The Best of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1: Folk Songs (Nonesuch, 2009)

Guitarist Bill Frisell is one of the most quintessentially American musicians in jazz today, drawing on the musical traditions of roots music and molding them to suit a modern jazz sensibility. This disc is a themed sample of the music he has recorded for the Nonesuch label and focuses on one aspect of many that make up this complex musician. "Americana" is the term most often applied to Frisell's music, and although it can be a misleading one, it is accurate for this disc, where we find mixed in with jazz the soulful country music of Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" and a stark, haunting version of country-rocker John Hiatt's "Have a Little Faith in Me." The blues is a deep river that runs through the length and breadth of American music and Bill Frisell has ridden that river many times, as on the ancient blues standard "Sittin' On Top of the World" where he plays the song in a manner more reminiscent of the Mississippi Sheiks than the more famous Howlin' Wolf version. Frisell's vision of American music reaches back even farther than the 20th Century and it is there we find music like the original "The Pioneers" and the old time ballad "Shenandoah." While this disc probably will not appeal to those who prefer Frisell's more progressive work that he cut with ECM and with seekers like John Zorn and Roland Shannon Jackson, it is a fine introduction to the Americana side of his musical personality, combining his roots in folk, country and blues with the improvisational jazz that has sustained him. This is a very good introduction to the work of Bill Frisell for people who enjoy traditional American music or are coming to his music for the first time after hearing him in a soundtrack or on the radio. Hopefully, Nonesuch will make a second disc on this vein which captures some more of his original stylings as well as his approach to progressive jazz and world music. This would help new fans get a more well rounded picture of this fascinating and ever evolving musician.
The Best of Bill Frisell, Vol. 1: Folk Songs - amazon.com

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Now playing: Matthew Shipp - There Will Never Be Another You
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Nels Cline - Coward (Cryptogramophone, 2009)

Experimental guitarist Nels Cline's latest album is a project that he had been planning and delaying for several years. Multiple guitars, electronics and many layers of music combine to make for an album that seems very much like a journey inside Cline's particular musical universe. "Prayer Wheel" has a mysterious and misty feel, like walking through an ancient forest, reminiscent of the musical soundscapes made by British guitarist James Blackshaw. "Thurston Country" pays tribute to Sonic Youth guitarist Thurston Moore by upping the ante, adding electronics and building to a ferocious conclusion. There are several interludes of quieter, meditational music on the album, like "The Androgyne" which has has a gentler folky feel. "Divine Homegirl" and "Nomad's Home" channel Bill Frisell's mild country Americana. "Ron Poole's Gradual Ascent to Heaven", one of the central pieces of the album is a tribute to a friend and colleague of Cline's who was murdered in 2007. This mystical, meditative and slowly developing performance is long and full of deep feeling. "Onan Suite", the other central focus of the album builds into a forceful entry with the "Lord and Lady" movement and the occasionally scalding "Interruption." "Seedcaster" is extremely cool, with Cline developing a science fiction hip-hop guitar freak out, which is followed by "The Liberator" movement, sounding like a hip soundtrack to a thrilling movie car chase, cool and even a little funky. This was an enjoyable album, that grew on me gradually over time like a flower slowly opening to reveal its full glory. It's hard to categorize this album as jazz, rock or anything else, it falls into it's own unique cosmic landscape of sound paintings.
Coward - amazon.com

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Brad Shepik - Human Activity Suite (Songlines, 2009)

Guitarist and composer Brad Shepik has always taken the long view of jazz both as a leader and a sideman for projects like trumpeter Dave Douglas's Tiny Bell Trio. Combining jazz and world music comes naturally him and that facility is on display on this album. Joining Shepik on this ambitious project are Ralph Alessi on trumpet, Gary Versace on keyboards and accordion, Drew Gress on bass and Tom Rainey on drums. This album is a musical composition of several movements loosely connected along the theme of global warming and climate change. Some of the songs are about the different continents of the earth, and the reactions of the people of that area to the current crisis like "(Blind Spot) North America" and "(By A Foot) Europe." Much of the music found here is very patient and slow developing, with Versace's organ and accordion providing a nice textural bed for Shepik and Alessi to improvise over. The leader has a unique tone on the guitar and takes several fine solos that bob and weave in and out of the ensemble. This is a thoughtful and well considered musical plea for a careful reconsideration of humanity's use of the planet's resources.
Human Activity Suite - amazon.com

