Hot Cully from the Swiss - Truffaz they tell it.

[Serial_Apologist]

Sat 22 Oct
4.00 Jazz Record Requests
Alyn Shipton's pick of listeners' requests showcases swing-era jazz, including a collaborative recording by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, plus tracks from Django Reinhardt and Art Tatum.

http://www.alynshipton.co.uk/blog

5.00 Jazz Line-Up
Julian Joseph introduces a performance by trumpeter Erik Truffaz and his quartet, who combine elements of jazz fusion, funk and hip-hop into their energetic live performances, as can be heard on this set recorded at Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801hl0

12.00 Geoffrey Smith's Jazz
Duke Ellington made a speciality of musical portraits, and among the selection of ducal masterworks, Geoffrey Smith includes tributes to Jack the Bear and Stompy Jones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801l44

Mon 24 Oct
11.00 Jazz Now
Soweto Kinch presents trumpeter Terence Blanchard in concert with the E-Collective.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z6f3q

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Sat 22 Oct
4.00 Jazz Record Requests
Alyn Shipton's pick of l huiisteners' requests showcases swing-era jazz, including a collaborative recording by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, plus tracks from Django Reinhardt and Art Tatum.

http://www.alynshipton.co.uk/blog

5.00 Jazz Line-Up
Julian Joseph introduces a performance by trumpeter Erik Truffaz and his quartet, who combine elements of jazz fusion, funk and hip-hop into their energetic live performances, as can be heard on this set recorded at Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801hl0

12.00 Geoffrey Smith's Jazz
Duke Ellington made a speciality of musical portraits, and among the selection of ducal masterworks, Geoffrey Smith includes tributes to Jack the Bear and Stompy Jones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801l44

Mon 24 Oct
11.00 Jazz Now
Soweto Kinch presents trumpeter Terence Blanchard in concert with the E-Collective.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z6f3q

Well, there's a coincidence. Just this week I picked up a rarish French Bluenote CD by the Erik Truffaz Quintet..."Out of a dream" from 1997, on a market stall. Pleasant enough, a kind of Miles "Lift to the Scaffold era then meets mid Wayne" pastiche. Nothing too remarkable though and this is from before he went down the rap wormhole. In fairness I think he now calls himself a "pop musician influenced by jazz". So that's OK.

BN.

[Ian Thumwood]

Erik Truffaz at Vienne - one of the worst ever gigs I have been to. He was on a triple bill with EST and the Bugge fellow from Norway. Wither Nu jazz?

[Ian Thumwood]

The opening track comes from Jimmy Heath's excellent album "Really big." I have only discovered Heath's music in the last 3/4 years and think he is staggeringly under-rated by most jazz fans although it is clear that his is held in very high esteem by his colleagues. The "Really big" disc is effectively a big band record, the music having a timeless quality about it and featuring a mouth-watering roster of soloists. On Thursday I was playing some Jimmy Heath tunes with friends including "Gemini", "Forever Sonny " and "CTA" and they are all great fun to play. I don't think that Heath's music is all about pushing the boundaries of music yet I think that he remains one of the truly great jazz composers within the mainstream. His writing for big bands always swings and never compromises. For me, Jimmy Heath is one of my musical heroes and one that I also managed to get my Dad in to as well.

[Lat-Literal]

Sat 22 Oct
4.00 Jazz Record Requests
Alyn Shipton's pick of listeners' requests showcases swing-era jazz, including a collaborative recording by Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster, plus tracks from Django Reinhardt and Art Tatum.

http://www.alynshipton.co.uk/blog

5.00 Jazz Line-Up
Julian Joseph introduces a performance by trumpeter Erik Truffaz and his quartet, who combine elements of jazz fusion, funk and hip-hop into their energetic live performances, as can be heard on this set recorded at Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland on the shores of Lake Geneva.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801hl0

12.00 Geoffrey Smith's Jazz
Duke Ellington made a speciality of musical portraits, and among the selection of ducal masterworks, Geoffrey Smith includes tributes to Jack the Bear and Stompy Jones.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0801l44

Mon 24 Oct
11.00 Jazz Now
Soweto Kinch presents trumpeter Terence Blanchard in concert with the E-Collective.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z6f3q

I have been coming back to JRR recently, mostly because the time seems personally right but also on the basis of what I'm seeing of the selections on the I-P beforehand. Dare I ask if I imagined something about an interview with Cleo Laine on BBC R3 when I was listening at one point in the last week to the radio? If it happened, I would like to hear it.

[Old Grumpy]

I have been coming back to JRR recently, mostly because the time seems personally right but also on the basis of what I'm seeing of the selections on the I-P beforehand. Dare I ask if I imagined something about an interview with Cleo Laine on BBC R3 when I was listening at one point in the last week to the radio? If it happened, I would like to hear it.

L-L, this may be what you are looking for: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z43sn

Also discussed on these boards here.

