I don't know what they mean when they say 'swing hard' anyway. Rolling Jazz Dflat 2014 Thread

Got a promo of the new Polar Bear on Saturday; listened 2 or 3 times and it's quite different to what they've done before - quite minimal in places, more electronic, more beat-driven (but the beats are not 'driving', if that makes sense). It's long (67 minutes), and kind of feels like the opposite of last years Melt Yourself Down album, which was super-fast, hooks, beats, party music. This is very different.

Rolling Jazz in C thread:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTYzYpb1MY0#t=44

this looks terrible and i can't wait to see it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHtRhESo9Q0#t=99
Driven by his demanding music teacher, drummer Andrew is determined to succeed as a jazz musician -- even if it destroys his personality. Under the shadow of his father's failed artistic attempts, Andrew practices until his hands bleed.

Which one of these Shipp gigs would you go to?

Definitely the one with Butcher and Lehn.

Seconded.

Just got a new Eric Revis album in this morning's mail - In Memory of Things Yet Seen, out in March on Clean Feed. Pretty ferocious band - Revis on bass, obviously, plus Chad Taylor on drums, Bill McHenry (who I've grown to like a lot more since Paul Motian died; I know that sounds weird, but his band with Motian sucked, to my ear, and the one he formed afterward with Orrin Evans and Andrew Cyrille was a million times better) on tenor sax, Darius Jones on alto, and Branford Marsalis guesting on two tracks. It's a really good disc so far.

Another one I'm excited about is alto saxophonist James Brandon Lewis's Divine Travels, out Tuesday on the revived OKeh label - it's a trio date with William Parker and Gerald Cleaver, and I'm told it's pretty free. I should be getting a download later today.

I would listen to William Parker and Gerald Cleaver accompanying a dog's farts

i saw Revis play once, in Kenny Garrett's band about 14 years ago. it was in a church and a young Chris Dave was on drums, the first time i ever heard him. completely ruinous. i remember feeling bad for Revis during a hyperspeed tune (something off Songbook i think), but he sounded fine of course and eventually it turned into a drums/sax duet. also remember losing my mind when Chris Dave dropped a stick and just switched over to playing the ride pattern with his left hand for awhile.

I second Jazzbo's recommendation of Kelley's Monk bio, and agree it's one of the best jazz biographies - or artist biographies - I've ever read. Hard to imagine anyone writing a book on Monk after this one; seems definitive in every sense. The style took some getting used to (fans of minutiae, rejoice: You will learn about who drove Monk to certain gigs, and who drove him when the other guy was busy, etc), but once I became immersed, I (pardon the cliche) couldn't put it down. Really, really great.

I've had Nica's book on my Amazon wishlist for over two years. One of these days I'll read it. A jazz fanatic friend of mine says it's great, with lots of insights about Monk, etc, but honestly, after the Kelley bio, I didn't feel like I was missing any piece of the Monk puzzle.

I bought one of the new Rempis titles - the one with Abrams and Ra, because I'm a big Josh Abrams fan. Haven't listened yet (it arrived today) but will report back.

Also, surprised no mention on here about the passing of Arthur Doyle.

And I too vote we not video-bomb this thread with Youtube clips if possible. I don't even open that Takoma thread anymore because it takes ten minutes to load. Links work just fine!

Turn off your images and they will be links!

Oh, I didn't realize that was a thing I could do. Thanks!

BTW loved that Rempis interview.

Hadn't realized that Howard Brofsky had passed away. http://www.nepr.net/blog/howard-brofsky-rip-1927-2013
RIP, Dr. Bebop.

Something neat for nerds: Bonham quotes Max Roach at the beginning of his Moby Dick solo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edPEBB6VjRQ

So far I am loving 2014 for jazz releases—nothing high profile, no Major Statements (though I'm sure everyone's gonna jizz all over Vijay Iyer's piano-and-string-quartet thing on ECM; I haven't listened to it yet), just great, accessible records by players who can fucking swing. Sunnyside and Posi-Tone in particular coming out of the gate early and hard. Really looking forward to hearing the new Ambrose Akinmusire on Blue Note, too, and there are at least three (out of four) new titles on Criss Cross that I want to hear.

First on my list to hear of those would be the Misha Tsiganov.