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Book review

The Cold Spot by Tom Piccirilli

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
After his mother is murdered and his father takes his own life, Chase is raised by his grandfather, a cold and calculating master criminal, and he is introduced to a life of crime. After Chase's grandfather murders a member of their gang in cold blood, Chase makes a break for it, eventually going straight and marrying a cop. When his wife is killed responding to a robbery, Chase vows revenge and contacts the only man who can help him, his estranged grandfather. This was a well done and for the most part un-romanticized crime novel. The thugs are brutal, ruthless and shrewd, out for money and blood, and lost of it. There is an interlude in the action when Chase courts his wife that the plot slows and the narrative drags, but after she is murdered, when Chase tools up and sets out for some Old Testament justice, and the story briskly picks up speed to a fine conclusion. This was a good pulp novel and I look forward to reading the sequel which is due out soon. The Cold Spot - amazon.com


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Dr. Lonnie Smith - Rise Up! (Palmetto, 2009)

Organist (Dr.) Lonnie Smith leads a hot ensemble including Peter Bernstein on guitar, Herlin Riley on drums, Donald Harrison on alto sax on a no-frills set of blues, ballads and pop tunes. The album leads off with their strongest performance, "Matterapat", which has burning playing all around. Harrison in particular sounds very good. I hadn't heard him in this context before and the beefy organ suits him well. This holds true for "Tyrone" which gives everyone a chance to step up and wail at a very high tempo and making for a quite exciting performance. A radically altered version of the Beatles "Come Together" and a strange and not entirely successful cover version of the Eurythmics "Sweet Dreams" are the pop tunes covered on this session. Grits 'n' gravy may be the Doctor's strong point, but he is far from a one-dimensional musician. This is a very solid chunk of organ jazz. While there isn't anything particularly progressive here that will surprise you, this is the kind of meat and potatoes music that sticks to your ribs.
Rise Up! - amazon.com

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Book review

Two Bear Mambo by Joe R. Lansdale

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Hap and Leonard are back in what is the darkest book of the series so far. Their friend Florida has gone missing when investigating the mysterious death of a prisoner in Grovetown, a notorious KKK stronghold in East Texas. The two men are asked to check it out and stumble into a horrorshow of racism and violence. The Hap and Leonard series is usually marked by dark humor, and while there is some or that trademark here, it has a tough time competing against the bleak nature of the story and its unflinching portrayal of race hatred and intolerance. Lansdale is a wonderful storyteller and the book is very compelling.
The Two-Bear Mambo - amazon.com


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Interesting articles from NY Times

The Times posts an obituary of the legendary New Orleans bluesman Snooks Eaglin, who recently passed away:

“He played with a certain finger style that was highly unusual,” said the pianist Allan Toussaint, who was 13 when he formed a band with Mr. Eaglin. “He was unlimited on the guitar. Folks would assume, ‘I can do this or I can do that,’ but Snooks wouldn’t. There was nothing he couldn’t do. It was extraordinary.”

The Times also reviews a concert by Andrew D'Angelo's provocatively titled free jazz trio Gay Disco:

"Andrew D’Angelo’s new band is called Gay Disco Trio, which sounds funny and is at first misleading. It makes lean, rickety explosions for saxophone, bass and drums: not exactly dance music. Sometimes, in its gig on Wednesday night at the Tea Lounge in Park Slope, Brooklyn, it sounded a little like a scaled-down version of Prime Time, Ornette Coleman’s band from the 1980s, but with more aggression and tension and repetition."

