JANUARY 2020

VOLUME 87 / NUMBER 1

President Kevin Maher

Publisher Frank Alkyer
Editor Bobby Reed
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CONTRIBUTORS

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Jack Maher, President 1970-2003

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Á
4 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020
 JANUARY 2020

ON THE COVER
DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES

24 Centennial
Heroes
Staring on page 24, our cover
package looks at the careers and
legacies of drummer Art Blakey
(1919–’90), saxophonist Charlie
Parker (1920–’55) and pianist
Dave Brubeck (1920–2012).
Continuing on page 36, our
centennial celebration shines a
spotlight on other jazz pioneers
born 100 years ago: trumpeter
Clark Terry, drummer Shelly
Manne and reedist Yusef Lateef.

FEATURES
Dave Brubeck (seated) poses with the members of his namesake
32
41 Best Albums of 2019 quartet: Joe Morello (left), Eugene Wright and Paul Desmond.
5-, 4½- and 4-star albums from
Cover collage, clockwise from upper-left: Art Blakey at a May 6, 1955, recording session at Van Gelder Studio in
the past year Hackensack, New Jersey; photo by Francis Wolff ©Mosaic Images LLC/mosaicrecordsimages.com. Dave Brubeck in a
publicity still for the 1962 film All Night Long; photo from Roy Carr Press Agency/DownBeat Archives. Charlie Parker
photo by William P. Gottlieb/Ira and Leonore S. Gershwin Fund Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

JAZZ SCHOOL

78 The Art of Song

Reinvention
BY PETER ELDRIDGE

84 Cultivating Aural
Imagination
BY MIKE HOLOBER

90 The Drummer as 58 Carmen Lundy 60 Michael Dease 62 Marc Copland 64 Lauren Lee
Bandleader
BY REGGIE QUINERLY

96 Competitions & Grants

BY PHILLIP LUTZ DEPARTMENTS
100 Transcription
Sonny Rollins 8 First Take 55 Reviews
Tenor Saxophone Solo
106 Jazz On Campus
JOHN ROGERS

102 Toolshed 10 Chords & Discords

110 Blindfold Test
13 The Beat Miles Okazaki Miles Okazaki

6 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 First Take BY BOBBY REED

DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES
Billy Eckstine (left) and Charlie Parker at Birdland in New York

Centennial Celebration
OBITUARIES HONOR THE DECEASED, BUT vides a bridge to the past but also a connection to
they also convey a sense of loss: The world is a the present: Young musicians and fans discover
smaller, colder place without the presence of the these songs every day, helping to extend each art-
departed. Centennial observations, however, ist’s mighty legacy. The music still has the power
generally are not about what we lost, but rath- to move us.
er what we gained: The world is a larger, more Once you start pondering the monumental
interesting place thanks to the contributions impact of Bird, Blakey or Brubeck, it quick-
of the departed. And that is the spirit perme- ly becomes obvious that DownBeat could have
ating this issue. devoted an entire 100-page issue to each one’s
Several months ago, when the DownBeat career and influence. But we wanted to showcase
staff was brainstorming about a special centen- multiple artists born around the same time.
nial issue saluting artists born in 1919 or 1920, Our cover package also includes shorter
the challenge was to narrow down the group pieces on three other groundbreaking musicians:
of honorees to a manageable yet hefty number. trumpeter Clark Terry (1920–2015), drummer
Readers will recall that in our September issue, Shelly Manne (1920–’84) and multi-instrumen-
we presented John McDonough’s excellent arti- talist Yusef Lateef (1920–2013). And even with
cle on Nat “King” Cole (1919–’65), a national all this great material, there are numerous art-
treasure who helped transform our culture. ists born about 100 years ago who are not includ-
In this issue, our cover package shines a ed, such as Paul Gonsalves, Carmen McRae,
spotlight on three more titans whose artistry was Ravi Shankar, Peggy Lee, Lennie Tristano, John
essential to the development and evolution of Lewis, George Shearing and Anita O’Day.
jazz: drummer Art Blakey (1919–’90), saxophon- Here at DownBeat, we perpetually strive for
ist Charlie Parker (1920–’55) and pianist Dave an editorial mix that honors the pioneers of the
Brubeck (1920–2012). past, showcases the headliners of today and
In these articles, our goal was not to chroni- shines a spotlight on the rising players who
cle all the key landmarks in each artist’s career, might become the titans of tomorrow. One of
but rather to celebrate the legacy of each musi- the young artists in the October issue’s Student
cian, and examine the ripple effect of his influ- Music Guide could, one day, enjoy a career that
ence on multiple generations of players. warrants a major centennial celebration in the
What do those artists mean to us today, and 22nd century.
how will future generations view their music? We hope you enjoy reading this issue as
Nowadays, when we listen to a Blakey recording much as we enjoyed creating it. Let us know your
of “Moanin’,” a Brubeck recording of “Take Five” thoughts (be they positive or negative) by send-
or a Parker recording of “Ornithology,” it pro- ing an email to editor@downbeat.com. DB

8 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 Chords Discords
Tools of the Trade

CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY

In your October issue, we were proud to see
a photo of Autumn Salvo on the cover of the
Student Music Guide. Many people have asked
about the glove Autumn wears when playing
the acoustic bass.
At this year’s Next Generation Jazz Festival,
we prominently featured a photo of Autumn on
our stage banners, festival signs, ads, in the pro-
gram, on wraparounds, etc. Photos of Autumn
and “The Glove” were everywhere.
The downside: Rather than asking about
our degree programs, our Jazzschool classes
and workshops, or anything else about the
California Jazz Conservatory, people who ap-
proached our booth asked about the glove.
So, for those who are curious, here is Au-
tumn’s response as to why she wears the glove:
“It was recommended by my bass instructor
Jeff Chambers. We both have hands that sweat
too much when we play. He studied with Ron Autumn Salvo, a student at
Carter, who was apparently huge into ‘DIY California Jazz Conservatory
hacks’ for the bass, so you don’t have to fight
isn’t gripping your hand to your bass. But after
it. Wearing a glove is a hack that he figured out
that little bit of time, it feels like second nature
through trial and error. The glove prevents the
and I am able to move faster since I don’t get
extra amount of human gunk from interfering
‘stuck,’ and the tone of my bass is saved!”
with the tone of the strings and fingerboard.
So, the glove is not a prop and it’s not a gim-
“My glove is just a string knit glove you
mick. It’s a clever DIY solution for bass players
could find anywhere. It works great and is
who find themselves in a slippery situation.
cheap! I wear the glove whenever my hand
Bottom line: If the glove fits, wear it!
touches my upright. I’m often asked if it inter-
feres with my playing. For the first 10 minutes, PAUL FINGEROTE, MARKETING DIRECTOR
CALIFORNIA JAZZ CONSERVATORY
your hand is ‘slipping’ a bit, because your sweat BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

Remembering Roy Transformative Label

In your December issue, I was deeply moved Regarding your November issue’s cover story
by journalist Matthew Kassel’s profile of the on ECM: It’s hard for me to put into words how
late Roy Hargrove, who took first place in significant ECM Records has been to me, par-
the Trumpet category of the 2019 DownBeat ticularly when I was just getting into jazz.
Readers Poll. I first heard LPs on the ECM label around
I was reminded of my first encoun- 1972: Keith Jarrett’s Facing You, Dave Holland
ter with this extraordinary musician. I was and Barre Phillips’ Music From Two Basses and
standing next to alto saxophonist Frank Circle’s Paris Concert.
Morgan at the 1987 North Sea Jazz Festival The music immaculately recorded and
in The Hague, Netherlands, as we checked in presented by ECM helped to transform my life
at the Bel Air Hotel. I introduced myself to and turn me into a lifelong jazz lover.
Frank and asked if I could interview him for BOB ZANDER
my then in-progress book, The Jazz Scene. PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA

Pointing to the young man standing

next to him, Frank replied, “Here’s the guy
you should interview: Roy Hargrove.” At the Corrections
time, Roy was 17 years old.  In the November print edition, the photo of
Later that evening, I caught a perfor- Matt Wilson on page 66 should have been
mance billed as “Frank Morgan, Special attributed to Bill Milkowski.
Guest of Trio Rein de Graaff, Introducing Roy  In the December print edition, the name
Hargrove.” As the set got underway, I was of photographer Muga Miyahara was mis-
immediately convinced that this teenage spelled on pages 6, 24 and 26. All the afore-
prodigy was someone to pay close attention mentioned photo credits have been correct-
to. He blew away the entire audience! Roy ed in the digital editions of the magazine.
soon would be acknowledged as an artist of
DOWNBEAT REGRETS THE ERRORS.
the first rank.
W. ROYAL STOKES Have a Chord or Discord? Email us at editor@downbeat.com
ELKINS, WEST VIRGINIA or find us on Facebook & Twitter.

10 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

12 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020
 News Views From Around The Music World

The
Inside

14 / Bill Frisell
15 / Nguyên Lê
16 / Brian Charette
17 / Jerome Jennings
20 / Dee Alexander
22 / Jazzfest Berlin

T.K. Blue Explores Legacy of Randy Weston

T
.K. Blue never will forget the first time he

ENID FARBER
heard pianist Randy Weston perform.
Especially because when he found him-
self at The East, a Brooklyn-based arts education
center that held jazz concerts on the weekends,
he thought he was going to see Ramsey Lewis.
“When I got there, it was Randy Weston!”
Blue remembered, with a laugh. “I had never
heard of him. He came out with his son [Azzedin
Weston] on congas, and it was quite mesmeriz-
ing. I had never heard that kind of symmetry
between two musicians. I was so attracted to
what he was doing musically.”
So much so that some time later, at a 1980
event raising funds for the fight against apart-
heid in South Africa, Blue boldly asked if he
could sit in with Weston.
“And the very first tune that I ever played
T.K. Blue became music director and arranger for pianist Randy Weston in 1989.
with him was ‘Hi-Fly,’” Blue said. “And all I had
was my piccolo at the time. He said, ‘High-flying The album also boasts an impressive roster groundbreaking trombonist who was Weston’s
piccolo. Let’s do it.’” of players. Some were former collaborators of chief arranger for the better part of 30 years.
The two went on to play many more songs Weston’s, like African Rhythms members Alex “I knew Melba before Randy,” Blue said. “I
together. Blue joined Weston’s backing band, Blake and Neil Clarke, and Chinese pipa player got to know her through Patti Bown, when they
African Rhythms, and took on the role of music Min Xiao Fen. Others were friends or just lucky were both members of Quincy Jones’ big band.
director and arranger for the group in 1989, posi- enough to be mentored by him, like the many I used to go up to her house and pick her brain
tions that the saxophonist and flutist held until pianists who appear throughout, including Kelly about things. So, I knew I wanted to honor her
the pianist’s death on Sept. 1, 2018. During that Green, Mike King and, on the majority of the and have some female energy on the album.”
time, they developed the kind of tight friendship tracks, Sharp Radway. That energy and those songs are welcome
that comes from creating art together. And it’s “We come from the same roots,” Radway additions and wind up having the effect of turn-
that relationship that inspired Blue to pay trib- said of Weston. “We both really loved Thelonious ing the spotlight back to Weston, helping to
ute to Weston on his latest album, The Rhythms Monk and Duke Ellington. Randy played in highlight the generosity and boldness that he
Continue (JAJA). church. I played in church. We both come from exuded for the entirety of his 92 years.
It’s as warmhearted and spirited as the musi- similar cultures. His father was born in Jamaica “He touched me and he touched the lives of
cian it honors. Recorded over the course of a sin- and my parents are from there. We share the so many people,” Blue said. “Especially in situ-
gle day this past February, the record spins from same love of Africa and African music. As a ations of adversity. A lot of guys would be in a
Blue’s originals, which range from funk-in- result, we approach the piano the same way.” negative situation and come to him for sympa-
fused swing to powerful balladry, to an array A key aim of The Rhythms Continue is to thy, and before you know it, he has you laugh-
of Weston tunes that show off his early days paint as complete a picture of Weston’s musi- ing. Because he makes you realize that the thing
as a bebop pioneer to the growing influence of cal legacy as possible. To do so, Blue also chose you’re bummed about, in the context of life, is
African and Asian sounds on the pianist’s work. a handful of compositions by Melba Liston, the really not that important.” —Robert Ham

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 13

 MONICA JANE FRISELL
Riffs

DANIEL AZOULAY
Artemis

From Mount Olympus: Blue Note Guitarist Bill Frisell is now based in New York, following nearly three decades in Seattle.
Records recently announced the signing
of supergroup Artemis, which includes
pianist Renee Rosnes, clarinetist Anat
Cohen, tenor saxophonist Melissa Aldana,
No Matter the Coast,
Bill Frisell’s Guitar Sings
trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, bassist Noriko
Ueda, drummer Allison Miller and vocal-
ist Cécile McLorin Salvant. The ensemble is
expected to release its first album in 2020. THE LATEST REMINDER THAT GUITAR ICON on the bridge or something.”
“Their musical conversation is sophisticated, Bill Frisell remains a road warrior at 68 came Although Frisell’s affinity for Rollins might
soulful and powerful, and their groove runs
in late September, when he crisscrossed the not be readily apparent in his notes and tones, he
deep,” Blue Note President Don Was said in
a press release.
American heartland from one solo concert to the continues to regard the saxophonist as a lodestar.
bluenote.com
next. After spending a week at home in Brooklyn, “He’s a god to me,” Frisell said. “If I ever lose my
where he relocated in the fall of 2017 after 29 years own way, I look to him, and then, ‘OK, that’s what
Highest Honor: Trumpeter and com- in Seattle, Frisell embarked on another round of it’s all about.’”
poser Wadada Leo Smith was awarded the touring, this time behind Harmony, his inaugu- He added: “Of course, I listen to more than
UCLA Medal during a Nov. 8 presentation ral leader date for Blue Note. Sonny Rollins. But a light bulb went off when
at the institution’s Herb Alpert School of During a tour break, Frisell discussed the Sonny played ‘The Surrey With The Fringe On
Music. His “life and work exemplifies the fer- project, recorded last March with vocalist Petra Top’ or ‘I’m An Old Cowhand’ or whatever. It
tile intersection of theory and creativity that
Haden, cellist-vocalist Hank Roberts and bari- struck me that he played songs he heard in a
we encourage our students to explore,” said
Eileen Strempel, dean of the school of mu-
tone guitarist-bassist-vocalist Luke Bergman. For movie or a Broadway show or that were floating
sic. The medal, first awarded in 1979, is the much of the 47-minute album, a trio of harmon- around when he was a kid because he loves them
highest honor UCLA grants to individuals. ically intertwined voices frame Frisell’s probing and has a connection. It sort of gave me permis-
Past recipients include Ella Fitzgerald, Quin- explorations. That said, Haden has ample space to sion to reopen the doors to my own life.”
cy Jones, Toni Morrison and Bill Clinton. render penetrating readings of songs culled from “Bill has deep ears for appreciating many dif-
ucla.edu the Great American Songbook (“Lush Life,” “On ferent kinds of music and different forms,” said
The Street Where You Live”) and the Americana Roberts, who met Frisell in 1975 and began col-
Winter in New York: Winter JazzFest
Songbook (“Hard Times,” “Red River Valley”), as laborating with him in the mid-’80s. “He doesn’t
returns for its 16th year, hosting perfor-
mances by a far-reaching cast of players in
well as “Deep Dead Blue,” a tune that Frisell com- come off as a jazz guy trying to play some differ-
Manhattan and Brooklyn, including Chris- posed with Elvis Costello and recorded with him ent style. He loves that music, and that sincerity is
tian Sands, Jamie Baum, Karriem Riggins in 1995. She also wrings poignancy from Jesse attached to the way he plays it. Of course, he has
and Terri Lyne Carrington. A kickoff event Harris’ lyrics to “There In A Dream,” composed so many tools in his musical toolbox that if you’ve
with drummer Nate Smith is slated for Dec. by bassist Charlie Haden (1937–2014), her father, listened a lot to the traditional forms you might
13, with the festival running Jan. 9–18. once a frequent bandstand partner of Frisell’s. hear some other things that he brings to it.”
winterjazzfest.com “The way Petra’s musical ear zeroes in on a Although the aptly titled Harmony is a new
note makes me think of the way Charlie heard release, Frisell already has recorded another
Final Bar: Criss Cross Jazz founder Gerry
pitches,” Frisell said. “There’s genetic material in forthcoming Blue Note album, a studio date with
Teekens died Oct. 31. His label issued
hundreds of albums, most recently by Noah
there. She sings with a real assuredness—I can bassist Thomas Morgan and drummer Rudy
Preminger and Lage Lund. ... Saxophonist push against her notes in ways that, with other Royston. The trio enjoyed a long residency at the
Kadri Gopalnath, who collaborated with people, might knock them over.” Village Vanguard in August. “It was amazing to
Rudresh Mahanthappa on 2008’s Kinsmen, Asked whether he himself sings, Frisell point- be able to do those three weeks without staying in
died Oct. 11 at the age of 69 in Mangaluru, ed to his hands. “My guitar is where I feel my voice a hotel for $200 to $300 a night,” Frisell said. “In
India. ... After exploring the bandstand as a is,” he said. “Even if I’m alone, like in the shower, I New York, a lot of things will happen on the spur
performer in the 1950s, Fred Taylor began can’t bring myself to do it. It did break out one day of the moment. These last couple of weeks I was
promoting jazz performances around the in Seattle, like 25 years ago, when I’d been riding driving alone through the middle of the country,
Boston area. Taylor died Oct. 26 at the age my bike for hours, and was in an underpass with and I don’t know what’s happening out there, but
of 90.
a lot of cars, a lot of noise, and suddenly found it’s scary. It’s weird to say, but I feel safer here. I feel
myself singing out loud. It was like Sonny Rollins like I’ve come home.” —Ted Panken

14 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Nguyên Lê Blends Past and Present
SINCE HIS CRUCIAL 1996 RECORDING, unleashes fiery fusion chops on the shredding

PHUC HAI
Tales From Viêt-Nam, electric guitar virtuoso vehicle “Year Of The Dog.”
Nguyên Lê has married the music of his ances- “I’m kind of obsessed with speaking with my
tral Vietnam with cutting-edge contemporary own voice on the instrument,” Lê said. “I’m real-
jazz. “Traditional Vietnamese music used to ly trying to integrate everything that I’ve learned
be considered as kind of corny,” said Lê during from all the musicians I have played with from all
a phone interview from his home in Paris. “But over the world. And it shows up in my phrasing,
now there’s a new interest in the tradition. And in my sound, in every inflection.”
I want to show the Vietnamese people that their —Bill Milkowski Guitarist Nguyên Lê’s latest album is Overseas.

own tradition can be hip and can be very excit-

ing to mix with new elements from modernity.”
Overseas (ACT), his latest recording, finds
the bandleader blending a contemporary aesthet-
ic with the kind of traditional Vietnamese music
explored on his 2017 album, Hà Nôi Duo, an inti-
mate encounter with singer/multi-instrumental-
ist Ngô Hồng Quang, who returns on the new
album. “He is, for me, very symbolic of that new
generation of traditional musicians in Vietnam,”
said Lê. “Because they were born with that tra-
dition, they know it from the bottom of their
hearts. At the same time, they’re young, very tal-
ented and very open-minded. They grew up in
this modern society and are very curious about
learning everything. They read music better than
me, they can play everything and they have new
points of view on the tradition.”
Seattle-based trumpeter Cuong Vu, who
guests on Overseas, praised Lê’s organic approach
to this unique kind of fusion. “I’m struck by how
well the traditional Vietnamese music and its
characteristics have been integrated into one
coherent and homogeneous sound/approach on
Nguyên’s latest project. And he’s able to do it in a
way where the sum of the parts sound complete-
ly holistic, avoiding the pitfalls that so often are
problematic for fusing different genres and cul-
tures together; where it sounds synthetic and
cheap, as if it’s just cultural appropriation.”
Originally composed for a performance
project combining dance, acrobatics and music,
and directed by Tuan Le—founder of the
world-renowned Nouveau Cirque du Vietnam
and a former choreographer for Cirque du
Soleil—Lê’s music for Overseas captures the soul
of traditional Vietnamese music via zither, jaw
harp, bamboo flute and bamboo xylophone while
introducing modernist elements. Hanoi-born
beatboxer Trung Bao enlivens “Noon Moon” and
“Square Earth” with his EDM-inspired vocal per-
cussion techniques. And on the exhilarating “Beat
Rice Box,” he goes toe-to-toe with the leader. “He’s
fantastic,” said Lê, of the Portland-based Bao. “He
doesn’t read music, but of course he has a great
ear. He’s a born musician.”
Other tunes like the atmospheric “Origin”
and the African-flavored “Tribal Symmetry” are
awash in ambient sounds. On the North African-
flavored closer, “Red Sky,” Lê conjures up meta-
lesque fury in his distortion-laced licks, and he

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 15

 ANNA YATSKEVIC
Brian Charette’s new album is a solo organ project titled Beyond Borderline.

Charette Follows the Muse

WHILE HE HAS SUPPLIED CONVENTIONAL, “Public Transportation” is the perfect exam-
greasy-sounding Hammond B3 organ in ple of Charette’s yin-yang approach to the B3.
straightahead settings—supporting masters like “I’m basically playing bebop on it, but I’m sprin-
saxophonists George Coleman, Lou Donaldson, kling in this other harmony, as well, so it sounds
Charles McPherson and Houston Person—Brian edgy,” he said. “One of my great areas of interest
Charette explores some uncharted waters on his is taking this kind of Messiaenic harmony and
latest SteepleChase release, Beyond Borderline. A dipping in and out of it, which is something I
follow-up to 2013’s Borderline, it once again finds also explore with my sextet.”
Charette exploring tones, textures and tweaked On recent SteepleChase sessions with bari-
harmonies in the exposed setting of solo organ. tone saxophonist Ronnie Cuber and harmon-
Recorded live, the 12-track Beyond ica ace Yvonnick Prené, Charette made less
Borderline is another unconventional offering audacious choices. “I was playing more of a sup-
from the unorthodox organist. “I think at this porting role on those records and being a lit-
point, it’s safe to say that I am the black sheep of tle more conservative with my tone choic-
the B3,” he laughed. es and drawbar settings,” he explained. “These
Aside from gorgeous renditions of Billy Messiaenic harmonies can be a bit off-putting
Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge” and Duke for traditionalists. But on my own projects, like
Ellington’s “Prelude To A Kiss,” all of the other Beyond Borderline, I’m going against the grain.
tunes on Beyond Borderline are Charette origi- I’m trying to give an alternative approach to the
nals. “Silicone Doll” is his sly nod to Ellington’s traditional Hammond B3 organ sound, but I
“Satin Doll,” while “5th Of Rye” is a medita- don’t want to make it seem like I’m anti-Jimmy
tion on the fifth interval. Both “Wish List” and Smith or anti-tradition. I just have all these var-
“Girls” use the harmonic language of contempo- ied interests—traditional organ, classical piano,
rary classical composer Olivier Messiaen, while Olivier Messiaen, electronic music—and I’m try-
“Hungarian Bolero” is based on a Romani har- ing to combine them together in a very person-
mony. “There’s more notes in Messiaen’s scales al way.”
so there’s, in effect, more possibilities for chords,” It’s Charette’s “oddball” choices, he believes,
Charette explained. “And because I’m playing that separate him from the pack. “If you listen
unaccompanied, the songs go wherever the har- to Joey DeFrancesco, this is the best Hammond
mony takes me.” organist there has ever been, in my opinion. And
In spite of the potent harmonic nature of his there’s no way that I can compete with him on
tunes, walking bass lines and syncopa- that level. So, I’m trying to find a voice for myself
tion are still very evident on the jaunty medi- that makes me easily identifiable.”
um-tempo swinger “Girls,” the uptempo burn- “I think my music sometimes leaves people
er “Good Tipper” and the smoking “Public scratching their heads a little bit, especially if
Transportation.” they’re accustomed to a more traditional har-
“I don’t want my music to be overly cerebral monic and sonic approach to organ music,” he
or pretentious,” said the Connecticut native and said. “I’m trying to find a perfect balance where
longtime New York City resident. “I’m dealing in I can kind of have my own sound without alien-
these kinds of heady concepts, but I’m trying to ating people. And I’m always trying to do these
deliver them in a way that is easily digestible and things gently, without pushing it too hard.”
not snobby.” —Bill Milkowski

16 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Jennings Amps up
Social Engagement
JEROME JENNINGS STAYS FOCUSED ON HIS

JOHN ABBOTT
goals. After getting his start in his home state of
Ohio, he earned degrees from Rutgers University
and The Juilliard School and is now firm-
ly ensconced on the New York scene, having
earned a reputation as a creative drummer who’s
up for just about anything. Jennings has worked
with legends ranging from Sonny Rollins, Benny
Golson and Hank Jones to Earth, Wind & Fire
vocalist Philip Bailey. “It’s surreal,” he said of get-
ting summoned for high-profile projects, “but
you can’t get too caught up in the call, because
you have work to do.”
In recent years, Jennings has begun to assert
himself as a leader. His first album, 2016’s The
Beast (Iola), showcased a band made up of long-
time friends and collaborators, including trum-
peter Sean Jones, tenor saxophonist Howard
Wiley, trombonist Dion Tucker, pianist Christian
Sands and bassist Christian McBride, with vocal-
ist Jazzmeia Horn dropping in for a version of the
standard “You Don’t Know What Love Is.” Jerome Jennings
Although it presented itself as a straightfor-
ward hard-bop record with one surprising Josh Evans, saxophonist Stacy Dillard, trombon-
track—a beautiful arrangement of New Edition’s ist Andrae Murchison and pianist Zaccai Curtis.
1984 r&b hit “Cool It Now”—The Beast wrapped Only McBride returns from The Beast. Given the
a social message inside hardcore acoustic jazz. It subject matter, Jennings wanted female voices
included a blazing version of Freddie Hubbard’s represented, so he invited guest saxophonists Tia
“The Core,” written as a tribute to the Congress Fuller and Camille Thurman and bassist Endea
of Racial Equality, and the title piece was inspired Owens. “If you do a record that’s dedicated to
by an encounter Jennings had with the police. women, and women of color, how can you not
The album’s final track, “New Beginnings,” laid have women on the record? You need that ener-
an impassioned speech by actor/activist Jesse gy, because it’s gonna shape things ... and also, I
Williams, from the 2016 BET Awards, over have to have their OK, I feel.”
the music. Thurman, who contributes vocals on “I
“In the liner notes, you’ll see that it deals Love Your Smile,” said, “I was very happy when
with the undercurrent of police violence and he told me that I would be singing this song. I
people who have been caught up in the system, remember hearing and singing it as a child. I also
many times falsely,” Jennings said. “Musically, remember memorizing and scatting Branford’s
I think I got the point across that there’s some- solo. This was a classic for all ’80s babies.”
body out here who still wants to swing and play The most stunning track on Solidarity,
acoustic music, but I also wanted to make a though, is “Convo With Senator Flowers.”
social statement.” Jennings sets a speech by Arkansas Sen.
His new album, Solidarity (Iola), is even Stephanie Flowers, protesting open-carry gun
more socially engaged than its predecessor. laws, to a drum solo. It wasn’t an improvisation,
The new tracks carry dedications to prominent though; it was a painstakingly crafted composi-
female and LGBTQ figures, including murdered tion. “This was probably one of the most chal-
Brazilian politician Marielle Franco, philosopher lenging pieces I’ve ever gotten together,” Jennings
Audre Lorde and transgender activist Marsha said, “because it’s not an exercise—you’re actu-
P. Johnson. Jennings includes Dizzy Gillespie’s ally playing the rhythm of someone’s speech. It
“Bebop” to root the music in jazz history and took me a while to work that up. It was very much
Shanice’s 1991 r&b hit “I Love Your Smile”— premeditated and methodical.” It fits with the
the original recording of which featured a saxo- rest of Solidarity in that he’s foregrounding wom-
phone solo from Branford Marsalis—for some- en’s narratives and, in this case, a woman’s actual
thing more modern. voice, lending support without ever dominating
The band on Solidarity includes trumpeter the conversation. —Philip Freeman

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 17

 European Scene / BY PETER MARGASAK

Seeking New Contexts

Adversity has been a steady motivator in the

SISY CECYLIA
career of Polish trumpeter Tomasz Dabrows-
ki, starting with his early desire to play the
saxophone. When he was 13, he signed up for
the school band in Rozental, a small village of
800 located 30 miles from Gdansk. But upon
learning that all of the saxophone chairs had
been filled, he accepted trumpet as an alter-
native, a decision that ultimately changed his
life. He wouldn’t be exposed to jazz for anoth-
er year or two, hearing some traditional jazz
performances at a nearby festival. But he said
he already possessed the inquisitiveness to
improvise. “I was interested in improvisation
since a young age,” he explained. “I guess I
always liked doing things my way, and figur-
ing out how to do stuff on my own terms.”
Some 20 years later, Dabrowski is one of
Europe’s more versatile and curious players,
a musician eager to challenge himself with
shifting contexts and self-imposed limita-
tions. Since relocating to Denmark in 2008
to study at Syddansk Musikkonservatorium
on Odense—he later moved to Copenhagen, Tomasz Dabrowski
where he still lives, earning a master’s degree
at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory—he said. “I simply get bored with too much of
steadily has initiated new projects and col- one thing, one band, one concept.”
laborative situations, revealing his range and That thinking also led Dabrowski to New
broad interests. York, where he arranged fruitful recording
But it hasn’t been easy. Upon enter- sessions with percussionist Tyshawn Sorey
ing high school in Warsaw, Dabrowski was (Steps), and a trio with pianist Kris Davis and
forced to change his embouchure, essen- drummer Andrew Drury (Vermilion Tree), as
tially sidelining him from playing for almost well as travels to Japan, where he formed the
three years. “It was so bad, I remember my quartet Ad Hoc. “After all my experiences in
lips bleeding one time during a gig,” he re- the U.S.A., Japan and Europe, I noticed that
called. While he achieved success locally, one-time projects are good to try things out,
winning a competition (juried by, among and to play with incredible players,” he said.
others, the saxophonist Zbigniew Namys- “I also noticed the best music comes out if I
lowski) that afforded him the opportunity to play with people I trust. So, I started making
study in Odense, he still struggled financially bands with people who can practice with
and culturally in expensive, privileged Den- me, who I feel a connection to, because that
mark, learning the language and adapting takes the music to a whole different level.”
on the fly. That belief is manifested on two recent
While Dabrowski had a network of col- recordings. First Nature (Barefoot) by Ocean
laborators in Warsaw, he had to forge a new Fanfare is a richly nuanced, darkly melodic
circle of partners in Copenhagen. “I started post-bop quartet with alto saxophonist Sven
my own groups because nobody asked me Dam Meinild, bassist Richard Andersson and
to play with them,” he said. “Now, it’s a com- drummer Peter Bruun, where the smolder-
pletely different story, but I definitely had ing, interactive aesthetic of Dave Douglas’
to pay my dues.” Starting with the Tom Trio bands is clear in Dabrowsky’s tensile, creamy
and eventually disparate quartets like Ocean tone. When I Come Across (Audio Cave), the
Fanfare and FREE4ARTS, he forged dynamic second album from his quartet FREE4ARTS
combos to interpret different sides of his mu- with Meinild, guitarist Simon Krebs and
sical personality. But a key facet of his explo- drummer Kasper Tom, draws from moody
ration is to perpetually try new things, such indie-rock in its flinty energy, while maintain-
as launching a solo project five years ago— ing a rigorous improvisational ethic.
organizing 30 concerts in 30 different cities Even as he’s focused on these projects,
across 12 European countries, resulting in the Dabrowski remains dedicated to new things.
aptly named 2016 album 30th Birthday/30 “Reinventing myself over and over again,
Concerts/30 Cities (Barefoot). that’s what I want—finding new questions,
“My nature is to constantly change,” he new contexts.” DB

18 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 PHILIP K. HOWARD
Aaron Weinstein’s new album is a trio project titled 3x3.

In Weinstein’s Sets,
Jazz and Comedy Mix
IT’S OFTEN NOTED THAT JAZZ MUSICIANS Weinstein’s parents gave him his first violin
and stand-up comedians have certain similarities: when he was 9. “Then I got a Joe Venuti record
a need for split-second timing, an emphasis on when I was about 13,” recalled the mostly self-
improvisation, an air of spontaneity that masks taught player. “It changed everything. ... That was
years of practice. It’s exceedingly rare, however, to the first time I had heard jazz and jazz violin. Had
find someone who excels at both—that is to say, I heard Coltrane previously, it would have been a
someone like jazz violinist Aaron Weinstein. whole different thing.”
The bow-tied and bespectacled Weinstein, In his junior year of high school, Weinstein
34, is in love with swing, hot-jazz and vintage sent a demo to Bucky and John Pizzarelli, ask-
songs, which he plays with élan and chops rem- ing for some feedback. He got more than he bar-
iniscent of his violin heroes: Joe Venuti, Stéphane gained for: an invitation to sit in on a gig with
Grappelli, Stuff Smith and Svend Asmussen. Bucky. The guitarist then proceeded to invite the
Weinstein, who topped the category Rising teenager to play a show with him the week after
Star–Violin in the 2019 DownBeat Critics Poll, is that, and Weinstein was off to the races.
equally adept on mandolin. He also makes quirky During his four years at Boston’s Berklee
short films and sprinkles his sets with a deadpan, College of Music, which Weinstein attended on
brainy humor that plays with the limits of the a merit-based scholarship, he commuted to New
musician-fan relationship and pokes fun at his York on weekends to play gigs, often with one of
own image. In his five-minute animated film Say the Pizzarellis.
What? A Geriatric Proposition, he begins by not- Since then, Weinstein has worked to carve
ing that he frequently hears, “You know, you look out a unique niche in the annals of musicians who
like you just came from your bar mitzvah.” The do comedy. “With Jack Benny, the punch line was
film then relates the story of an elderly woman his bad violin playing, the ‘tragedy’ of the playing.
fan who makes a highly inappropriate suggestion Victor Borge was so great, too, but all his comedy
at the reception following one of his concerts. at the piano was at the expense of the piano.
On his sixth leader album, 3x3 (Chesky), “Although my music is serious, the time
Weinstein plays live in the studio with fellow onstage in between the music doesn’t need to be.
swing enthusiasts—guitarist Matt Munisteri and It’s part of the performance. ... The audience is
bassist Tom Hubbard—covering vintage tunes there to be entertained.”
like “Chinatown, My Chinatown,” “Nola” and In a phone interview, Munisteri, a first-call
“Makin’ Whoopee.” guitarist who, among many other gigs, is the
“I don’t really see any of this repertoire as music director for singer Catherine Russell, said,
antique,” explained Weinstein, who showed up “Any chance I get to play a gig with Aaron means
for the interview in Chesky’s New York office that not only do we get to play music, but we get to
impeccably attired in his customary neckwear, sit around backstage and make one another gag
a plaid shirt and contrasting plaid jacket. “The with laughter. Aaron will really push—even if he’s
dividing line between so-called ‘old’ and ‘mod- played two choruses that were great, he’ll go for a
ern’ music is funny,” he mused. “Is ‘Giant Steps’ third to try to top himself. Playing with him is like
old? If someone is playing something right now, driving a sports car: You know that if you push
I think there’s nothing more modern than that.” him harder, he’ll go further.” —Allen Morrison

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 19

 Alexander Interprets Holiday

MARK SHELDON
Dee Alexander explores the more obscure songs of Billie Holiday on her latest Delmark release.

