Rifftides

Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

CD: Branford Marsalis

Branford Marsalis, Four MFs Playin’ Tunes (Marsalis Music)

The Marsalis quartet achieves openness without abandoning harmonic guidelines, hipness without complex chord permutations. A saxophone soloist who manages to meld aggressiveness and wryness, Marsalis is at his peak here. The delight that he, pianist Joey Calderazzo, bassist Eric Revis and young drummer Justin Faulkner find in supporting and surprising one another is likely to also affect the listener. The tunes are by members of the band except for Thelonious Monk’s “Teo” and Richard Whiting’s “My Ideal,” the latter with a tenor solo that combines tenderness and wit. A highlight: Marsalis’s “Treat it Gentle,” recalling Sidney Bechet’s passion on soprano, but not his wide vibrato.

CD: Ryan Truesdell/Gil Evans

Ryan Truesdell, Centennial: Newly Discovered Works Of Gil Evans (artistShare)

Truesdell apprenticed with arranger and composer Maria Schneider, who apprenticed with Gil Evans. That makes him, in effect, Evans’ musical and spiritual grandson. He does his heritage proud, taking 10 previously unrecorded Evans arrangements from manuscript—or, in some cases, expanding Evans sketches—to performance by a superb collection of musicians. The scores go back as far as Evans’ Claude Thornhill period of the 1940s and up to 1971. This music is a reminder that 100 years after his birth and 24 following his death, Evans still shows the way. The sparkling cast of soloists includes Steve Wilson, Scott Robinson, Joe Locke and Luciana Souza.

CD: Alan Broadbent

Alan Broadbent Trio Live At Giannelli Square, Volume 2 (Chilly Bin)

Recorded in Los Angeles shortly before Broadbent transplanted himself to New York, Giannelli 2 is the equal of Volume 1. That is high praise. The pianist’s harmonic acuity, melodic invention, touch and rapport with bassist Putter Smith and drummer Kendall Kay made this one of the finest trios in jazz. They find freshness in “Yesterdays,” “You Don’t Know What Love Is” and a romp based on “Just Friends.” Broadbent’s compositions include a blues and a pure original called “Wandering Road,” but the album’s piece de resistance is his “Sing a Song of Dameron,” which does not imitate Tadd Dameron, but conjures the composer’s essence.

DVD: John Coltrane

John Coltrane, Live In France, 1965 (Jazz Icons)

Television cameras captured Coltrane with his classic quartet months before it disbanded and he began the space-bound journey he was on when he died two years later. At the Juan-le Pins Jazz Festival in Antibes, Coltrane, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones accomplished a concentration of passion even greater than that in their studio recordings of “Naima,” “Ascension,” “Impressions” and “A Love Supreme.” Much of the Antibes “A Love Supreme” video is lost, but the DVD’s nearly 13 minutes of the performance capture a level of intensity no other group of musicians is likely to equal. David Liebman’s liner notes are invaluable.

Book: Derrick Bang/Vince Guaraldi

Derrick Bang, Vince Guaraldi at the Piano (McFarland)

There was much more to Vince Guaraldi (1928-1976) than “Cast Your Fate to the Wind” and his “Peanuts” television sound tracks. Bang’s substantial biography covers the pianist and composer’s life from his pre-Cal Tjader days through success with the vibraphonist’s jazz and Latin groups, his own trio, his collaborations with Bola Sete and the Charlie Brown connection that made him famous. He captures the balance between Guaraldi’s serious and humorous sides. Thorough research and interviews with dozens of persons who knew and worked with Guaraldi make this an engaging read. The book includes an extensive and detailed discography.

Looking For A Listening Post?

An outfit called Find The Best has established an online guide to jazz clubs. It could be useful to Rifftides readers planning to travel or, for that matter, who are looking for places to listen in their hometowns. The site lists location, meal policy and cover charges, which range from second-mortgage territory to zero—$85 cover for The Fox in Tampa, Florida; nothing for Vibrato in L.A.’s exclusive Bel Air section—go figure. At any rate (heh, heh), they include clubs as far-flung as Brattleboro, Vermont; Honolulu, Hawaii; and Tirana, Albania. For now, at least, we’ll add the site’s url to the blogroll in the right column as “Jazz Clubs.” Let the staff know if you find it useful. To do so, click on “Contact” on the blue strip at the top of the page or use the “Speak Your Mind” box below.

Other Matters: Monarchs

Monarch butterflies are passing through on their migration south. This morning, one rested on a maple leaf outside our window.