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The Essential John McLaughlin (Columbia/Legacy, 2007)

In guitarist John McLaughlin's four decade plus career he has covered a lot of ground: acoustic, electric, jazz, world fusion and beyond. Coming of age with the British blues and rock boom in the 1960's, McLaughlin's early recordings show him at ground zero of the burgeoning jazz fusion movement. McLaughlin was a valued ringer for Miles Davis, and the extraordinary centerpiece of disc one is "Right Off" from the epochal Bitches Brew album. McLaughlin's overdriven electric guitar spits fire on this track and another landmark of the fusion era, "Spectrum" from the Tony Williams Lifetime band. On the remainder of disc one, scorching electric guitar on "Peace One" and two tracks from the McLaughlin led Mahavishnu Orchestra are offset by some deft acoustic playing on the Charles Mingus classic "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat." Disc two isn't quite as explosive as one, but there are some good performances. There's an extraordinarily high energy tribute to Wayne Shorter called "Wayne's Way", and Chick Corea and Jack DeJohnette are recruited to a very strong song called "Do You Year the Voices Left Behind?" It must be said that disc two does drag a bit with the inclusion of some orchestral jazz band tracks that just don't gain flight. Regardless, this is a solid collection for those curious about McLuaghlin's music, or a rock guitar fan who is interested in branching out to jazz. The only glaring oversight is the lack of any tracks from the classic album Extrapolation, which was a casualty of licensing problems.
The Essential John McLaughlin - amazon.com

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Around the Tubes...

Big Road Blues has an excellent essay accompanying their last show dedicated to Earl Hooker called Play Your Guitar, Mr. Hooker: "Among his peers, Earl Hooker is widely considered the greatest guitarist of his generation. His wild performances attracted a loyal following wherever he went as he entertained the crowds by playing behind his back, picking the guitar with his feet or teeth or doing flips on stage without missing a note."

Destination Out has a short but sweet post featuring mp3's from Ornette Coleman's out of print LP Of Human Feelings. "“Sleep Talk” is one of the great Ornette themes, his alto arcing over the burbling double funk. Most recently recast as “Sleep Talking” on Sound Grammar, “Sleep Talk” retains a freshness that’s impervious to age. Doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, either. “Love Words” is the “ballad” of this date. You can hear the double quartet murmur sweet nothings across the divide, bridged again by Ornette."

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Matthew Shipp - Harmonic Disorder (Thirsty Ear, 2009)Matthew Shipp - Harmonic Disorder (Thirsty Ear, 2009)

Pianist Matthew Shipp seems to have re-committed himself to exploratory acoustic jazz in a trio format with Joe Morris on bass and Whit Dickey on drums. This is an interesting group that explores the twilight netherworld between structure and freedom, and between standards and originals. Shipp's music is very percussive, at times resembling the melodic percussion of Ahmad Jamal and others the thunderous percussion of Cecil Taylor. The tracks that I enjoyed the most were "Roe" with its strong full trio, playing like a deep underground well of emotion. Morris swings a hard, strong and elastic bass solo, and Shipp responds with deep bass piano chords alternating between stern and swing in an excellent performance. "Zo Number 2" is strong, throbbing and free, very fast and furious and featuring a storming drum solo from Dickey. It isn't all crash and thunder though, the group puts its own unique stamp on a couple of well known jazz standards, although you'd be hard pressed to recognize them. "There Will Never Be Another You" is taken at a low, ominous rumble, full of ominous low tones and menace. "Someday My Prince Will Come" is mid-tempo, melodic but slightly skewed as if being viewed through a fun house mirror becoming more urgent and frantic as the song progresses. This was a well done and thoughtful disc, Shipp and company are capable of taking any melody from the most familiar to the most open and building an exciting and coherent improvisation upon it. Isn't that what jazz is all about?
Harmonic Disorder - amazon.com

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Book review

Fool: A Novel by Christopher Moore

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Doing a comic parody of King Lear from the perspective of the jester is right up the alley of satirical novelist Christopher Moore. What results is a lewd, bawdy and quite funny book that manages some pretty deft political satire as well. When Lear's British Empire begins to fall apart due to his age and megalomania, civil war looms and the only one who can save the the kingdom is Pocket, the court fool. Aided by his mildly retarded apprentice Drool, a gaggle of witches and a ghost. Although Moore leans a little to heavily on the randy humor and the British slang (boffing and shagging abound) this is well done and intelligent satire that makes you think as well as laugh.
Fool: A Novel - amazon.com


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NPR interviews the Cline brothers

National Public Radio has a nice interview and story on Alex and Nels Cline who have both released new albums last week.

