• Home
  • About
    • Doug Ramsey
    • Rifftides
    • Contact
  • Purchase Doug’s Books
    • Poodie James
    • Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond
    • Jazz Matters
    • Other Works
  • AJBlogs
  • ArtsJournal
  • rss

Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Archives for July 20, 2009

Rifftides Recommendations

In the center exhibit under the legend Doug’s Picks you will find new recommendations assembled by the Rifftides staff. They include CDs, a DVD and a book. They are by:
•A great pianist in the creative burst of his last days
•A bassist eschewing hybridized jazz for the straight but not narrow
•Another bassist, who sings as well as she plays
•A trumpeter at the beginning of what may turn out to be a significant career
•A composer with a keen ear, assessing his fellow composers

CD: Bill Evans

EvansStars.jpgBill Evans, Turn Out The Stars: The Final Village Vanguard Recordings (Nonesuch). This six-CD box set has kicked up a fuss lately on several blogs and web sites. The great pianist was dying when he recorded it. That knowledge informs the way critics hear the music he made with his trio at the Vanguard in June, 1980. Their arguments about artistic ascent or decline are fascinating. But the music is what matters, and the music is magnificent. This would be an essential item even if the price were not about half that of the original edition.

Time Is The Enemy

The following exchange showed up on the Jazz West Coast listserve today. It was attributed to Bill Crow’s book Jazz Anecdotes, although I couldn’t find it there. Wherever it’s from, it deserves wide exposure.

“How late does the band play?”
“About half a beat behind the drummer.”

CD: Christian McBride

Kind of Brown.jpgChristian McBride & Inside Straight, Kind of Brown (MackAvenue). The bassist sets aside his fascination with rock, hip-hop and electronica to cruise the mainstream. He uses only his acoustic bass. The music is latterday bebop, with a few modal tinges. Alto saxophonist Steve Wilson, always impressive, is at a peak here. His unison lines with young vibraphonist Warren Wolf are an attractive element. Eric Reed and Carl Allen are on piano and drums. After nine tracks of hard swinging, McBride picks up his bow to beautifully intone the melody of Jimmy McHugh’s “Where Are You?”

CD: Kristin Korb

KorbMeantime.jpgKristin Korb, In The Meantime (KK). In the nature of things, attention will go to Korb’s vocals and her glamorous makeover illustrated in the cover shots. Serious listeners will also be drawn to her bass playing. She accompanies herself as she sings with pianist Llew Matthews, saxophonist Bob Sheppard, guitarist Larry Koonse, drummer Steve Barnes and vibist Nick Mancini. She solos impressively on “Ain’t Misbehavin’,” adapts James Brown’s “I Feel Good” to introduce Bob Dorough’s “Better Than Anything,” finds joy in “I Got It Bad” and introduces her intriguing ballad “If I Am Ever Yours.”

DVD: Philip Dizack

Dizak.jpgPhilip Dizack Quintet Live In Barcelona Featuring Greg Tardy (Fresh Sound). Dizack, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was 20 when he played a club during the 2005 Barcelona Jazz Festival. Fresh Sound Records was on hand with a camera crew to capture a trumpeter with a huge sound, audacity and polished technique tempered by taste and imagination. Pianist Miro Sprague, bassist Pere Loewe and drummer Obed Calvaire appear to be only slightly older than Dizak. Tenor saxophonist Greg Tardy, 39 at the time, is the grizzled veteran of the group. Superb sound, camera work and direction put the viewer virtually on stage for an exhilarating performance by a tightly integrated band.

Book: Graham Collier

Graham Collier, The Jazz Composer: Moving Music Off The Paper (Northway). The title reads like that of a textbook, but this evaluation of the art is accessible to any layman with ears. Contradicting conventional wisdom about some composers, CollierCollier Jazz Composer.jpg nudges Thad Jones from his pedestal, for instance, and shrugs off Bill Holman with minor praise. He puts in perspective Ellington’s habit of borrowing and praises Gil Evans nearly without reservation. Whether or not you agree with Collier, he backs his positions with evidence and references and makes readers think hard about what they listen to. This is an important book.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

Subscribe to RiffTides by Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Archives

Recent Comments

  • Rob D on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • W. Royal Stokes on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Larry on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Lucille Dolab on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside
  • Donna Birchard on We’re Back: Pianist Denny Zeitlin’s New Trio Album for Sunnyside