MAY 2021—ISSUE 229

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FELDMANSOUNDING POINTSCAROLSUDHALTER

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SHIM

MIKE
WESTBROOKGEORGEOTSUKAManaging Editor:
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MAY 2021—ISSUE 229
ON THE COVER : MARK FELDMAN

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NEW YORK@NIGHT

Andrey Henkin:ahenkin@nycjazzrecord.com

INTERVIEW : CAROL SUDHALTER

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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, Anders Griffen, 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, Brian Charette, Michael Cobb,
Jordannah Elizabeth, Pierre Giroux,
George Kanzler, Steven Loewy,
Francesco Martinelli, Monique Ngozi Nri
Contributing Photographers
Doerte Fitschen-Rath, Dave Green,
Tom Greenland, Jimmy Katz
Gus Philippas, Luciano RossettiFact-checker
Nate Dorward

ARTIST FEATURE : MARK SHIMENCORE : MIKE WESTBROOKLEST WE FORGET : GEORGE OTSUKALABEL SPOTLIGHT : CADILLAC
VOXNEWS
OBITUARIESALBUM REVIEWSMISCELLANY

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by michael cobb

by jim motavalli
by george grellaby francesco martinelliby alex henderson
by mark keresman
by suzanne lorge
by andrey henkin

May is special around the Jazz Record office. It is our birthday month, another chance,
after our January Best Of issue, to reflect on the year that has passed. But, to belabor a
point that has been made endlessly, the past year has had little to celebrate. With thisissue, we have now published 14 digital-only editions; what was first a stop-gap measurehas become the norm, just like leaving the house without a mask seems like a dream.
Things seem to be improving: vaccines are available; the weather is warming up,
allowing for shows to take place outside; NYC regulations have been relaxed and someclubs are reopening...as gently as a flower opening for the first time of the season. But—
and this is a Sir Mix-a-Lot-sized but—this is not the time to stop being vigilant, lest we
end up right back where we were a year ago, a terrifying thought.
Most of our features and CD Reviews are reflective of the current state of semi-lockdown:
violinist Mark Feldman (On The Cover), saxophonist Mark Shim (Artist Feature) bothhave live-streaming events this month. So too does saxophonist/flutist Carol Sudhalter(Interview) but she also performs en plein-air. There are numerous concerts scheduled
at various parks throughout the city, so dust yourself off and go support musicians who
have missed audiences as much as audiences have missed them.

nycjazzrecord.com
On The Cover: Mark Feldman (photo by Luciano Rossetti)
All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission strictly prohibited. All material copyrights property of the authors.

2 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

ON THE COVER

by michael cobb

V iolinist Mark Feldman, born and soon to be based

again in Chicago, has worked with some of the biggest
names in jazz: John Zorn, John Abercrombie, Marc
Ribot, Bill Frisell, Dave Douglas, Billy Hart, Lee Konitz,
Pharoah Sanders and many others. He has also
recorded and performed with musicians outside ofjazz including country artists Loretta Lynn, Ray Price,
Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash and indie-pop rockers
They Might Be Giants.
Feldman recently released a solo album, Sounding
Point (Intakt), overdubbing himself for a multi-layered
string experience. The album opens with thecomposition “As We Are” written by Swiss pianist andcollaborator Sylvie Courvoisier. In this first trackalone, the listener immediately hears Feldman’s wideranging vocabulary. With seemingly effortless skill,
he astonishingly flits between glissandi and vigorous
snap pizzicati that at times bring to mind the music of
Béla Bartók. About three-quarters of the way through,Feldman lets loose a cascade of notes veering into freejazz and finishes with his bow stroking long, slightly
atonal chords. It’s stunning stuff that demands carefulconsideration.
Regarding the choice to cover Courvoisier ’s piece,
Feldman says, “We were partners for a long time.
I knew the tune from her last record and I heard herpractice it a lot. I didn’t even question my choice, I justthought it sounded good and decided to do it.”Sounding Point includes another cover, Ornette
Coleman’s “Peace Warriors”. “The head is multitracked and the middle section has shout choruses, but
it’s still a solo violin performance,” he explains.
Feldman has been playing the tune since the ‘90s in aband that included trumpeter Douglas and bassist
Ratzo Harris. “Ornette played violin in addition to
trumpet and alto saxophone. I heard John Zorn do it on
his album Naked City. So it was always a tune I liked.
When I was doing this record, it just popped into myhead. I imagined it with a big band approach withshout choruses and parallel harmonies, but all withviolins using a multi-track,” he says.
The album was recorded at Feldman’s home in
Brooklyn, New York, which he calls Studio Lulu.
“Basically, I put curtains over the doors and windows
and I hired somebody to be the engineer, so that
I didn’t have to think about all the technical things.
I recorded it onto a laptop to Pro Tools,” he explains.
Having recorded at his house before, Feldman has
figured out the resonant corners of his apartment.
Once satisfied with the tracks, he sent the files to Ryan
Streber at Oktaven audiO, who balanced and mastered
the sound. “There wasn’t even any mixing per se,” hesays. About working at Studio Lulu, Feldman says,“It’s easier to focus and not be under the pressure of
the clock ticking. I don’t need isolation or headphones
and I already know which room my violin sounds
good in.”
As to what inspired him to do this project, Feldman
knew he was leaving New York, which he says gave
him the energy to get it done. He also got a push fromabroad. “Patrik Landolt, who runs Intakt Records in

Switzerland, had heard my solo work before and asked
me to do another solo record. Once the pandemic hit,
we revisited the idea. It was the perfect time,” herecounts.
Reflecting on his career and the evolution of his
style, Feldman says, “I always wanted to be a creative
musician, but I worked as a studio musician to support
myself. As soon as you tell people you’ve played withsomeone, they read into it. For me, I was using it as away to move forward with my life and pay bills. But ofcourse, there are some things that carry back andforth.” In terms of the role of the violin and its
connection to jazz and popular music, Feldman says,“For me the real continuation comes out of [Polishviolinist] Zbigniew Seifert. He was probably the mostsignificant jazz violinist for me. Content-wise, his
playing drew heavily from the pentatonic period ofJohn Coltrane and Eastern European classical musicwith a very masculine sound, maybe like Bartók.
I copied him a lot until around 1998 and then I shiftedaway from it when I realized I was copying.”
For Feldman, developing a signature sound issomething that evolved naturally and without too
much forethought: “I did it by not thinking about it. To
me it’s like when you pick up the phone and speak to
a friend. You know how his voice is. I never tried todevelop any sound. I just believe that the sound of
a musician is a natural thing. It certainly is for singers.
You listen to a singer and think ‘He was born withthat.’ I look at it the same way, like a singer. That’s
what I’ve got.”Thinking on his many collaborations over theyears, Feldman is enthusiastic. “I worked with a lot ofgreat people. For ten years I played in a quartet withthe late guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist Marc
Johnson and drummer Joey Baron. I did five ECM
records and lots of European and American tours. I
played in drummer Billy Hart’s quartet for about three
years in the ‘90s, which was an extended association
with saxophonist John Stubblefield, pianist Dave
Kikoski, bassist Santi Debriano and guitarist DaveFiuczynski. I did four nights at Jazz at Lincoln Centerwith Paul Bley and another duo at Lincoln Center with
Muhal Richard Abrams, which were both cool. I dida lot of work with my partner Sylvie Courvoisier anda ton of work with John Zorn in his different groups.
I played in Bar Kokhba, a larger group with guitarist
Marc Ribot, Joey Baron and Brazilian percussionist
Cyro Baptista. We traveled a lot,” he recalls.
Feldman did soundtracks and hundreds of CDs in
New York as a sideman. In 2005 he recorded his own
album What Exit for ECM with the late British pianist
John Taylor, Swedish bass player Anders Jormin and
New York drummer Tom Rainey. He also worked withsaxophonist Michael Brecker on his second-to-lastrecord, recorded and toured with saxophonist
Chris Potter. Feldman even worked with percussionist
Trilok Gurtu for a while, who played with John
McLaughlin and Miles Davis. “Those are a few
highlights,” he recounts.
What’s been the key to success? “Mostly, I respondto what’s going on and not second guess stuff. I just go
for it. I always felt like I was the same person; I nevertried to disguise who I was. Whenever I did that, it
always had the worst outcome. I figure if someone
calls me, they want me to be me. It’s their responsibility
to know what I can do. The more I believed in that, themore successful I was,” Feldman says.
When composing music, Feldman uses several
different processes. “I usually have the blank pagecrisis for one or two days. Then you get to a certain
point where you push the rock up the hill and then it
starts rolling down the hill. And you think, ‘OK, thisthing is now riding itself.’ Another way is that you juststart writing as much as possible without caring about
the content or the quality. It’s like poetry magnets.
I compose like that. I write tons of shit. I don’t carewhat it is. It’s more about just getting stuff on paper.
And then I remove stuff after that initial dump. I lookat it like a sculpture process,” he says.
Technologically speaking, Feldman prefers
simplicity. “I’m an old guy and had already beenworking before all this modern technology. WhenI was getting started, people had four-track cassette
decks and then sequencers came later. Now I use
Sibelius and Pro Tools. I usually write in pen andpaper and try to remove things. What’s left whenI remove things is the piece. When I do additive stuff,
I use pen and paper and then enter it into Sibelius andthen play it back on the sequencer, which you canmanipulate from there,” he explains.
For most musicians, who earn their living fromlive performances, the pandemic has been hugely
disruptive. For Feldman, it has also been challenging
with public performances canceled worldwide.
“My last gig was last March [2020] in Belgium andI haven’t engaged in anything since then. But I am
doing a solo virtual concert at the Soapbox Gallery in
Brooklyn, which is a gallery and performance space.
They have a good series on jazz and improvisation
during the week,” he says.
Thinking about the future, Feldman sounds
cautiously optimistic and says, “At the end of May I’m
moving to Chicago and am hoping that maybe I’ll startsome musical things with the people that live there.
I have a whole month of gigs in Belgium next year.
Right now that’s about all. I’m not as busy as I used tobe. But musicians never really retire, do they?” v
For more information, visit markfeldmanviolin.com.
Feldman live-streams solo May 12th at soapboxgallery.org.
Recommended Listening:• Mark Dresser/Mark Feldman/Hank Roberts—
Arcado (JMT-Winter&Winter, 1989)• Dave Douglas—Five (Soul Note, 1995)• Masada String Trio—John Zorn 50th Birthday
Celebration, Vol. 1 (Tzadik, 2003)• Mark Feldman—What Exit (ECM, 2005)• Bar Kokhba Sextet—Lucifer: The Book of Angels,Vol. 10 (Tzadik, 2007)• Mark Feldman—Sounding Point (Intakt, 2020)

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 3

LUCIANO ROSSETTIMARKFELDMANSOUNDING POINTSNEW YORK @ NIGHT
Who says jazz has to be the exclusive preserve of Capping the first conference day of the Louis

Armstrong International Continuum (Apr. 8th) was theJames Zollar Quartet with guest Brianna Thomas,
followed by Stefon Harris & Blackout. Thomas has
shown considerable growth since her days starting
out—she’s more confident now and has a stronger
stage presence along with more powerful vocals. Her
phrasing on “Drop Me Off in Harlem” was matched by
Zollar ’s articulate playing and deft plunger work.
“Dream a Little Dream of Me” was enhanced by acreative backbeat from bassist Peter Washington andsolid drummer Sean Mason. When it comes tovibraphone/marimba playing, Harris is unendingly
dynamic and innovative. His group, with a long
history, was cohesive and in the pocket. “Dat Dere”
was an homage to drummer Art Blakey, elevating thetune to modern sensibilities with inventive turns.
Pianist Keith Brown delivered a lush, classicallyinfluenced solo intro to a Bobby Hutcherson tune while
the solo intro by bassist Ben Williams to Harris original“Chasin Kindall” was also noteworthy. A new take on
the classic “What a Wonderful World”, while brightly
innovative musically, transformed the vocals into adisappointing R&B art song, sung by Casey Benjamin,
who far excels in ability on saxophone and vocoder.
Drummer Terreon Gully proved a steady force
throughout. The encore, “Do You Know What It Meansto Miss New Orleans”, Zollar and Thomas returning,
was a fitting, traditional ending.
—Marilyn Lester

Daniel Carter @ Prospect Park

James Zollar

TOM GREENLAND

cognoscenti huddled over small tables in crowded,
dimly lit nightclubs? As multi-instrumentalist Daniel
Carter proved on a recent afternoon (Apr. 15th) in
Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, jazz can speak to the‘incognoscenti’ too: those folks—out jogging or biking
around the belt road, practicing jujitsu, walking theirdogs, barbecuing or whatever—weren’t even paying
attention to the music until the improvised vibrations
sweetly but surely permeated their psyches. Joining
Carter on a small patch of turf adjacent to the park’s
bandshell were Roshni Samlal (tablas) and Dan Kurfirst(drums), who set up between them a lilting rhythmic
bed of steady eighth-notes (and triplets at one point)
over which Carter floated placid but pungent themes(or near-themes), hoisting a new horn for each new
episode, first flute, then muted trumpet and saxophones(tenor, soprano and alto). There was a small battery
amp to boost the tablas, but the overall volume
remained soft and subdued, merging with the shouts
and laughter of children playing on the nearby slides
and swings. Some of these small humans, unsure what
to make of Carter ’s shiny brass instruments, milledcloser as he played, transfixed by the curious tones.
There was some rain earlier and it looked like more
was on the way, but perhaps the weather gods too werelistening as the music lofted into the overcast skies,
because they stayed the waterworks just a bit longer,
not wanting to break the mood.
—Tom Greenland

Brooklyn’s sixth annual BRIC JazzFest (Apr. 8th-10th) The phrase is worn out but the sentiment is nonethelessreflected the events of this remarkable year: COVID
kept everyone home, watching the live-stream
performances (three per night) as the artists played toan essentially empty house. The program, inspired by
the Black Lives Matter movement, was comprised of(mostly) local artists and between-act film clips
endorsing racial justice. Many of the headliners—
Nikara Warren’s Black Wall Street, Phony Ppl and Roy
Ayers on the first night; Justin Hicks, Keyon Harrold
and Michelle Ndegeocello on the second; MAE.SUN(aka Hailey Niswanger), Van Hunt and Nate Smith on
the third—mixed jazz with neo-soul, funk, hip-hop,
reggae, even metal and other influences in novel, hardto-categorize hybrids. Pianist Robert Glasper, wearing
a “Hate Has Been Cancelled” knit cap, accompanied bybassist Vicente Archer, drummer Marcus Gilmore andDJ Jahi Sundance, provided a powerful finale for thefestival, opening with a cover of Radiohead’s “Packt
Like Sardines in a Crushd Tin Box”, crooning the lyrics
over a smooth, Rhodes piano-driven jam, later adding
voice-over from a Martin Luther King speech. The next
piece could have been “Stella by Starlight”, but if itwas, the pianist’s unique interpretation made it into
something else altogether. A hymn-like number,overlain with samples from just-passed DMX’
“Prayer”, preceded “Better Than I Imagine”, a minor
ballad over a four-chord vamp, a soft landing after the
rigorous improvisation earlier in the set.
(TG)

4 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

true: Fred Hersch is a force of nature. The 15-time
Grammy nominee is a pianist with a seemingly
unending supply of off-the-charts creativity. In Jazz
Standard’s virtual The Flip Side Sessions, Hersch’s Triowith bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jochen Rueckert(Apr. 2nd) presented a stellar program of standards
and originals, all highly engaging, without a lost
moment within them. Immediately revealed at thehead of the session was the maestro’s vividly articulate
and expressive style, which he makes seem as natural
as waving hello. Hersch is powerfully in touch with hiscraft, producing a rich tone deeply rooted in a pianistic
terra firma. So tuned in is he that mood and emotion isimmediately conveyed. “Wichita Lineman” and “I’ll Be
Seeing You”, for instance, were achingly emotive even
without the lyrics. “A Cockeyed Optimist” not only
required Gress to keep up with the fast tempo, but also
revealed Hersch’s brilliance in arranging. The former
did much heavy lifting throughout the program,excelling in demanding solos. An original number,“Snape Maltings”, named after an English village thatinspired him and also J.K. Rowling, was cleverly
whimsical; it was no doubt last heard in the halls of
Hogwarts School. Hersch’s “Sad Poet”, dedicated to
Antônio Carlos Jobim, featured extraordinary rhythmic
countermelodies played virtuosically by Gress andRueckert within a dramatically accelerating arc of
meditation to exuberance.
(ML)A sunny Easter Sunday afternoon (Apr. 4th) brought Like so many of we night people drawn outward asout a crowd of jazz fans and interested passersby to thesouth end of Central Park’s Literary Walk for the first
concert of the spring edition of Giant Step Arts/Keyed
UP!’s “Walk With The Wind” series of free performances
dedicated to late congressman John Lewis. Assembled
in front of the William Shakespeare statue, the Wayne
Escoffery-Jeremy Pelt Quartet kicked things off with
an urgently swinging rendition of Sonny Rollins’ “EastBroadway Rundown”. It began with the horns
harmonizing the jarring melody over the walking bassof Dezron Douglas and crackling drums of Johnathan
Blake before Escoffery took off spinning out long fluid
tenor lines. Pelt was up next, blowing a brassy-toned
boppish solo, after which Douglas took a turn before
the horns returned, trading fours and eights with
Blake, then racing to an exciting conclusion. The music
continued with a relaxed take on Joe Henderson’s“Punjab”, which, at times, found the quartet in an
Ornette Coleman-ish groove. That persisted with
Kenny Dorham’s “Short Story”, building to a wildly
swinging climax. The mood calmed with a dreamy
performance of Lerner-Loewe ballad “If Ever I Would
Leave You”, tagged with a terse reprise of the “EastBroadway Rundown” theme. After a short break theband was back for a second set of favorites like Wayne
Shorter ’s “United”, Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha
Swing” and Dizzy Gillespie’s “Con Alma”, closingwith Kenny Barron’s fiery “Voyage”.
—Russ Musto

evening becomes encased in the darkling, vocalist
Andrea Wolper and her trio—bassist Ken Filiano andpianist John DiMartino—struggled through thestillness of lock-down. Their live-stream at Soapbox
Gallery (Apr. 6th) opened with “You and the Night andMusic” in celebration of both the artform and, at least
it seemed to this reviewer, the loosening of restrictions
in our city. A lilting sort of modal jazz strained throughthe Dietz-Schwartz classic, open, ringing piano chords
sending the vocal melody into melisma. “Music is oneof the things that has kept us going,” Wolper explained,
only slightly breathlessly after the sounding of thisnot-so-standard. The singer, a veteran who ranges
from the wholly improvised to contemporary classical,
has often worked with Filiano, a bassist unlike mostany other. His conflation of Charles Mingus, Jimmie
Blanton and Scott La Faro has only been described asa gift to those in his airspace, evident as Wolper
launched into Carole King’s “Been to Canaan”, rich,dominant basslines leaping over and through the tune
against icy passing piano tones and chord fragments.
Other works included one of 6/4-meter with repetitive
melodic figures over dramatically shifting harmonies,
the lyrics born of an article in The New York Times.
And then there was Richard Rodgers’ “SomethingGood”, reimagined with solo arco bass leading into
Wolper ’s dark-throated vocal improvisation, surely
speaking of the night itself.
—John Pietaro

W H AT ’ S N E W S
The Robert D. Bielecki Foundation has announced its latest grant recipients:
Ingrid Laubrock; Sun Ra House Repair Fund; Bang on a Can; Yarn / Wire; LouthContemporary Music Society and Birdland. For more information, visit
rdbf.org/2021-recipients.
This month marks the 30th Anniversary of venerable/vital institution Downtown
Music Gallery, founded by Bruce Gallanter. Visit downtownmusicgallery.com
for various celebrations.
Award-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant has entered into partnerships
with Salter House, which will offer her drawing festooned on bathrobes anddining linens, and Picture Room, which will sell her original artwork. For more
information, visit salter.house and pictureroom.shop.
Among the recent Academy Award winners was Jon Batiste/Trent Reznor/
Atticus Ross for their score to Disney’s Soul, one of 35 accolades the film hasreceived for its music.
Harlem Stage’s 2021 Gala, “Art and Activism”, will take place virtually May 21stat 8 pm and include performances by Vijay Iyer, José James, Elena Pinderhughes
and others. For more information, visit harlemstage.org/gala2021.
Lincoln Center presents Restart Stages, starting May 10th, an outdoor
performing arts center constructed on the Lincoln Center campus withnumerous events throughout the month, including Eddie Palmieri, Pauline Jeanand Godwin Louis, Red Baraat and more. For more information, visit
RestartStages.org.
Among the latest recipients of Guggenheim Fellowships are Rez Abbasi,
Miya Masaoka, Helen Sung and Elio Villafranca. For more information, visit
gf.org/announcement-2021.
In celebration of its 20th Anniversary, Vancouver-based Cellar Live Records hasannounced a series of initiatives: a collaboration with trumpeter Jeremy Pelt toraise funds for three albums led by Black artists; a partnership with The SmallsLIVE
Foundation, releasing recorded specially commissioned works; and 15 albums
from a variety of roster artists. For more information, visit cellarlive.com.
A celebration of the recently published William Parker biography by Cisco
Bradley, Universal Tonality — The Life and Music of William Parker (Duke
University Press), will take place virtually on May 15th. For more information,
visit howlandculturalcentertix.com.

