nathan

Hi folks, I'm sorry if this has been discussed elsewhere, but has anyone heard the Sonny Rollins "Live in Europe" (w/ Cherry, Grimes and Higgins) that was just reissued by Fruit Tree? I can't find much information on it. Any comments on performances and/or sound? Thanks! nathan

Not a comment on the talent involved in this group or the quality of the CDs, but the fact that this band made up largely of carpet-baggers is somehow dubbed the "SF Jazz Collective" remains a minor travesty. Not that anyone in the local scene takes the increasingly conservative & corporate SF Jazz decision making seriously, but it's still a slap in the face of a vibrant, diverse, and chronically under-recognized local scene. Sadly, doing nothing for the Bay Area jazz scene is a hallmark of Joshua Redman's stint as SF Jazz' artistic director. Maybe it's not surprising, considering the only time I've run across Mr. Redman 'playing in the clubs' was back when I lived in NYC. Sorry for the mild rant. nathan

McCaslin is a really outstanding player -- I'm thrilled he's joined Douglas' group and perhaps has some wider recognition coming his way.

Maybe the Goldings/Young comparison is overdone, and largely based on the relatively facile fact that neither really go for the standard soul jazz approach. To my ears though, it's a bit deeper. I think the comparison comes in the touch, the attention to chord voicings & the organ stops (both are masters of exploring the broad palette available from the B-3, something a lot of organists don't seem to pay all that much attention to), and the long lines. You could call Goldings' approach "cerebral", but I think you could say the same thing about much of Young's playing (though, of course, his playing is more visceral on dates with McLaughlin or on records like Lawrence of Newark, which I love too). My favorite Goldings leader date is definitely Sweet Science, with Stewart and Bernstein. One under-heard sideman date I'm particularly fond of is a record by guitarist Adam Levy called Buttermilk Channel. It's pretty mellow, but there is some great playing by everyone involved, and good original tunes. (And it certainly doesn't hurt that my favorite drummer, Kenny Wollesen, is the 3rd member of the trio). I'll check out Heid -- thanks. nathan P.S. - Oh yeah, I remember their version of Big Nick at Yoshi's being particualarly unexpected and well done!

Nice! I saw this band at Yoshi's in February of 2004, and they were spectacular. And that's coming from someone who hasn't been too thrilled by Scofield's leader dates for a long time. He sounded amazing in this setting, as did DeJohnette (go figure). Not only do I think Larry Goldings is a genius on the organ, but he definitely has long struck me as the guy best carrying on and extending the approach to the organ that Larry Young more or less invented, so this project is particularly appropriate for him. Can't wait for the record, and I'm glad the group's been documented. nathan

13, rather than 10, jazz new releases, in honor of the date and my indecision: 1. John Zorn's Bar Kokhba Sextet - 50th Birthday vol 11 2. John Schott's Typical Orchestra - s/t 3. Paul Motian Trio - I Have the Room Above Her 4. Jamie Saft Trio - Astoroth: Masada Book 2 5. Dave Douglas - Mountain Passages and/or Live at Bimhaus 6. Bill Frisell - East/West 7. Reuben Radding - Intersections 8. Bill Stewart Trio - Keynote Speakers 9. Brad Mehldau Trio - Day Is Done 10. Ben Monder - Oceana 11. Bobo Stenson Trio - Goodbye 12. Trevor Dunn & Shelley Burgon - Brooklyn 2005 13. Kurt Rosenwinkel - Deep Song. 5 non-jazz: 1. Deerhoof - The Runners Four 2. Akron/Family - s/t 3. Stephen Malkmus - Face the Truth 4. Silver Jews - Tanglewood Numbers 5. Sam Prekop - Who's Your New Professor? nathan

I've seen them a lot live, and always loved it (best shows: several NYC Tonic Midnight shows and a show at Blake's in Berkeley with Wayne Horvitz added on organ), but I've never been that moved by their discs. I guess it's just another one of the many bands best experienced live? Not to say that the discs are awful...how bad can something with Kenny Wollesen be, after all? Just not quite there, to my ears. That said, the above-mentioned "Diaspora Soul" album by Bernstein is one of my favorites. Just a spirited, grooving, lovely record. Great contributions from the Cubanos Postizos rhythm team, among others. My favorite Bernstein project of all is his un-recorded Millennial Territory Orchestra, a New York club fixture. I have my worries about that band capturing their spirit on an album, but it would be worth a try. And if you're ever in NYC when they're playing, it's not to be missed! Musical content aside, I do find Bernstein to be one of the most hysterical and charming bandleaders around...his between-song banter -- especially with MTO -- is priceless. Sweet guy too. nathan

