and Shore solos with swingingly good ears and moxy. Alex Wintz plays sophisticated rock-inflected guitar and sounds like someone we should hear more from.

And of course there's Mr. Feinberg himself. He handles the upright like someone with more years behind him. He walks and syncopates-drives with ease and heat, can turn in a good solo and has definite compositional talents. The charts here are his. They are complex, advanced and multi-faceted. They show the band off to good advantage. The title cut in particular stays in the mind long after the CD stops playing. Stylistically Feinberg's aggregation has the sort of accessibility combined with substance that Dave Holland's small groups have had for years. There's a rock tinge. There's a Wayne Shorteresque-Hancockian finesse with harmonic heft.

It is a fine effort and one can only predict more and greater things from Feinberg and his colleagues. I will welcome the developments! Meanwhile take a listen to this one. The young lions of today have some growl!

Matt Panayides, Electric Guitarist, and "Tapestries of Song"

How many guitarists are out there today? And how many of them can scare you with amazing technical feats of prowess? The answer is, as I once, stalling for time, replied to a college honors committee panel when asked how many years it has been since hominids first walked the earth, "very many, very many indeed." Yet how many of them have an original voice (the guitarists, not necessarily the hominids)? Not all that many.

There's a new fellow on the scene that may well quality, with a first album, Tapestries of Song (Pacific Coast Jazz 93423). His name is Matt Panayides. I wont rehearse the litany of people he has played with or the degrees he has obtained. He did and he did.

What matters is the music in the end. The first outing finds him in good company, in a quartet setting. Doing all Panayides originals. There's a strong presence from tenorman Rich Perry; the rock-steady, smart bass playing of Steve LaSpina; and one of my favorites in the "new" drummer category, Dan Weiss, who just about guarantees that a session will come together with the subtleties of good swinging polyvalent time.

This is a more or less straight-ahead date, but that doesn't mean that Matt and company play it safe.They do not. The music is changes-based for the most part; the pulse is almost always there someplace and the soloists concentrate on linear thrust, on stringing a coherent story-line together.

It is the strength of those solos that in part make this a notable outing. Matt has a pure, ringing, moderately amplified tone and he plays lines that do not remind one of anybody, and they make sense. Rich Perry plays a nicely together tenor in the contemporary mode, and he too does not rely upon the licks that can form a large part of the average date. The rhythm section compliments what's going on and adds substantially to the final result.

And Mr. Panayides writes some strong tunes that wear well and set up the soloing in a very good way. And he shows us that he may well be an important new voice on that most popular of instruments, if he keeps this up.

Strong music. Recommended. And good luck to Matt Panayides!

Jason Robinson and "The Two Faces of Janus"

Jason Robinson has been keeping excellent company of late. And he has been showing at least three sides of his impressively wide-ranging musical personality. He recently made a very presuasively coherent duet album with Anthony Davis (see gapplegatemusicreview.blogspot.com for a review of that), he has made a very interesting solo album with electronics (see the above-mentioned blog tomorrow) and he has made a larger ensemble, harder-driving contemporary jazz album with some electricity and rock-fire momentum.

It's the latter of the three records that is up for discussion today, The Two Faces of Janus (Cuneiform Rune 311). First off, the lineup. It is a well-chosen, very lucidly fluent ensemble indeed. There's Jason on tenor, soprano and flute; Marty Ehrlich on alto and bass clarinet; Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto; Liberty Ellman on electric guitar; Drew Gress on the contrabass; and George Schuller on drums. This is a band with a definite identity. The rhythm team of Gress and Schuller can do anything and they do it well, whether it touches on the realm of swing, elaborated rock inflected time or freetime. They provide the spark when needed, and do so in very sophisticated ways. Liberty Ellman is a guitarist that can do ruminative, reflective chord and line statements or charge heatedly into the fray with electric-edged chromatic flow-torrents. The horn lineup is perhaps the most impressive of all: three distinct masters of saxaphony, Rudresh the chromatic firebrand, Marty the deft abstractionist, and Mr. Robinson, who holds his own in such illustrious company as a very limber post-Trane exponent that manages to stay clear of some of the phrases and certain uses of multiphonics some players tend to overuse.

This is a full-length CD with ten very interesting Robinson compositional vehicles, from the ultrmodern balladic, to the open-ended motifs and the hard-edge chromatic contrapuntal lines that form a catalyst for burning ensemble improvisations. Some of the collective horn improvisations are stunning. All of it gives notice to anyone within earshot that these players have plenty to express and do so with a convincing directness and, when called for, a soaring turbulence of note-creating.

Jason Robinson is a force to be reckoned with on the contemporary jazz scene, that is clear. The Two Faces of Janus is excellent modern jazz on all fronts, compositionally, improvisationally, and in terms of group dynamics. Take note: Jason Robinson is somebody to listen to closely in the coming decade.

