I missed part 1 but, on Russell's recommendation, I checked out part 2 and it was okay. Not quite what I was expecting but it was interesting if a little esoteric at times.
Jas Kayser set out her stall on the her own Ku Variation soloing whilst Giacomo blew a riff on bass clarinet.
Will Cleasby joined her and the two drummers didn't get in each other's way - their duet on Passion Dance would have had the fans on the second balcony jumping had this been at The Apollo up in Harlem. Kit Downes on B3 also did the business on this one.
An absolute gem of a session. GB's Juke Joint isn't, as the name might imply, a neighbourhood bar populated by low-lifes and ne'er-do-wells but a New York recording studio where Nick Hempton recorded Night Owl - reviewed here last year - and which provided some of the material played tonight.
The opener, Back on the Dole Again, got things moving with a nice groove. All four guys at the top of their game. Interestingly, I always thought that being "on the dole" was a purely British expression. Whatever, certainly an appropriate title for today.
(Screenshot Ken Drew)
One of the things that I miss about the current situation is not being able to hear the Jason Isaacs Big Band at Hoochie Coochie or Paul Skerritt with James Harrison and Co at various gigs but, at least, this more or less made up for it.
Mackenzie, with Alex Garnett and the house trio behind him, put on a good show playing some great standards. Garnett's tenor solos where outstanding as were those from the other guys. This was, in many ways, an ideal way to merge the quiet celebrations of Christmas and the riotous rave-ups that will take place in Tier 0.
I'm not going to list all the tunes other than to say that What Are You Doing New Years' Eve? absolutely nailed it!
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(Screenshots by Russell)
This most certainly didn't comply with what it said on the tin! Nevertheless, it was an enjoyable way to spend Boxing Day.
The original had trumpet, alto, violin, trombone and drums augmenting the trio and there were a few songs left on the shelf. Still, these days, we have to be thankful for small mercies and, in that respect, it has to be said that Smitty's has excelled itself over this past year.
N'Gonda, as he did when taking on Johnny Hartman, wisely made no attempt to sound like Nat 'King' Cole instead applying his own distinctive voice to the material.
I know a live stream isn't perfect but, unlike one of those live gigs our parents used to go to, at least if you were held up in traffic, or were just held up (take my wallet but don't take my ticket for Duke's concert - he's doing the Nutcracker - oh, you too are into nutcracking? Ouch!) at least you can start from the beginning - or can you?
Tonight's music began before any of tonight's players were born, before, even Duke Ellington himself was born.
This apparent indifference may be due to Ms Lee, like Sinatra, Nat Cole, Lena Horne and others straddling the ever narrowing line that separates jazz singer from entertainer as if it's not possible to be both. For my money it's essential.
Paul Edis was doing his annual Jazzy Christmas, this year on YouTube without his other nine accomplices. Also, on Kansas Smitty's F/b page, Giacomo Smith was talking to pianist Kit Downes about the late Bill Evans - a pianist dear to both Paul and Kit's hearts.
This is the latest album from Austrian singer Simone Kopmajer, who has been singing since she was a child. Her musical training was in Gratz, where she encountered performers such as Mark Murphy and Sheila Jordan. The album, recorded in the USA, consists of Christmas songs which are generally known, songs in German which I guess will be familiar in Austria, and at least one original written by Ms Kopmajer The Most Wonderful Time.
James Pearson (piano); Sam Burgess (bass); Chris Higginbottom (drums).(Screenshot courtesy of Ken Drew)
All good festive fun down at Tier 4 inside Ronnie's. The three musicians did their bit to get us into the Christmas spirit and, at least for 75 minutes they succeeded.
No need for chapter and verse, the three wise musicians came in bearing candles - honestly! you just can't get incense, frankincense or myrr anywhere at this time of year! Behind them angelic voices sang Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Burgess took up the theme playing beautifully toned arco bass before the Almighty - Pearson picked it up.
(Photos courtesy of Dave Parker)
What a great way to spend a Sunday evening, attending an online gig played by a first class jazz outfit! Thirty or so households did just that, so if you weren't among them, you missed a treat.