My 3 favorite new discoveries this year: Bandleader Mulatu Astatqe, the incredible group Akron/Family, and the classical composer Alfred Schnittke (through guitar genius Ben Monder's recommendation of the choral piece Psalms of Repentance). PHILLYQ, do you have Campilongo's Table for One? It's a gorgeous record -- definitely his most laid back, but beautiful, with great tunes & playing, and featuring the always-amazing Rob Burger (of Tin Hat Trio fame) on organ, piano & accordion. Check it out! The live record he did at Cafe DuNord in SF (w/ Burger, Scott Amendola & Jon Evans) is another essential one, in my book. What a player. nathan

Bill McHenry (even more underrated than I thought, since I didn't see his name above) also: Chris Cheek Phillip Greenlief Mark Turner Kenny Brooks (too bad he doesn't play much as a leader/jazz player these days) Chris Speed Donny McCaslin Mark Shim (i just finally picked up Turbulent Flow this year, and love it) Greg Tardy (love his work w/ Andrew Hill in particular) Interesting to see Robert Stewart mentioned a couple times above! I used to see him all the time in SF, usually with the late Ed Kelly. Lately he's dropped off the scene a bit, and a couple of times, when I have caught him, it's been some pretty lamentable near-smooth jazz stuff. Too bad. Lots of talent! Also, Peter Apfelbaum FINALLY has a new record out! Despite the lack of recordings, he's still very active: I saw him playing all the time when I lived in NYC a couple years ago, and he always sounded great. Speaking of Mark Turner recommendations (way above -- I'm getting in on this late), along with the Rosenwinkel records mentioned above, I love his work with bassist/composer Reid Anderson. nathan

Cyro Baptista is, of course, a master, who can (and does) do anything. Most recently, I've been digging his work on the recent live recording of John Zorn's Bar Kokhba Sextet. Cyro is so creative. Watching him live is mind-blowing. Kenny Wollesen, whom you mentioned, is a great percussionist, away from the trap set even. Check him out with New Klezmer Trio (Melt Zonk Rewire has a lot of extracurricular percussion), or on John Zorn's "Filmworks, vol 8", half of which is an amazing film score for 2 percussionists (Cyro & Kenny). Wollesen's lays down some great vibraphone playing here too. I'd also highly recommend Gino Robair, a master percussionist located in the Bay Area. Check him out on Crepuscular Music, with Tom Nunn and Miya Masaoka, among others. He may be over 50, but not by much. Matt Moran in NYC is another great and versatile percussionist/vibes player. nathan

P.S. - i would also, of course, recommend the 2 Nels Cline Singers releases, with Bay Area guys Devin Hoff & Scott Amendola. Tuneful and varied.

I understand what you're saying, Allen. I just think, intended or not, the term "bullshitting" gives the impression that you're suggesting the artist is trying to put one over on the audience and has a conscious, non-artistic motivation at work. I acknowledge that you may not have meant it that way, but I suspect that's how most would read it. Anyway, as for the specific aspects of the performances that you didn't enjoy, I guess I'd just add that Nels has got a lot more in his bag than even just free playing. That's one of the reasons I recommended both his album The Inkling and the Bendian disc Impossible mentioned. Obviously, it's a matter of taste to some degree, but I've heard him play everything from solo free improv to Monk's tunes with top-shelf jazz players convincingly. He's more well-rounded than one might suspect. Of course, that doesn't mean he might not still suck, in your opinion! But he's a legit player. nathan

Allen, that's cool that Ben's on your disc. Ben's just an amazing player and teacher and a fascinating guy. (For what it's worth, I'd sat he is a Cline fan and they're pretty frequent collaborators these days.) For a healthy dose of Ben's recent playing with another great guitarist, I'd highly recommend picking up the new disc by Bay Area guitarist/composer John Schott (Ben's longtime collaborator in bands like Junk Genius, Snorkel, and a billion other projects). It's a self-titled album by John's Typical Orchestra: http://www.johnschott.com/jsto.html Amazing stuff, with the best of the Bay Area scene (Ches Smith, Devin Hoff, Jon Raskin, Carla Kihlstedt, etc). Ben's on every track save one. It's a great, rollicking record with gorgeous writing and playing. (Oh, and impossible, Ches plays a little bit of vibraphone on a couple tracks.) Sorry to go off topic! Hey again, impossible! (Glad you're still digging the Bendian!) Yeah, it's puzzling, the "bullshitting" thing. Whether one is a musician or not, that assessment remains largely subjective. Not to mention fairly unspecific. At any rate, in the case of Cline, I can certainly attest that if the motivation for "bullshitting" is financial success, Nels wasn't bullshitting very successfully at all before the Wilco gig fell into his lap! nathan

Since you mentioned Cryptonight, I have to jump in and give a plug to the appearances by Bay Area clarinet master Ben Goldberg (January 12) and young bassist/composer extraordinaire Todd Sickafoose's Quintet (January 19th). Both bands will presumably include the incredible drummer Ches Smith (unless Ben's playing solo).

