The Branford Marsalis Quartet and singer Kurt Elling combined in the first major concert of the 2017 Portland, Oregon PDX Jazz Festival. A packed audience in the capacious Newmark Theater heard a performance that drew upon their recent album Upward Spiral. The principals listened intently to one another and appeared to be enjoying their work as much as they did in this earlier encounter.
With his rich harmonic palette and hard swing, longtime Marsalis pianist Joey Calderazzo generated audience enthusiasm equal to that shown the co-leaders. The strong support of bassist Eric Revis and drummer Justin Faulkner intensified as they buoyed the proceeding when Marsalis, Elling and Calderazzo were soloing. Calderazzo’s—no other word for it—fierce playing on the opening number set a joyous mood that suffused the concert and moderated only when tempos slowed on ballads. One of those ballads was the 1950s Nat Cole hit “Blue Gardenia,†which
Elling sang with affecting simplicity. He finished the piece on a high note held longer than a human oxygen supply might be expected to last. Marsalis’s ballad triumph, on soprano saxophone, came in an Antonio Carlos Jobim piece, “Só Tinha de Ser Com Você,†that is little-known compared to much of Jobim’s extensive output.
Following the PDX festival audience’s customary standing ovation and cheers, the concert ended with “St. James Infirmary.†Marsalis performed the piece with the New Orleans flavor that characterizes his best work. Elling’s obbligato, using a water glass and his voice to suggest trombone sounds, was an unexpected touch that fell just short of being vaudevillian.
The Maria Schneider Orchestra filled the Newmark to capacity. She is a composer and arranger who conducts with a fluid style that parallels the poetic content of her music. Her program in Portland consisted of pieces from her orchestra’s albums over two decades or more, and some of her recent work. It began with “A Powder Song,†a new composition combining power and grace that provided the setting for a stunning extended accordion solo by Gary Versace. Yes, accordion. In the right hands it can be a musical instrument. Versace’s are the right hands. Trombone soloist Marshall Gilkes and trumpeter Greg Gisbert followed Versace, keeping the level of fluency high. “Gumba Blues†from Schneider’s first album (1994) is stylistic evidence of her study with the protean composer and arranger
Gil Evans. It featured extended work from alto saxophonist Steve Wilson and another round of Versace’s accordion wizardry. This orchestra of gifted soloists has empathy that puts it in a category with the camaraderie of Thad Jones-Mel Lewis, Claude Thornhill and—going back even more decades— Fletcher Henderson in the late 1920s and Duke Ellington’s 1940-41 band.
Other highlights of the concert:
ï¬ A complex new piece by Schneider in observance of the increasing power and threat of digital technology as it spreads into every aspect of our lives. She introduced it by quoting the scientist Stephen Hawking’s prediction that by 2035 the robots we have created will take over the world—and mankind. Called “Data Lords,†it featured an impressive young trumpeter, Mike Rodriguez.
ï¬ A magnificent baritone saxophone essay by Scott Robinson on “Winter Morning Walks.†Introducing it, Ms. Schneider read the Ted Kooser poem that inspired the piece and the title of her album featuring classical soprano Dawn Upshaw.
ï¬â€Coming About,†from the 1996 album of that title. It had a long, satisfying piano solo by Frank Kimbrough and a Donny McCaslin tenor saxophone solo that gathered momentum as it developed and carried the orchestra with it.
ï¬ â€œSky Blue,†with another Steve Wilson alto saxophone solo saturated with feeling; the feeling of the blues.
The powerhouse drummer Ralph Peterson took his trio, Triangular, into the Winningstad Theater. To their credit, his sidemen were not submerged by Peterson’s waves of energy—and to his credit, he adjusted his volume and enthusiasm to accommodate brothers Zaccai Curtis, a pianist, and his bassist brother
Luques. The Curtises have lyrical tendencies and although they have become adept at playing Peterson’s games of strength and rhythmic complexity, their best moments of the pieces I heard were quieter ones. Scheduling circumstances meant that I had to leave before the concert was over. As I tiptoed out, they were massaging a Latin groove and building excitement into it. I was sorry that I had to leave it behind.
Go here for compete information about the PDX Jazz Festival..
right). That will be on Friday, February 17 at 4:30 p.m. at the Art Bar in the lobby of the Portland Art Center, which houses the Newmark and Winningstad Theatres, the festival’s primary stages for major events. Jackson shares a bill the next night at the Newmark with brothers Jimmy and Tootie Heath. Among other musicians the festival will feature are the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Branford Marsalis and Kurt Elling together, drummer Ralph Peterson featuring the Curtis Brothers, the Yellowjackets and guitarist Mike Stern, and a parade of prominent pianists including Bill Mays, Craig Taborn, Aaron Parks, Amina Claudine Myers and the Russian Andrei Kitayev—in separate gigs.
