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JD Allen, Graffiti (Savant)

Intrepid as ever in his power, cohesiveness and brevity of expression, tenor saxophonist JD Allen returns to the trio format that gives him all he needs as a soloist and a composer. Allen, bassist Greg August and drummer Rudy Royston are once again alone together in an album that has obstacle course tunes as well as simple ones, all composed by Allen. His “Indigo Blue (Blue Like)” is, indeed, like the blues, but because of its form it is not exactly the blues. It swings harder than anything else on the album, although sections of the title tune, “Graffiti,” come close. “Little Mack,” really the blues, is the track in which Allen is nearest to evoking the tenor-bass-drums trios of one of his inspirations, Sonny Rollins. Allen’s liner notes say that “Jawn Henry” was “inspired by the Black American folktale of John Henry’s (The Steel Drivin’ Man) victorious duel with a steam-powered hammer…” Not quite the classic folk song, it makes use of bracing tension-and-release sequencing. Through nine tunes, Allen, August and Royston anticipate one another’s thoughts and improvisational choices with a sensitivity that makes them one of the most satisfying bands at work today.

Introducing Katie Thiroux(BassKat Music)

After I heard Katie Thiroux at the Brubeck Institute Summer Colony 10 years ago almost exactly to the day, I wrote on the fledgling Rifftides:

In a few days, seventeen-year-old Katie Thiroux will begin her senior year at the Hamilton High Music Academy in Los Angeles. A bassist, she swings hard, solos well and develops supporting lines that inspire soloists. In the all-star combo, her rapport with pianist Julian Bransby and drummer Steve Renko was remarkable.

…Not content to be merely a superb player, Ms. Thiroux sings beautifully, accompanying herself on bass in the manner of Kristin Korb, with whom she has studied. In a duet with Ingrid Jensen, she sang “Close Your Eyes” simply and brilliantly, with a canny understanding of the meaning of the lyrics and their relationship to the melody. She and Ingrid ended the piece with a complex unison line that culminated in a high G perfectly intoned by Jensen’s muted horn and Ms. Thiroux’s angelic voice. Generous and giving, Katie Thiroux is a thoroughgoing musician, the antithesis of the image of the egocentric chick singer. I hope to hear more of her, for the sheer pleasure of it.

A decade later I’ve heard her again, on a new album produced by drummer Jeff Hamilton. Thiroux’s bass playing reflects the tradition and examples of John Clayton and Ray Brown, as she demonstrates with powerful swing in her blues “Ray’s Kicks.” Thiroux’s singing, faultlessly in tune and with canny phrasing, holds through the tempo changes and breathtaking pace of “The One I Love Belongs To Somebody Else.” In the out-chorus of “There’s a Small Hotel,” the tricky intervals she applies as she paraphrases the melody enhance it and the meaning of the lyric. I don’t know if she scats, but with phrasing like that, she doesn’t need to.

With the veteran Roger Neumann on tenor saxophone, Thiroux uses the final eight bars of Lester Young’s solo on “Sometimes I’m Happy” as the introduction to “A Beautiful Friendship,” one of many indications of her sense of the music’s history. She demonstrates her skill as a composer with four pieces including a ballad, “Can’t We Just Pretend,” that deserves a lyric. The album concludes with four minutes of virtuoso unaccompanied bass playing on “Oh What A Beautiful Morning.” Graham Dechter is the guitarist in Thiroux’s pianoless quartet, Matt Witek the drummer. They and Neumann accompany her with empathy, open ears, flexibility and the solidarity of a working band. Each solos impressively.

This debut recording was worth the ten-year wait.

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In a week or so, I will be heading to the Ystad Sweden Jazz Festival. Now in its sixth year, the festival in this ancient town on the Baltic shore has become one of Europe’s prime summer music events. The schedule includes established international stars as well as dozens of European musicians, many of whom I’ll be hearing for the first time.

Among the visiting American performers will be pianist Robert Glasper’s trio, tenor saxophonist Harry Allen, bassist Dave Holland in duo with pianist Kenny Barron, and Diane Reeves singing with the redoubtable Norrbotten Big Band. It’s always a pleasure to hear music, and go for long walks, in a setting like this.

In a separate concert, trumpeter Jan Allan will be guest soloist with the Norrbotten band. Going strong at 80, Allan (pictured) is one of Sweden’s best-known jazz players. Fifty years younger than Allan, the rising Norwegian tenor saxophonist Marius Neset will play with his quintet at the Ystad Theater.

