Everybody else is doing it... Jazz faves of 2010

I've been reluctant to post this now, as I often am, since I still feel there are a few more records to cover. This year, more than the previous five or so years, I've also not been able to hear a handful of well received albums that I suspect might have had an impact on the list.

In a few cases, such as William Hooker's Earth's Orbit (NoBussiness) - which also has contributions from Adam Lane and Darius Jones, who ended up topping this year's and last year's lists respectively - the albums have been exclusively available as vinyl only imports. The same goes for Jason Ajemian's Protest Heaven (482 Music), much praised by Stef Gijssels. I'm very much pro-vinyl, but it makes it difficult for jazz writers like me to get a listen (copies have been ordered, but will probably not arrive until well into the new year). Another one I am yet to hear is Billy Bang's Prayer For Peace, which Tom Hull has as his number one pick. I've not been able to find it on eMusic, which I rely on for a good percentage of new jazz, nor on iTunes or any of the streaming sites available to me. I am currently not on TUM's mailing list, either, so ... (EDIT April, 2011: Got the Bang record just after his passing. It would certainly make a push for a top 5 spot. Still, I'll let the list below stand as published).

I have, 'though, been spinning a few of records that have popped up on various year-end lists here and there, such as Jason Moran's Ten (Blue Note), but none of them have impressed me in any particular way. The Moran record seems to be a hot tip for consensus jazz album of the year, but apart from a promising first few tracks, to me the bop-derived albeit modern sounding music on the album seems too safe, and Moran over plays at times, especially on the (failed, in my ears) Monk cover "Crepuscule With Nelly". For Monk interpretations, I have more faith in the more humor friendly and angular approach of The Microscopis Septet, whose new record of Monk tunes, Friday the 13th (Cuniform), is another one I'm yet to hear.

Anyway, complaining about the records I haven't gotten around to is useless, so here is a list of the jazz records I have been able to hear, "won", as it were, by a record of vibrant post-Mingus jazz (even Ellingtonian at times) filtered through Loft Jazz and informed by avant-rock, full of both powerful and beautiful music: Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra's Ashcan Rantings.

1. Adam Lane: Ashcan Rantings (Clean Feed)
2. The Mark Lomax Trio: The State of Black America (Inarhyme Records)
3. Mostly Other People Do the Killing: Forty Fort (Hot Cup)
4. Dual Identity (Rudresh Mahanthappa & Steve Lehman): Dual Identity (Clean Feed)
5. Angles: Epileptical West - Live in Coimbra (Clean Feed)
6. Wadada Leo Smith & Ed Blackwell: The Blue Mountain (Kabell, rec. 1986)
   
7. David S. Ware: Onecept (Aum Fidelity)
8. Mike Reed's Loose Assembly: Empathetic Parts (482)
9. The Nels Cline Singers: Initiate (Cryptogramophone)
10. Henry Threadgill's Zooid: This Brings Us To, vol. 2 (Pi Recordings)

Ten more:

• Mary Halvorson Trio & Quintet: Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12)
• Mike Reed's People, Places & Things: Stories and Negotiations (482)
• Vandermark 5 Special Edition: The Horse Jumps & The Ship Is Gone (Not Two)
• Jon Irabagon: Foxy (Hot Cup!)
• Steve Swell Slammin' the Infinite: 5000 Poems (Not Two)
• Henry Grimes & Rashied Ali: Spirits Aloft (Porter)
• Zanussi Five: Ghost Dance (Moseróbie)
• Rudresh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green: Apex (Pi Recordings)
• Juxtaposed: Tsar Bomba (Bolage)
• Tarbaby: The End Of Fear (Posi-Tone Records)
  

Edit (Dec. 29th, 20109:

I did not add a list of reissues when I wrote this, and as I don't have a reasonably good overview in front of me as I write this addition, I won' t attempt to make one ('though, I know Air's Air Raid and Marion Brown's Why Not? is on the list on the 2010 section of the blog). Still, I'd be surprised if any reissue could topple the Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air box set released by Mosaic. Threadgill was, and still is, one of the most exciting and original jazz composers of the past 35 or so years -- not to mention a terrific sax player -- and both his Sextet(t) and not least Air with Fred Hopkins and Steve McCall were among the best and most exciting groups during that same time frame. Add to that statement the fact that I regard both Air's Air Lore and the Sextet recording Rag, Bush and All, both included in the set, as solid 10s (or A+, if you are so inclined), and that all of the other albums on here are interesting and exciting, and most of them highly engaging and original to boot, both in terms of composition and execution, my reasons for naming it my fave reissue of 2010 should be clear. If there is one draw back to the set, it would be the the orignal albums are spilt between discs, meaning one half of a record may appear on one disc, the other half on another, with the first few tracks of a second album following. Since I own the ones I truly treassure on original vinyls and/or CDs, this is not a big issue with me. But other listeners may want to program their CD players (or import the discs to iTunes or similar and spilt them into their respective albums there) to get the record by record listening experience.

