https://www.ayclifferadio.co.
MLK, Nina Simone.
Burns night: Benny Goodman Orchestra.
From the archives: Ella Fitzgerald.
Dean Stockdale makes his selection: Gene Harris Quartet; Fred Hersch; Oscar Peterson; Sonny Stitt with Oscar Peterson; Bill Charlap Trio; Jeff Hamilton Trio.
Burns Night continued: Scottish National Jazz Orchestra; Brian Molley; Matt Carmichael.
Ikumi Koyama, a jazz singer/pianist from Japan, studied jazz piano in Japan and New York and is currently gigging in the London area. This recording features a mixture of well-known and lesser known standards plus two of her own compositions.
She has a most attractive voice and a piano style which should find her ideally suited to some of the upmarket venues in the capital that have good pianos. Ronnie Scott’s, Pizza Express, 606 etc.
What a belter! The opening track brings to mind a legendary recording from the past - Tenor Conclave - that threw John Coltrane, Al Cohn, Zoot Sims and Hank Mobley into the studio to produce some memorable music.
This session only has three horns out front but they hit the same high level - a level that is closer to the moon than it is to even the top of the Empire State or whichever is the highest building in Carpentersville, Illinois where it was recorded last July!
The above was written after I'd heard Montez Coleman with Roy Hargrove at a memorable concert in the Union Chapel, Highbury back in June 2011. Hard to believe that they both left us at an early age. Hargrove died in 2018 aged 49 and Coleman last Friday (Jan. 14) aged 48.
So, given Bosch's supportive role, the only jazz mention is a fleeting reference to an Eddie Harris and Les McCann number, Compared to What?, played on this occasion by John Legend and The Roots prompting Ballard to quip that she didn't think he listened to anything recorded this century!
Nevertheless, it is still a cracking tale with Ballard involved in two cases involving murder and rape in which she not only has to watch her back from the villains but also her own colleagues and superiors who don't take kindly to Bosch's involvement or anything that may tarnish the system.
Israeli flautist Klein is indisputably a fine player. Whether or not as the blurb claims, his virtuoso improvisation lifts jazz flute playing to new heights is questionable. That he is a fine player is without dispute although his failure to show in the 2021 DownBeat Readers Poll suggests that the jury is still out. Maybe this release will sway them for next year's poll.
Nevertheless, it's well played, the tunes have a decidedly catchy feel to them and, given his background, there are distinct ethnic overtones which all add to the overall experience.
To learn more about Mattan Klein and the album go here - Lance
Available on Ubuntu Music UBU0092.
Sunderland’s new live entertainment venue, The Fire Station is set to host a special celebration of the life and music of Amy Winehouse, with some of the country’s most talented young jazz musicians joining forces for an unmissable showcase of the legendary singer’s music.
Amy Winehouse is undoubtedly one of the greatest musical talents to come out of the UK, with her unmistakable character, vocal dexterity and masterful songwriting making her a pop icon.
The National Youth Jazz Orchestra (NYJO) will head to The Fire Station on Thursday 10th February to perform a selection of arrangements from the singer’s iconic discography along with a number of her favourite tunes that she once performed as the featured female vocalist for NYJO over twenty years ago.
Robin Sunflower (harmonica, vocals);
Robin Dewhurst (piano); Adrian Ingram (guitar); Steve Lunn (bass guitar)
This turned out to be another drummerless line-up with the house piano once again being played by a very fine musician, Robin Dewhurst who was last here in Suzanne Fonseca’s band. On guitar was a man well known to guitarists here and abroad, Adrian Ingram, who was heavily featured throughout the evening.
Ingram seemed very much at home in Sunflower’s band which certainly covers a wide range of music from tunes made famous in the Dixieland era such as Darktown Strutters’ Ball to the Latin classic Sway.
You hear the familiar sound of a CD sized package dropping through the mailbox and you groan. The package is from Proper Music who know a thing or two about music which is all right and proper and you decide it's worth opening and maybe even listening to the contents.