JIMMY KATZ GIANT STEP ARTS

The 2021 Jazz Journalists Association Jazz Awards nominees have beenannounced in 47 categories of jazz and jazz media (this gazette for Print
Periodical/Website of the Year). In addition, the latest class of Jazz Heroes has
also been named, with local honorees being Gail Boyd and Louise Rogers. For
more information, visit jjajazzawards.org.
Initiating Impulse! Records’ 60th Anniversary celebration is the release ofMusic, Message and the Moment, a four-LP boxed set with tracks by John
Coltrane, Quincy Jones, Charles Mingus, Oliver Nelson, Pharoah Sanders,Archie Shepp and other Impulse artists plus liner notes by Greg Tate and A.B.
Spellman as well as an audiophile reissue series beginning with Ray Charles’
Genius + Soul = Jazz and Gil Evans Orchestra’s Out of the Cool. For more
information, visit impulserecords.com.
Edition Records and bassist Dave Holland’s Dare2 label have partnered, withthe first fruit released on May 28th, Another Land with guitarist Kevin Eubanks
and drummer Obed Calvaire. For more information, visit editionrecords.com.
Escoffery/Douglas/Blake/Pelt @ Central Park

Andrea Wolper & Ken Filiano @ Soapbox Gallery

Chilly temperatures and blustery winds drove the Single-handedly, Zeena Parkins cultivated untouched
crowd for Brooklyn Rooftop Jazz Series’ Friday night(Apr. 9th) performance by the Philip Harper Quintet
indoors to the well-appointed 14 B Lounge at its Sunset
Park waterfront warehouse site. Trumpeter Harperand tenor saxophonist Jonathan Beshay in the frontline,
backed by the rhythm section of keyboard player Miki
Yamanaka, bassist Dishan Harper and drummer Curtis
Nowasad, got things off to a rousing start with ahardbopping version of Sonny Clark’s Cool Struttin’classic “Blue Minor”. It concluded with a climactic
series of fiery horn exchanges with drums, recallingthe sound and spirit of the leader ’s youthful tenurewith Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. Harper
revealed himself to be a skillfully swinging vocalist on
a hip arrangement of “The Lamp Is Low”, which had
him singing the song’s lyric over the bassline of “Seven
Steps To Heaven” before picking up his horn to solowith bristling fire, setting the pace for similarly
swinging statements from the other members of theband. Beshay was in the spotlight on the set’s balladfeature, a stirring rendition of Hoagy Carmichael’s“Stardust”, on which the saxophonist exhibited an
impressive tonal range, playing with a warm soothingsound in the middle register and a searing altissimo
cry up top. Harper ’s trumpet and vocal were back up
front on Ronnell Bright’s cheery “Sweet Pumpkin”
before he ended the set featuring nephew Dishan on
Paul Chambers’ “Ease It”. 		
(RM)

sonic ground to bring the harp, once almost completely
coveted by the symphony and folksong, into newmusic. Since moving to New York in 1984, she’s used
the full-scale acoustic harp and singularly designed
electric harps with a first-line Downtown cadre andthen some: Braxton, Zorn, Ono, Oliveros, Morris, No
Safety, Rzewski, Skeleton Crew and the Jasper Johns
Dance Company, among many. No surprise, Parkins’
recent live-stream at Roulette (Apr. 8th) offered two
sets of vastly different sound palettes. Set one, a duowith vocalist Megan Schubert, focused on soundexploration with Parkins on an electric instrument andeffects. “EK Stasis” was inspired by late Bay Area artist
Jay DeFeo, a contemporary and comrade of the Beats,
whose creative boundlessness was felt throughout theevening. Schubert’s wide, drone-like vocalizations,croaks and coos often matched Parkins’ textures,
adding harmonies and echoes. Following this, Green
Dome, Parkins’ spectacular trio with drummer Ryan
Sawyer and pianist Ryan Ross Smith, performed “Lace,
Movement IV”. Starting pensively, the piece progressed
as Parkins, on acoustic harp (at points bowed), dropped
biting chords with Ross as sticks danced over cymbals.
Colors shimmered with timelessness as repetitions
phased in and out of sync, Parkins’ rapid 16th notes
and Sawyer ’s almost tacit tom-tom play tore into a tooshort collective improvisation with Ross. The threecarved reams and reams of interwoven sound.
(JP)

Noted music writer Ted Gioia has announced the launch of a subscription
newsletter, Culture Notes of an Honest Broker, via the Substack platform,
described as a “trustworthy guide to music, books, and culture—with a mix of
longform essays, reviews, commentary, links, observations, and amusements.”
For more information, visit tedgioia.substack.com.
The 2021 Jazz Congress, presented in partnership by Jazz at Lincoln Center
and JazzTimes, will take place virtually May 17th-20th. For more informationand to register, visit jazzcongress.org.
Park Avenue Armory will present Jason Moran and Laurie Anderson in four
“improvisational sonic meditations dedicated to the city of New York” titled Partyin the Bardo, taking place in the Armory’s expansive Wade Thompson Drill Hall
May 5th-9th. For more information, visit armoryonpark.org.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s new semester of Swing University has begun,
offering virtual classes on John Coltrane, Jazz 101, Wes Montgomery, Louis
Armstrong, Iconic Jazz Pianists, Ornette Coleman, Roots and Rhythms of Latin
Jazz, Ella Fitzgerald, Great Arrangers of Jazz and The Rise of Jazz-RockFusion. For more information and to register, visit 2021.jazz.org/swing-u.
Various Award News: 2021 Recipients of the Instant Award in ImprovisedMusic are Henry Threadgill and the recently departed Milford Graves. Music Fromand Inspired By Soul by Jon Batiste (Walt Disney Records) won Outstanding Jazz
Album - Instrumental at the NAACP Image Awards. The 10th European Jazz
Network Award for Adventurous Programming went to Jazzfest Berlin. New
Music USA Creator Development Fund Grant Recipients include Ava Mendoza,
Christopher Tordini, David Leon, Helen Sung, Hery Paz, Jean Carla Rodea,
Kavita Shah, Luke Stewart, Melanie Dyer, Richie Goods and Tomeka Reid.
Registration is open for Make Music New York, taking place on Jun. 21st for
free throughout the city’s public spaces. For more information, visit
makemusicny.org/register.
South Arts is now accepting applications for its Jazz Road Creative Residencies
Grants of up to $40,000 through Jul. 1st. For more information, visit southarts.org.
Blank Forms and Grimm Artisanal Ales have announced a collaborative seriesof “avant-ales” launching in early April, beginning with Blank Beer, a rotating
aleatoric lager available exclusively at Blank Forms events and the Grimm
brewery in East Williamsburg.
Submit news to ahenkin@nycjazzrecord.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 5

PHOTO BY GUS PHILIPPAS / COURTESY OF THE ARTISTINTERVIEWCAROL

SUDHALTER
by jim motavalli
W hen baritone saxophonist/flutist Carol Sudhalter arrived

in New York from her native Boston circa 1978, she settled
in Queens, which could boast of being homebase for Louis
Armstrong and numerous other jazz musicians. Sudhalter
formed the Astoria Big Band in 1986 and has kept the group
going ever since. The group, with original arrangements bysome top names, has gotten more than 20 grants from the
Queens Council on the Arts and the New York City
Department of Cultural Affairs. Sudhalter also leads themonthly Louis Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jam at Flushing
Town Hall; it’s virtual now, but should be back in the hallsoon. Other Sudhalter cultural contributions to her adopted
home include founding the Athens Square Park Jazz
Mondays, the Astoria/LIC Waterfront Jazz Festival and theSunset Jazz Concerts at Ralph DeMarco Park.
The New York City Jazz Record: How did you get
started on baritone?
Carol Sudhalter: Great question. I started late with the
saxophones, originally on tenor. My father was an alto
player, a great alto player, and I acquired his alto when
he died. So I was playing that. Somehow I beganlistening to baritone and just became very enchantedwith the sound of it. I found that it brought out myfemale energy, whereas the tenor brought out my maleenergy. I know that doesn’t make sense to anyone but
that’s the way I felt it.
TNYCJR: Two different schools of the baritone are theplaying of Gerry Mulligan on the cool side and Pepper
Adams or Gary Smulyan with hardbop on the hot side.
Would it be fair to say your playing is somewhere in
between those two poles?
CS: I would align myself instead with Harry Carney[from the Duke Ellington Orchestra], at least a little bit.
I’m into the baritone as a very lyrical instrument.
I adore Pepper Adams and all the people you justmentioned, plus Leo Parker and Cecil Payne. Maybe
Harry Carney and Leo Parker when they play ballads,
that’s my model. I go for the really rich colors and low
notes.
TNYCJR: So you’re originally from Boston? Was that agood place to grow up for someone who wanted toplay jazz?
CS: I’m from Newton. I think it was great. My brother[Dick Sudhalter, a jazz trumpeter, journalist andauthor] and my father [alto saxophonist Al Sudhalter]
both played in clubs around Boston. My father played
at the Statler Hilton with Eddy Duchin, my brother at
Jazz Village. What I grew up hearing was traditional,
Dixieland-type jazz. It was the thrust of my family’slistening.
TNYCJR: When you moved from Boston to New York,
did that open up your opportunities?

CS: Definitely. I felt immediately that this was theplace for me to be. The pool of musicians is endless.
And actually about a year after I got here, since I wasdoing club dates, I thought I could select the venues
better if I started my own booking agency. The businessprovided jazz trios and so forth for birthdays andanniversaries and it meant I didn’t have to play in a lotof loud wedding bands. I’d get these special requests
and I really enjoyed filling them: a bassoonist ora bagpiper to play in the lobby of a building. All thesedifferent things. The music might be a mix of jazz,
Latin, classical. It was wonderful, but I don’t do it
anymore.
TNYCJR: It sounds like you’ve been pretty good at
putting things together so you didn’t have to have a
day job.
CS: That’s right, though I did have a day job when
I moved here to join Latin Fever, which was the first
all-female Latin band. The band didn’t have all thatmuch work, though we did play at Madison Square
Garden. So I got a job as a medical transcriptionist.
I was very good at taking dictation. That kept megoing, but gradually I acquired a nice pool of students.
I really, really like private teaching. So yes, I figuredout ways to make a living. I had originally thought
I might become an entomologist, because I was very
inspired by Rachel Carson and Silent Spring andI studied to be a science writer. I worked briefly for the
USDA in Washington, but it didn’t work out. I wasstarting to take music more and more seriously. My
poor father saved all his life to send me to this veryrefined school, Smith College, so I’d become anythingother than a musician. I felt so guilty.
TNYCJR: But he was a musician himself.
CS: He was a great alto sax player, but he was very
cynical about the music world. He thought it was justnot nice and especially not nice for women. WhenI announced in my last year of college that I was going
to become a musician and not a science writer, he tried
everything to discourage me. He was very disappointed.
He wanted me to get married and get a nice job writing
about science. I was taking classes in Third Stream
music at New England Conservatory and he finallyconsented, after a big argument, to come to one of myconcerts. He had tears in his eyes, praised me and said
it was a beautiful event. He died soon after that.
TNYCJR: Did anyone besides your dad try to
discourage you from playing saxophone because youwere female?
CS: Oh yes. I started on saxophones when I was 32.
My first boyfriend, a trumpet player, said to me when
I picked up the tenor, “You really should look at why
you picked this instrument. You should look at your

6 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

motives. Why would you pick a man’s instrument?”
A few years later, when I moved to New York, he was
the first one to support me. He totally turned aroundand got me into a band in Harlem as lead alto. What
were very sexist attitudes in the ‘60s and ‘70s wasstarting to turn around by the ‘80s.
TNYCJR: Claire Daly is another woman who plays the
baritone.
CS: She’s quite a well-known baritone player and very,
very good. There are many in the succeeding generations,like Lauren Sevian, some incredible players.
				(CONTINUED ON PAGE 23)

DOERTE FITSCHEN-RATH / STUDIO DF 6

ARTIST FEATU RE

MARK
SHIM

For more information, visit mymusicmasterclass.com/
premiumvideos/mark-shim-jazz-lesson-developing-yourrhythmic-concept. Shim live-streams May 12th atbarbayeux.com.
Recommended Listening:• Mark Shim—Turbulent Flow (Blue Note, 1999)• Liberty Ellman—Tactiles (Pi, 2003)• Carlo de Rosa Cross-Fade—Brain Dance(Cuneiform, 2009)• Steve Lehman Octet—Mise en Abîme (Pi, 2014)• Vijay Iyer Sextet—Far From Over (ECM, 2017)• Matt Brewer—Ganymede (Criss Cross, 2018)by george grella
F or a listener who has been fortunate to catch tenor

saxophonist Mark Shim live or hear him via therelatively small number of recordings of which he’s
been a part, either as a leader or sideman, the paucityof exposure is frustrating. Shim is one of the mostunique and exciting players on the contemporary jazzscene, with a sound that carries a powerful sheer effectand ideas about improvisation pushing at the edges ofmodern jazz from the inside out.
Early apprenticeships with drummer Elvin Jonesand vocalist Betty Carter led to three Blue Note albums,
Mind Over Matter (1998), Turbulent Flow (1999) and thesupergroup of young musicians (Stefon Harris, Jason
Moran, Greg Osby, Nasheet Waits, Shim) on New
Directions (2000).
As a sideman, his fiery playing is a substantial
feature on guitarist David Gilmore’s Transitions andbassist Matt Brewer ’s Ganymede (both on Criss Cross)and he’s a terrific foil and partner for Steve Lehman on
the alto saxophonist’s albums Artificial Light (Fresh
Sound-New Talent) and Travail, Transformation andFlow and Mise en Abîme (Pi Recordings), where his
approach to rhythm, both complex and funky, is rightat home with Lehman’s compositional structures.
Both fans and the uninitiated should take note that
Shim has a performance scheduled for May 12th,
a live-stream show, with masks, from Bar Bayeux via
the venue’s Facebook page (and then archived for aweek on YouTube). He’ll be playing in a trio with
Brewer and drummer Tyshawn Sorey.
His career launched when he was barely in his 20s,
touring with Carter. Talking on the phone from hisapartment in Brooklyn about this past pandemic year
and what he’s been working on, he expressed deep
admiration for the extraordinary singer and hermusicality. Shim says, “I was really too young toappreciate her genius,” at the time he was playing withher. “I knew I was standing next to greatness. Now it’sremarkable to listen back and understand how
meticulous she was with rhythm. Everything she did
had purpose, pitch-wise and rhythm.”
Rhythm is one major component of his distinctive,
gripping playing, the other the burly, warm sound heproduces in all registers of the tenor. “My first teacher
in college,” Skip Gailes, at Virginia Commonwealth
University, he explains, “was really interested inhaving a big sound. It’s taken many years for me tocraft those lessons into a sound.” Laughing, he admits
that the sheer weight of it “sometimes strikes me asoverbearing.” Developing that sound meant working
through some major influences. “I was definitely a Joe
Henderson freak,” he points out. “I was emulating him
a lot, it actually became a problem!”That sound always keeps his playing firmly
planted in meaning and expression, but it’s stillmalleable. “As I got older, I got more into late ‘80s
Sonny Rollins. I appreciated the power and aggression
in his playing, that dark core.” Even after spending
decades working on his sound, which has “beenfrustrating at times,” the work is still not done and the
pandemic turned into a major woodshedding
opportunity for Shim. “I’ve changed a lot during thispandemic, my embouchure,” he says. And he adds,“I’ve been playing standards again,” after years awayfrom jazz repertoire.
That’s intriguing from such a modern stylist. His
classic, weighty sound is the soulful, expressive side ofa complex concept, realized in immaculate technique,of sub-dividing beats into quintuplets and beyond andsetting odd numbers against even meters. He can beseen demonstrating this in a video produced for the
My Music Masterclass site, “Developing Your Rhythmic
Concept”. In that video and in his playing, he goesbeyond standard swing rhythms and quarter-note
meters into fitting consistent strings of odd-numberednotes into each beat, setting three against two and fiveagainst four.
“I’ve always been interested in rhythm,” he points
out and “started to listen to jazz seriously” late in highschool. By that time, “I was already heavily intorhythm, via hip-hop... I have a desire to hear as muchrhythmic complexity as I can. But you can push it too
far and lose the soulful element. I think this is
a problem with younger musicians, making thingscomplex and sophisticated but sterile. I have a desire
to search for new possibilities for improvising. It’s one
thing to be playing standard forms—that’s one thing
I’ve been revisiting this past year, after playing all
those gigs that fry your brains,” like with the Steve
Lehman Octet, “that’s something I’ve been working on
for a long time, preparing myself to work with complex
rhythms and harmonies.”
Along with the deep woodshedding and return tothe roots of jazz via standards, Shim has been teaching
this past year, although with some ambivalence. He’staught previously at Banff, but pandemic teaching has
been as much a matter of circumstances as anythingelse. He’s been giving lessons online during the
pandemic, lately through the New School, but admits
he doesn’t “really like” remote teaching, which
frustrates close observation of students’ technique.
“When the pandemic started,” he explains, “a lot of
younger musicians started reaching out to musicians,”
who have inspired them, “looking to get lessons online.
But working through Zoom isn’t really my cup of tea.”Once the fall semester started at the New School,
however, “I got some students through them and justbucked up.”
As grueling and frustrating as the pandemic has
been for so many, including musicians, Shim sounds
more than philosophical about the experience, even
optimistic. Talking about the Bar Bayeux gig and themusicians he’s brought into it, he comes off as clearly
prepared and eager. After all, it’s been a year of practiceand inner exploration leading up to the date. “I haven’t
played with humans in over a year!”, he points out,
“but I’ve got high hopes, I’ve really made a lot ofadvancement this past year.” v

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THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 7

ENCOREMIKE
WESTBROOK
by francesco martinelli
In an amazing bout of creativity and endurance

English composer and bandleader Mike Westbrook,
who turned 85 in March, provided listeners all over theworld with a precious selection of films documenting
his 50+ years of activity with the Mike Westbrook Jazz
Motion Picture Show, available on his website. It’s an
excellent starting point after which you’ll want to listen
to his original music, his classic celebrations of thegreat composers of the past like Rossini and Ellington
to his own memorable renditions in music of lyrics byBlake and many other poets, a concept that accompanied
him over the years in projects like The Cortège andLondon Bridge is Broken Down, still two of the mostaccomplished records in Westbrook’s canon.
The starting point for Westbrook is unmistakably
the creative orchestral tradition of African-Americancomposers like Duke Ellington and Charles Mingus; heshares with them the unending search for ways tointegrate soloists’ improvised contributions into the
prepared score. He also has the most precious ally inthe supple voice and dramatic gift of his life and art
companion, painter and musician Kate Westbrook, aconstant presence in his music for almost 50 years. Her
voice is an essential element of the music they created
together, a unifying factor, as Brian Morton wrote, in acareer that has spanned decades and all genres: arelationship not unlike the one between Steve Lacy and
Irene Aebi and equally irksome for the male-dominatedjazz world.
Westbrook was an art teacher in Plymouth in thelate ‘50s, a jazz fan playing trumpet and aspiring to be
a composer, inspired by blues and boogie. He founded
a sextet with guitarist/future AMM founder Keith
Rowe and trumpeter Phil Minton, a major contributor

as singer and instrumentalist in many of Westbrook’s
projects over the years. Rowe recruited John Surman,
at 16 just beginning to play baritone saxophone. All themembers of the band moved to London in the early‘60s. Those were the roots of Westbrook’s Concert Band
that played Ronnie Scott’s Old Place, the original clubin Gerard Street graciously left to the London jazz
avant garde musicians for the remaining time of thelease. That band included, among others, Mike Osborne
and South African bassist Harry Miller and its Deram
albums, Celebration and Release, were a manifesto of theupcoming European jazz of the ‘70s and showcase for
Surman’s many talents as soloist and composer. The
first album is based only on original compositions
while the second features rearrangements of an eclectic
choice of songs, including “Lover Man”, “Flying
Home” and “The Girl from Ipanema”, establishinganother key theme of Westbrook’s oeuvre. Since thenthe list of his collaborators over the decades reads likea Who’s Who of UK and European jazz.
The following album, 1969’s Marching Song,released at the time as two separate LPs but now
available on CD in its entirety, is a pacifist jazzsymphony, an ecological statement including textbased pieces, free-form solos and bluesy harmonica. In
an article for UK magazine Avant Westbrook himself
described his Ellingtonian approach: “In my band I
had a combination of free improvisers and straightahead
players, as well as people from the rock world. As
a composer, I’ve always been interested in structuring
music in some way. That can mean a formal arrangement
or chord sequence or just a concept or even a poem.
There were a lot of people around like Kenny Wheeler
and Paul Rutherford who enjoyed playing in a range ofsettings. The ideal world is one where all these things
can come together.” Love Songs from 1970 was the firstmajor vocal record, with the voice of Norma Winstone.
The beginning of the ‘70s saw a burst of activity withhis first Blake project, Tyger, born as a musical staged
at the National Theatre and then released on RCA; theMetropolis suite with Winstone, Wheeler, Rutherford,
Harry Beckett and John Taylor among others and SolidGold Cadillac, jazz-rock including Minton on trumpet
and voice. In 1973 Kate and Mike met.