My smile is stuck, I cannot go back to your frownland.

R.I.P. Don Van Vliet aka Captain Beefheart

A quick glance at JJA's year-end bonanza

The Jazz Journalists Association webpage have invited their members to post year-end lists in their blog section (late November, early December is always too early for me to finalize a list, for various reasons, but mostly because I use the first weeks of December to catch up.)

The lists point in all different directions, which makes consensus less of a given, but on the plus side it suggests that writers out there are able to spread the word about most every strain of what we know as jazz (whether they are any good at backing up their "likes" in writing, I can't say. I've only read a few, from what I can recall.) Still, only a few of the lists have piqued my interest beynd glancing through, mostly because they contain a few or more touch-stone releases (e.g. MOPDtK, Mary Halvorson, David S. Ware or others), which suggests that our tastes may be similar enough for me to happily check out or reassess whatever else is on their respective lists (most interesting so far: Geoffrey Himes, Laurence Donohue-Greene, Gordon Marshall (still aching to hear that William Hooker record. Wish they would make some mp3s available, as the price is too steep for me to import it myself, at the time of writing), and Tim Duroche.

That said, I usually take time to listen to as many of the albums as possible, especially if they recieve multiple mentions, even if some of the choices initially may seem uninspired to me (based on my biases, that is.) Jason Moran's new record is listed plenty of times, and I've given it a quick spin (first impression: OK, nothing more. Messes up a Monk tune big time.) Another record that pops up more than a couple of times is the Ruresh Muhanthappa & Bunky Green album, which I've written about already. Fine record though it is, the "up-and-coming youngster teaming up with rediscovered forgotten older statesman" formula certainly seems like it could win you extra votes, no matter how the record actually sounds (again, based on my biases.)

Anyway, I hope to have a Listening Booth ready in a couple of weeks, containing some of the records I've been able to pick up from these lists (mostly, by using Spotify, WiMP or other streaming sources) as well as other things (for example, I came to Mike Reed's Loose Assembly's Empathetic Parts a bit late, but it does sound very good indeed.)

Kanye receives plaudits

Full score for Kanye's latest opus at Pop Matters, P'fork and Rolling Stone. The P'fork write-up spends too much space delving into the backstories that may or may not have had an impact on the creative process, and way too little on the album itself. The other two work better: the PopMatters review, among other things, discusses the filmatic aspect of the record, while Rob Sheffield in Rolling Stone inevitably -- but perhaps fittingly -- calls it a "rock-star manifesto". But I take issue with this excerpt:

"Nobody else is making music this daring and weird"

If I were nice, I'd call it hyperbole. In reality, though, it's just plain wrong, and doesn't serve the review well. A truer statement, if one really needs to include it, would be "Nobody this popular is making popular sounding music this daring and weird."

Sometimes, no matter how excited you may be, holding back a bit just makes more sense.

Recents updates

I've just added the five most recent articles that I've contributed to FAN Fanzine on the Norwegian section of the blog. These are fairly short pieces on Mike Reed, Nels Cline, Bill Dixon, Mike Watt and Minutemen, and David S. Ware. No versions in English, I'm afraid.

Quick Notes

Updated the "best of" 2010 list this weekend. Nothing much, but some tweaks and a couple of new records added. Here are the (tentative) grades of the new additions (no write-ups this time around. I'm sorry):

• No Age: Everything In Between (Sub Pop) 8
  
• Eskmo: Eskmo (Ninja Tune) 7
  
• Steve Reich: Double Sextet/2x5 (Nonesuch) 7
  
• Of Montreal: False Priest (Polyvinyl) 7
  
• Taylor Swift: Speak Now (Big Machine) 7

Also, I want to remind any visitor to have a look on the "Subject to Change" links section on the sidebar, which I update regularly even if there may not be any new posts on the blog. Most recently, William Parker guests Jason Crane's The Jazz Session. And an interview with David S. Ware to come on Thursday. Looking like a very good week, Mr. Crane.