Actually, it was a Julius session. Julius paid Nels.

Hope you like it, and don't feel tortured! Of course, based on as many of the flames as I had the patience to read, I think people who flayed you did it because you said he was "bullshitting" and you could tell, not because you didn't like him. Regardless, if you survive, and feel like checking out another one, I would recommend The Inkling as a great place to start. It's a beautiful record, and even if one doesn't like it, it's certainly not filled with "fashionable noise" or bullshit. Enjoy. nathan

Interesting thread -- glad the internet is always here to provide a consequence-free environment in which to rant, insult and threaten...maybe it helps keep folks out of gun shops and belltowers! Anyway, for those of you in the Bay Area in January, I would recommend coming out to Yoshi's in Oakland (www.yoshis.com) to hear Nels Cline playing a program of Andrew Hill music with some of the best musicians around (all amazing players, all frequent collaborators with and admirers of Cline, and yet -- judging from what I'm learning in this thread -- none of whom appear to be sophisticated enough to realize that Cline has been bullshitting...gosh): January 30th @ Yoshi's (Oakland, CA) Bobby Bradford - cornet Ben Goldberg - clarinets Andrea Parkins - accordion Devin Hoff - bass Scott Amendola - drums Nels Cline - guitar Might open some eyes. At the very least, it should be a great night of music with some amazing players and, of course, some of the finest compositions ever written. For the past few years, Nels has been playing around the Bay Area a lot in a variety of contexts (also saw him a bunch when I was living in NYC), and I don't think he's left many musicians with the feeling that he's bullshitting. As for recorded Cline, there are a lot of great records, but for someone looking to dip their toe in, I'd recommend "The Inkling", an amazing quartet recording. I'd also give a huge second to the Bendian "...Jack Kirby" album Impossible mentioned above (if memory serves, it was my 2nd favorite record of the year when it came out, right behind Marc Ribot's impossibly brilliant "Saints"). As for the Frisell topic ostensibly at hand, I'm a huge Frisell fan, and I would highly recommend, anong others, his Quartet date "Lookout for Hope". I'm also a big fan of the early "In Line", which is mostly solo guitar. Not for all tastes, and definitely recorded in Full-On-ECM style, but great to me. I am enjoying "East/West" a lot, particularly the East disc. Kenny Wollesen, as always, is incredible (his many recordings with the above-mentioned Ben Goldberg should be more widely heard). I've been lukewarm on some of Frisell's recent stuff (not that it's ever less than listenable), but this is a very good one. Another one that's not new, but relatively new to me, is Paul Motian's "On Broadway, vol. 2". Some really beautiful Frisell on there, playing standards w/ Motian, Lovano and Haden. OH! And he's got some great solo tracks on John Zorn's "Masada Guitars". I could go on... Oh, and I'm a performing guitarist, so I must know what I'm talking about, right ;-) nathan

Yeah, I've got this, and I love it! It's quite a showcase for Stewart's unique and subtle skills. And I never turn down a chance to check out the pure genius (and I don't use that word lightly) that is Larry Goldings at the B-3! This is the best I've heard Kevin Hays sound as well (which isn't meant as damning with faint praise at all, for the record) -- he's really smoking throughout, to particularly amazing effect with Goldings' sly shading and commentary beneath and around his runs. The meshed keyboard parts are gorgeous and intricate throughout, and Stewart sounds totally inspired. I would highly recommend it!

