Rolling Jazz Thread 2011

One stop for everything that could even remotely be classified as jazz.

So is anybody going to Winter Jazzfest in NYC on Friday and Saturday nights? Five venues, almost 70 bands, 45-minute sets (I'm guessing; each band gets an hour, but there's gotta be setup time unless they're all using the same keyboards and drum kits), $35 for an all-access two-night pass. Seems like a win on every possible level. I will probably be there at least on Friday night.

http://www.winterjazzfest.com

can any of you jazzheads tell me what nicolar jaar's edit "mini calcutta" is an edit of?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rZ_X9uTLHxo

i got this thanks to ilxor just sayin' - it's Brubeck's Calcutta Blues.

So who else went to Winter Jazzfest? I only got to attend on Saturday night, and didn't stay that long - three bands in a row featuring alto sax was too much for me. Got to see Jacky Terrasson play piano at Zinc Bar, and that was pretty excellent; I caught one simmering ballad and one harder-swinging piece that sounded super influenced by 70s Jarrett; in fact, it kind of reminded me of Steely Dan's "Gaucho" melodically (which of course was partly hijacked from Jarrett). Then I went around the block to Kenny's Castaways and caught part of two sets - one by Bad Touch (sax/organ/bass/drums), which started out just okay but got pretty hot by the end, and one by Andrew D'Angelo's Agogic, which was louder and more free (sax/trumpet/electric bass/drums). Then I walked back around the block to see Dutch female saxophonist Tineke Postma's quartet, hoping she'd be playing tenor, but she was playing alto, too. So I stayed for a little while, then bailed.

Right now I'm listening to Kenny Cox's Introducing Kenny Cox and the Contemporary Jazz Quintet, a 2007 Blue Note CD reissuing both albums - one from 1969, one from '70 - by a Detroit-based hard bop group led by pianist Cox, with Joe Henderson's younger brother (15 kids in that family!) Leon on sax, Charles Moore on trumpet, Ron Brooks on bass, Danny Spencer on drums. This group kind of combines the '65-'68 Miles Davis Quintet with more conventional hard bop, and if you like that sort of thing, it's pretty hot. David Weiss's group Point of Departure did a Cox piece - "Snuck In" - as the title track of their album from last year.

Maybe the rest of the NY jazzheads will be back later. DC me doesn't know enough to weigh in too often.

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/01/11/a-grand-night-for-swinging-billy-taylors-memorial-service/#more-38914

I have kind of enjoyed listening to these upcoming 2011 albums in the background during the past couple weeks (in descending order):

Matt Blostein / Vinnie Sperrazza – Paraphrase (Yeah-Yeah)
Marika Hughes – Afterlife Music Radio: 11 New Pieces For Solo Cello (DD)
Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans – Electric Fruit (Thirsty Ear)

Not sure I have the expertise and/or energy to defend them (or even describe them), though. Also not positive whether you could actually classify the Hughes CD as "jazz" per se' or not. (Found her new vocal album rather unbearable, too.) But I'd be curious what others think.

And what the heck, since I never posted on whatever Rolling Jazz thread might have existed last year -- Jazz Albums I Kind Of Liked In 2010. Curious what anybody here thought of any of these, too. Again, in approximate order of preference:

Radar Favourites – Radar Favourites (Reel Recordings reissue)
Henry Threadgill Zooid – This Brings Us To Volume 1 (Pi '09)
Henry Threadgill Zooid – This Brings Us To Volume II (Pi)
Dave Douglas & Keystone – Spark Of Being (Greenleaf Music)
Bizingas – Bizingas (NCM East)
Kermit Ruffins – Happy Talk (Basin Street)
Jason Moran and the Bandwagon - Ten (Blue Note)
Ches Smith & These Arches – Finally Out Of My Hands (Skirl)
Trombone Shorty – Backatown (Verve Forecast)
(Various) – Next Stop Soweto: Vol. 3: Giants, Ministers and Makers: Jazz In South Africa 1963-1984 (Strut! Reissue)

i really liked a lot of pi stuff last year but an off-putting listen to an old henry threadgill album once somehow put me off checking those recent ones out.

