CD Reviews: Jazz, Gospel and Beyond: John Stevenson’s 20 CD Review, May 2007
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Posted by: editoron Wednesday, May 16, 2007 - 07:31 PM |
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John Stevenson
Bishop Wayne Malcolm: The Business of Life (MOP)
Melodious singing and inspired song writing are but two of Bishop Malcolm’s many talents. On The Business of Life, these specific gifts emerge delightfully and with potent impact. Produced by UK gospel heavyweight Noel Robinson, this platter places the goodly Bishop’s vocals front and centre in the thick of varied genres. Superman, the opening cut, is a catchy salsa number, while the title track’s funky horns (featuring smooth jazz saxman Mike Parlett) punctuate an arresting call-and-response chorus. Elsewhere, solid old-fashioned soul and swing impart a much-appreciated spiritual message.
Michael Brecker: Pilgrimage (Heads Up)
Probably one of the most eagerly awaited discs of 2007, with the recently-departed Brecker’s passionate, fiery and technically challenging manner of blowing remaining unchanged on this outing. This summit of jazz music’s heavyweights (Pat Metheny, Jack DeJohnnete, Herbie Hancock, Brad Mehldau and John Patitucci), is marked by an astounding level of energy, musical imagination and sensitivity, which is consistent over the CD’s nine tracks. Numbers such as The Mean Time (featuring Metheny’s almost combustible guitar soloing and comping), and When Can I Kiss You Again demonstrate Brecker’s compositional genius: Ars Longa Vita Brevis.
Sophie Berkal-Sarbit: The Gypsy in My Soul (7 Arts)
Impeccably produced by Bill King, this disc marks the start of the Sophie’s impressive recording career. At the tender age of sixteen, she bravely immerses herself in the standards tradition. She lends virile excitement to King’s fresh arrangements, notably on Baltimore Oriole, Fascinating Rhythm, I’ve Got A Right To Sing The Blues, on the tantalising tango, Whatever Lola Wants, and on a very moving rendition of Skylark.
George Benson & Al Jarreau: givin’ it up (Concord/Universal)
A long-awaited pairing of two of the most accomplished pop-jazz crooners still standing. The two vets range across a pretty large musical patch, taking in a few standards (God Bless The Child, Four), originals (Mornin’ Let It Rain, Givin’ It Up For Love), and a few stabs at more up to date contemporary music relevance (Ordinary People, All I Am). The chance appearance of Sir Paul McCartney, on Sam Cooke’s Bringing It On Home To Me is one of this disc’s many highlights, along with Herbie Hancock’s coruscating piano solo on Marcus Miller’s Tutu – re-christened ‘Long Come Tutu.
Misha Tsiganov: Always Going West (Misha Tsiganov)
Possibly one of the best releases of 2007, ace pianist Tsiganov reveals more of his compositional genius in the company of fellow Russian émigrés Boris Kozlov (acoustic bass), Alex Sipiagin (trumpet), Columbian percussion maestro Samuel Torres and veteran jazz drummer Gene Jackson. Alongside a mastery of the intricacies of post-bebop piano, Tsiganov is a Russian with a great love for Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian music. His stints in Norman Hedman’s Tropique should confirm this. The gorgeous Waltz for Elena and the warm mid-tempo tribute to the sadly departed pianist Kenny Kirkland, Say Where You’ve Gone, are numbered among the most treasured of the selections on this successful outing.
Jacques Schwartz-Bart: Sone Ka La (Universal)
Hailing from Guadeloupe in the French Caribbean, all-round reedsman-composer-arranger Schwartz-Bart injects the island’s native Go-Kwa drum patterns (thanks to Olivier Juste, Sonny Troupe, Abou Diarassouba and Daniel Sadownik) into his already novel callalou of post-bop and Nu Hip-hop influences. The results are simply hypnotic. The call-and-response feature between saxophone and vocalists on Toumblak (featuring Jean-Pierre Coquerel McKay) and Love (showcasing the sweet voice of Stephanie McKay) makes for quite a compelling listening experience.
Craig Pilo: Just Play (Rue de La Harpe)
Tight, yet fluent stick work, sensitive use of brushes, and a yen for selecting great tunes and accompanists. This just about sums up drummer Craig Pilo on his latest CD effort, Just Play. Moving well beyond tired arrangements and re-treaded licks, Pilo covers a few classic standards such as Autumn Leaves, All Blues and Teen Town, giving them novel readings. Craig’s pen is also in the spotlight on well-written pieces such as Early Cynical Mystery. His mastery of sundry styles and meters shines through and there’s chemistry galore with the likes of featured keyboardist, the stellar Mitchel Forman, as well as saxophonist Roman Dudak.
