Musings...

I found this interesting article the other day and wanted to share it. Jazz Musicians are having a concert to provide health care for themselves.

Also, yesterday, April 12, 2010 was the 70th Birthday of the genius know as HERBIE HANCOCK.

My love for Herbie started in the seventh grade. I was 12 years old and the O.W.Holmes Boss Band played a funkdafied version of THE CHAMELEON. If, by chance, you can get your hands on a copy of BOSS BAND VOLUME ONE, you would have the opportunity to see just how funky we were. Since that time, I have found myself mesmorized by the music of Herbie Hancock. From MAIDEN VOYAGE through his electric foray with the THE HEADHUNTERS. I even dug his Hip Hop offering ROCKIT. Herbie even proved how creative he is with the ROCKIT video, which was ahead of its time in Hip Hop.

BUTTERFLY from the THRUST record and WATERMELON MAN from TAKIN OFF, will most likely always be my all time favorite Herbie Hancock records.

Happy Birthday Herbie! Keep on being funky!

I'm in the Mode for JOE

A friend of mine and I always say, true fans of a particular artist don’t buy “Best Of” records. Because a true fan of an artist may not like all the tracks by an artist, but the ones that are not considered the artist’s “best” always make an impact. And “Best Of” records tend to only document the artist’s most popular tunes.

I’ve been rummaging around in my garage for the last couple of days. The weather has been really cool and comfortable and I’m not allowed to smoke cigars in the house. I have an old CD component set in the garage for such times as I’m in there working on my putting stroke or washing the car or whatever else would have me out there. I grabbed several CDs from my rack. Just my heroes, Joe Henderson and Sonny Rollins, and started my garage hang…I began to listen to a record I had come across at a used CD shop for so cheap had to get it. It was THE BLUE NOTE YEARS: THE BEST OF JOE HENDERSON.

If you’ve ever had an in depth conversation with me about Jass and my likes and dislikes, you know that BLUE BOSSA by JOE HENDERSON is one of the three songs that personify Jass for me…and thus, one of my three favorite records! This particular CD starts with this song. Probably the reason I bought it in the first place. It’s the original recording on Blue Note featuring Kenny Dorham, trumpet; McCoy Tyner, piano; Butch Warren, bass; and Pete Laroca, drums. It was recorded June 3, 1963, released originally on his album PAGE ONE.

This “Best of” record I love! I think it documents Henderson’s work in such a manner it highlights all of his abilities. This is one of those times when I won’t spend a whole bunch of words trying to describe this document. I just will suggest you pick it up with a fine Ashton, gin and tonic or your favorite spirit and just listen.

All Star Weekend...

I’ve had an awesome few weeks. It has forced me to write. Of course, I haven’t been as faithful to the blog. I started on new adventure and I’ve have had my attention elsewhere. But I couldn’t leave this alone.

So back to my awesome few weeks - first, it was NBA All Star Weekend in Dallas. Though I did want to see the game and possibly hit a party or two, the thing that I got to do excited me most. My favorite trumpet player and my friend, ROY HARGROVE was doing a show in town. The first show he’s had in Dallas in years. The brothers at SANDAGA MARKET brought him to town. Fortunately, his wingman and also my friend, saxophone player KEITH ANDERSON and also keyboardist/organist BOBBY SPARKS of the RH FACTOR band also live in Dallas. Along with CHUCK SMITH on Bass, JASON “JT” THOMAS on drums and BERNARD WRIGHT on Keyboards, this was setup to be a great night. However, it was not. Grove got stuck in Atlanta or somewhere because of the weather and didn’t get into town until Saturday night. The wife and I had plans so I could not attend the Saturday show. I decided to go by Saturday evening after our previous engagement and got to laugh and talk to my old friends. He told me that they were going to do a matinee show the next day. So Sunday, February 14, I got to take my girl to hear my friends play. It was her first time and my first time in years. Since the matinee show was a jam session of sorts, saxophonist Quamon Fowler also played a couple of tunes with the group.