“I CAN’T REMEMBER A TIME WHEN BILLIE arranged for the octet’s five horns and rhythm sec-
Holiday’s music wasn’t in my life,” says Dee tion, plus a string sextet to showcase Alexander’s
Alexander, the Chicago singer who collaborates unflinching power, the album starts with a rous-
with the Metropolitan Jazz Octet on It’s Too Hot ing “Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do,” then turns
For Words: Celebrating Billie Holiday (Delmark). to other upbeat and optimistic connections. The
“As a child, my mother played her records, and I finale is an optimistic, Depression-era ditty in
awakened to Billie Holiday many mornings.” which Alexander avows, “My heart keeps singing
Alexander, locally renown for decades of per- I love you/ 24 hours a day.”
formances in an ever-expanding array of con- The octet veers between intimate chamber
texts, and heard as a host on the syndicated group sounds and bold little-big-band state-
WFMT Radio Network, shared a story about ments. Throughout, Alexander exudes warmth,
waking up as a child and going to find her moth- conviction, rhythmic certainty, precise diction
er. “I came into the kitchen in my little onesie, and hard-earned effortlessness. Her tonality is
rubbing my eyes and asking, ‘Why was that lady pure, rich and comforting, especially in her low
cryning?’—I said ‘cryning,’ not ‘crying’—about and middle ranges. “I want you to feel like you’re
her man? What did he do to her?’” The lyric was in your soft, fuzzy robe when you’re listening to
from Holiday’s blues “Fine And Mellow”: “My me, like you just came out of the shower or out of
man don’t love me/ He treats me awful mean.” the bath and are cozy,” she says. “I’m always try-
“We all know Billie suffered that,” Alexander ing for the honey in my voice.”
acknowledges, but Lady Day’s famous songs “Dee is able to pull off just about anything
of mistreatment and despair aren’t among the you ask of her,” says Gailloreto, who was wowed
10 tracks she and MJO tenor saxophonist and by Alexander upon first exposure in late 2017, and
co-leader Jim Gailloreto chose to interpret anew. hopes Too Hot For Words is just the beginning of
“I wanted to sing positive lyrics, like ‘Things their association. “She can scat, sing at a whisper,
Are Looking Up,’” she says. And indeed, It’s Too or can make you cry. We did a lot of test record-
Hot For Words reforms the Holiday narrative by ings with her and a piano, so the arrangers could
focusing on the vocalist’s self-assertions, roman- get a sense of the emotions she was going for, and
tic yearnings and simple joys. it was pretty easy to write after that. We’d learn
“I was on the hunt for more obscure music by what the song was about for her, just based on
Billie,” explains Alexander, who came up in her voice, and do a treatment. She’s also fearless,
the 1970s working with rock and r&b bands, totally willing to go in directions that are unique
advanced to on-the-job training with members of to the situation.” An example is Alexander’s sur-
the AACM and spent 10 years in the late pianist prise shift from montuno to swing at the peak of
Ken Chaney’s soulful Xperience. Since then, she’s “Too Hot For Words.”
become a leader in her own right and a sought- Considering there’s other Holiday repertoire
after collaborator. “I wanted songs that people suited for similar Dee Alexander-MJO attention,
weren’t so familiar with, keeping in mind at the might there be a volume two? “It’s a strong pos-
same time that people want to hear songs by Billie sibility,” the singer says. “But I’m also focused on
they are familiar with.” a special project of original material with John
So, while “Strange Fruit,” with its horrific McLean, the guitarist. Because I have my own
description of a lynching, is a central track, story to tell.” —Howard Mandel

20 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 MARK WILSON
Nick Grondin’s new album is titled A View Of Earth.

Grondin Promotes
Cultural Diplomacy
AT THIS YEAR’S UMBRIA JAZZ FESTIVAL, cautious in honoring his spirit, but I did add my
Nick Grondin made his mark without even lift- own ideas to make it more jazz, to swing it with
ing his guitar. He served as the conductor for an a half-time feel and extend the harmony.”
ensemble of six Italian guitar students express- Grondin has an impressive academic
ing themselves on John Scofield’s “Do Like resume, too. He attended the EDIM music
Eddie” and two of his own tunes. school in Paris, earned his bachelor’s from
A Berklee College of Music guitar faculty Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and
member for the past seven years, Grondin received a master’s in jazz composition from
serves as an instructor at the Berklee at Umbria New England Conservatory of Music in 2008.
Jazz Clinics, whose participants traditionally This spring, he earned his doctorate of musical
strut their stuff in a performance at the end of arts from NEC.
the annual festival in Perugia, Italy. Grondin also spent two years at Harvard
“For two intense weeks before the show, we University teaching jazz harmony and jazz
built the repertoire and then worked on how to improvisation classes, where he learned a valu-
create the music in new and exciting ways with able lesson from Herbie Hancock, who was
rhythm cycles, harmonic changes, improvi- delivering a lecture series there: the importance
sation and dynamics,” Grondin said from his of jazz being an art of cultural diplomacy.
home in the Boston area. “But the most exciting “At Berklee, I applied for a grant to record
thing is showing the beauty of combining ele- an album,” he said. “In my application, I wrote
ments and learning how to play together with- about my conversation with Herbie, as well
out border crossings.” as my experience at the Panama Jazz Festival,
The student band played the journey-like where I coached and mentored Panamanian
“Softline” from Grondin’s new album, A students, as well as taught them a master class.”
View Of Earth (Everybody Wins Music). The Grondin received the grant, which set into
10-song collection melds rock, folk and con- motion two days of studio time (with engineer-
temporary jazz, layered with luminous colors, ing thrown into the mix) with an ensemble that
time shifts and plenty of saxophone gusto. The included many of his Boston friends, as well as
styles move fluidly, such as on the melodic gem guests.
“Ships Passing” with wordless vocals by Aubrey Valuable support on A View Of Earth came
Johnson, followed by “Everybody Wins,” which from pianist/keyboardist Jon Cowherd, who
opens as a bluegrass-tinged rockabilly cook- appears on six of the 10 tracks. “I had known
er with skipping drums before settling into an Nick for a few years before he called me to play
intriguing arrangement for piano, trumpet, and help produce this session,” said Cowherd.
saxophone and guitar. “Nick surrounded himself with the perfect folks
Grondin also sings and scats Jimi Hendrix’s for the job—great soloists but also team players,
“Little Wing.” which is what it takes to pull off a project like
“Jimi was my original guitar hero,” he said. this: musicians whose goal is creating beauty
“I admired him so much, the way he innovated. together and not merely to impress as individ-
This may be his deepest song. So, we had to be ual soloists.” —Dan Ouellette

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 21

Berlin Fest, Deventer Take Bold Risks
HALFWAY THROUGH COMPOSER AND

MONIKA KARCZMARCZYK
multi-instrumentalist Anthony Braxton’s six-
hour opening performance at Jazzfest Berlin,
I saw a guy who looked a little lost, and asked
him how he was feeling.
“I’m not bored but not entirely engaged
either,” he said. “All I can do is keep finding
ways to experience it.”
He disappeared like a nomad into the wil-
derness of Braxton’s Sonic Genome event at
Berlin’s Gropius Bau museum—the project’s
third performance after Vancouver in 2010 and
Turin in 2015. Sonic Genome involved 60 inter-
national musicians playing 500 of Braxton’s
compositions as they formed, dispersed and
reformed into fresh ensembles and traveled
throughout the museum. For the listener, this
created a cabinet of mirrors, with spectators Saxophonist Anthony Braxton (left) performs Nov. 3
with his Zim Music ensemble during Jazzfest Berlin.
themselves moving around the space, choosing
where to listen and look, and what to listen and In a public talk, Braxton described Sonic entire festival. In 2018, Deventer’s initial year
look for. Music came from behind and above, Genome as an avant-garde theme park à la as the festival’s first woman director, she pro-
below and beside. The breakdown of any uni- Disneyland, aimed at the “friendly experiencer” grammed music in unfamiliar spaces, shaking
fied perspective or ensemble and the necessity who might be uninitiated but curious. Braxton up expectations. In this 2019 edition, which ran
of joining manifold transient communities in also called 42-year-old Jazzfest Berlin Artistic Oct. 31–Nov. 3, Deventer took the radical next
the performance was meant to act as an anti- Director Nadin Deventer a “visionary and an step of interrogating how artists create utopian
dote to tribalism and present a utopian model activist”—and his Sonic Genome concept put and practical spaces for themselves, and crafted
for an ideal society. Yes, it was that deep. forces in motion that carried throughout the a related program of immersion and collectivity

22 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

that extended from audience placement to the theme similarly harked back to the Berlin Wall my audience scan showed Braxton’s Zim Music
music itself. era, when communes and artist collectives pro- producing many furrowed brows. On the other
That involved some bold risks. Experimental liferated. Artists explored this theme in a fes- hand, the hr-Bigband’s Ornette Coleman trib-
seating in the Haus der Berliner Festspiele’s tival discussion led by Emma Warren, who ute featuring pianist Joachim Kühn and clari-
main space broke with the convention of strict commented on the importance of London’s netist Michel Portal received fulsome applause,
audience and artist separation. Onstage seat- homespun Total Refreshment Centre venue to which might have had as much to do with the
ing beside and behind performers, along with the city’s improvised music scene. Angel Bat show’s familiarity as its quality. After so much
lounging floor pads in place of the tradition- Dawid spoke about the AACM’s influence on demanding abstraction and unchartered terri-
al front-row seats, gave the audience unusu- her own Chicago-based Participatory Music tory, this user-friendly big band program—an
al angles and proximity that threw spectator- Coalition—and when she gave some powerful- irony, given Ornette Coleman’s one-time agita-
ship and listening into question. This audience ly emotional testimony on her uniqueness as a tion of the jazz order—treated the older festival
immersion also resulted in some sound issues black woman in the room, it might have been audience to the rare nostalgia of relatively tra-
and sightline trouble—my view was dominat- the most profound performance of the festival. ditional instrumentation, virtuosic solo passag-
ed by the grand piano’s raised lid one night— Of course, jazz is itself a collective art form, es and passive spectatorship that required only
reminding us that conventional concert halls and Deventer carefully programmed groups clapping at customary moments.
were designed as distraction-free spaces where whose music interrogated notions of uto- During my own wayfaring at the six-hour
the most wholly absorbed listening is possible. pia and collectivism. The most successful of Sonic Genome event, a seat in one of the muse-
Still, the seating experiment was worth minor these included a performance of Ambrose um’s dark video rooms proved fatal to my jet
hassles, because it put us in conversation with Akinmusire’s celebrated Origami Harvest lag. I woke 10 minutes later when two attendees
abstract improvisation or at least brought us album, which combined a string quartet, small- raised their voices in an argument about wheth-
closer to it. group jazz improv and hip-hop in an ever-shift- er you can call Braxton’s music “jazz.” That
Deventer’s merging of audience and per- ing blend that progressed beyond Third Stream hoary old chestnut of a debate missed the point,
formers felt like a nod to the concurrent 30th music into a fourth stream of styles that reached though having dreamt through a few minutes
anniversary of the Berlin Wall’s fall. Echoes the mind, body, heart and soul. And Braxton’s of the utopian experiment felt just right. I went
of Berlin’s storied permissiveness during the second performance, with his Zim Music back to the musical action refreshed and ready
Weimar cabaret era and late 20th-century club ensemble, presented a one-hour septet chamber to help build Braxton and Jazzfest Berlin’s wak-
culture were heard and seen in the festival’s wild improvisation of ordered freedom that churned ing dream. That was really the only choice—
mainstage Late Night Labs and Quasimodo abstract phrases with warmth and humor, espe- this year, a festivalgoer had to find the integrity
club shows like James Brandon Lewis’ Unruly cially in his own multi-instrumental playing. to create her own place in events.
Quintet. Deventer’s festival-defining collective Most of this music wasn’t easy listening— —Michelle Mercer

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 23

 F
or 35 years, Blakey’s vehicle was the Jazz Messengers; their with all four limbs. He was doing it before anybody was.”
message remains as vibrant as ever in the year of the leader’s Peterson, the last drummer to share the bandstand with Blakey,
centennial. Tribute bands led by acolytes Ralph Peterson, Carl recently elaborated on the characteristics that differentiated his men-
Allen and Lewis Nash continue to channel Blakey’s mojo on Messenger tor from generational contemporaries like Roach and Haynes. On
repertoire by notable alumni such as Benny Golson, Wayne Shorter, the previous evening at Manhattan’s Jazz Standard, he’d led the
Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Curtis Fuller and Bobby Watson. Messenger Legacy Sextet, including alumni Brian Lynch (trumpet),
New releases help extend Blakey’s legacy. Our Father Who Art Bill Pierce (tenor saxophone), Robin Eubanks (trombone) and Essiet
Blakey: The Centennial (Summit) is the second big band homage by Essiet (bass) through two rousing sets. As on the 2019 release Legacy
Valery Ponomarev, a trumpeter on numerous Messengers albums Alive (Onyx)—with Watson on alto saxophone and ex-Messenger
between 1977 and 1980. And on Children Of Art (Capri), guitarist Geoffrey Keezer on piano—they projected the admixture of primal
Joshua Breakstone (not a Messenger) interprets tunes by ex-members. energy, intellectual clarity, high science and unrelenting swing that
Labels, too, are capitalizing on Blakey’s brand. Austria’s In+Out informed the elite Jazz Messengers editions.
Records is reissuing the long-out-of-print The Art Of Jazz, document- “The size of Art’s beat is one thing,” Peterson said. “The strength of
ing Blakey’s 70th birthday concert in Leverkusen, Germany, by a large his hi-hat is another. But conceptually, it’s how he’d set up phras-
ensemble that mixed the contemporaneous 1989 Jazz Messengers es and ensemble sections—big band drumming in a small group set-
with a cohort of Messenger immortals and Blakey’s old friend Roy ting. Not that he was constantly coming up with new things to play, but
Haynes, who propels much of the proceedings. In early 2020, Blue his placement and timing, his sense of drama and theater within the
Note plans to release Just Coolin’, a previously unissued studio date framework of the music, were always fresh, contemporary and in the
from March 8, 1959, with the same personnel—Morgan on trumpet, moment. When you think about all the music he played from memory,
DownBeat Hall of Fame inductee Hank Mobley on tenor saxophone, the amount of brainpower could probably power a small city.”
Bobby Timmons on piano and Jymie Merritt on bass—who made the “He was a master of getting to the listener’s ear what he was feeling
classic live album At The Jazz Corner Of The World five weeks later. inside,” said Kendrick Scott, who has absorbed Blakey’s precepts
Blakey’s five-star drumming was the core of his immense footprint. through a long association with trumpeter and Messenger alumnus
“Art could reach inside your emotions,” Golson said on WKCR in 1996. Terence Blanchard. “His Gretsch drums were the optimal sound for
“There was no wasted effort when he played. It was meaningful, logi- jazz; his vocabulary is baked into the lexicon of jazz drumming. You
cal and sounded fantastic—the epitome of swinging. His style was such can’t not go through Art Blakey if you want to play jazz drums.”
that you didn’t want to hear or play with any other style.” Former Messenger Branford Marsalis praised Blakey’s “ear for
The day after Blakey died, Max Roach, who wasn’t predisposed to melody and photographic memory,” which he applied toward estab-
hyperbole, told The New York Times: “Art was an original. He’s the lishing an apropos drum part for every tune.
only drummer whose time I recognize immediately. His signature “I’d have an idea of what I wanted when I brought something in, but
style was amazing; we called him ‘Thunder.’ When I met Art on 52nd Art played it the way he felt it, and it worked,” pianist Donald Brown
Street in 1944, he was already playing polyrhythms independently said. “His mix of patterns made you know it was Art Blakey. His press

24 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 Art Blakey performs at a 1955 Jazz JANUARY 2020 show
Messengers DOWNBEAT 25 club.
at a Bronx
(Photo: Francis Wolff ©Mosaic Images LLC/mosaicrecordsimages.com)
 FRANCIS WOLFF ©MOSAIC IMAGES LLC/
MOSAICRECORDSIMAGES.COM
Roy Haynes (left), Blakey and Philly Joe Jones on Nov. 2, 1958,
during a session for Drums Around The Corner.

roll sounded like a rubber band being stretched— responded to emotional imperatives. In a 1987 was impressed by Blakey’s skills and took him
when he released it, it intensified the groove.” interview, he said that he’d raised 14 children, to New York’s Kelly’s Stables with a sextet.
Equally consequential to Blakey’s legacy are some biological, some adopted. “I was an orphan,” Subsequently, he led a group at Boston’s Tic Toc
his contributions as a bandleader and teacher, as Blakey said. “I like a family—it gives me some- Club and toured with Fletcher Henderson.
Roach implied by stating, “Art was a great man, thing to live for. I learn from the kids. When the In 1944, Dizzy Gillespie recruited Blakey to
which influenced everybody around him.” young guys come in the band, I learn from them.” play drums with Billy Eckstine’s bebop big
From 1955—when Blakey and pianist Horace To be specific: Blakey’s father abandoned his band, whose soloists included Gillespie, Charlie
Silver co-led the inaugural Jazz Messengers with mother during pregnancy. She gave birth to Blakey Parker, Fats Navarro, Dexter Gordon and Gene
Mobley, trumpeter Kenny Dorham (replaced on Oct. 11, 1919, in Pittsburgh. She died when he Ammons. “I was doing funny stuff on drums,
in 1956 by Donald Byrd) and bassist Doug was 6 months old. Blakey was raised by his moth- trying to play shuffle rhythms,” Blakey said in
Watkins—until his final, 1990 unit with Lynch, er’s cousin, a Seventh Day Adventist. Her home had Gillespie’s 1979 memoir, To Be, or Not ... To Bop.
Keezer and Essiet, he recruited cream-of-the-crop a piano, which he learned to play. At 13, he learned “He stopped me ... and said, ‘We want you to play
young improvisers with strong compositional of the adoption and responded by leaving home. your drums the way you play them.’”
skills, channeled their individualism into serving After a few months working in a steel mill, he Blakey’s page-turning conception rendered
the group sound and molded them into leaders. parlayed his piano skills and can-do attitude the rhythmic innovations of bebop with the
Circa 2019, Blakey’s collective personnel con- into a gig at a local club. A few years later, the dynamic control and showmanship of Webb and
stitute a who’s who of mainstream jazz expres- owner ordered Blakey to switch to drums after Sid Catlett, his lodestars. In 1947, the drummer
sion. The list includes trumpeters Charles Pittsburgher Erroll Garner sat in on a tune. For performed on Thelonious Monk’s first Blue Note
Tolliver, Woody Shaw, Eddie Henderson, Wynton the next several years, Blakey learned on the recordings, as well as important bebop dates by
Marsalis and Wallace Roney; saxophonists Jackie job, which spanned after-hours sets and break- Navarro, Gordon and James Moody, and played
McLean, Gary Bartz, Carlos Garnett, David fast jams, applying advice from local drum men in an octet iteration of the Jazz Messengers.
Schnitter, Donald Harrison, Kenny Garrett and (among them Kenny Clarke) to the nuances of Blakey (aka Abdullah Ibn Buhaina) spent
Javon Jackson; trombonists Steve Turre, Slide directing a show from the drum chair. much of 1948 and early 1949 in Africa, absorbing
Hampton and Steve Davis; pianists Walter Davis Conflicting chronologies trace Blakey’s path drum language and Islamic philosophy. He then
Jr., John Hicks, Keith Jarrett, McCoy Tyner, James from local hero to international avatar, but a like- re-established himself in New York.
Williams, Mulgrew Miller and Benny Green; ly scenario is as follows: During the latter 1930s, By 1950, he was a frequent presence at
and bassists Reggie Workman, Buster Williams, Blakey met drum master Chick Webb, who took Birdland, as captured on several dynamic air-
Charles Fambrough and Peter Washington. him under his wing, and demonstrated prop- checks. As the decade progressed, he documented
On one recording, Blakey remarked, “I’m er execution of the force-of-nature press roll that several collaborative drum summits with Afro-
going to stay with the youngsters—it keeps the would be a signature component of his flow. Caribbean masters, and fueled landmark releases
mind active.” Pragmatic motivations, not least of In 1942, Pittsburgh native Mary Lou by, among others, Monk, Mobley, Dorham, Miles
them financial, fueled his career-long predispo- Williams—who’d returned home after a decade- Davis, Sonny Rollins, Herbie Nichols, Horace
sition to work with young musicians, but he also plus with Andy Kirk’s Twelve Clouds of Joy— Silver, Lou Donaldson and Clifford Brown.

26 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 In 1954, Blakey joined forces with the latter different. When he did, it was something special Although Blakey’s comportment during his
three players on the spectacular location date vis-à-vis what happened before.” golden years was not exactly equivalent to the
Night At Birdland. In the aftermath, Blakey and As Workman added, Blakey, who lived as persona of, say, Fred Rogers, he had, Workman
Silver consolidated with a more curated unit hard as he played, “had his habits over the years,” observed, “matured as a person.”
whose three bellwether albums set a template and could behave unreliably and obstreperous- “I’d heard stories about how intense Art
for the emerging approach dubbed hard-bop, ly when in their thrall. “He was an institution,” could be, but he wasn’t like that with us,” Pierce
where practitioners rendered bebop vocabu- Workman said. “He’d been through every band, said. “He was a great manipulator. He was gift-
lary with a hard-blowing, blues-tinged, churchy every situation, the ups and downs, yin and yang. ed at seeing what people needed to feel, so that
feel. When they parted ways in 1956, Blakey A lot of us went through it with him. He kept that he could get the most out of them. But I think he
appropriated the Jazz Messengers title. institution together, and created a structure that genuinely thought, ‘These are young, dumb ass-
For the next two years, Blakey led several enabled many of the young players who came holes; I’d better help them out.’ The earlier guys
energetic but unfocused units. In 1958, he along to find themselves in the music business.” were more or less his peers, or at least they tried
formed another benchmark band with Golson, After the sextet disbanded, Blakey led short- to behave that way. We didn’t see ourselves as
who recruited fellow Philadelphians Morgan, lived units during the ensuing decade, none of Art’s peers. We wanted to be in the company of
the great man and learn as much as we could.”
“Art taught in the Socratic manner,” Branford

‘Blakey’s vocabulary is Marsalis said. “He’d force you to think, and

through thinking, you arrive at the answer.”
“He mirrored your personality back at you,”

baked into the lexicon of Harrison said. “If you were selfish, Art might
show you that you’re selfish. He’d paid attention
to all the people he’d been around. He told me:

jazz drumming.’ —Kendrick Scott ‘When you get your band, make sure you real-
ize every person is different, and don’t lose them.
Figure them out, and nurture them until they get
where they’re going.’ He told me things about the
Timmons and Merritt. That configuration sufficient duration to develop a distinctive iden- alto saxophone that nobody else ever told me—
made an LP titled Art Blakey And The Jazz tity until a 1975–’77 edition with Ponomarev how to play with a trumpeter, how to play dynam-
Messengers, which later would be known simply and Schnitter, which played new Walter Davis ics, how to use your throat. You’d have thought he
as Moanin’, after Timmons’ now-iconic open- Jr. compositions like “Uranus,” “Backgammon” was a saxophone teacher.”
ing tune. On the album, Golson tailored his and “Jodi.” In 1977, Blakey recruited Watson and Donald Brown recalled a rehearsal when
compositions “Blues March” and “Along Came James Williams, and encouraged them to write. Blakey deployed his piano background: “Art
Betty” in ways that expanded Blakey’s timbral Bill Pierce soon joined the mix. asked if I could voice the chord to give it more
palette across the entire drum kit, establishing They were still Messengers in 1980, as was weight. I wasn’t sure what he was talking about,
the orchestrational attitude that would inform Fambrough, when 18-year-old Wynton Marsalis so he came over and demonstrated. For him to do
the Jazz Messengers aesthetic until the end. replaced Ponomarev on the front line. With a book that was a lesson you can’t put a price on.”
In fall 1959, Shorter assumed the tenor sax- that mixed old standbys with new tunes featuring Still, Blakey mentored most effectively from
ophone and music director chairs. He remained ’70s harmonies and beat structures (e.g., Watson’s the drum chair, backing up words with deeds.
until summer 1964 (when he joined Miles “In Case You Missed It,” Williams’ “Soulful Mr. “He’d talk you through your solo, saying things
Davis); during his tenure, Blakey refined and Timmons”), the Jazz Messengers were again syn- like ‘play the blues’ or ‘double up,’ giving guidance
expanded the format. Paired with Morgan on chronous with the zeitgeist—an aspirational land- on how to make your moves,” Harrison said.
the front line, Shorter contributed a string of ing spot for the best and brightest players. “Playing with him and having him interpret
now-classic tunes (among them “Lester Left “The challenge was to tailor what we were lis- my music was simultaneously experiencing
Town,” “This Is For Albert,” “Ping Pong”) that tening to into something that this man who had a something you’ve listened to and idolized, while
captured Blakey’s elemental funkiness while proven formula would play,” Watson said. “It was participating in real time,” Lynch remarked.
postulating allusive, captivating, highbrow har- open; Art depended on his composers. I’d sneak “Then you have a challenge of playing and listen-
monic content. When Blakey shifted to a three- some Trane changes into my tunes, because Art ing. He’s like: ‘You can take it up to here, but if
horn configuration in 1961, Shorter took full wasn’t going to play a Coltrane tune.” you can’t take it further, I will run over you and
advantage of the new possibilities, while band- “It’s interesting to see the creative tension flatten you like a pancake—but go for it if you
mates Hubbard, Fuller and Cedar Walton engendered by younger musicians trying to bring dare.’ When you got to that level, then the real
added to the mix, contributing pieces (“Down innovations into this packaged format,” Lynch stuff came out, all the extra-special goodies.”
Under,” “The Core,” “A La Mode,” “Mosaic”) said. “You can hear Lee Morgan, Freddie Hubbard, Among the many Blakeyisms that alumni
that remain highlights of the canon. Woody Shaw, Olu Dara, Eddie Henderson, frequently cite is this gem: “This isn’t the post
“Art was dogmatic in how he interpreted Wynton Marsalis, Terence Blanchard, Wallace office.” Indeed, to be a Jazz Messenger was not a
arrangements and wanted to present his Roney ... all of them playing ‘Moanin’.’” lifetime gig. Although it wasn’t always a smooth
band,” Workman said. The 2020 NEA Jazz One draw for the “youngsters,” Pierce process, Blakey also taught by letting go.
Master joined the Messengers in 1962, after a observed, is that “something in Art’s music made “This is not a job,” he told an interviewer in
year with John Coltrane. “He wanted the band you think, ‘Maybe I can do that,’ whereas Miles 1973. “It’s not a right—it’s a privilege from the
to be uniform—well-dressed, well-presented, and Coltrane were a little further away. I won’t say Almighty to be able to play music. We’re only
each set tight—like he’d been used to in his it wasn’t intellectual, but not so much that you had here for a minute, small cogs in a big wheel.
earlier days. We were trying to get Buhaina to to be a deep thinker to enjoy it.” You’re no big deal; so you get up and do your
move with the times, so we gave him arrange- Blakey’s “young lions” frequently depict him very best. You play to the people—not down to
ments that forced him to perform something doling out tough love as a quasi-father figure. the people.” DB

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 27

 28 DOWNBEAT
Charlie Parker JANUARY
performs in New2020
York in 1949.
(Photo: ©Herman Leonard Photography LLC)
I
n the jazz world, Parker is a towering figure, a founding father “When I was in school at Berklee College of Music in the ’80s, peo-
whose only other peer would be Louis Armstrong. It isn’t just ple were walking around with ‘Bird Lives’ T-shirts on. I don’t see that
that bebop, which remains the basis for modern mainstream anymore. Then, people really understood the importance of learning
jazz and a substantial amount of its avant-garde, is essentially his as much history as possible before finding their own sound, or at least
invention; for jazz educators, Parker’s music is what Shakespeare doing it simultaneously. All the modern players that I knew had a deep
is to English teachers, not just a curricular keystone, but a central understanding of Charlie Parker and the repertoire—people like Greg
component in understanding how the language works. It would be Osby and Steve Coleman, though they did not necessarily play that
hard to imagine what the music would sound like had Bird’s com- repertoire or Bird licks.”
positions and recordings never existed. In fairness, it’s worth asking whether Parker himself, had he lived
Yet when Parker died, on March 12, 1955, The New York Times to some ripe old age, wouldn’t also have moved on from the sounds of
responded with a death notice that read more like a police report his youth. Still, Carrington’s observation raises a crucial conundrum:
than a tribute to a musical great. Although the story acknowledged How can Charlie Parker be both historically significant and currently
that Bird was “one of the founders of progressive jazz, or be-bop” and topical? Which parts of his sound and myth have held on, and which
was a “virtuoso of the alto saxophone,” most of the Times’ item was have faded away? How exactly does Bird live in 2020?
devoted to the circumstances of his death, due to lobar pneumonia, Charles Parker Jr. was born on Aug. 29, 1920, in Kansas City,
in the apartment of the Baroness Pannonica de Koenigswarter (aka Kansas. His father, Charles Sr., a Pullman cook, was originally from
Kathleen Annie Pannonica Rothschild). “The police said Mr. Parker Mississippi; his mother, Addie, Charles’ second wife, hailed from
was about 53 years old,” the paper reported. Oklahoma. Addie, by all accounts, was a doting and protective moth-
He was actually just 34. er, while Charles Sr. was a heavy drinker, and frequently absent. By the
While the establishment took little note of Parker’s passing, the time the boy was 10, his parents had split up, with Addie and young
jazz world was in a frenzy of mourning and remembrance. The poet Charlie moving across the river to Kansas City, Missouri.
Ted Joans, who once roomed with Parker, organized a graffiti cam- How Charlie grew up is a story that, often as not, relies mostly on
paign with some friends, plastering alleyways, jazz club washrooms mythology. We can blame him for much of that, as Bird seemed to
and other hipster haunts with a heartfelt message: “Bird Lives!” delight in preying on the credulity of those willing to interview him.
Although in some sense an act of rebellion, insisting that genius like For instance, in an interview published in the Sept. 9, 1949, issue of
his could never be extinguished, the phrase gradually became a jazz DownBeat, Parker told Michael Levin and John S. Wilson that he
credo, a testament to the enduring power of the bop aesthetic. bought his first saxophone at age 11, and that he did so after being
Well, for a few decades, anyway. “Unfortunately, I do not have the inspired by the sound of Rudy Vallée. Other stories have him turning
sense that young players in college learn his music the same way we pro at the prodigious age of 13.
did when learning how to play,” said drummer Terri Lyne Carrington, Perhaps the most accurate account of Parker’s youth can be found
who with alto saxophonist Rudresh Mahanthappa will be co-headlin- in Stanley Crouch’s assiduously researched Kansas City Lightning: The
ing a Charlie Parker-based tour, Fly Higher, through the coming year. Rise and Times of Charlie Parker. Based on decades of research, includ-

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 29

 ing Parker’s legacy today is dealing with the aca-

EDWARD OZERN, DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES

demicizing of his music. Type his name into the
search window on the website of music pub-
lishing/distribution company Hal Leonard, and
more than 200 items come up, ranging from
multiple volumes and versions of the Charlie
Parker Omnibook, each with five dozen tran-
scribed Parker solos, to play-along volumes, to
Charlie Parker for Bass. Thanks to such tools,
players today have an astonishing command of
the bebop idiom. But does that help them under-
stand why and how Parker still matters?
“As far as the jazz education books, that’s
where you see the vital essence of the stuff get
sucked out of it,” Mahanthappa said. “You know,
where something that Charlie Parker played is
presented as a lick that fits over these particu-
lar chords, and you can buy a book where some-
body has transposed that ‘lick’ into 12 different
keys. Suddenly, people are learning jazz that way,
instead of just learning one Charlie Parker tune,
or one Charlie Parker solo by ear. People are try-
ing to learn the stuff out of books without really
Parker accepts a 1950 DownBeat Readers Poll award
for top Alto Saxophonist, presented by DownBeat’s Leonard Feather. checking out the recordings.”
Not Kelly. When she was introduced to
ing extensive interviews with people Parker grew to Bop, recalled that in an earlier essay he had bebop, it was a real ear-opener: “The first thing
up with, Crouch’s version doesn’t mention Vallée. wondered whether Bird’s genius came “in spite I thought was, ‘Wow, I’ve never heard the sax-
Instead, his reporting suggests that Bird didn’t (or because?)” of his drug use. “Drugs do not nec- ophone sound like this.’ The vocabulary was so
really take to the alto until he was at Lincoln High essarily help musicians play better,” he eventually different than what I’d been listening to before,
School, where he quickly rose to first chair in the decided, “but the music could not have been the which was Johnny Hodges and Stan Getz.”
school band. same without everything that went into it. Now I When Kelly started studying Parker’s work,
Cocky and audacious, he was eager to move would take the question mark off ‘because.’” her teacher made sure that she got more than
beyond his school music experience, and when Certainly, there were plenty of players at the just the notes on the page. “We actually worked
he was laughed off the bandstand after his first time who believed that if Bird played like that through the whole Omnibook, and that’s real-
attempt to play with the pros at the High Hat while using, then they needed to start using, too. ly where I learned all about bebop vocabulary
Club, his response wasn’t to give up but to prac- Saxophonist Grace Kelly heard about this first- and articulation,” she recalled. “I would not
tice obsessively, showing a determination that hand from the late Frank Morgan. “He would tell only listen to the songs, but put on headphones
did not crop up elsewhere in his schoolwork. “I stories about how, as a young teenager, he com- and listen to it hundreds of times, write down
used to put in at least from 11 to 15 hours a day,” pletely idolized Parker, and everyone was saying all his articulations and try, when I was playing
he told Paul Desmond in a 1953 radio interview. he was going to be the next Charlie Parker,” she his transcriptions, to make it as close to Charlie
“I did that over a period of three to four years.” said. “And then, when he finally got to meet him, Parker as possible. My teacher kept pointing out
An early gaffe was immortalized in Clint he saw his drug habit, and that’s how Frank got that it’s one thing to just read the notes, but
Eastwood’s 1988 biopic, Bird. The 15-year-old hooked. Because he thought, ‘If he’s doing this, it where you’re really going to learn the most is if
Parker was at a jam session at Kansas City’s Reno must be what I need to do.’” you completely internalize this stuff.”
Club, and somehow got two bars ahead of the “I try to avoid that whole tortured genius/ One of the few things Parker told DownBeat
form. As he soldiered on, oblivious, drummer drug addict discourse,” Mahanthappa said. “I in his 1949 interview that did not seem to be a
Jo Jones used his ride cymbal to “gong” the hap- think the epitome of that was Clint Eastwood’s put-on had to do with the limitations that some
less young saxophonist, but Parker paid no heed. movie. ... But the tortured genius thing is kind of listeners wanted to apply to jazz. “They teach you
Finally, Jones, in frustration, tossed the cymbal played out in general, right?” there’s a boundary line to music,” he said, “but,
at the nervous young altoist’s feet. Mortified, Mahanthappa—whose 2015 album, Bird man, there’s no boundary line to art.”
Parker told his friends that he’d be back. But Calls (ACT), used modern rhythmic and compo- “Today, there’s so much music that’s happen-
as Crouch put it, “Charlie Parker didn’t come sitional techniques to reinterpret and reinvigo- ing, great music,” said saxophonist Vincent
back—not for a long time, not until he was sure rate Parker’s music—is director of the jazz studies Herring, whose new tribute album, Bird At 100
he would never be so wrong again.” program at Princeton University, so he has ample (Smoke Sessions), was recorded with fellow alto
But for years, the most avidly retold part of opportunities to think about the jazz legend’s men Gary Bartz and Bobby Watson.
the Charlie Parker myth wasn’t the way he contemporary relevance. “I have young players “But at the same time, there are certain peo-
applied discipline and determination to become who, if I ask them what they’re listening to, often- ple that it’s mandatory check out. You have to
the absolute master of his instrument. Instead, it times it’s essentially their peers,” he explained. “A know Wayne Shorter, because it’s part of the
focused on the drug habit he acquired in his late few of them are going back historically. But when music. You have to know Thelonious Monk,
teens, and suggested that, somehow, it was her- trying to explain to them why we should be lis- because he’s a cornerstone of the music. The
oin, and not hard work, that explained Bird’s tening to Charlie Parker, as I’m explaining it I’m music continues to evolve, and regardless of
flights of genius. kind of re-explaining it to myself, too. “ where it goes, Charlie Parker will always be one
Journalist Ira Gitler, in his 1985 book, Swing In some sense, the real challenge in further- of the cornerstones of the music.” DB

