Author: Jesse Koblin and James Koblin

Performances discussed:
Jessica Pavone (solo)

J.D. Parran N’ the Spirit (Andrew Drury, Alexis Marcelo, Sharif Kales)

Blue Reality Quartet (Warren Smith, Joe McPhee, Michael Marcus, Jay Rosen)

Although the best place to experience music may be in a small club with few distractions, summer music in an outdoor setting has undeniable charm. That charm was a big part of the afternoon of music at Socrates Sculpture Park on Saturday, August 5th, 2023. The event, called “Lotic Time,” used a sculptural installation by Mary Mattingly as a backdrop to performances by a fantastic array of improvising artists, including dancing by Valerie Green and Dance Entropy, and music from Jessica Pavone, Ronnie Barrage, J.D. Parran, and the Blue Reality Quartet, which features tenor and trumpet legend, Joe McPhee.

(“Ebb of a Spring Tide” – image by Jesse Koblin)

It is fascinating to base an afternoon of music and dance around a sculpture; in this case, Mary Mattingly’s “Ebb of a Spring Tide.” This large scaffolded structure holds suspended garden planters full of greenery and is irrigated by tubes of water from below the structure. Those tubes emit sprays of mist that beautify and sustain the greenery suspended in the air. The effect is lovely, especially since the greenery is interspersed with artifacts discarded by humans, such as a door at the top of the scalloping (does it open?), what appear to be teapots and other artfully placed debris. The publicity for the event highlights the interaction between the performers and “Ebb of a Spring Tide,” inviting the audience to a “unique experience [which] combines the power of sound and movement to explore the intricate rhythms of nature and the ever-changing scales of time as witnessed through our nearby waterways.”

(Jessica Pavone, solo viola)

We arrived at “Lotic Time” just as viola player Jessica Pavone started her solo music set. Pavone, a Queens resident with a deep connection to Socrates Sculpture Park, said at the start of her set that she would play music inspired by the space around her. She played over a half-hour of beautiful solo viola, utilizing sweeping lines that were reflective, energetic, serene, and subtly adventurous. The whole set was an enchanting exploration of sonorities and textures that cast a spell on the small audience gathering about the gazebo next to the Mattingly sculpture. Pavone’s set was the most rewarding of the afternoon – we’ve had the sound of it in our ears all week.

Your authors took a break to get nachos and fried plantains (shout out to the friendly servers at Fresco’s Cantina on 31st Ave!) and then returned to the festivities. We got back at the end of drummer Ronnie Burrage’s set, which provided energetic drumming while dancer Valerie Green and Dance Entropy danced to the music. The performers of Dance Entropy climbed around and on top of the “Ebb of a Spring Tide,” which was amazing to see. Too bad I missed most of Burrage’s set – we’ll have to catch him again some other time.

(Parran and his band, L-R, Alexis Marcelo, Sharif Kales, J.D. Parran, Andrew Drury)

Next up was multi-reed player J.D. Parran, with his group composed of drummer Andrew Drury, keyboardist Alexis Marcelo, and trumpet player Sharif Kales. Parran seems to always be out of the spotlight even though he’s been active in music for 50 years. He has been a crucial sideperson to luminaries such as Anthony Davis and Anthony Braxton (not to mention having recorded with Stevie Wonder, John Lennon and The Band). Yet, he’s hardly made any records as a leader (we only know of one, 1997’s, J. D. Parran & Spirit Stage). It seems appropriate that Parran looked so happy being up on the stage leading his group – he took his time introducing the songs he performed, and the band played out each piece with full solos from Parran and his sidemen. Their set consisted of energetic, driving post-bop tunes in the timeless style of Charles Tolliver or Jackie McClean, whose “Blue Rondo” was the opening song. Remarkably, Parran stuck to tenor and soprano despite a legendary reputation for playing the entire clarinet family. The music was accessible and firey, and the crowd of park visitors was clearly digging it. Parran’s band was also terrific; we loved the tart sound of the combination of Parran’s tenor sax blended with Sharif Kales’ trumpet. Alexis Marcelo could get a lot out of a little Yamaha keyboard! And it was fun watching drummer Drury play barefoot – don’t think we’ve seen before.

Parran finished at 6:25 PM, and during the 20 minutes or so it took to set up for the Blue Reality Quartet, there was an air of anticipation (at least for me). The Blue Reality Quartet is a proper all-star group of the avant-garde, made up of sax great Joe McPhee (profiled by TNB here!), who partnered with reed player Michael Marcus, and percussionists Jay Rosen and Warren Smith. (Smith played vibes at the Socrates Sculpture Park gig). These players released two notable albums of improvised music during the pandemic, 2021’s Blue Reality Quartet! and 2022’s Ella’s Island. Seeing this group waiting in the wings to regale the park with their music was super exciting! Warren Smith was sitting just a few feet from us watching Parran’s set (Paran played a tribute to the great percussionist with a song dedicated to him); McPhee looked so cool in black sunglasses and his trademark red sneakers, ready to blow the crowd away like in legendary live recordings Nation Time and The Willisau Concert.