My wife instantly became a fan of Keith Anderson. And I have to say, when we were growing up this kid was better than anybody our age. He's only gotten better! His sound is big and full. And I too became a fan, all over again.


The show was focused mostly on music from HARD GROOVE but sprinkled in a joint or two from some other records including STRAUSBURGH, my favorite tune from the EARFOOD offering. Also, Grove played a tribute to his mother, who was also in the audience, by playing IN A SENTIMENTAL MOOD. It was played as a duo. Grove turned to his flugelhorn and played it over a beautiful keyboard strings arrangement played by Wright. I doubt that it had been practiced but it was done so well. It spoke to the musicianship of both artists. My wife recognized the melody immediately from the movie LOVE JONES. I think Hargrove gained a new fan.

The last few times I saw Hargrove perform he had done so with his acoustic groups. But I really like the HARD GROOVE record. So seeing this band along with all the effects made me appreciate a new dynamic in Grove's and Keith's playing.

As for the venue, SANDAGA MARKET, it is a place that only a jazz fan could love. It's decor, with the mixed match chairs, tables and plastic table cloths is primitive to say the least. But all a real jazz fan needs is a place to sit or lean and great acoustics. Sandaga has that.

It was great to see and hear the RH FACTOR band. I hope they are not done recording. I'm sure they have many great perfomances and songs left in them.

Several weeks ago, the wife and I went to the MORTON H. MEYERSON SYMPHONY CENTER here in Dallas to hear the Dallas String Orchestra's renditions of Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and Schumann's Symphony No. 4. We found out that WYNTON MARSALIS was bringing the LINCOLN CENTER JAZZ ORCHESTRA, which he does most every year. I had forgotten about it. She didn’t and bought me tickets for Valentine’s Day. She’s so sweet!

It’s not the first time I’ve seen Wynton and the LCJO but I always enjoy him when he comes. He’s not only and incredible horn player, his showmanship is engaging and worth the price of admission. He played three sold out shows in Dallas.

This year’s show was dedicated as a collaboration of music artists and painters. The LCJO just released a new CD entitled PORTRAIT IN SEVEN SHADES that was penned by TED NASH. Nash is reedman with the LJCO. If I remember correctly he and the LJCO were commissioned by THE MUSUEM OF MODERN ART in New York to create this piece.

I’ll give you my impressions of the entire show.

The orchestra began the first set with a tune written by CHRIS CRENSHAW. Crenshaw plays trambone and is from Georgia. He joined the LJCO in 06, which means to me that I haven’t seen this group since at least then as he is one of the newer members of the group and I had never seen him before. I don’t remember the name of his tune but it was a fun up tempo swing piece that had a second movement that turned into a ballad with a seductive tenor sax lead played by VICTOR GOINES. The 3rd movement was lead into by a stride piano soli played by DAN NIMMER.

The next piece was penned by trambonist, VINCENT GARDNER. If I have the title right it was called BLUE TWIRL. It is when avant-garde meets jazz orchestras. The song had many dimensions and seemed like a bit of experimentation. The song then turned into sections of beautiful melodies and then took a sharp turn and then began to swing as hard as possible. As I watched them play, it sruck me how difficult the music was and they were playing it sans director. Wynton mentioned how difficult it was to play sans director when they finished playing the tune.

The next piece was dedicated to the art of landscape painter WINSLOW HOMER. The tune was written for LJCO by guitarist and jazz great BILL FRISELL entitled HOMER’S BLUES. It was standard 12 bar blues with a lot of movement in all sections of the group. It was the first of Wynton’s solos for the night. He appeared to be so into this solo – I think playing the Blues is his favorite thing to do – I wasn’t sure if he was going to throw himself from the chair he was sitting in.

From there the LJCO played the 7 tunes that were featured on the PORTRAIT IN SEVEN SHADES document.

MONET – Is a lightly swinging piece. It felt like a leisurely walk through Central Park in the rain.

