Martin Wind, Light Blue (Laika)
Martin Wind gathers a coterie of distinguished colleagues and demonstrates why for two decades he has been a mainstay bassist in the US and Europe. In settings that range from a piece inspired by “Sweet Georgia Brown†to the edge of free jazz in “Power Chords,†Wind employs the energies and imaginations of drummers Matt Wilson and Duduka Da Fonseca, saxophonist Scott Robinson, trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, clarinetist Anat Cohen and pianists Gary Versace and Bill Cunliffe.
He marshals his forces in combinations that employ textures as varied as those of Robinson’s booming bass sax contrasted with the lilt of Cohen’s clarinet and—in “Roseâ€â€”an ensemble sound somehow bigger than the sum of its five instruments. Robinson’s hybrid reed instrument the taragota and Versace’s waves of organ chords have much to do with that. Da Fonseca is the drummer on half of the album’s ten pieces, joined on the lively “Seven Steps To Rio,†“De Norte A Sul,†“A Sad Story†and “Longing†by his wife, the singer Maucha Audnet. Wind’s arco solo and Audnet’s aching vocal on “A Sad Storyâ€â€”with intertwining commentary from Cohen’s clarinet—make the track a highlight of the album. All of the compositions and arrangements are Wind’s. He wrote “A Genius and a Saint†in memory of the late bassist Bob Bowen (1945-2010).
There is more of the power of Da Fonseca’s compelling and subtle drumming on his own new album of compositions by his influential fellow Brazilian Dom Salvador.
Widely experienced and recorded in Europe, pianist Magris demonstrates in this club date that he knows how to reach an American audience steeped in Latin and Caribbean music. The front line has trumpeter Brian Lynch at his fieriest, and the imaginative young tenor saxophonist Jonathan Gomez. The Miami-area rhythm section is the veteran bassist Chuck Bergeron, drummer John Yarling, and Murph Aucamp playing congas. The album gives insight not only into Magris’s appeal at the keyboard, but also his flexibility as a composer. His “African Mood,†Il Bello Del Jazz†and “Chachanada†have drive and excitement that contrast with his adaptation of Rahssan Roland Kirk’s ballad “April Morning†and an unaccompanied solo on Billy Strayhorn’s “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing.†Those relaxing moments are highlights, but—with good reason—the crowd’s most enthusiastic response is to the Latin- and Afro-tinged burners.
Now that the powerful tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb has moved from Los Angeles to the Pacific Northwest, he frequently collaborates with elite Seattle-area jazz musicians. One who recently asked him to join her for an engagement is the increasingly impressive vibraharpist Susan Pascal. They played at the vital downtown Seattle club Tula’s. Jazz Northwest host Jim Wilke says that in his broadcast on Sunday, along with tributes to ChickCorea and
Oscar Peterson, Pascal and Christlieb will celebrate Stan Getz’s recordings with vibes players including Cal Tjader and Gary Burton. The rhythm section is a top-notch trio of Northwest jazz veterans: pianist Bill Anschell, bassist Chuck Deardorf and drummer Mark Ivester. Air time is Sunday, February 25, at 2 PM PST. In the Seattle area you can hear Jazz Northwest on KNKX at 88.5 FM. It will be online around the world at 
The Chicago pianist’s low-key approach to solo piano might lead to wool-gathering that would justify the name of his label. But he bolsters the album’s harmonic depth and melodic originality by including Johannes Brahms’ B-flat-minor Intermezzo and John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.†Every other track on the recording, including Clearfield’s interpretation of the Coltrane piece, takes a harmonic back seat to his interpretation—even adoration—of Brahms’ glorious invention.
The title tune, written and first recorded by the Brazilian Renato Teixeira, was made still more famous by the singer Elis Regina’s 1977 recording. It has been a beloved standard song in Brazil for four decades. British saxophonist Sheppard and his quartet hew to the spirits if not the letters of Teixeira’s and Regina’s versions. Guitarist Elvind Aarset manipulates electronics to create atmospherics that expand the quartet’s harmonies. If that raises warnings for jazz listeners bothered by digital enhancement, never fear. Aarset’s contributions do not muddy the sound; they color it in intriguing ways. That is true throughout the album’s eight tracks. Sheppard wrote all of the pieces except for the one by Teixeira.