Start with this album. I believe you'll agree once you've given it a close listen.

Bassist Hugo Antunes Heads A Quintet On "Roll Call"

The more I hear of the Portuguese jazz scene the more impressive it seems to me. That's mostly thanks to the big ears of the folks at Clean Feed and their ambitious release schedule. Take today's CD, for example, Hugo Antunes' Roll Call (Clean Feed 197). I'm not precisely sure who in this sextet is and who isn't on the Portuguese scene (the CD was recorded in Brussels) but it illustrates my point nonetheless. Hugo plays a solid avant bass and writes some adventurous material. Joining him are two winds and two drummers: Daniele Martini on tenor and Toine Thys on tenor, soprano and bass clarinet; the two drummers are Joao Lobo and Marek Patrman.

This is music that breathes fire yet also gives contrasting space and runs through contrasting arranged, written and improvised routines that mix it up enough that one's attention remains focused throughout. It's a kind of in-and-out sensibility that much on Clean Feed puts forward these days. Yet Hugo Antunes' group does not in any way sound generic or derivative. I am occasionally reminded of the group sound of Jack DeJohnette's Special Edition band from the seventies, when Chico Freeman switched to the bass clarinet to contrast with the tenor of David Murray while the piano-less ensemble took the tempo loosely and convincingly. Now that's just a matter of the sound, and Antunes' group is not otherwise playing the mimic to that remarkable ensemble. And here we have two drummers, not one, working especially well together, one drummer's sound and execution contrasting with the other's at all points. And sometimes they kick up a hell of a row, inciting the horn men to both dizzying heights and tightly focused interaction. Both Thys and Martini are very good players. They sound good singly and, especially, working in tandem on double improvisations and arranged routines.

Roll Call constitutes another surprise, a sleeper, a jazz wolf in sheep's clothing. You look at the cover, you say to yourself, "OK..." Then you play the CD a few times and you say, "OK!!"

It's a goody. Give us some more of this, Hugo!

George Breinschmid, Bassist and Iconoclast

George Breinschmid was a bassist with the Vienna Philharmonic before he turned to jazz, and he's been doing alright for himself--the Vienna Art Orchestra, Archie Shepp, etc. The new album of his, Brein's World (Preiser 90787), a two-CD set, shows that he plays a very out-front bass that is as extraordinary eclectic as is his music. Imagine a stylistic universe that embraces everything from Arvell Shaw to Charles Mingus and beyond. That's Georg, the bassist. He slaps and punktes his instrument with great elan and a sense of balance.

And the music? It's so all-over-the-place that you may need a compass to keep your bearings. There's a kind of Hot Club swing minus Django, there are some bizarre sorts of lopey acoustic hip-hops, some playing around with the classical repertoire (Bach especially), interesting contemporary sounds, folk music and what sounds like beer-hall songs--all done in a drumless chamber context with trumpet, piano, violin, and etc.

The two full CDs have so much going on that I can't possibly capture it all here, and not all of it is perfect, but it has such joie de vivre and panache that you can't help going away from this music with a smile on your face.

It's fun, a rare sort of thing in serious jazz these days. But it IS. Get this one and you'll get some very interesting bass playing, unusual arrangements, and a musical trip across the many landscapes inside Brein's brain. Wow!

Bassist John Hebert and his Trio Combine Acoustic and Electric Soundworlds

John Hebert seems to be the double bassist of choice on more and more projects in the modern jazz field lately. His new trio CD Spiritual Lover (Clean Feed) gives you some reasons why as it also shows a strong group conception in the fee-er yet tonally rooted zone. Pianist Benoit Delbecq shares the pre-arranged melodic roles with Hebert and also does some very nice exploratory, loosely horizontal soloing. Listen to him on "Le Reve Eveille," a lovely sort of modern ballad with some beautiful piano and bass improvisations. Benoit adds clavinet and synthesizer to the piano work, sometimes in combination to give the trio a more broadly expansive sound, sometimes to rock out a little in a free way.

Drummer Gerald Cleaver sounds terrific on this one, whether he's adding delicate Asian sounding percussive flourishes, using his brushes sensuously or madly swinging, freely accenting or bursting forward on some of the free-rock numbers. And John Hebert gets a beautiful sound, which is often tied to the ensemble context of the songs in a way that gives the music a fullness and drive that only a master of the art can manage. All in all, though, it is the compositions-concepts that distinguish this one as fully of our time, thoughtful but also forcefully climactic at the right moments.

This is a record that covers a good expanse of stylistic territory yet manages to sound distinctive and cohesive at all points. It combines the acoustic and the electric in a kind of organic unity. Good music is the aim, and that's what you get. I'll bet this band can be exciting to hear live. They are on this CD anyway!