mjzee

Release date July 11: Openness Trio is the debut album by a unique collective comprised of guitarist and producer Nate Mercereau, saxophonist Josh Johnson, and percussionist Carlos Niño. Free-thinking creators who bring a depth of experience from wide-ranging collaborations with the likes of Andre 3000, Meshell Ndegeocello, Kamasi Washington, Shabaka, Jeff Parker, Makaya McCraven, and many more, the trio presents a profound musical offering born of deep communication, immersive emoting, exploration, discovery, and trust. The album is five recordings from five different sessions all around Los Angeles and Ventura county - outdoors in the hills of Ojai with a view of the Topatopa Mountains, an intimate living room setting in Elysian Park, in an Oak Tree Cathedral at the Churchill Orchard in Ojai, a Garden of Electronics in the courtyard of an Echo Park home, and a recording session under a pepper tree at Elsewhere in Topanga Canyon.

Release date June 20: The seminal Matthew Shipp String Trio (Shipp: piano; Mat Maneri: viola; William Parker: bass) reconvened to commune with tenor saxophonist Ivo Perelman, and Armageddon Flower is the epic result. This album is a peak gem in each of their extensive bodies of work, revealing new ways of exemplifying tradition, language, physics, material, and energy. A profound work presenting improvised communication at it's highest level.Since 1996 Perelman & Shipp have recorded 46 albums together in duo and small group settings. But as Shipp is careful to point out, "there's only one Matthew Shipp String Trio." At the turn of the century, this Trio struck out on a path to redefine "Third Stream" chamber jazz via two very well-received Hat Hut CDs. A quarter century later, this new work clearly builds on extensive, musically interwoven personal history. For Shipp, "William and Mat are as close to my natural soul brothers as you can get-and by soul I mean the soul. Ivo is another layer of that same soul."Perelman's copious studio dates - beginning with his self-titled Ivo (1989) - are a continual refinement and study in process whether or not they share personnel, and countless gems reside in his vast body of work. Armageddon Flower is a singular gem in the entire body of improvised music. +++This work is fundamentally a group music; while there are sections of duo and trio interaction, the onus is on a four-way conversation in which parallel streams become oceans of sound, only to be distilled into isolated rivulets once again. Without a drummer but with forward motion and bounce, the music on Armageddon Flower is sublimely striking and operates in a continuous flow of both impulsion and idea. As these four musicians have spent decades together in various capacities, their language is on one level honed. What's surprising is that entirely new pathways are exploding into view. It's unquestionable that this is music of necessity, of striving, and of possibility.

Release date July 11: After 13 years, internationally acclaimed saxophonist Jaleel Shaw returns with Painter of the Invisible - a deeply personal and emotionally resonant album that honors the heroes, places, and legacies that shaped him. With critical praise from The New York Times, DownBeat, and The Philadelphia Inquirer, Shaw is celebrated as a visionary voice in modern jazz. On this long-anticipated full-length release, he delivers a powerful suite of original compositions that merge expressive storytelling with exquisite musicianship.Backed by an all-star ensemble - Lawrence Fields (piano), Ben Street (bass), Joe Dyson (drums), Lage Lund (guitar), and Sasha Berliner (vibraphone) - Shaw weaves an unforgettable sonic narrative that explores themes of love, loss, ancestry, identity, and social justice. From the uplifting tribute "Good Morning" to the heartbreaking meditation "Tamir (for Tamir Rice)," each track paints a vivid portrait of those who remain invisible in life, yet unforgettable in memory.Shaw's virtuosic playing and soulful compositions reveal a singular jazz artist at the height of his powers - thoughtful, fearless, and uncompromising. Painter of the Invisible is not only a celebration of life and legacy, but a vital contribution to the evolving story of Black American music.

Release date August 29: Nonesuch Records releases pianist and composer Brad Mehldau’s Ride into the Sun—a songbook recordof music by the late singer, songwriter, and guitarist Elliott Smith. Featured musicians include singer/guitarist Daniel Rossen (Grizzly Bear); singer/mandolinist Chris Thile (Punch Brothers, NickelCreek); bassists Felix Moseholm (Brad Mehldau Trio) and John Davis; drummer Matt Chamberlain (FionaApple, Tori Amos, Randy Newman, etc.); and a chamber orchestra led by Dan Coleman. Ride into the Sun’s ten Elliott Smith songs are complemented by four Mehldau compositions that he says are “inspired by, and reflect, Smith’s oeuvre.” Also included are interpretations of Big Star’s “Thirteen,” which Smith also covered, and “Sunday” by Nick Drake, who Mehldau says, “I look at in some ways assort of Smith’s visionary godfather.” Recalling how he first got to know Smith and his music, which has been a regular part of his repertoire for years, Mehldau said that after years living in New York, he moved to Los Angeles “and there was this wonderful scene of singer-songwriters that was congregating at a club called Largo. That included Elliott but it also included artists like Rufus Wainwright, Fiona Apple. And then other musicians who had been around for a while would come down every Friday night to sit in on a gig that was led by Jon Brion. I played behind Elliott on his own tunes with Jon. It felt to me like a kind of renaissance in songwriting that flourished for a number of years.”

