2011 March 17

Nat Cole’s Birthday

March 17, 2011 by Doug Ramsey

It’s a bit late in the day, but I didn’t want to ignore Nat Cole’s birthday. If he were still among us, he would be 92. He died in 1965 a month short of his 46th birthday. The world remembers him as one of the great popular singers. Pianists revere him. Don’t ignore his singing here—that would be hard to do—but listen to his playing following the vocal and see if you detect some of what helped form Ahmad Jamal, one of countless pianists inspired by Cole. … [Read more...]

Compatible Quotes: Duke Ellington

March 17, 2011 by Doug Ramsey

It is becoming increasingly difficult to decide where jazz starts or where it stops, where Tin Pan Alley begins and jazz ends, or even where the borderline lies between between classical music and jazz. I feel there is no boundary line. The most important thing I look for in a musician is whether he knows how to listen. Fate is being kind to me. Fate doesn't want me to be too famous too young. (On the Pulitzer board denying him the prize the Pulitzer jury voted him in 1965.) … [Read more...]

Wayne Tucker on Monday Recommendation: George Cables
I first heard Cables with one of my five favorite sax masters, Art Pepper, in the late 1970s. Pepper is supposed to have said that...
Posted Apr 22, 2014
al kaye on Monday Recommendation: George Cables
George performed with this trio at the NY Historical Society a few weeks ago. The concert was wonderful. You could see and hear the musicians...
Posted Apr 21, 2014
James Cimarusti on Other Matters: Lilac Time
I, too, first thought of Jimmy Rowles' "Lilac Time" album.It is one of my favorites also. The whole CD is fantastic with my favorite cut...
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Don Conner on Easter Drums
Mr. Suave himself, Fred Astaire. He was one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived and brought warmth to my heart.
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Andy Sechrist on Irene Kral
Thank you for that wonderful clip. If only we had such great television programming available today. Alan Broadbent's work with Irene Kral...
Posted Apr 19, 2014

Monday Recommendation: George Cables

George Cables, Icons and Influences (High Note)

After nearly 50 years during which he himself has become a piano icon and influence, Cables offers a dozen pieces that have affected his approach. They are by, about, or reflect the inspiration of an eclectic assortment of musicians including Duke Ellington, John Coltrane, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Nat Cole, Dexter Gordon and Tony Bennett. He begins with new compositions in memory of the recently departed pianists Cedar Walton and Mulgrew Miller, then plays “Happiness,” a 1965 piece from the beginning of his own recording career. However effective and touching the tributes, Cables’ depth and originality emerge as the main impression of this beautifully wrought trio album. Bassist Dezron Douglas and drummer Victor Lewis are Cables’ strong supporters. One of many high points: a wry harmonic twist to end “The Duke” that would have brought a smile to Brubeck, the wry harmonic twister who wrote it.

Monday Recommendation: The Girls In The Band

The slow acceptance of women as jazz artists is a microcosm of the larger struggle for equality of females in society. For decades, women jazz performers were largely relegated to ghettos

known as all-girl bands. Today, increasing numbers of gifted women jazz artists are accepted on an equal footing with men. The Girls In The Band, created with skill, sensitivity and documentary professionalism, is the story of the women who opened the way. There were, and are, many more of them than the handful who became household names. This moving film produced by Judy Chaikin should be experienced by anyone concerned with music—and with human progress. It is winning awards all over the place, and no wonder. It is not yet on DVD. To see a clip, and for information about screenings, go here.

CD Recommendation: The Keynote Box

The Keynote Jazz Collection 1941-1947 (Fresh Sound)

The Keynote records produced by Harry Lim trace jazz as it evolved from traditional through swing and bebop. The 11 CDs in the set begin in New Orleans with George Hartman’s trad band. By the time they end, the listener has spent time with a wide cross section of the decade’s best musicians, including Lester Young, Coleman Hawkins, Lennie Tristano, Red Rodney, Dinah Washington, Shorty Rogers, Sid Catlett, Dodo Marmarosa and dozens of others. Among the rarities: a 1945 Horace Henderson octet session and the Dave Lambert-Buddy Stewart bop vocalese recordings. The 124-page book with the discography and the story of Keynote is packed with photos. At last, we have all of the invaluable Keynote sides in a comprehensive, organized, beautifully produced box set. This is a major jazz event.

CD Recommendation: Cava Menzies/Nick Phillips

Cava Menzies/Nick Phillips, Moment To Moment (NPM)

Although Pianist Menzies and trumpeter Phillips make judicious embellishments in the ballads of this enchanting collection, their operating principle seems to be adoration of the melody. The tempos are slow, the harmonies rich, bassist Jeff Chambers and drummer Jaz Sawyer finely tuned to the leaders’ wave length. The quartet illuminates standards including “The Peacocks,” For All We Know,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is,” “Speak Low” and Kenny Barron’s “Phantoms.” Phillips’ C-minor musings on his composition “You” and Menzies’ touch and folkish harmonies on her “Mal’s Moon” are highlights, far from the only ones. By day, she’s a music teacher. He’s an executive at Concord Music. The quality of this collection makes it unlikely that it will be their last one.

CD Recommendation: Bill Kirchner

Bill Kirchner, Lifeline (Jazzheads)

In 2008, I initiated an occasional series called Medium But Well Done. It highlights the accomplishments of groups bigger than combos but smaller than big bands. Introducing it, I wrote, “Six to eleven pieces allow arrangers freedom that the conventions and sheer size of sixteen-piece bands tend to limit.” There is no better recent illustration of that proposition than this release by Bill Kirchner’s Nonet. His arrangements of pieces by composers including Wayne Shorter, Cole Porter, Denny Zeitlin and Kirchner himself show that a skilled writer using what some might consider a limited palette can achieve excitement, expansiveness and an impressive range of tonal colors. His adventurous three-part “Lifeline Suite” is an important contribution to the literature of mid-sized bands.

CD Recommendation: Anton Schwartz

Anton Schwartz, Flash Mob (AntonJazz)

The front-line blend of the leader’s tenor saxophone and Dominic Farinacci’s trumpet may recall Hank Mobley and Kenny Dorham, but if this is hard bop, its 21st century attitude is Schwartz’s own. His compositions have a distinctive quality that incorporates disparate harmonies and rhythms. “Pangur Ban” could be a down home Irish reel, if there is such a thing. “Swamp Thang” has overtones suggesting that the swamp in question is on Georgia or southern Florida tribal land. Thelonious Monk’s and Kenny Clarke’s “Epistrophy” and Dorham’s “La Mesha” are interesting for Schwartz’s special treatments, but his 10 originals hold their own in that distinguished company. He and Farinacci play beautifully throughout. Pianist Taylor Eigsti, bassist John Shiflett and drummer Lorca Hart are an impressive rhythm team.

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