Many thanks to the Rifftides readers who have expressed concern about the lag between postings. It has, indeed, been several days since a new entry. The interregnum has been for a good cause…continuation of the blog. Sometimes that depends on meeting other obligations, as in this case. I took on a pair of freelance assignments that required lots of research, interviews and, of course, writing. In both cases they were notes for new albums. One CD is for a welcome Summit Records release by trumpeter Carl Saunders. He is accompanied by two west coast veterans, bassist Chuck Berghofer and drummer Joe LaBarbera. Josh Nelson, a young pianist in great demand in Los Angeles jazz circles, completes the Saunders rhythm section.

The second project is notes for a new series of duets by French pianist Martial Solal and American saxophonist Dave Liebman. Masters In Paris follows their earlier Masters In Bordeaux, also a duet encounter, that was greeted with enthusiastic reviews. Both albums are for Sunnyside Records. The Saunders and Liebman-Solal projects each required extensive listening, and that was a major part of the reward of writing about them.

Normal Rifftides activity, whatever that turns out to be, will resume soon.

Keith Jarrett, Munich 2016 (ECM)

Among pianist Keith Jarrett’s succession of solo concert albums going back more than four decades, Munich 2016 is remarkable even by his standards. The depth and variety of his improvisations make it so. Except for three standard songs here, he invented all of the music that he made three years ago in performance at Philharmonic Hall in Munich, Germany. It is heard as seven parts under the overall title “Munich.”

Into those spontaneous compositions Jarrett integrates layer upon layer of melodic invention using the harmonic ingenuity and rhythmic power that he has continually refined since his early days with groups led by Roland Kirk,Tony Scott, Art Blakey and Charles Lloyd. This is part III from Munich 2016.

YouTube has a limited selection of pieces from the Jarrett Munich album and only one of the standard songs that he evidently included as encores. This is “It’s A Lonesome Old Town.”

That was from Keith Jarrett’s most recent album, Munich 2016, an invaluable addition to his discography.
Coincidentally, the TCB label has reissued one of Jarrett’s albums with tenor saxophonist Charles Lloyd in one of Lloyd’s most significant quartets. Jarrett’s band mates were Lloyd, tenor saxophone; Ron McClure, bass; and Jack DeJohnette, drums. From the original issue of that collection, which was called Dream Weaver, here is Lloyd’s composition “Love Ship.”

All of us at Rifftides hope that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

We remember the life of Paul Desmond, who bequeathed us decades of memorable moments in American music. We lost a great musician, and I one of my dearest friends, when Paul died in his early fifties. He was born on November 25, 1924. From his earliest days in San Francisco through decades as Dave Brubeck’s alto saxophonist partner and with an enthusiastic following of his own, Desmond became one of the most celebrated soloists in jazz. Here is one reason, his 13-chorus solo on “Tangerine,” recorded with the Brubeck quartet in Denmark in 1957.

For my biography of Paul Desmond, pianist Bill Mays and his friend Arnie DeKeijzer, transcribed the entire Desmond “Tangerine” solo. Hardback copies of that biography are long gone, but it is available as an e-book with all of its photographs and illustrations intact.

Seeking consideration, albums arrive by the dozens. The reviewer must decide which ones will get his attention. Wearing a blindfold and searching randomly through the burgeoning stacks of incoming CDs (and occasional LPs), is not productive. So, we fall back on name recognition, listening experience and trust, hoping to do justice to a few of the hordes of discs that the post office, FedEx, DHL and UPS deliver in ceaseless profusion.

