Michael Stephans, Experiencing Ornette Coleman (Rowman & Littlefield)
When Ornette Coleman (1930-2015) became prominent in the late 1950s, critics almost invariably described him as “iconoclastic.†In his invaluable history and appreciation of the alto saxophonist, Michael Stephans reminds us that Jelly Roll Morton, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie made departures as dramatic as Coleman’s and each was charged by the establishment of his time with violating tradition. It may be too early to judge whether Coleman’s evolutionary role will ultimately prove as important as those examples but sixty years on, his free jazz pioneering continues to propel innovation. Stephans approaches the Coleman story with the appreciation of a working drummer, the analytical skill of a university professor and clear writing about complex musical matters. Whatever deep academic analysis of Coleman may emerge in years to come, with this eminently readable volume Stephans lays the groundwork.
What would the Rifftides staff do without readers who keep us informed and on track? The always-alert Svetlana Ilicheva sent a note from Moscow about 
Dave Lisik and Eric Allen tell the story of The Vanguard Orchestra and its predecessors. In a huge book illustrated with hundreds of images, they trace the orchestra from its creation by Thad Jones and Mel Lewis through decades of music that has set standards to which big jazz bands everywhere aspire. Laced with commentary and comments by current and former band members and written with admirable continuity, the book illuminates how, years after their deaths, the personalities and convictions of Jones and Lewis continue to guide the orchestra’s collective musical philosophy—even while jazz at large often seems to be shooting off in all directions. Experienced composers and performers, Lisik and Allen have put their academic talents to use in creating a well-organized and eminently readable book. It is a must for anyone interested in the Jones-Lewis mystique.
Mobley (1930-1986) personified what was right with the music and wrong with the culture in jazz in the 1950s. The resonance of his tenor saxophone sound and his gifts of melodic inventiveness and harmonic acuity made him a consistently rewarding improviser. Heroin addiction undoubtedly spurred his early death. From his  beginnings with Max Roach and Dizzy Gillespie through his brilliant series of Blue Note albums in the 1960s, Mobley was an ideal collaborator with Horace Silver, Art Blakey, Lee Morgan, Milt Jackson, Miles Davis and other stars. Davis’s belittling of Mobley in his autobiography may have sprung from irritation with Mobley’s heroin problem. Regardless, in the six-CD album at hand Mobley plays brilliantly. Among the tracks with Silver, Blakey, bassist Doug Watkins and trumpeter Art Farmer are two takes of the Mobley classic “Funk in Deep Freeze.†The set abounds with such treasures.
To the best of the <em>Rifftides</em> staff’s recollection, this is the first time the blog’s Monday Recommendation has been a stand-alone video. The choice was inspired by the stellar makeup of the band involved, the enjoyment the musicians found in playing one of Benny Golson’s most loved compositions and how they made it obvious that they were digging one another’s work. Golson (pictured left) is the tenor saxophonist and leader with Art Farmer, flumpet; Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, bass; Milt Jackson, vibes; Ulf Wakenius, guitar; and the young ÂÂDanish drummer Jonas Johansen. This was at the 1997 JazzBaltica festival in Salzau, Germany. Golson introduces his tune.
Hersch tells his life story with power and resoluteness as natural as his piano playing. Left by his affluent parents to largely invent himself, he adjusted to his urgent musical impulses and, with difficulty, to the gayness that left him doubtful and confused until he accepted it. From teenaged years plagued with painful shyness and occasional bullying he emerged to become a competent creative musician, then an exceptional one. Hersch’s writing flows with an ease that is bound to resonate with anyone who knows his music. He is moving in his accounts of sexual attractions, survival in the homophobic jazz world of the ‘70s, the ravages of AIDS and the induced coma that inspired his multimedia work 
Swedish filmmaker Kasper Collin’s documentary recounts the exhilaration and tragedy in trumpeter Lee Morgan’s short life. He tells the story of Morgan’s rapid rise, his wife Helen rescuing him from the ravages of addiction, and his death at 33 when she shot him. Collin’s melding of rare film clips, audiotape and minimal narration is an ingenious use of slight source material. Before she died in 1996, Helen recorded essential parts of the Morgan story for a friend in her hometown of Wilmington, Delaware. New interviews with Wayne Shorter, Paul West, Bennie Maupin and other Morgan colleagues fill out the tale. Bassist West credits Helen with “making it possible for Morgan to function as a human being.†As the film winds down, performance sequences include, to heartbreaking effect, Morgan soloing with Art Blakey’s sextet on pianist Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere†and his own “Angela.â€
If the seasoned listener heard “Blue In Green†and the love theme from “Spartacus†first, the trio’s evocative approach could lead him to anticipate a collection inspired by the legacy of Bill Evans. But the album ranges further and wider. Peacock’s bass is at the sonic and emotional center of this second release by his trio. His 31–year collaboration with pianist Keith Jarrett and drummer Jack DeJohnette ended when Jarrett disbanded in 2014. Interaction among Peacock, pianist Marc Copland and drummer Joey Baron bolsters the music, although all three perform with plenty of indivdual virtuosity that includes Copland’s lyricism and the shimmering magic of Baron’s cymbal work. Freedom is an operating principle, from the musings of Peacock’s “Contact†to the stirrings in Baron’s aptly titled “Cauldron†and the free collective improvisation of “Empty Forest.†“Rumblin’†and “Talkin’ Blues†acknowledge the music’s roots.
