Mark Stryker

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."

Don't really have time to post at length about relative merits of Still and Dawson but wanted to note quickly that the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's great recording of Dawson's "Negro Folk Symphony" conducted by Neeme Jarvi is available in two incarnations, one coupled with Still's Second Symphony and Duke Ellington's "Harlem" and one couple with just Ellington ("Harlem," "The River" (suite) and "Solitude." http://www.amazon.com/Still-Symphony-Dawson-Ellington-Harlem/dp/B000000ATE/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1291755478&sr=1-2 http://www.amazon.com/Dawson-Negro-Symphony-Ellington-Solitude/dp/B00005B1DB/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1291755478&sr=1-3 Jarvi and the DSO's equally fabulous recording of Still's First Symphony ("Afro-American") is coupled with Ellington's "The River" http://www.amazon.com/Still-Symphony-Ellington-Suite-River/dp/B000000ARJ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1291755829&sr=1-1 Jarvi programmed music by black composers constantly during his 15-year tenure here and in 1998 took the Still First Symphony to Europe with the DSO -- I was privileged to accompany the orchestra on part of that tour and saw some really interesting reactions to the the piece in Vienna and elsewhere. That music was WAY off the radar for European audiences and and the blues-form of the opening movement and the banjo in the third movement seemed to both shock and mesmerize listeners.

I can think of at least four versions of "Guys and Dolls." Harry Allen-Joe Cohn: http://www.amazon.com/Music-Guys-Dolls-Harry-Allen/dp/B000RPHCNG Eddie Costa: http://www.amazon.com/Guys-Dolls-Vibes-Eddie-Costa/dp/B000059QAK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291751232&sr=1-1 Manhattan Jazz All Stars (Woods, Brookmeyer, Charles, etc): http://www.amazon.com/SWINGING-GUYS-AND-DOLLS/dp/B0019RU2E2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291751451&sr=1-2 Michael Hashim (with Mike LeDonne, Peter Washington, Kenny Washington): http://www.amazon.com/Guys-Dolls-Jazz-Michael-Hashim/dp/B000006KPB/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1291751663&sr=1-2

The liner notes were written and submitted several years ago, before checking a calendar proved that the date is actually in January. Blumenthal told me that the date on the copy he was provided was handwritten, and was unclear whether it said Jan or Jun. It was later nailed down, but the notes were not revised. Knowing that the date was in January, we now know that this is the earliest Joe Henderson we have on record. Thanks for the details. Great playing from KD and Joe on this record -- amazing on many levels, not least of which is Joe's maturity. No wonder he so quickly became a leader on the scene.

Speaking of the new Flamboyan disc, does anyone have a definitive answer to the disconect between the Jan. 15, 1963 date listed on the back and Blumenthal's reference in the notes to a June recording date? My instinct says the earlier date makes more sense, because "Una Mas" appears here under the title of "My Injun from Brazil." If this gig was in the summer, several months after "Una Mas" was recorded, then it would be more logical for Dorham to have been using "Una Mas" as the title by then. In anycase, anybody know the correct details?

As it happens, one of the producers of the new Fisk Jubilee Quartet set is a metro Detroit record collector named Ken Flaherty whom I profile today. He brought the rare 1911 Edison cylinders to the table -- well seven of the nine; two ended up coming from other sources. Anyway, thought folks here might be interested in the story, though it's less about the music per se than about a particular collector's passions. Also look for the link in the right-hand rail to the related story in which he talks about some of the gems in his collection. There are some sound clips in the rail too. Main story here: http://www.freep.com/article/20101205/ENT04/12050358/Detroiter-collects-early-20th-Century-African-American-spirituals

From Detroit: Jack Brokensha (vibes, Australian Jazz Quartet, Motown) Steve Richko (gifted young pianist in his early 30s) Brazeal Dennard (founder of Brazeal Dennard Chorale, fantastic African American choir and expert in African-American spirituals.)

Are you referring to this? http://www.amazon.com/Head-Hunters-Making-Platinum-Perspectives/dp/0472114174/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1291066433&sr=1-6

My memory might be bad, but I think that Turney was functioning as the third trombonist? On 70th Birthday Concert, there's only two trombonists on the band instead of the usual three. Turney once told me that when he was sitting with the trombones (playing alto) he sometimes transposed the second trombone part and sometimes made up his own part. I can't recall if he said anything more specific about exactly what he meant by "making up his own part." Turney originally came on the band to sub for two weeks for an ailing Hodges in 1969. When Hodges came back, Duke kept him on and he shifted to the trombone section until Hodges died, and then he moved to the lead alto chair. Turney also said that at first Duke was reluctant to have him play saxophone solos for fear people would compare him to Hodges, so his first regular solo was on flute: "I was practicing the flute all the time then, so he (Duke) called me in and started playing some stuff on the piano in D-flat and he said, 'Here, play behind this,' so I played behind it, and that turned into a thing called 'Fife.' That was my first solo." The quotes come from a 1995 story I did about Turney when I was still working in Dayton, Ohio; Turney, who was born in the area, had moved back around 1990. I'd post the story if I could find it, but for some reason it's not in the Nexis data base. I just tracked down the hard copy in my files. He was a sweet man, as was his wife Marilee, but also a tough interview. Staccato sentences, veiled emotions, a bit taciturn. Over dinner, he described at various times Billy Eckstine, Fats Navarro and John Coltrane all with the same eight words: "He was a nice guy. I liked him." He did say this about his time in the Ellington band, however: "Duke had the greatest musicians in the world. When that band was really together, man, they really played. Such a sound you never heard before. I was in there. ... I'd be in that band with all the beautiful sounds floating around you -- there was just nothing like it. I can't explain it. It was the greatest experience of my life."