While I think Thirsty Ear is a very good series and I respect the motivations and the artists involved, I do think that it would be fair to admit that sometimes the "nu jazz" rhetoric gets ahead of the work produced, which, to my ears, is often not as groundbreaking as it seems to think it is or as it is presented. Plenty of the releases don't really do it for me...I've never warmed to Spring Heel Jack. And the majority of Shipp's work on this label doesn't do it for me in the way a lot of his other work w/ his trio (Multiplication Table being my favorite Shipp) or his String Trio, among others, has. I keep returning to Equilibrium and being disappointed at how uninteresting and thin it is to me. I do like New Orbit. On the plus side, Mat Maneri's Sustain is easily my favorite Maneri album, and one of my favorite releases of the past few years. I heartily recommend it...it's really different, though not in an electronica-related way. It's really spacious-yet-coiled. Great playing all around. Of course, Tim Berne's "The Sublime And..." is astounding (go figure). And I also really enjoy Craig Taborn's Junk Magic, which is the most convincing and effective jazz/electronica melding I've heard to date. nathan

Can't wait to get this one, and thanks for the review! What a lineup...Cheek & Malaby are two of my favorite young saxophonists, and Cardenas is another favorite young player (he has to great leader albums on Fresh Sounds, including one w/ Malaby). Matt Wilson is a great choice on drums too. Looking forward to this immensely. nathan

The way so many jazz fans jump on Jarrett, you'd think he was some unholy apostate combination of Kenny G, Wynton Marsalis, and Paul Whiteman or something...I don't get it. OK, I sort of get it...but not entirely. I'm not a huge Jarrett fan by any stretch of the imagination, but I will say that, as a beginning jazz fan, I foolishly passed on really checking out Jarrett at all in large part because of all the vitriol directed towards him by jazz fanatics (I was young...I didn't know any better!). When I finally got around to checking him out, I was surprised to hear that he has produced so much good music (yes, along with plenty of shit that I have no taste or affinity for). I was expecting something totally different and awful. I know Jarrett is wildly off-putting as a personality, but the backlash against him is vastly overblown, in my opinion. And it's too bad that it's probably discouraging a lot of people who might really enjoy at least some of his work from finding out for themselves. I know many would disagree, but I personally don't see how someone who is into jazz could truly hate everything the man has ever done, if the reaction was based on the actual music, and not Jarrett's personality and/or reputation. The actual music is so varied. But then again, to read internet jazz boards, it certainly seems possible. Just my 2 cents. nathan

I hope that they'll be releasing boxsets by some of the young and under-recognized jazz artists who are stuggling on the scene today. Might be too late to help them, but at least the music would come out. This would probably be feasible for a number of reasons. For starters, so many young players self-release their own albums on their own labels, so licensing wouldn't be too complex. Additionally, a lot of young players fund their own recordings, and often can't afford to press and release all the sessions they record (even a successful, label-associated artist like Kurt Rosenwinkel has sessions in the can which haven't and probably won't see release through his current label). It has always alternately amused and horrified me that so many of the hard core jazz fans I meet obsess and lament how a Herbie Nichols or a Sonny Clark were largely ignored while they were alive, yet these same hard core jazz fanatics all too often are systematically ignoring the young talent all around them. Ironic. Regardless, one can hope that in the future Mosaic (or a company like that) might be releasing, say, The Complete Graham Connah, or The Complete Ben Goldberg, or Unreleased Ben Monder Trio Sessions, or The Complete Recordings of The Lost Trio. Etc etc etc. The list is endless. Anyway, a guy can dream! nathan

Sorry, quick P.S. with couple more things: 1. I enthusiastically second the above recommendation for Charles Lloyd's The Water is Wide...great album, with wonderful playing by all, including Mehldau at his best. And Billy Higgins. 2. I haven't heard much about a fantastic duo recording Brad did with saxophonist Joel Frahm last year. It's called Don't Explain, and it's a gorgeous record well worth searching out. nathan

In my opinion, almost every one of them is great, but my personal list would look like this: 1. Art of the Trio 3: Songs (a great, concice introduction...plus it features one of my favorite solos, on the 1st tune) 2. Art of the Trio 2 (live Vanguard date...as epic as Songs is concise) 3. Anything Goes 4. Art of the Trio 4 (another great Vanguard date) 5. Elegiac Cycle (some people aren't into solo Mehldau, and while I am not so much into the recent Live in Tokyo, I love this one) Enjoy! And if you get a chance to catch the trio live, don't miss it. nathan

I think I'm with you, Guy. For some weird reason (even I think it's a little weird), Inside Straight might be my favorite Cannonball album. Maybe that's got some of what you're talking about? Anyway, he is very much skirting "out" territory on some of that, while, at times, he is, of course, VERY "in", what with the conga-laced-70s rhythm vibe that permeates much of it. A bit dated, perhaps...I'm not even a big soul jazz fan, but I really love Inside Straight, regardless. Hal Galper (if you enjoy some fender rhodes) has some incredible solos, and the tunes are really good (I'm a big fan of this take of Walter Booker's Saudade). Snakin the Grass is absurd. Don't hear much about this one -- maybe for good reason, but I still am a big fan. nathan