Quickfire Perfect Sounds Listening Booth: Fall 2010, vol. 3

Rock/pop/other:

• Superchunk: Majesty Shredding (Merge) & The Thermals: Personal Life (Kill Rock Stars) - Superchunk and the Thermals seem like kindred spirits to me. Both play energetic heart-on-sleeve and punky music when the "indie" landscape otherwise have seemed to prefer a slightly slower pace and emotional disengagement ('though you'll be able to find other artists with similar knacks in both cases -- Sebadoh in the 90s and Titus Andronicus spring to mind). The Thermals made a very good album with 2006 The Body, the Blood, the Machine, while in Superchunk's case the pick hit is their early comp Tossing Seeds, which contains the brilliant "Slack Motherfucker". Both of their respective new albums are stocked with fuzzy power-popish tunes: Superchunk's is buzzing and sprightly, while The Thermals have eased up their politics (which were more eloquently put than most others) as well as slowing down the pace somewhat. Both records also have one killer tune each, Superchunk's "Digging for Something", and The Thermals' "I Don't Believe You" (7/10 & 6/10)*

• The So So Glos: Low Back Chain Shift EP (Green Owl) - Tourism/Terrorism was a spunky, loose-knit garage punk record that mixed tales of affections for ones neighborhood with disbeleif in political descisions to great effect. On this EP, they're less overtly political, and their sound is cleaner and fuller -- e.g. the addition saxophone and piano on the jumpy "Lindy Hop" (7/10)*

• The Books: The Way Out (Temporary Residence) - (7/10)
  
• Bottomless Pit: Blood Under the Bridge (Comedy Minus One) (7/10)
  
• El Guincho: Pop Negro (Young Turks) (7/10)
  
• Johnny & Jenny: I'm Having Fun Now (Warner Bros.) (7/10)
  
• The Corin Tucker Band: 1,000 Years (Kill Rock Stars) (6/10)
  
• Neil Young: Les Noise (Warner Bros.) (6/10)
  

* Grades are tentative, based on three or four listens, sometimes a few more. Much of the writing is done during listens, and should be considered notes more than final reviews.

Work in Progress

I have been doing some tinkering with the layout of Prefect Sounds, as you may have noticed, trying to optimize readability (the previous layout, which you can still find on the other PS pages, was a bit too white and I felt it put too much strain on the eyes to look at for more than a few minutes at a time) as well as giving some prominence to the links in the sidebar. I'm still not fully satisfied -- the header is still not right -- so there may be a few hick-ups in the upcoming week or so. Any comments are welcome.

Marion Brown, R.I.P.

Just learned that altoist Marion Brown passed away on Oct. 10th last week. One of the (many, admittedly) forgotten men of the 60s avant garde/New Thing movement, he is perhaps best know for having played on Archie Shepp's Fire Music (1965) and Attica Blues (1972), as well as John Coltrane's Ascension (1965. All on Impulse!), but he had a substantial career as a leader, too. Though as with so much important avant garde jazz from the late 60s, 70s and onwards, the recordings are hard to come by. His very fine album Why Not?, recorded for ESP in 1966 with such notables as Rashied Ali on drums, Sirone on bass, and Stanley Cowell on piano, has just recently been re-released on CD, and is well worth checking out. The only other records that seem to be in print is his debut, Three For Shepp (Impulse!), an ECM release with Anthony Braxton, among others, and Offering from 1993.

Clifford Allen has posted an interview with Marion Brown on his blog, and there is also an interview form 2003 on All About Jazz.

Edit: WKCR are currently having a 24 hour memorial broadcast in Marion's honor.

Perfect Sounds Listening Booth: Fall 2010 vol. 2

A few more records, this time jazz and hip hop. More rock and related later in the week.

Jazz & related:

• Jon Irabagon: Foxy (Hot Cup) - Sure, the cover is a tacky if slightly funny take on Sonny Rollins' Way Out West, and the fact that most of the song titles have variations of -xy endings makes this seem a bit gimmicky, particularly when you consider that instead of the 12 tracks named, the album is in fact one long and quite hectic improvisation, only separated by slight changes in themes or temper, and often quite subtle changes at that. But it's the music that counts, and this is a loud, rumbling set of free rolling post bop. Irabagon blows all the way through the set, moving between short melodic bursts and cry outs. Given his free spirited wailings, it is perhaps no surprise that bassist Peter Brendler plays more conservatively than Moppa Elliott from Mostly Other People Do the Killing, the group Irabagon is perhaps best known from, though Brendler's bass booms with the best of them now and then. 67 year old semi-legendary drummer Barry Altschul provides skitting rhythms and keeps the trio moving. The music here is very impressive at times, but themes tend to be lost ones they are stated, replaced by non-linear blow outs rather than varitions of the themes. It is a trick I can appreciate greatly - note e.g. Charles Gayle & cos terrific Touchin' On Trane - but at a single piece at album length, the music gets a bit one paced and can lose a bit of dynamism that way. (7/10)*

