Gapplegate Music Blog for February-March 2009

Pictured is an old Univox guitar I used to own. They are very cool guitars, with the exception of the tailpiece mechanism and tuners, both of which needed modification. Wilson Brother Guitars are worthy descendants of the Mosrite-Univox style, only they don't have those problems!

March 31, 2009—Today, a look at another jamband and a free legal download from www.archive.org. I must admit I checked out Hypnotic Clambake because I liked the name. They have been together apparently since at least the mid-90s. The show I listen to was from an appearance at the Sunshine Daydream Festival in Terra Alta, West Virginia on July 21, 2000. They are a curious mixture of country fiddle two-steps played with electricity, some Klezmer influences, novelty tunes, and some more Rock oriented items. As for jams there aren’t all that many, with perhaps the fiddle spots the strongest. There are some arranged moments that have some finesse. Their stoner and novelty tunes left me a little flat. The group didn’t strike me as having strong enough material to carry them, although their musicianship is good. Hypnotic Clambake is not my cup of tea, I’m afraid.

March 30, 2009—Free Jazz from Sweden? If that interests you, you might want to check out the Download-only recording recently issued on Ayler Records as part of their continuing series of musical adventures. The late Bengt Frippe Nordstrom fronts a four piece ensemble of himself on tenor and clarinet, plus violin, bass and drums. “Creative Addition” was recorded during a band tour in 1987-88. Nordstrom on tenor has an affinity with the sound and style of Albert Ayler, transposed to a personal key, and on clarinet tends to go his own way. The two sessions included on the recording have grit and a loosely coherent four-way dialog.

It’s the third in a series devoted to Nordstrom on Ayler Records but there’s no noticeable flagging in inspiration. Over in the States he has not gotten much exposure and he surely deserves more attention based on this release. It is not a histrionic sort of set; there is an out sensibility that’s tempered by a forward-driving, eventful virtuosity. This is a good example of the European scene for those who want to sample its vibrancy. Go to Ayler.com for more info.

March 27, 2009—The Denver music scene. I don’t know much about it, except that a group named Coyote Poets of the Universe are a part of it. I’ve been listened to their fourth CD “Callin’ You Home” (SSR). They have a sort of zany bohemian irreverence at times. There’s also a slight retro-acoustic-folk component. I haven’t heard the earlier recordings, so I don’t know where they’ve been musically. For this one there is a hodgepodge of poetry, political and humorous material and some post-hippie songs.

If everything was like the final cut, “Burnt Down,” this would be quite a record. That tune has some sincerely soulful vocals by I guess Melissa Ingalls. It’s a strong tune with some good obbligato fiddle, slide guitar and clarinet. The song deals with determination in the face of romantic disappointment and stands out as something to hear repeatedly. That one reminds me a little of something Tracy Nelson and Mother Earth might have done, were they doing something today. There are some other numbers that struck me. Alas, the rest did not. May they do more with the musical intensity of the last song and I’ll be a convert.

March 26, 2009—The musical style of John McLaughlin has taken many zigs and zags since his emergence with Tony Williams and Miles Davis in the late ‘60s. The original Mahavishnu Orchestra sent guitarists, drummers, keyboardists and violin wielders to the woodshed to try and catch up. The band had such technique and fire! McLaughlin was not merely technically amazing; his rhythmic-melodic amalgam and the group concept went way beyond what anybody had done before. Then that band broke up and new Mahavishnu groups, Shakti and all kinds of permutations in his approach occurred over the next 30 years or so. But nothing was quite like that original band. It was natural for some to be disappointed with the later incarnations of the group. Nothing quite matched that first burst of flame. Yet looking back those realignments in the Mahavishnu personnel and repertoire were not nearly as big a letdown as they seemed at the time.

This brings us to a two DVD set that has been out for a bit but I am only now getting around to reviewing. I speak of “Mahavishnu Orchestra Live at Montreux 1974, 1984” (Eagle Eye). First off, for a very modest price you get hours and hours of music. The 1974 disk alone contains a 45 minute or so video of the band in action and another 70 plus minutes of additional music for audio only. Today we deal with that first disk. The second will be covered in a while.

The picture quality and sound are first rate. The 1974 group added a string quartet and several horns, mostly for orchestral texture. This was the band with violinist Jean-Luc Ponty, who of course added another astoundingly proficient improvising voice to the mix. Michael Walden filled Cobham’s shoes with bravado and manages here to seem nearly as boisterous as the indefatigable Billy.

The music gives wide scope for some astounding McLaughlin soloing and so also for Mr. Ponty. The two are in great form! Musically the material consisted of new numbers the band had worked up and a few pieces from the earlier repertoire. No LP release of the time came close to giving a representative view of what the band could do. This DVD does that well and the 1974 concert has a great deal of fine moments. I was less captivated by the 1984 disk, but that is a story for later. McLaughlin fans at any rate should not hesitate to find this one. It should give you many hours of enjoyment. Anybody new to McLaughlin who hasn’t listened to “Birds of Fire” by the original Mahavishnu might do better to start there.

March 25, 2009—Whatever happened to Teddy Charles? He was riding high in the 1950s as a distinctive alternative to Milt Jackson on vibes. He played with all sorts of fellow travelers and made a number of albums that had a keen sense of exploration and productive experimentation. His compositions were no less interesting than his playing. Then in the early ‘60s he dropped out of the scene. I thought he had passed away, to tell the truth. It turns out he forged a successful career as captain-owner of charter sailing vessels.

As if out of nowhere he is back, touring with a new group and recording a new album, “Dances with Bulls” (Smalls). The CD takes up where he left off. A mid-sized aggregation plays an extension of the music he made up until his disappearance. Everybody is tuned in. Altoist-Flautist Chris Byars is perhaps the most notable, with a broadly Bop/Postbop conception that draws upon what has gone before and restates that tradition in a personal way. He also arranged the pieces on the disk, which are originals by Charles with the exception of a slow-paced, very groovy rendition of Mingus’ “Nostalgia in Time Square.” Mention must also be made of the strong group playing and solo improvisations of bassist Ari Roland, who shows here that he is comfortable in a traditional mode in addition to the more contemporary approach he uses on his own recordings. But credit should go to everyone on this disk for their strong contributions.

Teddy’s vibe work is every bit as interesting as it used to be. He weaves strong solo lines and has a very clean attack. He sounds inspired and refreshed.

As with most of Smalls' releases, this work is produced and engineered to capture the sound of the group on a par with the Van Gelder sessions of the late ‘50s and early ‘60s. The music is allowed to swing unhindered by distractive effects or overcompression. Is this the comeback of the year? Such categories ultimately do not mean a lot a few years down the road, but it probably is. More importantly it is excellent music with an excellent bunch of soloists. It captivates without breaking new ground. It is so good the “newness quotient” is almost meaningless in the face of the sounds themselves.

March 24, 2009—We continue with the second volume of the Bill Bruford retrospective. The first installment discussing volume one was posted on March 11 (see below). This concluding release, “The Summerfold Collection” (Summerfold), covers Bruford’s recordings under his own name from 1987-2008. The emphasis during this period shifts away from vocals and guitars. Keyboard-horn ensembles and a well conceived brand of Fusiony sounds dominate these sides. With two loaded CDs in the set, there is much music. Generalization ends up being a little diffuse as a result. Suffice to say that Bruford’s drumming is the key element here. The compositions and arrangements do not function as a simple foil for a set of drum solos however. The music is subtle and well put together and the drumming is fully integrated into the routines. The drumming is without cliche and gives testimony to the creative musical mind at work.

