Mark Stryker

Thanks to a licensing deal between Sony and the online source ArkivMusic, a bunch of the Juilliard Quartet's vintage performances are newly available, including the great 1963 recordings of the Bartok quartets. If you haven't used ArkivMusic.com, it's a huge storehouse of out of print titles that they burn on demand and then deliver with covers and liner notes. The Juilliard recordings are also availabe as downloads at the usual sources. Tastes may vary, of course, but I love the Juilliard's Bartok performances: Ferocious attack, hight-wire intensity, pinpoint accuracy, beautifully integrated ensemble with each player allowed the highest degree of individual freedom without betraying the unity of the ensemble blend -- a very democratic, Americanized approach that was one of the Juilliard's signature contributions to the art of quartet playing when the group was at its prime. The Vegh, Takacs and perhaps others better capture the peasant, folkish qualities of the music, but nobody paints a more vivid portrait of Bartok the modernist, at least to my ears. For what it's worth, we named one of our dogs Bartok.

Oliver Lake and Julius Hemphill, "Buster Bee" (Sackville)

Harrell's 2010 album "Roman Nights" is tremendous. His chops aren't as consistent as they once were, but his improvisations are still remarkably pure and melodic, and the compositions are much the same. Interestingly, most of his recent tunes favor even-8th note rhythms and grooves rather than 4/4 swing. What's most impressive to me, however, is how complete Harrell's sound world is and how his band has become such an expressive extension of his own aesthetic. I think that the guys in his quintet -- Wayne Escoffery, Danny Grissett, Ugonna Okegwo, Johnathan Blake -- never sound better than when they're working with Harrell. I'd encourage anyone who has the chance to see this group in person to do so, especially if you're someone who has given up on mainstream post-bop and its offshoots. On a more personal note, the title track of "Roman Nights" practically brings tears to my eyes every time I hear it. It's just a simple ballad played by Harrell and Grissett on piano, but there's an unaffected lyricism that really gets to me. It's the way the melody interlocks with the descending harmonic sequence -- it reminds me of some of Freddie Redd's tunes, which get to me in the same way.

Assuming this is Gunther's Piano Trio from the 80s, I have heard it on this recording where it's coupled with piano trios by Mel Powell, Olly Wilson and others. http://www.amazon.com/Contemporary-American-Piano-Trios-Vol-2/dp/B00002MXQF/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1295456959&sr=1-1 I can't recall many specifics at this point, but if my brain is working correctly, I'm pretty sure it's written in a chromatic, twilight-of-tonality classical idiom, except for one of the movements (can't remember which one) that has a strong jazz influence and is of a different character than the rest of the piece.

I've always been fond of "The New Phil Woods Album" (RCA) http://www.amazon.com/New-Phil-Woods-Album-Mlps/dp/B000GG4ZQS/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1295298033&sr=8-1 It's from 1975 and there's a lot going on -- inventive, extended writing by Phil, strings, larger ensembles, quartet, overdubs allowing Phil to make up an entire sax section, a great version of "Body and Soul," a medley that links "Chelsea Bridge" (Phil plays the hell out of the bridge) to a memorable original called "Johnny Hodges," Phil on soprano here and there. Really an underrated gem.

There were two "Various Artists" LPs, Monday Night at Birdland (Roulette R-52015 mono/SR-52015 stereo), released in 1958, and Another Monday Night at Birdland (Roulette R-52022 mono/SR-52022 stereo), released in 1959. One of those albums was rather snottily reviewed at the time for The Jazz Review by a young composer-pianist named Tupper Saussy, who had recently been a student at the celebrated School of Jazz At Lenox Inn (John Lewis, Ornette, Giuffre, et al.). Mr. Saussy went on to have a colorful career to say the least. It's not every onetime jazz musician who makes common cause with James Earl Ra -- and that ain't the half of it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tupper_Saussy Holy cow, that's one of the more remarkable wiki bios I've ever read (assuming it's all true). Certainly defines a full life (of an odd sort).

