Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Archives for April 2012

Missing Gene Lees

Gene Lees died two years ago this month, on April 22. That day I wrote, “We lost a writer unsurpassed at illuminating music and the world that musicians inhabit. I lost a cherished colleague whose work inspired me, a dear friend whose companionship brightened my existence.”

The Portland, Oregon, broadcaster, poet and visual essayist Lynn Darroch was another of Gene’s friends and admirers, although, he said in a message, “It wasn’t a smooth ride.” There were no smooth rides with Gene. There were lots of rewarding ones. With Lynn’s permission, here is the video remembrance he posted this week. Piano is by Tom Grant, audio mixing and mastering by Jonathan Swanson.

For more of Lynn Darroch’s work, visit this page. To read my musings on that sad day in 2010—and the outpouring of comments from Rifftides readers—go here.

New Recommendations

Don’t be alarmed by the symbol. The Rifftides staff merely wants to call your attention to the new batch of suggested things to listen to, watch and read. You will find brief items about CDs by a trailblazing harmonicat, a piano/flute couple and a pianist who keeps you guessing—and entertained. We’re holding onto a Lee Konitz DVD a while longer, and telling you about a book by an expert who doesn’t buy the idea that mental instability must accompany genius. The recommendations are under Doug’s Picks in the right column and, for a time, directly below this alert.

CD: Toots Thielemans

Toots Thielemans, Yesterday & Today (Out Of The Blue)

Two CDs with thirty-eight tracks, most previously unreleased, follow Thielemans from 1946, when he was a 23-year-old guitarist with a Belgian swing band, to a 2001 harmonica performance of “What A Wonderful World” with pianist Kenny Werner. In the late 1940s and early ‘50s, when many European musicians were struggling with the style, Thielemans had a firm grasp of bebop. Playing through the decades with George Shearing, Hank Jones, J.J. Johnson, Elis Regina, Mulgrew Miller, Shirley Horn and a few dozen others, Thielemans is astonishing on both instruments, but it’s his harmonica that brings grins of joy.

CD: Mike Wofford & Holly Hofmann

Mike Wofford/Holly Hofmann, Turn Signal (Capri)

Pianist Wofford’s and flutist Hofmann’s quintet set is notable for variety, rich textures and harmonies, and depth of feeling. In conception and sound, trumpeter Terell Stafford blends beautifully with them. Bassist Rob Thorsen and drummer Richard Sellers are strong and flexible in support. Among the highlights are Wofford’s “The Dipper,” a Horace Silver tribute that evokes Silver’s writing and playing; Stafford’s powerful solo on Jimmy Forrest’s “Soul Street;” Hofmann’s drive and headlong swing on her “M-Line;” and Wofford’s homage to Richard Twardzik in “The Girl From Greenland.” This is an album of enduring value.

CD: Matthew Shipp

Mathew Shipp, Elastic Aspects (Thirsty Ear)

The first track of the pianist’s album has no piano, just bassist Michael Bisio bowing and drummer Whit Dickey generating sepulchral sounds with mallets on cymbals. The second track is a few seconds of Shipp unaccompanied in what might be heard as late Debussy. With the third track, the trio is off and running with a kind pointillist post-bop, a suggestion of Bud Powell’s “Un Poco Loco,” lots of interaction and mutual improvisation. This being Shipp, however, a pattern has not been set. Throughout, whatever the listener may be expecting next is unlikely to be what happens—unless he is expecting surprises.

DVD: Lee Konitz

Lee Konitz with Dan Tepfer (Jazz Heaven)

Designed as a master class, the DVD provides fascinating listening and viewing for anyone curious about the creative process of making jazz. In conversation with his frequent collaborator, pianist Tepfer, Konitz discusses and demonstrates the wisdom he has accumulated in his nearly 85 years. In the hour-and-a-half conversation, he frequently picks up his alto saxophone to demonstrate a concept or a point and brings Tepfer into the spoken and played discussion. It is a Socratic dialogue, with the teacher and student occasionally reversing roles. An easily accessible menu makes browsing possible. The audio and video quality are superb.

Book: Judith Schlesinger

Judth Schlesinger, The Insanity Hoax: Exposing the Myth of the Mad Genius (Shrinktunes)

With wit and a nice sense of irony, Schlesinger lays siege to the popular notion that to be truly creative, a person must be mentally unbalanced. A PhD psychologist and a jazz critic, Schlesinger discusses myths about Charlie Parker, Chet Baker and other jazz musicians but also about Balzac, Beethoven, William Blake and Gustav Mahler, among other geniuses presumed to have been insane to some degree. She is not reluctant to take on members of her own profession for perpetuating the myth. She may persuade you that “…creativity should be celebrated, not diagnosed.”

Correspondence: Warren Luening

Rifftides reader Jack Greenberg writes:

Although your site is not specifically a West Coast jazz site, I was surprised that none of the jazz blogs I regularly read mentioned the recent passing of top LA trumpet player Warren Luening. As a trumpet player myself, I greatly admired Warren’s playing, and his reputation within the LA jazz community was such that I thought his passing wouild generate more notice than it did.

Luening died of cancer on March 18. He was 70. The New Orleans native was a professional from his early teens, playing in Bourbon Street clubs with established musicians and other emerging Crescent City stars including drummer Johnny Vidacovich and trombonist Jack Delaney. Not long after he moved to Los Angeles in the late 1950s, he became a member of Lawrence Welk’s orchestra, and in short order was one of the most versatile trumpeters in Hollywood’s film and television studios. Luening had a deep feeling for melody, was a valuable lead player and, when he had the opportunity, a fine improviser. There is little improvising in this feature with Welk, but his mature mastery of his instrument is apparent at a young age. Cracks about Welk’s businessman’s bounce rhythm aside, this 1959 performance is also a reminder of the level of musicianship in his band.

Fifty-one years later, Patrick Williams featured Luening in a big band concert of Williams arrangements. This video montage gathers several of his solos from the evening. Yes, that is trombonist Bill Watrous standing by but not heard in the video, and it looks like saxophonist Tom Scott next to Luening, and Luening’s close colleague Wayne Bergeron second from the left in the trumpet section.

Cat could play.

Warren Luening, RIP.