Lilian Terry, Dizzy Duke Brother Ray And Friends (Illinois)
Lilian Terry’s book is full of anecdotes about her friendships with the musicians mentioned in the title—and dozens of others. Enjoying modest renown in Europe for her singing, Ms. Terry has also been involved in radio and television broadcasting and is a cofounder of the European Jazz Federation. Her activities brought her in close contact with Dizzy Gillespie, Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. She conducted extensive interviews with Ray Charles, who is quoted at length on musical and racial matters. Gillespie’s roguish personality comes through clearly, as does the sincerity that shone through the graciousness with which Ellington could seem to be parodying himself. She tells a touching story of Strayhorn providing her a lyric to his “Star Crossed Lovers,†which she later sang, managing to recall Johnny Hodges’ alto saxophone solos on the piece with the Ellington band. The word “I†is prominent throughout—justifiably.
Pianist Green’s earlier album Altered Narratives put strings with his trio on three tracks. The melding with a string quartet worked nicely. One Day It Will carries the idea to album length, with excellent arrangements by Green and smooth interaction among a string quartet and the trio featuring bassist Justin Grinnell and drummer Julien Cantelm. Among many highlights: the evocative languor of Green’s “October Ballad,†Cantelm’s accents amounting to commentary behind Green’s dancing solo on “As The Parrot Flies,†Grinell’s solo on the waltz “Lemon Avenue,†the richness of Kate Hatmaker’s violin on “As The Parrot Flies.†Sound quality is superb.
They were hot in more than one sense. Pelt, pianist Victor Gould, bassist Vicente Archer, drummer Jonathan Barber and percussionist Jacuelene Acevedo had established their unity and fire in the earlier 
The Kairos Sextet are protégés of the superb Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto, who assembled them from among his students at Miami’s Frost School of Music after he came to the US a decade ago. The group has been in demand for work supporting major players including Dave Liebman and Joe Lovano, but in Transition, they are on their own, gloriously so. Prieto’s guidance may have been essential in the band’s formation, but trumpeter Sam Neufeld, saxophonists Sean Johnson and Tom Kelley, pianist Nick Lamb, bassist Jon Dadurka and drummer Johnathan Hulett have evolved into an ensemble whose solo abilities and big collective sound put them in the first rank of contemporary groups. The pieces are original compositions by the members, except for Victor Schertzinger’s classic “I Remember You.†Kelley gives it a stirring arrangement with minor-key flavors.
upscale music magazines used to call a basic repertoire item. The Three Sounds thrived for a few years under the leadership of pianist Gene Harris. For most of the group’s existence, Andy Simpkins was the bassist and Bill Dowdy the drummer. Engineer and celebrated on-air host Jim Wilke recorded the group when he presented them in live broadcasts that became steady fare for Seattle-area listeners. The trio has sometimes been described as representative of jazz-rock, but their music was deeper and broader than the term suggests, as this album’s “Yours Is My Heart Alone,†“The Night Has A Thousand Eyes†and “The Shadow Of Your Smile†attest. It’s not just a question of repertoire, but of musicianship and the blues feeling with which Harris, Simpkins and Dowdy infused everything they played. That includes Ray Brown’s “A.M. Blues,†Toots Thielemans’ “Bluesette†and Three Sounds specialties like “Rat Down Front†and “The Boogaloo.†Kalil Madi or Carl Burnett substitute on drums for Dowdy on a few tracks and carry the torch splendidly. Resonance Records and Wilke deserve praise for preserving the music and finally releasing this album. Warning: It could make you decide to dust off your 1960s boogaloo moves.
In this five-CD reissue, the formidable pianist plays pieces by ten composers who dominated American popular music for decades. Peterson had bassist Ray Brown and guitarist Barney Kessel, succeeded by Herb Ellis. It’s the trio that made Peterson famous with Jazz At The Philharmonic and–by way of the 10 albums reproduced here–on juke boxes and radio stations everywhere, when jazz was popular music. Among the songwriters are Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Duke Ellington, Jerome Kern, Vincent Youmans and Richard Rogers. Peterson’s playing is exquisite, his support by Brown, Kessel and Ellis impeccable, the melodies precious to generations. The tracks tend to average three minutes or so. To single out just two performances, “Blue Skies†from the Berlin collection is impossibly fast and impossibly relaxed, Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady†is a tribute to a Peterson idol that verges on prayerfulness.
from the first of two Jazz Greats Of Our Time sessions that the prolific composer and arranger (pictured) recorded in the 1950s—one with star east coast musicians, the other with some of the most prominent west coast players. Albam made the east coast “Millmoss†in New York in 1957 with Gerry Mulligan, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, Nick Travis, Art Farmer, Osie Johnson, Milt Hinton and Hank Jones. In the video, the soloists are identified by name, for which Erlendur Svavarsson, who posted the track, deserves great credit. (Photo: Monk Rowe)
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.
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,
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 
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.
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.
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.
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.