DALI – was written for the impressionist Salvador Dali. Nash described how Dali’s paintings spoke of discomfort and something chaotic. He said the time signature was in 13/8. I couldn’t figure it out. But it felt good.

PICASSO – was written inspired by the cubism in his art. It was written with 4 chords, with 4 part harmonies and 4 this and 4 that. I couldn't figure out all the fours. The composition speaks to the intellectualism of jazz. It started predicated on a Spanish theme. I thought of it as Spanish Bullfighting Jazz. The 2nd movement turned into a funky four. Nash referred to Gardner and Marsalis and battling matadors for being featured in these songs.

VAN GOUGH – Nash described this tune as an attempt to provide a nourishing environment for Van Gough’s tragic life. It featured Wynton at his best as he lead the ensemble in this ballad. The best thing about this tuen was the singing by VINCENT GARDNER. With lyrics like, “When I paint the sky, I wonder why you don’t share my view…When I paint the sky, I wonder why you don’t see my love…I paint for you”.

CHAGALL - I started thinking of Russian death marches when I heard this song. Then I started thinking of gangster movies or Mike Hammer. I didn’t start to like it until Walter Blanding started to wail away on soprano saxophone. At that point it got interesting. But as a whole I didn’t like the song much. But I'm not willing to say that the song was not good. Themeatically, it fit the artist.

POLLOCK - Was written for Jackson Pollock the abstract impressionist. The music challenged the dexterity of all the players in the band…and my spelling of the word dexterity. It was furious fugue that morphed into a mid tempo swinger back to a furious fugue. My fingers were confused watching the trumpet and sax players work.

All and all, I loved every minute of the concert. I was so very disappointed that the concert was done after only two hours including intermission. But I got to spend those two hours with my favorite music AND my favorite girl.

So after the show was over, the wife and I, feeling adventurous, decided to head down to the Green Room to see if we could meet Wynton - and we did. I got to talk to him about our shared love for ROMARE BEARDEN. When I had my first apartment, I took the album covers for Soul Gestures in Blue - Volumes One, Two and Three and used them for wall art. We also talked about Cassandra Wilson - my favorite singer.

I also met, Ali Jackson (drummer) and Vincent Gardner (trambone). I saw Chris Crenshaw (trambone) but I didn't get to talk to him. I wanted to meet Sean Jones (trumpet), but he never came out. I wrote about one of JONES' records on this blog. Someone wanted to take me to task about something I commented on. They have the right too because I wrote it for public consumption. But I hope they understood that I love Sean's record.

Before I got to Marsalis, my wife and I watched as he engaged all the young people personally. He was gracious and personable in a southern gentlemen kind of way. I've taken exception on occasion to Marsalis and his rants against popular music...but this night, he was just a cool dude talking about life and jazz. I could respect that and I was glad to finally meet him.

It was a good night...


Wynton Marsalis, music director, trumpet

Sean Jones, trumpet
Ryan Kisor, trumpet
Marcus Printup, trumpet
Vincent Gardner, trombone
Chris Crenshaw, trombone
Elliot Mason, trombone
Sherman Irby, alto saxophone
Ted Nash, alto and soprano saxophones, clarinet
Walter Blanding, Jr., tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinet
Victor Goines, tenor and soprano saxophones, Bb clarinet, bass clarinet
Joe Temperley, baritone and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet
Dan Nimmer, piano
Carlos Henriquez, bass
Ali Jackson, drums

The Grammys 2010

Okay…So it’s obvious that I’ve been NOT blogging for a couple of months. Sometimes life gets in the way. But I always have to give shine to the nominees and winners of Jazz Grammys. I feel like this is still one of maybe 4 categories that is actually based on the performance and not the populous.

I’d like to especially shout out the homie, Roy Hargrove, for his 3rd Grammy nomination for his solo performance from his large ensemble offering, EMERGENCE and his work on the tune “Ms. Garvey, Ms. Garvey”. He won Best Latin Jazz Album for ROY HARGROVE'S CRISOL: HABANA. His second nomination came in the form of Best R&B Performance for the remake of “I’ll Stay” from his RH FACTOR offering, HARD GROOVE.

