3 Cohens & WDR Big Band
Interaction
(Anzic)
Anat Cohen (clarinet and tenor), Yuval Cohen (soprano), and Avishai Cohen (trumpet) have all had significant careers, but it is a special joy when the three siblings team up as the 3 Cohens. On Interaction, they are joined for a concert in 2022 by the 16-piece WDR Big Band performing arrangements by Oded Lev-Ari.
The music has plenty of variety, alternating moody and complex ballads (“Naked Truth Pt. 2” and “Trills & Thrills”) with joyful jams. The 3 Cohens had previously recorded their version of the Dixieland standard “Tiger Rag,” utilizing Mid-Eastern scales along with some hot jazz. This new rendition takes a bit of time to get going but eventually takes off and has its charm. Also noteworthy is a version of Gerry Mulligan’s “Festive Minor” that is played by the three Cohens without the orchestra. It is fun to hear the three horns weave lines around each other. The excellent big band is enthusiastic throughout, particularly on “Shufla de Shufla” and the infectious “Footsteps & Smiles.” Occasionally one of the players has a solo (a trombonist is an asset on “Tiger Rag”), and they handle Yuval Cohen’s tricky melody line on “Catch Of The Day” and Lev-Ari’s colorful arrangements on the other numbers without any difficulty.
As for the Cohens, their playing sounds natural, creative and exuberant no matter what the groove, with “Footsteps & Smiles” (which includes a clarinet-soprano tradeoff) being a joyful closer
Interaction (available from www.anzicrecords.com) is a worthy addition to the discographies of each of the Cohens and makes for a fun listen.
Dale Fielder Quartet
Blue World
(Clarion Jazz)
To say that saxophonist Dale Fielder has been through a lot in recent times is an understatement. He lost his house and most of his possessions in the disastrous Eaton fire and has since relocated to Louisville, Texas. While fundraising has helped a little with the expenses, the shock of the fire will take a much longer time to heal.
Yet somehow, just three weeks after the fire, Fielder got together with his long-time quartet (pianist Jane Getz, bassist Bill Markus, and drummer Thomas White) to record Blue World which is Vol. 4 in his Saxophone Standards series. Despite his circumstances, Fielder (whether on tenor or alto) is heard throughout not only in prime form but sounding joyful in his solos.
The quartet plays six standards with the saxophone and piano solos uplifting the music and making each performance sound lively and creative within the straight ahead jazz tradition. While some of the titles such as “It’s A Blue World,” “How Insensitive,” and “I’ll Never Smile Again” could apply to Fielder’s situation and result in a set of downbeat and depressing music, the opposite is true. He really digs into the songs, coming up with chorus after chorus of spirited and inventive ideas while swinging hard. A particular highpoint is his version of “Stardust” which is full of happy moments. The always underrated Jane Getz also contributes plenty of fine solos while Markus and White are stimulating in support of the lead voices. The four musicians and long-time friends often seem to think as one.
Blue World is proof that Albert Ayler’s famous phrase is true: Music is the healing force of the universe. Blue World is recommended and available from www.dalefielder.com.
Marian McPartland
At The Peninsula Library 1972
(Liberation Hall)
For Marian McPartland (1918-2013), it was probably just another gig. 54 at the time, the pianist and her trio with bassist Rusty Gilder and drummer Joe Corsello were doing their best to survive during an era when acoustic piano trios were largely overshadowed by rock and fusion groups. McPartland had modernized her style from her swing roots, became active in music education, and started her own Halcyon record label. On Dec. 10, 1972 she and her trio performed a free concert sponsored by the non-profit IAJ (International Art Of Jazz) for an enthusiastic audience that included a lot of young people. Boris Rose who prolifically documented jazz concerts and broadcasts for decades, was in the audience, and recorded the performance. 53 years later, it has now been released for the first time.
