Over the next two weeks JazzWrap revisits our favourite albums of 2010.
One For All (group; formed 1997) Incorrigible (JLP)
Eric Alexander (sax) Jim Rotondi (trumpet) David Hazeltine (piano) Joe Farnsworth (drums) John Weber (bass) Steve Davis (trombone)
One For All have consistently delivered albums of quality and distinction for over a decade now (15 albums in all). This years, Incorrigible (Jazz Legacy Productions) was no exception.
Driven by an unparalleled sense of unity, each member of One For All writes music for their records. Incorrigible demonstrates once again that One For All are that rare breed of band that you can tell has been together for a long time. They play off each other extremely well. They challenge each other with every note. And they have fun doing it.
From the eternal standard "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered", the lovely tribute to Freddie Hubbard "Voice" to what could easily become a standard in twenty years, the Steve Davis penned "Spirit Waltz"--Incorrigible is an album that is quite accessible for any music fan.
One For All have always been compared to Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (a comparison they enjoy in fact). But they continue to show that they are a new breed for a new generation of jazz fans. This is a group enjoys playing together while having their own highly successful individual careers.
The title track, "Incorrigible," was written by Eric Alexander and it rips with delight. Jim Rotondi's playing is immaculate as always and the interchanges between the horn section are superb. But as with all One For All records each musician standout in their own way. Hazeltine, Webber and Farnsworth all have shinning moments throughout Incorrigible and that's what makes One For All one of the most important jazz groups of the last decade.
One For All are not a band out to reinvent the wheel--but they definitely make the wheel look alot better with each outing. Their sense of unity and continuing drive of making the perfect record is one of the things we have always enjoyed. Incorrigible is highly recommended and one of JazzWrap's favourites this year.
Branford Marsalis is the oldest brother of the very famous Marsalis musical family. He has built his impeccable catalog of recordings in pop, rock, classical, hip-hop, film and university teaching. He and his quartet also had a brief stint on television as Jay Leno's house band on The Tonight Show when Jay first took over from Johnny Carson. But at the end of the day Branford Marsalis is and will always be a jazz musician. Not just a jazz musician but one of the leading, most respected, innovative and versatile of his generation.
Branford came to prominence in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers along with brother Wynton. He also performed and recorded with the likes of Miles Davis, Herbie Hancock, Dizzy Gillespie and Sonny Rollins. His first debut as leader was Scenes In The City (Columbia Records, 1983). Scenes definitely shows Branford's growth as a musician. He would continue to carve out his own direction and identity through a series of phenomenal albums including Royal Garden Blues, Random Abstract, Trio Jeppy, The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born and The Dark Keys.
Branford during this time would also perform with Sting and The Grateful Dead on the pop and rock side, and record soundtracks for Mo Better Blues and Sneakers. He also followed in his brother's footsteps by recording a number of classical releases, including another favorite of mine, Orpheus Chamber Orchestra entitled Creation. A full and diverse musical resume to say the least. In the late '90s Branford started his own label simply called Marsalis Music to develop various projects for himself and other artists (including Harry Connick Jr.).
One of my favourite albums of recent years is his most recent, Metamorphosen (Marsalis Music). Metamorphosen is a return to form of his earlier records--vibrant and rich in melody and invention. Tracks like "The Return Of The Jitney Man," "Jabberwocky," and "Samo" all have the tradmark Branford wit and composed brilliance that has set him apart from the rest of his generation of saxophone players.
With a catalog that includes over a dozen albums, you may be wondering were to start. The best place would be the very well crafted compilation The Steep Anthology (Columbia). The Steep Anthology covers a good selection of his best jazz albums from his years with Columbia. Highlighting some important and outstanding Branford staples; "Doctone," "Royal Garden Blues," "Spartacus," and "The Dark Keys"--it's a great overview of his playing style from cool and collected bop to more complicated melodic rhythms. Well worth the purchase and it will definitely put you in the right direction for finding which album to buy next.
One of the greatest jazz musicians of the last 25 years, Branford Marsalis will certainly will be mentioned in the same pantheon as legendary saxophonists, Coltrane, Hawkins, Rollins and Gordon in the next 25 years.
