Goading my mind-of-its-own computer as I attempted to force it to solve a problem, I unexpectedly found myself watching a performance that I had no idea existed on video. “Good heavens,” I said to the computer and the empty room, “that’s Kenny Wheeler.” My attempt at digital correction had somehow landed me on YouTube as the late trumpet master soloed with mind-blowing freedom on what sounded as if it might be “By Myself,” a 1937 song by Dietz and Schwartz, with hints of “Stella By Starlight.” Soon it became apparent—before their names popped up on the screen—that Wheeler’s rhythm section was pianist John Taylor, bassist Dave Holland, guitarist John Abercrombie and drummer Peter Erskine. The video, it turned out, was made in 1990 in Vienna at the subterranean club called Reigen.

If your weekend hasn’t already started, this is a splendid way to begin it.

Those who follow developments in the jazz community are accustomed to seeing occasional announcements about educational grants to musicians. Sonny Rollins this week reversed the order. He is becoming a donor. Oberlin College announced that the tenor saxophonist is giving the Oberlin Conservatory what the college describes as “a generous gift to establish and maintain the Oberlin Conservatory of Music Sonny Rollins Jazz Ensemble Fund.” Beginning next spring, jazz studies majors at Oberlin will be allowed to audition for what will be known as The Sonny Ensemble. From the announcement:

Each student’s candidacy will be considered on the basis of four criteria: an audition before Oberlin’s jazz faculty, evidence of academic achievement, thoughtful response to a question about the place of jazz in the world, and service to humanity.

The dean of the Conservatory, Andrea Kalyn, said,

That the legendary Sonny Rollins—an artist of truly extraordinary accomplishment, soulfulness, and character—would entrust Oberlin to steward his legacy is the highest honor, and deeply humbling.”

To read the complete announcement, go here:

Here is a sample of what Oberlin refers to as Mr. Rollins’s soulfulness and character. Perhaps it is not necessary to also point out his musicianship, control and compatibility with the remarkable guitarist Jim Hall. This is “The Bridge,” which debuted in 1962 on the indispensible Rollins album of that title. In this version from Ralph J. Gleason’s Jazz Casual television program, Ben Riley is the drummer, Bob Cranshaw the bassist.

The necessity of reviving the disabled Rifftides computer temporarily derailed the plan to immediately continue posting short alerts about worthwhile recent releases. (See the first installment here.) Treatment at the digital hospital succeeded, however, and we’re back in action.

 

Roswell Rudd, Fay Victor, Lafayette Harris, Ken Filiano, Embrace  (Rare Noise)

Rudd, an intrepid—often blowsy—trombonist, meets his match in the powerful singer Fay Victor. Gusto aside, in ballads each is capable of tenderness that has fetching rough edges. Pianist Lafayette Harris is a focal point of the album by dint of his brilliant accompaniments. Rudd and Ms. Victor manage to inflect passion and longing into a memorable performance of Billy Strayhorn’s “Something To Live For.” Throughout, Filiano is rock-solid on bass.

 

Stan Getz, João Gilberto, Getz/Gilberto ’76 (Resonance Records)

Nearly twelve years after the triumph of their original recorded collaboration in 1964, the great tenor saxophonist reunited with the enigmatic guitarist, singer and composer who changed Brazilian music. They were beautifully recorded at San Francisco’s Keystone Korner. The emotion of the occasion is palpable. Pianist Joanne Brackeen, bassist Clint Houston and drummer Billy Hart are valuable contributors, but it is Getz’s and Gilberto’s album in nearly every sense. Glberto’s new take on Jobim’s “Aguas de Marcos” more than justifies Getz’s praise in his introductory remarks.

 

Danny Grissett, Remembrance (Savant)

Long impressive as trumpeter Tom Harrell’s pianist, Grissett applies his soft touch and deep harmonic gift to pieces that include four of his compositions. The album title refers to “Lament For Bobby,” an elegy honoring Grissett’s late brother. Grisset’s “Digital Big Foot,” bears no apparent resemblance to Charlie Parker’s classic non-digital “Big Foot.” It has intensity and compelling forward motion. Soprano saxophonist Dayna Stephens stands out in Thelonious Monk’s “Gallop’s Gallop.” Bassist Vicente Archer and drummer Bill Stewart meld nicely with Grissett in the rhythm section.

