JANUARY 2021—ISSUE 225

YOUR FREE GUIDE TO THE NYC JAZZ SCENENYCJAZZRECORD.COM

DIGITALONLYEDITION

JOHN

LEWIS
MODERN JAZZQUARTERMASTER

IAM
R
O
M
E
IN M

SPECIAL
FE

ATURE

O
D
I
D
CÁN ROCAMEETHANIVERSONBEST OF2020
AYELETrose
GOTTLIEB

DOUG
CARN

LEM
WINCHESTERManaging Editor:
Laurence Donohue-Greene
Editorial Director &Production Manager:
Andrey Henkin
To Contact:
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JANUARY 2021—ISSUE 225
ON THE COVER : JOHN LEWIS

Laurence Donohue-Greene:ldgreene@nycjazzrecord.com

NEW YORK@NIGHT

Andrey Henkin:ahenkin@nycjazzrecord.com

INTERVIEW : ETHAN IVERSON

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ARTIST FEATURE : AYELET ROSE GOTTLIEBENCORE : DOUG CARNLEST WE FORGET : LEM WINCHESTERLABEL SPOTLIGHT : TAO FORMS

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Staff Writers
Duck Baker, Stuart Broomer,
Robert Bush, Kevin Canfield,
Marco Cangiano, Thomas Conrad,
Pierre Crépon, Ken Dryden,
Donald Elfman, Phil Freeman,
Kurt Gottschalk, Tom Greenland,
George Grella, Tyran Grillo,Alex Henderson, Robert Iannapollo,
Mark Keresman, Marilyn Lester,
Suzanne Lorge, Marc Medwin,
Jim Motavalli, Russ Musto,
John Pietaro, Joel Roberts,
John Sharpe, Elliott Simon,
Anna Steegmann, Scott Yanow
Contributing Writers
Dan Bilawsky, Pierre Giroux,
Anders Griffen, George Kanzler,
Steven Loewy, Francesco Martinelli,Monique Ngozi Nri
Contributing Photographers
Giancarlo Belfiore, Dolly Garcia,
Julie Gauthier, Tom Greenland,
Rod Morata, Alan Nahigian,Jack VartoogianFact-checker
Nate Dorward

nycjazzrecord.com

VOXNEWS
OBITUARIESIN MEMORIAM : CÁNDIDO CAMERO
IN MEMORIAM : ALBUM REVIEWSSPECIAL FEATURE : BEST OF 2020
ALBUM REVIEWSMISCELLANY

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by alex hendersonby tyran grillo
by elliott simonby anders griffen
by john pietaro
by george grellaby suzanne lorge
by andrey henkin

If there is a theme to 2020, a single word that encapsulates the year, it would be loss.
Apart from the obvious and tragic loss of so many people from COVID-19, we as a country
suffered other losses: a loss of innocence, thinking that disease was a problem only in what
we thought of as “less-developed places”; a loss of confidence, whether it be in institutions
from the health care system to the post office, or within ourselves, faced with an invisible
threat; a loss of civility, unable to understand those different than ourselves; a loss ofcommunity, born of isolation and communication behind screen names and avatars; a lossof experience, simple yet absolutely vital pleasures like concerts and dinner parties andhuman contact; and a loss of truth, that no longer could something mean somethingincontrovertibly, without spin or politics or belief subverting it. It then is appropriatethat much of this issue focuses on loss (pgs. 10-21): our monthly obituaries, including thelong list of those lost in the past year; an In Memoriam spread to the legendary percussionist
Cándido; and a special section of CD Reviews given over to those gone silent in 2020.
From all this loss must come introspection, lest no progress be made. How did we get here
and who is the “we” that got “us” here? Does the future hold more loss and division orwill nobler impulses possibly prevail? Just as no one could have predicted events of thepast 12 months—from pandemics to police violence to protests to political theater—so too
are the next 12 months not yet known to us. But we can assert some control over theoutcome. There is hope. And that hope is the best part of us as a society. To reinforce that,
we offer our Best Of 2020 in jazz as a small sign that the past year wasn’t all tragedy andhate and fear but also celebration, creativity and inspiration. And if that could happen
alongside everything else in 2020, then the future may not be so bleak after all.
On The Cover: John Lewis (photo by Alan Nahigian)All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors.

2 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

ON THE COVER

JOHN LEWIS
MODERN JAZZ QUARTERMASTER

ALAN NAHIGIAN

by alex henderson

As co-founder and musical director of the Modern

Jazz Quartet (MJQ), pianist/composer John Lewis
played a vital role in the Third Stream movement,
fusing jazz and European classical music. But Lewis
was a versatile musician capable of playing everythingfrom blues to bop to Brazilian jazz.
Lewis, born in La Grange, Illinois on May 3rd,
1920, celebrating his centennial last year, was greatly
influenced by the pianism of Duke Ellington, Count
Basie and Earl “Fatha” Hines. But it was with thearrival of bebop in the mid ‘40s that Lewis became wellknown in the jazz world. Becoming a sideman for the
trailblazing alto saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker
during the ‘40s was great exposure and playing in therhythm section of trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie’s big band
only added to his prestige.
Lewis’ affinity for classical music asserted itself on
trumpeter Miles Davis’ seminal Birth of the Coolsessions of 1948-50. With that album, Davis wrote thebook on cool jazz, which was known for its subtlety
and restraint and sometimes incorporated classicalelements. And when the MJQ started in 1952, classicalbecame an even stronger influence on Lewis.
The MJQ had one lineup change early on.
Throughout most of its history, the group consisted of
Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Percy Heathand drummer Connie Kay. Highly distinctive, the MJQ
combined bop and cool jazz with elements of classicalchamber and baroque music. And the MJQ’s hugecatalogue underscores the fact that Lewis enjoyed awide variety of music. The outfit never had a problem
playing Ellington and Thelonious Monk pieces, Tin
Pan Alley standards or blues grooves.
Lewis is among the latest class of musicians inducted(posthumously) into the Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame, anobvious choice as most of MJQ’s albums were recorded
for Atlantic, where the group worked extensively withproducer Nesuhi Ertegun. The MJQ lasted for 45 years,
making them one of the longest-running groups in jazzhistory. And during all those years, Lewis worked onbuilding their catalogue as well as his own.
Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, Artistic Director of
Jazz at Lincoln Center, explains, “John Lewis kept hisband together for such a long time. He has a stellar
body of music. He experimented with all kinds ofmusic and also published the music of Ornette
Coleman, let’s not forget that. And we miss him,
obviously, because of his rigor, his scholarship, his
intelligence and the depth of his soul. John was a
bluesman at the bottom of it all. John could play theblues. He was a bluesman.”
Tenor saxophonist/flutist Lew Tabackin, whorecorded an album of duets with Lewis, Duo (Eastworld,1981), stresses that Lewis expected jazz musicians to betreated with as much respect as classical musicians.
“John tried to elevate the appreciation and respectfor jazz musicians,” the 80-year-old Tabackin explains.
“The classical establishment treats musicians a certain
way and one of John’s passions and purposes was toelevate the situation for jazz musicians. John, in his
own way, was trying to raise the respectability of jazz

performance and the MJQ was a big factor in that. John
had kind of a vibe of a European gentleman with histastes and his sophistication. Put it this way: John used
to piss off a certain impresario because he demandedcertain situations, a certain class of air travel. He tried
to raise the bar, which trickled down, to some extent,
on how other musicians are treated.”
Because of the classical elements in his playing,some jazz musicians accused Lewis of not swinging.
But Tabackin, who was also featured on French
guitarist Christian Escoudé’s Lewis tribute, SaintGermain-Des-Prés: The Music of John Lewis, in 2013,vehemently disagrees. “People used to criticize Johnand say he didn’t swing, which was ludicrous,”
Tabackin says. “John had a wonderful time feeling andsense of swing, which was so apparent to me when
I played with him in 1981. And his accompaniment
was beautiful. But John never overdid anything. He
never overplayed. When you played with John Lewis,
you tried not to overplay or be overly aggressive. The
analogy would be to classic Lester Young and a less-ismore mentality. It’s what you don’t play, sometimes,that creates the energy. John didn’t overplay to get themessage across; he could do it in a few notes.”Marsalis agrees, pointing out that Lewis, “playedwith the lyricism of Lester Young… Lester was also
someone who was looking for melodic nuggets andthen he would develop those melodies. Lester wasalways about being very direct with his melodies andthe meaning of those melodies.” The trumpeter adds,“John was very economical, and he would get right tothe point like a great writer—like an [Ernest]
Hemingway... And John was also a student of Duke
Ellington’s arranging. John loved classical forms, andhe loved commedia dell’arte.”
According to Marsalis, “John was a great arranger
for the Modern Jazz Quartet because he understood
the music, from New Orleans music to what was called
bebop, which is what he played as a young man in
Dizzy Gillespie’s rhythm section. That later became
the Modern Jazz Quartet.”
Vocalist Nancy Harrow also remembers Lewis as amaster of subtlety. She joined forces with him in 1981
on the Finesse release, The John Lewis Album for Nancy
Harrow, which he produced. That album, in fact,featured half of the MJQ with Kay also appearing.
Harrow, now 80, remembers, “John’s gifts ascomposer, arranger and player are well known. I knew
him as a teacher and close friend as well as accompanist
and recording partner. He was a minimalist; his
economy was notable. He didn’t waste any notes.
I think the effort to choose just the right notes at theright time with propulsion was what showed in his
face as he played. It was compressed energy and it
took great strength to keep it in check.”
Like Tabackin, Harrow strongly disputes the claimthat Lewis didn’t swing.
“I think his contribution to jazz was conceptual:
the power of understatement,” Harrow observes. “TheMJQ personified that quality in how they dressed, how
they comported themselves, but most of all in the

structure of the music, which always felt likeconstrained power because it was so delicate and at thesame time, swinging so intensely.”
Lewis was making his mark as a composer as early
as 1949, when he wrote “Rouge” for The Birth of theCool. After that, Lewis was a prolific composer for the
MJQ as well as his own albums. Lewis’ affinity for
European classical music was evident in many of his
well-known
compositions,
including“Django”(written for guitarist Django Reinhardt), “Versailles”,“Fontessa”, “The Golden Striker” and “Vendome”.
Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
celebrated Lewis’ legacy on their 2013 Blue Engine
date, The Music of John Lewis, which featured big bandarrangements of his compositions. Marsalis had a closefriendship with Lewis, whom he met in the early ‘80s
and often sought his musical advice.
Marsalis recalls. “I would go to his house all thetime. I loved John. He taught me a lot about playing.
John told me, ‘Stop playing all this extra stuff before
you play melodies. Play the melody first and makesure you know what the melody is.’ We rehearsed a lot.
I would go to his house a lot and just talk and hang.
I was always joking with him, clowning and playing
around.”Marsalis notes that after composing his extended
suite All Rise, he was anxious to get Lewis’ feedback.
“John Lewis was so great in so many ways,”Marsalis explains. “He was a believer in music; hewould listen to other people’s music. He was very
serious when you talked to him about things and he
was very considerate in how he would comment on
things. He would listen and then, he talked with study
and authority. He gave me the respect of very careful
listening. I played so many pieces for him and got his
opinion. I respected his opinion so much.”
Lewis was 80 when he died of prostate cancer on
Mar. 29th, 2001. Looking back on Lewis’ life, Tabackin
remembers him for their friendship as well as theircollaboration as musicians.
“My album with John in 1981 was very important
to me and we got to be friends after that,” Tabackin
recalls. “We had many wonderful dinners at his place.
He was fantastic to be around; he was quite asophisticated person. John Lewis’ world was a great
world and he contributed so much to the music.” v
An Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for
Lewis takes place in early 2021.
Recommended Listening:• Modern Jazz Quartet—Django (Prestige, 1953-55)• John Lewis—Grand Encounter: 2 Degrees East /Three Degrees West (Pacific Jazz, 1956)• John Lewis—The Wonderful World of Jazz
(Atlantic, 1960)• Modern Jazz Quartet—The Last Concert(Atlantic, 1974)• John Lewis/Lew Tabackin—Duo (Eastworld, 1981)• John Lewis—Evolution/Evolution II(Atlantic, 1999-2000)

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 3

NEW YORK @ NIGHT
O had Talmor’s performance space in Brooklyn’s There are certain artists with whom you simply can’t

ETHAN IVERSONProspect Heights SEEDS hosted an intimate concert ofthe saxophonist’s trio with guitarist Miles Okazaki,
drummer Dan Weiss and guest vibraphonist Joel Ross
(Dec. 13th). Intimate because there were only four
watching, including three upstairs neighbors. Talmor
bases many of his compositions on the tala rhythmic
structures of Hindustani music, long-form cycles thatwould daunt uninitiated improvisers. Fortunately,
Weiss is an accomplished tabla player and Okazaki hasnavigated similarly complex rhythms with Steve
Coleman and on his own albums. So when Talmor
called originals like “Shymal Chakradar”, whichswitches between 12-, 14-, 15- and 16-beat phrases (achart that even he admits is “really hard”), or Monk’s“Misterioso”, which he retrofitted to a 28-beat pattern,
the band was undaunted. In fact, it sounded like they
relished the challenge. Their serious expressions, alongwith an undercurrent of aggression in the delivery ofsome songs, suggested another layer, however, an
index of the frustrations musicians have endured
under quarantine. Ross, despite his unfamiliarity with
Talmor ’s music, remained a calm spot in the center ofthe storm: temperate at first, he led the band to its firsttranscendent moment on John Coltrane’s “After theRain” and then, following Okazaki’s fiery foray on“Rupak Tukra Ari Chand”, reached yet another, more
extroverted plateau, infusing the small square brickroom with (the sound of) his vibes.
—Tom Greenland

BUD POWELL IN THE
21ST CENTURY
SSC 1619
AVAILABLE 1/29/21

Powell’s brilliant original compositions are essential, infinitely
listenable but also strangely tricky. Unlike Monk, Parker andGillespie, the composer neglected to perform them much after
their original recordings, so they never became a part of the jazz
lingua franca. Pianist and historian Ethan Iverson provides afantastic validation of Powell’s compositional genius on his newrecording, Bud Powell in the 21st Century, a reworking of anumber of Powell’s pieces for big band.

RUSS LOSSINGMETAMORPHISM

SSC 1607
AVAILABLE 1/8/21

L

ROD MORATA/MICHAEL PRIEST PHOTOGRAPHY

ossing’s latest recording, Metamorphism, is an extensionof his continually evolving compositional identity. Here hepresents eight original compositions, each written with its
own particular strategy for interplay among a stalwart ensemble of longtime collaborators. It is only with musicianswith whom he has established a deeply felt musical connection that this music could actually be realized.

TOM GREENLANDGUI DUVIGNAU
3, 5, 8SSC 1605
AVAILABLE 1/22/21

Ross/Okazaki/Weiss/Talmor @ SEEDSW

hen the opportunity to record came about, Duvignau
wanted to form a unit of open minded and flexibly expressive players. He invited his trio mates, Santiago Leibson and Jeff
Hirshfield, and added Billy Drewes. Duvignau also brought inGerman guitarist and fellow Berklee alum Elias Meister to bringa blues-inflected energy into the quintet’s mix.

NICKI & PATRICKLYNX
SSC 1602
AVAILABLE 1/15/21

B

rothers Nicki and Patrick Adams have a natural bond thatmost musicians can never approximate with their peers. The
two perform together in a number of configurations, leading
their own ensembles, and collaborating with bands of manydifferent styles. They also have collaborated with many of jazz’s
finest, including Francisco Mela, Robin Eubanks, Corey Wilcox
and Mike King.

www.sunnysiderecords.com

go wrong. Six gathered on stage at 92nd Street Y (Dec.
6th) to honor jazz icon Billie Holiday, delivering an
impeccable virtual concert of the diva’s music. Jazz isin very good hands with these mostly young talents:
pianist Emmet Cohen and his trio of bassist Yasushi
Nakamura and drummer Kyle Poole; tenor saxophone
marvel Tivon Pennicott; and vocalist Veronica Swift.
Like a cherry on a very rich jazz sundae, veteranvocalist Catherine Russell captivated with her wellhoned talent and rich, honey-laden delivery. She was
especially in the zone with a flawless, syncopated,swinging jazz-blues “Love Me or Leave Me”. Duetingwith Swift, the two delivered “Nobody’s Business If I
Do” with mutual excellence and stylistic similarity, notsurprising as they both grew up with jazz musician
fathers and jazz vocalist mothers. Cohen and Pennicott
share a similar sensibility, rare to see in such abundanceon the same stage; each has the capacity to tap into atranscendent universal energy. Both are direct, clean
players whose creative ideas follow an intelligent
through-line from their respective instruments into theethers—and astoundingly they make it look easy. The
arrangement of “Lover Man” for the band featured
Pennicott, whose tone was as superlative as his
flexibility and innovative improvisation. Cohen on“Time on My Hands” was no less transporting. The
spirit of Lady Day must have been looking on withtremendous satisfaction.
—Marilyn Lester

Cohen/Russell/Swift/Pennicott @ 92Y

This year, the Jazz Foundation of America’s annual Many virtual concerts this month looked likebenefit (Dec. 10th) for its musicians’ emergency fundsounded a note of urgency, citing the hardships
suffered by musicians due to COVID-19. Alas, thequarantine precluded a live show, so the two-hour galaconsisted of pre-taped performances from Brooklyn
Bowl, L.A.’s Vibrato Grill and a New Orleans sidewalk.
Titled “Birdcalls” in honor of Charlie Parker (born ahundred years ago in Kansas City), the event showcasedsome of today’s finest alto saxophonists—Gary Bartz,
Jaleel Shaw, Antonio Hart, Vincent Herring, MiguelZenón, Erena Terakubo—plus a cameo vocalese by
Sheila Jordan and a funky blues by the Rebirth BrassBand with its dancing entourage, all covering Parker ’srepertoire. In between tunes, Jordan, Barry Harris,
Sonny Rollins and others related personal anecdotes
about Parker. Although many alto players first struggle
to learn Parker ’s language, later struggling to avoid
sounding too much like him, this night the performers
seemed happy to acknowledge his influence by quoting
from his solos and improvising in his style and spirit.
The MVP award probably belongs to Bartz, who wasroutinely tasteful and soulful in renditions of “Koko”,“Just Friends” and “K.C. Blues”, though Zenón merits
honorable mention for his “Everything Happens toMe”. Noting Parker ’s importance, Rollins describedhim as a “freedom fighter”, an example to other Blackartists: “Here’s a man who’s not going to be an
entertainer, he’s going to be a musician.”(TG)

4 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Groundhog Day meets White Christmas, with all thosestreamed benefits now moving on to whip up holiday
cheer. Cutely named, hour-long Holiday In (Because
Baby, It’s COVID Outside) (Dec. 4th), offered
Broadway meets jazz on behalf of The Actors Fund andCalifornia-based nonprofit Jazz at the Ballroom (JATB).
The concert was loaded with great talent, but also witha lot of fat that could have been trimmed to produce asleeker, more professional-looking product. Mainly,
there was too much gab. Kind-of-silly performer shtick
and the patter of co-hosts Frank DiLella and JATB
Executive Director Suzanne Waldowski Roche wasdistracting
andultimately
counter-productive.
Trumpeter/singer Benny Benack III bookended theconcert, setting the mood with his bright, cheerfulintro and then making us very merry with a playout
over credits of his charming “My Girlfriend Is An Elf”.
In between, sparkly moments were provided by mostly
A-list talent, such as a sadly under-used Tony DeSare,a jolly Wycliffe Gordon and more. Trouble is, no one
was identified verbally or on screen—a major faux pas.
The highlight was Broadway triple threat Tony
Yazbeck, who, singing and tapping to “We Need aLittle Christmas”, miraculously transmitted as muchenergy onscreen as he does in person. And then there
was singer-saxophonist Adrian Cunningham, creating
his own brand of magic with a Santa hat toss to “Kissin’
by the Mistletoe” with his sextet.
(ML)The second (Dec. 12th) evening of a scheduled month- Celebrating his 60th birthday and in honor of his

30-year musical partnership with drummer Whit
Dickey, pianist Matthew Shipp presented a duoconcert as part of Arts for Art’s On_Line Salon series(Dec. 10th). Shipp embarked on wandering, compelling
improvisations, which sang of Igor Stravinsky as muchas McCoy Tyner, strained through pointillistic intrigue.
The foray spun out slowly, over streams of tightly
demarcated 8th- and 16th-note patterns. With suchdrive one can’t help but align these sounds with
Minimalism, but Shipp simultaneously carries a lateRomantic-era pathos. While the structure was free andfilled with an array of colors, it was the music’s dramathat maintained the attentive ear; as he’s wont to do,
Shipp delivered an improvisatory fantasia. Throughout,Dickey commented on four drums, two cymbals andhi-hat, offering lines as stripped-down as the Arts for
Art drumkit. Never deemed a ‘time’ player, he moved
in and around Shipp consistently, melodically, only
kicking in counter-rhythms at one stress point. The
music seemed to cry out for considerably more
contrapuntal drumming, perhaps drastic dynamics,
a musical challenge to Shipp’s dual-hand propulsion.
By all accounts, the pianist would have eaten that up.
The singular work developed into a Monk-like strain
with the pair engaging in moments of refreshinginterplay, but it tended to miss the height expected (orat least hoped for by your reviewer), one sufficiently
celebratory of such a special affair.
—John Pietaro

DOLLY GARCIA

long of Saturday night live performances at the Blue
Note by Eddie Palmieri found the NEA Jazz Masterpianist in remarkably good spirits, joking with thecrowd about his upcoming Dec. 15th 84th birthday,
despite the cancellation of the final two dates of his
residency due to the reenacted city ban on indoor
dining with “incidental” music. Palmieri, leading his
Latin Jazz Sextet with trumpeter Jonathan Powell, alto
saxophonist Louis Fouché, bassist Luques Curtis,
timbalero-drummer Camilo Molina and conguero
Little Johnny Rivero, got things started reaching backinto his hit-laden songbook for ‘60s classic “Azucar”.
The horns played the well-known melody over
Molina’s insistent block and bell cadence, which got
the pianist up from his seat to lead the audience in aclave-clapping accompaniment to Curtis’ solo. He thenlet loose with a multifaceted solo himself, brimmingwith signature dissonant accents preceding a climactic
closing conga solo. The set continued with a cha-cha
grooved take on “Old Devil Moon”, dedicated to
Palmieri’s late brother Charlie, a setting forimpassioned statements from Powell and Fouché.
A laidback reading of Cal Tjader ’s “Samba Do Sueno”,
oozing with sensuality, followed. The energy level
then slowly kicked back up with a 40-minute outing on“Noble Cruise”, Palmieri’s homage to Monk, whichallowed ample time for each of the band members toshow off their considerable solo power. —Russ Musto

Eddie Palmieri Latin Jazz Sextet @ Blue Note

Matthew Shipp @ Arts for Art

Celebrating its fifth anniversary as a working unit, During the pandemic, pianist Andy Wasserman has
bassist Christian McBride’s New Jawn came back to
the Village Vanguard, where it made its debut, for alive-streamed show (Dec. 8th). The intrepid OrnetteColeman-inspired pianoless quartet with trumpeter
Josh Evans, tenor saxophonist Marcus Strickland anddrummer Nasheet Waits kicked things off with
McBride’s aptly-titled “Walkin’ Funny”. The funky
opus had horns blowing with unbridled daring over aloping bassline and omnidirectional drumming before
the leader took over, soulfully improvising at length.
The band then launched an incendiary reading of Larry
Young’s “Obsequious”, a wild seesawing excursion onwhich Waits let fly a torrent of rhythms, earning
McBride’s designation as “our energy source”. The
music continued with Evans’ plaintive lament “Ballad
Of Ernie Washington”, on which he conjured themelancholic strop of “Don’t Explain” and Stricklandthat of “’Round Midnight”. The saxophonist’s“The Middle Man”, a strident freebopping outing, had
the band burning blue hot, ending with Waits soloing
clamorously behind the riffing frontline. McBride had
the band improvise freely on what he called “A Prayer/
Improv For 2020”, on which they reflected on theyear ’s challenging timeline, beginning ominously witha portentous bowed bass prelude. The group soared onWayne Shorter ’s “Sightseeing”, then closed on a
happy note with the Ornette Coleman calypso “TheGood Life”. 				(RM)been presenting regular live-stream concerts with one
ear toward the therapeutic, healing qualities of music.
His latest (Dec. 13th) was dedicated to northern Pole
Stars; for astronomy-leaning jazzbos, these are
currently Polaris and Polaris Australis. Wasserman
produced forays into the bright, the glimmering, theburning, the clouded-over, icy and distant, with use offalling phrases over shifting, widely gripped harmonies
as well as blues-drenched, ringing major sevenths,
ninths and elevenths. But this was far from what weused to call ‘new age’ music. “Togetherness”, a slow,
meandering work, conjured thoughts of Bill Evans andHerbie Hancock. While feelings of unity can be
subjective, the rolling complexities in Wasserman’s
works are beautifully, almost mystically woven
together. More so, much of the pianist’s repertoire isbuilt on his mastery of George Russell’s Lydian
Chromatic Concept of Tonal Organization (indeed,
Wasserman was certified by Russell to teach it).
“Ataraxia” offered the most profound modal quality,
leaving the listener with that odd feeling of hollowness
that arises with such tonalities. This piece also carrieda motive nothing short of haunting in its reach forsimplicity. Other works incorporated lonesome, roving
basslines opposite right-hand postmodern jazz, one
inspired by Eric Dolphy’s iconic postcard to Russell
proclaiming that he’s working on “the new concept,
but with an outward-bound feeling.”(JP)W H AT ’ S N E W S
In very sad local news we really hope will not
become a regular occurrence, the Jazz Standard
has announced its closure after over 20 years ofoperation, due to a loss of revenue from New York
City’s forced closure of performance venues andinability to renegotiate with its landlords. For more
information, visit jazzstandard.com.
The Grammy Awards have announced the latestclass of its Hall Of Fame Welcomes, which
includes vocalist Billie Holiday, and its 2021
Special Merit Awards Honorees, which includes
vibraphonist/bandleader Lionel Hampton. For
more information, visit grammy.com.
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the premiereof Ken Burns’ Jazz, PBS will rebroadcast the film
in its entirety on Thursdays at 9 pm, starting Jan.
7th. For more information and local listings, visit
pbs/jazz.org.
The Apollo Theater has named Charles Phillips
as its Chairman of the Board. Phillips has been on
the Board of Directors since 2015, recently served
as Vice-Chairman and has just made a $1 million
donation to the theater’s Emergency Fund, which
was created “to ensure the iconic non-profit’s
continued financial stability amid its closure due to
COVID-19.” For more information, visit
apollotheater.org.
Jazz WaHi has announced its Jazz Composition
Competition 2021. First prize is a $750
commission, plus ensemble remuneration, tocompose a jazz work to be premiered at the fourth
Annual Washington Heights Jazz Festival on Nov.
6th, 2021. The deadline for the competition, open
to residents of the greater NYC area, is Jan. 15th,
2021. For more information and to apply, visit
jazzwahi.org/jazz-fest.
Issue Project Room has announced its 2021
season artists-in-residence, who will present
commissioned works during the upcoming
season: JJJJJerome Ellis, Austin Sley Julian and
Joanna Mattrey. For more information, visit
issueprojectroom.org.
Alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin, selected as
one of our Musicians of the Year for 2020 (seepgs. 22-23), has signed a clothing endorsementwith Adidas Sportswear.
Painting With John, an unscripted series written,
directed by and starring John Lurie (co-founderof The Lounge Lizards), will premiere on HBOMax
on Jan. 22nd and run for six episodes. For more
information, visit itsh.bo/dotcom.
Danny Jonokuchi and The Revisionists werenamed winners of the inaugural Count BasieGreat American Swing Contest with its version
of “One O’Clock Jump”, as judged by Stefon
Harris, Branford Marsalis and Christian McBride.
For more information, visit countbasie.com.
Submit news to info@nycjazzrecord.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 5

GIANCARLO BELFIORE / COURTESY OF THE ARTISTINTERVIEW

ETHAN
IVERSONby tyran grillo

The career of musical polymath Ethan Iverson has taken the

TNYCJR: How did the Powell project come about?

pianist—and his pen—around the world and then some, inboth the geographic and creative senses. Since striking oilin collaboration with bassist Reid Anderson and drummer
Dave King as The Bad Plus, Iverson has simultaneously
broadened his palette and focused his sound throughout
a range of far-thinking endeavors. Among those is his
landmark Bud Powell in the 21st Century, a big bandproject recorded December 2018 at the Umbria Jazz Festival
and released at the end of this month on Sunnyside Records.
You can continue to track his various trajectories in his web
archive, DO THE M@TH.

