Cecil Taylor, a pianist who fashioned his music from myriad styles and sources, died yesterday in New York. He was 89. From his earliest recordings in the mid-1950s with bassist Buell Nieidlinger, drummer Dennis Charles and soprano saxophonist Steve Lacy, Taylor pursued daring and swam upstream against jazz orthodoxy. This is how critic Ben Ratliff put it in an obituary in today’s New York Times.
At the center of his art was that dazzling physicality and the percussiveness of his playing — his deep, serene, Ellingtonian chords and hummingbird attacks above middle C — which held true well into his 80s.
Affirming that characterization and Taylor’s mastery of piano technique, here he is in a free improvisation in 1981, when he was 48. Close listening discloses those deep chords and a few bebop allusions that may have been whimsical; with Taylor, it was often hard to be sure.
To read all of Ben Ratliff’s comprehensive Taylor obituary—which is full of insights—go here.
Cecil Taylor, RIP.
Composer, saxophonist, bandleader and author Bill Kirchner is the subject of two new articles that recognize his decades of creativity. One piece is in the new issue of Allegro, the magazine of New York’s American Federation of Musicians local 802. The other is in the Canadian bassist Steve Wallace’s admired weblog. In his extensive evaluation of Kirchner’s career, Wallace writes,
It would be tempting to attach a video clip to each of those names, but we don’t want to keep you up all night. Let’s be arbitrary and let Scott LaFaro be the surrogate birthday artist for all 26 of the performers born on this day. His composition “Gloria’s Step†is one of the pieces that LaFaro played with pianist Bill Evans’ trio in their celebrated Sunday at the Village Vanguard performances of 1961. LaFaro’s skill, creativity and ingenuity as a bassist and his interaction with Evans and drummer Paul Motian were central to the trio’s musical achievement. He influenced virtually every bassist who succeeded him. His innovations were crucial to a redefinition of jazz rhythm sections. LaFaro’s death in an automobile crash at 25 devastated Evans, who required a long recovery before resuming his career.
Pianist-composer-arranger Simon is engrossed in jazz, his heritage in Latin-American music and his studies of Buddhism. Sorrows & Triumphs blends those and other aspects of his preoccupations, and Simon refines the individuality that has made him one of the most interesting—although insufficiently recognized—musicians to have emerged in the past three decades. The album, due for release this month, brings together the combo known as the Imani Winds with Simon’s ensemble Afinidad and vocalist Gretchen Parlato. Afinidad includes alto saxophonist David Binney, bassist Scott Colley and drummer Brian Blade. Percussionist Rogerio Boccato and Luis Quintero and guitarist Adam Rogers are guest artists. If that rundown reads like the description of a contemporary all-star group, it is.
recognition as one of the premier arrangers of the 21st century. Since joining the UNT faculty in 2010, DeRosa has written brilliantly for the school’s legendary One O’Clock and Two O’Clock Lab Bands and for other orchestras in the United States and abroad. Perseverance provides copious evidence of his mastery. It includes a dazzling version of Ellington’s “Take The ‘A’ Trainâ€; a fugue full of wit and complexities; perfectly integrated electronics in the title tune; a quiet, reflective version of the Wayne Shorter ballad “Infant Eyesâ€; the expansive five-part “Suite For An Anniversaryâ€; and a tribute to the longtime UNT jazz program head Neil Slater. Slater’s work fills this 
Lawrence was one of the young saxophonists all but consumed by John Coltrane’s revolutionary transformation of the instrument’s role in jazz in the 1960s. Elementals establishes that on soprano and tenor sax, he continues as a loyal Coltrane disciple. Particularly on the title track, the Latinate “Brazilian Girls†and “African Chant,†he reestablishes his dedication to Coltrane’s expansiveness and vitality, although with little evidence of his mentor’s tonal graininess on tenor. Pianist Benito Gonzales is correspondingly loyal to McCoy Tyner’s energetic approach. Drummer Marvin “Smitty†Smith is supportive and energetic throughout. Guest guitarist Greg Poree adds atmospheric touches to “Solar Winds.†An odd matter of titleing: the piece called “Koko†bears no apparent relationship to the classic Charlie Parker composition of the same name that was based on “Cherokee.†The album is enjoyable and stimulating not in spite of but because of what we might call its Coltraneity.
what happened with American Classic. When the minimally packaged 2009 advance release finally popped out of hiding, I hoped that it would be a worthy successor to Nelson’s 
arranger and member of the vocal group The Beachcombers, who were a very popular lounge act at the Sands Hotel in Las Vegas. They also opened in the main room for such acts as Frank Sinatra, Lena Horne (Jerry wrote special material for her) and Nat Cole; Jerry even appeared on Cole’s television show. Such arrangers as Gene Puerling (The Hi-Los) and Bob Alcivar (The Fifth Dimension) have named him an important influence in group vocal music. I learned about act writing and conducting from him (among many other things), eventually working with him orchestrating and producing recordings. When I met him in 1973, he was still active in a business when singers of all types were performing in clubs, auditoriums, casinos and television. I heard many acts over the years: bona-fide stars, television actors who needed a few numbers to play live venues and increase their visibility, and near-amateurs who had money and a dream. Jerry and I would discuss them.