In addition, there will be appearances by many of the Pacific Northwest’s most prominent musicians. The veteran drummer Mel Brown (pictured left) will lead his big band with trumpeter Jon Faddis as a guest soloist. Pianist Ezra Weiss
will head his Monday Night Big Band. Trumpeter Dick Titterington (pictured right) and pianist Randy Porter will appear with their John Birks Society. Not to be outdone, trumpeter Thomas Barber will present his quintet in a concert billed as “Barber Does Dizzy.†To scroll through the PDX Festival’s full calendar of events, 
Going through the Rifftides archive to see what we did on Valentine’s Days back to 2005, I discovered that links to several versions of “My Funny Valentine†have been taken down for copyright reasons. So far, the 
I came in not long ago from shoveling four inches of new snow off the front sidewalk and the driveway. We’re expecting up to seven inches more tonight. Naturally, I thought of the most appropriate piece of music by which to recover from the shoveling and prepare for the next onslaught. What else but Woody Herman’s 1945 recording of “Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow,†with one of Herman’s best and—regardless of his disclaimer below—most popular vocals. Correspondingly, the arrangement is one of Neal Hefti’s most brilliant. Quoted in the notes for the Columbia album 
Since first hearing Miguel Zenon’s quartet well over a decade ago, I have been intrigued by the band’s deepening identity as a unit. Virtuosos all, alto saxophonist Zenon, pianist Luis Perdomo, bassist Hans Glawischnig and drummer Henry Cole have developed a collaborative personality. In his brief album note, Zenon refers to the importance of the rhythm section’s “individual sounds within OUR sound.†Masters of their instruments, not only do the quartet members listen intently to one another, but they are at a lofty level of mind meld. Such harmony of intent and spirit is a hallmark of a few seasoned classical chamber groups. In jazz it happened, for instance in the Count Basie band of the late thirties, the Miles Davis Kind Of Blue sextet and the Bill Evans Trio of the early sixties. The Zenon quartet achieves it throughout TÃpico. 
Stan Getz was born on this date in 1927. The day has an hour or so to go in this time zone, so before it expires, let’s listen to one of the master tenor saxophonist’s great collaborations. He and the bossa nova pioneer Joao Gilberto teamed up for a 1963 album whose title consisted of their last names. It quickly became a hit at a time when conventional wisdom concluded that rock and roll had forced jazz off the charts. 
added at Getz’s insistence and over the objections of her husband and Jobim, was Gilberto’s wife Astrud. Her previous singing experience was largely at home. Despite her tendency to sing a bit flat, the charm of her vocals on “The Girl From Ipanema†and Jobim’s “Corcovado†captivated radio listeners and record buyers. Getz’s solo on “Ipanema†was a reminder of the expressiveness and subtle power of which he was capable. From my notes for the 
Producer-Director Adam Kahan includes biographical facts throughout his film about Kirk (1935–1977), the most prominent jazz multi-instrumentalist of the late twentieth century. Friends, family members and Kirk bandsmen talk about his creativity, his determination and the blindness and blackness that were at the center of his life. The testimonial interviews provide facts, but what make this film a gripping, occasionally riotous, experience are sequences of the phenomenally gifted musician in action. The Jazz And Peoples Movement that Kirk founded led him to The Ed Sullivan Show with sidemen including Charles Mingus, Roy Haynes and Archie Shepp. “Wonderful…wonderful…wonderful,†Sullivan says with little conviction when Mingus’s “Haitian Fight Song†ends. The appearance did not result in greater receptivity to jazz on network TV. Ingenious animation by Måns Swanberg illustrates several Kirk voiceover clips, including the one about receiving the name Rahsaan in a dream. 
Ed Berger was an author, an accomplished photographer and associate director of Rutgers University’s Institute of Jazz Studies. Like Chuck Stewart, Berger died a little over a week ago. He was 67. He contributed to Jazz Times and was co-editor of the Journal of Jazz Studies. Known for his helpfulness to jazz scholars and musicians, Berger wrote books that brought him acclaim in jazz circles. They include biographies and oral histories. His 
When the venerable Chicago jazz entrepreneur Bob Koester opened a new record store last fall, he initiated a live music policy by bringing in Outset, a quartet formed in 2013 by tenor saxophonist Dan Meinhardt. Koester, the founder of Delmark Records and the Jazz Record Mart, has for decades kept a close ear on rising young Chicago players. His choice of Outset for the opening of Bob’s Blues & Jazz Mart indicated faith in the band’s achievement and potential. This album substantiates both. Outset’s instrumentation of saxophone, trumpet, bass and drums recalls the influential quartets of Gerry Mulligan and Ornette Coleman. With adventurousness approaching iconoclasm, Outset leans more toward Coleman than Mulligan, but its personality is its own, even in a trademark piece like Thelonious Monk’s “Epistrophy.†Interaction and empathy among Meinhardt, the impressive young trumpeter Justin Copeland, bassist Tim Ipsen and drummer Andrew Green keep the proceedings interesting. In addition, Meinhardt’s pieces—among them the ballad-like “New Rain,†the quixotic “Bixotic†and a blues called “Wayneishâ€â€”suggest a composer of substance. This is band to keep an ear on.