(Blue Reality Group, L-R, Warren Smith, Michael Marcus, Joe McPhee, Jay Rosen)

However, there must have been some hard 7 PM end time for the event, because we only heard two tunes from Joe McPhee and company. They were compelling tunes, though! First, Blue Reality Group played “Love Exists Everywhere,” the kick-off track from their 2021 album. The song is built around Jay Rosen’s hypnotic, slowly modulating drums, which were especially pronounced live, his crisp symbol beat guiding the band forward. The band then plunged into the dense chordal squalls of the title track from Ella’s Island, which allowed us to hear Marcus’ bass reeds and lovely vibe playing from Smith. It felt like the next tune would bring the McPhee feature we were waiting for, but suddenly the set was over! I’m sure we were not the only ones disappointed by the abrupt end, but the summer air was warm, the sounds from the river gently washed over the park, and the music we got was great. Maybe next time, they’ll work out the scheduling wrinkles, but why complain when you can hear all this wonderful music for free? “Lotic Time” was a big success, and we look forward to its organizers returning with more next year.

(Shorter in Belgrade October 2010; Image from Tim Dickerson)

As you likely already know, Wayne Shorter died on March 2nd at age 89. A career as influential and productive as Shorter’s is not easy to adequately cover, so check out the obituary by Nate Chinen at The New York Times for a good look at Shorter’s brilliance. The depth and impact of Shorter’s music is breathtaking. Nobody in music surpasses Shorter’s importance as both a composer and improviser.

In the many tributes and reminiscences after Shorter’s death, author and critic Mark Stryker (@Mark_Stryker) published a Twitter thread that jumped out and inspired this post. Here’s a screenshot:

Stryker argues that Shorter’s ballads are a supreme element of his art. Composer and bandleader Darcy James Argue joined the conversation and added that Shorter’s ballads rival and arguably surpass those of Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn. Highest praise indeed! Stryker created a playlist of these ballads, which we have duplicated in Spotify here and Apple Music here.

We’ve chosen to focus on three Shorter ballads that illustrate important eras of Shorter’s music-making. Wayne Shorter lives!

“Nefertiti”
Link to Spotify
Link to Apple Music
Link to YouTube

(album cover art from Columbia Records)
(The Miles Davis Quintet, on the album Nefertiti – Recorded on June 7th, 1967, at Columbia’s 30th Street Studio, Released March 1968)
Personnel:
Miles Davis – trumpet
Wayne Shorter – tenor saxophone
Herbie Hancock – piano
Ron Carter – double bass
Tony Williams – drums

The lore surrounding the tune “Nefertiti,” and the band that recorded it, is immense. Miles Davis’ 2nd “classic quintet” created one of the essential blueprints for modern music. The album Nefertiti is the third of the Davis quintet and the last acoustic album Davis would record. Shorter’s 16-bar tune, “Nefertiti,” was the first track recorded for the album and sets the album’s loose but “locked in” feel. Herbie Hancock (who ordinarily does not do interviews about the process of music) gives a deep and illuminating interview about the recording of this song. Hancock suggested to Davis the most radical choice on “Nefertiti”: to not play solos. Instead, the band cycles through the melody over and over, each time with Shorter and Davis playing with more dissonance and the piano and drums playing with more independence. Williams’ drums are especially prominent: saxophonist Bob Belden called the performance a “drum concerto as composition.” You can’t listen to this song without dwelling on Shorter’s greatness as a composer – he sets all the elements in place that create one of the definitive performances in music. All the planets are aligned – an incredible performance of a definitive tune by a singular band.

“Ana Maria”
Link to Spotify
Link to Apple Music
Link to YouTube

(Album cover art from thejazzrecord.com)

(from Wayne Shorter’s Native Dancer – Recorded September 12th, 1974; Released January 18th, 1975)
On “Ana Maria”:
Wayne Shorter – Soprano saxophone
David Amaro – acoustic guitar
Herbie Hancock – piano
Wagner Tiso – organ
Dave McDaniel – bass
Robertinho Silva – drums
Airto Moreira – percussion

There’s an epic feeling about the meeting of the music greats – I’m thinking of the majestic studios recording of Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, the epic duel of Max Roach and Cecil Taylor at Town Hall, or the simpatico collaborations of David Bowie and Brian Eno. There are many other examples, but the meeting of two of the greatest – Wayne Shorter and Milton Nascimento, should be on the list. There are many reasons why the collaboration of Shorter with the Brazilian music star is special, but I think the top one is the innate lyricism both musicians share. Not just lyricism, but two complementary versions of that rare talent – Shorter bringing a terse, elliptical, evocative variant and Nascimento an effusive, naturally buoyant majesty. The combination is magic.

So it’s bizarre to think now that Shorter fans who were looking for more of “Nefertiti” were disappointed with Native Dancer when it was released in 1975. Maybe because Nascimento was a new, unfamiliar name, it was not easy to see the greatness of this album and its successful fusion of musical worlds. Native Dancer is a distinct one-off for both musicians and, from this vantage point, a timeless classic.

