Album For Today

[Ian Thumwood]

Been enchanted by this whilst sorting things out for Christmas yesterday. Staggered how good this is.

[burning dog]

Not an album, a YouTube video.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

a rare and awesome catch burning dog!

[Ian Thumwood]

I've been listening to the CD's I that I bought my Dad for Christmas including the blistering Captain Black Big Band - very much in the aggressive style of the current Mingus BB or Charles Tolliver's outfit and well worth checking out if you like jazz orchestras with plenty of solo space for the musicians to stretch out. However the best Cd transpired to be the one that was bought as a bit of a risk. Both my self and my Dad reckon the Christian McBride trio's "Out there" is a humdinger. I've never encountered pianist Christian Sands before nor drummer Ulysses Own but this trio initially reminded me of a really unbooted Oscar Peterson . I still thin McBride sounds very much like the great Ray Brown yet the record transpires to be both hugely enjoyable and buzzing with great musical ideas. Needless -to-say, the music swings like crazy and whilst the opening 2 tracks recall OP I would have to say that the Canadian's own trios never performed with this degree of "snap." There are some standards that are pulled to pieces including "Cherokee" and a version of "My favourite things" where the arrangement eschews Coltrane's modal vamp for one based on one of the motifs. Elsewhere Sands sounds a bit like Herbie whereas the closing track is a nailed to the floor funk number that surprised me. It's a very curious mix as I can see this being record that would appeal enormously to fans of more mainstream jazz whilst fascinating those who want something more demanding. Listening to Calum's request on JRR for Aaron Diehl is suggestive that this offering should be on his next list for jazz downloads. It is a fabulous trio recording and demonstrative that more conservative styles of jazz can sound very, very compelling when performed with this degree of elan. I would hugely recommend this record despite the bassist being the only name familiar to me. Proof, if it is needed, the there seems to be a steady flow of new , sparkling talent arriving on the jazz scene.

[Paul Campbell]

Ian, I think the "Unanimous" album by the Ulysses Owens quintet (with Christian McBride, Christian Sands, and Nicholas Payton) might interest you. I bought it after being very impressed with Owens at a Jazz at Lincoln Center show (many of which stream for free these days). He swings like hell, and there is a glorious Cherokee on there. He has played with Kurt Elling too. As you say, there is some great young talent these days. A Wycliffe Gordon set at Dizzys Club Coca Cola was a blast just before Christmas too.

[Ian Thumwood]

Paul

Thanks fir the heads up.

The other CDs I bought were a T-Bone Walker compilation and Gary Smulyan's "Smul's Paradise" which matches the leader's baritone with an organ trio including the criminally under-rated Mike LeDonne. The album is effectively a homage to the largely forgotten Don Wickerson and is pretty good too even if the inclusion of Peter Bernstein and Kenny Washington ensure that the quality is always going to be very high. Smulyan seems to spend most of his time buried in jazz orchestras and it is great to hear him swinging bebop in a small group context. He's a bit like Tom Harrell in that I feel he is taken for granted without fans appreciating how good his is. That said, of the four records, the one with Christian McBride's trio must be one of the best records of 2013 as it is pure class.

[Paul Campbell]

Here's a link to Jazz at Lincoln Centre live...

http://new.livestream.com/jazz

From the conservative end of the spectrum, but often worth checking out.

[Paul Campbell]

Thanks Ian, I rate Kenny Washington very highly too. Ive seen him a couple of times in Nyc, the last time being with Bill Charlap at Birdland.

[Ian Thumwood]

I've got one Bill Charlap I Kenny Washington is one that too. He's a pianist I'm not too sure about as he is technically brilliant whilst sounding like a musician who stopped listening to jazz in the early 60's. I find him very conservative , if agreeable to listen to. That trio is not in the same league as McBride's but it is interesting how a number of piano trios are beginning to take their cues from earlier styles of jazz. I've always felt that Gerald Clayton is someone who is something of a mainstream player too and the one trio record I have by him effectively modernizes the approach so that the trio seems contemporary all the same. I saw Clayton perform live last year and his was one of the best gigs I heard in 2013. I agree, there is a lot of mileage left in seemingly older styles of jazz. That said, his latest offering is a let down and a bit over-produced. Wondered if anyone else felt the same about the recent Concord output. The new Dianne Reeves album is extremely slick and a bit more produced than her Blue Note records. I like the record even though it feels like a brilliant pop recording as opposed to an out and out jazz disc. The coupling with Gregory Porter on one track is intriguing and suggestive to me that a duet album by the pair would be a perfect match give the timbre of their two, wonderful voices. Love the closing track on this record.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

i have scooped all of the Aaron Dieh i can find on emusic - especially his John Lewis inspired works .... will look out for the McBride album

there is so much new talent i get confused by all the names, but will check out just what is already in the database and get back ...

[Jazzrook]

King Curtis is probably best known as an R & B tenor saxophonist but he also made a couple of excellent jazz albums for NEW JAZZ & PRESTIGE in 1960 which have been reissued as 'Soul Meeting'(PRESTIGE PRCD-24033-2).
Anyone dubious about the jazz credentials of King Curtis might be pleasantly surprised by the exhilarating music on this 79-minute CD.

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

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

oh mama this is a good album ... check who is playing on it

[charles t]

King Curtis is probably best known as an R & B tenor saxophonist but he also made a couple of excellent jazz albums for PRESTIGE in 1960 which have been reissued as 'Soul Meeting'(PRESTIGE PRCD-24033-2).
Anyone dubious about the jazz credentials of King Curtis might be pleasantly surprised by the exhilarating music on this 79-minute CD.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGBGWDDhOAQ

Jazzrook: Also, I have a live CD which features Curtis' chops on A Whiter Shade Of Pale...Bach by way of Procol Harum...Steve Gadd Gang DVD version also another example of the transcendency.

[Jazzrook]

The Cannonball Adderley Quintet and the blues singer/altoist Eddie 'Cleanhead' Vinson joined forces in 1961/62 to produce an excellent but overlooked album, 'Cleanhead & Cannonball'(MILESTONE MCD-9324-2).
Here he is singing about the culinary delights of 'Kidney Stew' and also playing a fine alto solo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XBHA_9tY5I

[charles t]

Jazzrook: Also, I have a live CD which features Curtis' chops on A Whiter Shade Of Pale...Bach by way of Procol Harum...Steve Gadd Gang DVD version also another example of the transcendency.

Speaking of which:

Steve Gadd, dr
Ronnie Cuber, bari
Richard Tee, organ
Cornell Dupree, gtr