EI: It was a commission by the Umbria Jazz Festival,
marrying an American quintet with an Italian big
band. I was delighted when Carlos Pagnotta and Enzo
Capua at Umbria first approached me. Manuele
Morbidini, who directed the big band, prepared themusicians so well before I got there that I actually cut
a rehearsal. The band was ready. When it came time tolook for a label, Sunnyside founder François Zalacain
is a bit of an old-school bebopper and really liked the
project.

The New York City Jazz Record: Who is Ethan Iverson
now that he wasn’t 15 years ago?

TNYCJR: How does the sound you achieved at Umbria
differ from what you’ve done before?

Ethan Iverson: I always had a plan to keep studying.
When The Bad Plus had our surprise breakout successin 2003, I didn’t feel like it was automatically theendpoint. Playing with that band was incredible, but
all along I was also thinking about other ways to makea contribution.
One of the reasons I started writing about themusic was to let Bad Plus fans know about this great
tradition. When you’re the new flavor, it can be
seductive to feel like you’ve got it all figured out, buteverybody stands on the shoulders of those who
preceded them.

EI: Post-Bad Plus, I’ve been doing quite a bit of largercanvas pieces. I wrote a piano concerto for theAmerican Composers Orchestra. I curated acelebration of Thelonious Monk for his centennial at
Duke University. For Mark Morris, I did Pepperland,an evening-length piece connected to The Beatles.
There’s been quite a lot of formal composition in thelast five years, but Bud Powell in the 21st Century is thefirst of these projects that’s coming out commerciallyfor everyone to hear.
Speaking of tradition versus being in the presentday, when I think of the tribute projects I admire,
there’s quite a bit of original composition. Ornette
Coleman, even when playing standards, always started
with an original melody. So, there’s originalcomposition in this project—the very first track iscompletely original—but there’s also Powell’s music,
which in and of itself is very difficult.

TNYCJR: When you speak of tradition, do you see thatas a monolithic term or is it always evolving?
EI: Someone once said that it’s important for an artist
to be able to hold two contradictory thoughts in themind at the same time. On the one hand, yes, tradition,but on the other hand you have to be in the moment;
there’s always the present day, or even looking to build
a better future. Both things are true. At the very least,
it doesn’t seem to work to say, “I only deal with thetradition.” Neither does it work to say, “I am only
new.” Nobody I admire says that only one of thoseviewpoints is correct.
TNYCJR: How does your thinking in that regard
connect to Bud Powell?
EI: He’s someone that I keep on learning from. In fact,
this project happened two years ago, but just thismorning I was practicing and thinking about Bud
Powell. He’s an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
There’s room to find inspiration from almost
anything. One of my mentors is the choreographer
Mark Morris. He goes out all the time to see varied
shows. He is always listening to and talking about
different forms of music. Despite being schooled inhigh, conceptual art, you might just as easily find him
watching and enjoying the most banal TV show
imaginable. He is inflamed by all of it creatively, fromhigh to low. And that, I think, is a pretty good model.

TNYCJR: Can you unpack “difficult” for us a little?
EI: With Powell, it’s hard to get all the details exactly
right, because they’re quite specific, fast and complicated.
I swore to myself that we would get those details right—
such that if Bud was there, even if he didn’t like thewhole thing, at least he couldn’t look at me and say, “Youdidn’t even play my melodies right, man.”
TNYCJR: How would you describe your relationshipto Powell’s music?
EI: I like knowing the text. When The Bad Plus played
The Rite of Spring, I played it just like Stravinsky wrote
it. If I play Tadd Dameron with [drummer Albert]“Tootie” Heath, I learn Dameron’s original voicings.
At one point I transcribed Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man”
for The Bad Plus. My brain gets really excited by thedetails. I like to sit there and ask myself what really
happened here. I can dive in, think about those details,
transcribe and appreciate the subtleties.
There’s also this other side of creativity. I’m
confident everything I do has a personal sound, that it
sounds like me and part of that sound is wild and6 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

woolly. The fantastical or surreal comes in pretty
naturally with Bud. At the end of the day, Bud Powell
was an avant garde musician. Had the project been
dedicated to the music of Dizzy Gillespie or Benny
Golson, it might have been harder to find a way in to
do something personal. But there’s a surreal glint in
Bud Powell’s eye, so that’s a fit for me as well.
TNYCJR: What sorts of extra-musical inspirational
forces do you find creep into your music?
EI: When I interface with literature, movies, or
television, it helps me see that parameters of genre are				(CONTINUED ON PAGE 31)

JULIE GAUTHIER / COURTESY OF THE ARTISTARTIST FEATU RE

AYELETGOTTLIEB
ROSE

For more information, visit ayeletrose.com. A talk on 13 Lunar
Conversations live-streams Jan. 12th at ayeletrose.com.
Recommended Listening:• Ayelet Rose Gottlieb—Internal-External(Genevieve, 2002)• Ayelet Rose Gottlieb—Upto Here | From Here
(ObliqSound/arogole music, 2005)• Mycale—Book of Angels, Vol. 13 (Tzadik, 2010)• Ayelet Rose Gottlieb & Anat Fort—
Two More Dreams (s/r, 2015)• Pneuma—Who Has Seen the Wind (Songlines, 2017)• Ayelet Rose Gottlieb—13 Lunar Meditations:Summoning The Witches (s/r, 2018)by elliott simon
Universal connections across love, loss, mysticism

and motherhood are themes that permeate vocalist/
composer Ayelet Rose Gottlieb’s work. Song-cycles
filled with new spaces and old places host her multigenre yet globally spiritual music. As Gottlieb explains,“I was exposed to a lot of different kinds of music froma very young age and that opened the door for me, so
my palette for inspirations is large because I have allthese sounds really living inside me. I love working insong-cycle form and a lot of my work has to do withnatural elements. When I compose I don’t feel like it’sme composing, I feel like I’m receiving something froman external source and it’s feeding into my music andthat’s what I call the witchy part of me.”Using this approach she has revealed “Who has
seen the Wind?” (Pneuma, Songlines, 2017), frankly
portrayed Biblical eroticism (Mayim Rabim, Tzadik,
2004), showcased motherhood within a tribute tosaxophonist and mentor Arnie Lawrence (I Carry Your
Heart, Ride Symbol, 2016), explored grief from both
Jewish and Buddhist perspectives (Shiv’a, 482 Music,
2011) and provided John Zorn’s Masada: Book of Angels
with a stunning quartet of womxn’s a cappella voices(Mycale, Masada: Book of Angels, Vols. 13 & 25, Tzadik,
2010 & 2015).
Gottlieb’s current release, 13 Lunar Meditations:Summoning The Witches, is an astounding compendiumof lunar-inspired poetry set to her unique blend oftranscultural conceptual jazz. Joining her are vocalist
Jay Clayton, a ten-voice Choeur Luna conducted by
DB Boyko, guest voices that include vocalist Sofía Rei
chastising“Luna”
overbassistStephane
Diamantakiou’s exquisite accompaniment, Turkish
violinist Eylem Basaldi, guitarist Aram Bajakian anddrummer Ivan Bamford. The juxtaposition of the moon
to a womxn’s life cycle is exquisite. Opener “Lotte andthe Moon” references birth and the wonder in a child’s
lunar discovery while the deliciously pop-infused“Venus and the Moon,” is set to the playful poetry ofAustralian Bes Davies. Menstrual and lunar cycles
connect on the powerful “Dissipating Discus” and poet
Gem Salsberg’s erudite “Traveler Woman” is a fantastic
Clayton/Gottlieb effort. The potent trilogy “MoonOver Gaza” includes the title poem from Naomi ShihabNye, Gottlieb’s own “Almost Summer” and “I Comefrom There and I Remember” from Mahmoud Darwish.
Gottlieb discusses how the pieces came together,“I mention Gheed who disappeared and I mention
Razan who was red cross medic and was killed. Naomi
wrote from the perspective of the moon just kind ofoverlooking Gaza and her bleeding heart and reflecting
on the general sorrows of humans. Jay is singing fromthe perspective of the moon, she’s singing Naomi’s
poem, I’m singing my own poem and Aram…hasrock and roll in his blood…so I asked him to play asolo and recite Mahmoud Darwish’s poem at the sametime. Aram himself is of Armenian descent so he has in
his family stories of genocide…and it was also aninteresting thing because we had two Turkishmusicians in the band and all of that dynamic was partof that beautiful healing group of people…Aram justkilled it, he did such a great job with that.”
Early on Gottlieb became a part of Lawrence’s The
International Center for Creative Music in Jerusalem.
As with his New School of Jazz and Contemporary
Music, it stressed that performers should be teachers
and that remains a key influence on Gottlieb, “He hadthat embodied thing, the way that he taught swing or
jazz, he would bring it into our bodies, he would makeus walk it…that was my biggest school of my life ofcourse. I mean he changed everything for me having
him there made a huge difference not just for me
I think for my whole generation of Israeli musicians.”
As such, Gottlieb created Orchard of Pomegranates
as a platform for teaching, discussion, listening
sessions and a safe-space for musical adventure andconnectedness. Online, it has gained in reach andsignificance during these times of musical isolation
as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participant/faculty such as Clayton, Theo Bleckmann, Fay Victor,
Sofía Rei, Clarice Assad and Katie Bull foster a relaxed
but intensive atmosphere of holistic learning andperformance.
For Gottlieb, genres are tools not borders and she
has this to say about them: “I don’t get them on a
primal level. I understand them intellectually but I try
to live a bit borderless and being an Israeli I feel likethere’s a lot of binary when it comes to identity, toJudaism to Israel and Palestine. There’s all this binary
attitude and my road is off of that. People sometimes
like to understand things so they like to define thembut for me I’m curious about the parts that are below
and are around the definitions where the liquid gold isflowing. If I write in relation to a topic like the moon or
the wind, that’s my thread and then I can take that andI can hang on that thread anything I want to…and lookat it from a lot of angles and a lot of colors and texturesand compositional techniques.”
Gottlieb continues to be at the forefront of a womxn’s
jazz revolution, which, through intercultural exchange
and world music egalitarianism, is decisively breaking
through musical and societal borders. She states that “…
my music has to do with things that really matter to me
and I’ll talk about them in ways that are art…Womxn’s
life experiences for years have been considered mundane
and uninteresting and maybe unimportant and the factthat there are more womxn present on the scene brings
forth those supposedly mundane experiences that are
actually not mundane, they’re super important and they
are part of the human experience and they’re not astalked about in art. There isn’t that much talk about
menstruation, Why would you want to talk about that?...
But at the same time it is such a present part of our lives
and it’s the source of all of life so why wouldn’t we talkabout it? Why wouldn’t we give it a moment?...the samefor motherhood, it’s mundane, you cook and you clean
and you wipe bums and you do all this stuff, but it is allpart of the texture of life.” v

To o r d e r, p l e a s e v i s i t :y e a h y e a h r e c o r d s . b a n d c a m p.c o m
y o o n s u n c h o i .c o m
j a c o b s a c k s .c o m

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 7

ENCORE

DOUG
CARN
by anders griffen
Doug Carn is a multi-faceted musician best known

as a unique organ player, lyricist and composer. He has
performed all around the world, including at CarnegieHall and Lincoln Center, and he was the face of theBlack Jazz record label in the ‘70s. His four muchsought after classic albums released by Black Jazz from1971-74 were among the most successful for the label(he added a 5th title released in 2001 when the label
was briefly under new ownership). He also worked
with, among many others, Nat Adderley, Shirley Horn,
Lou Donaldson, Freddie Hubbard, Stanley Turrentine
and Earth, Wind & Fire, appearing on the latter ’s firsttwo albums.
In December 2020 he appeared on Volume 5 of JazzIs Dead with Adrian Younge and Ali Shaheed
Muhammad. The “Jazz Is Dead” name may besomewhat controversial, but Carn doesn’t see it as themusic is dead, otherwise they wouldn’t be hiring jazzmusicians to participate. He is excited about therelease: “The way they made the album, I would nevermake an album that way. I said, well, I’ll try to go alongwith ‘em and listen to ‘em, you know? Because I think
about, and play with, and work on what I do, youknow, but they just want to go in there with theirnatural ability and do something spontaneous. I went
along and it turned out better than I expected.
I remember being young myself, and trying to tellanother generation to look at the situation a little
different, they didn’t want to do it. I said, well, look,
I’m not gonna be the same way. These kids are cleancut, they stay out of trouble, they got an idea, so I’mgonna pay attention to them and help them if I can.”Born in New York, Carn grew up in St. Augustine,
Florida, surrounded by books and music. His mother,an accomplished pianist and organ player who
accompanied services in church, was the music director
for the public school system. She also dida couple of gigs with Dizzy Gillespie and wasa tremendous influence on her son. The young Carnstarted performing as early as 8 or 9 when he put
together a band for a talent show, but he made his first
professional appearances at the age of 12 performing at
dances, proms and club dates and held a regular gig at
the Edgewood Lounge throughout high school. He waslearning all the time, reading and listening.
“After the cowboy show or whatever movie, like
Gunsmoke and Paladin, I’d read the credits. I’d see
names like Max Steiner or Norman Dello Joio. You
could tell they knew what they were doing, they didn’t
have but nine or ten pieces. Aaron Copland did a few
westerns and I knew he wasn’t just an ordinary guy.”
After high school Carn attended Jacksonville
University and Georgia State College studying oboe
and composition. Copland was an Artist-in-Residence
at the former. Carn credits a one-on-one conversation
with the composer for helping him develop into afluent arranger. Meanwhile, it was during these years
in the mid ‘60s that he heard all of the great organ
players when they traveled to Atlanta to perform at the
Bird Cage—Jack McDuff, Jimmy McGriff, Lonnie
Smith, Groove Holmes, Shirley Scott, all of them;
except Jimmy Smith performed at Paschal’s La
Carrousel. Carn ended up working those venues andquickly established himself as an organ player with his
own voice. He released The Doug Carn Trio on the Savoylabel. It was also in Atlanta that he met Sarah Jean
Perkins, who became Jean Carn when they married.
They became musical partners. As he tells it, after theassassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the artists
dispersed and they were among many from the Atlanta
scene that moved to Los Angeles. Once there, they
lived at the Landmark Hotel where their neighbors
included Janis Joplin and members of the bands
Mandrill, The Chambers Brothers and Earth, Wind &Fire. That is how Doug and Jean Carn came to appear
on the first two Earth, Wind & Fire records. Nobody
knew how far that band would go, but Carn was
focused on his own path.

Preparing to realize his vision, he asked who was
the best in town and was referred to drummer Michael
Carvin. Carn established a powerful rapport with
Carvin and bassist Henry Franklin as they worked forabout a year before recording what became the classic
album, Infant Eyes. Already a veteran performer andwell-studied composer, Carn didn’t realize how well
prepared he was for success while still a young man.
He used his ingenuity to conceive of a progressive jazzrecord with his wife’s voice as a focal point, writing
original lyrics to music by John Coltrane, Bobby
Hutcherson and Horace Silver. The recording was
intended to be a demo, but it was so fully conceived
that Black Jazz was more than happy to issue it as it
was. He continued to develop his concept, composing
more of his own music and released new albums inconsecutive years for the label, each release buildingon the success of the last one.
The label was more than happy to have him
represent Black Jazz as his albums sold well and werein regular radio rotation. Also, Carn was a selfdescribed Black militant interested in the Black cultural
revolution and the label itself was conceived to cash inon that movement and that ethos, so Carn fit theirplans perfectly. “I motivated a lot of people throughmy work, but it didn’t have nothing to do with aparticular record company; I was just doing my thing
like the boys that did their thing and inspired me.”
Doug and Jean Carn split up by the time of their
third Black Jazz album, Revelation, and Jean changed
her name to Carne and went on to personal successcharting a number of R&B hits. After that, Carn worked
primarily as a sideman, taught at Jacksonville
University and worked with the restoration commission
back in St. Augustine, Florida. In 1997 he appearedwith fellow organ players Dr. Lonnie Smith, Reuben
Wilson and Joey DeFrancesco on Bongo Bop by the
Essence All Stars. In the 2000s he recorded andperformed with Curtis Fuller, Cindy Blackman andWallace Roney. In 2015 his album My Spirit revisited
some of the material originally released by Black Jazz.
In 2010 Doug and Jean Carn(e) started performing
together again, appearing at Lincoln Center and Ronnie
					(CONTINUED ON PAGE 31)

One can imagine the impact the national spotlight may
have on a fledgling artist, but Winchester had been acolleague of both Sonny Rollins and Clifford Brown
and watched his friends graduate into jazz royalty.
Winchester had pursued a career as a police officer
instead of a musician yet maintained a busy musicallife, careful to cut the gig in time to walk his midnightshift beat. Wilmington pianist George Lindamood
wrote of Winchester regularly wearing a sport jacket
over his police uniform, barely concealing the bulgeof his service revolver. A certain Officer Shipp,a co-worker of Winchester ’s, also spent time in area
jazz clubs; his young son Matthew, who’d grow to be
an icon in his own right, recently joked about
Winchester ’s “strange sense of humor”. Likewise,
Wilmington drummer John Chowning wrote of thevibraphonist’s impression of Charles Mingus.
Winchester told Chowning “It was like shaking handswith ten miles of bad road.” Priceless.
After his momentous performance at Newport andthe release of the New Faces at Newport album(MetroJazz, 1958, a split LP with Randy Weston),
Winchester led a record date with the Ramsey Lewis
Trio (Perform A Tribute to Clifford Brown, Argo, 1958).
The following year he recorded Winchester Special with
Benny Golson, Tommy Flanagan, Wendell Marshalland Art Taylor for New Jazz.
The vibraphonist continued to manage full-time
civil service with an increasingly busy music career

until finally leaving the Wilmington Police Department
in 1960. He bought a hearse to carry his band and its
equipment and they recorded three albums that year
alone for the Prestige family of labels. Winchester was
also hired as a featured side musician for six moredates in 1960 and 1961 and was seen as an important
vibraphonist within a crowded category during the
instrument’s height.
Among Winchester ’s most relevant credits isOliver Nelson’s Nocturne (1960). “In a Sentimental
Mood” showcases Winchester ’s grasp of the blues, notsimply as form but heritage. His improvisations glide
over the instrument’s bars, blurring blue thirds andsevenths with a certain ease, with Nelson emoting
darkly. Winchester ’s light touch—he trimmed therattan mallet handles for a closer grip—was akin to a
winter breeze drizzling ice. Though he used softer
mallets in pursuit of Milt Jackson’s sound, Winchester
kept his instrument’s vibrato motor set to a more
traditional “fast” setting. Jackson slowed his down toachieve that hypnotic quality, but Winchester captured
the depth, the warmth purely by way of mallet grip
and rebound. In retrospect, his playing is more like awoodwind, powered by lightly controlled breathing,sounding eternal.
In contrast, Winchester ’s was a painfully briefcareer. 60 years ago this month, on Jan. 13th, 1961 whileon tour, he stopped at an Indianapolis bar, requesting					(CONTINUED ON PAGE 31)

LEST WE FORGET

LEM
WINCHESTER
by john pietaro
The jazz pantheon is built as much on legend as star
power. Lem Winchester, a vibraphonist unjustifiably
absent from most historical documents, cast a shadowy
oeuvre through a mythic tale. In a career spanning justthree years, Winchester magically touched the music ofleading figures including Oliver Nelson, Ramsey
Lewis, Benny Golson, Jack McDuff, Shirley Scott, RoyHaynes, Hank Jones, Art Taylor, Tommy Flanagan,
Toots Thielemans, Frank Wess and more, only to die inan ironic accident.
Born Mar. 19th, 1928 in Philadelphia, Winchesterand his family moved to Wilmington, Delaware shortly
thereafter. A multi-instrumentalist, he was noted forplaying various saxophones as well as piano andvibraphone before focusing on the latter. As Ira Gitler
wrote in a later album liner note, in 1957 Leonard
Feather received a tape of Winchester and a local trio,
leading him to feature the unknown vibraphonist at
the following summer ’s Newport Jazz Festival.

8 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

L ABEL SPOTLIGHT

TAO
FORMS
by george grella
Tao Forms is drummer Whit Dickey’s new recordlabel, but it’s not solely his, nor, if you checked out its
releases, would it seem new. In every aspect, it looks
and sounds like the natural development of music
making for Dickey and the circle of creative New York
City jazz musicians in which he belongs.
The idea for the label came out of a meal. “Me,[pianist] Matthew Shipp and Steven Joerg [head of
AUM Fidelity] met in an East Village restaurant,” inMay 2019, as Dickey related over a recent phone call.
They “decided this was the thing to do, we’re at ourcreative height.”“Matthew really wanted to record,” Dickey
explains, “and ESP-Disk’s [a principal issuer of Shipp’smusic] schedule was too tight.” So Shipp’s desire
turned into Tao Forms initial release, the solo piano
disc The Piano Equations, recorded late in 2019 andreleased in May 2020. That the album was a consensus
best-of-the-year release is unusual for the first releaseby a new label but, again, Dickey, Shipp and Joerg havebeen leaders on the scene for decades and consolidatinga new label under Dickey’s imprint seems like an easy,
natural step.
As was the second release, Expanding Light, fromthe trio of Dickey, alto saxophonist Rob Brown andbassist Brandon Lopez. “The trio was something
I wanted to do,” Dickey explains, but goes on to pointout that the focus of the label is not on him, it’s not an

The Piano Equation
Matthew Shippego-driven, vanity project in any way. The name of thebrand sort of gives it away.
“There’s no aesthetic,” Dickey says when asked
what concept may be behind the music on the label,“that’s why it’s called Tao Forms. It’s just a present
thing,” meaning the musicians he admires are thefocus, not himself. The only criteria are that he wants
the label to be all acoustic music.
The strong first two releases were followed in
November by the excellent disc, Now Then, from
drummer Tani Tabbal’s trio with alto saxophonist
Adam Siegel and bassist Michael Bisio (the latter isfrequently found in groups with Dickey and Shipp).
This month, Dickey and Shipp accompany tenor
saxophonist Ivo Perelman on the new release Garden of
Jewels.
Although that’s only four albums so far, taken
together they clearly demonstrate both Dickey’s“there’s no aesthetic” aesthetic and the equally clear
and important commitment to the free side of jazz andDickey’s own music-making experience. The leadvoice on each album is the leader; in the case of Tabbal
and Perelman, that means the drummer ’s light, soulful,intense rhythms and Perelman’s bearish, melancholy
introspection. Dickey and Shipp are active accompanists
for the latter, but it’s Perelman’s disc while Dickey’s
Trio disc balances the drummer ’s sense of space andunderstatement with the bassist’s active hands andBrown’s typical open-throated energy. Like the focus
on postbop so typical of Blue Note in the ‘60s, Tao
Forms seems set to document the two or three
generations of free jazz playing clustered around Shippand his various ensemble-mates. But that doesn’t mean
the label is set on that sole path.