I listened to this at Marty's suggestion and my reading is very different. They have a nice rapport, lots of laughing, and while Jarrett's ego and self-importance are certainly on display (when are they not?) I don't find him the least bit disrespectful or condescending to McPartland. Also, he does not refuse to duet with her. In the course of conversation, Alec Wilder's tune "Blackberry Winter" comes up and McPartland asks Jarrett if he will play it for her, at which point he declines, saying "I don't know it well enough right now" and then, picking up an earlier thread in their conversation, he makes a lighthearted joke about not only not being able to remember his own material but other peoples' as well. McPartland then asks playfully he would be annoyed if she played it. He says "No, no, no. Why would I be annoyed?" The exchange sounds completely innocent to me, almost charming. I certainly wouldn't defend Jarrett's jerkier moments, but this show hardly qualifies.

I saw trumpeter John McNeil once in a small club in Urbana in 1985. In between tunes he noticed a stray Real Book on the piano. "Hey, there's a Real Book!" he said. "Now we can play a whole bunch of wrong changes."

I agree but this can be a little slippery. Monk recorded "Straight No Chaser" in B-flat I believe, but F has become the standard key because that's where Miles played it on "Milestones." In a related issue, you've got the tunes where the changes have been altered -- Miles' versions of "Well You Needn't" and "Round Midnight" compared to Monk's, and I'm sure there are other examples. Coda: I recall a story from Robin Kelley's Monk bio in which Miles comes off the bandstand and complains to George Wein that Monk was playing the wrong changes to Round Midnight.(!)

At the risk of getting too arcane, are you sure that it's a Rhodes electric piano at that point and not the Wurlitzer (or any other model)? Or were you using Rhodes as the generic for "electric piano" such as Kleenex for "tissue" or Scotch Tape for "cellophane tape"?

"Beatrice" and "Ask Me Now" are the two non-Henderson originals here that remained part of his active repertoire in the last 15 years of his life.

Well, there's no bigger Joe Henderson fan than I am, but I remember being distinctly disappointed when the first volume of these recordings was released on LP, mostly because Al Foster was so deep in the mix there were times it sounded like a tenor-bass duet record; but also because the playing felt oddly inhibited at times. The hand of the producers was too heavy for me, both in the selection of specific material and the fact that the tunes are kept relatively short to presumably allow for more variety in the tracks; but I think Joe was more comfortable and played better when he knew he could really stretch out. I recall the second volume on LP being slightly better in terms of the sound and livelier performances, but I wouldn't swear to it at this point. While I don't own the double CD, I heard parts of it at one point and recall thinking that the sound was much improved. Can anyone confirm this? I have not heard this music in a long time, so perhaps it is time to revisit. Frankly, the record from the same period exploring the same aesthetic but with much greater abandon and inspiration is "An Evening with Joe Henderson," with Charlie Haden and Foster, taped at a concert in Italy and released on Red. It may lack the Blue Note pedigree and hype, but the music is way more killin'.

Mose is celebrating his birthday by performing in metro Detroit this week, including tonight, at this restaurant/jazz club: http://www.metroalive.com/Michigan/grossepointe/dirtydog/ It's owned by Gretchen Valade, an heir to the Carhartt Clothing fortune, owner of Mack Avenue Records and the woman who saved the Detroit International Jazz Festival from extinction by endowing the foundation that now produces it.

You haven't read the notes to Unit Structures, have you... Favorite off-the-wall liner note moment: I have a Spanish bootleg LP of Pete LaRoca's "Turkish Women at the Bath" on what appears to be the Dial Disco, S.A. label, though it's released under Chick Corea's name and the title of "Extasis." The notes are credited to J.M. Costa, with a translated-into-English credit to one Nahuel Cerrutti. I can't vouch for Mr. Cerrutti's Spanish, but his English leaves quite a bit to be desired: Here's the best part (all spellings and grammar sic): "Armando Anthony Corea was borned in Chelsea, Massachusets (July 12, 1941), son of a trumpeter, he started with the piano at the age of four and when he was nineteen he decides to go to New York probably to find better airs. There he blew up himself hearing Coltrane or Miles Davis in company with wome people that shortly after would give grounds for criticism as drummer Philly Joe Jones or reedman Joe Farrell." I've always assumed that "blew up himself" was a literal stab at translating the idiom "blew his mind" ...

I have often wondered about Nora Kelly and how she came to write the notes for those albums, and I have always meant to ask Herbie about this directly. Alas, the last time I had the chance, I forgot to bring it up. I'll remember next time. (Also, I'll try and get some clarity on the Tristano debate discussed elsewhere on the board.) But back to Kelly. Could this be the same Nora Kelly who writes highly regarded mysteries (I haven't read them) and now appears to live in Vancouver? This Nora Kelly was born in 1945, so it's possible, though that would be some pretty precocious writing for someone at age 19 and 20. I have always assumed that if it was not Herbie's idea to have her write the notes it was with his blessing. And if her participation in "Empyrean Isles" came a surprise to him, then he must have dug it because otherwise she surely would not have contributed to "Maiden Voyage." I've always loved these notes -- part of the total atmosphere of those albums, at least as they were experienced on LP. And, not so incidentally, "Empyrean Isles" is a desert island record for me -- some of the greatest playing by all four of those musicians, but especially Freddie and Herbie, who never sounded better.