It is sad to hear of the death of Jerry González, the extraordinary bandleader, trumpeter and Latin percussionist. He died of heart failure at 69 after being overcome by smoke in a fire in his home in Madrid, Spain on Monday. He had lived in Madrid since 2000.

In the late 1970s, González and his bassist brother Andy established The Fort Apache Band, which quickly became one of the leading groups combining jazz and Latin music. Their album Rumba Para Monk melded music by Thelonious Monk with Latin forms and was an influence as musicians worldwide incorporated Puerto Rican and other Caribbean rhythms into their music. González continued the innovation that began when he was a youngster growing up in the Bronx surrounded by Latin music and culture. He learned not only from his bandleader father but also by simply absorbing the music that was in the air during a time when bands like Machito’s, Tito Puente’s and Machito’s were at their creative peaks.

Today’s New York Times obituary of González incorporates a video showing the González brothers with the Fort Apache Band. To read the obit and see the band in action, go here.

Here is part of a 2008 Rifftides review of González and company at The Seasons Jazz Festival in Yakima, Washington, triumphing in spite of pretty much everything.

Friday, October 17, 2008: Jerry Gonzalez and the Fort Apache Band threw the audience into momentary shock with the opening blasts of Thelonious Monk’s “Little Rootie Tootie.” Powered by the overamplified bass of young Luques Curtis and the drumming of Steve Berrios, who had no choice but to compensate, the band was too loud for the hall, by half. The Seasons’ exquisite natural acoustics were rendered meaningless by volume suitable for a stadium. Nonetheless, the music was so captivating that the audience stayed with it, except for a couple of defections, and seemed to adjust to the sound level. Fort Apache followed with a long treatment of Wayne Shorter’s “Footprints,” notable for an alto saxophone solo by Joe Ford that assaulted the aural cavity but penetrated deep into the emotions. Gonzalez shone on congas, trumpet and flugelhorn. His impassioned flugel solo on “In A Sentimental Mood” was a memorable moment of this memorable festival. Curtis soloed with an acute sense of the harmonic possibilities in “Obsesión,” the Puerto Rican classic by Pedro Flores. Pianist Fred Hoadley came next with a solo that was hypnotically, and effectively, repetitive. Hoadley rushed across the mountains from Seattle at the last minute to substitute for Larry Willis, who cancelled following the death of a relative. Gonzalez wrapped up the set with Monk’s “Evidence,” taken at a fast clip and—what else— top volume. The evening ended with ears ringing and faces smiling.

Jerry González, RIP.

Petra van Nuis & Dennis Luxion, Because We’re Night People (Petra Sings)

Singer van Nuis and pianist Luxion may not be household names outside of Chicago, but their taste and wide range of musicianship have them perennially in demand in the Windy City. In thirteen ballads dealing with after-hours life and culture, the pair’s intimate collaboration makes this a highlight among 2018 vocal albums. Luxion’s participation means that it is also an important recording for listeners who cherish fine piano playing. His keyboard touch and inventive harmonic transitions have Ms. van Nuis floating through a program that includes classics like “You And The Night And The Music,” old songs like Ruth Etting’s 1931 hit “Moonlight Saving Time” and newer classics including Henry Mancini’s “Dreamsville” and his lesser known “Shadows Of Paris.”

The two are distinctive in “Black Coffee,” which is delicious for Ms. van Nuis’ bluesy bending of the words “Around” and the song’s ending title phrase. She gives Meredith d’Ambrosio’s “The Piano Player (A Thousand And One Saloons)” just the right blend of sadness and wit. Throughout, she sustains long notes perfectly in tune, supported by Luxion’s flawless accompaniment. The audience at Chicago’s PianoForte piano store applauds with not so much as one whoop, holler or look-at-me histrionics of the kind that spoils so many live recordings. This will have a long stay on most listeners’ shelves.

Why? Because he was Ray Bryant (1931-2011), and a short piece from his 1956 album Ray Bryant Trio, (now retitled Cry Me A River) has been rising out of the past and repeating in my head for days. Fair warning: It may repeat in your head, too.

Ray Bryant, piano; Wyatt Reuther, bass; Osie Johnson, drums, May 11, 1956. Here’s Bryant’s irresistible “Pawn Ticket.”