The growing acceptance and equality of women in jazz is signified by the festival’s not making a big deal of the fact that only women populate two of the bands. The Dutch saxophonist Tineka Postma will lead a septet that includes the Australian/New York bassist Linda Oh, Portuguese trumpeter Susana Santos Silva and women from a variety of other countries. Another band headed by German saxophonist Nicole Johänntgen is made up of women from several European countries and Japan. The schedule includes a return engagement by bassist Anne Marye Eggen’s three-quarters-women quartet called We Float, with Fanny Gunnarsson, piano; vocalist Linda Bergström; and drummer Filip Bensefelt. For a Rifftides review that mentions their 2014 Ystad appearance, among others, go here.

Pianist Jan Lundgren (pictured), who with Thomas Lantz founded the Ystad Festival, will play in at least three contexts, including a remembrance of Jan Johansson (1931-1968), one of the country’s pioneers of modern jazz piano. Lundgren’s tribute to Billie Holiday later in the week will include the veteran Norwegian singer Karin Krog.

Let’s listen to and watch Lundgren with bassist Jan Edefelt, guitarist Ewan Svensson, drummer Daniel Fredriksson, harmonicist Flip Jers and singers Isabella Lundgren (no relation) and Hannah Svensson. This was at a concert at the Jazzens Museum in Strömsholm, Sweden, about a year ago. Accustomed to 9-foot Steinways, Lundgren makes the most of the museum’s spinet.

To see the complete Ystad 2015 schedule, go here.

(The original post of this piece mistakenly included a photo of the neighboring Skåne County town of Trelleborg.)

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This is the 90th birthday of Cal Tjader (1925-1982). Tjader may have been best known for his pioneering Latin jazz, but in the late 1940s and early ‘50s with the Dave Brubeck Trio, he was respected for his mainstream drumming. Pianist Hank Jones told me that when he played on Tjader’s 1953 record session for Savoy, Tjader became one of his favorite drummers. After he formed his own band and concentrated on vibraharp, Tjader’s Latin recordings with sidemen like Mongo Santamaria, Armando Perrazza and Willie Bobo achieved huge popularity. Even so, his groups always balanced straight-ahead music with the Latin. One of Tjader’s most engaging recordings, reissued here, included Eugene Wright, who was his bassist until Wright joined Brubeck later in 1956. The pianist was Gerald Wiggins, the drummer the underrated Bill Douglass, a master of wire brushes.

The first tune, Wiggins’s “A Fifth For Frank,” is illustrated with the cover shot of the original album. For reasons that only YouTube could explain, the final two videos show the cover of an unrelated album. Ignore that. Just close your eyes and enjoy three pieces from a one-time encounter of four superb musicians.

For fellow blogger Steve Cerra’s Jazz Profiles report on Duncan Reid’s 2013 biography of Tjader, go here.

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Steve Provizer’s comment about Bill Hardman’s off-center trumpet embouchure in last weekend’s Horace Silver video reminded me of other trumpeters with unconventional mouthpiece placement. There are many examples. Hardman’s, Jon Faddis’s and Ruby Braff’s mouthpieces go to the left, Louis Armstrong’s and Wild Bill Davison’s slightly to the right. In all cases, what comes out the other end of the horn is beautiful, leading to Steve’s conclusion that there are no rules.

Here’s Wild Bill leading an All Star Band in “You Took Advantage of Me” at the Bern, Switzerland, Jazz Festival in 1985. Davison trumpet; Warren Vaché, cornet (he doesn’t solo here); Bob Wilber, clarinet; Bill Allred, trombone; Bucky Pizzarelli, guitar; Dick Wellstood, piano; Milt Hinton bass; Jake Hanna drums.

Mr. Provizer, a trumpeter, knows what he’s talking about. A few years ago on his Brilliant Corners blog, he posted an illustrated essay on the off-center question. A couple of the video examples have encountered copyright roadblocks, but most of them still work. The post ends with a famous Dizzy Gillespie-Louis Armstrong collaboration, and it’s more than worth a look. To see it, go here.

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In art, there is a bright line of quality above which categories do not matter. The best works of Mozart, Picasso, Charlie Parker and Laurence Olivier—to pick four names out of the stratosphere—are at a level of expressiveness, humanity and emotion to which anyone with open mind, ears and heart can respond. With the death of Jon Vickers on July 10, we lost a tenor whose presence, magnetism and sheer vocal ability had the power to reach listeners who thought opera pointless, pretentious or silly. His roles in Pagliaci, Rigoletto, Carmen, Tristan and Isolde and—perhaps most powerfully—Peter Grimes, made him one of the most compelling performers of the twentieth century, in any art form. Here he is in Verdi’s Otello at the Metropolitan Opera in 1978, with Cornell MacNeil as Iago.

For a lengthy appreciation of Jon Vickers see this article by Richard Osborne in Gramophone magazine. Osborne illustrates it with three videos of Vickers in full cry. They include a crucial scene from Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes, a performance that brought Vickers huge acclaim.