30 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 31
 T
he lesson was simple: Death is not the end, particularly African American bassist. At a time in the ’50s when jazz was in cul-
when it involves a great, palpable legacy. The artistic out- tural retreat, Brubeck became a household word and the subject
put of the deceased might be over, but the legacy he or she of a cover story in Time magazine. He played the first Newport
leaves often lives on—relevant, yet vulnerable to cultural changes— Jazz Festival in 1954 and had one of history’s rare top-10 hit jazz
in unpredictable ways and with a purpose that can evolve with time. albums with Time Out. It became a career landmark.
After a century of recorded history, the jazz world has become a There are two parallel strategies for building and sustaining
cosmic anthology of great legacies, each with advocates to plead its such a career legacy, each with its own purposes and values. One
case before the doorkeepers of Valhalla. Sometimes, as in the case is keeping the music before to the public, a job largely controlled by
of Bernstein, the advocacy is assumed by the family and an institu- record companies and market conditions. As a strategy, though, the
tional infrastructure that is up and running. In other cases, when impact of a major reissue or a previously unreleased recording can
descendants are not there or otherwise occupied, it falls to individu- be fleeting and largely outside the control of artist estates.
al scholars, researchers and biographers to do the advocacy. The other strategy involves a more institutional investment, a
The family of Dave Brubeck (1920–2012)—sons Darius, Chris, direct partnership between the artist and a school that can act
Dan and Matthew, and daughter Cathy—would like to see their as both a career archive and an active agent of future evolution
father enjoy a similar kind of perpetuity, one that will last well through music education. In 1999 and 2000, that was the path Dave
beyond the 100th anniversary of his birth. and Iola Brubeck chose.
Indeed, Brubeck’s centennial year will be marked in many ways, Iola was her husband’s Boswell. Seeing importance in his work
including a major biography by Philip Clark, Dave Brubeck: A Life early, she saved practically every concert program, review, clipping,
in Time (due in February from Hachette), and the new book Dave arrangement, tax return, photograph, contract and document. In
Brubeck’s Time Out by Stephen A. Crist. The latter, from Oxford a trade where musicians typically leave a tissue-thin paper trail,
University Press’ Studies in Recorded Jazz series, focuses on Brubeck’s 70-year career is among the most exhaustively docu-
Brubeck’s classic 1959 album, Time Out. Even more important will mented in jazz. Beyond that was Brubeck’s immense book of com-
be a changing of the guard overseeing the more organic parts of the positions, which include some of the most famous jazz standards
pianist/composer’s heritage, as the Brubeck Institute comes to an (“Take Five,” “The Duke,” “Blue Rondo À La Turk”), plus a diverse
end and the organization Brubeck Living Legacy replaces it. library of chamber and orchestral works. In the ’90s, the question
No legacy can be sustained without a great career on which to was: What to do with it all? The Brubecks began exploring options—
stand. Brubeck’s was as epic as it was long, touching many gener- Yale, the Smithsonian, others.
ations. Coming in the wake of jazz’s first brushes with both pop- Meanwhile, Don DeRosa, president of the University of the
ularity and modernity—swing into bebop—Brubeck was progres- Pacific, was thinking about the future of his school’s music conser-
sive both musically and socially. As early as World War II, when vatory—and its most famous alumnus. He spotted a unique oppor-
he created one of the early service bands, the Wolf Pack, he insist- tunity. “DeRosa had a particular vision of actively keeping Dave’s
ed to his commanding officer that the group be integrated. Later, he music alive,” said Chris Brubeck. “This meant not only chronicling
canceled a tour in the South rather than replace Eugene Wright, his and digitizing the archives but seeing that his music was played by

32 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Dave BrubeckJANUARY 2020
performs DOWNBEAT
at Zardi’s 33
in Hollywood
in 1953. (Photo: ©Ross Burdick/CTSIMAGES)
 to put wheels on what was once the Brubeck

DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES
Institute and take jazz education “on the road.”
“Yes,” Brubeck said, “and to make it avail-
able to as many people who might be interested.
That means developing a series of partnerships
in different contexts, giving the education mis-
sion a mobility it didn’t have in one location.”
“The chance to partner with different orga-
nizations was a key part of our work with the
Brubeck Institute,” Rowe said. “We found doors
usually opened wide at the mention of the name
Brubeck. So, it wasn’t difficult to find partners.”
And so they should again, especially in the
year of the Brubeck centennial. “The Jazz
Education Network meeting in New Orleans
in January is a big event,” Chris Brubeck said,
“and that’s exactly in the heart of where we need
to be. Darius, Dan and I will be there remind-
Brubeck, his bandmate Paul Desmond (far left) and a group of Indian musicians listen to sitar player ing jazz educators of what’s going on with the
Halim Abdul Jaffar Khan in 1958 during a global tour sponsored by the U.S. State Department.
new Brubeck Living Legacy and getting their
student musicians as well. That sounded good. Brubeck Fellow who leads the acclaimed No ideas on how we can creatively partner up to
Dave didn’t want to see his legacy end up at Net Nonet. “Though both were extremely posi- do some things together.” Directly after New
some prestigious place buried in a million tive, they pale in comparison to how formative Orleans, the Brubecks will kick off the centen-
crates. But the most important thing that keeps and impactful the Brubeck Institute was.” nial year at Dizzy’s in New York, and from there
a name alive is tying it to an education mission. In the early years of the Brubeck Institute, join the jazz cruise aboard the ship Celebrity
You pass directly on to new players a knowledge Dave himself was deeply involved. “He would Infinity for another Brubeck celebration.
of that legacy. That’s what makes it a living leg- do everything,” said Simon Rowe, who head- The biggest item on the Living Legacy cal-
acy. Records may reach more people, but it’s a ed the institute from 2011 to 2016. “He’d per- endar so far is the first Brubeck Jazz Summit,
passive relationship. What was appealing to my form with Brubeck Fellows and do concerts. He a major jazz summer camp in association with
dad was reaching young players born in the ’80s would visit often and perform classical and jazz Classical Tahoe and Sierra Nevada College. It’s
and ’90s, so that they could carry forth some of pieces. He was delighted to have this innovative an extension of what formerly was called the
his musical and creative values.” organization celebrating his values and music.” Brubeck Jazz Colony, where 30 young people
The result was the Brubeck Institute, estab- In March 2019, Pamela A. Eibeck, then the would gather from around the world under the
lished in 2000. “It was originally an island by University of the Pacific’s president, sprang a big umbrella of the Brubeck Institute. “We’re basi-
itself,” recalled Patrick Langham, who arrived surprise. As of Dec. 31, she announced, UOP cally keeping this tradition of intensive study
in 2003 to oversee the first group of full-schol- and the Brubeck family would not be renew- for one week alive,” said Rowe, who will serve as
arship undergrad Brubeck Fellows while also ing their 20-year accord. The Brubeck Institute artistic director for the camp. (Details are post-
running the separate UOP jazz studies pro- would be dissolved, the archive would leave, ed on the website classicaltahoe.org.)
gram. “But they had no peer group within the and the fellowship program would be revised At the time DownBeat interviewed Chris,
music school and no dedicated faculty. I came and renamed the Pacific Jazz Ambassadors. he was looking ahead to another partnership,
to bridge the institute with the conservatory. Rowe—the former executive director of the the Dave Brubeck Symposium held in October
There was the name Brubeck, but no one really Brubeck Institute who now is the executive 2019 at the University of North Carolina,
knew what it was yet or its potential.” director of the Roots, Jazz and American Music Greensboro. It was one of the rare occasions
The essential terms of the original accord program at the San Francisco Conservatory of when all the Brubeck brothers, as well as Cathy,
between the university and the Brubecks trans- Music—suggested that the relationship UOP have gathered together for a public event.
ferred custody—but not ownership—of the had with such an iconic figure as Dave Brubeck For the foreseeable future, Dave Brubeck’s
archive to the school and established a Brubeck was a huge coup, particularly in the jazz educa- legacy will be in the charge of the Brubeck
Jazz Festival. “It introduced the fellowship tion world. “I expect there’s a bit of disappoint- Living Legacy and his five children, all with
program, and it grew from there,” Langham ment. Perhaps it’s a missed opportunity. But lives and careers of their own. Beyond that,
recalled. “Outreach was a major part of it— when I was there, the Brubeck Institute’s rela- plans are still being developed. Among the
going out and visiting other schools.” The orig- tionship with the university was above my pay Brubeck Institute’s many accomplishments
inal agreement covered 10 years, and it was grade. Universities are hierarchical, and people were the cataloging and digitizing of the vast
renewed in 2010. at the top make their own decisions.” archive Iola Brubeck gathered. It is now in the
“In 20 years, the institute brought the uni- As of Jan. 1, a new setup will put a lot of “cloud” and will be accessible to researchers
versity into a strong position in jazz education those decisions into the hands of the fami- through the Brubeck Living Legacy website.
and really upped the game of the entire jazz ly, which has created a 501(c)3 nonprofit insti- “I have a little bit of an emotional response
program,” Chris Brubeck said. tution called the Brubeck Living Legacy. It to the demise of the Brubeck Institute,” Rowe
In October, the university hosted its final will replace and carry on the mantle of the old said. “But my overarching feeling is that things
Brubeck Jazz Festival, and the occasion brought Brubeck Institute, but through a network of change and evolve. The advent of Brubeck
back to the campus many former Brubeck relationships. Chris Brubeck explained that it Living Legacy is a new day and a new way for-
Fellows and alumni, most now well into their will have a wider and more flexible structure ward. So, I think that’s more important than
own careers. “After UOP I went to The New untethered form a single institution. To put what’s past or might have been. The main thing
School, then Juilliard,” said Lucas Pino, a 2005 it simply, the Brubeck Living Legacy intends now is what could be.” DB

34 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 35
 Clark Terry instructs Daud El-Bakara during a master class

©TODD TRICE
at Settlement Music School in Philadelphia on Jan. 22, 1990.

W hile many listeners discovered Clark

Terry during his time with The Tonight
Show band in the 1960s and ’70s, a new genera-
seemed to view taking chances on rising and
unknown players as an important opportuni-
ty. Perhaps no one remembers that investment
tion of fans has emerged, thanks to Alan Hicks’ as viscerally as vocalist Dianne Reeves.
2014 documentary, Keep On Keepin’ On, which “Clark really saw the content of people’s art-
chronicled the trumpeter’s mentorship of pia- istry before anything,” said Reeves, who cred-
nist Justin Kauflin, then in his twenties. its Terry as the artist who “discovered” her. “So,
But Terry’s support for young players began he invited young women, young men, young
long before then. Apart from being one of women of color, young men of color—it didn’t
the most distinctively melodic and humor- matter. He saw you. And that is a very, very pow-
ous voices in the trumpet lineage, Terry (1920– erful gift that he gave all of us, because it helped
2015) remained a fierce ally of emerging artists us to move forward.”
throughout his career. Reeves views her time on the bandstand
“Clark Terry embodied the beauty of what with Terry as a “living school” whose fearless
our jazz family was, and is, and did so until his professor prompted her to take risks of her own.
final moments,” said longtime friend and col- “I started to experiment,” she said. “He would
laborator Quincy Jones. “When we were com- egg me on or pull me back. His belief in me gave
ing up in the ’50s as young beboppers, we had me an immeasurable amount of confidence.”
no choice but to stand together, because all we Reeves and Jones recount their time with
had was each other. For Clark, that was the Terry as a holistic study through which they
essence of what our music was: family, tradi- learned how to conduct themselves both on
tion, life, love, sharing, giving back, encourage- stage and off.
ment and staying involved in the perpetuation Drummer Sylvia Cuenca spent nearly two
of our craft.” decades touring with Terry, who got her phone
As a teen, Jones frequently would receive number one night after she sat in with him at
informal instruction from Terry amid the trum- the Village Vanguard. “A few weeks later, he
peter’s busy tour schedule. Terry’s willingness hired me for a Grammy party gig and he con-
to share had an impact on the 14-year-old, one tinued to hire me for another 17 years,” Cuenca
that would reverberate as Jones began to “pay it said. In addition to absorbing his “concise and
forward,” mentoring those coming up behind lyrical phrases locked into time,” she, too, came
him. “It would be years later,” Jones said, “after to know Terry’s three-dimensional mentoring.
I began touring with [Lionel Hampton] and “Observing him off the bandstand,” she said,
Dizzy [Gillespie], that I fully understood how “I’ve realized the importance of handling one-
exhausted [Terry] would have been after a long self with poise, dignity and class.”
night working—and how truly generous and Like that of Art Blakey, Terry’s influence as a
kind he was to me.” mentor extends through multiple generations.
In 1959, Terry put his money where his “He was one of the greatest trumpeters to ever
mouthpiece was. He left Duke Ellington’s band grace the planet,” Jones said. “His shoulders are
to join his young mentee’s group for a gig in among those I was allowed to stand upon to
Paris—a gesture that Jones described as one of become the musician that I am today.”
the most humbling moments of his life. Terry —Stephanie Jones

36 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

A case can be made that no other drummer

DAVE PELL, DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES

of his era had, in today’s parlance, a stron-
ger “brand” than Shelly Manne. A consum-
mate studio artist, he resisted the pyrotechnics
of Buddy Rich, Max Roach and Elvin Jones,
but when his name was attached to a project,
listeners could bank on its inventiveness, qual-
ity and widespread appeal.
The head spins when reading through the
discography of this astonishingly prolific art-
ist, who was born in New York in 1920 and
died in Los Angeles 64 years later. Manne
played in the bands of Benny Goodman, Stan
Kenton and Dizzy Gillespie, and he was a key
figure in the umbrella movement known as
West Coast jazz, leading various groups.
Iconic recordings on which he played
drums include Coleman Hawkins’ “The Man
I Love” and Sonny Rollins’ Way Out West.
He also recorded a series of trio albums with
pianist André Previn, and wrote and record-
ed music for TV and films. Albums by Ella
Shelly Manne’s work as a leader and sideperson
Fitzgerald, Art Pepper, Nancy Wilson and exhibits the drummer’s refusal to be pigeonholed.
Tom Waits all benefited from Manne’s artistry.
For all his achievements—including his jazz LP in DownBeat’s Disc Jockey Poll.
stewardship of a club he dubbed Shelly’s Other mainstream artists wanted nothing
Manne-Hole in Hollywood—Manne still to do with the “new” jazz, but Manne embraced
might be underappreciated today. But many of it. He’s the drummer, lest we forget, on Ornette
his leader albums—including The Three & The Coleman’s 1959 LP Tomorrow Is The Question!
Two, a pairing of trio and duo performances “He refused to be pigeonholed, to be asso-
from the early 1950s, and 2-3-4, a 1962 album ciated only with certain things,” Wilson said.
featuring Hawkins—are keenly appreciated by “In remaining open, he had the same spirit as
modern players. Coleman Hawkins.”
And though The New Grove Dictionary of One of Manne’s boldest achievements was
Jazz figures that Manne was “opposed to the unjustly obscure 1963 album My Son The
ostentatious displays of technical skill,” his Jazz Drummer!—Modern Jazz Versions Of
playing still can inspire awe today. Favorite Jewish And Israeli Songs, featuring
“He had a really amazing groove and cym- trumpeter Shorty Rogers, saxophonist Teddy
bal beat,” said drummer Matt Wilson. “But it Edwards and other luminaries. Reissued on
was the way he integrated his playing with the CD in 2004 under the title Steps To The Desert,
ensemble, making it part of the fabric of the the program anticipated the Jewish music
song, that really made him special. And his adaptations of such modern artists as John
imagination was boundless. Zorn, Uri Caine, Don Byron, Frank London
“I was recently listening to a Vic Damone and David Krakauer.
recording of ‘Am I Blue,’ not knowing who the Manne pushed in yet another direction
drummer was. He was playing in an orches- with his “vaguely African music” (as Steely
trated fashion with brushes and hands. And Dan’s Walter Becker described it to Guitar
then I instantly knew it was Shelly, because Magazine) for the TV show Daktari, which ran
who else could have created this beautiful from 1966 to 1969.
moment by gently hitting the cymbal with his “Many years before the coining of the term
thumb?” ‘world music,’ Shelly was hip to its possibili-
Though Manne spent most of his career in ties in jazz,” said pianist Bill Mays, whose 1983
the middle lane of jazz, he always kept his ears album, Tha’s Delights, featured the drummer.
open to possible new directions. His 1956 LP “He played all kinds of percussion instruments
My Fair Lady is regarded as the first instru- including berimbau [a Brazilian musical bow].
mental jazz album devoted to songs from a It was really hip then and, like Shelly, it’s just as
single Broadway show, and it was voted the top hip now.” —Lloyd Sachs

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 37

 THE EVOLUTIONIST
Y usef Lateef, the Detroit-bred multi- Yusef Lateef performs in San Francisco in 1977.

TOM COPI
instrumentalist and composer who was born
in 1920 and lived to be 93, was a musician of Walt
Whitman-esque multitudes. Lateef (whose birth
name was William Emanuel Huddleston) trav-
eled down so many different creative paths during
the last 30 years of his life—many far afield from
mainstream jazz—that the bewildering variety
can blunt an understanding of the specifics.
Lateef’s late work, documented on dozens of
albums, most on his own YAL label, deserves
wider circulation—both for the intrinsic merits
of his best music and as a marker of his inexhaust-
ible life force. Lateef’s productivity sped up as he
aged. He was a progressive from the get-go, but
his music turned more experimental, even radi-
cal, as he approached and then marched through
his octogenarian years. Lateef called himself an
“evolutionist.”
“It was in Yusef’s nature to experiment,” said
percussionist Adam Rudolph, Lateef’s closest col-
laborator during the last 25 years of his life. “He
put no limits on himself. He believed that any-
thing you can imagine as an artist, you can do, if melodies from speech rhythms and employed
you develop the craft for it.” an intervallic composing system. Sometimes,
Lateef’s autumnal period began at age 61 he and Rudolph would split an ensemble in two,
when he started a four-year research residency each composing for half without knowing what
at Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria, in the other was writing. These ideas bear fruit on
1981. Recorded in 1983, In Nigeria (Landmark) the exceptional concert album The World At
finds Lateef’s wailing tenor saxophone and Peace (Music For 12 Musicians) (YAL/Meta).
wooden flutes channeling the wisdom of the Recorded in 1995, the project was co-led by
ancestors and the essence of the blues, alongside Lateef and Rudolph, and featured an improvising
animated African percussionists and vocalists. ensemble of reeds, brass, strings and percussion.
The music winks at Lateef’s early assimilation of Some pieces are loose and improvisatory, some
African, Middle Eastern and Far East influences are through-composed. Towards The Unknown
in the 1950s, but eschews song forms and other (YAL/Meta) from 2010 features Rudolph’s soul-
jazz tropes—except for the ever-present cry of the ful Concerto For Brother Yusef, with Lateef’s sten-
blues that remained part of his heartbeat for life. torian tenor sound streaked with blues moans
In the late 1980s, Lateef explored meditative amid strings and percussion.
music. On Yusef Lateef’s Little Symphony Lateef also composed prolifically in a classi-
(Atlantic), which won a Grammy Award in the cal vein, including four symphonies and three
New Age category, Lateef plays saxophones, string quartets, though much of this formal con-
flutes, percussion, synthesizer and keyboards; cert music remains unpublished and unrecorded.
he improvises freely over trance-inducing tex- The 14-minute String Quartet No. 3, premiered
tures and static harmony. The chamber pieces on posthumously in 2015 by the Momenta Quartet,
1989’s Nocturnes (Atlantic) convey an enticing, unfolds in four movements that evoke the expres-
Satie-like tranquility. sionism of Berg and Bartók; but Lateef’s fanci-
At the opposite extreme, Lateef made four ful melodic and rhythmic gestures are his own.
raucous, two-tenor albums in 1992–’94 on YAL This piece deserves a place in the repertoire, as
with a traditional rhythm section and a guest do several twilight-of-tonality solo piano minia-
tenor saxophonist on each: Archie Shepp, Von tures on the 1991 album Yusef Lateef’s Encounters
Freeman, Rene McLean and Ricky Ford. They (Atlantic).
pack the wallop of a stiff drink—Lateef’s night- On The African-American Epic Suite For
cap to jazz conventions, save an occasional 12-bar Quintet And Orchestra (ACT) from 1994, a
blues. 45-minute tone poem merges orchestra, Lateef
Lateef increasingly favored diverse ensem- and Eternal Wind, a quartet rooted in world-mu-
bles, earthy rhythms, spontaneous forms, sic fusions. The conceptual breadth makes a
abstraction and extensions of the world-mu- statement. As Lateef told this writer in 2001: “My
sic experiments he started in the ’50s and the music represents everything I’ve studied and
African music he studied in the ’80s. He built applied in my own way.” —Mark Stryker

38 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 39
40 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020
BEST ALBUMS OF 2019
MASTERPIECES +++++
TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON

DELPHINE DIALLO
AND SOCIAL SCIENCE
Waiting Game
Motéma ................................... Dec.

Waiting Game absorbs the

Black Lives Matter movement’s
simmering fury and converts it
into artistic fuel as Carrington
addresses homophobia, the
genocide of Native Americans
and the exile of political prisoners.
Her keen focus on song-based
compositions helps shape her
thematic clarity on the first half of
this double-disc set, as does the
scintillating rapport she’s struck
with her band. The drummer and
bandleader dedicates the second
half of the album to “Dreams And
Desperate Measures,” a four-part
instrumental suite that begins
with a gossamer arrangement of
haunting woodwinds, melancholy
strings, a pensive guitar, piano Matthew Stevens (left), Terri Lyne Carrington, Debo Ray, Kassa Overall,
Morgan Guerin and Aaron Parks all contribute to Carrington’s Waiting Game.
and bass, all in dialogue.

DAVE DOUGLAS DELIA FISCHER

Brazen Heart Live At Jazz Tempo Mínimo
Standard Labidad/Nomad ...................Oct.
Greenleaf Music ...................April
Delia Fischer again proves that
Trumpeter Douglas’ Brazen Heart she’s an innovative composer
Live At Jazz Standard captures and lyricist of Brazilian pop. The
his 2015 quintet during eight 12 songs on Tempo Mínimo are
sets. The road-tested troupe— crafted with irresistible melodies
saxophonist Jon Irabagon, pianist and poetic lyrics about time, love
Matt Mitchell, bassist Linda May and the search for meaning in an
Han Oh and drummer Rudy era of splendid digital isolation.
Royston—tackles 26 separate The arrangements make creative
songs, most played at least twice use of flutes, clarinets, strings
in this massive set. Five songs, and electronica—as well as
though, are played only once, Fischer’s understated vocals—
which is where listeners can start to blend Brazilian, jazz, pop
to nerd out over the flow and and classical elements into
shape of these performances. For something sui generis.
example, the Friday night crowd
gets treated to three pieces the TED NASH TRIO
band would play just a single time Somewhere Else: West Side
during the run, while the Sunday Story Songs
night audience heard the quintet Plastic Sax Records ............ Nov.
stretch out on a 23-minute
version of “Bridge To Nowhere” With no pressure to prove himself
and a 22-minute medley of “My as a composer, multireedist Nash
Cares Are Down Below” and “The takes on the daunting challenge
Pigeon And The Pie.” of interpreting one of the 20th
century’s greatest musical
ELIANE ELIAS treasures, West Side Story. The
Love Stories songs that Leonard Bernstein
Concord ................................. Sept. and Stephen Sondheim wrote—
steeped in the sounds of jazz
Elias’ prodigious talent grows and Latin music—have been brand of speed picking, the
stronger as the years pass; a feat interpreted before, but the septuagenarian guitarist plays
capable by only the true elites of energy and imagination that with mesmerizing zeal and
the music world. Her romantic Nash and his ensemble bring abandon here. Africa Speaks,
vocals invite the listener to to the task are exceptional. Santana’s most inspired and
delve into her timeless grace They transform this passionate fully realized album since
and sophisticated presence as material into both a tribute to, 1970’s Abraxas, is not only an
a commanding singer, pianist, and a meditation on, the songs’ exhibition of searing licks from
composer, producer and lyricist. beauty and power. the leader, but a showcase for
Her stately arrangements, the majestic voice of Spanish
soothing, sensual vocals and SANTANA singer, poet and lyricist Buika.
piano musings are enhanced by Africa Speaks With an uncommon intensity
a majestic string orchestra as Concord ..................................Aug. and power, the vocalist delivers
standards, Brazilian classics and performances that take these
three originals are locked in with Combining Albert King-influenced heady jams to an even more
laid-back ease. string bending with his own unique exalted level.

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 41

HISTORICAL +++++

VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Complete Cuban Jam Sessions
Craft ......................................................................................................................................................................................................Jan.

NEW ++++½

ANTONIO ADOLFO
Samba Jazz Alley
AAM........................................... Oct.

JOHN BUTCHER/RHODRI
DAVIES
Drunk On Dreams
Cejero ...................................... June

MARIA CHIARA ARGIRÒ

Hidden Seas
Cavalo ...................................... Nov.

ANDREW CYRILLE
Lebroba
ECM ............................................Jan.

JOEL HARRISON
Angel Band: Free Country,
Vol. 3
HighNote ............................. March

MARQUIS HILL
Modern Flows Vol. II
Black Unlimited Music Group...Jan.

ABDULLAH IBRAHIM
The Balance
Gearbox .................................. Aug.

IN COMMON
In Common
Whirlwind .................................Jan.

INTER ARMA
Sulphur English
Relapse................................... April

AHMAD JAMAL
Ballades
Jazz Village/[PIAS] ............ Nov.

ANGELIQUE KIDJO
Celia
Verve......................................... July

KONX-OM-PAX
Ways Of Seeing
Planet Mu................................ Aug.

QUINSIN NACHOFF’S FLUX

Path Of Totality
Whirlwind ................................Dec.

MARCO PIGNATARO
Almas Antiguas
Zoho ...........................................Jan.

THE JAMIE SAFT QUARTET THE STEADY 45s TINARIWEN

Hidden Corners Don’t Be Late Amadjar
RareNoise ................................ Oct. Happy People ........................Feb. Anti- ......................................... Nov.
MATTHEW SHIPP TEETH OF THE SEA TORN/BERNE/SMITH
Ao Vio Jazz Na Fábrica Selo Wraith Sun Of Goldfinger
SESC...................................... March Rocket Recordings ...............April ECM...........................................June

42 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

HISTORICAL ++++½

BILL EVANS
Evans In England
Resonance .............................June

MILFORD GRAVES
Bäbi
Corbett Vs. Dempsey .........Feb.

THE ROOTS
Things Fall Apart
Geffen/UMe/
Urban Legends.......................Oct.

JOHNNY SHINES
The Blues Came Falling
Down—Live 1973
Omnivore/Nighthawk........Aug.

VARIOUS ARTISTS
Down Home Blues: Chicago
2—Sweet Home Chicago
Wienerworld ......................... Nov.

NEW ++++

JOSHUA ABRAMS & GRETJE ANGELL

NATURAL INFORMATION … In Any Key
SOCIETY Grevlinto ..................................Oct.
Mandatory Reality
Eremite ....................................June
MASHA ART & LRK TRIO
Anesthesia
CLAUDIA ACUÑA Losen ........................................ July
Turning Pages
Delfin ........................................April ALLISON AU QUARTET
Wander Wonder
UMUT ADAN Self Release ...........................April
Bahar
Riverboat ................................June AXEBREAKER
Brutality In Stone
ARENI AGBABIAN Phage .......................................April
Bloom
ECM ...........................................May THE BAD PLUS
Activate Infinity
YAZZ AHMED Edition ..................................... Dec.
Polyhymnia
Ropeadope ............................ Dec. BANDA BLACK RIO
O Som Das Américas
AIMÉE ALLEN (The Sound Of The
Wings Uncaged Americas)
Azuline ..................................... Jan. Universal Music .....................Oct.

JD ALLEN JON BATISTE

Barracoon Anatomy Of Angels:
Savant.....................................Sept. Live At The Village
Vanguard
FABIAN ALMAZAN TRIO Verve........................................ Nov.
This Land Abounds
With Life OLCAY BAYIR
Biophilia ................................... July Rüya: Dream For Anatolia
ARC ..........................................June
MONTY ALEXANDER
Wareika Hill (Rastamonk SCOTT BRADLEE’S
Vibrations) POSTMODERN JUKEBOX
MACD.......................................Nov. The Essentials II
Concord ...................................Feb.
JACOB ANDERSKOV
Mysteries (Kinetics Live In ESPEN BERG TRIO
Köln) Free To Play
ILK .............................................. Jan. Odin .......................................... Dec.

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 43

 EMMET COHEN TRIO EABS
Dirty In Detroit Slavic Spirits
Self Release .......................... June Astigmatic.............................. Nov.

GEORGE COLLIGAN PETTER ELDH

Again With Attitude Koma Saxo
Iyouwe ................................... Sept. We Jazz .................................. Dec.

THE COMET IS COMING ELEPHANT9

Trust In The Lifeforce Of The Psychedelic Backfire I/II
Deep Mystery Rune Grammofon .............. Sept.
Impulse!............................... March
HARRIS EISENSTADT
CHICK COREA Old Growth Forest II
Trilogy 2 Astral Spirits......................... Sept.
Concord Jazz ........................Nov.
ELKHORN
BOB CORRITORE & FRIENDS Sun Cycle/Elk Jam
Do The Hip-Shake Baby! Feeding Tube......................... July
SWMAF ....................................July
MOPPA ELLIOTT
SYLVIE COURVOISIER/ Jazz Band/Rock Band/Dance Band
MARK FELDMAN Hot Cup ................................ March
Time Gone Out
Intakt ...................................... Sept. ENDON
Boy Meets Girl
ROXY COSS Thrill Jockey ..........................April
Quintet
Outside In ............................... Oct. RICK ESTRIN
& THE NIGHTCATS
MARILYN CRISPELL Contemporary
Dream Libretto Alligator .................................. Dec.
Leo ........................................ March
PETER EVANS/SAM PLUTA
STEPHAN CRUMP’S Two Live Sets
ROSETTA TRIO Carrier ......................................June
Outliers
Papillon Sounds ................... May FERRAN FAGES
Un Lloc Entre Dos Records
CAROLINE DAVIS & ROB Another Timbre ................ March
CLEARFIELD’S PERSONA
Anthems TANJA FEICHTMAIR
Sunnyside ...............................Dec. Omnixus + Solo
Leo ............................................June
KRIS DAVIS
Diatom Ribbons AMINA FIGAROVA
Pyroclastic .............................Nov. Road To The Sun
Amfi ..........................................June
JOEY DEFRANCESCO
In The Key Of The Universe JONATHAN FINLAYSON
Mack Avenue ....................... April 3 Times Round
Pi ................................................. Jan.
ADAM DEITCH QUARTET
Egyptian Secrets MARY FLOWER
Golden Wolf ..........................Dec. Livin’ With The Blues Again
Little Village Foundation...Oct.
WHIT DICKEY TAO
BILLY BRANCH & THE SONS MICHAEL JEROME BROWNE QUARTETS MIMI FOX
OF BLUES That’s Where It’s At! Peace Planet & Box Of Light This Bird Still Flies
Roots And Branches: The Borealis ...................................April AUM Fidelity ......................... Oct. Origin .......................................June
Songs Of Little Walter
Alligato ................................... Sept. KEVIN BURT JOYCE DIDONATO BILL FRISELL
Heartland & Soul Songplay Harmony
ALAN BROADBENT TRIO Little Village Foundation...Feb. Warner Classics/Erato ...... May Blue Note ............................... Nov.
New York Notes
Savant......................................Aug. TAYLOR HO BYNUM 9-TETTE DAVE DOUGLAS BILL FRISELL/THOMAS MORGAN
The Ambiguity Manifesto UPLIFT: Twelve Pieces For Epistrophy
BROCK/ULERY/DEITEMYER Firehouse 12 .......................... Dec. Positive Action In 2018 ECM ..........................................June
Wonderment Greenleaf Music .................. April
Woolgathering ......................Oct. ETIENNE CHARLES ANTHONY FUNG
Carnival: The Sound Of A DRAKSLER/ELDH/LILINGER Flashpoint
MATT BREWER People, Vol. 1 Punkt.Vrt.Plastik Tiny 1 ......................................... Jan.
Ganymede Culture Shock Inc. ................ May Intakt ........................................ Feb.
Criss Cross .............................June VYACHESLAV GANELIN/
AVISHAI COHEN/YONATHAN MARK DRESSER SEVEN DENISS PASHKEVICH/
BROKEN ENGLISH CLUB AVISHAI Ain’t Nothing But A Cyber ARKADY GOTESMAN
White Rats II Playing The Room Coup & You Variations
L.I.E.S. ......................................Aug. ECM .......................................... Nov. Clean Feed ............................ Aug. Jersika .................................... Sept.