Westbrook then had a proposal of forming a street
band to play at fringe theater festivals and community
arts events with the “magicians’ collective” WelfareState (the street theater company founded by John Fox
in 1968). After Westbrook, the Musical Director of thecompany would be Lol Coxhill. This became the basis
for the Brass Band, a group that formed the Westbrooks’
main touring group and the nucleus of many future
projects, including The Cortège. A milestone wasreceiving a commission to write for the Swedish Radio
Jazz Orchestra featuring Surman as soloist. Citadel/
Room 315 premiered in 1974 in Stockholm: “I wrote
most of it on a piano in Room 315 in Leeds Polytechnic,
where Kate was teaching at the Art School,” said
Westbrook, hence the title. Followers of the UK musicscene will probably notice the key role of art schools—
open to innovation and art from the 20th Century—in
the careers of most of the musicians who after 1960
brought British music to the global forefront. In 1977
there was a momentous meeting between Westbrook’sband and Henry Cow for a live concert and the
bandleader was inspired by Dagmar Krause’s vocals,
Lindsay Cooper ’s bassoon and Georgie Born’s cello:
they later joined the band for The Cortége.
Westbrook’s music from mid ‘70s-mid ‘80s ranges
from the brilliant solo Piano, with its echoes of Monk
and stride, to the major suite London Bridge is Broken
Down, his first collaboration with a full classicalensemble. Westbrook recalled the mishaps at thepremiere in Amiens, France: “...it was a European workthat included English poetry and French and German
poetry selected by Kate with the help of European
friends. There was a long period of rehearsal in London
and several trips to Amiens, before the two ensembles
met for the premiere. London Bridge was long and the
conductor Alexandre Myrat proposed performing it inthree parts. The concert opened with a popular French/
Canadian duo who clearly delighted the jazz festival
audience. They came back again and again for encores
while 50 of us waited in the wings. The first part of
London Bridge went fine. Unfortunately the message
had not got through to most of the audience that there
were three parts to the composition. A sizeable number
					(CONTINUED ON PAGE 23)

Drums alongside three well-known drummers fromthe U.S.: Jack DeJohnette, Roy Haynes and Mel Lewis.
Otsuka kept busy as both a leader and a sideman
during the ‘70s and ‘80s. Paris-based WeWantSounds
label has reissued his 1975 Bellwood LP Loving You
George: The George Otsuka Quintet at Nemu Jazz Inn, aconcert with soprano and tenor saxophonist Shozo
Sasaki, keyboard player Fumio Karashima, bassist
Mitsuaki Furono and percussionist Norio Ohno on
Otsuka original “Little Island”, Coltrane’s “Miles’Mode”, pianist Steve Kuhn’s “Something Everywhere”
and singer Minnie Riperton’s 1974 R&B hit “Lovin’
You”. The performance is passionate postbop bordering
on fusion at times. “Lovin’ You” is a major surprise:
while Riperton’s version was a mellow, ethereal quiet
storm ballad, Otsuka’s midtempo interpretation gives
the song a funkier, grittier edge.
Japanese trumpeter Shunzo Ohno, who spent two
years as a sideman for Otsuka during the early ‘70s,
recalls, “Although George could not read music well,
his ear was spot on. He captured originality, creativity
and was a very musical drummer.” Ohno has fondmemories of that period: “George Otsuka’s trio, his
quartet—later quintet—in the ‘70s was George’s
artistic height. The live concerts were always packed.
There was a sense of electricity in the air. The level ofmusic was great with Hideo Ichikawa, a genius pianist
who also recorded with Joe Henderson, and bassist
Masaoki Terakawa.”

Japan’s jazz scene thrived in the decades following
World War II and Ohno considers Otsuka an important
contributor to the relationship between American andJapanese players: “American jazz musicians werecoming to Japan because they were welcomed,
respected and treasured. Jazz resonated with a wartorn country. Japanese were also seeking inspirationand jazz provided a path. It was a relationship thatprovided a mutual respect of jazz, imagination,
creativity and deep-hearted sensitivity. American jazzartists felt that respect in the ‘50s and ‘60s; so, in the‘70s, artists like George were burgeoning. And that
was a perfect synergy.” Otsuka didn’t live long enoughto witness the reissue of Loving You George. Regardless,Ohno is glad that WeWantSounds thought enough ofOtsuka to make an album that had been out of print forso long commercially available again. “George’s focus
was on the purity of music and the creative energy
between musicians,” Ohno observed. “He helped
expand the vitality of jazz in Japan.” v

LEST WE FORGETGEORGEOTSUKAby alex henderson
Japanese drummer Keiji “George” Otsuka, who was 82

when he died in Tokyo on Mar. 10th, 2020, had a career
spanning over 60 years and was known not only for thehigh caliber of Japanese musicians he employed, butalso for all the American and Europeans who hired
him when they were in Japan, a list that included
pianists Richie Beirach, Kenny Kirkland and Hampton
Hawes, bassists Reggie Workman and Miroslav Vitous,
alto saxophonist Phil Woods and guitarist John Scofield.
Born in Tokyo on Apr. 6th, 1937, Otsuka emerged
during the ‘50s and made a name for himself when hejoined alto saxophonist Sadao Watanabe’s group in thelatter part of the decade. Otsuka’s roots were bop butin the early ‘60s, he was influenced by the modal
innovations of trumpeter Miles Davis and tenor
saxophonist John Coltrane. The ‘60s found Otsuka
working as a sideman for saxophonist HidehikoMatsumoto in addition to leading his own trio.
In 1970, Otsuka toured Japan as part of the Four

8 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Recommended Listening:• Hampton Hawes—Jam Session (Columbia, 1968)• George Otsuka Quintet—Sea Breeze (Union, 1971)• George Otsuka 5—Go On’ (Three Blind Mice, 1972)• Jack DeJohnette—Jackeyboard (Trio, 1973)• George Otsuka Quintet—Physical Structure(Three Blind Mice, 1976)• Miroslav Vitous—Guardian Angels (Trio, 1978)

L ABEL SPOTLIGHTCADILLAC
by mark keresman
Record labels are as common as blades of grass thesedays but as any music devotee familiar with the ups
and downs of the business will tell you, that
commonality is superficial. Some labels end up having
a specific impact (sometimes aimed for, sometimes
not). Other outfits put a new set of clothing on sounds
from the past. And still others focus on styles thatmainstream outfits—and even some indie labels—
would find anathema…or downright commercial
suicide. Cadillac specializes in, mostly but not entirely,
styles of jazz too chancy for mainstream concerns andprovides a daïs of sorts for some of the UK’s—andbeyond—jazz makers.
Brief historical context: in the ‘60s Columbia issued
albums by pianists Denny Zeitlin and Burton Greene;
there was even one by iconic free jazz drummer Sunny
Murray sadly never released. However, as the decadewore on, the majors showed increasing indifference
toward jazz being made in/of the moment and, as
history has shown, musicians knew that if they wanted
to proceed with integrity, they’d have to do itthemselves. Labels such as Incus and Cadillac sprang
forth to do what needed to be done, to document thenewest sounds and, in the case of the latter, also showproper respect to older sounds.
Cadillac was founded by John Jack and pianist/composer/bandleader Mike Westbrook in 1973.
Originally it was a vehicle intended to release the

Joy Unlimited
Harry Beckett

All Knavery and Collusion
Evan Parker

latter ’s albums at a time when more pop-oriented/
funk-ed up variants of fusion had supplanted both oldschool and avant sounds as far as most major record
companies were concerned. Westbrook and Jack, thelatter a salesman for Melodisc, 77 and Esquire labels(all UK indies from the ‘40s-50s), saw an opportunity
offered by Dame Fortune to build something and ran
with it, shaping a boutique label that reflected theireclectic tastes.
Jack was indeed a proverbial larger-than-life
character, perhaps the stuff of a future biopic: in theearly ‘60s he was a roadie for skiffle band The Vipers
and in 1963 a promoter who booked a young rhythm
and blues quintet called The Rolling Stones into thenorth London jazz club the Manor House. From 196568 Jack managed the original Ronnie Scott’s club when
it was based in Chinatown, becoming affectionately
known as “the Old Place”, a haunt where one could
hear not just jazz—both trad and modern—but rhythm
and blues, South African township sounds and poets.
Jack was a mercurial presence, a dapper gent that
could easily transition from muttered expletives togentle offers of “What can I do for you, dear boy?”
From UK modernists Ken Colyer, Stan Tracey andHarry Beckett and American firebrands Frank Loweand David Murray to younger, emerging UK talents
such as Andy Sheppard, Cadillac would document it
all. Its goal would be twofold, focusing on newly
recorded sounds and archival material with historicalportent. Cadillac drove into the marketplace such gems
as Fela Kuti’s Highlife African sounds, reissuing the
10-inch LP Fela’s First—The Complete 1959 Melodisc
Session. In the decades following, Kuti has becomea larger-than-life figure as a bandleader and political

The Last Night at The Old Place
Mike Westbrook Concert Bandfigure; this platter finds him achieving liftoff. Asidefrom its commitment to new sounds, Cadillac didn’t
forget the granddaddies of the music, releasing the LP
New Orleans Parade by trad jazz legend George Lewis
and his Eureka Brass Band, giving needed attention to
performers still exploring the origins of jazz.
Unshackled by the marketplace-mindset of the
majors, Cadillac put wheels under vital sounds, bethey classic/traditional jazz (Lewis, Crane River Jazz
Band) to a certain degree mainstream (Westbrook,
Bobby Wellins) to the outer limits (Evan Parker). The
latter ’s quartet outing All Knavery and Collusion,
released last month, is classic out jazz—wild, slightly
feral, spacious, wiry, thorny, the latest in uneasy—andriveting—listening.
Reissues of important UK discs include trumpeter
Beckett’s Joy Unlimited from 1974 and currently a best
seller of Cadillac’s catalogue. This is a gem; while its
fusion aspects date parts of it slightly, Joy Unlimited
sounds as if it could’ve been spawned last year: a joyfilled mélange of forward-looking hardbop and a bit ofsoul-jazz, with concise soloing and persuasive,engaging grooves that are direct yet never pander tosearching for that mythical Wider Audience. The track“Not Just Tomorrow” could score medium airplay
even now (among more enlightened FM outlets) with
its loping, pulsating rhythm and heartfelt and sweetly
melodious trumpet solo.
Let the words of label honcho Mike Gavin be asummation: “Musical labels are a limitation—Mike
Westbrook was co-founder of the label and its firstrecording artist and his career [which would eventually
supplant his involvement with the record label] is a
				
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 23)

Alone & Together With
Stan Tracey/Mike Osborne

The London Concert
David Murray

VOXNEWS

SOMETHING WONDERFUL
by suzanne lorge

Peggy Lee wasn’t born with that name. Her given

name, back in May 1920, was Norma Deloris Egstrom.
But for some impulsive reason lost to time, the radio
host of one of her earliest professional gigs assigned her
the now-celebrated anonym and it stuck. Not only did it
stick, it made music history: Lee went on to become oneof the most known (and prolific) jazz and pop singers ofher generation. Last June, in honor of the singer/
songwriter’s birthday centennial, PBS aired Fever: The
Music of Peggy Lee, an updated version of the 2004
documentary chronicling her spectacular career. As afollow-up, last month Omnivore released a two-disccompanion package to that documentary—Something
Wonderful: Peggy Lee Sings the Great American Songbook,
40 previously unissued tracks from Lee’s own radio
program in the early ‘50s. Though remastered, thesetunes retain all the ping of the analog originals. Listen to
her translucent intonation on the rangy “If I Were A
Bell”; blue notes on the ballad “Old Rockin’ Chair”; andrelaxed back-phrasing on “That Old Black Magic”. She
also chats collegially with guests Johnny Mercer, Hoagy
Carmichael, Frank Loesser and Matt Dennis, at times
joining these pioneering composers in duets. Listening

to these tracks today, it’s as if Lee were broadcastingfrom midtown and seven decades had disappeared into
the ethers. Some names never lose their luster.
Creative jazz composer Lauren Lee flies solo on
The Queen of Cups (ears&eyes), in a departure from her
usual duo or trio gigs. Lee, never at a loss for intriguing
compositional ideas, makes full use of her vocal andpianistic talents here as well, from traditional piano
accompaniment underneath spare, moody vocals on
the original ballads “Cogitation” and “Cocoon” to thecleverly executed vocalese showcases “Up In the Air”
and “Another Reality” and fresh, modern reworkingsof Ralph Rainger-Leo Robin’s “If I Should Lose You”
and Wayne Shorter ’s “Footprints”. As an improvisatory
musician, Lee is at her best on this record, equal parts
masterful and vulnerable. She’ll be live-streaming therelease concert from Soapbox Gallery on May 17.
Vocalist Charmaine Lee recently accepted a Van
Lier Fellowship at Roulette, affording her theopportunity to “create, rehearse, experiment andinvestigate new directions” in her craft. Her process is
to manipulate vocal sounds to an extreme, applying all
manner of electronic effects (amplification, distortion,
feedback) in generating wholly new auditory
experiences. Her first solo full-length LP, KNVF, whichcame out on the French label Erratum Musical this past
March, thus redefines vocal art: Lee doesn’t so muchsing as design abstract tableaux with her voice.
By contrast, industry-decorated singer Dara Tucker

exalts exquisite timbre, stirring melodies and warm
harmonies on Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World(Green Hill Music). The Oklahoma native draws from theclassic singer-songwriter canon to build a program
affirming our gentler selves: a jazz-funk take on “YouHaven’t Done Nothin’”; reharmonized “Bridge Over
Troubled Water”; beseeching “I Think It’s Going To Rain
Today”. Tucker excels as a songwriter herself; her “Do We
Sleep” drives home the album’s forward-looking message
with burnished vocals, silky horn lines (saxophonist John
Ellis, trumpeter Giveton Gelin) and delicate comping(pianist Sullivan Fortner). The album, as much aboutpromise as redemption, drops on May 28th.
This year the Jazz Journalists Association honors
singer Louise Rogers with a Jazz Hero Award, in large
measure for her work in energizing the upper
Manhattan jazz scene. In 2014, Rogers and pianist Mark
Kross founded Jazz WaHi (visit jazzwahi.com), an everevolving non-profit that promotes jazz education andperformances in the Hudson Heights section of the city.
What started as a weekly jazz jam at a local pub now
includes a monthly vocal jazz series, an annual jazzfestival and, most recently, a composer’s commission.
Most impressive of all, Rogers and Kross have continued
to host performances throughout the pandemic withnary a letup. Check out their virtual “Jazz Hang andSalon” on Wednesdays, their plein air concerts on
Tuesdays in Bennett Park and this month’s vocal series
on May 6th, featuring the gifted Erli Perez. v

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 9

IN MEMORIAMDAVE GREENRALPHPETERSONby andrey henkin

Ralph Peterson, a drummer who was part of theYoung Lions retro-jazz movement of the ‘80s but also
veered outwards and got the ultimate endorsement
when he was asked to play alongside Art Blakey in his
Jazz Messengers Big Band in 1983 and continued until
the drummer ’s death in 1990, later returning the favor
decades later with The Messenger Legacy band(featuring numerous Blakey alumni), died Mar. 1st at
58 after a long battle with cancer.
Peterson was born May 20th, 1962 in Pleasantville,
NJ into a musical family, with his father and grandfather
also drummers. He began behind the kit at age five andcontinued his studies through high school and in the
jazz program at Rutgers University. His early work
was with Out Of The Blue, Branford Marsalis, Terence
Blanchard and others but also David Murray and Craig
Harris. As he told our own Russ Musto less than six
weeks before his death for a cover feature published in
February, “Terence and Donald and David Murray at
the same time! Jon Faddis and Henry Threadgill at thesame time! Craig Harris and OTB at the same time!
It was a blessing, but at the time it almost seemed likea burden or a trap because I could never get all the way
down with either camp.”
Over the years, which, unfortunately, included
very jazz-traditional problems with drugs and alcohol,Peterson compiled sideman credits with Betty Carter(“...when she was teaching me to play brushes anddidn’t want me to sweep, she said, ‘they’re brushes,
ain’t they? So paint!’ That opened up the door and theballad took off”), William Fielder, Walter Davis, Jr.,Jon Faddis, James Spaulding, Roy Hargrove, Michele
Rosewoman, Don Byron, Charles Lloyd, Craig Handy,
Anthony Cox, Uri Caine, Bobby Zankel, Stanley Cowell,
Mark Shim, Orrin Evans, Duane Eubanks, Carmen
Lundy, Frank Lowe, George Colligan, Jeremy Pelt,
Wayne Escoffery, Sean Jones, Melissa Aldana and manyothers. He also had numerous albums as a leader sincethe ‘80s for Blue Note, Evidence, Sirocco, Criss Cross
and, in the new millennium, his own Onyx Productions.
His precocious work with Blakey—the only timethe venerable leader included another drummer in hisband—informed Peterson’s development as he would
go on to mentor younger musicians in his own bands,
most recently the Gen-Next Big Band, and found
The Messenger Legacy band, which released its debut,
Onward & Upward (Onyx) in 2020, timed to Blakey’s
centennial: 11 original compositions and arrangements
by a rotating lineup of 17 players, 14 who were former
Messengers. Said Peterson of the project, “Every time I
play the drums it is in tribute to Art, but I wanted to dosomething that goes beyond me, beyond any
individual. I wanted to pay tribute in a way that wasauthentic, genuine, and meaningful not just to a few,
but to every person he touched through his music.”

CHRIS BARBER (Apr. 17th, 1930 - Mar.
2nd, 2021) The British trombonist and
OBE recipient was crucial in reviving
interest in trad-jazz in England in the‘50s first with Ken Colyer and then withbands he led well into the newmillennium, making dozens of records
for Decca, Storyville, Columbia, Tempo, Pye Nixa,
Metronome, Amiga, Marmalade, Polydor, Timeless,
Bellaphon, G.H.B. and many other labels and was also
important to British and international music history
through work with figures who would go on to spawn
bands like The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Cream.
Barber died Mar. 2nd at 90.
JACK BRADLEY (Jan. 3rd, 1934 - Mar.
21st, 2021) The collection of memorabiliaof this personal photographer andunofficial archivist to Louis Armstrong
became the foundation of the Louis
Armstrong House Museum, housed in
the trumpeter ’s former home in Corona,
Queens. Bradley died Mar. 21st at 87.
MALCOLM CECIL (Jan. 9th, 1937 Mar. 28th, 2021) The inventor known
for his early work with synthesizers
and going on to work with an array ofrock and pop stars as a collaborator,
producer and recording engineer got
his start as a bassist in his native
England, working with Tonys Crombie and Kinsley,
Dick Morrissey, Vic Ash and others. Cecil died Mar.
28th at 84.
BUDDY DEPPENSCHMIDT (Feb.
16th, 1936 - Mar. 20th, 2021) The
drummer helped usher in the Sambacraze of the ‘60s via the 1962 Vervealbum Jazz Samba by Stan Getz/Charlie
Byrd, the latter in whose trio he wasduring the period. Deppenschmidt diedMar. 20th at 85 of complications from COVID-19.
DUFFY JACKSON (Jul. 3rd, 1953 - Mar.
3rd, 2021) The drummer ’s 1995
Milestone album Swing! Swing! Swing!
summarized a career that found him
working with Monty Alexander,
Cleveland Eaton, Ira Sullivan, Sonny
Stitt, Illinois Jacquet, Jon Hendricks,
Harry Allen and, most notably, the Count Basie
Orchestra. Jackson died Mar. 3rd at 67.
PAUL JACKSON (Mar. 28th, 1947 Mar. 18, 2021) The electric bassist was
best known for membership in Herbie
Hancock’s Headhunters, appearing on
the band’s eponymous debut andThrust, plus later Hancock albums like
Flood and Man-Child, and continuingwith the band post-Hancock, plus work with Eddie
Henderson, Azar Lawrence, Stanley Turrentine,
Charles Earland, Stomu Yamashta, Bennie Maupin, Bill
Summers, Sonny Rollins and others to go along with ahandful of albums as a leader, a couple with fellow
Headhunter Mike Clark. Jackson died Mar. 18th at 73.
JAMES LEARY III (Jun. 4th, 1946 March 2021) The bassist put out ahandful of records in the ‘80s-90s on
Blue Collar and Vital (and then
LifeForceJazz in 2012) and recorded with
Bobby Hutcherson, Hadley Caliman,
John Klemmer, George Duke, Earl Hines,
Eddie Davis, David Schnitter, Eddie Marshall, John
Handy, Harold Land, Count Basie Orchestra and Gene
Harris All Star Big Band. Leary died in March at 75.