It is the work with the bands Yes and King Crimson that gave rise to his reputation. It is by way of these latter recordings that he fulfilled the promise of his talent and showed himself a very productive, capable leader and musical conceptualist. Those who enjoyed his work with others will most certainly not be disappointed with the more personal side of his music here. Those coming to his music for the first time will be pleased with the wealth and quality of music offered. Good sailing to Mr. Bruford in his retirement. He’s deserved it.

March 23, 2009—What is it about the most modern Jazz that puts some people off? Preparation is important. Getting used to the sounds and structures involved is a second factor. Free improvisation or post-Bop assumes a certain familiarity with what went before. At least it helps to understand what the music is an extension and commentary upon. Second, “new” jazz (some of it 50 years old by now) can use harsher textures and rhythms that are not easy assimilated by someone used to a four-square overtly stated beat. There can be a cacophony that remains highly expressive but perhaps a little disconcerting if you are not used to it.

Today’s CD has a fully modern, freely articulated bent, yet it seems to me that it might be easier for the novice to grasp than some recordings. We have two Danish master improvisers, saxophonist John Tchicai and guitarist Pierre Dorge joining with US drummer Lou Grassi in a tuneful set that has a fairly laid-back approach, accessible rhythmic pulses much of the time and a musical logic that shouldn’t be hard to grasp. “Hope is Bright Green Up North” (CIMP) has a front line that has played together for quite a while, mostly in Pierre Dorge’s New Jungle Orchestra (mentioned in an earlier blog page). They both go their own way stylistically. There’s originality and imagination in everything they do. Lou Grassi effectively anchors their melodic and improvisatory journeys with solid drumming. What’s interesting to me is that while most people should find this disk easy to understand, the group is in no way watering down its music for wider acceptance. Tchicai and Dorge are doing some very nice things here. The CIMP recording can be found on the Cadence website listed on the Gapplegate links page.

March 20, 2009—When all is said and done, which will never happen really, what are the roots of a social-cultural enclave? It’s anything they look back at to use in their present. It makes identity; shows the world who “they” are. That is certainly the case in the Ayler Records download-only release by Hoots and Roots, “Life and Death.” H & R consists of drummer Ken Hyder and vocalist Maggie Nicols. The recording is a twenty-something minute excursion into traditional Scottish songs, sayings and Scottish scat, as it were. Ken joins in with the vocalizations, plays some Scottish snare drum tattoos and also plays in a free zone. It’s a decidedly unusual release of a Free Jazz sort and has its charms. It would not top the list of the five Ayler downloads I would recommend you go and get right now. However, there is nothing like it out there. Go to www.ayler.com to check out the downloads. We’ll be looking at a number of them in the coming weeks.

And it reminds us that roots are what you make of them. Roots are available to us all, regardless of our ethnicity. Whatever we are doing today musically could be the roots of future generations of musicians. We just don’t know what those people will choose to focus on. Could be the 1910 Fruitgum Company or the Archies. I doubt it though!

March 19, 2009—Lindsey Horner plays a very solid bass, in solo or as an important building block to a band. He is also a gifted composer-arranger. All these skills come to the fore on his Cadence CD “Don’t Count On Glory.” The concept for this one is a large band ensemble (of 16 members) containing a small band of rhythm and good soloists. There are some heavy cats in this ensemble, notably Marty Ehrlich on alto, Bobby Previtte on drums and some nice guitar contributions from Colter Harper and Eric Susoeff. There are plenty of high moments. It’s a contemporary date with a variety of feels and a sense of exploration. What’s most impressive is the writing and arranging. It’s very, very good. Mr. Horner is another guy who deserved to be better known. This CD is a delight. Check the Cadence link for more on the disk.

March 18, 2009—What is the state of the art in so-called R&B today? I don’t know, but I did get a review copy of a recording by someone who was nominated for a Grammy. I’m talking about Musiq Soulchild. The disk is “OnMyRadio” (Atlantic). Production counts for much in this sort of thing. Tracks build around mostly electronic drums, which is the sound in this genre lately and easy to control in the studio, but I honestly don’t like the metronomic and timbral sameness. And I hate those fake claps. With machine regularity the music can’t breathe. It can’t really groove as much as it should. With studio machinetics you don't get the feel of musicians really doing it--like you did with Earth, Wind and Fire, Funkadelic or other bands back in the day.

Then there are synth keyboards as a big part of the background. There’s not a lot going on there. They rarely if ever emerge from the mud to take a melody. Guitars? Nothing much. The emphasis is on the vocal tracks, sometimes patched with vocoder enhancement to keep the lines on pitch. It’s somewhat of a thick texture at times, when background vocals enter into the mix, but it's pretty simple. The songs have melodies and a few are memorable. The lyrics are the “ladies’ man” sort—and so I guess it’s women/girls who listen to this mostly. It’s quite professional. It has moments. But it doesn’t have much in the way of hooks. Nonetheless it’s better music than some things I’ve heard lately. More Jazz tomorrow.

March 17, 2009—Jeff Beck revolutionized the sound of the electric guitar when he came up with the Yardbirds. Stepping in Clapton’s shoes was not easy, and although the latter built a legend around himself, it was Beck that got his mature sound on the record grooves first and gave guitarists a model that in turn led to Cream, Hendrix and Metal.

He has had a long career and I won’t rehearse those facts on this page. Last November a CD-DVD hit the public that showed him still at the very top of his abilities. “Live at Ronnie Scotts” (Eagle) has had tons of words spilled on it so I won’t go into long details. It’s a beautiful example of how an artist can keep developing out of his initial style. Jeff combines slide, fingering, amplification and choked notes to evoke a tonal landscape that envelops the listener. He still has that sound; maybe even more so now. With a sympathetic group of sidemen Beck puts in a performance worthy of his reputation. “A Day in the Life” done by anybody else might fall flat. Beck pulls off his version with absolute flair. Is it Jazz? Don’t think so, don’t care. Beck is a master of the pulled note, the screaming tone, the variety of percussive attacks. It’s great to hear him at a peak. By all means seek this one out if you have aspirations to electric profundity. . . or if you just want to listen to a really nice set of music by a guy who deserves all the accolades he can get.

March 16, 2009—Now I suppose I’m like the next fellow in many ways. Part of my life involves the exposure, in many cases the endurance, of whatever Pop Culture is putting in my way via the various media involved. It’s important to allow that to happen (to get a finger on the lifepulse of today's ethos), but not always pleasurable. I tune in to the so-called “music” channels of my TV cable service for brief periods to be ensorcelled by the next new craze. I often do it with the sound off, because much of the Pop stuff has very little to do with the sounds being made but rather everything to do with the super-slick visual blitz. Bands playing “live” have a certain look now that owes much to how Hitler’s PR guys staged their famous demonstrations. Striking vastness, huge crowds demonstrating their total commitment to whatever the hell, and the focus, the “act,” the “product” given huge monumentality by camera angles and the way the “stage” is constructed. The media people seem to become better and better at this. To me it’s all a little frightening.