• Rudesh Mahanthappa & Bunky Green: Apex (Pi Recordings) - Altoist Bunky Green had a short stint with Charles Mingus' live band ca. 1960 (can't find a credit on any Mingus record that I recall), brought in to replace Jackie McClean. Left shortly after and moved from NY to Chicago, but had only passing contact with the city's AACM movement. Recorded a few records as a leader in the 60s, a couple in the late 70s, and a few more in the 80s, before moving to Florida on to teach music, only resurfacing on record around 2006. His 60s records were fairly straight ahead post bop, not too gruff and informed by a pop sensibility, marked by Green's clean alto sound and only occasionally hinting at more avant garde territories, while his later efforts have been credited as foreshadowing the M-base sounds of Steve Coleman et al. Green's new record Apex, a collaboration with fellow altoist Rudesh Mahanthappa, takes more risks than I think his previous output have done. Sprightly, mostly very fast and inspired hard bop, with great interplay between the two altoists, taking turns at leaping solos as well as tricky, interwoven melodic themes. Only having access to a digital copy of the album at the moment, I have no idea who the composers of the respective tunes are, though having heard some of Green's past material and knowing Mahanthappa's records fairly well, I'd bet Green has discovered a newfound fondness for experimentation from his younger acolyte. The hard driving band has such mainstream stars as pianist Jason Moran and Jack DeJonette, who takes turns with Damion Reid on the drums (again, not been able to tell on which tracks), with long time Mahanthappa collaborator Francois Moutin on bass. This may have potential beyond this initaial grade. (7/10)*

• Henry Grimes & Rashied Ali: Spirits Aloft (Porter Records) - A live duo recording by two elder statesmen of the avant garde. The often primitive sounding Grimes switches between violin and the upright bass he is known for, plucking and bowing. Ali's skitting and occasionally funky drumming moves purposefully over and under Grimes' almost tentative but increasingly assertive bass lines, and the interplay between the two is enjoyable. This is sparse free jazz, but quite enganging at that. (7/10)*
  

• Mary Halvorson Trio & Quintet: Saturn Sings (Firehouse 12) - Tricky, subtle, noodeling guitar lines, offset by the occasional fuzzy riff, and nicely balanced by a nimble but laid back rhtyhm section. This time, Halvorson moves from a trio to a quintet format on about half of the album's ten tracks, without losing her knack for weaving and intricate melodies. (7/10)*
  

Mixtapes: So much good hip hop today is released as downloadable mixtapes only. This is not an easy landscape to find your way in, so I tend to consult Southern Hospitality and Jaywalkers, among others, for guidance. These are three of the most interesting I've been able to hear.

• OFWGKTA: Radical (Odd Future) - Bratty young'uns with a wicked sense of humor and a penchant for odd sounds. Sure, the subject matters, where they are decipherable, seem dumb at times, but so did the Angry Samoans'. Like them, they seem fully aware of their childish hang-ups, and exploit them for effect. Tyler the Creator's deep voice over off-kilter soundscapes conjure up some of the best weirdo hip hop this side of Old Dirty, Kool Keith and MF Doom. (7/10)*
  
• Young Gully: The Graant Station Project - GSP recalls jazz tinged 90s hip hop in the best possible sense. Steady flow over mostly laid back beats, barring the "Revolution Will Not Be Televised"-sampled fight song named "Peace", oddly enough. (7/10)*
  
• Wacka Flocka Flame: Flockaveli - The most gangsta, and probably convetional, sounding of these three. Synth heavy, booming hip hop. Wacka a hang-up with guns and money, but he sounds convincing in his role, and his husky rapping and the threatening soundscape makes it a worthwhile listen. (7/10)*

* Grades are tentative, based on three or four listens, sometimes a few more. Much of the writing is done during listens, and should be considered notes more than final reviews.

Perfect Sounds Listening Booth, Fall 2010: Adam Lane

• Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra: Ascan Rantings (Clean Feed, 2010) - Adam Lane's talents as a distinctive bassplayer, composer and bandlander continue to shine on Ashcan Rantings. While the speed and agility of the music Lane has played in nimbler, smaller ensembles has always been full of excitement, the full punch and power of his compositions came into fruition on his previous record with the Full Throttle Orchestra, New Magical Kingdom, a brash and joyfull record by a "little big band" that seemingly took its cues from Charles Mingus and David Murray's Octet while simultaneously being spurred on by an affinity for the noisier realms of rock. At least half of the ten compostitions on Ashcan Rantings have appeared on previous Adam Lane related albums. The ominous title track, for example, was a highlight on the 4 Corners album from 2007 that Lane recorded with Ken Vandermark, Paal Nilsen Love and Magnus Broo, but appears here in a more fully formed version. The band on Ashcan ..., an octet consisting of several up-and-coming players -- such as trumpet player Tylor Ho Bynum -- sounds great; full bodied yet loose, with the man himself leading from the center with assertive basslines. While the music here shares the boisterous energy and brash confidence as well as the occasional excursions into skronkier territories that was typical of much of New Magical Kingdom -- as for example in "Nine Man Morris" and the playful "House of Elegant" -- the compositions and arrangements are now more lush and expansive. Ashcan Rantings is just as fierce and lively as it's predecessor, but it is also much more than that. Listening to songs such as the closing "Bright Star Calypso", you realize that it is also at times very, very beautiful. (Reassessed grade as of Dec. 1st, 2010 10/10). *

* Grades are tentative, based on three or four listens, sometimes a few more. Much of the writing is done during listens, and should be considered notes more than final reviews.