Congrats to Terrance Blanchard for yet another Grammy. He must be using for paper weights at this point.

If you grew up playing in High School Jazz Ensemble’s in Texas and you wanted to continue that through college, then you most likely wanted to be part of the UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS ONE O'CLOCK LAB BAND. At least I would have. Congrats on the nomination for LAB 2009!!!

Best Contemporary Jazz Instrumental Album
• Urbanus - Stefon Harris & Blackout
• Sounding Point - Julian Lage
• At World's Edge - Philippe Saisse
• Big Neighborhood - Mike Stern
• 75 - Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate

Best Jazz Vocal Album
• No Regrets - Randy Crawford (& Joe Sample)
• Dedicated To You: Kurt Elling Sings The Music Of Coltrane And Hartman - Kurt Elling

• So In Love - Roberta Gambarini
• Tide - Luciana Souza
• Desire - Tierney Sutton (Band)

Best Jazz Instrumental Solo Performance
• "Dancin' 4 Chicken" - Terence Blanchard soloist

• "All Of You" - Gerald Clayton soloist
• "Ms. Garvey, Ms. Garvey" - Roy Hargrove soloist
• "On Green Dolphin Street" - Martial Solal soloist
• "Villa Palmeras" - Miguel Zenón soloist

Best Jazz Instrumental Album
• Quartet Live - Gary Burton, Pat Metheny,Steve Swallow & Antonio Sanchez
• Brother To Brother - The Clayton Brothers
• Five Peace Band — Live - Chick Corea & John McLaughlin Five Peace Band
• Rememberance - John Patitucci Trio
• The Bright Mississippi - Allen Toussaint

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
• Legendary - Bob Florence Limited Edition
• Eternal Interlude - John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble
• Fun Time - Sammy Nestico And The SWR Big Band
• Book One - New Orleans Jazz Orchestra
• Lab 2009 - University of North Texas One O'Clock Lab Band

Best Latin Jazz Album
• Things I Wanted To Do - Chembo Corniel
• Áurea - Geoffrey Keezer
• Brazilliance X 4 - Claudio Roditi
• Juntos Para Siempre - Bebo Valdés And Chucho Valdés
• Esta Plena - Miguel Zenón

*Winners in bold

DAY ONE - Meilana Gillard

By conditioning, I don’t believe girls can play or maybe shouldn’t play saxophones. They are best left to playing flutes and clarinets. And if by chance they play Alto or Bass Clarinets, maybe even bassoons, that is as close as they should get to the “saxophone”.

I promised myself I would spend the year seeking out new jazz artists attempting to push the envelope and keeping the flame - you know preserving the art. I have done a piss poor job because I find myself locked into my likes. Not that my heroes aren’t still producing forward thinking music but that is what is expected of them, being my heroes and all. But I have been less inspired by some of the “new” music by less proven artists being released.

Recently, I ran across a very mild mannered request from an artist, on a website that I frequent, to listen to her record. The request wasn’t directed at me specifically but when I realized it was a jazz recording, I felt it my duty to give it a listen. And WOW, I like this record!

Introducing, MEILANA GILLARD and her debut record entitled, DAY ONE on Innercircle Music. The label is the brainchild of master saxophone player, composer, educator Greg Osby - another hero of mine.

After trading a few emails with Meilana, she sent me the download of her record. After I downloaded it, I intended to begin my first listening while I was doing other things. It proved to be an impossible task as I was immediately interested from the downbeat of the first song. As I stated earlier, I was conditioned to believe girls can’t/shouldn't play saxophone. I had preconceived notions that this might be some candy shop or Candy Dulfer type jazz recording. The reason I couldn’t stop listening intently is because all my preconceived notions were most immediately eradicated.

