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Surfing along


Larry Kart

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I was in Half-Price Books the other day and noticed that someone had sold them a bunch of newish used jazz CDs on indie labels like Positone and Origin and Destiny — all of them being sold for $2 each. So I swept up a good many of them that looked like they might be interesting, almost all of them by players, except for an occasional sideman, that I’ve never heard of, in the hope of taking some random estimate of some of the current scene. I can always donate the ones I don’t like to my local library’s sale. One that I like so far is by bassist-composer Marcos Varela:

 
 
He’s got some veteran sidemen — George Cables (who’s in very fine form — and I’ve never been much of a Cables fan), Billy Hart, and Clifton Anderson — and some younger guys who are or might become interesting — altoists Logan Richardson and Arnold Lee (Bassist Bill Lee’s other son). 
 
Another one that caught my ear is:
 
 
from Russian-Israeli alto and soprano saxist Lenny Sendersky and guitarist Tony Romano, with Steve LaSpina and Matt Kane on bass and drums. Agile, brainy linear stuff, albeit somewhat same-y.
 
So far I feel luke-warm about this from drummer-composer Kenneth Salters Haven:
 
 
but one of his sidemen, trumpeter Matt Holman, makes a nice personal impression (he has a pretty sound), and Myron Walden, whom I know of on alto, is tasty on bass clarinet.
 
A tad conventional so far, a la the Hubbard-Fuller edition of the Jazz Messengers, but still interesting is:
 
 
 Gibson seems to have been influenced by Fuller, who supplies a blurb;  his  pianist Theo Hill is nice comper and soloist, kind of McCoy-ish but with an individual, attractively agitated  style of articulation.
 
Also, though out of the current scene/players I dont know bag, there was this from Jerry Bergonzi:
 
 
I’ve always found Bergonzi interesting at first, then a bit formulaic, though his formulas/patterns are quite personal in a post-Trane/Wayne/J. Henderson bag. But on this one he seems significantly looser and more varied rhythmically (that makes a big difference for him and/or for me) than I've ever heard him before.
 
Was surprised to find a 2-CD Monk tribute concert that I'd never heard of, with Muhal the leader on one disc and Barry Harris the leader on the other, with an imposing lineup (Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Charlie Rouse, Roswell Rudd, Richard Davis, and either Ben Riley or Ed Blackwell). Pretty much a mess, though -- Cherry either doesn't know or can't play on these pieces, and Rudd is in a similar place. Rouse is OK, only Lacy of the horns is on form. The pianist-leaders are themselves, thanks be. One suspects there were no rehearsals and perhaps some behind the scenes or on the bandstand friction.

Possible further reports on other stuff from this batch, if you can bear it. 
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1 hour ago, Larry Kart said:

I

Was surprised to find a 2-CD Monk tribute concert that I'd never heard of, with Muhal the leader on one disc and Barry Harris the leader on the other, with an imposing lineup (Don Cherry, Steve Lacy, Charlie Rouse, Roswell Rudd, Richard Davis, and either Ben Riley or Ed Blackwell). Pretty much a mess, though -- Cherry either doesn't know or can't play on these pieces, and Rudd is in a similar place. Rouse is OK, only Lacy of the horns is on form. The pianist-leaders are themselves, thanks be. One suspects there were no rehearsals and perhaps some behind the scenes or on the bandstand friction.

 

Originally released in Japan by DIW as 4 CD set :

DIW-395-398.jpg

You are missing the CD`s with Anthony Davis and Mal Waldron ....

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BTW, the last time I did such an informal, or if you prefer semi-half-assed, survey of some of the scene (maybe five years or so ago?), things seemed a bit less varied and less individual than they do this time. Just my impression, based on two random samples -- the prior one also included my sense of a fair number of gigs I heard. Both of my samples do not include all the Chicago players I heard/hear fairly often. That scene remains as fresh and individual  now as it did them IMO.

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1 hour ago, jlhoots said:

As Cedric The Entertainer once said (about something else) - "it ain't that bad".

No it ain`t  .... obviously more in common with Monk are both Waldron and Harris - and pairing them with Richard Davis (b) and Ed Blackwell (dr) isn`t a misfit either ....

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Larry:

Not sure how you missed the Monk trib - I recall it being a semi-big deal when it came out.  I think I still own all/some of it, but I haven't listed to it in years which I guess pretty much sums it up, even though I don't recall being any more than mildly disappointed.  That's the way I Feel Now or Light Blue (my fav Monk tribs) it's not.  Srendippity dude!

Dana

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