Expanding Light
Whit Dickey

Now ThenTani Tabbal

Four new albums in less than a year is a good start,
but Dickey points out that the label has a substantial
slate of releases prepared or in the works—Fall of 2022
is the next empty spot on their calendar.
Meanwhile, up next is another album from Shippand one that Dickey is particularly excited about:“A James Brandon Lewis record,” he says, “with[drummer] Chad Taylor, [bassist] William Parker,[cornet player] Kirk Knuffke and a cellist.” Dickey isan admirer of the younger tenor player and is also glad
to have the record to extend the musical and social
reach of the label. He thinks of it as having “a newvoice on the label.”
There’s more to expect from Dickey and Shipp too:they’ll be playing with Parker on a release later thisyear that will be “doing something to commemorate
Circular Temple,” the classic 1992 album from the sameplayers Shipp released on Quinton Records.
With Dickey and Shipp, the musical foundations,the drummer is thankful for Joerg’s commitment andexpertise. “Steven is the anchor,” he points out. “Heknows the music, he’s got the connections, knows thesocial media.” The music on Tao Forms speaks foritself, but Joerg does the work to make sure it’s heard.
Still, Tao Forms didn’t explode out of the head ofZeus, it just came out organically, from music-making
and a meal. Its appearance, the music on it, theunassuming but strong presence the label has
already established, all seem an extension of Dickey
himself. “I’m an old guy, I’m 66,” he says, “and I’m
glad to be doing this for a while. It’s been great and it
keeps me young.” v
For more information, visit taoforms.bandcamp.com

Garden of Jewels
Ivo Perelman

VOXNEWS

FACINGCHANGEby suzanne lorge
Out of the misery that was 2020, inspired ways ofreaching jazz audiences have emerged. When the
pandemic struck last March, Soapbox Gallery—the arty,
minimalist concert space in downtown Brooklyn—
responded swiftly to artists’ need for high-quality livestreaming performance options. In the 10 months since,
the organization has presented its share of premier jazz
vocalists: Claudia Acuña, Kendra Shank, Becca Stevens,
Allegra Levy and Nicole Zuraitis among them. Livestreams from well-equipped rooms like this helped
musicians to remain in touch with fans and provided a
dignified platform for virtual album releases; eager as weare for in-person performances to return, we just might
miss click-and-watch concerts if live-streamed eventswere to disappear entirely. This modern dilemma is stillseveral months off, however. In the meantime, Soapbox
Gallery this month will give us a virtual front-row seat
for Audrey Silver (Jan. 8th), Paul Jost (Jan. 12th),
Roseanna Vitro (Jan. 16th) and Tessa Souter (Jan. 26th).
Likewise, vocal jazz educators introduced
tremendous innovation to online learning. Singer/
composer Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, purveyor of theeducational platform Orchard of Pomegranates, typically

hosts about two dozen singers during her online weekend
intensives, each featuring back-to-back workshops on thefiner points of improvisatory singing, with prominent
guest lecturers like Theo Bleckmann, Jen Shyu and Sara
Serpa. Gottlieb has held three of these crash courses increativity so far, with the next slated for April 2021.
Award-winning singer Alexis Cole has adopted atiered subscription model for her online teaching;through her website JazzVoice.com, singers can choose
their level of involvement with the vibrant online
community built around Cole’s dynamic presence. Fromprivate lessons with elite vocalists like Catherine Russell
and Tierney Sutton to master classes with industry
veterans like Sara Gazarek and Stephanie Nakasian,Cole’s clearinghouse for vocal education offers
unprecedented access to jazz professionals across aspectrum of interests. (Disclosure: Cole has invited thiswriter to present a one-off class on music marketing.)
Here are some other exceptional vocal jazz webbased instruction this January. Pianist/singer/composer
Lauren Lee will teach two master classes as part of her
Sing Like A Horn! educational series, one on using triads
and the other on developing syllables for soloing.
Through California Jazz Conservatory’s Jazzschool, New
Jersey-based Vitro will teach a 10-week online course on
how to scat with lyrics in the manner of Ella Fitzgerald
and Sarah Vaughan, starting Jan. 14th. Free improv
trailblazer Jay Clayton, too, will present a 10-week online
class via CJC: on Jan. 11th she’ll unveil “Singing the Jazz

Standards”, a deep dive into the basics of improvising
within the traditional jazz canon.
Back in 2015, Gottlieb asked Clayton to guest at The
Stone on a moon-inspired song cycle she’d written. The
subsequent album, 13 Lunar Meditations: Summoning the
Witches (s/r), shows just how adroitly these master
improvisers practice what they teach. Listen to their duet,“Lotte and the Moon”, the first track of the cycle and alyrical, romping dialogue of closely intertwined free
improv and spoken word. Later, on electrifying blues
tune “Moon Over Gaza”, the singers explore contrastingregisters and rhythms. Finally, on the penultimate track,“Traveler Woman”, Clayton recites the gripping text (bymulti-media artist Gem Salsberg) in concert with
Gottlieb’s wild vocal interjections and moody backing
chorus. Each track issues a different musical statement,
one for each full moon of the year, but share a poetic
through-line: mysterious pull of celestial bodies. The
album drops on Jan. 12th, the first new moon of 2021.
Singer Holli Ross passed away in May 2020, just as
The Royal Bopsters were finalizing their sophomore
album, Party of Four (Motéma Music). The release paid
tribute to vocalese pioneers like Annie Ross, who’d sungon the group’s lauded 2017 eponymous Motéma debut.
Annie (no relation to Holli) also passed away last year—in
July, just a month after the death of beloved singer/pianist
Freddy Cole (no relation to Alexis). It’s in facing theselosses that we discover a major flaw in the new pandemicinspired wiring: no way to give a proper good-bye. v

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 9

IN MEMORIAM

KALIZ.
FASTEAUby andrey henkin

IN MEMORIAM 2020
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10 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDFERNANDO SUÁREZ PAZGARY PEACOCK
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Saxophonist, pianist, player of various world windand reed instruments and percussionist Kali Z. Fasteau,
who first gained notice with The Sea Ensemble, acollaborative duet with husband/reedplayer Donald
Rafael Garrett, and then worked as a leader, mostly forher own Flying Note label from the mid ‘80s onwards,
died Nov. 20th at 73.
Fasteau, née Zusaan Kali, was born Mar. 9th, 1947
in Newark, NJ into a musical family. As she told
Clifford Allen for this gazette in 2017, “professional‘classical’ musicians populated both sides of mylineage. This happenstance perhaps justified andpropelled me to spontaneous composition, the opposite
way of making music and avoiding ‘Western’ musicalnotation,
song
structures,
specializationandhierarchical organization of music and musicians.”
Her first credit was with Garrett in 1973 when bothwere in the band of Archie Shepp that performed at
Festival Ljubljana in then-Yugoslavia. The next year
they distilled their work into a duo, The Sea Ensemble,
which released its debut on ESP-Disk’, followed by apair of later ‘70s albums for Red Records, on which
Fasteau played sheng, cello, voice, clarinet, kalimba,
davul, calabash, percussion, tambura, flute and other
instruments. As she told Allen, with The Sea Ensemble“our carrying and playing bamboo flutes was a passport
to hearts, hospitality, smiles and kinship everywhere,
especially in non-European lands, and this blended
with our strong drive to experience many cultures,musics, vibes and terrain.” She lived overseas for overa decade in various African and European countries.
The pan-culturalism of The Sea Ensemble would go
on to inform Fasteau’s work as a leader, which started
in 1986 with the establishment of her Flying Note
imprint, the catalogue of which boasted over a dozen
releases, most recently 2016’s Intuit. She also made asingle album for CIMP in 1997. Her collaborators on
those sessions included Noah Howard, Kidd Jordan,
Bobby Few, William Parker, Warren Smith, Rashied Ali,Louis Moholo-Moholo, Cindy Blackman, Michael T.A.
Thompson and others. She could be heard performing
regularly in New York City as part of Vision Festivalrelated programming and at Roulette, Spectrum,
Greater Calvary Baptist Church and other venues. In
2018, she participated in the ESP-Disk’ 55th Anniversary
Celebration at Greenwich House Music School.
She summed up her aesthetic to Allen thusly: “I’ve
always had strong tastes in music and visual art. I
especially enjoy sculpting sound and the artistic freedomof accomplishing projects independently. I returned toAmerica primarily to work with the many greatmusicians here who compose spontaneously with heart.
By tuning ourselves and refining our skills, we develop
sensitivity and intuition to receive and translate energy
into beautiful music unique to the present moment.”

CHRISTIAN AZZI (Dec. 1st, 1926 Nov. 21st, 2020). The French pianist
released an album in 2003 in tribute tosaxophonist/clarinetist Sidney Bechet,with whom he had worked some 50
years earlier during Bechet’s sojourn inParis, appearing on albums for Vogue,
Blue Note and Brunswick, to go along with recording
credits under countryman Claude Luter ’s Orchestra
and Crescent City Jazz Band and expatriates such as
Mezz Mezzrow and Don Byas during the same period
and then, decades later with the High Society Jazz
Band and Watergate Seven. Azzi died Nov. 21st at 93.

OTHELLA DALLAS (Sep. 26th, 1925 Nov. 28th, 2020) The dancer/singer ’s(and half-sister to Frank Strozier) career
as the former from the early ‘40s
onwards, both in the States and heradopted home of Basel, Switzerland,
was interspersed with stints as thelatter, performing with Sidney Bechet, Quincy Jones,
Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington, the latter writing
two tunes for her for the 1941 revue Jump for Joy
then, decades later, releasing albums on Megaphone,Mons, Brambus and Yellow Tree Music. Dallas diedNov. 28th at 95.

ALLAN BOTSCHINSKY (Mar. 29th,
1940 - Nov. 26th, 2020) The Danish
trumpeter was a member of Denmark’s
traditional jazz band Jazz Quintet ‘60 in
the ‘60s and fusion supergroup Iron
Office in the ‘70s and released several
albums since the ‘60s on Danish Debut,
RCA Victor, Storyville and M•A Music, the latterincluding an ‘80s duo with fellow Iron Officer NielsHenning Ørsted Pedersen, but was better known forhis many credits under Ib Glindemann, Erik Moseholm,
Bent Axen, Oscar Pettiford, Bjarne Rostvold, Sahib
Shihab, Danish Radio Jazz Group, Bent Jaedig, Rune
Gustafsson, Rolf Billberg, Dexter Gordon, Karin Krog,
Peter Herbolzheimer, George Gruntz, Ernie Wilkins,
Joe Haider, Barbara Dennerlein, European Jazz
Ensemble and many others. Botschinsky died Nov.
26th at 80.

HERMAN GREEN (1930 - Nov. 26th,2020) The saxophonist and Memphis
stalwart worked in both the jazz andblues worlds, the former including
Phineas, Jr. and Calvin Newborn in the‘40s, Lionel Hampton’s Orchestra in thelate ‘50s-early ‘60s, as a guest of theMemphis State University Jazz Band in the late ‘60s
and participation in James Williams’ Memphis
Convention in the ‘90s. Green died Nov. 26th at 90.

MICHAEL BROOKS (1935 - Nov. 20th,2020) The music historian, archivist andproducer worked under John Hammondin the ‘70s, producing jazz reissues for
CBS, and continued in that role as well
as archivist for both CBS/Columbia andSony Music since the mid ‘80s, winning
six Grammy awards for his work, which included sets
dedicated to Count Basie, Eddie Condon, Lester Young,
Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Benny Carter, Louis
Armstrong, Red Norvo, Coleman Hawkins, Teddy
Wilson, Jack Teagarden, Stan Kenton, Woody Herman,
Gene Krupa, Ella Fitzgerald, Glenn Miller, Benny
Goodman, Artie Shaw, Erroll Garner, Charlie Christian,Earl Hines, Roy Eldridge and many other legendary
figures. Brooks died Nov. 20th at 85.

PETER INGRAM (Nov. 14th, 1938 Nov. 21st, 2020) The British drummer
spent his adult life in North Carolina asa scientific researcher but had a parallel
career in jazz, operating the Frog &Nightgown and Café Déjà Vu clubs inRaleigh, co-founding the educationalgroup Preservation Jazz Company and leading Group
Sax, making a handful of albums, one featuring Sir
Roland Hanna. Ingram died Nov. 21st at 82.

CÁNDIDO CAMERO (Apr. 22nd, 1921
- Nov. 7th, 2020) The legendary Cuban
percussionist was instrumental in thedevelopment of the conga and bongó ascomplexrhythmic
andmelodic
instruments, both in the traditionalmusic of his homeland and then, after
moving to New York in 1946, as part of the nascent
AfroCuban jazz movement alongside Dizzy Gillespie,
Machito and others, going on to make dozens ofalbums from the mid ‘50s onwards for ABC-Paramount,
Roulette, Tico, Solid State, Blue Note, Polydor, Salsoul,
Chesky and Latin Jazz USA, this to go along withhundreds of credits under and alongside Billy Taylor,
Stan Kenton, Charlie Parker, Dinah Washington, Chico
O’Farrill, Gillespie, Erroll Garner, Bennie Green, J.J.
Johnson/Kai Winding, Ray Bryant, Gene Ammons,
Kenny Burrell, George Shearing, Duke Ellington, Art
Blakey, Ralph Sharon, Randy Weston, Woody Herman,
Lionel Hampton, Sonny Rollins, Tony Bennett, Wynton
Kelly, Illinois Jacquet, Donald Byrd, Wes Montgomery,
Grant Green, Tico All-Stars, Elvin Jones, Bobby
Hutcherson, Buddy Rich, David Amram, Gerry
Mulligan, John Shaw, Beaver Harris, Dexter Gordon,
The Conga Kings, Toots Thielemans, Graciela, Bobby
Sanabria and many many others. Camero died Nov.
7th at 99. [An In Memoriam spread dedicated to
Cándido is on pgs. 12-13]

DAVE ZOLLER (1941 - Nov. 8th, 2020)
The pianist, composer and arranger had
a handful of leader albums starting in
the late ‘90s, the most recent being aself-released tribute to Thelonious
Monk (plus some as-yet-unreleased
sessions), performance and or/writingcredits with Thom Mason, Pete Peterson, Genie
Grant and Al Hirt and composing-arranging-teaching
work for North Texas State University’s Lab Bandduring his many years as part of the program,mentoring three generations of alumni, and voluminous
jingle work as an employee of TM Studios. Zoller diedNov. 8th at 79. v

CLIFF HOFF (1927 - Nov. 2nd, 2020)
The saxophonist was a member of theorchestras of Glenn Miller, the Dorsey
Brothers, Dick Meldonian, Ralph
Flanagan and Gerry Mulligan/Bob
Brookmeyer/Phil Sunkel in the ‘50s.
Hoff died Nov. 2nd at 93.

PEDRO ITURRALDE (Jul. 3rd, 1929 Nov. 1st, 2020) The Spanish saxophonist
fused his country’s Flamenco tradition
with jazz on albums since the ‘60s for
Hispavox, SABA, CBS and other labels,
one featuring a young Paco De Lucía,
and also worked with Elia Fleta, Juan
Carlos Calderon and a number of Spain’s folk, rockand funk acts. Iturralde died Nov. 1st 91.
EDDIE NOBLE KING, JR. (Mar. 26th,
1937 - Nov. 16th, 2020) The trombonist
and New Orleans stalwart was amember of the Olympia Brass Band andTreme Brass Band, appearing on the
HBO show Treme with the latter, andwas a regular performer at Preservation
Hall. King, Jr. died Nov. 16th at 83.
ANDREW WHITE (Sep. 6th, 1942 Nov. 11th, 2020) The saxophonist/bassoonist/oboist/French horn player
never played with John Coltrane but
was an acknowledged expert on thesubject, publishing The Works of John
Coltrane, Vols. 1 though 14: 701
transcriptions of John Coltrane’s Improvisations, to go
along with dozens of albums of his own music sincethe ‘70s on his own Andrew’s Music imprint in a careerthat saw him leading The “J.F.K.” Quintet for two
Riverside albums in the early ‘60s and having recording
credits with Weather Report, McCoy Tyner, Elvin
Jones, Hilton Felton, Beaver Harris and Julius
Hemphill. White died Nov. 11th at 78.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 11

IN MEMORIAM
Cándido was a great man. Cándido was a great
artist. I am so happy that I can say that Cándido
was and will always be my friend.
—SONNY ROLLINS, SAXOPHONE
Cándido—in very busy times way back—playedwith me on several appearances and a few
recordings. He was a wonderful partner to playwith and a very genuine guy just to hang out
with. He gave us his presence for a long time, andwe are all grateful.
—DICK HYMAN, PIANO
Cándido was a National Endowment of the Arts
Jazz Master who changed the performance historyof jazz conga playing. I had the opportunity toperform with him many times in my life ina variety of settings. It was always total enjoyment
to see and hear him perform with his multiple
congas. He would play melodies such as“Manteca” and would always add tremendous
excitement to the rhythm section as well as forthe listening audience.
While he was performing with the Billy Taylor
Group in the early ‘50s, Cándido and Billyincorporated Afro-Latin concepts that Dizzy
Gillespie utilized with his big band in the ‘40s.
He will be musically missed.
—JIMMY OWENS, TRUMPET
When you talk about percussion, particularly theevolution of conga playing, you’re talking about
two periods—before Cándido and after Cándido.
He was literally game-changing.
He was the first to develop coordinatedindependence as applied to the congas andbongó—being able to keep a steady rhythm with
one hand while soloing with the other. He was
the first to develop the techniques to play morethan one conga simultaneously. He was the firstconga player to perform solo pieces with noaccompaniment. He adapted the conga drum tothe swing feel in jazz so beautifully it became atemplate for all others to follow. He was the firstto develop the techniques to play multiple
percussion instruments played simultaneously,sounding like three or four players.
He was the first to tune multiple congas tospecific pitches so he could play melodies onthem, and he was an inventor as well. In 1950 hecreated the first device for a player to be able toplay a cowbell with one’s foot. On top of that he
was a bass player and played the Cuban tres
(mandolin-like guitar). Every percussionist
working today, in any context, owes a debt ofgratitude to him.

What a loss. Cándido was a Grand Master, a pioneer
and an innovator. His music will live forever.
—DUDUKA DA FONSECA, DRUMS/PERCUSSION
I had an association with Cándido when herecorded with me on my first and second albums,
which were for Blue Note Records in 1956. Blue
Note founder Alfred Lion actually recommended
him for those sessions. I really appreciated hismusic and contributions. He was a brilliant
percussionist and a very professional musician
and made a great contribution to Latin jazz and
Latin music.
—KENNY BURRELL, GUITAR
Cándido was the Monk of the AfroCuban world.
He was not one for hyper-virtuosic displays ofself aggrandizement. I watched him many times
in the presence of other master congueros andwith a couple of strokes of his fingers he always
brought the house down in a way that thehistrionics of those around him could not. It was
not a lack of prowess. He had technique to spare.
It was simply that the musicality of his playing
came from a place deep within, free ofcompetitiveness, liberated from a need tograndstand. This was displayed in every facet ofhis humanity. He was a gentleman with acomportment that also roared generosity, curiosityand deep love for the music.
With Cándido’s departure a guiding spirit foryoung musicians will be missing but for theancestors, it will be a homecoming. I love you
Cándido, now you and Baba Randy Weston cancontinue to make a joyful noise.

I met Cándido for the first time at the Thelonious
Monk International Jazz Competition in 2000
when I was one of the participants and he wasone of the judges.
On the second night me and some of the otherparticipants went to have dinner with him,
Giovanni Hidalgo and Milton Cardona. It was an
unforgettable evening, where Cándido sharedwith us his book of pictures, his stories. I wasamazed by his professionalism.
After that I got to share time with him on
different occasions, but maybe the one that I
remember the most was when I got hired by myuncle Edy Martinez to play at a nursing home on
the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Cándido was
the special guest. I was the first musician to arrive
to the gig and then Cándido arrived. He was byhimself moving all three of his congas on thestands. Of course as soon as I saw him I brought
his congas inside.
Another evening that I will not forget was at
the NAMM Show in California. Latin Percussion
organized a series of duet performances. It was a
big surprise when they organized for me to play aduet with Cándido. I felt so honored and humbled
to be playing a duet with the biggest conga legend!
In the audience were the most important
percussionists, including Giovanni Hidalgo andJohnny Dandy Rodriguez. My biggest honor waswhen Cándido asked me to tune his congas.
—SAMUEL TORRES, PERCUSSION

I met Cándido during a recording for anadvertising campaign I was producing in 1989.
On Nov. 28th, 1990, I presented the Carnegie Hall
100th Anniversary concert, under the direction ofChico O’Farrill for which we had Cándido billed
as a very special guest. It took me five years toconvince Cándido to be in the 2005 documentary
I did, Cándido: Hands of Fire. During the last two
decades, we produced several concerts as well as
recordings with him. Cándido became part of ourfamily as friend, grandfather, father, uncle,
brother, you name it. His humbleness was much,
much bigger than his fame and he will always
occupy a very huge special room in our hearts.

Life is one rollercoaster ride full of ironies. But
this one hit too close to home. A man that I always
thought invincible, has transitioned. He wasprobably the coolest cat I’ve ever met. He was the
epitome of a gentleman. He was sharper than athumbtack. “El hombre que inventó la Elegancia”:
I’ve never seen any man pull off wearing a
Leopard Dolce & Gabbana suit better than him.
He used to call me the one and only. He gaveme my first professional shot when I was 18. His
life motto was “Stay away from bad advice, badcompany and bad habits.” I used to visit him at
his apartment on West End Avenue and listen to
all the epic stories of him hanging with Chano
Pozo or playing with Sammy Davis, Jr., Sinatra,
Tony Bennett, Bird, Diz, Miles, Trane, Elvin, Celia
Cruz, La Lupe, Cachao, Tom Jones, et al. He was
the first conguero to be listed in the World Book
Encyclopedia. He even played bass on an Art
Blakey song (“Oscalypso”) because apparently
Oscar Pettiford couldn’t play tumbao.
He was as innovative as they come. He was
the first conguero to play two and three congas.
He invented the mechanism to play the cowbell
with a bass drum pedal 50 years before Latin
Percussion’s Gajate Pedal. He told me he got theidea of playing three congas after being inspiredby the tympanist at the philharmonic.
Three words come to mind when I think abouthim. Elegance, class and sophistication. He waspart of my family. When I graduated from the
New School he gifted me one of his sacred white
congas, a pair of timbales and bongos with a hand
written note: “Focus, study and perseverance
always pays off.” Cándido was an incredible
musician but an even more incredible human.

I was shocked by the sobering news of the passingof THE venerable reigning elder of African hand
drum performance, Cándido Camero. We hadtalked on his pandemic-stifled birthday in April
about looking forward to his 100th. Not only was
he an iconic personal inspiration but I was also
blessed to have been able to call him a friend,elder colleague and even mentor.
Always the consummate dapper and polite
gentleman, Cándido’s innovative contributions to
the world of music and humanity as a musician,composer, inventor and more over the past 75
plus years are innumerable and beyond what we
could even begin to scratch the surface about
here. Cándido’s humility with regards to his
performance innovations was such that, prior togetting to know him and doing my own reflective
research I, as a student of the craft myself, hadoften attributed many of them to others.
While some “Latin” music purists may haveregarded his approach as more commercial thanothers, it was actually adaptable in ways that weremore conducive to multiple genres than somemore traditional styles. Cándido took the African
drum and its sound to places others had not, along
the way introducing and familiarizing new ears
and audiences to the instrument and its sound.
Cándido to the end, much like his great friend,
fellow NEA Jazz Master Randy Weston withwhom he worked regularly since their meeting inthe ‘50s, always honored their parents. They
credited them with being the very source of theirimpressive existences. I once asked Cándido towhat did he attribute his longevity in life and his
impressive career? He responded: “I don’t drink,smoke, curse or talk politics!“ I’ve been humbled,honored and thankful to have known and playedwith both of these creative musical icons and am
grateful for the artistic gifts they’ve shared andleft for us all. Thank you Cándido. As you play on
with the multitude of luminaries you’re now
reunited with in the Celestial “Jazz” Philharmonic.
We’re still listening!

—IVAN ACOSTA, WRITER-FILMMAKER—AMAURY ACOSTA, DRUMS—NEIL CLARKE, PERCUSSION—BOBBY SANABRIA, DRUMS/PERCUSSION—ARTURO O’FARRILL, PIANO

12 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDWe spoke a week and a half before he died and I
miss him. The first experience that I had with
Cándido was when I was a little kid, thanks to my
grandfather who taught me to play and showedme an album of Cándido’s from 1958 with him on
the cover with one conga (Candido In Indigo, ABC
Paramount). One of my favorite Cándido records
is Brujerias de Candido (Tico) with Cachao andChino López. That album’s a classic and I used topractice with that vinyl album every day. Cándido,
the Thousand Finger Man, was a pioneer since hecame to America in 1946. And though he may
have been the original “Mr. Clean”—he neverdrank or smoked—he was a true showman andan all-time original. He always worked with the
dynamics of the music and the dynamics of life.
Even in his 90s he was still kicking ass for sure.
I remember when we met to play in The Conga
Kings group. He said, “You sound like a machine
gun!” I would tune his congas because you have tohelp the elders. That was of course my honor. I
have always said, “Lord, thanks for giving me thisopportunity.” Elders like Cándido are very much
like a diamond, a precious ruby or emerald. He
will be forever one the masters of the conga drums.