So…onward. Over the next few days, we shall consider a few recent arrivals, beginning with Lee Konitz’s Old Songs New. The alto saxophonist recently observed his 92^nd birthday. He has long found that the nine-piece-ensemble format stimulates his creativity. Over the years, he has made several nonet albums. In this instance, much of the stimulation comes from the arranger Ohad Talmor, a Swiss-born protégé of the classical pianist Martha Argerich who has long been active in New York’s jazz scene. Konitz and Talmor have been associates for 20 years. Written by Talmor and featuring a string quartet, the arrangements complement the subtleties of Konitz’s improvisations. The ensemble includes a string quartet, superb flute work by Caroline Davis, Dennis Lee’s bass clarinet and subtle percussion touches by drummer George Schuller. Talmor’s charts live up to the claim of the album title. They bring vibrant harmonic substance to standard songs, among them “Goodbye,” “I Cover The Waterfront” and “Foolin’ Myself,” and to the venerable Konitz invention called “Kary’s Trance.”

This video teaser for the album appeared on Talmor’s website

The new Konitz album is to be released on November 22. In the meantime, let’s enjoy a performance of “Kary’s Trance” from the 1994 Leverkusen Jazz Festival in northern Germany. The late guitarist Attila Zoller and vibraphonist Wolfgang Lackerschmid join Konitz.

The young Canadian drummer Harry Vetro has followed his debut album as a leader, Northern Ranger, with a shorter CD of four tracks.  The new album has a similar title, Eastern Stranger, but perhaps that won’t create confusion among Vetro devotees. As in his first recording, the music reflects the influence of the drummer-composer’s nationality. It also captures a bit of the whimsy that occasionally peeped through the seriousness of the writing for strings on Vetro’s initial CD. Indeed, whimsy abounds in its first track, “Quidi Vidi Ditty,” whose title Vetro says is pronounced, “Kitty Vitty Ditty,” inspired by the name of a village near St. John’s in the province of Newfoundland. The piece opens with Vetro playing the ugly stick, an instrument that he explains is native to Newfoundland. Here are Vetro and his quartet with Noah Franche-Nolan, piano; Nelson Moneo, violin; and Jill McKenna, bass.

This fall, Vetro’s Northern Ranger band is touring Europe.

 

It may be too easy to take Louis Armstrong for granted. After all, he is one of the greatest musicians of the Twentieth Century. Perhaps we all conclude that we understand why. Then, along comes yet another reminder of the intensity, the sheer strength, of his musicianship. The most recent reissue to remind us of his inimitable energy and creativity is the Dot Time release Louis Armstrong Live In Europe. It’s not just his astonishing trumpet playing that can drive home the point. It’s also Armstrong’s leadership in directing the creative energies of some of the most gifted artists alive. In his sleeve notes, historian and Armstrong expert Ricky Riccardi quotes British trumpeter Humphrey Lyttleton as confessing to “quaking in his boots” at the ferocity with which Armstrong led the band. Lyttleton said, “If Sid Catlett’s drums started to intrude too heavily upon a solo, Louis would turn to him and hiss at him like a snake. And more than once Earl Hines’s exuberance was curbed by a sharp, ‘Cut it, boy.'” With Catlett, pianist Hines, trombonist Jack Teagarden, clarinetist Barney Bigard and bassist Arvell Shaw, Armstrong ran a tight ship while also delivering solos to make you understand Lyttleton’s “quaking.” What trumpet player wouldn’t quake when Pops was so powerful well into his forties?

 

The first nine performances on this album were recorded in Nice, France in February of 1948. Seven others come from concerts in Berlin, Germany, in the fall of 1952. The Berlin tracks have Arvell Shaw again, along with Trummy Young on trombone, Marty Napolean, piano; Bob McCracken, clarinet; Cozy Cole, drums. Throughout, we find Armstrong driving hard, in superb company and high spirits

Who is your favorite singer from the Canadian province of Newfoundland? Don’t have one? If you listen to Heather Bambrick, that could change. Ms. Bambrick is a nominee for the Juno Awards, Canada’s equivalent of the Grammys. She is known in her country for singing with sensitivity about things that matter to her. Among them are racism, homophobia and other contemporary expressions of interpersonal aggression. She sets the tone of her new album Fine State, with “You’ve Got To Be Taught,” Rodgers’ and Hammerstein’s anti-prejudice anthem from the musical South Pacific. A dedicated Canadian, she pays tribute to her home province, with “Homeland,” which she also uses in the CD’s promotional video.