44 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 45
 TIM GARTLAND OSCAR HERNANDEZ &
Satisfied ALMA LIBRE
Taste Good Music ...............June Love The Moment
Origin ....................................... Nov.
GARZONE/ERSKINE/
PASQUA/OLES HOUSE GUESTS
3 Nights In L.A. My Mind Set Me Free
Fuzzy Music ............................Oct. Shake It ................................... Nov.

SARA GAZAREK HUMAN FEEL

Thirsty Ghost Gold
Self Release ............................Oct. Intakt ......................................... May

RHIANNON GIDDENS THE HUMANITY

There Is No Other QUARTET
Nonesuch ...............................Aug. Humanity
Cellar Live ...............................Feb.
BRANDON GOLDBERG
Let’s Play IBIBIO SOUND MACHINE
Self Release ...........................Aug. Doko Mien
Merge ........................................ May
BENNY GREEN
Then And Now ROB ICKES &
Sunnyside ................................ Jan. TREY HENSLEY
World Full Of Blues
LARRY GRENADIER Compass ................................. Dec.
The Gleaners
ECM ..........................................April ISTHMUS BRASS
We Need A Little Christmas
JOHNNY GRIFFITH Summit .................................... Dec.
QUINTET
The Lion, Camel & ETHAN IVERSON QUARTET
Child WITH TOM HARRELL
GBRecords ............................ May Common Practice
ECM .......................................... Nov.
MARK GUILIANA
BEAT MUSIC! BEAT MUSIC! ANNE METTE IVERSEN’S
BEAT MUSIC! TERNION QUARTET
Motéma .................................... July Invincible Nimbus
Brooklyn Jazz
RIGMOR GUSTAFSSON Underground ........................June
Come Home
ACT...........................................April INGRID JENSEN AND
STEVE TRESELER
Invisible Sounds:
HAMA
For Kenny Wheeler
Houmeissa
Whirlwind ............................... Jan.
Sahel Sounds ......................... May
KEITH JARRETT
ENRIQUE HANEINE
La Fenice
The Mind’s Mural
ECM ........................................... Jan.
Elegant Walk.......................... Jan.
THE JAZZ AT LINCOLN
TOM HARRELL CENTER ORCHESTRA WITH
Infinity WYNTON MARSALIS
Highnote ................................Aug. Big Band Holidays II
Blue Engine ........................... Dec.
KEVIN HAYS & LIONEL
LOUEKE PUREUM JIN
Hope The Real Blue
Edition ......................................Oct. Cellar ....................................... Sept.
KEVIN HAYS/MARK TURNER/ ANNA MARIA JOPEK &
MARC MIRALTA BRANFORD MARSALIS
Where Are You Ulotne
Fresh Sound .......................... Nov. Self Release ............................ Jan.

MIHO HAZAMA METTE JUUL

Dancer In Nowhere Change
Sunnyside ............................ March Universal Music Group ...... Dec.

FRED HERSCH & THE WDR BENJI KAPLAN AND RITA

BIG BAND FIGUEIREDO
Begin Again Benji & Rita
Palmetto .................................Aug. Big Apple Batucada ............Oct.

HOT CHIP MAKAR KASHITSYN

A Bath Full Of Ecstasy Jazz Animals
Domino....................................Aug. Rainy Days .............................Oct.

46 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

BRUCE KATZ JUDITH LORICK
Solo Ride The Second Time Around
American Showplace ......... Nov. JLJ International ................... Jan.

HELENA KAY’S KIM TRIO MADNESS OF CROWDS

Moon Palace Tulips
Ubuntu.................................. March Hippo Machine .....................April

DAVE KELLER MAISHA

Every Soul’s A Star There Is A Place
Catfood .................................... Jan. Brownswood .......................... Jan.

FRANKLIN KIERMYER MANX MARRINER

Exultation MAINLINE
Dot Time .................................. May Hell Bound For Heaven
Stony Plain .............................. May
KING LOUIE ORGAN TRIO
It’s About Time JOE MARTIN
Shoug.......................................Aug. Étoilée
Sunnyside ................................ May
ALEX KOO/MARK TURNER/
RALPH ALESSI LISA MAXWELL
appleblueseagreen Shiny!
Clever Tree ............................Aug. Self Release ...........................Aug.

KRISTIN KORB BILL MAYS

That Time Of Year Live At COTA
Storyville................................. Dec. No Blooze ............................... July

CAROLINE KRAABEL MARILYN MAZUR

LAST1 LAST2 Shamania
Emanem ................................... May RareNoise ...............................June

JOACHIM KÜHN RON MCCLURE

Melodic Ornette Coleman: Lucky Sunday
Piano Works XIII SteepleChase ........................ Dec.
ACT........................................ March
THE MCCRARY SISTERS
BRIAN KROCK A Very McCrary Christmas
liddle Rounder .................................. Dec.
Outside In ................................ July
THE PETE MCGUINNESS JAZZ
TIMO LASSY & TEPPO ORCHESTRA
MÄKYNEN Along For The Ride
Timo Lassy & Teppo Mäkynen Summit ....................................Aug.
We Jazz ..................................Aug.
MCPHEE/BUTCHER
INGRID LAUBROCK/AKI At The Hill Of James Magee
TAKASE Trost .........................................April
Kasumi
Intakt ....................................... Dec. BRAD MEHLDAU
Finding Gabriel
DUSTIN LAURENZI Nonesuch ...............................Aug.
Snaketime: The Music Of
Moondog CAMILA MEZA & THE NECTAR
Astral Spirits/Feeding Tube ORCHESTRA
....................................................June Ámbar
Sony Masterworks ..............June
MICHAEL LEONHART
ORCHESTRA DOMINIC MILLER
Suite Extracts Vol. 1 Absinthe
Sunnyside ............................... Nov. ECM ........................................... July

JAMES BRANDON LEWIS GUY MINTUS TRIO

An Unruly Manifesto Connecting The Dots
Relative Pitch .........................Feb. Jazz Family ............................June

CHRIS LIGHTCAP MINYESHU

SuperBigmouth Daa Dee
Pyroclastic ..............................Oct. ARC ........................................... Jan.

CHRISTIAN LILLINGER YOKO MIWA

Open Form For Society Keep Talkin’
Plaist.........................................Aug. Ocean Blue Tear ................. Sept.

LOS LOBOS MDOU MOCTAR

Llego Navidad Blue Stage Session
Rhino ........................................ Dec. Third Man ................................ May

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 47

 BEN MONDER PETERSON-KOHLER COLLECTIVE
Day After Day Winter Colors
Sunnyside ................................ July Origin ....................................... Dec.

KELLY MORAN RALPH PETERSON & THE

Ultraviolet MESSENGER LEGACY
Warp ......................................... Jan. Legacy Alive: Volume 6 At
The Sidedoor
GEORGIA ANNE MULDROW Onyx Productions ...............Aug.
Overload
Brainfeeder ............................. Jan. GUILHERME PIMENTA
Catopé
MICHAEL MUSILLAMI/ Self Release ............................Oct.
RICH SYRACUSE
Dig LESLIE PINTCHIK TRIO
Playscape ............................... Dec. Same Day Delivery:
Leslie Pintchik Trio Live
MUSSON/THOMAS/SANDERS Pintch Hard ......................... Dec.
Shifa: Live At Café Oto
PRESERVATION HALL
577 Records ...........................Oct. JAZZ BAND
A Tuba To Cuba
BILL NACE/SUSAN ALCORN/
Sub Pop ...................................Oct.
CHRIS CORSANO
Live At Rotunda
TOM RAINEY TRIO
Open Mouth .......................... Dec.
Combobulated
Intakt ......................................... May
NATURE WORK
Nature Work METTE RASMUSSEN/
Sunnyside ...............................Aug. CHRIS CORSANO
A View Of The Moon
THE NEW YORK
(From The Sun)
ALL-STARS
Clean Feed ..............................Feb.
Live Encounter
Ubuntu..................................... Dec.
JOHN RAYMOND
NEW YORK SKA-JAZZ Real Feels Live, Vol. 2
Sunnyside ...............................April
ENSEMBLE
Break Thru
KATE REID
Brixton ......................................Feb.
The Heart Already Knows
NOBILE/BURRELL/ Self Release ............................ Jan.
MONCADA
DAVE REMPIS/JIM BAKER/
Reaction And Reflection
JOSHUA ABRAMS/
Rudi ...........................................Feb.
AVREEAYL RA
APSIS
OCHS/CLEAVER
Aerophonic ............................ Dec.
Songs Of The Wild Cave
Rogue Art................................ Jan. DAVE REMPIS/BRANDON
LOPEZ/RYAN PACKARD
OLA ONABULÉ The Early Bird Gets
Point Less Aerophonic ............................. July
Rugged Ram ......................... Dec.
STEPH RICHARDS
OUT TO DINNER Take The Neon Lights
Different Flavors Birdwatcher ........................ March
Posi-Tone .............................. Sept.
MATANA ROBERTS
JASON PALMER Coin Coin Chapter Four:
Rhyme And Reason Memphis
Giant Step Arts ................. March Constellation ......................... Dec.

JASON PALMER SCOTT ROBINSON

Sweet Love: Jason Palmer Tenormore
Plays Anita Baker Arbors....................................... May
Steeplechase......................... Nov.
TAD ROBINSON
EVAN PARKER & KINETICS Real Street
Chiasm Severn.......................................Oct.
Clean Feed ............................. Nov.
RONNIE EARL &
CHARLIE PARR THE BROADCASTERS
Charlie Parr Beyond The Blue Door
Red House ............................. Nov. Stony Plain ............................. Nov.

ED PARTYKA JAZZ ORCHESTRA MARK RONSON

In The Tradition Late Night Feelings
Neuklang ................................. July RCA ..........................................Aug.

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 49
 JOEL ROSS DAVE STRYKER
KingMaker Eight Track Christmas
Blue Note .............................. June Strikezone .............................. Dec.

BOBBY RUSH HELEN SUNG

Sitting On Top Of Sung With Words: A
The Blues Collaboration With
Deep Rush/Thirty Dana Gioia
Tigers ........................................Oct. Stricker Street ....................... Jan.

CATHERINE RUSSELL TARTIT

Alone Together Amankor/The Exile
Dot Time ..............................March Riverboat ............................... June

ANTONIO SANCHEZ & VANEESE THOMAS

MIGRATION Down Yonder
Lines In The Sand Segue ....................................... Dec.
Cam .......................................March
HENRY TOWNSEND
FELIPE SALLES INTER- Mule
CONNECTIONS ENSEMBLE Omnivore................................ Feb.
The Lullaby Project
Tapestry................................... Jan. GIANLUIGI TROVESI/
GIANNI COSCIA
MIGHTY MIKE SCHERMER La Misteriosa Musica Della
Bad Tattoo Regina Loana
Finedog/VizzTone ...............May ECM .......................................... Dec.

SCOPES BENNY TURNER &

Scopes CASH MCCALL
Whirlwind ................................May Going Back Home
Nola Blue .................................May
CHRISTIAN SCOTT ATUNDE
ADJUAH JEREMY UDDEN
Ancestral Recall Three In Paris
Ropeadope ........................... June Sunnyside ................................Oct.

ARIAN SHAFIEE AND WENDY THE VAMPIRES

EISENBERG Pacifica
A Scarlet Fail Earshift .....................................July
VDSQ ....................................March
CHUCHO VALDÉS
THE MATTHEW SHIPP TRIO Jazz Batá 2
Signature Mack Avenue ......................... Jan.
ESP-Disk ..............................March
PETRA VAN NUIS &
MATT SLOCUM DENNIS LUXION
Sanctuary Because We’re Night People
Sunnyside ................................July String Damper ...................March

SOMESURPRISES WAYNE WALLACE LATIN

somesurprises JAZZ QUINTET
Drawing Room ....................Sept. The Rhythm Of Invention
Patois .......................................Aug.
SOMETHING BLUE
GREG WARD PRESENTS
Maximum Enjoyment ROGUE PARADE
Posi-Tone .............................. April Stomping Off From
Greenwood
CARMEN SOUZA Greenleaf Music ................March
The Silver Messengers
Galileo Music ......................... Dec. FLORIAN WEBER
Lucent Waters
MARY STALLINGS
ECM .......................................... Feb.
Songs Were Made To Sing
Smoke Sessions ....................July
CORY WEEDS QUINTET
BRYNN STANLEY Live At Frankie’s
Classic Christmas Jazz Club
SonoPath ................................ Dec. Cellar Live ...............................July

YALE STROM’S BROKEN KENNY WERNER

CONSORT The Space
Shimmering Lights Pirouet ...................................... Jan.
ARC Music.............................. Dec.
G. CALVIN WESTON
DAVE STRYKER THE PHOENIX ORCHESTRA
Eight Track III Dust And Ash
Strikezone ..............................Aug. 577 Records .........................Sept.

50 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 51
MATTHEW WHITAKER BEN WOLFE MIGUEL ZENÓN VARIOUS ARTISTS
Now Hear This Fatherhood Sonero: The Music Of Live At Little Gem Saloon:
Resilience ................................Oct. Resident Arts ........................ Nov. Ismael Rivera Basin Street Records
Miel Music ................................Oct. Celebrates 20 Years
JJ WHITEFIELD MITCH WOODS Basin Street ........................ March
Brother All Alone A Tip Of The Hat To Fats JESPER ZEUTHEN/
Krypto......................................Aug. Blind Pig .................................. July JACOB ANDERSKOV/
ANDERS VESTERGAARD
BIG DADDY WILSON NATE WOOLEY Out Of The Spectacle
Deep In My Soul Columbia Icefield ILK .............................................. Jan.
Ruf.............................................. July Northern Spy ........................April
VARIOUS ARTISTS
WING WALKER ORCHESTRA YES! TRIO Feelin’ Right Saturday Night:
Hazelsuite Groove Du Jour The Ric & Ron Anthology
ears&eyes ...............................June jazz&people ........................... Dec. Craft .........................................April Miguel Zenón

HISTORICAL ++++

LOUIS ARMSTRONG
Louis Armstrong:
Live In Europe
Dot Time ................................. Nov.

ANDY BEY
Shades Of Bey
Ko Ko ........................................ July

BLEY/PEACOCK/
MOTIAN
When Will The
Blues Leave
ECM ......................................... Sept.

MARION BROWN AND

DAVE BURRELL
Live At The Black Musicians’
Conference 1981
NoBusiness ............................April

BETTY CARTER
The Music Never Stops
Blue Engine ...........................June

TEDDY EDWARDS
Out Of This World
SteepleChase .........................Oct.
DON RENDELL-IAN
E.S.T. CARR QUINTET
Live In Gothenburg The Complete Lansdowne
ACT........................................... Dec. Recordings
Jazzman...............................March
JOHN LEE HOOKER
The Country Blues Of John SAM RIVERS
Lee Hooker Emanation
Craft ......................................... Dec. NoBusiness ...........................Sept.

J.B. HUTTO & CECIL TAYLOR

HIS HAWKS Silent Tongues
Things Are So Slow ORG ..........................................June
Space ...................................... Sept. EBO TAYLOR
Palaver
INSTANT COMPOSERS BBE ........................................... Nov.
POOL
Groupcomposing VARIOUS ARTISTS
Corbett Vs. Dempsey .........Feb. Jazz Fest:
The New Orleans Jazz &
FRANKLIN KIERMYER Heritage Festival
Solomon’s Daughter Smithsonian Folkways ......Aug.
Dot Time .................................. May
VARIOUS ARTISTS
SUNNY MURRAY Rough Guide To
Homework Barrelhouse Blues
No Business ............................Oct. Rough Guide .......................... Jan.

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 53
54 DOWNBEAT
T JANUARY 2020
0
 Masterpiece +++++ Excellent ++++ Good +++ Fair ++ Poor +
Inside
60 / Jazz
64 / Blues
68 / Beyond
72 / Historical
74 / Books

TAYLA NEBESKY
On El Rayo De Luz, Marta Sánchez’s compositions are lyrical and infectious.

Marta Sánchez Quintet Partenika (2015), the major story of this ensem-
ble has been her ability to coalesce multiple
On “Unchanged,” the album’s closer, each
chord Sánchez plays sounds as if it were a few
El Rayo De Luz lines—played on alto and tenor saxophone, and inches further off the ground than the last. As
FRESH SOUND NEW TALENT 587
piano—into a purling stream. It’s not quite right Cheek improvises a steady, smearing solo, half of
++++ to call this music singable, as if you’d be able to what he invents seems like it could be the writ-
When pianist Marta Sánchez moved to New carry it home in your head, humming a single ten-out melody of another song.
York in 2011, she already had become known as line back to yourself. But it feels like you ought Filiú begins “Parmesano” with a stream of
one of the most promising musicians in Spain. to be. long, bending notes, sounding wistful and
Since then she has started to amass an impressive On El Rayo De Luz, Román Filiú’s alto saxo- secretly pained. Cheek sprinkles a descending
catalog of original music, particularly with her phone and Chris Cheek’s tenor trace the skyline melody over him, and the rhythm section fills
quintet, built on wandering, polyphonic melo- of each composition: What each saxophonist in with splashes of caution and apprehension.
dies rooted in the plangent beauty of the Spanish plays tends to be rather simple, coming in long- Later, with Dor’s rolling beat starting to resem-
folk tradition. ish tones, rather than zigzags or angular leaps. ble a bolero, Sánchez lays out for two full min-
Her compositions are lyrical and infectious But their roles are so intertwined that it’s always utes. She only returns at the end, pulling things
and never overly mannered. They remind us that hard to know who’s in the lead and who is the back to center with a sharp, short, piano-bass-
a great chamber-jazz composer can inject vitality support. It’s as if Sánchez has invented a new drums coda. It’s a reminder that all of this love-
into well-trodden influences (Guillermo Klein, form of hocketing. ly, loosely unspooled music began somewhere: in
Carla Bley, Andrés Segovia, Claude Debussy) if Below the horns, the rhythm section spins a the fastidious province of her mind, as a notion
she roots them in her own history. Pretty soon, web of complexity. She plays counterintuitive of something that should be shared.
Sánchez might enjoy the kind of fandom in New patterns and twirling phrases with a lithe, glid- —Giovanni Russonello
York that she does in Madrid. ing touch on the piano, adding an element of gen-
El Rayo De Luz: Cascadas; Parmesano; Nenufar; El Cambio; El
The folk quality in Sánchez’s music comes tle agitation, sparring with Rick Rosato’s bass and Rayo De Luz; I Will Miss You; Dead Flowers; Unchanged. (47:36)
through in two ways: via her shapely melodies Daniel Dor’s drums, ensuring that these tunes Personnel: Marta Sánchez, piano; Román Filiú, alto saxophone;
Chris Cheek, tenor saxophone; Rick Rosato, bass; Daniel Dor,
and the illusion of collective invention in her levitate even as they weave. (Her love for six- and drums.
quintet’s sound. Since her first quintet record, nine-beat time signatures helps with that.) Ordering info: freshsoundrecords.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 55

 way, honors a distinct retro sensibility.
On True Love: A Celebration Of Cole Porter,
Connick makes his Verve debut with a brightly
flavored songbook. It just might be a coincidence
that Ella Fitzgerald Sings The Cole Porter Song
Book originally launched Verve into the big time.
But Connick’s charts wrap Porter in a big-
band punch, à la Billy May and Don Costa in
Sinatra’s prime or Buddy Bregman in Ella’s song-
books; there’s appealing ingenuity in his work.
“Anything Goes” skips along on some frothy sax-
ophone writing, while the reeds have a cushiony
cuddle on “Mind If I Make Love To You,” and “I
Love Paris” is set off by droll counterpoint.
Connick’s fans should devour it all. A main
reservation is one regarding omission: Porter is
Harry Connick Jr. a lyricist of literary pedigree. So, it seems tact- Tyshawn Sorey and
True Love: A Celebration less to overlook his verses, particularly the brief Marilyn Crispell
Of Cole Porter but beautiful “Suntanned, windblown” on “True The Adornment Of Time
VERVE B0030829 Love.” Or his adroit turnaround on “All Of You,” PI 83
++++ “a passing fancy or a fancy pass.” Ella didn’t make
that mistake in 1956. —John McDonough
++++
Harry Connick Jr. arrived with the great Marsalis There is a type of improvisation that seems
True Love: A Celebration Of Cole Porter: Anything Goes; I
migration from New Orleans to Columbia Love Paris; I Concentrate On You; All Of You; Mind If I Make Love almost mystical to witness. It’s full-blown,
Records during the late ’80s. Since then he’s To You; Just One Of Those Things; In The Still Of The Night; Why
Can’t You Behave; Begin The Beguine; You’d Be So Nice To Come free-flowing and intensely narrative, the arc of
received noticeably less interest from the jazz Home To; True Love; You’re Sensational; You Do Something To which is only established as the players play and
Me. (50:46)
press than, say, his contemporary Kurt Elling, Personnel: Harry Connick Jr., vocals, piano; Neal Caine, bass; we listen along, trying to keep up. And it’s the
whose wigged-out hipness is less suspect in jazz Arthur Latin, drums, percussion; Mark Braud, Seneca Black, Wayne
Bergeron, Rob Schaer, trumpet; Dion Tucker, Andy Martin, Alan essence of drummer Tyshawn Sorey and pianist
circles than Connick’s ring-a-ding-swing cool. Kaplan, Bill Reichenbach, trombone; Geoff Burke, Jerry Weldon, Marilyn Crispell’s work together.
Dan Higgins, Bob Sheppard, Greg Huckins, saxophone; Bruce
But they’re twins in many ways. Each is a croon- Dukov, conductor, strings. The Adornment Of Time—which follows an
er. Each was born in 1967. And each, in his own Ordering info: harryconnickjr.com initial 2014 collaboration—is a single, unbroken
live improvisation recorded at New York’s The
Kitchen. On the album’s surface, it seems to fol-
low a typical free-improv progression: a hushed,
Bria Skonberg melodically sparse first act of Crispell’s light-
Nothing Never Happens ly swung, delicate fingering moves into a cym-
SELF RELEASE bal-heavy middle section, cresting like waves
++½ smashing into a cliff-face, before ending on a
melancholic dissolution into silence. Yet, there is
Bria Skonberg can play. And she can sing in a
a refreshing egalitarianism.
hazy style that falls between Melody Gardot and
Both artists are chameleonic on their instru-
Norah Jones. But on her latest album, the band-
ments; Sorey uses a variety of pitched bells and
leader still can’t seem to decide if she wants to put
textural brushwork to evoke the soft melodies of
an individual stamp on contemporary pop songs,
the reverberating piano, while Crispell hammers
make political statements or indulge in muscular
out a hard-swinging rhythmic complexity in the
musical conversation with her bandmates. Some
middle section, densely packing in the notes and
artists commingle disparate elements like these
showing flashes of her earlier work as part of
to create a unified whole. Here, the result is more
Anthony Braxton’s “classic” quartet.
jarring than consolidated, despite some good
While the more dynamic bursts can feel
intentions and novel ideas.
lence, topping it with a bolero-styled trumpet somewhat overwhelming in their quick-fire
A case in point is Skonberg’s “Blackbird
solo. In the end, it’s just a kitschy take on an awful interplay, they provide a necessary counter-
Fantasy,” which melds Paul McCartney’s
song, and Bono’s cloying lyrics transmit no irony. point to the meditative opening and closing sec-
“Blackbird” and “Black And Tan Fantasy,” the
Much more successful are the instrumental fea- tions, with the latter being dominated by languid
1927 composition by Duke Ellington and trum-
tures, the churning “Villain Vanguard” and the phrases. A work this instinctual and eminent-
peter Bubber Miley. There’s no faulting Skonberg’s
slippery “I Want To Break Free,” which combine ly present-tense can seem difficult to unpack
desire to pay tribute to Miley with a plunger-mute
with the softly anthemic “Square One” to show- from the perspective of a recording, yet within
solo that plays beautifully off Darrian Douglas’
case an artist with exceptional musical skills. it lies the key to the jazz form: the synaptic rush-
hi-hat attack. But McCartney’s melody fits poor-
—James Hale es of musicians communicating purely in the
ly into the dominant, slow-drag ostinato bed that
moment. —Ammar Kalia
opens the medley. The conceit of stitching togeth- Nothing Never Happens: Blackout; So Is The Day; Blackbird
Fantasy; Square One; Villain Vanguard; Bang Bang; What Now; I
er two immensely popular artists across four Want To Break Free. (41:36)
decades to underline a point about racial equity is Personnel: Bria Skonberg, trumpet, vocals; Patrick Bartley, sax- The Adornment Of Time: The Adornment Of Time. (64:57)
ophone (5, 7, 8); Doug Wamble, guitar; Mathis Picard, piano; Jon Personnel: Tyshawn Sorey, drums, percussion; Marilyn Crispell,
noble, if flawed. The other extreme is using Sonny Cowherd, organ (1, 2); Devin Starks, bass: Darrian Douglas, drums. piano.
Bono’s “Bang Bang” as commentary on gun vio- Ordering info: briaskonberg.com Ordering info: pirecordings.com

56 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

The

John Giovanni
Critics James Hale Ammar Kalia McDonough Russonello

Marta Sánchez Quintet +++ ++++ +++½ ++++

El Rayo De Luz

Harry Connick Jr. +++ ++½ ++++ ++½

True Love

Bria Skonberg ++½ +++ ++++ ++½

Nothing Never Happens

Sorey/Crispell ++++ ++++ +½ +++½

The Adornment Of Time

Critics’ Comments

Marta Sánchez Quintet, El Rayo De Luz

Sturdy mainstream compositions and playing, never better than when Cheek and Filiú blend
their saxophones over the rugged rhythm section. Sanchez’s playing is more florid than focused,
but the combined effect is nicely balanced. —James Hale
A beautifully fresh record from the pianist, featuring immense lyricism from dual saxophones
that provide an enveloping melodic conversation. —Ammar Kalia
Sánchez paints in pastel wisps, like a musical watercolor. Horns mix and mingle gently like two
columns of smoke, weaving gossamer fugues. This music unfolds with an inner calm that holds
emotion at a polite distance. —John McDonough

Harry Connick Jr., True Love: A Celebration Of Cole Porter

Connick’s arrangements, which rival Richard Weiss’ Bobby Darin charts for bombast, seem at
odds with his laconic vocals, and do little to enhance Porter’s lyrical subtlety. —James Hale
A lavish recording from mothers’ favorite crooner. The credentials are all there: gorgeous orches-
tration and pitch-perfect singing. Yet it lacks the creativity and soul that could elevate this album
from a nostalgic pastiche to something worth sitting up and taking notice of. —Ammar Kalia
Everything normative has grown passé; virtue no longer clings to the things of yesteryear. So,
maybe there’s something to be said for letting Connick—the object of your wife’s uncomplicat-
ed hetero fantasies since 1989—just keep on Connicking. No shade. —Giovanni Russonello

Bria Skonberg, Nothing Never Happens

A pleasing, if middle-of-the-road, record showcasing Skonberg’s warm vocal tenor and similarly
enveloping trumpet playing. The source material is erratic, and as such, the record hangs
together loosely, leaving us wanting more bite and less luster. —Ammar Kalia
A superb singer and musician crossing charismatic pop and jazz. But she won’t be defined either
way here. This is one to see in action, though the album offers some strong material with high-
gloss production. —John McDonough
Skonberg steps halfway out of the hot-jazz identity she’s inhabited for the past decade, compiling
what feels like a demo tape of possible creative directions: Norah Jones singer-songwriterism;
some high-flame, kinda-free improvising; and a dash of blue-eyed soul. —Giovanni Russonello

Tyshawn Sorey and Marilyn Crispell, The Adornment Of Time

Like late-period Cecil Taylor, Crispell has mellowed, suffusing her work with more air than fire.
Sorey breathes rhythmic accents into those spaces and gracefully leads his partner into
stormier waters. —James Hale
Three islands: a shiny pool of meditative probes, a volcano of stock free-jazz fire and a brief for-
tissimo thunder storm. Between? Long stretches of limbo, barren as a lunar landscape. Sorey’s
smarts have sprung a Cagean prank. Laugh’s on us. —John McDonough
Crispell and Sorey use rough blasts of sound to expand what your ear can handle. Then they
draw the sonic shades down low, so you have to focus to hear anything at all. Throughout, they’re
listening closely to each other, showing you how it’s done. —Giovanni Russonello

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 57

 Wilson. There’s the same grace and instinc-
tive melodicism, though Lee Morgan’s “The
Sidewinder” and some other bold choices
included on his latest recording suggest the pia-
nist is hip to the hard-bop generation as well.
Goldblum does Herbie Hancock’s “Driftin’”
and Lalo Schifrin’s “The Cat,” and it’s here that
his pianism comes across most clearly, flattered
by light, spacious arrangements and cracking
production values. He has a big reach and he’s not
averse to throwing in the odd unusual voicing.
It’ll surprise newcomers that Goldblum’s not the
main singer, though; guests include Sharon Van
Etten, Fiona Apple, Miley Cyrus and Gregory
Porter. But Goldblum does a lovely, tired “Little
Man You’ve Had A Busy Day” right at the end,
Jeff Goldblum with that little hitch in his voice. Jan Garbarek/The
and The Mildred A more coherent album than Capitol Studios Hilliard Ensemble
Snitzer Orchestra Sessions, as the title maybe implies, but a year on,
and five years into his Carlyle Hotel residency in
Remember Me, My Dear
I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This New York, Goldblum’s new career seems to be
ECM 2625
DECCA/UNIVERSAL 0806051
right on track. —Brian Morton
++++
+++½ I Shouldn’t Be Telling You This: Let’s Face The Music And
Twenty-five years ago, Norwegian saxophonist
Some celebrity music-making is more about the Dance; The Sidewinder/The Beat Goes On; Driftin’; The Thrill Is Jan Garbarek co-released an ECM album,
Gone/Django; The Kicker; Don’t Worry ’Bout Me (Poinciana Beat);
celebrity than it is about the music. And then The Cat; Four On Six/Broken English; If I Knew Then; Little Man Officium, with The Hilliard Ensemble, the high-
You’ve Had A Busy Day. (39:28)
there’s the cliché about actors returning to Personnel: Jeff Goldblum, piano, vocals (11); Gilbert Castellanos,
ly regarded British vocal group that specializ-
their first love. But neither of these apply to trumpet; James King, Scott Gilman, saxophone; Joe Bagg, Ham- es in early European music. It was an unexpect-
mond organ; John Storie, guitar; Alex Frank, bass; Kenny Elliott,
Jeff Goldblum. He plays with a natural swing drums; Sharon Van Etten (1), Inara George (2); MSO Men’s Chorus ed hit, and one of the most profound recordings
(2), Miley Cyrus (4), Fiona Apple (6), Gina Saputo (9); Gregory Porter
and a deft, uncomplicated touch. If you asked (10), vocals; Anna Calvi, vocals, guitar (8). the 72-year-old Garbarek—who has played with
him about influences, he might mention Teddy Ordering info: vervelabelgroup.com Keith Jarrett and George Russell, among other
luminaries—has made. His soprano and
tenor saxophones blended seamlessly with the
four-person vocal ensemble, creating an eeri-
ly beautiful, almost sacred sound. Since then,
Carmen Lundy Garbarek has collaborated with the group three
Modern Ancestors more times, including on Remember Me, My
AFRASIA 13823 Dear, recorded in 2014 at a church in Switzerland.
+++½ This album is their last together, as The
Hilliard Ensemble has since disbanded. And
It’s hard not to be impressed by the amount of
because it was recorded in a church, the sound is
work Carmen Lundy puts in on Modern
echoey and diffuse, qualities that help Garbarek,
Ancestors. Not only did she do all the writing,
playing soprano, harmonize with the ensem-
she sings lead on all the tracks, and provides key-
ble on a textural, as well as a harmonic level.
boards, guitars and/or percussion on most. And
The music certainly casts a spell, beginning with
on the bluesy “Burden Down, Burden Down,”
Garbarek’s haunting solo introduction on “Ov
where she plays synth, guitar and tambourine, as
Zarmanali,” the first track.
well as sings, the combination really smokes, with
The album—mostly including selections
Lundy bringing the harmonic sophistication of
from the previous collaborations—moves along
jazz to the immediacy of soul singing.
in slow, careful motion, like a creeping fog, except
Unlike the widely praised Code Noir, which
TV” is a case in point, with a whimsical lyric for “Alleluia Nativitas,” which feels a bit like a
found her sticking with a straightahead quar-
imagining a world in which jazz is as popular as jig and on which Garbarek gets bluesy. Still, for
tet anchored by the redoubtable Patrice Rushen,
chat shows. There’s a lovely groove, and her har- the most part, things stay stylistically the same,
Modern Ancestors relies on an assortment of stu-
monized backing vocals recall the soulful side of and Remember Me, My Dear in many ways feels
dio players. While that allows her more stylistic
Joni Mitchell. But it’s the way her rhythmically like one unending melody that will continue on,
range, it leaves the album with a less consistent
fluid, tonally adventurous melody evokes a saxo- despite the group having played its last song.
sound. Immediately following the rhythmically
phone solo that makes her dream of popular jazz —Matthew Kassel
charged Cubano groove of “Ola De Calor” comes
seem so appealing. —J.D. Considine
“Flowers And Candles,” a socially conscious bal-
Modern Ancestors: A Time For Peace; Burden Down, Burden
lad that blends awkward lyrics with a dreamily Down; Ola De Calor; Flowers And Candles; Jazz On TV; Meant For Remember Me, My Dear: Ov Zarmanali; Procurans Odium;
Each Other; Eye Of The Storm; Clear Blue Skies; Affair Brazil; Still. Allting Finns; Litany; Dostoino Est; Sanctus; Most Holy Mother Of
meandering melody. One has heat and focus, the (51:42) God; Procedentum Sponsum; Se Je Fayz Deuil; Alleluia Nativitas;
O Ignis Spiritus; We Are The Stars; Agnus Dei; Remember Me, My
other good intentions, but lukewarm sentiment. Personnel: Carmen Lundy, vocals, keyboards, guitar (2, 6, 9),
Dear. (77:41)
tambourine (2); Julius Rodriguez, piano; Andrew Renfroe, guitar;
The best moments come when Lundy ignores Curtis Lundy, bass (1, 3, 4, 10); Kenny Davis, electric bass (2, 3, 7), Personnel: Jan Garbarek, soprano saxophone; David James,
bass; Terreon Gully, Kassa Overall, drums (2, 5, 8, 9); Mayra Casales, countertenor; Rogers Covey-Crump, tenor; Steven Harrold, tenor;
structure and delivers her lyrics with a line that percussion (2, 3, 7, 8, 9). Gordon Jones, baritone.
seems less composed than improvised. “Jazz On Ordering info: afrasiaproductions.com Ordering info: ecmrecords.com