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Grant Green - Solid (Blue Note, 1964)

Guitarist Grant Green recorded many great sessions for the Blue Note label during the early and mid 1960's. While primarily known as a groove and blues player, he could more than hold his own in a progressive setting as well. This is one of Green's finest achievements as a bandleader, but ironically, Blue Note kept it in the vaults until 1979 while they were promoting his more accessible work. Leading a cracking ensemble consisting of Joe Henderson on tenor saxophone, James Spualding on alto saxophone, McCoy Tyner on piano, Bob Cranshaw on bass and Elvin Jones on drums, the group tackles some complex music with a high degree of intelligence. The disc opens with a Duke Pearson composition called "Minor League" which is strong swinging modern jazz with taught saxophone. Green solos well, strong biting guitar swinging over strong cymbal time, and then deep stentorian tenor from Joe Henderson. "Ezz-Thetic" by George Russell has urgent fast playing where Green is very strong prodding sharp shards of notes, followed by Tyner's piano comps hard under a snaking alto solo, strong deep tenor interlude and rapid and deep piano and drum solos. Green's own "Grant's Tune" is back on more Earthy ground with a mid tempo swaying feel, groove solo on guitar and a tenor solo that has a lighter tone. Sonny Rollins composition "Solid" features upbeat swinging melody, thoughtful bright sounding guitar and solid back to back saxophone solos. The Bert Bacharach song "Wives and Lovers" wraps things up with an addictive swinging opening making way for tenor to take flight, followed by a great whinnying alto solo, attractive Green solo, and a fine swinging conclusion. In a year that saw great modern jazz statements by the likes of John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy, Grant Green proved that he was more than just a one dimensional groove musician, and that he was capable of rising to the challenge of complex modern jazz on this excellent recording.
Solid - amazon.com

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Van Morrison - Astral Weeks: Live at the Hollywood Bowl (Listen to the Lion, 2009)

Trying to remake one of the greatest and most unique pop music albums forty years after the fact is quite an audacious challenge. Van Morrison's Astral Weeks has stood outside of time and space for so long that the thought of going back to that mystic well seems like a fool's errand for even one so talented. But to his credit, Morrison and his band (apparently with only one rehearsal under their belts) were able to pull it off. His voice has has deepened over the years and the perspective of that older, wiser voice gives new life to these songs. Wisely, he doesn't try to recreate the hermetic studio environment, but allows the music to live and breathe anew, guided by his acoustic guitar and deep voice. The youthful enthusiasm of the spiritually seeking tracks like "Astral Weeks" is still apparent in Morrison's delivery. You still get the sense that he is seeking that metaphorical "home on high" when he shifts into an ecstatic "I Believe I've Transcended." One of the most impressive things about the original album was the compassion of the songwriting - lovers, friends and outsiders on the fringes of society were drawn with grace and dignity, and this quality also shines through here in the versions of "Madame George" and "Slim Slow Slider." The band swings hard on "Sweet Things" with is crescendo of strings, and the jazzy "The Way That Young Lovers Do" albeit without the strong saxophone solo of the original. It's interesting to hear "Cypress Avenue" remade and self-edited, the song that was about the unrequited love for a young girl has become a less threatening coming of age tale. Morrison encores with two of his secular spiritual songs from later albums "Listen to the Lion" and "Common One" to round out a remarkable performance. Not only is it a tour de force live album, but this is also a major achievement in looking back at a masterpiece of youth from the perspective of age and hard won wisdom and finding that the ideas and emotions are still valid today.

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Fascinating Interview

Don't miss the very interesting and revealing interview with guitarist and composer Nels Cline on Downbeast:

"I guess it’s meant to create a balance for the listener that’s simultaneously unnerving and at the same time inviting, violent and peaceful, to join disparate elements to create a heightened sense of the moment, of some kind of life drama, and ultimately the fingering of the guitar doesn’t always come into play—sometimes I just put the guitar on the ground and let things happen, especially playing by myself."