Watching Bags play piano brings to mind a number of musicians who are either surprisingly proficient on another instrument or perhaps just dabblers but in particularly revealing ways. Last spring after hearing Sonny Rollins play a concert here in Detroit, I was waiting outside his dressing room to a get a few words with him before he was scheduled to go to a particular spot to greet fans and sign CDs, etc. Sonny has a long post-performance wind-down; he actually continues to practice for a bit and then he just cools out and the whole thing can take 45 minutes or so. I'm standing outside the door and suddenly I hear a pianist start to work through the standard "Where Are You?" The playing was very Monk-like: spare and percussive, two or three note voicings, half-steps in the right hand, descending whole tone runs between phrases. He was studying the melody and changes with a sort of "composer's piano" vibe, but there were stretches that were in time as a ballad. It took me a minute to realize that it was actually Sonny. Then he started working on another tune whose name I've unfortunately forgotten. When he finally came out, the first thing I said to him was: "Is Monk in there?" He smiled and responded: "Well, his spirit is." A lot of guys play drums. Dave Liebman can really burn a la Elvin Jones (naturally). In lessons and workshops, he always plays drums to accompany a student in a duet to hear what the student can do. I knew that he played drums seriously, but I also just learned that he has some real facility on piano. I went to watch him give a master class in Ann Arbor last year and when I walked in early, he was at the piano soloing on "Giant Steps" at a bright clip -- in time and really creating, not just playing simple patterns. Chick Corea plays drums, though I've never seen it live, and my understanding is that the Michael Brecker played drums and I think Lovano does too. Pianist and Organissmo board member Michael Weiss plays saxophone. I don't know if he's told the story elsewhere on the board, but, if I remember the details correctly, he was working with Johnny Griffin, maybe at the Jazz Showcase in Chicago, and returned after a break to find Griffin at the piano playing his own Monk-tribute "A Monk's Dream." The bassist and pianist had joined in (I think), so Michael picked up Griff's tenor and joined them, soloing and playing the melody. Anybody else heard somebody play another instrument with surprising proficiency other than their regular horn?

(via a comment on Doug Ramsey's Blog: http://www.artsjournal.com/rifftides/2011/01/a_rare_bernies_tune.html)

I think I recall from another thread that you're not an opera fan, but Glimmerglass Opera, a fine summer festival, is based in Cooperstown and if it were me, I would coordinate a trip that would include a production. The Glimmerglass website has links to other attractions, cultural and otherwise, that might be of help to you: Go here: http://www.glimmerglass.org/index.html Then to "The Glimmerglass Experience" and then "Cooperstown Experience." I stayed near Cooperstown one winter night when I was working on a story about Hank Jones, who lived just a stone's throw from there. Unfortunately, there was no time in the schedule for me to get to the HOF -- I hope to get there some day. It is quite beautiful country up there.

Can't remember the exact moment but I bought a few Blue Note CDs that had ended up in bargain bins as cutouts in the late '80s, either 1987 or '88. At the time I didn't own a CD player but knew one was on my horizon. One of those titles was Paul Chambers' "Bass on Top." On a related note, I was working in a classical record store in Champaign, Ill., in 1986-87, and at the beginning of my time the store was about 85 to 90 percent LPs and 10-15 percent compact discs, but when I left after some 21 months, the percentages were completely reversed, with about 80 percent the space now given to CDs and 20 percent to LPs but fading fast; the first time I came back to the store for a visit in 1988, the LPs had all but vanished.

Wow -- fantastic find. What were the circumstances around the original creation of the portfolio? Do you know who did the printing and the size of the edition? "The New York Collection for Stockholm, Experiments in Art and Technology" is the full name of the portfolio, and the artists "donated" their work. The edition was 300 copies. I read all the printed material that came with the portfolio, but there was no further explanation. Some interesting background on Experiments in Technology and the portofolio ... http://www.fondation...php?NumPage=405 http://www.fondation...php?NumPage=237 I looked up some of the images and recognized a few from having seen them here and there -- it was a big edition (300), so there are surely other complete portfolios hiding out in the world, but to find one on eBay and at that price -- that's needle in a haystack stuff. Someone obviously didn't know what they had. Very cool for you.