Release date June 27: After his acclaimed solo album Silent, Listening, Fred Hersch comes back on ECM with Drew Gress and Joey Baron for a new trio recording: The Surrounding Green.

Release date August 22: Miles '55 offers a deeper look at 1955, the year in which jazz icon Miles Davis formed his first great quintet (John Coltrane, Red Garland, Paul Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones) and established his influential sound. This 2-CD set collects 16 tracks remastered from the original analog tapes by GRAMMY-winning engineer Paul Blakemore. Included are new liner notes by GRAMMY-winning music historian Ashley Kahn and session notes by Dan Morgenstern. Limited Edition.

It seems to work. A lot tidier this way.

👌 Nicely done.

Riccardo Muti - The Complete Warner Symphonic Recordings, disc 66.

Listening now to disc 1. Amazing how hi-fidelity, clear and distinct the sound is (including the bass) with just a single mike (suspended 30 feet above the floor!).

Riccardo Muti - The Complete Warner Symphonic Recordings, disc 65.

Yes it is.

Someone on the Hoffman boards just posted this: In response to a question on Facebook last week about Ellington In Order continuing, Chuck Granata said: “ Well, I’m hoping we are able to continue with it soon. Sony Music is undergoing some changes and those projects were temporarily suspended. I’m hoping things open up and we can see the entire series through to completion.” I’m sure that curating and making this body of work available legally and definitively is an idea that will not go away.

Riccardo Muti - The Complete Warner Symphonic Recordings, disc 64.

Riccardo Muti - The Complete Warner Symphonic Recordings, disc 63.

The Cleveland Quartet - The Complete RCA Album Collection, disc 23 (last).

Riccardo Muti - The Complete Warner Symphonic Recordings, disc 62.

Look at that band on Track 9!