 

Jane Ira Bloom, Wild Lines: Improvising Emily Dickinson (Outline)

An uncompromising soprano saxophonist, Bloom has long indulged a literary bent, with particular attention to the American poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886). The first of the two CDs here presents her with a formidable rhythm section of her frequent piano collaborator Dawn Clement, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Bobby Previte. The other disc has the actor Deborah Rush narrating variations on the same Dickinson poems. With and without narration, Bloom’s quartet may stimulate a rewarding visit to the bookshelf or the library in search of Dickinson.

 

Jimmy Heath, Picture of Heath (Xanadu Master Edition-Elemental)

Elemental Music rescues from rarity one of saxophonist Heath’s major Xanadu titles. With pianist Barry Harris, bassist Sam Jones and drummer Billy Higgins, Heath is splendid on tenor and soprano. Five of his compositions include the classics “CTA” and “For Minors Only,” and the album has a first-rate tenor sax “Body And Soul.” Heath and the standout rhythm section remind us that the 1970s had jazz riches, despite critics’ frequent downgrading of the decade’s importance.  Elemenal deserves applause for unearthing this and other Xanadu treasures.

 

We will have more Briefs as time and other matters allow.

Jazz Northwest host, producer and recording engineer Jim Wilke sends news that this week’s program will feature Wycliffe Gordon as trombonist, trumpeter, conductor, singer and composer. The concert, recorded last weekend, was sold out and people were turned away, so this is an opportunity to hear Gordon in his many roles with the SRJO; below playing trombone.

From Jim Wilke’s announcement:

Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced exclusively for 88.5 KNKX and knkx.org. The program airs Sundays at 2 PM Pacific and after broadcast is archived for streaming at jazznw.org.  The Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra is co-directed by Clarence Acox and Michael Brockman and presents a season of five pairs of concerts in Seattle and Kirkland, three of which are also given in Edmonds.   In addition, the SRJO also presents annual performances of the Sacred Music of Duke Ellington, this year on December 30 and 31.

The promised new installment of Recent Listening In Brief (Really Brief) is delayed. As work began on the post, the Rifftides computer found it necessary to check into the digital hospital. After a few hours of examination and treatment, the restored machine is expected to live and is cleared to return to duty. But now it’s the weekend, and the staff has a full schedule.

Again, stay tuned.

 

I hope that you have a nice weekend, too.

Over the next day or two, maybe more, Rifftides will attempt the impossible—we will “review” a significant number of the albums that fill the music room’s overloaded shelves of incoming albums. “Review” in the previous sentence is in quotation marks because the only practical (practical, not easy) way to tackle this is to write tweet-length acknowledgements, with whatever pithy remarks we can devise that may indicate the albums’ worth. Twitter just doubled to 280 the allowable number of characters in a tweet. Adopting their standard, I will try to observe that maximum length. Here we go.

 

Ernesto Cervini’s Turboprop, Rev (Anzic)

The energetic Canadian drummer brings together four of his countrymen and the formidable American tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm. Cervini’s arrangements include the demanding counterpoint of the title tune. He gives “Pennies From Heaven” a stimulating paraphrase melody and booting big band spirit.

 

Norma Winstone, Well Kept Secret (Sunnyside)

Sunnyside has simultaneously reissued three classic albums by the incomparable singer. Alone, her transformation of pianist Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks” into “A Timeless Place” would make this a desirable release. Winstone, Rowles, George Mraz and Joe LaBarbera together make it an essential one. See other Winstones here

Bria Skonberg, With a Twist (Okeh)

Her second Okeh album proves Skonberg a superb entertainer whose jazz chops and time feeling underlie every trumpet solo she plays and song she sings. She brings humor to novelties (“Cocktails For Two”!), passion to romantic songs (“Dance Me to the End of Love”) and joy to originals (“Same Kind of Crazy”). Sidemen include pianist Sullivan Fortner and drummer Matt Wilson.

Blue Mitchell & Sonny Red, Baltimore 1966 (Uptown)

A previously unissued concert at the Crystal Ballroom finds Mitchell by turn lyrical and aggressive and, as always, at the summit of post-bebop trumpeters. Alto saxophonist Red solos with drama that compensates for a tendency to repeat ideas. Mitchell all but steals the album with a solo on his classic “Fungi Mama.” John Hicks, Gene Taylor and Joe Chambers are the solid rhythm section.