CÁNDIDOCAMERO
1921-2020—GIOVANNI HIDALGO, PERCUSSION—DAVID AMRAM, VARIOUS INSTRUMENTS© JACK VARTOOGIAN/FRONTROWPHOTOSIn 1951 when I first got to spend time with Dizzy
Gillespie, he told me that if I ever moved to NYC,
I should spend some time with Cándido. “After
Chano Pozo passed, Cándido kept that spirit
alive,” said Dizzy. “He’s all about the music.” In
1955, when I finally moved to NYC and was lucky
enough to work with Charles Mingus at the Café
Bohemia, Cándido was the featured artist when
we took a break. Cándido was always generous
and gracious to any young musician if he saw you
were respectful and eager to learn. He always
found the time to lend a helping hand, a smile
and a word of encouragement to anybody, as longas you remembered to say please and thank you.
We became friends for life. We played at jazzfestivals, folk and world music events, including
one where Cándido was the featured artist with
the Brooklyn Philharmonic and performed in my“En Memoria de Chano Pozo”. It was wonderfulin the role of conductor, seeing young musicians
looking spellbound as Cándido seemed toeffortlessly play his astounding solos, which werecompositions that he created on the spot.
Playing with him for Mario Bauza’s 100thbirthday at the Apollo Theater as guests with Bobby
Sanabria’s big band was like being in heaven,without the drag of expiring! We played again with
Bobby’s Multiverse Big Band in 2017 at “Salsa Meets
Jazz”, a benefit for Puerto Rico after the hurricane.
Backstage, all the guests watched in reverence as
Cándido closed the show, raising his arms, like
Moses parting the Red Sea. “Ladies and gentlemen,”he said. “I have something very important to tellyou. I am 97 years old and have terrible arthritis.
But when I play my drums, I feel like I’m 20!” There
was thunderous applause. “No, no please,” said
Cándido, shushing the audience with his arms until
you could hear nothing in the room except for theice machine quietly dropping a cube. He bowed hishead as if in prayer and everyone remained silent.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank my motherand my father.” There was another pause and in thesilence, you could feel everyone thinking, how
could a 97-year-old man have parents able to evenbe alive, much less come down to Greenwich Village
to hear their son? “Ladies and gentlemen,” said
Cándido, “Without them……NO CÁNDIDO!!!” We
didn’t need to play an encore.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 13

ALBUM REVIEWS

The New Orleans Collection: Ellis Marsalis(Newvelle)by Ken Dryden

Until Ellis Marsalis was honored as an NEA Jazz

Master (together with sons Branford, Wynton, Delfeayo
and Jason) in 2011, fans often overlooked his many
contributions as a composer and pianist, due to thepatriarch’s primary focus being on jazz education andthe many plaudits that Wynton and Branford received
with their prolific output. But his final recording, madejust weeks prior to his death in April of 2020 at 85 fromCOVID-19, is the perfect swan song to his career.
Marsalis returns to several of his earlier
compositions and finds new approaches to some oldfavorites, alternating between piano solos and duetswith son Jason on vibraphone. The elder Marsalis
played a wide range of styles during his lifetime so heisn’t easily classified, though he had a gift for
constructing creative solos that never overshadowed
the melodic line.
Most of the solo ballads have a reflective mood,full of spaciousness and lush chords, starting with thedelicate “E’s Knowledge”, which seems nostalgic
without being maudlin. J. Fred Coots-Sam M. Lewis’World War II era standard “For All We Know” is evenmore poignant, with Marsalis’ deliberate, almost
hesitating exploration, communicating the meaning of
its unheard lyric. Even more intriguing is the unusual
medley that the pianist arranged: beginning with abrief snippet of Bernece Petkere’s “Lullaby of the
Leaves”, Marsalis weaves his way indirectly into
Richard Rodgers-Lorenz Hart’s timeless “My Funny
Valentine” before segueing into a moving setting of thespiritual “Nobody Knows The Trouble I’ve Seen”, aluxurious performance which wraps all too quickly. He
also revisits “Beautiful Old Ladies” by Harold Battiste,
his old pal from the American Jazz Quintet, bringing
out its subtle lyricism with hushed voicings.
The duets provide a striking contrast, especiallythe late James Black’s driving “Magnolia Triangle” andthe patriarch’s funky “Discipline Meets The Family”,
the latter adding Jason’s daughter Marley on percussion
and piano. Father and son are of one mind in “Groove
For Bags”, a bluesy, laidback tribute to Milt Jackson.
Newvelle Records has built a strong reputation withthe high quality of its 180-gram limited edition LPs
and this album, part of its recent New Orleans collection,is among its very best to date.
For more information, visit newvelle-records.com

Party of Four
The Royal Bopsters (Motéma Music)
by Dan Bilawsky

This hip and polished quartet is cut from the same

cloth as vocalese groups of yore. But don’t mistake thisfor a retro act. Thanks to skillful hands and voices, thatcloth has now been embroidered with the entire historyof the music. The Royal Bopsters’ 2015 debut, whereregal members Amy London, Holli Ross, Darmon
Meader and Dylan Pramuk palled around with icons
Mark Murphy, Bob Dorough, Jon Hendricks, Sheila
Jordan and Annie Ross, made that clear enough. And
this follow-up set, with Pete McGuinness filling thetenor seat vacated by Meader, further demonstrates
a long and wide reach.
Backed by the classy trio of pianist Steve Schmidt,
bassist Cameron Brown and drummer Steve Williams
and boasting a guest list that includes Dorough, Jordan,
percussionist Steven Kroon and bassist Christian
McBride, these swinging singers rejoice in the company
they keep and the splendor of the heavenly harmonies
they create. Their noble bearing is clearly audible on
the soigné “But Not for Me”, acknowledging a Chet
Baker scat trip in its soli, and the seriously swinging“My Shining Hour”, where McGuinness makes hismark and everybody hammers home the truth.
The ten tracks between those end points offer all
manner of wonders. “Lucky to Be Me”, opening on thewell-wrought song verse delivered by the core crew,finds Jordan in incredibly fine form. An a cappella“Day Dream” plays, appropriately enough, as an
episode of woolgathering. The spicy “Cuando Te Vea”
has McBride holding down the fort with a solid tumbao.
And “Baby, You Should Know It”, featuring Doroughin one of his last appearances on record, is theembodiment of blues-based wit.
While there’s a celebratory sound to this album,
its arrival proves bittersweet. Holli Ross, who valiantly
battled cancer, passed away in May of 2020 at 62, rightafter the final masters were finished. Her artistry,
stamped on the entire program, leaves a rich legacy
and her absence now creates a void. Party of Four is,
rightly, dedicated to this voice taken too soon.

Arvo Pärt or John Surman, but it’s deeply original.
It’s a culmination of a creative path that flouted genre
and style borders since Tippett’s landmark Centipede
band of 1971, not inspired by a rebellious streak but
because Tippett’s creativity cannot be contained in any
single given genre and happily transcends them all.
The central and longest fourth movement is the
keystone and perfect synthesis of the strengths of thepiece, building up from the sound of a mbira throughJulie Tippetts’ solo vocalization to lovely choral
melodies supported by the texture of the reeds. It’s amajestic, rich recording repaying multiple listening.
For more information, visit discus-music.co.uk

A TIME CAPSULE
OF BRITISH JAZZAT ITS PEAK

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FEATURING
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ART THEMENMIKE OSBORNEHENRY LOWTHERPAUL RUTHERFORDPAUL NIEMAN
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For more information, visit motema.com

The Monk Watches The Eagle
Keith Tippett (Discus)by Francesco Martinelli

Poignantly issued only months after the recent deathof the great English pianist Keith Tippett in June of2020 at 72, this is an extended, 40-minute cantata inseven movements for solo voice (Tippett’s life andmusic partner Julie Tippetts), two saxophone quartets—
Tippett’s Mujician partner Paul Dunmall (soprano),
Kevin Figes (alto), Ben Waghorn (tenor) and Chris
Biscoe (baritone) and the Apollo Saxophone Quartet:
Tim Redpath (soprano), Rob Buckland (alto), Andy
Scott (tenor) and David Roach (baritone)— and the
BBC Singers choir, magnificently recorded by the BBC
during its premiere at the Norfolk and Norwich festival
on May 14th, 2004 in the spacious acoustics of theNorwich cathedral.
Based on a text by Tippetts herself, the work was
conducted by the composer and dedicated to his father,
Patrick, a music-loving Bristol policeman; Tippett
himself, in an uncharacteristic gesture for jazz, does
not appear as an instrumentalist. He was very happy
about the recording, but did not see it released in his
lifetime: it took Discus Music’s Martin Archer ’s
dedication with the support of Julie Tippetts to make itavailable.
There’s neither dabbling in composition here nor
superficial “classics in jazz” fusionism. The
atmospheres may recall more well known music by

14 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Raoul Björkenheim—Solar Winds (Long Song Records)“Sublime guitar lines that soar like birds of prey in the sky,daring harmonic innovations and immersive metricmodulations to make your heart bleed with anguish,
ecstasy and joy.” - Petri Silas (The Finnish Music Quarterly)

longsongrecords.bandcamp.com/album/solar-winds

Fimav2021-01_NYCJR-Color.pdf

ON SCREEN

10:47

fimav

N ear the end of this laudable documentary,

For more information, visit universedoc.com

2020-12-15

37 th edition

Universe
A Film by Sam Osborn and Nick Capezzera
by Kevin Canfield

20
21
22
23
may
2021
festivalinternational
musiqueactuelle
victoriavillefimav.qc.ca

Barre Phillips
Thirty years in between
Enregistrés les 12 mai 1989
et 17 mai 2019

VICTO CD 130

VICTO CD 131

victo.qc.ca
VICTO CD 132/08

trumpeter Wallace Roney visits Woodlawn Cemeteryin the Bronx, where he lays a trumpet on Miles
Davis’ grave. “I’ll see you again,” Roney says to his
late mentor. “…I’m doing what you taught me.” Thescene would be powerful under normal
circumstances, but it’s all the more poignant given
the tragic news that saddened the jazz community
last spring. Roney was 59 when he died on Mar. 31st
fromcomplications
relatedto
COVID-19.
Filmmakers Sam Osborn and Nick Capezzera spent
ample time with Roney in the preceding months. In
Universe, they present an engrossing portrait of thetrumpeter as he completes an ambitious project
initiated a half-century ago.
In the mid ‘60s, Wayne Shorter, the saxophonist
in Davis’ Second Great Quintet, wrote a sprawling,
complex orchestral work titled The Universe
Compositions. Davis was fascinated by the music—“I asked for a tune and you gave me a fuckin’symphony”, he’s said to have told Shorter—but itwent unrecorded and was then misplaced. Shortly
before Davis died in 1991, he urged Shorter to locate
the music. Another 15 years passed before the
Library of Congress found the compositions. At thatpoint Shorter asked Roney, Davis’ protégé, to bringthe music to the public. Roney set to work, devoting
considerable time and resources to the task. The
film—shot in black-and-white to match archival
footage from Davis’ heyday and featuring insightfulinterviews with musicians, critics and those closest
to Roney—tells this long-developing story withvisual panache and palpable esteem for all involved.
Osborn and Capezzera set up their cameras in
Roney’s New Jersey home, where his carefully
assembled big band rehearsed in tight quarters;
there, as in the filmmakers’ footage of recording
dates and mixing sessions, the musician is at once
easygoing and exacting, a genial perfectionist.
Though filled with music from Davis and Roney’s
careers, the film could have offered a sharper idea ofwhat makes The Universe Compositions so tricky, or
how a fully realized interpretation sounds. The
directors build to a performance at the New Jersey
Performing Arts Center, of which we hear just a bit.
The film’s primary goal, though, is to show
a determined artist at work, to give us anunderstanding of what brought him to this moment
and to chronicle the care and enthusiasm with which
he approached his work. Osborn and Capezzera dothis in edifying fashion, recounting Roney’s signal
appearance alongside Davis at the Montreux Jazz
Festival in 1991, his efforts to transcend criticism
that he was a Davis “clone” and his ear for everythingfrom microphone quality to the way that The
Universe Compositions should be conducted. Davis“saw me and heard me” more clearly than anyone
else, Roney says, and this film demonstrates why
the great trumpeter had such faith in his apprentice.

1

RIP
2020

Rova Saxophone
QuartetAnthony Braxton

In Transverse Time

Enregistré au 33e FIMAV
le 21 mai 2017

Compositions récentes 2013-2017
Enregistrements en studio

Solo (Victoriaville) 2017

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 15

RIP
2020

Peur Sur La Ville (Soundtrack)
Ennio Morricone (WeWantSounds)
by George Grella

The hip reissue label WeWantSounds has brought out

a special new edition of this Ennio Morricone
soundtrack album; a two-LP set produced for Record
Store Day that compiles the original soundtrack to this1975 French detective movie, along with bonus material
that had previously been issued on CD (though not LP)
and two tracks never before released. Of course, since
this is a soundtrack, the idea of unissued tracks isa little vague, not formal songs but instead cues
meant to underpin and enhance specific dramatic
moments in the movie. Still, for most listeners, more
Morricone is always good Morricone and this example
does not disappoint.
The composer, who died in July of 2020 at 91,
scored hundreds of films and few will be familiar withall his work, though jazz fans might be struck by anarrow of recognition when they hear the main theme
stitched through this album, an ominous bass/piano
ostinato with Alessandro Alessandroni whistling thewonderful, emotionally complex theme over the top—
John Zorn used this material on his masterpiece The
Big Gundown. Morricone was a kaleidoscopic composer,a genius melodist, and one of the features that sets thissoundtrack apart from much of his work is the levelof thematic consistency; so many of the cues are basedon the same ostinato, with its beating heart rhythm
and the remarkable sound of Alessandroni.
Morricone was not the only soundtrack composer
who could write truly inventive, original music (notjust cues and adaptations of classical music), but hewas one of the tiny few (with maybe Georges Delerueand Toru Takemitsu) who could write a wholly original
and completely convincing pop tune, instead of acringe-worthy pastiche only a movie producer could
love. Here, those include “Dolcemente Ambigua” andthe Burt Bacharach-esque “Essere Preso Del Panico”.
The two new tracks are the nostalgic pop tune
“Tractations” and the excellent fantasy on themain theme, “Reconsidération”. This edition isadvertised as remastered and the sound is smooth but
a touch dense, although the mix places Alessandroni ina dramatic spot.

on the entirety of the music was always evident (notehis adaptation of Eubie Blake’s “Charleston Rag” onthis album to sense his command of the music’s
heritage). This reviewer had the opportunity to see thatup close in the ‘80s when, as a college and grad school
student, he counted Cowell among his teachers.
Professor Cowell taught two compelling courses of Jazz
History (really the story of the diaspora and the nation
itself) and facilitated a hands-on jazz ensemble the likesof which his students will rarely, if ever, experienceagain. He was a gentle man and gifted educator,
brimming with enthusiasm for the art form. And these
attributes are evinced within this live set from 2019.
The opening number, an original written for Cal
Massey, is reflective of the soft-spoken complexity
shared by both the honoree and composer. Cowell
reveled in lengthy melodic statements and he submits
this latter-day bop head dual-handed and solo. By thetime he’s joined in the melody by trumpeter Freddie
Hendrix and alto saxophonist Bruce Williams, thework is ingrained within the ear and the swing oversinewy lines feels nothing short of natural; you could
call it Blue Note redux, in the best manner possible.
But “Cal Massey” also acts as something of an
introduction to each band member. The quintet is asclean and tight as a regular touring act, though such alineup is one the pianist has rarely worked with over
the years. On “Banana Pudding”, a lively, uptempo bitof postbop, another work with an extended melody
line, the band is downright effervescent and Cowell’ssolo is gripping, a testament to his strongest work yet.
The rhythm section of bassist Tom DiCarlo anddrummer Vince Ector sits exactly where they need be,supportive, sturdy, churningly interactive.
Hendrix’ wide brassy tone recalls Woody Shawand Freddie Hubbard and he plays with the selfassuredness of both. His muscular solos throughout
are journeys into hardbop past, but one always pushingtoward what’s to come. “Montage for Toledo” is a
softly swinging piece in 12/8 meter, which speaks tothe pianist’s journeyman years, with the alluring darklamentations of alto hypnotically working their way
through the listener. And on “Equipoise”, thesignificance only multiplies. Another Cowell original,
this time it features daughter Sunny’s shiver-inspiring
vocal on this prescient song about seeking balance. The
Baltimore-based singer is also a multi-instrumentalist,
songwriter and a practicing attorney. Surely, this pieceis a highlight of the performance, a special fatherdaughter moment as well as grand, rich vocal in an
already bountiful set. If this turns out to be Cowell’s
final statement, he left us on a truly brilliant note.

but I had my training in linguistics and philosophy oflanguage and all that goes with linguistics”.
Though a musician since the mid ‘60s, Coursil’s
output is scant, which, rather than a criticism, insteadcan be seen as the methodology of a person extremely
careful about what he says. Hostipitality Suite is his lastalbum and, as was the case with Eric Dolphy and Out
To Lunch, Coursil died before it was a physical object.
It is now an LP but listening to it one hears something
floating and omnipresent, not tethered to grooves or
emanating from speakers.
The wordplay of the title is explained as “hostility
and hospitality as proposed by [Algerian-French
philosopher] Jacques Derrida.” Add to that the Frenchwords and phrases Coursil intones in his deep baritone,
interspersed among absolutely vibrato-less trumpet andsynth arrangement by Martinican composer Jeff
Baillard, and the 38-minute suite becomes an elusive
listen, atmospheric and non-linear, introspective andabstract, far more in line with his more recent work as asolo performer than anything he did decades ago as partof the New York and Parisian avant garde jazz scenes.
A word that keeps getting repeated is “étranger”,
which can be translated as stranger or foreign. Now,
when discussing translation as it applies to the work ofa linguist, precision is necessary but we are left on our
own to determine what Coursil meant: was he thestranger, a philosopher among musicians, a trumpeter
amongacademics?;
isstrangeness/foreignness
ultimately a relative concept? This amorphous quality
extends to the music as the notes, words and electricwashes move in and out of the foreground. In bothmusic and language, living things changing over time,
there are no final statements.
For more information, visit savvy-contemporary.com

Bidi Dworkinjazz vocalist

For more information, visit steeplechase.dk

For more information, visit wewantsounds.com“A showcase for her sparkling voice at its ﬁnest!”– Suzanne Lorge, NYC Jazz Record

Hostipitality Suite
Jacques Coursil (SAVVY)
by Andrey Henkin
Live at Keystone Korner Baltimore
Stanley Cowell (SteepleChase)
by John Pietaro

Just days after his passing in December of 2020 at 79,
listening to the music of Stanley Cowell becomes
immediately transformative. An artful player andcomposer over turbulent decades, Cowell was
instrumental in this postmodern period, traversing theLoft years, the avant garde and back with a renewed,
reinvigorated vision of straightahead jazz. But his grip

Musicologists of keener analytical skill than thisreviewer could be able to say whether Charles Ives’
lifetime of selling insurance or Philip Glass’ experience
as a cab driver had an impact on their respective
composing. But it is clear that Martinican-French
trumpeter Jacques Coursil, who died in June of 2020 at
82, thoroughly imbued his music with the theoreticalknowledge gained over decades as a linguist. But eventhat term is limiting; in a 2005 interview with thiswriter, he said, “My position is kind of a philosopher

16 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

bididworkin.com

RIP
2020

At The Club Room (for Simon H. Fell)
IST (Confront)
Pièce commémorative: Pour Simon
Various Artists (Confront)
by Marc Medwin

It may begin as a whisper, a rustling at the edge ofperception, but it never remains static. Just as often,
the sound rushes, roars and rumbles on the fringes ofcognition. It swirls like half-formed memories andthen pours out in emotive torrents in which even theneed for a single meaning grows vague but, for themusicians involved in these two recordings released intribute to the bassist Simon Fell, who died in June of2020 at 61, meaning and association are crystal clear.
It is impossible to encapsulate the scope of Fell’s
work on two albums, no matter how inclusive. Yet, here
we can gain an inkling of his contributions and influence,both direct and by association. The common factor ismulti-instrumentalist Mark Wastell, who also founded
Confront in 1996. With him, Fell and harpist Rhodri
Davies formed IST, a boundary-blurring trio pioneering,
but by no means limited to, a dynamically diverse music
often relying on a nearly silent but intense energy andinterplay. 24 years after it happened, we now hear thetrio’s second performance ever and it is a marvel ofsynchronous discovery caught in a dry but resonant
space. The crystalline interplay of bows opening thefirst track of At The Club Room is a model of Protean
articulation, bloom and decay, a chamber music inwonderful flux examining while deconstructing thepermeable boundaries between light and shade. In theseheady days of initial exploration, the pointillism ofEuropean free improvisation was complemented bywhat could be called interstitial silences, but more than
dynamics were in play. The raw ingredients of sound,modified via alchemy, stood at the center of the trio’s
evolving aesthetic, but it could just as easily become
molten or burst into flames, as happens leading up to
and including 6:00 into the second track. The crackle ofinteractive electricity is palpable as each mirrors andenhances the others’ forays down the myriad paths
opening when an instrument is used to its fullest
potential. Fell transforms a bass into chamber orchestra
and percussion ensemble, ideas alternately pouring
down like rain or wafting like the gentlest breeze.
The sonic intrigue so germane to IST is amplified
in Pièce commémorative: Pour Simon from the large
ensemble UN, a project of bassist David Chiesa inwhich Fell regularly participated. This commemorativepiece was begun in April of 2020 as a kind of musicalpostcard for Fell, wishing him well during his illness.
While, sadly, it was not completed before the bassist’s
passing, his compositional and performative spirit
imbues the 20-minute work. A long-time lover ofstudio manipulation of live material, Fell would
doubtless have found pleasure in the track-by-track
construction, but the piece’s whimsy would also
certainly have appealed to his astutely prankish side.
There is something jocosely sinister about Wastell’s
piano opening, bass frequencies preternaturally
highlighted and augmented by what might be Davies’
harp in basso profundo range. Lê Quan Ninh provides
incisive percussive exhortations, like the one at 1:59,
to the incredibly delicate tremolo of Anouck Genthon’s
violin in delicious sul ponticello. Humorous
juxtapositions abound, like the single percussive at
15:26 that follows hot on the heels of voices trapped inwhat sounds like nothing so much as ring-modulated
static. All paves the way for another explosion, a feast
for the ears covering the entire frequency spectrum.

Throughout, the low-register piano acts as a bassocontinuo, another idea that would have pleased theever-inquiring and boundary-suspicious dedicatee.
Like IST, each sound is just as likely to obscure as belie
its origins and it is only with signifiers like the breathat 16:22 that cause and effect have a hope of being
separated, if such a consideration is really appropriate
at all. Where IST exploited environmental possibility
in a concert setting, UN harnesses the power ofmultiple and transcultural environments to similareffect and with all the benefits of studio production.
Fell was a joyful maverick. He could tear it up in ajazz trio, was conversant in the languages of art music
and dug beyond the foundations of improvised forms
and structures with equal fluency. His love of musicmaking manifested in his writing and speaking, just as
his influence is palpable in these tributes to his
inclusive musical legacy. As the proceeds go to charity,
purchasing these releases will reward twice and themusical enjoyment to be gained is beyond measure.
For more information, visit confrontrecordings.bandcamp.com

Feeling Is Believing
Erroll Garner (Octave Music-Mack Avenue)
by Marilyn Lester

The latest in Octave Music’s remastering of Erroll

Garner albums is Feeling Is Believing, recorded in late1969 with several new collaborators appearing overthe 11 tracks. One was gifted drummer Charles (Charli)
Persip, who died in August of 2020 at 91. His resumé ishard to beat: at the birth of bebop; played with thebest; led his own band (Supersound); mastered a range
of genres; and became a respected educator. His workwith Garner is a clear indication of his adaptability,
wherein his task was to work at complementing the
pianist’s style while at the same time being equallycreative in a contained framework. That’s no mean
feat, given Garner ’s off-the-charts improvisational
ability and eccentric method of playing, with eachhand creating its own melodic and rhythmic dynamic.
This later period in Garner ’s career was one in which
he allowed himself a great deal of freedom to explore
and adapt new creative ideas, such as Latin undertones,
a dash of funk and more complex harmonies. His
rhythm players on Feeling Is Believing were up to thetask, supplying Garner with a contemporary sound,
different from prior approaches to his work.
Right out of the gate, Garner is off and runningwith speed on “For Once in My Life” (Ron Miller). Afteran almost discordant intro, the melody travels withpower to its conclusion while Persip gets in the groove
with Garner’s percussive left hand. What follows is acollection of songs contemporaneous to 1970 plus a
handful of Garner’s own tunes, such as the title song, alush ballad full of lyrical embellishments. Persip plays
on another Garner piece, “Paisley Eyes”, a happy-golucky light swing tune with prominent accompaniment
by Garner’s regular conguero Jose Mangual. Persip’s
excellent sense of time and overall abilities are bestheard on “Spinning Wheel” (David Clayton Thomas),even behind subdued but forward conga.
But make no mistake, on Feeling Is Believing,Garner is the man. His various sidemen serve thevirtuoso at the keys, taking no solo turns, but offering
flawless musical support for the main attraction.
For more information, visit mackavenue.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 17

RIP
2020
(streaming at bocian.bandcamp.com) and 12” 45 rpm
vinyl, a format most often used for dance music.
Grooves do exist here, although they are rare. In yourface, electric bass and effects-laden horns give afullness of sound reminiscent of Peter Brötzmann’s
Full Blast trio—hardly a surprise, as Kondo worked
regularly with Brötzmann over the years. The A side
hits full on, the flip lets off a little, a bit like a dub mix
on one of those old max-singles. That wouldn’t havebeen a bad idea, in fact. The sea may be rough, butthere’s not enough of it.

