GA Russell

Happy Birthday 2013 jazzkrow!

"Melba!," A Tribute to Melba Liston by Saxophonist/Composer Geof Bradfield, To Be Released by Origin Records April 16 Premiered in Chicago in 2012, Suite for Jazz Septet Features Bradfield with Victor Garcia, Joel Adams, Jeff Parker, Ryan Cohan, Clark Sommers, & George Fludas Bradfield to Reprise "Melba!" At Two Chicago Shows: The Green Mill June 1 & Millennium Park Aug. 30 April 1, 2013 Saxophonist/composer Geof Bradfield's new CD Melba!, which Origin Records will release on April 16, has been a long time coming. Bradfield's suite for jazz septet, a tribute to the great yet underheralded arranger/trombonist Melba Liston (1926-1999), received its premiere performances last summer in Chicago and other Midwest cities. It was supported by a commission from Chamber Music America's 2011 New Jazz Works program (with funding by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation), allowing Bradfield to research the rich Liston trove at Columbia College Chicago's Center for Black Music Research. And before that, there was a deep and long-standing personal connection with Melba's music. Bradfield had discovered her through such landmark Randy Weston recordings as Uhuru Afrika (1960) and The Spirits of Our Ancestors (1991). "When I came up in the 1980s and was learning to play, everything seemed to be about extreme instrumental virtuosity," he says. "The music of Randy and Melba was more complex. It had color and depth and a range of emotional expression. It had a real human element." For the concert performances and recording of Melba!, Bradfield called on trumpeter Victor Garcia, trombonist Joel Adams, pianist Ryan Cohan, guitarist Jeff Parker, bassist Clark Sommers, and drummer George Fludas. This is the same group (minus Adams) that appeared on the saxophonist's acclaimed 2010 Origin Records release, African Flowers, which itself was influenced by the Weston/Liston recordings. "I loved the way their music tied a lot of things together: African music and Duke Ellington and bebop harmony and the extreme use of dissonance, which in Liston's hands could suggest Stravinsky," says Bradfield. "Their music transcended craft. They created a path from one form of music, and one aspect of culture, to the other. They showed you how everything fit together." The movements trace the musical arc of Liston's life, from "Kansas City Child" and "Central Avenue" to "Dizzy Gillespie," "Randy Weston," "Detroit/Kingston," and "Homecoming." Closing out the CD, vocalist Maggie Burrell delivers a majestic version of "Let me not lose this dream," with text by Harlem Renaissance poet Georgia Douglas Johnson and piano-bass accompaniment. Perhaps in part because she was so private, Liston is not as familiar to average listeners as other great jazz arrangers of her era such as Gil Evans and Oliver Nelson. Bradfield hopes to help change that with Melba!, which illuminates what a remarkable individual she was in achieving such success as a woman in a man's world and as a bold innovator with her own style and methodology. "Through the course of six carefully composed movements," wrote Howard Reich in his Chicago Tribune review of the septet's September 2012 Green Mill performance, "Melba! evoked the spirit of Liston's times but still carried the hallmarks of Bradfield's musical language. The long lines, complex themes and meticulous structuring of this score pointed to the high craft of Bradfield's writing." The premiere of Melba! capped a banner year for Bradfield. One of a handful of saxophonists who brings the same intensity and edgy power to soprano as he does to tenor, he contributed memorable performances on both horns to standout albums by three of the Windy City's finest: bassist Marlene Rosenberg, trumpeter Tito Carrillo, and guitarist John Moulder. He also produced singer Rebecca Sullivan's well-received debut, This Way, This Time. The 42-year-old Houston native, who last year was named an assistant professor of saxophone and jazz studies at Northern Illinois University, continues the pace in 2013 with several projects. A new recording by Ba(SH), Bradfield's collective trio with Clark Sommers and drummer Dana Hall, will be released by Origin this summer. He plays bass clarinet on the third album by bassist and rising star Matt Ulery's Loom, out on Dave Douglas's Greenleaf label in June. Bradfield also contributes to forthcoming releases by Ryan Cohan (Motéma) and Dana Hall (Origin). With the CD release imminent, Melba! continues to occupy much of Bradfield's attention. He and his septet will perform the suite at the Green Mill 6/1 as well as later this summer at the Chicago Jazz Festival, which will present him at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park 8/30 as part of a triple bill (with Wadada Leo Smith and Charles Lloyd). "I feel very fortunate to write for and perform with all of the musicians on this recording, each of whom brings a very personal voice to the group," Bradfield wrote in his CD notes. "Their creative input along the way transformed the dots and lines on the sterile page, "bringing Melba! to life" -- and Liston's soulful legacy to the fore. Web Site: www.geofbradfield.com Follow: Listen: Melba! featured on NPR's JazzSet

The Lions have traded Khalif Mitchell to the Argos for Adrian Awasom and the rights to a neg list player. It never looks good when two teams owned by the same man exchange players; and when the trade involves an all-star, I think it looks even worse. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419700

Thanks very much Susan! I'll look forward to these!