Don’t miss out on listening to the whole album, but turning to our focus on the ballads, Native Dancer features two remarkable examples penned by Shorter. At the midpoint of the album is Shorter’s “Diane.” Preceded by several tunes that feature Nascimento’s expansive tunesmith and singing, the terse haiku of “Diane” is a cool balm. It’s fragmented melody suggests worlds of beauty, and serves as a perfect change of direction to the album’s otherwise effusive music. The second Shorter ballad of the album, “Ava Maria,” is named after Shorter’s wife and features Shorter on soprano sax, which had supplanted the tenor as Shorter’s main axe in the 1970s.

“Ana Maria” is a long-form composition with a fully drawn out and complex melodic line. As educator Ron Grottos observes, “Wayne Shorter composed it so that each A section begins the same way, but then goes off in slightly different ways. In this respect, and in its extended length, “Ana Maria” is similar to some of Cole Porter’s songs such as “So In Love” and “Begin The Beguine.” This structure gives the tune the feel of a composed improvisation. Shorter’s playing breaks free of the melodic line only in the last minute of the performance; as usual, he says a lot with just a few phases, effectively as a coda to the song. The flowing lyricism of Shorter’s playing throughout is wondrous.

“Starry Night”
Link to Spotify
Link to Apple Music
Link to YouTube

(The Wayne Shorter Quartet at the 2010 New Orleans and Heritage Festival; L-R Danilo Perez, Shorter, John Patitucci, Brian Blade; Image Rick Diamond/Getty Images)

(from Wayne Shorter’s Without A Net – Recorded live European tour and studio recordings, circa October-November 2011, released February 5th, 2013)
Wayne Shorter – soprano saxophone
Danilo Perez – piano
John Patitucci – bass
Brian Blade – drums

Shorter’s “Footprints Quartet” quartet with Perez/Patitucci/Blade is the touring band he used for the last two decades and is the rhythm section on most of his recordings from 2001 onward. It’s an incredible band, visible as “bringing avant-garde practice into the heart of the jazz mainstream,” according to Chinen in the NYT obit linked above. You can hear what makes this band special throughout the first album Shorter did his return to Blue Note, 2013’s Without A Net. This band emphasizes searching and probing music – a kind of collective quest in real time. Another thrill of listening to the Shorter live albums with this band is the palpable sense of the music existing in a specific moment. Usually, I’m not a big fan of grunts, groans, and yelps from the band, but here those exhortations make a perfect complement (and outgrowth) of the quest that the band is on. So when we hear what I think is Brian Blade exhaling “phew” several times during Shorter’s magnificent solo on “Plaza Real,” it only adds to the thrill – Blade (if it’s him) is a surrogate for the listener and rivets our attention and appreciation. Even better is the over-the-top “Oh My God!” exclaimed by somebody from the Imani Winds during “Pegasus.” Depending on your mood, it’s cheesy fun or confirms you’re listening to the heaviest thing in the world.

This searching mode of music making creates a distinctive kind of ballad, different from “Nefertiti” and “Ana Maria.” While those other songs reveal their structure and melodic material right away, “Starry Night” builds slowly in a linear rather than cyclical way. The performance starts with a piano introduction from Perez that captures the tune’s melodic material but shrouds it in a dramatic rubato. Shorter’s tenor sax enters the song two and a half minutes in – he does not sketch the melody but instead plays a beautiful counterpoint that, while brief, is ravishingly beautiful. After a contemplative piano and bass interlude, the band collectively builds the music to a dramatic crescendo. Thom Jurek captures the song’s flavor in his All Music review: “the group aesthetic is especially noticeable in the penetrating romanticism of “Starry Night,” where what appears restrained — at least initially — is actually quite exploratory and forceful.” For a terrific view into the chemistry and power of this band, check out this video of “Stary Night” performed live. One does not usually associate a ballad with the force and volume the band gets to on this tune – in both the performance on Without a Net and the one on YouTube, the ballad is used as a springboard for an exercise of dynamic interplay that is this band’s raison d’être.

Of course, we could fill many more blog posts or an entire book about the fantastic ballads that Wayne Shorter wrote and performed. Make sure you listen to the great playlist that Stryker suggested – gems from top to bottom. Some further highlights among the highlights – of course, the classic “Infant Eyes” from all-time great Speak No Evil, Shorter’s heartbreaking tribute to Billy Holiday, “Lady Day,” and the sophisticated “Dear Sir,” which Shorter contributed to Lee Morgan’s The Procrastinator . . . the beauty feels endless the more time you spend there. Wayne Shorter gave us so much music that will be there for us and future generations of listeners. The music will always be there for you.

(Shorter and Nascimento, Image from Rolling Stone, credited to Instagram)

Kresten Osgood (drums, percussion and poetry)
With:
Tanya Kalmanovitch (viola)
Karen Borca (bassoon)
Marcus Rojas (tuba)

If you flip to the back of the May edition of the New York City Jazz Record, a full page ad announces that “Kresten Osgood is finally back in the US!” That proclamation only drew a small audience to the Downtown Music Gallery on May 28th—those who were there witnessed a low-key, but potent set of music.