10 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDSHUICHI MURAKAMI (Jan. 1st, 1951
- Mar. 9th, 2021) The Japanese drummer
had albums since the mid ‘70s on
Toshiba, Polydor, Victor, JVC andUniversal Music and sideman work for
Yosuke Yamashita, Hiromasa Suzuki,
Kazumi
Watanabe,
Masayoshi
Takanaka, Kiyoshi Sugimoto, Yoshio Suzuki, Tsunehide
Matsuki, Jun Fukamachi and the Prism band.
Murakami died Mar. 9th at 70.
FREDDIE REDD (May 29th, 1928 - Mar.
17th, 2021) The pianist was best known
for his composing for and acting in Jack
Gelber ’s 1959 play about drug-using
jazz musicians The Connection, themusic for which was released on Blue
Note in 1960, one of many albums hemade as a leader for Prestige, Metronome, Riverside,
Nixa, Futura, Baybridge, Interplay, Uptown, Triloka,
Milestone, Boplicity, SteepleChase and, most recently,
Bleebop to go along with early sideman dates under
Art Farmer, Joe Roland, Gene Ammons, Rolf Ericson,
Benny Bailey and Tommy Potter. Redd died Mar. 17that 92.
DEAN REILLY (Jun. 30th, 1926 - Mar.
9th, 2021) The West Coast-based bassist
had credits with Earl Hines, Vince
Guaraldi, Mel Lewis, Brew Moore,
George Barnes, Cal Tjader, Eddie
Duran, Helen Humes and others. Reilly
died Mar. 9th at 94.
LEN SKEAT (Feb. 9th, 1937 - Mar. 9th,2021) The British bassist (and brother tosaxophonist Bill) worked with The Hot
Club of London, Denny Wright, Don
Harper, Eddie Thompson, Bill Watrous,
Brian Lemon, Danny Moss, Charly
Antolini, Spike Robinson, Harry Allen,
George Masso and others. Skeat died Mar. 9th at 84.
FRANK TIRRO (Sep. 20th, 1935 - Mar.
28th, 2021) The music historian andformer Dean of the Yale School of Music
helped the study of jazz become part ofacademia, publishing such books as
Jazz: A History, Living with Jazz and The
Birth of the Cool: Miles Davis and His
Associates. Tirro died Mar. 28th at 85.
AKIRA WADA (Aug. 26th, 1956 - Mar.
28th, 2021) The Japanese guitarist andco-founder of Prism, which has haddozens of albums since the ‘70s, had his
own albums for Warner Bros., TDK and
Eastern Gale and sideman credits underToshiyuki Honda, Yasuko Agawa, Jun
Fukamachi and others. Wada died Mar. 28th at 64.
MARK WHITECAGE (Jun. 4th, 1937 Mar. 8th, 2021) The reedplayer (andhusbandtopredeceased
fellow
reedplayer Rozanne Levine) came outof the improvised music scene of his
native Connecticut in the late ‘60s, firstworking with Bobby Naughton thengoing on to credits with Gunter Hampel, Perry
Robinson, Jeanne Lee, David Eyges, Mario Pavone,
Saheb Sarbib, Joe Fonda, Michael Jefry Stevens, Steve
Swell, Dominic Duval, Joseph Scianni, Marshall Allen,
Anthony Braxton, Jay Rosen, Dom Minasi, Jacques
Coursil and others, had membership in The Composers
Collective, INTERface and The Nu Band and his own
or co-led albums since the ‘90s on Acoustics, CIMP,
Red Toucan, GM and Clean Feed. Whitecage died Mar.
8th at 83. v

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ALBUM REVIEWS

Smashing Humans
Sana Nagano (577 Records)
by Elliott Simon

S mashing Humans, a score of sorts for a coming digital
apocalypse, is the debut release from an innovative
quintet led by violinist Sana Nagano. The album art
features caricatures of the band escaping from agelatinous dessert that is ready for an assortment ofpixelated creatures to eat it. Tunes like “The Other
Seven” and “Heavenly Evil Devil” obtusely reflect thestoryline with repetitive catchy hooks, which throughanger, noise and seemingly directionless noodling, aremagically transformed.
Nagano along with Peter Apfelbaum, here on
tenor saxophone, shares an association withvibraphonist Karl Berger and they are muscular,
sparkling and resourceful players. They meld timbres
to blend into one instrument and play off of each othershowcasing prodigious chops. Bassist Ken Filiano anddrummer Joe Hertenstein, both well known to the NYC
creative music scene, make for a propulsive rhythm
section that is so outstanding that they would drive
any musician to play at their best. Nagano andApfelbaum take advantage of this solid support to
explore and create a variety of intense new music.
Newcomer guitarist Keisuke Matsuno is exceptional
and turns opener “Strings and Figures”, which arrives
almost fully formed, into a band tour de force as heslashes through the composition.
Simple scalar solos traded by Nagano andApfelbaum develop into a magnificent group voicing
dissolving into a sparse landscape on “Humans inGrey”, “Chance Music” showcases Hertenstein and therest of the band’s spirituality while “Loud Dinner
Wanted” satisfies its title’s request with fiery
instrumental interplay. Although it may be intentionalthat “Dark Waw” never finds itself and closer “TheOther Humans” is not very interesting, in the end
Smashing Humans mirrors a chaotic society broughtback from the edge of destruction.

Opener “The Chrono Trigger Main Theme” is amashup of the 1995 video game Chrono and Jaco
Pastorius’ “Kuru/ Speak Like a Child” from his 1975
eponymous leader debut. Pianist Steven Feifke burnson the changes with deft bebop and side-stepped
arpeggios. The slow section features lovely strings inexpert voicings and hemiola. Pastorius gets a few more
winks as a disco jam ensues with great section writing
and hiccuping hi-hat groove and there is even “Spain”influenced claps during the breakdown before therecapitulation. “Hydrocity Zone” from the game Sonic
the Hedgehog 3 features alto saxophonist Grace Kelly ona Tower of Power inspired horn-riff. She moves easily
up and down the horn as tight rhythm section hits
accentuate her tongue-in-cheek delivery. Her masterfulchoruses have just the right amount of delay andMaceo Parker channeling.
Trumpeter Benny Benack III does double duty on“Want You Gone”. Usually done in an upbeat pop stylein the game Portal 2, the tune gets a Sinatra ‘spang-alang’, bass clarinet anchoring the playful reediness as
Benack croons. A smooth modulation to a faraway key
raises an eyebrow as Benack shows great range. His
comical asides mix Sinatra at the Sands with commentary
about the video game sequel. His solo is short andsmart. He sings the chorus out with just bass exiting
after a building horn tag with a high-note stinger
payoff.
“Super Mario Land Underground” has amysterious Arabic flavor borrowing a few riffs fromLed Zeppelin’s “Kashmir”. Leo P on baritone
saxophone shreds multiphonic wildness over electronic
washes and heavy metal drums. A witty return of the
Zeppelin horn riff cues a Rimsky Korsakov-inspired
interlude. “Saria’s Song” from The Legend of Zelda:
Ocarina of Time features bassist Adam Neely in a
virtuosic performance centered around a 16th note
unison bordered by falling symmetrical chord
structures. The pretty Lydian melody gets great
support from the strings. Kelly is featured again, thistime on vocals on “Jump up Super Star” from Super
Mario Odyssey. A barbershop quartet provides the
backgrounds as a 1942 big band jungle builds. This is aunique, fun album with concept, orchestration and agreat collection of jazz’ brightest young stars.
For more information, visit the8bitbigband.com. This
project live-streams May 1st from Sony Hall atthe8bitbigband.com/tickets-sonyhall.

For more information, visit 577records.com. This project
live-streams May 1st at fb.me/e/23AxOkith and May 15that fb.me/e/4cpfUpAcy.

A Change In The Weather
Steve LaSpina (SteepleChase)by Pierre Giroux

Steve LaSpina, a highly regarded bassist for decades,
Backwards Compatible
The 8-Bit Big Band (TeamChuck)by Brian Charette

Backwards Compatible is the third album from this slick

big band led by Charlie Rosen, an accomplished Tonynominated Broadway composer and arranger with 11
shows under his belt at the young age of 30.
Originally from Los Angeles the gifted Rosen
plays 70 instruments, citing bass is his main axe. All of
the compositions come from popular video games. The
members of the band, often active gamers themselves,
are mostly from New York City and read as a Who’s
Who of young jazz stars.

has played and recorded with numerous iconic jazz
names, in addition to leading his own groups. In thisdelightful session, the group anchors their playing in
LaSpina’s compositions, which provides a conceptualbasis over which they build solo excursions.
The opening title track is a snappy postbop romp
featuring stellar work from tenor saxophonist Joel
Frahm and pianist Luis Perdomo, as well as assertiveand inventive playing from the leader. “Clouds” is aperfect followup, bristling with an uptempo stylepushed along by the sparkling cymbal liveliness of
drummer Eric McPherson. It is clear that the band
knows their way around the tunes as their solos easily
flesh out on the framework of each number.

12 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORDAs the disc spins out, songs like “Always Believe”,“The Road Ahead” and “Moving Forward” make itevident that LaSpina structures his compositions insuch a way that they combine certainty and theunexpected. Accordingly the musicians can use theirextensive creative power to seek out surprisingcrannies.
“Serenity” is an intriguingly contemplative
number, which, from the opening bars, exudes warm,
resonant bass. Both Frahm and Perdomo delight with
their ruminative agility and probing intuition. The
closer, “When It’s Time Again”, showcases Frahm onsoprano on which he demonstrates a forthrightdetermined attack. LaSpina has a solo filled withmelodic crispness and Perdomo continues his playing
with clear-eyed curiosity. This interesting quartet
outing shows a band at the top of its game.
For more information, visit steeplechase.dk. LaSpina livestreams May 2nd as part of William Paterson University’s“The Jazz Room at Home” concert series at wp-presents.org.

Autoportrait (Solo)
Clovis Nicolas (Sunnyside)by Dan Bilawsky

W ith inward glances come outward advances. Thatmay seem like a paradoxical construct on the surface,but it’s hardly a self-contradictory statement. Giventime to meditate, experiment and focus, a musician isgifted the greatest tool needed to mold new art andbring it into the world.
Bassist Clovis Nicolas has firsthand knowledge ofthat fact. After starting work on a solo album in
September 2019 and cementing his intentions in a
meeting with producer Daniel Yvinec in early 2020, thebassist quickly found himself closed off from the world
when COVID-19 came into the picture. But rather thanview the pandemic’s arrival as a solitary confinement
sentence, he found freedom in the space
it offered. Nicolas used the days, weeks and months tohone his craft, chipping away at a singular vision all
the while and a year after first setting things in motion
he recorded this brilliant set.
Opening with “After Bach”, he nods to the titular
composer ’s cello suites and the harmonic knowledge
embedded in those Baroque masterworks. Then heputs his bop chops on display with a trip through Tadd
Dameron’s “Hot House”, transfers history andperspective to deeper realms by tackling Coleman
Hawkins’ historic “Body and Soul” solo from 1939,
gives a rhythmically vibrant reading of his own“Thon’s Tea” (which originally appeared on 2014’s
Nine Stories) and brings a sense of order to a wide open
landscape with the aptly titled “Free”.
Nicolas moves across numerous territories. He
puts his blues bona fides on display with “Another
Rendezvous”, explores a chorale’s structural integrity
with “Jubilate Deo”, pays homage to Dave Hollandwith the energized “Four Steps” and speaks to thetenor of these times with Duke Ellington’s “Solitude”.
By the time Autoportrait hits its homestretch—a runthat includes Lennie Tristano’s demanding “Line Up”,
classically-aligned “Chloe”, sprinting miniature “LadyBass” and an “Everything Happens to Me” closer—
things still sound as fresh as can be.
For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. This
project live-streams May 3rd at soapboxgallery.org.

A Lifeboat (Part I)
Michael Sarian/Matthew Putman (577 Records)
by John Sharpe

A Lifeboat (Part I) represents the latest installment ofan ongoing project begun in 2020 by trumpeter Michael
Sarian and pianist Matthew Putman, following twovolumes of Improvisations also released on 577 Records.
As with those albums, the music contained here is the
spontaneous product of the two musicians’ COVIDrestricted encounters. Lockdown confined their
meetings to Sarian’s makeshift home studio and for
Putman that meant relying on a 20-year-old electric
keyboard. Their regular get-togethers culminated in 13
cuts, ordered into three chapters, each recorded in asingle session over a three-week period last August.
Putman’s tenure in the Telepathic Band alongside
Daniel Carter, Federico Ughi, Hilliard Greene andPatrick Holmes makes him well suited to such
impromptu music making. His keys furnish the datewith a rich reverberant backdrop and a shimmering
timeless feel. But even within the context of a constantto and fro, he’s mainly cast in the role of accompanist
by breathy, lyrical trumpet and flugelhorn. Sometimes
reminiscent of Kirk Knuffke or Kenny Wheeler, Sarian
largely carries the expressive baggage, spicing hisbright extemporizations with half-valve effects,
querulous sighs and thin squeals.
The cover shows the two masked protagonists
sitting in a bar and this would be the perfect late night
setting to take in their intimate dialogue. Theirexchanges are fundamentally melodic at the core,weaving together tune-like fragments teetering on thecusp of familiarity. They combine in straightforward
engagement, quickly evolving in the moment, creating
an emotional volatility befitting the unprecedented
situation, particularly during the first chapter.
The second chapter reflects a wistful longing, withhymn-like keys and ballad musings while on the title
track they fleetingly conjure a jaunty ditty, almost as if
whistling in the dark. Matters become shadier andmore discordant by the last chapter, with the choppy
staccato of numbers like “Learning How To Swim (PartII)” providing a welcome contrast, but even the moreexistentially challenging titles merely alternate theunsettled with the sunny, suggesting an essentially
optimistic outlook.
For more information, visit 577records.com. This project
live-streams May 6th at 577records.com/events.

Kinetic
Steven Feifke Big Band (Outside In Music)
by George Kanzler

The title could arguably be Hyper-Kinetic. Steven

Feifke takes the idea of big band seriously, pushingensemble strategies at the listener like a juggler keeps
multiple balls in the air. The more current approach—of opening ensemble, solo spotlights, maybe a shout

chorus or two and closing ensemble—is not Feifke’s
blueprint on these ten tracks. He updates the Swing
Era concept of a big band constantly active, with not
only shouts and riffs, but also counter-melodies andbackgrounds (contrasting and echoing) for soloists.
The opening title track demonstrates his approach.
There’s a brief, massed ensemble opening giving way to
a blistering tempo for a solo from Feifke on piano withrhythm, bolstered by big band blasts. Trumpeter Gabriel
King Medd solos over band riffs that lead to a shout
chorus with a drum solo (Ulysses Owens, Jr.) engulfed
by swirling horns and reeds to take it to a finale. Most of
the other instrumental tracks (seven of the eight are
originals) are as full of orchestral/ensemble gesturesand sections as that opener. But Feifke varies the tone
and timbre, using flutes in the lead on “Unveiling of a
Mirror”, a piece that also has a shout chorus blending
muted brass and soprano saxophone; flutes and muted
brass give way to whimsical brass and reeds on the fleet,jazzy bossa “Word Travels Fast”. He also features flutes
on the final A section of Horace Silver’s “Nica’s Dream”,
the first two As featuring Benny Benack III’s trumpet,with the bridge an ensemble with muted horns. His andFeifke’s solos, as are almost all throughout, are shadowed
and countered by ensemble riffs and backgrounds.
Vocalist Veronica Swift, for whom Feifke arranged
the orchestral tracks on This Bitter Earth (Mack Avenue)
CD, appears on two tracks, both standards. “Until theReal Thing Comes Along” evokes Ellingtonia in arichly textured saxophones opening while “On theStreet Where You Live” is propelled by martial-like
2/4 riffs. Both arrangements and vocals recall theclassic jazz vocal performances of the pre-rock era.
For more information, visit outsideinmusic.com. Feifke is at
The Django at The Roxy May 13th.

Colligan Theoretical Planets—
R • George
Long Term Goals (PJCE)e • Don Kapot—Hooligan (W.E.R.F.)
Grand—Reciprocity (Biophilia)c •• María
Masabumi Kikuchi—Hanamichi (The Final
Studio Recording) (Red Hook)o • Rebecca
Kilgore Trio—Vol. 1 (Heavywood)
Brandon Lewis Red Lily Quintet—m • James
Jesup Wagon (TAO Forms)m • Hedvig
Mollestad Trio—Ding Dong. You’re
Dead (Rune Grammofon)e • Natsuki Tamura/Satoko Fujii—
Keshin (Libra)n • Saadet
Türköz/Nils Wogram—			d SongDreaming (Leo)e Laurence Donohue-Greene, Managing Editord • Larry Coryell & Philip Catherine• Nazareno Caputo—Phylum (AUT)

n
e
w
r
e
l
e
a
s
e
s

(with Jazz at Berlin Philharmonic XI)—The Last Call (ACT Music)• Michael Formanek—Imperfect Measures(Intakt)• Susie Ibarra—Talking Gong (New Focus)• Hedvig Mollestad Trio—Ding Dong. You’reDead. (Rune Grammofon)• Rempis Percussion Quartet—
Sud Des Alpes (Aerophonic)• Irène Schweizer/Hamid Drake—
Celebration (Intakt)• Martial Solal—Coming Yesterday: Live atSalle Gaveau 2019 (Challenge)• Sabu Toyozumi/Mats Gustafsson—
Hokusai (NoBusiness Chap Chap Series)• Min Xiao-Fen—White Lotus (featuring
Rez Abbasi) (Outside In Music)• Miguel Zenón—Law Years: The Music of
Ornette Coleman (Live at the Birds Eye Jazz
Club) (Miel Music)
Andrey Henkin, Editorial Director

ANDY WASSERMANSOLO PIANOORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS(TransMedia Sound & Music)
Peregrination, solo pianist
Andy Wasserman’s 20thalbum, showcases 7 neworiginal compositions forsolo piano, resonatingwith the intention to upliftand inspire the listeneron their own innerjourney, a magnetic andmysterious pilgrimage tothe center of the heart.
This contemporary Jazz
music is structured ona foundation of his four
decades of work as
editorial assistant andCertified Instructor ofGeorge Russell’s Lydian
Chromatic Concept ofTonal Organization.

AVAILABLE ON“Wasserman produced forays into the bright,
the glimmering, the burning, the clouded-over,icy and distant, with use of falling phrases overshifting, widely gripped harmonies as well as
blues-drenched, ringing major sevenths, ninths
and elevenths...the rolling complexities in
Wasserman’s works are beautifully, almost
mystically woven together.”
The New York City Jazz Record
January 2021 - NY@Night LiveStream review“PEREGRINATION” ALBUM LIVE:https://vimeo.com/534999491
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Solo piano concert of fresh, brand-new,original compositions and improvisations
performed on a beautifully restored,
resonant 1924 Steinway “M” grand piano
FREE: no registration, tickets or log-in required!
Watch on ROKU TV and at

ANDYWASSERMAN.COM

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 13

Magic Dance: The Music of Kenny Barron
Greg Abate (Whaling City Sound)by Scott Yanow

Saxophonist Greg Abate’s two-CD set Magic Dance isthe best type of tribute. Not only is it a straightahead
exploration of 14 of Kenny Barron’s compositions, butalso it features Barron himself, playing in prime form.
Barron, who turns 78 this year, has been asignificant pianist and composer since the early ‘60s.
His playing has grown in its individuality and power
through the years and he has long been a skilled but
underrated composer. While his “Voyage” has caught
on as a standard, most of his other originals were long
overdue to be explored again at length.
Abate, a veteran saxophonist based in New
England who is best known on alto, had previously
recorded with Barron just one time, for his 1996 album
Bop Lives. For the tribute, Abate, Barron, bassist Dezron
Douglas and drummer Johnathan Blake dig into manyof the pianist’s finest songs, which often have accessible
melodies along with complex and original chord
changes. With the exception of “Voyage”, these are not
the type of tunes that show up often at jam sessions.
Abate, who is heard on five different instruments,
overdubbed a second horn on five songs (mostly forthe melody statements) and on “Innocence” and“Voyage” he is heard as a full five-part horn section.
His playing is excellent throughout and his occasional
soprano solos (most notably on “Innocence”) make thecase for him being ranked as one of the top jazz players
on that horn. Other highlights include the catchy“Sunshower”, picturesque “Cook’s Bay”, thoughtful“Rain”, an inventive and exciting arrangement of“Voyage” and every solo played by the ageless pianist.
Magic Dance is one of the finest recent recordings
by both Abate and Barron with the tribute not revisiting
past triumphs but standing on its own as a superior
modern jazz date.

quest, with an added postbop flavor. Blake’s
overdubbing and alternating between soprano andtenor saxophone is quite effective, much as Genovese’s
complementing elegiac piano. Ishenko and Williams
handle the rhythmic challenges with gusto.
The CD opens with a dramatic and meditative
piano
solo,
“Prologue—The
New
Normal”,
foreshadowing rather bleak post-pandemic images.
The modal and Eastern-inspired “Cry” reflects on thePalestinian people’s plight while delivering an
impressive piano solo besides the leader ’s soprano.
“Like Fish in Puddles” is inspired by Buddhist poems
and is the tune more closely resembling Coltrane’squartet, particularly the leader ’s soprano style and theinevitable piano reference to McCoy Tyner.
“Pain” is a more esoteric and airier piece slowly
developing into a dirge. It is inspired by Blake’s recent
family losses and features the full range of his tenor
floating on a dense carpet of electronic effects provided
by Genovese. “The Cliff” sounds loosely based on a
Monk-ish theme, with supple drumming in evidence
sustaining a repeated riff by overdubbed saxophones
and angular piano. Ishenko’s intense solo leaves thelistener with the taste for more.
The title track, which translates to “about faith”,
delivers a suspenseful yet dramatic atmosphere built
once again upon keyboards, twisting soprano andinsisting piano chords. Finally, “Epilogue: It Heals
Itself” closes on a hopeful note, much like Coltrane’s“After the Rain”. The slow progression develops
around three chords and provides the launch pad fora dialogue between the soprano and tenor saxophones
on what could be next. Notwithstanding the
programmatic intent and noble inspirations, this ismusic that stands on its own.
For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com. This
project live-streams May 14th at facebook.com/jazzhabitat.

