BFT #103 Reveal

[colinmce]

So here we are. I'm glad so many of you enjoyed the test and shared your thoughts, it was really fun. I also daresay I'm proud of myself for so thoroughly stumping you all!

01 Charles ‘Cha-Cha’ Shaw - “Eternal” from Into Morning (Folkways, 1976)

Cha Cha Shaw (t); Brian Ross (ts); Billy Lyles (p); Ronnie Boykins (b); Art Blakey, Jr. (d)

This is a pretty fascinating record, one of two Shaw recorded for Folkways in the mid-70s. The other one, Kingdom Come, has more of an electric tinge to it. Shaw plays a pretty small role on this track, so you’d be right to assume the tenor is the leader. I like the scruffy nature of the playing here.

02 Jason Adasiewicz’s Sunrooms - “Bees” from Spacer (Delmark, 2012)

Jason Adasiewicz (vib); Nate McBride (b); Mike Reed (d)

Three of the leading lights of Chicago’s current scene. This is the second album from this group, and features notes by our own Larry Kart. Knowing what we do about how discriminating his taste is, I think his endorsement says it all. I think it’d be great fun to see this three do their thing in a small Chicago bar. How I miss Chicago ...

03 Baikida Carroll - “Flamboye” from Marionettes On A High Wire (Omnitone, 2001)

Baikida Carroll (t); Erica Lindsay (ts); Adegoke Steve Colson (p); Michael Formanek (b); Pheeron AkLaff (d)

Like many pointed out, this composition in honor of Julius Hemphill functions more as a musical conversation than as a traditional composition. The players here are incredibly strong, so it’s a conversation worth listening to. I wonder why Baikida doesn’t record more often.

04 Endangered Blood - “Rare” from Endangered Blood (Skirl, 2011)

Oscar Noriega (bcl); Chris Speed (ts); Trevor Dunn (b); Jim Black (d)

Jim Black and Chris Speed laid the foundation for this music in Tim Berne’s Bloodcount, but the music this group makes is equally influenced by so-called “math rock”. This is one of the tamer cuts; the rhythm churns by the millisecond on most of the tracks, but it’s a thrilling listen. As I noted in the discussion, I just love the breathy sound Speed gets on the tenor.

05 Michael Garrick Sextet - “Second Coming” from Promises (Vocalion, 1965)

Joe Harriott (as); Tony Coe (cl); Ian Carr (t); Michael Garrick (p); Coleridge Goode (b); Colin Barnes (d)

This one was a standout for obvious reasons. What a group, what a composition. So tense. I hear a bit of “Meditations on Integration” in here.

06 Kelan Phillip Cohran & the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - “Stateville” from Kelan Phillip Cohran & the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble (Honest Jon’s, 2012)

estimated to be Kelan Philip Cohran; Smoov, Baji, Yoshi, Hudah (t); LT (sous); Rocco (bari); Clef, Cid (tb)

One of the best jazz albums of the year. The Hypnotic Brass Ensemble-- all sons of Kelan-- plays brass band music with an urban tinge, but they’re from Chicago rather than New Orleans so the flavor is different. They have numerous recordings on their own that are worth checking out.

07 Khan Jamal - “Afro Blue” from Impressions of Coltrane (Steeplechase, 2008)

Khan Jamal (vib); Farid Barron (p); Curtis Lundy (b); Edgar Bateman (d)

The song was an easy catch, but the musicians not so much. This is a highly pleasing album. I had to pick one of the shorter songs due to time, but there’s a lot of great stretching out by KJ. One thing I like about this one is the way Khan’s solo bubbles up from the ensemble to where you didn’t even know he’d began. It didn’t even occur to me that this could be seen as a take on the Hutcherson/Tyner connection, though it should have. You were all right that the rhythm section here offers pretty basic support and that Bobby and McCoy would come swinging with some heavier hitters.

08 Anthony Ortega - “Blue Monk” from Afternoon in Paris (hatOLOGY, 2008)

Anthony Ortega (as)

Like Jackie McLean, Anthony Ortega is a post-Parker bebop traditionalist who can’t tame his wandering spirit. This is a deep, well-thought reading of a tune that I prefer to hear done with great minimalism, a la Jimmy Giuffre’s almost aggressively long take.

09 Samuel Blaser - “Reflections on Piagn’e Suspira” from Consort in Motion (Kind of Blue, 2011)

Samuel Blaser (tb); Russ Lossing (p); Thomas Morgan (b); Paul Motian (d)

If you purchase just one album on the basis of this test, I implore you to make it this one. Samuel Blaser is a Swiss trombonist with a keen compositional and conceptual sense. This album is a series of take-offs and variations on baroque and renaissance music. The group is perfectly composed. While Blaser is the brains behind the music, I’m sure you can hear that Paul Motion is the soul of it. This is one of his last recordings, and is a perfect example of how his concept only strengthened with time. Every single stroke is perfect and speaks volumes. Russ Lossing translates Paul’s developments to the piano with fantastic results-- check out some of his trio or solo recordings on hatOLOGY, or his recently released tribute to Motion called Drum Music (on Sunnyside) which was recorded in one take.