Mirtle’s monumental discography on May, so this is new information. With the amount of television, motion picture and recording work happening on both East and West coasts, arrangers gladly helped each other finish work that was needed in a hurry. In New York, several arrangers lived within a short area of Central Park West and streets in the 70s blocks and helped each other on record dates and live television shows.
Rifftides is delighted that Jeff Sultanof has agreed to contribute another piece. A distinguished expert on arrangers and arranging, Mr. Sultanof is the author of the invaluable book 
on projects that had a variety of issues not easily solved (he and Dylan Canterbury just completed Ellington’s “Black, Brown and Beige,†and Rob has plenty of stories about that). In addition, he is a master at computer engraving. Although I am still learning Finale, for this project I use my own shorthand and I can write fairly quickly, proofreading against the parts as a final check. There is indeed something wonderful about seeing each part added and watching the music be re-created. My routine is to write out the music, bring it home and look at it, then proof it the next time I am at Schomburg. I specialize in finding valuable scores and correcting them; in many cases Rob goes to various archives and sends them to me, and works on many of these scores himself.
one can look at the trombone parts to see if they were written with the same pitches, but that’s not a hard-and-fast rule. Not everything may be straightforward; most times the answer is there or can be deduced. But when one looks at a Thad Jones (pictured) or Gil Evans score, one has to use the clues supplied because answers may not be so obvious. So often in my classes, I tell my students, “Use your clues,†and they find their way. For instance, in many cases when Evans wrote for Claude Thornhill he would write an orchestral sketch in the piano part,  so notes can be checked easily, and obvious errors fixed that way.
Robert Farnon (pictured) told me that he knew his music wasn’t prepared carefully when it was published for sale back in the fifties, but he appreciated that it was being looked at and finally fixed. As one arranger told me, “Back then, we were treated with either no respect or just plain ignored until we were desperately needed; sometimes we had to bug people to get paid. We did what we did and forgot about it. That was the way it was. It is so nice to know this music means something to people.†One very famous arranger was truly surprised that his music was still being listened to and written about many years after the fact. “You guys are legends to many people!†I told him. So often, the music is wonderful; sometimes it is extraordinary!
It has been a quarter of a century since Buddy Rich’s manager and relief drummer Stanley Kay found himself conducting a band whose drummer was young Sherrie Maricle. Intrigued by her playing, Kay set out to find whether there were other women jazz musicians of comparable talent. There were. DIVA was soon born and has been an important big band ever since. Its longtime leader, Maricle has booked the band into Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola in New York City on Thursday, March 29, to celebrate the anniversary and release the anniversary album.
Resonance Records specializes in jazz archeology, releasing music by figures who might otherwise fade in the memories of jazz listeners. One not likely to disappear is the organist Larry Young (1940-1978), who made several successful Blue Note and Prestige albums. His presence in one of the more adventurous bands of Miles Davis’s semi-rock period gave him additional exposure, as did his role in drummer Tony Williams’ Lifetime, a trio that also included guitarist John McLaughlin. Resonance acquired recordings that Young made in live broadcasts in Paris in the mid 1960s. They remained in the archive unheard until now. The Paris recordings recall Young’s relatively restrained approach to the organ during an era dominated by players like Jimmy Smith and Jimmy McGriff who were capable of using the instrument as a sonic battering ram. Six tracks of the ten in the Resonance set find Young with the trumpeter Woody Shaw, who was amazingly advanced at the age of 18. The set also gives us the opportunity to hear two superb tenor saxophonists, the American Nathan Davis and the Frenchman Jean-Claude Fohrenbach, who combined aspects of Stan Getz and John Coltrane. The two CDs thrive on blues and blues-tinged pieces and, in the case of Young’s “Luny Tune,†the harmonies of “I Got Rhythm,†that perennial source of jazz originals. Not from the Resonance album but from that period of Young’s life, here is “Tyrone.†It’s on his Into Something! Blue Note CD, with Sam Rivers, tenor saxophone; Elvin Jones, drums; and Grant Green, guitar.
most sensitive and adaptable masters of the art of jazz drumming. Along the way, he fell in love with the Brazilian music that went worldwide with the bossa nova explosion ignited by João Gilberto, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Elis Regina, Baden Powell and others. JAZZaNOVA expresses Tana’s feeling for that music and his appreciation for superior singing. The voclalists are Brazlians Claudio Amaral, Maria Volonté and Claudia Villela, and three American steeped in Brazilian music, Carla Helmbrecht, Sandy Cressman and Jackie Ryan.
