Latitude problems? Just smile and Graviton

[Serial_Apologist]

Firstly to apologise for my missing out last night's Prom tribute to Nina Simone, to be shown on BBC4 next Friday 30th at 10.25pm. - not that it was anything special: see the reverend thread....

Sat 24 Aug
4pm - Jazz Record Requests
Alyn Shipton with listeners' requests by Lester Young, Art Blakey, John Coltrane and others.

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

5pm - J to Z
Pianist Andrew McCormack and his group Graviton perform from their latest album The Calling. And saxophonist Alan Barnes shares music that has influenced him, with recordings by Johnny Hodges and Acker Bilk.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007x8b

12midnight - Geoffrey Smith's Jazz
Geoffrey celebrates saxophonist/composer Wayne Shorter with a pick of music written for his own proups and for those of Miles Davis and Art Blakey.

A repeat, but recommended especially if missed, I would say...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b038xq2k

Bank Holiday Monday
11pm - Jazz Now
Soweto Kinch presents a concert set by trumpeter Sheila Maurice-Grey and her band Ms Maurice. And Emma Smith reports from the BBC introducing stage at the Latitude Festival held in mid-July.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007xy8

Bassist Misha Mullov-Abbado performs alongside his mum in a sub-aquatic performance on Tuesday's New Generation Artists at 10.30pm (Not kidding - how do they breathe??).

Veteran pianist Monty Alexander and rather good singer Carleen Anderson head Thursday's Prom from the Albert Awe with their Cherry-poppin' Nu Civilisation Orchestra - commencing 10.15, and including music from Duke Ellington's Sacred Concerts (it says in RT). followed by an interesting mix, including some John Coltrane and Yoko Ono (but we won't mention her), on Late Junction, at 11.45.

[Serial_Apologist]

My god, they're playing "Moonbeams" on J to Z from Flora Purim's "Butterflies" album - one of my favourite vocal albums. I'm swooning. Some will baulk at the echoed vocal effects at the end as histrionic; maybe they are OTT, I'll concede - and there are better tracks. Joe Henderson (not on this particular track) is totally wonderful on this LP. My copy, obtained secondhand, was already worn on the non-funk tracks which open and close the record, which are awful, so I was overwhelmed to find a secondhand CD of it in the dross bin in Ffffffoyles a couple of years ago. Thanks Kevin!

[Quarky]

Noemi Nuti. a new one on me, but much to my taste.

Not peanuts, more cream nuts, pecans....

[Ian Thumwood]

I caught a bit of J-Z and was surprised by the Matt Birchall track as I am familiar with this track made by Yusef Lateef with the orchestra led by the Belmondo Brothers which I felt offered a new perspective on the music as opposed to something too slavish towards Coltrane. Will have to catch up with JRR on catch up as I was too engrossed listening to Saints beating Brighton this afternoon.

[Jazzrook]

I caught a bit of J-Z and was surprised by the Matt Birchall track as I am familiar with this track made by Yusef Lateef with the orchestra led by the Belmondo Brothers which I felt offered a new perspective on the music as opposed to something too slavish towards Coltrane. Will have to catch up with JRR on catch up as I was too engrossed listening to Saints beating Brighton this afternoon.

Not keen on Graviton but enjoyed Nat Birchall's tribute to Yusef Lateef and Alan Barnes' influences.
Here's Nat wearing his reggae hat:

https://www.YouTube.com/watch?v=jhHsoOAFmOQ

JR

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

I was listening to a BBC Ireland interview with Alan Barnes to mark his 60th? birthday. I admit he's one of those "I'm aware of him but never gave much attention" players. Anyway, he seemed a very nice guy, humourous, good musical taste (Art Pepper), and from what I've now followed up on YouTube, some really nice sessions and recordings. Not "woke", but that's another thing in his favour.

BN.

[Old Grumpy]

I was listening to a BBC Ireland interview with Alan Barnes to mark his 60th? birthday. I admit he's one of those "I'm aware of him but never gave much attention" players. Anyway, he seemed a very nice guy, humourous, good musical taste (Art Pepper), and from what I've now followed up on YouTube, some really nice sessions and recordings. Not "woke", but that's another thing in his favour.

BN.

Alan Barnes, great player, great guy and all round good egg.

Happy Birthday!

OG

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Alan Barnes, great player, great guy and all round good egg.

Happy Birthday!

OG

I've just remembered that Alan Barnes was the guest musician "selector" on Alyn's Jazz Library edition on Art Pepper. It was very good as they all were.

[Serial_Apologist]

I was listening to a BBC Ireland interview with Alan Barnes to mark his 60th? birthday. I admit he's one of those "I'm aware of him but never gave much attention" players. Anyway, he seemed a very nice guy, humourous, good musical taste (Art Pepper), and from what I've now followed up on YouTube, some really nice sessions and recordings. Not "woke", but that's another thing in his favour.

BN.

Not my cuppa I'm afraid. A revivalist. Safe choices. Nothing wrong with that but his alto solo on the version of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" he singled out would even have sounded old fashioned on the Mingus original... which just about sums him up, afaics.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Not my cuppa I'm afraid. A revivalist. Safe choices. Nothing wrong with that but his alto solo on the version of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" he singled out would even have sounded old fashioned on the Mingus original... which just about sums him up, afaics.

Alan Barnes says... http://youtu.be/z7_ls2kymng

I actually like his duets. Here and with Dave Newton. He's not cloning. I once heard a (young Welsh) technically good alto player play an entire Art Pepper album ("No Limit") note for note! I mentioned this to a very attractive British jazz singer (guess) standing by me at the bar. "You might as well stay home and play the bloody record", I sneered. "He's my boyfriend and he's brilliant!", she retorted. End of a promising conversation.