Wow -- fantastic find. What were the circumstances around the original creation of the portfolio? Do you know who did the printing and the size of the edition? Staying on the art theme, my wife and I added to our collection this year with works by two artists who happen to have interesting connections to the jazz world. One is a small oil-on-paper by Bob Thompson, the great African-American painter who was close to a lot of musicians on the scene in the early 60s, especially Jackie McLean. Quintessential Thompson imagery and color -- mystical flying creatures, rich purples, greens, etc. (I once had a chance to buy a Thompson sketch of Sonny Rollins, mohawk period, done during a gig, but it was too expensive.) The other piece is an abstract painting (landscape references) by a painter we discovered in Maine named Joe Haroutunian, who grew up in Chicago and, as it turned out, is a big jazz fan and studied trumpet as a kid in Chicago with the same guy who taught Booker Little, whom he used to cross paths with going to lessons.

I've recently because smitten with the 1949 song "Maybe It's Because" (music by Johnnie Scott and lyrics by Harry Ruby). I have it on a Frank Sinatra disc taken from his "Light Up Time" radio shows from 1949-50 and he just sings the hell out of it -- the last 4 bars of the A sections especially kill me, with the melody soaring to a higher pitch to start the phrase and then working toward a sighing resolution. The song was new to me and I'm curious if there are any modern jazz interpretations (or even other pop vocal versions) that I've overlooked or just plain don't know about. Can anybody hip me to some versions I ought to hear? I've heard Louis Armstrong's take for Decca (great) as well as the version that Dick Haymes had a hit with (yuck). Thanks in advance.

Picking up on Larry's idea, I can't think of music that's got more of a bittersweet, after-hours, world-weary quality to it than Freddie Redd's score for "The Connection" (with Jackie McLean, of course) and Redd's other great Blue Note, "Shades of Redd." Tina Brook's "True Blue" comes out of this aesthetic too. What's the line between junkie music and noir?

New York Times obituary: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/30/arts/music/30taylor.html?hp

This was my list published Sunday in the Detroit Free Press.I'll give the titles here with a link to the paper where there are capsule summaries too. It ran under the umbrella of "a baker's dozen of the best jazz CDs and reissues for 2010." Like Larry, I think of the order as rather arbitrary. A version of this with a couple alterations will run in the Village Voice poll. http://www.freep.com/article/20101226/ENT04/12260412/1039/Top-jazz-CDs-Geri-Allen-Sinatra-the-Cookers-Ahmad-Jamal Tom Harrell, "Roman Nights" (High Note) Geri Allen, "Flying Toward the Sound" (Montema Music) Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden, "Jasmine" (ECM) Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green, "Apex" (Pi) Kenny Dorham, "The Flamboyan, Queens, NY, 1963" (Uptown) Hal Galper, "E Pluribus Unum" (Origin) Bruce Barth and Steve Wilson, "Home" (WASJS-1002) John Irabagon, "Foxy" (Hot Cup) The Cookers, "Warriors" (Jazz Legacy) Chris Lightcap's Bigmouth, "Deluxe" (Clean Feed) Jason Moran, "Ten" (Blue Note)

FWIW, Nancy claims that her biggest influence, bar none, was Little Jimmy Scott. I'm aware of this -- but I was thinking more of the the way she phrases on the swingers, though I suppose Scott's floating quality on the ballads is perhaps part of the same flexible approach to time. Still, there's a lot of Dinah in early Nancy. Maybe a better was of saying it that she synthesized Scott and Washington and was on her way to taking that to a new level of jazz elasticity. Speaking of her influences, she told the The Commercial Appeal in Memphis this past summer: "The sound was a lot like Little Jimmy Scott, the humor had a great deal to do with Dinah Washington, the look had a great deal to do with Lena Horne." It would be interesting to try and parse some of this with her in greater musical detail.