So it gets to the point that the creation of superstardom is an autonomous mechanism in which the stars become interchangeable, almost irrelevant to the process of enshrinement. Step in a couple of French dance Mixers, known as Justice. I have a copy of what is meant to commemorate their first major US Tour, “A Cross the Universe” (sic) (Ed Banger Records). OK, so it’s a CD of their San Francisco show, plus a DVD documenting the tour. Now Dance Music and I are not on the best terms. Most of it I hate. So take what I say as a part of that.

The DVD is the most interesting part to me. It’s a sort of deadpan documentary. These two guys don’t lip synch, they synch completely. There is no performance beyond its simulation on CDs that are "mixed" and pumped out to the audience. It’s the two of them with CD players (DJ Style) at the center of an amazingly glitzy set up. There’s a white illuminated cross on stage. (This is somehow Christian stuff, in this case one must add “whatever that means.”) The two guys prance around and act like stars. The audience carries them prone through the crowd. The two guys shout and wave their hands over their heads back and forth. The crowd does too. The crowd jumps up and down. Some of the young women in the audience show their breasts. Gee. Parr-taay!!! The problem is, these guys are just a couple of schmoes that mix. What they mix is a bunch of turdy stuff that hits a low point on the scale of 1-10 in musicality. It's button pushing of the worst sort. No matter, the audience is in the presence of STARS and they act accordingly.

OK, and then there are the moments off stage. The mixers grow increasingly more inebriated as the tour progresses. Their manager (?), if that’s what he is, is a gun freak and tries to get them all into toting rods. Ultimately one of the two guys gets into a fight in the parking lot with a very drunk “fan” and bashes him over the head with a beer bottle. Cops come, Justice gets carted off, along with the manager. Symbolic? No, not at all. Meanwhile the bus driver seems like the only together guy in all of this. His skills as a driver are needed intact, so he is the most precient, conscious, rational. Necessarily, if they are not to crash and if they are to make it to the appropriate venue in the next city. This is all a God-awful reminder of how bad the Pop world can get. The emperor has no clothes. Music does not really exist anymore in this pocket of life. They may get Grammys, and all kinds of awards. It’s crap though. I’m sorry for those who like it.

March 13, 2009—If you are reading this blog, I would assume that you are not the sort of person who would advocate banning all music. Such people, duh, are by definition my enemies. Fundamentalists like the Taliban, if they had their way, would probably put all musicians on the chopping block. It’s a long story about overly literal readings of texts holy to those that believe in what is professed there. And that’s the story of most Fundamentalists of whatever stripe. The readings I mean—but banning music of certain or all types too sometimes, as can be seen in history—in the West, in America even.

So when I turn to a Folkways recording of “The Tea House Music of Afghanistan,” (which you can download or buy as a CD at the Smithsonian-Folkways website), I feel there’s more at stake than the pleasure of listening to a music that to most is unfamiliar. The incredibly long history of Afghan culture is rich with interactions of various nationalities and syntheses of what was learned, transformed, reinvented and subjected to re-interpretation by the pre-existing beliefs and practices of the local people. The music is no exception.

This 1969 recording features mid-sized ensembles of strings, drums, sometimes winds, and a vocalist. You can hear Indian, Persian, Arabic-Semitic and other elements, but no, it’s not some crazy-quilt pastiche of sounds and melodic strains. It is superbly itself. Is such music worth fighting for? In the name of music, how could it not be? Buy this recording and you’ll be indirectly supporting these musicians—and perhaps all musicians.

March 12, 2009—Pianist Pandelis Karayorgis has something going for him. I’ll admit I’ve missed out on the Boston-based improviser until lately, when I was assigned a review for a group he co-leads, the MI3. Well he has been around for awhile. I tracked down a Cadence release from the ‘90s, “Between Speech and Song,” and I’m very glad I did. It’s a joint venture between Karayorgis, alto saxist Eric Pakula and drummer Eric Rosenthal.

The mid-sized group plays a very good set of mostly Pakula and Karayorgis originals. They are different. There’s a distinct quirkiness to the overall approach that comes out of a Monk inspired sense of form and angularity, but also a little of the geometric asymmetry of the Tristano school too. This may be a form of flattery, but it isn’t imitation. It’s the tribute of some heavy players to their forebears. Surely this is Pakula and Karayorgis's OWN music. But it has the bemused angularity, the twists and turns in melody lines and the hard-hewned chunkiness of the Thelonious legacy.

"Between Speech and Song" is one terrific record. I don’t say that because I am involved as a writer with the Cadence Magazine part of things. I say it because it is what I feel when I listen. I would recommend this disk for anyone who digs or wants to dig the more rewardingly challenging side of straight-ahead Jazz. It demands that you listen. There’s no pablum for the cocktail party here. Check the Cadence link on my link page to find out more.

March 11, 2009—Drummer Bill Bruford has been a thinking person’s rocker. His musical and thoughtfully driving work with Genesis, Yes and King Crimson has been a model for emulation. He has also had a long career as a leader in his own right. Sadly, he recently announced his retirement from active playing. But to cap it all off he’s put together two retrospective collections of the various recordings he made with his own band over the years. The “Winterfold Collection” (Winterfold), a first installment, covers the fertile period of 1978-1986. We’ll take a look at that volume today and cover the second set a little later on.

The first thing one is struck with is the variety and quality of the music and ensembles involved. The Progressive and Fusion elements are there as one expects, but there are many different ways of arriving to those musical places. The excellent tracks featuring the acerbic Annette Peacock on vocals (part of the time) and the wonderful Alan Holdsworth on guitar are perhaps the most striking. The material is unusual and the band really burns it up. The collaborations with keyboardists Dave Stewart and Patrick Moraz are adventurous excursions that bear listening to again as well. None of this music sounds dated, as some of this sort of material can these days. Bruford’s drumming is consistently refreshing and unexpected and there’s a consistency of direction there that comes from his strengths as a leader. We wish him well in his retirement and hope you will give this volume a listen in tribute. I am very glad to have had a chance to go back again and rehear these sides anew.

March 10, 2009—The intersection of Rock and Jazz has been with us ever since Larry Coryell plugged in with the Gary Burton group back in the mid-‘60s. Since then there have been successes and failures, the latter usually a product of pressures to appeal to the lowest common denominator, but also because of creative misfires or chemistry problems among the musicians involved.

Happily, today’s CD has none of those difficulties. Drummer David Winogrond’s “In the Ether” (Wondercap) comes at it from the Rock end. Essentially these are rockers who have embraced the Jazz spectrum. David has influences from both camps—Elvin Jones and Gene Krupa but also Keith Moon and Mitch Mitchell. He finds his own path through the dense underbrush of what has gone before and emerges as a distinctive self. He is joined by reedist Jack Chandler, who ably asserts his musical vision, and guitarist Michael Campagna, who nicely shreds and psychedelisizes himself throughout much of the disk. When these three go at it, the results remind one slightly of the music Ginger Baker, Sonny Sharrock and Peter Brotzmann made a number of years ago. And yet that is only in terms of the basic stance. Winogrond, Chandler and Campagna go their own way here. There are cameo appearances by other fellow travelers as well. All make fitting contributions to the musical whole.