The Sea is RoughBrom & Toshinori Kondo (Bocian)by Kurt Gottschalk

Trumpeter Toshinori Kondo led a busy life, making

music that even in its more meditative moments itself
felt busy, and didn’t seem to have slowed when hedied in October of 2020 at 71. Ten albums were posted
to Bandcamp during the last six months of his life,
including five volumes of solo electric trumpet music
recorded during lockdown and bearing the title“Beyond Corona”. (All are streaming in full at
toshinorikondo.bandcamp.com.) The fourth wasdedicated to his friend, the fashion designer Kansai
Yamamoto—famous for his work for David Bowie—
who died in July of 2020 at 76. The fifth includes ashort note about making music despite being in pain
and having difficulty breathing. While no cause ofdeath was given by the family at the time of his death,it’s apparent that Kondo was facing difficulties.
Also during that time, the Polish label Bocian
Records released a brief meeting between Kondo andthe Russian sax/bass/drum trio Brom. Recorded in
Moscow in March 2019, the album shows Kondo at full
breath and energy, matching the younger players in 12
minutes of blast.
The Sea is Rough is available as download

For more information, visit bocian.bandcamp.com

Actions
Fire! Orchestra (Rune Grammofon)by Phil Freeman

K rzysztof Penderecki, who died in March of 2020 at
86, was best known as a classical composer andconductor, but in 1971, he collaborated with trumpeter
Don Cherry on Actions for Free Jazz Orchestra, a
16-minute piece performed at the Donaueschingen
Music Festival with an ensemble of Kenny Wheeler,
Manfred Schoof and Tomasz Stanko (trumpets), Albert
Mangelsdorff and Paul Rutherford (trombones), Gerd
Dudek, Willem Breuker and Peter Brötzmann

January new releases
CD - download - streaming

Complete catalogs: www.steeplechase.dk

RECORD LABELS OF THE YEAR (2020)

SCCD 31903

SCCD 33143

SCCD 31904

SCCD 31896

SCCD 31898

SCCD 31892

US distribution:www.statesidemusic.com email: info@statesidemusic.com

18 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD(saxophones), Gunter Hampel (flute and bass clarinet),
Fred Van Hove (piano and organ), Terje Rypdal(guitar), Peter Warren and Buschi Niebergall (basses)and Han Bennink (drums), with Penderecki conducting.
Not unlike John Coltrane’s Ascension or Ornette
Coleman’s Free Jazz, it juxtaposed swinging ensemble
passages against raucous solo and duo sections.
In 2018, Swedish saxophonist Mats Gustafsson and
his Fire! Orchestra were commissioned to revisit Actions
for the Sacrum Profanum festival in Kraków, near
Penderecki’s Debica birthplace. Their version of thepiece runs a full 40 minutes and includes Goran Kajfes,
Niklas Barnö and Susana Santos Silva (trumpets), Maria
Bertel (trombone), Per Åke Holmlander (tuba), Anna
Högberg (alto), Per “Texas” Johansson (tenor, clarinet
and flute), Gustafsson (baritone saxophone andconduction), Christer Bothén (bass clarinet), Reine
Fiske (guitar), Alex Zethson (Hammond organ), Elsa
Bergman (upright bass), Torbjörn Zetterberg (electricbass) and Andreas Werliin (drums).
Rather than extend the solo portions, though,they’ve slowed the whole thing down to a dubby,
psychedelic crawl, with guitar, bass and organ giving
it a dark, forbidding atmosphere. The horns hoot,sputter and moan at each other like apes at midnight,
but there are a few real solos as well: one of thetrumpeters early on, then Gustafsson later. This is afascinating, unexpected performance very different
from previous Fire! Orchestra discs, more in line withgroups like Globe Unity Orchestra or bassist Alan
Silva’s large-scale projects. Although it’s likely a oneoff, it does point to a potentially fascinating new
direction going forward, should Gustafsson choose to
take that path.
For more information, visit runegrammofon.com

RIP
2020

LeewiseLee Konitz (Storyville)
by Scott Yanow

F ew jazz musicians had as long a career as Lee Konitz

and even fewer were consistently creative for so many
decades. The alto saxophonist, who passed away in
April of 2020 at 92, already had his cool tone and basicstyle together as early as 1947 when he made hisrecording debut with Claude Thornhill. In his final
public performance on his 92nd birthday, which can beseen on YouTube, Konitz had not only retained his
distinctive sound but was still pushing himself. He
had lost neither his musical curiosity nor his chancetaking and very open style.
An individualist from the start, Konitz was part of
the Lennie Tristano school of adventurous cool jazz yet
eventually broke away to follow his own path: anunlikely but successful stint with Stan Kenton’sorchestra; many collaborations with tenor saxophonist
Warne Marsh and projects ranging from solo LP and
duet albums to relaxed free jazz albums, Konitz wasboth a traditionalist (in his own way) and an innovator.
In 1992, he was given the prestigious JAZZPAR
award by the Danish Jazz Center and recorded Leewise
in Copenhagen. On this newly remastered reissue of
the CD, he performs five numbers with an all-star

Danish nonet but only his “Stardust” was not composed
specifically for the occasion so this is far from a
retrospective of past glories.
“Skygger” has a spoken interlude with Brigitte
Frieboe paying verbal tribute to Konitz. The otherseven numbers include a quintet performance ofKonitz’ early composition “Subconscious Lee” plus six
duets with either flugelhorn player Allan Botschinsky,
who died in November of 2020 at 80 (nearly freeinterplay on “AllanLee”), alto saxophonist Jens
Sondergaard (emulating Konitz’ sound and style on“Alone Together”), pianist Peggy Stern or bassist
Jesper Lundgaard as the other musician.
45 years into his career, Konitz showed that, while
retaining his basic approach to chordal improvising, he
was still full of surprises.
For more information, visit storyvillerecords.com

Négropolitaines
Manu Dibango (Frémeaux & Associés)by Tom Greenland

Manu Dibango died in March of 2020 at 86 but his legacy

as the most internationally acclaimed African jazzsaxophonist will endure. Best known for his 1972 hit“Soul Makossa”—Michael Jackson appropriated it

FEATURING :HANNA PAULSBERG
tenor saxophone, percussion

for the outro vamp of “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”—Dibango had a unique way of blending hooks with genres
as diverse as makossa (from his hometown of Douala inFrench Cameroon), Nigerian Afrobeat, Congolese rumba,
Ghanaian highlife, South African mbaqanga, Jamaican
reggae, even Nuyorican salsa (he played with the Fania
All-Stars). This cultural/rhythmic eclecticism is evident
on Négropolitaines, a reissue of two albums released in
1989 and 1995, which retains all but three of the original
songs, now resequenced. The tracks are richly layered
without clutter, most having two guitar parts, three ormore drum/percussion parts, keyboard and/or organ
and a horn section (Dibango dubbing in extra
saxophones); the second session adds a four-piece string
section and features pioneer Afrobeat drummer Tony
Allen, who himself died in April of 2020 at 79.
Dibango’s infectious amalgam suits the nightclubs
and parties it was intended for, yet the complexity of theinterlocking parts and the intelligence inherent in his
solos merit closer attention. The arrangements aremercurial, making abrupt textural shifts sustaining
interest in what would otherwise be heavily repetitive
music. Wah-wah guitar, gospel organ and string section
on “Panafrican Jam”, the title track, “Aloko Party” and“Longe Lese” recall Norman Whitfield’s arrangements
for The Temptations or Curtis Mayfield’s for Superfly
while “Mpuni Mwa Moni”and “Oh Koh!” fall into thesoukous/rumba tradition, but with hints of reggae.
Similarly, “Parfum des îles” mashes up soukous, tango,
funk and Grover Washington-style R&B. While Dibango’ssolos conform to the emotional architecture of pop music,
his work on the title track, “Oh Koh!” (showing hisskronkiest side) and “Mudied Asu” (a duet with acoustic
guitar) reveal a more experimental sensibility.
For more information, visit fremeaux.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2020BEST OF 2020 THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2020BEST OF 2020

KJETIL MØSTER
saxophones, percussion
ANDRÉ ROLIGHETEN
saxophones, bassclarinet,
percussion

CD/DOUBLE LP - OUT NOW“There were a dangerous number ofclimaxes.”- Martin Longley (Jazzwise)“Some of the most breath-holding (andbreath-shortening) music of the entire
festival”- All about jazz

“Their collective improvisation leads to an
excellent conclusion of this very successful and well executed modern jazz album.”
Tim Niland (jazz & blues blogspot)

GORAN KAJFES
trumpet, percussion
ERIK JOHANNESSEN
trombone, percussion
PETTER ELDH
doublebass, percussion

BEST OF 2020

THE NEW YORK CITY

JAZZ RECORDBEST OF 2020

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JAZZ RECORDEIRIK HEGDAL
saxophones, clarinet, percussion
THOMAS JOHANSSON
trumpet, percussion

BEST OF 2020BEST OF 2020

METTE RASMUSSEN
altosaxophone, percussion

BEST OF 2020

THE NEW YORK CITY

JAZZ RECORDBEST OF 2020

INGEBRIGT FLATEN
doublebass, percussion
OLE MORTEN VÅGAN
doublebass, percussion
HANS HULBÆKMO
drums, percussionHÅKON MJÅSET JOHANSEN
drums, percussion
GARD NILSSEN
drums, percussion

ODINRECORDS.COM

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Gard Nilssen’s
Supersonic Orchestra:
If You Listen Carefully
The Music Is Yours

MACIEJ OBARA
altosaxophone, percussion

THE NEW YORK CITY

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PER “TEXAS” JOHANSSON
tenorsaxophone, contrabass
clarinett, clarinet, percussion

THE NEW YORK CITY

JAZZ RECORDCONGRATULATIONS TO IDRIS ACKAMOOR AND THE PYRAMIDS
BEST ALBUM ARTWORK - SHAMAN! (STRUT)IDRIS ACKAMOOR INVITES YOU TO HIS 70TH BIRTHDAY PARTYFEATURING A PLATINUM JUBILEE CELEBRATION HONORING
THE SAN FRANCISCO PREMIERE OF “SHAMAN!”
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/EVENTS/199940888438802
THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 19

RIP
2020
with he and Rodriguez sharing solo duties with thethree horns. The date ends percussively with Mantilla’s“Rebirth Bata Rumba Experimental” on which his
congas come center stage, soloing handily with Renta
over spacey piano and the batá-drumming trio of
Diego Lopez, Ogudaro Díaz and Rafael Monteagudo’s
mesmerizing rhythms.
For more information, visit jazzdepot.com
RebirthRay Mantilla (Savant)by Russ Musto

Love Letter
Jimmy Heath (Verve)
by Pierre Giroux

Recorded just months before his death in March of

J immy Heath’s final album was completed shortly

2020 at 85, this final effort from versatile congueropercussionist Ray Mantilla, his tenth as a leader, stands
out as a distinctive conclusion to a stellar career
spanning seven-plus decades.
The date opens with Puerto Rican trumpeter Piro
Rodriguez’ original “Moondance”, featuring a cast of
Latin jazz veterans in trumpeter Guido Gonzalez, tenor
and soprano saxophonist Ivan Renta, flutist/baritone
saxophonist Jorge Castro, pianist/arranger Edy
Martinez, bassist Ruben Rodriguez and drummer
Diego Lopez. This rollicking expedition begins with aconga- and cowbell-augmented drumkit dialogue
stating the propulsive AfroCuban rhythmic foundation
flowing throughout the date and driving the skilled
soloists’ heady postbop harmonic excursions.
The music turns soulful on Bobby Timmons’“Dat Dere” and Percy Mayfield’s “Hit The Road Jack”,
the former swinging smoothly over a cha-cha-cha-chaing groove, the latter, a feature for guest vibraphonist
Mike Freeman, rocking jubilantly over an insistent
rim-tapping snare-drum beat. Martinez’ pretty “Mia”
underscores the pianist’s skill as a composer andsoloist on this mellow outing. Vibraphone is out front
on Tito Puente’s “Philly Mambo”, the AfroCuban
dance classic popularized by the composer and fellow
vibraphonist Cal Tjader. Martinez moves over toFender Rhodes for his “Cumbia Jazz Fusion
Experimental”, an episodic piece that begins withelectric keyboard and flute celestially floating over the
hypnotic Mantilla-Lopez conga-trap drum exchange,
after which the music charges straightahead withbrawny tenor digging in before returning to theatmospheric Colombian rhythm.
Freeman is back one more time for his swinging
arrangement of Bobby Hutcherson’s “Yuyo”, which
has him soloing fluently over a pulsating Rhodes
montuno backed by the riffing horn section. Martinez’
tangoing orchestration of the beloved Rafael Hernández
bolero “Preciosa”, spotlighting romantic full bodied
tenor, recalls the pianist’s many years as a key memberof Gato Barbieri’s ensembles. His eponymously titled“Martinez” is a jaunty, melodically appealing outing

Mikkel Mark Trio - A Dream isa Wish Your Heart Makes (LP)
Featuring Mikkel Mark (p), Anders
Christensen (b) & Kresten Osgood (dr)Jerome Cooper & Kresten
Osgood - As of Not (2LP)
These pieces have so much variation insound, mood, and color. - Nick Ostrum,

The Free Jazz Collective

This double vinyl shows two incredibly
creative souls, that truly unite inthis project - Jan Granlie, Salt Peanuts*

www.ilkmusic.com
US Distribution: Stateside

Swirling
Sun Ra Arkestra (Strut)by Monique Ngozi Nri

The baritone saxophone line on “Seductive Fantasy”,

the second track on the Sun Ra Arkestra’s latest album
Swirling, finds Pico Danny Ray Thompson, who died in
March of 2020 at 73, leading the band in indisputably
Sun Ra-like fashion on a melody with the swing of
bebop, sassiness of Broadway and the otherworldlinessof Sun Ra. We’re living in the space age! Witness Sun
Ra’s lyrics and the call and response. It’s an enthrallingmix, as is the rest of this project.
Pico was a 1947 brother, as was Billy Bang,
violinist, another bandmember who passed away in2011. It was the custom of the bands’ clan of 1947
brothers, which included my partner trumpeter Ahmed
Abdullah, to call each other on their birthdays. Picowould regale us with tales of incidents with his job at
the TSA or funny things that happened on the road on
those calls. It was Pico who drove Ahmed from thePhiladelphia train station to the Sun Ra house for his
first rehearsal there in 1975. According to John Szwed,
who wrote a book on the band, Pico joined the bandplaying baritone and flute in 1968. He quickly became
Sun Ra’s right-hand man and could be found atconcerts along with Buster Smith and Elson
Nascimento, selling merchandise and generally getting
things organized.
In 2019, on our first visit to the Newport Jazz
festival, we just missed the Arkestra’s performance.
Still, we managed to speak with Pico after what wasreportedly a phenomenal concert. Freshly returned
from a year of touring in Europe and the states for Sun
Ra’s centennial year, the band was swinging.
Though many of the band’s original members havepassed away, including Atakatune, who plays congas
on this album, alongside Thompson, Nascimento,
Knoel Scott, James Stewart, Michael Ray, Cecil Brooks,
Vincent Chancey, Dave Davis, Farid Barron, Dave
Hotep, Tyler Mitchell and Wayne Anthony Smith, Jr.,the band swings on led by Sun Ra’s most devoted
disciple, now-96-year-old alto saxophonist Marshall
Allen. The tracks are both unmistakably Sun Ra but
also infused with a new and fresh energy created inpart by the nuances of Tara Middleton’s space voice,uncannily like that of the departed June Tyson.
Middleton bends and twists the notes acapella on the“Satellites Are Spinning” but also gives her own stamp
to Sun Ra staples like “Astro Black”.
Highlights include the title track, which is the soleoriginal by Marshall Allen, rhythmically engaging“Rocket No 9” and opener “Angels and Demons”,
which includes every element in Sun Ra’s arsenal, fromspace sounds and to the inclusion of his mystic poetry:“Angels demons play / A rare refrain / Of cosmic
flame / Rhythms of the things they only know”.
For more information, visit strut.k7store.com

20 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

before he died in January of 2020 at 93. Heathsurrounded his graceful saxophone sound and cooltone with a coterie of sympathetic players such as
pianist Kenny Barron, guitarist Russell Malone anddrummer Lewis Nash along with guest trumpeter
Wynton Marsalis and singers Cécile McLorin Salvant
and Gregory Porter. They explore a setlist mostly ofballads, written by Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie and
Kenny Dorham, as well as several Heath originals on
this accomplished, creative and engaging release.
The session starts with Heath’s “Ballad From Upper
Neighbors Suite”. After introducing the theme, Heathlaunches into a long solo both feathery and ruminative intone and content. Barron, bassist David Wong and Nashprovide supportive but unobtrusive accompanimentwith distinctive melodic figures. On Holiday-Mal
Waldron’s “Left Alone” Salvant brings her crystalline
voice to a flawless interpretation of the lyrics. Heath’s
interjections are a calming force of poise and agility.
“La Mesha” is a Dorham original showcasing thebristling trumpet of Marsalis, as he and Heath taketurns interpreting the tune’s mellow harmonic stylistics
and Barron takes a brief solo filled with graceful
disclosure. Gordon Parks was a photographer, film
director (the original Shaft in 1971) and composer
including “Don’t Misunderstand”, interpreted here byPorter in his deep baritone, delivering the lyrics withsmoky grace and feeling while Heath fills the spacewith bluesy grooves, which together spells heartache.
One of Gillespie’s singular compositions, “Con Alma”,
is given a new look by Heath and Co. via an understatedLatin vibe, Monte Croft’s vibraphone providing quiet
energy along with Malone’s delicate touch.
The closer is another Holiday composition, “Don’t
Explain”, written as she sought to deal with theinfidelity of her first husband, interpreted by Heath asa lament, sadness emanating from his saxophone.
Barron’s solo is delivered in a cool measured style,transposing through shade and shape. With thisrelease, Jimmy Heath has left us the perfect goodbye.
For more information, visit vervelabelgroup.com
Mark Solborg

TUNGEMÅL I+IINEW COMPREHENSIVE PROJECT BY MARK SOLBORG
FEAT. KEY PLAYERS ON THE DANISH SCENELARS GREVE, SIMON TOLDAM & FRANCESCO BIGONI
148 MINUTES OF ORIGINAL MUSIC + TWO BEAUTIFUL HARDBACK
BOOKS HOLDING CORRESPONDING REFLECTIONS, GRAPHIC
ILLUSTRATIONS, SCORES AND FOOTAGE★★★★★
“This is persuasive! ...remarkable and admirable” - Ivan Rod (DK)
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CONGRATS
TO GONZALO RUBALCABA,AYMÉE NUVIOLA,
AND ALL WHO WORKED ON"VIENTO Y TIEMPO:LIVE AT BLUE NOTE TOKYO"
ON BEING SELECTED AS A
BEST LATIN RELEASE OF 2020 BY
THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD.
FROM YOURTOP STOP MUSIC TEAM.

BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020

MUSICIANS OF THE YEAR

THE NEW YORK CI

ALBUMS OF THE YEARLAKECIA BENJAMIN (saxophone)
TIM BERNE (saxophone)
MATS GUSTAFSSON (saxophone)
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS (saxophone)
CHARLES LLOYD (saxophone)

JUHANI AALTONEN, JONAS KULLHAMMAR,CHRISTIAN MEAAS SVENDSEN,ILMARI HEIKINHEIMO—
The Father, the Sons & The Junnu (Moserobie)

JUHANI AALTONEN, JONAS KULLHAMMAR,CHRISTIAN MEAAS SVENDSEN,ILMARI HEIKINHEIMO—
The Father, the Sons & The Junnu (Moserobie)

DANIEL BINGERT—Berit in Space (Moserobie)

PETER EVANS—Into the Silence (More is More-Old Heaven)

UP-AND-COMERS OF THE YEARCOLLOCUTOR—Continuation (On The Corner)

FIRE! ORCHESTRA—Actions (Rune Grammofon)

ANDREA KELLER—Journey Home (s/r)

EMMET COHEN (piano)
KARL EVANGELISTA (guitar)
SULLIVAN FORTNER (piano)HEDVIG MOLLESTAD (guitar)
LUKE STEWART (bass)

JON-ERIK KELLSO—Sweet Fruits Salty Roots (Jazzology)

DAVID KRAKAUER/KATHLEEN TAGG—
Breath & Hammer (Table Pounding)

LABELS OF THE YEARKIRK KNUFFKE—Tight Like This (SteepleChase)

CHARLES LLOYD—8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero)(Blue Note)

CHARLES LLOYD—8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero)(Blue Note)MIKLÓS LUKÁCS CIMBIOSIS TRIO—Music From the Solitude of Timeless Minutes (BMC Records)

BARRE PHILLIPS—Thirty years in between (Les Disques Victo)

LUCA T. MAI—Heavenly Guide (Trost)

RUFUS REID/SULLIVAN FORTNER—
Always in The Moment (Newvelle)

GARD NILSSEN SUPERSONIC ORCHESTRA—
If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours (Odin)

MATT WILSON QUARTET—Hug! (Palmetto)

BARRE PHILLIPS—Thirty years in between (Les Disques Victo)—Laurence Donohue-Greene

MATT WILSON QUARTET—Hug! (Palmetto)

BMC RECORDS (bmcrecords.hu)
INTAKT (intaktrec.ch)
NOT TWO (nottwo.com)
STEEPLECHASE (steeplechase.dk)
SUNNYSIDE (sunnysiderecords.com)

IDRIS ACKAMOOR &THE PYRAMIDS—Shaman!
(Strut)CYANOTYPE—
Birdsongs of the Necromancer(Out & Gone Music)—Andrey Henkin

ORIGINAL ALBUM ARTWORKPETER EVANS—
Into the Silence(More is More-Old Heaven)

NUBYA GARCIA—
SOURCE(Concord)

JERRY GRANELLI—
Plays Vince Guaraldi & Mose Allison(RareNoise)

HONORABLE MENTIO

Ambrose Akinmusire—on the tender spot of every calloused moment (Blue Note) • Susan Alcorn—Pedernal (Relative Pitch) • Lucian Ban/John Surman/Mat Maneri—
Conny Bauer/Matthias Bauer/Dag Magnus—The Gift (NoBusiness) • Tim Berne—Sacred Vowels Soloes (Screwgun) • Tim Berne/Matt Mitchell—Spiders (Out Of Your Head
Daniel Carter, Matthew Shipp, William Parker, Gerald Cleaver—Welcome Adventure! Vol. 1 (577 Records) • Luigi Ceccarelli/Hamid Drake/Gianni
Marco Colonna/Alexander Hawkins—Dolphy Underlined (Fundacja Słuchaj) • Conference Call—Prism (Not Two) • Chick Corea—Plays (Concord) • Cortex—
Pierre Dørge & New Jungle Orchestra (featuring Stephen Riley)—Bluu Afroo (SteepleChase) • Dave Douglas—Marching Music (Greenleaf Music) • Dezr
Nick Dunston—Atlantic Abstraction (Live at Threes) (Out of Your Head) • Kat Edmonson—Dreamers Do (Spinnerette) • Espoo Big Band—Espoo Suite (Galileo) • Pet
Fiil Free—Under Overfladen (s/r) • The Flake—Plays Clinkers (Amalgam) • Ingebrigt Håker Flaten—Til Anna (Sonic Transmissions)• Satoko Fujii Orche
Marshall Gilkes—Waiting to Continue (s/r) • Ben Goldberg—Plague Diary (BAG Prod.) • Grencsó Collective Special 5 (with Ken Vandermark)—D
Alexander Hawkins/Tomeka Reid—Shards and Constellations (Intakt) • Jimmy Heath—Love Letters (Verve) • Mark Helias/Tim Berne—Blood From A Stone (RadiJazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis—Sherman Irby’s Inferno (Blue Engine) • Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis
Krakow Improvisers Orchestra—KJO at Cricoteka (Not Two) • Briggan Krauss—The Art of the Saxophone: Live at The Stone Brooklyn 2020 (s/r) • Joachim
Russ Lossing—Mood Suite (SteepleChase) • Harold Mabern—Mabern Plays Mabern (Smoke Sessions) • Jon Maksimowicz/Dmitrij Golovanov—Beyond (s/r) • Bil
Lisa Mezzacappa—Cosmicomics (Queen Bee) • Hedvig Mollestad—Ekhidna (Rune Grammofon) • Ra Kalam Bob Moses—The Skies of Copenhagen (s/r) • The Necks—T
Evan Parker/Zlatko Kaučič—Arkosberg (Klopotec) • Valery Ponomarev—Our Father Who Art Blakey: The Centennial (Summit) • Bobby Previte/Jamie Saf
Enrico Rava/Matthew Herbert/Giovanni Guidi—For Mario (Live) (Accidental) • Eric Revis—Slipknots Through A Looking Glass (Pyroclastic) • Step
Mara Rosenbloom—Respiration (Fresh Sound-New Talent) • Ana Ruiz—And The World Exploded Into Love (s/r) • Terje Rypdal—Conspiracy (ECM
Matthew Shipp—The Unidentifiable (ESP-Disk’) • Matthew Shipp/Nate Wooley—What If? (RogueArt) • Susana Santos Silva—The Same Is Always Different (s/r) •Sonar (with David Torn)—Tranceportation (Volume 2) (RareNoise) • Esperanza Spalding/Fred Hersch—Live at the Village Vanguard (s/r) • Alister Spence—Whirlpool (s/Etuk Ubong—Africa Today (Night Dreamer) • Diego Urcola Quartet (featuring Paquito D’Rivera)—El Duelo (Sunnyside) • Trevor Watts—The Lockdown Solos (Hi4Head)ITY JAZZ RECORD BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020 BEST OF 2020
MISCELLANEOUS CATEGORIES OF THE YEARSOLO RECORDINGSCHRIS CORSANO—Mezzaluna (Catalytic Sound)
SIGURD HOLE—Lys / Mørke ( Light / Darkness ) (s/r)
HERMIONE JOHNSON—Tremble (Relative Pitch)
LUCA T. MAI—Heavenly Guide (Trost)
MATTHEW SHIPP—The Piano Equation (Tao Forms)

LATIN RELEASESROBBY AMEEN—Diluvio (Origin)
RAY MANTILLA—Rebirth (Savant)
JOSÉ RIZO’S MONGORAMA—Mariposas Cantan (Saungu)
GONZALO RUBALCABA/AYMÉE NUVIOLA—
Viento y Tiempo - Live at Blue Note Tokyo (Top Stop Music)
PAPO VÁZQUEZ MIGHTY PIRATESTROUBADOURS—Chapter 10: Breaking Cover (Picaro)

VOCAL RELEASESLUCIA CADOTSCH—Speak Low II (We Jazz)
YOON SUN CHOI/JACOB SACKS—I Should Care (Yeah Yeah)
JAY CLAYTON/JERRY GRANELLI—
Alone Together (Sunnyside)
COSMIC VIBRATIONS FT. DWIGHT TRIBLE—
Pathways & Passages (Spiritmuse)
ARCHIE SHEPP, RAW POETIC,DAMU THE FUDGEMUNK—Ocean Bridges(Redefinition)

LIVE ALBUMSMATS GUSTAFSSON—Padova Solo (Catalytic Sound)
JAMES BRANDON LEWIS/CHAD TAYLOR—Live in Willisau (Intakt)
CHARLES LLOYD—8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero)(Blue Note)
BARRE PHILLIPS—Thirty years in between (Les Disques Victo)
MARTIAL SOLAL/DAVE LIEBMAN—
Masters in Paris (Sunnyside)

ONS—NEW RELEASESBOXED SETS

PAUL DESMOND—The Complete 1975 Toronto Recordings(Mosaic)
CHARLES LLOYD—8: Kindred Spirits (Live From the Lobero)(Blue Note)
MODERN JAZZ QUINTET KARLSRUHE/
FOUR MEN ONLY—Complete Recordings (NoBusiness)
CHARLIE PARKER—The Mercury & Clef 10-Inch LP
Collection (Verve)
VARIOUS ARTISTS—Not Two... but Twenty (Not Two)

JAZZ BOOKSTHE ART OF JAZZ
Alyn Shipton (Penguin/Random House)
BETTER DAYS WILL COME AGAIN: THE LIFE OFARTHUR BRIGGS, JAZZ GENIUS OF HARLEM,
PARIS AND A NAZI PRISON CAMP
Travis Atria (Chicago Review Press)
JAZZ IMAGES BY FRANCIS WOLFF(Elemental Music)
PLAY THE WAY YOU FEEL: THE ESSENTIAL GUIDETO JAZZ STORIES ON FILM
Kevin Whitehead (Oxford University Press)
SITTIN’ IN: JAZZ CLUBS OF THE 1940S AND 1950S
Jeff Gold (Harper Design)

LARGE ENSEMBLE RELEASESAARDVARK JAZZ ORCHESTRA—Faces of Souls (Leo)
FIRE! ORCHESTRA—Actions (Rune Grammofon)
JACOB GARCHIK—Clear Line (Yestereve)
GARD NILSSEN SUPERSONIC ORCHESTRA—
If You Listen Carefully The Music Is Yours (Odin)
MARIA SCHNEIDER ORCHESTRA—
Data Lords (ArtistShare)

