BFT # 86 Reveal

[NIS]

This will take me awhile to complete, please bear with me.

Thanks Jeffcrom for setting up the download links for me. I have no clue how to do that. I also want to thank everyone for being part of this BFT. The comments were fantastic and most of the musicians have been identified. I am always amazed by the depth of musical knowledge the folks on this board have.

The first two tracks are a Clean Feed Records section. In the last several years they have released a whole lot of interesting music for my taste. I think these two are particularly good.

1)

The Convergence Quartet - Kudala (traditional song from South Africa) from Song/Dance – Clean Feed (2010)

Taylor Ho Bynum – cornet, flugelhorn; Harris Eisenstadt – drums; Alexander Hawkins – piano; Dominic Lash – bass.

I was a big fan of Harris Eisenstadt when I bought this. Now I'm a fan of all these guys. I think I like the CD more each time I hear it. I'm not sure any one track does the album justice, because each is pretty different than the next. All are worth hearing.

Here are a couple of reviews:

http://jazzandblues.blogspot.com/2010/06/convergence-quartet-songdance-clean.html

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=38166

2)

Denman Maroney Quintet – Udentity VII (Maroney) from Udentity – Clean Feed (2009)

Maroney – hyperpiano; Ned Rothenberg – alto sax, clarinet, bass clarinet; Dave Ballou – trumpet; Reuben Radding – bass; Michael Sarin – drums.

This has pretty much everything I like in an album; Interesting compositions with a more adventureous (freer) bent but still staying in touch with the idiom (The start of track 2, for instance has the feel of a 1960s Blue Note); Great ensemble inneraction with shifting combinations; A unique (to me) voice of the leader. That actually makes sense in my head. )

According to the liner notes, what Maroney calls hyperpiano is a set of performance techniques that involve playing the keys with one hand and the strings with the other using slides and bows of metal, plastic and rubber, specifically copper bars, brass bowls, CD jewel cases, tape cassette boxes and rubber sheets. It isn't until about the third track of the album that I can hear anything that sounds like a piano.

Nice review:

http://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2009/02/denman-maroney-quintet-udentity.html

Edited May 28, 2011 by NIS

[NIS]

That seemed to work, so on I go.

3)

Walt Dickerson Devine Gemini (Dickerson) from Tenderness SteepleChase - (1977)

Dickerson vibraphone; Richard Davis bass.

Again, Walt Dickerson is my favorite musician. I don't have a good enough command of the language to explain why, but his music moves me on many levels.

The next grouping is a nod to music coming from Holland, with Michael Moore and Han Bennink being the common denominators for all three.

4)

Eric Boeren 4Tet For Rosa (Boeren) from Soft Nose BVHaast (2001)

Boeren cornet; Michael Moore - alto saxophone, Eb clarinet, alto clarinet, contralto clarinet; Wilbert de Joode bass; Han Bennink drums.

Reviewers bring up the connection to Ornette Coleman's classic quartet and while true (almost half of the songs on Soft Nose are Coleman covers after all), just thinking in that way sells this group short in my opinion. The. communication and interaction between these guys is amazing. Case in point is an eighteen minute medley of two Ornettes, the Eubie Blake song Memories of You(an absolutely beautiful tune by the way) and an original that flows effortlessly from one part to the next. For me the Boeren originals are really interesting.

I also really like the cover art, which is by Han Bennink.

5)

Sean Bergin and M.O.B. Monkey Woman (Bergin) from Kids Mysteries Nimbus (1988)

Bergin alto, tenor; Michael Moore alto, clarinet; Jan Wilem Van Der Ham alto, bassoon; Alex Maguire piano; Ernst Reijseger cello; Tristan Honsinger cello; Wolter Wierbos trombone; Eric Boeren trumpet; Ernst Glerum bass; Han Bennink drums.

Kid Mysteries was one of the first CDs I bought when I finally admitted to myself that new stuff wasn't coming out on LP anymore. I hated it and put it back on the shelf for 5 years or so. When I played it again, it really worked for me. I started looking into the Dutch Scene and now some of my favorite albums come from that locale.

6)

Clusone Trio Duck (Steve Lacy) from Rara Avis hatology (1999 edition)

Michael Moore alto saxophone, clarinet, melodica; Ernst Reijseger cello; Han Bennink drums.

The Clusone Trio and this album are the best is about all I can say.