Marian McPartland is heard throughout in excellent form. She performs a wide range of music that includes “Stella By Starlight,” “A Night In Tunisia,” a slow ballad version of “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head,” “Giant Steps,” “Fire And Rain,” a classical-inspired rendition of “All The Things You Are,” and “Milestones.” She strides a bit on “Royal Garden Blues” and follows it up with a fairly free exploration of “Straight No Chaser.” Throughout the two sets (which also includes occasional bass and drum solos), McPartland is quite attentive to her audience, answering some requests and varying styles, tempos and moods.
It may have been just another day of music for her, but because it was recorded (the recording quality is excellent), it is now part of Marian McPartland’s musical legacy. At The Peninsula Library 1972 (available from www.liberationhall.com), a definitive set by the veteran pianist who was not quite at the halfway mark of her long career, is certainly worth picking up.
Music Inc.
Live At Slugs’ Volume I & II
(Strata East/Mack Avenue)
Charles Tolliver was one of the top jazz trumpeters of the 1970s, a powerful soloist with a big tone, a sound inspired by Freddie Hubbard and Lee Morgan, and a very open style. While he could play hard bop with the best, he was not shy to stretch towards the avant-garde when it fit the music.
In 1971 he and pianist Stanley Cowell, who often co-led a quartet called Music Inc, formed the Strata-East label, a company that was in its prime during the next five years. The finest recording by Music Inc. was actually from May 1, 1970 and released a little later on Strata East. With bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jimmy Hopps completing the quartet, the original two albums, released as Live At Slugs’ Volume I & II, was recently reissued as a single CD by Strata East. An out-of-print Mosaic Select three-CD set added three other pieces from the night, but the essence is on this new disc.
Tolliver is in outstanding form, blazing away on his uptempo “Drought,” displaying warmth on “Felicite,” stretching out during the 17 ½ minute “Orientale,” contributing the complex “Spanning,” often sounding explosive during “Wilpan’s,” and paying tribute to John Coltrane on “Our Second Father.” The trumpeter is far from the whole show for Cowell’s modal playing often competes for solo honors, McBee never plays the expected even when in a supportive role, and Hopps’ drumming is often intense while swinging hard.
While the Mosaic set gets the edge (if one can locate it), Mack Avenue’s revival of Live At Slugs,’ along with some other reissues of sessions from the legendary Strata East label (available from www.mackavenue.com), is a very welcome event.
Vince Guaraldi Trio
Jazz Impressions Of A Boy Named Charlie Brown
(Craft/Fantasy)
Pianist Vince Guaraldi (1928-76) already had a pretty successful career before he began work on the Peanuts cartoons. He had had a hit with “Cast Your Fate To The Wind,” his album Jazz Impressions of Black Orpheus was popular, he had been part of Cal Tjader’s band in the 1950s, had toured as a member of the Woody Herman Orchestra, and often teamed up with the Brazilian guitarist Bola Sete.
In 1963, Guaraldi was hired by producer Lee Mendelsohn to compose and play the music for a television documentary about cartoonist Charles Schultz called A Boy Named Charlie Brown but the program never aired because it could not find a sponsor. Despite that, Guaraldi and his trio with bassist Monty Budwig and drummer Colin Bailey recorded its soundtrack which was released on Fantasy. Due to Mendelsohn enjoying the music, Guaraldi was retained for the Peanuts holiday special A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965, and that was so successful that he provided the acclaimed soundtracks for many other Peanuts cartoon specials. Two of his songs, “Linus and Lucy” and “Christmas Time Is Here,” became standards. The music heard throughout these cartoons helped introduce many young listeners to jazz.
Jazz Impressions Of A Boy Named Charlie Brown was essentially a soundtrack for an unseen film. Its nine Guaraldi melodies, which include the original version of “Linus And Lucy” (the song would be a part of every Charlie Brown special) and other memorable melodies such as “Happiness Theme,” “Charlie Brown Theme,” “Baseball Theme” (based on “Take Me Out To The Ballgame”) and “Frieda,” feature the pianist and his trio playing no-nonsense straight ahead jazz.
