TAKE THE "Z" TRAIN
Smiley, Happy Jazz People and the Dirty (Baker's) Dozen
Contributing Editors
In honor of the JazzWeek Summit, we were preparing a column. We looked over the latest music industry trends and developments: 1) Apple iTunes Music Store sells a couple million music downloads while Kazaa logs in 230 million gratis d'loads; 2) UMG plans to phase out the age-old MCA Records logo; 3) Tower Records looks for a new buyer upon revelations that less than 40% of CD buyers actually purchase their music in a record store; 4) the FCC readies itself to reopen the floodgates for further media deregulation and consolidation.
But then, what does all this have to do with Jazz anyway? At least for now.
We decided, to hell with it. Let's be smiley, happy Jazz people and celebrate all the latest quality jazz releases that have been burning up our CD machines as we toil under tight book deadlines and tap dance our way into the good graces of our editors and agents.
So here's our current favorite dirty baker's dozen Jazz titles, in no particular order. We hope Jazz radio is embracing them as much as we are. The following titles span everything from the traditional to the funky to the experimental.
The Walk of the Giant Turtle —Erik Truffaz (Blue Note 72435 83144 0 3)
You know that rush you get when you discover a brand new record by that up-and-coming artist you really dig, whose time is right to put out a truly killer record? Well this is one of those moments. French trumpet player Erik Truffaz has an intuitive quartet—electric bass, drums and electric piano—that gives him the perimeters to explore sounds highly reminiscent of the Miles Davis experimental jazz/rock era. We like this record much more than the latest Dave Douglas CD. While songs like "King B" and "Next Door" are more rockin' than free form, the more textural and moody pieces like "Turiddu" and "Belle De Nuit" will hypnotize and impress even your hardcore listeners. What makes Walk of the Giant Turtle so damned relevant to wide-eyed Jazz audiences is 1 there's an extremely subtle blend of rock, hip-hop and chill-out beats percolating through the bloodstream of the arrangements, yet 2) Truffaz's solos are as fluid and emotive as any by Chet or Miles. This CD is certain to make our 2003 top ten favorites list.
Changing Places —Tord Gustavsen Trio (ECM 1834)
It's the debut ECM recording by Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen, a newcomer composer/pianist whose music radiates in trio. Gustavsen wrote all the compositions, so there's not a timeworn standard in the bunch. His rhythm section provides elegant and sophisticated accompaniment. Each tune is richly expressive, but also exceptionally melodic and highly memorable. First listens to compositions like "Melted Matter," "Turning Point," "Deep As Love," and "Graceful Touch, Variation" will have you reaching for the CD sleeve, checking to see if they weren't written by Evans, Jarrett, Bley or whomever. Gustavsen's melodies seem compellingly familiar; but each tune is a fresh original with just the right ratio of improvisation and structure. Changing Places could be a big hit with the Dinner Jazz segment of your programming.
Time Squared —Yellowjackets (Heads Up HUCD 3075)
Ever since the release of their spectacular, homegrown, double-set Mint Jam live disc, we've been back under the spell of Yellowjackets. In fact, it was kinda cute seeing the band rave it up recently on Emeril Live, that kooky cooking show broadcast weeknights on Food Network. But why wait for Smooth Jazz to stumble into Times Squared? It has plenty of intricate, angular pieces, and saxophonist Bob Mintzer, keyboardist Russell Ferrante, bassist Jimmy Haslip and drummer Marcus Baylor can really groove and swing. Tunes like "Monk's Habit," "Sea Folk," "V," and "Go Go" are devoid of warmed-over Smooth Jazz changes. It's a way to make a creative sharp left turn on the air and veer into something a little less post-bop and a little more modern and plugged in. YJ play with interesting time signatures, layered solos and thoughtful melody lines. Like Emeril would say, "kick it up a notch" and dig the latest from Yellowjackets.
In Search of Momentum —Ahmad Jamal (Dreyfus Jazz FDM 36644-2)
After celebrating his 70th birthday on Olympia 2000, and now completing In Search of Momentum at age 72, Jamal's piano playing is as prolific and fertile as ever, if not more so than the spate of recordings he did on the Atlantic and Telarc labels in the 1980s and the 1990s. Olympia was one of the finest live jazz recordings of 2000, and saxophonist George Coleman fit in marvelously as a fourth wheel. Now Jamal's trio (with drummer Idris Muhammad and bassist James Cammack) is a bold three-wheeler, and Ahmad is as musically curious than ever. Everybody equates Jamal's brilliance with his "sense of space" and ability to orchestrate on the Steinway. From Olympia to Momentum, Jamal trades the live pageantry for an even headier listening experience. Whether he's out on the edge on a tune like "Excerpt From I'll Take the 20," going for the tour de force on "In Search Of," or playing it lush on "Should I," the trio's foray back in the studio is a fruitful explorative journey.