Your fears turn to joy when you discover it's a 1959 Stan Tracey Trio recording!
Earlier today I'd splashed out a tenner for a Panasonic mini CD system in our local Sally Army charity shop. I praised the Lord and now the ammunition had been passed on for me to check it out.
It has to be said that the Jazz Coop are never complacent when it comes to programming their Sunday night jazz at the Globe sessions and last night was no exception.
An improv/free jazz event by two master practitioners of the genre. Drawing from the work of such legendary performers as Don Cherry, Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Garrison, Jeanne Lee, and Misha Mengelberg and, of course, adding their own input made for some compelling moments.
This Sunday evening, Garner Pope Duo...
Playlist: Requests: Tuba Skinny; Duke Ellington & Louis Armstrong.
RIP 2021: Howard Johnson & Gravity; Keith Belton & Tees Valley Jazzmen; Slide Hampton.
What's on in the NE: Dean Stockdale; Anth Purdy.
New(ish) Release: Wilbur de Paris.
Anniversary Memories of Jan 21: Benny Goodman Orchestra with Peggy Lee; George Gershwin; Anita O'Day; Stan Getz.
Abbie Finn.
I first heard him singing Nina Never Knew on record with the Sauter Finnegan Orchestra. I think that was his only recording with the band although Bill Finnegan's wife subsequently became his manager.
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| (© Malcolm Sinclair) |
Apart from being a fine, bop based, pianist, Greco stamped his individuality on GASbook classics as good, and sometimes even better than, Frank, Tony, Nat, Mel and the other crooner contenders.
I was privileged to hear him at Ronnie's, at Newcastle City Hall and Durham's Gala Theatre (photo with wife number 5 - Lezley Anders). What a singer! What a pianist! What an entertainer!
Necessity is the mother of invention they say or, in this case, Covid is the mother of invention otherwise it would be unlikely that the above four musicians based, respectively, in California, Montana, Maine and Texas would have recorded this fine album - the air fares alone would probably have been prohibitive.
However, modern technology requires no boarding pass, you don't even need to step out of your hometown which is how this virtual recording took place. And, in case you're wondering about the sound quality, let me tell you that Rudy Van Gelder couldn't have done it better!
I must admit to a liking for the baritone sax although I have never played one but I do enjoy listening to people like Gerry Mulligan, Pepper Adams, Nick Brignola and anyone else who can get around the larger horn. I was very pleased to see John Hallam had brought along a baritone sax tonight together with tenor sax and clarinet.. He chose an interesting selection of tunes which included some Ellingtonia, a Mingus number, one by Basie and some lesser known standards making a total of twelve for the two sets.
The thing about jam sessions is that they are always different but never boring. The repertoire may show little variation but the interpretations invariably do.
Last night, the house trio of Law, Pope and MacKellar got things off to a swinging start. MacKellar, on parole from a well-known music college in Boston, Mass, drove There is no Greater Love effectively along with Pope, depping for the quarantined Paul Grainger, giving excellent support and soloing imaginatively to complement Law on piano.
Tonight we had a welcome return visit from reeds man Frank Griffith. Originally from Oregon, USA, but now resident in the Liverpool area after many years playing and teaching around London.
The band tonight included Misha Gray, a fine pianist who I can recall hearing only once on Frank's first visit to this venue. He can be added to the list of pianists that prefer to use the house upright rather than bring their own to the gig. Misha displayed a high energy style and his solos made me want to hear more of him.
Thursday 13: Tees Hot Club with guests Donna Hewitt (alto sax); Richie Emmerson (tenor sax); Gus Smith (vocals); Dave Archbold (keys).
Thursday 20: THC with guests Mark Toomey (alto sax); Dave Archbold (keys); Kevin Eland (trumpet).
Thursday 27: THC with guests Dan Johnson (tenor sax) Josh Bentham (alto sax); Gary Hadfield (keys).