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Book review

The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
C.W. Sughrue is a smalltime private investigator and bartender. When he gets a case that requires him to track down a wayward writer who is off on a drunken binge, he thinks little of it. But this case leads to another related one, a missing persons case that stretches Sughrue to his limits and beyond. While this was ostensibly a detective story, in reality it was much more a "dark night of the soul" type novel by the likes of Charles Bukowski with characters out of a Tom Waits album. Alcohol plays a major part in this story, all of the characters have drinking problems, even the bulldog. The book can be a tough go at times because all of the characters are so selfish and rotten, they are altogether too human. To Crumley's credit, he really understands humans and all of their follies. What holds it all together and makes it a recommendable read is the rich vein of dark humor that runs throughout the entire novel, it's just so funny at times that you can't give up on it.


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Fast 'n' Bulbous - Waxed Oop (Cuneiform, 2009)

Captain Beefheart aka Don van Vliet retired from the music business in the early 1980's, but he still casts a long shadow in several musical realms including rock 'n' roll and jazz. Fast 'n' Bulbous is a hard swinging septet that covers Beefheart's compositions from a progressive jazz perspective. Led by former Beefheart guitarist Gary Lucas and Microscopic Septet saxophonist Phillip Johnston, the band also includes Jesse Krakow on bass, Richard Dworkin on drums, Rob Hneke on trumpet, Joe Fielder on trombone and Dave Sewelson on baritone saxophone. The opening and closing tracks are features for Lucas and his national steel guitar, bringing the blues Son House style, with Beefheart's "Sure 'Nuff 'n' Yes I Do" and "China Pig" sounding right at home with the Mississippi juke treatment. Robyn Hitchcock sits in to sing on "China Pig" giving his best impression of the great man's incredible singing range. The rest of the album consists of tight, swinging arrangements of the songs the best of which for me was the swaggering "Smithsonian Institute Blues" which has a storming backbeat and bed of guitar for the horns to riff and improvise over. "Dropout Boogie" is another excellent performance, with the band swinging like a crack territory band and breaking out for excellent solo spots. This was a very good disc and a fine example of jazz musicians using unusual and fresh pop material as inspiration for jazz arrangements and improvisations.

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The Bad Plus w/ Wendy Lewis - For All I Care (Heads Up, 2009)

The Bad Plus, consisting of pianist Ethan Iverson, bassist Reid Anderson and drummer David King have brought a much needed boost of energy to the jazz world with a dynamic presence and an intelligent mix of pop covers and well written originals. This album is a bit of a departure as it features guest vocalist Wendy Lewis on a set dominated by covers of classic rock songs. Some of them work pretty well, like the opening version of Nirvana's "Lithium", which benefits from Lewis's deadpan delivery, and the band uses the dynamic nature of the song well. Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb" gets a lyrical if florid performance. The instrumentals "Fem (Etude #8)" and "Semi-Simple Variations" are very successful because they play to the band's strength with short and pithy performances. Wilco's "Radio Cure" has a wistful feel, whereas Yes's "Long Distance Runaround" and Heart's "Barracuda" can't seem to decide if they are tribute or parody. The biggest problem with this approach is that it downplays the group's originality - perhaps their greatest strength is that they have three excellent composers who all bring something different to the table with their original songs. I worry that doing a nearly all covers album with a vocalist will give fuel to the fire to those who would write off the group as a mere novelty act. Hopefully they will use this disc as a springboard to a disc of all originals, with the musical intelligence and power they have at their disposal it would undoubtedly be a great one.

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Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers - Free For All (Blue Note 1964, 2004)

Spurred on by Joe Lovano posing on the cover of the new Down Beat with a vinyl copy of this album and the reputation it has as the most intense Blakey disc, I picked up the RVG reissue and was extremely impressed by this awesome example of group jazz. This was a watershed year in jazz with the recording of Albert Ayler's Spiritual Unity and John Coltrane's A Love Supreme. As if to prove that bop and blues based jazz was far from finished, Blakey brought one of his strongest units to the studio that day with Wayne Shorter on tenor saxophone, Freddie Hubbard on trumpet, Curtis Fuller on trombone, Cedar Walton on piano, Reggie Workman on bass and Art Blakey himself on drums. Shorter was eyeballing greener pastures, ready to move on to the Miles Davis band, as his composing and playing conception had expanded. This is shown on the opening performance, "Free For All" which typifies his move into more open jazz forms with a wide open song, and very strong saxophone solo. "Hammer Head" is also a Shorter song, with an amazing performance by all concerned, but particularly Hubbard who blows with unrivaled intensity and Blakey who seemingly has five different rhythms going simultaneously. Hubbard's own "The Core" comes next, dedicated to activists fighting racism during the civil rights movement, it is an emotional and thoughtful performance. Hubbard also had a hand in choosing the final selection, "Pensativa" which at a medium boil is the most mellow performance on the album. Blakey is the key here, as the backbeat he supplies acts as a perfect springboard for all of the other soloists ideas. This was an amazing record, and it is understandable why it would affect Joe Lovano so, the seeds of all the music he would explore during his own career are contained here. Each one of the musicians on this band would go on to success on their own, and to hear them at their best when they were young and full of fire is overwhelming.