Mad 6 —Ravi Coltrane (Eighty-Eights/Columbia CK87173)
We're a little surprised that we haven't seen Ravi Coltrane's new Columbia debut, Mad 6, racing up the JazzWeek charts. Ravi has gradually edged his way center stage on the Jazz set after playing with Steve Coleman and Antoine Roney, followed by a couple of RCA Victor solo releases in the late 1990s. Mad 6 is part of a four-CD series (including Eddie Henderson, Roy Haynes and a Clark Terry/Max Roach project) released in the United States on the Eighty Eights/Columbia label in conjunction with Japanese producer Yashohachi "88" Itoh. Mad 6 is a set-up-and-play-let-the-tapes-roll-and-no-overdubs-allowed-and-we'll-remix-it-later kind of free-blowing jazz. Ravi's tone is flawless and the quintet is unyielding, so we just put on track one and hold on for dear life until the final bars of Ravi's rendition of his father's "Fifth House" ends the record on an abrupt note.
All Alone —Jessica Williams (MAXJAZZ MXJ 206)
Solo piano recordings can be a dicey proposition. Said artist—after years of rigorous touring, writing, arranging, rehearsing, and group recording—feels he or she is ready to eschew the back-up musicians and lay it out naked on the keyboards. But sometimes the end result is stark and, frankly, not very exciting. In the case of Jessica Williams, all bets are off. Jessica has been one of the most expressive pianists on the set lately, and thanks to the MAXJAZZ Piano Series, she's getting a nice warm spotlight these days. All Alone is bolstered with the usual top-drawer songbook titles like "As Time Goes By" and "They Say It's Wonderful." But it's the originals she's placed in the middle of the CD that shows her strengths and essence. "Toshiko" transports the listener to the Pacific Rim as the florid melody builds and builds. On "The Sheikh" she playfully plucks and zings the strings of her piano as if she were accompanying her piano on the Autoharp. "Bill's Beauty" is a studied portrait of, well, maybe Bill Evans? Whomever, the solitude and intimacy makes All Alone the best solo piano release in memory. It makes you reach for her excellent MAXJAZZ predecessor, This Side Up.
Hard Groove —Roy Hargrove Presents the RH Factor (Verve 440 065 192-3)
Here's a project we've been hearing about for months. After a prestigious Directions In Music world tour with Herbie Hancock and Michael Brecker, trumpet player Roy Hargrove slips into more comfortable shoes with this funky groove studio aggregation, featuring such hot talent as Steve Coleman, Meshell Ndegeocello, Karl Denson, Cornell Dupree, Pino Palladino and more. Hard Groove is Hargrove's attempt to melt down the barriers of genre and invite non-jazz musicians to the party, including marquee singers like Erykah Badu and D'Angelo. On "The Joint," Hargrove borrows some silky Urban riffs, bass lines and changes that sound more like a song bed you'd hear on the TV show Soul Food, than something Jazz radio would play. But, hey, that's the beauty of the RH Factor experiment. Stretch out a little. The vocals are very hip-hop, but decidedly on the chill-out side next to Hargrove's horn fills. Note: In order to pacify traditional Jazz programmers, Verve has made a six-track sampler available, condensing the more jazzy moments from the CD. Check it out.
One Quiet Night — Pat Metheny (Warner Bros./Metheny Group Productions —48473-2)
One Quiet Night is a one-night cinemascope guitar mediation born out of a single evening. It's a rare session as Pat Metheny explores a new axe and tuning. The result is a spacious, solo acoustic effort. The hand-built baritone guitar's lower strings provide a basso bottom while the upper register is high and brassy. This is a home recording, but bear in mind that a Pat Metheny home recording is damn close to state-of-the-art fidelity. One Quiet Night offers an inside look, giving the listener a fly-on-the-wall glimpse at a musician's most private moments, breaking in a new guitar, performing favorites and releasing the results, warts and all. Pat mostly plays his own material, and he beautifies the English pop classic, "Ferry Across the Mersey" as well as "Don't Know Why," a huge compliment to newcomer Norah Jones' stardom. The final track revisits "Last Train Home," one of Metheny's most cherished compositions. The opening title track and Keith Jarrett's "My Song" also excel.