Dormans Club, Oxford Rd., Middlesbrough TS5 5DT start 9:00pm free entry.
The players, like our policemen, are getting younger and, in the case of the former, getting better and attracting a younger audience so it was good to have a full house comprising of a mixed age group ranging from the very young to the very old (me!).
This was the first Sunday night jazz session of 2022 and believe you me the Sam Toulson Quartet have set the bar at a very high level for the bands that follow.
Some may observe that they didn't play any original material of their own but I'm fine with that and why should they? Until a musician can compose better music than Duke Ellington, Hank Mobley, John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Joe Henderson, Steve Swallow and John Scofield, which comprised much of tonight's repertoire, why risk shooting yourself in the foot? It will come.
Tristano (piano); Sonny Dallas (bass); Nick Stabulas (drums); + (on one tk.) Konitz (alto sax); Zoot Sms (tenor sax). 1962. The Half Note NY C.
Drummer Ansel Bayly is a new name to me but I have absolutely no doubt he will be of equal standing to his fellow musicians.
This promises to be a dynamic start to 2022's Sunday night season of presenting the best of jazz at the Globe. Lance
3D Jazz Trio; Dave Brubeck; Dixiecats Henry 'Red' Allen; Esperanza Spalding.
RIP 2021: Chick Corea; Barry Harris; Chris Barber; Keith Nichols; George Mraz; Curtis Fuller.
What's on NE: Matthew MacKellar; Infusion Trio.
Alan Barnes Nikki Iles.
New Release:Brian Molley.
Silje Nergaard; Abbie Finn.
Link.
It just gets better and better and there's still another two discs to go. Undoubtedly the best acoustic wise and musically simply wonderful.
Lennie of course is nothing less than perfect (Thelonious who?) but Peter Ind is an absolute rock. The late Brit bass player not only provides the pianist with sympathetic support but also threatens to steal the limelight with his own solos! He doesn't of course - these are team players.
They don't come any better than this - or do they? I've still got two more discs to go! Lance
Jazz fans will probably relate more to him via the 1961 film Paris Blues where he played a jazz tenor player blowing alongside Paul Newman's blistering trombone (both dubbed).
It was a good, if not a great, film but it did draw attention to the different racial values in Europe as opposed to America at the time. It could be said that, in that respect, nothing much has changed.
Classic Lennie with his main disciples - Konitz, Marsh, Bauer and Fishkin - who were among the relatively few, at this time (1949/50), to recognise the genius that the modern jazz world had in its midst.
Miles' Birth of the Cool band and Gerry's sextet were close but Lennie's sextet managed to strike a freer mood. They showed the way ahead towards a freedom that could be done without dissonance whilst retaining their image at the pointy end of progression.
(Press release)
The Maria Schneider Orchestra’s Barbican performance, scheduled for 29 January 2022, is to be postponed. We are currently working on finalising the new date for this event, and we will be back in touch as soon as this is confirmed.
With four discs to go this is the benchmark for the rest! Anyone who doubts Tristano's deserved status in the upper echelons of the modern jazz piano pantheon need only to listen to this, album two of six, of what is a wonderful boxed set.
The fi here is definitely more hi than on the previous disc and, whilst still not perfect, it does gives the listener a clearer appreciation of the genius that was Lennie.
Usually Steve has a quartet line-up but tonight he surprised us by fronting a two saxophone quintet and they proved ideal for Steve's brand of modern jazz. Tonight we heard a varied programme of standards, bop tunes and some interesting originals all played with a positive vibe that I like to hear when I go out to hear live jazz.
At present the Railway is the only place in this area that has a Tuesday jazz night so let us hope the word gets around and more people get to experience the delights of this atmospheric venue.
Tomorrow night Frank Griffith, tenor player/broadcaster, features Peter Ind - one of the most important members of Lennie's musical intimates - on his weekly radio show The Jazz Cavern of which the details are below.