His or her majesty was no object of pity, but it seemed to call for a performance of that most famous of all butterfly tunes (are there others?). Here’s the late Dave McKenna.

Alternate version for two pianos, Count Basie and Oscar Peterson.

Frishberg And Friends Channel Al And Zoot

If you live in or near Portland, Oregon, this is your lucky week. I am not at all reluctant to plug Ivories Jazz Lounge or this group of elite Portland players. Here’s the announcement from Ivories.

Thursday July 12
The Two Tenors & Dave Frishberg play the music of Al Cohn and Zoot Sims, with David Evans, Lee Wuthenow, tenor saxophones; Dave Frishberg, piano; Tom Wakeling, bass; Charlie Doggett, drums.
Ivories Jazz Lounge
1435 NW Flanders, Portland, OR 97219
http://www.ivoriesjazz.com
Reservations: 503-241-6514
8PM – 11PM
$10 Cover

Al and Zoot in Utica NY – Autumn 1967: Afternoon concert at a college auditorium. L to R: Dave Frishberg, Al Cohn, Victor Sproles, Zoot Sims, Steve Schaeffer. Later we dined lavishly at Grimaldi’s Restaurant. (Photo and caption stolen from Frishberg’s website. Rifftides defense lawyers are standing by)

During his New York period, Frishberg worked extensively with Cohn and Sims, often at the old Half Note. The three were together on The You And Me That Used To Be (1971), the finest recording of Jimmy Rushing’s last years, with arrangements by Frishberg. In addition to Cohn, Sims and Frishberg, the players are Budd Johnson, soprano sax; Ray Nance, cornet and violin; Milt Hinton, bass; and Mel Lewis, drums. Do not ask me to explain the relevance of the video added to this track from the album. Let’s just be glad that the YouTube contributor uploaded the music.

Gerry Mulligan, 1926-1997

Rifftides reader Don Emanuel scanned this listing in the “What’s On” section of a recent edition of his local newspaper, The Medway Messenger in Kent, UK.

“Solar” (Davis) Or “Sonny” (Wayne)?

A long-running discussion (or argument) about the authorship of a major jazz tune may have been resolved once and for all. The tune is “Solar,” copyrighted in 1963 with the name of Miles Davis as composer, nearly a decade after he recorded it. It is a 12-bar minor blues based, with certain departures, on aspects of the harmonic structure of “How High The Moon.” Here, from the compilation album Walkin’, is the trumpeter’s 1954 recording with Davey Schildkraudt, alto saxophone; Horace Silver, piano; Percy Heath, bass; and Kenny Clarke, drums.

Keep that melody and its harmonies in mind. Among musicians and jazz insiders it has long been alleged that “Solar” is in fact a piece called “Sonny” written in the mid-1940s by guitarist Chuck Wayne (1923-1997) and later lifted by or credited to Davis. What has been missing until now is aural evidence of Wayne’s claim that he wrote the tune. Larry Appelbaum, the Library of Congress jazz maven, and Wayne’s widow have posted on the Library’s website a recording of Wayne, trumpeter Sonny Berman and unidentified others playing Sonny. At the time of the recording Wayne (pictured) and Berman were members of Woody Herman’s First Herd. The MP3 is only one chorus of melody and a few bars of Wayne improvising, but it leaves no doubt of a similarity to “Solar” that it is all but impossible to credit to coincidence.

To see Appelbaum’s story of the discovery, pictures of him, Mrs. Wayne, the acetate recording, the Davis copyright claim and—most important— to hear the 1946 “Sonny,” go to this Library of Congress page.

It will be disappointing if Appelbaum does not release the complete performance of “Sonny.” This discovery has stirred up anew claims and counter-claims about other compositions that Davis allegedly appropriated from others, among them “Four,” “Tune Up,” and “Blue in Green.”

As for Chuck Wayne the guitarist’s guitarist, here he is with George Shearing in the late 1940s in one of the pianist’s most successful quintets. The other players are Don Elliott, vibes; John Levy, bass; and Denzil Best, drums.

“America The Beautiful” The Ray Charles Way

After he heard the Eddie Higgins solo on “America The Beautiful” (one exhibit below), Rifftides reader Terence Smith wrote to suggest:

Sometime on the 4th let’s all listen to the Ray Charles version.

That’s a fine idea. There are several versions of the song by Charles, some more musically successful than others, none more touching than this performance at the 2001 World Series, less than three years before he died.