Note: the write-up has been slightly corrected and edited for clarity since it was first posted.

Involuntary hiatus

Being on the road plus a spell of illness have meant little to zero updates here. Things will pick up. In the meantime, I have updated the "recent links" with things around the net I deem worth a read under the Subject to Change column to your right.

Back soon.

SR & OC

Sonny Rollins created a piano-less trio, and freed his soloing. Ornette Coleman created a piano-less quartet, and freed up not justhimself, but the rest of the band too. Seems appropriate that they should team up for Rollins' 80th birthday concert. The recording isn't the greatest, but it's a whole lot better than nothing at all.

Henry Threadgill Mosaic Box Set update

Image from Mosaicrecords.com

Just received notification from Mosaic that the Henry Threadgill box set Complete Nvus/Columbia Recordings is now available for pre order, though its official release is at the end of September.

Quickfire Perfect Sounds Listening Booth: Summer 2010

A few of the records that have been "processed" over the summer. By and large without comments this time around, and mostly for my own need to keep the score, so to speak, but thought I'd post them here anyway.

• Big Boi: Sir Lucious Left Foot: The Son of Chico Dusty (Def Jam) - Big, boisterous, confident, but also funny, charming, quirky and just that little taste of "avant" weirdness that the old OutKast records have always had. 8

• Les Savy Fav: Root For Ruin (Frenchkiss) - They have that rare knack for creating catchy, hard hitting, slightly abrasive and joyously noisy avant-punk, while remaining emotionally engaged, and convincingly so, in their increasingly well written tunes. 7

• Dual Identity (Rudresh Mahanthappa & Steve Lehman): Dual Identity (Clean Feed) 8
• Arcade Fire: The Suburbs (Merge) 8
• Pierre de Gaillande: Bad Reputation: Pierre de Gaillande Sings Georges Brassens (Barbes Records) 7
• Pernice Brothers: Goodbye Killer (Ashmont Records) 7
• Daniel Carter: The Perfect Blue (Not Two) 7
  
• The-Dream: Love King (Def Jam) 7
• The Eastern Seaboard: The Sound Power (Black Saint) 7
• Tokyo Police Club: Champ (Mom & Pop) 7
  
• David Karsten Daniels & Fight the Big Bull: I Mean To Live Here Still (Fat Cat) 6

* The grades are tentative and may be subject to change, and unless backed by a review of sorts, should only be considered as a means for me to map out the releases.

Back In the Saddle - summer recap, Øya and Oslo Jazz

Photo by Chris Monsen (c)

An eventfull summer, involving a long but lovely coastal drive, a couple of music festivals and involvement with the release of ENO, Norway's first music mag proper for quite some time (who said printed arts journalism was dead?) is (mostly) behind me. Hopefully, this space will be updated on a more regular basis from now on. I have, however, in addition to having seen quite a bit of live music, been able to catch up on some recent album releases, both jazz and non-jazz, meaning the 2010 list may see a facelift in the upcoming days.

Øya 2010 was one thing (many good to great gigs - none mentioned, none forgotten), but two of the most anticipated concerts of the summer were Ornette Coleman and Mostly Other People Do the Killing, who both played during this year's Oslo Jazz Festival (as did Charles Gayle and Archie Shepp, both of whom I missed).

Ornette Coleman brought long time associate Tony Falanga on double bass, and son Denardo Coleman on drums, together with Al McDowell on electric bass. Playing on the main stage of Oslo's (fairly new) Opera, the sound was impeccable, as one would hope from any new opera house. This meant that Falanga's arco work was more clear and audiable than I've experienced before (this was the fourth time I've seen Falanga with Coleman). Since the group have recently dropped the second double bass player, Falanga played more riffs and walks than he has done previously, and locks into grooves more often than Gerg Cohen and Charnett Moffett - who played on previous tours - used to do. McDowell's bass playing almost doubles as an electric guitar, tending to stay up on the register, but he also brings in the feel of Ornette's 70s electrified groups. Denardo bashed on the drums, in contrast to many of his father's often quiet if forceful melodic bursts, much to the annoyance of some I've since talked to. Though I remind them that Ornette have often had juxtaposed elements in his music. Of the tunes they played, many of which were culled from Ornette's late 50s early 60s records, another new rendition of "Sleep Talk(ing)", a cracking "Blues Connotation", and the closing "Lonely Woman" were just a few of the highlights.