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Paying for It by Tony Black

Paying for it by Tony Black

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
Gus Dury is down and out. The former newspaperman and current drunkard is hired on by his bartender friend to find out the events that led to the man's son being brutally murdered in an Edinburgh alley. Dury finds more than he ever bargained for as he infiltrates organized crime, government corruption and a smuggling ring to find the truth. Not for nothing is Ken Bruen prominently supporting this novel - if you took Bruen's Jack Taylor to Scotland he would be a dead ringer for Dury, right down to quoting books and music. But if Black is a Bruen wanna-be, he sure is a good one, producing a taught, violent novel of crime and redemption. A must for Bruen fans and a should-be for all fans of dark crime.


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Henry Threadgill

Taylor Ho Bynum blogs about a very cool sounding concert my multi-instrumentalist and composer Henry Threadgill:

"As Braxton said, Threadgill’s music incorporates sounds from all over the world, from Africa to Europe, Latin America to the Middle East, yet never sounds “fusion-y” or forced. It always sounds like Threadgill."

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New PoD Available

A new issue of Bill Shoemaker's excellent web zine Point of Departure has hit the web:

"Jazz needs a playoff system more than college football. What we have now makes the perplexing algorithmic BCS look like the Council of Trent. The allure of playoffs in sports is that is an all or nothing proposition: Win or go home. What you’ve accomplished to date is merely fodder for the announcers. Sure, there’s the “on any given day” proviso; but that’s just a basis to argue for a rematch. There’s something conclusive, if only temporarily, about two persons – be they boxers, rappers or trumpeters – testing their strengths and resources, one against the other. It produces a triumphant clarity that cannot be achieved through any other means."

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Book review: Lost River by David Fulmer (Haughton Mifflin, 2009)

It's 1913 in New Orleans, the local music called "jass" is well on its way to becoming the American artform "jazz" and Creole detective Valentin St. Cyr is making a go of it in the straight world, working for law firms and moving in with his long time love Justine. But St. Cyr's roots in the red light district of Storyville run deep, and when a killer begins stalking patrons of the districts bordellos, St. Cyr is drawn back in, risking everything to track down the killer. Fulmer's channeling of old-time New Orleans, with the music, corruption and diversity is always a joy to read. You really get the sense of stepping back in time to an era when the underground economy was king, cops collected the graft and the great trumpet players were called "King" and "Kid." Lovers of history, mystery and music are encouraged to check out this wonderful series.

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Mark Feldman, Uri Caine, Greg Cohen & Joey Baron - Secrets (Tzadik, 2009)

Violinist Feldman, bassist Cohen, pianist Caine and drummer Baron have been involved on a number of Tzadik projects throughout the years, and this is another genuinely enjoyable one. Touching on the gentle chamber jazz swing of projects like the Masada String Trio and BarKokhba, the music improvises on music with a Middle Eastern feel, led by Feldman's violin which achieves a sweet aching and longing on several of the tracks here. Caine's acoustic piano isn't often featured, but here he gets a bit of space and uses it to excellent effect, with some swinging and thoughtful improvisations and solid support for the other musicians. Highlights of this disc include the exciting "Kel Adon" which starts out with an ominous piano trio playing in a free-ish manner before Feldman enters and turns the performance into a mournful lullaby that gradually intensifies into a swinging quasi-classical performance. This track really demonstrates thebredth of the music these men are capable of. "Chabad Nigun" Is an uptempo performance that is a great feature for violin - sweeping and swooping, the music is swift and sure. Caine gets a fine feature in "Z'Chor Hashem", a fast Middle Eastern flavored swinger that includes a rapid interlude of McCoy Tyner like piano and a short drum solo. I liked this one quite a bit, and think that anyone who has been impressed by the chamber jazz works that have been released onTzadik previously will enjoy this, as well as listeners interested in the intersection of classical music and jazz.