The set included songs from the soon-to-be-released CD of the Tom Harrell project; songs from Living In Shadows, another band with which Zoë is connected, and of course some songs from the GASbook. Zoë sang in her unique style with some very lively scat; the songs ranged from the heartfelt love song for her husband (Andy on bass) Sending Electricity; the saloon song I'm Always Drunk In San Francisco; to an account of an intensely terrifying woman, Angela. And it's worth noting that at least 4 of the songs performed were originals with lyrics by Zoë to Andy's music.
Apologies for the delay - the album was released in August - but I was confused. There were two discs leading me to conclude that it was a double album.
Turned out it wasn't. The additional disc is some mystical creation that involves Blue-ray, Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D which "immerses the listener in a cocoon of life-like sound". Wonderful except my humble CD player can't handle anything so complex and I filed it away for if and when ...
In the end I opted for the second disc even though it mean't doing without the "Height" channel configuration.
Rothberg, a Bachelor of Music graduate of City College New York, is a new name to me although he has been active Stateside for the past 15 years in a variety of settings across the genres encompassing Broadway shows and touring with Petula Clark.
Along with the I Like Isaac album reviewed the other day there was another gem from The Antipodes (New Zealand this time) in the package - this vocal masterpiece!
If you dig Dave Frishberg then hang around because Bruce Brown, born in LA, is now down under and NZ's answer to Frish. There's also a suggestion of Michael Franks, Bob Dorough maybe even Joe Mooney in Brown's relaxed, laid back performance.
Good to hear Haruka again. Her Sunday sessions way down yonder in New Orleans were always a delight. Today, however, she was vacationing in Tokyo and jamming with half a dozen Japanese jazz musicians. The drummer did all the announcements in his native tongue, although he did sing I Want a Little Girl in English, so I have no idea of each individual's names.
Sad to report a couple of jazz deaths.
Alto saxist Jeff Clayton: Dec. 16 aged 65.
Pianist Stanley Cowell: Dec. 17 aged 79.
Both sadly missed, May they rest in peace.
Click on the above links for JazzTimes obituary.
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(Screenshot courtesy of Ken Drew)
John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman - one of the great jazz vocal albums of all time. File it alongside your Sinatra's, Tormé's, Ella's and any other singer you care to name, it's up there with them and not as an also ran. No, that album is the tops.
This, as is the case with all Playback sessions, puts the reviewer and the listener in a predicament. How do you judge it? How do you compare?
As we hovered on the brink of the first lockdown we looked forward to a performance by American trumpet player and bandleader Danny Jonokuchi with SSBB at Flat Caps Coffee in Newcastle. Unfortunately Danny didn't make it across the pond but did send a video message to the band and the fans.
Now, 9 months later comes the news that Danny Jonokuchi and the Revisionists have won the inaugural Count Basie Great American Swing Contest - see video.
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Davis paints a verbal picture of smoke filled nightclubs, places where sweat and substance mingle with sounds the 9 to 5 person rarely hears nor understands when he/she does.
I'd emailed Beckerman asking him to send me a link to his review but he failed to reply so I decided against sending him a Christmas card.
However, Steve H came across a review in The Guardian so I'll link up with that one instead.
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On June 25,
1961, the Bill Evans Trio recorded the concerts that would become the albums Sunday Night at the Village Vanguard and Waltz for Debby, two of the defining albums in jazz piano
history, both held in the same high regard as Jarrett’s The Köln Concert.
On the two albums the trio is a fully wedded, integrated unit, not a leader plus sidemen. All three musicians play in and around each other, fully entwined in each other’s performance. Eleven days later bassist Scott LaFaro was killed in a car crash.
(Screenshot/collage courtesy of Ken Drew)
Tonight's the real deal. Can't wait, this is going to be something - Sonny Rollins' The Bridge!
The actual Rollins' album kicks off with a rousing version of Without a Song followed by a sumptuous take on Where Are You? Alec and co do likewise - they've read the script. Two out of two so far or should that be ten out of ten?
The research via magazine articles, interviews with Hendricks' family, friends and fellow musicians, with sources all indexed, has set a bar so high that it would be nigh impossible for any future biographers to surpass or even to come close.