Mulgrew Miller (piano; b. 1955) Solo (Space Time Records)
A frequent session member with Woody Shaw, Betty Carter, Art Blakey, Tony Williams and more recent times with saxophonist, Kenny Garrett, Mulgrew Miller is one of the few masters of the piano of the last three decades. With Art Tatum, Pud Powell, McCoy Tyner and the great Oscar Peterson as his guide, Miller has created a body of work that is insurmountable in regards to musicianship and composition.
Mulgrew Miller has over 15 albums to his credit, many of them in and out of print. It is beyond difficult to find Miller's works at your local record (or used record store) but I assure you if you find one pick it up, you wont be disappointed. His most recent Solo (Space Time Records) is live album and a prime example of Mulgrew Miller's mastery. I have seen him over a dozen times and it is always an magically event to watch the "Big Man" come on stage and gently let loose a cavalcade of notes in astonishing fashion. Solo is evening that runs smoothly through a host of standards which Miller delivers with quite beauty and a harmonic sense of realism.
This is definitely an intimate evening and everyone listening knows it. Lovely, absolutely lovely precision work from Miller from the opening "Jordu," and the audience definitely enjoy the ballads "Carousel" and "My Old Flame". There's some heavyweight playing on the closing number, John Coltrane's "Giant Steps"--fantastic stuff and shows exactly why he is considered one of the best pianist of his generation.
I have only been only been able to find Solo as a digital download so if anyone knows where I could get a physical copy I would love to know. Mulgrew Miller is one those completely under appreciated pianist that deserves wider recognition. I believe Solo is one of those records that can prove it to anyone.
For more than a decade, One For All have been one of the most exciting and swingin' hard bop groups on the jazz scene. The sextet have consistently been compared to the great Art Blakey and The Jazz Messengers--a bold comparison but probably pretty accurate. Each member of this band is also a renowned solo artist so when they do record together it is always special.
One For All have been a permanent fixture in the New York jazz scene with frequently individual live performances (mostly at Smoke Jazz Club) in addition to their yearly performances as One For All at the famous Uptown venue. The group have just released their 15 album, Incorrigible (Jazz Legacy Productions) and it continues the groups string of straight-ahead hard bop with the same phenomenal results.
Incorrigible begins with the standard "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" but things really get jumping on the second piece "Petite Angel" penned by pianist David Hazeltine and featuring some lovely solo work from saxophonist, Eric Alexander and trombonist, Steve Davis. Upbeat with a slightly mid tempo groove "Petite Angel" is a signature example of how ease it is to fall in love this amazing sextet.
One of the most important and delightful things I have enjoyed all my years of listening to One For All is the fact that each member of the band writes material for the albums. So the listener tends to get a good overview of the depth this band possesses. There is no difference on Incorrigible. The loving tribute to the great trumpeter, Freddie Hubbard entitled "voice", written by trumpeter Jim Rotondi is sublime, touching and emotionally perfect.
The title track written by Eric Alexander is another standout moment as this is where the group begin to really to smokin' and you feel the power of their musicianship. Steve Davis (trombone) has been one of my favourtie musicians of the last ten years. He is definitely taking up the mantle of Curtis Fuller and J..J. Johnson with great ease. The track "Spirit Waltz" which originally featured on his 2001 album, Systems Blue (Criss Cross) is revisited here with the same vigour as its predecessor. In addition to always pitch perfect modality of Davis, drummer Joe Farnsworth helps drive this piece along with some nice timing accompanied by the rest of the groups precision work. For me "Spirit Waltz" is the second standout moment on Incorrigible.
The album rounds out with Rotondi and Davis numbers, "Back To Back" and "So Soon" respectively, where former is an upbeat latin-tinged soul-filler. The closer, "So Soon" reinforces the group ethos with each member practically highlighted throughout. It has an almost classic Blue Note Records quality to it. The perfect way to end the session.
One For All are that rare breed in jazz circles--a consistent group that has stuck together for years and continues to challenge each other and you can hear the fun they have playing together. This is a band that enjoys being in the studio as well on stage and every single record every record captures this magnificently. One For All continue to carry the straight ahead tradition of hard bop and of the small batch of new records so far this year, Incorrigible is by far in my top five.
This week would have been Freddie Hubbard's 72nd birthday (April 7th). Yes, I probably should have written this early but things happen...