No need to back into enjoying Nancy Wilson -- though I think I know what you mean. But early Nancy -- whew! So swinging, carefree, ebullient and the ballads really purred. Bell-like tone and great diction. Taste in singers is of course probably more personal than with any other set of musicians, but I've often thought she was The One Who Got Away. Her own early Capitols ("Like in Love," "Yesterday's Love Songs ... Today's Blues" the side with Cannonball) were heading toward a really deep synthesis, like the potential to take Dinah Washington to a new level of jazz elasticity. And then, well, she got Vegasized and crossed the line where everything turned overly mannered and too slick. Ugh. I can still hear the promise in later work but I'm almost always disappointed. It's like the sense of taste that kept her on the side of the angels in the early days eventually atrophied. The thrill is gone. Don't have "Broadway My Way." I think I'm heading to the used record stores today -- I'll look for it. Coda A few months ago I just happened to listen to an early Nancy Wilson record back-to-back with some some early Aretha Franklin on Columbia and the similarities were really striking. You could really hear many of the same sources in both -- Dinah, Lavern Baker, Ruth Brown.

Everything about the performance on the video, from the looks to the clothes, the freneticism of the tempo, everything, hey - that's a road gig in action right there. For better and for worse. You go all over the place with the same bunch of guys night after night, sometimes off the bus just long enough to setup & play and then get back on, you crotch and ass get sweaty, you mind goes numb and brittle simultaneously, and sometimes you play faster than shit just because that's the only place left. That tempo is faster than anywhere except MaxLand, and the whole freakin' band is in there. Nobody looks really happy either...weary is more like it. But - this is what a road gig gets to. This is the seasoning that you can't get anywhere else. And now that it's not available, it's absence is being felt. Sure Sal was feeling tired and trapped by it by this time. But there he was, and there he did. Reality ain't always pretty, but it sure can be gripping. Lots of Truth in both these posts. Very well said.

I know about Nelson's concert works but have never heard them or seen scores -- I really would like to. I found this very exhaustive online Nelson resource, including discography, that references performances and commissioning circumstances surrounding these works, but there do not seem to be recordings of most of them. Two exceptions: "A Black Suite for String Quartet and Jazz Orchestra" was released on Flying Dutchman; the early Alto Saxophone Sonata is on a couple of CDs, incluidng one performance rendered in transcription on clarinet. Go here: http://www.dougpayne.com/nelson.htm, then click "discography" and then "concert work."