what is the dave douglas like? i used to like him plenty about ten years ago, sort of lost interest when he started running an electric group or something to that effect.

i wld like to hear that mary halvorson rec - really enjoyed her group alb from a couple of years ago, think she has quite an individual sound/technique, and am curious to how it works with a more 'upfront' drummer like walter weasel

i also lost touch w dave douglas when he released a cpl of rather bland mainstream albs w ppl like frisell maybe five or six years ago

I liked her improv duo with Joe McPhee on Kurt Gottschalk's show on WFMU last month.
http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/38449

I have a copy of the Halvorson/Walter/Evans thing here, but haven't had time to listen to it yet. I'm in a pretty mainstream-jazz mood lately, as the last few reviews of jazz discs on BurningAmbulance.com probably make clear.

Thought I'd post this thread here. If any of you guys that listen to tons of jazz care to migrate over and help out, I'd be ecstatic.

Rolling 2011 thread where I buy and listen to jazz albums for the first time ever

Do any of y'all ever go to shows here?
http://www.universityofthestreets.org/

It's sort of a weird venue/non-venue, but they often have really good stuff for cheap. I've been twice - once for a group with Chad Taylor and then last night I went to see Rob Brown/Chris Lightcap/Gerald Cleaver. Both times absurdly empty.

The Jemeel Moondoc thing sounds worth seeing.

Saw pianist Eddie Palmieri with trumpeter Bryan Lynch, Russian acoustic bassist Boris Kaslov, and young Cuban drummer Dafnis Prieto in Washington DC. A standard Palmieri show--more jazz than Latin although I liked it best when they kept things more rhythmic. Prieto was amazing--clave beat to jazz brushes to slamming hard drum stick beats. It was cool watching Prieto grinning at Palmieri as the 2 alternated solos and went back and forth on improv bits. Palmieri was subtle at times, loud and crashing other times, and ocassionally rhythmic.

I'm going to the University of the Streets this coming Saturday - Darius Jones, who I profiled for the second issue of Burning Ambulance, is playing with two different groups, a trio at 8PM and a quartet (with all different members) at 10PM.

Also, today on BurningAmbulance.com, I wrote about tenor saxophonist Ike Quebec. Some here might find that interesting. Link.

Off to see Bill Frisell in Tokyo tonight. Ron Carter and Joey Baron in support. Has anyone seen him recently? He absolutely killed it when I saw him here a couple of years ago (different band though).

Heard he has a new Brazilian themed album out too: Lágrimas Mexicana
http://www.allmusic.com/album/lagrimas-mexicanas-r2102851

unperson: If you dig the organ/bass combo, there are a bunch of records involving either Shirley Scott or Wild Bill Davis on organ and tenormen like Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and Arnett Cobb (sometimes both). It's an underrepresented but great sound. I actually think it might be more common than we think, but the records that feature it seem to be overlooked. I often find the standard guitar/organ/drums trio to be kind of snoozy, whereas a trio with bass and organ has a brighter, bouncier feel. The bass seems to free up the hands of the organist to do denser, big-band harmonies and shouts.

Went to see Darius Jones last night at the University of the Streets. He was playing two sets, one with his trio and one with a new quartet, but I only stuck around for the trio set. All new music, destined to be recorded for his second album at the end of February, except for a version of "Chasing the Ghost," from the debut, and a version of "Take the A Train."