 

Other highlights of the Bambrick album are Milton Nascimento’s modern classic “Bridges”; Rodgers’ and Hart’s “It Never Entered My Mind;” an adaptation of Lalo Schifrin’s and Gene Lees’s “The Right To Love,” and several song composed or co-written by written by Ms. Bambrick herself. Among the impressive guest instrumental soloist are flugelhornist Chase Sanborn and, on several tracks, pianist Andrea Farrugia.

Thanks to Terri Hinte for calling our attention to the new album by New York Voices. In their third decade together, the group’s Reminiscing In Tempo fortifies their reputation as a vocal ensemble whose musicality matches their ability to reach deeply into the rhythmic heritage that gives jazz its unique place in world culture. I would be surprised if the lead track doesn’t grab the most attention, in part because when “Round, Round, Round” debuted as part of the Dave Brubeck Quartet’s Time Out album in 1959, it became ubiquitous on radios and juke boxes. Then, it was known as “Blue Rondo á la Turk” and was nearly as famous as “Take Five.” New York Voices adapts the Al Jarreau version that itself came near Top-40 status in the fifties. Other pieces in this intriguing collection: the Ellington title track “Reminiscing In Tempo,” “Avalon,” Lennon and McCartney’s “In My Life” Cole Porter’s “It’s Alright With Me,” and an “Avalon” so speedy that Al Jolson, who wrote the song, might have had trouble keeping up with it. This is an album of variety and depth, beautifully sung.

One of the highlights of the 2019 Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival was a concert by Hannah Svensson. Now, Ms. Svensson’s new album, Places And Dreams, presents her along with the colleagues who backed her at Ystad. They include her guitarist father Ewan Svensson and her good friend pianist Jan Lundgren, artistic director of the festival. From Lundgren’s trio are Matz Nilsson, playing electric bass, and drummer Zoltan Csörcz. The album contains seven new songs written by Ms. Svensson, as well as a stirring version of “Honeysuckle Rose.” At the concert, a videographer was on hand for the full-scale performance of Fats Waller’s 1929 classic. The video wanders now and then, but it captures the zest and spirit of the performance.

 

 

It is always sad to report the end of a major spot for jazz listening. In this case, the word is that Seattle’s venerable Tula’s is closing. The club has been a jazz fixture in the US Pacific Northwest for more than two decades. In this weekend’s edition of his Jazz Northwest, Jim Wilke will concentrate on Tula’s and what the club has meant to jazz in the US Pacific Northwest for more than two decades. Below is Mr. Wilke’s summary of the program, illustrated with one of Jim Levitt’s always fine photographs:

Trumpeter Thomas Marriott has been playing at Tula’s for all his professional life.  He started there with his brother Dave on trombone when they were in their teens.  The Marriotts represent an entire generation of Seattle musicians who have been regulars on stage at Tula’s for more than two decades. Sadly, Tula’s closes after 26 years at the end of this month, another victim of gentrification and high rents. Most of the one-story block in the Belltown district will be demolished for a new high rise building.

It’s been a busy month at Tula’s as most of the top jazz musicians in Seattle are playing their last gigs at the club and it’s been a full house every night.  We have mixed feelings about presenting this last of many broadcasts from Tula’s, but we’re happy to have had the opportunity to record many shows there to share with our listeners.  The music has been great, the audiences appreciative, the staff friendly and welcoming.  