The group consists of Gillard on Tenor Saxophone, Bass Clarinet, Flute; Nir Felder: Guitar; Sam Barsh: Fender Rhodes, Nord & Korg keyboards; Marcos Varela: Bass; and Tyshawn Sorey: Drums. By virtue of the use of Fenders, Nords and Korgs it is apparent that this would be a different type of recording. The use of the electronic instrumentation gives the record a phenomenal sound. The songwriting and arrangements fit this personnel extremely well. Knowing that Gillard penned every song except one makes her play that much more interesting. The only thing that concerned me was some of the tempo/feel changes. It sometimes feels a bit rushed. But this is my own bias. I am not a fan of that particular effect in most recordings.

Gillard’s improv skills seem to be more learned than natural. By no means would I suggest that this is a bad thing. In fact, I believe that it was probably just a case of the “I wanna do this right on the debut record” jitters. Because in the end, she sounds really good.

I judge all saxophone players abilities by how they handle ballads. Ballads expose you like nothing else. The ballads “SEMISWEET” (please follow the link to the hip hop remix of semisweet...it too is quite funky)and “A SPIRIT REMEMBERED” are handled with great dexterity and feeling. The fact that she exposed herself by playing the first 12 or so bars of the latter sans accompaniment, proves she’s confident in her ability and rightfully so.

Drummer Sorey is a groove machine. His ability swing inside his grooves were masterful. Felder, Barsh, and Varela hold the ensemble together quite nicely. Their dedication to the melodies and to the grooves made the lead work that much more interesting. They always played with each other and never seemed out of sorts.

This record mostly reminded me of the hybrid jazz-funk fusion of the late 60s and 70s by bands like CATALYST. Or even more recent funk offerings by CHRISTIAN McBRIDE and his work with THE PHILADELPHIA EXPERIMENT. However, it’s not quite as avant garde so it will be a more palatable for music listeners who don’t enjoy the challenge of more free form jazz.

I like Meilana Gillard’s music and this band. I think DAY ONE is just the start of many more days to come.

John Making His Legend Known

I know that my Liner Notes have been dedicated to Jazz recordings. Occasionally, I will recall a live performance. But it’s always about Jazz - until now…

On Sunday evening I heard one of the most remarkable voices attached the neo soul era I’ve ever heard. John Legend blew the doors off the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in Dallas on the last stop of his North American tour.

I will give a courtesy nod to the opening acts. Legend’s brother, VAUGHN ANTHONY signed to Legend’s HOME SCHOOL RECORDS and LAURA IZIBOR. It’s not that they were not good. I was just not prepared for what the headliner brought to the stage.

Anthony’s performance was good and his sound is a lot like his brother’s. However, he does lack the vocal control that Legend wields almost effortlessly. I became less interested when he removed his shirt to bellow a song entitled “Yell” in which he advises his would be lover that this would be his goal whilst lovemaking.

Izibor would best be described as the Irish Alicia Keys. I generally find it disingenuous to compare one artist to that of a contemporary. And if you find my reviews useful, it is primarily a disservice to you. But I only do so in this case as Izibor will probably receive little to know press in America even with opportunity to perform with John Legend. She did a bang up job engaging the crowd as I’m sure most of the diverse audience was unfamiliar with her work. However she found a way to weave in Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love” into one of her tunes “From My Heart to Yours” that captured the crowds attention.

After a brief intermission, the lights dimmed and I was disturbed by stirring on my right side. As I turned to investigate the rustling, it was the Legend in the making. One Legend belting out a special tune from The Legend, BOB MARLEY. John opened his show with a stirring rendition of "Redemption Songs".

As John Legend performed hit after hit, I had the feeling that some of my discontent with popular music was beginning to subside just from listening to this one performance. Most of the reason that I enjoy Legend’s music so much is that he has not allowed himself to be pigeon-holed into his hit song formula. He just keeps making good records and takes chances musically that seem to capture the attention of the “music” lover.