Walker's autobiography wasn't on my radar, so thanks for the heads up. I'll seek it out; I'm a fan. I do have most of the CDs and have heard a lot of his music played by the Detroit Symphony over the years. Here are some excerpts from concert and CD reviews written a week apart in February 2001. There's a little repetition between the two (I used the CD review to preview the concert) but since they address different pieces I've copied both below. DSO EMBRACES PULITZER WINNER'S WORK The Detroit Symphony Orchestra deepened an old friendship during the weekend by presenting George Walker, the first African-American composer to win the Pulitzer Prize, with a lifetime achievement award and performing his Trombone Concerto. The occasion was the orchestra's annual Classical Roots concerts, which honor black composers and musicians. The ties between Walker and the DSO reach back at least to the 1970s and a recording of the composer's Piano Concerto. The DSO later premiered Walker's Sinfonia No. 2. Walker, 78, surely appreciated the gifts DSO leaders bestowed upon him during a ceremony Saturday, but there's no more meaningful reward for a composer than a commitment to his music. The Trombone Concerto (1957) reveals Walker's penchant for sinewy melodies, neoclassical forms and an exciting sway of tension and release. The music is muscular and abstract but never dry, partly because Walker pits the soloist in constant dialogue with subgroups of the orchestra. DSO principal trombonist Ken Thompkins was an exceptional soloist, playing with a buttery sound and liquid legato that connected the wide-interval melodies into arcs of lyricism. He then played the darting rhythms so gracefully it called up the ghost of the late jazz trombonist J.J. Johnson. SPIRITED CLASSICS George Walker -- "Lilacs: The Music of George Walker." Pro Musica Chamber Orchestra; ASU Symphony; Faye Robinson, soprano; Gregory Walker, violin; etc. (Summit) The Detroit musical community has been good to composer George Walker, and vice versa. The Detroit Symphony Orchestra, under the baton of Paul Freeman, recorded Walker's Piano Concerto in the 1970s as part of Columbia Masterworks' historic series of LPs spotlighting black composers. Walker's "Serenata for Chamber Orchestra" was given its world premiere in Detroit by the defunct Michigan Chamber Orchestra in 1983. This week, the DSO performs Walker's Trombone Concerto (1957) as part of the orchestra's long-running Classical Roots concerts, with DSO principal trombonist Ken Thompkins as soloist. Walker, 78, will be in town for the performances, as well as for a black-tie gala Saturday in honor of the Classical Roots series. A new recording surveys Walker's orchestral and chamber-music scores, including "Lilacs" for voice and orchestra, which won the Pulitzer Prize in 1996. (He was the first black composer to win the award). Also included are the Second String Quartet (1968), the Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 (1979), 1999's "Wind Set" for woodwind quintet and "Tangents" for chamber orchestra. Walker writes muscular music that is full of free dissonance and sinewy textures. He is open to a variety of styles and techniques while ideologically beholden to none. He likes to allude to black vernacular music, but in an abstracted manner. The melismatic flourishes of soprano Faye Robinson in "Lilacs" wink at gospel traditions, and the final movement interpolates a lovely phrase from a spiritual that is then subsumed into Walker's language. Though always well crafted, Walker's music sometimes falls into a kind of gray academic modernism. "Wind Set" suggests a bottled neoclassic tartness, and the highly compressed "Tangents" suggests more perspiration than inspiration. Yet the Second Violin Sonata is full of thorny but expressive ideas that blossom with repeated listenings. At his best, Walker underscores sharp angles with an affecting but unsentimental lyric thrust. In "Lilacs," written on a text by Walt Whitman that honors the slain Abraham Lincoln, the melodies soar above the orchestra like the star and bird symbols in the text. Re: Hannibal The DSO just issued a recording of his piece called "Dear Mrs. Parks" on Naxos. It's was effective in the concert hall (quite ritualistic) but did not translate well to CD in my opinion. His "African Portraits" -- another sprawling orchestral work -- was recorded by the Chicago Symphony in the mid 90s. I interviewed Hannibal in conjunction with the 2009 performances of "Dear Mrs. Parks" that are the source of the recording. Here's the text: The Detroit Symphony Orchestra gave the world premiere of Hannibal Lokumbe's"Dear Mrs. Parks" in 2005. Scored for orchestra, choir and vocal soloists, the work transforms fictional letters of gratitude to the civil rights hero into a ritual-like oratorio. The DSO is reviving the work for its annual Classical Roots concerts. Lokumbe (born Marvin Peterson in 1948), worked with T-Bone Walker and other blues and R&B figures before making his reputation in progressive jazz circles in the '70s with Roy Haynes, Gil Evans and others. Since 1990 he's become known as a composer of large orchestral works on African-American themes. He spoke from his home in Bastrop, Texas. QUESTION: You used to have a reputation among jazz connoisseurs as a trumpet player, but now far more people know you as an orchestral composer. How do you feel about that? ANSWER: Charles Mingus always said, "You must always expect the unexpected." I went to New York in one river and I left in an ocean. In fact, there's only really one ocean. Everything is connected. I'm still playing, except that my solos are played by 100 or 200 people. A classic example is the "For We Have Walked the Streets of Babylon" section in "Dear Mrs. Parks." I employ the ancient technique of call-and-response that I first heard in the cotton fields in Texas. The first call is made by the trumpets and then the response is made by the woodwinds and strings. It's this long-flowing line, like a call in the fields. In the end, just as in the fields, the church or on the bandstand with a jazz quintet, when all is understood and everyone is in agreement, everyone together goes "Yaaaaahhh." Q: How did you get from jazz clubs to the concert hall? A: I had just returned from a three-month tour of Europe and I was exhausted. The night before I saw Mingus in a restaurant, I recalled a day in the fields with my grandfather, who was a farmer. He said, "Son, if you plant 3 inches into the soil, the crows can come consume the seeds and even the wind might blow them away. But when you plant 16 inches into the soil, the seeds will bear fruit." When I returned from that tour - one night here, one night there - I felt like I was planting only 3 inches into the soil. I said to Mingus, "I don't want to spend my life on the road. I want to see my children grow. I want to show more people the power of music." Between bites of this wonderfully roasted chicken he was eating, he said, "Well, just start composing more." Q: Did you want to write for orchestra or stay within the jazz idiom? A: The subject matter I chose had me look to the musical colors that I needed. It wasn't just a whim. I had some influence from my high school, where I played in the concert band and became aware of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and the other great lights. Q: How did you make the transition? A: When I began hearing these strings and combinations of instruments in my mind, I said to my dear friend Gil Evans, "I feel this music coming through me but I don't want to go by way of a conservatory." He said, "Just go to the library." I went and found what to me is the Bible of orchestration by Rimsky-Korsakov. That allowed me to make the connection with my musical experiences. Q: What does Rosa Parks mean to you? A: She means to me that there is hope for the world. ... She symbolizes this river of consciousness that has always existed, and she reaffirms that this consciousness will always exist.