The gig was part of Osgood’s NYC run of shows, including appearances with Cooper Moore in Brooklyn on May 29th and at The Stone with Eugene Chadbourne on June 1st and 2nd. As befits a gig in the back of a record store, the Downtown Music Gallery show began informally, with the musicians chatting about life in Europe, listening to Cecil Taylor records and finally kicking pot. After a group of friends, family and fellow musicians gathered in the downstairs space, Osgood and his group played a single improvised piece that lasted over an hour. The inauspicious setting didn’t really prepare the listener for the abilities of these world class musicians—especially impressive was the players’ feat of listening during what appeared to be an entirely improved piece.

From left – Rojas, Osgood, Kalmanovitch and Borca

The music started quietly with soft percussion from Osgood, but quickly gathered steam with statements from Borca’s woody bassoon, Rojas’ resonant tuba, or alternating dissonant and melodic riffs from Kalmanovitch’s viola. At one point 45 minutes in, the music seemed to reach a logical end point and eased into silence; but when the audience held their applause in respectful and rapt attention, Osgood filled that silence with soft percussion patterns, and Rojas and Borca started playing again. The music continued for a 15 minute coda, during which Osgood delivered a spoken word performance about the futility of violence over his drumming. One got the feeling the audience became co-composers in that moment, having given the musicians the comfort zone to stretch out even further.

When the playing did end to raucous clapping, Osgood proclaimed to the audience that he was playing with some of his favorite musicians in the world, and asked everybody to give each one of them individual applause, which was willingly provided. The looks of gratitude on the musicians’ faces were touching—the life of the improvising musician is demanding, far removed from rockstar glamor and acclaim. The vibe of the subterranean record store became one of mutual validation; the audience’s validation of the performers’ skill and creativity, and the performers’ validation of the audience’s willingness to explore the extemporaneous avant-garde.

More Kresten Osgood!

Osgood is known for his playing with Sam Rivers on 2005’s Purple Violets (check out the cover of “The Mooche”) and the following years’ Violet Violets (try “Nature Calls, Part 1”). River’s compositions and instrument switching depend on momentum from the drummer, and Osgood filled the role with aplomb.

Osgood has released many records as leader or co-leader. An excellent example is a co-leader session with Ran Blake, The Dorothy Wallace Suite. Osgood’s drumming is patient and creates the perfect sonic landscape for Blake’s crystalline piano.

Osgood’s leader sessions display enormous variety – a perfect example of Osgood’s new album, Kresten Osgood Plays The Organ For You. Yes, he’s on organ, not drums! The album’s buoyant grooves and melody could not more different from Osgood’s other music, but what they share is a common sense of adventure and fun. Also check out Osgood’s new podcast, Dangerous Sounds, which covers the history of Danish jazz. A truly diverse and amazing artist.

The cover of Osgood’s new record

Moments before the show

Speaking to the audience during his solo piano concert on Saturday May 21st, Jason Moran said he wanted to bring some of the early summer warmth from outside to the Park Avenue Armory audience. Moran talked about how important it was for him to share songs he’d been living with through the pandemic. Moran’s music is about connections between people (he said he’s influenced by “so many” and named his parents and his wife Alicia Hall Moran), between genres of music (his music is at the crossroads of jazz, classical, and experimental musics) and place itself. All those connections were on display in his 90-minute set of solo piano.

The room itself was a constitutive element of the performance, a lush visual backdrop to Moran’s sonic experience. The Veterans Room at the Park Avenue Armory is a historic room built in 1881. This room was the focus of renovations that have transformed it “into a stunning, cutting-edge performance venue”, according to PBDW, the architect who designed the renovations done on this space. Words alone do not do this space justice—if you’re in New York you really need to see it for yourself. Moran first played at the Park Avenue Armory in 2016 as part of the post renovation inauguration of the Veteran’s Room. That live performance was recorded and released as The Armory Concert on Bandcamp. Moran has since been responsible for presentations of other artists in the Veteran’s Room, but the May 21st and 22nd concerts were his first solo piano recitals in this space since 2016.

The beautiful Veteran’s Room

Moran started the 90-minute set playing songs from some of his recent recordings, Music For Joan Jonas and The Sound Will Tell You. He’s a very charismatic performer, and went back and forth between playing these original compositions and speaking to the audience of about 75 people. After the mesmerizing composition “Reanimation,” he told the audience that on a recent trip to his barber, he was trying to write a tune that captured the sounds there. Moran’s barber must have a machine shop nearby; he rolled up his sleeves, reached into the piano’s guts and played a dissonant repeating chord on the bottom keys while he plucked the strings within to create a mechanical, brutal sound.

Following this eccentric piece, Moran began to subvert the traditional sensory expectations of a piano recital. He started by playing a complex multi-part composition lasting 20 minutes, a medley sewing together several original tunes. This section of the concert reached a climax when the intricate opening tones and chords progressed into a single deep, resonant, sustained rumble that Moran held for over five minutes (drawn from the composition “Magnet” on The Armory Concert). Then Moran did something simple but profound—while the piano rumbled on, he had the Veteran’s Room lights fade away, pulling the audience into darkness. Without sight to help make the music familiar, the listener was forced to internalize the rumbling cloud of sound Moran was making, which seemed to grow more ominous with its overtones both louder and more nuanced. The effect was remarkable, a visceral-cerebral experience marrying the visual and sonic elements of live performance. Then, the lights came back on while the music transitioned to the opener from The Sound Will Tell You, “Follow The Light.” The audience felt transported on a journey. The concert concluded to loud applause, and Moran came back for an encore. Moran told the audience that the day of the concert was also Fats Waller’s birthday (Moran put out a tribute to Waller in 2014), and the concert ended with a rousing Waller cover. If you have a chance to see Jason Moran live, go!