UNEARTHED GEMS

ART BLAKEY & THE JAZZ MESSENGERS—
Just Coolin’ (Blue Note)
ELLA FITZGERALD—The Lost Berlin Tapes (Verve)
LONDON JAZZ COMPOSERS ORCHESTRA—
That Time (Not Two)CHARLES MINGUS—@ Bremen 1964 & 1975 (Sunnyside)
ALAN WAKEMAN—The Octet Broadcasts (1969 and 1979)(Gearbox)

TRIBUTESLAKECIA BENJAMIN—
Pursuance: The Coltranes (Ropeadope)
RAOUL BJÖRKENHEIM—Solar Winds (Long Song)
FIRE! ORCHESTRA—Actions (Rune Grammofon)
KRISTJAN RANDALU/DAVE LIEBMAN—
Mussorgsky Pictures Revisited (BMC Records)
JOHN SCOFIELD—Swallow Tales (ECM)

DEBUTS

MWATA BOWDEN—1 Foot In 1 Foot Out (Asian Improv)
KARL EVANGELISTA—Apura! (Astral Spirits)
ANTTI LÖTJÖNEN—Quintet East (We Jazz)
LUCA T. MAI—Heavenly Guide (Trost)
JORGE ROEDER—El Suelo Mío (s/r)

REISSUESRASHIED ALI/FRANK LOWE—Duo Exchange (Survival)
DAVE BRUBECK TRIO (FEATURING GERRYMULLIGAN)—Compadres (Recorded Live in Mexico)(Columbia-Speakers Corner)
ERROLL GARNER—That’s My Kick
(Mack Avenue-Octave Music)
MODERN JAZZ QUINTET KARLSRUHE/
FOUR MEN ONLY—Complete Recordings (NoBusiness)
MASAYUKI TAKAYANAGI NEW DIRECTION UNIT—
Axis/Another Revolvable Thing (In Concert)(Offbeat-Blank Forms Editions)—Transylvanian Folk Songs (The Béla Bartók Field Recordings) (Sunnyside) • Kenny Barron/Dave Holland Trio (featuring Johnathan Blake)—Without Deception (Dare2)ad) • Samuel Blaser—18 monologues élastiques (Outhere Music) • James Brandon Lewis Quartet—Molecular (Intakt) • Alan Braufman—The Fire Still Burns (Valley of Search)
Trovalusci/Ken Vandermark—Open Border (Audiographic) • Nels Cline Singers—Share the Wealth (Blue Note) • Avishai Cohen—Big Vicious (ECM)—Legal Tender (Clean Feed) • Sylvie Courvoisier—Free Hoops (Intakt) • Aaron Diehl—The Vagabond (Mack Avenue) • Chris Dingman—Embrace (Inner Arts)ron Douglas/Brandee Younger—Force Majeure (International Anthem) • Duchess—Live at Jazz Standard (Anzic) • Fabian Dudek—Creating Meaning (Fixcel)
ter Evans—Standards (More Is More) • Peter Evans Being & Becoming—Eponymous (More Is More) • Joe Fiedler’s Big Sackbut—Live in Graz (Multiphonics Music)
estra NY—Entity (Libra) • Satoko Fujii/Natsuki Tamura—Pentas (Not Two) • Leo Genovese/Mariano Otero/Sergio Verdinelli—Sin Tiempo (ears&eyes)
Do Not Slam The Door! (BMC Records) • GRID—Decomposing Force (NNA Tapes) • Elisabeth Harnik/Paal Nilssen-Love—Tangram (Catalytic Sound)iolegs Music) • Daniel Herskedal—Call For Winter (Edition) • Peter Hess—Present Company (Diskonife) • Jon Pål Inderberg Trio—Radio Inderberg (AMP Music)
s—Black, Brown and Beige (Blue Engine) • Karuna Trio—Imaginary Archipelago (Meta) • Kirk Knuffke—Brightness: Live in Amsterdam (Royal Potato Family)
Kühn & Trummerschlunk—Playing Probabilities (ACT Music) • José Lencastre/Jorge Nuno/Felipe Zenicola/João Valinho—Anthropic Neglect (Clean Feed)
lly Martin—Guilty (Amulet) • Makaya McCraven—Universal Beings E & F Sides (International Anthem) • Mike McGinnis—Time is Thicker (Open Stream Music)
Three (Northern-Spy) • Sam Newsome—Sonic Journey (s/r) • Sam Newsome—Free Wyoming (s/r) • Evan Parker/Paul Lytton—Collective Calls (Revisited) (Jubilee) (Intakt)
ft/Nels Cline—Music from the Early 21st Century (RareNoise) • Bruno Räberg/Jason Robinson/Bob Weiner—The Urgency of Now (Creative Nation Music)
ph Richards—Supersense (Northern Spy) • Howard Riley—More Listening, More Hearing (SLAM) • Stephen Riley—Friday The 13th (SteepleChase)M) • Angelica Sanchez/Marilyn Crispell—How To Turn The Moon (Pyroclastic) • Dave Sewelson—More Music for a Free World (Mahakala Music)• Josh Sinton’s What Happens in a Year—cérémonie musique (FiP) • Øyvind Skarbø/Fredrik Ljungkvist/Kris Davis/Ole Morten Vågan—Inland Empire (Clean Feed)/r) • Vinnie Sperrazza/Jacob Sacks/Masa Kamaguchi—Play Sonny Rollins (Fresh Sound-New Talent) • Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii/Ramón López—Mantle (Not Two)d) • Weisblat/Ralske/Lafkas/Capp—Treatise on the Fragility of Knowledge (Noncept) • Mike Westbrook—Paris (ASC) • Torbjörn Zetterberg —Are You Happy? (Moserobie)

ALBUM REVIEWS

Tripel/Dubbel
Jaimie Branch/Dave Rempis/Ingebrigt Håker Flaten/
Tollef Østvang (Aerophonic)
Tour Beats Vol. 1
Anteloper (International Anthem)
Zurich Concert
Dave Gisler Trio (with Jaimie Branch) (Intakt)
by Phil Freeman

Trumpeter Jaimie Branch was around for quite a while

before breaking out with 2017’s Fly or Die; her earliest
recorded credits came from nearly 15 years before that inher longtime home of Chicago. Now that she’s reached alevel of prominence within the global jazz avant garde,
though, her appearances merit front-cover billing and on
two of these three albums, she delivers the kind of starturn people (fairly or not) expect these days.
Tripel/Dubbel, a fully improvised 40-minuteperformance recorded in Antwerp, Belgium, features
two Americans—Branch and alto/tenor saxophonist
Dave Rempis—and two Norwegians, bassist IngebrigtHåker Flaten and drummer Tollef Østvang. ThoughBranch and Rempis have known each other and played
together since 2005, this is their first recorded
appearance. The piece, “Night Into Day (Into Night)”,
is a slowly shifting journey, which allows both horns to
unfurl their banners fully, without ever devolving into
total blare; there’s a moment about ten minutes in when
Rempis’ honking, R&B-style alto solo is augmented by
Branch’s sudden appearance beside him, offering New
Orleans-style polyphony. Behind them, bassist anddrummer lay down a rolling but slightly martial groove.
Anteloper is the duo of Branch and drummer
Jason Nazary; the simply-titled Tour Beats Vol. 1 is afour-track EP recorded in summer 2018, a follow-up to
their debut Kudu. There’s a little trumpet splashed here
and there and some live drumming and a whole lot ofsynths and drum machines. The longest track, “Isotope
420°”, starts as a ticking and buzzing electronic
soundscape, with atmospherics reminiscent of Herbie
Hancock’s Sextant; then a booming hip-hop beat andthick electric synth come in to give it more whomp,
before Branch launches a lyrical, heartfelt solo.
Zurich Concert comes from the unerhört! Festival,
Branch with Swiss guitarist Dave Gisler’s trio of bassist
Raffaele Bossard and Lionel Friedli on music from their2018 CD Rabbits On The Run and other tunes. Gislerleans toward the rock-ier side of jazz guitar (thinkRaoul Björkenheim, Brandon Ross, Vernon Reid or Bill
Frisell at his crankiest). Bossard and Friedli are a tough,even frantic rhythm section, bridging free time andpunk rock energy, and Branch cuts loose with thrilling,
fanfare-like solos recalling early ’70s Freddie Hubbard.
For more information, visit aerophonicrecords.com,
intlanthem.bandcamp.com and intaktrec.ch. Branch livestreams Jan. 5th at artsforart.org/onlinesalon.html and Jan.
22nd at kerrytownconcerthouse.com/edgefest.

Omega
Immanuel Wilkins (Blue Note)by Tom Greenland

Alto saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins, who moved
from Philadelphia five years ago to earn his Bachelor ’s

Degree at Juilliard, has already carved a respectableniche for himself as a sideman on the local scene. For
Omega, his debut as a leader, he enlisted his four-year
working quartet of pianist Micah Thomas, bassist
Daryl Johns and drummer Kweku Sumbry. The upshot
is a remarkably seasoned work for an inaugural effort.
Wilkins’ playing reveals a strong grounding in
bebop vocabulary, but he is also clearly concerned with
the nuances of timbre, producing a broad, warm tone.
Thomas is an eclectic stylist who works with abstract
concepts, playing around the beat as much as he plays
along with it, an agile accompanist and foil for Wilkins.
Johns plays a mostly supportive role—both he andSumbry are mixed down, undermining their presence
somewhat—but has some bright moments in “TheDreamer” and “Part 1. The Key” while Sumbry shines
on “Part 2. Saudade” and “Part 3. Eulogy”.
Some of Wilkins’ best writing is heard on whimsicalopener “Warriors”, which finds him in a robust Michael
Brecker-meets-Wayne Shorter mood; equally catchy“Saudade”, which flaunts the easy exchange between he
and Thomas; and similarly interactive “Part 4. Guarded
Heart”. The leader shines brightest on aforementioned“Warriors”; “Ferguson – An American Tradition”, where
he integrates subtle tonal colors into his bebop-ladenlines; “Mary Turner – An American Tradition”, Ornette
Coleman-inspired tone dancing over an AfroCuban
groove; “Guarded Heart”, channeling full-throttle, mid(John) Coltrane-style blowing; and the closing title
track, an exciting yodeling effect created by juxtaposing
the high and low ranges of his horn.
Admirable for its continuous flow from beginningto end, Omega offers listeners an immersive, alphawave-inducing experience.

provides an effective foil for Paz, whose attractive
burnished tone often pursues an abstract trajectory,
though his introductory tenor soliloquy to the regretful“Naima” (not the Coltrane classic), where his breathy
vibrato traces the melody with an appealing vocalized
edge, constitutes a high point.
Whether at the lyrical end of the spectrum where
they began or at the other extreme, exemplified by theuncompromising free-form of the churning set closer“El Llanto De La Tierra”, the threesome allies unbridledinvention with cohesive group focus.
For more information, visit 577records.com. Mela livestreams Jan. 27th at barbayeux.com.

For more information, visit bluenote.com. Wilkins livestreams Jan. 20th at barbayeux.com.

(Valley of Search)
R • Todd
Capp’s Mystery Train—e • Dezron
Crisps (Noncept)
Douglas/Brandee Younger—c Force Majeure(International Anthem)• Marshall Gilkes—Waiting to Continue (s/r)
o • Ayelet Rose Gottlieb—13 Lunar Meditations:Summoning The Witches (s/r)
m • Pasquale
Grasso—Solo Standards(Sony Masterworks)m • Mark
Helias/Tim Berne—
Blood From A Stone (Radiolegs Music)e • José
Lencastre/Jorge Nuno/Felipe Zenicola/
Valinho—Anthropic Neglectn João(Clean Feed)d • Steph Richards—Supersense (Northern Spy)
Mike Westbrook—Paris (ASC)e •Laurence
Donohue-Greene, Managing Editord• Patricia Brennan—Maquishti

MPT Trio Volume 1
Francisco Mela (577 Records)
by John Sharpe

Under the direction of drummer Francisco Mela, MPT
Trio gives avant jazz a Cuban spin on their debut Volume
1. Mela has a long history of integrating the rhythmic
verve from his native island into the jazz arena. He’s
enlisted countryman tenor saxophonist Hery Paz, who
also appeared alongside him on Ancestros (Newvelle,2018), and Venezuelan guitarist Juanma Trujillo.
In fact it’s opener “Calipso”, from Trujillo’s pen,which sets out the band’s wares most clearly.
It begins with infectious polyrhythms, Mela evoking
steel pans via rimshots, before the sunny tune launches
circling tenor and guitar in attentive counterpoint.
Although that’s the most straightforward cut, the tuneful
aspect of Mela does pop up elsewhere too, notably on
the episodic “Suite For Leo Brouwer”, which suggests anenigmatic, sometimes contradictory personality if themusic is any guide. While he steers, cajoles and supports,
Mela’s expansive sonorities are never overbearing.
Trujillo plays a similarly loquacious role, filling in
the middle and bottom, which makes the outfit soundlarger than a trio. He brings an orchestral dimension
to the mix with his effects, which can be heard at thestart of the mysterious “Whisper”, where he employs
multiple voices: chiming chords, staccato picks andsudden swells. He gets to shred too, his heroics
illuminating the urgent punchy “Vino” and again on
the at-first fragmented but then rocky “Baldor”. He

24 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

n
e
w
r
e
l
e
a
s
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s

• Marco Colonna & Alexander Hawkins—
Dolphy Underlined (Fundacja Słuchaj)• Chris Corsano—Mezzaluna(Catalytic Sound)• Dezron Douglas/Brandee Younger—
Force Majeure (International Anthem)• Leo Genovese/Mariano Otero/
Sergio Verdinelli—Sin Tiempo (ears&eyes)• José Lencastre/Jorge Nuno/Felipe Zenicola/João Valinho—Anthropic Neglect(Clean Feed)• Misha Mengelberg—Rituals of Transition(i dischi di angelica)• Charles Mingus—@Bremen 1964 & 1975
(Sunnyside)• NoSax NoClar—Kahmsïn (YOLK)• Sonny Rollins—Rollins in Holland(Resonance)• Mike Westbrook—Love and Understanding(featuring John Surman) (My Only Desire)
Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director

The Ripple
Jeff Rupert/George Garzone (Rupe Media)
by Marco Cangiano“The Ripple” refers to the widespread influence

Lester Young had on modern jazz. To prove the point,
Jeff Rupert and George Garzone do not showcase anyof Young’s compositions or even tunes recorded byhim but instead assembled a repertoire of tunes written
and/or executed by musicians influenced by him. The
list is long and includes modern giants such as StanGetz, Wayne Shorter and Joe Henderson.
While the Lee Konitz/Warne Marsh quintet may
come across as a natural reference, given thecontrapuntal dialogue between the two saxophones, it
is Young’s sound and style filtered through Stan Getz’
experience that dominates the proceedings. This is
more evident in Rupert’s supple phrasing and sound(his “Go-Go” being a clear example), whereas Garzone
is more of his own man and occasionally pushes theenvelope, as in Hoagy Carmichael’s “Stardust”. The
group is rounded out by the very congenial trio of
Richard Drexler (piano), Jeremy Allen (bass) and Marty
Morrell (drums). Although the brunt of the solos arecarried by the co-leaders, Drexler has his fair share ofsolo outings delivered with impeccable taste. Allen andMorrell could not provide a more relaxed and hardswinging anchor. The former’s solo in Ben KynardLionel Hampton’s “Red Top” is not to be missed.
Rupert’s three inspired originals, aforementioned“Go-Go”, “Hoboken” and ”Beauty Becomes Her”,
capture particularly well the Young/Getz legacy andatmosphere. The other tunes are all well-known
standards, but Rupert and Garzone’s interpretations are
as fresh as they were playing them for the very first time.
Among the highlights are lovely versions of theballads “The Shadow of Your Smile” (Johnny MandelPaul Francis Webster) and “Detour Ahead” (Herb EllisJohn Frigo-Lou Carter), in which Rupert and Garzone
duel in terms of their capacity to reinvigorate theimmortal melodies. Blues-infused “Red Top” is taken
at a brisk tempo, triggering Garzone’s more surreal
side. Shorter ’s “Lester Left Town” is a statement to its
composer and influence—how long before a similar
CD is put together about Shorter ’s legacy? The CD isaptly concluded by an impromptu duet between the
saxophones, meandering through Arthur SchwartzHoward Dietz’ “Alone Together”. The ripple will
linger for quite a while in the listeners’ ears.
For more information, visit facebook.com/JeffRupertSax.
Garzone live-streams Jan. 27th at barbayeux.com.

Horizons
Peter Evans Ensemble (More Is More)by Phil Freeman

Trumpeter Peter Evans has been working withviolinist Mazz Swift, synth player Ron Stabinsky andpercussionist Levy Lorenzo, who also contributes

electronic sounds, since 2018. This album encompasses
seven compositions they’ve been workshopping andperforming, all of which break any stylistic boundaries
within which one may care to confine them: not exactly
jazz, but too much fun to be “modern composition” or“new music” and at times they almost rock.
The title track makes an ominous opener, with low
sustained horn growls and violin introducing it as
Lorenzo plays a conga pattern that’s like some sort ofritual being called to order. When he moves to whatsounds like a floor tom and Evans and Swift begin
improvising simultaneously, the energy level jumps
even higher. On “Caves of the Mind”, there’s a thrilling
moment where piccolo trumpet rises trilling over Tony
Oxley-ish toms, after which the whole thing erupts.
Synth zaps bring to mind Pere Ubu while violin is dark
and Balkan and the percussion goes from tense to
explosive. There’s another surprise at the end, when
Evans manages to make the trumpet sound like awhinnying horse. “Passing Through” begins with aunison melody, trumpet mirrored by violin and echoedby fuzzy synth; the effect is as if the two organic
instruments were too closely mic’d and are now
distorting slightly. On “Homo Ludens – for Cecil
Taylor (Trio Version)”, electronic static and grinding
sounds of the Merzbow/malfunctioning dial-up
modem type seem almost to bury trumpet in washes of
distortion and piercing test tones.
The final track, “Interior”, is the shortest and themost conventionally beautiful. It’s a duet for violin andkeyboards, Swift holding incredibly long high notes until
they begin to shiver in the air like feedback. Meanwhile,
Stabinsky plays gentle electric piano-like figures, taking
the album out on an almost romantic note.
For more information, visit peterevansmusic.bandcamp.com.
Evans live-streams Jan. 28th at roulette.org.

What Comes Next?
Peter Bernstein (Smoke Sessions)
by Jim Motavalli

G uitarist Peter Bernstein didn’t lead a date until 1994,

when he was 27, but since then he’s been extremely
prolific, with over two dozen releases. This new album
exudes a relaxed, peaceful feel, belying the fact it wasrecorded in June 2020 under pandemic restrictions. Six
tunes are Bernstein’s, complemented by one each from
Carl Fischer/Frankie Laine, Dizzy Gillespie and—a real find—Sonny Rollins. The latter ’s “Newark
News”, a calypso in the style of “St. Thomas”, wasnever recorded by the master himself. Bernstein’s bandis pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Peter Washington,a frequent collaborator, and drummer Joe Farnsworth.
The album follows a simple format: tasty head, solos
by Bernstein, Fortner, who makes major lyricalcontributions, and (often) Washington, then Bernstein
again and a swinging conclusion. A blowing session?
Sure, but with assured compositions from the leader.
“Empty Streets” is pensive, based on observing
New York hollowed out by the pandemic. “Harbor No
Illusions” is up tempo, but still quite restrained;
Bernstein comes out swinging, but notice how cleanly
he articulates every note, whatever the tempo.
Farnsworth gets in some great licks, trading fours with
Bernstein. Sufi mystic Rumi contributed the title of“Dance in Your Blood”, another mildly uptempo
workout. Bernstein knows his way around a standard;hear how he eases into the strong melody of Fischer/Laine’s “We’ll Be Together Again”. His is the only solo,
but you couldn’t ask for more sympathetic support.
“Con Alma” is taken at the same basic tempo as
the master ’s original, with invaluable work from
Farnsworth. Bernstein offers a long solo with many
tricky switch-ups to keep it interesting. “Blood Wolf
Moon Blues” was on the late Jimmy Cobb’s 2019 CD
This I Dig of You, on which Bernstein played. The album
ends with “Newark News”. The quartet really gets intothat groove to conclude this fine album on an up note.
Rollins gave his blessing to getting this tune waxed.
For more information, visit smokesessionsrecords.com.
Bernstein live-streams Jan. 29th-30th at villagevanguard.com.

ON SCREEN

Billie(Verve/UMe)by Russ Musto

A compelling biopic, Billie chronicles the enigmatic

life of Billie Holiday in stark detail. Combining
Holiday’s words (culled from her few existing radio
and TV interviews) with recollections of those who
knew her, recorded by would-be biographer Linda
Lipnack Kuehl (whose life and purported suicide isalso touched upon in the film), along with video
excerpts and photos of performances, writer-director
James Erskine has woven together an engaging
narrative that is both insightful and diverting cinema.
Holiday is first seen mid-career, gowned andsmiling coyly, singing “Now or Never” with theCount Basie band before we hear the voice of actress
Sylvia Syms asserting, “I saw the whole world inthat face; all of the beauty and all of the misery.
Billie Holiday sang only truth. She knew nothingelse.” Segueing to “God Bless The Child” we hear
Holiday herself declaring, “The things I sing have tohave something to do with me and my life and myfriends’ lives. They have meaning.” And there is thethematic thread that ties together her story.
A cousin tells of Holiday’s early days in Baltimore,which included her prostituting herself to survive
before arriving in New York as a teenager and findingout she could make money singing. John Hammondnotes her vocalizing “as an improvising horn player”
like Louis Armstrong, with whom she’s seen singing“The Blues Are Brewin’”. The movie delves deeply
into Holiday’s real-life blues, detailing abusive
relationships with men and persecution for drug use,
worsening with the growing notoriety that came withher recording of “Strange Fruit”, the chilling Civil
Rights anthem that prompted Charles Mingus to note“she was fighting for equality before Martin LutherKing” and Papa Jo Jones and Artie Shaw to expoundon her struggles touring the Jim Crow South.
Much of the footage depicting Holiday has beencolorized, a source of some criticism, but it can be said
that in doing so the film takes her out of the shadowy
past, placing her brightly in the present, making thestory that ends with her arrest and tragic death at 44,
handcuffed to a hospital bed, all the more relevant tomodern issues of racism, addiction and incarceration.
Holiday-related live-streams take place Jan. 10th and24th at 92y.org/billieholiday.aspx.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 25

G LO B E U N I T Y

Slow Pieces for Aki (Piano Solo)
Alexander von Schlippenbach (Intakt)
Journey Home
Andrea Keller (s/r)
Suvenýr
Marc Schmolling (SCHMOLLINGSTONES)by Tom Greenland

P iano is probably the most versatile instrument forsolo performance: besides its considerable harmonic
and melodic capabilities it makes a fine drum andcan produce a plethora of other timbres via extended
techniques. This column reviews solo CDs recorded
in Switzerland, Australia and Germany.
Alexander von Schlippenbach’s trio and Globe
Unity Orchestra is off-the-map energetic, so when
his life/musical partner Aki Takase, who turns 73
this month, posited a lower, slower, softer approach,his answer was Slow Pieces for Aki. Short compositions
are followed by free improvs, the latter extending or
reshaping the former, both unfolding organicallyfrom small gestures, blurring any distinction. The
pieces share a hesitant yet deliberate quality, as if
the pianist, like a chess grandmaster, is weighing
future consequences before making his move. On“Torso”, “Blues b” and “Improvisation VIII” hisugly/beautiful chords spackle the pensive melodies
with iridescent hues. A debt to Monk is heard in his
technique of peeling off a finger mid-chord to expose
buried pitches, close adherence to the melodic
skeleton and use of stabbing cluster chords. The twoabstract ‘blues’ are utterly original, a debt he owes
to no one but himself.
Melbourne-based Andrea Keller’s Journey Home
sounds like a love song to piano, perhaps because it isrecorded on three of the largest pianos on earth, twowith 102 keys, one with 108, all handmade by Stuart& Sons, each with its distinctive timbre. Keller
approaches her free improvs with zen-like openness,eschewing preconceptions. She exploits extreme
range contrasts by spread-eagling her arms, educing
now rhapsodic, now minimalistic passages hovering
around but never fully committing to tonal centers.
On “Generations of Leaves”, “Tenderly We Weave”
and “Consequentially”—all which sound as if they’replayed on “Big Beleura” (the 108-key piano named
for the resort it’s housed in)—sopranississimo pitches
voiced at the very top of Keller’s right-hand chords
tinkle just out of hearing range while bassississimo
pitches (vibrating as slow as 16 Hz!) rumble in anunearthly manner at the other end of the keyboard.
Suvenýr is Berlin-based pianist Marc Schmolling’s
second solo album, recorded on two separate sessions.
Like Keller he is of Czech heritage—his mother, Inka
Machulková, was a prominent beat poet in ‘60s
Prague—and he too comes to the keyboard without apreparedroadmapfor
improvisation.
Like
Schlippenbach, he thinks twice (or maybe three orfour times) before he plays once, elongating phraseends into pregnant pauses. A very unusual andcompelling quality of his music is that, although it
appears to develop, harmonize, modulate andcadence—all those things one expects of tonal
music—it never really does, such that pinpointing a
set key or distinct melody proves ultimately elusive.
All of which creates an existential ambiance, slightly
familiar and yet slightly unnerving at the same time.
For
more
information,
visit
intaktrec.ch,andreakellerpiano.com.au and marc-schmolling.de

There Is A Tide
Chris Potter (Edition)
by George Kanzler

The phenomenon of the one-man-band recording injazz can be traced back to at least to the Swing Era, when
Sidney Bechet recorded on reeds and all the rhythm
section instruments on an experiment with overdubbing
for “Sheik of Araby”. But the practice is rare in jazz,
more common in rock. This Chris Potter album maychange that. It transcends the gimmick to produce arich, original tapestry of sounds that articulate
intricacies like a baroque chamber suite. Beside writing
all the music and playing all the reeds—saxophones,
flutes, clarinets—Potter, who turns 50 this month, also,
through overdubbing, plays all the rhythm instruments,from piano and keyboards to guitars, electric bass,
drums and percussion, plus manipulating soundsamples. The results are not only surprisingly listenable,
but also one of Potter’s most accessible albums.
Although Potter solos most often on tenor,
eschewing ‘out’ phrasing for hard-driving grooves, healso solos on all his other reeds, most notably a lovely
clarinet on the ballad “Rest Your Head” and emphatic
bass clarinet statements on at least four of the ten tracks.
Anchoring most of the pieces with bass guitar, Potter
varies tempo and meter, but most creatively invents
different ensemble sounds, from the low-end reeds on
the walking tempo “Like A Memory” to the pianokeyboard-organ weaving with flutes and saxophones on
the power ballad “Oh So Many Stars”. On “Drop Your
Anchor Down” he puts a hand-drum shuffle under abass clarinet lead, adding keyboard behind a lyricalguitar solo. The most impressive arrangement is“Beneath the Waves”, beginning with spacey electricand acoustic reeds floating over an insistent rhythm,
then moving into fugue-like rounds of staggered lines
from bass clarinet, soprano, clarinet and tenor,
reminiscent of the fugue at the center of Duke Ellington’s
A Tone Parallel to Harlem. The limited-edition LP ends
with “New Life (In the Wake of Devastation)”,combining full ensemble with a rousing tenor solo.
For more information, visit editionrecords.com