“In the Ether” shows a flair for combining freedom and electricity. In the search for viable home-grown energy sources, Winogrond and company can supply a good chunk of it right now! A tip of our cap to Wondercap Records for coming out with good sounds when we most need it.

March 9, 2009—By the late-‘60s-early-‘70s classic Soul/R&B was in the process of evolving further away from its blues drenched, down-home directness to slicker, more processed music that was to form an uneasy co-existence with Disco several years later. Motown and its smoother version of Black Pop had made its inroads. Otis had met his untimely end, Wilson Pickett less active, Aretha still had it but was less in the charts, Joe Tex was fading. Into this scene came two small regional labels, Trager and Note, mostly out of Atlanta, and they produced a run of singles, mostly unsuccessful, that at their best capture the raw excitement of the slightly earlier days, and at their worst aped the slick product of their more successful competition. Nb Records has come out with "Eccentric Soul," a generous 2-CD compilation of the music these two labels released (or didn’t, in some cases) and it is a fascinating document. When the music is good, it’s very good; when it misses it sounds dated and overly mannered. The package, warts and all, gives you another view of the scene, from the bottom of the stack of singles, so to speak. It’s a fun listen and has some great moments. If you like that period this collection will have definite charms for you.

March 6, 2009—McCoy Tyner has had a great influence in the music world since he entered it in the late ‘50s. Of all the pianists of his generation, he belongs to the select few monster stylists out there. Most people reading this will know that.

He hasn’t played much with guitarists, for whatever reason. Until now. His aptly titled CD “Guitarists” (Half Note) finds him in company with five different stringmen, plus a formidable rhythm section of Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. Much of the material is familiar, but that’s not the point. What happens with each segment belongs to the good chemistry law: if two musicians listen carefully and respect each other’s way of going about his business, nice things can happen. And that’s the case with these sessions.

Marc Ribot gets four numbers and he is alternatingly out and in the groove with playing that has distinct Rock overtones at times. John Scofeld and Bill Frisell each show why they are at the top. Then there’s Bela Fleck on banjo, a wizard that comes off quite well in his sequence. He’s amazing! Finally Jamband hero Derek Trucks gets his turn, and if you already know about him, you’ll find him into his thing and acquitting himself admirably. If you are new to him, it gives you a chance to evaluate where he is coming from and how that mixes with Mr. Tyner’s way of dealing. McCoy took a chance playing with four such disparate players. It was worth it.

March 5, 2009—What day is the Ides of March? Is it today? I’d tell you all to beware but we’ve been through enough lately to know that one must keep ones eyes open and ones powder dry. So instead savor the moment, for those of you who have some sun. If not, revel in our existence if at all possible. It’s all a big mystery whatever you might believe. And it is a privilege to exist, when you think of it.

What’s on the docket today? Bassist Reuben Radding, an East Coast fellow. He did the unthinkable in 2007. Once a month he posted an entire CD’s worth of unreleased music free for download. (You can still get these at www.reubenradding.com.) Mr. Radding is an imaginative, skillful bass principal in the improv mode. And his downloads show him off effectively in a variety of settings: solo, duo, small groups of various configurations. One of my favorites is his November offering, a duet performance with alto saxist Travis Sullivan. It’s a wide ranging gallop into various mood-zones, always musical and filled with great two-way dialogs. I don’t know anything about Travis, but based on this recording he surely deserves more attention. And Reuben is right there with him. It’s a quite fetching slice of spontaneous music making.

March 4, 2009—When an established working band changes a member the result is unpredictable. And when that member is the drummer, the entire attack and direction of the band can alter dramatically. The classic Coltrane Quartet, for example, sounded quite different when Roy Haynes substituted for Elvin Jones. The same thing can be said about Soft Machine in 1971. Original founding member, singer and drummer Robert Wyatt was gone. In for a time to replace him was Phil Howard, a musician with a very different approach to time. We can be thankful that the Howard version of the band was faithfully captured on tape while on tour in Germany that Fall for a full hour of music. This recording of the group in full flower has just been released for the first time on MoonJune Records.

“Drop” shows vividly what can happen when the chemistry of the group alters. Howard was less concerned with laying down a Rock groove and was more of a free-floating, boldly bashing, loose-limbed dynamo. He’s in and out of time on this set, cajoling and catalyzing band members to play with high energy and driving them a bit more over the top than they had been used to with Wyatt. It inspires reedist Elton Dean to blow harder and less introspectively; it gives Mike Ratledge an increased number of rhythmic options in response to the wide wash of accents laid down with drums and cymbals; and it challenges bassist Hugh Hopper to become ever more of a rock-solid anchor (which he was anyway) in the looser dialogue that develops.

This band just doesn’t groove as much, but we have that in abundance with the Wyatt version of the band and, later, with the equally brilliant drumming of John Marshall. But that is OK; there is plenty of all that. “Drop” gives us a glimpse of what Soft Machine was all about at the time, and what they might have become. It’s a valuable document in the evolution of the band and a very listenable excursion into the higher realms of jamming. Soft Machine aficionados will jump at this one; those new to the band who like a Free Rock approach will appreciate it as well. It’s a nicely different moment in the band’s relatively long tenure. A good recording can take us back faithfully to a slice in time. This one really does that and we get something to ponder in the deal. Give it your ears and you’ll be rewarded.

March 3, 2009—The loudness factor in music seems to be ever increasing. The first brass marching bands were hugely loud for their time. They had to fill the open air and often were a kind of representation in sound of the power and might of the military unit to which they were attached. The Mannheim Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of the classical era must have shocked audiences with their ability to crescendo to comparatively dramatic decibel levels. By the time they reached a flat-out, triple fortissimo tutti a few powdered wigs may have been dislodged. Closer to our times the development of more powerful guitar amps led to ever louder Rock groups. And now of course most commercial CDs are mastered to deliver maximum volume through super-compression. I’m not complaining though. All this can be very stirring. Of course not all CDs have that super-loud-all-the-time quality. Some aim to carry the full dynamic range of the music being performed. That’s because some musics of course still capitalize on bringing out the dynamic-range possibilities of the material performed.

Nonetheless, Jazz and Improv can get pretty loud these days. So when a group comes along that plays pretty quietly for much of the time, one takes notice. And when they kick it up a notch, the contrast is that much more effective. Such a group is Collar City Createology, who has recently put out a download-only release on MJB Records, available at cdbaby (http://cdbaby.com/cd/mbgmds). The group is comprised of master bassman Michael Bisio (whose excellent CIMP CD we looked at earlier in the year), guitarist George Muscatello and drummer Dean Sharp. The music is advanced, free and rather quiet most times. There is excellent interplay between the three musicians. Muscatello has a spacey but pure-toned sound, not entirely unlike John Abercrombie but with his own musical vocabulary. He plays some wonderful lines and forms a double melodic tandem with Mr. Bisio that is sensitive and smart, mindful of sound and silence, creative and accomplished. Bisio is a bass player’s bass player, which he shows admirably throughout this disk. And drummer Sharp is a beautiful team member, not stepping on any music toes and making a true contribution with a palpable sensitivity to his aural and rhythmic role in the mix.