Applause after the show; Moran in center

More Moran:

If you’re in the New York area, you will have a chance to see Jason Moran soon—he’s playing with Archie Shepp at New York Summerstage on August 28th. If you can’t make it, make sure you check out last year’s great live duo record with Shepp, Let My People Go. Don’t sleep on the bonus tracks with that record, they’re just as good, such as this performance of “Jitterbug Waltz” (more Fats Waller!). To keep up with Moran, make sure you check out his Bandcamp page and his website. Rolling Stone called him “the most provocative thinker in current jazz” — high praise, but Moran is always interesting, bringing experimental ecclecticism to the power of blues.

Summer is here! Some wonderful albums got us through May. Two of them are just one epic track long – maybe a lesson for life to just concentrate on the most impactful statement, and leave everything else out. Then if that was too intense, there was the serene and beautiful sounds of the Fuubutsushi quartet to calm us down, and the immersive world created by I, Castorpollux. These albums were all so good and so different, it was hard to pick, so we have four TNB Picks for May. May also brought us an a searing guitar/drums duo, a wonderful tenor sax trio, a remarkable solo sax album, and the first album released here by an accomplished musician/artist from Isreal. With great music at our side, we’re ready for June!

TNB Pick!
Erika Dohi – I, Castorpollux
(released May 14, 2021)

Erika Dohi- keys (all tracks except 10), percussion (1) and vocal (6)
William Brittelle- additional keys (1,2,3,4,7,8,9,10)
Andy Akiho- steel-pan and percussion (2,6,11)
Ambrose Akinmusire – trumpet (7)
Jeremy Boettcher – fretless bass (4,7,8)
Channy Leaneagh – vocal (4,8)
Emily Wells- vocal (2)
Immanuel Wilkins- alto saxophone (2,7,11)
Zach Hanson – piano (5)

A conceptually heady and fascinating album. The first track starts with narration spoken in Japanese, telling of Dohi’s experience at age 7 in the 1995 Kobe earthquake. Hiding alone under a table, she emerged to find that the world around her had disappeared. When Dohi returned to Kobe years later, a new world had sprung back, but with a lone structure surviving from before the earthquake, the Tower of the Sun built for Expo 70. The album is preoccupied with the idea of one’s self existing in the past and present at the same time and how trauma and change creates duel selves. One of the standout tracks is “Particle Of…” , which Dohi states “deals with quantum tunneling and the idea of the multiverse, and that fascinates me because it creates the possibility of a parallel universe and alternate realities. What if I did something differently in the past, are there different versions of myself, and does every choice I make create a new reality?” There’s a lot going on here! For more on this record, check out Dohi’s website. Dohi is a virtuoso, but admirably downplays her chops and concentrates on melody and atmosphere. It’s immersive and quite wonderful.

TNB Pick!
Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi “Fuubutsushi Quartet” – Yamawarau (山笑う)
(released May 7, 2021)

Chris Jusell: violin, voice
Chaz Prymek: guitar, bass, clarinet, synths, samples
Matthew Sage: keyboards, percussion, voice, acoustic guitar, field recordings
Patrick Shiroishi: trombone, guitar, glockenspiel, tenor and alto sax, laptop, samples, voice

Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi “Fuubutsushi Quartet” – Setsubun (節分)
(released February 2, 2021)

Chris Jusell – violin
Chaz Prymek – bass, guitar, synthesizer, clarinet, field recordings
Matthew Sage – keyboards, percussion, radio, field recordings
Patrick Shiroishi – alto, tenor, and soprano saxophones, clarinet, glockenspiel, samples, voice

Jusell, Prymek, Sage, Shiroishi “Fuubutsushi Quartet” – Fuubutsushi (風物詩)
(released September 29, 2020)

Chris Jusell – violin
Chaz Prymek – guitars, field recordings, voice
Matthew Sage – keyboards, percussion, voice, field recordings
Patrick Shiroishi – alto & tenor saxophones, clarinet, flute, glockenspiel, samples, whistling, voice
additional vocals on “Chorus Wheel” by Matt Crook and Anna Wilson

Four musicians for four seasons. These three albums (a fourth one is forthcoming) were created out of a COVID social distancing practice – the musicians recorded the albums remotely from their homes in separate states. The music here is infused with a calm hopefulness that is the perfect antidote for, and may be inspired by, our world during lockdown. Fuubutsushi, released last September, is a Japanese word that describes the feeling that the season is about to change. Last September’s album captures the soft radiance of Autumn, and introduced the group’s spare but interactive dynamics. Setsubun, released in February to celebrate the Japanese New Year, has the peace of a country walk on a winter morning. This month brought Yamawarau, which captures the awakening of Spring. Not all ambient music rewards close listening the way these albums do – they’re truly beautiful. You’ll hear about the to-be-released summer edition here for sure!