10 Mike Reed’s People, Places & Things - “Old” from Clean on the Corner (482 Music, 2012)

Greg Ward (as); Tim Haldeman (ts); Jason Roebke (b); Mike Reed (d)

Here’s Mike Reed from Chicago again leading a group that started off playing the 50s music of hometown hardboppers like Clifford Jordan and John Jenkins in a modern context. They also play originals, and have moved on to the AACM as well. This recent album is nearly all originals, though, and displays keen group interplay as I think this track shows.

Edited October 30, 2012 by colinmce

[colinmce]

11 Joe McPhee - “Mendacity (slow)” from Sweet Freedom-- Now What? (hatART, 1994)

Joe McPhee (ss); Paul Plimley (p); Lisle Ellis (b)

I have to say, Jeffcrom, I thought you’d pick out the composition here since you’ve showed an astounding knack for IDing jazz compositions in the past. Some of you didn’t care for this one. Like I said, I wanted to put some of McPhee’s 80s/90s Hat Hut music on here but had trouble pulling a track convincingly from context. And so I decided to pull a cut from what is easily his most unified, conceptual work for the label. Great idea! This meditation on the music and life on Max Roach is truly great, but does work better as a whole. I’d love to hear this group reconvene.

12 Alvin Fielder Trio - “The Cecil Taylor-Sunny Murray Dancing Lesson” from A Measure of Vision (Clean Feed, 2007)

Dennis Gonzalez (t); Aaron Paker (p); Alvin Fielder (d)

Not much to add here. Great song, great players, great album.

13 Ran Blake & Dominique Eade - “Out of This World” from Whirlpool (Jazz Project, 2011)

Ran Blake (p); Dominique Eade (v)

I thought inimitatable Ran would be ID’d instantly, but only a couple people picked him out. Ran has been on a real duo kick these last few years, recording a series of wonderful albums with Eade, Sara Serpa and Christine Correa. With Serpa he explores the Mediterrean impulse in his music, and with Correa the music of Black liberation; here, though, is Ran’s bread and butter: noir, Chris Connor, the Great American Songbook. Dominque Eade recorded two albums for RCA in the mid-90s that can be had for pennies and are worth a listen if you dig that kind of thing.

14 Marilyn Crispell/Mark Dresser/Gerry Hemingway - “Composition 23C” from Crispell, Dressing & Hemingway Play Braxton (Tzadik, 2012)

Marilyn Crispell (p); Mark Dresser (b); Gerry Hemingway (d)

Impossible to miss Braxton as the composer, but I’m surprised no one guessed the players! If it can be said that Wheeler, Lewis, Holland and Altschul best exploited the bebop in Anthony’s music, and that Bynum, Fei, Halvorson, Norton, Testa, et al grasp the vast canvas of it, then I say this trio dug to the lyrical heart. No one before or since has made Braxton’s music so intensely beautiful and melodious. When they play it, the entire world of musical possibility opens up and it feels like anything is possible. This record bears that out and is a must-have.

[tkeith]

Damnit! I have that Baikida Carrol record. Need to dig that out. Really blew it on that "guy" playing tenor. And naturally, I have the McPhee thing that I had such a negative reaction to (and love it and most anything by JM). I prefer the one-off reactions, but man, they can be fickle! And, of course, I nail Dennis Gonzalez, but overlook the fact that I own (and love) that record. I love the tune Camel, though seeing YAE perform that live, it's tough to accept the studio version.

[webbcity]

Oh man!! Lots of cool surprises here. I've got a number of things to add to my list now. Man...what a great selection of tunes. Thanks again for putting this together, thoroughly enjoyed it! Now I'm gonna go back and listen to everything again.

[Hot Ptah]

I have the Baikida. Carroll too and did not recognize it. This is a truly outsztanding Blindfold Test. Several of the albums are on my wish list now. The Khan Jamal must be obtained quickly.

[jeffcrom]

11 Joe McPhee - “Mendacity (slow)” from Sweet Freedom-- Now What? (hatART, 1994)

Joe McPhee (ss); Paul Plimley (p); Lisle Ellis (b)

I have to say, Jeffcrom, I thought you’d pick out the composition here since you’ve showed an astounding knack for IDing jazz compositions in the past.

I would argue in my defense that they played such a short snippet of the actual melody that I couldn't reasonably be expected to identify it. But I loved this recording; this and the Crispell trio playing Braxton are the two albums I most want to pick up. What an interesting BFT - thanks again.

[NIS]

Enjoyed your reveal as much as the BFT. A bunch of new stuff to me but surprisingly, also, some guys I do know a little. I'm still having a hard time believing that is Khan Jamal but I guess you've never lied to me before.

I had the Fielder album but I think I traded or gave it to someone, probably on this forum. Hope I got something good in return.

I need to check out a bunch of these musicians, Samuel Blazer (I have a Clean Feed album by him), Russ Lossing, Paul Plimley in particular.

Thank again.

[colinmce]

Paul Plimley and Lisle Ellis did an Ornette album for hatART called Kaleidoscopes that is magnificent.

[NIS]

Paul Plimley and Lisle Ellis did an Ornette album for hatART called Kaleidoscopes that is magnificent.

Listened to clips on AMG. Definately the kind of stuff I like, so another OOP album I need to keep a lookout for. I'm not sure if I should thank you or not.