Listening to Miles Davis's Bitches Brew Live right now. It's a terrific disc, compiling two different dates - a July 1969 performance at the Newport Jazz Festival, and the August 1970 Isle of Wight performance. The former is really fascinating, because it's a quartet show; Wayne Shorter was stuck in traffic, so it's just Miles, Chick Corea on keyboards, Dave Holland on bass and Jack DeJohnette on drums, and Miles really plays a lot. You only get three tracks, slightly under 25 minutes of music, but it's beautifully recorded and totally ass-kicking. The Isle of Wight set is also phenomenally clean, and the music is ultra-intense; there, the band is Miles, Gary Bartz on sax, Corea and Keith Jarrett on keyboards, Holland and DeJohnette. I admit it; I can't really tell too often who's playing what w/r/t the keyboards, 'cause both Corea and Jarrett use tons of distortion and pedals and weird effects. If they were both playing acoustic pianos, I'd be able to tell them apart. Anyway, the set is a single 35-minute medley, but Sony has added indexing, turning it into six tracks that run straight into each other. Totally essential.

Hm. Haven't been to that UOTS, but it looks interesting. And I see that Dr. Barry Harris is on the Board of Directors.

unperson, how many people were at the U of the Streets show? I'm curious to know if there are ever more than 5 people in the audience that don't personally know one of the musicians

Also I think I've seen a film of that Isle of Wight set. You might also enjoy the Live at the Filmore East if you like that early electric/transitional period where they're still trying to feel out the fusion thing.

haven't heard the whole record yet, but it's funny to see this austin peralta record getting love from electronic/beat music heads just because it's out on brainfeeder. from clips it sounds like a straight-up contemporary jazz record, with some non-jazzy compression on the low end. i know that's the point of flying lotus putting it out, to draw attention from a new crowd, but i wonder how much of a ripple effect it's going to have.

unperson, how many people were at the U of the Streets show? I'm curious to know if there are ever more than 5 people in the audience that don't personally know one of the musicians

I'd say there were about three dozen people there, and only four or five I can absolutely guarantee know the players (Jones' girlfriend, the head of AUM Fidelity Records and his wife, a couple others). There were definitely about two dozen paying customers, minimum.

That's good to hear. The two times I've been I got there early both times so I could see who was already there hanging out with the band, and both times it was almost everyone who showed up.

But the first time I was there Cyrus Chestnut showed up (for Chad Taylor/Angelica Sanchez) and the second time William Parker showed up wearing one of his crazy hats (for Gerald Cleaver/Chris Lightcap/Rob Brown)

Some more jazz albums from this year I've been listening to quite a bit and, I guess, liking. (One of these days, maybe I'll even be inspired to talk about some of them here. But not today. Anyway, weird how much new jazz I've been playing lately. I'm not sure why that is.)

Gutbucket – Flock (Cuneiform)
Yaron Herman Trio – Follow The White Rabbit (ACT)
Honey Ear Trio – Steampunk Serenade (Foxhaven)
Ben Kono – Crossing (19/8)
Endangered Blood – Endangered Blood (Skirl)
Vijay Iyer / Prasanna / Nitin Mitta – Tirtha (ACT)

Honey Ear Trio – Steampunk Serenade (Foxhaven)
Endangered Blood – Endangered Blood (Skirl)

Planning to listen to both of these in the coming week.

hey look it's a bunch of links to a 90's jazz overview!

http://01fragments.blogspot.com/2011/02/aspects-of-jazz-in-nineties.html

perfect for me since I know almost none of this stuff.

that reminded me of one of my favorite records, the ben perowsky trio live record from '99: http://www.amazon.com/Ben-Perowsky-Trio/dp/B00000JFP2

and googling that reminded me that it was in fucking talladega nights, out of all the jazz records they could have used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RzeumERLlBI (2:10)

omg, this live bitches brew

the crowd reaction is so rad

Also I think I've seen a film of that Isle of Wight set.