To all Americans at home and abroad, and to all friends of America, Happy 4th of July.

Encore: America The Beautiful, Eddie Higgins

Two years ago on July 4, we presented this performance by the late Eddie Higgins. When it didn’t appear in 2011, we heard from disappointed Rifftides readers. Perhaps we should establish it as an Independence Day tradition. We’ll make up for last year’s oversight by bringing on Mr. Higgins a day early.

Happy birthday, United States of America.

Today’s Listening Tip

Late notice—apologies—but this will be worth hearing:

Monday, July 2nd On the Noontime Jamboree

Record collector/musician/record producer Tony Baldwin visits the show.

Tony is bringing in a mixed sample from his extensive collection of 78s.

Join me, host Retta Christie, from Noon until 2 pm PDT

On KBOO-FM, Portland 90.7 fm

Baldwin specializes in vintage recordings restored to remarkable fidelity.

Finding Donelian

One thing leads to another, if you’re lucky. Bear with me; we’re backing into this. I was reading Thomas Vinciguerra’s Wall Street Journal Weekend Edition feature about the 50th anniversary of “The Girl From Ipanema.” When I saw a reference to “…the 1962 album Jazz Samba by Stan Getz and Charlie Parker,” I nearly lost my mouthful of coffee.

Parker was nicknamed “Bird,” but the great alto saxophonist died in 1955. The Jazz Samba album seven years later was by the guitarist Charlie Byrd. It featured Getz. “Bird” for “Byrd” and the assumption that Charlie Byrd was Charlie Parker may not be a common error, but there was a time when the WSJ’s fact checkers would have caught it. Fact-checking standards, like so much in journalism, seem to have slipped. But that’s not the point.

I was about to send a corrective comment to the Journal, but discovered on the paper’s website that several other readers had beat me to it. That’s a sign that the paper’s subscribers are hipper than their conservative aura might suggest, but it’s not the point, either. I looked up Thomas Vinciguerra, the author of the “Ipanema” piece, and discovered that, among other accomplishments, he is the editor of Columbia College Today, the magazine of a distinguished New York institution of higher learning. I went to Columbia College Today’s website hoping to learn more about Mr. Vinciguerra. I did not, but I noticed on the contents page under Alumni Profiles was “Armen Donelian, ’72.” That’s the point—serendipity. Track down one piece of information and you might google yourself into something even more interesting.

Jamie Katz’s profile of Donelian includes facts about the pianist’s formative undergraduate years that had escaped my attention, including the one that another prominent jazz pianist was at Columbia with him. Here’s an excerpt:

Donelian also played in a talented lab band in the basement of Dodge Hall, led by the brilliant alto saxophonist and pianist Marc Copland ’70. Sam Morrison ’73 also played in the group; a few years later he was with Miles Davis. Meanwhile, Donelian worked evenings at The King’s Table, a restaurant nestled within John Jay Hall, playing solo piano while the young gentlemen of the College dined in style. Unlike the student cafeteria just steps away, The King’s Table even had tablecloths.

“Armen is a great player and he’s a sweetheart — absolutely one of the good guys in the business,” Copland says today. As students, he remembers, they would improvise sophisticated duets in a two-piano practice room in Dodge. “Once we monkeyed around and played a mock classical duet in the style of Beethoven. We went on for five or 10 minutes and then fell off the piano benches, laughing.”

After graduation, Donelian played with a country rock band and, on Copland’s recommendation, began studying privately with renowned pianist Richie Beirach. “He opened the door to me, combining the harmony of contemporary music — Schoenberg, Bartók, Stravinsky and Berg — with jazz,” Donelian says. In 1975, legendary Latin jazz percussionist and bandleader Mongo Santamaria auditioned Donelian to fill the piano chair once occupied by such world-class players as Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea. Though he did not have experience playing Afro-Cuban jazz, Donelian got the gig and was on his way.

To read the entire piece about Donelian, go here. To hear him play, don’t go anywhere. Listen to this from an album of his compositions for solo piano:

Donelian’s website has sound clips and further information about a musician whose acclaim is not in proportion to his talent. The same may be said about his pal Copland.

Other Places: A Tom Talbert Profile

Steve Cerra’s Jazz Profiles remembers Tom Talbert, the under-recognized composer and bandleader who died nearly eight years ago in his early eighties. Steve incorporates a passage in which Talbert wrote about his postwar debut.