Freddie Hubbard was one fiercest hard bop players around. As some may know he was heavily influenced by the great Clifford Brown and Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong. But Hubbard would develop his own voice very quickly and would become a major influence on a new generation of trumpeters today (Ryan Kisor, Nicholas Payton, Roy Hargrove, et el.).
Freddie Hubbard performed with a host of legendary jazz musicians including John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman and Herbie Hancock to name just a few. Hubbard's style was robust, exuberant and well rounded; much more so than many of his contemporaries. When he played you knew it. I was lucky enough to see one of his last concerts and while he had definitely lost allot of his chops--due to a serious lip infection/injury during the 90s--you could still feel the powerful and energy in his performance. Freddie Hubbard like many of the legends of the '50s and '60s hard bop era played in Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers before branching out on his own to record some stellar work for Blue Note Records.
Freddie Hubbard's first album, Open Sesame (Blue Note; 1960) is must have for any fan of jazz. It features some fantastic phrasing from Hubbard but also incredible performances from fellow greats McCoy Tyner (piano), Sam Jones (bass), Clifford Jarvis (drums) and the highly under-rated Tina Brooks (sax) who wrote two wonderful tracks, "Open Sesame" and "Gypsy Blue". Hubbard contributed the lovely closing piece "Hub's Nub which features some exciting solo work that for me is staggering ever time I listen to it.
You could say the Blue Note years saw Hubbard at his peak--you might be wrong. In the 70's Hubbard signed with the CTI/Epic Records after a brief unsuccessful period with Atlantic Records in the late 60s. The albums he produced for CTI would become some of his most commercially successful of his career.
One of the critics and my favourites is Red Clay (CTI; 1970) is a double-edged sword. It can easily be seen as a response to the direction jazz was going in after Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and even some of the work of contemporary Donald Byrd with the collision of funk, soul and jazz. It can also been seen as the trumpeter really taking to the new sub-genre and making it his own in one session.
There's a host of killer performances on this album including the interplay between Joe Henderson (sax) and Hubbard. The album also featured a who's who of jazz greats: Herbie Hancock (piano), Stanley Turrentine (sax), Johnny Smith (organ), George Benson (guitar), Ron Carter (bass), Lenny White, Billy Cobham (drums) and Airto Moreira (percussion)--all I have to say is wow! The album is obviously highlighted by the funky almost psychedelic blues of the title track but you can solid mixture of his crisp Blue Note playing in an updated more rhythmic arena. This isn't completely a funk record by "funk/soul" standards. It's an album built on the soul of the musician with some terrific grooves laid in by his friends.
While the 80s were sporadic for recording and the injury to his lip finally took its toll on the legend, Freddie Hubbard's final two albums still show he could play in with the young cats. The albums, New Colours (Hip Bop) and On The Real Side (Four Quarters) both feature Hubbard running through some previously recorded material but with the help of a new generation which included Kenny Garrett and Javon Jackson (sax) Steve Davis (trombone), Joe Chambers (drums) and Russell Malone (guitar) among others. These two album are not essential in the canon of Freddie Hubbard but they are well worth listening to after you've experience some of his others.
His love of the trumpet and playing never die and it always should right up to his final days. Freddie Hubbard was a remarkable musician with a catalog that stands up against many of the other legends in jazz and should not be overlooked. Happy Birthday Freddie.
Benny Golson's (saxophone) new release, The Best Of Benny Golson (Concord Music Group), is a compilation of material spanning his career with the Milestones, Concord, Prestige and OJC labels. Born in Philadelphia in 1929, Golson worked in early R&B outfits in the '50s to before becoming a member in both Dizzy Gillespie's and Art Blakey's band in the late '50s. He would later go on to formed The Jazztet with Art Farmer.
He has worked with almost every major bebop musician of the era. Benny Golson's own work is powerful yet very inviting. He has written a number of now standards for jazz musicians including "Stablemates," "Along Came Betty," and "Killer Joe" to name just a few. Many people may be more familiar with his work from the film The Terminal staring Tom Hanks and directed by Steve Spielberg. Benny Golson and his band performed in lounge bar of the airport. This brought new awareness of Benny's material and he has since toured consistently again.