Collar City Creatology bases itself in the upper New York State town of Troy, known in the 19th century for its manufacturing of detachable collars. Troy deserves now to be known for producing this group. It’s a wondrously subtle trio. With very nice arrangements and compositions (mostly penned by Michael Bisio), some great improvisational variations and a finely crafted sense of trio sound, Collar City deserves a close listen and will bring increasing rewards and enjoyment as one becomes more and more familiar with the CD. Kudos to this group! May it put Troy back on the map.

March 2, 2009—We return to some Jamband coverage today. I’ve reviewed the John Butler Trio on a couple of studio releases in this blog. www.archive.org has a very generous sampling of their live shows in the “Live Music” section. These are available for streaming or download at no cost. So long as you don’t try to to sell them, they are legal and covered under the Creative Commons umbrella. I chose an earlier show from his listings because I wasn’t as familiar with that period. The March 5, 2002 date has two full CDRs worth of music, recorded off of the soundboard at the Starr Hill Brewing Company in Charlottsville, Virgina.

The sound is quite good and the band is in an expansive mood. Although they may not be considered an officially sanctioned Jamband by some, they do a pretty fair amount of improvisational junkets here. The electro-acoustic playing of Butler is worth hearing and the whole band is atuned. The jams are not typical Rock outs; there are jazzy and acoustical components and even raga-ish passages that set them apart. The tunes were integral to Butler’s repertoire of the time and he delivers them with conviction. It’s all quite good. It’s free too!

February 27, 2009—If Afro-Latin Jazz with a sprinkling of Soul, vintage 1967, sounds interesting to you, the HAR-YOU Percussion Group might be right in your corner. HAR-YOU stood for Harlem Youth, a program that basically took kids off the streets and gave them an outlet for development and creativity. Montego Joe coached a number of them in Afro-Latin percussion. The ESP disk “Sounds of the Ghetto Youth” was a recording they made at the time and it’s just been reissued. There’s the addition of piano, bass and horns on most of the cuts. On the reissue Montego Joe adds his thoughts on the group and what was going on in those days.

It’s raw, powerful music. If you groove on the old school sound, this may well appeal to you.

February 26, 2009—We seem to be on a roll. Today’s CD is another gem, continuing an unbroken string of goodies starting with Trio X on February 16th.

Tuner’s latest brings a brainy sense of adventure to the progressive genre without slighting the sensual side of things. “Muut—Live in Estonia 1967” (Unsung) takes some of the innovations in sound and approach that came out of earlier musics—Miles Davis’s psychedelic period, Terje Rypdal’s large-eared psycho-romanticism, King Crimson’s keen sense of sound texture and sprawl—and synthesizes them to generate something altogether different. Add an all-important, thoroughly developed knack for producing electronically altered orchestral-sized musicscapes and incisive live playing. There are no wasted musical moments.

Tuner is the very musical drummer Pat Mastelotto (a fixture in King Crimson—we met up with him earlier this month on the Live Crimson set) and guitarist, mastermind and producer Markus Reuter (who studied with Robert Fripp and his Guitarcraft learning system). These two musicians generate intensely interesting music that stays with you and does not pander to the infantile expectations that most Pop-Slop generates in the casual listener. That’s because it is NOT Pop-Slop. It is genuinely innovative sound forging and one of the best progressive CDs so far this year. The fact that it was recorded live makes it all the more impressive. Keep going, Tuner. You sound great!!

February 25, 2009—The Don Cherry Quintet of 1966 was a dynamo, a band with incredible reserves of energy and the ability to take a basic arrangement and craft a loose, improvisational read of it every time out. This becomes especially evident on the new third volume of their “Live at Café Montmartre” (ESP). Cherry on trumpet, Barbieri on tenor and Berger on the vibes all contribute some excellent moments of spontaneous composition off the cuff as it were while they wend their way through two set suite arrangements, “Complete Communications” and “Remembrance.” There is no flagging of spirit. In fact, this third volume may be the best of the lot. It reminds you just how great this group was, how talented the members. Check the ESP link on the link page to get more info or to order it. Signing off once again -- Grego

February 24, 2009—So what about the trombone? It thrives in the arena known as Modern Jazz. One of the best of the “new” players is New Orleans mainstay Jeff Albert, who just released his second album “Similar in the Opposite Way” on Fora Sound. Simply put, this is a terrific outing.

Jeff is joined by alto saxman Ray Moore, who keeps up with Mr. Albert’s elfin twists and turns and holds his own. The rhythm section of Tommy Sciple, bass, and Dave Capello, drums, contributes a sound foundation for the musical events with no small amount of creativity. What grabs me about the album is the constant interplay between the principal horns. They engage in a counterpuntal polyphony that is sometimes quite free and other times swingingly locked in. It is an interplay that harks back to the old NOLA front line practices while looking unblinkingly into the future of the music. The compositions are as strong as the playing. Jeff Albert deserves a hearing.

Go to his site at www.jeffalbert.com to order this modestly priced disk. While you are there check out some of his sound clips. Then go to www.openears.org and find out about the NOLA jazz series under that name. While you are there you can listen to tons of full-set downloads covering various new bands, mostly local but all worth catching. And there is more of Jeff Albert’s trombone in various incarnations as well. Signing off -- Grego

February 23, 2009—As I greet the Monday morning sun and another week, I am accompanied by the sounds of a music not often covered on these pages, but no less appreciated for that.

Sometime between the 1700s and the 20th century in the hills and hollows of Appalachia as well as far and wide in the surrounding area sprung a new music. It was born of a life adapted to this land and the mixture of styles that various immigrants carried with them when they arrived, not to mention sheer musical imagination. I refer to Country (and Western). The old ballads, string-band songs and early Bluegrass gave the US one of its truly original musical identities. (And of course Country music thrives today, with or without rootedness in the original styles depending on the performer.)

The Folk Revival of the '50s and '60s covered some of this music, and of course there were plenty of local players who kept the tradition alive in itself. Somehow those two strains found their perfect synthesis in a band known as The New Lost City Ramblers. This was a superb group both vocally and instrumentally, in no small part thanks to the talents of Mike Seeger, but everyone involved did a great job with finessing and directly communicating what is so wonderful about this music. There’s the deceptively plain, unique sound of the vocals and that special twang that many singers today have lost. There’s the wonderful fiddling, and the special picking of guitars, banjos, and mandolins.

The New Lost City Ramblers made a number of albums for Folkways in the late ‘50s-early ‘60s, then broke up. Folkways-Smithsonian has made them all available again and they are highly recommended. I’m listening now to one I never had in my vinyl days, “Gone to the Country.” It covers songs not found much if at all on other modern recordings and those songs often have that outrageous nonsense humor and all-knowing naivety spawned from everyday local life. It’s the superb delivery of the songs though that makes this group special. These guys blew the Folk Revivalists into the dust. The music was and is breathtakingly alive in their hands. Thanks to Folkways you can download or buy their records online at decent prices. Use your favorite search engine and type in Smithsonian Folkways and check them out. Signing off -- Grego

February 20, 2009—Tenor saxist Ernie Krivda has been on the scene for years. If he has not gotten a huge amount of recognition for his talents, it is not for want of consistent excellence in performance. He can be counted on to come through with energized, full throated improvisations seemingly whenever the opportunity presents itself. His recent Cadence release “Live in New York City” is a case in point. Captured by band guitarist Bob Fraser one January night at Sweet Rhythms in NYC, Krivda and company turn in one of those performances where they do not so much think of the recording in progress and let loose with unselfconscious mainstream Jazz with hell-for-leather intensity.