Worked with several bands and met arranger-bandleader Johnny Richards in Boston. Moved to Los Angeles the winter of 1946 and was soon living at the Harvey Hotel…a musician’s hangout fondly referred to as the Hot Harvey.

Before long Richards appeared and, in his generous manner, started looking for things I could do. He soon encouraged me to start a band and that seemed a logical move for an out-of-work twenty-one year old arranger. We started with a group of guys who wanted to play and as we rehearsed some were changed and others just left for a real job.

Some of those guys who wanted to play were Dodo Marmarosa, Art Pepper, Lucky Thompson and Warne Marsh. Not bad for a young bandleader just out of the Army.

Cerra dresses up the piece with his customary resourceful graphics and an imaginative recording from later in Talbert’s career. Click here to see and hear it.

For a Rifftides post on Talbert’s career shortly after he passed on, go here.

AND

The Vancouver Sun’s Marke Andrews caught up with Wayne Shorter, whom the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra has commissioned to compose a new piece. “When you write for us, make it hard,” Shorter said they told him. “Show us no mercy.” Go here to read Andrews’ article.

Radio Feedback

Thanks to the many Rifftides readers who are weighing in on the discussion of jazz on public radio in the US. The comments—some from inside the medium—include reasons for the decline, analysis of its nature, reports of a few bright spots, and a good deal of frustration. It seems to be an open question whether there is a future for informed radio hosts serving as companions who can help listeners get inside the traditions and culture of the music. To read the discussion so far and contribute to it, scroll down two exhibits or click here.

Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

Because it’s been too long since you’ve heard it…

Cannonball Adderley, alto saxophone; Nat Adderley, cornet; Joe Zawinul, piano; Victor Gaskin, bass; Roy McCurdy, drums. Los Angeles, October 20, 1966.

It’s Public Radio, If You Can Keep It

Carol Sloane sent an alert to yet another step in the abandonment of jazz by public broadcasting in The United States. Here is the headline of a column on the website of The Boston Globe:

The column is by Mark Leccese, an independent ombudsman who keeps an eye on print and broadcast outlets. He laments one veteran jazz host, Eric Jackson, being downgraded and another longtime presence on New England airwaves, Steve Schwartz, being canceled. Then, he asks,

“Is there no air time left for music on public radio?”

That is a question in dozens of broadcast markets across the country. To read Leccese’s column about the situation in Boston, click here.

WGBH is one of the pioneer public radio stations in the US, a developer of programming emulated by broadcasters in all regions of the country. It is disturbing to see this influential station dilute its commitment to jazz presented by knowledgeable professional broadcasters. But WGBH is not alone in that regard. Indeed, it is behind the trend.

The story where I live differs little from that in other regions. A few years ago, Northwest Public Radio had extensive original jazz programming of its own and an array of jazz shows from National Public Radio and Public Media International. After NWPR changed its primary format to classical music and news, the local jazz shows dropped away. Piano Jazz and Jazz Profiles from NPR disappeared, then NWPR deep-sixed Jim Wilke’s Jazz After Hours from PMI. The anemic replacement is syndicated Friday and Saturday night jazz programming with a host who seems to understand or care little about the music, rarely gives information about sidemen, labels or history and makes fundamental factual errors. Clearly, he is under instructions to keep his part short and breezy. There is none of the personal approach of WGBH’s Jackson and Schwarz or of PMI’s Wilke. Except for the host’s announcements—perfunctory, detached—those hours might be filled by a jukebox.

Why do we need hosts, anyway? Isn’t all the jazz you’d ever want to hear available on iTunes and downloads and websites and MP3s and CDs? If we want to know the history of the music, get the flavor of the times in which it was created, learn about the musicians, can’t we do web searches? Why bother with someone who can provide context and understanding, who tells stories, who can become a friend?

Public broadcasting has gone the way of commercial broadcasting, living by ratings. There is little need to point out that public stations rely on statistics to encourage the contributions of foundations, wealthy individuals and “listeners like you.” With their aggressive fund drives, they don’t let us forget, and in the fierce battle to stay alive in a staggering economy, they can’t. Should valuable cultural programming be forced to play by the rules of the competitive market system? If so, then we should not feel justified in wailing when that programming is dumbed down to a low common denominator. In a capitalist economy, there is such a thing as market failure. If the market fails a minority audience that wants quality programming, does the society have an obligation to find a way to provide it? Do we owe that to future generations, or should we hope that the next annoying fund drive raises enough to allow public radio and television to hang on by their fingernails and keep dumbing down?