Anouar Brahem, Blue Maqams (ECM)

Brahem plays the oud. He writes, “I simply began in my usual way. Letting the ideas come in of their own accord…” Bassist Dave Holland, drummer Jack DeJohnette and pianist Django Bates help those ideas to blossom. The extraordinary rhythm section enhances a relaxed exotica. For his soft touch and canny harmonies, Bates was a perfect choice.

Dick Hyman, Solo at the Sacramento Jazz Festivals 1983-1988 (Arbors)

This compilation is a summary of the pianist’s astonishing ability. The 16 pieces encompass what may seem polar opposites, e.g. Victor Young’s “Stella By Starlight” and James P. Johnson’s “Carolina Balmoral.” He plays them all brilliantly. His kaleidoscopic “All The Things You Are” is a hoot. So is Wagner’s (via Donald Lambert) “Pilgrim’s Chorus.”

Mark Whitfield, Live & Uncut (Chesky)

The guitarist went into the studio with bassist Ben Allison, old pal Billy Drummond on drums and an audience. In skittering single-note lines, and in deep, rich chords, Whitfield plays standard songs, Monk’s “Jackie-ing,” and originals by trio members. The opening “Without a Song” sets a high criterion that they observe throughout.

Sine Eeg, Dreams (artistShare)

Dreams is an ideal way to meet this remarkable Danish singer. She includes Cole Porter, Rodgers and Hart and Gene DePaul, but her original songs are equally important introductions to her vocal quality, flexibility and musicianship. Fellow Dane Jacob Christoffersen is on piano, with guitarist Larry Koonse, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Joey Baron. Ms. Eeg amusingly converts “Anything Goes” into commentary on current politics

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Okay, I occasionally went beyond 280 words. I’ll try to watch that next time. Stay tuned for more briefs.

The Chicago avant garde jazz patriarch Muhal Richard Abrams died today at 87. Named a National Endowment of The Arts Jazz Master in 2010, the pianist, composer and bandleader was at the center of Chicago’s free jazz movement, which was formalized in 1965 when he co-founded the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians. The Art Ensemble of Chicago became the best-known group that grew out of the AACM. Freedom and unfettered imagination were the hallmarks of Mr. Abrams’ piano improvisation, but he never abandoned his ability to summon the styles and spirits of Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell, avatars of bebop.

Over the years, Abrams led several groups, including the one he called The Experimental Band. When he led it at the Chicago Jazz Festival in 2015, it included a number of the leading lights of the free jazz movement. Our excerpt from that concert has Abrams and Amina Claudine Myers, piano; Roscoe Mitchell and Henry Threadgill, alto saxophone; LaRoy Wallace McMillan, baritone saxophone; Wadada Leo Smith, trumpet; George Lewis, trombone; Leonard Jones, bass; Thurman Barker, drums and vibraphone; and Reggie Nicholson, drums and marimba.

The Abrams family has said that they will not have a funeral, but will hold memorial services in Chicago and New York. Details are to be announced later.

Reflecting on the recent Rifftides review of the Masters of The Vibes book, and on his teaching of jazz improvisation, Charlie Shoemake wrote,

A couple of things:

In all my teaching (including currently), I have never used the now-prevalent modal titles for scales (Dorian, Lydian, etc.). There are two reasons. One, none of the people from whom I learned ever once used that language. And two, it makes things much more complicated than necessary. There are four big-deal scales that cover 99% of all harmony. They are the major, the harmonic minor, the melodic minor, and the diminished. Yes, there are also the blues, whole tone, and pentatonic scales, but they have little to do with chord changes. To call the C major scale starting on D “the Dorian mode” seems silly to me, just adding an unnecessary title.

Now an anecdote:

Many years ago Tom Stevens, the principal trumpet player with the L.A Philharmonic and a friend of ours, loved jazz and my method of teaching. He asked the other members of the Philharmonic trumpet section to play the A-flat major scale but start it on D-flat. They all screwed it up. The reason was that, except for jazz players, musicians just learn their scales only from the root. I could rant for hours about the current ‘academic’ way of teaching harmony, but I’ll leave it to the success of Ted Nash, Andy Martin and many others to prove my point.

Major soloists, Nash in New York and Martin in Los Angeles are two of the dozens of musicians who have studied with Shoemake.

Thomas Stevens was the L.A. Philharmonic’s principal trumpet from 1972 to 2000.

