Keith Jarrett: Koln and the ECM Legacy

Keith Jarrett (piano, b. 1945)

The Koln Concert (ECM; 1975)

2009 marked the 40th anniversary of ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) Records, the eclectic and ethereal label from Munchen, Germany. The label exemplifies the beauty of performance and production. For days I have been trying to figure out my top ten ECM albums but it was getting too difficult and I thought it might end up looking more pompous than insightful. So I thought I would stick with one of the ECM albums I come back to time and time again. The one that always conjures up a deep emotional response. Keith Jarrett The Koln Concert (ECM) is a haunting and emotionally stark recording. Keith Jarrett is probably the most important pianist of the last 50 years.

The Koln Concert is a significant moment for ECM as the album would go on to sell millions. While a lot of the history behind this release talks about how the piano is horrible and not in tune, I have always felt this album shows the delicacy and reflectiveness of Keith Jarrett's compositions. Jarrett sounds like the great classical composers of Shostakovitch, Bach and even Schoenberg.

From the first and second movements, I have always been moved - they move beautifully up and down the scale like speed racing your friends on bikes all the way home before dinner. While the entire concert is a study in improvisation, the third and fourth movements show how that improvisation can be alluring and angelic and paint a lasting memory on the psyche for years to come. To me this is the statement record for Keith Jarrett. This is the album that say Keith Jarrett has now stepped into the same pantheon as Miles, Coltrane, Monk, Powell, Gillespie, et al.

I said a few weeks ago that I had been listening to The Vienna Concert quite regularly but I have always loved The Koln Concert for how it leaves an indelible mark for the love of jazz in your ears, heart and mind. Here's to ECM's 40 anniversary and the lush genius of Keith Jarrett's The Koln Concert.

Small bit of trivia: Do you know the very first ECM album released?

Mike LeDonne: Live Review From Smoke, NYC

Mike LeDonne (piano; b. 1956)
Live At Smoke, New York City (2.6.2010)

Mike LeDonne is a highly accomplished and well regarded pianist - His performances both on record and live are pure and entertaining. With a gentle and sophisticated post bop style, Mike LeDonne is definitely a disciple of such greats as Harold Mabern, Jaki Byard and Oscar Peterson.

With over 12 albums as leader, LeDonne has worked with a wide array of musicians including Dizzy Gillespie, Joshua Redman, Ryan Kisor, Christian McBride, Jimmy Cobb, Eric Alexander and the list goes on. LeDonne also spent time in the Milt Jackson Quartet in the late '80s and soon became the group;s primary songwriter in the latter years of Jackson's career. Mike has been a mainstay on the New York jazz scene since the late '90s.

He has had a small but revolving quartet, quintet and sextets for years. His most recent quintet includes; Eric Alexander (sax), Jeremy Pelt (trumpet), John Weber (bass) and Joe Farnsworth (drums). It's no surprise 3/5 of this quintet consists of members from the fiery sextet, One For All(Alexander, Weber and Farnsworth), which makes the current CD, FiveLive (Savant Records), recorded at the legendary Smoke Jazz Club on the Upper West Side of Manhattan even more exciting.

I was one of the lucky 60 plus people jammed comfortably into this iconic little room to hear a wonderful and sometimes smokin first set from LeDonne's quintet. The evening shifted mainly between LeDonne's own material, including his feisty tribute to fellow Smoke visitor and performer, Harold Mabern entitled "Hands," as well as a wonderful rendition of the classic "I Should Care". With the addition of Eric Alexander and Jeremy Pelt driving home the intensity of the night's proceedings, everyone was in for a stellar hour of jazz.

The balance between the members wasn't just between the leader and his horn section but the rhythm section of Weber and Farnsworth were just as vital. They created a pulsating atmosphere which allowed each member there an opportunity to express some crafty solo work, especially Farnsworth who is a fantastic drummer and in my opinion, highly underrated.

Definitely an enjoyable evening for Jazz lovers, but for those who couldn't be there or may not have a chance to see Mike LeDonne, I would suggest picking up his latest which is the perfect prescription for "not being there"--FiveLive (Live At Smoke Jazz Club) (Savant Records). Looking to discover something new and definitely entertaining--get yer ears into Mike LeDonne.