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Rudresh Mahanthappa's Indo-Pak Coalition - Apti (Innova, 2008)

I am a big fan of alto saxophonist and composer Mahanthappa, his tart saxophone sounds like a logical extension of Ornette Coleman's and his improvisations are always fresh and exciting. On this disc, he is joined by Rez Abbasi on guitar and sitar-guitar (that must look cool!) and Dan Weiss on tablas. The music here has a very understated and thoughtful nature, and it was so low key that it took me a while to get into it. But once I got attuned to what the musicians were doing, I really began to enjoy it. Abbasi's guitar and sitar add some very fascinating and unusual texture to the music, and Weiss's use of tablas instead of the usual drum kit allows for a more nimble and soft-hued palate for the other two to improvise over. Being me, of course I enjoyed the fast paced free-bop of the finale the most. "You Talk Too Much" ramps things up for a final send off, with shimmering alto saxophone over whip tight guitar and propulsive percussion. But this isn't to say that the rest of the disc is bland, because it is not. There is a very compassionate blending of musical styles and ideas here, blending music from the Indian sub-continent with modern jazz. It's probably too much to ask for musicians to heal the India-Pakistan divide, but they show that music can go a long way in promoting peace and understanding among all people.

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Reblog

Destination Out gets a great guest post from saxophonist and composer Rudresh Mahanthappa:

"In much the same way that there are albums or tracks of any genre that we love or have even changed our lives, I simply want to share some Indian music that has done the same for me, along with a little back-story as to how I came across these artists. Perhaps you will be turned onto some music you haven’t heard before."

Big Road Blues puts the focus on postwar Detroit blues with an essay covering their latest broadcast:

"Though the city had a number of corner taverns during the 1940s and 1950s, which featured down home blues, numerous Detroit bluesmen found their first jobs in the house party scene. Among the early clubs were places like Henry’s Swing club celebrated in a song by John Lee Hooker, the Harlem Inn, The Palms, The Flame, Club Three Sixes and the Paradise Theater."

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David S. Ware - Shakti (AUM Fidelity, 2009)

Tenor saxophonist Ware has been dealing with some pretty serious health issues lately, but you would never know it from this, his first studio album since 2003. Ware sounds as deep and spiritual as ever, and his new band with guitarist Joe Morris, bassist William Parker and drummer Warren Smith sounds great. Ware still breathes fire in certain spots on this album, but that is really not what this music is all about, Ware is thoughtful and strategic, using his massive power in the service of the performances. The entire album was very well played with exciting music throughout, but for me the highlights were the lengthy "Nataraj" which is a sterling performance from the entire band over the course of eighteen epic minutes. "Antidromic" is a powerful free jazz performance with some of Ware's most potent playing. Joe Morris was an excellent choice as a front line partner, his fractal and spiraling guitar patterns lend wonderful texture to the music. Parker and Smith are locked into the music and sound great, but in the end the focus is on Ware, and he makes every note count.

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Sonny Landreth - From the Reach (Landfall, 2008)

Guitarist and singer Landreth still flies a little low on the radar, despite some high profile sideman gigs and well received solo albums. His profile might rise a bit more with this well done self produced album which mixes rock, pop and blues with equal facility. As a resident of southern Louisiana, it is understandable that he has some choice lyrics for the disaster and subsequent government bungling of Hurricane Katrina. "Blue Tarp Blues" is a thoughtful and urgent plea for those left behind in the wake of the storm. "Way Past Long" is another fine statement of guitar fueled angst, with well written anti-war lyrics and fine instrumental playing. It's not all doom and gloom, however - haunting blues like "Storm of Worry" are juxtaposed by up-tempo, upbeat cookers like "When I Still Had You" and "Let It Fly." Guitar aficionados will be beside themselves with the music here, but it is to Landreth's credit that he never allows his considerable prowess to subvert the songs which remain potent and powerful.

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