Justin V

Beyond the objections that have already been stated here and elsewhere, which I won't restate, the timing of the article also bothers me. Sonny has been on an extended hiatus from performing due to medical issues; to post a satirical attack on jazz using Sonny's name and image, at a time when he's not able to perform the music he has contributed so much to, seems especially wrong to me. Django Gold, the article's author, commented on Howard Mandel's article that, "As has been correctly speculated, Sonny Rollins was chosen more-or-less at random as the 'subject' of this piece. I believe the other top candidates were Ornette Coleman and Jim Hall, but I figured Rollins had the name recognition." Although Gold claims that he is "a huge fan of both Sonny Rollins’ work and jazz in general," that is undercut by his statement that they considered using Hall. Surely he would have known that Hall passed away in December and that posting this satire under his name would be in incredibly poor taste as well. Of course, I think that Ornette, like Sonny, hasn't been in the best of health and hasn't performed much in public recently. Anyway, leave it to Sonny to turn the negative experience into a positive by using it as an opportunity to interact with his fans via a live feed. Like many, I was excited to hear that he plans on returning to the stage in 2015 and has been writing new music. Sonny is a national treasure.

I never had the opportunity to see him perform in person, but I was enjoying his playing recently after picking up Ahmad Jamal's The Essence, Part 1 (Jamal loves New Orleans drummers, and rightfully so!). His drumming on Grant Green's Live at Club Mozambique is a work of funky genius; I'd pay handsomely to hear the unreleased material from that run. Thank you for the music, Mr. Muhammad, and rest in peace. Here is a link to an obituary from The Times-Picayune.

The Shape of Jazz to Come must've been one of the first 20 jazz albums I bought, and my respect for and appreciation of Charlie Haden has continued to grow over the subsequent years. I saw Haden a few years ago with a version of Quartet West that included Joe Lovano and Billy Hart in addition to regular member Alan Broadbent. I was struck by Haden's patient, melodic, composer's approach to improvising and his deep, dark sound. I remember the group playing a particularly beautiful version of 'First Song'. As he mentioned that he would be selling CDs after the set, I remember hustling to find an ATM in order to buy the first Quartet West album, which he signed. I've long regretted not being able to catch the whole set of Haden playing with Ravi Coltrane, Jack DeJohnette, Geri Allen and Brandee Younger a few years before that. However, I'm thankful that I was later able to see that Quartet West set and meet him briefly. Thank you for the music, Mr. Haden, and rest in peace.

I wholeheartedly agree. We can also copy this post into the 'Nice Guy Musicians' thread.

Tonight I saw Eddie Palmieri and heard two jerks yell a running commentary through every song.

Toots became a US citizen in the '50s, according to several interviews and articles.

Kenny Barron (2010) and Jack DeJohnette (2012) are already NEA Jazz Masters. Congratulations to the 2015 class!

I bought my dad the first album for Father's Day. He's a classic-rock guy and I think that he might have seen Zep back in the day. I thought that it'd be nice to get him something fun in addition to clothes.

As a pianist, composer, arranger and a gatherer/nurturer of talent, Horace Silver was a giant. Rest in peace, Mr. Silver, and thank you for the music.

I almost caught that Brotzmann/McPhee show last year, but I instead chose to make the longer drive to see them in Chicago due to Brotzmann and McPhee being joined by Kent Kessler and Hamid Drake for a quartet set following their duo set. I have all 5 of the Die Like a Dog quartet discs on FMP; with Toshinori Kondo not being in the picture (Does he no longer tour stateside?) and the passing of Roy Campbell, Jr., I think that McPhee could be an interesting addition to the group.

