Moments after I posted yesterday’s Riftides review of Fanny Gunnarsson’s Mirrors, I came across a video of the pianist and singer with her quartet performing a piece from the album. Again, the quartet members are Ms. Gunnarsson, piano: Karolina Almgren, soprano saxophone; Kristian Rimshult, bass; and Hannes Olbers, drums. They perform the Gunnarsson composition “Theme.†This was at the Victoriateatern in Malmö, Sweden, last February.
There are more reports to come about recent listening. Please check in often.
From his emergence in the 1990s, Rosenwinkel has been a relaxed guitar improviser even when negotiating the complex pieces that make him one of the most interesting composers at work today. He retains his leisurely approach to soloing in this collection, which is redolent with feelings and flavors of modern Brazilian music.
on her original songs, performed in flawless English. “Airplane,†as an example, is a love song consisting of a vocal chorus by Ms. Gunnarsson that, in a minimalist achievement, tells a complete story. At the piano she then pursues an emphatic duet with the increasingly impressive soprano saxophonist Karolina Almgren.
Broadbent’s title composition is in concerto form, although it is not described as a concerto. His piece combines jazz and classical sensibilities in a flow that evolves with logic rarely achieved when genres are blended. Broadbent’s booklet notes identify the orchestral beginning as a “forte introduction.†Robustly, it lives up to the promise of strength before a flute, then an oboe, quietly state a five-note theme and Broadbent’s piano begins telling the story promised by the title.
of six classic compositions from the bebop era forward, beginning with the 1946 Tadd Dameron ballad “If You Could See Me Now.†The arrangement has resourceful uses of flutes and horns, a few seconds of delicious piano counterpoint and a lovely bass statement from Harvie S over the closing chords. French horns and tympani announce John Coltrane’s “Naima†before Broadbent’s arpeggiated solo piano statement of the melody. The arrangement has a trumpet fanfare, a section of fanciful dancing woodwinds and—following a peaceful interlude—one massive orchestral chord leaving no doubt that the piece has ended. Broadbent gives Miles Davis’s “Blue In Green†a full orchestration accompanying his piano, a section of unaccompanied solo piano and the quietest imaginable conclusion.
Geri Allen died today of cancer. She was 60. Ms. Allen was a pianist of uncommon technical achievement and fluency and inspired a generation of younger pianists. Recently a resident of Pittsburgh, Ms. Allen grew up in Detroit, where she began piano lessons at age seven. While at Cass Technical High School she studied with the trumpeter and Detroit jazz mentor Marcus Belgrave. One of her early trios included bassist Anthony Cox and drummer Andrew Cyrille. In the course of her career she collaborated with major musicians, among them Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Charlie Haden, Ornette Coleman, Dave Holland, Jack DeJohnette, Ornette Coleman and Terri Lyne Carrington.
Miles Davis’s importance and recognition grew dramatically in the decades covered by the recordings on these four volumes. When he played in an all-star group at the 1955 Newport Jazz Festival, the trumpeter was barely known to the general public. By the end of the 1950s, Davis had recorded Kind Of Blue, an album that sold in the millions and helped to make him that rarity, a modern jazz musician with a household name.
His adventurism ranges far and he occasionally makes harsh sounds, but Polish reed artist Mat Walerian ultimately projects a calming effect not often found in avant garde music. The album is from the concert that produced a previous Walerian album with American pianist Matthew Shipp. Here, drummer Hamid Drake adds energy to Walerian’s and Shipp’s empathetic partnership. Without creating rhythmic stumbling blocks that sometimes mar free playing, Drake abets the melodic and harmonic interaction between Shipp’s piano and Walerian’s alto saxophone, bass clarinet, soprano clarinet and flute. A piece called “One For†suggests intimate familiarity with the chance-taking of John Coltrane’s later groups. The album has no visual aspect except in the mind of the listener. If that mind is open, it may take the advice expressed in the title of the last track, “Sit Back, Relax and Watch.â€
In the summer of 1959 in New York, Thelonious Monk recorded music for the sound track of the Roger Vadim film Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Adapted loosely from a 1782 novel by Choderlos de Laclos, the film’s erotic nature led elements of the French literary establishment to insist that “1960†be appended to the title.
When the Swedish pianist Bengt Hallberg died four years ago at the age of 80, most of his obituaries included a quote from a 1950s Miles Davis blindfold test that included Stan Getz’s celebrated recording of “Ack Värmeland du sköna,†(aka â€Dear Old Stockholmâ€). 
As I was writing liner notes for the next album by Cyrus Chestnut (pictured), the research led me to a remarkable performance of its title song. Published in 1989, “Sweet, Sweet Spirit” by gospel composer Doris Akers became a favorite of Elvis Presley, who sometimes sang it with The Stamps Quartet but did not record it with them. Gospel devotees consider The Stamps to be one of the genre’s quintessential groups. This may help to explain why.
with pounding us into the shapes of Marines, that Corky Ram would have no problem. He was a standout in the grueling weeks of officer candidate competition and then in the months of physical and mental rigor designed to make us worthy of those little gold bars on the collars of our fatigues. After high school in Jersey City, New Jersey, he had served a hitch as a Navy enlisted man, and then got a college degree before he chose the Corps. He was two or three years older than most of us, and a natural leader. He could tell when the pressure was about to cave a green lieutenant exhausted from a 20-mile forced march with full field pack or demoralized after a classroom test he was sure he had flunked. Corky knew how to use encouragement or cajolery to restore flagging determination. He helped a lot of us make it through. The picture above is how I remember him from that period.
devoted himself to helping young musicians develop their skills. After he and his vocalist wife Sandi moved from Los Angeles to the Central California coast in 1990, his playing and teaching and playing activities continued, with young musicians making the 440-mile round trip to Cambria to absorb Shoemake’s lessons in improvisation, composition and harmonic development. Among them were musicians now well known, including trombonist Andy Martin, saxophonist Ted Nash, pianist Cecilia Coleman and trumpeter Kye Palmer.
students. He includes three of them, and Sandi, in his new album named for their home territory. Here is video featuring a piece from the CD, with a theme that will be familiar to many Rifftides readers. If you don’t recognize it, never fear; the band “announces†the title more than once. The players in his new quartet are are Shoemake, vibes; Josh Collins, guitar; Keegan Harshman, bass; and Darrell Voss, drums.
As pointed out in a Rifftides review earlier this year, drummer John Hollenbeck’s Claudia Quintet…