It's available on DVD as Miles Electric --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXB2NJzBzMk

Really going for that Blue Note look:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/512S8y-qsYL._SL500_AA300_.jpg

This Joe Locke band tonight at Dizzy's looks really good, although the otherwise very useful WBGO calendar refers to him as "John Locke"

I don't know if anybody else sat and watched all 7 parts of that doc Brad C embedded above, but in case anybody didn't make it to the 2:07 mark of Part 7, where dude get asked to 'play something in tribute to Miles,' and his answer is kinda nuts--

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIWIEYXOgWk&feature=player_embedded#t=2m07s

i assume you mean kinda awesome

that along with herbie's thinking pause is just about the best thing on the dvd

Saw Brad Mehldau tonight at the Library of Congress, he mentioned they were recording it for something, so that's cool.

He did half originals and half pop covers. I kinda rolled my eyes when he introduced "Smells Like Teen Spirit" as "an old American folk song by a singer named Kurt Cobain." He also did "Bittersweet Symphony," & Massive Attack's "Teardrop," neither of which he's done on record afaik, and for a third encore (!) he did Semisonic's "Closing Time." In an audience of grayhairs I'm not sure how many got the joke.

Here's his "Teardrop," v pretty & gets into some rad shimmery Rachmaninoff type of stuff around the 5th minute

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeNIMS3RlDc

Jazz is rubbish.

thx for contributing

Jazz is rubbish.

No, it's not, but Brad Mehldau surely is.

So strange the I would discover new amazing jazz on Pitchfork, but damn:
http://cstrecords.com/cst075/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RhH-k1npY64

As I have been immersing myself more than ever before in Coltrane/Sanders/Shepp/Sam Rivers...this dude just pops out and says would you like some awesome modern saxophone?

Oh, oops: Colin Stetson - New History Warfare pt 2: Judges

Carry on.

Jazz is rubbish.

No, it's not, but Brad Mehldau surely is.

― that's not funny. (unperson), Wednesday, March 2, 2011 6:07 AM Bookmark

This is wrong. I can see how if most of what you've heard is radiohead covers you might be put off (although I enjoy these), but his straight trio records are as heavy and heady as anything out there.

the solo show i was at was pretty bloodless tbh

i really wanted there to be a band for him to play off of

I've heard Mehldau in lots of contexts - backing Joshua Redman, on that bloat-tastic horror of a double CD he put out last year, and with his trio. He does nothing for me. The most overrated pianist since Bill Evans. (Yeah, I said it.)

There are some opinions that are just wrong.

i used to like some of his live trio recordings, but in-studio / 'composing' he was zzzzzzz.

on an unrelated note…

i've been listening to this 2010 macroscopia album a bit tonight, it's a nice change of pace from all the percussive/aggressive/droney music i've been listening to lately.

http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=38751

bassoon improv!

how it works with a more 'upfront' drummer like walter weasel

lol

it's interesting how on that halvorson/weasel walter/other guy record halvorson sounds completely out there but still distinctively different from on 'saturn sings'. less bending, but more… clouds of chiming to coincide with the tendency the whole group has to work itself into a pitch of noises or whatever.

Orrin Evans' Captain Black Big Band live album on Posi-Tone is pretty hot. Swinging, blaring, rhythmically intricate - not as adventurous/form-twisting as Darcy James Argue's Secret Society, but makes a good argument for the continued validity of the big band form.

i thought that was dave holland's job

ahhhh, i had never seen this, richard has the best walking bass solo ever here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZLvqXFddu0

Can't click right now. Richard Davis, your old teacher?

yup, with the thad jones/mel lewis orchestra.

This is pretty interesting:

http://www.pirecordings.com/cms/img/thumbs/pi32_500.jpg

Classic ornette is definitely the reference point, but it sort of picks up where they left off.

Has anyone heard the new solo piano CD by Craig Taborn (on ECM)? I'm curious about that one.