58 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 of Roach explaining why he viewed the word cate—he’s lost none of his musical ingenuity,
“jazz” as a pejorative that lessened the excel- subversive humor or reverence for history.
lence of black American musicianship. Payton The trio intermingles some of Payton’s
later sings the title in an urbane style that more recent originals—like the pneumatic “C,”
recalls ’70s iconoclast Gil Scott-Heron. on which he lays down an elegant piano motif
It’s a work that connects late-20th century that would make Ahmad Jamal smile, and the
soul and modern hard-bop, the song demon- jaunty “F (For Axel Foley),” where he spars with
strating Payton’s acumen on the acoustic Kenny Washington’s jabbing drum accents
piano, as he unravels a punchy improvisation on the Fender Rhodes and electric keys—
before moving on to trumpet—the instrument with inventive makeovers of Benny Golson’s
he’s most renowned for—and blows tart-fla- “Stablemates” and Victor Young’s “When I
vored melodic passages. Fall In Love.” On the latter, Payton showcases
While moving from trumpet to keyboards his vocal talents by unraveling the melody in
on “Jazz Is A Four Letter Word,” the band- a whispery manner that glides across the gla-
leader also engages in some antiphonic banter cially paced arrangement, resulting in bewitch-
Nicholas Payton between the two instruments that shows a keen ing splendor.
Relaxin’ With Nick awareness of nuanced phrases and restraint. In The sanguine nature of these May and June
SMOKE SESSIONS 1907 lesser hands, it would have devolved into a cir- 2019 recordings is a sly show-and-prove tactic.
+++½ cus act. But with Payton leading a trio—which And except for “Jazz Is A Four Letter Word,”
Almost in the middle of Nicholas Payton’s new also includes drummer Kenny Washington— BAM’s underlining sociopolitics don’t scream
two-disc set, he delivers a sterling musical man- hokeyness is kept at bay. And from a sociopo- too loudly.
ifesto, “Jazz Is A Four Letter Word,” which he litical standpoint, it shows that Payton hasn’t Say what you will about Payton’s polemics,
initiates with a Fender Rhodes ostinato that’s let up on his campaign, beginning roughly in there’s no denying his artistry.
soon parroted by bassist Peter Washington. 2011, to obliterate the word “jazz” in favor of —John Murph
As the song begins, Payton explains to the “Black American Music.”
Relaxin’ With Nick: Disc One: Relaxin’ With Nick; C; El Guajiro;
audience assembled at New York’s Smoke Jazz Payton’s BAM crusade became a polariz- Stablemates; Eight; Jazz Is A Four Letter Word; Othello; Tea For
Two. Disc Two: 1983, F (for Axel Foley); A; I Hear A Rhapsody; Five;
& Supper Club that the tune was inspired by ing topic for much of the decade, and it also When I Fall In Love; Praalude. (60:03/58:43)
a book that drummer Max Roach was work- sometimes threatened to overshadow his Personnel: Nicholas Payton, trumpet, piano, Fender Rhodes,
vocals, effects, samples; Peter Washington, bass; Kenny Washing-
ing on before he died. As the tune progresses, expansive musicianship. But as that aforemen- ton, drums.
the bandleader layers in prerecorded dialogue tioned song—and the rest of this date indi- Ordering info: smokesessionsrecords.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 59

 Jazz / BY MATTHEW KASSEL

TRACEY YARAD
Michael Dease
Hadar Noiberg (left) and Chano Dominguez
Never More Here
POSI-TONE 8201

Sunnyside Radiates Warmth ++++

Before reading his liner notes, there’s no way to
A spate of new albums on the Sunnyside it happens, was recorded in Paramus, New know that Never More Here, trombonist Michael
label don’t have all that much in common, Jersey—begins with a festive air, as the pair
Dease’s latest album, is a reference to the Charlie
aside from the fact that they’re all quite good. work their way through a number of spright-
Laszlo Gardony’s solo piano record feels like a ly tunes, including Paco De Lucía’s “Canción
Parker centennial. Once the connection is made,
throwback to Michel Petrucciani, while Guill- De Amor” and “Carrusel,” a Dominguez origi- though, the title makes perfect sense: Musically,
ermo Klein’s latest release nods to the legend- nal that feels like a choro. The mood progres- Bird was never more here than now.
ary tango artist Carlos Gardel. Gerald Cleav- sively gets more contemplative but no less Likewise, the music itself makes a somewhat
er’s experimental bop outfit, Violet Hour, enchanting; one highlight is the minor-key oblique tribute. None of the tunes are by Parker,
reunites after a hiatus, while pianist Chano rumination “Morenika,” a Ladino folk tune. It nor is there anything obviously imitative about
Dominguez and flutist Hadar Noiberg unite simply feels as if these two have much more the playing. Supersax Redux this isn’t. But if you
for the first time on Paramus. And drummer to explore—and hopefully they’ll do so. listen to the way Dease and his bandmates play—
Dan Weiss, playing alongside a pianist and Dan Weiss Trio Plus 1, Utica Box (Sun- to their use of ornamentation, approach to har-
two bassists, pulls in a wide variety of influ- nyside 1573; 64:48 +++½) Drummer Weiss’
mony, to the deep, bluesy feeling that underlies
ences for Utica Box. Sunnyside seemingly has album takes its name from the inhumane
a bright future. crib-like contraption that once was used to
everything—it’s hard to miss their debt to Parker.
Laszlo Gardony, La Marseillaise (Sun- confine psychiatric patients. The idea is that The album opens with “Mirror Image,” a
nyside 4034; 40:07 +++½) During the past Weiss won’t be boxed in. But he doesn’t have nicely contrapuntal waltz by Dease’s pianist,
25 years or so, Gardony has released a num- to make his point so literally to get it across: Renee Rosnes, that features clever cross-rhythms,
ber of solo piano albums—including Chang- It’s obvious that his approach is broad and as well as some impressively double-tongued
ing Standards, Clarity and Serious Play. His ecumenical. The centerpiece is the 17-minute 16th-note runs by the leader, and closes with
latest monologue was recorded live, a context title track, which features dramatic peaks an impressively cool rendition of John Lewis’
in which Gardony thrives. His playing here is and troughs as Weiss plays tight rock beats “Milestones,” on which Rosnes, bassist Gerald
lush, loose and splashy, with blues-inflected, that build to intense climaxes only to fall Cannon and drummer Lewis Nash work in sly
barrelhouse detours, as on “Bourbon Street away and then appear again. Weiss and his
subdivisions of straight-bop time. In between,
Boogie,” where he summons images of a sa- bandmates nod to a lot of influences, inten-
loon pianist. Gardony, now in his early 60s, tionally or not: the Isley Brothers, the Mod-
we get a mini-big band setting of Billy Taylor’s
plays the whole piano, much like predecessors ern Jazz Quartet, Led Zeppelin. This album gospel-tinged “I Wish I Knew”; a pleasantly dis-
he appears to be channeling, like Earl Hines. is all over the place, in the best sense of the sonant run through Eric Alexander’s “Frenzy,”
Gerald Cleaver & Violet Hour, Live phrase. featuring blissfully angular solos by trumpeter
At Firehouse 12 (Sunnyside 1565; 45:56 Guillermo Klein y Los Guachos, Cristal Randy Brecker and guitarist Jocelyn Gould; and
+++½) Drummer Cleaver puts forth a kind (Sunnyside 1567; 53:23 +++++) The Ar- the wonderfully relaxed “A Harmonic Future,” a
of kinetic and chameleonic hard-bop on this gentine pianist, composer and bandleader Jimmy Heath tune that finds Dease trading his
live recording, which features the same band is working at the top of his game—and so is tenor trombone for tenor saxophone with no
from his 2008 album Detroit. This recording, his 11-piece group, which includes jazz lumi- lack of confidence or technique. It’s solid play-
too, crackles with energy, evoking the raw naries like alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón,
ing all around, and a fitting tribute to Bird at 100.
energy of, say, an Art Blakey dispatch, along guitarist Ben Monder and drummer Jeff
with the elasticity of Miles Davis’ second Ballard. Here, Klein features his own compo-
—J.D. Considine
quintet. The music keeps changing, even as sitions, as well as those of Carlos Gardel, the
you want to peg it as a straightahead affair. early 20th-century tango singer whom Klein Never More Here: Mirror Image; A Harmonic Future; Slow
Dance; For Hofsa; I Wish I Knew; Blue Jay; Shortcake; Frenzy;
But it’s much more than that. listened to growing up. But the album isn’t Lament; Milestones. (64:18)
Chano Dominguez & Hadar Noiberg, sentimental or even recherché. Cristal is thor- Personnel: Michael Dease, trombone, tenor saxophone (2);
Steve Wilson, alto saxophone (1, 4, 10), soprano saxophone (2), alto
Paramus (Sunnyside 1564; 64:14 ++++) oughly modern, with groovy beats, sophis- flute (3); Markus Howell, alto saxophone (5); Diego Rivera, tenor
Spanish pianist Dominguez joins up with Is- ticated horn voicings and a folksy feel that saxophone (5); Randy Brecker, trumpet (8); Renee Rosnes, Luther
Allison (5), piano; Jocelyn Gould, guitar (3, 4, 8); Gerald Cannon
raeli flutist Noiberg on this lovely duo record, only could have come from Los Gauchos. DB (1–4, 8, 10), Rufus Reid (6, 7, 9), Endea Owens (5), bass; Lewis Nash,
delicate and deeply felt. Paramus—which, as Ordering info: sunnysiderecords.com Jason Tiemann (5), drums.
Ordering info: posi-tone.com

60 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 61
Marc Copland Todd Marcus
And I Love Her Trio+
[ILLUSIONS] MIRAGE 4004 STRICKER STREET 1003
++++½ +++½
Pianist Marc Copland has an uncan- A forward-thinking forceful sound is
ny way of inhabiting a tune, working on display here from bass clarinet-
his way through it from the inside out ist Todd Marcus, who also plays the
while exploring new harmonic pos- standard B-flat clarinet on Trio+.
sibilities along the way. And in bass- Marcus’ four-part work,
ist Drew Gress and drummer Joey Something Suite, is the focal point,
Baron, he’s got two kindred spir- as his trio dispenses jagged solos in
its to join him on his quest. Their uncommonly sensitive, conversation- turn. But the bandleader cites Sonny Rollins’ strolling trios as an inspira-
al approach is steeped in the tradition of Bill Evans’ classic trio, though tion for this sparse instrumentation, and that playful openness is hard at
Copland’s collective (which previously served as the rhythm section for work. At times, though, the album resembles the mid-’50s work of Chico
John Abercrombie’s last two albums) pushes the envelope even further here. Hamilton and Buddy Collette: The band is stately and unhurried, explor-
Their ethereal take on “Afro Blue” might be the most strikingly impres- ing the sound in a nearly monastic setting. There is motion and soul, but
sionistic of the set. Opening with a free-flowing dialogue between Baron it’s embedded around ample room to breathe. “How Deep Is The Ocean”
and Gress, it only begins to allude to the familiar melody at the two-min- opens with Marcus vibrating next to bowed bass, long tones creating a slow,
ute mark, shortly after Copland enters the picture. Baron’s simmering 6/8 warm friction. Standard “My Foolish Heart” is an even gentler vehicle for
feel sets an understated, swinging tone as Copland’s penchant for reharmo- the reedist, his band all space and patience. That open space quickly is filled
nization kicks in. This organic, in-the-moment approach also informs ver- by “Neophilia,” a funky foray that enters bouncing off a riff supplied by the
sions of “Cantaloupe Island,” as well as “And I Love Her,” both imbued with bass. Marcus wails over the energetic support, soaking up the groove. A fre-
mysterioso reharmonization. Baron throws down a chugging groove on the netic “Invitation” takes the band further out, trumpeter Sean Jones join-
free-form “Mitzi & Jonny,” then showcases his brushwork on a harmonical- ing in. Following Marcus’ free-form solo, Jones steps in with a blast, briefly
ly tweaked rendition of Cole Porter’s “You Do Something To Me” to close reaching the atmosphere before easing back to Earth. —Sean J. O’Connell
out the album in classy, slightly subversive fashion. —Bill Milkowski
Trio+: Something Suite, Movements 1–4; Cantata; Amy Pookie; My Foolish Heart; Neophilia; How Deep
And I Love Her: Afro Blue; Cantaloupe Island; Figment; Might Have Been; Love Letter; Day And Night; Is The Ocean (Intro); How Deep Is The Ocean; Invitation; Plummeting. (63:19)
And I Love Her; Mitzi & Jonny; You Do Something To Me. (65:50). Personnel: Todd Marcus, bass clarinet, clarinet; Ameen Saleem, Jeff Reed (5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12), bass; Eric
Personnel: Marc Copland, piano; Drew Gress, bass; Joey Baron, drums. Kennedy (5, 10), Ralph Peterson, drums; Sean Jones, trumpet.
Ordering info: illusionsmirage.com Ordering info: toddmarcusjazz.com

62 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Dave Specter
Blues From The Inside Out
DELMARK 859
++++
Dave Specter is nothing if not stylish, from his
natty attire and cool demeanor onstage to his stu-
dio work with labelmates at Delmark’s Chicago
studio.
The guitarist’s fretwork on Blues From the
Inside Out is even more elegant and sophisti-
cated than on his first 11 rock-solid solo releas-
es for the imprint. This time, though, Specter
adds to his arsenal as he steps up to the mic for
three turns as lead vocalist. His singing is per-
fectly adequate, but Brother John Kattke, who
gets four turns at the mic, has a more dynam-
ic voice. It’s Specter’s six-string prowess that’s
the best reason to spend time with his latest
dispatch. It’s also the one constant. Specter is as
flashy as he wants it to be, but not to the detriment
of the material. He’s a jazzman’s bluesman, so the
bandleader brings those chordings and riffs to
the mix, too.
The dozen tunes run the gamut, musically:
There’s the blues-rock shuffle of the title track;
the Professor Longhair-inspired bayou blast of
“Ponchatoula Way”; the soul anthem “March
Through The Darkness”; the wah-wah driv-
en funk of “Sanctifunkious”; the r&b-flavored
instrumental “Minor Shout”; and the Latin-
tinged “Opposites Attract.”
His guest on two tunes, Jorma Kaukonen, of
Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame, is a per-
fect complementary guitarist. There’s never a
shortage of fine supporting artists on Delmark
recordings, and Specter’s production and Steve
Wagner’s engineering lead to a crisp, clean sound.
—Jeff Johnson

Blues From The Inside Out: Blues From The Inside Out;
Ponchatoula Way; March Through The Darkness; Sanctifunkious;
How Low Can One Man Go?; Asking For A Friend; Minor Shout; The
Blues Ain’t Nothin’; Opposites Attract; Soul Drop; Wave’s Gonna
Come; String Chillin’. (61:23)
Personnel: Dave Specter, guitar, vocals (1, 5, 6); Jorma Kaukonen,
guitar (5, 8); Brother John Kattke, piano, organ, vocals (2, 3, 8, 9);
Harlan Lee Terson, bass; Marty Binder, drums; Bill Brichta, acoustic
guitar (11); Ruben Alvarez, percussion (2, 7, 9); Liquid Soul Horns (2,
8, 10); Sarah Marie Young, Devin Thompson, Tad Robinson, vocals.
Ordering info: delmark.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 63

 Blues / BY FRANK-JOHN HADLEY

Digging Up the Neglected

Junior Watson, Nothin’ To It But To Do It (Lit-

MEGAN MILLER
tle Village Foundation 1033; 51:42 +++½ )
Perennially underappreciated, Watson has the
sound, the authority, the creative spontaneity
and the admiration of his peers to be counted
among the best guitarists of the past 30 years.
The Californian’s latest solo effort, his fourth,
shows that he remains a master, injecting new
life into disregarded blues, r&b, soul-jazz, soul
and ska songs of the 1950s and 1960s. Watson’s
magic touch affects five instrumentals, including
organ trio leader Sam Lazar’s “Space Flight” and Lauren Lee
The Skatalites’ Duke Ellington homage “Ska-Ra- Windowsill
Van,” both elevated by the measured, intense EYES&EARS 19-091
involvement of saxophonist Gordon Beadle.
Vocals, though, are the album’s vulnerable point.
++++
Alabama Mike busts his gut on two tracks, but Lauren Lee sings a bit off-kilter, her phrasing
Watson and Lisa Leuschner Andersen, splitting doesn’t make natural arcs and she’s certain-
Ilya Portnov
eight cuts between them, don’t convey anything ly not one to take the most expected musical
out of the ordinary. Recorded back home in Los Angeles, this reis-
paths. However, the bandleader always main-
Ordering info: littlevillagefoundation.com sued 2017 album luxuriates in bluesy connota-
tains a cool, even tone that makes all her zigs
Ilya Portnov, 3 (Self Release; 36:52 tions with her able, controlled roots-rock voice at
++++) Harmonica player Portnov, a Rus- the fore. Bixler’s an above-average songwriter, and zags easy to follow. When scatting along-
sia-born 30-something with a graduate degree sharing acute assessments of human nature in side her work on keys, she breezes along like a
from New England Conservatory, became a romantic situations. Big help comes from Ralph welcome, blustery fall day. She’s making tricky
serious proponent of homegrown American Carter, who has a credible blues touch as album decisions on Windowsill, but she and her group
music only recently, starting with 2017’s Strong producer and multi-instrumentalist. are deft at making these bold moves work.
Brew album. On this follow-up release, the West Ordering info: missbix.com The first half of “Tomorrow Is Coming” is a
Coaster brings a sense of discovery even more Brody Buster’s One Man Band, Damn! slow-building free-jazz meditation that
startling than before to investigations of blues, I Spilled The Blues (Booga 01; 35:01 ++++) takes a sudden turn into a spiritually uplift-
jazz, funk and 1960s soundtrack music. Embold- Do-it-all Buster isn’t a geeky sideshow. Confi-
ing ballad without any hint of whiplash. Brad
ened by blues-and-beyond guitarist-producer dent in his own skin with a what-the-hell-why-
Mulholland’s flute acts as the perfect accent for
Kid Andersen, Portnov, on eight original instru- not attitude, the Kansan sounds ruthlessly
mentals and Brazilian pianist Chiquinha Gonza- honest with a jagged, unkempt blues sound the vibe that’s cultivated here, as if it represents
ga’s “Corta Jaca,” uses his dexterous technique made of his strep-throated voice, his metallic the astral-soul of Lee’s voice on a journey.
as a means to free-spiritedness. “Sphere Dance” guitar, his wailing harmonica and his pounding “Aback” is as fine a setting as any for Marcos
offers a liberating spirit similar to little-remem- drum. Buster’s fascinating voice is an integral Varela’s bass to showcase the same inspired lyr-
bered harmonica maverick Peter Ivers. part of the rhythm at the same time it lays bare icism that Lee displays. And closer “She Who
Ordering info: ilyaharmonica.com the lyrics of tough originals about rancid love Journeys” is a constantly rising composition
Giles Robson, Don’t Give Up On The (“Bad News”), doomsday (“2029”), drunkenness that travels boldly, but in such a way that the
Blues (American Showplace 7890; 60:10 (“Week Long”) and, among other things, a zany song’s—and the album’s—conclusion feels like
+++½) Best known for having partnered last escapade in Florida (“Alligator Blues”).
a natural culmination.
year with Joe Louis Walker and Bruce Katz on the Ordering info: brodybustermusic.com
There’s enough conventional playing here to
award-winning album Journeys To The Heart Of Myles Goodwyn, Friends Of The Blues
The Blues, British harmonica player Robson is 2 (Linus 270421; 57:12 +++½) Goodwyn, a make the more difficult passages work. (Across
possessed of an excited delivery that places him charter member of the once hugely popular the album, Andy O’Neill is confidently support-
smack dab in the thick of Little Walter’s legacy. Canadian rock band April Wine, doesn’t pretend ive, never too flashy behind the drums, keeping
Supported by a band led by pianist-organist to be a full-bore blues artist. A fan of Muddy the whole thing aloft.) But this isn’t a high/low
Katz for his second solo outing, Robson streams Waters in the 1960s, today Goodwyn finds it re- or art/pop dichotomy. These are entirely dif-
electro-magnetic riffs and licks like a precision freshing to rekindle his affection for the genre in ferent considerations. Lee—in her voice and at
machine. “Way Past Midnight,” an instrumental the studio with mostly Nova Scotian musicians the keyboard—is, in a very balanced way, pre-
tour de force, has Robson and Katz (on organ) who he believes are well-versed in the blues. senting a unique approach, but one grounded
sharing emotional power and insight. On the He’s mostly correct. On his second enjoyable
enough to support the contrasting moods and
debit side, Robson’s no great shakes as a singer Friends pop-blues effort, Goodwyn again uses
musics, which really is what makes Windowsill
on nine of his songs. his wood smoke-voice and a guitar projecting
Ordering info: americanshowplacemusic.com personality on tuneful originals that are charged so engrossing.
Miss Bix & The Blues Fix, We Don’t Own with pleasure. The strikingly personal “I Love My —Anthony Dean-Harris
The Blues (Self Release; 54:49 +++½) For- Guitar” is the standout track. With a strained vo-
merly a smooth-jazz chanteuse and a children’s cal, the straightforward blues “When Your Ship Windowsill: Windowsill; X-Berg; Get Off Me; Peaks And Valleys;
Tomorrow Is Coming; So Long; Aback; She Who Journeys. (49:16)
music advocate, Leslie “Miss Bix” Bixler was Came In (I Was At The Train Station Drinking)” Personnel: Lauren Lee, piano, Rhodes, vocals; Brad Mulholland,
stirred to take a new direction after spending flounders. DB alto saxophone, clarinet, flute; Marcos Varela, bass; Andy O’Neill,
drums.
several months in the Delta studying the blues. Ordering info: mylesgoodwyn.com
Ordering info: earsandeyesrecords.com

64 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Echoes Of Swing Stephane Wrembel
Winter Days At Django
Schloss Elmau L’Impressionniste
ACT 9105 WATER IS LIFE 14
+++ ++++
Echoes Of Swing’s Winter Days At Through several installments of The
Schloss Elmau evokes a nostalgia for Django Experiment and his annu-
when the season commanded excel- al Django A GoGo festival, Stephane
lent food and long evenings listening Wrembel has committed to carry-
to music. This album departs from ing on the legacy of French-Romani
the band’s previous all-instrumen- guitarist Django Reinhardt. And for
tal recordings, with American vocalist Rebecca Kilgore providing excellent Django L’Impressionniste, Wrembel selects and recreates 17 lesser-known
accompaniment on standards and a few original compositions. solo compositions that Reinhardt recorded between 1937 and 1950.
The first cut, “Winter Moon,” marks the pacing and frame for Kilgore, Wrembel did the research on the more obscure pieces here and came
who enters with a velvety-smooth voice. The second tune, “Stopping By up with a kind of definitive set list. Defined by a free-spirited cultural
Woods On A Snowy Evening,” will delight any lover of American poet- exchange and swinging jazz feel, Reinhardt’s “Nuages,” the standard “Tea
ry, as pianist Bernd Lhotzky sets this beloved Robert Frost work to music. For Two” and plenty of numbered improvisations fill out the album. As
Lhotzky also uses his sleight of hand to compose tunes for two addition- it turns out, the numbered improvs were not as off-the-cuff as one might
al poems, Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 97” and Emily Brontë’s “The Night Is assume; rather, they were composed and performed by Reinhardt on
Darkening Round Me.” One slight concern is “drear” being pronounced repeated occasions, like the studied, classically formal “Improvisation 2”
as “dear,” changing the meaning of the line in Brontë’s poem from denot- and the Spanish-style “Improvisation 6.”
ing dreariness on a winter night to conjuring up images of an inamorato. Wrembel has a preternatural feel for the material here, so rest assured,
Regardless of that quibble, competent musicians make this album a wel- Reinhardt’s work is alive and well in his hands.
come addition to any seasonal collection. —Michele L. Simms-Burton —Denise Sullivan
Winter Days At Schloss Elmau: Winter Moon; Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening; I’ve Got
My Love To Keep Me Warm; The Bell That Couldn’t Jingle; Snowbound; Winter Wonderland; Snow; Django L’Impressionniste: Improvisation 1; Improvisation 2; Parfum; Solo Improvisé No. 1; Solo
Looks Like December; It’s Getting To Be That Time Of Year; Sonnet 97; Winter Days; The Night Is Dark- Improvisé No. 2; Tea For Two; Improvisation 2: Variation No. 2; Naguine; Echoes Of Spain; Improvisation
ening Round Me; The Three Wise Men. (49:05) 3: Variation No. 1; Improvisation 3: Variation No. 2; Improvisation 6; Improvisation 2: Variation No. 3;
Personnel: Bernd Lhotzky, piano; Colin T. Dawson, trumpet; Chris Hopkins, alto saxophone; Oliver Improvisation 5; Improvisation 4; Belleville; Nuages. (67:14)
Mewes, drums; Rebecca Kilgore, vocals; Henning Gailing, bass; Rolf Marx, guitar (4, 8, 9, 10). Personnel: Stephane Wrembel: guitar.
Ordering info: actmusic.com Ordering info: stephanewrembel.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 65

Eri Yamamoto Denson/Pilon/
Trio & Choral Blade
Chameleon Between Two Worlds
Goshu Ondo Suite RIDGEWAY 014
AUM FIDELITY 112 +++½
++++ When today’s jazz artists express a
The most revealing portion of Eri sense of being between worlds, it’s
Yamamoto’s seven-part Goshu Ondo tempting to expect a genre-splic-
Suite lies at the beginning of “Part ing result. For Bay Area bassist Jeff
3,” where the pianist/composer plays Denson, his record’s title instead
alone for three thrilling minutes. In reflects a philosophical matter,
that time, one hears succinct stepwise motion in the left hand against fluid one concerning the divide between the physical world and one dedicat-
improvisation and vivid chords in the right, all leading to a decisive rhyth- ed to ephemeral pursuits, like music. As a result, his latest album carries a
mic motif—the same motif that strategically reappears throughout the piece. straightforward, post-bop sound, but the music remains the product of dis-
Yamamoto’s ability to extrapolate a concerto from a snippet of music is the tinct perspectives blended into a generally seamless whole. Splitting writing
notion behind this extended composition, recorded live at New York’s Paul duties with French guitarist Romain Pilon, Between Two Worlds traces the
Taylor Dance Studios. The concept undergirding the work derives from cleanly drawn lines of a modern guitar trio, no matter whose music sits at the
the gōshū ondo, a traditional dance melody from Shiga, Japan, a city where center (which is held together by the imagination of drummer Brian Blade).
Yamamoto each year as a child would attend the Bon Festival, a song-and- Among Denson’s compositions, “Song Of A Solitary Crow” is a standout,
dance-filled celebration of generations past. To recall the festival’s feeling with Pilon’s guitar shifting into a gruff, bluesy drive that finds some unex-
of communal joy, Yamamoto wrote full-voiced melodic lines for Choral pected corners. Highlighted by Denson’s mournful bow work against a flick-
Chameleon, a 50-person choir. Despite that heft, Yamamoto manages to ering backdrop from Pilon, the album’s title track carries a rewarding dark-
maintain a balance between the vocals and the superbly refined sound of her ness that’s shaded by Blade’s muted touch. In bringing together its voices so
trio. By the gospel-tinged finale, what’s left is a nimbly crafted rhapsody of capably, the record at times lags into a pleasant but monochromatic tasteful-
East and West, jazz and folk, singer and player. —Suzanne Lorge ness through its medium-tempo pacing, which is rewardingly disrupted by
a few quicksilver turns from Blade on “Listen Up.” —Chris Barton
Gondo Ondo Suite: Gondo Ondo Suite, Parts 1–7; Echo Of Echo. (54:47) Between Two Worlds: Sucré; Song Of A Solitary Crow; En Trois Temps; Génération; Nostalgic
Personnel: Eri Yamamoto, piano; David Ambrosio, bass; Ikuo Takeuchi, drums; Choral Chameleon, Farewell; Listen Up; Madrid; Lost And Found; Between Two Worlds; Azur. (62:39)
vocals. Personnel: Jeff Denson, bass; Romain Pilon, guitar; Brian Blade, drums.
Ordering info: aumfidelity.com Ordering info: ridgewayrecords.net

66 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 Sarah Chaksad
Orchestra
Tabriz
NEUKLANG 4211
+++
The big band has been a relative rarity in jazz
for the past half-century or so. This isn’t a sur-
prise, given the prohibitive costs of recording
and performing with a large ensemble. Still,
there’s plenty of work left to be done in the for-
mat, as Basel, Switzerland-based bandleader
and saxophonist Sarah Chaksad ably demon-
strates. Tabriz takes its name from a city in
Iran—the country where Chaksad’s father Tabriz: Dreamcatcher; Tabriz; Home; Mehamn; It’s Too Late; The
Flower; Song Of A Lark; Thankful. (67:32)
was born—while borrowing some tradition- Personnel: Sarah Chaksad, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone;
Kevin Sun al motifs to incorporate and invoking ancient Andreas Böhlen, alto saxophone, soprano saxophone, clarinet,
flute; Pepe Auer, alto saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet; Cédric
The Sustain Of Memory melodic inputs. Chaksad has shown herself Gschwind, tenor saxophone, flute; Fabian Willmann, tenor saxo-
phone, baritone saxophone, clarinet; Hildegunn Øiseth, trumpet,
ENDECTOMORPH 007 to work well in small groups, but the orches- goat horn; Charles Wagner, Jonas Winterhalter, Octave Moritz,
++++½ tral setting here really suits her. Tabriz sim- trumpet; Lukas Wyss, Lukas Briggen, Paco Andrea, trombone;
Thomas Lüscher, piano; Valentin Hebel, Wolfgang Muthspiel (2),
ply feels expansive in a way that small groups guitar; Julie Fahrer, vocals; Sebastian Gieck, bass; Eva Klesse, drums.
Memory renders pain as data. Later, maybe as a just don’t. —Dustin Krcatovich Ordering info: neuklangrecords.de
part of therapy, we attempt to conjure sentiment
using emotional language. But at the time, we
experience those events as pure feeling.
The architecture of Kevin Sun’s second
album, The Sustain Of Memory, matters. (And
in light of its accomplishment, using the word
“architecture” here feels proportionate.) Three
pieces sprawl over a two-disc set, each piece
featuring a different combination of players,
from trio to quintet, and distinct composition-
al qualities.
The first piece, “The Middle Of Tensions,”
consists of a quartet playing across six parts, its
labyrinthine structure evoking a definite sense of
narrative, thanks in part to Sun’s novel emotion-
al vocabulary. His jagged and sometimes skittish
playing prizes unfettered harmonic exploration.
“Circle, Line,” the second piece, is for trio. Its
longest section is just about three minutes, as
each of the composition’s episodes retreat into a
series of concepts and sketches that unfurl with
stubborn linearity. Emotionally and melodi-
cally sparse, Walter Stinson’s bass adds depth
and momentum to Memory’s most challenging
stretch. It teeters on the cusp of tedium without
ever fully succumbing. But after the flatness of
“Circle, Line,” the album closes with “The Rigors
Of Love,” an intense, harmonically virtuosic and
compositionally complex piece. Sun delivers one
of the album’s fiercest solos here.
Love, and its attendant miseries, aren’t dis-
crete. Modern life wants to separate the two,
pleasure and pain. But our physiology refus-
es. The temporary unity of the two was actual-
ly love’s finest accomplishment. It’s this album’s,
too. —Andrew Jones

The Sustain Of Memory: Disc One: The Middle Of Tensions;

Circle, Line. Disc Two: The Rigors Of Love. (65:48/48:22)
Personnel: Kevin Sun, tenor saxophone, clarinet; Adam O’Farrill,
trumpet; Dana Saul, piano; Walter Stinson, Simón Willson (3), bass;
Matt Honor, Dayeon Seok (3), drums.
Ordering info: endectomorph.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 67

 Beyond / BY PETER MARGASAK

SAVERIO TRUGLIA
Maciej Obara Quartet
Third Coast Percussion Three Crowns
ECM 2662

Measured Connections ++++

After their 2017 ECM debut, Unloved, Polish
Berlin-based composer Joanna Bailie deliv- playing classical music, and the influence saxophonist Maciej Obara and his quartet make
ers work that masterfully collides field record- of minimalist Philip Glass shines through. At their return with Three Crowns. In addition to
ings, spoken word and old music recordings the same time, a penchant for woozy mel- six new tunes from the bandleader, the album
on Artificial Environments (NMC 252; odies and lush synth textures exerts itself,
features improvisational renderings of music by
61:47 ++++), a thoroughly beguiling col- blending seamlessly with percussion that
lection of pieces performed by Plus-Minus rings and gurgles seductively and establish-
one of the most significant composers of the 20th
Ensemble, a chamber group she co-founded. es pulsing rhythms evoking the wide-open century: Henryk Mikołaj Górecki (1933–2010).
The tripartite “Symphony-Street-Souvenir” spaces evinced by the work’s title. Though Górecki’s work has been subjected to
moves through the gradually slowing open- Ordering info: cedillerecords.org improvisational treatments before, these ren-
ing section of Brahms’ C minor symphony, London-based composer Ryoko Aka- ditions bear special distinction for being sanc-
gaining heft as its meticulous piano lines ma typically deals in sonic abstraction, with tioned by his family, whom Obara came to know
decelerate; blends distant-sounding carillon installations and scores that explore ges- while living in Katowice, where the compos-
melodies from Copenhagen with sparse pi- ture, time and space. But for Dial 45-21-95 er once was based. The first Górecki interpreta-
ano and strings; and complements a mix of (Another Timbre 146; 73:47 ++++) she tion, “Three Pieces In Old Style,” is so beautiful-
music-box melodies and sine-wave tones with was commissioned to create a set of pieces
ly reimagined that it sounds as if it’s emanating
plummeting strings. The relationships with- using defined pitches, something rare in her
in each section are wonderfully ambiguous, music. She took advantage of a residency at
from another world. Pianist Dominik Wania
leading one to wonder, what’s pulling what? the archive of the Polish filmmaker Krzysz- opens in a deeply respectful mood, allowing
Ordering info: nmcrec.co.uk tof Kieslowski to inspire and develop these Obara’s incisive tone to keen overhead, while
New York electric guitar quartet Dither boundless pieces—many titled after objects bassist Ole Morten Vågan and drummer Gard
mixes pieces by its members and outside or things she found there—which are beauti- Nilssen roam a rain-kissed landscape below.
composers on Potential Differences (New fully realized by the superb ensemble Apart- “Blue Skies For Andy” is among the stronger
Focus 235; 71:24 +++½), unveiling a pan- ment House. Delicately and quietly voiced Obara originals—not only for its melod-
oply of possibilities for their instruments. lines on clarinet, strings, vibraphone, flute, ic strength but also its patience. It has a clas-
“The Wah One” arranges damped yet lacer- piano and guitar coalesce in gorgeously sic sound that feels warm to the ears, as pre-
ating chords using the titular effect to sound measured harmonies that hang in the air am-
cise as it is free. Other highlights range from the
like a chugging engine, while “The Warped biguously, each melodic fragment steeped
One” directs the players to detune strings in mystery and provoking rumination.
savvy urbanism of “Smoggy People,” notable for
through the piece, basking in queasy move- Ordering info: anothertimbre.com
Wania’s postmodern swing, to the more geo-
ment. Elsewhere, the ensemble plays frenetic England’s Tim Parkinson has toggled metric “Glow,” which recalls the tightly knot-
rounds on the intensely pulsing “The Garden nonchalantly between experimental per- ted compositions of fellow altoist Tim Berne.
Of Cyrus,” forming dense thickets of shifting formance pieces and scored music, all of it Obara’s bandmates grow in real time, though
counterpoint that accelerate until the piece investigating the meaning of sound. Mark nowhere so maturely as on “Mr. S,” an homage
hydroplanes into sustained tones, while Ted Knoop sensitively explores that latter mate- to trumpeter Tomasz Stańko that rolls in on a
Hearne’s “Candy” passes around simple rial on Tim Parkinson: Piano Music 2015– wave of melancholy and sunshine in equal mea-
phrases of interlocking melodies, increasing- 2016 (All That Dust 6; 63:29 ++++), a set sure. Like the title track, it’s flexible and always
ly interrupted by tension and noise. of often-austere solo works arriving as dis-
attached to something pure and knowable.
Ordering info: newfocusrecordings.com crete studies that still feel obliquely connect-
Devonté Hynes, of Blood Orange fame, ed. The elusiveness of the ultra quiet “Piano
There is no mystery here. Only life.
wrote the music on Fields (Cedille 192; Piece 2015” stands in stark contrast to the —Tyran Grillo
60:47 +++½) as a score for choreographer exuberant jazz-like refractions of “2016 Last
Emma Portner, collaborating closely with Piece,” while the compositions in between Three Crowns: Three Pieces In Old Style; Blue Skies For Andy;
Smoggy People; Little Requiem For A Polish Girl; Vang Church;
Chicago’s Third Coast Percussion, which somehow chart movement in Parkinson’s Three Crowns; Glow; Mr. S. (62:23)
orchestrated his works. While known for al- thinking, as if cogitating aloud. DB Personnel: Maciej Obara, alto saxophone; Dominik Wania, piano;
Ole Morten Vågan, bass; Gard Nilssen, drums.
ternative pop and r&b, Hynes started out Ordering info: allthatdust.com
Ordering info: ecmrecords.com

