Kurt
Rosenwinkel/Deep Song Kurt Rosenwinkel’s latest recording,
Deep Song, bears a somewhat greater resemblance to
The Next Step, an album the guitarist made in 2001
than to its immediate predecessor, Heartcore. In
contrast to Heartcore, which was very studio-produced
recording, Deep Song sounds much more like it was
largely recorded live in the studio with considerably less
post-recording processing. Much of the new CD also possesses
a more straightforward post-bop modern jazz sound. But Deep
Song would not have been possible, one senses, without
Heartcore’s studio manipulations and the record’s
ability to sustain a chilled, spacey atmosphere. Obviously
much was learned from working on Heartcore, and Deep
Song is better than it otherwise would have been because
of the experience Rosenwinkel has gained.
Jason
Moran/Same Mother The premise of Jason Moran’s
latest CD, Same Mother, seems to be that blues music
could certainly use the same kind of kick in the ass that
Moran has been serving up regularly to jazz audiences on his
recordings. In other words, it’s high time someone challenged
the notion that this is music of the past, music whose structural
and harmonic components rigorously define it and stifle any
attempt at real innovation. Quite often Moran’s work
on this CD comes closer to the touchstones of the blues spirit
than most, more traditional, new efforts.
Salvatore
Bonafede/Journey to Donnafugata Working with a band that is primarily
American—guitarist John Abercrombie, basist Ben Street,
and drummer Clarence Penn—Bonafede and fellow Italian
Enrico Rava take on the themes of Rota along with two brief
Verdi interludes and some original compositions, and turn
it all into gorgeous, lush, vital, and energetic modern jazz.
Journey makes clear the pointlessness of arguments
over American and European jazz by demonstrating that since
both cultures are able to freely exchange ideas they are clearly
speaking the same language.
Tord
Gustavson/The Ground Tord Gustavsen and his trio return
with their second ECM disc, The Ground, and for those
(like myself) who were totally beguiled by Changing Places
the new disc is like a promise fulfilled. Gustavsen and company
bring to mind the inevitable comparisons to Bill Evans and
Keith Jarrett, but the Norwegian pianist has a style and demeanor
that is all his own. His playing is very lyrical, but still
economical, conveying much with few notes. Gustavsen’s
piano work is full of blues, gospel, and New Orleans jazz
references, and these influences are peppered amongst others,
including Evans and classical European music.
Marcin
Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewica, and Michal Miskiewicz/Trio This group is more jazz-oriented
and less gimmicky than new piano trios like Bad Plus or EST,
and much less obviously beholden to the blues/gospel aspect
of Keith Jarrett’s influence than labelmates the Tord
Gustavsen Trio. Wasilewski is more clearly under the sway
of Bill Evans. Like Gustavsen’s group, though, this
trio also gets an extra kick from its drummer, in this case
Michal Miskiewicz, who can channel modern masters like Motian
and DeJohnette effortlessly.
Doug
Wamble/Bluestate Doug Wamble’s second album
as a leader, Bluestate, captures an artist breaking
completely into his own voice. Wamble’s playing is joyous,
humorous, sharp, intelligent, and deeply felt. With Bluestate
Wamble joins a select group of adventurous guitarists who
work from the jazz mode and pull elements from other styles
of music as they like: Bill Frisell and Kurt Rosenwinkel are
two that come quickly to mind.
Wayne
Shorter Quartet/Beyond the Sound Barrier Hearing Beyond the Sound
Barrier for the first time, it struck me that Wayne Shorter
is now moving forward in a manner comparable to that of his
old boss, Miles Davis. That is, he has surrounded himself
with a bright young group of musicians who can not only keep
up with him and share his vision, but who can truly challenge
and inspire him to do his best playing. Ironic, too, that
the model for this approach and this particular group was
Davis’ second great quintet. In that band, Shorter was
one of the young lions who provided Davis with inspiration
both through his composing and his playing.
Miguel
Zenon/Jibaro Jibaro
are a specific song style from Zenon’s native Puerto
Rico. Zenon has taken some of the rhythmic and stylistic characteristics
of this song style and created new jazz compositions with
them. The result comes off as jazz with certain folk music-sounding
elements but it seems resoundingly jazz rather than any kind
of Latin jazz hybrid listeners are used to hearing. Zenon’s
accomplices are more than up to the task of helping him reinvent
both Latin jazz and jibaro.