Edited May 28, 2011 by NIS

[NIS]

7)

Thomas Heberer/Dieter Manderscheid – Buddy Bolden Blues (Jelly Roll Morton) from Chicago Breakdown (The Music Of Jelly Roll Morton) – Jazz Haus Musik (1989).

Heberer – trumpet; Manderscheid – bass.

Again, I sort of wish I would have included a longer track from this CD but there is only so much room on a CDR.

Review:

http://allmusic.com/album/chicago-breakdown-the-music-of-jelly-roll-morton-r166328/review

I kind of went on an ECM tangent here. I started listening to “jazz” in the early 1970s. The first two albums I bought were an ECM by Burton/Corea and something by the Art Ensemble (a big range of music under the heading “jazz”, no?). I think that ECM in that time frame released some really terrific music.

8)

Bennie Maupin – The Jewel In The Lotus (Maupin) from The Jewel In The Lotus – ECM (1974)

Maupin – reeds, voice, glockenspiel; Herbie Hancock – piano, e-piano; Charles “Buster” Williams – bass;

Frederick Waits – drums, marimba (left channel); Billy Hart – drums (right channel); Bill Summers – percussion, waterfilledgarbagecan.

With the exception of a couple of Walt Dickerson things, this is probably my most played album over the years. Still fresh for me after many, many years of listening. Mikeweil linked a nice review for this one.

9)

Collin Walcott – Jewel Ornament (Don Cherry, John Abercrombie,Collin Walcott) from Grazing Dreams – ECM (1977)

Walcott – sitar, tabla; John Abercrombie – electric and acoustic guitars, electric mandolin; Don Cherry – trumpet, wood flute, doussn' gouni; Palle Danielsson – bass; Dom Um Romao – berimbau, chica, tambourine, percussion.

John Abercrombie was kind of a “house” guitarist on a lot of ECM 1970s albums and contributed greatly to all of them. I used this track partially because it reflects his playing on those albums. At the time this album was like nothing I'd ever heard and with the exception of the Codona stuff, maybe still is.

10)

Paul Motian – Victoria (Motian) from Tribute – ECM (1975)

Motian – drums; Carlos Ward – alto saxophone; Charlie Haden – bass; Sam Brown – acoustic, electric guitars; Paul Metzke – electric guitars.

Opening track of, for me, a really nice album. I think Sam Brown is the guitarist on this track. The second guitar is added on the rest of the album and Carlos Ward only plays on one other track. The last track of the album has a similar feel to this one but a couple of others remind me a little of the Gateway album by Abercrombie, Holland and DeJohnette.

Edited May 28, 2011 by NIS

[NIS]

11)

Aki Takase – Way Down South Where The Blues Began (W.C. Handy) from St. Louis Blues – ENJA (2001)

Takase – piano; Rudi Mahall – bass clarinet; Fred Firth – guitar; Nils Wogram – trombone; Paul Lovens – drums.

I was happy this drew some positive responses, a real favorite.

About half of the cuts on this album are by W.C. Handy, one cut is the Harry Warren song Lulu and the rest originals by different group members. To me the originals fit right in with the Handy tracks. Individual tracks range from duos to the full group, with of coarse Takase's wonderful playing as the constant. Everyone though gets to shine somewhere along the line.

Again, I really like the album cover. To me it kind of conveys an attitude similar to the music.

12)

Ry Cooder – Ditty Wa Ditty (Arthur Blake) from Paradise & Lunch; Reprise (1974)

Cooder – guitar, vocal; Earl Hines – piano.

I used this one just because it was fun. Earl Hines does add some jazz content, too.

13)

Tom Varner – Happy Trails (Dale Evans) from Covert Action – New Note (1987)

Varner – French horn; Mike Richmond – bass; Bobby Previte – drums.

I don't know every jazz French horn player but Tom Varner has to be one of the best. Richmond and Previte make this a really nice trio album.

As to the song, I grew up in the 1950s watching Saturday morning westerns on the tube. One of them was Roy Rodgers and Dale Evans. I probably even wanted to be a cowboy when I grew up. It was a simpler time.

Anyway, if you don't know, “Happy Trails” was the sign off song at the end of each episode of the TV show. Happy Trails To You, Till We Meet Again. Makes me smile every time. Maybe it's still a simpler time, for me anyway.