68 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Mareike Wiening Chris Madsen
Metropolis Paradise Bonfire
GREENLEAF MUSIC 1073 OUTSIDE IN 1923
+++½ +++½
The relaxed, resolute mood of Chris Madsen’s compositions delve
Metropolis Paradise, drummer into balladry, the blues and a modern-
Mareike Wiening’s full-length debut, ism that edges on the abstract—but
belies the drama behind the scenes of remains accessible. The tenor saxo-
its creation. A week before her quintet phonist knows how to gin up tension,
was to record, Wiening’s regular pia- and, as the sequencing of this sub-
nist Glenn Zaleski broke his elbow in stantial album proves, he also knows
a bike accident. The sessions couldn’t be rescheduled. the value of release. Bonfire, with its connotations of community, celebra-
That’s a lot of weight to put on any recording, but give credit to Wiening, tion and risk, is an apt title for this Chicago group’s engaging work.
her fill-in pianist, Dan Tepfer, and the rest of the ensemble for not bowing Madsen and his cohort (pianist Stu Mindeman, drummer Dana Hall
to the pressure. It seemed to work to the group’s advantage, as the rhythm and bassist Clark Sommers) don’t abide by conventional head-solo-head
section pays strict attention to one another throughout these eight songs. structure. Rather, they play off each other conversationally. But Madsen
Tepfer takes extra care to lock in with Wiening’s quick turnarounds and just digs diverse grooves: Listeners get the lanky title track, the furious
cricket-like hops on “2 In 1,” and hangs back throughout “Viewpoints” and “Lone Wolf” and “It Is All Of Value,” an intriguing work where Madsen
the title track. His restraint does him few favors in his solos; a turn on “Free asserts himself, blowing low and saucy. The album’s focal point is “Hundred
At Last” feels pat and a little unsure. But Tepfer makes up for it by retaining Center,” a ballad featuring the leader at his most relaxed and Mindeman
his role as this ensemble’s backbone. The extra space left open is taken over at his most expansive. The finale is “Cellar Door,” a ballad that starts on
by saxophonist Rich Perry and guitarist Alex Goodman’s juicy playing. The a bluesy note and builds to a liberating, genre-free pulsation. Madsen’s
latter slithers through each track like a rivulet of mercury, while the former straightforward tone takes on unusual warmth, Sommers gets a star turn,
is cooling lava, still giving off plenty of warmth. And that leaves Wiening to and Mindeman and Hall—as much colorist as timekeeper—throw off
flit and flow throughout with the lithe flexibility of a dancer. —Robert Ham sparks, taking this ambitious album out on a satisfying note. —Carlo Wolff
Metropolis Paradise: Free Time; 2 In 1; For A Good Day; Misconception; Viewpoints; Relations; Bonfire: Authority; Lone Wolf; Bonfire; Hundred Center; It Is All Of Value; Cool Sun; Dragline; Cellar
Metropolis Paradise; Free At Last. (52:55) Door. (52:54)
Personnel: Mareike Wiening, drums; Dan Tepfer, piano; Rich Perry, tenor saxophone; Alex Goodman, Personnel: Chris Madsen, tenor saxophone; Stu Mindeman, piano; Clark Sommers, bass; Dana Hall,
guitar; Johannes Felscher, bass. drums.
Ordering info: greenleafmusic.com Ordering info: outsideinmusic.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 69

Kengchakaj Lilli Lewis Project
Kengkarnka We Belong
Lak Lan LOUISIANA RED HOT 1196
NEXT LEVEL 1931 +++½
+++ Pianist/vocalist Lilli Lewis and her
Lak Lan, Bangkok-born, New York- group have an amiability to their
based pianist Kengchakaj sound that can’t be denied. And We
Kengkarnka’s debut recording of Belong is a well-crafted work that
original compositions, seeks to just refuses to come off as overly
address if not resolve the bandlead- precious.
er’s multiple—perhaps conflicting— While bounding about in a
influences and impulses. The album also captures a musician in search of meshing of genres where Lewis’ soulful, r&b-tinged vocals meet impres-
his style: Kengkarnka has a grasp of several contemporary idioms and a sive arrangements on a panoply of songs, her New Orleans-bred chame-
willingness to explore them. Yet his tracks come to life only fitfully. Starting leonic dexterity gets brought to the fore. Moving from the afrobeat of
with a nod to Professor Longhair, the pianist quickly turns his ensemble “Interlock” to the gospel dirge of “Coretta’s Song” and then the straight-
to light, unhurried funk on “Hom Rong.” Next, he offers up the carefully up blues of “Anybody Anymore” all feel like natural turns. “Warm And
measured, Brazilian-flecked, multipart title track, complete with wordless Gentle People” is a particularly ambitious song, more epic in scale than
vocals. Less structured, still moody “Lom Huan” follows, but feels static. By the other selections here—more narrative and jazzlike in form than the
contrast, “6849” is a quasi-minimalist rocker that doesn’t quite cut loose, somewhat conventional r&b-influenced tunes.
but finds Israeli altoist Shai Golan stretching out and Kengkarnka fearlessly For a debut album, We Belong is a substantive articulation of the Lilli
going with him. The pianist has more grit in his fingers than the smoothly Lewis Project’s voice. But it also lacks a cohesiveness that veteran ensem-
articulated, minor mode filigree he uses here as a default. And these musi- bles so effortlessly display, despite the recording affably reflecting the
cians all clearly have the chops to do what they will, write what they imag- soundworld of that multimodal music city down in Louisiana.
ine and play what moves them. In the future, may fun and freedom ring out —Anthony Dean-Harris
over confusions or conundrums. —Howard Mandel
We Belong: Interlock; Coretta’s Song; Anybody Anymore; When The Sun Comes Down; When The
Rain Comes In; Kisses; Warm And Gentle People; Beauty Beyond Reason; Turn It Around. (42:10)
Lak Lan: Hom Rong; Lak Lan; Lom Huan; 6849; Sneha; Deceptible; What Called Home; New Chapter; Personnel: Lilli Lewis, piano, vocals; Smokey Brown, guitar; Wade Hymel, drums; Ryan Murray, per-
Fa(c)t; Mind The Gap; Revolving. (72:39) cussion; Ole Oddlokken, soprano saxophone, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone;
Personnel: Kenchakaj Kengkarnka, piano; Sirintip Phasuk, vocals, effects; Shai Golan, alto saxophone; Dr. Jimbo Walsh, bass; Dr. Michael White, clarinet (2); Kirk Joseph, sousaphone (2, 5); Glen David
Niall Cade, tenor saxophone; Hugh Stuckey, guitar; Perrin Grace, bass; Nolan Byrd, drums. Andrews, vocals, trombone (5); Mark Bingham, Liz Hogan, Sarah Phillips, vocals.
Ordering info: outsideinmusic.com Ordering info: louisianaredhotrecords.com

Carmen Sandim
Play Doh
ROPEADOPE 521
+++
Though Carmen Sandim’s sopho-
more album is named for the faux-
dough beloved by children, Play Doh
demonstrates an incredible amount
of mature complexity. The record-
ing reveals Sandim’s experiences as
an evolving musician, devoted family
member and someone with a passion for the sonic character of her Brazilian
roots. Not only does the music reflect Sandim’s detailed appreciation for
harmony and tonal contrast, it displays a strong sense of self-awareness.
Play Doh’s musicality is approachable without context, despite sporadic
appearances by less-familiar Brazilian instruments like the cavaquinho,
surdo and pandeiro that fill “Free Wilbie.” Bruce Williamson’s round-toned
clarinet on “Isaura” transitions smoothly among notes, while retaining
impactful moments as he shares pitches with Khabu Carter Young’s elec-
tric guitar. Similarly, the vacillating intensity of Dru Heller’s rim hits during
“Undergrowth’s” spooky opening work on more than one level. The shift-
ing 6/8 and 4/4 meters in “Aruru, JuJu” and the placement of a formidably
nimble drum solo back-to-back with Young and Sandim’s unison melody
on “Me Gusta La Angustia” parallel the emotion and unrelenting progres-
sion of real life. —Kira Grunenberg
Play Doh: Aruru, Juju; Aura-Celia; Undergrowth; Isaura; Me Gusta La Angustia; Waiting For Art; Hear
The Trees; Play Doh; Free Wilbie. (64:30)
Personnel: Carmen Sandim, piano; Shane Endsley, trumpet; Bruce Williamson, reeds; Alex Heitlinger,
trombone; Khabu Carter Young, guitar, cavaquinho (9); Bill McCrossen, bass; Dru Heller, drums; Bill
Kopper, acoustic guitar (7, 9); Raoul Rossiter, percussion (9).
Ordering info: ropeadope.com

70 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

 Emma Frank
Come Back
JUSTIN TIME 262
+++
Need a calming balm after a long day? A musical
refuge from the bombardment of chaos and may-
hem? Then allow Emma Frank to soothe you with
a pleasant sonic massage, one that emanates from
every track on Come Back. There’s an unchang-
ing meditative groove here that varies little in
tempo, while her voice probes an assortment of
human conditions. Her work is particularly pre-
cise, in perfect sync with Aaron Parks’ piano.
“Before You Go Away” exudes yearning and
Various Artists regret, and brings to mind a soulful blend of
New Improvised Music allowing more of that robust quality she possess-
Buffy Sainte-Marie and Joni Mitchell. Frank
es to shine through. In short, a little less folk and
From Buenos Aires plumbs even deeper on “I Thought,” thinking
a little more funk.
ESP-DISK 5033 she’s to blame for the changes we all experience.
Frank clearly has mastered the ballad, bur-
+++½ “Two Hours” brings more serenity, and Frank
nishing her lyrics with touches of literary
settles into a stream of solitude with a haunting
With the right resources, travel to nearly any panache. Balance this propensity with a few upt-
refrain that edges closer and closer to a sentimen-
point on the globe is possible. While it’s getting empo tracks and she’ll continue her climb to the
tal mood. With “Dream Team” comes a scat-like
harder to be cut off from the rest of the planet, top, no matter the genre.
wordlessness that intercepts any possibility of
it’s still possible for a culturally or geographical- —Herb Boyd
boredom, and Frank sparks Parks, the two then
ly bound community to nurture a distinct scene.
moving smoothly as one, a dauntless duo. It’s a Come Back: I Thought; Either Way; Two Hours; Sometimes; Prom-
Such enclaves can be well served by compila- ises; Dream Team; See You; Lilac; Before You Go Away. (31:35)
wonderful sound when her words joyously col- Personnel: Emma Frank, vocals; Aaron Parks, piano, synthesizer;
tions that present the best players, each contrib-
lide with his notes, blending almost indiscernibly. Tommy Crane, drums; Zack Lober, bass; Franky Rousseau, guitar,
uting material that demonstrates the idiosyncrat- synthesizer; Simon Millerd, trumpet (6); Chieh-Fan, viola, violin (1, 3);
One wish: The lingering tranquility she has Pedro Barquinha, guitar, bass, percussion, synthesizer (9).
ic ideas and methods that make them unique.
perfected here should be set aside somewhat, Ordering info: justin-time.com
If Argentina has such a scene, this compila-
tion does not make a strong case for its individual-
ity. While much of the music on New Improvised
Music From Buenos Aires is eminently listen-
able, it never sounds uniquely of a place. “We’re
connected with everyone,” observes reedist Luis
Conde, of the duos Rulemares and Duquesa in
the album’s liner notes. Certain musicians here—
pianist Agustí Fernández or trumpeter Leonel
Kaplan—are either from Europe or have played
there extensively. And even the performers who
work only in Argentina sound pretty aware of
jazz and free-improv from around the world.
What the album really represents is simply a
cross section of diversely oriented, technically
accomplished musicians who are well acquaint-
ed with sounds from around the globe. Kaplan,
soprano saxophonist Pablo Ledesma and bass-
ist Mono Hurtado play melancholy chamber
jazz. Cornetist Enrique Norris and pianist Paula
Shocron evoke Don Cherry’s vulnerable lyricism.
So, while the musicians on this album have the
chops and acumen to hold their own with play-
ers from anywhere else in the world, only a few of
them have the ability to stand out.
—Bill Meyer

New Improvised Music From Buenos Aires: Improvisation

On Graphic Score 2; Primer Jugo Bovino; Amable Amanecer;
Relámpagos I; Che; Relámpagos II; La Playa Pequeña; Solo Piano
Improvisation; 18:18; Relámpagos III; La Puerta R; Improvisation
0681; Plaza Y La Vía; Transición. (71:49)
Personnel: Pablo Díaz Quinteto; Rulemares; Agustí Fernández;
Pablo Ledesma; Mono Hurtado; Duquesa; Leonel Kaplan; Christof
Kurzmann; Norris Trio; Paula Shocron; Data Peluda; Enrique Norris;
Cinética; Pablo Ledesma; Mono Hurtado; Fulgor Al Bies.
Ordering info: espdisk.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 71

 Historical / BY SUZANNE LORGE

Hersch Trio Marks 10 Years

The newly launched box set The Fred

VINCENT SOYEZ
Hersch Trio: 10 Years/6 Discs (Palmetto
FH10YB; 56:08/58:03/57:46/58:34/68:01/
63:58 ++++) captures a landmark ensem-
ble in the studio, on the road and at its spiritu-
al home, the Village Vanguard in Greenwich
Village. Two of the albums’ six discs were
session gigs and the remaining four record-
ed live. Curiously, Hersch assigned impres-
sionistic titles to the studio dates—Whirl and
Floating—while the live dates all received
more pragmatic treatment: the two-disc
Alive At The Vanguard, Sunday Night At
The Vanguard and Live In Europe.
There might be something behind this.
During his live performances, when he’s cre-
ating music instinctively, Hersch commands
the room—quietly, but assuredly. He’s so con-
fident in himself and his trio mates—bassist
John Hébert and drummer Eric McPher-
son—that they hardly ever need to rehearse.
Despite Hersch’s onstage composure, when
he plays, there’s always something intensely
personal stirring just below the surface.
Hersch released Whirl, the trio’s debut
album, in 2010, just a year after forming
Pianist Fred Hersch
the group and two years after surviving a
near-fatal health crisis. The title cut, a Hersch that we can leave space,” Hersch wrote in the
original, spins dynamically around an om- liner notes.
inous melodic riff, providing contrast with By the time the trio released Sunday
his other compositions on the album, like Night At The Vanguard in 2016, the fifth disc,
the lilting waltz of “Snow Is Falling ...” or the the band had been playing together steadily
jaunty mixed-meter badinage of “Skipping.” for seven years and had attained an unusual
For his originals, Hersch finds source material synergism. They’d found a preferred cura-
in those he admires: He dedicated that last tion for their sets: the retrofitted Broadway
cut to prima ballerina Suzanne Farrell, whose standard (“A Cockeyed Optimist”) first, fol-
pirouettes inspired its motion. lowed by a handful of originals (like Hersch’s
A few more years into its musical relation- eerie “Serpentine”) and the requisite Monk
ship, in 2012, the trio recorded Alive At The tune (the powerful “We See”). Hersch’s work
Vanguard, the second and third installments on the latter would earn him another Gram-
in this collection. The band approached the my nomination for Best Improvised Jazz
tunes on this record—an even mix of stan- Solo; the trio received its first nod, being
dards and originals—with familiarity and nominated in the Best Jazz Instrumental Al-
ease; each note seems to spring wholly new bum category.
from the trio’s fingers. On the recording, The trio’s 2018 Live In Europe came as
Hersch acknowledges the ensemble’s grow- a surprise. They discovered that tape had
ing penchant for Thelonious Monk tunes, been rolling during the penultimate concert
one of which usually closes their sets. Here, of a 2017 European tour—it was too good to
it’s a slow, shimmering “Played Twice”—part waste.
of a medley that also includes “The Song Is On this disc, the sixth in this retrospec-
You.” Gorgeous. tive, they reprise “Skipping” and “We See”—
Hersch was nominated for a Grammy for and again snagged Grammy nominations
best improvised solo on “You & The Night in the same categories as in 2016. But on
& The Music,” from the trio’s 2014 release, this record, Hébert and McPherson figure
Floating, the fourth disc here. The solo—on more prominently than on others, send-
the first track—starts without preamble and ing up impeccable improvisations on tunes
gambols in a syncopated fever toward a like “Snape Maltings” and “Scuttlers,” while
smooth outro. It’s the ideal setup for the sec- Hersch lays out a bit.
ond tune, the title track, a dreamy, open ex- In these moments, especially, the group
change among the three players. “Floating is bond—unspoken and personal—is palpable.
the magic sound-place where the trio spends DB
a lot of time—trusting each other so much Ordering info: palmetto-records.com

72 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Florian Hoefner Trio
First Spring
ALMA 83092
+++½
Pianist Florian Hoefner’s concept on First Spring
was to use bluegrass as a starting point for his
jazz arrangements. And while the two distinct-
ly American forms might seem odd bedfellows,
Hoefner’s melodies and juxtapositions succeed at
conjuring a high-lonesome Aaron Copeland or
Bill Evans on a pastoral trip.
Hoefner trades the quartet lineup of his pre-
vious efforts for a trio set up here. With Andrew
Downing on bass (often bowed, standing in for
fiddle) and Nick Fraser on drums, the trio suc-
ceeds at making real Hoefner’s intent for the six
reworkings and three originals on First Spring:
Make it new.
The original compositions fit into the the-
matic whole with grace and agility. “First Spring”
is a lithe and lovely slice of melody and move-
ment; “Winter In June” captures the tentative and
somber mood of its title without faltering; and
“Solstice” speeds along on the wind of Hoefner’s
deft fingers.
As for the interpretations, “Hound’s Tune,”
which takes on the work of fiddler Rufus
Guinchard, is driven by Downing’s bass stylings,
the trio’s execution demonstrating simultane-
ous urgency and confidence. Traditional Scottish
folk song “Maid On The Shore” sails on Hoefner’s
exquisite melody as the rhythm section carries
the song along. The finale, “Rain And Snow,”
has been recorded by acts like The Grateful Dead
and Bill Monroe. But the ominous arrangement
here is fitting for a song characterized in folk cir-
cles as a murder ballad. And while it’s not neces-
sarily recognizable as the traditional song some
of us know and love, Hoefner seems to be saying,
“What’s the point, unless you can innovate?”
—Denise Sullivan

First Spring: Hound’s Tune; Calvary; First Spring; Maid On The

Shore; Winter In June; Loosin Yelav; Short Life; Solstice; Rain And
Snow. (58:24)
Personnel: Florian Hoefner, piano; Andrew Downing, bass; Nick
Fraser, drums.
Ordering info: almarecords.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 73

 Books / BY AARON COHEN

Rabbit’s Tale Jumps Around

Duke Ellington knew an indispensable sound
when he heard it. For decades, his orchestra
highlighted the sensual glissandos of alto
saxophonist Johnny Hodges. Now, almost
50 years after his passing, he’s received his
first full-length biography. Author Con Chap-
man’s Rabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music
of Johnny Hodges (Oxford University
Press) is a well-researched account of this
important (if generally quiet) performer that
departs from a typical chronological narrative.
Hodges’ early life in the Boston area pro- Perry Smith Quartet
vides much of the book’s key revelations. Live In Brooklyn
Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1907, SMITH TONE
Chapman describes the musician’s familial
lineage alongside the history of Boston’s
+++
predominantly African American South End Live In Brooklyn marks the debut of a band led by
neighborhood, where he moved as a child. guitarist Perry Smith. Three of the six tunes are
The local scene shaped his direction, but new Smith originals, while the bandleader adds
Hodges’ most significant influence early on
in a version of Rube Bloom’s “Don’t Worry ’Bout
was New Orleans hero Sidney Bechet. While
Me,” Sonny Stitt’s “The Eternal Triangle” and the
determining when and why a youthful Hodg-
es received the abiding “rabbit” nickname re- standard of all standards, Jerome Kern’s “All The
mains cloudy, Chapman dutifully lays out all Things You Are.”
of the possible sources. devoted to specific subjects and ideas. This Opener “Starlit Skies” sets the album’s tone,
When Ellington brought Hodges into structure delivers some fuller descriptions of Matt Aronoff’s bass nudging things into a gen-
his ensemble in 1928, the saxophonist’s per- Hodges’ work without seeming digressive. tly loping groove while Smith and saxophon-
sonality transformed the band. Ellington’s One chapter describes his tone—something ist Melissa Aldana tackle the melody in unison
orchestra became Hodges’ musical home— the saxophonist said he just developed by before the guitarist wanders off on a solo jour-
aside from a few departures—until his death accident. Another, “The Competition,” delves ney. His tone is clean, with just enough reverb to
in 1970. The two men depended on each into the differences between Hodges and
give it warmth and presence. The second piece,
other, and Chapman describes how the sax- alto giant Benny Carter. Chapman accurately
“Premonition,” pulls the same trick, allowing
ophonist remained loyal to the bandleader depicts Hodges delivering an unmistakable
while also harboring some chagrin at ques- emotional wallop, while Carter offers a mod- Smith and Aldana to travel a long road togeth-
tionable finances and, perhaps, conflicts over el of superb harmonic development. But the er before they embark on individual side paths,
women. Hodges also built different kinds of author wisely avoids making qualitative com- exploring the tune’s lyrical and harmonic pos-
partnerships with other important Ellingto- parisons. Despite the chapter title, there was sibilities. It’s bebop, with all the flourishes and
nians, primarily composer Billy Strayhorn and no rivalry between these longtime mutual traded fours that the genre implies, and it makes
saxophonist Ben Webster. For a few years in admirers. no attempt to disguise itself as anything else.
the ’50s and ’60s, Hodges made small-group Still, Chapman’s discussions of Hodges’ Which is also the problem.
records outside the orchestra’s orbit, until he work would have been enlivened with more There’s nothing wrong with the music on
tired of the responsibilities of bandleading. of his own thoughts and analyses of the
Live In Brooklyn: Everyone plays well, Smith’s
Somewhat ironically, Hodges’ 1951 r&b hit, beauty—or flaws—in key recordings, rather
compositions are pretty (if unmemorable) and
“Castle Rock” (written by his tenor saxophon- than just reporting on what earlier critics stat-
ist, Al Sears), helped pave the way for rock ’n’ ed. He also slips up with an omission in his it swings. The bass could be mixed a bit more
roll, the music that many feel eclipsed jazz in description of Hodges’ representation “in the prominently, but the drums are loud enough to
the public consciousness. broader stream of American culture beyond keep the energy level high. Ultimately, though,
Most of Chapman’s sources include gov- the narrow channels of jazz.” The author’s list the album fails to argue convincingly for its own
ernment documents, media reports and rec- of literature and a television show does not existence. Bebop, after all, had gone from an
ognized Ellington experts, such as Stanley include the saxophonist’s memorable, but insurgency to an established language by 1948.
Dance. He does not include original interviews brief, appearance in 1965’s The Autobiogra- The modernist dictum to “make it new” is com-
in the book, likely because the vast majority of phy of Malcolm X. pletely ignored; Smith and his bandmates might
Hodges’ colleagues have been deceased for Rabbit’s Blues concludes with a mention
as well have put on straw hats and sleeve garters
years. But fresh conversations with prominent of Hodges’ ongoing influence on contem-
to play Dixieland. This album has nothing to say
and still-outspoken musicians who worked on porary alto players, and Chapman rightfully
his ’60s records with organist Wild Bill Davis or cites varied saxophonists as his inheritors; beyond “on this night, this happened,” and that’s
his 1970 album 3 Shades Of Blue—Kenny Bur- these range from Darius Jones to Grace Kelly. not quite enough. —Philip Freeman
rell or Ron Carter, for example—could have More could be discussed about how Hodges
added vital first-person perspectives. influenced these two in particular, but the Live In Brooklyn: Starlit Skies; Premonition; Don’t Worry ’Bout
Me; Golden Days; The Eternal Triangle; All The Things You Are.
Rather than simply tell a linear story way Chapman’s book reaffirms Hodges’ en- (50:29)
of how Hodges’ life progressed, Chapman during presence is cause for celebration. DB Personnel: Perry Smith, guitar; Melissa Aldana, tenor saxophone;
Matt Aronoff, bass; Jay Sawyer, drums.
separates the main narrative from chapters Ordering info: oup.com
Ordering info: perrysmithmusic.com

74 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Alice Zawadzki
Within You Is A
World Of Spring
WHIRLWIND 4746
++++
Capturing a sense of Gaia’s wisdom
on her earthy release, vocalist
and multi-instrumentalist Alice
Zawadzki’s grounded connection
illuminates eight dramatic composi-
tions hued with mystique and eclecti-
cism. Love stories, social justice, sadness and a touch of whimsy flow from
Zawadzki’s pen as she brews a genre-potpourri of folk and pop, fused with
elements of jazz, r&b, classical and Celtic. Her violin creates intense textures
in unison with the soul-drenched Amika String Quartet on the title track.
Based on Emil Aarestrup’s writing, it’s a reflection of Zawadzki’s uplifting
philosophy, which was detailed in an email to DownBeat: “[T]here is always
a powerful and mysterious seed inside us that is growing, working, prom-
ising new life ... . Even the coldest winter will always reliably give way to
spring.” Zawadzki’s stellar vocals complement the r&b and gospel influ-
ence on “Keeper,” and then she bonds with the forest for “The Woods,” a
tune centered on her spoken-word poetry. Emphasizing the powerful force
of love in reuniting an estranged couple, the bandleader reassures listeners
on “O Mio Amore,” the album’s comforting closer. —Kerilie McDowall
Within You Is A World Of Spring: Within You Is A World Of Spring; God’s Children; Superior Virtue;
Es Verdad; The Woods; Keeper; Twisty Moon; O Mio Amore. (50:11)
Personnel: Alice Zawadzki, vocals, keyboards, violin; Rob Luft, guitar; Fred Thomas, drums, percussion,
keyboards, tenor banjo (4, 8); Misha Mullov-Abbado, bass; Hyelim Kim, taegum (5); Simmy Singh, Laura
Senior, violin (1, 2, 7, 8); Lucy Nolan, viola (1, 2, 7, 8); Peggy Nolan, cello (1, 2, 7, 8).
Ordering info: whirlwindrecordings.com

Andrés Vial
Gang Of Three
CHROMATIC AUDIO 041419
+++½
Montreal-based pianist Andrés Vial
embraces an aesthetic that seems
torn between modern American
and European jazz, even as his com-
positions on Gang Of Three  are
informed by a much greater variety
of music from all over the world.
Some song titles readily give away those influences: The melancholy
“Chacarera Para Wayne” (an homage to Wayne Shorter) is based on an
Argentine folk dance and displays Vial’s talent at weaving a rich melodic
and harmonic fabric out of a rather simple theme; and “Samba Fantasma” is
a subtle take on the Brazilian staple. But the highlight here is arguably “Put
Your Spikes In,” a piece rooted in mbira music of the Central African Gbaya
people, with a recurring and surprisingly angular theme that allows Vial to
put his stamp on the piece.
As a composer and an improviser, the bandleader constantly is focused
on melody. Throughout the trio date, his solos often are well-paced and
thoughtful, and serve his design. Bassist Dezron Douglas’ muffled sound is
a perfect foil to the pianist’s bright delivery. But because he’s not restricted
to a purely rhythmic assignment on the album, drummer Eric McPherson
successfully takes on that role—particularly during the spectacular intro-
duction of the Shorter tribute. —Alain Drouot
Gang Of Three: Atonggaga Blues; Chacarera Para Wayne; Gang Of Three; Ferguson; Montaigne;
February Waltz; Put Your Spikes In; Samba Fantasma; Cascadas. (51:44)
Personnel: Andrés Vial, piano; Dezron Douglas, bass; Eric McPherson, drums.
Ordering info: chromatic-audio.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 75

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JAZZ SCHOOL
MIKE HOLOBER
Master Class
PAGE 84

REGGIE QUINERLY
Pro Session
PAGE 90

COMPETITIONS &
GRANTS
PAGE 96

SONNY ROLLINS
SOLO
Transcription
PAGE 100

TOOLSHED
PAGE 102

Peter Eldridge (Photo: David Belusic) JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 77

Peter Eldrige performs
78 DOWNBEAT at
JANUARY 2020
Birdland in New York on Sept. 22, 2019.
 JAZZ SCHOOL

Like a lot of you, I love many contrasting styles of music. I love jazz reper-
toire (including the Great American Songbook), pop tunes old and new,
Brazilian, Latin and world music, soul, classical repertoire (especially
20th-century choral music) and the repertoire of the great singer-songwrit-
ers. Each has had its own distinct effect on my soul, heart and mind.

W
hat I love more than anything else, though, in my definition of a successful arrangement or “rein-
is the idea of “personalizing” a piece of vention”—to bring out a new lyrical focus, to bring out
music from one of the genres listed above something that hasn’t really been heard before.
and making it my own, through playing with ele- For me, the initial idea of working a tune to make
ments of harmony, melody and rhythm—so much so it “mine” came from a vocal perspective, even though
that it can make a tried-and-true (and perhaps even I also play and compose at the piano. As a child, I
overdone) song feel like new. began my musical studies as a classical pianist. Due
Happily, the jazz community has come to embrace, to an intense fear of the vulnerability that comes
even encourage, taking a tune and revitalizing it to fit with singing, I didn’t start using my voice in any real
elements of your own musical identity. Many of the capacity until college. I just felt way too exposed and
standards we all know and love have been sung for uncomfortable when attempting to wear the vocalist
decades by countless vocalists, so they are ripe for some “hat.” I hid, more than happily, behind my piano and
reimagining and rearranging. This goes for pop, rock accompanied anyone I could, both in classical rep-
and soul tunes as well. It’s deciding what it is that you, ertoire and jazz standards. Over the course of a few
as the vocalist/instrumentalist/interpreter/arrang- years, I began overcoming this fear, understanding
er, can bring to the party to make the song feel fresh the unique expression that singing is capable of and
again; perhaps making the lyric feel like it’s coming actually garnering an appreciation for that vulnera-
from a significantly different emotional world from bility that I found so initially debilitating. It finally
where it originated, or that your arrangement brings dawned on me it was a form of strength and not weak-
out an entirely different meaning in the lyric because ness. I remember when that realization finally hit me,
of how you set it musically. That’s a substantial element it was completely emancipating.
JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 79
 mic ebb and flow. Consider the ways it could

HOLY SMOKE PHOTOGRAPHY

Eldridge collaborated with pianist/arranger Kenny Werner (left)
on Somewhere, released July 5, 2019, on Rosebud Music. evolve or be played with by speaking the text
emphatically. Try to lose the original rhyth-
mic (metric) flow to find a new one. If it’s a
Great American Songbook tune, the lyrics
sometimes can feel antiquated, so I usually
write a paraphrase of the lyric to put it into my
own language (again, for context). And in the
beginning stages, I usually try to find what I
would consider to be a particular “hook” for
the arrangement—a specific groove, perhaps a
reoccurring instrumental motif to anchor it.
And, of course, it is good to really know the
original melody/form of the chosen song note-
for-note (listen to instrumental versions, not
just vocal ones). Having that initial foundation
leads to compelling alternative choices.