TNB Pick!
Sō Percussion, MEDIAQUEER, Adam Tendler, Alex Sopp, Beth Meyers, Shelley Washington, Grey Mcmurray – Stay On It
(released May 14, 2021)

Sō Percussion (Eric Cha-Beach, Josh Quillen, Adam Sliwinski, Jason Treuting) – Percussion
Adam Tendler – Piano
MEDIAQUEER (Darian Thomas and Phong Tran) – Electronics, Keyboards, Violin and Vocals
Grey Mcmurray – Guitar and Vocals
Beth Meyers – Viola and Vocals
Alex Sopp – Flute, Piccolo and Vocals
Shelley Washington – Saxophone and Vocals

The music of Julius Eastman (1940-1990) has been getting recent attention, and if the results are like this exhilarating record, I can hardly wait for more. Stay On It, composed in 1973, starts with a joyous parade rhythm that will have you dancing around your apartment. About 10 minutes in the cacophony closes in, but that’s joyous too. Sō Percussion says on their Bandcamp page they turned to Eastman during the Pandemic because his music allows for flexibility and interpretation. Hopefully that spirit will draw other interpreters, and an audience as well.

TNB Pick!
[Ahmed] – Nights on Saturn (communication)
(released March 26, 2021)

Pat Thomas – Piano
Joel Grip – Bass
Antonin Gerbal – Drums
Seymour Wright – Alto saxophone

More Pat Thomas! Just one tune recorded live at Cafe OTO, which interprets two compositions by the groups’ namesake Ahmed Abdul-Malik. Frankly this performance takes off from the source material and achieves it’s own blistering momentum based on the strength of the musicians here. Thomas’ piano playing is outrageous and mesmerizing, and Wright’s saxophone really burns. Grip and Gerbal lay down a propulsive rhythm and the results are very much a group effort. Based on the energy on display, this group needs to be experienced live – a good reason to plan a trip to London!

Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt – Made Out Of Sound
(released March 26, 2021)

Chris Corsano – Drums
Bill Orcutt – Guitars

Every Bill Orcutt record is an event. Here his guitar playing scales the usual radiant heights, and finds an ideal partner in Chris Corsano’s flexible drumming. This album, like the Fuubutsushi Quartet above, was recorded remotely due to COVID restrictions. Here, Corsano recorded the drums tracks alone in Ithaca NY, and then sent them to Orcutt to overdub his guitars. A duet separated by time and space is proof that artistic ingenuity overcomes and sometimes thrives on obstacles.

María Grand – Reciprocity
(released May 14, 2021)

María Grand – tenor saxophone and voice
Kanoa Mendenhall – acoustic bass and voice
Savannah Harris – drums and voice

María Grand is new revelation – her great tenor sax sound is dark and weighty but her playing is fleet and melodic. This album, her second, was inspired by her experience of carrying her first child. Grand adds some spoken word sections that meditate on creation and existence, which are certainly not to everyone’s taste. But the music is creative and alive, and Grand’s band mates Meddenhall and Harris are terrific.

Patrick Shiroishi – resting in the heart of green shade
(released March 5, 2021)

Patrick Shiroishi – alto, soprano & tenor saxophones

Shiroishi’s solo sax outing could not be more different from his stately reeds in the Fuubutsushi Quartet (see above). Here, the solo sax work summons more energy than most bands. Each track is intense and quite mesmerizing. Shiroishi is a force to be reckoned with! Also, he appears to release an album just about every month, so if you like his playing, there’s a lot more to dig into. Check out his Bandcamp page.

Maya Dunietz – Free The Dolphin
(released May 7, 2021)

Maya Dunietz – Piano
Amir Bresler – Drums
Barak Mori – Double Bass

Donitz is new to me and this album impresses. So does Dunietz’ Wikipedia page, which shows an artist equally conversant in playing several instruments, composing and the visual and sound arts. Her Bandcamp page says “Maya Dunietz is a prodigy pianist, an avant-garde sound artist, an award winning composer, a dubious character and mom of four.” Her piano is just as playful, morphing one minute from Ahmad Jamal-like structures to ragtime to modern playing that reminded me of Geri Allen at times. At 27 minutes this does leave you begging for more, and hopefully more will come.

Here’s the Spotify playlist:

This April TNB listened to three special albums paying tribute to masters of 20th century music – Charles Mingus, Ornette Coleman and Anthony Braxton. To those who think making repertory albums suggest a lack of new ideas, take a listen. These records show not only passion and a deep connection to the material, but a creative approach that makes the music current and relevant. Rounding out TNB picks, we have an excellent drummer led jazz album, the belated release of the last studio album by a legendary South African pianist, an album of political string music, and some intense noise and noise rock. Enjoy!