On Sunday, I caught the Brotzmann/Parker/Drake trio in Buffalo (as discussed in that thread). Last night, I caught a celebration of Milt Hinton at Oberlin. Oberlin has acquired four of Hinton's basses and his pictures and other documents. The performance featured all of the donated basses, which will be available for Oberlin students to play. The concert featured bassists Richard Davis, Rufus Reid, John Clayton, Gerald Cannon, Jerry Jemmott and Peter Dominguez, among many other bassists, as well as Oberlin faculty members Gary Bartz and Billy Hart. Three weeks ago, I never thought that I'd get a chance to see Richard Davis perform. Now I've seen him at two special events celebrating the lives of other artists (Hinton and Eric Dolphy), and I found out about both events just in the nick of time. Coincidentally, although this was my first time seeing Rufus Reid perform, he was in attendance at the Dolphy festival. Some of the many highlights included: Richard Davis's challenging solo piece that he bowed exclusively; a bass/drums blues on which many of the bassists on hand passed the bass to the next man up in a round robin of solos (with Richard Davis dancing his way across the stage) and Billy Hart playing only Papa Jo Jones's snare drum; Rufus Reid's solo takes on Paul Chambers's 'Visitation' and Tadd Dameron's 'If You Could See Me Now'; a Bartz/Dominguez/Hart workout on 'The Shadow of Your Smile'; a Jemmott/Hart duo on Horace Silver's 'Filthy McNasty'; a John Clayton solo improvisation that morphed into 'It Don't Mean a Thing'; a solo version of 'Lately' that showed of Dominguez's dark tone on Hinton's bass; and, a finale featuring the Milt Institute students (all 25-30 of them!) in an all-bass orchestra for two songs and with Hart, Clayton, Cannon and Bartz joining them for the last song, which was a Ray Brown blues. While the highlights that I've mentioned were the jazz-oriented ones, it was a celebration of the bass and its role in jazz as well as classical (in particular, classical bassist Diana Gannett stood out). The jovial, celebratory atmosphere, peerless lineup of musicians and excellent acoustics of Oberlin's Warner Concert Hall made it a special evening that I won't soon forget. I hope that Oberlin continues celebrating Hinton's legacy with many more concerts in the future.

I saw the group in Buffalo on Sunday. The basement room at Hall Walls seats 90, and there were several people standing at the back of the room and in the aisles. My wife and I sat in the center of the front row. While the group can be quite powerful, I was frequently struck by how quiet and melodic they can be. It was my first time seeing William Parker live, and his rapport with Hamid Drake is incredible. It's something to hear Drake or Parker introduce a groove or a phrase that the other picks up instantaneously. Hearing Drake is hearing the history of jazz drumming; I told my wife that if there was a beat that he didn't play, it probably wasn't worth playing. When Parker picked up his wooden flute, the music took on an almost chamber-like quality. Brotzmann's sound has such a presence, and underneath the surface of extremes that people often focus on, he's a very methodical and patient improviser. He also seems to be quite a mild-mannered, humble guy. It was 90 minutes of fearless, wide-ranging music from an empathetic trio who displays a firm grasp of the music's history.

I caught him with James Carter's group in Detroit last year. I believe that he was invited to play with Carter after winning the Marcus Belgrave National Trumpet Competition. He's talented. Between Croker and James Brandon Lewis, I'm glad to see that Okeh is releasing some albums by promising young musicians.

On the 24th, I saw Ron Carter with Russell Malone and Donald Vega at the Bohemian Caverns in DC. I've been a fan of Carter and Malone for years but had never seen them live. I'd seen Donald Vega performing with a Juilliard group a few years ago. Vega filled the chair previously held by the great Mulgrew Miller and is definitely someone to watch. It was a great set. Malone had a feature on 'Candlelight' as a tribute to Jim Hall that showed why he is one of the top guitarists on the scene. Carter and Malone have developed an extraordinary rapport over the years, and Vega fits right in with an often understated style and a delicate touch. Vega's bluesy extended solo on 'My Funny Valentine' was another highlight. While watching Carter play from a table in front of the stage, I found myself thinking about how much jazz history has been shaped by his hands. It's hard to describe what it is like seeing him perform in person, but with Ron Carter, you don't miss the drums. The absolute focus displayed by Carter is awe-inspiring. The group listened intently to each other; it was something to watch Carter and Malone shift their backing of Vega on a dime or Vega to throw a snippet of a Malone phrase back at him immediately. The set provided a lot of variety between tunes, like the chamber-like counterpoint of 'Autumn Leaves' (an arrangement from Carter's The Golden Striker), an Oscar Pettiford blues that Carter took the lead on or just flat-out swing. There were also changes within the tunes themselves, like Vega's aforementioned, unexpected bluesy turn during 'My Funny Valentine' or when the group kicked up the tempo to a breakneck speed during the last tune and brought the set to a rousing conclusion. After the set, Ron Carter greeted people and signed copies of his autobiography. Although I was intimidated to meet such a giant of the music, he was very warm, gracious and friendly. My only regret from what was a perfect night was that I didn't get tickets for both sets. I'd drive to DC to see Ron Carter again in a heartbeat, and Bohemian Caverns has a good thing going on.