BTW, this is the Fall Fund drive edition of Jazz Northwest  at 2 PM Pacific this Sunday September 29 on 88.5 KNKX and knkx.org.  Maybe make a donation in memory of the hundreds of great nights of jazz at Tula’s? More info:

thomasmarriott.net   (see Tom’s comments on the closing of Tula’s)

Noah Preminger Group: Zigsaw: Music Of Steve Lampert

 In his newest foray, to be released in early October, the adventurous tenor saxophonist Noah Preminger recruits Steve Lampert, a gifted composer who is one of Preminger’s longtime New York collaborators. Ever on the frontier of experimentation, Preminger is aided by the complexity of Lampert’s composition. The piece is a fifty-minute continuum interrupted only by periodic side trips into a post-modern romanticism enhanced by electronic effects. The effects occasionally emerge from the background to become dominant long enough to support or trigger solos by Preminger, trumpeter Jason Palmer, pianist Kris Davis, bassist Kim Cass, alto saxophonist John O’Gallagher and the remarkable drummer Rudy Royston. Without sacrificing his lyricism Palmer makes astonishing stabs into the highest regions of the trumpet. On a digital instrument known as the Haken Continuum, the pianist Rob Schwimmer supplies sounds that range from bell-like dings to digital growls. They take (quoting composer Lampert) “the improvisation sections into a zone that would not have been fully realizable with only acoustic instruments.” That is to say the least. the sections would have been impossible with conventional instrumentation.

Zigsaw is a milestone in Preminger’s search, which has taken him, among other adventures, through explorations of Delta blues, Fréderick Chopin, and music from the films of his distant cousin Otto Preminger. Keeping up with Noah Preminger and his endless interests is one of the pleasures of modern jazz listening.

Today is the 93rd anniversary of the birth of John Coltrane. We are going to show you a film about Coltrane’s life and work. The name of the documentary is Saint John Coltrane. Some have found the title presumptuous, even blasphemous. Still, the film was made to tell the story of the great tenor saxophonist, one of the most influential musicians in jazz history. The Rifftides staff believes that its producer and writers created an informative and valuable documentary. As you will see when it’s over, we would like to know your opinion of the film.

To send a comment about the film, scroll down to Leave A Reply. Rifftides posted the documentary thanks to YouTube.

Kerry Politzer, Diagonal: A Tribute To Durval Ferreira

The pianist recruits several of her talented Pacific Northwest colleagues for this album of pieces by a Brazilian composer whose works were central to the rise of the music that became known as bossa nova. Ferreira’s “O Gato,” “E Nada Mais” and other compositions not only entered the mainstream in his country but were also embraced by American performers, among them Cannonball Adderley, Sarah Vaughan, Herbie Mann and Stan Getz. Politzer’s colleagues here are Portland and Seattle mainstays. John Nastos shines in solos on clarinet, flute and alto saxophone. Ben Graves is prominent on acoustic and electric guitars. George Colligan, a star pianist in the region, on this occasion plays drums and manages to be both subtle and vigorous. He is assisted on three tracks by percussionist Simon Lucas. Politzer contributes three compositions in tribute to Ferreira, including “Chorino No. 2,” which has her fleet piano solo and rippling clarinet by Nastos. She proves her multi-lingual mettle singing Ferreira’s “Moca Flor” in Portuguese and “The Day It Rained” in English. Diagonal–now soft and reflective, now compellingly swinging–could launch a welcome new breakout of bossa nova.

 

Richard Boukas is an educator, composer, and guitarist who teaches at the New School for Performing Arts in New York City. Among other things, he is known for his dedication to Brazilian music, new and old. One of his recent recordings, Diálogos Duo, finds him in the company of clarinetist Louis Arques. Together they explore music from several generations of Brazilian composers. Here, they dedicate to the memory of composer Ernesto Nazareth (1863-1934) a performance of his “Solisticio de Verao.” Nazareth was noted for the Chopin influence in his work. You may be able to detect it here.

That is from one of two new Richard Boukas albums devoted to Brazilian music that, in some cases, anticipated the emergence much later of the samba variations that led to bossa nova. The second new Boukas album, by his Quarteto Moderno, is titled Live! Ao Vivo!