Rolling Jazz Thread 2020

ESP is reissuing ronnie boykins's 1975 LP:

http://www.espdisk.com/3026.html

I've never been one to enjoy much vocal jazz, but I'm really digging the Kurt Elling + Danilo Perez

And I'm reminded how much I like that Jon Baptiste Vanguard record, which has the rarely captured Cannonball Adderley Live at "The Club" vibe.

The Corea/McBride/Blade one is nice too.

I like the very dramatic and moody movie soundtrack qualities on the new Ingrid Laubrock album, quite unexpected but good.

xp Bracing column, unperson. Amazing news all through, incl. Mayor Baraka of Newark! I think it was Nick Tosches who cited pre-Baraka LeRoi Jones as crucial inspiration-barsetter for the first rock critics, also for the best young jazz critics. He was certainly my gateway to jazz, which I otherwise found intimidating to read about, sitting in the high school band room, looking at my teacher's copies of Downbeat, which may have still been coming out biweekly? Seemed like an onslaught, with all those Bob Thiele Trane albums in particular, all the raves, and pontifications, and some push-back etc.---but Jones's "Scrapple From The Apple" cut right through it all, via concisely compelling imagery, crisply delivered data, straight-ahead declarations and sidewise, corkscrew rips-thus appealing to all aspects of the high school mind, incl. v. assholes who will never get it and don't want to and for inst the cafe potentate who refused to hire Cecil Taylor and was so pissed at those who did; also, when somebody else offered mea culpa (he was blind but now he sees the new thing), LJ sneers, "That's a noble confession and all)". Collected in Black Music (1968) with relatively longer, still concise show and album reviews, profiles (Roy Haynes sets him straight about earning success w/o selling out). Billie Holiday as "The Dark Lady of the Sonnets," and much else, all this ranged as deep and wide in an eyewitness to history/music nut experience sense as the one I got to later did as adventures in contextualization, Blues People (1963), well-covered here, in its 5oth Anniversary year:
https://www.npr.org/sections/ablogsupreme/2013/07/26/205541225/black-history-meets-black-music-blues-people-at-50
Baraka wrote that Blues People was a "theoretical endeavor" that "proposes more questions than it will answer" about how descendants of enslaved Africans created a new American musical genre and turned "Negroes" into "African Americans" in the process. That message still resonates deeply with many scholars, including Ingrid Monson, a professor of African-American music at Harvard University and author of Freedom Sounds: Civil Rights Call Out to Jazz and Africa.

"I assign portions of this book in virtually every course I teach," Monson wrote in Blues People: Amiri Baraka As a Social Theorist, a speech she delivered in 2004, "to remind my students that cultural studies and critical race theory didn't begin in the academy, but in 20th-century African-American thought and intellectual practice from DuBois to Garvey, Locke, Ellington, Ellison and Baraka."
...Today's scholars might take issue with the exact nature of Baraka's argument. Ingrid Monson's paper points out the author's "tendency toward social determinism [that] is particularly obvious in Baraka's discussion of class — which, to me, is where his argument is most undermined by essentialism. Here, middle-classness is the ultimate marker of cultural inauthenticity, because the black middle class, according to Baraka, dedicated itself to assimilation."

But Monson offers praise for the book in general. "Blues People is a brilliant and path-breaking book, not because all of its factual information is correct, or because all of its interpretive perspectives are unassailable, but because of the sheer audacity, scope and originality of its interpretive perspective," she wrote.
The audacity could get out of hand later, but made him even more of an exciting performer.

i've been meaning to read "blues people" for some time now. going to get on that.

would love to hear ingrid monson elaborate on duke ellington's role in the development of critical race theory tbh !

I'm not familiar with Monson's work, but there is a chapter on 'The Literary Ellington' in Brent Hayes Edwards' wonderful book Epistrophies that could serve as a good springboard for that discussion.

...okay now I'm reading the Edwards chapter and it doesn't say too much about race (at least not directly). Love hearing Ellington on Shakespeare, though – the trumpet in "Up and Down, Up and Down" reciting "Lord, what fools these mortals be!" is a nice touch.

yes, and the trombone solo written in iambic pentameter on "sonnet for hank cinq" ! will have to track down the edwards book, thanks for the tip.

there is lot going on in this latest sprawling Ingrid Laubrock album, but it has some elusive quality that keeps bringing me back to it and it feels like a different experience every time I listen to it. Best one she's done yet I reckon.

Great to read about the new Dave Douglas album in the Stereogum column. I bought 3 DD albums yesterday for $3 each through Bandcamp, as well as a Linda Oh album.

Nduduzo Makhathini, who I've been raving about for a while now, released seven albums on his own before putting one out through Universal Music (Ikhambi, 2017) and another this year through Blue Note (Modes of Communication: Letters from the Underworlds). All of his self-released music is now up on Bandcamp.

https://nduduzomakhathini1.bandcamp.com/

I recommend Listening to the Ground, Mother Tongue, and Icilongo: the African Peace Suite as the best starting points (Shabaka Hutchings guests on Icilongo), but they're all worth hearing.

excellent I loved Ikhambi but haven’t heard anything else- that won’t last long

I'm not sure if this is the thread for general jazz questions I have been pondering...

To what extent are contemporary jazz musicians expected to be composers, or evaluated on their compositional skills?
Would a jazz artist or group who never writes their own material be regarded as a lightweight or novelty, as I suppose is still the case in rock?
Have the last 30 or 40 years of jazz produced any often covered jazz standards like Take Five, 'round Midnight, etc?
Is it unfair to judge recent jazz records by the fact that "none of the songs caught on" and became standards, as does one critic I have been reading?

I mean, people can judge records on any grounds they want but I'm not sure you're getting the point if you say that Ben Monder has failed since no one calls out "Echolalia" at jams.