1. Charlie Parker - Cherokee (Vic Damon Version) (Ray Noble). Charlie Parker, alto sax; Efferge Ware, guitar; Edward "Little Phil" Phillips, drums. Vic Damon's Transcription Studios, Kansas City, MO, June 1944. From the album “Bird In Kansas City” (Verve). This track was, for me, the revelation on the recent Kansas City album. Bird is backed by the mysterious Efferge Ware (very little is known about him; I only have him otherwise on three tracks by Harlan Leonard and his Rockets), who provides a lovely chordal cushion. Bird is relaxed and swings like crazy. It’s fascinating to compare this to “Koko,” recorded 17 months later. Bird uses a lot of the same phrases, but by 1945 his sound was frantic and hard edged. 2. Brian Charette - The Kicker (Joe Henderson). Brian Charette, organ; Avi Rothbard, guitar; Jordan Young, drums. 2/4/12, 12/3/13. From the album “Good Tipper” (Positone). What can you say about a good organ trio? It’s a lot like a good pastrami sandwich: the thing speaks for itself. Surprised that more people didn’t recognize the tune, given that Joe Henderson is a favorite on this bulletin board. Charette is fast becoming a favorite of mine. 3. Wilbur Ware - Wilbur's Red Cross (Wilbur Ware). Don Cherry, trumpet; Clifford Jordan, tenor sax; Wilbur Ware, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums. January 1968. Ripped from Clifford Jordan Mosaic box; also available on “Super Bass” (Wilbur Ware Institute). Not sure how Red Cross became Wilbur’s Red Cross (with Ware taking writing credit); maybe it’s like Gunther Schuller claiming writing credit for "Variants on a Theme of Thelonious Monk (Criss-Cross)” on Jazz Abstractions. Seems like this track got the most positive response of this BFT. Glad you liked it. 4. Joe Turner - Well You Needn’t (Thelonious Monk). Joe Turner, piano. 2/6/76. From the album “Another Epoch-Stride Piano” (Pablo). I always got a kick out of the fact that, at one point in 1976, Pablo had two Joe Turners on their roster: the blues shouter and the stride pianist. This Joe Turner was a contemporary of James P. Johnson, Willie The Lion Smith and Fats Waller. I recently came across his Pablo album. Alongside tracks of his contemporaries, I was pleasantly surprised to find this rendition of Monk’s Well You Needn’t. There was once a PBS documentary about Monk; in it, Randy Weston demonstrated at length that one of the foundations of Monk’s style was stride piano, so this track seemed like a master paying tribute to a progeny. 5. Carla Bley - Major (Carla Bley). Carla Bley, piano; Steve Swallow, bass. October 1998. From the album “Are We There Yet?” (Watt/ECM). Are these all major chords? Cute tune, perhaps borne from a theoretical exercise. 6. Sam Lazar - Bag's Groove (Milt Jackson). Sam Lazar, organ; Miller Brisker, tenor sax; Joe Diorio, guitar; Phillip Wilson, drums. Ter Mar Studios, Chicago, IL, Summer 1962. From the album “Playback” (Argo). The mysterious Miller Brisker seemed to get more love from our BFT participants than the leader, but Sam’s OK with me. 7. The Kenny Clarke Trio - Low Life (Johnny Mandel). Jimmy Gourley, guitar; Lou Bennett, organ; Kenny Clarke, drums. Koblenz, Germany, 1/3/63. From the album “Americans In Europe” (Impulse). I think the track swings, though the organ can sound a little corny. I was surprised to find Kenny Clarke leading an organ trio. Gourley was an excellent guitarist. 8. Count Basie - Jive At Five (Basie, Edison). Milt Jackson, vibes; Count Basie, piano; Joe Pass, guitar; John Heard, bass; Louis Bellson, drums. Burbank, CA, January 26, 1977. From the album "Kansas City 5” (Pablo). May as well go to the master. Very sweet smooth swing, great tune. 9. Thelonious Monk - Just A Glance At Love (Teo Macero). Bobby Bryant, Conte Candoli, Freddie Hill, Bob Brookmeyer (trumpet); Lou Blackburn, Bob Bralinger, Billy Byers, Mike Wimberley (trombone); Ernie Small (baritone sax); Gene Cipriano, Buddy Collette, Tom Scott, Ernie Watts, Charlie Rouse (reeds); Thelonious Monk (piano); Howard Roberts (guitar); Larry Gales (bass); Ben Riley (drums); John Guerin (percussion); Oliver Nelson (arranger). November 19 & 20, 1968. From the album “Monk's Blues” (Columbia). I worked hard to find a Monk track that board members would not be familiar with. This was probably the least favorite track of the BFT, and it’s hard for me to fault that judgement. But it is interesting to hear Monk not sound like himself. 10. Gary Burton - Blame It On My Youth (Levant, Heyman). Gary Burton, vibes. From the album "Easy as Pie” (ECM). Gary Burton has a sound that I just luxuriate in. 11. John Scofield - You're Still The One (Twain, Lange). John Scofield, guitar; Larry Goldings, keyboards; Steve Swallow, bass; Bill Stewart, drums. April 3 & 4, 2016. From the album “Country For Old Men” (Impulse). I guess the most controversial track of this BFT. I think the genesis of this album was Sco’s love of wordplay, but he probably likes this tune more than he cares to admit - listen to the way he caresses the melody, the voice-like way he “sings.” I remember one time in the late ’90’s, seeing Sco at NYC’s Bottom Line. I sat pretty close to the stage, and was fascinated by how his left hand barely moved on the fretboard, but dug into each note and phrase. 12. Benny Carter - Tribute To Louis Armstrong: When It's Sleepy Time Down South, Confessin', When You're Smiling (Muse, Rene, Rene; Daugherty, Reynolds, Weiburg; Shay, Fisher, Goodwin). Cat Anderson, tp, vocal; Joe Newman, tp; Britt Woodman, tb; Benny Carter, as, tp; Budd Johnson, ts, ss; Cecil Payne, bars; Nat Pierce, p; Mundell Lowe, g; George Duvivier, b; Harold Jones, d. Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan, 4/29/77. From the album "'Live And Well In Japan!” (Pablo). This is one of my “comfort food” albums - there’s not a raw note or bad thought in these grooves. It’s not nostalgia if it genuinely moves you. Listen to that audience react! Kudos to Thom for accurately identifying the audience. Thanks for participating.

I saw Foster three times: twice with Miles (1975 and 1981), and once in a trio led by Ron Affif at the Village Vanguard in 1997.

Oh, what a loss. R.I.P.

The Cleveland Quartet - The Complete RCA Album Collection, disc 22.

The Desmond set is one of my favorite Mosaics. Ed Bickert is wonderful.

Riccardo Muti - The Complete Warner Symphonic Recordings, disc 61.