See, that's the one I'm least interested in, though it's a very tight race. For me, in order: Seamus Blake/Chris Cheek, Donald Edwards, Zach Brock, and then Tsiganov. They all look good, though.

Somehow I knew you would say exactly that

TERRY WALDO "The Soul Of Ragtime"
Available March 25th, 2014 on Tompkins Square

Ragtime. The word itself evokes images of corny movies, bad record covers, overblown caricatures with baggy pants, cigars, funny hats, and those elastic bands around the sleeves.

Forget that.

Tompkins Square has released music across many genres : Folk, gospel, jazz, blues, old-timey, British pop, American Primitive, Cajun, Greek, singer/songwriters. But this is the first Ragtime album released by the label, from perhaps the most important living artist in the genre, Terry Waldo.

Terry's new album 'The Soul of Ragtime' is the culmination of decades of performance and study. Ragtime is one of America's truly unique and precious art forms. Comprised of original and traditional tunes, the album is stylistically so varied that to simply label it "Ragtime" is nonsensical. At times dissonant, rollicking, spacey, gospel-influenced and complex, "The Soul of Ragtime" celebrates tradition but moves the entire enterprise forward in surprising ways.

Terry Waldo has literally written the book on Ragtime. 'This Is Ragtime' is a definite history of the music, originally published in 1976, with a new version published in 2009 by Jazz At Lincoln Center, forward by Wynton Marsalis. Marsalis says about Waldo, "What he's done for Ragtime - in terms of the integrity of the approach, and the knowledgeable approach, and the playing of it - is the greatest service that can be done for any art."

Terry Waldo 'The Soul Of Ragtime" Available March 25th, 2014.
Hear/Post A Track: https://soundcloud.com/tompkinssquare/just-a-closer-walk-with-thee

I reviewed the James Brandon Lewis album on OKeh; also talked about his self-released 2010 debut, which is quite interesting at times.

Ethiopian keyboardist Hailu Mergia sounded real Jimmy Smith like last night live at a free gig at the Kennedy Center. Mergia's the taxicab driver whose mid-80s solo album was discovered and reissed by Awesome Tapes from Africa. He melds that jazzy organ sound with Ethiopian modal sounds nicely. He's backed now by Brooklyn guys, some of whom played in the "Fela" show band and one who was in Antibalas.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/keeping-jazzs-rhythm-with-a-shutter/?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20140226

Great old-school photos of Miles, Duke and others by Aram Avakian and described by Aram's daughter Alexandra

誤訳侮辱, just checked out that interview you posted with Dave Rempis upthread. Good piece (I've seen him and Daisy play a few times in Europe), but I'm interested in why you have a problem with the word "scene" in relation to Chicago. I don't know the city but it seems like a perfectly innocent word to me.

"scene" can convey to some a phony aspect where musicians can't be themselves, but I don't know much about the NY one and its traits that are being referred to and compared to Chicago's

In that case, I was avoiding the word "scene" because to my mind, especially in NYC jazz, it has a "seeing-and-being-seen" aspect that I feel/felt is less emphasized in Chicago. It's more collaborative, less showboaty.

ArtistShare newsletter: Gil Evans Project live at the Jazz Standard,the recording of which will be fan-funded, material, from 40s to late 60s, incl. newly discovered, prev. unissued. Also: Maria Schneider Orchestra at Lincolm Center (plus: Ute Lemper's Neruda Project, Fabian Almazan)
http://www.artistshare.com/newsletter/3-6-2014.html

Come to think of it, I liked the Gil Evans (Centennial) Project's Newport 2012 set, which gets a surround sound mix here; good on headphones: http://www.npr.org/event/music/170167531/ryan-truesdells-gil-evans-centennial-project-on-jazzset Original mix posted here:
http://www.npr.org/event/music/158020421/ryan-truesdells-gil-evans-centennial-project-live-in-concert-newport-jazz-2012

nice, thanks for posting!

Could someone recommend a jazz site/blog for keeping up with popular new jazz? Guardian seems cool but I wouldn't know http://www.theguardian.com/music/jazz+tone/albumreview

Some jazz sites publish 1000s of reviews every month, this is not what I need.