TNB pick!
Stephanie Nilles – I pledge allegiance to the flag – the white flag
(released March 5, 2021)

Stephanie Nilles – piano and voice

Pianist and singer Stephanie Nilles interprets the music of bassist and composer Charles Mingus. April 22nd was the 99th anniversary of Mingus’ birthday, and there’s no better place to start your Mingus centennial celebration than here. Mingus’ passion resonates with the current moment – he captures the plight of the underdog and stands up to injustice. Nilles captures the Mingus magic right out of the gate in her epic reading of the protest anthem Fabels of Faubus. The performance captures the outrage, surrealism, the simultaneous embrace of the blues and the European tradition, and the drama, that all define Mingus. Both timeless and now.

TNB pick!
Pat Thomas/The Locals – The Locals Play The Music Of Anthony Braxton
(released December 17, 2020)

Pat Thomas – piano, melodica
Alex Ward – clarinet
Evan Thomas – electric guitar
Dominic Lash – electric bass
Darren Hasson-Davis – drums

Pat Thomas and his band The Locals focus on early compositions of Anthony Braxton. This from a 2006 live performance in Austria, and it comes from Thomas’ personal archive. The arrangements are by Thomas. For those who only think of Braxton’s music as dry and academic, take a listen. Wild, angular and intense – maybe danceable too! And Pat Thomas’ piano playing is something else – he’s new to me, and I’m going to have to catch up with this great talent.

TNB pick!
Miguel Zenón – Law Years: The Music of Ornette Coleman
(released March 12, 2021)

Miguel Zenón – alto saxophone
Ariel Bringuez – tenor saxophone
Demian Cabaud – bass
Jordi Rossy – drums

We need more repertory albums of Ornette Coleman’s music! Zenón’s approach and sound have little in common with Coleman, and this album is better off for it. Zenón says in his liner notes: “[Coleman’s] music is everlasting, and I believe that we should all consider ourselves lucky to live during a time when we could all experience Ornette’s work, from afar and up close.” Durable and effervescent.

New Muse 4tet – Blue Lotus
(released February 26, 2021)

Gwen Laster – violin, composition
Hsinwei Chiang – violin
Melanie Dyer – viola
Alex Waterman – cello

The New Muse 4tet is the project of violinist and educator Gwen Laster, who has played with everybody – the Sun Ra Orchestra, Danny Elfman, Aretha Franklin and J Lo and Shakira at President Obama’s Inaugural Neighborhood Ball, just to name a few. This album features stirring string music, but made deeper by the themes of protest. “The Black Lives Matter Suite” is the center of the album, dedicated to Sandra Bland, Samuel Harrell, and the Newburgh Four, all victims of unlawful arrest, abuse or entrapment at the hands of police. Beautiful music with a righteous cause. Mingus would approve.

Florian Arbenz, Hermon Mehari, Nelson Veras – Conversation #1: Condensed
(released April 23, 2021)

Florian Arbenz – Drums
Hermon Mehari – Trumpet
Nelson Veras – Guitar

I’ve never heard Swiss drummer Florian Arbenz before, but he’s quite good – his ride cymbal swings, he packs in lots of detail, and it’s so well recorded too. You can tell right away the drummer is the leader, but the music is very strong. The first three tracks are especially striking, but don’t miss the cover of “Freedom Jazz Dance” that ends the album – the arrangement and playing are great. This is the first of 12 planned albums of “conversations” with different groups, and I’ll be checking in with future installments for sure.

Bheki Mseleku – Beyond The Stars
(released March 13, 2021)

Bheki Mseleku – piano, voice

A 2003 solo piano set recorded in London by South African expat Bheki Mseleku. The music was not released at the time, and is only coming out this year 13 years after Mseleku’s passing. Mseleku’s playing is spontaneous and shows a deep connection to the South African musical tradition. A welcome release.

Sana Nagano – Smashing Humans
(released March 19, 2021)

Sana Nagano – Violin/fx
Peter Apfelbaum – Tenor saxophone/megaphone
Keisuke Matsuno – Electric guitar
Ken Filiano – Acoustic bass/fx
Joe Hertenstein – Drums

These are musicians who take their noise very seriously. The first three tracks are especially focused and intense, with guitar, drums tenor sax and violin locking into an atonal parade march. Blistering! Also, I love the album cover.

¡FIASCO! – Post-Truth
(released February 16, 2021)

Nelson Dougherty – guitar
Andrew Frankhouse – saxophone
Stephen Arnold – bass guitar
Keith Butler Jr. – drums

Washington DC-based band led by the saxophonist and guitarist, who first recorded this quartet last year. What if Fugazi collaborated with Albert Ayler? You get the idea – a post rock free jazz mash up.

Here’s the Spotify playlist:

Bruford – Feels Good to Me
(EG/Polydor -1978)

Back to the Begining

Beezelbub

Seems Like a Lifetime Ago

Either End of August

Personnel:
Bill Bruford – drums, percussion
Allan Holdsworth – electric guitar
Dave Stewart – keyboards
Jeff Berlin – bass
Kenny Wheeler – flugelhorn
Annette Peacock – lead vocals

Art is often pigeonholed into categories that may enable basic understanding, but limit imagination and creativity. As musical language grows and becomes more emotionally nuanced, the use of yet more labels is an unfortunate consequence – it’s hard to keep up with all of the new terms used to describe a band, an album or a genre.