The American pianist Rob Bargad lives with his family in a country village in southern Austria and has become a vital part of his adopted country’s culture. The former Nat Adderley, Lionel Hampton and Jimmy Cobb sideman started a record company to help bring recognition to musicians who live and work in Austria. His Barnette label’s Jazz Piano Austria, vol. 1 presents pianists prominent in the Austrian jazz community but less known outside Europe. Among them are Sava Militec, Geri Schuller, Philippine Duchateau and Harald Neuwirth. Here is Neuwirth’s version of Thelonious Monk’s “Pannonica.” Milan Nikolic is the bassist, Vladimir Kostadinovic the drummer.

Immediately to the west of the Rifftides World Headquarters deck is a large Red Maple in full glory. Sometimes these trees are called Sunset Maples. Naturally, since this blog is devoted to jazz and other matters, the Rifftides staff insisted on accompanying shots of the trees with a song featured on this blog virtually every autumn for a dozen years.

Our rough count shows that, all told, there have been 87 recordings of “Autumn Leaves,” although that seems a low estimate. The question this time around was, which version? We had no problem ruling out pop pianist Roger Williams playing annoying descending arpeggios to simulate falling leaves—a million seller in the 1950s— or the Arabic version “بيذكر بالخريف” by the singer Fairouz, despite her cool voice and good tenor sax, trombone and piano solos—or the enormously popular Melachrino Strings, with harp interjections that are only marginally less schmaltzy than Roger Williams’s arpeggios. All of those are accessible on YouTube, if you’re determined to hear them.

No, we’ll stay with jazz versions, just two from among dozens and dozens of possibilities. We thought it would make sense to start with a vocalist because Johnny Mercer’s lyric in English is as important to the song’s success as were the French words Jacques Prévert put to Joseph Kosma’s composition. Here is Eva Cassidy (1963-1996) singing “Autumn Leaves” in an appearance at the Washington, DC, club Blues Alley ten months before she died of melanoma.

 

A name pops up and triggers memories. Among the October 22 birthdays listed in today’s JazzWestCoast listserve was that of John Neves. Not widely known elsewhere, Neves was treasured in Boston as a standout bassist with a big sound and an untutored harmonic gift. He played for 13 years in Herb Pomeroy’s big band and taught at the Berklee College of Music. After Neves died in 1988 at the age of 57, Pomeroy said of him, “John was an exceptional musician, an instinctual player.” Pianist Hal Galper expanded on that, telling the Boston jazz historian Richard Vacca,

He played completely by ear. He didn’t know any theory. Sometimes if you asked him to play a chorus of blues in F, you had to give him the F first. And once you gave him the F, he could play anything under the sun. He was amazing.

Rarely recorded, Neves made a Savoy album with the vibraphonist John Rae and worked on occasion with Gerry Mulligan, Jaki Byard, Marian McPartland, Maynard Ferguson and George Shearing. He was in the rhythm section of the album that Stan Getz and Bob Brookmeyer recorded in 1961 as a reprise of their early 1950s collaboration. From that album, here is “Minuet Circa ’61.” Brookmeyer, valve trombone and composer; Getz, tenor saxophone; Steve Kuhn, piano; John Neves, bass; Roy Haynes, drums.

Dizzy Gillespie was born in Cheraw, South Carolina, 100 years ago today. Aren’t you glad? On an anniversary so auspicious, the Rifftides staff debated whether to attempt some sort of omnibus review of the career of a man so vital to the development and creative expansion of jazz. No, we decided, let’s keep it simple and remember him in a milieu that he loved.

We’ll hear Gillespie in 1960 in the company of five of his peers: J.J. Johnson, trombone; Stan Getz, tenor saxophone; Victor Feldman, piano; Sam Jones, bass; and Louis Hayes, drums. The occasion was a Jazz At The Philharmonic concert in Stockholm, Sweden in 1960. They play “Blue N’ Boogie,” which he wrote in 1945. It’s one of many Gillespie compositions that enriched and continue to enrich the jazz repertoire.

Anthony Smith, Masters of The Vibes (Marimba Productions, Inc.)

Smith’s book includes a timeline that traces the history of the vibraphone, which early in its life began to be popularly known to its players and to listeners simply as vibes or the vibes. The greater part of the book consists of Smith’s transcribed conversations with 34 vibes players—famous ones like Terry Gibbs, Gary Burton, Charlie Shoemake and Warren Wolf, and newcomers including Yuhan Su, Joel Ross and Jake Chapman.