The ArtistShare newsletter is good on the jazzers in their loose joint, like the xpost Gil Evans Project--here's a new update on their May shows, also GEP live video, Robin Eubanks and others (register and get even more,oowee)http://www.artistshare.com/newsletter/4-8-2014.html

Saw the Cookers last night at Iridium. David Weiss and Eddie Henderson on trumpets, Billy Harper on tenor sax, Donald Harrison on alto sax, Dave Kikoski on piano, Cecil McBee on bass, Billy Hart on drums. They were great, and there were maybe 50 people in the audience. Oh, well.

Also picked up a 4CD Proper box, Big Ben, gathering Ben Webster stuff from the 1930s to the early '50s. I've never listened to Webster, so for under $30 I feel like this is a good starting point.

Great lineup, wish I could have seen it, made it a deck of 51 in the audience. Suspect maybe people out of town or staying in Saturday night with the holiday.

omg

http://www.npr.org/2014/04/20/303773614/first-listen-brian-blade-the-fellowship-band-landmarks

I tried to listen to this but it played The Boards of Canada instead.

OK, I see.

Brian Blade album is v enjoyable. Is there something new by BoC up there too??

Blue Oyster Cult?

Oh, you mean Boards of Canada. That was from last year. Maybe it is targeted ad for you.

Oh sorry that was me making a joke about the way the first track sounded.

I doubt there's another person within a three block radius of where I live now that knows who Mary Halvorson is. Brooklyn and Queens are very different animals.

Oh ha

Got interrupted listening to this. Starting again. Meanwhile see that I have some two year old Newport sets on the NPR app from Gretchen Parlato and Conrad Herwig which I will listen to next.

Not jazz, but I guess the audio for that Ted Leo Aimee Mann collabo already came and went over there.

But there is a Tiny Desk.

From The Wire's newsletter:

http://www.thewire.co.uk/2013/12/17/460x200xMarshall-Allen.jpg.pagespeed.ic.ItFlQKNLKj.jpg

Armin Büttner, a Swiss Sun Ra collector who provided some historical information for Val Wilmer's article on Marshall Allen's experiences in postwar Paris in The Wire 363, has formed a one off label, Little Rocket*, with fellow Swiss Sun Ra fan Hubi Horst to issue a new album by the current director of The Sun Ra Arkestra. *http://crownpropeller.wordpress.com/

Two Stars In The Universe was recorded in Poschiavo in Switzerland during the 2012 Uncool festival, where The Arkestra performed as part of a music theatre production, Oedipus-Akhenaten. It features the saxophonist, who turns 90 in May, in a series of duets with Arkestra member Kash Killion, who plays cello, sarangi and bolong. It has been produced in an edition of 250 copies pressed on 180 gm vinyl with hand printed silkscreen covers.

The album was recorded in the living room of Cornelia Müller, who runs the Uncool festival, and according to Büttner: "Marshall and Kash played beautiful improvised music for two and a half hours without ever talking about what to play next and visibly having fun doing so. We just sat there in awe not daring to interfere or make any suggestions. Apart from choosing the tracks for release we did not do any editing or much post production. The end product is a surprisingly quiet (for Marshall that is) moody, melancholy, beautiful record of many colours.

"Besides alto saxophone and flute Marshall also plays one of those old cheap Casio keyboards. I always think he is channeling messages from Sun Ra with it. If you listen to his Casio playing on "Cosmic Blues-Life Of Two", hearing the rattling sound of its keys struck by Marshall, you'll notice that he uses the same wobbling up and down hand movements that he uses when producing the freaky alto sounds he is known for."

The album will be launched during The Arkestra's forthcoming concert in Zurich on 22 May, the 100th anniversary of Sun Ra's birth, and is available by mail order direct from the label. Email dj at crownpropeller.ch for details. Büttner has posted a promo clip on YouTube filmed during the recording. Watch it below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KUMI7X7Xl8

Also from The Wire:

Saxophonist Charles Gayle will be honoured with a lifetime achievement award by Arts For Arts in New York, at the 19th edition of Vision festival. Gayle will also play three sets on the evening of 11 June: as a trio with Daniel Carter and Miriam Parker, as the Charles Gayle Quartet with Dave Burrell, William Parker and Michael Wimberly, and with his Vision Artist Orchestra, with a stint in the middle by poet David Henderson.