Mostly Other People Do the Killing played their rip-roaring fireball of über jazz to a much smaller, but no less enthusiastic audience the following Saturday. Their ability to both channel, deconstruct and reinterpret the jazz canon in their own idiosyncratic way is made even more clear as they take exactly the same route with their own material -- they quoted some five or six of their own tunes during their first piece of the night, without losing track of where they were headed. MOPDtK sure are a bundle of energy and humor, and drmmer Kevin Shea in particular is bringing back jazz shtick -- at one point a "tussle" with one of his cymbals during an imrpovisation ended with him using it as a stearing wheel behind his drum kit. You know, Monk used to get up and dance during gigs. A great band, both live and on record.

Xgau's Consumer Guide & Molde Jazz '10

The more observant of you may have noticed that I've put up a section on the right hand bar of this blog called "Subject to Change". The idea was (and is ) to post links to things that I find worth reading, but don't feel the need (or the time) to comment on myself.

At the top of that section as of now, is a link to Tom Hull's comments regarding the demise of Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide, which I do feel the need to say something about myself.

The influence of Christgau's CG can be felt on several planes. His great writing - joyful celebrations of the art form as well as acerbic put downs and the in-betweens - has inspired me and others to try to reach for a higher level of how to write and think about music, especially in how to convey those thoughts to others. And Christgau could unfold the essence of a record using fewer, but more telling, words than most. His immense appetite for music has meant that he has discovered more gems than most other critics, which has certainly also meant sifting through hours of crap. With the CG, he had an opportunity to cover more of that music in writing per month than any other critic.

Much of the above has been said by many commentators allready. But what has perhaps been his biggest influence on me has only been mentioned in passing or by extention by others.

Christgau crystalized the idea that music communicates - implicitly and/or explicitly - attitudes, values, ideas and emotions, and the question becomes not only what those qualities are, and if or how they resonate, but also how they are communicated. No one "genre" has the monopoly on the attitudes and ideas I find valuable (even if, at first glance, some may seem better equipped to convay them more than others, or certain "genres" seem to have more of one attitude or value than the next). That is the reason I more often than not have tended to agree with Christgau's accessments: because our world views are similar. Sure there have been disagreements, as there should be if you're an autonomous being, but these disagreements have just as often as not tended to regard how well or not I've thought the above mentioned qualities have been communicated more than what was valuable in the first place.

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On a different note, Molde Jazz 2010 kicks off today, and for the first time since setting up this blog I won't be in attendance. This is partly because of practical reasons, but also that barring Sonny Rollins and the Brötzmann/Kondo/Pupillo/Nilssen-Love project Hairy Bones, there really wasn't much that tickled my fancy. Instead, I hope to bring extended coverage of Oslo Jazz Festival in August, which has a great line up this year with Ornette Coleman, Mostly Other People Do the Killing, Charles Gayle and Archie Shepp among the highlights.

R.I.P. Fred Anderson

More from the Chicago Tribune.

R.I.P. Bill Dixon

Sad to hear Bill Dixon passed away yesterday, June 16th, apparently after long time illness, which has not prevented him from making music: His last album, Tapestries For Small Orchestra, came out as recently as late last year. Stumbled accross the clip below, which was record during his residency with Firehouse 12 (the label that released Tapestries...).

JJA Jazz Awards 2010 - a comment

The 2010 JJA Jazz Awards took place last night. You can see the full list of winners and nominees here.

Many congrats to Vijay Iyer, who won the award for musician of the year. Well deserved recognition for a guy who contines to deliver exciting and fresh music. I must say, though, that some of the picks seem totally uninspired to me.

It may just be a simple matter of taste, of course, but when the consensus is that a safe (but rather dull) Joe Lovano record is the pick of the bunch in a year when there were plenty of really good jazz records - many of which released by fairly young artists - you'll have to question whether the majority of the voters have bothered to look beyond name recogniton when they checked out new records. Or it may simply be that their tastes are too damn conservative. Yes, I've been on that horse before. To me, part of the joy and excitement of jazz is a willingness to experiment, try new things, twist'n'turn and look at things a bit differently, seek new paths, whether indivudual voices or the structures of jazz music itself. After all, that has been a large part of the history of jazz. When did those qualities stop being important?

The "Bassist of the Year" category is a case in point. Won by Dave Holland (63) - who admittedly still delivers from time to time but is still a pretty safe pick - and where only Christian McBride of those nominated is under the age of 50 - Ron Carter (73), Charlie Haden (72, bless him), John Patitucci (51) filling the other spots. None of them can really be said to be particularly adventurous these days either. Where are the Adam Lanes and the "Moppa" Elliotts? William Parker (who is over 50, but is more experimental than those nominated), Joe Morris, Ben Allison, Hilliard Greene or Linda Oh? I could go on.