Happy Birthday 2013 Claude!

I take it that both the deceased and the author of that obit worked in a language other than English!

Jerry, your post got me to thinking, and I found it here: http://www.amazon.com/Thelonious-Monk-Straight-No-Chaser/dp/B000053VC9/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1364943824&sr=1-1&keywords=straight+no+chaser

One of these days I'm going to get All Music by Warne Marsh, and Asha by Lloyd McNeill.

Does anyone remember this Rod Taylor show from 1971? I was a Rod Taylor fan back in the day, but I've got no recollection of this one, which lasted only three months. Bearcats! The Complete Series - $13.99 http://www.amazon.com/Bearcats-The-Complete-Series-Taylor/dp/B00BCMT3TO?SubscriptionId=AKIAJ7T5BOVUVRD2EFYQ&tag=camels-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B00BCMT3TO

I'm really enjoying this one. A gem. Not only is the playing terrific, but so is the selection of songs as well. I could do without Chuck Mangione's Land of Make Believe, however. I see this one as an Album of the Year candidate.

Happy Birthday Kyo!

I've been enjoying this one today, and I see that it is now up on Spotify. Search for "New Tricks".

This looks interesting for fans of the old TV show Secret Agent aka Danger Man. It's a 5-CD soundtrack box. Danger Man: Original Music from the Hour-Long Episodes - 31.64 GBP (about $49.99) http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001S3OKWW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Happy Easter 2013 everyone! May you all have a joyous day!

Thanks Alan!

I've read the name Phil Ramone quite a number of times in the past few years, but I never knew that he was A&R Studios. I'm guessing that he was the R of A&R.

I listened to this one today for the first time in quite a while, and I enjoyed it much more than ever. I see that it is now up on Spotify.

Happy Birthday JLH!