Jane Monheit: Surrender (Concord)
Monheit surrenders her usually well-considered pipes to a mixed selection of strings, standards and bossas. The operative word here is mixed: her treatment of the Brazilian material (notably on Rio De Maio) gives the impression that she is not altogether comfortable with this genre, and she comes across restrained and somewhat coy on the string arrangements. Though Monheit possesses a pleasant voice, there is no vocal pyrotechnics here: the songs take on the feeling of innocuous background music. Should this disc be even classified as jazz? The jazz jury is still deliberating I’m afraid.
Kurt Elling: Nightmoves (Concord)
Kurt Elling’s Concord debut has definitely been worth waiting for. The Premier Division singer explores the overlapping spheres of music, romance and the nocturnal. He navigates the territory of the vocally delicate (And We Will Fly featuring Gregoire Maret on harmonica), to the improvisationally creative (building an impressive ‘vocalese’ around Dexter Gordon’s rendition of Body and Soul) to a curious blend of jazz and Whitman-esque philosophy (The Waking). Joined by pianist Laurence Hobgood, bassist Rob Amster and drum supremo Willie Jones III, Kurt Elling’s new release is a memorable paean to the hours of darkness.
Dennis Mitchel3: Tenor of the Times (Dengor Music)
It takes tremendous courage for Stateside artists to stick their creative necks out in support of so-called “political” causes, especially when those causes involve Iraq and the tragic farce American involvement has precipitated in that beleaguered country. Tenor/soprano saxophonist Dennis Mitcheltree and cohorts (Jesse Crawford on bass, and drummer/vocalist Bill McClellan) have parlayed their concern and observations on the occupation through ten audacious and original compositions, veering from rap, to swing to free form jazz. The opening piece, Go Cheney Yourself, is a gateway to provocative titles such as Ijtihad (or Abu Graib Dance Party), Halliburton Holler and Spiderhole Stomp.
John Fedchock: New York Big Band (Reservoir)
Ace trombonist, composer, bandleader, arranger and former Woody Herman ‘Herdsman’, John Fedchock, turns in sterling, memorable performances on this Reservoir recording. Drawing on a wide selection of material, he supplies meaty charts and recruits a cast of crack musicians. Monk’s rollicking Epistrophy, for example, becomes a deliciously bouncy vehicle, full of rambunctious energy in the hands of this excellent 17-piece grouping. Fedchock himself turns in outstanding solos on his own Eleven Nights, Scott Robinson (on Ellington’s Come Sunday) and Rick Margitza on Joe Henderson’s Caribbean Fire Dance.
Soweto Kinch: A Life in the Day of B19, Tales of the Tower Block (Dune)
A remarkable recording from the extraordinary young British pianist/saxophonist Soweto Kinch. It contains biting socio-political commentary on modern-day urban life in the UK, with jazz-tinged drama. Full of good humour fuelled by rap, the CD is built around the lives (as recounted by Kinch’s melodramatic raps) of B19 tower block denizens Marcus, Adrian and ‘S’ - with their mixed fortunes in the post-modern-*****-post-industrial wasteland of Blair-era, inner-city Birmingham. Gorgeous soloing all-round from alto/tenor playing Kinch, Wes Montgomery-influenced guitarist Femi Temowo, trumpeter Abraham Wilson and drummer Troy Miller. The silky smooth narration of veteran BBC newscaster Moira Stewart is also an attractive feature.
Wayne Escoffery: Veneration (Savant)
Wayne Escoffery is probably the most prodigious of the current pride of young jazz lions on today’s jazz scene. With a clear bell-like sound on soprano saxophone, and a deep distinctive sound on tenor, Veneration finds him in the company of like-minded post-boppers Lewis Nash (drumming up a storm), kinetic vibist Joe Locke, and dependable bassist Hans Glawischnig. Escoffery has a knack of unearthing lesser-known jazz compositions and breathing new melodic life into them, lending to them a fresh gleam of acceptability. This he superbly demonstrates on Booker Little’s (an under appreciated trumpeter with a remarkable similarity to Clifford Brown) Bee Vamp and Looking Ahead. This set, recorded at New York’s Smoke jazz club, also spotlights a killer rendition of Melody for Melonae, a fitting tribute to Escoffery’s mentor, Jackie McLean.
