relyles

Felt obligated to report that after listening to the entire disc once through, I enjoyed Bartz' playing on Soprano Stories. To Chuck's point of mastery of the instrument - Bartz has definately mastered the soprano, playing with the same passion and creativity that he does on the alto. Different tone, same talent. Recommended.

Yep. I heard him with Ernest Dawkins earlier in the year. He has potential.

John McNeil - East Coast Cool Baikida Carroll - Marionettes On A High Wire

Names just keep coming to me as I sit here. Paul Smoker - Genuine Fables

And please don't ignore Wallace Roney. One of the best of his generation.

Isn't Maurice Brown actually a relocated Chicago native?

Just remembered two other trumpet favorites. Anders Bergcrantz, C is excellent as is Magnus Broo's Sudden Joy.

Herb Robertson can be heard with Gerry Hemingway's quartet along with Ellery Eskelin and Mark Helias. I have heard a couple of live radio broadcasts and there is also a recording on Clean Feads that has been on my want list for a while. Another trumpeter to consider that has not been mentioned is Tim Hagans. His recent recording, Beautiful Lily has some interesting moments and his earlier recording on Blue Note, Audible Architecture is very good.

I was reminded of this thread today when I started listening to Gary Bartz' Soprano Stories, which was released on his own OYO Records label. As the title suggests, Bartz plays soprano exclusively as opposed to his main horn the alto. I am another one of those listeners that has found few soprano saxophonists that I enjoy, but I am trying to listen with open ears because I am a very big fan of Bartz in general.

Not that I am aware of.

I had a chance to listen to this one a couple more times yesterday during a solo drive from Maryland to Connecticut. After listening further, I think my use of the term "cerebral" to describe the music may have been misplaced. For many when "cerebral" is used to describe music I suspect images of cold, boring or passionless playing come to mind. On this recording that simply is not the case. There is a lot of fire and good old fashioned blowing by the participants. It is true that some of the compositions take some twists and turns that require more attention, but on tunes such as "Moment's Notice" and "Confirmation" feature some very passionate playing that are more than just "cerebral". Anyway, this is the kind of thing I think about during a six hour drive by myself and decided to share with everyone else. Oh yeah, the more I listen the more I think this is a great recording. Highly recommended.

I really appreciate the interviews that are done by working musicians. They often get into discussions that do not occur with the typical interview conducted by a journalist.

Not yet.

Got it on Monday. I see what you mean or implied about the difference between "Milestones" and "Soul Journey." I like both, and your "core identify" so to speak is intact (especially as a soloist), but I hear your writing on "Soul Journey" a mood (or moods) that is/are implied by the album's title, reminiscent perhaps of "Odyssey of Iska"-era Wayne Shorter. Fine band, too. Michael sent me a copy of Soul Journey a while ago. I remember listening to it and enjoying it when I first received it. I will have to pull it out for a more attentive listen.

I have the disc, have listened to it a couple of times while driving and am enjoying it thus far. I am a big fan of Mark Turner and he is featured in good form on this disc. I have the Iverson disc Nate mentioned and like that a lot, but have not heard any of Iverson with the Bad Plus. On this disc, Iverson seems to be using space a bit in his soloing and not trying to overwhelm anyone with technique. On the whole, the quartet plays well together. None of the compositions feature any catchy heads that you will be humming in the street and are instead what you may expect from the personnel, tunes that will require the attention of the listener to appreciate. That is not to say the recording is inaccessible in any way. I would hope it will appeal to a broad audience. There is simply a slight cerebral overtone to some of the original compositions. There is also a very interesting arrangement of a Coltrane tune that features the hardest tone from Turner I have ever heard. Interesting stuff and something I look forward to further investigation.

Who else is in the group?

I guess no one here is actually going to listen to the recording.

I just got it last week and had a chance to listen to it a couple of times during the commute. My initial reaction to the music is very positive. The quartet has played together a bit the past couple of years and there is a certain cohesiveness that is audible. None of the compositions made strong impression on first hearing, but the playing by the entire group is good. Basically straight ahead playing with a little bite, but completely accesible. Most of the compositions are by Hart and if you heard his compositions on any of his previous recordings, these are fairly similar. Overall the recording probably will not blow you away, but it gets better with repeated listenings and fans of any of the musicians involved, in particular Mark Turner, should be satisfied.

The word was that it was not anything life threatening and that he was expected to be back to performing this upcoming weekend.