I may do a rundown of the categories later this week if I feel like it. Allthough I disagree with a good few of the picks and nominees, others were not too shabby. To close this post, though, I want to congratulate Nate Chinen on winning the Helen Dance-Robert Palemer Award for Review and Feature Writing. Chinen is a seeker, and kudos to him for that.

Vision Festival XV

This year's Vision Fest kicks off next Sunday (the 20th of June) in downtown Manhattan, and the line-up is full of treats.

The first day is dedicated to various combos of words/poetry and music. Darius Jones Trio, with Adam Lane on bass and Jason Nazary on drums, and Lowest Common Denominator (Tim Berne ++), as well as William Parker's Little Huey Septet and the Roy Campbell Trio would be my picks for Monday the 21st. Celestial Funk Band, with Parker, Cooper-Moore, Kidd Jordan, Hamid Drake, Vernon Reid and others should be worth checking out on Tuesday 22nd. Wednesday is packed with various ensembles that include several of the above-mentioned musicians, as well as Rob Brown, Matthew Shipp and others. Muhal Richard Abrams plays two gigs on Thursday, one solo and one trio.

But those are just a few picks from the first days. The festival continues right on through to Wednesday the 30th, with Billy Bang and David S. Ware among those playing in the second week, so I suggest you click the link above and check out the full line-up for yourself. Once again, though, I'm stuck on the wrong side of the Atlantic, but I'm hoping to be able to attend next time around.

Perfect Sounds Listening Booth, week 23, 2010

• The Mark Lomax Trio: The State of Black America (Inarhyme, 2010) - A drums, bass and sax-trio, and like a couple of the good trio records from last year (of which there were a few), noteably JD Allen Trio's Shine and Marcus Stricklands Idiosyncrasies, it has shades of post-Coltrane. But where Allen's had a groovy blues feel, and Stickland's added R&B-like rhythm patterns, The State of ... rumbles and screeches a lot more when it needs to, and the bluesier and slower songs feel a lot more rough-hewn and raw, befitting the theme as hinted to in the record's title. At times this resembles Charles Gayle's own great Coltrane-homage Touchin' the Trane, if not quite as free. The opening track, "Stuck In a Rut", is especially riveting, starting off with the group setting up a theme, before bassist Dean Hulett plays a two note bass vamp as if to say "wait for it ... waaaait for it", and then BOOM, the tune blasts off. Hulett's bass playing is deep, raw and solid, using the lower register of the instrument to great effect. Drummer Mark Lomax II and sax player (tenor) Edwyn Bayard let themselves go more often than Hulett, but the interplay is excellent. The production gives the music an intimate and "up close" feeling, as if they are playing in a small club. A powerful and enjoyable set. (8/10)*

* Grades are tentative, based on three or four listens, sometimes a few more. Much of the writing is done during listens, and should be considered notes more than final reviews.

R.I.P. Arne Nordheim

The State of Mark Lomax Trio

WOW!

More and hopefully more eloquent on this at a later date.

But, DAMN!

Mid-week jazz related linkage

Simply because there are a couple of very interesting stuff out there:

• Richard Davis, jazz bassist extraordinaire, was recently celebrated with a marathon broadcast on WKCR, with interviews and selected tracks that included everything from his work with Dolphy and Hill up to sessions with Van Morrison and Springsteen. Archival files of the programmes should still be available @ Dark Forces Swing Blind Punches. Massive kudos to Hank Shteamer!
  
• Destination-Out! on Steve and Iqua Colson. The overlooked AACM. The last track previewed there is from The Untarnished Dream, which is available from CdBaby. Reggie Workman and Andrew Cyrille plays on it, damn it!
• A belated note that Nels Cline was interiewed by Jason Crane on the Jazz Sessions recently. Cline plays with Wilco, of course - who had a very good gig in Oslo this past Monday - but also has his own projects. Initiate, the Nels Cline Singers' double album released earlier this spring, and the basis for most of the conversation, is highly recommended.
  

R.I.P. Hank Jones

Pianist Hank Jones, older brother of trumpet player Thad jones and drummer Elvin Jones, passed away on May 16th, aged 91.

My knowledge of his work as a leader is sketchy at best: only The Hank Jones Quartet-Quintet is listed in my jazz section (which needs to be updated, btw), but his work as a sideman is pretty impressive, having played with Charlie Parker, and on Coleman Hawkins' Hawk Flies High, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk's We Free Kings to name only a few. Tom Hull has a longer list.

Air's Air Raid reissued

Note to self: read my e-mails once I get them!

Received notification from the JazzLoft on May the 13th that they have Air's second studio album, Air Raid (Why Not, 1976. 2010 reissue by Candid), available for orders (original recording details, courtesy of Lars Backström).