Eugene Maslov: Where the Light Comes From (Blue Canoe)
This marks Eugene’s Blue Canoe debut after a stint of well-received discs on the Mack Avenue imprint. Classically trained in St. Petersburg, Russia, and earning well-deserved jazz stripes Stateside over the last several years, Maslov achieves the perfect synthesis of swing, bebop and classical music scholarship. With the exception of Miles Davis/Bill Evans’ Nardis and the elegant Alex Berenson-penned Twin-Waltz, the CD comprises eight very properly conceived originals. Hubert Laws contributes well throughout, especially on the Mussorgsky-influenced Boom.
Zone: Madrugada (Curve)
Madrugada contains some very danceable, very listenable music. The kind of stuff that some popular club DJs would call “jazz remixes”. Whether the jazz cognoscenti are prepared to embrace such an offering is another question altogether. However, Italian bassist Enzo Torregrosso, the prime architect and author of the project, is a bona fide jazzman, who has logged sessions with the likes of Dizzy Gillespie. The influence of classic bossa nova and samba as purveyed by Astrud Gilberto and Gilberto Gil dominates the disc. Great examples of this are to be found on Fortuna and Penso Em Mim (featuring Manola Micalizzi), and Brasilena.
Nicholas Meier: Yuz (Naim)
One of the most fresh-sounding guitarists/Turkish Saz players to grace the London jazz scene, Swiss-born Nicholas Meier melds mainstream jazz, Anatolian and Romanian folk melodies, to come up (trumps of course!) with a very unique and clearly identifiable sound. The rapport between Meier and multi-reed player Gilad Atzmon is all too evident as guitar and sax lines twin and intertwine around intriguing tunes such as Yuz/Face. Drummer Asaf Sirkis (a mainstay of Atzmon’s Orient House ensemble) and bassist Tom Mason offer unyielding support on all selections.
Chris Crocco: The Chris Crocco Fluid Trio (Chris Crocco Music)
This is one of the more original discs this reviewer has encountered in a long time, presenting free and indeed fluid improvisation as refracted through the instrumental prism created by electric plectrist Crocco, propulsive Cuban drummer Francisco Mela and masterly tenor saxophonist/teacher, George Garzone. This is a rather unusual configuration in jazz circles, but is full of passion and grit. The trio listen and bounce ideas off each other on a very intense level. Piece of Mind, Foreign Affairs and Sand Rain are prime examples of the fluidity found on the disc.
Cameron Pierre: Pad Up (Get Ready) (Destin-E)
Dominican-British guitarist Pierre has accomplished himself in UK jazz circles as an instrumentalist of uncommon virtuosity, playing alongside Courtney Pine, performing with a wide range of musicians around Europe and fronting his own band. With drummer Rod Youngs and Swedish Larry Young-influenced organist Anders Olinder on board, we get a taste of Cameron’s Pat Martino and (very early) George Benson influences. It’s all good, especially on the title track and on Karifuna. Quite obviously, Pierre’s love of cricket is evident in the choice of track titles, like Right Arm Over and Backfoot Drive. There’s some fine baritione sax playing from Courtney Pine on ‘John Leslie’.
Trevor Watkis: Straight Ahead … Ride for Tone (BlueSoundscape)
Perhaps because he is such a soft-spoken gent, Trevor Watkis is one of the more under-celebrated pianists on the British jazz scene. His most recent CD, the very triumphant Straight Ahead … Ride for Tone should bring him to a more critical awareness of discerning jazz audiences and listeners. Adopting a straightahead post be-bop quintet format akin to the Horace Silver quintet of the early-1960s, the Berklee-trained Londoner recruits heavy hitters for this outing. Steve Wilson on alto/soprano saxes, trumpeter Darren Barrett, bassist Reuben Rogers and drummer Lewis Nash. Needless to say, everyone grooves and swings like the gallows! Tempos run from the very tender (Stevie Wonder’s Passionate Raindrops, for example) to the roiling (and alluring) uptempo strains of Apartment #17.
Yuganaut: This Musicship (BlockMRecords)
The good ship Yuganaut manages to strike a happy means between freeform improvised jazz, the blues, swing and more ‘structured’ music. Bassist Tom Abbs, drummer Steve Mann (son of famed flautist Herbie Mann) and keyboard wizard Stephen Rush, traverse interstellar space with an altogether expansive sonic approach to composition, with particular nods to Sun Ra and the ‘Chicago School’ of improvisation. In this connection, the spirit of Roscoe Mitchell is respectfully summoned forth on Hymn For Roscoe.
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