Marc
Johnson/Shades of Jade Bassist Marc Johnson’s
latest ECM release Shades of Jade is quite possibly
the most gorgeous jazz album released this year. From his
work with the quartet comprised of himself, drummer Peter
Erskine, and guitarists Bill Frisell and John Scofield to
his bass work on more than 100 albums by artists including
Eliane Elias, Enrico Pieranunzi, Paul Motian, Gary Burton,
and as a mainstay of the John Abercrombie trio, Johnson has
consistently been one of the most tasteful bassists around.
On Shades of Jade he brings together a true all-star
jazz group and allows them to interact beautifully, anchored
and supported by himself and drummer Joey Baron to create
an album where the whole is truly more than the mere sum of
the parts, no matter how impressive those parts may be.
Eddie
Palmieri/Listen Here! Eddie Palmieri is one of the
best bandleaders around today, Latin or otherwise, combining
characteristics of Latin jazz innovators such as Dizzy Gillespie
and Tito Puente as well as big band leaders like Ellington
and Kenton, not to mention top modern jazz composers and pianists
such as Thelonious Monk and Bud Powell. Palmieri’s two-trombone
fueled La Perfecta bands were a serious innovation that changed
the sound of salsa and Latin jazz forever. He continues to
grow as a pianist. He provides complex, energetic arrangements
here with the help of trombonist Doug Beavers. Palmieri is
an all-around musician who happens to work in the Latin jazz
style.
Five
Corners Quintet/Chasin the Jazz Gone ByListening
to Helsinki’s Five Corners Quintet instantly transports
the listener back to a time when jazz was still hip and cool,
despite the advent of rock n’ roll. The group’s
CD, Chasin’ The Jazz Gone By is a sumptuous
concoction that includes everything from Bacharach-esque orchestral
swing to hard bop to crooner cool to greasy Latin soul. And
that’s only a few of the disc’s dozen tracks (plus
the bonus track “Taxi Driver,” a suite of Bernard
Herrmann music composed for the film score).
Jacob
Fred Jazz Odyssey/The Sameness of Difference Once again Brain Haas is playing
exclusively acoustic piano here, and once again he proves
an inventive player, with gobs of technique as well as a really
keen sense of musicianship that allows a judicious use of
that technique. Bassist Reed Mathis, with his bag of sonic
tricks, is The Edge of Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, and he is
very successful here at using those effects to add texture
to the recipe, but not to over- spice it. The soaring meditation
of the Hendrix classic “Have You Ever Been to Electric
Ladyland” is well-served by Mathis’ “guitar”
work, and it says a lot that there’s nothing gimmicky
about it.
Dianne
Reeves/Goodnight, and Good Luck One thing you can say about Reeves:
she does not approach the standards catalog by throwing off
a bunch of rehashed versions of popular songs. She often goes
against the grain by performing tunes usually rendered in
uptempo fashion as ballads, and sometimes vice versa. That
apparently made her the perfect choice to be featured on the
soundtrack (and in the film as well) of George Clooney’s
new film Good Night, and Good Luck, about the confrontation
between U.S. Senator Joe McCarthy and broadcast journalist
Edward R. Murrow. Reports are that Clooney, the nephew of
cabaret and jazz singer Rosemary Clooney, hand picked each
song for this soundtrack, and Reeves delivers the goods with
a CD of performances that stands on its own and should be
a welcome addition to the collections of the singer’s
many fans.
Lafayette
Gilchrist/Towards the Shining Path “The music that means something—and
I don’t care what style of music it is—is music
that comes out of personalities,” said Gilchrist in
an interview last year in the Baltimore City Paper. And that
is what he lays on us, music that undoubtedly comes from his
specific filtering of his musical environment and his investigation
of historic Afro-American musical styles. It’s music
that is big as life, and it takes balls to produce that kind
of music and stay on, well, the shining path.
Gerald
Wilson/In My Time Gerald Wilson, now in his seventies,
is both an encylopedic history of big band music and one of
its most ardent and fresh contemporary practitioners. Never
cliched, Wilson's compositions and arrangements here create
a tight, bright ensemble sound and offer features for soloists
like Sean Young and Jon Faddis. Wilson's recent Mack Avenue
recordings are destined to become classics, and are musts
for any young musician seriously interested in big band composition
or arrangement. In addition, In My Time is an absolute pleasure
to listen to.