I really had a great time doing this, so thank you again for allowing me to present some of my favorite music.

[Joe]

You know, I have that Sean Bergin LP too, and I've probably not listened to it in about 5 years myself.

Boeren's bands are always crackerjack units.

Thanks much; enjoyed this immensely (and still kicking myself for not recognizing the Maupin.)

[jeffcrom]

Great BFT, NIS. I missed the Maupin track, although I have the album. I haven't listened to it for a long time - that's my excuse.

I wondered if that was Alexander Hawkins on track one, but I was scared to make that guess.

I like the Clusone 3 a lot, but don't have that album, and didn't know that they had recorded a Steve Lacy tune.

And I love the fact that Walt Dickerson is your favorite musician - that's unusual and kind of impressive.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Thanks for the inclusion of the track...I was very relieved that I pressed 'play' and knew I was good for at least one of the tracks!

It's probably fair to say that this is the least typical track on the album...I can't quite remember how we came to do it. I think I was probably playing it in a soundcheck...the guys were into it (we'd been talking about Mongezi Feza earlier in the tour - I remember that much!), so we came to do it as an encore every night.

I first played this tune with Ntshuks Bonga, a wonderful alto/soprano player who also plays in Louis Moholo-Moholo's Unit. We did it as a duo a few times. Ntshuks taught it to me, and we couldn't remember its name; so we called it 'Mongezi's Tune', on the basis that we thought he wrote it. Every night, we's ask if anyone knew what it was called...the audiences generally recognised it, but couldn't remember the name. I was then checking out the Chris McGregor record 'Thunderbolt', where sure enough, there it is - this time, called 'Magwazakazo', and credited to guitarist Lucky Ranku. Then it occurred to me that it's on the incredible 'Blue Notes in Concert' album on Ogun; I pulled that one out, and there it is, but this time, called 'Kudala (Long Ago)', and credited as 'traditional'. [This was the stage at which the Convergence Quartet album came out, hence the name here!] Then I saw Ntshuks again, who had in the interim discovered that it was probably actually a tune by Dudu, called 'Joe's Jika' (various people on the road had thought it might be a Dudu tune originally), and that this was indeed the earliest version he had on record...anyway - I love the melody! One other thing - goodness knows why, but it's in G flat. So's Stardust, but there seems a little more point in that one being in that key

[Hot Ptah]

Well, no wonder I could not identify anything but the Ry Cooder. I have the Walt Dickerson but could not place it.

This is what I come to the BFT for, to be introduced to some worthy music which I am not familar with. There is so much to investigate here. Thanks for a great, and memorable, BFT.

[NIS]

You know, I have that Sean Bergin LP too, and I've probably not listened to it in about 5 years myself.

Boeren's bands are always crackerjack units.

Thanks much; enjoyed this immensely (and still kicking myself for not recognizing the Maupin.)

Thanks again for being part of this and for your comments. I just downloaded BFT 87 and am looking forward to listening.

Nick

Great BFT, NIS. I missed the Maupin track, although I have the album. I haven't listened to it for a long time - that's my excuse.

I wondered if that was Alexander Hawkins on track one, but I was scared to make that guess.

I like the Clusone 3 a lot, but don't have that album, and didn't know that they had recorded a Steve Lacy tune.

And I love the fact that Walt Dickerson is your favorite musician - that's unusual and kind of impressive.

Thanks for your kind comments and for being part of the BFT.

Going back to your comments on Ditty Wa Ditty, can you recommend a good place to start with some Arthur Blake? I,m a little slow but it never occured to me to check out the source of the song.

Nick

[Alexander Hawkins]

p.s. Ah! Eric Boeran! I keep meaning to check out the newish one on Clean Feed - I've heard great things!

[NIS]

Thanks for the inclusion of the track...I was very relieved that I pressed 'play' and knew I was good for at least one of the tracks!

It's probably fair to say that this is the least typical track on the album...I can't quite remember how we came to do it. I think I was probably playing it in a soundcheck...the guys were into it (we'd been talking about Mongezi Feza earlier in the tour - I remember that much!), so we came to do it as an encore every night.