Air Raid is at times edgier and tougher than their first record, Air Song, and perhaps even better. The title track and opening piece of the record, starts off at rip roaing speed, but travels through some mellower patches, only to return to the "action" the title suggests we're in for. It's both a disturbing and almost beautiful contemplative piece of music. Fred Hopkins' powerful bass lines, or should I say "thundering runs", are particularly enthralling. That's not to say that Threadgill and McCall are out of step, by no means; Air Raid proves that this was a gorup whose interplay was second to none. The embodiment of free jazz' democratic principles, as outlined by Ornette Coleman.

Having said that about the album's opener, I thought I'd leave you with teaser of the second track instead. "Midnight Sun" slows things down after the heady run of "Air Raid", and stands as an early proof that Threadgill was developing a knack for a writing a damn good tune. Have a listen:




Note: the embedded track was lifted off a previous reissue of the album, and may not be indicative of the sound quality of the new version.

The Singles Jukebox debacle

I visit the Singles Jukebox nearly every day. Recently, I wrote this comment under the reviews of Robyn's "Dancing on My Own" which sparked some back'n'forth:

"Funny how how certain Singles Jukebox reviewers occasionally turn “rockist” or use the very same “indie scenester” logic they claim to oppose, as long as it suits their agenda.

“(…) scores two American top tens in the nineties, ignored by the rock press and Pitchfork; burrows into a studio with Klas Ahlund a few years later; rediscovered by Stylus and Pitchfork indie kids even though her American handlers treat her like she’s Amerie.”

“It’s not the band I hate, it’s their fans” as Sloan once so accurately put it. Once in a while, it would be wise to hand people a little more credit when it comes to their likes (and dislikes), even if this may lead to a windfall of praise for one artist you may not “get” or deem unworthy. Or better yet, write about the god damn music."

It was the quoted passage in the middle there that rubbed me the wrong way, but perhaps I should've taken a short breath before I wrote the comment.

I've enjoyed the Singles Jukebox as a safe haven away from the worst sins of the anti-pop post-Adorno music journalism, where pop fans are treated as a herd bereft of their own opinions, a rhetoric most often associated with certain "indie scenesters". One reason why the quoted passage annoyed me, was because it used a similar argument but turned it against "indie kids", as if the recent appreciation of Robyn by that paricular group of people was a good reason to dock a grade or two.

But I have no idea what stance the author of the review has re: rockism and "indie scenesters", and Matos took me to court for that (he also wrote "writing about the music is a nonstarter to me. Music encompasses everything around it, just like any other subject." to which it would've been tempting to comment "What?!? And you write about music?!?", but I know his writing well, and understands what he meant, and if you're used to reading my stuff you know I don't treat music as if it was in a vacuum either).

So what I perhaps should have written in the comments is something along theses lines:

"It was a bit dissappointing to see a review use a (bad) rhetoric usually associated certain "indie scenesters", when I'd considered the Singles Jukebox a safe haven from such low blows"

The rest is fine, though maybe I should've added "Write about the god damn music in a social context" to avoid (deliberate) misreadings.

There's one other thing that has puzzled me recently on the SJ. One Alex McPhearson doesn't seem to enjoy much of the music he's asked to review. The last ten reviews he's done for the site are graded like this: Roll Deep ft. Jodie Connor - "Good Times" 2; Christina Aguilera - "Not Myself Tonight" 5; Joy Orbison - "The Shrew Would Have Cushioned the Blow" 6, M.I.A. - "Born Free" 3, Robyn - "Dancing on My Own" 3, Robyn - "Fembot" 0, The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" 4, Sophie Ellis-Bextor - "Bittersweet" 3, Kate Nash - "Do Wah Doo" 2, Marina and the Diamonds - "I Am Not a Robot" 1. That's an average of 2,9 per song.

Two song by one artist apart, that's a pretty low average for what I deem to be a decent spread in both sound and quality. And only twice during the five reviews before those does he go above 6, Hole receives an 8 for their/her "Pacific Coast Highway" and Nas w/Damien Marley a 10, while tracks by Kelis (4), Titus Andronicus (3), and LCD Soundsystem (0).

Said writer also considers the opening of TA's track "A More Perfect Union" faux-desperate, comparing it unfavorably to Hole (whose singer I find to be the biggest melodrama queen of all, and lately not very convincing at that.) Chuck Eddy, on the other hand, says it sounds like "Hold Steady if they really meant it". Hmmm.

Still, I've written about the zero grade before, so go read there for further info. What I'll say for now is this: if you consider LCD Soundsystems "Drunk Girls" - a pretty dumb, unoriginal, straight forward stomper, though not without a certain silly charm - only worthy of a 0, you're living a too sheltered life.