The recent reissue is a two-CD set. While the first disc brings back the original album, the second CD has 13 alternate takes (some of which are seeing their first release) plus trio versions of “Fly Me To The Moon” and “Autumn Leaves” from the same sessions. One can easily divorce the performances on this twofer from the Peanuts cartoons and enjoy them by themselves as fine examples of swinging trio music. Vince Guaraldi, only 36 at the time, is heard throughout in prime form, making this an easily recommended release which is available from www.amazon.com.
GOH
Believe Again
(Sharp Three Music)
GOH (Goh Kurosawa) is an eclectic guitarist-singer whose music crosses over many genres. He improvises with a jazz sensibility but some of his performances can be considered to be rock, pop, Latin, Japanese music, and even classical. It is not unusual for him to perform a jazz tune next to one by a pop, rock or reggae artist.
His set of solos, Believe Again, consists of nine originals and one obscurity that GOH arranged. Other than two vocals, the music is all instrumentals. It begins with “Deep Burn” (a bit of a freakout with his intense rockish guitar) and GOH’s unaccompanied vocal on the folkish “Pyro Camp Cool.” He jams over a mostly one-chord vamp (“Kicker”), constructs a catchy percussive rhythm on the guitar (“Momo”), displays some fancy picking on “Chikara Danza,” and sings a heartfelt ballad (“Tsubasa”). The other selections find him utilizing electronics (“Lovetap”) to create infectious rhythms, performing the determined “Believe Again,” creating a picturesque landscape for “Harvest Moon,” and using echo effects on the closing “Satofuku.”
The music overall is consistently intriguing and inventive without ever being predictable. Goh’s Believe Again (available from composelife.com) is well worth exploring.
Nick Hempton
Horns Locked
(Cellar Music)
“Battles” between tenor-saxophonists used to be pretty common. While Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young (who once had a legendary marathon encounter in Kansas City) did not record tradeoffs together other than on “Jumpin’ With Symphony Sid” from a 1958 television appearance, two-tenor recordings used to be fairly common. In particular, Gene Ammons and Sonny Stitt teamed up together regularly during 1950-52 and on many later occasions.
On Horns Locked, Nick Hempton invited Cory Weeds to join his trio and the results are reminiscent of Ammons and Stitt. Nick Peck contributes forceful and riff-filled organ while drummer Jesse Cahill really drives the quartet. The two tenors romp on three basic originals, a song apiece by James Moody (“Last Train From Overbrook”), Dexter Gordon (the Latinish “Soy Calif”), and Gene Ammons plus the standards “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” and “When You’re Smiling.” Hempton’s raging uptempo blues “Change For A Dollar” is a highlight but all eight songs have their exciting moments.
The heated solos and many tradeoffs are full of fireworks. Four songs were recorded live at Frankie’s Jazz Club in Vancouver while the other four were performed in the studios but the setting does not matter since the results are equally exciting. The only fault to this very enjoyable set is that the liner notes say nothing about who solos when so it is difficult to know who takes honors and when. One assumes that the lone ballad “Polka Dots and Moonbeams” is a showcase for Hempton so that is a clue as to the solo order on other songs.
But since Hempton and Weeds have similar sounds and styles and they “battle” to a mutually inspired draw throughout, the winners are the listeners. The very enjoyable Horns Locked is available from www.cellarlive.com.
Bianca Rossini
I’ve Been Alone
(Apaixonada Music)
Bianca Rossini is a jazz singer, songwriter, and actress from Brazil. She had previously recorded five albums, some of which featured her jazz singing but I’ve Been Alone is a bit different.
