Rifftides

This afternoon it was 30 degrees out there, with a piercing breeze. Drivers were unruly, aggressive, rushing. The line at the gas pump was slow. I returned home, shivering, to a greeting from my wife. “It’s a lazy afternoon,” she said. Suddenly, the afternoon became lazy, with a long lunch, a leisurely hour conquering two crossword puzzles and inspiration to look up Shirley Horn. There she was, waiting to reinforce my new mood, which could not be derailed by the irrelevant out-of-focus album … [Read more...]

I don’t often post video of people talking. The best way to understand music is to listen—often—intensively—with concentration—without preconceptions. Today, we have a departure from  the Rifftides policy of letting the music speak for itself. Hal Galper is a pianist known to many of you for his work with Phil Woods, Chet Baker, Donald Byrd, Cannonball Adderley John Scofield. He is the leader of his own trio and has been in the bands of so many other consequential players that it would be … [Read more...]

Jim Wilke sent details about the program he has prepared for his next Jazz Northwest broadcast. The program will be a broadcast of the complete concert "Celebrating George Cables" from McCurdy Pavilion during Centrum's Jazz Port Townsend the last weekend of July. Pianist Cables has been a favorite for many years at the festival and the jazz workshop during the preceding week. Whether in the classroom, on the main stage or in an intimate club, he is a favorite among fans and the other … [Read more...]

Charlie Haden & Brad Mehldau, Long Ago and Far Away (Impulse!) Charlie Haden (1937-2014) combined the solid tonal qualities of his bass playing with an audacious sense of harmonic adventure. Those qualities were ideal for the departures of Ornette Coleman’s quintet in the late 1950s. After his time with Coleman, Haden continued to employ the contrasting aspects of his musicianship throughout his life up to, including and beyond his remarkable Quartet West recordings. After hearing, by … [Read more...]

Thanks to all of the Rifftides readers who sent comments on Roy Hargrove’s passing. In response, here is a video that may provide a bit of consolation. The European production company Zycopolis provides neither a date nor a location of this performance, and no identification of the musicians. The opening title card seems to indicate that the club was the New Morning in Paris. Clearly, the other trumpet player is Art Farmer, who died in 1999, so this was probably slightly more than ten years into … [Read more...]

Trumpeter Roy Hargrove died of a heart attack in New York yesterday at the age of 49. Hargrove was one of a coterie of young musicians who came to prominence following the sudden superstardom of fellow trumpeter Wynton Marsalis in the 1990s. Record companies scrambled to find their own Marsalises. Hargrove became famous not long after he was graduated from the Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing Arts in Dallas, Texas. His technical accomplishments, youth, personality and … [Read more...]

Kenny Werner, The Space (Pirouet) Rifftides listeners are not likely to need instruction about how to hear Werner’s music, but it may be helpful to keep in mind the liner-note quote he takes from his 2013 book Effortless Mastery. We do things from our conscious mind or we do them from the space. The conscious mind is small and fearful. From the space, we are in the moment, content with what is. From the space we make decisions without doubt, we celebrate the mistakes. I’m still learning how … [Read more...]

Well, sometimes recordings arrive, sit on the shelves a while and then start calling to the reviewer to pay attention. Randy Waldman, Superheroes (BFM Jazz) Along with his Los Angeles studio work, the veteran arranger and pianist Waldman has for years been Barbara Streisand’s arranger and accompanist. His Superheroes venture emphasizes his arranging skills. It brings together a passel of first-rate jazz soloists and sidemen to play themes from movies and television shows built around … [Read more...]

Every fall season, it’s the same problem; whose version of “Autumn Leaves” to use with this year’s photograph. Perhaps it’s not surprising how often the winner turns out to be Bill Evans with Scott LaFaro, bass, and Paul Motian, drums, in this 1959 recording. That's from the Bill Evans album <em>Portrait In Jazz</em> Top photo: Maples Bottom photo: Dogwoods Have a lovely Fall season. … [Read more...]

Rudy Royston, Flatbed Buggy (Greenleaf Music) Blends of accordion, cello, reeds and bowed bass sometimes swell the music of drummer Royston’s album nearly to orchestral proportions. But the collection also has simple qualities akin to cowboy songs and folk music, except when it’s more or less squarely in the bebop tradition, as in “Bobblehead.” John Ellis’s soprano saxophone solo on that track is pure bop except for certain harmonies in the accompaniment that might have raised Bela Bartok’s … [Read more...]