Opposite Directions
One relatively obvious method of chang-
ing things up in your reinvention is to basi-
cally do the opposite of what already exists in
the song you’ve chosen. If it’s a song that has a
lot of harmonic motion, strip it back to as lit-
tle motion as possible. If it’s basically a three-
chord tune, you have all kinds of opportunity
to add intrigue or intensity by adding har-
monic information. If you’re used to a partic-
I remember slowly developing my own set experience and context, even for young vocal- ular favorite recording of a standard or clas-
of rules and freedoms in regard to phrasing, ists, need to be part of any song’s journey. sic pop tune, change the basic character of it
emotion, feel and vocal color of a particular While I believe it is permissible to play (instrumentation, dynamics, tempo, etc.) to
song. Instead of emulating my vocal heroes with the rhythm of a lyric to make the phras- open it up to other directions. If the song has a
(which, of course, is a necessary and invalu- ing sound more natural or make the senti- traditional verse/chorus/verse sensibility and
able part of the process), I began digging deep- ment clearer in some way, it is important to the dynamic tends to ramp up into the chorus,
er into my own musical ideas, some good and keep the pitches of the original melodic line go in the counterintuitive direction and bring
some not so good. And soon after that I was as the composer wrote it. There are instanc- the chorus dynamic way down. If the melod-
incorporating my piano skills in conjunction es when the arranger intentionally (through ic phrases feel tight or constricted in any way,
with my voice to “reimagine” a song I was pas- a variety of musical concepts) contradicts the loosen them up by adding an extra measure
sionate about. I would study it over and over emotional nature of a song, if the original ver- at the end of a particular compelling phrase
again until I felt there was some fundamental sion feels a bit too old-school or corny/dated, so it can breathe. This can make a song feel
aspect of it I could play with—the harmony, or overplays the emotional nature for dramat- more expansive and gives the listener planned
the meter, the rhythm of the language, or often ic intent. In the unsettling place we are in as “extra time” to sit with the emotional impact
some combination of all three—in the hopes it a country, sometimes it just feels appropriate of the lyric. Adding extra bars sometimes can
would make it feel new, make the lyric mean to be unemotional or blasé or apathetic with feel a bit unsettling, but “messing with the
something different than in previous versions, the sentiment. But you owe it to yourself (not math” of measures and form can be a power-
but all the while (hopefully) still respecting to mention to the composer) to bring out any ful factor in reinvention.
the original intentions of the composer. elements of beauty, context and uplift that you If your song is a ballad, it might be appro-
In my teachings at both the Manhattan can. It is needed these days. priate to approach it as an uptempo swinger or
School of Music and now at Berklee College of So, let’s jump in. If the concept of “song samba. And, vice versa: Busy, energetic, wordy,
Music, I’ve heard many an arrangement where reinvention” is completely new to you, here are uptempo tunes can be very effective when per-
the lyric felt more like an afterthought, a con- a few ways of getting the initial wheels turn- formed in a slowed-down, stately manner. Be
sequence, instead of the actual reason behind ing. Like any form of developing and creating, careful to make sure the lyrics don’t become
a particular song reinvention. Not to say it isn’t there inevitably will be a fair amount of trial too heavy-handed or sentimental, whatever
possible to get wildly adventurous musically, and error. The hit-or-miss factor looms large at direction you choose to go with them.
but it can never be at the expense of the lyri- first, but try it anyway. And as with any craft,
cal intention. People connect to songs through the more you keep at it, the more you devel- Changes in Feel
words full of heartbreak, humor, passion, con- op your own skill set and musical tools to play A change of rhythmic focus can be a sure-
fusion, anger, love, even sarcasm (thank you, with. Either way, here are a few ideas to get you fire element in reinventing. These days, there
Rodgers and Hart). The arrangement can’t started: are a variety of apps (my current favorites
eclipse that connection. The natural flow of are the DrumGenius and Percussion apps)
the language needs to feel as organic and con- First Considerations and computer programs (Garageband, Logic,
versational as possible. I feel that too many What is it that you love about your chosen etc.) where you can find dozens and dozens
arrangements fall short on this aspect. Life song? Spend time with the lyric, its rhyth- of grooves that you can loop and experiment

80 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 81
with. You can sing your chosen song a cappel- why the change exists. lyric come front and center. With more tradi-
la while auditioning various grooves and time Another very accessible concept is simply tional meters, I’m probably overly fond of 6/8
signatures to see how the feel affects the nat- to use the relative minor (if the original ver- in my arrangements—the circular nature of
ural flow of a lyric. (I love to do this activi- sion is in a major key, obviously) as a start- anything in 3/4 or 6/8 is always emotional and
ty in my car; great things happen while driv- ing place. It’s not necessarily making a happy satisfying to me.
ing). I’ve always said there is nothing like a song “sad”; the relative minor ends up creating
good groove and an open mind to inspire and something deeper than that. It’s amazing how Band Input
create, whether referring to composing or re- one little adjustment can add so much nuance If you have the luxury of using a rhythm
arranging. Loops/grooves provide freedom. and give new meaning to a song’s lyric. The section in your reinvention process, invite
Part of the job is already done for you, so you same can be said for a simple change of meter your band members into the process and ask
can focus on harmonic colors, instrumental or groove. I’m a sucker for a bossa nova or a for their artistic contributions. Deciding what
motifs or melodic elements instead. bolero, but things can get “cutesy” pretty fast if instruments to use in your arrangement can
you’re not careful. Keep these types of grooves be very important. Sometimes subtracting or
Reharmonizations & Suspensions earthy and open. swapping out an instrument for another col-
Often you can stay relatively close to the ors the arrangement beautifully and becomes
pre-existing harmonic structure of a cho- Even 8ths an integral aspect of it.
sen piece, but at one specific point in the tune Try taking a jazz standard (usually a bal-
it can be fun to drastically reharmonize just lad) and removing any semblance of swing Other Reinvention Devices
four or eight bars (second “A” sections work feel, sticking to more of an even-eighth-note Try beginning the tune a cappella and
very well) and then return back to the tradi- feel. It has the potential of turning the song rubato, perhaps using the bridge as an intro-
tional harmony right afterward. I call it “leav- into a sort of “arty” pop tune. I’ve done this duction. Another idea: Take some element of
ing home and coming back again.” It can be with songs like “Prelude To A Kiss,” “You’ve the original tune—a horn lick, a vocal phrase or
a wonderful surprise for the listener and a Changed” and, dare I say, “All Of Me.” It some characteristic that’s integral to the origi-
way to shake things up without having to re- makes the song feel like it’s coming from a nal version—and move it to a different instru-
invent the wheel and tackle the whole song singer-songwriter place. If I’m going in this ment or give it a different function. Perhaps
form. Another easy and usually successful direction, I usually omit any diminished stretch it out and make it an accompaniment
concept is to use pedal notes in the bass line chords from the arrangement (as they tend figure, or have it sung if it was instrumental.
(the fifth of the key is always a good place to to hint at an old-school character), and per-
start, the fourth also can be very powerful, haps use more triadic, open-fifth and add-two Comparative Listening
and sometimes the seventh), perhaps in a last types of chords. And to reiterate, the goal is to I hope that this article provides you with
“A” section. Pedal notes add a sense of mys- update the song but still respect the composer. some tools to jump-start your way into your
tery and suspension, not resolving until nec- own “song reinventions.” Let me leave you
essary. The trial-and-error aspect when you’re Uneven Meters with some suggestions for comparative lis-
starting to reinvent tunes is making sure your Sometimes just putting a particular song tening that will reveal song reinvention at its
reharmonization has “legs,” and you’re not into an odd meter—like 5/4, 7/4, etc.—can finest:
just changing chords for the sake of chang- organically open up the phrasing and allow a • Carmen McRae’s version of “Skylark” with
ing them. There needs to be an emotional pull little time and space for the lyrics to breathe. It the Ralph Burns Orchestra vs. Gretchen Parlato’s
attached, and hopefully a theoretical reason can be that “magical” element that makes the 2005 version with guitarist Lionel Loueke.
• Lucy Ann Polk’s version of “Easy Living”
vs. Kurt Elling’s version.
• Seal’s version of “Kiss From A Rose” vs.
Becca Stevens’ version.
• The Beatles’ version of “If I Fell” vs.
Nando Lauria’s version.
• Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “Ridin’ High”
vs. Fay Claassen’s version.
• Etta James’ version of “The Man I Love”
vs. Kate McGarry’s version. DB

Peter Eldridge remains at the forefront of both the singer-

songwriter and jazz realms as a vocalist, pianist, composer and
arranger. He is also a founding member of the internationally
acclaimed vocal group New York Voices, which continues
to tour internationally and has performed at some of the
world’s most preeminent venues and festivals. He has been
involved in two Grammy Award-winning projects with Paquito
D’Rivera and the Count Basie Orchestra. Some of Eldridge’s
notable collaborations include projects with Bobby McFerrin,
Fred Hersch, Becca Stevens, Chanticleer, George Benson,
Michael Brecker, David Byrne, Jonatha Brooke, Kurt Elling,
the New West Guitar Trio, Jane Monheit, the Swingles, Anat
Cohen, Betty Buckley, Janis Siegel, Paula Cole, Jon Hendricks
and Mark Murphy. His most recent CD is a collaboration with
pianist Kenny Werner titled Somewhere (Rosebud Records).
Eldridge’s original songs and collaborations have been covered
by artists such as D’Rivera, Nancy Wilson and Jane Monheit. He
collaborated with playwright Cheryl Coons to co-write The Kiss,
a musical about the life and loves of Gustav Klimt. In addition,
Eldridge was head of Manhattan School of Music’s jazz voice
department for 18 years and is now part of the voice faculty at
Berklee College of Music. Visit him online at petereldridge.com.

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 JAZZ SCHOOL Woodshed MASTER CLASS
BY MIKE HOLOBER

PERRY HALL
Mike Holober

Cultivating Aural Imagination

To Elevate the Writer’s Craft
I
n addition to my work as a pianist, com- elaborate on just a handful of these ideas, with melody or the harmony, but how it registers—
poser, and arranger, I have had a long the goal of illustrating how intuition, and a the color, the impact, the default dynamic.
career as a jazz educator, first at SUNY well-developed aural imagination, can signifi- How does it compare to, blend and balance
Binghamton, then at the City College of New cantly improve a writer’s craft. with, or complement other already existing
York, the Manhattan School of Music and at sounds? I often tell students that if they write
the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop, where PITCH in concert without picturing what the instru-
I had the honor of teaching alongside Jim I believe the most important thing in ments are actually doing, and then push the
McNeely. Over the years, I have developed a orchestration/voicing is the awareness that transpose button, I will be able to tell—the
variety of strategies to help students deepen you are writing a specific sound that occurs at compromise will reveal itself.
their skills as composers and arrangers. This the intended pitch, not just writing the pitch. This is why I always write transposed: I feel
involves teaching the rules of the craft, but I While pitch is a fixed and determined enti- it brings me closer to the conception of the
also try to cultivate an intuitive mindset that ty, its sound can be endlessly variable—and a actual sound in the very moment I am writ-
encourages the ability to hear in a way that good writer must be able to hear this. ing. When I think of alto saxophone playing
can significantly complement rules and estab- Activate your aural imagination; ask your- the pitch of middle C, I imagine the alto play-
lished methods. In this master class, I will self what it actually sounds like—not just the ing the A shown in Example 1 on page 86. The

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idea of middle C is only a part of the necessary saxophone or guitar (Example 5)? It’s the same But saxophones would have sounded fan-
information. pitch, but which sound better matches your tastic on that soli. This is why I tell students to
Determining whether a pitch registers as intent? The point is, never assign pitches just try to write what is “indigenous” to the instru-
high, middle or low also depends in large part because they happen to be within the range of ments. Each instrument (and section) in a jazz
on which instrument is playing it. Take, for an instrument. Use your aural imagination to orchestra has its own unique qualities, and
example, a middle D. Picture this on flute, evaluate which orchestration will best express when composing and arranging/orchestrat-
trumpet, baritone saxophone, guitar, trom- what you are hearing. ing you should capitalize on those strengths,
bone and, finally, piccolo (see Example 2). On rather than asking them to do something that
the flute it sounds low, but on the baritone RANGE might be better achieved by a different instru-
sax it sounds high; on the guitar and trom- Like most writers, I try to write within ment or section.
bone it sounds midrange, while on the piccolo each instrument’s optimal range (mostly, but
it’s so low that it isn’t even on the instrument. not exclusively), and taking sound into con- DYNAMICS
The pitch is identical, but the sound (which sideration, rather than just pitch, can help you Using your aural imagination can also
includes the color, the impact, the default avoid the mistake of unintentionally writing open up new ways to deal with dynamics. If
dynamic, as well as the density, transparency outside the optimal range of an instrument. you want a specific melody or passage to be
and weight) is entirely different. This applies to sectional writing as well. I louder, for example, you can use orchestra-
The ability to imagine how a pitch will remember a comment that trumpet player tion and composition (rather than just a high-
actually sound is also vital to assigning your Marvin Stamm once made at a reading of stu- er dynamic marking) to achieve what you are
instrumentation. Just because a pitch is with- dent jazz orchestra compositions: He said he looking for.
in an instrument’s range doesn’t mean it will wanted to “have a talk” with the writer who Let’s consider the melody shown in
actually sound optimal. “wrote all of that saxophone music for the Example 6. How can we make it louder? A
Let’s take the concert F pitch in Example 3 trumpets.” He was referring to a trumpet-sec- default solution might be to put all four trum-
as an illustration. Should you assign it to the tion passage that had been written in low-reg- pets on it, because trumpets are loud, right?
baritone saxophone (Example 4)? This note is ister four-part soli that would have been more But assigning the trumpets to the melody
certainly within the instrument’s range, and it’s suitable for saxophones because of the range. would sacrifice too much of the target dynam-
not difficult to play—but what are you trying to The top voice was fine, but the writer had not ic intent, regardless of what is written for the
achieve? If an exposed, reedy and singing lush- considered the optimal range of the trumpet saxophones and trombones.
ness is what you are after, then this might be a section as a whole; in that low register, writ- A more successful approach (Example 7)
good choice; but if power is your goal, consid- ten in soli, the sound was “muddy” (though, might be to write the saxophones on the melo-
er the other options: what about tenor trom- when they played the first trumpet part in uni- dy in octave unison (in this case they are actu-
bone and bass trombone, tenor saxophone, alto son rather than soli, they sounded fine.) ally stronger than the trumpets in terms of rel-

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 ative range), and then compose new music for
Example 1
the brass in a register that easily achieves the
dynamic. In other words, it’s not just about
which instruments are capable of high vol-
ume; it also has everything to do with range,
and what combination of sounds can achieve
the dynamic you are looking for.
Example 2 Here, I’ve also chosen some basic hits or
“comping,” being careful not to step on or dis-
tract from the melody. The music is now much
louder than it was when the trumpets were
playing the melody. Of course, there are many
other possible variations/combinations to this
solution (four saxophones in true unison, with
Examples 3–5 the baritone mixed into the trombones; four-
note trombone voicings with no root; or with
the baritone on the root, or on the fifth in bar
2). The point is, working through multiple
iterations, with your aural imagination fully
activated, will help you find an orchestration
that best expresses what you are after.
Example 6
ECONOMY
Thinking about orchestration as transac-
tional is another useful way to train your
aural imagination. When you assign notes to
a player, that player is no longer available to do
something else. Was it a good investment of
Example 7
that instrument?
Let’s use the Trumpet IV part in Example
8 to illustrate this. Ask yourself, is Trumpet
IV contributing enough in this open voic-
ing? Its note is a 10th below Trumpet I in its
mid-low range, doubling a note in Trombone
I in its mid-high range, placing it at a marked
volume disadvantage to both of these instru-
ments. Could you get better value by moving
Trumpet IV somewhere else?
In my solution (Example 9), I moved
Trumpet IV up, so that the trumpets are now
in closed position (a common practice, and
for good reason). This helps minimize the
range-related volume issue (particularly acute
Example 8
in trumpets), and also removes the doubling
of Trombone I—a note that certainly needed
no reinforcement. It also mitigates the overly
open nature of upper-register trumpets voiced
in perfect fourths, which in this context would
sound thin.
These voicing variations demonstrate just a
sampling of how much can be done by reinvest-
ing a single instrument. (The first four trumpet
voicings also retain the original quartal intent.)
They are all essentially “correct,” but activat-
Example 9 ing your aural imagination will enable you to
determine which voicing will take your writing
from “pretty good” to great.
If orchestration is transactional, it is
equally important to economize your resourc-
es. In other words: Don’t waste their breath!
Here, a sense of overall effort should also
guide your decisions. For example, be consid-
erate about rests, especially for brass. Leave

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 87
your soloists time to both rest and to “trav- STUDY/IMITATE/ASSIMILATE/EVOLVE Gliding” or Jim McNeely on the shout of
el.” What sounds better: a 16-bar passage for The best way to train your aural imagina- “Extra Credit.” You can’t learn language in a
four trombones, where Trombone II leaves out tion is to study other writers. Stravinsky said, vacuum—have a look at scores, and listen a lot.
all of their notes as they walk up front for their “Lesser artists borrow, great artists steal.” To This also includes listening to your own music.
solo, or beautifully crafted music for three trom- me, this says learn the language, study scores, Take every opportunity to participate in read-
bones where the happy soloist nestles in with the train your ears, and know the history and what ings, organize a group reading with other
rhythm section after a nice little rest? it sounds like. How extensive is your vocabu- writers, or even start your own big band. Like
Continually picture yourself in the players’ lary of voicings? You can expand your tool- looking in a mirror (or listening to a recording
shoes (or chairs)—this is their brain on your box by studying some great examples: Sammy of yourself playing), the truth will be staring
notes, not your brain. This kind of consider- Nestico’s tuttis on “Hayburner,” Thad Jones’ right back at you.
ation will show respect for the players and sig- hits on “Three And One,” Bob Brookmeyer
nals appreciation for them playing your music on the intro of “American Express,” Maria CRAFTSMANSHIP
so well. Schneider behind the tenor solo on “Hang Brahms said, “Without craftsmanship,
inspiration is a mere reed shaken in the wind.”
In other words, having an idea or a blast of
conceptual brilliance probably won’t get you
sonically far enough in terms of expressing
your idea or conception. Listening to a lot of
music will not only train your aural imagina-
tion, it will also help you learn the possibili-
ties of the craft—and this is what will elevate
your writing. Of course, practically any-
thing played by a good band can sound “pret-
ty good”—but “pretty good” is nowhere near
good enough, and the only way to go from
good to great is by using your imagination to
explore solutions that are not only technically
“correct,” but sound exactly right as well.
Studying lots of music (and not just jazz)
can also expose you to some of the most excit-
ing ways to bend the rules, go beyond accept-
ed conventions and develop your own voice. I
often point out that “always means usually, and
never means not so often.” In other words, there
is the potential for anything to be the right thing
to do at a particular given moment. Context
is everything, and what something actually
sounds like should always be your guide.
But craftsmanship remains vital, because
knowing the rules will help you find the sound
you are looking for. Don’t worry that there will
be nothing left to write after all of the “don’t
do this, don’t do that” in the learning pro-
cess—the speed at which your vocabulary will
expand will far outpace the “cleaning up” of
substandard craft. As your aural imagination
evolves, you will realize that the possibilities
are endless. DB

Mike Holober has released six recordings as a leader and

can be heard on more than 75 recordings as a sideman. His
current projects include The Gotham Jazz Orchestra, Balancing
Act  (a jazz octet with voice) and The Mike Holober/Marvin
Stamm Quartet. Holober’s jazz orchestra credentials include
composing and conducting for the WDR Big Band, hr-Bigband
and Westchester Jazz Orchestra, where he has written projects
for artists such as Miguel Zenón, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Al Foster,
Dr. Lonnie Smith, Eli Degibri and Avishai Cohen, among others.
He recently returned to the helm of his own stellar big band
with the 2019 release of Mike Holober & The Gotham Jazz
Orchestra: Hiding Out  (ZOHO), a double CD featuring two
multi-movement suites along with other works.  Holober is
a full professor at the City College of New York, where he
has taught for 25 years. He also teaches jazz composing and
arranging at the Manhattan School of Music, and served as
associate director of the BMI Jazz Composer’s Workshop from
2007 to 2015. He was recently endowed as the inaugural CCNY
Stuart Z. Katz Professor of Humanities and the Arts for  his
project This Rock We’re On: Imaginary Letters, an  extended
work in the form of an oratorio for jazz orchestra, voice,
cello and percussion. Visit him online at mikeholober.com.

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 JAZZ SCHOOL Woodshed PRO SESSION
BY REGGIE QUINERLY

JAVIER ODDO
Reggie Quinerly

Shifting the Drummer’s Perspective

from Sideman to Bandleader
P
erspective is the drummer’s key advan- to be the heartbeat of the ensemble. It’s what to study music, both formally and informal-
tage on the bandstand. From our seat, enables you to foster a sense of cohesion among ly, I remained steadfast in my commitment to
we see everything. We see the audience so many distinctive artists with such distinctive being the best sideman possible. The idea of
members who are losing themselves in the sounds. It’s powerful and compelling. Yet it can leading a band, or even composing my own
vibe, and those who are just lost. We notice also be limiting, as it requires you to apply such work, never crossed my mind until I was near-
the club manager’s furrowed brow as they deep and unrelenting focus to everyone else’s ly 30—long after I had put in my 10,000 hours.
pace the floor, wondering if the venue will voice that you’re less inclined to focus on culti- Over the years, I’ve encountered many
meet its numbers for the night. And we notice vating your own. other drummers who share my experience.
everything that every other member of the Most drummers will not tell you that they While there is an established and undeni-
band is thinking, feeling and doing—includ- began playing the drums because they want- able tradition of powerhouse drummers who
ing checking their Instagram feeds from stage ed to be in the spotlight. When I found myself changed the game as bandleaders such as
right in between solos. drawn to the drums at age 6, my only goal Elvin Jones, Art Blakey and Roy Haynes, most
Perspective, and the rich insight that it was to become good enough to accompany people are still conditioned to see drummers
brings, is a part of what makes being a drum- the older musicians who seemed so talent- in the supporting role. It requires intention-
mer so fulfilling. It’s what allows the drummer ed and cool. Even as I grew up and continued ality, passion and a few disruptive forces to

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shift the drummer’s path from the side to
the center of the stage. And no matter how
seamless or fraught that journey is, it tends
to include a few key milestones: accepting
that you actually have a sound worth hear-
ing, cultivating that sound into a distinctive
voice and learning how to communicate
that voice to and through other musicians—
while still honoring the drummer’s role as a
supportive player on the bandstand.

ENVISIONING LEADERSHIP
My journey started in the practice room.
I’ve always been most comfortable sitting
behind the drums. On the throne, confi-
dence came from the ability to execute my
rudiments and being prepared for anything
that might come my way on the stage or in
the studio. And prepared I was—at least
that’s what I thought.
Then, during my freshman year at The
New School, I started taking lessons with
pianist Jason Moran. I’d known my fellow
Houstonian for some time, and opted to
study with him because I always respected
the fearless spontaneity at the center of his
distinctive musical personality. I knew that
he would challenge me, but I thought I knew
what to expect. And then, as I was setting
up my cymbals before our lesson, he said,
“Imagine your drums are set up center stage
at Carnegie Hall for a solo performance. The
place is packed and silently awaiting your
first note. I’ll give you half a minute to think
about what you are going to play. Now go!”
To be honest, I don’t remember if or how
I found my way through that exercise. I do
know that it was the first time I ever truly
envisioned myself in a formal leadership
role on the bandstand. It was the first time
I was put in a position where an audience
(fictitious as they were) depended on me to
assert my point of view. And in response
to that prompt, I began the slow process of
becoming comfortable with my own sound,
embracing the mix of confidence and vul-
nerability required to actually listen back
and assess my development.
So, there I was, nearly 15 years after I
started seriously studying music, and just
beginning to accept that I had something
to say. The next challenge was figuring out
what that something was. I was starting to
become a composer.
I have found as more drummers transi-
tion into bandleaders, the role of compo-
sition can emerge as an important way to
develop a group sound. Composing can
bring unique challenges for drummers.
When we write for other instruments, we
have to develop a new musical identity—one
that fully takes into consideration rhythm
and its convergence with melody and har-

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 91

 mony. It was particularly daunting for me, given my love-hate rela-
tionship with the piano. Well, I actually love the piano; it’s my lim-
ited finger dexterity that I hated. I physically couldn’t produce the
sounds I was hearing in my head. To make matters worse, I was now
in graduate school and had given myself the challenge of composing
one song each day while enrolled in a rigorous program.

PLAYING MY OWN GAME

The breakthrough came when I started to play my own game.
Given the nature of our instrument, drummers are constantly
thinking about rhythm and how that relates to song form. I began to
investigate this rhythm-first composing technique by playing melo-
dies I knew on the drums; Charlie Parker and Dizzy tunes seemed
like the most logical first step. I figured if those worked, why not
begin writing my own melodies and going back and filling in the
harmony later? Armed with my recording device, I would improvise
one-bar phrases. After listening back and editing ideas, I began to
transcribe what I heard. I wrote out my strongest ideas, and orches-
trated them into the main motives. I then assigned the stick strokes
to various pitches. I stretched these ideas over basic song structures
like 12-bar, 16-bar and even odd-bar repetitive forms.
This approach produced results that reminded me of the highly
influential compositions of Thelonious Monk, who was a master of
combining easy, singable musical motives with inventive rhythmic
techniques. His writing showed how rhythms and melodies could be
inverted, displaced, stretched and condensed in unique ways. I dis-

After dedicating my career to

helping other artists bring
their vision to life, I found
that providing others with
the right mix of guidance and
autonomy came easier when I
assumed the leadership role.
covered drummers have a unique approach to harmony because we
often have to rely on what sounds good to us, as opposed to it fol-
lowing conventional rules on how things typically resolve. I basical-
ly broke a bunch of rules and learned how to get comfortable with
the quirks that make my compositions unique to me. As I learned
to trust my process, my sound turned into a distinctive voice that
reflected my point of view.

COMMUNICATING MY VISION
Learning how to communicate my vision to, and through, other
talented musicians has been an energizing experience. After dedi-
cating my career to helping other artists bring their visions to life, I
found providing others with the right mix of guidance and auton-
omy came much easier when I assumed the leadership role. I’ve
always admired bandleaders who trust and recognize each player’s
individual strengths. I draw inspiration from these role models each
time I venture into the studio or onto the stage as a bandleader.
On my most recent album, Words To Love (Redefinition Music),
when thinking about the overall sound, the first musician who came
to mind was the great bassist Ben Wolfe. I’ve always been impressed

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 93
 by his clarity of tone and thoughtful bass
lines. I was stepping out of my comfort zone
by combining several vocalists with my
original lyrics and compositions. Ben had
spent a significant part of his career accom-
panying vocalists like Dianna Krall and
Harry Connick Jr., and I wanted to tap into
this aspect of his experience. His approach,
insight and creative openness proved to be
invaluable in the recording process. Having
him agree to the project put me at ease.
After we talked, I shared my vision of
having a group of musicians that listened,
possessed a subtle intensity in their play-
ing and could also approach several styles.
His immediate reaction was to recommend
our mutual friend, pianist Orrin Evans. My
music personally benefited from their syn-
ergy and rapport, which dates back more
than 20 years. Ultimately, communicating
my voice is about conveying a vision, estab-
lishing very few non-negotiables and then
giving the cats whatever support they need
to bring that vision to life. It’s about setting
them up for success.

LEVERAGING PERSPECTIVE
So, what’s changed? How has my role as
a drummer shifted with my transition from
sideman to bandleader? It actually hasn’t
shifted very much at all.
My perspective as an artist always will
be grounded in the insight gained from
behind the drums. Playing the support-
ive role is core to who I am, and it’s what
I enjoy most about playing this music. I’ve
just become more comfortable leveraging
that perspective to shape my approach in
the leadership role. And because nothing
is new under the sun, reflecting on my own
journey has enabled me to see parallel pro-
cesses among many of the drum bandlead-
ers I admire from the past and present.
Our role in the group still centers on
facilitating the success of others. And yet, I
suspect that we all share a spark of curiosity
that challenges us to embark on a long path
of self-discovery. The value of the outputs
(gigs, set lists, albums, etc.) pale in com-
parison to the intrinsic value of overcoming
self-doubt, celebrating the creative process
and documenting your growth. DB

Drummer/composer Reggie Quinerly is a graduate of

the Mannes School of Music at New School University,
where he studied with Jimmy Cobb, Lewis Nash and
Kenny Washington. He earned his master’s degree in jazz
studies at The Juilliard School. Quinerly has played with
such leading artists as Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Joe
Lovano, Greg Osby, and Chico and Von Freeman. He has
collaborated with the next wave of musical leaders, such
as Tim Warfield, Christian Sands, Orrin Evans and Melanie
Charles. In 2017, Quinerly joined the Juilliard faculty, and
last summer he joined the faculty at Hunter College, one of
the constituent colleges of the City University of New York.
Quinerly’s 2018 recording Words To Love (Redefinition
Music) is an emotionally inspired program of original music
and lyrics. Visit him online at reggiequinerly.com.

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 95
Jazzmeia Horn sings “East Of The Sun,” her winning number at the

STEVE HOCKSTEIN
Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2013.

How Competitions & Grants Help To

Boost Jazz Musicians’ Careers By Phillip Lutz
A
bout a half hour into the premiere of port—Zero Grasses was underwritten by the guy,” he said, “even though I don’t think about
Zero Grasses, Jen Shyu’s autobi- John Zorn Commissioning Series and incor- music that way. Music is not about competi-
ographical one-woman show pre- porates material nurtured with funding from tion; it’s about self-expression. But the idea of
sented Oct. 30 at National Sawdust in a Doris Duke Artists Award—is no longer tak- having an outlet, a deadline, an opportunity
Brooklyn, a video clip of her as an improb- ing part in competitions. Still, they were an to show what I could do in front of people was
ably confident piano wunderkind was pro- invaluable step in her development as a singer, exciting for me as a 20-year-old in 2002.”
jected above the stage. In it, she was play- dancer, composer and instrumentalist. That year, the Solal competition attracted
ing Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 with “What I learned from the hours of practic- about 65 pianists from America to Armenia.
the Peoria Symphony Orchestra before some ing, the pressure of being onstage and learn- Though Tepfer didn’t make it past the semi-
2,000 screaming schoolchildren. ing how to relax, all of that’s totally relevant finals, it helped him prepare for future com-
The Tchaikovsky engagement was part of today,” she said. petitions. In 2006, he won the East Coast Jazz
the prize for her win in the symphony’s 1991 Competitions have boosted the fortunes of Festival Competition as well as the Montreux
young artists’ competition—just one of several many leading artists on today’s jazz scene. Jazz Festival Solo Piano Competition, which
competition victories the 13-year-old Illinois Pianist Dan Tepfer—known for his improvi- netted him $3,000 and 12,000 euros, respec-
native had already notched—and she made the satory take on Bach’s “Goldberg Variations,” tively. And in 2007, he won the American
most of it, slashing her way through the chal- artful duos with veteran saxophonist Lee Pianists Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship,
lenging piece. But in Zero Grasses, the clip was Konitz and mind-expanding albums marry- for which he received $20,000.
not meant to dazzle the Brooklyn audience; ing the mathematical and the musical—cred- “These things were a huge help to me at the
rather, it was intended to serve as a backdrop its competitions with furthering his career. time, in terms of being able to relax a tiny bit
against which she could illustrate the distance Yet he didn’t consider entering one until a and actually spend more time practicing and
she had come from ambitious classical prodi- friend from the Paris Conservatory suggested less time doing things like teaching French
gy to acclaimed multidisciplinary artist. he try out for the Martial Solal International classes or accompanying ballet classes,” he
These days, Shyu, an idiosyncratic impro- Jazz Piano Competition in the City of Lights. said. “When you’re young, especially nowa-
viser with a deep pool of institutional sup- “I’ve always been a competitive kind of days, there just aren’t that many opportunities

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 MARY KANG
MARK SHELDON
Jen Shyu premieres Zero Grasses in New York on Oct. 30.

Emmet Cohen, winner of the 2019 American Pianists Ted Rosenthal, winner of the 1988 Thelonious Monk
Association’s Cole Porter Fellowship Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition

to get up on a big stage. We really need that, to deans, jazz pianists, presenters, foundation offi- which provides a contract to the winner, who
be confronted with success or failure.” cials and professionals in artist management, also receives $50,000, plus payment for a posi-
Through the APA, Tepfer built connec- according to Joel Harrison, the APA presi- tion as artist-in-residence at the University of
tions with like-minded pianists, includ- dent, CEO and artistic director: “We ask, ‘Who Indianapolis. Public relations services are part
ing Aaron Diehl, who ended up winning the do you feel is a great candidate for this kind of of the package, as is an additional $25,000 in
organization’s next jazz competition, in 2011. career assistance? Who’s worthy of the award career assistance disbursed as needed.
There, Tepfer took a turn in a noncompetitive and who needs a boost in his or her career?’” More recent Cole Porter Fellowship win-
performance. Eventually, he had a role in lur- Based initially on a résumé and 60 minutes ners include Sullivan Fortner (2015) and
ing Diehl to live in his section of Brooklyn. of music, the list of candidates is whittled down Emmet Cohen (2019).
When Diehl won, he was four years out of in stages, until it reaches five finalists, each of “If your goal is to move people into the
The Juilliard School. Gigging when oppor- whom receives $20,000. During the next year, professional realm,” Harrison said, “what bet-
tunities arose and developing what would they play sets at Indianapolis’ Jazz Kitchen and ter way is there to do it than by setting up all
become a sublimely refined trio on its own and other concerts, including a finale in a down- these professional opportunities as part of the
in collaboration with singer Cécile McLorin town theater, where they accompany a cele- competition?”
Salvant, he said the prospect of the compe- brated singer and debut works for jazz piano For Diehl, who drew on his assistance for
tition “set a goal for me.” It also prompted and orchestra that APA has arranged for them. emergency hotel bills and worked a deal for
self-reflection: “I said, ‘OK, my goal isn’t so At all stages in the process, Harrison said, his first Steinway, the APA ties go beyond
much “winning.” Maybe it’s an opportunity to the candidates are judged on technical com- the financial. When he needs lodging in
represent myself musically, what I want to say, mand of the instrument, understanding of the Indianapolis, he can stay with the family that
finding approaches that I want to explore and jazz genre and evidence of “unique musical hosted him during the competition.
sharing this experience that lasts over sever- qualities that can reach out over the footlights “Receiving a fellowship is the icing on the
al months.’” to touch the audience.” The judges include aca- cake,” he said. “But it is not really about receiv-
About 40 nominees, American citizens demics, famous pianists, agency professionals ing the award. It’s about an entire community
between 18 and 30, are chosen by music-school and a representative of Mack Avenue Records, involved in the experience.”