Whenever he performs live I try to get as many people who are new jazz to experience his shows. Benny Golson is probably the best intro for people who are unfamiliar with jazz and all its beauty. There will be songs that are very recognizable to you on this collection, including "April In Paris," "Whisper Not," and "I Didn't Know What Time It Was". If you enjoy the saxophone and want to hear a true musician at the peak of his power, check out The Best Of Benny Golson. I believe you will enjoy immensely.
Cedar Walton has quietly become one of the most influential and revered musicians in jazz. In my opinion, Cedar Walton along with Wynton Kelly are one of a handful of hard bop pianists who don't get the recognition they so greatly deserve. He was a session player for many years during the '50s and early '60s. Cedar Walton has worked with a wide array of artists including a Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Kenny Dorham, Lee Morgan among others. He is widely known as the first piano player for John Coltrane's Giant Steps sessions. But his true shinning moments are his own recordings of which there are many.
Walton's style is sophisticated, beautiful and intricate in the similar vein of Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. His choice of band members is always a sign of the intensity of recording session (especially live). Any album featuring legendary drummer, Billy Higgins is worth buying on the spot. The combination of Walton and Higgins is like Jagger and Richards, Lennon and McCartney or Monk and Rouse--you almost can't see one without the other. Walton's live performances of a thing of beauty. I have seen him countless times and I haven't experience one low-par show ever.
While all of his records I could easily recommend there is a highly strong and critically acclaimed period that saw Walton in his most inventive and prolific period. This was from 1975 - 1978 when he formed a band called Eastern Rebellion (named after the Irish rebel movement called Easter Rebellion). The band would also work off and on throughout the 80s and 90s but the majority of the material was during this three year stretch. The band consisted of mainstay Billy Higgins (drums), David Williams, Sam Jones (bass) and rotation of sax players including George Coleman, Bob Berg and Ralph Moore. The band originated out of a European tour that Cedar was headlining and he wanted to give his band an actual name and that's how Eastern Rebellion came about.
The albums are mixture of standards and Walton staples ("Bolivia", "Ojos de Rojo" and "The Maestro") with performances of the highest order. Most of the Eastern Rebellion albums were live so its the perfect way to hear Cedar Walton. There is a fantastic three disc set simply titled First Set, Second Set and Third Set (SteepleChase) which are probably the ones to start with. Bizarrely they are listed as The Cedar Walton Quartet records not Eastern Rebellion but that's nit-picky. The albums are a little hard to find but not out of print so they shouldn't cost that much. I have found them online and for download if you chose that route.
For those looking for some of Walton's newer material you should check The Promise Land (High Note) which features a host incredibly strong selections that anyone interested in jazz would love. The title track along with "Bermond's Blues" and "Thirty Degrees To The Wind" highlight an album of mostly Walton originals and is a real pleasure to listen to. A pianist with great skill and beauty--if you haven't experienced Cedar Walton you really should.
If you have a chance to see him live I highly recommend you buy ticket and see one of the few jazz legends still around and performing regularly. The perfomance below was recorded during one of Eastern Rebellion's European tours in '76.
The Intersection is an occasional feature on JazzWrap that looks at artists that blend jazz with electronica (a tradition pioneered by none other than Miles Davis on such classic recordings as On The Corner). This week's focus is Parov Stelar
Close your eyes and listen to the music of Parov Stelar, Austrian DJ, producer and head of Etage Noir Recordings, and you can easily picture yourself sitting in some posh boutique hotel lounge, sipping a pomegranate martini and thinking about that hottie you met at the club the night before. You invited him/her to join you here in the lounge this evening. Will (s)he come? Who cares... as long as you can groove to Parov's stellar blend of jazz- and swing-spiked house and breakbeat grooves.
Parov has four full-length albums (not to mention a "best of") and many EP's and singles. The most recent album is Coco, which continues to mine catchy samples from obscurity and revitalize them with modern beats and grooves.
JazzWrap caught up with Parov via email this week to find out why his grooves swing.
How did you get hooked on using jazz/swing samples?
Because the recordings from that time sound so great! You can feel the groove, and the mood is like nothing else in today's recordings. You can´t simulate it with a plug-in.
How do you select the samples?