Lay Down My Heart, the third release from the prolific vibraphonist Joe Locke since his signing to Motéma Music in 2012, marks a complete and deliberate contrast from his two previous releases: the small-group outing Signing, his critically lauded 2012 label debut with The Joe Locke Geoffrey Keezer Group, and the large-scale Wish Upon A Star, which was recorded with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra and was released in January of this year. Whereas Signing had a contemporary, powerhouse feel, and Wish upon a Star was painted across a large orchestral canvas, this new release is an album of blues and ballads which makes an emotional connection via its utter sincerity, and its ability to deliver lyrical melodies which can literally pluck the strings of one's heart. In Locke's words: "This music is meant to provide respite for folks who work hard every day and need an opportunity to slow down and be reacquainted with that certain 'something' which eludes most of us in the midst of the whirlwind which is modern life. I can't put a name to what that "something" is, but if this music hits its mark, perhaps you will know what to call it. There is no highbrow concept here, just some songs pulled from a deep well, which will hopefully serve to feed the soul. Most of them (even the ballads) are imbued with the blues, in form or sentiment. I'm grateful to the composers represented here, whose songs have touched my heart, made me wanna dance, or simply put a smile on my face." On Lay Down My Heart, the acclaimed vibraphonist has surrounded himself with a group of players that bring an incredible range of experience and talents to the mix. His longest-standing collaborator on Lay Down My Heart is bassist David Finck, who Locke has known since their days as fellow students in Rochester, New York. Even before he was out of college, Finck joined Woody Herman and his Thundering Herd. His discography lists more than 100 recordings including platinum and gold-selling records with Rod Stewart, Natalie Cole, and Elton John. Also on board is pianist/ composer / Gugenheim Fellow and Motéma label-mate Ryan Cohan, who has collaborated with such musicians as Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller, Paquito D'Rivera, Jon Faddis and Kurt Elling, and who has had an extensive collaboration with Ramsey Lewis. Rounding out the quartet is drummer Jaimeo (pronounced jah-mayo) Brown. Brown, whose own project,Transcendence, will be released on Motéma later this year, began working with vibes player Bobby Hutcherson at the age of 19. He has gone on to hold the drum chair in the Charles Mingus Big Band, and also worked with Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana, Wynton Marsalis and Pharoah Sanders. The album, the first in a series of Blues and Ballads albums envisioned by Locke, kicks off with the song that introduced R&B legend Bill Withers back in 1971, "Ain't No Sunshine." One of the few blues tunes to achieve super-hit status on the pop charts, it sets the mood for the album. As Locke says, "I just love that tune. The statement is so direct. It's imbued with feeling. 'Ain't No Sunshine': that's the blues." Locke's composition "Broken Toy," is one of two originals on the album. Its spacious one-chorus melody gives the vibraphone the soloist role, but also leaves room for the piano to intertwine countermelodies. Locke says: "Ryan Cohan, David Finck and Jaimeo Brown had such great generosity when they played this one, they gave so much space". And he pays tribute to the particular, subtle contribution of drummer Brown: "At the beginning of my solo he drops out, and the rest of us have a three-way conversation. I just love what he plays, but also his wonderful sense of when not to play." Returning to the classics, the band takes on bassist Sam Jones' "Bittersweet," which deviates from the standard twelve bar blues form by including a bridge. "Sam Jones has thrown a curve-ball at the blues", states Locke. The lyrics to the poignant "I Can't Make You Love Me" give the album its title: "Here in the dark, in these final hours / I will lay down my heart and I'll feel the power." On the track, which fully emphasizes the "Ballads" side of the album's repertoire, the four players come together to create an enduring moment of repose and beauty. The subsequent "The Meaning of the Blues," a profound and beautiful song about loss and regret, aptly re-enforces the core vibe of the album. Frank Foster's "Simone," is presented in a new arrangement by Ryan Cohan. "We had planned a written ending to that one" explains Locke, "but then Ryan just hit an esoteric chord, and we just went with it. It was a totally spontaneous ending that I'm glad we captured in the studio". "This New October" is the second original piece on the album. Locke explains that he woke up on the morning of October 1st with a sense of optimism and renewal and captured his positive emotions in song. He says he thought, "If such feelings don't always last, this new piece capturing them will." The song is a straight eighth-note ballad which, unlike any of the album's other tracks, is prefaced by a solo vibraphone introduction. What more appropriate tune to include on a "Blues and Ballads" album than the venerable "Makin' Whoopee," here given a bit of a twist. Locke has given the tune room to breathe, slowed it down. He explains that "the sentiment of the lyrics is a blues sentiment." A quote from Bobby Timmons' swinger "Moanin" also finds its way in here, "I had no idea that was going to happen" says Locke "but it did and I thought it was fun." The album closes with a tip of the hat to the unique, historic collaboration of John Coltrane with Johnny Hartman, "Dedicated to You." "It's less of a blues, not an expression of regret or sadness," says Locke, it's more a declaration of love." For Locke, the music on Lay Down Your Heart represents as much a journey through his past as it marks another move toward the future. "Working on this recording brought me back to my earliest days of music-making in Rochester, NY at the F&S Lounge, Jenks n' Jones, and The Peoples' Club, where the music was part of the social fabric, and the audience and musicians were definitely involved in a two-way conversation. It taught me that jazz is, and should always be, People Music." Indeed, on his three remarkable releases for Motéma over the past 13 months, Locke has provided abundant 'People Music' and proved that his abundant talents - whether he's performing in an intimate, small group or with a symphony orchestra - always serve to facilitate a lively musical conversation. Together, Signing, Wish upon a Star and Lay Down My Heart paint an increasingly full portrait of an artist in his prime, a portrait not yet complete and to be supplemented by future releases on the label, a visionary of who dazzles and delights in many colours, styles and themes and leaves us waiting in wonder to see what he will create next.