Hembrecht—and  Ms. Cressman’s caressing of Jobim’s “Caminhos Cruzados.†Ms. Ryan pours emotion into Jobim’s “Por Causa de Vocé.†Branford Marsalis is the guest tenor saxophonist on Lins’ “Love Dance,†sung by Ms. Helmbrecht. On Caetano Veloso’s “Aquele Frevo Axé,†he shares the final chorus in a gentle obbligato behind Mr. Amaral’s vocal.
Guitarist Bill Frisell reaches into his storehouse of compositions to revisit several that he has recorded before, and to play others for the first time. Frisell is alone, yes, but with the help of producer Lee Townsend and engineer Tucker Martine he overdubs guitar layers and uses looping, applying the electronic wizardry that is a major component of his distinctiveness. The opening track, “Pretty Stars,†is a stunning example of Frisell’s use of looping as a means of creating subtle abstractions within uncomplicated music. Later in the album he revisits the “Stars” theme as “Made To Shine†on acoustic guitar without enhancement. In the blues “Winslow Homer,†in less than three-and-a-half minutes Frisell uses looping that builds toward what amounts to a conversation with himself—that is, between his acoustic guitar and its electronically enhanced counterpart. Another blues, “Go Happy Lucky,†all on acoustical guitar, is even shorter, and expressive in a different way that can’t be explained merely by the fact that it’s in a different key. It’s a different way of interpreting, of feeling, the blues. “Monica Jane,†named for Frisell’s daughter and first recorded with pianist Paul Bley three decades ago, loops in electronic counterpoint interjections that seem be heading for a conclusion in extraterrestrial regions. But the piece ends on a conventional C-major triad. Surprise! Frisell is full of surprises, and of satisfactions. The longest track in Music Is barely exceeds five minutes. Close listening to this album kept my ears occupied for a couple of days.
to Johann Sebastian Bach. Mehldau flawlessly plays five selections from Bach’s The Well-Tempered Clavier, for nearly 300 years a touchstone of classical music. He follows each of the Bach pieces with an improvisation that it inspired.
In 1998 Keith Jarrett was emerging from a siege of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome that had sidelined him for two years. As he felt better, he was uncertain how completely his piano skill and endurance had returned. He decided to test himself. He gathered his longtime Standards Trio members—bassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette—for trial runs, then decided on the challenge of a concert. In his album notes Jarrett writes that he felt that despite the genre’s complexities, the best course would be a repertoire of bebop tunes. The resulting two-CD concert departs from that plan, but “Scrapple From The Apple,†“Bouncin’ With Bud,†“Doxy†and “Moments Notice†fit the category. The trio is also in top form with ballads, among them “When I Fall In Love,†“Old Folks,†and Paul Desmond’s “Late Lament.†This album is one of the best by a remarkable trio.
Reader comments have converted what began a couple of weeks ago as a <em>Rifftides</em> post about Claude Thornhill’s version of â€Robbins’ Nest†into a seminar on keys, pitch, “Cornet Chop Suey,†Fletcher Henderson, “Stardust†and Glenn Miller, among other matters. It makes for a long, interesting read. If you’d like to catch up, 
A few weeks ago the Rifftides Monday Recommendation was Jeff Sultanof’s new book Experiencing Big Band Jazz. You can read the recommendation 
The first volume of Kubik’s work is subtitled, “The African Undercurrent in Twentieth–Century Jazz Culture;†the second, “Jazz Derivatives and Developments in Twentieth-Century Africa.†The descriptions indicate the depth and scope of the Austrian ethnomusicologist’s research, which has taken him to Africa every year for nearly five decades. Happily for the general
reader, Kubik’s writing and explanations are straightforward. He accounts for Lester Young’s unorthodox way of holding his tenor saxophone as a profound influence on a school of African flutists who developed the powerful resonance that characterizes their playing. Kubik draws on his knowledge of psychiatric practice to realistically interpret the spoofing humor that doctors examining Thelonious Monk saw as mental imbalance. He has insights into the importance of musicians barely known on this side of the Atlantic, among them Winston Mankunku Ngozi, Donald Kachamba and Duke Makasi. These valuable volumes will endure.
Research on yet another extracurricular (i.e., non-Rifftides) project involving John Coltrane has led me into several byways that the great tenor saxophonist took in his pre-“Giant Steps†days of the 1950s. One of those paths branched off from the association with Miles Davis that formed a milieu in which Coltrane flowered. After he left Davis, he formed his own band and played an essential role in changing the music’s direction. In the studio on his own in the fifties, he often had Davis’s rhythm section with him. In the case of his 1957 recording of “You Leave Me Breathless,†he took two-thirds of the section; pianist Red Garland and bassist Paul Chambers, with Arthur Taylor on drums rather than Davis’s Philly Joe Jones. Coltrane created a spell with a lavishly slow take on the 1938 Hollander-Freed song.