This time around, Ms. Rossini performs her original music. While she retains a jazz sensibility, the tunes are essentially middle-of-the-road pop songs. They range from warm ballads (best are “I’ve Been Alone” and “I Have Waited Like A Fool”) to the rock-oriented “Early Morning” and the joyful “Release Me.” Most of the songs deal with the trials and tribulations of love. Backed by a sympathetic rhythm section with occasional spots for guitarist Peter Roberts, the focus is on Bianca Rossini’s attractive voice and the messages of her songs
I’ve Been Alone, which is available from www.amazon.com, makes for an enjoyable listen due to Bianca Rossini’s appealing voice and delivery although listeners wanting to hear more of the singer’s jazz side are recommended to pick up her earlier recordings too.
Andrew Robertson
The Journeyman Suite
(Self-Released)
Andrew Robertson is a highly valued arranger, composer, educator, bandleader, and tenor-saxophonist based in Sydney, Australia. For his recent Lp, he leads a 16-piece big band and a string quartet through the five-part “The Journeyman Suite” and the 3rd movement of his “Symphony For Big Band.”
While the movement from the symphony is rewarding and makes one want to hear the entire work, the bulk of this release is the semi-autobiographical suite which musically depicts the life of a jazz musician. The opening section “Blow” is about discovering jazz and being motivated to become a creative musician. “The Balladier” deals with studying hard while “Torment” finds the musician wondering if he or she is doing the right thing in dedicating themself to the music despite the uncertainty of being able to make a living. “The One Less Traveled By” takes place when the musician decides after years of being a sideman to finally become a leader and perform one’s own music. The final part, “Revelation,” is about the joy that one receives from playing what they have created.
The writing for the orchestra covers a variety of moods from the ballad waltz “The Balladier” to the slightly unsettling and indecisive “Torment.” The one fault to this Lp is that it does not identify the soloists which include a trombonist on “Blow,” a trumpeter on “The Balladier,” and a bass clarinetist during “The One Less Traveled By.” One assumes that the occasional tenor-saxophonist is Robertson himself.
The Journeyman Suite has a strong premise and is successfully performed by the world class big band. It is available from www.amazon.com.
Luke Gillespie
Moving Mist
(Patois)
A modern jazz pianist who also plays classical music and is an educator, Luke Gillespie displays an intriguing style throughout Moving Mist. While eight of the ten songs are well-known standards (if one counts “Blues For All” which is based on “All Blues” and “This I Dig Of Grew,” a close relative of Hank Mobley’s “This I Dig Of You”), these versions are generally a lot different than expected.
While retaining the song’s melodies, Gillespie often modernizes or completely alters the chord changes. That is certainly true of a mostly well-disguised “’Round Midnight” which, like “All The Things You Are,” is taken as a dreamy solo piano ballad. Most of the other selections include bassist Jeremy Allen and drummer Steve Houghton with trumpeter-flugelhornist John Raymond taking solos on four numbers and tenor-saxophonist Walter Smith III. joining in on three of the four. Tierney Sutton sings a very slow “Beautiful Love” while accompanied by Gillespie and several other musicians assist the pianist on “This I Dig Of Grew.” Gillespie largely reinvents “I Hear A Rhapsody” and “My Funny Valentine,” has the two horns romp on a slightly altered “Giant Steps,” and showcases Raymond’s warm playing on the original “Moving Mists.”
Moving Mists is a consistently intriguing set of modern jazz that is filled with surprising treatments. Luke Gillespie’s inventive playing and arrangements (which bring out the best in his sidemen) are well worth several close listens. His fine release is available from www.patoisrecords.net.
Bob James/Dave Koz
Just Us
(Just Koz Entertainment)
This is a most unusual record. Bob James, who started out as an avant-garde pianist in the 1960s who could also play straight ahead jazz, had much greater commercial success as an arranger and keyboardist in the 1970s who wrote soundtracks, led a long series of pop/jazz albums for his Tappan Zee label, and as leader of Fourplay starting in 1991. While always capable of playing creative jazz, most of his recordings through the years are lightly funky sessions geared towards a large audience.
Despite sometimes being booked at jazz festivals, saxophonist Dave Koz has never pretended to be an inventive jazz soloist. His background is much more in r&b and rock and he has had great success in the so-called smooth jazz genre.
