Ruth Cameron - Roadhouse Recording Date: 1999
Release Date: 2000
Style or Subgenre: Vocal Jazz
Despite a fine voice and unique phrasing on vocalist Ruth Cameron's part, the consistently downtempo mood made this album take on a samey quality and left me rather cold overall. Both material selection and interpretation seemed frequently out of place. A rare "no desire to return" on this one.
Gil Evans - Out of the Cool Recording Date: 1960
Release Date: 1961
Style or Subgenre: Cool Jazz, Post Bop, Progressive Jazz
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Gil Evans - Into the Hot Recording Date: 1961
Release Date: 1962
Style or Subgenre: Post Bop, Progressive Jazz
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As I have tried to absorb as much jazz as possible in recent years, there's just so much out there that even a few big names have fallen through the cracks in my queue. Gil Evans is one of those. But no more. Today, I grabbed these similarly titled albums and gave 'em a spin.
And..... WOW!
The opening "La Nevada" (Out of the Cool) has got to be one of the coolest (and hottest) orchestral jazz pieces I've ever heard. Over 15 minutes and not once did I think it needed to move along more. Composition, arrangement, orchestration, solos, overall performance.... all perfect! Then comes a great change of pace with "When Flamingos Fly," a glorious demonstration of lyrical melodicism led by the cool and mellow trombone of Jimmy Knepper. Things get a little exotic on "Bilbao Song" and that's a good thing.... a real good thing; another captivating piece. The amusingly titled "Stratusphunk" may linger in a plodding introduction a little to long, but once it gets going, it's well up to par with the rest of the album. The original closer, "Sunken Treasure" reels it all back in with a rather somber and moody blue trumpet solo for a fine finish to this hugely creative and varied album. The CD bonus track "Sister Sadie" is a rather straightforward kind of big band swing kind of thing and while a fine listen in and of itself, is definitely out of place with the rest of the album.
Despite the similarity in titles and cover art, Into the Hot is not a sequel to Out of the Cool owing to Evans's departure from Impulse!, moving to Verve. He left behind his contractually remaining recording dates to Johnny Carisi and Cecil Taylor (both of whom he admired), each having enough material to fill out half the album. Three cuts each alternate throughout the album. Surprisingly, even though Carisi and Taylor are very different composers, the alternation is not too jarring and the album remains highly listenable. I will say however, that I find the Taylor cuts livelier and more interesting (his piano is wicked on "Bulbs), but Carisi's "Angkor Wat" is seriously cool.
Stanton Davis' Ghetto/Mysticism - Brighter Days Year: 1977
Style or Subgenre: R&B, Jazz-Funk
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If you want to be transported back to the mid '70s by some seriously funky R&B jazz, Stanton Davis' Ghetto/Mysticism is your ticket to time travel. You may not have heard this before, but you'll settle in just like it was back in the day.... for most of the album. The jazz-funk is a straight up soundtrack of the time, and that's a good thing in my ear. As much as I like that though, when they turn to the mysticism side of their sound as in the third cut, "Play Sleep," they really hit me even harder.
Lots to love here and the occasional change of pace keeps it from every getting monotonous.
Sylvie Courvoisier and Mary Halvorsen - Searching for the Disapperared Hour Year: 2021
Style or Subgenre: Avant Garde, Modern Creative, Piano Jazz
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I took to this a little less than I hoped I would. It is some great music to be sure, but I felt it could be a little more balanced. Don't get me wrong, Sylvie Courvoisier's piano is straight up awesome, and when it's there, the interplay between that piano and Mary Halvorsen's guitar is amazing. It just seems like the album could have been better balanced; like Halvorsen was just a little underused, and often buried by the piano in the mix. Sometimes it seemed like it should have been titled "Searching for the Disappeared Guitar!" Much to love here, but enough drawbacks that I'm sure I'll be exploring more of these artists' catalogs before returning to this oine.
Paul Bollenback - Double Gemini Year: 1997
Style or Subgenre: Post Bop, Guitar Jazz, Crossover Jazz
Overall, this is a pretty nice trio set (guitar, organ, drums). There are a few cuts that seem like standard issue smooth jazz, bot Bollenback shows some creative licks on most cuts and organ Joey DeFrancesco provides solid support and some energizing but not overly flashy solos as well. I'm don't always take to jazz versions of contemporary pop tunes, but I have to say I was rather taken by Bollenback's cover of Hootie and the Blowfish's "Let Her Cry."