Not only did he pay homage to the legacy of Bob Marley, he also found ways to weave in offerings by legends Michael Jackson and Prince. During his performance of "It’s Over" he vamped in Jackson’s "Remember The Time" complete with a photo montage of the King of Pop’s performances. Also, during the performance of “This Time” he added in Prince’s “Adore”. Legend also found was to pay homage to some of the biggest hits of the soul era like, “Rock Creek Park”, “Heaven Must Be Like This” and “Feel Like Making Love”.

Legend ended the show by performing “Green Light” - apropos as the lyrics include the verse, “I’m ready to go right now…” The thunderous applaud coaxed him back to a solo performance of his most well known hit, “Ordinary People” in which he engaged the audience to assist with part of the chorus, “Take it slow, this time we’ll take it slow.”

John Legend’s voice and music are unique and inspirational. I enjoyed this concert as much as any other of the great concerts I’ve seen. And I’ve seen Miles and Prince. And they were both great. Though I don’t suggest that John Legend is there yet, I have little doubt that he is on the right track.

I look forward to being a fan of his work for a long time to come.

Set List:
Redemption Songs
When I Use To Love You
Alright With Me
Satisfaction
It’s Over
Quickly
When It’s Cold Outside
Lifted
Where Did My Baby Go
Do It Again
Magnificent
If I Was In Your Shoes w/Vaughn Anthony
Slow Dance
Save Room
Good Morning
I Can Change For You
One More Try
This Time
Cloud 9
Green Light

Encore:
Ordinary People
Stay With You

Roy Hargrove Big Band

Bias acknowledged.

I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. Roy Hargrove Big Band.

I realized I hadn’t written anything on my blog since Michael Jackson’s demise. I won’t act like I was just so hurt I stopped listening to music. But I will say up until that point I had become a tad bit uninspired about what was been offered. Not to suggest that there were no good releases, I just wasn’t feeling much.

I received an alert that I had new messages on my Facebook page. And as I perused my wall, I saw it! A video of Hargrove’s Big Band and the announcement of his new album, EMERGENCE. Attached was the video for a performance of “SEPTEMBER IN THE RAIN”. Hargrove also recorded this tune on his sophomore effort, PUBLIC EYE. I was so excited about seeing this that I watched and listened to it no less than 5 times in a row.

Roy Hargrove Big Band - "September in the Rain" from doug yoel on Vimeo.

Since his debut, DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH, Hargrove has had major success and critical acclaim as a featured soloist and small group leader. Even his foray into fusion with RH factor earned him a Grammy nomination. There is no doubt that his ability to place himself in this context would produce this amazing record.

Grove’s ear seems to be classic. He took compositions from previous records and arranged them for this big band offering. I won’t suggest that there is anything new and or innovative. But I will say this is an awesome sounding record and really has a different sound than any of the popular big ensembles, like Marsalis’ Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra.

I find myself not wanting to rundown every track and what I think of said tracks. I just want to encourage all my readers to just really listen to this record. I think what I love the most about this record is the incredible amount of musicianship and technicality in the arrangements. While the music might seem to sound difficult and arranged with such dexterity, it never loses the song in the music. I read another writer call it safe. I think I'll just call it organic...

Enjoy.

In addition to Hargrove on trumpet and flugelhorn, the ensemble consists of four other trumpet players (Frank Greene, Greg Gisbert, Darren Barrett, Ambrose Akinmisure), four trombonists (Jason Jackson, Vincent Chandler, Saunders Sermons, and Max Seigel on bass trombone), five reedists (Bruce Williams, alto saxophone and flute; Justin Robinson, alto and flute; Norbert Stachel, tenor sax and flute; Keith Loftis, tenor and flute; and Jason Marshall, baritone sax and flute), as well as pianist Gerald Clayton, bassist Danton Boller, guitarist Saul Rubin, drummer Montez Coleman and percussionist Roland Guerrero. Vocalist Roberta Gambarini contributes her vocal charms to two tracks. Emergence was recorded at Capitol Studios in Hollywood.