What Jazz are you listening to now?

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

OK, another one. Guy Lafitte emotionally playing "I wish you love" (Que reste-t-il de nos amours"), the old Charles Trenet song featured at the end of Truffaut's "Baisers Volés" (Stolen Kisses), romance ain't dead yet. YET.

http://youtu.be/6B1IXDcBdgE

There's also a great version by David "le Fathead" Newman.

[Ian Thumwood]

The ECM album is terrific and one of Stanko's finest.

I wonder if anyone realised in was international record shop day yesterday? I did not realise that there was a shop in Romsey that specialised in vinyl until I saw an article on the local BBC news in the week and decided to pop down. The store is really small and it was packed out with people queuing outside on the pavement. They had to let people enter in a one in, one out basis it was so hectic. I haven't bought any vinyl since about 1987 (the last was Edward Vesala's "Lumi") but was intrigued as I have a turntable with my Cambridge system. I came away with a copy of Chet Baker's "Playboys" - a classic cover but also a chance to hear Art Pepper too plus the compositions of the great Jimmy Heath.

[Stanfordian]

‘Midnight Creeper’
Lou Donaldson with Blue Mitchell, Lonnie Smith, George Benson & Idris Muhammad
Blue Note (1968)

[Jazzrook]

David 'Fathead' Newman & Clifford Jordan playing 'Blue Head' in 1989:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6rjvOKVyLo

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘Inner Urge’
Joe Henderson with McCoy Tyner, Bob Cranshaw & Elvin Jones
Blue Note (1964)

[Jazzrook]

Thelonious Monk Quartet playing 'Off Minor' in 1963:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhMagtGucQw

JR

[Ian Thumwood]

Wayne Shorter - "Native Dancer"

Got to say that I am really on the fence with Brazilian music. As a rule, the combination between jazz and Brazilian music always seems to be a trade-off where jazz comes off second best. There is always a sense that when an artist produces an album of Brazilian jazz, somehow the music will be more lightweight. I don't think that the Getz / Gilberto collaboration that kicked the whole thing off really helped. If any critic wanted to chart the development of "Smooth Jazz," I feel the Getz album should be taken as the starting point . I don't feel there is too great a leap from Getz / Gilberto to Kenny G - other than about 30 years worth of record producers becoming more cynical. The desire for this kind of hip coolness hasn't aged well and it has spawned a wealth of other Brazilian flavoured albums where the fire and poke of jazz is planed down in to something anodyne and verging on aural wallpaper.

As a consequence, I don't have a great deal of Brazilian jazz. The Joe Henderson album "Double Rainbow" demonstrated what could be done with "Tom" Jobim's compositions and this album has really set the standard by which everything else should be judged. By and large, these albums stand or fall by their compositions with Milton Nascimento being a stand out. I love Wayne Shorter's playing but had put off the collaboration as I had feared a fusion fest. I got a copy of this record in a sale and have to admit it is nothing like I had imagined. The groups has a largely acoustic feel and the jazz element does dominate. On some tracks, it is really difficult to discern any Brazilian influence and whilst a strong appeal for me was to hear Nascimento's excellent compositions, the Shorter originals tend to trump the songs. It is also harder edged than I expected with Herbie Hancock being the other principle soloist. My perception of this record was totally wrong and there is far more jazz on this disc than the rather tame Getz/ Gilberto record which is really a pop record.

Incidentally, there as enthusiasm a few months back for the Belmondo Brother's album of French Impressionism but they also made a very similar album of Nascimento tunes featuring the vocals of the composer which is pretty sensational too.

I did catch a piano trio from Brazil last year called Trio Corrente who produced a set at Vienne which was a highlight of the festival. The music strongly reflected the influence of a trio like Jason Moran's "Bandwagon" and demonstrated a very high degree of interaction between the three musicians. There was something really good-natured about their style of jazz with the musicians relishing the challenges being thrown down to each other with a consequence that the took the audience with them when the music when quite outside. I am aware musicians like Rob Mazurek have connected with some of the more avant garde of the current Brazilian jazz musicians and the likes of Hermeto Pascoal seem to offer a Brazilian take on the same kind of madness offered by the likes of Dutch bands like Willem Breuker but Trio Corrente better reflected the contemporary mainstream whilst maintaining their national identity.

[Stanfordian]

‘Screamin'’
Brother Jack McDuff with Leo Wright, Joe Dukes & Kenny Burrell
Prestige (1962)

[Stanfordian]

‘Heavy Soul’
Ike Quebec with Freddie Roach, Milt Hilton & Al Harewood
Blue Note (1961)

[Stanfordian]

‘Hawk Eyes’
Coleman Hawkins with Charlie Shavers, Ray Byrant, Tiny Grimes, George Duvivier with Osie Johnson
Prestige (1959)

[Jazzrook]

Joe Henderson live in Japan, 1971 with Hideo Ichikawa(piano); Kunimitsu Inaba(bass) & Motohiko Hino(drums) playing 'Junk Blues':

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwTtYE3p6-k

JR

[Jazzrook]

Sun Ra's 'My Favourite Things' from his 1978 album 'New Steps'(HORO):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLOB5sh98wQ

JR

[Stanfordian]

‘The Tokyo Blues’
Horace Silver with Blue Mitchell, Junior Cook, Gene Taylor & John Harris Jr.
Blue Note (1962)

[Stanfordian]

‘Ben and Sweets’
Ben Webster and Harry ‘Sweets’ Edison with Hank Jones, George Duvivier & Clarence Johnston
CBS (1962)

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

'Sunrise in Mexico' from Clifford Jordan's 1961 album 'Starting Time' with Kenny Dorham, Cedar Walton, Wilbur Ware & All Heath:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFi5OgaMzhw

JR

Wilbur Ware said that was his favourite record date out of everything he recorded. It's a great session. And a test run for Kenny Dorham's composition before the magnificent "Whistle Stop" on Bluenote.

BN.