Ms. Lordi is a Philadelphian who for the most part remains in her native city and works with a cross-section of excellent musicians. She has superb taste in songs from times when stage, screen and radio encouraged quality popular music. In some respects her new album is refreshingly reminiscent of the LP era. It is made up of seven tracks and runs just short of a half hour. The brevity has the effect of calling special attention to the songs and to her clarity, centered intonation and intelligent lyric interpretation. The fine arrangements are by the veteran tenor saxophonist Larry McKenna. McKenna’s and trumpeter Jay Webb’s unison introduction to the title tune set the mood. It carries through to the firm, gentle swing of the concluding “This Time The Dream’s On Me.†This is a satisfying collection.
Bassist Patitucci’s love affair with the music of Brazil is beautifully expressed in this collaboration with percussionist Rogério Boccato and guitarist Yotam Silberstein. A veteran of the Los Angeles jazz milieu, Patitucci caught the Brazil virus when he studied with percussionist Airto Moreira and began absorbing music by Antonio Carlos Jobim, Egberto Gismonti, Chico Buarque and others who in the 1960s helped launch the new wave of Brazilian music. His Mistura Fina,, recorded in Brazil, made a splash in both countries. Living again in his native New York, Patitucci bonded with Boccato and Silberstein for this collection. Highlights include Milton Nascimento’s sinuous “Catavento†and Patitucci’s gorgeous bowing on Jobim’s “Olha Maria.†The album is available only as a stunningly recorded vinyl LP pressing sold in a set of what Newvelle calls its second season of high-end vinyl discs. The company does not make CDs.
Pianist Charlap’s trio dazzles the listener from beginning to end of this album. He, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington do not bowl us over with flurries of technique, speed and high volume. They do it with musicianship, subtlety and the cohesiveness that has intensified during their two decades as one of the most compelling of all jazz piano trios. A few of the large and small delights:
Fifty years ago in the aftermath of John Coltrane’s death, it would have seemed unlikely that a definitive tribute to the saxophone master would someday come from a Scottish tenor player. Yet, so universal is Coltrane’s presence in jazz and so deeply has Tommy Smith absorbed and incorporated his lessons that Smith’s tribute album is an important achievement and a moving listening experience. His rhythm section perfectly conforms to Smith’s conception of Coltrane’s
legacy. Young Peter Johnstone is the pianist, with bassist Calum Gourlay and the veteran drummer Sebastiaan de Krom. This is a first, a Rifftides Monday Recommendation with video, but it is unusual to have video of such quality as this from the BBC’s Glasgow studio, The Quay. Here are Smith and his quartet on BBC television with four pieces from Embodying The Light,—Smith’s “Transformation,†Coltrane’s “Dear Lord,†Gershwin’s “Summertime†and “Coltrane’s “Naima.â€
de Valk has revised his 2000 biography of the trumpeter. The new version includes a comprehensive index that is helpful to readers. It has a selection of new photographs of Baker on the bandstand, with family, and in times of trouble growing out of the heroin addiction that more than once made him a subject of sensational news coverage. de Valk emphasizes that the musician did not consider drugs a problem; to him they were simply a part of the way he chose to live his life. de Valk is not a Baker apologist. He is unsparing in evaluating disastrous comeback albums like Albert’s House and a series of Tijuana Brass knockoffs. He places Baker in the jazz spectrum as “…an isolated phenomenon, a one-of-a-kind. He was not a big innovator – he just invented his own playing.†That’s achievement enough, one would think.
For years, it was thought that drummer Jack DeJohnette’s only recorded appearance with the Bill Evans trio was at the 1968 
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€
Pianist and composer Alan Broadbent has found his lyricist. Further good news: in their Songbook, Georgia Mancio sings her words to Broadbent’s songs with taste, feeling and faultless intonation. Their collaboration began after the Anglo-Italian singer wrote a lyric to “The Long Goodbye,†a Broadbent composition for Charlie Haden’s 1991 Quartet West album 
With exceptions, the Dutch singer departs from her incomparable interpretations of standard songs to explore contemporary pieces. They include the title tune written by guitarist Leni Stern, originally an instrumental called “Sandbox.†Sentimental and lyrical, it is dedicated to Claasen’s daughter. Claasen gives “One Trick Pony†a lilt in a version slightly slower and more thoughtful than Paul Simon’s 1980 original. Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone’s “Song Of Life†includes Claasen’s joyous vocalizing. Accompanied by pianist Olaf Polziehn, guitarist Peter Thehuis and bassist Ingmar Heller, she caresses Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood.†Three overdubbed Claasens bring a rich density to Kenny Wheeler’s “Fay,†dedicated to her. A flaw: she rhythmically punches up “God Bless The Child,†a song that by its very nature demands sober reflection. Claasen’s wordless intonation of Ennio Morricone’s theme from Cinema Paradiso is a consummate conclusion to an intriguing collection.