So it’s a refreshing change of pace to encounter music that embraces different worlds and refuses to be reduced to categories. The music on Bill Bruford’s Feels Good to Me combines different music genres to produce a unique sounding result. How did this genre crossing album come to be?

To 70s progressive rock fans, Bill Bruford needs no introduction. Bruford was one of the founding members of Yes, where he developed his intricate style of drumming. He left Yes in 1972 to join King Crimson, where he stayed until Robert Fripp disbanded Crimson (for the first time) in 1974. Bruford then became something of a journeyman drummer, playing with various bands which culminated in touring with Genesis for their 1976 tour.

Given Bruford’s resumé up to this point, you might not expect his first solo record to move away from rock, but Bruford went on to prove that his evolution was not a “one off” – he went on to make jazz influenced solo projects and uncategorizable music with his next group, Earthworks. Feels Good to Me sits at a hard-to-describe crossroads between prog rock and improvised jazz – the music is unusual, surprising and worth revisiting.

Bruford composed the material for this record together with multi keyboard player Dave Stewart in the first half of 1977. The tunes feature complex arrangements with intricate keyboard parts, memorable melodies and eschew sprawling prog rock-style runtimes. But the real magic is the unique blend of musicians. In addition to Stewart, Bruford hired American bassist Jeff Berlin, who does not sound like a rock bass player. (Check out his playing on “Beelzebub”, the second track posted here). Berlin plays notes that fall aggressively ahead of the beat, dominating the head of the song. Elsewhere his playing is virtuosic, drawing from funk, rhythm and blues, and Jaco Pastorious-style licks.

Even more unusual for a “rock album” is the inclusion of great trumpet player Kenny Wheeler (featured on flugelhorn here). Wheeler had at this point established himself as a leader on his classic album Gnu High (1976), so to see him here as a sideman is very unusual. Wheeler’s solo and accompaniment on “Seems Like a Lifetime Ago” and lead playing on “Either End of August” are gorgeous. Employing Wheeler here reminds me of another great album recorded in 1977, Steely Dan’s Aja, and it’s memorable use of jazz musicians including Wayne Shorter. Something must have been in the air!

And then there’s Allan Holdsworth. Holdsworth’s guitar playing was already legendary after his stint playing with drummer Tony Williams, where the world was introduced to his influential style of hyper fast “hammered” notes (later adopted by Eddie Van Halen). But that flashy technique is only part of Holdsworth’s playing – he also emphasizes melody energized by his terrific sound, and paces his solos to an emotional climax by using the tremolo bar to “bend” the timbre of his notes.

Bruford spoke extensively in interviews about the importance of Holdsworth’s playing to this project. After this album, Bruford recruited Holdswoth to join him in the prog “supergroup” U.K. The experience Holdsworth had with that group tells us a lot about what kind of player he is – Holdsworth (and Bruford) left after recording only one album because of musical differences with the rest of the band after Holdsworth’s bandmates told him to stop improvising different solos on each song. Being “in the moment” is clearly central to Holdsworth’s concept, which you can hear in this music.

On “Beelzebub,” Holdsworth plays a perfect rock guitar solo – he starts with soaring long notes, builds to a climax with terrific use of the tremolo bar, and ends with rapid “hammered” 64th notes. Elsewhere, Holdsworth plays a long adventurous solo on “Back to the Beginning”, and again shows the passion he can inject into his playing with his short but memorable solo at the close of “Either End of August.” All fantastic stuff! This record captures Allan Holdsworth in transition between his rock background and the more open improvisation of his subsequent work. Holdsworth’s solos here are succinct and exciting.

The most unusual choice that Bruford made is having Annette Peacock sing vocals at four tracks on this record (three of those posted above). Peacock’s background and contributions to music deserve their own post (deserve an entire book really!). She is one of the innovators of the Moog synthesizer (given the instrument by Bob Moog himself), she composed an entire catalog of jazz tunes (now standards), and has released decades worth of genre bending albums, some enjoying renewed interest such as 1970’s I’m the One and others waiting for rediscovery.

Unsurprisingly, Peacock’s singing here upends expectations. After the grinding rock riff that starts “Back to the Beginning”, you’d expect vocals that employ volume and vibrato typical of rock singers. Peacock’s speech like delivery, and clean vibrato, smartly placed high in the mix, are surprising and oddly perfect. On “Seems Like a Lifetime Ago”, Peacock effortlessly switches gears into jazz balladry. Peacock’s inclusion here is divisive of course, and many rock purists prefer Bruford’s 1979 One of a Kind, which has no vocals at all. To me, the inclusion of a Peacock elevates this record into something more interesting and fresh sounding, worth revisiting all these years later.

These choices all reflect the openness of Bruford taste and an interest in avoiding the staleness of composing and playing that falls in the rules of musical genre. Bruford’s title seems well chosen – not only is ‘feel’ the key attribute of a drummer’s playing, but he also creates fresh sounding music by bringing together different musicians based on this intuition. The result “Feels Good to Me” as well!

I hope you enjoy these genre-crossing tracks. If you like what you’ve heard here you can listen to the rest of this album on Spotify and Apple Music. Bill Bruford is retired from playing, but he maintains a terrific website that you should check out if you want to explore more of his music.

Enjoy!