The Queen of Cups
Lauren Lee (ears&eyes)
by Jordannah Elizabeth

For more information, visit whalingcitysound.com. Barron
live-streams May 14th at jazzstandard.com.

During the COVID-19 lockdown, composer Lauren

Da Fé
Dan Blake (Sunnyside)by Marco Cangiano

Dan Blake, a Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist,

composer and educator with a wide-ranging resumé,
has composed a very ambitious work in the midst of
the ongoing pandemic and its consequences, drawing
inspirations from deeply personal and spiritualexperiences. The CD, consisting of nine captivating
originals, is a suite with a prologue and an epilogue.
The quartet with pianist Carmen Staaf, bassist
Dmitry Ishenko and drummer Jeff Williams is
augmented by the numerous keyboards of Leo
Genovese, a frequent musical partner of Blake. The
musical climate is reminiscent of John Coltrane’sclassic quartet both musically and in terms of spiritual

Lee began to rethink and reconstruct songs meant forher trio, gathering freshly composed repertoire and oldsongs, which manifest on her third album, The Queen of
Cups. This solo vocal and piano album consists of half
original music and half reimagined standards thatstem from Lee’s intricate imagination and distinct
compositional style.
One of the most enticing components is the esoterictitle. This mystical tarot card archetype is that of a being
who wades deeply within her emotions and flows in
the watery depths of her empathic and caring behavioral
projections. The Queen of Cups sits on a throne reigning
alone, which lends insight into the metamorphosis oftrio music into a solo effort. Lee performs her sparsepieces, personal lyrics and unique scatting techniquewith confidence and quietly crisp production.
Opener “Cognition” offers rich piano, which ringsand sonically glows against voice. Lee does not sing
lyrics, but instead creates romantically somber
melodies. “Up in the Air” features the careful layeringof voice, piano playing simple notes and chords insupport of the structured juggling of vocal expressions.
Ralph Rainger-Leo Robin’s “If I Should Lose You”
is minimal and haunting, Lee accompanying herself
with organ. She has created her own lane when it

14 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

comes to reinterpreting jazz standards, taking thebarest elements, the bones of jazz favorites, drawing
them into her own world and offering up versions
never done before. That is true for Axel Stordahl-PaulWeston-Sammy Cahn’s “I Should Care”, done in aslightly more upbeat interpretation.
Lee creates a postmodern minimalistic musicalreality, which invokes yearning to learn more about
her inspiration. She doesn’t seem to have misgivings
about making music exactly the way she pleases andthere’s courageousness in the crux of her sparse music.
For more information, visit earsandeyesrecords.com. This
project live-streams May 17th at soapboxgallery.org.

UNEARTHED GEM

In Baltimore
George Coleman Quintet (Reel to Real)by Phil Freeman

Baltimore’s Left Bank Jazz Society put on shows forover 30 years, beginning in the mid ’60s. A few havebeen released, including an April 1968 performanceby tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson split across two’90s Verve CDs; a 1972 set by singer Etta Jones,
backed by pianist Cedar Walton’s trio; and drummer
Roy Brooks’ The Free Slave, recorded in 1970.
George Coleman was part of Brooks’ band onthat date. 13 months later—and 50 years ago thismonth—the tenor saxophonist was back in
Baltimore, leading his own quintet with trumpeter
Danny Moore, pianist Albert Dailey, bassist Larry
Ridley and drummer Harold White. That set of
performances is preserved here, on tapes recorded
by Left Bank founder and engineer Vernon Lewis.
Coleman was a highly regarded player almost
as soon as he emerged out of Memphis in the mid’50s. He worked with Max Roach, Jimmy Smith,Booker Little and Lee Morgan, then joined Miles
Davis’ quintet for a year. He played on Herbie
Hancock’s Maiden Voyage and joined Elvin Jones’
band in 1969. His style was gutsy and soulful attimes, but always retained the fast, clean articulationof bebop. He never had much use for free playing,always preferring a memorable melody and a strong
set of chord changes to keep himself anchored andthat’s where he’s still at today at age 86.
Everyone plays at a high level, with Coleman and
Moore a perfectly matched frontline and the rhythm
section supporting them with subtlety and power.
White’s solo on “I Got Rhythm” is a Jones-esquedisplay of explosive energy kept under extraordinary
control. But there’s absolutely nothing that sounds
like it was recorded in 1971. The setlist is straight fromthe ’50s: John Lewis’ “Afternoon in Paris”, Clifford
Brown’s “Joy Spring” and “Sandu” and versions of
the Gershwins’ aforementioned “I Got Rhythm” andJohnny Green-Edward Heyman-Robert Sour-Frank
Eyton’s “Body and Soul”. Occasionally, on the latter,
Coleman rises to a pitch of intensity nodding to mid’60s Sonny Rollins, but never gets anywhere near
Albert Ayler or Pharoah Sanders territory. This
performance is a strange kind of time capsule, amonument to stubborn traditionalism.
For more information, visit cellarlive.com

English, the singers convey the mood rather well.
Magos Herrera is featured in “La Serena”, a Sephardic
folk song adapted by the guitarist into a strikingly brisk
setting, with ample seasoning from expressive trumpet.
Tamuz Nissim sings in Hebrew in the subtle“Ha’omnam”, a poem that served as a message of hope
when it was written during the Holocaust. It is arranged
as an intricate bossa nova, with a bit of scatting as well.
For more information, visit dottimerecords.com. Ben-Hur
live-streams May 22nd at soapboxgallery.org.

StoriesRoni Ben-Hur (Dot Time)
by Ken Dryden

G uitarist Roni Ben-Hur has put together a releasedrawing from many styles while the instrumentalists
he recruited are all among the most in demand artists
active today: trumpeter Ingrid Jensen, pianist George
Cables, bassist Harvie S and drummer Victor Lewis.
There is a feeling that it is a working group that has
played this music for audiences and nailed everything
on the first take, rather than a one-shot studio meeting.
The leader ’s originals include “But I Had To Say
Goodbye”, a bittersweet ballad, along with the upbeat“Ma’of”, which celebrates the coming of age of his two
daughters. Ben-Hur ’s inclusion of Elmo Hope’s
unjustly obscure bop gem “Something For Kenny” is anice touch, showcasing his formidable chops alongwith potent solos by Jensen and Cables. John Hicks’“After the Morning” is arranged as a lyrical, easygoing
jazz waltz for quartet (Cables sits out), with superb
interplay between both muted and open horn and soft
guitar. Cables’ effusive “Melodious Funk” captures thehumor found in many of Monk’s works; the composer
carries much of the load in this playful tune and it isclear that everyone had a ball.
Although none of the vocal selections are in

new releases

Live at the Deer Head Inn
Jim Snidero (Savant)by Pierre Giroux

Jim Snidero is a technically gifted alto saxophonist who

plays with a cool sound and airy vibrato. In this live
recording from the Deer Head Inn, Snidero surrounds
himself with sympathetic and talented players: Orrin
Evans (piano), Peter Washington (bass) and Joe
Farnsworth (drums). The band works from a songbook
of well-known standards on which they can takechances. This was Snidero’s first live recording in an
over 30-year career and took place on Halloween 2020,in the throes of the pandemic. It was a very welcome
opportunity to play before a live audience, which had

been missing since the earliest part of the year.
Although Snidero is more of a disciple of Phil
Woods than Charlie Parker, this session included acouple of Parker-associated themes, including his own“Now’s The Time” and the ballad “ My Old Flame”,
which he first recorded in 1947. The former, which is a
blues-based riff with typical bebop phrasing, is taken as
written by Snidero and the band. Snidero runs throughthe theme, which is followed by a bass solo packed
with a lot of weight. Snidero jumps back in, showing
his emotion and exciting technique after which Evanstakes a solo filled with dexterity and keyboard coverage.
Perhaps it was the unexpected attendance of Parker’s
step-daughter Kim at the club that pushed the band totheir intense connection to the piece.
For a five-year period earlier in his career, Snidero
was in the band that backed Frank Sinatra, throughwhich he gained an appreciation of his songinterpretations. When you listen to Snidero’s version
of “Ol’ Man River”, you can hear the Sinatra phrasingin the opening bars that Snidero plays. His solo
explorations are expressive and intense. Evans’interlude is reassuringly compelling, which leads to
the reprise of the melody by Snidero. “Idle Moments”
was written by Duke Pearson and first appeared as thetitle track of a 1963 Blue Note LP by guitarist Grant
Green. It is a languid, minor-key number Sniderodelivers with impeccable taste throughout the long
structure and interesting melodic lines.
The penultimate track is the other aforementioned
Parker-connected number “My Old Flame”, on which
Snidero gives full reign to his ballad prowess. His solo
bursts with insight and texture. The release is a welcome
vaccination in these uncertain pandemic times.
For more information, visit jazzdepot.com

Complete catalogs: www.steeplechase.dk
CD - download - streaming

Recording the vitalspirit of the London
jazz scene for 50
years

From Ken Colyer to
Dudu Pukwana
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Soon to come:Albert Nicholas
The Jazz Doctors
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US distribution:

SCCD 31915

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

Cadillac Music & Publishinghttps://cadillacrecords77.com/
https://cadillac77.bandcamp.com/

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 15

2021-05-FIMAV_NYCJR-2 Thirds page.pdf

12021-04-16

10:41

37 th edition

festivalinternational
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Friday 21
Saturday 22
Sunday 23
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
René Lussier
Érick d’Orion
Robbie Kuster
Martin Tétreault

May 17 to 23, 2021

7 daysof sound art
installations
in public spaces

Eve Egoyan SoloGGRILLe Choeur de Growlers
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Scott Thomson« Aérosolo »Kathleen Yearwood« Requiem (World in Ashes) »Bernard Falaise« Bascule »Quatuor Bozzini
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16 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Imperfect Measures
Michael Formanek (Intakt)
Dyads
Michael and Peter Formanek (Out Of Your Head)by Dan Bilawsky

Solo sessions and duo dates are de rigueur these days,

what with COVID-19 calling for solitary confinement
and creation. But neither one of these releases actuallycame about as a product of the pause on gatherings.
Instead, each reflects a different facet of formidable
bassist Michael Formanek’s complete return to the scene
prior to the pandemic. After spending 17 years teachingat the prestigious Peabody Conservatory whilechanneling additional strengths and ambitions into
sideman work, cooperative ventures and three notable
leader dates on the ECM imprint, Formanek moved
back into the life of the full-time improviser. Over the
past several years, since making that transition, his bass
has carried significant weight on a pair of albums fromguitarist Mary Halvorson’s Code Girl, three releases
from collective trio Thumbscrew and a set apiece fromhis own Elusion Quartet and Very Practical Trio. Alongthe way, Formanek clearly found time also to bottle andpreserve sage wisdom and searching suggestions in thesolo format and with a familial duo.
Bass is the lone instrument on Imperfect Measures,
but Formanek wasn’t all by his lonesome when herecorded this in 2017. Building the project around theconcept of music giving rise to art, he invited illustrator
Warren Linn to sketch along with/to his discoveries.
Some of Linn’s finalized creations, in turn, helped tofinish Formanek’s work, appearing in the CD’s
packaging. The music—almost exclusively improvised,with only a couple of sketches or seeds to grow—offers
serious thought(s) on time and dimension. The bustling“Quickdraw” holds tension through pace. “On The
Skin” subtly nods to tango composer Eduardo Arolas’“Comme il Faut”. “A Maze” adopts a trembling arco.
And “The Stand” works rhythmic and motivic hooks
to their fullest. Open to wherever the muse of the
moment takes him, Formanek is always seeking out
the sound of opportunity in these performances. As
restless as it is assured, this program possesses amesmeric draw.
While self-motivation is at the root of most solo
endeavors, a duo declaration—one like Dyads,
especially—is less about individual drive than sharedexperience(s). So with concentric interests andconnections nourished and strengthened over time,
Formanek and his son, saxophonist/clarinetist Peter,
were primed for this pairing. Recorded at the close of
2019, soon after they finished touring, this album
speaks directly to lives and minds intertwined. Fromthe very beginning, with the mysterious-turnedgrooving “Two, Not One”, things just click. And nomatter where they go from there—further left, or right,
or straight down a rabbit hole—these men are in sync.
There’s rooted back-and-forth talk on “After You”,
material and scenic suggestions in “The Woods”,
tempestuous streaks storming through “Hurricane”
unsettled (and unsettling) thoughts forwarded in“Hoarse Syrinx” and a blend of order and impulse
behind “That Was Then”. Genes may have a little
something to do with the magic here, but don’t
discount a tremendous work ethic and big, developed
ears. It’s all in the family.
For
more
information,
visit
intaktrec.chandoutofyourheadrecords.com. Michael Formanek live-streams
solo May 10th at soapboxgallery.org.

IN PRINT

G LO B E U N I T YAltered Alchemy
Achim Kaufmann/Ignaz Schick (Zarek)
Under the Sun Live 2019Space Quartet (Noise Precision Library)A Mountain Doesn’t Know It’s Tall
Fred Frith/Ikue Mori (Intakt)
by Tom Greenland

Machines are putting people out of work, doing those

repetitive (and not-so-repetitive) jobs faster and better,without tiring. In the jazz place, humans needn’t
worry they’ll be replaced, as it’s inherently impossible
to pre-program a musical ‘surprise’. In fact, threerecent releases suggest that men and machines arelearning to work together, to the benefit of both.
Berlin-based Ignaz Schick imaginatively deploys
turntables, samplers and live electronics in a variety
of settings, especially duos. Altered Alchemy, a duetwith pianist Achim Kaufmann recorded in the winterof 2016, is a generous two-CD set (comprised of 8
tracks averaging 15 minutes in length), which, as thetitle suggests, shows how the sound worlds—
acoustic piano prepared with various implements
and battery of custom electronics—collide, blend
and transmogrify their creative elements. Here the‘natural’ and mechanical materials are not at odds—
one never overpowers the other and there is nopatent leadership—rather they collectively engendera kind of musical gnosis. Some samples seem familiar(dogs, rain, people murmuring), but most are
metaphorical in character: hissings and creakings,
whirrs and rumbles, sirens and static—all highlysuggestive, few with overt references.
Under the Sun is similar in the sense that it
amalgamates the realms of ‘acoustica’ and electronica
through spontaneous improvisation, different because
it is four musicians performing live. Led by Rafael
Toral, who plies a handheld controller (akin to thoseused by gamers) to exhort acoustic and electronic
feedback from his amp, the Space Quartet also has
bassist Hugo Antunes, drummer/percussionist Nuno
Morāo and Nuno Torres, who switches between alto
saxophone and electronics, thereby shifting theelectronic-to-acoustic ratio between 1:3 and 2:2. A pairof 20-minute pieces were recorded in October 2019 inPortugal, the title track at ZDB in Lisbon, “Beneaththe Moon” at Teatro Viriato in Viseu. Toral’s approachto electronic synthesis (complemented by Torres’) is
notable for his juxtaposition of vocalistic tones
evoking the cries of feral beasts with overtly robotic
tones reminiscent of Star Wars droid R2-D2.
In spite of their almost 40-year association, A
Mountain Doesn’t Know It’s Tall is the first duet record
by Ikue Mori and Fred Frith, the former featured on
laptop electronics, the latter on guitar and homemade instruments and found objects (including“toys”). If the alchemists of the first disc favored epic
musical poems, the quartet of the second shorterstanzas, then Mori and Frith are working in the milieu
of haiku: terse statements of a minute or two or three,musical pictographs inspired by programmatic titles(or was it the other way around?) such as “Stirred byWind and Leaves” or “A Thief Breaks into an Empty
House”. Of the electronic musicians featured here,
Mori is perhaps the most abstract, but even her mosteccentric gestures are so intimately entwined with
Frith’s that the two are often indistinguishable.
For more information, visit zarekberlin.bandcamp.com,
rafaeltoral.net and intaktrec.ch

Symbiosis
Jeff Coffin/Derek Brown (Ear Up)
Let It Shine
Jeff Coffin/Helen Gillet (Ear Up)
by Dan Bilawsky

F or protean performer, saxophonist and recording

artist Jeff Coffin, creative juices seem to flow
unimpeded. Many who are familiar with the
saxophonist/reedplayer have come to that realization
without actually hearing any of his projects, only
taking into account his Grammy-garnering 14-year
tenure with Béla Fleck and The Flecktones andstentorian contributions in studios and stadiums with
Dave Matthews Band.
But Coffin’s rich discography, containing morethan 15 albums under his own name or as a co-leader,attests to how well he constantly channels his
imagination into many and varied environments. As aconversationalist and sharp-eared collaborator he’s
particularly suited to duo settings, made clear mostrecently, in 2018, with the release of recorded
encounters with percussionist Tatsuya Nakatani(Flight) and drummer Roy “Futureman” Wooten(The Moment of Now). Moving into the present, a pair ofdissimilar duo albums, arriving less than a monthapart on Coffin’s Ear Up imprint, furthers that lineof thinking.
Symbiosis, Coffin’s meet-up with beat-box
saxophone stylist Derek Brown, presents seven
originals. All but one of the performances wererecorded live without overdubbing, with each man
covering one saxophone per track and an extroverted
sensibility carries across this energetic endeavor. The
two musicians often feel like three or four, withpopping and slap-tongued articulations, key-clanked
percussion and saxophone basslines adding a notablerhythmic foundation. Coffin carries his tenor withswaggering soul and Brown alternates between tenor
and baritone, keeping it fun and funky from the bottom
up. Only the closer—“Somewhere I Can’t Recall”,
presenting with added colors and a cool-headed
disposition—strays a bit in character. With intriguing
riffs and grounding grooves underscoring some sly
and raucous blowing, this synergistic partnership islargely about hearty partying.
While Symbiosis finds Coffin playing to the rafters,
Let It Shine is all about eyeing the room and exploring
the atmosphere that surrounds it. A much morenuanced set than the lively blow-down with Brown,
this collaboration with genre-defying cellist Helen
Gillet stretches into many a different a corner. A blendof soprano saxophone and arco cello lines lends amournful quality to “The Sun Never Says”. The twoact “Lazy Drag Jig” moves from understated hipness toprance-and-dance mode with style. The wistful“Sometimes Springtime” puts Gillet’s lyric writing andvocals in the spotlight. And “Lampsi”, with its
entrancing five-plus-six feel and Mediterranean mien,
is absolutely alluring. With the exception of Ernst
Reijseger ’s elegiac “Do You Still” and Gillet’s moodshifting “Unzen”, all of the music stems from Coffin’s
pen and pure heart. Wooten drops in as a guest, adding
cajón on 2 of the 10 tracks, but his contributions don’talter the basic nature and chemistry of those cuts or the
project on the whole. Embracing the idea of layeringon many of these pieces and offering unobscured grace
when they go au naturel, Coffin and Gillet, left to theirown devices, create one beauty after another.

