Man has to be affected with happiness. It is a tonality given to him ....

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

Alyn goes a tad mouldy in the middle but then he tries to please every one ... not a thankless task ... ta ...

Geoffrey covers the Roach Brown Quintet; plenty of Harold Land too so El Senor [are you still with us or it Bluesnik?] will be chuffed as will the ducks ..

Claire features the Ellington Project of Mark Lockheart plus cd releases etc


Jon3

Jez Nelson presents Polish trumpeter Tomasz Stańko and his New York Quartet in concert at London's Barbican.

There has always been a sense of the 'poetic' to much of the music made by Poland's most famous living jazz musician. Whether in the raft of acclaimed ECM releases Stańko has produced over the last twenty years or in the pioneering free music he made with Krzysztof Komeda in Krakow in the '60s, his is a music in which space, lyricism and a concern for creating atmospheres remains paramount.

With his latest New York Quartet project, Stańko cites the poetry of fellow Pole Wisława Szymborska as providing the "ideas, insights and impetus" behind the new compositions. And while much of that inspiration brings about stanzas of Stańko's trademark brooding trumpet, there is fire and freedom in his playing and in that of band members Thomas Morgan (bass), Gerald Cleaver (drums) and David Virelles (piano) that means this poetry is full of varied meter, rhythm and tone.

Also on the programme, an exclusive session from one of the greats of jazz vibraphone, Gary Burton, in duet with guitarist Julian Lage

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

... easy loaders eh

[Ian Thumwood]

I must admit that I thought this week's JRR was very good and loved the mix of styles. The Leibman / Eskerlin track was incredible and it seems strange to me the DL is not more widely lauded on this board. He always gives 100% and never sells out - surely the ideal jazz musician?

A few other thoughts crossed my mind. The Lester Young track was a new one to me but I felt it was absolutely terrific. Simple and highly effective.

The other point I wanted to make was what has happened to the ODJB tracks? I don't recall the sound of their recordings ever being quite as clear as that. They've obviously been re-mastered but it makes you wonder if the original sound recording captured more that could be enhanced that rival record companies. I also wanted to add that this band usually gets slaughtered in jazz history books and has often had a bad press. Hearing this track made me think that they were actually much better than I would have led to have believed.

As for the Blakey track at the end, who ever supplied the piano that John Hicks had to struggle with should have been shot.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

well said Ian ... actually Dave Leibman gets more mentions when Chas T gets posting, dk if he even lurks any more ...


y'all gotta listen to Geoffrey on Brown Roach 5! what an infectious joy in their playing ..... unmissable!

[Alyn_Shipton]

If you are in need of a further fix of Brownie after GSJ, then give this a whirl - the podcast should start automatically: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00g3rm2

[Serial_Apologist]

well said Ian ... actually Dave Leibman gets more mentions when Chas T gets posting, dk if he even lurks any more ...


y'all gotta listen to Geoffrey on Brown Roach 5! what an infectious joy in their playing ..... unmissable!

It all seemed rather safe to ears of these days - just shows what jaded listening does to one...

Do get to see Dave Liebman if he comes over here again is all I can say - a very friendly bloke (firm handshake) who always in my experience gives 100%; and of course his drummer of Lookout Farm days Jeff Williams is over here half the time now, backing our young guys, encouraging the best of themselves.

[Ian Thumwood]

SA

I've seen Dave Leibman play live on to occasions. The best of these was when he sat in with a quartet led by Kenny Garrett that also featured Pat Metheny and Brian Blade which ripped through the Coltrane canon. I saw this group play in Copenhagen in 1996 and had to leave the next day so missed DL with a Scandinavian quartet that included Bobo Stenson. This quartet's performance at another European venue was singled out by Brian Morton as one of the best gigs he'd ever heard on a contempoary edition of "Impressions." This made me feel even more disappointed that I had missed them playing but a number of subsequent "near misses" convinced me to start attending the jaz festival in Vienne as I missed so many great gigs.

I later saw DL at Vienne in a duo with Kenny Werner. Both also gave a master-class and I elected to go with the one led by the pianist which proved to be a disaster as he arrived late, had obviously been hitting the wine to heavily and spent the whole day talking bollocks about taking drugs and shagging (he didn't actually use this word but I don't want to risk a red card from Calum) your favourite actress. Given that there were some younger girls in the audience and what he talked about was actually more frightening than intuitive, it was little surprising that he never got invited back! The people who organised the masterclass were very upset about the content of the lecture. I often wonder what Dave Liebman's class was like and there was talk amongst some of the students that their approach to studying jazz were actually polar opposites which makes me think that I'd back the wrong horse on that one. Dave Liebman is very serious about the music whereas Kenny Werner is a bit more touchy-feelly and not my cup of tea.