Recent Listening In Brief Annie Chen Octet, Secret Treetop (Shanghai Audio&Video Ltd) Chen is a singer and composer born in China who lives in New York and has an eclectic musical palette with colors from sources as disparate as Turkey, Taiwan and Mongolia. With a rhythm section augmented by guitar, violin, saxophone and trumpet, she employs her robust voice in nine original compositions. Lyrics are in various languages, most of them having helpful English translations in the … [Read more...]

Jon De Lucia Octet + Ted Brown Live At The Drawing Room (Gut String Records) Alto saxophonist De Lucia is committed to music that springs from Lennie Tristano. He also draws on the examples of Lee Konitz, Jimmy Giuffre, Gerry Mulligan and other musicians who became important in the late 1940s and early ‘50s. On this album De Lucia’s octet features the venerable tenor saxophonist Ted Brown. Brown spent seven years with Tristano after the pianist, composer, arranger and theorist moved from … [Read more...]

It’s a bit late in the day, but not too late to say happy birthday to Dizzy Gillespie fans and millions of listeners who may not be aware that much of their favorite music would not exist if John Birks Gillespie hadn’t helped bring it out of the swing era. His spirit and example, and his partnership with Charlie Parker, are still modernizing jazz, as they were in 1946 when Gillespie recorded “Emanon.” November 12, 1946, New York.  Dizzy Gillespie, Dave Burns, Elmon Wright, Matthew … [Read more...]

Bruno Råberg Trio, Tailwind (Red Piano Records) Råberg’s bass—at once relaxed and penetrating—is at the heart of a collection of his compositions. The sole piece written by someone else is Jimmy Van Heusen’s “Here’s That Rainy Day,” a feature for the leader’s seductive bowing. Råberg follows the Van Heusen with his own “Rainy Day Farewell,” which he may have conceived with Jamaica and Harry Belafonte in mind. Adam Cruz’s drum pattern supports that notion. Throughout, Cruz and pianist Bruce … [Read more...]

Michael Stephans, David Liebman, Marc Copland, Drew Gress: Quartette Oblique (Sunnyside) Opening the album, Liebman launches the familiar opening phrases of “Nardis” from his tenor saxophone, toying with them, letting each note fall away. The rhythm section soon joins him. Within seconds the toying is over and the album’s muscles are rippling in a show of strength that for more than an hour does not recede, regardless of tempo. The energy is in great part due to Liebman’s intensity on tenor … [Read more...]

Wayne Shorter, Emanon (Blue Note) Although Wayne Shorter’s saxophone artistry and that of his quartet need no enhancement, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra shares the first disc of this three-CD collection. As always, the Orpheus is impressive for the precision of its musicianship, but the combination plods compared with the exhilaration of the second and third discs by the Shorter quartet alone. Recorded in a London concert, Shorter, pianist Danilo Perez, bassist John Patitucci and drummer Brian … [Read more...]

The Rifftides computer has escaped days of incarceration by digital gremlins and is back at work. Thanks to the readers who sent expressions of concern. … [Read more...]

The latest problem with the Rifftides computer does not involve explosions, but it is serious enough to interfere with posting. The technical staff is working on a solution. Please bear with them. In the meantime, let's dive into the archive for something to tide us over. This choice seems appropriate because of timing. When the computer virus, flu, cancer, plague—whatever it is—struck, I was listening and taking notes in preparation for a post about Wayne Shorter's new three-CD release. This … [Read more...]

It is sad to hear of the death of Jerry González, the extraordinary bandleader, trumpeter and Latin percussionist. He died of heart failure at 69 after being overcome by smoke in a fire in his home in Madrid, Spain on Monday. He had lived in Madrid since 2000. In the late 1970s, González and his bassist brother Andy established The Fort Apache Band, which quickly became one of the leading groups combining jazz and Latin music. Their album Rumba Para Monk melded music by Thelonious Monk with … [Read more...]

Petra van Nuis & Dennis Luxion, Because We’re Night People (Petra Sings) Singer van Nuis and pianist Luxion may not be household names outside of Chicago, but their taste and wide range of musicianship have them perennially in demand in the Windy City. In thirteen ballads dealing with after-hours life and culture, the pair’s intimate collaboration makes this a highlight among 2018 vocal albums. Luxion’s participation means that it is also an important recording for listeners who cherish … [Read more...]

Why? Because he was Ray Bryant (1931-2011), and a short piece from his 1956 album Ray Bryant Trio, (now retitled Cry Me A River) has been rising out of the past and repeating in my head for days. Fair warning: It may repeat in your head, too. Ray Bryant, piano; Wyatt Reuther, bass; Osie Johnson, drums, May 11, 1956. Here’s Bryant’s irresistible “Pawn Ticket.” Oddly, Bryant’s Cry Me A River album (formerly known simply as Ray Bryant Trio) now seems to be available only as an MP3, … [Read more...]