The quintet is primed and the audience urges them forward in a really nice set of originals. Trumpeter Dominick Farinacci and aforementioned guitarist Fraser contribute first-rate solos and Krivda insistently brings out his exuberant, extroverted note-streaming at its best. He has the hard lyricism of a Coltrane, but his own sound and musical vocabulary. This is a band on one of those nights where it all comes together. You’ll wish you had been there. Check the Cadence link on my link page for more information. Signing off -- Grego

February 19, 2009—King Crimson has been a band that, during its active periods, never stands still. The music is always developing, while the personnel is continually shifting. Fripp seems to find musicians that can contribute solidly and change the sound of the band from lineup to lineup. One of the more impressive configurations was the so-called double trio: Fripp and Belew on guitars, Try Gunn on touch guitar, Tony Levin on bass and stick, and drummer/percussionists Bill Bruford and Pat Mastelotto. That very group is wonderfully represented on a 2-CD reissue of a London concert in 1996, “The Collected King Crimson, Volume Three: Live at the Shepherds Bush Empire” (DGM). This is no stock run through of greatest hits. There’s an opening soundscape by Fripp, some great drum routines and a cross-spectrum of their repertoire, digging back as far as “21st Century Schizoid Man” through to the Talking Heads-like “Elephant Talk.”

There’s plenty of music and the band is in top form. This wasn’t a group that featured hours of guitar solos. The experimentation tends to be collective and the expansion of their recorded versions takes place in terms of drive and a modification of the arrangements. The set has great sound and reminds us all of what we missed back then if we didn’t go see them. Signing off -- Grego

February 18, 2009—In the cold last days of this season there is musical heat to warm your insides. You can find it on a February release from ESP Disk by the Flow Trio (“Rejuvenation”). On this newly recorded outing tenor sax Louie Belogenis, bassist Joe Morris (who also plays guitar, but not on this record) and drummer Charles Downs, well seasoned players all, find their way around and out of the potential musical abyss of free music and into the light. Successful, engaging free playing is as hard to do well as almost any music and they triumph here with a nicely played set of dynamic and lucid blowing spaces.

Belogenis takes the basic sound of Albert Ayler at his peak and gives it his own phrasing and melodic-sound content. Morris and Down apply a readily responsive, forward moving dynamic that keeps the session on the path of rejuvenation. We all need that and the trio has just the right finesse to bring about the refreshing of a style now in its tenth decade. Good music! Signing off -- Grego

February 17, 2009—In my earlier days I came across an idea by I forget who. The tempo of a music, the thought goes, increases parallel to the amount of social upheaval present in the surrounding society. For the world I inhabit there are times of that sort. And today’s CD is packed with music of a rapid density, for the most part. Now I don’t think such an idea can be proven and there may be nothing to it ultimately, but the debut album of the German group The Season Standard (“Squeeze Me Ahead of Line” [Unsung]) speeds up the passing musical landscape to a captivating, exhilarating blur at times.

We’re talking about a progressive Rock quartet: guitar/guitar-keys/bass/drums with vocals. The drummer Simon Beyer is a remarkable anchor and fire branding energizer for the group sound. He plays a very busy, sometimes asymmetrical and always driving brand of Funk-Rock rhythm that sets up the band’s pieces irresistibly. The music is complex and at the forefront of what can be done with what has been. Think of the funky elements of Yes, Beefheart, Zep and what followed only intensify it in a boiling, bubbling cauldron of notedness, like Mars Volta hooked up to a sophisticated music machine. There’s a lot of music contained in any given minute of this disk and it is nothing throwaway. It’s very good and very interesting. It rarely stops to look around. It’s going somewhere relentlessly, excitingly.

Mathias Jahnig has a good sense of his instrument (guitar) and the others are similarly situated. Mathias’ vocals have kind of a half-speed anchorage in the swirling musical pattern and give the band a second pivoting point (with the drums the first) in this multi-centered music. It’s fascinating. It’s great. I am impressed and want to hear more. Signing off -- Grego

February 16, 2009—Trio X has been rapidly garnering attention as one of the liveliest, most creative advanced small jazz groups on the scene today. We’re going to take a look at their latest release, a generous seven-CD box set of a tour they made recently. Not surprisingly, it’s called “2006 US Tour” (CIMPoL). Trio X is Joe McPhee on reeds and trumpet, Dominic Duval on bass and Jay Rosen on the drums. The set devotes one CD for each of the shows on the tour. I’ll be doing an in-depth review in an upcoming Cadence issue. This blog version is a capsule summary.

As a faithful record of the tour, it does great service to the group and the serious Improv listener by showing the art of Jazz at its best. It is one group, one more or less finite set of music and its infinite variation over seven days. The generous seven-plus hours of music reveals all that is exceptional in the improvisational arts.

One thing becomes quite clear in the process of assimilating all this music. Trio X have become a living, breathing Jazz organism where each instrumentalist functions as an co-dependent part of the final result. McPhee is the primary solo voice and at the heart of every piece he seems to be in control of the various themes and their comings and goings.

The set is filled with freely constructed improvisations around classic themes, some originals, free improvisations and unaccompanied solo spots for Duval and Rosen. There are multiple versions of some of the theme-variations, Monk’s “Evidence” for example, and it is fascinating to follow the different route the band takes on different nights.

There are many high points. I must also mention the versions of “God Bless the Child.” They have a timeless quality that helps make the long trip quite worthy of the travel. The same goes for the “Stella By Starlight” variations in the various versions of “The Song the Robin Sings.” A little blast of “War (What is it Good For)” on the last show adds more of the unexpected. It shows that Trio X are capable of virtually anything, a band of surprise on any given occasion.

Throughout the many twists and turns of this comprehensive record of the tour a picture emerges of a group responding to themselves and their moods, the room, the audience and moments of spontaneous inspiration. It’s not something just for devotees of the band. Any student of the improvisation process can benefit. This is an extremely valuable document of a group in the raw lab of creation as well as a very listenable and rewarding sonic experience. I believe it is one of the landmarks of live recording so far in this century. To get more information and/or order the set, click on the Cadence address on my links page and then click on the CIMP category. Signing off -- Grego

February 13, 2009—The Blues keeps on playing a pivotal role in the American musical heritage as we experience it today. Much of the music out there presupposes its existence. Chicago has of course been an important, central city for its development, mainly for wave after wave of the urban, electric style that has been so influential.

Today we look at one of the lesser known electric blues heroes from Chicagoland, Jimmie Lee Robinson. He was Little Walter’s guitarist in the ‘50s and gigged around before making a comeback in the ‘90s. The CD we’re looking at today, “Chicago Jump” (Random Chance), was recorded during that later period but languished on the shelf until recently. Jimmie passed away in 2002 and so the CD is a kind of posthumous tribute. It’s a straightforward date with a small electric outfit doing songs in the tradition of the Chicago sound. Now Jimmie Lee was no B.B or Buddy Guy, but he was decent and in the tradition. And his vocals had a nice soulful attack. Perhaps this CD will not be nominated as one of the 100 best Blues recordings of the 20th century but it is solid, real, engaging and direct. The best of the Blues is like that. Until Monday -- Grego

February 12, 2009—It was December 19, 1965 when singer Patty Waters entered RLA Sound Studios in NYC to record her first record. Half of the date was devoted to her intimate, smoky chanteuse, bohemian Julie London-like torchers, with just her voice and her piano; for the second half she was joined by pianist Burton Greene’s trio. Patty’s session was soon released on ESP Disk as “Patty Water Sings.” It has just been reissued.