I first played this tune with Ntshuks Bonga, a wonderful alto/soprano player who also plays in Louis Moholo-Moholo's Unit. We did it as a duo a few times. Ntshuks taught it to me, and we couldn't remember its name; so we called it 'Mongezi's Tune', on the basis that we thought he wrote it. Every night, we's ask if anyone knew what it was called...the audiences generally recognised it, but couldn't remember the name. I was then checking out the Chris McGregor record 'Thunderbolt', where sure enough, there it is - this time, called 'Magwazakazo', and credited to guitarist Lucky Ranku. Then it occurred to me that it's on the incredible 'Blue Notes in Concert' album on Ogun; I pulled that one out, and there it is, but this time, called 'Kudala (Long Ago)', and credited as 'traditional'. [This was the stage at which the Convergence Quartet album came out, hence the name here!] Then I saw Ntshuks again, who had in the interim discovered that it was probably actually a tune by Dudu, called 'Joe's Jika' (various people on the road had thought it might be a Dudu tune originally), and that this was indeed the earliest version he had on record...anyway - I love the melody! One other thing - goodness knows why, but it's in G flat. So's Stardust, but there seems a little more point in that one being in that key

I appreciate your being part of the BFT and for adding some really great information. This was big fun for me. Most of all thanks for a great album.

Nick

p.s. Ah! Eric Boeran! I keep meaning to check out the newish one on Clean Feed - I've heard great things!

I haven't heard that one yet either but a different drummer, Lovens I think, should make it a little different.

[Alexander Hawkins]

Not at all, and thank you so much for the kind words about it! We're touring again in November, so there should be another towards the middle of next year...

[NIS]

Well, no wonder I could not identify anything but the Ry Cooder. I have the Walt Dickerson but could not place it.

This is what I come to the BFT for, to be introduced to some worthy music which I am not familar with. There is so much to investigate here. Thanks for a great, and memorable, BFT.

Thanks for joining in and you kind comments.

I like these things for the same reason you do. I rarely know anything but I also never come away without finding at least one thing that I need to check into further. Keep 'em coming, I say.

Nick

Edited May 28, 2011 by NIS

[NIS]

Not at all, and thank you so much for the kind words about it! We're touring again in November, so there should be another towards the middle of next year...

Any chance you make it to the Midwest of the USA sometime?

[Alexander Hawkins]

We would really love to...the only problem is that it's really difficult for us Europeans to get work visas...it really needs a festival or some other sponsor I think. But it would really be fantastic to come to the US to play - we've only done it in Europe thus far!

[NIS]

I guess I'll just keep an eye out for your next CD.

[jeffcrom]

Going back to your comments on Ditty Wa Ditty, can you recommend a good place to start with some Arthur Blake? I,m a little slow but it never occured to me to check out the source of the song.

Nick

I have this now out-of-print Yazoo collection, but they have a newer collection. And I see that JSP has put out all of his sides here.

[NIS]

Going back to your comments on Ditty Wa Ditty, can you recommend a good place to start with some Arthur Blake? I,m a little slow but it never occured to me to check out the source of the song.

Nick

I have this now out-of-print Yazoo collection, but they have a newer collection. And I see that JSP has put out all of his sides here.

Thank you very much.

[Spontooneous]

Track 4 hasn't left my playlist for weeks! Thank you, Nick!

Also nice to get a little exposure to Alexander Hawkins.

That Tom Varner disc is lurking in my collection somewhere. I'll have to dig it out.

[NIS]

Track 4 hasn't left my playlist for weeks! Thank you, Nick!

Also nice to get a little exposure to Alexander Hawkins.

That Tom Varner disc is lurking in my collection somewhere. I'll have to dig it out.

Thanks for being part of the BFT. I thought you might like the Boeren group.

On another subject, I read your Reptet piece in the Star online, good job. Might you have a CD recommedation for this group?

[tkeith]

Holy cow! Did I do terrible on this one! Surprised that I had bad reactions to both Cherry and Clusone 3. Relistening to the last track now, and I'd never have guessed that was a French horn!

[NIS]

Holy cow! Did I do terrible on this one! Surprised that I had bad reactions to both Cherry and Clusone 3. Relistening to the last track now, and I'd never have guessed that was a French horn!

Thanks for having a listen to my little effort. Happy you found a couple things you liked. Since you have probably looked through the comments, I'm not going to restate things I've said before but I still find it interesting that everyone mentioned Abdullah Ibrahim on the first track. Also, French horn is a tough guess (the way Varner plays it anyway). I wasn't trying to be tricky, just like the tune and the way they play it.

Again, thanks very much for checking in.