Keith Jarrett: A Biography by Wolfgang Sandner
Translated by Chris Jarrett (Equinox Publishing)by Tyran Grillo

The late Ian Carr ’s Keith Jarrett: The Man and His

Music long stood as the most complete portrait of its
subject, who turns 76 this month. Being a product of1991, however, the book begged a companion thisside of the second millennium. In 2015, Germanmusic editor and biographer Wolfgang Sandner
answered that call. Five years later, Jarrett’s youngest
brother Chris, who lives and teaches in Germany,
offered this superbly rendered, expanded andupdated translation into English. The result, Keith
Jarrett: A Biography, retreads some of the pianist’s
formative milestones while stringing through them
artful observations, interpretations and connections.
We find ourselves transported back to Jarrett’s
upbringing in Allentown, Pennsylvania, where
Sandner credits Jarrett’s mother for not putting her
son on the pedestal that has separated so many
young prodigies from the possibility of a normalchildhood. This may be one reason why his genius
was able to flourish so organically—untainted by
the bane of expectation, he built a career ontranscending it.
We sit in the audience during his first solo recitalat the age of seven—a mélange of classical andoriginal compositions—waiting for the moment
when jazz will enter the soundtrack of his past. We
cling to the wall like proverbial flies as, in a mere
five-year span, he joins forces with Art Blakey,
Charles Lloyd and Miles Davis. Jarrett’s tenure withthe latter, who convinces him to join after multiple
overtures, goes largely unrecorded and survives only
through anecdote. By the time Jarrett parts ways withthe latter, it’s 1971, just two years after the foundingof ECM Records by producer Manfred Eicher, withwhom Jarrett will forge a lasting relationship. Said
relationship yields albums—80 between 1971-2020—
that were made to exist, just as they exist to havedocumented a pianist who “had not really become asoloist—he had actually always been one” (pg. 88).
Jarrett’s “musical syntax” is as recognizable as it
is challenging to distill in words. Whether in his
traversals of the Great American Songbook withbassist Gary Peacock and drummer Jack DeJohnette
or his recording of J.S. Bach’s The Well-Tempered
Clavier (of which he characteristically remarked,“I was actually refusing more than I was giving”),
the mosaic we think we know has revealed tile after
unprecedented tile.
All of which serves to validate Sandner ’s
decision to view jazz through a hypermodern lens,framing its latter-day developments as a recalibrationof space among the rubble of the Second World War.
And there, in the middle of it all, Jarrett spans theocean like a bridge between the forward march ofAmericanism and the traumatic retrogression of thecontinent. This may be why Sandner concedes in his
foreword: “Most of all, though, this music should beheard.” For a musician of Jarrett’s caliber, the best
biography remains the discography.
For more information, visit equinoxpub.com

For more information, visit earuprecords.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 17

Wherever You Roam (The Music of Bob Dylan - Vol. 3)
Absolutely Sweet Marie (Tiger Moon)
by John Pietaro

The Berliners collectively known as Absolutely Sweet

Marie, named for Bob Dylan’s song from the deliciously
notorious Blonde on Blonde album, are at it again.
Thankfully. The quartet, all devotees to Dylan (whoturns 80 this month), are free jazz musicians andthinkers who delight in reconstructing the melodies ofthe master folk poet, reimagining them within thescope of a unique lineup of brass, reeds and drums.
Though their first two volumes dedicated to this music
seemed to cover most of the big Dylan classics, thiscurrent title includes enough to keep even casual fansinterested, but, remember, this is far from a cover band.
Trumpeter Steffen Faul and tenor saxophonist
Alexander Beierbach take the lead much of the way
through while trombonist Matthias Müller gravitates
between dancing basslines, harmonies and significant
solos and drummer Max Andrzejewski throbs, pulsates
and ignites the atmosphere.
A noted Dylan title, “The Mighty Quinn” (aka“Quinn the Eskimo”), a 1968 hit for Manfred Mann, ispresented as if poured from a Salvation Army bandsneaking hip into an otherwise droll job. Faul has thevery recognizable melody, cutting through chopsladen drumming and harsh, new chord voicings.
Among the other fascinating cuts is “New Morning”(originally on Dylan’s 1970 album of the same name),
which swings roughly in a teasingly harmolodic
manner. Müller ’s free sections, particularly in contrast
to the hymn-like playing of the other horns, will
absolutely lure you in. And Beierbach’s rubato feature
on “Nettie Moore” (from Modern Times, 2006) carries somuch urgency, the ear is reminded of David Murray at
his most heartfelt. More so, he captures the sound of
the song’s original loss and empty wandering.
And now for something completely different:“The Times They Are a-Changing”, vital, wise, acoustic
Dylan of 1964 is transformed into a simmering jazz
waltz, its melody turned inside out by expansive, evershifting three-part harmonies and then splintered intofragments defined by Andrzejewski’s jagged, free
implosions. Müller takes the only solo, backed by
rapidly incendiary drumming and the overall effect isenough to light the night skies. Like Dylan taking thestage with the New York Art Quartet during his RollingThunder Revue—and calling on the spirit of Ayler forgood measure.
For more information, visit tigermoonrecords.deLive at Jazz Inn Lovely 1990
Masayuki JoJo Takayanagi/Nobuyoshi Ino/
Masabumi PUU Kikuchi (Chap Chap-NoBusiness)
by John SharpeThis live date from the titular Nagoya venue reveals

the mellow side of Japanese free jazz. That could seem

unlikely when considering the lead name, guitarist
Masayuki Takayanagi, a maverick follower of Lennie
Tristano who later turned to total freak-outs and noise,partnering with the likes of outsider saxophonist
Kaoru Abe. Recorded nine months before his death 30
years ago this month, the concert finds him in thecompany of regular collaborator bassist Nobuyoshi
Ino, plus celebrated pianist Masabumi Kikuchi, whodied in 2015, sitting in during a trip home from hislong sojourn in the U.S.
Kikuchi, who worked with Miles Davis, Gil Evans,Dave Liebman and Joe Henderson, as well as acooperative trio with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian,exerts a pull towards the tradition. But Takayanagi andIno are not unwilling accomplices. Even on one of thetwo cuts they play as a duo, they touch on a standard
material as a basis for further exploration. Much of thetime Ino, who sure-footedly straddles the inside/outside dichotomy, anchors the often conversational
interaction close to the mainstream.
But it’s when he picks up his bow to become an
equal voice without any supportive function thatproceedings unloose their moorings. One of the highpoints of the disc comes on “Duo I” when his arco
slashes and organ-like tones engage in prickly dialogue
with Takayanagi’s scratchy fragmentation. Similarly
on “Trio III” Ino extracts creaks and groans from his
bass as the weather veers stormy, Kikuchi thunders
and the guitarist flashes in dramatic gesture.
Conventional gambits reappear during “Trio I” as
the three parlay an abstraction, which doesn’t shy fromconsonance. Later Kikuchi plies repeated rhythmic
figures that rejuvenate the exchanges, before ultimately
harping on an insistent progression. Once Ino latcheson, the pianist moves into a loose rendition of Monk’s“Locomotive”, with Takayanagi adding oblique but
blues-inflected commentary. It forms the final chapter
in an album, which soothes as much as it stirs.
For more information, visit nobusinessrecords.com

Sometime Ago
Meredith d’Ambrosio (Sunnyside)by George Kanzler“I Wished On The Moon” was definitively recorded in1935 by Billie Holiday. Meredith d’Ambrosio, whoturned 80 this year, reprises the Ralph Rainger-Dorothy
Parker song here and her version couldn’t be moredifferent. D’Ambrosio, with the exemplary trio ofRandy Halberstadt (piano), Daryl Johns (bass) andSteve Johns (drums), takes it at a similar heartbeat
tempo to Holiday’s version. However, her vocal
approach is softer, bringing a wistful feel to the lyrics
while her unique tone and timbre are as smooth asvelvet or suede, her inflections as soft as a powder puff.
That song, “If I Should Lose You” with a bossa
beat and “I Remember You” with lush, elastic phrasing
are the only more or less familiar standards on thisalbum. She and Halberstadt co-wrote two tracks andsingly penned one each. “Moonlight”, from John
Williams-Alan and Marilyn Bergman, is a gentle waltz,
d’Ambrosio reaching a higher register without losing
her ethereally velvet tone. The title track, by Sergio
Mihanovich, is a slow ballad, the singer ’s wistfulregrets shadowed by Don Sickler ’s flugelhorn.
D’Ambrosio’s voice throughout combines the fragilityof a Chet Baker with the perspicacity of a Mabel Mercer.
She is also a fine lyricist-composer. On “Feast Your

18 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Eyes”, a Halberstadt tune, she sardonically catalogues
a decadent buffet of extravagant morsels that distracta handsome “Adonis”: “If only he would look myway…all he sees is food”. “My Open Heart”, another
Halberstadt tune, is a pure expression of longing:“I come to you with an open heart, my open heart”.
Her own “Oh Well, What the Hell”, with Sickler on
muted trumpet, is a swinging stroll through “what willbe, time will tell” territory. Whether singing her own
lyrics or exploring the familiar or obscure songs ofothers, d’Ambrosio’s finely honed sensibilities bringa unique perspective to the songs.
For more information, visit sunnysiderecords.com

DROP THE NEEDLE

Steadfast (Solo Piano)
John Hicks (Strata East-Pure Pleasure)by Ken Dryden

J ohn Hicks flew under the radar of many jazzlisteners, though the pianist built an extensive,wide-ranging discography as a sideman and leader
during a career that lasted over four decades until
his sudden death 15 years ago this month at 64. One
of two LPs that Hicks recorded in 1975, both madefor Strata-East, this was his leader debut. It has beensporadically reissued since the label ceased
operations, most recently as this UK LP.
While most of Hicks’ recordings were in small
group settings, he made a number of solo piano
albums. Steadfast finds him at the top of his game,with an excellent instrument and engineer in a
London studio. The setlist seems very spontaneous,as if Hicks is playing what comes to mind for his
own enjoyment, drawing from decades-old
standards, time-tested jazz works and his own
rewarding originals.
Even this early in his career, Hicks consistently
finds new approaches to familiar works. Sometimes
he seems barely to pause before moving on to thenext song, as if he were making a direct-to-disc LP.
This type of playing demands repeated hearing tocatch the nuances of each selection.
Hicks’ joyful “One For John Mixon” is amasterful bop vehicle displaying his inventiveness.
His approach to Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life”
removes it from its typical maudlin setting, retaining
the essence of its melody but at a faster tempo withplenty of added flourishes. Almost immediately, hesegues into an inventive rendition of Clare Fischer ’s
Latin gem “Pensativa”, with his dazzling left handworking overtime. His brooding postbop original
title track opens the second side, leading into several
lyrical ballad interpretations, highlighted by adelicate, swinging take of Duke Ellington’s “In A
Sentimental Mood” and understated exploration of
Mal Waldron’s “Soul Eyes”.
The warmth of this 180-gram LP is formidable,with none of the annoying pops and defects thathave often marred 21st Century high-end records.
Additionally, Pure Pleasure earlier reissued Hells
Bells, a trio date that Hicks also recorded for StrataEast on the same day as Steadfast.
For more information, visit purepleasurerecords.com

Sings Irving Berlin
Yaala Ballin (SteepleChase Lookout)by Marilyn Lester

Ballin and Baline—a similarity that led singer Yaala

Ballin to make this new CD as she researched a possible
ancestral connection. Irving Berlin, born Israel Balineon May 11th,1888, went on to become a quintessential
American songwriter with an output exceeding 1,200
tunes. He was essentially a melodist, with the ability totell stories that deeply touched hearts. With Ballin,
over 13 tracks of familiar works, the numbers don’t somuch pull heartstrings but are carried by solidmusicality. Her phrasing and vocal dynamics arepolished and she is aided by a trio who add
immeasurably to the final result. First among them isbassist Ari Roland, who injects amazing energy,
creativity and presence. His bowing on “Blue Skies” isperfection; this cut is one of the best on the album, its
light swing working well with the tune that’s famously
written in a minor key, contrary to its upbeat lyric.
Ballin’s slightly accented delivery (she’s originallyfrom Israel) is charming, her vocal tone clear andstrong. She handles swing and trad ballads, such as“They Say That Falling in Love Is Wonderful” and “All
Alone” equally well. It’s on the latter that she does add
emotion to technique. Jazz arrangements, by definition,

often run in contrast to traditional popularinterpretations and this CD is no exception. Adding
a samba beat, for instance, to “Say It Isn’t So” works
well with the number, even though it’s usually sung asa torch song. Bookending the tracks are “It’s a Lovely
Day” and “Cheek to Cheek”, the two swingingest
numbers, both buoyant and cheery. Throughout
guitarist Chris Flory and pianist Michael Kanan exceed
roles as mere accompanists. Their technical and artistic
mastery are as important to the final product as Ballin’s
vocals. This is a completely enjoyable tribute to Berlin,
whose popularity justly never seems to fade.
For more information, visit steeplechase.dk

With You Jazz Cat
Michael Vlatkovich (pfMENTUM)
by Robert Bush

The West Coast has always gotten the short shrift,

respect-wise, when it comes to jazz and improvised
music, despite the fact that many of the greatest
musicians, from Charles Mingus to Eric Dolphy to
Dexter Gordon, hail from California: Los Angeles, tobe exact. When multi-instrumentalist Vinny Golia
migrated from New York in the late ‘70s, he helped
create a vibrant scene that continues to thrive eventoday. A key contributor to that scene is slide trombone
virtuoso Michael Vlatkovich, who turns 70 this monthand whose latest effort is a standout representative of
the creative music scene in L.A.
This may be Vlatkovich’s most accessible album todate. One can hear the influence of Mingus peeringover the transom and this assemblage— Greg Zilboorg
and Louis Lopez (trumpets), Bill Plakes and Andrew
Pask (saxophones), Wayne Peet (keyboards), Dominic
Genova (bass) and Ken Park (drums)—is definitely up
to the task. Vlatkovich himself is criminally underrated
in the mainstream jazz press. He’s got a wonderfulpersonal sound and singular approach to improvisation.
On the opener, “Mr. 60”, the listener is instantly drawn
to that brawny timbre and to the rich and woody basscommentary. The trombonist also has a wicked senseof humor, most evident on clever titles like “Don’t
Know What You’ve Lost Until It’s Gone”, which also
illustrates killer solos from trumpet and baritone
saxophone. The reeds get a thorough workout and achance to shine in wonderfully off-kilter fashion on“Bob, The Fish That Discovered Water”, which contains
stellar ensemble writing as well.
Another highlight comes on “Nursing Home
Fashion Show”, a sumptuous duo feature for piano andtrombone and classic example of deep simpatico. Thereis an underlying current of the blues throughout thesession, especially on the numerically titled, “011…923”,
which showcases a swaggering plunger-mute essay
and an equally astonishing bass retort. Also noteworthy
is “I’ll Show Him Who He Thinks We Are”, spotlighting
a relentlessly manic alto solo from Pask, who conjured
up Dolphy in mesmerizing fashion. These jazz cats takea back seat to no one regardless of geography.
For more information, visit pfmentum.com

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 19

Musa - Ancestral Streams
Stanley Cowell (Strata-East - Pure Pleasure)
Such Great Friends
Stanley Cowell, Billy Harper, Reggie Workman,
Billy Hart (Strata-East - Pure Pleasure)by Monique Ngozi Nri

Stanley Cowell could be described as an unsung heroin the sense that while he was revered in the music
community, he did not have nor did he seek the fameof his contemporaries. Though he won many awards
and accolades during his lifetime, he was really amusician’s musician judging by the caliber of leaders
like Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Max Roach, Bobby
Hutcherson, Marion Brown and Harold Land who
drew upon his services. The thing that his wife Sylvia
Cowell drew to this reviewer ’s attention on his passing
last December was his role as a father and a husband.
Cowell, as attested to by his daughter Sunny, took eachof his roles seriously and found a way to balance a
deep commitment to exploring his chosen musicalinstrument with an equal commitment to his family,
his teaching and to social justice. Listening to andresearching this pair of remastered LPs, this reviewer
was struck by the quality of Cowell’s relationships
with his family, his fellow musicians and his students.
Musa - Ancestral Streams was his first solo piano
album. The word Musa means “saved from the water”
in Arabic and other languages. The album is perhaps
conceived as an homage to the history of the musicfrom which it is drawn. Released by his own record
company Strata-East in 1974, this gorgeous album isdedicated to his father, Stanley R Cowell, Sr.: “Hisencouragement and the opportunities he provided formy musical/spiritual growth I shall always remember.”Those opportunities included the chance to meetand play for Art Tatum when he was six at the motelthat his father owned. Cowell was born in Toledo, Ohio
80 years ago this month on May 5th. It was a rare thing
in those days to have a Black-owned business. Manymusicians frequented the motel because of segregation,
allowing the younger Cowell to see the musicians andtheir lifestyle. Trained as a classical pianist by day at
the University of Michigan, Cowell spent his nights
playing jazz in the clubs. As soon as he was done withhis studies, Cowell set off for New York, hoping to playwith his idols.
It was a relationship that trumpeter Charles
Tolliver described as “an instant bond like no other”,
a friendship of 53 years that began at a rehearsal fora new Max Roach Quintet. That friendship spawned
the independent label Strata-East, which Cowelldescribed in an interview as a condominium: “Charles
and I created the corporation—in other words, we
owned the building. The artist-producers owned theirrecording(s)—in other words, they owned space in thebuilding. A legal contract agreement was mutually
executed by SER and the artist-producers.”
Cowell drew on the business acumen of his parents
and the seminal idea for those times of owning what
one had created. A Jazz Messenger blog post noted,“From the outset, presentation and quality becamea central part of the creative vision. The label’s sharp
black and white logo by graphic designer Ted Plair set
the tone. Always pressed on the finest vinyl, StrataEast’s recordings were pressed in limited numbers,
adding to their cultish status.”
Pure Pleasure has remastered this album perfectly
and faithfully reproduced the album sleeve featuring
the artwork of Carol Byard, who depicts Cowellemitting spheres of orange, turquoise, blue and purple

in a trance-like state, fingers outstretched. The insideof the gatefold shows a spirit transcending in a black
and white painting of ancestral symbols. Magical.
This reviewer saw Cowell and his daughter
perform the song “Equipoise” at his last live recording
at the Keystone Korner in Baltimore in 2020. The
second track on Musa - Ancestral Streams, it is arguably
Cowell’s most admired composition, one he returned
to many times and which has also been covered bymany musicians and sampled by hip-hop artists like
The Pharcyde. (See “Equipoise: A Critical Analysis of
Covers”, January 17th, 2014 by Ben Gray at
nextbop.com/blog). The melody on this solo pianoversion is haunting, plaintive, yet hopeful. Cowell’sintonation hits that sweet spot, drawing in the listener.
It feels like floating on some celestial plane.
Opening “Abscretions” has a definite masculine
tone, with the melody placed stridently in the bass clef.
It could be a victory march or a Black man striding
towards freedom. Coming of age in the ‘70s, Cowell
was influenced by the struggles against the social
injustices of the time. “Prayer For Peace”, incontradiction to its title, seems to convey more of theturmoil of war than the tranquility of peace, strangely
jarring with a rhythmic insistence on change. The final
composition on the A-Side is unnervingly short at 2.45.
Entitled “Emil Danenberg”, from The Illusion Suite, it is
the oldest composition on this side and far more
abstract than any of the other pieces.
The B-Side opens with another song from The
Illusion Suite, “Maimoun”. “Travelin’ Man” has been
described as Cowell’s anthem; he duets with himself
on electric piano and mbira (thumb piano). It is a light,
breezy tune. “Departures 1” is a frenetic display ofvirtuosity and brilliant use of every inch of the
keyboard threaded with complex rhythms and scales.
Cowell ends on the lush ballad “Sweet Song”.
Pianist Jason Moran says of the album: “Therecord is close to my heart. This is the solo piano recordthat showed an expansive relationship to the jazz
piano canon and at the same time, upended the notionof how the canon sounds. Many times Cowell sounds
like ten hands instead of 10 fingers. In essence, he is a
structuralist, but one that can see and okay the negativeand positive of the sound. His strategies evolved the
piano. Lastly, this recording is important to hip-hop
producers and Stanley’s sounds found a new garden to
sprout from for a new generation.”
Such Great Friends speaks again to relationships,
this time with fellow musicians. The album cover iscrisp black and white with blue accents and the title ina deeper blue. The face of each musician—Cowell,tenor saxophonist Billy Harper, bassist Reggie
Workman and drummer Billy Hart—is shown with aseparate picture of their hands on their instruments
below. The back cover features the band whole again(photos by veteran Ray Ross, who died in 2004). Eachparticipant (notably, for that time, each with his own
publishing company) brings a composition. Threesongs exceed 10 minutes except Hart’s “Layla Joy”;
Workman’s “East Harlem Nostalgia” clocks in an
impressive 16:58.
Cowell’s contribution is “Sweet Song” from Musa
- Ancestral Streams, opening with solo piano until
Harper glides in. The pace is slow and measured anddrums light and spare. Harper ’s “Destiny is Yours” hasa cute melody and traditional head-solos-head form.
“Layla Joy” features a short drum solo but is dominatedby tenor. To close, “East Harlem Nostalgia” opens withseveral minutes of solo bass before the band takes us
for a ride through the titular neighborhood, the hoots
and hollers of Harlem streets echoing in Harper ’s horn.
These two reissues are excellent additions to
Cowell’s legacy, hopefully bringing the music to newfans. He was a practicing Buddhist and Bodhisattva of
the earth and his music and spirit will live on.
For more information, visit purepleasurerecords.com