Sometimes it feels like the samples actually select me : ) It´s not always so easy; you might already have the groove, but no sample fits. It´s a bit like picking up a woman in a bar -- it depends on whether the right one is there and wants you too.
Why jazz/swing and not something else (soundtracks, soul, rock)?
It´s more about the sound than about the genre. Not surprisingly, I love to listen to jazz, but not exclusively.
Who are your favorite classic musicians?
Well, it´s obvious, I think some musicians influence me so much that you can hear it in my music -- not always just with the sound, but with their attitude or with the mood of their work. I think Art Blakey is a great example.
Who are your favorite contemporary acts?
There are so many, but right now you can find a lot of tracks by Riva Starr in my playlist.
What makes your latest album Coco your best album so far?
Coco is a mixture of all stylistic elements I´ve been using so far. A special kind of work exhibition (as there are not old but new works), and a collage of the different moods of my soul. It sums up the whole "Parov Stelar" vibe but also leaves enough perspective for upcoming things.
What's next for Parov Stelar?
I am working on a new EP which will be released in may. And, together with the A.G. Trio, I´m working on revitalising Etage Noir Special, the electro sublabel of my label Etage Noir. Also, in the next months, there will also be a lot of concerts and DJ-sets.
Kai Winding (trombone) Art Blakey (drums) Al McKibbon (bass)
This is one of those "I wish I was there" type moments. The Giants Of Jazz as it was billed, toured Europe and Asia. This wasn't the first time some of these musicians had worked together (Gillespie and Stitt worked together regularly as did Monk and Blakey). At this point in their lives, each musician hadn't fully entered into the twilight of their careers but their milestone albums had all been recorded.
They may have been considered "elder statesmen" but they were still smokin' hot during this time. The tour was the brain-child of the powerful Jazz producer, George Wein; Each member of the band put aside their current projects for the tour. You would think that a band of this magnitude would have all sorts of personality conflicts--there were none.
The tour was sort of a comeback for Thelonious Monk who had been in a semi-retirement but felt compelled to join the supergroup. Monk actually sounds like he never left the scene. The dates spanned two years and have been bootlegged in various forms but never truly complete. The most recent release of material includes performances from three shows (Warsaw, Milan and Boblingen); These dates are smokin as well as surprising.
There is the expected overshadowing of the band by the buoyant Dizzy Gillespie on trumpet. Monk does an amazing job on the rendition of Gillespie's material in particular "A Night In Tunsia" and "Woody 'N You." Blakey's precision is spot on; especially on the solo during "A Night In Tunsia" on the Milan date. In turn, the band does a beautiful and delicate balancing act with the Monk penned pieces of "'Round Midnight" and "I Mean You." Don't be surprised if you find yourself moving along to the stellar thread Al McKibbon performs on bass throughout (specifically Blue n' Boogie).
The real stars of these dates are actually Sonny Stitt (sax) and Kai Winding (trombone), as their work carries enormous weight throughout each date. As some of the playing from Monk and Gillespie sometimes seems subdued at points, that might have been only to let the two legendary horn men work their magic...and they do with excellent results.
The Giants Of Jazz Live In Europe 1971 is one of those true gems of a find--if you can find it. It's not a very expensive two disc set, so if you're looking for a real document and an unbelievable lineup that I don't think could ever be matched by today's artists, be on the lookout for The Giants Of Jazz. The title sometimes varies but most recently it has been attributed to Dizzy Gillespie & Thelonious Monk.
Below is a video from that tour. I do believe this exists on DVD which would be awesome to own.
The Intersection is a new feature on JazzWrap that looks at artists that blend jazz with electronica (a tradition pioneered by none other than Miles Davis on such classic recordings as On the Corner).
This week's focus is Amon Tobin.
His name sounds like an Ancient Egyptian sorceror priest. It's a fitting name, albeit in no way obvious since Tobin is an Brazilian living in Britain. And it's just as well, because Tobin's sound is as mysterious as it is hypnotically intense. Since Bricolage, his '97 debut (not to mention his '96 album Adventures in Foam recorded under the moniker Cujo), Tobin has delivered compellingly original drum 'n' bass exotica and trip hop soundscapes that mine thunderous bebop drum breaks and spacious film noir moods.