As for that timeline, in 1918 the Leedy company patented an instrument called the vibraphone. They began manufacturing it in the early 1920s. Lou Chiha, a vaudeville performer known as “Signor Frisco,” used it in his novelty act. His popular recordings of pieces like “Aloha Oe” and “Gypsy Love Song” brought the unusual metal keyboard instrument to prominence. If you have forgotten or never knew the joys of surface noise on early 78-rpm recordings, the YouTube contributor who calls him-, her- or itself “acousticedison” gives you plenty of it as you hear Chiha play “Gypsy Love Song.”

The poet Richard Wilbur died over the weekend. He was 96. A former poet laureate of The United States and the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, Wilbur was praised and criticized for the consistency of form in his poems, which were beloved, and sometimes condemned, in the poetry world for being orderly and following classic styles; sonnet, terza rima, couplet, et al, but—to my knowledge—never free verse or blank verse.

When I first read it decades ago, this poem became a favorite among Wilbur’s work.

 

MIND

Mind in its purest play is like some bat
That beats about in caverns all alone,
Contriving by a kind of senseless wit
Not to conclude against a wall of stone.

It has no need to falter or explore;
Darkly it knows what obstacles are there,
And so may weave and flitter, dip and soar
In perfect courses through the blackest air.

And has this simile a like perfection?
The mind is like a bat. Precisely. Save
That in the very happiest intellection
A graceful error may correct the cave.

©Richard Wilbur, 1963 The Poems of Richard Wilbur

National Public Radio’s obituary of Wilbur includes two more of his finest poems. He is worth knowing.

 

Of course, you are not superstitious about Friday the 13^th; it’s all of those silly other people. Thelonious Monk must not have been worried by it, or he wouldn’t have named a composition after this notoriously risky day. Its performance was one of the highlights of his celebrated recording made at New York’s Town Hall in February of 1959.

The other musicians in the ten-piece ensemble were Donald Byrd, trumpet; Eddie Bert, trombone; Robert Northern, French horn; Jay McCallister, tuba; Phil Woods, alto sax; Charlie Rouse, tenor sax; Pepper Adams, baritone sax; Sam Jones, bass; and Art Taylor, drums. The arrangement is by Hall Overton. The order of solos is Rouse, Monk, Woods and Byrd.

Grady Tate died on Sunday at his home in New York City. He was 85. His wife Vivian said that he had dementia. In demand for years as a drummer, he was encouraged by Peggy Lee to begin singing publicly and launched a new career as a vocalist. Tate’s professional debut was with the organist Wild Bill Davis in 1959. In the decades that followed, he worked with major jazz artists including Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Oliver Nelson, Ella Fitzgerald, Blossom Dearie, Lena Horne, Wes Montgomery, Stan Getz, J.J. Johnson, Zoot Sims and dozens of others. When he was in Ms. Lee’s rhythm section for a 1968 New York club engagement, she invited him to sing. Soon, he was loved as a singer by listeners around the world who may have known nothing of his prominence as a drummer.

Among Tate’s collaborations were those with the singer and songwriter Nancy Harrow. He was prominent in her albums Maya The Bee, The Marble Faun and Winter Dreams: The Life and Passions of F. Scott Fitzgerald. Here, he sings “My Lost City” from the Fitzgerald album.

Rifftides readers may recall that three years ago I was asked to spend a few days in Los Angeles interviewing Bill Holman for a documentary about his life and music. The dean of living jazz arrangers is 90 years old, still at the helm of his big band and the idol of arrangers around the world who continue to benefit from his example. The film, produced by his step-daughter Kathryn King—a seasoned information and video pro—is unfinished because its budget is underfunded. Ms. King has reinvigorated her financing campaign.

As I wrote in 2014 after returning from my participation in the filming,

That is how many arts projects are accomplished these days when they don’t have the backing of big investors. As one who in his television days wrote and produced a number of documentaries, I was impressed with the skill and savvy of Ms. King, her director Gil Gilbert and their helpers. She has put herself on a tight schedule to complete the funding. I wish her well. It should be self-evident that Bill Holman’s accomplishments and his enrichment of America’s culture—and the world’s—need documentation.

I hope that Rifftides readers who cherish Bill Holman’s indispensable contribution to the music will give serious consideration to Ms. King’s plea for support. This video has her message.