[Serial_Apologist]

Alan Barnes says... http://youtu.be/z7_ls2kymng

I actually like his duets. Here and with Dave Newton. He's not cloning. I once heard a (young Welsh) technically good alto player play an entire Art Pepper album ("No Limit") note for note! I mentioned this to a very attractive British jazz singer (guess) standing by me at the bar. "You might as well stay home and play the bloody record", I sneered. "He's my boyfriend and he's brilliant!", she retorted. End of a promising conversation.

Speaking of which, or maybe whom, Anita Wardell had her birthday 2 days ago - 58: I don't beliEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE it! I should have mentioned this. She appears to be in Aussieland right now, but whether she's returned there permanently or not isn't apparent from her facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEnKXfdiVJ0

[Ian Thumwood]

Speaking of which, or maybe whom, Anita Wardell had her birthday 2 days ago - 58: I don't beliEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE it! I should have mentioned this. She appears to be in Aussieland right now, but whether she's returned there permanently or not isn't apparent from her facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEnKXfdiVJ0

Probably keeping a low profile after Ben Stokes' exploits today.

[Serial_Apologist]

Probably keeping a low profile after Ben Stokes' exploits today.

[BLUESNIK'S REVOX]

Speaking of which, or maybe whom, Anita Wardell had her birthday 2 days ago - 58: I don't beliEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEVE it! I should have mentioned this. She appears to be in Aussieland right now, but whether she's returned there permanently or not isn't apparent from her facebook.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEnKXfdiVJ0

And the "very attractive jazz singer" in my case was (drum roll), Ms Tina May. She was doing a post grad degree at Cardiff University at the time (1985) and hung out a lot at Gibbs Jazz club, a Welsh Ronnie's Old Place. Where I saw Tal Farlow no less. Thems waz the days, as Mary Hopkins reflected. Never met Mary.

[Ian Thumwood]

Not my cuppa I'm afraid. A revivalist. Safe choices. Nothing wrong with that but his alto solo on the version of "Boogie Stop Shuffle" he singled out would even have sounded old fashioned on the Mingus original... which just about sums him up, afaics.

Seems like a "jazz police" kind of response.

I am pretty shocked to learn that Alan Barnes in 60 because I always thought he was one of the young talents emerge in the 1980s - I think with Tommy Chase.

I have heard him do some quite interesting stuff with another under-rated player, Tony Kofi, which is good but the performances of music recorded in 1959 really emphasizes for me the fact that anything of this ilk really falls in to the Mainstream category rather likes players from the States such as Scott Hamilton or Harry Allen. It is difficult to fault but it always begs the question in my mind who is this music for? We are now in the last throes of a situation with a generation of fans who are perhaps looking at jazz from the point of view of nostalgia as opposed to a creative process which is still capable of existing in all styles of jazz. I remember a festival promoter from (I think) Belgium once explaining to me in about 2002 that they could see a time when a lot of jazz created between 1920s and 70s no longer had a bearing upon the audience.

I find that the judgement of mainstream jazz is probably more subjective and open to uninformed criticism and prejudice than any other form of jazz. It was nicely summed up by the stance taken by the ridiculous Terry Cooper (late of this board) who would dish out vitriol on player like Alan Barnes and Simon Spillett whilst lauding the likes of Steve Fishwick who ploughed a similar furrow. By it's very nature this kind of music is not going to produce innovators and it only rarely comes up with musicians who can re-cast the Mainstream in a new concept such as the clarinettist Anat Cohen or the pianists Bill Charlap and , to a lesser degree, Gerald Clayton. I have some admiration for these kinds of players whilst keeping in the back of my mind the nagging doubt that the audience for this kind of jazz must be diminishing. However, whenever I have gone to "mainstream" gigs the halls have been fully booked even if the demography of the audience usually means I am often the youngest person there!

The whole concept of "old fashioned" is decidedly slippery territory. The Free jazz and Jazz-rock of the late 60s and early 70s is now 50 years old itself and had those musicians been playing the music of 50 years prior to that they would be performing ODJB -style Dixieland. There is little in jazz that has dated as poorly as Fusion or Jazz Rock (maybe some of the Hip-hop musings from early 90s or early 2000's Nu Jazz) and I would reiterate that I still think that poor quality avant garde jazz sucks like nothing else. I would also add that I find the idea of Charlie Parker as being "Modern Jazz" pretty ludicrous these days and certainly the differences between jazz produced in 1929 and 1959 no longer seem quite so pronounced. Parker is as much of a historical figure in 2019 as Freddie Keppard.

In my opinion, fair play to the likes of Barnes' finding something to say in this idiom but I think the results need to be good / original /interesting to stand out above the best jazz being recorded in the 2010's. I think the issue is whether the music such musicians are producing stands up to similar music in the style. I would also have to add that the Birchall track sounded no less "old fashioned" and even listening to an earlier JD Allen trio recording of blues material I would have to say that the ghost of Coltrane's "Crescent" hangs over this recording even though the newest record and "Radio Flyer" are far more outside and interesting.

I can appreciate why there are those who love Barnes and others see him as an irrelevance but British jazz has always had a niche for this kind of music making which is slightly in reverence of American jazz as opposed to looking at what it might offer and running with the baton. I do not feel that it is reasonable to discard all musicians offering this approach and it is a sad world that cannot embrace the full gamut of a music that has a recorded history which now exceeds 100 years. However, I think it probably says a lot more about the jazz audience and why Bluesnik's comment to Tina May is probably what a lot of other fans think - especially those whose experience is generally limited to listening to records as opposed to live gigs as was the case with TC. Funny to see the "Cooperisms" now manifesting themselves in SA's posts!