Mark Stryker

A jazz musician could be "precocious," "gifted" or "precociously gifted" at 20. But by the time that musician is 26, he/she could still be described as gifted, but given historical precedent, no longer precociously so. Having said that, and leaving final critical evaluations aside, I might be inclined to cut the writer some slack in this instance. He was writing on deadline and "precociously gifted" is the kind of phrase that rolls off the tongue without you really comprehending the full implications or inconsistencies implied. I've certainly been there. Let's blame the editors along the way for not questioning whether 26 is perhaps too old to be considered precocious as a musical performer in any genre. (Interestingly, painters and novelists could still be considered precocious at that age.)

Porcy is from Rome, maybe he's willing to translate? This is the Google translation which I edited slightly to get rid of a few idiotic translations: Thanks -- scrolling down at the link there appears to be a detailed bio but perhaps too much to to deal with going through a Google translation, at least too much for me to deal with tonight ...

Here's an article Liebman wrote about his time with Miles. http://www.daveliebman.com/earticles1.php?WEBYEP_DI=1

A Nexis search turns up only three hits for Enrico Merlin. One is from a St. Louis Post Dispatch story from 1996 about the second "Miles Davis and American Culture" symposium at Washington University organized by Gerald Early and Elizabeth Kellerman of the University's American Culture Studies Institute and the African and Afro-American Studies Program. Deep in the story there's this: "The European scholar/musicians Enrico Merlin and Laurent Cugny each presented a detailed lesson in active listening as they analyzed Davis' musical evolution, work that will surely contribute much to "Davisology." The other hits are references Merlin's "Sessionography, 1967-1991" in Tingen's book, but from the web I found this: Anybody speak Italian? http://www.riminibeach.it/eventi/enrico-merlin-e-debora-lombardo-quartet I haven't read it but the other book I'm aware of about late Miles is "The Last Miles" by George Cole. http://www.thelastmiles.com/

http://www.freep.com/article/20110131/NEWS01/110131020/New-owners-rescue-Baker-s-Keyboard-Lounge-fulfill-dream?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE The beginning of a happy ending we hope ...

http://www.freep.com/article/20110129/ENT04/101290319/Baker-s-Keyboard-Lounge-scheduled-auction-bankruptcy-court?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

I will say that the quartets are like the late Beethoven quartets in that they are so rich and reward so many different interpretive ideas. I wouldn't necessarily count any single performance as definitive (though that certainly doesn't mean that all are created equal either). I may hold the Juilliard in special regard, but I have a gaggle of different versions and listen to them all -- this is really music where different recordings reveal different truths.

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.