Jazz on Screen: ZigZag & The Super Cops

Zigzag / Oliver Nelson
The Super Cops / Jerry Fielding

Film Score Monthly can't be accused of playing it safe. After all, Zigzag and The Super Cops aren't exactly "classic films," and I'd bet that the only people who'll buy it will be a) fans of obscure crime jazz scores and/or b) fans of Oliver Nelson and/or Jerry Fielding. In other words, freaks like me. ;-)

Zigzag, starring George Kennedy, actually had a LP release at the time of the film's release in '70. Nelson's cachet with jazz audiences (who know him best for the landmark Impulse recording Blues and the Abstract Truth, '61) must have encouraged the release. But Zigzag isn't a straight jazz score. Nelson, who held degrees in theory and composition, brought a sophisticated ear to the film, providing both propulsive Latin jazz and meditative modernist string passages, often blending the two. The action-oriented passages will remind some listeners of '70s shows like The Six Million Dollar Man, which should come as no surprise since Nelson composed for that show shortly before he died at the age of 43. FSM includes not only the original score but also the album program, which features an unrelated song called "Zigzag" sung by Roy Orbison. There are songs sung by Bobby Hatfield as well.

Closing out the first disc are Anita O'Day jazz vocal tracks from Zigzag and the hard-boiled crime movie The Outfit ('73). The latter film previously served an FSM release featuring Fielding's score. What is at first a seemingly random inclusion becomes an odd transition into Fielding's score for The Super Cops on Disc Two.

The Super Cops isn't among Fielding's better known scores (such as The Wild Bunch), in part because the film is fairly obscure. It's based on a true story of two New York cops who are more super-dedicated to fighting crime than "super" in the comic book sense. Fielding busts out the funky crime jazz with hard blowing brass, wah-wah guitar and an almost blaxploitation vibe. Still, one wouldn't mistake Fielding for J.J. Johnson, Isaac Hayes or Curtis Mayfield. He works a groove well enough, but like Lalo Schifrin he tends to infuse his compositions with a broader spectrum of tonal color. Still, it's very much an action score with interesting references to militarism and the Old West (the latter of which was a strong suit for him).

Disc Two closes out with selections from Fielding's scores for the short-lived folksy attorney show Hawkins, starring James Stewart (think of it as a prototype for Matlock). These cues are by turns abstract and dramatic ("Life for a Life") and pure pastiche ("Harmonica Source"). The CD also contains Fielding's country western and jazzy pop source cues for the cafe scene in The Outfit.

All in all, it's a worthwhile diversion and very well packaged with thorough liner notes.

Originally published at http://www.scorebaby.com/

CLASSIC ALBUMS: SONNY'S CRIB

Conrad Yeatis "Sonny" Clark (piano; b. 1931 - d. 1963)

Sonny's Crib (Blue Note; 1957)

Donald Byrd (trumpet)

John Coltrane (sax)

Curtis Fuller (trombone)

Paul Chambers (bass)

Art Taylor (drums)

If the names above don't impress you enough to buy this---What's wrong with you!?! Well, once you've picked up those essential albums everyone must have when starting a jazz collection, what do you do next? I hope that everyone decides to dig deep and look for some really amazing records from artists they may not have heard of or may notice a couple of musicians playing on the album that are familiar.

Jazz, unlike some other forms of music, is where you can take an educated chance and 90% of time end up pleasantly surprised. One such venture should be Sonny Clark's Sonny's Crib (Blue Note; 1957). Sonny's Crib was the second session Clark would do for Blue Note (the first being Dial "S" for Sonny). Sonny was a huge admirer of John Coltrane and was very excited to be working with him on this, his second date as leader (Coltrane had just finished recording Blue Train (Blue Note; 1957) a month earlier). This date, while slightly subdued because of the material (3 covers and 2 originals), is still a fantastic piece of work from all the musicians involved.

Sonny's Crib features a group that is equal in command while also giveing the ability to solo their direction without dominating the proceedings. Each of the musicians for this session were on their way to becoming legends, but you don't get that sense from this date. From the opening upbeat "Without A Song" that features some killer interchanges between Coltrane and Byrd, to astounding precision of Coltrane, Byrd and Fuller on the Clark penned title track you get the feeling this was not only an amazing session to sit in on but a wonderfully powerful group of artists with whom to record.

The two original compositions "Sonny Crib" and "News For Lulu" would eventually become semi-standards by today's current generation of artists (John Zorn recently covered News For Lulu on two ultra-rare discs with George Lewis (trombone) and Bill Frisell (guitar)).

Sonny's Crib is definitely indicative of the Blue Note sound but it also demonstrates the beauty of each of the performers at an early stage in their careers. Sonny Clark would go on to record two more outstanding Blue Note albums, Sonny Clark Trio and Cool Struttin' in the following months.

John Coltrane would record Soultrane (OJC) a few months into 1958 with Art Taylor and Paul Chambers. Sonny Clark had an unfortunately short career (heart attack in '63) but he left behind a body of work that is solid through and through. If you find any of his albums I would definitely pick them up. Sonny's Crib is an album anyone can enjoy. There are a couple of "Best Of" compilations which actually do the job quite well if you don't want to hunt down the individual albums, but I hope you do.

If you're interested, take a listen on Amazon to Sonny's Crib. It's available both as download and a physical CD.

Below is the titled track from Cool Struttin'.