Timing in at around 30 minutes, the album is just long enough to get a good picture of Ms. Waters’ two facets. The short and evocative ballads show a moody side, the arrangement of the old folk song “Black is the Color” shows the other side. It’s dark. Burton Greene plucks strings inside the piano while bass and drums play freely. Ms. Waters starts at a whisper and climaxes in an angst ridden scream on the word “black.” It’s a tremendous moment and probably still has the capacity to shock the unwary listener. There aren’t too many things left from 1965 that can still do that. This is an important slice of an Improv/Jazz moment in time. It’s too bad she only made one more album but very good to have this one in print. You can check it out at the ESP website. See my links page. Signing off -- Grego

February 11, 2009—The Little Axe aggregate continues to do good things with their latest CD “Stone Cold Ohio” (Ryko). The synthesis of old time Blues, Gospel, songs of work and songs of protest with the contemporary studio and its ability to combine old sound with new is in many ways aided and constructed by industry vetted producer Adrian Sherwood. This new one is another winner. (See below for a review of a previous release). There's some cool acoustic guitar work embedded in there too. Sounds like there is the presence of what my young but eager nephew calls "that guitar with the spaghetti strainer built into it," the resonator! Signing off -- Grego

February 10, 2009—I woke up this morning with a song rattling around my head. Anyone who watched Obama’s inauguration last month will recall the moment where Yo Yo Ma and his distinguished colleagues played an arrangement of American folk material, part of which involved the Shaker hymn “’Tis A Gift to Be Simple.” Now that happens to be a wonderful song, profound in its lyrics and unforgettable in its melody. Like many, I’m sure, I first came across it as part of Aaron Copland’s “Appalachian Spring” and only later knew it in its original Shaker incarnation. Since then it has been a theme song for a commercial, used as a background for TV shows, etc. Now I think the Shakers who first performed it in their starkly beautiful meeting halls would have been quite astounded if they we’re told that in the future it would be played during the inauguration ceremony of the first black President of the United States in 2009. In so many ways, that musical interlude was a remarkable moment among remarkable moments.

And so the song rang on in my head this morning and I thought, “Yes, to be simple. That’s it.” Of course there’s nothing very simple about the lives we all find ourselves in today. Simplicity-within-complexity is probably the best route to follow if you are not able to live on a little farm somewhere in the middle of nowhere. And that’s where today’s music comes in.

Ayler Records is a European concern devoted to modern Improv/Jazz in mostly its outer echelons. They record people who deserve a wider audience and they do a great job of it. Some time ago they inaugurated something that makes sense for today’s market. For those recordings that might not sell in landmark quantities, Ayler initiated a download-only series. For a modest sum, you can download a particular limited edition CD-rom album in the form of 300+ kbps MP3s. If the recording quality is good to begin with (and it generally is), this upper-level MP3 format does not sound at all bad. Blindfolded, you might think you are listening to an ordinary wav file CD. Anyway these downloads can be purchased at the site www.ayler.com. I will be devoting some attention to this series in the coming months. The first one on my stack we look at today.

Simplicity in complexity. You take the simple idea of a download-only release, in this case a simple lineup of electric guitar and drums, and you go from there. When the guitarist is Mark O’Leary and the drummer Han Bennink (for the release entitled “Television”), the results are anything but simple. It’s a full program of Free Improv from two exceptional musicians. Bennink is the famous and infamous Netherlandish bad boy of the drum set, who has gained international recognition as a member of ICP and other interesting ensembles. The guitarist Mark O’Leary is less well known, but deserves a recognition that seems to be coming to him as we speak (or write). He’s an Irish fellow with a fertile musical imagination and a formidable set of chops.

The CD is a continual barrage of notes and energy, with varying levels of intensity. It is a urgent dialogue between two gifted improvisers. Bennink is the ever inventive drummer as always, coaxing drummer’s drummer cascades of set color and texture; O’Leary shows considerable linear line-making abilities and a harmonic sense that has sophistication but is ever melded to a fire of commitment and passion. It is a wonderful session. Judging from the music clips on his My Space page, Mr. O’Leary also does some interesting larger group Out-Fusion projects too. “Television” is a major duet recording and should not be missed by those who like to be challenged by open-ended, skillful complexity. And that’s simple. Shaking and quake-ing -- Grego

February 9, 2009—We return to the jamband scene today for a look at a local New Jersey group. As a Jersey boy myself I have a weakness for the local scene born of territorially rooted, animal-like instincts I suppose. SO when I stumbled on a local band on the Live Music site of www.archive.org, I gave a listen. The group is Jam-Bone, essentially a power trio with some fine guitar work by one Rich Plumpton. The set I downloaded was apparently from their first gig on 2-13-03. When I look back to the archive I find they have replaced it with three other, later dates, but my attention is devoted to the earlier date since that is what I have been listening to. First impressions when playing this download is, “OK, we have a bar band here.” And of course they are playing in such an establishment, how could they not be? As they crank into the old standby “Mustang Sally” they sound average. But then Plumpton launches into a solo and he has a very nice sound and touch. It goes from there to a version of “Scarlet Begonias” that has an even hipper jam moment. In the end this sounds like a band anyone would be happy to catch in the local context. But then they do what sound like decent originals and Plumpton is a hot guitarist for this kind of thing, so they could develop into something major. You might check out their other shows on the archive and go see them. They also have their own site: www.jam-bone.org. Happy listening. Signing off -- Grego

February 6, 2009—The Klezmer resurgence that began in the late-‘70s brought back to the public a form of music that never really died. It continued to exist in the rooted underground as an important part of weddings and other traditional gatherings. The resurgence replaced at least in part the folk revival, Kingston trio type versions of traditional Jewish-Yiddish music that proliferated on vinyl and in the concert halls and cafes of the era. Now there was nothing wrong with that expression. All traditional musics can be and often are expressed partially through the adapted musical vocabulary of contemporary music styles. In the forties it was the Bagelman Sisters, who had a heavy big band swing influence (and were great as well!). Today, there’s Golem!, who at times are a kind of Pogues of Klezmer—adding a punk veneer and a slight Rock edge.

Their CD “Fresh Off Boat” (Joub) has a spirit of fun and humor, sometimes of a rather dark variety. They cover in their own way a number of traditional melodies. The vocals are good. Instrumentally they hold their own. What’s not to like? Signing off -- Grego

February 5, 2009—The world of freewheeling Hard Bop remains alive today. Sometimes the blazing hell-for-leather onslaught of the best moments can be missing from some of today’s sessions. That’s a pity. However, the Alvin Queen CD on tap this morning has plenty of the intensity of the classic dates. Queen as a very good drummer who has played with all sorts of people and the CD “Jammin Uptown” (Just A Memory) is graced by the presence of some of the very best on the contemporary scene. The great, late John Hicks mans the piano, Terence Blanchard is on trumpet, Robin Eubanks on trombone, Ray Drummond on bass, and the under-heralded Manny Boyd is on reeds. This music was originally released in 1985 and has been reissued with bonus material.