It's no "Wonderwall", that's for sure.

Yes, unlike some itt I am nowhere near an expert, but that particular take (whither standards) strikes me as kind of anachronistic: that's just not as strong an element of jazz culture as it once was. Contemporary players don't tend to cover show tunes or film themes anymore either.

To what extent are contemporary jazz musicians expected to be composers, or evaluated on their compositional skills?
Depends on the scene or subgenre they're operating in. Kamasi Washington is not being judged by the same standards as Vijay Iyer, despite the fact that they both write their own material.

Would a jazz artist or group who never writes their own material be regarded as a lightweight or novelty, as I suppose is still the case in rock?
Such a thing is vanishingly rare these days; the first examples that come to mind are Broken Shadows and Roots Magic, both of which are explicitly repertory/tribute projects. But Broken Shadows is made up of guys who already have a strong reputation as composers (Tim Berne, two of the guys from the Bad Plus) so it's clearly seen as a fun side project, and judged as such.

Have the last 30 or 40 years of jazz produced any often covered jazz standards like Take Five, 'round Midnight, etc?
No, but that's because the market has changed. Those songs were not just performed by jazz groups; they were hit records that the general public, or at least a sizable swath of it, would recognize. That doesn't happen anymore. Jazz musicians do record each other's compositions sometimes, but as the scene has become smaller and smaller, it's become more and more important to make a name as a total creative artist who writes and performs one's own material.

Is it unfair to judge recent jazz records by the fact that "none of the songs caught on" and became standards, as does one critic I have been reading?
Yes.

I think you can lament the fact that songs don't become standards anymore, but you can't hold it against individual records or musicians. That sounds kind of like criticizing jazz artists for the fact that jazz isn't popular--the cultural momentum is out of anyone's control.

Rockit is a jazz standard!

A third volume in BBE's J-Jazz series will be released in February. I've already pre-ordered mine. (N.B.: The CD version has three more tracks than the vinyl.)

https://bbemusic.bandcamp.com/album/j-jazz-volume-3-deep-modernjazz-from-japan

I'd be curious what the most recent tunes getting played at jam sessions (and by college groups) were. I'm sure there are some.

Like when I was in school, some '90s tunes had definitely become modern standards (Kenny Garrett 'Sing a Song of Song', the theme from Mo' Betta Blues, etc). And aside from jazz artists recording each other's tunes on official releases, I think you'd have to look at the youtube culture of lesser-known jazz musicians doing covers, there's tons of that.

I think quite a few Stevie Wonder tunes count as standards now. possibly a couple of later Ornette compositions. if Global Warming by Sonny Rollins isn't a standard yet it should be

there have been several attempts with Radiohead which I'd rather forget

Yes, I was specifically thinking about standards written by jazz musicians, so the Ornette and Rollins might apply.

Which Ornette are you thinking about? Are any of these tunes e.g. in the Real Book?

probably not. I’ve heard a few covers of 80s tunes like kathelin gray, feet music, latin genetics, song x, mob job (idk if some of those tunes are older) but probably not ubiquitous enough to be considered true standards, they should be though

I feel like there have been a ton of versions of "Lonely Woman," but that's 60 years old.

oh man this dolphy solo on “head shakin” though

Smalls livestream is great right now.

Guy who inspired this thread is playing: Math & Music: The Severed Alliance. Some Recent Academic Approaches (Do Not Read If You Hate Drums)

Man International Anthem is having such an incredible year. My copy of the new Exploding Star Orchestra showed up today and it is absolutely pushing so many buttons for me, I like the vibe so far.

steve potts holy grail being reissued on CD and LP:

https://www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/potts-steve-musique-pour-le-film-d-un-ami-lp/FFL.062LP.html

Checked out the Karuna Trio's (Adam Rudolph, Ralph M. Jones & Hamid Drake) Imaginary Archipelago after flipping through Ted Gioa's EOY list. It's a solid Codona impression, and more besides. Also belatedly caught up with Dan Weiss / Starebaby's latest, which drove home, in reverse, why I struggle with instrumental metal: the players are almost never as virtuosic and imaginative as they are here.

Hearing Hamid Drake again reminded me of how much I enjoy his playing. If anyone's heard it, how's Every Dog Has Its Day But It Doesn't Matter Because Fat Cat Is Getting Fatter (great title btw)?

karuna trio sounds promising!

I've heard the Mat Walerian record. It's free jazz, but very meditative - he's big into Japanese philosophy and that kind of Zen-ness shows up in his work, but not in a kitschy way. All of his records are at least worth hearing.

Sounds cool, thanks.

Is that this?: https://esp5037.bandcamp.com

Yep, that's the one.

enoying that. did mat walerian write his own wikipedia page?

I liked the first piece a lot. Vibe reminded me a bit of Sonoluminescence Trio, which also includes William Parker.

The Jazz Standard, one of NYC's best clubs, has closed. The last time I was there was at the end of January, to see Vijay Iyer, Linda May Han Oh, and Tyshawn Sorey; I wrote about it here.

Ugh. RIP. I had no use spent so much time at that place, no words.

well fuck

on the other hand, Birdland is reopening?
https://www.birdlandjazz.com/calendar/

Interesting. I watched a lot of those Sunday night virtual shows.

Really enjoying the Okuden Quartet (Walerian/Shipp/Parker/Drake) record, thanks. Calm, spacious free jazz is the best free jazz.

sure, on wednesday

Have you guys been watching the Smalls feed on Friendbook? Good stuff. Really good piano and guitar duo right now.

NY Times Jazz Top Ten--I'm ignorant of most, but thrilled to see Dialectic Soul incl.! Playlist at end: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/02/arts/music/best-jazz-albums.html