20 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

Cryptic Scattered Images of Time Forgotten
Trió Kontraszt (BMC Records)
Do Not Slam The Door!
Grencsó Collective Special 5 (with Ken
Vandermark) (BMC Records)by Steven Loewy

These albums illuminate the fascinating evolution andvirtuosity of two related small groups with roots inEastern Europe, each with an eclectic vision. The trio
album, Cryptic Scattered Images of Time Forgotten,
features the outstanding piano work of Stevan Kovács
Tickmayer (also known as “István” instead of“Stevan”), reed player István Grencsó (who turns 65
this month) and drummer Szilveszter Miklós. All three
perform also the Grencsó Collective Special 5’ Do Not
Slam The Door! with bassists Róbert Benkő and ErnőHock and guest saxophonist Ken Vandermark.
Although sporting similar personnel, the tworecordings are successful and gripping in their own
ways. With a strong musical background in classicalmusic, free jazz and even rock and a ticklish sense ofhumor, Tickmayer leads the trio through a smorgasbordof colors and inventive devices, relying on shifts inrhythm, melding genres and strong solos from thegroup with disparate musical elements. The results are
uniquely appealing, sucking the listener into a worldthat shifts from radical ambient structures to fusion towildly expressive piano improvisations, coloredstrongly by the pianist’s writing, which keeps the trio
deliciously off-balance. The contrasts are demanding
and constant, including the dark, brooding, ponderous
soprano of Grencsó. But whether it is the mysterious
deep sounds of opener “The Wizard Garden”, twohanded pounding of the piano with the creative lines
from the saxophone on catchy, toe-tapping “Different
Divisions and Rags” or “Sinbad Waltz”, with its
continually morphing explorations, the trio delights in
its entirely original way. The final track, “Trash Tango”,
fully expresses the import of this group. It elicits
laughter from the audience as it rolls a tango withcrashing drums, complex silly snippets, hardcore
pianisms and hilarious shifts in time.
Do Not Slam The Door! is equally compelling, but it
is led by and showcases Grencsó, who shines
throughout with his original sounds on flute, alto andtenor saxophones and clarinet and, critically, features
Vandermark throughout. The opening “Parallel
Phenomenon” sets the tone, with Vandermark andGrencsó going head-to-head, a cappella style, with thelatter impressive in his sparring with the great Chicago
free improviser. As with Cryptic Scattered Images of Time
Forgotten, there are constant leaps of genre, changing
instrumentation and the group seems much larger than
it is. On “Curtain”, the saxophones let loose withwildly exciting solos after the opening hardbopinfluenced opening salvo, anchored by freestyle
drumming. Contrast this with the following piece, theelegiac, atmospheric, but edgy “Only You Can HearIt”, with Tickmayer plucking the piano inside with astrong bass underpinning. The pieces are diverse anddemanding and along the way there are excellent
contributions by every member of the band, fromexpressive bass solos to a range of reeds, in what is aserious and convincing effort. The Grencsó Collective
Special 5 deserves greater recognition on this side of
the Atlantic and perhaps the addition of Vandermark
on this recording will entice some to sample this veryfine album.
For more information, visit bmcrecords.hu

Improdimensions
Agustí Fernández/Liudas Mockūnas (NoBusiness)
NOX
Nate Wooley, Liudas Mockūnas, Barry Guy,
Arkadijus Gotesmanas (NoBusiness)by Stuart Broomer

Liudas Mockūnas is a Lithuanian reed player,

composer and improviser who, over the past 20 years,
has built up an impressive discography, withinternational collaborations including duets with Marc
Ducret, Barry Guy and William Hooker and groups
with Vladimir Tarasov, Vyacheslav Ganelin andRaymond Strid. These two LPs, recorded at
Improdimensija (Improdimension), a Vilnius concert
series, extend that documentation. Mockūnas, whoturns 45 this month, may not be well known outside
his native land, but he sounds perfectly at home withsome of the world’s most accomplished improvisers.
Improdimensions, duets with Catalan pianist Agustí
Fernández, comes from two different editions of thetitular series, “Improdimension I” from December
2019, “Improdimension II” from October 2018, eachside in three segments. “Improdimension 1” begins
with Mockūnas on soprano in a remarkable display ofclose listening, the saxophonist and pianist mirroring
one another ’s phrasing in a freewheeling, almost
rhapsodic
improvisationsuggestingclassical
modelling and structure. The second episode takes thesame attentiveness into the realm of sound exploration,
the saxophonist initiating with a mad honking of
metallic ducks, eventually drawing percussivepunctuations of prepared piano. The segment
eventually gives rise to individual flights, Mockūnas
exploring rapid multiphonic runs that have their own
character, followed by Fernández’ forceful two-handedchromatic fantasia. When Mockūnas switches to tenor
for the third segment, he shows rare discretion,emphasizing subtle distinctions in attack and tone
production as well as a strange bass range. The
musicians are in almost perfect lock-step, brilliantly
negotiating a blank manuscript that bridges third
stream and free improvisation.
The earlier “Improdimension II” opens with aspacious reverie with Fernández moving between
keyboard and strings, eventually turning to highpitched, sliding sounds as Mockūnas enters playing his
secret weapon, a contrabass clarinet he mines forcomplex squawks and wavering tones around thedepths of the human hearing range. The middle
segment is a piano solo, a powerful and characteristic
Fernández invention with a broad sweep fromchromatic flurries through bass rumblings and highregister tremolos, ultimately arriving at a pensive
ballad. The final segment, a tour de force, has Mockūnas
opening with a solo passage of contrabass clarinet inwhich his ability to create seemingly independentparts adds a hallucinatory element to this potent brew,
which is further extended when Fernández inserts
more zither-like runs inside Mockūnas’ lines.
NOX presents Mockūnas in a classic quartet
formation, collectively improvising with trumpeter
Nate Wooley, English bassist Guy and the veteranLithuanian drummer Arkadijus Gotesmanas. The sidelong “Multa Dies” assembles itself gradually, with
Mockūnas on an emotionally taut sopranino exchanging
brief phrases with Wooley as Guy throws off decorativeruns. The first phase that hints at the group’s power is adialogue between Wooley and Mockūnas consisting ofalternating high-pitched cries that build both emotional
and physical resonance, leading to an intense sopranosolo with strongly interlaced support from Guy andGotesmanas, a subtle drummer whose contributions
move quickly from subtle inflection to explosive force.
Mockūnas works in his other horns, tenor and contrabass
clarinet, in the evolving sonic textures of the piece.
“Multa Nox” is as subtle as collective improvisation
can be, at times a delicate reverie that seems to be heard
through quicksilver bass, at once slow and resonantwith sudden delicate flights into the upper register, as
Wooley moves from muted to open trumpet andMockūnas explores high harmonics on his contrabass
clarinet, creating a kind of bass whistling. As the music
gradually grows in intensity, Gotesmanas adds rapid
snare punctuations before it turns to a slow, pitchbending passage of trumpet with some bass mirroring,
finally concluding in a kind of dour lullaby of trumpet,
contrabass clarinet rumbles and bowed bass harmonics.
The concluding “Multa Lux” is hyper free jazz, withconstantly shifting voices cascading over one another,including Wooley’s damp-air whistles and Mockūnas’bizarre bass register on tenor. It’s another masterfulstudy in collectivized movement, with constantly
changing individual inputs from the musicians
somehow forming a continuous tapestry of sounds.

decades, even though he’s making them up on the spot.
Which in a way he has; each of these pieces is deeply
communicative and seems to get at the essence of
Jarrett’s musical thinking and even being.
The large-scale pace and shape of the concert is alsosuperb, another feature of Jarrett’s masterful improvising;he’s thinking in the moment while also keeping track of
the overall direction across 90 minutes. “Part X”, one of
the relatively weaker tracks, is the last of the regular
recital, then Jarrett returns for four encores: a ballad, ablues and luscious and heartbreaking readings of “It’s aLonesome Old Town” and “Answer Me”.
For more information, visit ecmrecords.com

DROP THE NEEDLE

For more information, visit nobusinessrecords.com
Something’s Up
Doug Raney (SteepleChase)by Scott Yanow

Doug Raney, who died five years ago this month at
Budapest Concert
Keith Jarrett (ECM)by George Grella

With the knowledge that two strokes Keith Jarrett(who turns 76 this month) suffered in 2018 have madeit likely he’ll never play piano in public again, it’s
tempting to hear the two-CD Budapest Concert album asa capstone. If this is indeed the last new Jarrett album
we’ll hear—recorded in 2016, it’s actually an archival
release—then it’s by default the former, but it’s thelatter only in the sense that his extensive and substantial
series of live, improvised concerts are, each and every
one, a summation of all the things that have made him
the musician he is, heard in that moment.
Within the world of free improvisation, Jarrett’s
career is singular both for the mass appeal of his
playing and the aesthetic of a focus on order he brings
to the keyboard. That method, creating spontaneousmaterial and shaping it into clear forms and structures,is the reason why he has sold millions of copies ofcompletely free albums like the Köln Concert. It is as
profound a way to make music as any other approach
to free playing and it has its own unique dangers.
Budapest Concert, like the rest of his late period
improvised albums, is very different than Köln Concert,a series of shorter pieces that go through a variety ofmoods and models, rather than the extended
explorations and vamps of the earlier album. It’s also as
fine a concert album as he’s produced. His technique is
not as pristine as it was last century—there are somepassages where his fingers muddle his thoughts—andon a couple tracks, like “Part X” (every original title isgeneric), he spends too much time on a banal sequenceof chords. The rewards, however, are both frequent andtremendous. There’s plenty of his driving, soulful
rhythms—Jarrett is one of the swinging-est modern
jazz musicians—and there’s a substantial focus on
spontaneous ballads, which are, in a word, exquisite.
On tracks like “Part V”, which opens Disc 2, he pulls
together harmonies and melody that match the finest
songwriters in the Great American Songbook. The way
he shades dynamics and shapes phases is so subtle andlogical that it seems he’s lived with these tunes for

only 59, was a fluent bop-based guitarist with a coolsound who sounded relaxed even when playing
double-time runs over rapid tempos. The son ofguitarist Jimmy Raney, the scion had a similarstyle as his father with perhaps a slightly darker
tone. He had such a clear singing sound that it isdifficult to believe that he started out as a teenager
playing rock.
Raney had switched to jazz by the time heworked with pianist Al Haig in 1974 when he was
18. Three years later he toured Europe with hisfather as a duo and soon had permanently moved to
Copenhagen. Raney had a long-time association
with the SteepleChase label, appearing on manyrecords as a sideman. The liner notes for this newly
reissued LP say that Something’s Up was his 11thalbum for the label as a leader; there would be sevenmore and each was consistently rewarding.
For this set from Feb. 26th, 1988, the then-31year-old guitarist teams up with his regular pianistof the time Ben Besiakov, another Dane in bassist
Jesper Lundgaard and drummer Billy Hart. Raney is
the main soloist although Besiakov (who sometimes
recalls early Herbie Hancock and Wynton Kelly)
makes the most of his solo space. While mostly
found in a supportive role, Lundgaard and Hart also
have a few short solos.
The quartet performs Raney’s augmented
medium-tempo minor blues title track (which has
many creative choruses from the guitarist), an
extended version of Irene Higginbotham-Ervin
Drake-Dan Fisher ’s “Good Morning Heartache”,
Billy Strayhorn’s “Upper Manhattan Medical
Group”, a melodic take on Jerome Kern-Oscar
Hammerstein’s “Nobody Else But Me” and a pair ofdriving Raney originals: “Speedy Recovery” and“Visceral Drives”. Their playing fits into themainstream of hardbop yet never sounds predictablewith the guitarist constantly pushing himself,
particularly during the title track and “Visceral
Drives”.
Something’s Up is an excellent place to start in
exploring the musical talents of Doug Raney.
For more information, visit steeplechase.dk

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 21

tOpen a6 pm!
Dolphy Underlined
Marco Colonna & Alexander Hawkins(Fundacja Słuchaj)
Togetherness Music (For Sixteen Musicians
Featuring Evan Parker + Riot Ensemble)
Alexander Hawkins (Intakt)
Apura!
Karl Evangelista (with Alexander Hawkins,
Louis Moholo-Moholo & Trevor Watts)(Astral Spirits)
by Kurt Gottschalk

Like others of the generation who fed into what
SAT
5/1

A N WA R M A R S H A L L T R I O
LEZLIE HARRISON

7PM
9PM

WED
5/5

T R I O G UATAC A
F E AT. J A I N A R D O B AT I S TAMANNY A & THE Q-BAND

7PM

THR
5/6

E D C H E R RY T R I O
IAN HENDRICKSON-SMITH

7PM
9PM

FRI
5/7

DAV I D K I KO S K I T R I O
KEN FOWSER QUINTETF E AT. W I L L I E J O N E S I I I

7PM
9PM

SAT
5/8

PA S Q UA L E G R A S S O T R I O
MICHAEL ARENELLA QUINTET

7PM
9PM

WED
5/12

B E N N Y B E N AC K
L AU R E N H E N D E R S O N

7PM
9PM

THU
5/13

ALEX CLAFFY TRIOSTEVEN FEIFKE
ALBUM RELEASE EVENT

7PM
9PM

FRI
5/14

WAY N E E S C O F F E RY T R I O
KEN FOWSER QUINTETF E AT. D O N A L D V E G A

7PM
9PM

SAT
5/15

JASON TIEMANNM I K E L E D O N N E Q UA R T E T

7PM
9PM

WED
5/19

JOHN DOKES
M A R I A N N E S O L I VA N

7PM
9PM

THU
5/20

9PM

RALE MICIC TRIO
7PM
ALBUM RELEASE EVENTB R A N D I D I S T E R H E F T Q UA R T E T 9 P M

FRI
5/21

S TAC Y D I L L A R D T R I O
KEN FOWSER QUINTETF E AT. P E T E R B E R N S T E I N

7PM
9PM

SAT
5/22

J O E B LO C K T R I O
PRET TY FOR THE PEOPLE

7PM
9PM

WED
5/26

IMANI ROUSSELLES A M A R A J OY

7PM
9PM

THR
5/27

CHARLES GOOLDF E AT. T R I P T YC H
MARK WHITFIELD

7PM

FRI
5/28

RICK GERMANSON TRIOA N T O I N E D RY E

7PM
9PM

SAT
5/29

NICK HEMPTON TRIOJ O E FA R N S W O R T H

7PM
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T R I B EC A

DINNER, LIBATIONS & LIVE JAZZ!
IN THE OF TRIBECA

Gunther Schuller would call “Third Stream”, Eric
Dolphy was frustrated during his all-too-short life
that, by virtue of skin color, he was excluded froma career as a composer. He did, however, leave a small
but potent body of work, which, occasionally, not often
enough, gets visited by musicians attuned to hislabyrinthine themes.
Italian reedplayer Marco Colonna and British
pianist Alexander Hawkins (who turns 40 this month)delve into what the master left behind on Dolphy
Underlined, a set of nine solos and duets ruminating on
the familiar themes. They make for a wonderfully
intuitive duo—the way they slide in and out of “Out toLunch” is nothing short of gorgeous. It’s fascinating tohear Hawkins shift from chordal accompaniment (withvariations) to mirroring the saxophone lines, or more
precisely mirroring the feel of the saxophone, in“Something Sweet, Something Tender”, approximating
the glissandi and semi-tones of the horn, suggesting
things of which the piano is incapable. In a solo take on“Gazzelloni”, Hawkins finds some unexpected hints ofragtime and barrelhouse without painting the tune as athrowback. And Colonna recalls Dolphy’s fine solo
bass clarinet excursions into “God Bless the Child”
with his own reverently personal rendition. It’s not at
all difficult to project an aching nostalgia onto their
lovingly played renditions.
There’s no way of knowing what kind of composer
Dolphy might have become had time and diabetes
allowed, but the insightful and intuitive compositions
on Hawkins’ Togetherness Music could be taken as grist
for the imagination. The set of 6 pieces for 16 musicians—Rachel Musson (flute, tenor saxophone), Percy
Pursglove (trumpet), James Arben (flute, bass clarinet),
Neil Charles (bass), Mark Sanders (drums), Matthew
Wright (electronics), Benedict Taylor (viola), Hannah
Marshall (cello) and The Riot Ensemble: Mandhira deSaram (violin), Marie Schreer (violin), Stephen Upshaw(viola) and Louise McMonagle (cello) and Marianne
Schofield (bass)—is wonderfully well structured,plenty of open space without devolving into chaos. The
opening composition seems to call the featured soloist
out from its very title. “Indistinguishable From Magic”
is, like Duke Ellington’s “Concerto for Cootie”, afeature not so much for a particular instrument as for
its player, in this instance countryman Evan Parker(with whom Hawkins recorded a set of duets back in
2016, Leaps in Leicester, for Clean Feed). It’s a stunning
10-minute vehicle for the unmistakable sound of his
saxophone. A couple of densities for strings follow
before Hawkins finally comes out swinging on “Leaving
the Classroom of a Beloved Teacher” (he plays before
that, but here he gives himself the spotlight). A serenity
follows under the unlikely title “Ecstatic Baobabs” andthe album closes with some nice rickety jazz in“Optimism of the Will”. This isn’t Hawkins’ first outing
as a leader (do not miss his 2017 quartet with vocalist
Elaine Mitchener, also on Intakt), but it’s his first with aband this big and he manages exceedingly well.
Hawkins also, of course, has done plenty of work
as a sideman and bandmember (of particular note is
his organ playing with the trio Decoy). Most recently,

22 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

he can be heard in an expansive double-CD set led byguitarist Karl Evangelista. The up-and-comer put
together an impressive ensemble for the project, with
Hawkins, British saxophonist Trevor Watts and South
African drummer Louis Moholo-Moholo in what (asEvangelista points out in his liner notes) may be thefirst time the latter pair have recorded together sincethe ‘80s. It’s a mostly free session, with strong andenjoyable ties connecting saxophone and guitar on the
one side and piano and drums on the other. The mix
often favors Evangelista, which isn’t much of a
detriment as he consistently rewards the attention
paid. Hawkins is given interesting problems to solve
across Apura!’s 100 minutes and consistently engages
and resolves. He continues to be a name to watch.
For more information, visit fsrecords.net, intaktrec.ch andastralspiritsrecords.com

The Fire Still Burns
Alan Braufman (Valley of Search)by Phil Freeman

Alto saxophonist Alan Braufman (who turns 70 thismonth) was at the heart of the New York Loft scene of
the early ‘70s. He, late saxophonist David S. Ware,multi-instrumentalist Cooper-Moore (then known as
Gene Ashton), bassist Chris Amberger, drummer Tom
Bruno and others lived together at 501 Canal Street,where they performed their own music and allowed
others to play as well. Braufman claims that 501 Canal
was the site of one of David Murray’s earliest New
York performances.
In addition to making his own album, Valley of
Search, which was released on India Navigation in 1975
and reissued in 2018, he performed on Cecil McBee’s
Mutima, Carla Bley’s Musique Mecanique and William
Hooker ’s Brighter Lights and Lifelines. But hedisappeared in the ’80s, abandoning the East Coast for
Salt Lake City.
The Fire Still Burns was inspired by the warm
reception the Valley of Search reissue was given.
Braufman reunited with Cooper-Moore and tenor
saxophonist James Brandon Lewis, bassist Ken Filiano
and drummer Andrew Drury round out the lineup.
The album packs eight tracks into just 36 minutes andthey blend smoothly into one another. The opening“Sunrise” is a spiritual jazz fanfare, a calling to order,
with Braufman and Lewis sharing an almost liturgical
melody as the rhythm section rumbles like anapproaching tide. Eventually, Braufman takes akeening, forceful solo (his tone on alto is extremely
impressive, as powerful as the late Arthur Blythe) as
Cooper-Moore lays down gospel chords and trilling
extrapolations behind him. The pianist launches thenext piece, “Morning Bazaar”, solo and when the bandcomes in, the groove and the uplifting, praise-the-sun
melody recall the kind of rocking swing in which
Kamasi Washington’s groups specialize. Braufman
switches to flute, an instrument on which he’s
extremely skilled.
The entire album shifts back and forth between
gospel-flavored soul jazz (“Alone Again”, “CityNights”) and raucous free eruptions (“No Floor No
Ceiling”, “Creation”). Braufman and Lewis are an
excellent team, the vast difference in their ages rendered
trivial by their intuitive musical communication andCooper-Moore, Filiano and Drury never let up. This is aserious, thoughtful artistic statement.
For more information, visit alanbraufman.bandcamp.com