Just Us is something much different, a set of tenor-piano duets. There are no funk rhythms, overdubbed electronics, background singers, anonymous string sections, or pseudo-soulful clichés. The duo actually performs such numbers as “My Ship,” “All The Way,” “Smile,” and “On The Sunny Side Of The Street.” They also contribute three originals apiece and collaborate on “TWO.”
What is particularly surprising is that most of the originals sound like they could be melodies drawn from classical music, the musicians (particularly Koz) mostly play melodically without improvising much, and this combination works quite well. The emphasis is on ballads (other than the closing “On The Sunny Side Of The Street”) but the results are never sleepy. James (who is now in his mid-eighties) and Koz work together quite well, their melody statements are tight, and there is enough subtle creativity and strong melodies to hold onto one’s interest throughout.
Just Us is recommended and available from www.amazon.com.
Jason Miles
Cosmopolitan
(Self-Released)
Keyboardist-producer Jason Miles led his first album, Cosmopolitan, back in 1979. The wide-ranging fusion date featured some notable musicians but went unreleased and Miles, who kept busy as a sideman, would not record his next album as a leader until 1994.A few years ago he moved to Portugal and started going through his archives. Miles rediscovered Cosmopolitan, thought that it still sounded quite good, and now it has finally being remastered and released.
Always a bit ahead of his time in utilizing synthesizers, Miles’ playing on this now-vintage set is not at all dated in its style or its sound. The fusion date has post bop improvising, some attractive grooves, and a mixture of acoustic and electric instruments. The lineup of musicians in addition to Miles includes 19-year old electric bassist Marcus Miller, guitarist Ricardo Silveira, and drummer Jeff Williams. Gerry Niewood, who gained some fame playing with Chuck Mangione, wails on alto and also contributes some comparatively laidback flute on “Powder.” The masterful and much-missed Michael Brecker is well featured on tenor during two passionate numbers and Badal Roy on tabla (with Clarice Taylor heard on background vocals) is showcased on one piece. There are also two percussionists.
Each of the six selections has its passionate moments with stirring ensembles and Brecker or Niewood often heard as the lead voice. Jason Miles, who mostly plays a supporting role while supplying direction and glue to the electronic ensembles, was certainly correct in releasing this timeless music which is available from www.jasonmiles.com.
Michel Benebig & Le Grand B3 Big Band
Blue Note In My Suitcase
(Self-Released)
Michel Benebig is a talented organist from New Caledonia which is 750 miles east of Australia. He has recorded a series of stimulating projects through the years with his most recent one being this big band album. An Australian orchestra that is called Le Grand B3 Big Band for the album is featured playing the arrangements of Lachlan Davidson.
The 16-piece ensemble (counting Benebig who not only plays organ but all of the bass lines) performs ten of his compositions plus one by Davidson. While there are times when one is reminded of Jimmy Smith’s albums with the Oliver Nelson Big Band, this new set is not a copy but an extension on the swinging hard bop and soul jazz of the 1960s. Davidson’s arrangements and Benebig’s songs often utilizes fresh chord changes and more modern ideas while being connected to the tradition. And unlike the Smith/Nelson records which had few solos other than the organist, Benebig is only a major soloist on five of the 11 songs although his playing can certainly be felt in the ensembles.
The musicians in the big band, none of whom will be well known to American listeners, are consistently excellent and contribute plenty of fine solos along the way. The highlights include “Alenka’s Mood” (which has some spirited rockish guitar from Jack Pantazis), the joyful “Le Grand B3,” the rather jubilant “Mango and Papaya,” a rollicking “Blues Haka,” the medium-tempo blues “I Remember Bill Doggett,” very expressive trombone playing by Ben Gillespie on “Black Cat,” and a spectacular closer in “Try To Explain.”
Blue Note In My Suitcase is easily recommended to those who enjoy hearing a top-notch organist interacting with a high quality swinging big band. It is available from www.amazon.com.