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 97

 Community is also central to the Sarah ple excited. People show up. It creates a buzz.” I went even harder for both of these competi-
Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competi- He added, “You can hear when someone’s a lit- tions because I wanted to win.”
tion. It was created in 2012 by the New Jersey tle more developed, is a little more at ease in Expanding on that thought, pianist Ted
Performing Arts Center “to focus on the histo- telling their story. I remember when Jazzmeia Rosenthal, winner of the 1988 Thelonious
ry of Newark as it is related to jazz,” said Dave Horn won the Sarah Vaughan vocal competi- Monk Institute of Jazz International Piano
Rodriguez, executive producer and artistic tion [in 2013]. At some point everyone turns Competition and a longtime teacher at
director of NJPAC. The competition honors around and looks at each other and goes, Juilliard and the Manhattan School of Music,
Newark native Vaughan (1924–’90) and her ‘Uh-huh, that’s her.’” said: “Students most typically become more
cohort in more than name. Horn, in an email, cited Vaughan as the interested in competitions after they graduate,
“We’re looking for a signature voice—a first singer she was deeply interested in: “I but the juries, recitals and the like that require
voice that, when you hear a recording, in the developed my sound as a singer by practicing preparation serve them well in competitions.”
first few notes you know who that person is,” all of her phrasing and diction, as well as tones. For more than three decades, the Monk
Rodriguez said. “But we’re also looking for that She is special for me because as a woman with competition, as it was commonly known, played
discipline you have as a jazz artist—people like a deeper voice I felt shy about it and hid my a pivotal role in identifying and empowering the
Sarah and Betty Carter, true students of the natural voice for a while until I heard her sing. next generation of jazz musicians. Building on
music. They know the history, the heritage, the She encouraged me to embrace my speaking that legacy, the newly minted Herbie Hancock
chord changes they’re singing around.” voice, as well as my sassy singing voice.” Institute of Jazz International Competition rep-
Open to singers of any age or place of res- The Vaughan competition, she continued, resents a changing of the guard for one of jazz’s
idence, the competition receives up to 2,000 “opened up a window of opportunities as the most important institutions. The inaugural edi-
applicants from all 50 states and, in growing whole jazz community was talking about my tion, which focuses on guitar, will take place
numbers, foreign countries. All are seeking dynamic presence on the scene in New York Dec. 2–3 in Washington, D.C.
the winner’s prize of $5,000 and an appear- City.” She added: “Once I won the Thelonious Rosenthal noted that the Monk competi-
ance at the Newport Jazz Festival, though “it’s Monk Competition [in 2015], I was set because tion helped him gain bookings and raise his
really been a stepping-off point for vocalists,” the momentum from the S.V. Competition profile generally—a universal goal of would-
Rodriguez said. The organizers have booked was already there and this added to it.” be competitors. “Students are definitely think-
winners at the Montreal Jazz Festival and con- Horn found that her everyday activities as ing about getting to the next level in their
nected them with the Concord label. a student at The New School—preparing career, and competitions are one way of mak-
Christian McBride, NJPAC’s adviser for charts and practicing stage skills, intonation ing that happen,” he said.
jazz programs and a four-time judge, cau- and bebop harmony—dovetailed with the Getting to the next level means overcom-
tioned that “the concept of competition should competitions’ demands. “I was already doing ing inertia, and that holds for seeking finan-
not be taken literally. What it does is get peo- this exact thing in school and on the scene, but cial support, said Shyu, who has won grants

98 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

from more than a dozen major organizations, Harrison also has sought out innovative money in advance, so they can control the
ranging from the Guggenheim Foundation funders. In 2019, he won a $15,000 grant from experience,” said Sara Donnelly, director, jazz
to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission. In the nonprofit South Arts’ Jazz Roads pro- for South Arts.
her workshops, she said, “I always tell my stu- gram. He will use the funding in September Maintaining control, Shyu said, is facili-
dents, ‘It just takes five minutes to dip your and October of 2020 to bring his Free Country tated by creating momentum amid an
foot into something or go to a place. You’ll find project to six venues in six Southern states. ever-shifting funding landscape. “After you
something.” Harrison is but one of 31 artists awarded a get the first one,” she said of grants, “the sec-
Working the system implies understand- total of $360,000 in the first round of the pro- ond one is easier to get and it just builds expo-
ing it, from the inside if possible. After grad- gram, an elaborate attempt to bring jazz to nentially.” She found that her initial Taiwan
uating from Stanford University, Shyu took underserved parts of the country while offer- research led to a succession of awards that
pertinent day jobs, as assistant producer at an ing financial security for the musicians. took her all over Asia, where she discovered
experimental theater and as an assistant grant “We want to try to get something that’s a a voice—one of the many she synthesized in
writer at a new-music festival, while at night little more stable, a little more planned, and Zero Grasses.
she chased jazz gigs in a sequin dress (which something a little more where artists are given “I’m always evolving,” she said. DB
appears in Zero Grasses, an echo of another
persona that, like that of the classical virtuo-
so, she outgrew).
“I was finding out about foundations and
understanding what a grant was, what a work
sample was,” she explained.
She learned to be resourceful. When her
first application for a highly competitive grant
from the Asian Culture Council was reject-
ed—she wanted to study indigenous music in
Taiwan—she borrowed the money and went
anyway. Once there, she found that she need-
ed less money than she had expected and, on
reapplying, asked for less—and got the grant.
“That was a huge deal,” she said.
As competition for support grows, devel-
oping creative strategies is critical, said guitar-
ist and bandleader Joel Harrison, who boasts
multiple grants from big organizations. (He
is not related to APA’s Joel Harrison.) “At one
point there was a thriving ecosystem of per-
formance opportunities in jazz, and as that
has diminished, other ways of making money
have arisen, but not nearly enough,” he said.
Harrison’s success with traditional
funders includes five grants from Chamber
Music America, whose New Jazz Works pro-
gram alone has, as of 2019, awarded 236 com-
missions since 2000 for works by ensembles
led by U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Among the requirements: The works must
be for groups of two to 10 pieces and include
improvisation as a central element.
To what does Harrison owe his appeal to
CMA? His title for a septet piece that won a
grant in 2009, “Singularity,” offers a clue.
“They’re looking for something different,” he
said.
Harrison has been notably proactive. He
has formed a nonprofit, Lifeforce Arts Inc.,
to commission works. And he solicits on his
website, writing: “The greatest gift anyone can
give a composer is the chance to write a new
piece!” His suggestions range from “a piece for
a special occasion” (e.g., a solo violin piece for
a wedding anniversary) to “a work that cross-
es disparate cultures” (e.g., India and jazz,
Appalachia and Cuba, Renaissance Choral
with Africa).

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 99

 JAZZ SCHOOL Woodshed SOLO
BY JIMI DURSO

©BURT GOLDBLATT/PRESTIGE/DOWNBEAT ARCHIVES

Sonny Rollins

Sonny Rollins’ Tenor

Saxophone Solo on ‘Solid’
I
t’s been 65 years since Sonny Rollins phrases, something we associate not just with
recorded his blues “Solid,” released on the Rollins but with bebop in general. But he
1956 LP Moving Out (Prestige), but his doesn’t overdo it. There are numerous instanc-
playing is so idiosyncratically personal that es of Rollins ending on a long tone (such as bars
it still stands up against anything that’s been 8, 18, 22, 24, 27, 35, 39, 58 and 61). Although
put out since. He was about 24 years old at the in many of these, the ending notes are only as
time of these 1954 recording sessions, and his long as a quarter note, that’s sufficient to cre-
raspy tone is already fully developed. His solo ate a contrast with the staccato-like endings of
also includes bebop-inspired improvisation- the other phrases.
al devices that would become core elements of There’s also the double-timing, another
the tenor saxophone icon’s signature style. bebop staple. While much of his five-cho-
There’s his tendency to clip the ends of his rus solo is eighth-note-based, Rollins does go

100 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

into 16ths in a number of places. The first is for the final
five bars of his opening chorus. This is the longest string
of 16ths in his entire improvisation, which effectively cul-
minates on the downbeat of the next chorus. It might seem
counterintuitive to put it so early in his solo, however, as
you’d expect this level of energy and sense of closure to be
reserved for the ending. But putting it toward the begin-
ning, while ending a chorus with it, makes it both typical
and iconoclastic. Classic Sonny.
Ending a phrase on the downbeat, as on measures 2,
10, 14, 24, 27, 54 and 60, is another jazz staple, due to
how strong a rhythmic resolution it makes. Even ending
a phrase in anticipation of the downbeat—on the “and”
of 4 (bars 16, 39, 41 and 44)—or right after the downbeat
(measures 48 and 62) are quite effective, as well, but that
wouldn’t be enough variety for Rollins. Notice how often
he ends phrases in the middle of the bar, like the “and” of
3 (bars 4, 6, 18, 20, 22 and 24), the downbeat of 3 (bars 8,
35, 36, 50, 51 and 58), the downbeat of 4 (bars 27 and 31)
and the “and” of 2 (bar 61). It’s also interesting to note that
phrases ending on the “and” of 3 appear only in the first
two choruses, and phrases ending on the downbeat of 3
appear almost exclusively in the later choruses. This is a
very subtle way of producing development and contrast.
Another “Sonnyism” is his use of blue notes. Playing
the minor third on the I chord is typical on a blues, and
it appears only once in this entire improvisation (bar 52).
However, Rollins does like to play the minor third on the
IV chord (bars 3, 27, 43, 51 and 55). This is contrasted by the
bars where he plays the major third on the same harmony
(measures 3, 15, 18, 30–31, 42–43 and 54). Having some
of them occur in the same measures (bars 3 and 43) and
across the barline (measures 54–55) really brings out the
contrast, but having bars where it’s only one or the other
is also quite effective, delivering a variety of approaches in
the same solo. And that’s just on one chord.
We hear Rollins using many of the standard tools of
improvisation, such as pentatonics, modes, altered scales,
chromatics and arpeggios. Rollins is fond of juxtaposing
simpler elements, such as the B  major pentatonic scale in
bar 8 that is sandwiched between more harmonically com-
plex elements: the chromatic run in measure 7 and the
altered dominant scale in bar 9. Similarly, we hear major
pentatonic in bar 16 (with a fourth added in), which gives
way to some serious chromatic lines in the following bar,
leading to a simple scalar line in measure 18.
This is Rollins’ M.O. for this improvisation: angular
lines stuck between more inside sounds, or the other way
around. Take almost any group of measures—for instance,
the B  mixolydian of bar 22, the chromatic runs of mea-
sure 23 and then the mostly pentatonic nature of the next
bar. Or, the pentatonics of bars 37–38 leading to some very
outside sounds in bar 39. Or from measure 45, where we
hear another altered scale (G diminished for most of the
descent) leading to a C7 arpeggio and some scale runs
(mostly B ), culminating in more angular chromatics in
the following bars.
Surprisingly, the final chorus is the most sparse, which
is not a typical way to conclude a solo. That’s Sonny, icono-
clastic to the end. DB

Jimi Durso is a guitarist and bassist based in the New York area. Visit him online
at jimidurso.com.

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 101

 JAZZ SCHOOL Toolshed

Steinberg Dorico Pro 3

Automatic Score Condensing, Faster Workflow

A
lmost on cue, Dorico, the music-notation and scoring program when you want to enter common rhythms and articulations among staves
from Steinberg, turned 3 years old as version 3 of the software was and then take a second pass to work out each individual harmony. 
released this fall. Each major release since the product’s introduc- But Dorico 3’s true power comes when you combine the new extend-
tion in 2016 has made major leaps and bounds in terms of features, effi- ed-entry feature with the existing “explode” feature that was added in
ciency and overall user-friendliness, and Dorico 3 is no different. The new Dorico 2. For example, you now can enter, on the fly, a full SATB progres-
software is available in two iterations: the full-featured Dorico Pro 3 and sion across four staves simply by playing the chords from your MIDI key-
the entry-level Dorico Elements 3. For this evaluation, we focused on the board. Obviously, the speed of entry will be partially determined by how
Dorico Pro 3 specifically. There are dozens of improvements across the familiar you are with Dorico’s rhythm and articulation quick-keys, but I
application, spanning playback, engraving, note input, workflow and mul- find that even when I haven’t used the program in a while, that is one of the
tiple refinements to the user interface. easier techniques to recall when starting a new piece of music.
One especially significant new feature of Dorico Pro 3 is automatic This on-the-fly multi-staff “explode” feature also works with the piano
score condensing: taking many individual parts and combining similar grand staff by assigning notes based off of the split point.
instruments into the smallest number of staves possible. Most often, these Other big additions include guitar notation and more chord diagram
are solo instruments that are adjacent in the score. options for fretted instruments. The new guitar notation now comes com-
For example, if there are two individual flute parts playing a unison line, plete with tablature, chord diagrams, idiomatic notations such as bends,
when condensed, the score will be marked with one set of notation along and advanced options for classical guitar such as right- and left-handed
with “a2” to signify that both instruments are to play the line. If the parts fingerings and string indicators.
are homophonic playing in rhythmic unison, both parts would be writ- You now have the ability to display chord diagrams for a number of dif-
ten into the score and the stems adjusted accordingly. If the two parts are ferent tunings or for non-standard fretted instruments—for example,
playing different rhythms, Dorico still will condense the part into a single standard alto balalaika tuning. There is support for dozens of tunings and
staff and make its best determination on how to display the two different instruments, and you can also customize the chord diagrams if the presets
rhythms. If voices cross each other minimally, auto condensing is still possi- are not suiting your needs.
ble, but the more drastic the voice-crossing, the less likely Dorico will be able Dorico now ships with Olympus Choir Micro from Soundiron, which
to make an automatic condensing of the phrase. As of now, section players is a light version of Soundiron’s Olympus Choir library. Choirs are one of
cannot condense (meaning you cannot join Violin 1 and Violin 2 onto a sin- Soundiron’s most highly praised product lines, so having this included on
gle staff). While there are advanced settings to deal with other, more compli- top of all the other updates really makes this an exceptional update.
cated condensing situations, this seems like one of those cornerstone features Also, for playback, you now have custom playback templates and also
that Dorico will be focusing more effort on in future releases. advanced options for editing MIDI data. 
One of my favorite new features of Dorico Pro 3 is multi-staff note No matter what style of music you are writing for, if you rely on nota-
entry. With the note-input function enabled, you can now extend the tion software, there is surely something in Dorico Pro 3 that will speed up
enter-note caret to multiple adjacent staves by hitting “shift” and using the your workflow and ultimately make your scores and parts easier for musi-
up/down arrows. Now, when you enter a note, it will be entered in all staves cians to sightread and interpret. —Matt Kern
for which the caret is enabled. This is perfect for tutti sections or, possibly, steinberg.net

102 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

Zoom A1 FOUR/A1X FOUR Multi-Effects
Optimized for Acoustic Strings, Horns, Harmonica

T
he most important thing to know about the A1 FOUR and A1X (each retails for less than $150) is an added expression pedal that can be
FOUR from Zoom is that many of their onboard multi-effects used to adjust volume, pitch, reverb, delay and wah. The Zoom MAA-1 mic
patches are designed specifically for saxophone, trumpet, violin, adapter is included with both models and provides an easy way to connect
acoustic guitar, upright bass and harmonica players. These pedals look like your microphone or pickup to the A1/A1X FOUR. The MAA-1 works with
stomp boxes for electric guitar (they closely resemble the Zoom G1/G1X dynamic microphones and provides phantom power for condenser mics
Four), but on the inside they’re engineered to process the unique audio via two AA batteries.
signals generated by acoustic string and wind instruments in live perfor- I played saxophone, acoustic guitar and harmonica through the A1/
mance environments. In this regard, they are truly A1X FOUR using a standard Shure SM57 mic.
original innovations. To my ear, some of the more appealing pre-
The wah effects for saxophone and trumpet sets included Sax San-B, a David Sanborn-like
are re-voiced in the A1/A1X FOUR by adding a doubling effect; Sax MyLady, which includes
low-pass filter to control the processed frequen- an octaver; Hm Juke, an amplified harmonica
cy response of the instruments. This allows the sound inspired by Little Walter; Hm StevieW, a
player to hit the peak frequency points while still heavy chromatic-harp sound; AG D-28, which
blowing naturally into the horn, without losing turned my beat-up old acoustic guitar into a clas-
any expected sonic response of attack and release. sic Martin D-28; and AG Aerial, a highly trans-
In short, you don’t have to change the way you parent chorus. And that’s just scratching the sur-
play to get the desired effect to work right. face, considering the multitude of high-quality
The A1/A1X4 has plenty to offer string play- effects that can be combined and tweaked to suit
ers as well. For example, the A1/A1X FOUR’s dis- a wide range of acoustic instruments.
tortion patch for violin shifts the clipping one octave higher, boosts the high The A1/A1X FOUR offers a looper, a tuner, anti-feedback function,
frequencies and reduces the lows to allow for plenty of effect without los- built-in rhythm patterns and memory locations for storing user-created
ing the bowing attack. This creates a more balanced saturation that suits the patches. Users can download Zoom’s Guitar Lab software to access dozens
instrument’s subtle sonic characteristics and allows maximum expressivity. of additional effects through a computer or mobile device. —Ed Enright
What differentiates the A1X FOUR (pictured) from the A1 FOUR zoom-na.com

Korg B2 Series Digital Pianos

Authentic Sounds, Realistic Action, Modern Connectivity

K
org has refined its digital piano offerings once again with the intro- as a MIDI controller and play sounds from external modules and sound
duction of the B2 series, which includes models B2, B2N and B2SP. libraries. Performance can be recorded as music data on a smartphone,
These three instruments feature a straightforward selection of 12 and audio from a smartphone can be played through the instrument’s
smartly curated piano and keyboard sounds, distraction-free designs and built-in stereo speakers.
updated in/out connectivity for use with a variety of computer software Korg’s mobile sound module app for iOS, Module LE, is part of the
and music hardware. bundle, providing access to a more extensive library of acoustic pianos and
Like the B1 digital piano, which Korg launched in 2017, the new B2 and electric keyboards for use in live performance and music production.
B2SP feature Korg’s Natural Hammer weighted piano action, which A single sustain pedal comes with the B2 and B2N models, and the
responds to the player’s touch just like a real grand piano—the low reg- B2SP includes a three-pedal system plus a solidly built stand. Each model
ister is heavier and the high register is lighter. As an alternative, the B2N’s has a removable music rest that’s wide enough to accommodate multiple
key bed is lighter in action, suitable for players who prefer an overall light- pages of music and sturdy enough to support a smartphone or tablet. The
er touch and place a premium on portability. B2N (MSRP: $399.99) is available in black, and the B2 ($499.99) and B2SP
All three models in the B2 series provide five pristine piano sounds ($599.99) both are available in black or white versions. —Ed Enright
derived from meticulous sampling and a new piano engine that repro- korg.com

duces the sympathetic string vibrations and damper resonances of vari-

ous classic, concert-quality pianos. They include German Concert Piano,
Classic Piano, Italian Concert Piano, Jazz Piano and Ballad Piano, each
with its own unique character and sonic signature. Other sounds include
three distinctive electric pianos (classic Rhodes, Wurlitzer and DX7), pipe
organ, tonewheel organ, harpsichord and orchestral strings. Each of the 12
onboard sounds offer enormous tonal range and striking detail.
Advanced features like touch adjustment (Lighter, Normal, Heavier),
transposition, reverb and chorus effects, metronome, pitch fine-tuning,
MIDI control and auto power-off are easy to access using simple combina-
tions of piano keys and three control buttons on the user interface—which
is about as uncomplicated as you can get.
The B2 series pianos connect to smartphones, tablets and computers
via USB MIDI and Audio cable, making it possible for them to function

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 103

 JAZZ SCHOOL Toolshed GEAR BOX

1. Surfaces Sized
ATV has introduced the EXS-5 electronic drum 1
kit, which features drum and cymbal pads
with playing surfaces similar in size to those of
a typical acoustic drum set. The combination
of two rack toms, one floor tom, snare, hi-hat,
crash cymbals and ride cymbals helps to realize
a comfortable and natural-feeling performance
experience. More info: atvcorporation.com

2. Upstanding Uprights
Cooperstand’s Pro-CB stand is available in high-
strength, multilamination birch for cello and
upright bass. The stand is a secure, contoured,
handcrafted enhancement to the instrument
that sits upon it. The Pro-CB weighs 3 pounds,
accommodates a variety of larger string
instruments and features a four-footed base.
More info: cooperstand.com 2
3. Coltrane Play-Along
John Coltrane Play-Along, Volume 11 of The
Real Book Multi-Tracks series from Hal Leonard,
presents lead sheets and professionally
recorded audio tracks for 10 songs: “Blue Train,”
“Central Park West,” “Cousin Mary,” “Giant
Steps,” “Impressions,” “Lazy Bird,” “Moment’s
Notice,” “My Favorite Things,” “Naima” and
“Syeeda’s Song Flute.” The interactive online
audio interface includes tempo control,
looping, instrument muting, a follow-along
marker and song melodies performed on
saxophone or trumpet on the “head in” and 3
“head out.” The full stereo tracks also can be
downloaded and played off-line. Separate lead
sheets are included for C, B-flat, E-flat and bass
clef instruments. More info: halleonard.com

4. Accelerated Production
From recording and editing tracks to mixing
and monitoring in stereo or surround, Avid’s
S1 eight-fader control surface provides the
comprehensive control and visual feedback to
accelerate any music production workflow. The
S1 offers integration with Pro Tools and Media
Composer, plus native support for third-party
applications such as Logic Pro, Cubase, Adobe
Premiere Pro and more. More info: avid.com

5. Wider Sweet Spot

Eris E8 XT active studio monitors from
PreSonus have large enclosures that produce
an extended low-frequency response. The
E8 XT’s custom elliptical wavelength design
provides high-frequency response with a broad
100-degree horizontal dispersion, resulting
in a wider sweet spot. In addition, 60-degree
vertical dispersion minimizes early reflections,
helping to eliminate one of the most common
sources of environmental interference, creating
a more consistent response both on-axis and
off-axis. More info: presonus.com

6. Stomp Synth
The SY-1 Synthesizer pedal from Boss features a
polyphonic engine that delivers 121 responsive
synth sounds, including leads, pads, organs
and basses, plus a variety of sound effects and
rhythmic synth patterns. Tone/rate and depth
knobs on the SY-1 provide quick adjustment of
synth voices. More info: boss.info 6

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 105
 Jazz On Campus School Notes

PIPER FERGUSON
BRUCE CLARKE, SACRAMENTO STATE CREATIVE SERVICES
Wynton Marsalis

Jazz Champs: Jazz at Lincoln Center’s in-

augural Jack Rudin Jazz Championship takes
place Jan. 18–19 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in
New York, where 10 prestigious university
and college jazz programs will participate
Director of Jazz Studies Steve Roach conducts the 1:30 PM Jazz in rehearsals, workshops and competition
Ensemble during a concert at California State University, Sacramento. events. The finals will feature performances
by the three top-placing bands, followed by

At Sacramento State, an awards ceremony. The competition hon-

ors the legacy of New York City real estate de-
veloper Jack Rudin (1924–2016), a longtime

Contrasts Shape Program supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center. “He was

the first supporter for our Essentially Ellington
Competition & Festival, which is now in its
SACRAMENTO LONG HAS BEEN REGARD- programs nationwide, Roach is committed to
25th year,” said Wynton Marsalis, managing
ed as one of America’s most diverse cities, and exposing his students to a broad range of mod- and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
that spirit of heterogeneity is a strong charac- ern approaches to making music and reach- “We are proud to name this new collegiate
teristic of the jazz program at California State ing audiences. In that regard, it’s no surprise competition for him.” jazz.org
University, Sacramento (colloquially known to learn that Roach, a trumpeter, has invited
as Sacramento State), according to Gaw Vang Dave Douglas to interact with students twice Furthering Gender Equity: The Berklee
Williams, director of vocal jazz ensembles. in recent years. Douglas’ DIY outlook is exact- Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice has
“Not only is there a lot of socioeconomic diver- ly the kind of thing that Roach hopes to pass on. received a $3-million donation to create the
sity,” Williams said, “but that translates into a “We’re very serious about nurturing and Terri Lyne Carrington Endowed Artistic Di-
rectorship in honor of its founder and artistic
lot of diversity in terms of musical experience.” mentoring our students,” Roach said. “Whoever
director. The institute celebrates the contribu-
Those types of differences are among the you are in music today, you can’t just rest on tions women have made to the development
things Williams and program director Steve your talent. We encourage our graduates to of the art form. berklee.edu
Roach look for when they set out to find new go on and find where they can fit, regardless
entrants to the undergraduate program. of whether or not they come into our program Reciprocal Programs: To broaden
“I look for enthusiasm and a willingness to thinking they’ll have a career as a performer.” the reach of its education programs, the
try new things,” Williams said. “For vocalists, Roach pointed to Sacramento State jazz Monterey Jazz Festival has announced a
regardless of whether they have a background graduates currently working as producers in partnership with Texas Southern University
in jazz or not, I’ll ask them to improvise and Sweden, Germany and Los Angeles as exam- in Houston. Student members of the recently
formed MJF @ Houston All-Star Ensemble
scat, just to see what they do.” ples that the approach is succeeding.
will have the opportunity to perform at MJF’s
“The really serious ones are our dream stu- Part of teaching young musicians to think Next Generation Jazz Festival (April 3–5) and
dents,” Roach said. “A solid grasp of jazz lan- as broadly as possible includes some very basic the Monterey Jazz Festival (Sept. 25–27).
guage is important, but I want to find clear- activities. For the 20 students in Roach’s vocal montereyjazzfestival.org; tsu.edu
ly defined passion. My final question to them class, that means mandatory choir, while for
is often, ‘Why do you want to major in this?’” instrumental students it means participating in Morgenstern Fellowship: The Institute
The program, traditionally focused on jazz the school’s marching band, which Williams— of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University has
performance, is now evolving to include a spe- who majored in percussion—remembers as appointed former DownBeat Editor Dan
Morgenstern, 90, as executive director
cialization in jazz pedagogy. “We see ourselves one of the highlights of her time as a student at
emeritus and announced a new fellowship in
as having a responsibility to influence the next Sacramento State. his honor. The first group of fellows includes
generation,” Williams said. “We want to ensure “Even if they do make a career as a perform- vibraphonist Stefon Harris, author and jazz
that tomorrow’s music education professionals ing musician, the reality is that graduates will radio/TV personality Sheila Anderson and ten-
represent jazz, pop and other forms of contem- likely find themselves playing in a pit ensemble or saxophonist/educator Loren Schoenberg.
porary music.” or a studio band,” Williams said. “As students, An acclaimed historian, writer and educator,
In addition to expanding the curriculum to they need to play in as many ways as possible, Morgenstern served as director of IJS for 36
include the kind of practical business-of-mu- network like crazy and learn to arrange their years, from 1976 to 2012. rutgers.edu
sic courses that are spreading throughout jazz own music and lead a band.” —James Hale

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JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 107
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 DB Buyers Guide
3 Sixteen Records.................................51 JJ Babbitt ............................................15 Ruby Slippers Productions.................. 23
3sixteenrecords.com jjbabbitt.com lisahiltonmusic.com

AAM Music ......................................... 38 JodyJazz ............................................ 112 Sam Ash .............................................. 10

aammusic.com jodyjazz.com samash.com

Antigua .............................................. 39 John Stetch ........................................69 Samson ............................................... 35

antiguawinds.com johnstetch.com samsontech.com

Arbors Records–MVD Entertainment ... 63 Korg ..................................................... 11 San Francisco Conservatory of Music ... 87
arborsrecords.com korg.com sfcm.edu
ArkivJazz ............................................ 22 Légère ..................................................31
Schilke Music ...................................... 65
arkivjazz.com legere.com
schilkemusic.com
Bari ..................................................... 73 Litchfield Performing Arts..................88
bariwoodwind.com litchfieldjazzcamp.com Sheetminder ....................................... 62
sheetminder.com
Blue Note Records ................................ 5 Mahakala Music ................................. 37
bluenote.com mahakalamusic.com Skidmore Jazz Institute ......................94
skidmore.edu/summerjazz
Cannonball Music ................................. 7 Manhattan School of Music ...............98
cannonballmusic.com msmnyc.com Smoke Sessions .....................................4
smokesessionsrecords.com
City College of New York .................. 100 Motéma Records .................................40
jazz.ccnysites.cuny.edu motema.com Sophia Tremelos ................................. 73
sophiatremelos.com
Conservatorium van Amsterdam...... 105 Music Dispatch ................................... 83
conservatoriumvanamsterdam.nl musicdispatch.com Stanford Jazz Workshop .....................66
stanfordjazz.org
Cooperstand ....................................... 72 MVD Entertainment Group ................. 54
cooperstand.com mvdentertainment.com SteepleChase Productions ..................66
steeplechase.dk
Craviotto Drums .................................69 North Central College .........................99
craviottodrums.com northcentralcollege.edu/majors/music
Ted Klum ..............................................8
tedklum.com
Cultural Tour Consultants ..................94 NS Design ........................................... 75
culturaltourconsultants.com thinkns.com
Temple University............................... 93
DC Jazz Festival .................................. 76 Oberlin Conservatory of Music ........... 91 temple.edu/boyer
dcjazzfest.org oberlin.edu/con
theBABAorchestra ..............................94
DownBeat Student Music Awards ...... 53 Old Dog New Saxophones ................... 67 thebabaorchestra.com
downbeat.com/sma olddognewsaxophones.com
U.S. Army Field Band .......................... 72
Eastman Music ................................... 45 Origin Records .................................... 61 armyfieldband.com
eastmanmusiccompany.com origin-records.com
U.S. Navy Band ................................... 82
ECM Records .........................................9 P.Mauriat............................................111 navyband.navy.mil/saxophone
ecmrecords.com pmauriatmusic.com
Vail Jazz Foundation .......................... 95
ESP-Disk’ ............................................. 67 PDX Jazz Festival ................................ 57 vailjazz.org
espdisk.com pdxjazz.com
Vandoren .............................................. 3
Godin .................................................. 81 Pittsburgh Jazz Festival......................89 dansr.com
godinguitars.com pittsburghjazzfest.org
WFLIII Drums.......................................49
J Mood Records .................................. 53 Ravinia ................................................12 wfliiidrums.com
jmoodrecords.com ravinia.org

Jazz at Lincoln Center......................... 85 Realist ................................................. 62 William Paterson University ............... 92

jazz.org realistacoustic.com wpunj.edu

jazzahead! .......................................... 59 Reed Geek ........................................... 36 Yamaha ................................................ 2

jazzahead.de reedgeek.com usa.yamaha.com

JEN–Jazz Education Network ........... 107 Reggie Quinerly .................................. 36 Zoom .........................16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21
jazzednet.org reggiequinerly.com zoom-na.com

Jerome Jennings .................................71 Rovner .............................................. 100 ZT Amplifiers ......................................70

jeromejennings.com rovnerproducts.com ztamplifiers.com

JANUARY 2020 DOWNBEAT 109

 JOHN ROGERS
Blindfold Test BY TED PANKEN

Miles Okazaki
T he most recent entry in Miles Okazaki’s discography is The Sky
Below (Pi), a recital of the 44-year-old, New York-based guitar-
ist’s rhythmically complex original compositions performed in a quar-
tet with pianist/keyboardist Matt Mitchell, electric bassist Anthony
Tidd and drummer Sean Rickman. The album serves as a follow-up
to Okazaki’s 2017 release, Trickster (Pi). On Work, a self-released, six-
CD extravaganza from 2018, Okazaki interprets the complete canon of
Thelonious Monk on solo guitar—a Gibson Charlie Christian archtop
played through a Fender Twin Reverb amplifier, without effects or over-
dubs. This was his first Blindfold Test.

Tom Guarna
“Hope” (The Wishing Stones, Destiny, 2017) Guarna, guitar; Jon Cowherd, piano; John
Patitucci, bass; Brian Blade, drums. Miles Okazaki
Someone influenced by Kurt Rosenwinkel. The tone is darker and the
time-feel is more grid-like than what Kurt usually would play. The tone Gilad Hekselman has those chops. So does Mike Moreno. Or Jonathan
and some of the language—a lot of pentatonics in that last part—make Kreisberg. [after] He’s a monster. I should have known Nelson. We’ve
me think it’s the generation after Kurt. Not the type of record I usual- played together, and he can execute those single-note lines with just the
ly listen to, but it’s technically very strong. The most distinctive accom- fingers—and keep the groove going.
panist for me is the bassist, who plays aggressively and confidently—I’m
thinking of people like Eric Revis, Matt Brewer or Linda Oh. For the David Gilmore
“Over Shadow Hill Way” (Energies Of Change, Evolutionary Music, 2015) Gilmore, gui-
guitarist, I’d guess Matt Stevens or maybe Gilad Hekselman, though tar; Marcus Strickland, soprano saxophone; Luis Perdomo, piano; Ben Williams, bass;
this is more restrained than what Gilad usually plays. Antonio Sánchez, drums.
Holy trills! The tune started up an A dorian scale and down an A-flat
Thumbscrew phrygian scale. Interesting choice, because it’s so simple. It’s David
“Thumbprint” (Ours, Cuneiform, 2018) Mary Halvorson, guitar; Michael Formanek,
bass; Tomas Fujiwara, drums.
Gilmore. I could tell when he did that offbeat thing—something about
Mary Halvorson. That’s Thumbscrew with Tomas and Formanek. I’ve the articulation, the rhythmic placement of those notes.
recently worked with Mary quite a bit, so I know how she sounds. Her That’s a Wayne Shorter tune off Atlantis or Phantom Navigator—
compositions also have a recognizable style. There’s her tone: the way one of those records. I look up to David, because although he can play
she mics the guitar; her touch, which has an acoustic quality; and she the shit out of the guitar, he’s not always up front soloing—he’s great
characteristically uses open strings. She found an instantly recognizable at blending and making the groove happen. He elicits a lot of differ-
thing. I love her commitment. ent sounds. There’s a lot of space—patience—in his phrasing. I liked the
drummer’s kinetic, constant, unstoppable groove. The soprano player
Russell Malone had a clean sound. Great track.
“Time For The Dancers” (Time For The Dancers, High Note, 2017) Malone, guitar; Rick
Germanson, piano; Luke Sellick, bass; Willie Jones III, drums. Julian Lage
For a moment I thought about “Poinciana,” then it started into a D-flat “Look Book” (Modern Lore, Mack Avenue, 2018) Lage, guitar; Scott Colley, bass; Kenny
Wollesen, drums.
major thing to B major to the B7, and it sounded like “Moonlight In
Vermont” for a minute. But then it wasn’t that. The head sounded like Someone with some country in their playing. It’s a 16-bar tune in B
something my old teacher, Rodney Jones, would play, but the soloing major, a real guitar key. The guitarist sounds older than me, to be play-
wasn’t him. Maybe someone of that generation. Ed Cherry? It’s not quite ing that type of tune. Parts sound like Bern Nix or someone like that,
Benson-ish enough to be Henry Johnson. It’s not modern-sounding but it’s not him. Those straight triads reminded me of Marc Ribot. It
enough to be Peter Bernstein. It’s not the right rhythmic feel to be Bobby feels like a Danny Gatton type, but he’s long gone and there’s not enough
Broom. But someone around that area. I like that clean guitar tone, a bit chops. Maybe a person who normally plays more free and is playing
rounded off, still with a sparkle. It isn’t complex, but I like it. Someone more of a form here. They aren’t using a lot of so-called jazz language.
with a bit of sentimentality to their aesthetic. The funny thing about doing this is you realize it’s not just critics
who pigeonhole musicians. You try to think who might play like that.
Jonathan Kreisberg/Nelson Veras You never know people well enough to know all the different things they
“Bye-Ya” (Kreisberg Meets Veras, New For Now Music, 2018) Kreisberg, electric guitar; can do. [after] Julian is hard to identify. He can do certain things on gui-
Veras, nylon-string acoustic guitar. tar that nobody can do; he can shred anyone under the table. But he
For me, the guitar version of “Bye-Ya” is Bill Frisell’s on Monk In Motian, chooses not to. He’ll make you think he’s a million different players.
but these guys both were killing. The only duet of nylon-string and elec- Here it seems he was playing real simple on purpose. DB
tric I’ve heard with that much chops is Julian Lage and Gyan Riley, but
they don’t play that type of material. A lot of fast legato triplets; I’m try-
The “Blindfold Test” is a listening test that challenges the featured artist to discuss and identify
ing to think who does that. It’s difficult to play that articulated sin- the music and musicians who performed on selected recordings. The artist is then asked to rate
gle-note stuff with the nylon-string—and he or she wasn’t using a pick. each tune using a 5-star system. No information is given to the artist prior to the test.

110 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020

112 DOWNBEAT JANUARY 2020