Jerry Jeff Jazz —Jerry Jeff Walker (Tried and True Music-CD8181)
Cowboy Jazz? Jerry Jeff Walker kicks off his first foray into Jazz by breaking off a piece of Gershwin's "How Long Has This Been Going On." Jerry Jeff Jazz was born out of growing up listening to his parents' record player, taking in a steady diet of Satchmo, Sinatra, Ella, Nat King Cole, and Chet Baker. On JJJ, Jerry Jeff is backed throughout by an acoustic Texas quartet, including co-producer and superb Austin guitarist Mitch Watkins. Jerry Jeff, an outlaw legend who has logged a million road miles over the past three decades, is candid about his vocal limitations. But the music, all standards, celebrates that Austin-the-American-music-capitol-of-the-world feel. The recording is bright and the performances are spirited and informal. Ballads like "I Fall In Love Too Easily" and especially "My Funny Valentine" are relaxed and authentic. Contact (512) 477-0036 or www.jerryjeff.com.
State of Mind —Dave Ellis (Milestone-MCD9328-2)
It's great to hear a new sax voice like Dave Ellis, risen out of the swing funk scene of the eighties and nineties, given such high-class reverential Jazz treatment. The music sports a Milestone moniker and was produced by the great Orrin Keepnews, featuring top-notch players like Mulgrew Miller, Christian McBride, Lewis Nash, Peter Washington, Carl Allen, and special guest, Vincent Herring. Ellis passes the test, successfully wrestling the material of titans like Horace Silver ("Peace"), Bird ("Barbados"), and more, mixed in with his own hard-bop compositions. Ellis's tenor tone is rough and reedy, ready to bounce around even the most difficult of swinging compositions presented here.
Up All Night —The John Scofield Band (Verve-440 065 596-2)
Armed with dangerous sample loops and all sorts of gadgets, Sco gets jiggy on us. Up All Night remotely tips a newsboy cap to a groove similar to Miles' On the Corner days, though Scofield never, ever directly apes that funky fusionary era. Instead, he takes a more fresh and modern path. The music is a patchwork of outlandish ideas and electronic experiments, where pastiche arrangement and rhythms dominate standard guitar soloing. "Philiopiety" makes a strong opening pitch for making music that's whack, sideways, always taking left turns. You'll hear samples excavated from Brooklyn culture, along with ringing cell phones, party tracks, rap scats, and a scrap of TV theology. Sco's latest stuff is out, just the way we occasionally like it, and it certainly gave our speakers a rigorous workout.
Paganini: After a Dream —Regina Carter (Verve-440 065 554-2)
Regina Carter, after a delicate series of negotiations, became the first non-classical musician to play on one Italy's musical treasures, Nicolo Paganini's very own violin. After a one-off concert, in which the axe was delivered by armed Italian guards and an entourage fit for a king, nine months later Carter reprised her affair with the instrument by booking Italian studio time for a recording session using Pag's violin on several familiar classical jazz compositions. The result is a sometimes awkwardly lush collection. Plus, how suited for Jazz the violin's tone is may be subject to some debate. But the disc ends on a high note with a Jazzy treatment of music from our favorite film, Cinema Paradiso, penned by the great Ennio Morricone.
A Day In New York —Morelenbaum2/Sakamoto (Sony Classical)
Casa, the previous effort by the Morelenbaums and Ryuichi Sakamoto was a loving tribute to Jobim, one of 2002's best releases. The collaborators are back, featuring Paula Morelenbau's smoky Brazilian vocals, Jacque Morelenbaum's cello, and Sakamoto's piano styling. Before riding off in separate directions, A Day in New York was booked as a one-day NY recording session recapping the set the three featured on their short concert tour. While it lacks the drama of Casa (which, after all, was recorded at Jobim's Rio pad on his own piano), sometimes more of a good thing is still not enough. The performing road quintet also covers Caetano Veloso ("Coracao Vagabundo"), Jao Gilbert ("Bim Bom") and heaps of more Jobim. 
Copyright ©2003 Keith & Kent Zimmerman
