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Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

Recent Listening: The New David Friesen Trio CD

David Friesen Circle 3 Trio: Interaction (Origin)

Among the dozens of recent releases that deserve serious attention, a few will get it. Among those those receiving it here is bassist David Friesen’s new album.  From the Portland, Oregon, sinecure in which he thrives when he’s not touring the world, bassist Friesen has been performing at home and abroad with his Circle 3 Trio. They are Friesen on bass and Charlie Doggett or Reuben Bradley playing drums. They live in Portland, Oregon, for many years a west coast center of US jazz activity. Nearly from the moment he started playing bass when he was nineteen, Friesen has attracted attention with his drive, harmonic acuity and ability to create new melodies when he solos. if anything, in his late seventies he has added to his resourcefulness and power. In this new two-CD collection, whether the trio is in a Portland studio or performing live at Vienna’s Porgy and Bess club, their interaction more than justifies the album’s title. The instrumentation is spare, but the close attention the musicians pay one another and the varied pace and content of Friesen’s 23 compositions command attention. “Going Forth” is one his more understated pieces.

When Rifftides returns (tomorrow, with luck) we plan to revisit the new Friesen album, and tell you about other recent releases. Please join us.

CD: Joseph Daley

Joseph Daley Earth Tones Ensemble, The Seven Deadly Sins (Jaro).

Inspired by Wade Schulman paintings, Daley wrote orchestral impressions of the sins. To the veteran composer and tubist, earth tones mean low notes. Anchored by tubas, bass saxophone, contrabass sax, contrabass clarinet, contrabass violin and bass trombone, Daley’s variegated writing nonetheless encompasses a full range of orchestral sounds for reeds, brass and percussion. New York stars including Bob Stewart, Scott Robinson, Earl McIntyre and Lou Soloff play it beautifully. Soloff leads the trumpets in a wild plunger-mute depiction of lust. A DVD available from Jaro traces the creation of the music. To see a preview, go here and scroll down.

CD: Nat Cole

Nat King Cole, The Forgotten 1949 Carnegie Hall Concert (Hep).

Cole’s trio and the Woody Herman Second Herd teamed up for a successful concert tour, with Carnegie Hall a high spot. It was recorded but never before issued. Now, here it is, with Cole’s singing and piano playing at a high level. He included many of his famous numbers—“Sweet Lorraine,” “Lush Life,” Body and Soul,” “Bop Kick” among them—and a terrific new piece called “Cuba Libre” by the trio and bongoist Jack Costanzo. Herman’s band shows up only on a supercharged “More Moon.” It ends the CD so powerfully that we can hope there is more Herman from this occasion.

CD: Orrin Evans

Orrin Evans, Captain Black Big Band (Positone). On last year’s Tarbaby: The End of Fear, Evans was the intrepid pianist in an adventurous trio. Here, he is at the helm of a 16-piece band staffed by New Yorkers and Philadelphians, some of them up-and-comers, a few semi-grizzled veterans, all full of fire. Busy conducting, Evans solos on only one piece, but there is no shortage of impressive soloists in this live recording. Among them are saxophonists Jaleel Shaw and Ralph Bowen, trumpeter Tatum Greenblatt and pianist Neal Podgurski. Evans’ supercharged “Jena 6” is a tour de force for the band at large and, notably, for Shaw.

CD: Jessica Williams

Jessica Williams, Freedom Trane (Origin). The pianist has concentrated on solo performance lately but returns to the trio format by way of this paean to John Coltrane. Accompanied by bassist Dave Captein and drummer Mel Brown, Williams explores four pieces by Coltrane and four of her own that pay tribute to the man she has long acknowledged as a major musical and spiritual inspiration. In her notes, she calls him “my light through the darkness.” There is no darkness in the title tune, indeed none anywhere in this sunny album, which has stunning pianism, great rapport among the musicians and a powerful, affecting “Naima.”

CD: Stan Getz

Stan Getz Quintets: The Clef & Norgran Studio Albums (Verve). This beautifully packaged and remastered box set has the nonpareil Getz 1953-1955 quintet sides with valve trombonist Bob Brookmeyer and pianist John Williams. It also contains the two rarities with trumpeter Tony Fruscella subbing for Brookmeyer; the 1952 tracks with Jimmy Raney, Duke Jordan, Bill Crow and Frank Isola; and the 1954 quartet date with Jimmy Rowles, Bob Whitlock and Max Roach. These are benchmark recordings by the tenor saxophonist at the peak of his lyricism. There has never been anything else quite like the magic Getz and Brookmeyer made together when Williams was in the piano chair.

Doug Ramsey

Doug is a recipient of the lifetime achievement award of the Jazz Journalists Association. He lives in the Pacific Northwest, where he settled following a career in print and broadcast journalism in cities including New York, New Orleans, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, San Antonio, … [MORE]

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