far back as the 1700s, the Swiss reed artist and composer Nicolas Masson uses his quartet to create soundscapes. With titles as abstract as the music, pieces like “Fuschia,†“Philae†and “Blurred†create peaceful moods that are occasionally roiled by interjections of rhythm from drummer Lionel Friedli and bassist Patrice Moret, separately or together. In the kaleidoscope of sound called “Philae†the quartet is compelling, in no small part because of Masson’s soprano saxophone intensity. On “Jura,†at first with only Moret’s accompaniment, Masson builds a tenor sax feature into a statement swelling into a cloud of sound that subsides only as the piece ends. Pianist Collin Vallon’s keyboard touch and dynamics are vital to the album’s success.
It would be interesting to hear Masson and tenor saxophonist Matthieu Bordenave together. Their tonal similarity might either blend into impressionist boredom or draw out competitive instincts. We’ll probably never know, but if ECM matched them, there could be surprises. Bordenave, the tenor player in Japanese drummer Shinya Fukumori’s trio, is French. The pianist, Walter Lang Junior, is German. There are Asian inflections in pieces like “Hoshi Meguri No Uta†and the modern Japanese standard “Ai San San.†That music is in contrast to the almost ballad-like reflection of some of the other pieces, notably two by Lang, “No Goodbye†and “When Day Is Done†(unrelated to the Victor Young song of the same title). Fukumori’s “Spectacular,†with his expressive drumming behind Lang’s piano, is a highlight. The album’s mixture of contemplative and active music of harmonic depth keeps it interesting.
In an album striking for its quietness and its daring, British vocalist Norma Winstone and her augmented trio interpret music from motion pictures. The augmentation is important; Mario Brunello’s cello and Helge Klaus Norbakken’s percussion add breadth and depth to arrangements that buoy Ms. Winstone’s flawless singing and the lyrics that she wrote for the recording. Clarinetist and saxophonist Klaus Gesing and pianist-arranger Glauco Venier continue their essential roles in the trio.
The young veteran Washington, D.C., jazz critic Mike (aka Michael J.) West took to Facebook today to make an announcement:
Thornill’s “Robbins’ Nest†emphasizes the uncanny empathy of the band members and the genius (no other word for it) of arranger Gil Evans. (Thornhill is pictured right). The version Sultanof chose is a 1947 radio transcription available on YouTube. After a setup paragraph describing the instrumentation, the orchestration and a few solo moments, he writes this:
Dawn Clement’s recording history includes piano collaborations with saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom and trombonist Julian Priester, among other prominent colleagues. The Seattle Times has called her, “The leading Seattle keyboardist of her generation.†Trumpeter Ingrid Jensen calls her “…an eternal gift to the music.†Clement’s discography as a leader is growing, and this addition will almost certainly bring her increased attention. Tandem’s series of ten duets pairs her with guests whose musicianship, flexibility and humor match her own. Highlights: Two pieces with Priester’s piquant phrasing and playful rhythmic turns; alto saxophonist Mark Taylor’s grasp of the essentials of Lennie Tristano’s “Ablution;†The power of Matt Wilson’s drumming on Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing;†fellow singer Johnaye Kendrick’s soloing, and harmonizing with Clement, on “I Think Of You.†Ms. Clement brings smiles with her piano lyricism and vigor and the sweetness of her voice.
Bassist Bren Plummer’s live radio broadcast a couple of days ago (scroll down two items) prompted me to check out the KNKX-FM website. There, I found a post about another Pacific Northwest jazz luminary, alto saxophonist Brent Jensen, who was recently video-recorded in one of the station’s live sessions. (Jensen and bassist Jeff Johnson are pictured left.) KNKX host Abe Beeson put together an entry that includes four pieces by Jensen and his quartet with Johnson, guitarist Jamie Findlay and drummer Steve Tate. Here they are with Desmond’s composition “Embarcadero.”
Wesla Whitfield, a singer of uncommon talent, taste, musicianship and courage, died yesterday in St. Helena, California. Her husband and accompanist of more than three decades, the pianist Mike Greensill, announced her passing. She had been under treatment for bladder cancer and was recently in hospice care but died at home. She was 70. I once wrote,
quintet. At 12:15 pm PST, they will play music from Plummer’s album 
In their tour of the Czech Republic, last weekend Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra teamed with the eminent Czech pianist and composer Emil Viklický. Viklický crafted an arrangement of one of the most famous pieces by Antonin Dvořák (1841-1904). After Bedřich Smetana, Dvořák was the first Czech composer to achieve major international recognition He was known for incorporating into his compositions aspects of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. In Brno, Viklický and the JLCO performed “Humoresque,†a Dvořák composition that has been adapted to several genres and become famous around the world.