Our blogging pace will abate for a while. I am researching and writing liner notes for Scott Robinson’s next album. In it, he returns to his first love, the tenor saxophone, leaving behind the approximately 327 other instruments that he houses on his farm. Robinson tells me that he sometimes meets people who tell him they didn’t know that he plays tenor sax. I tell you emphatically that he does, as the video in a 2013 Rifftides post makes gloriously apparent. It highlights not only Robinson’s tenor sax power but also the synergy between him and Emil Viklický, the pianist who is one of his favorite sparring partners. To see and hear them, go here.

In the album to be released later this year by Arbors Records, Robinson’s remarkable rhythm section is Helen Sung, piano; Martin Wind, bass; and Dennis Mackrel, drums. I’ll let you know when it’s released.

Mr. P.C., the musical and digital counterpart of the print world’s Dear Abby, continues to dispense wisdom on the web by way of Facebook. On occasion, we steal from him. So far, Mr. P.C.’s legal watchdogs have not taken us to court. Here is a bit of knowledge he shared today with an inquiring musician.

Dear Mr. P.C.:

When people in the audience are talking, it goes without saying that they’re not listening to the band. But for the rest of the audience, how do you know when they’re actually listening as opposed to just thinking about something else altogether? —Unheard in Utah

Dear Unheard:

Any jazz musician used to scanning the audience will tell you that there’s an identifiable “active listening” posture: Eyes closed, face gently smiling, head bent down and nodding slightly, as if in agreement with the music.

The ability to listen this way grows with maturity—just look at retirement home audiences. Not only do they assume the posture throughout the concert; often they’re so deeply moved that they maintain it long after the band has headed home.

Mr. P.C. has been known to shed his counselor guise and appear in public as the Seattle pianist Bill Anschell. He did that here with Idaho saxophonist and frequent Mr. P.C. collaborator Brent Jensen.

This is the birthday of Monica Zetterlund (1937-2005). It may have been too long since you have seen the Swedish singer performing one of Bill Evans’ most beloved songs. We can help. She was taped in Copenhagen almost exactly 52 years ago when the Bill Evans Trio included bassist Eddie Gomez and the Danish drummer Alex Riel.

Ira Sabin has died at the age of 90. In 1970 he was a Washington, D.C. record store owner and former drummer who started a tabloid-sized publication called Radio Free Jazz. The tabloid grew, ten years later evolved into the magazine Jazz Times and became a major publication covering jazz events, reviewing records and publishing feature articles about musicians. I began writing reviews for Ira when the publication was still Radio Free Jazz, as did Dan Morgenstern, Ira Gitler, Martin Williams and other critics. Speaking with him, as I did frequently, was always stimulating, not least because he was a master of the terminology that survived the swing and bebop eras in which people he addressed, regardless of gender, were “man” and “baby.” Women were “chicks.” Men were “cats.” Ira was full of knowledge, fun and enthusiasm. I will miss him.

Matt Schudel has a comprehensive Sabin obituary in The Washington Post..

RIP Ira.

Scott Reeves Jazz Orchestra, Without A Trace (Origin)

Reeves’ second big band album for Origin features players in the top level of New York musicians. Saxophonists Steve Wilson, Vito Chiavuzzo, Tim Armacost and Rob Middleton are among the impressive soloists, along with trombonist Matt Haviland, trumpeter Andy Gravish, pianist Jim Ridl, and Reeves on flugelhorn and trombone. In Reeves’ title tune Carolyn Leonhart’s vocal is cool, contained and flawlessly delivered, however mundane the lyric. She might profitably have also been assigned a standard ballad with words by, say, Frank Loesser, Dorothy Fields or Johnny Mercer.

Reeves’ trombone solo on his composition “Shapeshifter” hews to the piece’s distinctive character; it is languid, then agitated and—finally—satisfyingly resolved. Indeed, that can be said of the leader’s most adventurous writing here. In his liner notes he claims that the shout chorus in “All Or Nothing At All” has “more quotes than I care to admit.” He needn’t have lost sleep over it; the quotes are logical and fit the harmonies. Knowledgeable listeners will find them clever. Drummer Andy Watson is a rhythmic mainstay throughout the album, performing hand-in-hand with pianist Ridl and bassist Todd Coolman.