What you get is nicely turned blowing vehicles and some very nice contributions from all at hand. If you like the classic Art Blakey Jazz Messengers line-ups this will certainly appeal to you. You might find yourself shouting “go” like you were sitting at a table in the Birdland club, 1955. Signing out -- Grego

February 4, 2009—Today starts a series of blogs on Jambands. In the coming months I’ll be looking at a bunch of bands as represented in the "Live Music" section of the site www.archive.org. There are thousands of live shows reposited there by bands that give permission to tape and disseminate their performances (provided they are traded or given away free, but not sold commercially). You can check out the shows of a particular band by streaming or downloading what’s on the site, searching by band name, then date or other factors. I’ve spent hundreds of hours lately immersing myself in the various offerings there. I’ll be covering some of the more interesting or representative shows from time to time here on this blog. I must note that of course if you like a band you should support them by paying for their regular releases and/or catching them live.

First a little history, much of which may be quite familiar to readers, but not everybody. Starting in the late ‘60s there were a number of bands that regularly included jams as part of their live shows. Cream, Hendrix, and the guitar hero sorts of bands did that regularly. The San Francisco groups were especially appreciated at the time as artists who did much to promote and develop these sorts of practices—the Airplane, Quicksilver, and of course especially the Dead. And it was in part due to their longevity and in part by their preferences that the Dead built a huge following who appreciated the long jams and musical forms involved, centering mostly around Jerry Garcia and his formidable inventive abilities and what the band did as a whole during these segments.

Well, when Garcia passed there were many Dead-dedicated groups playing out there in the local bars and stages across the US and beyond, but I suppose it was Phish that gained the most recognition by building a repertoire and stage presence that continued in the Dead tradition of ever-changing set lists and plenty of jam space. Sometime around then as more bands and audiences began to take to the idea that this kind of music was something to be expanded and appreciated on its own terms, the name “Jamband” began to be applied.

The big record conglomerates have covered this music when and if a group had what is considered potential “hit material.” But it is clear that as far as Jamband status is concerned, a band can create quite a cache for themselves without such support, especially with the medium of the internet as a factor.

In my informal survey of the Archive’s live music holdings, I found that, as with any music form where there a great number of people involved, there can be imperfections or negative musical factors at work with some of the bands. I’ve found that many bands are strictly Dead clones or so close to the Dead that they have no real identity of their own. This can be found either in the songs themselves and/or the jams, which may closely ape what Jerry and company’s jams sounded like at any particular stage of the Dead's existence. (This of course is not a bad thing if the band contains former Dead members, like with Ratdog, Phil Lesh and Friends, etc.) Other bands may play lackluster originals that detract from the show. Sometimes a facile kind of Funk may become a crutch to what is going on in a set. Sometimes the jams are undirected—the lead guitarist may not really have many ideas and to go on at length can be a little snoozy. The rhythm sections can be stiff with some folks, really not up to the standards set by the Dead at their best, so that a groove never develops.

On the other hand I’ve experienced some truly interesting bands and shows on the Archive. And I’ll be noting what’s good out there as I address particular shows in the months to come.

Today’s show involves a band that’s as old as dirt, or nearly so. New Orleans’ Radiators formed in 1978 and still make the circuit today with the same original five members. That is a rarity out there. They may not have had much conventional music business success as far as the “hits” go, but their live shows are exciting, party and jam get togethers. I’ve been listening to a full, three-CD performance of the band recorded live at the Great American Music Hall on March 20, 1993. The sound quality is very good and they run through originals and interesting covers—everything from Blind Willie Johnson’s classic “Everybody Out to Treat a Stranger Right” to Creedence’s “Born on the Bayou.” Now these guys don’t get involved with 20-minute jam sequences but there’s a looseness and some nice guitar soloing throughout. The show catches them in their middle period more or less and by 1993 they had really found a nice groove on just about everything they did. So I’ll cover more of these shows from time-to-time. Stay tuned -- Grego

February 3, 2009—If you look for releases that, for no better term, offer “pure Jazz,” music devoid of gimmicks, non-musical incentives to profit, or commercial overtones, your best bet is usually the independent labels, those operations with no ties to the three or four major entertainment conglomerates that are responsible for a big chunk of the music produced for consumption today. Not to detract from what the latter do; they still can produce releases of lasting value and interest, just not much Jazz. One of the independents any reader of this blog knows I cover regularly is the Cadence/CIMP/CIMPol complex of recordings, whose dedication to the music is lasting and indomitable.

Today’s featured recording is one that was released relatively recently. Headed by tenorist Seth Meicht, “Illumine” (CIMP) features a two tenor lineup of Meicht and Matt Bauder, plus bass and drums. With that format, and the playing involved, they are in the lineage that comes out of some of Elvin Jones' classic configurations, especially the two-tenor-and-rhythm outfits he lead in the late ‘60s-early ‘70s. Like those groups, Seth’s band features a steadily driving, propulsive rhythm section and free solo reign for the two horns. There the comparison ends. Meicht and company go about it all in their own way. The compositions are all the product of Mr. Meicht’s pen and they do much to set the tone and mood of what follows. They are no easy blowing heads. Each has pith, grit, and substance. The solo spots by Meicht and Bauder are contemporary in the best sense of the word—free yet rooted in the post-Bop tradition. Both horns compare favorably with anyone out there doing such music today and the rhythm section drives the horizontal momentum with imagination and zeal.

If someone pressed me to recommend a single disk that demonstrates where improvisatory music resides today, I would readily mention this one as a good start. Seth Meicht deserves the recognition that I hope will be coming his way soon. Check out the link page to go to the Cadence site and find out more. Signing off -- Grego

February 2, 2009—Ever heard of Djam Karet? I hadn’t until I stumbled upon something about them on the net. I believe they formed sometime in the early ‘90s and as far as I can tell are still together. I grabbed one of their CDs online, “Live at NEARFest 2001” (NEARfest), and have been giving it a listen. Djam Karet (pronounced “Jam CaREY”) is an instrumental Rock outfit with two guitars (the second doubling on keyboards), bass and drums. I guess you could call what they do Progressive, if you need a label for it. The live set has some room for jamming, not an overwhelming abundance. The bulk of the music centers on tunes and their arrangements and if you want to look for a weakness, it’s there. The numbers seem mostly lackluster; there are only a few that stand on their own as entities that you might recognize and pleasantly anticipate as you listen more than a few times. “Feast of Ashes” is one of them; it has a nice sprawling thing going. More pieces like that and I would be more convinced of their importance. Perhaps this isn’t their best CD, but I can’t be sure, since of course I haven’t heard the rest of them.

The band had been together apparently around 10 years by the time they did this concert, and that shows in the tightness of the routines. But the music isn’t especially pyrotechnical, if you look for that. The main guitar soloist is decent by the standards of the style, and the second fellow can turn in some credible licks as well. Neither is a monster. Nonetheless this is not at all bad music. What’s most remarkable is the longevity of the band. May they continue. Signing off -- Grego