In the 1950s when UCLA football coach Red Sanders (pictured left) said, “Winning isn’t everything. It’s the only thing,†he could not have known that his sports philosophy would be adapted to virtually every human endeavor. Being number one is the overriding aim not only in sports, but also in politics and international relations—as we keep hearing from the White House—and in business and the arts. Hence, there is consternation at this week’s news trumpeted in Billboard magazine that sales of CDs are so far down that the Best Buy chain will stop carrying them and Target stores may not be far behind. At the root of the change, of course, is the digital revolution; music downloaded from the Internet seems to be replacing music embedded in spinning discs.
nicely remastered on the Milestone label. It contains the tenor saxophonist’s compositions “Fire,†“Air,†“Water†and “Earth†and has a distinguished cast that includes pianist Alice Coltrane, bassist Charlie Haden, violinist Michael White, percussionist Kenneth Nash and, on two tracks, drummer Ndugu Leon Chancler, who died last weekend at age 65. One of the most adventurous albums in Henderson’s discography, it finds him and his colleagues indulging mid-1970s jazz tendencies toward eastern spiritualism and mysticism. Among other attractions, Haden has a remarkable solo, accompanied by Nash’s special acoustic effects, on “Earth.†The track also contains vocal interjections by Henderson and his tenor mingling with White’s violin. The album is engrossing and not typical of Henderson’s music during this, or any other, period.
The scope of jazz played by large ensembles is vast, but the clear-thinking scholar-musician Jeff Sultanof compresses its century-long history into a 200-page book. He accomplishes that feat by leading readers through big band music and its makers almost as if he had us by the hand. He does so by presenting musical examples that are part of the digital world in which most of us live. He explains on an early page,
Among the veterans was pianist Oscar Peterson, whose trio MPS teamed with the sophisticated vocal quartet The Singers Unlimited. Playing with delicacy that may surprise listeners accustomed to his vigor, Peterson is superb in ballads including “It Never Entered My Mind,†â€The Shadow Of Your Smile†and “A Child Is Born.†Throughout, the Singers Unlimited weave their celebrated magic of texture and harmony. The singers float wordlessly as Peterson and the trio thrive on the rich harmonies of composer Patrick Williams’ “Catherine.†The album opens with what might have been a surprise in 1971 but has now become a standard—the Sesame Street theme. Peterson’s sidemen of the period, bassist George Mraz and drummer Louis Hayes, are restrained but firm in support.
compare him to Peterson. His keyboard acumen was leavened with elements of the Caribbean music of his home territory. He began playing piano when he was four years old in Kingston, Jamaica. He achieved musical maturity early. The playing of Nat Cole captivated him. By the time he moved to New York in the 1960s he had collaborated with a cross section of the world’s best jazz musicians. I once wrote of Alexander’s “piquantly hesitant placement of notes at precisely the correct strategic spots behind the beat.†“Brown Skin Gal†embodies that aspect of his work. For a couple of years after the Dave Brubeck Quartet disbanded, Eugene Wright was Alexander’s bassist. His drummer for this session was Duffy Jackson, the ebullient son of Woody Herman bassist Chubby Jackson. The title Beatles tune and Miles Davis’s “So What†demonstrate Alexander’s ability to personalize music, whatever its source.
1967 album there are few of the pretensions to super-hipness that sometimes took the edge off Murphy’s singing. Here, he almost entirely avoids the excessive manipulation of vowels that later in his career could be an affectation. Murphy and an impressive sextet from the Kenny Clarke-Francy Boland Big Band work together hand-in-glove. Bassist Jimmy Woode and drummer Clarke fashioned a cherished set of chords (think “Doxy†and “It’s A Wonderful Worldâ€) into an original called “I Don’t Want Nothin’.†Murphy assumes command of the time and becomes the driving force of the piece. Elsewhere, there are effective solos by tenor saxophonist Ronnie Scott, trombonist Ã…ke Persson and trumpeter Jimmy Deuchar.