Bricolage was a promising debut, but is the weakest of his albums in retrospect, because he was still leaning heavily on drum 'n' bass formula and hadn't yet developed strong compositional skills. Listening to it now, it seems that Tobin was fixated on drums and textures, and fans of frenzied bebop drum solos will recognize his inspirational sources (Art Blakey comes to mind, as does Gene Krupa). Some of the tracks hold little interest beyond the surface. Working with layers as well as textures is where Tobin really hits his groove. Examples of this on Bricolage include "Easy Muffin", "The New York Editor" and "The Nasty". By the end of the album -- "One Small Step" and "Mission" -- the drum breaks dominate the aural canvas with limited appeal. It's clear that Tobin is still just a journeyman and not a master on his first full length.
On his follow up, Permutations ('98) Tobin sounds more assured of his style. The drums are still strong, but more effectively used and his use of samples more astute. On "Bridge", the bluesy bebop line and winsome melody are given life by the rolling drum licks. On "Sordid" Tobin takes an exotica loop, sticks a blues vamp on it and then a motoric drum pattern, all to great effect. On "Nightlife" he creates a wholly exotic sonic world, complete with ethereal, half-speed piano, strings and choirs.
The third album, Supermodified, is Tobin's masterpiece. His use of jazzy drum samples and soundtrack moods is at full potency on the 2000 album. It starts strong and stays strong throughout, offering a hypnotic array of abstract downtempo and drum 'n' bass soundscapes. The opening track "Get Your Snack On" kicks in hard with electro blues. "Four Ton Mantis" offers gargatuan beats and predatory evil. It goes to dreamy downtempo on "Slowly", other worldly on "Marine Machines", abstract ambient on "Golfer vrs Boxer", exquisitely beguiling on "Deo", free jazzesque on "Precurser", intriguing on "Saboteur", reverb groovy on "Chocolate Lovely", hard driving on "Rhino Jockey", brilliantly cut 'n' paste on "Keepin'It Steel" and organically easy listening on "Natureland".
Tobin continues to polish his technique on 2002's Out from Out Where and adds some new tricks to his bag. It opens with "Back from Space," which carries a sample that sounds suspiciously like something from Tchiakovsky's "The Nutcracker." That's no surprise, given Tobin's love of orchestral flourishes. This is followed by the first single "Verbal," which sounds inspired by the work of glitch hop pioneer Prefuse 73. It's abstract hip hop vocal diced and spliced against a crackling beat. Tracks like "Chronic Tronic" and "Proper Hoodidge" display Tobin's talent for fierce bebop drum breaks and tense cinematic moods. Any second you half expect someone to yell: "Get down! It's gonna BLOW!!
Following the release of his live album for Ninja Tune's Solid Steel series, Tobin delivered Chaos Theory ('05), his soundtrack for Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell video game. It's easy to imagine special ops maneuvers in rubble-littered, booby-trapped lairs while listening to Tobin's tense, percussion-riddled cinematica. What makes this album ostensibly different from Tobin's previous releases is the fact that he uses live musicians playing drums, percussion, flutes, bass, piano, electric piano, Hammond organ, guitar, Mellotron and strings to augment his unique electronic sounds. Despite the augmentation, no one will mistake Chaos Theory for anything but an Amon Tobin album. By turns austere and exotic, pensive and propulsive, tracks like "Ruthless," "El Cargo" and "Kokubo Sosho Stealth" convey the potentially explosive danger awaiting players around each digital corner. Tobin's command of mood on this outing is awe inspiring and his already impressive musical ideas benefit mightily from the use of live instruments. One can easily imagine a track like "Theme from Battery" being performed by some edgy chamber group like the Kronos Quartet. The use of strings on this album certainly help sell the notion.
Speaking of Kronos Quartet, Tobin collaborated with the group on one of the tracks for his sixth stunning studio album, The Foley Room ('07), which relies more on found sound than samples, but is still recognizable as a Tobin album (a Foley Room is the name for a sound effects recording studio in the movie business). If you needed proof that Tobin was more than a sample-happy drum 'n' bass trip hop dj, this album is it. It's indisputable proof of his incredible imagination and a compositional skill that is rare in the electronica world. Tracks like "Bloodstone" and "Horsefish" immerse the listener in a sonic world of wonder. Go there now.