This year's Vision festival also includes performances by Mary Halvorson, Henry Grimes, Matthew Shipp, a trio of Peter Brötzmann, William Parker, and Hamid Drake, and many others, plus panel discussions on the legacy of Amiri Baraka. The festival runs 11–15 June. More details here.
http://artsforart.org/event/vf19/schedule

7:00PM - 8:00PM - Charles Gayle Trio + Dance

Daniel Carter – reeds
Miriam Parker – dance
Charles Gayle – bass
Michael T.A. Thompson – drums

8:15PM - 9:00PM - Charles Gayle Quartet

Charles Gayle © Luciano Rossetti©Phocus

Charles Gayle – tenor saxophone
Dave Burrell – piano
William Parker – bass
Michael Wimberly – drums

9:45PM - 10:45PM - Charles Gayle & The Vision Orchestra
Charles Gayle – piano, conduction
Kidd Jordan, Hamiet Bluiett, Ingrid Laubrock – sax
Ted Daniel – trumpet
Steve Swell – trombone
Jason Kao Hwang, Mazz Swift – violin, viola
Nioka Workman – cello
Shayna Dulberger – bass
Andrew Cyrille – drums

on first listen the Brian Blade album is lovely as usual, if not as stunning as Season of Changes. i'll have to give it some good non-streaming listens when it comes out.

i feel like the Fellowship tracks that deviate from their 'standard' mode are really important to the records, like say the pygmy samples + drum solo from the first record. Season of Changes is sequenced amazingly, there's the no-solos 'Stoner Hill' (one of my favorites ever), the heavy backbeat track, the solo sax + drone tracks leading into the killer closer. the new one doesn't have nearly as much of that, but the songs are really nice anyway.

Still haven't gotten a chance to listen to this properly. Is Steve Cardenas on it? Didn't hear any guitar on what I got to listen to yesterday.

Also another guy told me a little while ago that Jon Cowherd pronounces his last name pretty much like Noel Coward.

Heard from another source that Cardenas likes to use the Harmonic Major scale, as namechecked on the Theory thread. Not saying that this is a reason for anyone here to use or not use that scale, just saying.

R.I.P. Steve Backer, championed Cecil Taylor, Anthony Braxton, and Henry Threadgill (among others) at Arista and RCA.

there's definitely some guitar, though not on every track (i think so, only listened to it once). NPR mentions Marvin Sewell (not familiar) and Jeff Parker (!), definitely no Rosenwinkel.

Yeah, I'm liking the Sperazza a lot so far. Didn't even know about the new Lehman.

Good work with that list. That Jerome Sabbagh album is stunning, need to listen to more of these.

I have now also listened to the no.1 - Jemeel Moondoc album, wow!

http://larryappelbaum.wordpress.com/2014/12/17/2014-favorites/

critic, radio dj, and Library of Congress employee

1. Billy Childs “Map To The Treasure” (Sony)

2. Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden “Last Dance” (ECM)

3. Otis Brown III “The Thought of You” (Blue Note)

onward to 10 plus some reissues

I'm looking for jazz vocalists faves

curm, this has a jazz vocalists faves section:
Francis Davis presents his round-up of jazz crits. Intrigued by descriptions of ones I've missed, and his comments on others are mostly right-on (incl. his push-back against high ranking of Moran's half-good Waller project). But, despite Davis's opening caveats, Rollins' Road Shows Vol. 3 doesn't seem quite right for Top 10, much less No.4, considering that SR has set the bar very high---and the octogenarian diabetic doesn't spare himself on the longest tracks, or the 8-minute-plus "Solo Sonny"---but sounds like he should, just a bit (another kind of self-discipline). Still, "Patanjali" is so fucking tight, reminds me again that I need to check out yoga, and will make my P&J Singles (the album was on there for a while, and would make a Top 20)(History is a very well-chosen 2014 Rollins anth, on Spotify just below RS V3)

http://www.npr.org/blogs/ablogsupreme/2014/12/19/371282561/the-2014-npr-music-jazz-critics-poll?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=nprmusic&utm_term=music&utm_content=2045

thanks

Incredible story about the stolen Smalls Buddha.

New Year, New Thread. "Weird Means Something You Never Heard Before": Rolling Jazz D-bag Thread 2015

Your subtitle on the new thread suggests that once can't post there unless they go to Smalls...You New Yorkers

You need to post a photo of the Buddha

Take it to I Must Protest!