Musique pour le film d’un ami
Steve Potts (Un-Deux-Trois-Souffle Continu)
by Robert Bush

It would be hard to imagine a small-group sideman

with more utility and ultimate value than alto andsoprano saxophone master Steve Potts (who turns 78
this month) demonstrated in his 30 years with SteveLacy. The two met in exile in France and immediately
developed a very strong and symbiotic relationship.
Potts studied with Eric Dolphy and Charles Lloyd
before heading to Europe in search of greater
opportunities and less racism, like so many of his
contemporaries. Although he proved to be the ultimate“most valuable player” in various Lacy groups, his

26 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

efforts as a leader are not nearly as prolific. Five years
after arriving in France, Potts was approached tocompose and record this soundtrack (apparently for
the French equivalent of a Shaft-type action film) andthat’s probably important to keep in mind.
He uses a revolving ensemble of American
expatriates and Lacy associates: Frank Abel on piano;
Donny Donable and Kenny Tyler on drums; twin guitars
of Elie Ferre and Christian Escoudé; Gus Nemeth andJean-Jacques Avenel on bass; Ambrose Jackson on
trumpet; Keno Speller on percussion; Joss Basseli on
accordion; and Juliette Noessi on wordless vocals.
Potts plays both alto and soprano on opener“Marie France” alongside swirling guitars and electric
piano laying down a period appropriate one-chord
vamp. Potts has a gorgeous and distinct voice on hishorns while the guitars seem to toggle between Wes
Montgomery and James “Blood” Ulmer. Jackson gets achance to shine on “Tango”, exhibiting a fat, brassy
tone that cuts through the somewhat muddy mix. Bothguitars feature prominently on “Antigone”, a dreamy,
romantic track sans the leader. The drums really standout on “Bhagavad- Gita” in support of nasal soprano.
“Route 69” is one of the shorter tracks, cashing in on
the wah-wah guitar and background funk typical ofporn soundtracks of the era. A pleasant surprise is theinclusion of accordion master Basseli, who pretty muchsteals the show on the two versions of “Java”, while“Mary-Jo” features Potts on both horns, with excellent
guitar from Escoudé and indistinct vocals from Noessi.
Another vamp-based tune, “Rock (La Defense)”,finds Potts on alto really pushing the envelope. It’s astandout and vastly superior to any comparable
soundtrack of that genre from that time period.
For more information, visit soufflecontinurecords.com

Future Song (Live Reflections)
Marilyn Mazur (Stunt)
Drapery
Laura Toxværd (ILK Music)
by Mark Keresman

Percussionist Marilyn Mazur, born 66 years ago thismonth in New York and raised in Denmark, hasestablished herself in the oft-overlapping zones of jazz,
world music and improvised music. Future Song (Live
Reflections) seems to summarize Mazur’s artistic past
while not giving in to any sort of nostalgia or retrovibe. “Subway Groove” has a lilting melodious hook,then the lilt is supplanted by a dollop of sardonic
menace courtesy of some good-naturedly lurchingforward rhythms and slightly dissonant ensemble riffs,
including a guitar lead driven by some feverish sustain.
The brief “Love Eruption” is, despite the seeming lackof a melodic line, a compelling free-verse sonic poem/
interlude. The kaleidoscopic nearly-eight-minute “First
Dream” brings to mind mid ‘70s Miles Davis via Nils
Petter Molvaer’s heated trumpet, bubbling keyboards,
wordless vocals, percolating percussion, undulating
wah-wah and roiling percussion waves; the effect is
entrancing then evolves into an unsettling panorama,
the various instruments and sounds poking from thebackground to the fore, trumpet crying with dignity
and longing, a beacon fighting a fogbank to be seen.
Laura Toxværd (b. 1977) is a Danish alto
saxophonist who paid those figurative/literal dueswith Mazur, Raymond Strid and John Tchicai. She hasa tart, mercury-fluid tone that evokes, surprisingly,
few peers. Eerie ballad “Lament” finds her velvety yet
gently harrowing alto negotiating through a choppy
sea of Peter Friis Nielsen’s rippling, steely electricbass, Mazur ’s heartbeat-like drumming and the surreal
crackle of guitarist Gustaf Ljunggren’s six (?) strings.
The feeling both soothing and queasy, Toxværd subtly
emotive, full of yearning yet never quite wearing herheart on her figurative sleeve. “Keys” finds her getting
deep into her horn, driving into dark-ish, gutturalexpression, over-blowing but in a coolly deliberate,
raspy-vocalized manner.
Both of these albums are sterling examples of themutability of jazz and the continuing possibilities offusion and are heartily recommended to cultural
gatecrashers and anti-purists.
For more information, visit sundance.dk and ilkmusic.com

AmalgamIvo Perelman/Matthew Shipp (Mahakala Music)
Garden of Jewels
Ivo Perelman Trio (Tao Forms)
Deep Resonance
Ivo Perelman/Arcado String Trio (Fundacja Słuchaj!)by Steven Loewy

The last several years have witnessed an explosion ofactivity from Brazilian saxophonist Ivo Perelman, whoturns 60 this month. His winning musicality, relentlessefforts to expand the reach of the tenor and numerous
recordings, often with his sometimes alter-ego, pianist
Matthew Shipp, have catapulted him to the first ranksof the world’s free improvisers. What makes this more
impressive is that Perelman seems to enjoy an uncanny

ability to reinvent himself and, over the decades, hasvaried his style and approach remarkably, exploring
and testing strategies and shifting and evolving from afire-breather immersed in the extremes of the ‘60s to a
subtle, sophisticated performer who combines auniquely personal approach to his horn whileabsorbing and redirecting his formidable energy.
The recordings reviewed here are the latest in his
continually growing discography, offering a glimpse atsome new directions. Ultimately, the question must be
asked: is Perelman a revolutionary, striking new chords
that energize and even electrify an existing tradition,or is his approach one that conserves and expands?
While these cannot be answered fully in the course of areview and perhaps are yet answerable, the trinity of
approaches developed in these recordings offers aglimpse at some answers.
Shipp and Perelman have been performing
together for decades, producing more than ten albums
and generally receiving critical accolades for music in
which the two developed an uncanny resonance. Afterpronouncements that the two of them had essentially
accomplished all that they could accomplish together,
they nonetheless have, reluctantly, continued to edge
toward new ways of relating.
For Amalgam, the pace lessens somewhat,saxophone and piano look inward a bit, the strong
sense of camaraderie still prevailing, and there remain
the signature forays to the altissimo range and thesubtle, sophisticated performances by Shipp, who
focuses on repetition and deep listening, with anunmitigated independent streak that inspires Perelman
masterfully. So, for example, on “Part One”, you could
think that the saxophonist’s huge round soundqualifies him as a disciple of a modernized Coleman
Hawkins while the following piece opens with quietly
dense piano with breathy saxophone added, eventually
exploding in dense piano chords, a squeaking horn,
morphing to a lovely full-toned venture. There is great
variety through all 12 pieces, intense piano and a hornthat is clearly an extension of self.
Garden of Jewels adds drummer Whit Dickey to theduo. Although this trio has only recorded once before
and despite the three of them performing, as usual,
without any preparation, the three acquit themselves
admirably.
The addition of Dickey gives the trio a new sound,more aggressive but also in some ways more fun tohear, with greater variety and more taking of chances.
Perelman doubles down on his falsetto notes and on“Four”, there is such great interaction among the threethat they sound like a longstanding group. The unsung
and modest Dickey splendidly powers the unit, with
Perelman all over the horn and Shipp creating tension
with pounding repetitions. This album is unabashedly
entertaining, structurally focusing on odd syncopations
and jagged short phrasing, each piece with its special
moments.
The last of the three recordings, Deep Resonance, isarguably the best, though simple comparisons arealmost meaningless, considering the distinctly
different strategies harboring deeply spun delights.
Performing with the resurrected Arcado String Trio,
which has not recorded together in decades, Perelman
makes himself into a sort of cello, blending in to theswirls of energized machinations that explore myriad
possibilities.
Perelman studied classical guitar, took up thecello and even “tried” violin, viola and bass as a child.
The Arcado Trio has never sounded better and with
Perelman sounding so natural, the trio easily becomesa magnificent string quartet, but when the strings are
as talented as Mark Dresser on acoustic string bass,
Hank Roberts on cello and Mark Feldman on violin,
you know it will be something special and it is,particularly with the addition of Perelman’s inspired
playing. The results are magnificent, with all kinds ofnoises and sounds emanating, feeling at times like ahigh pitched human voice on the opening track and atothers a rich tapestry of striking cacophony. When all
four go high, the striking dissonance is thrilling. The
strings are just as effective when pursuing dense, slow
tempos, as on the second track, or when they show off
their shimmering beauty with sliding glissandos on
the third. You could even say the heavens open, as
there are stints of pizzicato, of squeaky high pitches
and much, much more. The results are simply exquisite,making this a clear choice as one of the best recordingsof 2020.
For
more
information,
visit
mahakalamusic.com,
taoforms.bandcamp.com and fsrecords.net

IN PRINT

Learning the Score: A Jazz Memoir
James Spaulding (Speetones Book Publishing)by Kevin Canfield

Many autobiographies are rife with boasts and score-settling. James Spaulding could have easily writtensuch a book. His accomplishments are impressive andin more than five decades in jazz, the alto saxophonist/
flutist has stared down numerous racists andscoundrels. His music, he writes, has given him a“unique understanding of the sufferings of my people.”
Yet Spaulding’s memoir is a beneficent self-portrait of a
resilient artist resolved to help younger musicians
dodge the pitfalls of a hard-knock profession.
Well known for his versatile talents—he was partof both the Sun Ra Arkestra and played “straightahead
bebop” alongside Freddie Hubbard and other stars—
the 83-year-old was immersed in music from thestart. His father, a jazz guitarist, bought five-year-old
Spaulding a bugle. He formed a band at 11 and soon
was playing alto and flute at teenage dances. After
stints in the Army and music school, he secured aplace in Sun Ra’s band. “Sunny,” he recalls, gave
ample latitude: “Our only instruction was to notrepeat the same idea twice.” Spaulding played on
several Sun Ra albums, but “received very little insalary”—a common theme in this candid book.
He was with the David Murray Octet for morethan a decade, worked often as a sideman andrecorded as a leader several times. In Japan with
Murray, autograph-hungry fans made him “feelmore at home and appreciated than I have ever felt
here in America.” Spaulding writes vividly about thestateside racism that forced him to “enter the whiteclubs through the back door.” Once, when leading aband, he “felt we would get more work if the leader
was white” and so he gave top billing to a white
trombonist. Some fellow Black musicians were
understandably upset. The painful episode helped
push him to “the verge of a nervous breakdown.”
Like many, Spaulding often worked for paltry pay
and was deprived of his deserved royalties. Thus theclosing section includes a detailed primer on contracts,
copyright and artists’ unions. “I have worked as aprofessional musician in the land of my birth undersome tough, uncomfortable and undesirable
conditions,” he writes. This generous book exemplifies
the grit required to make it in a demanding field.
For more information, visit jamesrspaulding.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 27

Revisits the Goodman Years
Teddy Wilson Trio (Storyville)by Ken Dryden

There was nothing flashy about pianist Teddy Wilson

during his long career, a gifted swinger with a wideranging repertoire and strong technique that wasrecognizable within seconds. Wilson joined Benny
Goodman’s trio, then gained even greater exposure in
the clarinetist’s famous quartet with the addition of
Lionel Hampton. The pianist left to lead his own big
band and small groups in the ‘40s but continued towork with Goodman off and on for the rest of his life.
This 1980 trio session in Copenhagen paired him
with Danish bassist Jesper Lundgaard and expatriate
American drummer Ed Thigpen, exploring various
standards and obscure chestnuts he had played with
Goodman, all impeccably swinging with hischaracteristic flourishes. Critics may have taken his
skills for granted but pianists who followed him praised
his subtle incorporation of stride into his left hand anduse of tenths, in addition to the brilliance of his
improvisations and inventive insertions of song quotes.
While Lundgaard was only in his mid 20s at thetime of the recording, he provides superb
accompaniment and solos with skill belying his tenderyears. Thigpen was a veteran, working with both theOscar Peterson Trio and Tommy Flanagan. He is moresubdued on this date, spending much of his time using
brushes to keep the focus on the leader, though he is no
slouch in the spotlight, especially with his snappyfeature in Art Hickman’s “Rose Room”.
It would be easy for such a seasoned pianist to fallback on time-tested arrangements, but he finds new
approaches to these familiar works, with his breezy
takes of Ted Snyder ’s “The Sheik Of Araby” and Johnand Reb Spikes’ long forgotten “Someday Sweetheart”
among the highlights. The warmth and brilliant fidelityof this remastered 180-gram LP reissue rekindles themagic of this format, when labels took pride in
reproducing what the engineers captured in the studio.
For more information, visit storyvillerecords.com. An Ertegun Jazz
Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony for Wilson takes place in early 2021.

the pair left to found fusion band Elements and Egan
also enjoyed a tenure with Gil Evans while embarking
on a bountiful session career. Gottlieb predated Egan in
the Metheny Group, becoming a founding member after
he and the guitarist departed the Gary Burton Quartet.
His resumé includes work with Evans, Michael Franks,
Flora Purim and Airto, Mahavishnu Orchestra and
WDR Big Band, among others.
Such a wide array of influences features well into
the new duo album, Electric Blue. Some of the inspiration
is evident, such as the spirit of Pastorius, on an album
with the bass out front. But this isn’t an homage to thatmythic bassist, nor necessarily to this duet’s history somuch as two veterans of jazz’ ‘70s transitional period
drawing out new vistas within the limited palette.
Though not credited as such, Egan carefully uses effects
to broaden the soundscape, perhaps a midi synth,surely reverb and chorus, and often employs
overdubbing in order to play melody, solo statements
and intriguing basslines. And drums are recorded in asetting making the most of the room sound: warm,
large, cavernous. This is especially apparent in the CD’s
opening spaciously placed tom-tom accents, leading to
the entry of an Egan melody high on the neck.
Ringing bass harmonics, slides and double stops,in collaboration with quasi-Latin pulsations (including
rhythmic coloring with woodblocks), are immediately
compelling, as are reference points heard within someselections, i.e., “Down the Road” seems to contain bitsof Joe Zawinul’s “A Remark You Made”. Amidst the
many bright moments, so to speak, including thecomplex pianissimo interactions on both the title cut
and “Offering” and buoyant march and sizzling
improvisations of “Cabarete”, it’s hard to not imagine
some space being filled by less dark sonorities. Even in
the hands of masters like Egan and Gottlieb, thewanton ear leans toward the light. If Electric Blue
incorporated guests to craft varying trios, its impact
and artistry could only be magnified, even as listeners
celebrated the duet at the album’s core.
For more information, visit markegan.com/wavetone

Stormy WhispersJoëlle Léandre/Myra Melford/Lauren Newton(Fundacja Słuchaj!)by Kurt GottschalkV ocalist Lauren Newton is likely the least known

Electric BlueMark Egan/Danny Gottlieb (Wavetone)
by John Pietaro

The pairing of bassist Mark Egan, who turns 70 thismonth, and drummer Danny Gottlieb must be
designated a lifetime musical partnership, something
increasingly hard to come by in recent decades. The twoare still best recalled as the free-flowing, melody-driven
rhythm section of the classic Pat Metheny Group, butthey met in the early ‘70s at the University of Miami
where Metheny was also a student. There, Egan studied
privately with Jaco Pastorius and one can still hear theeffects not only on Egan but Gottlieb as well. Beyond thecelebrated albums they recorded with Metheny, in 1981

name in this trio, at least in some listening circles. She
may also have the most diverse catalogue of the three
women. Newton has been involved in some worthy
projects: duos with Anthony Braxton and Aki Takase; avocal group that included Jeanne Lee and Bobby
McFerrin and another with Saadet Türköz and Ami
Yoshida; and various collaborations with bassist Joëlle
Léandre, who represents another third of this group.
Newton benefits from having a strong personality
to set the course and on Stormy Whispers she has a pairof them. Pianist Myra Melford, who turns 64 thismonth, plays with Léandre in the remarkable Tiger
Trio and makes an exemplary third wheel to the
Léandre/Newton duo. Stormy Whispers marks a firstmeeting, recorded live at the 13th International Festivalof Improvised Music in Warsaw in 2018, highlighting
female contributions under the rather insurrectionist
rubric “Women Alarm!” There is at play the sort ofconviviality and flexibility rewarding repeat listens.
Among the eight whispers (as the tracks are titled) are

28 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

a couple of duets—Léandre the common denominator—but, notably, at no point does there seem to be a leader
and rarely does there appear a solo. (A brief but
dynamic introduction to one piece by Melford standsout). The music is constructed in equal parts and withconstantly shifting boundaries; all three move between
abstraction and phraseology with a fluidity that makes
for a ride both fast and smooth.
The trio had another appearance scheduled forAugust 2020 in France, which of course was canceled
due to the pandemic, but it gives reason to hold out
hope that they will one day whisper again.
For more information, visit fsrecords.net

DROP THE NEEDLE

Compadres (Recorded Live in Mexico)
Dave Brubeck Trio (featuring Gerry Mulligan)(Columbia-Speakers Corner)by Duck Baker

When Dave Brubeck’s “classic” quartet with alto

saxophonist Paul Desmond, bassist Gene Wright anddrummer Joe Morello recorded The Last Time We Saw
Paris in the fall of 1967, they had been performing
together for just under a decade. And as one of thebiggest drawing cards in the jazz world, the quartet
kept very busy throughout that time, until the leader
finally decided it was time to turn to other things,
particularly to classical and Third Stream composing.
It wasn’t long, however, before an offer from impresario
George Wein saw Brubeck teaming up with Gerry
Mulligan (who died 25 years ago this month) for a tourof Mexico and a quartet rounded out by bassist JackSix and drummer Alan Dawson would go on to makeseveral records over the next five years. Compadres, thefirst, dates from that tour and it is nice to see it back incirculation, for several reasons. It gave Brubeck the
chance to keep a small group together on more of apart-time basis and continue working things out alongfamiliar lines but with a different set of partners. For
his part Mulligan was in a very different situation,
having not kept anything steady going since thebreakup of his marvelous Concert Jazz Band in 1964.
The previous quartet had recorded two LP’s
worth of live material in Mexico in 1967, one of whichfeatured Mexican traditional and pop material, but
originals by Brubeck and Mulligan dominate
Compadres. These range from “Jumping Bean”, aMulligan opus with plenty of hot sauce that became astaple for this band, to Brubeck’s delicate ballad“Tender Woman”, to which he did not return, oddly.
Another worthy Brubeck contribution is “Indian
Song”, based on a simple folk theme and featuring along solo by Dawson, as great in his way as Morello
was in his (Booker Ervin and Jaki Byard fans know).
The two Mexican pop standards, “Adios, Mariquita
Linda” and “Amapola”, are also standouts. On thelatter Brubeck and Mulligan demonstrate that these“cool school” icons could really crank up the heat
when needed while Dawson drives things brilliantly.
One feels that Mulligan and Brubeck wererediscovering basic pleasures of jazz on Compadres,things that their fans will want to rediscover, as well.
For more information, visit speakerscornerrecords.com

Duo (Improv) 2017
Anthony Braxton/Eugene Chadbourne(New Braxton House)by Stuart Broomer

Anthony Braxton is an artist of duration, each recent

year bringing another epic to light, whether it’s a fulllength opera like Trillium J (3 CDs), the Sextet (Parker)
1993 (11) or the GTM (Syntax) 2017 choir recordings(12). He’s equally at home with density: consider the
JazzFest Berlin six-hour, 60-musician Sonic Genome or
Composition 376 in the Echo Echo Mirror House Music
series with its 15 musicians playing Braxton recordings
from mp3 players as well as their own instruments.
For all that, there’s never been anything quite likeDuo (Improv) 2017 with Eugene Chadbourne (whoturns 67 this month). Each plays seven instruments
here: Braxton covers sopranino, soprano, alto, baritone,
bass and contrabass saxophones as well as contrabass
clarinet; Chadbourne plays a Gibson Marauder electricguitar, Gibson acoustic, bajo sexto (a 12-string memberof the guitar family in the bass register), Deering
5-string banjo, Deering fretless 5-string banjo, Regal
5-string banjo and prepared guitar.
Between November 27th-30th, 2017, the tworecorded two duets a day, working to the famous
Braxton hourglass. They never exceed the hour but get
close to it, wrapping up Duo Improv 6 at the 59’46”
mark. The eight-CD box set is sold out at this point but
remains available as a download, including an
additional, shorter improvisation.
What distinguishes this is the purely improvised
content and the intensity of the relationship, just twomusicians inventing that much content. The music’s
special quality comes out of the players’ differences
and similarities. There are, of course, the contrastingbackgrounds and references of the musicians: Braxton’sroots are AfroAmerican Chicago while Chadbourne’s
are in the Carolinas. When Chadbourne sojourned in
Canada in the ‘70s, he was based in Alberta, Canada’s
answer to Texas. While Braxton has occasionally paid
tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart or Merle
Haggard and even played with Wolf Eyes, hisreferences belong largely to the worlds of jazz andclassical music. Chadbourne, for his part, has adapteda Bach Sonata and Partita for five-string banjo, but his
references are to Country & Western and Rockabilly,
albeit delivered with a radical wit and musicality.
But there’s a wonderful empathy here, growing outof irony, anarchist aesthetics, elasticity and sheer
virtuosic inventiveness, all made possible by the range
and flexibility of each, one with reflexes forged in bop,the other in bluegrass. It’s easier to find analogues inliterature than in music, whether it’s in classic American
travelogues like Francis Parkman’s The Oregon Trail orMark Twain’s Life on the Mississippi. Maybe it’s more like
Thomas Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon in its postmodern
playfulness, or even the punning, random mythologizingof Gertrude Stein’s Four in America. There’s some
spectacular miming here, Braxton playing staccato
rhythms on a bass saxophone that feel uncannily like
Chadbourne’s banjo or the latter stretching his sonicresource to turn a banjo into an Asian instrument at one
point and a guitar into prepared piano at another.
Braxton can also get a baritone sound that suggests a
pre-Rockabilly Sun R&B record.
The music grows out of a dialogue stretching tothe ‘70s and Chadbourne’s portrait of Braxton in theextended liner essay reveals the warmth and humor

that they share: “I put on a reel to reel copy of my first
volume of solo guitar music and clung on to every
comment. I liked the way the shriek my rosin-coatedpalm made on the back of an acoustic guitar was even‘too much!’ for Braxton: ‘Now you are really freaking
me out! You may have gone too far!’”That warmth should be apparent to all here, as
well as the invention, whether it’s at a blistering tempo
with swarming alto and banjo notes or a quiet interludeof saxophone air and banjo tapping near the conclusionof Improv 3. What may prove most striking is the sheer
lyric beauty that the two can achieve on Improv 5, withinterludes devoted to sonic exploration.
Though one will listen in whatever way one does,
this isn’t a marathon, but rather a celebration of depth.
Each of the extended improvisations takes its own
exploratory path, a creative wandering through varied
landscapes and shifting moods, from kinetic joy tosomber reflection.
For more information, visit newbraxtonhouse.bandcamp.com

Song for Chico
Alvin Fielder/Damon Smith Duo(Balance Point Acoustics)
by Robert BushJ azz is an artform that includes an obscene number ofartists who can legitimately be described as “criminally
underrated” and when it comes to drummers, perhaps
no one exemplifies that ideal more than the late Alvin
Fielder, who died two years ago this month. He cameto Chicago from Mississippi in the early ‘60s and ended
up as a charter member of the AACM, appearing mostnotably on Roscoe Mitchell’s volcanic Delmark debut
Sound in 1966. He had a parallel career as a pharmacist
and he was drawn back to his hometown to help mind
the family business even while creating lasting
relationships with folks like Kidd Jordan, Charles
Brackeen and Joel Futterman. He also began playing
with contrabass firebrand Damon Smith back in 2010
in bands led by Frode Gjerstad and Joe McPhee.
Song for Chico is just Fielder and Smith on a
program balancing three free improvisations against
three loosely structured tunes: the title piece (dedicatedto Chico Hamilton), “Roots” (dedicated to Johnny
Dyani) and “Variations on a theme by Cecil Taylor”.
There’s an exquisite sense of push and pull. Fielder
acts as the master traditionalist, coming out of the Max
Roach/Ed Blackwell continuum, while Smith operates
from a considerably more modern perspective (he wasa student of Lisle Ellis.) The tension between those twopoles makes for consistently exciting music—and they
obviously have a wealth of shared experience uponwhich to draw.
Smith has a huge, woody sound and concentrates
much of his explorations on the lower end of the sonicspectrum. His arco is rich and his pizzicato is dark andgrainy. Fielder is a marvel, his work with brushes alone
is worth the price of admission. There were times when
the work of Jimmy Garrison and Elvin Jones came tomind (think “The Drum Thing” from Crescent).
Smith opens “Roots” with convulsive ponticellobowing toggling against resonant pulls on the E string,setting up a vamp of considerable gravity while Fieldercounters with pliant soft mallets and hissing hi-hatsfor one of the disc’s most illuminative moments.