I was in the center of the front row last night with my wife, who enjoyed it much more than she anticipated. As an Andrew Hill fan and a hopelessly amateur bassist, I was ecstatic that a trip to New York coincided with the festival and allowed me to finally see Richard Davis perform (and speak). It was also my first time seeing Andrew Cyrille (and in a variety of contexts!), Ted Daniel, Oliver Lake, Grachan Moncur III and Pheeroan akLaff, among others. Some thoughts on a few of the sets and some of the musicians involved: Tarbaby - I'd only seen Nasheet Waits before and haven't heard much of Lake. I was struck by Lake's huge sound on alto and his variety of tonal textures. Waits had such a light, dancing feeling to his playing that it sounded like Roy Haynes playing out. He's definitely a chip off the old block, and I'm sure his father would be delighted to hear him (I know I was). Richard Davis/Aska Kaneko/Angelica Sanchez/Andrew Cyrille: This was one of the more abstract sets of the night and one of two that were freely improvised. I was surprised to see Davis play almost exclusively arco during this set, and his bass blended well with Kaneko's violin. A favorite moment for me was when Angelica Sanchez was plucking the piano's strings while Davis and Kaneko bowed (Kaneko was plucking at some point as well during the set) and Cyrille laid down a nice groove. Kaneko also has a pleasant singing voice; I was disappointed that she didn't have CDs for sale. Davis, not content to rest on his laurels, was quite unpredictable and unorthodox; it was a special thing to see him pushing himself and the rest of the group with his provocative bowing and his expansive approach as a bassist. Grachan Moncur III - I believe it was a septet. The only downside to the set was that, given the time constraints and the size of the ensemble, they were limited to one tune. Like the earlier surprise of Richard Davis focusing on arco, which he also did throughout the vast majority of the Moncur set, I was surprised to see that Moncur didn't play any trombone. He instead tabbed Alfred Patterson for trombone duties. I was impressed with Patterson, who had a double bell on his trombone that he did a bit of a call and response with. Ted Daniel played a gorgeous solo divided between muted and open trumpet. Having heard him on a Billy Bang album, I bought two of his albums before the music even started, and I'm glad that I did. He deserves a much higher profile. Vernon Reid/Pheeroan akLaff/Melvin Gibbs - This was pure, unadulterated fun, with the band rocking out on tunes by Ronald Shannon Jackson and Sonny Sharrock. I'm more familiar with Living Colour's drummer, Will Calhoun, but Reid was pretty interesting. akLaff was grinning ear to ear during this set and after the concert. Tomeka Reid/Beatrice Capote/Andrew Cyrille - Reid had an astounding feature on 'God Bless the Child' that drew from Dolphy's bass-clarinet interpretations of the song. Although I was hoping that she was somehow related to Rufus Reid, I think that she might just be another remarkably gifted string musician who happens to share the same last name. Capote, a non-tap dancer, added a visual element that proved to be not the least distracting and positively impacted the overall set; Cyrille was totally locked onto her throughout. His sensitivity and versatility within the different contexts of the night confirmed my earlier belief that he is one of the truly great drummers. The Sound of Freedom Ensemble - Despite the late start to the night's music and the size of the ensemble, they played a relatively long set that included Dolphy's 'Hat and Beard'. I haven't looked through the whole program, but I'd be interested to know more about the previously unperformed and/or unrecorded Dolphy composition(s) that they played. James Brandon Lewis, who recently released an album on Okeh, is a muscular player whom I'd like to hear at greater length; I think that he was the only tenor saxophonist of the night and was probably the youngest musician on the stand. Pheeroan akLaff deserves a lot of credit for pulling off such a varied, thoughtfully programmed tribute to Dolphy. I hope that it was a successful fundraiser, and I'd like to see it get released at some point. It sounds like they want to make this a yearly event, so I'm looking forward to seeing where they take it.