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On his weekly broadcast today, Jim Wilke presents a band of New Yorkers and Seattleites whose performance was a highlight of an increasingly important Seattle jazz festival. Here is Jim’s announcement:

The Lucas Pino No Net Nonet played an exciting concert of original music at the 2015 Ballard Jazz Festival, and the concert was recorded for broadcast on KPLU’s Jazz Northwest. Pino is a New York-based tenor saxophonist who has been leading a similar band in monthly concerts at Smoke in New York City for the past three years. The New York band has a new CD on the Seattle label Origin Records, and Lucas Pino recently married Roxy Coss, another saxophonist who is a former Seattle resident and attended Garfield High. So, it seemed appropriate for Lucas and Roxy to be featured at this year’s Ballard Jazz Festival. Roxy led a quintet of her own and played in the No Net Nonet. The rest of the band came from Seattle’s pool of excellent players.

The front line: Greg Belisle-Chi (partially hidden), Jay Thomas, Roxy Coss, Lucas Pino, David Marriott Jr, Richard Cole. Pianist Dawn Clement, bassist Michael Glynn and drummer John Bishop are not shown. (Jim Levitt photo)

Lucas Pino was clearly impressed with the Seattle musicians. “We had maybe an hour of rehearsal… and I’m astounded at the level of musicianship of these cats…’ Generous with his band, all players had solo turns during the concert, which consisted of frequently complex original compositions by Pino. The concert will air on Sunday, July 5 at 2 PM PDT at 88.5 in the Seattle area and stream on the internet at kplu.org. Jazz Northwest is recorded and produced by Jim Wilke.

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Dave Bass, NYC Sessions (Whaling City Sound)

In the 1970s when pianist Dave Bass thought that a broken wrist had ended his career, he dropped out of music and into law school. Eventually, he became deputy attorney general of California. Through the years Bass continued to play, but not publicly until he agreed in 2005 to sit in at a party. He told liner note writer Bob Blumenthal that one of the musicians invited him to a jam session, where he discovered how much he missed music, “and it just came pouring out.” That led to revitalization of his jazz life, then to a 2009 album, Gone, and now to NYC Sessions.

The collaboration with bassist Harvie S and drummer Ignacio Berroa discloses a pianist with feeling, taste, technique and gifts as a composer, arranger and lyricist. Alto saxophonist Phil Woods is on six of the eleven pieces, at 83 brimming with vigor, fresh ideas and—on “Baltic Bolero”— plaintiveness that captures the essence of the bolero form. There are guest appearances by trombonists Conrad Herwig and Chris Washburne, flutist Enrique Fernandez, percussionist Carlos Caro and singers Karrin Allyson and Paulette McWilliams. Bass’s lyrics may not be in a league with Johnny Mercer’s or Lorenz Hart’s, but Allyson uses softness and understatement to make the most of the ballads “Endless Waltz” and “Lost Valentine.” The passion in McWilliams’ voice is suited to the blues character and inflections of “Since I Found You” and “Just A Fool.” The Latin nature of several pieces is a striking aspect of the album; Bass’s and Woods’ simpatico relationship in “Silence” is a high point. With this welcome release, Dave Bass seems to have declared that, at 65, he’s back.

Tiempo Libre, Panamericano (Universal Music Latino)

This is Tiempo Libre’s fourth album since the conservatory-trained young Cubans emigrated to the US and formed their band in Miami in 2001. Like its predecessors, the new collection is based in Cuba’s eclectic timba tradition, melding elements of salsa, rhythm and blues, jazz patterns in the horn section and several strains of Afro-Cuban folk music. Its hallmarks are irresistible rhythms, vocal choruses delivered with passion, good cheer and—often—irony, as in “Dime Que No.” Panamericano, in keeping with its title, incorporates influences from other regions of Latin America as well as Cuba. Tiempo Libre is capable of not only extrovert excitement but also lyricism and reflection. Case in point: the relatively slow “Grandpa,” with its lovely flute work by Fabian Álvarez, one of several guest artists.

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There will be a funeral service for the saxophonist, composer, bandleader and iconoclast Ornette Coleman in Manhattan at 11 o’clock tomorrow morning, June 27. Coleman died on June 11 at the age of 85. Rifftides noted his passing that day. The service at The Riverside Church, between W. 122 St. and W. 120 St., will be open to the public.

Thoughts of Coleman took me to a day in the 1960s not long after the release of his album Free Jazz. I was living in New Orleans. The alto saxophonist Al Belletto (1928-2014) and I were having one of our Saturday listening sessions. I put Free Jazz on the turntable, placed the needle and waited for his reaction. Al reached musical maturity in the Crescent City’s traditional jazz community. His quintet of young beboppers achieved a good deal of national success in the 1950s and early sixties. Many musicians of his age and background were mystified by or indignant about Coleman’s departures from the harmonic and rhythmic norms of early jazz, swing and bop. If Belletto had paid attention to the free jazz movement that Coleman to a large extent initiated, he never mentioned it in our get-togethers.