Moving on to other new, or newish, releases, let’s not dwell on the customary Rifftides penchant for pointing out the obvious—that is there is more music than anyone can keep up with. Allow us to briefly (very briefly) alert you to recent releases that have caught the ear of the staff.

Wayne Escoffery, Vortex (Sunnyside)

Escoffery, a massively talented tenor saxophonist, left trumpeter Tom Harrell a couple of years ago to found his own quartet. Vortex finds him with pianist David Kikoski, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and drummer Ralph Peterson Jr. in nine powerful performances. Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt is the guest on Escoffery’s lyrical “In His Eyes.” Otherwise, it’s the quartet in compositions by its members, along with Harrell’s gorgeous ballad “February.” Escoffery’s liner note essay traces his own and The United States’ experience with racism at a time when, he says, “the people leading the country are the ones exemplifying the worst in men and scaring youth rather than inspiring them.” Escoffery’s “The Devil’s Den” seems to reflect upon that atmosphere, with the power of Peterson’s drum interjections abetting Escoffery’s intense minor key tenor solo. As Escoffery raises a young son in what he calls “the duality of this country,” the music amplifies the concern he expresses in his essay. It’s quite a package, musically and otherwise.

Ivo Perelman, Octagon (Leo Records)

Born in Brazil, in 1961, Perelman has become a contender for the title of most-recorded saxophonist in the world. The last list I’ve seen has the count at 81 albums. Those are apart from the many he has co-led or taken part in as a sideman, often with pianist Matthew Shipp. Octagon finds him, unusually, with another horn player who is also an avant garde adventurer, trumpeter Nate Wooley. The album has eight tracks or parts, beginning, logically enough, with “Part 1.” All are what has come to be labeled, since the advent of Ornette Coleman, free jazz. All make demands on the listener to accept tonal manipulation and, unusually,
abandonment of strict time. All can be engrossing, even the reactive “Part 5,” which at 1:39 is the shortest track on the album and one of the most interesting. Open your mind to Perelman’s music and you may find yourself intrigued.

Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong, Cheek To Cheek: The Complete Duet Recordings (Verve)

If Ivo Perelman was not exposed to Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald when he was growing up in Sao Paulo, he was a most unusual developing musician. As Perelman approached his teens, Ella and Louis were still ubiquitous on radios and jukeboxes around the world. This four-CD collection combines their three enormously popular Verve albums with their Decca 78-RPM singles going back as far as 1946. Hearing the pair’s joyous interaction, the perfection of their phrasing, and their intonation, amounts to a lesson in not only musicianship but also in popular culture. Even a bauble like “The Frim Fram Sauce” from 1946 makes it tempting to compare this collection to the most recent Billboard top 40. Post Malone, anyone? Bazzi? Marshmello & Anne-Marie?

But what’s the point of that? The point is to recommend this Armstrong-Fitzgerald package to anyone in the market for virtually unyielding quality and taste. Care for a sample? Click here.

More recent listening is coming soon on Rifftides. Please join us.

The admonition above may seem contradictory, since Labor Day was designed to honor those who labor by giving them the day off. We presume that workers in the US and in Canada (where this is Labour Day), are observing the intent with picnics, ball games, jugs of lemonade and family festivities of all kinds. It is unlikely that Thelonious Monk (pictured) had Labor Day in mind when he composed “Work” for his first Prestige recording session. But for our purposes, let’s say that Monk intended this ingenious melody as a tribute to working men and women everywhere. Monk, bassist Gary Mapp and drummer Art Blakey recorded the piece on October 15, 1952. Let’s listen to it together on Labor Day, 2018.  (Despite the cover information, Sonny Rollins does not appear on this track.)

Pianist and composer Randy Weston, who championed the African origins of jazz, died at home in New York yesterday. He was 92. With his distinctive rhythmic patterns and powerful harmonic progressions, Weston underlined the African heritage that so definitively helped shape the music’s development. He frequently visited and performed in Nigeria and other African nations. For a time in the late ‘60s he lived in Tangier, Morocco, and opened a club there.

Several of Weston’s compositions long since took their places among the most durable pieces in the modern jazz repertoire. One of his earliest was the ubiquitous “Hi Fly,” a part of the 1959 album he recorded at New York’s Five Spot Cafe. The other participants were Coleman Hawkins, tenor saxophone; Kenny Dorham, trumpet; Wilbur Little, bass; and Clifford Jarvis, drums.