I just received an email from Mosaic that the solo Andrew Hill, Tony Williams and Toshiko Akiyoshi/Lew Tabackin Mosaic Selects are running low, as well as the Bud Freeman and Jazz Piano Mosaic Singles. I've finally pulled the trigger on the Hill set.

Given his longstanding West Coast presence, it's surprising, sad and disappointing that his death hasn't received much more attention. Coincidentally, I looked at my online history and found out that I had googled Frank Strazzeri on the 9th, which is the day that he died. I find it comforting somehow that I was thinking of him on that day. The great thing about the Carmell Jones Mosaic Select is that it documents the work of three underrated masters- Jones, Harold Land and Strazzeri. One of the albums it contains actually would have been Strazzeri's debut as a leader had it been released at the time. I am a fan of his Frank's Blues, which also has some fine work by the late Sam Most on a program that includes some Strazzeri originals and other under-the-radar songs. I also enjoy Syrazzeri's work on guitarist Ron Anthony's Same Time, Same Place, which also has Conte Candoli, Andy Simpkins and Dick Berk. I wish that he had been documented more in his last decade, but I look forward to exploring more of his work. Thanks for the music, Mr. Strazzeri. EDIT: One of his West Coast colleagues, trombonist Steve Johnson, has posted about Strazzeri's passing on his blog.

The mighty Ingrid Laubrock/Tom Rainey duo, which in their tour thread.

I had the privilege of catching the duo on their first stop of their tour in Cleveland. I'm barely familiar with Tom Rainey and had only heard about 2 or 3 minutes of Ingrid Laubrock on a YouTube clip of the duo, so I was going into it with a pretty clean slate. The opening act took the stage an hour late, which meant that Laubrock and Rainey didn't start their set until about 10 minutes to 11. Despite the late time and the fact that they had made the long drive from New York to Cleveland, the duo played an energetic, nearly hour-long set before an enthusiastic crowd. Rainey is very creative and unpredictable, yet he is a surprisingly melodic drummer. Laubrock is a muscular and dynamic saxophonist who matches up quite effectively with her husband. Despite her instrumental prowess and ability to use some extended techniques, she was very musical throughout and not just during the more lyrical moments of her solos. I'd recommend seeing them to anyone with even the slightest interest in adventurous music. It's not very common for an avant-garde group to embark on a lengthy stateside tour, and this duo richly deserves some support. I'm looking forward to listening to the new duo disc, and I hope to catch them in concert again.

Yes, that is frustrating, because when a listing indicates that it includes bonus tracks, that doesn't necessarily mean that the tracks were previously unreleased (i.e., Frank Foster's Manhattan Fever had the same bonus tracks as the Connoisseur, I believe). I am assuming that Tina Brooks' Back to the Tracks' 2 bonus tracks will be previously unreleased tracks, unless they arbitrarily throw in other tracks from the session that yielded 'Street Singer', which was released on Jackie Mac's Jackie's Bag and was apparently used on Back to the Tracks as a space-filler. I'm a big fan of the album, so I'd gladly pick up an expanded reissue. Did anyone else notice that the latest series is listed on CDJapan as being limited edition? The earlier entries in the series weren't.

Joe Wilder played on the first jazz album I purchased about 12 years ago, Dizzy Gillespie's Gillespiana/Carnegie Hall Concert. Looking at Wilder's credits on AllMusic, it appears that his last appearance on record may have been on Gene Ludwig's wonderful Duff's Blues, which has some excellent Wilder solos (as well as by the leader and the other sidemen). Thank you for the music, Mr. Wilder.

You can buy that and other albums directly from the man himself: http://www.excellencerecords.com/custom_5.html.

On Saturday, I saw Larry Coryell with David Garfield, Jim Stevens, Kip Reed and Will Kennedy.

I've mentioned this before elsewhere, but Joe Harris, at 87, is still with us. He came onstage to play a short drum solo at a Roy Haynes concert in Pittsburgh in September 2012. Ira Gitler's superb liner notes, written in May 2012, mention some others who were still alive.

Earlier tonight I saw Easel, with Christoph Erb, Fred Lonberg-Holm and Michael Zerang.