Saxophonist Charles Lloyd has made a cover version of Bob Dylan’s protest song “Masters Of War.†Lloyd and Blue Note Records timed the release of the single—a track from the album 
On this observance of Martin Luther King’s birthday, we recommend an album that John Coltrane made at the height of the 1960s civil rights movement in the southern United States. He wrote “Alabama†following the bombing of Birmingham’s 16th Street Baptist Church in September, 1963. Four young girls died in the attack by white racists. Dr. King called it, “one of the most vicious and tragic crimes ever perpetrated against humanity.” “Alabama†is the emotional centerpiece of a major album by Coltrane’s nonpareil quartet with McCoy Tyner, piano; Jimmy Garrison, bass; and Elvin Jones, drums. Live At Birdland also contains superior versions of “Afro-Blue,†“I Want To Talk About You,†“The Promise,†“Your Lady†and “Vilia.” Coltrane recorded it during an engagement at the celebrated New York City jazz club Birdland. It is one of the key achievements of his career. 
band appeared on Ralph J. Gleason’s Jazz Casual program on public television. Here, Coltrane, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones revisit “Alabama,†the high point of the Birdland album and a major musical statement about the brutality of racists who bombed a black church in Birmingham, Alabama, in 1953 and killed four little girls. As the piece begins, we have a brief glimpse of Ralph Gleason.
2013 when he visited Villengen, Germany, the home of the former MPS label, he hit the jackpot—recordings by pianist Bill Evans that had been kept under wraps since they were made in 1968. Evans, bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Jack DeJohnette had recently triumphed at the Montreux Jazz Festival. In DeJohnette, Evans had a new drummer who was uniquely in tune with what album annotator Marc Myers calls the pianist’s “percussive poet†phase. By this time Gomez had been with Evans for two years. Compatibility verging on ESP is tangible in their duo performances, notably “It Could Happen to You.†But it’s the three-way conversations that pull the listener most deeply into the music. DeJohnette’s firm, understated percussive asides in this “new†album inspire some of Evans’s best playing. 
Last night we lost Nat Hentoff, a defender of civil liberties and—notably, for this readership—a lifelong champion of jazz. He was 91. His son Nick reported that members of the family were nearby and a Billie Holiday record was playing when Hentoff died in his Greenwich Village apartment in New York. Influential as a jazz critic for DownBeat, the Village Voice and other publications, he was even better known for his books and columns explaining and defending First Amendment freedoms.
If you can’t get enough of the baritone saxophone, Ralph A. Miriello has gone to lengths to see that your obsession is addressed if not satisfied. On his Notes On Jazz blog, Mr. Miriello (pictured) has assembled videos and audio recordings by twenty-five players of the baritone. He starts with Harry Carney, whom he quite rightly describes as “the master†of the instrument, and includes Serge Chaloff, Gerry Mulligan, Cecil Payne, Lars Gullin, Nick Brignola, Sahib Shihab, Ronnie Cuber, Gary Smulyan and—among the relative newcomers—Mats Gustaffson, Jason Marshall and Brian Landrus. It is quite a parade. To watch and hear it, carve out at least an hour and 
Portland named Feb.22 2008 as Nancy King Day, and she was recognized as the third Portland Jazz Master in 2013. In this intimate Seattle concert she’s joined by pianist and composer Steve Christofferson with whom she’s often worked for over 35 years. They’ve toured internationally and recorded two CDs together, one with The Metropole Orchestra of the Netherlands. Nancy has also recorded with Glenn Moore, Ray Brown, and others. Her latest is a live album with Fred Hersch at The Village Vanguard in New York.
Andrew Cyrille, a bold drummer, long since established his audacity and the independence underscored in the album title. This collection is notable for subtlety and daring in equal measure. Cyrille’s quartet includes the electronic explorer Richard Teitelbaum on synthesizer and piano, the steadfast bassist Ben Street and composer-guitarist Bill Frisell—quiet and inventive in both his roles. It’s an avant garde venture in which Cyrille carries aspects of the Roy Haynes snap-crackle-pop branch of drumming into the
twenty-first century. His introduction to the opening “Coltrane Time†is a spare, almost military, statement of snare drum strokes and cymbal splashes. The quartet delves deeply and quietly into Frisell’s “Kaddish†and “Begin.†The musicians spontaneously invented “Sanctuary,†“Dazzling (Perchordially Yours)†and “Manfred.†Their close listening to one another and their absorption of musical suggestions and signals make the pieces seem composed.