jazz adds april 11, 2016
brooklyn blowhards. self-titled. little (i). Tender, thoughtful piece about the broken spirit of tenor jazzman albert ayler saved by the writings of herman melville’s moby dick. make the leap, it’s breathtaking! jump in around haul on the bowline and let it play straight through to the spokenword conclusion. the blowhards are jeff lederer & petr cancura, tenor + soprano; kirk knuffke on slide trumpet, cornet; brian drye’s agile trombone; art bailey’s reedy accordion + matt wilson, allison miller, stephen larosa@percussion; mary larose(ms. lederer)vocals; gary lucas, guitar. a very good idea.
russell malone. all about melody. high note. Romantic guitarist, formerly with diana krall, and before that, sideman to jimmy smith. new release chooses rare pieces from the great American songbook; working with pianist rich germanson, Canadian bassist luke sellick and willie jones lll@drums.
dena derose. united. high note. Originally a young pianist with career aspirations, dena derose added in vocals when arthritis curtailed her first option. these days, she does both–plays and sings–with superb keyboard flourish and assured vocal delivery. with martin wind on bass, matt wilson@drums, +guests ingrid jensen, trumpet and peter bernstein, guitar.
ari erev. flow. acum. Tel Aviv-based pianist/composer ari erev uses his third release to celebrate his pianistic heroes: the virtuosity of Cuban titan gonzalo rubalcaba; the intimacy of master improvisor bill evans; the Latin energy of Dominican michel camillo. all originals, with eli magen, double bass; ron almog@drums; gilad dobrecky percussion; yuval cohen, soprano sax.
freddy cole. he was the king. high note. Eighty-four years old, freddy cole finally records a tribute to older brother, nat king cole, with bookends that are more sentiment than covers. guests houston person & harry allen on tenor plus quartet: john di martino, randy napoleon, elias bailey, quentin baxter.
myra melford + ben goldberg. dialogue. bag. Serene and calm but developing an edge that pianist myra melford likes to uncover. her dialogue with clarinetist ben goldberg embraces a comfortable friendship between two players. radio friendly, but there are no tunes in the conventional sense.
ryan keberle. azul infinito. greenleaf music. Trombonist ryan keberle is no stranger to jazz big bands, and celebrity touring–alicia keys,sufjian stevens, justin timberlake, and woody allen movies. but when he goes it alone, he takes a different turn (into South American music); vocal music without lyrics–interpreted by Chilean camila meza; trumpet and pandeiro colorations from mike rodriguez; with various bass-y equipment from jorge roeder, and eric doob @ drums. they call it, and themselves catharsis.
joe chambers. landscapes. savant. Veteran drummer (with max roach on m’boom, chick corea, horace silver) and vibraphone/piano player (landscapes is chamber’s piano solo)–formerly leading his outlaw band–here with trio members rich germanson on piano and ira coleman, bass. great musical artistry from a player, fifty years into jazz explorations.
socrates garcia. back home. mama. Dominican bandleader/composer socrates garcia works with a two dozen big band players in his suite for jazz orchestra, dedicated to tavito vasquez, the charlie parker of the Caribbean. cleanly mixed, and obviously inspired by the great mario bauza.
david sills. first set. jazz collective. California reed man– alto flute & tenor–demonstrates his warm tone in this traditional playlist; with mike scott on guitar; roger shew, bass; jake reed@ drums. personal fav=victor young’s delilah, done with the lightest touch.
sarah vaughan. live@ rosy’s. resonance. Two cds of sarah vaughan’s best live sets from a week at Rosy’s New Orleans jazz club, 1978. for black musicians, the seventies were filled with racial un-ease and prejudice– but rosalie wilson worked hard to make Rosy’s the exception to negative conditions in the south. Sassy, in fine form, brings forth ninety minutes of divine music; with longtime trio members jimmy cobb@ drums; walter booker on bass; carl schroeder, piano. exceptional liner notes, from resonance records.
roxy coss. restless idealism. origin. Downbeat Rising Soprano Sax star, 2014, Seattle native roxy coss plays mostly tenor on this sextet release. original compositions showcase the A-list musicians. coss and trumpeter jeremy pelt trade lines on the story of fiona; with dezron douglas, bass; willie jones lll@drums; chris pattishall, piano; alex wintz, guitar.