A few minutes into Free Jazz, Belletto was nodding his head and smiling. He said that the interaction in what Coleman and his double quartet were playing had the spirit of “what the old guys used to do” in post-funeral parades and jam sessions. Coleman had lived in New Orleans for six months in 1949 and 1950 and spent time with young modern jazz strivers—drummer Ed Blackwell, clarinetist Alvin Batiste, cornetist Melvin Lastie, pianist Ellis Marsalis and others. As far as I know, he and Belletto never met. How much traditional New Orleans jazz Coleman heard in addition to the approaches he absorbed from Batiste and company, we may never know. But the collective improvisation of Free Jazz connected immediately to a New Orleans musician who recognized tradition when he heard it and didn’t let preconceptions or labels affect his hearing.

For our weekend listening, let’s hear the title track of Free Jazz. On the left channel are Coleman, alto saxophone; Don Cherry, trumpet; Scott LaFaro, bass; and Billy Higgins, drums. On the right channel: Eric Dolphy, bass clarinet; Freddie Hubbard, trumpet; Charlie Haden, bass; Ed Blackwell, drums. December 21, 1960 in New York City.

For commentary, I defer to the final two paragraphs of the original liner notes by the late Martin Williams.

Jazzmen have tried spontaneous group improvising without preconceptions before, of course—and almost invariably fallen into playing the blues within an acceptable key. It is surely a most telling tribute to the importance of this music that all of these young men, of different experience in jazz, were able to contribute spontaneously and sustain a performance like this one.

On the other hand, the man who isn’t bothered about ‘newness’ or ‘difference,’ but says only that, ‘He sounds like someone crying, talking, laughing,’ is having the soundest sort of response to Ornette Coleman’s music.

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In 1997 pianist Greg Reitan faced a problem familiar to many musicians. Practicing and trio rehearsals in his Los Angeles apartment building were bothering the neighbors. In their search for more private quarters Reitan and his wife—Meredith Drake, a PhD in urban planning—saw a listing for an artists retreat. They investigated and found a house on a ridge in Highland Park, overlooking Pasadena. It was well away from the nearest neighbors.

The prototype Concept 2 modular home was designed and built in the 1960s by J. Lamont Langworthy, an architect who specialized in low-cost prefab houses occupying difficult sites. He covered the inside and outside walls with rough redwood plywood. Although the house contains less than a thousand square feet, sliding glass doors open to redwood decks on either end, giving it a feeling of spaciousness and light. A truss module down the middle stabilizes the building and provides added visual interest. “We fell in love,” Reitan told writer Diane Krieger of the alumni magazine at the University of Southern California, where he and his wife went to college in the 1990s.

When the Reitans moved in with their Steinway grand piano, they were thrilled to find a bonus; those rough-sawn redwood walls created warm acoustics with nominal vibration, properties ideal for a recording studio. So, in addition to practicing without fear of bothering anyone, Reitan began recording rehearsals with his longtime sidemen, bassist Jack Daro and drummer Dean Korba, fellow graduates of USC’s Thornton School of Music. That led to four albums, all released by Sunnyside. Post No Bills appeared in 2014, Daybreak in 2011, Antibes in 2010 and Some Other Time in 2009. “When we’re recording, it’s a fairly simple setup,” Reitan told Ms. Krieger, “We use the natural acoustics of the house. We don’t multitrack. There’s no mixing stage involved. The performance we record is it. It’s very real.”

As for Reitan’s style, here are excerpts from the Rifftides review of Antibes:

Reitan’s inner Bud Powell filters through Bill Evans and Denny Zeitlin. If there is direct Powell influence, it is more in his adaptation of harmonic concepts than in a reflection of Powell’s manic energy. His keyboard touch and chord voicings are firmly in the Evans school. He shares with Evans, Zeitlin and–consciously or unconsciously–with Keith Jarrett, the floating time feeling that comes from rhythmic placement relating chords to individual notes.

The tracks with Reitan’s own writing are the ones I keep going back to in Antibes. He told Orrin Keepnews, who wrote the admiring liner notes, that when he was preparing the album he had been listening to Glenn Gould play J.S. Bach. The title tune, the unaccompanied “September” and “Salinas” are direct reflections of that experience. Reitan so skillfully conceived them with Bachian rhythmic and harmonic principles and plays them with such precision and dynamic touch that one might almost be willing accept that Gould had come back as a jazz artist.

Architect J. Lamont Langworthy has designed a wide range of California houses, from modest ones like the Reitans’ to spectacular hillside mansions. Now well into his eighties, he is still at work.

(All photos but Langworthy © Kelly Barrie)