By the way, I would thoroughly recommend that DL quartet's album "turnaround" which feature the music of Ornette Coleman. DL's theory led approach is totally different to Ornette's more homespun and original style of jazz yet the record is staggeringly brilliant. The disc also benefits the inclusion of the disgracefully under-appreciated Vic Juris - a giant of modern jazz guitar. This record is killing.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

thanks for that pointer Ian

[Alyn_Shipton]

At the risk of becoming a podcast bore, might I remind boardees of the excellent chat I had with Lieb at Cheltenham a couple of years back? If you follow this link and scroll down to the "clip" it is the JL podcast... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00knsyg

[Serial_Apologist]

At the risk of becoming a podcast bore, might I remind boardees of the excellent chat I had with Lieb at Cheltenham a couple of years back? If you follow this link and scroll down to the "clip" it is the JL podcast... http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00knsyg

Somehow I managed to miss that - so thanks very much, Alyn!

[Quarky]

Alyn goes a tad mouldy in the middle but then he tries to please every one ... not a thankless task ... ta ...

... easy loaders eh

Tomasz Stanko - a revelation to me, since I haven't listened to him before - put off by his surname, I think! But a really inventive musical mind.

[aka Calum Da Jazbo]

er i find him a bit pedestrian in an ecm boring kind of way oddball .... much prefer Wallace Roney

[Ian Thumwood]

Calum

Tomasz Stako, pedestrian! Flipping heck, Calum. The caual dismissal of Woody Herman last week and now giving the thumbs down to one of the most important voices in European jazz.
I haven't listened to Tomasz Stanko for ages but for my money he has always being one of the most interesting players on the ECM label . There is an album called "Litania" where he performs the music of Krzystof Komeda which deserves to be in any collection as as someone who is often celebrating the jazz of the 1960's, this record evokes the era like a long-lost classic. It has the feel of an European "Kind of Blue." I also like "Matka Johanna" which has the great Bobo stenson on piano and has Tony Oxley providing some incredible drumming that feels like the cross between Sonny Greer and Bela Legosi. I am staggered by the sound he gets from his kit.

Another good one is "Paradigm" by Gary Peacock that features TS in a quartet with Jan Garbaek (when he still played jazz) and Jack DeJohnette.


The last Stanko disc I bought was "Suspended night" which is a bit more polite than "M K" and I tended to stop listening to his records after that. The new ECM disc features an unlikely group with Gerald Cleaver on drums (surely the busier drummer in the business at the moment) and David Virelles on piano who played in a Steve Coleman group over here last year.

For me, Stanko remains a potent voice in European jazz and it is worthwhile remembering that his career stretches right bak to the 1960's. ECM can be rightly accused of diluting jazz / broadening the definition of the music but Stanko remains an important element within their roster who has continued to pursue an uncompromising jazz route. I would certainly argue that he is a more original and distinctive player than Roney even though I like he playing too.

Bluesnik should like this clip - where is he these days? (and Charles T for that matter?????)

[Old Grumpy]

For me, Stanko remains a potent voice in European jazz

Er, not any more he doesn't - according to the interview with John Fordham on Jo3 he's upped sticks and moved to NYC!

[Alyn_Shipton]

More podcast fun, if anyone wants to know more of the (pre NYC) Stanko story (thanks BBC Trust for insisting the Jazz Library podcasts were put online!) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00g3qzw

[Quarky]

Calum

Bluesnik should like this clip - where is he these days? (and Charles T for that matter?????)

Yes, I'm missing Bluesnik - I don't know about his ducks, but BN is extremely knowledgeable about all matters Jazz.

I just have a subjective impression, which may be wrong, that many Jazzers are uncomfortable in proximity to the Classical music section. Many Jazzers may be very narrowly focussed into Jazz music (but not BN), which I guess is fair enough, particularly if a musician.

If I am correct, this is unfortunate, since I'm not aware of any other radio stations at least in the UK that provide good Jazz - even though, in the case of Radio 3, a rather meagre amount. Listened to Jazz FM recently? There are some stations in the US that are apparently good - some one recommended a station in Seattle. But the important issue as far as I am concerned is iPlayer and the R3 schedule, so that I can tune in to something I want to listen to, when I have a mo'.