OG

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

The opening track comes from Jimmy Heath's excellent album "Really big." I have only discovered Heath's music in the last 3/4 years and think he is staggeringly under-rated by most jazz fans although it is clear that his is held in very high esteem by his colleagues. The "Really big" disc is effectively a big band record, the music having a timeless quality about it and featuring a mouth-watering roster of soloists. On Thursday I was playing some Jimmy Heath tunes with friends including "Gemini", "Forever Sonny " and "CTA" and they are all great fun to play. I don't think that Heath's music is all about pushing the boundaries of music yet I think that he remains one of the truly great jazz composers within the mainstream. His writing for big bands always swings and never compromises. For me, Jimmy Heath is one of my musical heroes and one that I also managed to get my Dad in to as well.

POSTED FROM
DOWNBEAT

"Jimmy Heath Stuns with 90th Birthday Celebration at New York’s Blue Note..

When saxophone legend Jimmy Heath appeared at the Blue Note in New York City on March 9 in celebration of his (October) 90th birthday, it was hard to say which was better: his wonderful performance with a 17-piece big band on stage or his equally compelling warmup behind the scenes. The man is a walking encyclopedia of jazz history (well documented in his excellent 2010 autobiography, I Walked With Giants), and his memory is still tack-sharp. So those gathered backstage got to hear tales of how Johnny Hodges and Ben Webster used to quiz a young Heath on the lyrics to various jazz standards, of playing alongside John Coltrane in Dizzy Gillespie’s big band (“After the gig, all the chicks would walk right past me and Trane and go right for Paul Gonzalves, because he was so damn handsome!”)

There's a big celebratory "do" at the Kennedy Centre on October 30th. Some nice pictures of him with Sonny Rollins in the run up. He's the same birthday date as me? No wonder!

BN.

[burning dog]

. Pleasant enough, a kind of Miles "Lift to the Scaffold era then meets mid Wayne" pastiche.

BN.

Its not that Erik Truffaz is so bad, it's pleasant as you say. The real craziness is when this stuff is called new, up to date etc.


easy listening tribute to In a Silent Way meets Lift to the Scaffold done 45 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9wZReepow

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Its not that Erik Truffaz is so bad, it's pleasant as you say. The real craziness is when this stuff is called new, up to date etc.


easy listening tribute to In a Silent Way meets Lift to the Scaffold done 45 years ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa9wZReepow

The Bluenote album I mentioned, "Out of a dream" was his major label début and its as if he thought, "Bluenote? You know what, I'll sort through my dad's record collection!". Its bland, obvious, well played, but you can spot all the references. There's a ballad which sounds very very like Art Pepper/Andre Previn's 'Why are we afraid". Too much in fact, I went back to the source ...I'd sue!

BN.

[Lat-Literal]

L-L, this may be what you are looking for: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07z43sn

Also discussed on these boards here.

OG

Ah, that's it.

Thank you very much OG.

[Ian Thumwood]

There is an excellent record recorded at the Blue Note by Jimmy Heath's big band Called "Togetherness" which is very good although "Turn up the Heath" is probably better and features a lot of the material on the Abersold play-a-long. Another record which may be over-looked is Heath's project with the Seattle Jazz Orchestra called "The Endless Search" which illustrates some of his arrangements as well as a few standards. This band is pretty demonstrative of just how good the jazz is in American provinces and perhaps a nice reminder that a more mainstream and orthodox jazz scene is still extremely vibrant. You could pick all three of these records up and be surprised by the quality.

Heath's ability as a writer is seriously under-rated and almost the "perfect" jazz musician. He seems to be able to achieve really high standards not only as a soloist but also a composer and big band arranger. The excellent book "I walked with giants" is also very revealing insofar as he has also been instrumental in jazz education since the 1970s. The book also reveals Heath to be an astute observer of jazz and some of his opinions such as on the MJQ are very revealing especially concerning the watering down of Black influence in jazz in favour of European influences which he sees as being negative. It was a shame that he was incarcerated through the 1950s at a time when he would have established his reputation. There was almost a sense that he was playing catch-up after 1960 and his criticism of much of the avant garde / free scene probably made him seem unfashionable. However, I think time has shown the worth of Jimmy Heath's music. The odd thing about the book is that he rejected the overtures of Blue Note and signed for Riverside where he was allowed a freer rein and given the opportunity to act as a musical director for many other artists on that label. I think that had his Riverside records been recorded for Blue Note, he would be better appreciated. The writing on the Riverside discs Heath was involved with is often more sophisticated than a lot of that on Blue Note and he comes across as a more modern Tadd Dameron who, unlike Heath, came out of prison only to find himself decidedly old-fashioned. Heath's music is not typical Hard Bop and maybe it's own oeuvre rather like someone such as Sonny Rollins. I am a bit ashamed that I came to Heath a bit late.

It seems a bit perverse to have a discussion about Erik Truffaz and jimmy Heath on the same thread. I suppose they represent the current problems in jazz with more "cosmetic" stuff like Truffaz' output getting more coverage than it deserves and musicians like Heath becoming increasingly valued as musicians of this calibre seem to become thinner on the ground.