Anyone aware of the Connecticut group? With the release of It's About Time, the quintet of remarkable musicians who comprise the Verve Jazz Ensemble are finally able to bring the vibrant energy of the live performances that have earned them an incredibly devoted following to a wider audience. Formed in 2006 by drummer Josh Feldstein, the Verve Jazz Ensemble features NYC-based trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt, who has been cited by Wynton Marsalis as "one of his favorite young trumpet players." Also on board is pianist Matt Oestreicher, a 2012 addition to the band, together with tenor saxophonist Jon Blanck and bassist Chris DeAngelis, both of whom are original VJE members. After six years of the Verve Jazz Ensemble playing at some of the pre-eminent clubs in Connecticut, the group had a highly developed and evolving vision, as well as an extremely loyal audience. As more and more jazz venues fell victim to the recent economic down turn, the band was faced with receding opportunities to perform. Turning adversity into an opportunity, the VJE decided to record their first CD, continuing the musical momentum that their collaboration had initiated. The band projects a wide array of richly developed voices on the compelling compilation of music that is It's About Time. From re-interpreted Bebop standards such as "Lady Bird," "Boplicity" and "Jordu," to the dynamic big band reduction of "Big Swing Face" (which was originally made famous by Buddy Rich), to two distinct treatments of well-loved classics - Henry Mancini's "The Days of Wine and Roses" and Oscar Hammerstein's "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise" - the deeply integrated group delivers its musical art with incredible style and passion. Of the nine tracks on the CD, three are alternate takes of songs that precede them on the disc ("Lady Bird," "Softly as in a Morning Sunrise," and "Big Swing Face"). "We took a page out the 'old school' book," laughs Feldstein. "We recorded the CD in one session, during one 8-hour day in the studio, and we did something like five versions of each tune. When it came to post-production, we couldn't decide which take of some of the songs to include, so we just decided we didn't have to decide, and included the alternate takes." It's About Time kicks off with one of those tracks, Todd Dameron's "Lady Bird," arranged here by saxophonist Blanck. "I wanted to go 'out' with this a bit," he explains. "Ultimately, we had to work for a balance so that it's not too far out, to keep the listener from getting lost or calling it 'crazy jazz.'" Feldstein expounds a bit more on the arrangement. "There's a polyrhythmic kind of twist to this in the beginning, a soft and subtle polyrhythmic suggestion by the cymbals to drive it. Then a nice repetitive, dependable, 'you can tap your foot to it' structure created by the rhythm section that creates a foundation over which the horns could explore." Taking on "Big Swing Face," a song best known for its big band pedigree, presented the five-man Verve Jazz Ensemble with quite a challenge. "I had no clue what to do with this song," Blanck admits. "I couldn't hear where Josh wanted to go with it. It was definitely something I had never done before." The band's collaborative efforts not only resolved the issue of how to tackle that one song, but also led to what Feldstein says "...is becoming kind of our voice, to have a big band feel, but as a quintet, or in other words, to have a quintet that's really a first cousin to a big band sound. "I love the energy of Bill Potts' arrangement for Buddy's band," Feldstein continues. "It's a real driving big band blow-out tune, the sort Buddy was so famous for. But I also love the melody, and I love the intricacy... the bluesy swing of the tune. And Jon was able to capture the energy and the vitality, the verve, if you will, of that particular tune, and to reduce it in a way that is not thin, that achieved a huge amount of body. It's got tremendous interplay harmonically and melodically between Jon in his tenor role and Tatum on trumpet, with a powerful swinging undercurrent in the rhythm section." Indeed, Feldstein especially digs in on this up-tempo and novel interpretation of the tune, seamlessly blending the small jazz ensemble sound with a big band drumming approach, resulting in a wide open, kickin' tune. Miles Davis' and Gil Evan's "Boplicity" was, says Blanck, "a difficult tune to approach, but Tatum brought in a different sound with the flugelhorn and Matt played his piano in sync with Tatum, and that really locked in the mood." Greenblatt takes full advantage of his voicing on the band's hypnotic rendition of the tune, creating a smooth, rich mood any New York jazz lounge would be proud of at 3 AM. When it comes to the ensemble's pianist, "Matt's contribution through the record is so wonderful due to the diversity of his playing," Blanck says. "He has a background that spans everything from folk to pop to the legacy of jazz to classical and world music. You never know what's going to come out of Matt. He's a chameleon." In addition to Oestreicher's inspired playing, the tender melody of "The Days of Wine and Roses" offers a perfect opportunity to showcase bassist Chris DeAngelis' very sensitive introductory solo as well. DeAngelis, who makes consistently significant contributions to the band's efforts throughout It's About Time, is - due to his many other musical obligations - essentially now a guest artist whose presence rounds out the quintet. The other members of the quartet, the four denim and blue blazer-clad players who grace the cover of the CD, remain as a core group with guest bassists as the need arises. With a driving sound that supports them in the present, and that will certainly propel them into the future, the Verve Jazz Ensemble have taken an auspicious bow with their debut release. An encore is sure to follow.

Valerie, the 1959 card I'm thinking of was red, and the photo was a close-up of him gazing upwards. If that's not right, then I didn't have him after all!

I had his bubble gum card in 1959, I'm pretty sure.

The Als have signed former Indianapolis running back Dominic Rhodes. Here's betting he won't be playing for them the end of the year. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419236 ***** Ron Lancaster, Jr., has died. He was an assistant coach with four teams, and won three Grey Cups. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419226

The Bombers have released Joey Elliott and Ian Logan. Logan was a league all-star in 2011. http://www.tsn.ca/cfl/story/?id=419135

I didn't know that Concord owns Telarc and Rounder.