I have heard several radio broadcasts featuring Schweizer and they made enough of an impression on me to want to investigate her music in more depth. Coindidentally I had printed out the page from the Intakt website regarding the recent solo disc as a reminder to purchase it sometime soon. Nice to read an enthusiatic recommendation to help ease any doubts. Thanks Ubu.

While in the process of compiling a Mark Turner discography I read some favorable reviews of Jon Gordon's Criss Cross releases, Witness and Along The Way. I have not had any meaningful exposure to Gordon's playing. Anyone have any substantive thoughts on Gordon generally and/or the aforementioned Criss Cross releases specifically?

I was fortunate to win tickets for all three days of this year's Litchfield Jazz Festival and spent the entire weekend listening to music. With the exceptions of Dionne Warwick and Dr. John, I saw the entire lineup for this year’s festival. Overall, there was something to enjoy about just about every act. I first went up Friday evening and caught Cyrus Chestnut’s trio. It had been over ten years since the last time I heard Chestnut live. The trio played an enjoyable straight ahead swinging set. I opted to skip Dionne Warwick to get home a little earlier and prepare myself for a full day of music on Saturday. The first performer on Saturday was Robert Glasper’s trio with Alan Hampton on bass and drummer Damion Reid. I was looking forward to hearing Glasper live after enjoying his first disc on Fresh Sound NT and a positive reaction to his playing on other discs. I think it is tough to be the first act at noon on a Saturday before the audience has fully arrived and warmed up, but Glasper’s trio was impressive. The set focused primarily on music from their most recent Blue Note release. The energy level went up a few notches when Terrell Stafford’s quintet with Don Braden, Bruce Barth, Chris Beck and Danton Boller hit the stage. Stafford and Braden both played several impressive solos and the whole group swung hard. Although I had heard of Trio da Paz, I had never heard any of their music. My first exposure to their brand of Brazilian Jazz was positive. One of the biggest surprises of the festival for me was Carol Sloane. I am not big on jazz vocalists, but I will confess to enjoying her set very much. She did a Duke Ellington tribute and although I have heard all the tunes thousands of times before, her performances were fresh and engaging. She is a very good performer. One of the highlights of the festival for me was Lee Konitz’s quartet with Peter Bernstein, Rufus Reid and Matt Wilson. It sounded like it took Konitz a couple of tunes to get warmed up, but the group interaction was fantastic – especially Rufus Reid and Matt Wilson. Every time I hear Wilson live he impresses me and his performance with Konitz was one of the best. Saturday ended with a predictable infectious Latin jazz performance by Eddie Palmieri that was highlighted by crowd pleading solos by Conrad Herwig and Craig Handy. I arrived a little late Sunday, but still caught just about all of Eddie Marshall’s set. I did not hear the announcement of the band members, but I think the saxophonist may have been Dave Ellis. The rest of the band was not musicians I am familiar with. Their set consisted primarily of tunes from the jazz repertory played relatively straight ahead. Next up was Dena DeRose’s trio, which for me was a pleasant surprise. The surprise was less for DeRose’s singing, which was fine enough, but more for the group which included Matt Wilson again on drums keeping everything interesting. A little less energetic, but still very satisfying was the piano duet by Bill Charlap & Renee Rosnes. The highlight for me was a rendition of a Monk tune – I believe “Criss Cross”. The only real disappointment for me was John Scofield’s trio with Steve Swallow and Bill Stewart. I enjoyed their recording and some other stuff I have heard by them, but Scofield’s guitar distortions were a little too much for me this time around. James Moody was scheduled to perform, but he was hospitalized. In his place at the last minute the festival put together a group that featured Don Braden, Jimmy Greene, Paul Bollenback, Peter Madsen, Joris Teepe and Steve Johns. The group performed a Braden original, a James Moody tune and a couple of other tunes and was joined on several other songs by Carol Sloane. Although I was looking forward to hearing Moody, this group more than made up for the disappointment. The energy and passionate playing by everyone really brought the crowd to its feet. I thought this was a fitting end to the festival for me and decided to skip Dr. John in favor of getting home in time to watch “The 4400”. Overall, a great weekend of music.

Bertrand, I located the LP last night and it does seem to have the same confusing info with the "*" for the musicians on a couple of tracks.

I will have to locate the LP when I go home this evening and get back to you.

If you do not already have the info, I have the LP and will try to dig it up to see what info is there.