Mario Pavone / Michael Musillami - Op-Ed Year: 2001
Style or Subgenre: Post Bop, Modern Jazz
I went into this with zero idea what to expect. I came out the other end more than a little pleased. This was a very engaging album for me. Mario Pavone, the bassist is listed first on the cover, but as a bassist, he's not what gets the most time at the surface, that would fall to his collaborator, the guitarist Michael Musillami, listed second. That said, Pavone's bass is superb, as is that guitar. Oh, and pianist Peter Madsen ( in small print at the bottom of the cover) seems to be the most extroverted of the bunch, also not a bad thing. This is a wonderful, modern but accessible guitar quartet well worth multiple listens.
Kenny Drew Jr. - Kenny Drew Jr. Year: 1992
Style or Subgenre: Hard Bop, Post Bop, Piano Jazz
Kenny Drew.... the next generation...
Apparently Kenny Drew doesn't consider his famous father an influence. Raised by his aunt and grandparents, he was exposed to more classical than jazz in his youth. Relative to his father, he seems to have a more traditional approach to the keys, along with a more composition focused milieu. But that's not to say the man can't improv or that he's not a fine jazz musician; he most certainly is. Although still young on this self-titled release, Drew Jr. displays those genetics, such that nature appears as strong as nurture. Beyond the lively hard bop/post bop stylings, Drew Jr. has a gloriously light and expressive touch on the ballads which appear on the album.
Derek Bailey & Han Bennink - Derek Bailey & Han Bennink Year: 1972
Style or Subgenre: Free Jazz
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Han Bennink - Solo Voor Masje Year: 1974
Style or Subgenre: Free Jazz
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Simon Nabatov Trio - Chat Room Year: 2003
Style or Subgenre: Modern Creative, Avant Garde
I went on a Han Bennink binge last night. It was binging on some sort of weird Netflix series; the plot didn't always make sense and even though there wasn't always a great urge to see where it's going, it still felt like I would be somehow incomplete if I didn't stick with it.
The 1972 collaboration with guitarist Derek Bailey is the kind of thing it would be hard for most people even label as music in the first time. Bailey's guitar doesn't sound like any kind of guitar most folks could identify. There's so much sound manipulation going on that it defies labels..... which of course is the perfect foil for Bennink's avant garde percussion, also something that most folks wouldn't identify as drumming. Even though the pieces are performed at the time of recording, it has a very music concrete feel to it. Completely atonal, nothing resembling melody, no discernable beat or rhythm.... and still I couldn't take my ears off it.
A couple years later, Bennink released Solo, which is as you would expect, just Bennink. But all the things he does! All manner of wildly manipulated percussion, genuinely out there vocalizations, prepared trombone, mokugyo, rolmo, silnyen, and something simply referred to as a "fiddle like instrument." This is not only genuinely free improvisation, but with hitherto unheard instrumentation. Again, not a melody or rhythm to be found, but this time there were a few interludes I probably could have passed on; but when it was good, it was real good.
Leaping all the way forward to 2003, I hooked up with Bennink performing as part of the Simon Nabadov trio. This was easily the tamest of my three Benninks for the night. That said, Bennink did manage to bring the usually more tame pianist and leader Nabadov further into his realm than the other way around. This is one of those records that might make a good segue for the uninitiated into the avant garde.
Oh, and word to the wise.... don't fall asleep while listening to Bennink on headphones.... trust me.
Adam Ben Ezra - Pin Drop Year: 2017
Style or Subgenre: Modern Creative, Fusion
Another wonderful, new-to-me artist experience. Also very modern, but completely different. Ben Ezra brings an incredible amount of melody to bass music. While this is all Ben Ezra (playing multiple other instruments, including piano and clarinet, plus using taped loops to provide beats and ostinato), he has absorbed, and brings to bear, many world influences including North European, Spanish, Indian, and not surprisingly those of his native Israel. At one point, he literally plays flamenco solo on his double bass! He also captures tremendous percussive effects by thumping the body of his acoustic bass. His "Brown Piano" is a solo piano work, and while not exactly Claude Debussy or Wynton Kelly level stuff, is still quite beautiful. In all honesty, I don't think this is an album I'll be loving so much a year from now as it does seem to contain all its content on the surface, but for now, I'm quite happy to ride the tide so long as it lasts.
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