Whalum swings his ass off in a Stanley Turrentine mold on the title track of "Work to Do," the latest record by the Carl Allen & Rodney Whitaker Project (Mack Ave.) Here's a taste, though it cuts off just as the solo really gets going.

A strong second from my quarter -- tremendous playing. Tete, Niels-Henning, Tootie Heath. The double-time, "Coltrane Changes" version of "Body and Soul" is the highlight for me. This clip merges parts of "Giant Steps," "Body and Soul" and "Hot House" from the record: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTTRxczyCMM The other record I return to is a fantastic duo side with George Coleman -- especially for an epic version of "Sophisticated Lady." http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001H4N3S4/ref=dm_mu_dp_trk6 I'm also a big fan of his solo playing, including a lovely recording of Catalan Folk Songs. Otherwise, I would note that I've heard any number of his records in which he sounded on automatic pilot. He always sounds good but not necessarily inspired, at least to my ears. But those listed above are dynamite.

Worth remembering that Perkinson was born in 1932 -- 37 years after Still -- and had the fortune, as others of his generation, to inherit Still's legacy as a birthright. Not saying that Perkinson (or others) didn't ultimately perhaps write more profound music in their day than Still did in his, only that being first was not easy, and the opposition Still faced as a black composer of classical music was fierce from both whites and blacks. As far as the music goes, the Symphony No. 1 is both charming and quite affecting: an important work. Still's vocal music is strong too. The early more avant-garde Still pieces from the 20s are not heard much; the composer actually withdrew some of them and more or less turned his back on his early work -- I'd like to check them out more, since I don't really know them. Varese was a key figure for him, both as a teacher and, crucially, as an entree into the white concert world of conductors, orchestras, promoters, audiences, etc. The whole arena of black classical composers is extraordinarily rich both musically and culturally -- Still, Dawson, Perkinson, Howard Swanson, George Walker, Ulysses Kay, Hale Smith, Olly Wilson, Carman Moore, David Baker (in classical mode), T.J. Anderson, Noel Da Costa, Wendell Logan, Adolphus Hailstork, Alvin Singleton, William Banfield, the young James Lee III and many, many others, not to mention folks coming originally from an avant-garde jazz orientation like Anthony Braxton, Cecil Taylor, Roscoe Mitchell, Anthony Davis, James Newton, etc. who draw on European and classical influences in various ways at various times. Lines get blurry in a hurry and reductive cultural assumptions and stereotypes fall apart just as fast.

Haven't heard the Naxos recording, but I did hear a live performance of the obscure Fourth (1947) in 2004 by the Detroit Symphony led by then resident conductor Thomas Wilkins. This was part of the orchestra's annual Classical Roots program, subscription concerts that celebrate black composers (and performers). Here's what I wrote about the piece in the review: "The four-movement, 28-minute Fourth carries the subtitle "Autochthonous" and the composer said it portrays the spirit of "the American people" (note he didn't specify race). The music is typical Still -- folksy interpolations of blue notes and jaunty syncopation into an aesthetic defined by simple classical forms and Dvorak-inspired romantic expression. The piece lacks the overall impact of the First Symphony, but two slow movements sigh with urban melancholy, piquant wind scoring and arching string melodies."