Jazz in Papers/Reviews III

[Serial_Apologist]

"I've worked for the paper from the days
when I regarded it as a bourgeois, SDP-
loving crapsheet. In some ways nothing
has changed, except that nowadays the
SDP-lovers would be considered far too
leftwing." Steve Bell, Guardian cartoonist, 2010.

Plus ca change.

BN.

Plus ca mouve a la droite, comme tout...

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Manchester???? worrabout Kings Place eh?

w to contact the Guardian, the Observer and the Guardian website

Please address any correspondence to:
Kings Place, 90 York Way
London N1 9GU

it is not only a rather large ofice Ian it is also a rather fine concert venue [Rushbridger plays piano]

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Manchester???? worrabout Kings Place eh?

w to contact the Guardian, the Observer and the Guardian website

Please address any correspondence to:
Kings Place, 90 York Way
London N1 9GU

it is not only a rather large ofice Ian it is also a rather fine concert venue [Rushbridger plays iano]

He is the Peter Nero of Brit journalism.

BN.

Polly Toynbee is the Kathy Kirby.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

there are two guitarists on this

Red Prysock, Sil Austin (ts) Dave Martin (p) Kenny Burrell, Everett Barksdale (g) Milt Hinton (b) Panama Francis (d)

[Ian Thumwood]

Calum

Read this.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manchester_Observer

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

er i was there Ian ....

[Ian Thumwood]

You're right. Are you the bloke in the stove pipe hat?

http://partleton.co.uk/The%20Great%20Chartist%20Meeting%20on%20Kennington%20Common,%20April%2010,%201848,%20photograph%20taken%20by%20William%20KilburnR2.jpg

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

nah i'm one of the kids to the left of the S flag ....

[Serial_Apologist]

I never realised photpography went back that far. Shows what little I was taught!

And what a shot!!!

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

email the Graun and tell 'em what you think of their abandonment of jazz!

culture@theguardian.com

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

email the Graun and tell 'em what you think of their abandonment of jazz!

culture@theguardian.com

Renault: "I'm shocked, shocked to find that
gambling is going on in here."

Croupier: "Your winnings, sir."

Casablanca, 1942.

BN,

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/jazz

but find it from the home page or the culture page that is the challenge!

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/jazz

but find it from the home page or the culture page that is the challenge!

They also now seem to hide the letters page for some reason. One of the few things I used to read in Le bande dessinée..

BN.

[Tom Audustus]

You have made that statement before when Jazz Line Up played a sample from a Keith Jarrett disc which made me think exactly the same. Jarrett is a bit of a marmite character but he can be extremely inspired as well as monotonous. I would never have considered his music to be banal although wearing his heart on his sleeve so often does expose those elements where he isn't in the zone. There is a solo record called "Dark Intervals" which I loved to begin with yet grew to find it an increasingly difficult listen as it morphed in to classical music territory.

As for Frisell being over-rated, I would concede that his stuff under his own name came be under-whelming whilst he is always worth an additional star when he appears under another leader's banner. Some of his own projects veer too far from jazz yet albums like "Ghost Town" or "Quartet" are exceptional by any standards. The electric guitar in jazz seems to be probably the most consistently inventive instrument in jazz since the 1970's when the electric guitar seemed to emerge from the less-than-impressive reputation prior to this period. I love musicians like Charlie Christian, Kenny Burrell, Jim Hall, some Wes Montgomery and Grant Green yet the likes of Tal Farlow, Herb Ellis, Johnny Smith, Barney Kessel, Larry Coryell and , to an extent, George Benson, leave me cold. Not a fan of John McLaughlin either. Kessell and Ellis's "Great guitars" group is symptomatic to me of just how ordinary jazz could be in the 1970's and still be lauded by the fans. No wonder some people said jazz was dead ! Between the brilliance of Charlie Christian ( a great improviser by anyone's standards) and the 1970's, the electric guitar can seem a hit and miss instrument for credible jazz with Montgomery being unique in having a lasting influence.

It was thanks to musicians like Bill Frisell that the guitar was salvaged as a credible jazz instrument. Put the likes of Frisell, Scofield and Abercrombie in to this context and it is not hard to appreciate why most fans of contemporary jazz hold them all in esteem - especially Frisell. I don't think that Frisell's genius stems from employing technology either as his sense of harmony is fascinating - check out the "Solo" DVD that is still available on Amazon which pretty much demonstrates his creativity.

For my money, he is amongst the ten most significant jazz musicians to emerge from the 1980's and probably best heard with Paul Motian's trio. In the same decade you also saw the likes of Metheny, Scofield and Abercrombie come in to their own as well so that the electric guitar now seems a truly valid jazz instrument with a roster of practitioners as varied as Coleman Hawkins, lester Young, Coltrane, Rollins and Shorter. It is interesting how the next generation of jazz guitarists have coped so that you can hear elements of Frisell, Scofield, etc in players like John Parracelli and Ben Monder. There seems to be an issue with deciding how the music will advance from the likes of Frisell as musicians as diverse as Kevin Eubanks, Russell Malone, "Blood" Ulmer, Marc Ducret, Wayne Krantz, Philip Catherine, Wolfgang Muthspeil, or Lage Lund have not really been anywhere as near as influential despite being incredible musicians. I've enjoyed work by all of these guitarists. There seem to be 100's of fabulous jazz guitarists around nowadays whereas this wasn't the case in the 50's and 60's. It is almost like the situation with tenor players in Modern Jazz where a label like Blue Note could muster some amazing talent. However, there is almost a vacuum nowadays with a new approach being required. Two names are worth checking out in my opinion. Jeff Parker is almost a jazz "anti-hero" and re-shaping the music with a style which eschews peaks and troughs rather like someone such as Lee Knoitz whereas Mary Halvorson seems like a mash up of Catherine and Derek Bailey and probably no everyone's cup of tea. I wasn't too impressed by her to begin with yet her "imaginary sea" album led me on a Damascus like road to conversion. She has an interesting approach which is almost "Anti-Frisell" yet I can't see Bluesnik catching on to her music either!

But there is something quite beautiful about the sound of a well played, warm, clean sounding jazz guitar - no distortion, no effects pedals.

Also at the beer-soaked arse-end reality of the jazz world, our local pub jam is a piano-less environment so the guitarists get lots of comping time unless someone brings an electric keyboard along and I notice that a good guitarist can really get the other musicians swinging in a way that is rare for the average pub-jam pianist. Discuss.

[Serial_Apologist]

But there is something quite beautiful about the sound of a well played, warm, clean sounding jazz guitar - no distortion, no effects pedals.

Also at the beer-soaked arse-end reality of the jazz world, our local pub jam is a piano-less environment so the guitarists get lots of comping time unless someone brings an electric keyboard along and I notice that a good guitarist can really get the other musicians swinging in a way that is rare for the average pub-jam pianist. Discuss.

Too many chords tricks?

Or maybe that electric guitar is the Verbena of jazz frontage because besides being attractive in itself it lets you hear through it better than keyboards.