(INTERVIEW CONTINUED FROM PAGE 6)TNYCJR: How have you been affected by the
pandemic? I know you’ve been leading the Louis
Armstrong Legacy Jazz Jam at Flushing Town Hall.
You told me it’s been virtual for a while, but you’rehoping to go back into the hall.
CS: It’s been a very interesting ride for me. First of all,
I did get COVID—at the end of March last year andI had it through April and May. So I stayed home andwhen I got tested I had antibodies. I felt a little betterby June. And then all year I had long-haul COVID, allkinds of stuff. I’m feeling much better just this month.
As soon as I could, some of the parents of students
I teach urged me to go virtual. I was reluctant, but thenI tried it and found that for certain age groups it really
worked well. I’ve resumed lessons in person with afew families, but most are still virtual.
And I started back with the Town Hall again, as
a virtual concert rather than a jam session. I didn’t
realize it would work so well virtually. In fact, we
expanded our audience worldwide. We have people
from Italy, New Zealand and Australia sending in files
they do at home, impromptu recordings. So it’s likea jam in that sense, but we don’t play together.
TNYCJR: And the status of the Astoria Big Band?
CS: We got a grant to do a concert, which was originally
supposed to happen in December 2020. Now it’s on
May 29th, outside a church in Sunnyside. People inand outside the band are writing arrangements for us.
It’s going to be women composers of popular music.
TNYCJR: The last recording you made was Live at
Saint Peter’s Church with your quartet in 2019. Are you
thinking of making another record?
CS: Yes, though I doubt it will be a CD. CDs seem to be
going out of fashion. But whatever medium it is,I think the best thing would be to record my own
compositions. I’ve put one or two on each of the 10
CDs and one LP I’ve made.
TNYCJR: As a writer, who are your biggest influences?
CS: It’s such a hard question, there are so many good
writers. Tadd Dameron writes one gem after another,
Sonny Rollins. I have a book of Gerry Mulligan’s
compositions and they are very interesting...and noteasy.
TNYCJR: When I was young, I used to think Mulligan
was really square, but with age you acquire wisdom
and now I think he was some kind of genius.
CS: There’s something in what you say about thoseconcepts we have when we’re young. When I was at
Smith, [trumpeter] Louis Armstrong came and played.
I went but there was hardly anyone else there. But
when [bassist] Charles Mingus also came that same
year, the place was packed. Mingus was in, but
Armstrong was out. Now we know Louis as one of the
all-time great teachers for all of us. v
For more information, visit sudhalter.com. Sudhalter livestreams May 12th at flushingtownhall.org/virtual-jazzjam-may-2021 and appears live May 29th at Sunnyside
Reformed Church.
Recommended Listening:• Carol Sudhalter—Hey There (Carolina, 1984-85)• Carol Sudhalter—It’s Time (s/r, 2001)• Carol Sudhalter ’s Astoria Jazz Band—Last Train to
Astoria (Carolina, 2002)• Carol Sudhalter—Shades of Carol(Alfa Music/Rai Trade, 2005)• Carmelo Leotta/Carol Sudhalter—Carmelo & Carol

Remember The Great Film Music of The Sixties(Geco, 2010)• Carol Sudhalter Quartet—Live at Saint Peter’s Church(Alfa Music, 2019)(ENCORE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 8)
left, thinking the concert was over. By the second
interval it was really getting late and a lot more people
left, thinking this must surely be the end. We completed
the concert to a small scattering of die-hards... In fact
we had given the Jazz Festival rather more than it
bargained for… Next morning the organizers wouldn’t
look us in the eye and the reviews were poor.”
Following sales and the influence of the album morethan vindicated it. Included in the period are Mama
Chicago, a musical devoted to the Prohibition Era, andLove for Sale, probably the best recording of the longstanding trio of the Westbrooks with saxophonist Chris
Biscoe, weaving a tale of sentiment and social protest
through classic songs by Weill, Porter and Holst andoriginal compositions on texts by Rimbaud, Blake,
Kate Westbrook and Anne LePape. After Smith’s Hotelfrom 1983 Westbrook introduced the “infamous Smith’sHotel chord”, a harmonic development that could be
his own harmolodia: “a way of superimposing apattern on another, a conventional chord with a kind of
free counterpoint, which gives intervals and clusters.”
Two major albums for hatART of the ‘80s presentvery different tributes to composers: On Duke’s Birthday
is a suite of original compositions while WestbrookRossini is based on rearranged versions of the Italian
opera composer ’s music. Westbrook always has a
special relationship with Italy. Filippo Bianchi wasinstrumental in the commission of Westbrook’s Beatles
project, Off Abbey Road, subsequently released on Enja,
for the Reggio Emilia festival in 1988. Pompeo
Benincasa from Catania Jazz invited Westbrook in
1992, with guest Italian trombonist Danilo Terenzi and
French violinist Dominique Pifarely, for a concert thatwas recently released.
The latter double CD is a remarkable synthesis ofWestbrook’s music from reinterpretations of Ellington
and Weill to settings in music of Blake’s poetry in a
vibrant live environment. The release is dedicated to
the late Jon Hiseman, of Colosseum fame and sometime
Westbrook collaborator, who died shortly after
bringing back to life the problematic live recordings. It
was a momentous event, chronicled at the time by
Morton on The Wire and rightly celebrated in a unique
2018 concert in the same Sicilian city with theUncommon Orchestra, the 20+-member group
established in 2016 by Westbrook in the mold of his
Metropolis band. On the Jazz Motion Picture Show you
can enjoy the rendition of the traditional Sicilian
folksong “Lu Me Sceccu (My Ass)” with Pete Whyman
on clarinet. In Westbrook’s own words, the Catania
festival was “the best gift a composer ever had.” v
For more information, visit westbrookjazz.co.uk
Recommended Listening:• Mike Westbrook Concert Band—Celebration(Deram, 1967)• Mike Westbrook Orchestra—Metropolis(RCA, 1971)• Mike Westbrook (featuring John Surman)—
Love And Understanding (Citadel/Room 315 Sweden’74) (My Only Desire, 1974)• Mike Westbrook Orchestra—Love/Dream andVariations (Transatlantic, 1976)• Mike Westbrook Orchestra—On Duke’s Birthday(hatOLOGY, 1984)• Mike Westbrook—Starcross Bridge(hatOLOGY, 2017)(LABEL CONTINUED FROM PAGE 9)
good indicator of the label’s mindset. Improvisation isat the heart of the music, but there are no boundaries.
Since taking over the label my concerns have been to
curate John Jack’s legacy by protecting the tape archive,
reissuing albums and releasing both projects he hadplanned and new material that to my mind would havebeen of interest to him. The goals of the label when it
was founded were to document the scene and tosupport the artists. We continue to do that in ouridiosyncratic way.” v
For more information, visit cadillacrecords77.com

IN PRINT

University of the Jazz Messengers
Valery Ponomarev (BookBaby)by Ken Dryden

A young jazz musician desirous of a professional

career once he or she completes a college jazzprogram still has a lot to learn about what is expectedby a bandleader or an audience. Sloppy appearance,
looking bored or unhappy on stage, arriving late fora performance and overly long solos are some of themany pitfalls that musicians can take years to learn
if they don’t first work for a seasoned leader.
Over-three plus decades, drummer Art Blakey
groomed myriad young artists for success byteaching them, pushing them to compose andarrange for his band and to give their best at all
times. But it was his frequent statements (“Music
washes away the dust of everyday life” and “If you
make a mistake, make it loud! Make music out ofit”) that stayed with most Messengers, even longafter they left to form their own groups.
Russian trumpeter Valery Ponomarev is one of
the many Messengers (Blakey reminded his playersthat they were always Messengers, even after
becoming leaders themselves) who took the
drummer ’s often pithy statements about how to be a
jazz musician to heart. This brief book compiles all
the ones Ponomarev could remember. He thenexplains his interpretation of each piece of advice or
philosophy, reminding instrumentalists that there ismuch to work on to make the best possible music
and develop a fan base, sometimes things that aren’t
so obvious.
Whether it is learning a lyric to song before you
solo on it (to help understand the mood of the work,something non-Messengers like Ben Webster and
Dexter Gordon both understood); emphasizing theimportance of playing in public; hanging out atothers’ shows and releasing new albums (“If you
don’t appear, you disappear”); overlong solos(“They are applauding because they are happy you
finished”); or keeping music fresh (in the studio,“The first take is the best take”), Blakey’s remarks
stand the test of time. Ponomarev’s book should be
mandatory reading, not only for aspiring young
players, but also veterans who can take an audience,
interview or their fellow musicians for granted.
For more information, visit vponomarev.com. Ponomarev
live-streams May 13th at soapboxgallery.org.

THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD | MAY 2021 23

MISCELLANY
ONbyTHISDAYAndrey Henkin

Mitternacht in München
Various Artists (Brunswick)
May 4th, 1953

Silver PyramidMusic Now Ensemble 1969 (Matchless)May 4th, 1969

Groovin’ at the Grünewald
Bob Wilber (Phontastic)
May 4th, 1978

Mad About Tadd
Continuum (Quicksilver)
May 4th, 1982

Dahabenzapple
Joe Maneri (hatART)
May 4th, 1993

It is hard to believe that almost eightThis 2001 CD is percussionist Eddie

While Phontastic started out in the

Tadd Dameron didn’t live very long

Apart from a bizarre 1962 session

years exactly after V-E Day, in Munich,birthplace of the Nazi Party, a radio
program devoted exclusively to jazz
would celebrate its 500th broadcast.
“Midnight in Munich” (MiM) aired
three times weekly and featured
period German stars. This jubilee
concert took place at the Deutsches
Theater München with Max Greger
Big Band (a young Klaus Ogerman at
the piano), The Dixie Maximators and
The German All-Stars playing mostly
American fare apart from “MiMBoogie” and “Festival Riff”.

Prévost’s 74-minute improvisational
title “composition” directed byguitarist Keith Rowe as part of theMusic Now Festival at The
Roundhouse in London. Prévost andRowe are part of a 50+ ensemble
including fellow period members of
AMM in tenor saxophonist Lou Gare,cellist/pianist Cornelius Cardew andpercussionist Christopher Hobbs, afuture AMMer in pianist John Tilbury
plus bassist Gavin Bryars, live
electronics from Hugh Davies andvocalist Maggie Nicols.

‘70s documenting the straightahead
scenes in its Stockholm base, it did
make an exception for an American
purveyor of the genre in alto/sopranosaxophonist and clarinetist Bob
Wilber, who was active since the late
‘40s into the new millennium. Here heis live at the Grünewald Room of theStockholm Concert Hall with pianist
Dave McKenna, vocalist Pug Horton
and a local band of Lars Erstrand,
Lennart Nyhlén, Arne Wilhelmssonand Robert Edman playing jazzstandards and Wilber’s title track.

(dying at 48 in 1965) or record that
often but he, along with fellow pianist
Thelonious Monk, was a key figure in
defining bebop compositionally boththrough his songs and arrangementsfor various bands. Continuum was a
one-off allstar group of saxophonist
Jimmy Heath, trombonist Slide
Hampton, pianist Kenny Barron(concurrent with his membership in
Monk tribute band Sphere), bassist
Ron Carter and drummer Art Taylor
playing six of Dameron’s classic
tunes, most written in the late ‘40s.

(The Music Of Cleopatra On The Nile,
Mount Vernon Music), saxophonist/clarinetist Joe Maneri and father ofmicrotonality(figuratively
andliterally in violinist/violist son Mat)
began recording in earnest in the late‘80s, when he was in his 60s. This
concert took place at Jordan Hall at
Boston’s New England Conservatory(where Maneri was on faculty) andincludes Mat, longtime collaborator
Randy Peterson (drums) and veteranbassist Cecil McBee on a threesome of
20+-minute Maneri compositions.

BIRTHDAYS
May 1†Ira Sullivan 1931-2020†Shirley Horn 1934-2005
Carlos Ward b.1940
James Newton b.1953
Kevin Hays b.1968
Ambrose Akinmusire b.1982

May 6†Freddy Randall 1921-99†Denny Wright 1924-92†Isla Eckinger 1939-2021
Paul Dunmall b.1953
Rob Silverman b.1954

May 11†King Oliver 1885-1938†JC Higginbotham 1906-73†Oscar Valdambrini 1924-97†John Coppola 1929-2015
Dick Garcia b.1931†Freddie Roach 1931-80
Carla Bley b.1938
Ralph Humphrey b.1944
Mikkel Ploug b.1978

May 7†Pete Jacobs 1899-1952†Leon Abbey 1900-75†Edward Inge 1906-88†Herbie Steward 1926-2003†Arthur Blythe 1940-2017
David Haney b.1955
Michael Formanek b.1958

May 2†Pat Smyth 1923-83†Richard “Groove” Holmes
1931-91†Eddy Louiss 1941-2015
Mickey Bass b.1943
Keith Ganz b.1972
May 3†John Lewis 1920-2001†Jimmy Cleveland 1926-2008†Jymie Merritt 1926-2020
Johnny Fischer b.1930
John Alexander b.1948
Larry Ochs b.1949
Guillermo E. Brown b.1974
Matt Bauder b.1976
Alexander Hawkins b.1981

May 12†Marshal Royal 1912-95†Don DeMichael 1928-82†Gary Peacock 1935-2020
Klaus Doldinger b.1936
Trevor Tompkins b.1941

May 8†Red Nichols 1905-65†Mary Lou Williams 1910-81†Jerry Rusch 1943-2003
Keith Jarrett b.1945
Jon-Erik Kellso b.1964
Meinrad Kneer b.1970

May 13†Maxine Sullivan 1911-87†Gil Evans 1912-88†Red Garland 1923-84
Creed Taylor b.1929†Erick Moseholm 1930-2012
John Engels b.1935

May 9†George Simon 1912-2001†Dick Morrissey 1940-2000
Dennis Chambers b.1959
Ricardo Gallo b.1978

May 4†Sonny Payne 1926-79†Maynard Ferguson
1928-2006†Don Friedman 1935-2016
Ron Carter b.1937
Chuck Folds b.1938
Rudresh Mahanthappa b.1971
Jeremiah Cymerman b.1980

May 14†Sidney Bechet 1897-1959†Zutty Singleton 1898-1975†Skip Martin 1916-76†Al Porcino 1925-2013
Warren Smith b.1932†Jack Bruce 1943-2014
Virginia Mayhew b.1959
Frank Basile b.1978

May 10†Pee Wee Hunt 1907-79†Al Hendrickson 1920-2007†Mel Lewis 1929-90†Julius Wechter 1935-99†Mike Melvoin 1937-2012†Jimmy Ponder 1946-2013
Ahmed Abdullah b.1947†Hans Reichel 1949-2011
Alex Foster b.1953
Philip Harper b.1965
Jasper Hoiby b.1977

May 5
Kidd Jordan b.1935†Stanley Cowell 1941-2020
Jack Walrath b.1946
Pablo Aslan b.1962

May 15†Ellis Larkins 1923-2002
Karin Krog b.1937
Oscar Castro-Neves b.1940
Omer Klein b.1982
Grace Kelly b.1992

May 16†Woody Herman 1913-87†Eddie Bert 1922-2012†Betty Carter 1930-98
Billy Cobham b.1944

May 22†Sun Ra 1914-93†Elek Bacsik 1926-1993†Giuseppi Logan 1935-2020†Dick Berk 1939-2014

May 17†Paul Quinichette 1916-83†Dewey Redman 1931-2006†David Izenzon 1932-79†Jackie McLean 1932-2006
Roy Nathanson b.1951
Michiel Braam b.1964

May 23†Artie Shaw 1910-2004†Rosemary Clooney 1928-2002†Les Spann 1932-89
Daniel Humair b.1938
Marvin Stamm b.1939
Don Moye b.1946
Richie Beirach b.1947
Ken Peplowski b.1959
Darcy James Argue b.1975

May 18†Joe Turner 1911-85†Kai Winding 1922-83
Jim McNeely b.1949
Weasel Walter b.1972
May 19Cecil McBee b.1935†Sonny Fortune 1939-2018†Henry Butler 1949-2018
Michael Blake b.1964
May 20†Tommy Gumina 1931-2013†Louis Smith 1931-2016†Bob Florence 1932-2008†Charles Davis 1933-2016†Rufus Harley 1936-2006
Victor Lewis b.1950†Ralph Peterson 1962-2021
Sheryl Bailey b.1966
Benjamin Duboc b.1969
May 21†Fats Waller 1904-43†Tommy Bryant 1930-82
Marc Ribot b.1954
Lewis “Flip” Barnes b.1955

May 24†Frank Signorelli 1901-75†Herbie Fields 1919-58†Max Bennett 1928-2018†Gianni Basso 1931-2009†Michael White 1933-2016
Archie Shepp b.1937†Charles Earland 1941-99
Ben Monder b.1962

May 27†Albert Nicholas 1900-73†Earl “Jock” Carruthers 1910-71†Bud Shank 1926-2009
Ramsey Lewis b.1935†Rufus Jones 1936-90†Niels-Henning Ørsted
Pedersen 1946-2005
Gonzalo Rubalcaba b.1963
May 28†Andy Kirk 1898-1992†Al Tinney 1921-2002†Russ Freeman 1926-2002
Alfred Patterson b.1937†Claudio Roditi 1946-2020

JACK WALRATH

May 5th, 1946

May 29†Freddie Redd 1927-2021†Hilton Ruiz 1952-2006
Jim Snidero b.1958
Lafayette Harris, Jr. b.1963
Wycliffe Gordon b.1967
Sean Jones b.1978

May 25
Marshall Allen b.1924†Miles Davis 1926-91†Piet Noordijk 1932-2011
Gary Foster b.1936
Christof Lauer b.1953†Wallace Roney 1960-2020

May 30†Sidney DeParis 1905-67†Benny Goodman 1909-86†Pee Wee Erwin 1913-81†Shake Keane 1927-97†Harry Beckett 1935-2010
Ann Hampton Callaway b.1959
Juan Pablo Carletti b.1973
Frank Rosaly b.1974

May 26†Shorty Baker 1914-66†Ziggy Elman 1914-68†Calvin Jackson 1919-85
Frank Gant b.1931†Neil Ardley 1937-2004
David Torn b.1953

May 31†Red Holloway 1927-2012
Albert “Tootie ”Heath b.1935
Louis Hayes b.1937
Marty Ehrlich b.1955
Eric Revis b.1967
Christian McBride b.1972

Trumpeter Jack Walrath’s
discography as a leader goesback to the late ‘70s, with
albums for Gatemouth, Stash,a pair of go-rounds with
SteepleChase, Spotlite, Muse
and, most notably, Blue Note.
In the ‘80s-90s, his main
vehicle was The Masters Of
Suspense, which had arotating cast. His other claim
to fame, apart from work
under Ricky Ford, Charli
Persip,Muhal
RichardAbrams, Sam Rivers and Joe
Lovano, is within the worldof Charles Mingus: some ofhis earliest work came on thebassist’s 1974 Atlantic albums
Changes One & Two, where hewrote and arranged as well as
played; membership in thelater bands of Mingus
drummer Dannie Richmond;and being the original leaderof the Mingus Big Band andMingus Dynasty.
(AH)

CROSSWORD
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By Andrey Henkin 			visit nycjazzrecord.com for answers

24 MAY 2021 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD

1. Percy Heath trained as one
6. Fascist with a pianist son
10. Julie London and Peggy Lee were also these
11. Unspecified 2019 Corey Mwamba Discus album?
12. Japanese label releasing albums by Jerry Gonzalez,
Kazumi Watanabe, Satoko Fujii and others
13. New Orleans’ Doro ____ Jazz Band15. ‘40s jazz ditty “____-Ohio Boogie”
16. Italian label releasing albums by Mats Gustafsson,
Steve Swell and others
17. Peter Sprague’s self-run label
18. Violinist C. Spencer
19. He ran a lounge in Philly where Yusef Lateef recorded
an album in 1964
20. Polish jazz singer Bem
21. Jazz promotion co. with only one owner actually
24. Riverside catalogue prefix
25. Type of guitar pickup array (abbr.)
26. What LPs are made of
27. Bab-____, Parisian club
28. Stephen Foster tune covered by Fats Waller,
Dave Brubeck and others

31. Free jazzers to the unitiated?
32. Muppet based on a fellow Dr.
DOWN
1. AKA Eddie, Giancarlo and John
2. ‘60s pop-jazz song “Long As The Rose ____”
3. Lerner’s partner
4. Papa Bue’s Viking Jazz Band clarinetist Ole
5. 1961 Lou Donaldson Blue Note album Here ____
6. Recently departed U.K. bassist Ron
7. Japanese free improvising guitarist Kazuhisa
8. What this crossword used to be on and soon will
be again
9. Vocalists Du Graf and Dall’Olio
11. Saxophonist/percussionist Charles. K.
14. Finnish bassist Hauta-aho
21. Drummer Bellson
22. Bassist Atkinson
23. John Lewis standard “S’il Vous ____”
29. ‘60s Dutch Capitol Records catalogue prefix
30. Doc Cheatham birthplace on a scoreboard