UNEARTHED GEM

Charles Mingus @Bremen 1964 & 1975
Charles Mingus (Sunnyside)by George Kanzler

These two concert recordings—11 years apart—document bassist Charles Mingus’ last band tofeature multi-reed-wind player Eric Dolphy (1964)
and his last working band (1975). At the 1964
concert, four of the six tracks run well over 20
minutes, one of them over 30 minutes. The 1975
tracks are shorter, with one half-hour-plus exception.
Beside Dolphy, the 1964 band featured twoother horns, trumpeter Johnny Coles and tenor
saxophonist Clifford Jordan, plus pianist Jaki Byard
and, like the 1975 band, was anchored by Mingus,
who died 42 years ago this month, and drummer
Dannie Richmond. That 1975 band featured
trumpeter Jack Walrath, tenor saxophonist George
Adams and pianist Don Pullen. Those latter twoco-led a quartet after their time with Mingus.
Mingus was always experimenting with andexpanding on form in his pieces and the 1964 band
was among his most expansive. Accelerando anddeccelerando, abrupt dynamic shifts, solos riding overrhythms only to fall into a cappella passages: All theseare strategies on the 26-minute “Hope So Eric”, eachsoloist featured in those varied contexts, plus Mingus
and Richmond dialoguing before Dolphy’s alto roars
out over the final choruses. The equally long
“Meditations on Integration” displays another favorite
Mingus ploy, beginning as a ballad, with Dolphy’s
flute up front, then roiling into fast, swirling ensemble
lines before solos running the gamut from ballad to
hard-driving tempo, culminating in a feverish Dolphy
bass clarinet solo before a return to ballad tempo withflute and arco bass leading the ensemble.
“Fables of Faubus” is the only composition
played at both concerts and the contrast is striking.
In 1964 there are no lyrics, the weight of the caustic
anti-racist message carried by the burlesquing hornthemes. Each musician cycles through the panoply ofsolo strategies heard on “Hope So Eric”, but Byard
nails the ironies of the piece in conjuring up the ugly
in “Yankee Doodle Dandy” and inspiration of “LiftEvery Voice and Sing”. The 1975 band includes themocking lyrics (“Name me someone who’s
ridiculous? Governor Faubus”) and braying trumpet,
but the solos are all over a constant, swing tempo.
The 1964 concert also included “Parkeriana”,
Mingus’ pastiche of Charlie Parker tunes introducing
solo forays, a piano solo referencing Fats Waller and
Art Tatum and a “Sophisticated Lady” featuring
pizzicato bass. In 1975, Walrath added variety to thetrumpet chair with mutes, using them especiallyeffectively on Sy Johnson’s meaty ballad “For Harry
Carney”, also notable for precise, pointillist piano.
Except for a kaleidoscopic “Sue’s Changes” runningthe dynamics and tempos gamut, the 1975 tunes
adhere to more or less steady rhythms and tempos.
“Duke Ellington’s Sound of Love” is lovely, atypically long-lined, sumptuous Mingus ballad.
Adams adds ecstatic vocals to his similar tenor
approach on the closing encore, “Devil Blues”.
For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com

For more information, visit balancepointacoustics.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 29

B OXED SE T

Not Two... but Twenty
Various Artists (Not Two)by Kurt GottschalkAt the end of a softly dramatic 20-minute improv byreedplayers Mats Gustafsson and Mikołaj Trzaska, tuba
player Per-Åke Holmlander and bass guitarist Rafał
Mazur and opening the second disc of the Not Two… but
Twenty, an off-mic voice (Gustafsson?) exclaims with alaugh “We never play like that!” There’s a tinge ofdelight in his voice that encapsulates the buzz of a jazzfestival. Much of the thrill comes with the discovery of
unfamiliar players and opportunity to be among thefirst to hear new, sometimes one-off, groupings, exciting,in part, because it’s so ephemeral. The bands might
carry on, but the festival gig is an exclusive. Occasionally,and fortunately, FOMO-counteracting compilations
allow the rest of the huddled masses yearning to breathe
free jazz a chance to experience those moments.
Not Two… but Twenty compiles performancesfrom the 20th anniversary celebration of Not Two
Records—held in 2018 in the small village of Wleń,Poland—onto five CDs housed in a handsomely

crafted wooden box and the excitement of the festival
is palpable. There’s plenty of the happenstance of
spontaneous grouping and creation, but there’s also
moments of the ingenuity sometimes demanded bycircumstance. The remoteness of the old castle where
the festival was held, for example, made obtaining
a piano difficult, so we get the unusual opportunity tohear Agustí Fernández on an electric keyboard. It
doesn’t slow him down and it’s fun to hear the choices
he makes with the instrument’s limited dynamics.
The set is bookended by a pair of short sets ofaudio vérité providing a nice “you were there” feel,even if you likely weren’t and even if the whole ofthe presentation is neither complete nor
chronological. A beautiful 18-minute invocation by
violinist Maya Homburger and bassist Barry Guy
opens the first disc with works by György Kurtág,
H.I.F. Biber and Guy’s own “Tales of Enchantment”.
(Homburger returns later for a brief and beautiful
solo set of Bach and another piece by Guy in thepresence of a happily barking dog). The otherbookend is a surprise coda for the weekend, an
impromptu group improvisation led by labelfounder Marek Winiarski, who was handed a set ofcue cards without warning or time to prepare. It’s
less than 10 minutes of musicians rising to theoccasion of a good-natured if shaky proposition.
There’s a full and wonderful disc featuring bassist
Jöelle Léandre, building from a duo with Guy to a trio
with Guy and drummer Zlatko Kaučič, then adding
trombonist Steve Swell for a particularly satisfying
foursome. Another quartet with Kaučič, Swell andreedplayer Ken Vandermark follows, then a sublime
solo and resolving in a bass and reeds duet with Trzaska.
A half-hour with saxophone master Peter

30 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Brötzmann and drummer Paal Nilssen-Love show thepair’s ease and familiarity within a shared spirit of
exploration. The music moves easily between attack
and restraint with varying moods and shifting
reference points. (British scribe John Sharpe hears“Summertime” in the last of the three pieces, according
to his lengthy liner notes; I didn’t catch that, but I did
discern Brötzmann quoting Max Roach’s seminal“Driva Man” to resolve the piece.) Another exciting
duo is delivered by saxophonists Gustafsson and
Vandermark, morphing into a horn quartet with theaddition of Swell and Holmlander. The collection issequenced so nicely and the players so committed tothe moment that it doesn’t come off as a respite fromthe rhythm section. It’s just an extension of the duetthat flows in feeling into Fernández outfit with Mazur,
Guy and Kaučič. It just feels right.
The festival was a fitting and much deservedcelebration for one of Europe’s finer jazz labels andthis collection is a fine favor for the rest of us.
Winiarski has issued over 300 titles in his two decadesof operation, with artists from Europe, America andJapan on the roster. The label was also responsible forthe eight-disc Léandre retrospective A Woman’s Work
from 2016 and, prior to that, four Vandermark boxes
and a five-disc set by Guy. Thinking small wouldn’t
seem to be Winiarski’s strong suit and we can only
hope for more extravagances in the future. The set isadvertised as a limited edition, but is still readily
available at a relatively modest price. The one thing
Not Two… but Twenty doesn’t offer is a view inside thecastle, but some secrets must be saved, one supposes,
for those who were actually in attendance.
For more information, nottwo.com

(INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)
freeing, not constricting.
I like genres. Some people don’t believe in themand want to live their life “genre-free”. I have little
interest in that perspective. I’m more like, “What is thegenre?” If we know what genre it is, then we can fill
the container with the right kind of material. In thisproject, Bud Powell is within the genre of bebop. I takebebop very seriously as a genre. I do things to it thatare not pure bebop, but at the same time, I’m aware of
the difference.
Everything “new” is a combination of previous
things. What matters is how well you know eachelement you’re combining. If you’re writing a
supernatural detective story, you need to ask yourself
how well you know the supernatural genre and how
well you know the detective genre. People often know
one side more than the other. That’s always been an
issue in the arts, but here in the postmodern age of the
21st Century, everything’s a click away. It’s all one big
mashup. The question is how well you can control all
the aspects you’re dialing in to the final product.
Sometimes, a college music student will say,
“I don’t want to be labeled. Don’t even call it jazz; it’s
all beyond category.” I get it, but at the same time, any
single phrase you can play on an instrument has aheritage, so what lineage are you in? And if you know
your lineage, you can accept it or work against it.
TNYCJR: Does this influence your selection ofmusicians as well?
EI: I chose the musicians for this project for specificreasons. There’s a core quintet of Americans, plus the
Italian big band. The result is sort of a concerto grosso.
My friend Ben Street plays bass. Ben really believes injazz and plays with so much personality. There aren’t
too many bass players you can hear on a record and
immediately identify, but Ben is one of those.
Drummer Lewis Nash was suggested by Umbria.
I’d heard and admired Lewis my whole life but hadn’t
played with him before. For a big band you need adrummer who lays down the law. You can’t necessarily
go in with a really idiosyncratic force like Paul Motian
or Elvin Jones for a big band. Lewis is a consecrated
bebop master who’s played with the Who’s Who, so he
was a perfect choice.
I’d admired [trumpeter] Ingrid Jensen for years in
the context of Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, so
she was always in the back of my mind as someone I’dchoose if I ever did a big band project. She’s got
connections musically to Kenny Wheeler, who wrote
some of the more durable modern big band music. As
for tenor saxophonist Dayna Stephens, I heard about
him from Ben when in need of a sub for Mark Turner inthe Billy Hart Quartet. Dayna is fast and very creative.
Both Dayna and Ingrid get a few expansive solos inthis project, but they also have solos in which theyneed to tell a story in just a chorus or two, like theoriginal Powell session with Sonny Rollins, Fats
Navarro, Tommy Potter and Roy Haynes.
It was hard for all of us. We all left with a new
appreciation for that genre of pure bebop, where
everybody says their piece in three minutes. It wasa joy to work within those confines.
TNYCJR: What surprised you the most when you first
got together and played?
EI: I knew Lewis was great, but he struck me as very
generous in his playing. He’s a natural accompanist.
I’m not so used to that. I’m used to these people who
push me around—and I want to be pushed around. But
Lewis was like a beautiful jazz couch that you could
just sit on and relax. As for Ingrid and Dayna, I knew
they were virtuosos, but hearing them play thesehigh-level, burning jazz solos confirmed that I’d gotten

the right people. It wasn’t a surprise, exactly, butsometimes you put things together in your mind and it
doesn’t always come out that way in reality. But they
showed up, they kicked ass and it was great.
TNYCJR: What’s next for you?

• Doug Carn—Adam’s Apple (Black Jazz, 1974)• Cindy Blackman—Another Lifetime(Four Quarters Entertainment, 2005)• Wallace Roney—Home (HighNote, 2010)• Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge /Doug Carn—Jazz Is Dead 5 (Jazz is Dead, 2019)

EI: I expect to play quite a bit more solo piano
eventually; that’s been coming along. A current
commission is six formal sonatas for six virtuosos,
which is going great. More formal composition iscertainly in my future. The Billy Hart Quartet continues
and we’re live-streaming at Dizzy’s Club to celebrate
his 80th birthday. There’s also a wonderful singer
named Marcy Harriell who I had a New Year ’s Eve gig
with last year doing music of Burt Bacharach andit was a huge success. Fortunately, there’s plenty to do.
I’m blessed with a pretty sizable list of geniuses whoare somehow willing to work with me.
TNYCJR: What would you most like to see happen injazz that hasn’t happened already—or, for that matter,
hasn’t happened for a long time and should be revived?
EI: Composition is important. Instrumental virtuosity
is important. The blues is really important. AfroCuban
rhythm is important. Romantic harmony is important.
Telling a story is important. When we hear the great
jazz records of the ‘40s, ‘50s and ‘60s, it’s all in a pretty
perfect balance. After John Coltrane passed away,
we’ve had 50 years of great music, but it’s seldom been
the whole package. I believe in inclusivity. There areso many elements of music and if you can get a passing
grade in many of them, you can keep moving it
forward. When I talk about Burt Bacharach in the same
breath as Bud Powell, I don’t see them that differently
in the sense that both are the very highest levelcomposers within their respective genres. v(LEST WE FORGET CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8)
aspirin of the bartender, who readily complied.
Noticing a pistol within the drawer, Winchester told
the bartender of his prior law enforcement work andoffered to show him a trick from the job. Winchester
emptied the revolver of its cartridges, replacing
several. He didn’t expect the chamber to load, but themodel operated differently than his service weapon
and, holding the gun to his temple, fired.
The end came as quickly as had his moment ofcelebrity and Lem Winchester stands eternal on jazz’
walk of shadows. v
Recommended Listening:• Patrolman Lem Winchester—New Faces at Newport(Metro Jazz-Verve, 1958)• Lem Winchester and Ramsey Lewis Trio—
Perform A Tribute to Clifford Brown (Argo, 1958)• Lem Winchester and Benny Golson—
Winchester Special (New Jazz, 1959)• Lem Winchester—Another Opus (Prestige, 1960)• Jack McDuff (with Jimmy Forrest)—
Tough ‘Duff (Prestige, 1960)• Lem Winchester Sextet (featuring Oliver Nelson)—
Lem’s Beat (Prestige New Jazz, 1960)

For more information, visit ethaniverson.com. Iverson livestreams Jan. 29th at smallslive.com.
Recommended Listening:• Ethan Iverson Trio—Deconstruction Zone (Standards) /Construction Zone (Originals)(Fresh Sound-New Talent, 1998)• Billy Hart—Quartet (HighNote, 2005)• Ethan Iverson/Albert “Tootie” Heath/Ben Street—
Live at Smalls (smallsLIVE, 2009)• The Bad Plus—The Rite of Spring (Masterworks, 2013)• Ethan Iverson—The Purity Of The Turf
(Criss Cross, 2016)• Mark Turner/Ethan Iverson—Temporary Kings(ECM, 2017)(ENCORE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8)
Scott’s and as recently as 2019, they sold out concerts
throughout Europe.
“Most bands don’t really play like their records
sound, especially from the postbop era, but I soundlike my records sound, not only that, I’ve got the same
people…with Jean and Michael and Henry Franklin
together, we’re the foundation of that sound. That’ssome powerful stuff!”
Carn is compiling his songbook and while
continuing to compose, he’s looking forward to life
beyond the pandemic. “I’m not the kind of person
that’s going to retire. I’ve got new music coming out
and I’m playing better than ever.” v
For more information, visit jazzisdead.co/doug-carn
Recommended Listening:• Doug Carn—The Doug Carn Trio (Savoy, 1969)• Doug Carn—Infant Eyes (Black Jazz, 1971)

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | JANUARY 2021 31

MISCELLANY
ONbyTHISDAYAndrey Henkin

At Storyville
Lee Konitz (Storyville)
January 5th, 1954

Tributo A Monk
Enrique Villegas (Trova)
January 5th, 1967

Cello Again
Sam Jones (Xanadu)
January 5th, 1976

Alto saxophonist Lee Konitz was

The influence of pianist Thelonious

Sam Jones was one of a small but

only 26 when he played the set at
Boston’s Storyville club that would
become this 10” LP but had alreadyestablished himself under Claude
Thornhill, Stan Kenton, Miles Davisand Lennie Tristano, plus his own
dates as a leader. Four tunes, including
one of the earliest appearances of histheme song “Subconscious Lee”, arewith a band of pianist Ronnie Ball,bassist Percy Heath and drummer Al
Levitt, the former pair occasional
sidemen in the ‘50s but the latterreuniting with Konitz in the mid ‘70s.

Monk was international, even in cities
in which he never performed, such as
Argentine capital Buenos Aires,
where a club was named for him in2002 and, decades earlier, this tribute
was made by pianist Enrique Villegas
and his trio with bassist Jorge López
Ruiz and drummer Eduardo Casalla,
all stalwarts of the South Americancountry’s jazz scene. Only half of thedate is in homage though, a medley of“Bemsha Swing”, “‘Round Midnight”
and “Blue Monk”, Side B standards
and Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas”.

significant coterie of bassists who
doubled on cello, joining peers like
Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown andheirs such as Ron Carter. For this date,
one of nine he made for Xanadu,
SteepleChase and Muse in the ‘70s,
bass duties go to David Williams in aquintet completed by alto saxophonist
Charles McPherson, pianist Barry
Harris and drummer Billy Higgins on
a set of standards, a tune by Higgins
and two Jones tunes, including the apt“In Walked Ray”, which appeared on
Jones’ 1961 Riverside LP The Chant.

Higher Ground
Bill Barron (Joken)
January 5th, 1989

At Maybeck
Richie Beirach (Concord)
January 5th, 1992

saxophonist Bill Barron’s
reputation is hardly commensuratewith a compelling leader discography
from the ‘60s-80s, fruitful partnershipwith trumpeter Ted Curson in the ‘60s
and work with Charles Mingus, Cecil
Taylor, Philly Joe Jones and others,
especially compared with his pianist
younger brother Kenny, who appearson this, the elder Barron’s last album(he died 8 months later at 62). The
pair, Eddie Henderson (trumpet),Rufus Reid (bass) and Ben Riley(drums) play standards, one Kennypiece and three by Bill.

While known for his longstanding

Tenor

partnership with Dave Liebman, afacet of pianist Richie Beirach goingback almost as far is solo performance.
He began recording in this format
back in the mid ‘70s and has released
well over a dozen solo albums sincethe 1977 ECM date Hubris. For the
19th volume of Concord’s Maybeck
Recital Hall series, Beirach plays a
10-song program of almost exclusively
standards, most appearing on hisother albums, closing the concert withthe sole original, the title track fromhis 1979 ECM trio set Elm.

BIRTHDAYS
January 6
January 1†Keith Christie 1931-80†Al McKibbon 1919-2005†Danny Moore 1941-2005†Milt Jackson 1923-99
Barry Altschul b.1943†Helmut Brandt 1931-2001
Adam Larson b.1990
Sonny Greenwich b.1936†Susannah McCorkle 1946-2001
January 7
Chris Potter b.1970†Henry “Red” Allen 1908-67
James Shipp b.1980†Chano Pozo 1915-48†Keg Purnell 1915-65
January 2†Sam Woodyard 1925-88†Nick Fatool 1915-2000†Kenny Davern 1935-2006†Arthur Prysock 1929-97†Eldee Young 1936-2007
Noah Jarrett b.1978

January 11†Wilbur De Paris 1900-73†Tab Smith 1909-71†Bob Enevoldsen 1920-2006†Osie Johnson 1923-66†Cal Massey 1927-72
January 12†Trummy Young 1912-84†Jay McShann 1916-2006†Guy Lafitte 1927-98†Ronald Shannon Jackson
1940-2013
Ernst Bier b.1951
Jane Ira Bloom b.1955
Ivo Perelman b.1961
Ingrid Jensen b.1966
Gene Lake b.1966

January 8†Wendell Culley 1906-83†Bobby Tucker 1923-2007
Bill Goodwin b.1942
Thurman Barker b.1948
Marilyn Mazur b.1955
Dan Tepfer b.1982

January 3†Preston Jackson 1902-83†Herbie Nichols 1919-63†Musa Kaleem 1921-88†Geezil (Harolde) Minerve
1922-92†John Jenkins 1931-93†Motohiko Hino 1946-1999
James Carter b.1969

January 13†Quentin Butter Jackson
1909-76†Otis Johnson 1910-94†Melba Liston 1926-99†Joe Pass 1929-95
Bill Easley b.1946
Eero Koivistoinen b.1946

January 9†Kenny Clarke 1914-85†Jimmy Maxwell 1917-2002†Betty Roche 1920-99†Roger Guerin 1926-2010†Bucky Pizzarelli 1926-2020†Carson Smith 1931-97
Malcolm Cecil b.1937

January 4†Frankie Newton 1906-54†Joe Marsala 1907-78†Slim Gaillard 1916-91†Frank Wess 1922-2013
Al Dreares b.1929
John McLaughlin b.1942
Eugene Chadbourne b.1954
Alex Cline b.1956

January 10†Haywood Henry 1913-94†Buddy Johnson 1915-77†Max Roach 1924-2007†Willie Dennis 1926-65†Allen Eager 1927-2003
Gianluigi Trovesi b.1944
William Parker b.1952
Mike Stern b.1954

January 5†Wild Bill Davison 1906-89†Lennie Hastings 1927-78
Dizzy Reece b.1931
Chuck Flores b.1935
Myra Melford b.1957

January 16†Irving Mills 1884-1985
Aldo Romano b.1941
January 17†Big Sid Catlett 1910-51†George Handy 1920-97†Cedar Walton 1934-2013†Ted Dunbar 1937-98
Billy Harper b.1943
Pheeroan akLaff b.1955
January 18
Don Thompson b.1940
Al Foster b.1944†Steve Grossman 1951-2020
Clark Gayton b.1963
Dominic Lash b.1980
January 19†JR Monterose 1927-93†Horace Parlan 1931-2017†Hod O’Brien 1936-2016
Phil Wilson b.1937†Sam T. Brown 1939-77
Joe Magnarelli b.1960

January 14†Jimmy Crawford 1910-80†Billy Butterfield 1917-88†Joe Muranyi 1928-2012†Kenny Wheeler 1930-2014†Grady Tate 1932-2017

January 20†Jimmy Cobb 1929-2020
Valery Ponomarev b.1943†Chuck Domanico 1944-2002
Andy Sheppard b.1957
Jeff “Tain” Watts b.1960
Tatsuya Nakatani b.1970

January 15†Gene Krupa 1909-73†Artie Shapiro 1916-2003†Bob Maize 1945-2004
Baikida Carroll b.1947

January 21
Steve Potts b.1945
Lou Grassi b.1947
Kevin Norton b.1956
Jason Moran b.1975

January 22†Juan Tizol 1900-84†Teddy McRae 1908-99†JJ Johnson 1924-2001†Teddy Smith 1932-79†Jean-Louis Viale 1933-84
Alan Silva b.1939
Eberhard Weber b.1940
Maarten Altena b.1943
Michal Urbaniak b.1943

January 26†Stephane Grappelli 1908-97†Alice Babs 1924-2014
Dick Nash b.1928
Benny Golson b.1929
Aki Takase b.1948
January 27†Oran “Hot Lips” Page 1908-54
Jimmie Smith b.1938†Bobby Hutcherson 1941-2016

January 23†Benny Waters 1902-98†Django Reinhardt 1910-53†Teddy Napoleon 1914-64†Scoops Carry 1915-70†Ray Abrams 1920-92†Marty Paich 1925-95†Curtis Counce 1926-63†Harold Ousley 1929-2015
Gary Burton b.1943
Andre Hayward b.1973

January 28†Ronnie Scott 1927-96
Buddy Terry b.1941
Bob Moses b.1948
Kent Kessler b.1957
Lorenzo Sanguedolce b.1975
January 29†Arnold Ross 1921-2000†Ed Shaughnessy 1929-2013†Frank Assunto 1932-74†Derek Bailey 1932-2005†Jeff Clyne 1937-2010†Jeanne Lee 1939-2000

January 24†Avery Parrish 1917-59†Jimmy Forrest 1920-80†Joe Albany 1924-88
Lenny McBrowne b.1933†Bobby Scott 1937-90†Julius Hemphill 1938-95
Marcus Printup b.1967
Duane Eubanks b.1969
January 25†Wellman Braud 1891-1966†Truck Parham 1913-2002†Floyd Smith 1917-82†Barbara Carroll 1925-2017†Antonio Carlos Jobim 1927-95
Alexis Cuadrado b.1971

January 30†Roy Eldridge 1911-89†Bernie Leighton 1921-94†Ahmed Abdul Malik 1927-93†Tubby Hayes 1935-73†Tony Levin 1940-2011
Ralph Lalama b.1951
January 31†Bobby Hackett 1915-76
Garnett Brown b.1936
Frank Ricotti b.1949
Per Zanussi b.1977

JAMES CARTER

January 3rd, 1969
James Carter’s website has
the subtitle “Saxophone
Virtuoso”. While this is a bitof healthy braggadocio, in
Carter’s case the overused
term is an accurate one. He
has demonstrated that he canplay pretty much anything at
an astonishing level since his
first credits in the mid ‘80s,
whether as part of The Tough
Young Tenors; in the bandsof Julius Hemphill, Lester
Bowie, Frank Lowe, Ronald
ShannonJacksonandHamiet Bluiett; guestingwith the Art Ensemble ofChicago, Jazz at Lincoln
Center Orchestra, his cousin
Regina Carter, Ginger Baker,
Kathleen Battle and Cesaria
Evora; as a late-period
member of World Saxophone
Quartet; or on his own
albums for DIW, Atlantic,
Columbia, Warner Bros.,
Half Note and EmArcy. (AH)

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By Andrey Henkin 			21

ACROSS

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33

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35

36. Dave Brubeck was charged with being this during
World War II
37. Estonian trumpeter Priit
38. Bassist from a city in Indiana?
39. Bassist from a city in Texas?

1. Bassist from a city in Vermont?
6. Bassist from a city in Connecticut?
10. 1968-69 Duke Pearson Blue Note album ____ Care
Who Knows It
11. With Out, Adam Kolker tune that needs to make up
DOWN
its mind
12. Late ‘30s British clarinetist Jack
1. Swing Era big band leader Henry
13. With The, 2007 Joe Fiedler Clean Feed album
2. Bassist from a city in Texas?
14. South African pianist Nxumalo to his friends
3. Like many a touring musician
15. Australian trumpeter Malet
4. RareNoise Records catalogue prefix
18. You’ll need this airport code to see the Rivers Cities
5. Endless 1975 Alice Coltrane Warner Bros. album
Jazz Band
6. 1956 Cal Tjader Fantasy album Latin ____
19. Label releasing tapes by Grid, Subtle Degrees and7. He was somewhat responsible for the Atomic Basie
Battle Trance
album cover
20. Curr. needed when visting Melissa Aldana’s birthplace 8. Vocalist Fort, singer to pianist Anat
23. Vocalist produced by Pat Metheny9. Instr. of 13 Across
24. Albare band with George Garzone, Antonio Sanchez
16. Italian pianist Enricoand others
17. Label co-founded by John Jack and Mike Westbrook
25. Abeat Records Quartettin 1973
26. Innerhythmic Records catalogue prefix
21. Bassist from a city in Nebraska?
27. Anthony Braxton ____-Centric Foundation
22. Kari Ikonen wrote a tune for this Chernobyl
28. At the heart of drummer Prieto?
disaster city
29. Noble trumpeter Ernie
30. 1975 Leroy Jenkins JCOA album For Players ____
31. Jazz cruise co.
32. St. Louis equivalent of AACM
32. Pianist Jean-Philippe with a single LP on Futura
33. Musicians could use this prog. during the pandemic
34. Given name of AACM reedplayer Wallace McMillan
35. Monaco’s Cap D’____ Jazz Festival

visit nycjazzrecord.com for answers

32 JANUARY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD