Rolling Jazz Thread 2022

It's like he gets distracted from listening by thinking about what he's going to say: I've done that too, recognize the symptoms.

Oops wrong thread sorry

Can't remember where I found this one— might have been on a Bandcamp list of Best Jazz of January or whatever— but I have really been enjoying this solo record from 17 year old Saskatchewan resident Chloe Jackson-Reynolds, "The Winter Concert."
https://sr3323.bandcamp.com/album/the-winter-concert

On her page, she writes: "I am a 17 year-old improviser, multi-woodwind player and jazz musician. My biggest inspirations are Anthony Braxton, Charlie Parker, Roland Kirk, Eric Dolphy and Henry Threadgill."

Of course there are lots of little jazz prodigies running around, but eh, I thought this record did some interesting stuff with looping effects etc.

A 17 year old in Saskatchewan that knows about Anthony Braxton, I love the 21st Century some times.

Haha wow, she would have been 6-8 when I lived in Regina.

"Recorded live in a Discord call on January 3rd, 2022"

!

Right? The whole thing is pretty neat.

The way that she's using looping effects does remind me of Shiroishi's recent output, though his approach is a little more punk.

this is probably old news to you jazzheads, but Chet Baker (with Massimo Moriconi on bass and Michel Grailler on piano) Live from the Moonlight has probably been the album I've listened to the most this year, and I say that as someone with this display name. It was recorded in Nov 1985, at the Moonlight Club in Macerata, Italy.

i find it to be the perfect music for just about every moment. his playing is very VERY "airy", and it's mic'd so that you can really hear the wind coming out. i'm not enough of a Chethead to know how that sound compares to his earlier playing, but as I remember from that (really, really good) film about him, Let's Get Lost, he lost all of his teeth due to misadventure and had to come up with a new way to play, or something?

the pace of the set is so languid, calming, relaxed. Each song exceeds 11 minutes. there are sound issues at one moment, a couple hours in, and you can hear chet and someone (the sound guy?) discussing the problem and laughing, the occasional barroom clatter. and it just gets better as it goes, imo - by the end chet is taking these really adventurous routes all around the register...it's amazing how he evokes Cool so easily, even at that late stage in his life, both in the cool jazz kind of style of playing of the late 40s/50s but also his entire persona, which couldn't possibly be more "cool jazz guy in the 50s" than it was

Thanks. One of the funniest bits in Miles is when Miles gets upset again about 50s suits promoting cute, clean-cut white boys Chet Baker, Stan Getz, Art Pepper, as the new faces of respectable American jazz, while Miles, Rollins, many others, were those junkie Negroes playing in b-movies across the tracks, proceed at your own risk (many did, of course)---when those particular white boys, sometimes put in sweaters on LP covers, were jazz-biz-notorious, like when Getz was found unconscious, having broken into a pharmacy and stuffed himself w pills---Baker was said to have gotten his embouchure busted by the goons of a dealer he'd burned, who was trying to ruin his career---didn't work; he adapted his playing and singing, never having been a conventional muso in the first place, of course.

Eerie contrast between the cool of his (and Getz') music vs. chaos of life in some other respects---also true of Pepper for a while, though his music evolved, without ever losing the sense of thoughtful control, though, no matter the shit that might be flying again offstage, so contrast still there. Same contrast w Sinatra sometimes, although he did have throat hemorrhage onstage, I think, while Ava Gardner was still on his mind.

I love all that stuff.

Liked the Winter Concert a lot on first listen.

Chris Paquette
18 hours ago
On the one hand: a characteristic time feel and tone, and a beautifully rendered classic;
On the other hand: puts up a poster of himself in his own room.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59XAG0AU5aU

Fantastic sample track here:
https://maryhalvorson.bandcamp.com/album/amaryllis

Yeah, I've listened to a little bit of the new Halvorson album (the promo player Nonesuch uses suuuuucks, like all major label promo apps) and it's really good. She spent their money well.

that's a nice track. it had me thinking about funky jazz tunes in odd meters, which inevitable led me to thad jones's "ahunk ahunk"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKQlZl6N11g

Oops, why I should keep up w my twitter better:

Nubya Garcia
@nubya_garcia
·
Mar 14
tonight and tomorrow opening for
@Khruangbin
in Nashville
@theryman
! on at 8pm 🖤

🖌
@yesolpictures
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FN1ZzOrWYAA5fta?format=jpg&name=medium

Coming up in the US:
MAR 17 THU
Roadrunner @ 8:00pm
Boston, MA, United States
TICKETS RSVP
MAR 18 FRI
Roadrunner @ 7:00pm
Boston, MA, United States
TICKETS RSVP
MAR 19 SAT
The Met Philadelphia @ 8:00pm
Philadelphia, PA, United States
TICKETS RSVP
MAR 22 TUE
Le Poisson Rouge @ 7:00pm
New York, NY, United States
TICKETS RSVP
MAR 24 THU
Treefort Music Fest 2022 @ 12:00pm
Boise, ID, United States
TICKETS RSVP
MAR 26 SAT
Big Ears Festival 2022 @ 7:00pm
Knoxville, TN, United States
TICKETS RSVP
Then to Manchester https://www.nubyagarcia.com/

Yeah, I interviewed her yesterday for Stereogum; it'll run on Monday as hype for the Le Poisson Rouge gig (which is her as headliner, not support for Khruangbin — she was here last week with them, two nights at Radio City Music Hall).

Yeah her site doesn't list any other artists on shows coming up, although maybe it does on those tickets links or in news section.

Once the Khruangbin tour ends she's back to Europe for spring and summer, but she'll be back in the US later this year — she told me she just got a 3 year visa for the US in February.

I saw David Murray with Dave Burrell at the Blue Note last week. IIRC he mentioned in-between numbers that the group performing those nights had also cut an album that will be released soon. He's done something like a HUNDRED albums and I've only heard a fraction of them, but what I've heard has been great, including the few I have with Burrell (for a Japanese label was back in the late '80s).

Forgot to mention, he played two numbers from the album and they were both great. I'm not sure if he played different ones in other sets - had it been a weekend, I definitely would've stayed for the late set or at least caught another day as well.

I wrote a short beginner's guide to Murray not long ago, which includes capsule reviews of 10 representative albums. He did a set of five albums with Burrell in 1988 for DIW that are organized around themes (ballads, spirituals, tunes by famous tenor players, etc.) and are pretty good.

the 1988 Lucky Four album with Murray/Burrell is a fab album. I like quite a few solo Burrell albums as well, the Morton tribute one, Jelly Roll Joys is worth checking out as well.

I always try to see Murray live when he comes to town, but I only have maybe a dozen or so of his releases, exclusive of the WSQ albums.

The “Waltz Again” album with Lafayette Gilchrist is one of my favorites.

I thought he was still living in NYC but it sounds like he moved to France some years ago (in the '00s or '10s?)

Not sure if he's scaled back his U.S. appearances because of that, but I was glad to catch at least one set. If he comes through again, I'll be sure to catch him.

Oh wow, didn't know about some of those in your beginner's guide to Murray, thanks. Last one reminds me (re Caribbean) of his mighty guest shots on The Skatalites'Hip-Bop-Ska. Got a bunch of MRE, WSQ, Dark Star (he's usually to be found on YouTube with the live Dead, too), several of your picks, Clarinet Summit, and Plays Nat King Cole en Español is just incredible, even for him: his string charts alone are worth the price of admission.
I used to get the impression, back when I tried to keep up with such things, that he seemed to be taken for granted, maybe because so many albums (Branford seemed annoyed by the release schedule, and in fact that's the only Murray comment I've seen by him, typically enough).

Been digging the new-ish Hawkins, featuring a number of other great players.
https://alexanderhawkinsintakt.bandcamp.com/album/break-a-vase-2

If I may, the latest episode of Jazz Police with music from the late, great Dennis Gonzalez, Tomas Fujiwara (absolutely ripping solo from Mary Halvorson folks), Myra Melford, Flower-Corsano, GOATFACE! and much more.

https://www.mixcloud.com/RepeaterRadio/stewart-smith-presnts-jazz-police-live-gateshead-uk-1/

xp

it's a really good album. I think this is the first time I've seen him mentioned on here despite him being a longtime Shabaka Hutchings collaborator and done lots of good to brilliant releases since at least 2013. I was starting to think he got cancelled for doing that album with [redacted anti-vaxxer crank] last year!

Hawkins is great I follow him religiously. Never seen him live sadly.

He's performing with Hafez Modirzadeh in Glasgow in a couple of weeks, doing the Facets material. Really psyched for that. Also Decoy coming up at Cafe Oto - Hawkins unleashes the full cosmic power of the Hammond B3.

that sounds excellent!

well they both sound good, but especially the Modirzadeh gig. Be interesting hearing him filling in for Sorey.

I saw the new Bad Plus in a pretty small venue in Madison WI, and it was fantastic. All originals (all by Reid & Dave), mostly from the upcoming quartet record (out in Sept. apparently).

At first I was distracted by Monder's guitar tone in context -- no highs, zero attack, pretty quiet, kept getting lost in the low mids of the bass and sax. But I think it's partially just his thing, and also maybe trying not to act like a piano replacement? It was very much a background thing, sometimes doubling the sax, sometimes the bass, and even when he was shredding it was sort of a white noise element. Kinda cool and different how it just blended into everything, or maybe I was just sitting in a bad spot. I'm curious how it's mixed on record.

Anyway everyone sounded very committed and distinctly Bad Plus-y (which highlights their aesthetic even more in a way), and now I think this was a better move than trying to find another piano player. Highly recommend catching them if you can.

(also my wife & I got into a long conversation with Monder after the show, super nice dude)

Nubya Garcia just finished a string of tour dates opening for Khruangbin (a really good combination, to my ear) and is headlining Le Poisson Rouge in NYC tomorrow night. I interviewed her about getting back to the US for the first time since, I think, 2018 in my latest Stereogum column.

(He is great to talk to, I have done so many times)

I think I met him once after a gig at the Jazz Gallery, and I interviewed him once for The Wire. He is a very nice, soft-spoken dude.

I know this is the jazz thread, but I just need to make note that I find it *super weird* that Khruangbin don't have any actual Thai people in their band?

Has the recent Smalls "controversy" come up here yet?

No, but for the record I am pro-Smalls, and found that aside to be a weird sour note in an otherwise excellent piece.

For those not paying attention, Gio Russonello (a writer I like a lot) wrote a NY Times feature on new jazz and jazz-adjacent venues, some of which sound really cool. But for some reason, he felt the need to throw in a shot at Smalls:

At Smalls Jazz Club, the storied West Village basement, purebred jazz jam sessions still stretch into the wee hours on a nightly basis, inheriting some of the infectious, insidery energy that existed in its truest form into the 1990s at clubs like Bradley’s. But today it’s hard to argue that Smalls is the right destination for hearing the most cutting-edge sounds.

And although they don’t usually say it publicly, seasoned players have come to agree that the code of conduct at Smalls’ jam sessions went a little flimsy after the 2018 death of Roy Hargrove. His frequent presence as an elder there had helped to keep the bar high, even as the room had come to be filled with musicians whose hands-on experience of jazz arrived mostly through the distorted lens of formal education.

Spike himself wrote a rebuttal as did Sasha Berliner.

Great looking compilation of post-war British jazz, featuring Shake Keane, Joe Harriott, Ronnie Scott et al.

https://deathisnot.bandcamp.com/album/i-had-the-craziest-dream-modern-jazz-and-hard-bop-in-post-war-london-vol-1?from=fanpub_fb

[tiny thread] Missed this from last week. Great stuff, showing the ongoing fragmentation of 21c art, "we contain multitudes." However NYC is also where true bebop still lives, and IMHO there was no need to take a swipe at Smalls... https://t.co/aXUmRcbuVa

— Ethan Iverson (@ethan_iverson) March 22, 2022

otm

the distorted lens of formal education

Um anyway---some new and recent Sunnyside jazz---think I only recognize Matt Slocum? At least muh lens is ok.
https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Sunnyside-in-Early-Spring.html?soid=1101632560908&aid=rOF0xfVkkdY

Oh wow--should check spam folder more often:

https://artistshare.blob.core.windows.net/artists/001/1/images/11079.jpg?1648595335444

and other news via artistshare: http://artistshare.blob.core.windows.net/artists/019/19/downloads/03-23-2022.html