Put it on awhile ago, it was a little too quiet and ECM-ish for me. Gotta give it another listen soon, though.

jazz/improv things i've heard and liked so far this year:

miles davis - bitches brew live

weasel walter, mary halvorson, peter evans - electric fruit

bruno duplant, paulo chagas, lee noyes - no birds

darren johnston, aram shelton, lisa mezzacappa, kjell nordeson - cylinder

masami akita, mats gustafsson, jim o’rourke - one bird two bird

matana roberts - coin coin chapter one: les gens de couleur libres

rafael toral - space elements vol. iii

Ratliff in the NY Times on the Taborn album:

It runs as broad as you might expect, lining up moods and rhythmic-melodic strategies of completely different orders: straight and processional, bobbing and weaving, staccato bursts and mile-long notes. It contains improvisation, sometimes two-handed, and it lives on the intersection of a bunch of post-Impressionist western musical traditions; of the two pieces most like ballads, one (“True Life Near”) can sound like Erik Satie, and the other (“Forgetful”) like a Gershwin standard with its melody notes rearranged. Above all, the album is very, very calm. Being studious, being circumspect, you know he went in thinking about reverb and the properties of the decaying note. And so, finally, you can hear 360 degrees of his touch. I’ve heard days and weeks of Mr. Taborn’s playing in my life, but I haven’t heard him sound quite like this before.

Curious if these New Orleans albums are not out there enough for folks here--

What label is the only label on the BILLBOARD JAZZ CHART with 3 entries on both the charts printing 5/21/11 and 5/28/11? It’s the same label that was the only label (the other being Blue Note) that had 2 entries on the chart printing 5/14/11. Namely, Basin Street Records!!!

#9 Rebirth Brass Band, Rebirth of New Orleans
#14 Irvin Mayfield, A Love Letter to New Orleans
#18 Kermit Ruffins, Happy Talk

Plus, the HBO Treme soundtrack is #5 and both Kermit and Rebirth appear on that record

That's obviously taken from Basin Street's own site by the way

Lately I'm getting obsessed with a bunch of dudes who seem to be doing the whole "young lion" thing (swinging, bluesy post-bop) without the press hype their forefathers got. Players like Walter Smith III, Stacy Dillard and JD Allen (all tenor saxophonists); Orrin Evans and Aaron Parks (piano); and Ambrose Akinmusire (trumpet). Akinmusire and Smith III are something of a team, playing regularly on each other's records, and Evans is on Dillard's most recent album and has worked with Allen in the past. Also, Evans is part of the trio Tarbaby, and Allen played on the most recent Tarbaby disc. Smith plays on drummer Eric Harland's new album, which I haven't listened to because it's 75 minutes long where most of the other discs I'm checking out are between 45 and an hour, except for Allen's trio releases, which are like 40 minutes long with three-minute songs(!). And Harland is also the drummer in the new semi-supergroup James Farm, which features Aaron Parks on piano and keyboards and Joshua Redman on sax and sounds a lot like Keith Jarrett's '70s quartet to me.

Most of this stuff is on Posi-Tone, Criss Cross or Fresh Sound, except Akinmusire's latest, which is on Blue Note, and the James Farm disc, which is on Nonesuch. Is anybody else listening to any of these guys? A lot of it's available through emusic, if that helps.

A bit, actually. I have a Walter Smith III album (w/Akinmusire) that I think is pretty good, and I saw them (with Akinmusire as bandleader) at Jazz Standard maybe a couple of months ago. I liked Akinmusire as a composer more than as a player. I wouldn't actually say what I saw was really in the "young lion" mold -- the tunes they played were pretty challenging listening. I especially liked the pianist who played with them -- a really young-looking guy named Sam Harris

Also saw Ambrose Akinmusire at the Jazz Standard, about a year ago, I think he had Justin Brown on drums who I've seen around town a few times. Also saw Orrin Evans at the Standard with the Mingus Big Band. JD Allen trio I've seen at Smalls, think his bass player also has a classical gig with the Brooklyn Philharmonic.

Don't know about any kind of 'young lions' thing at this point. What with all the jazz education in the past few decades some people like to complain about there are a lot of younger cats around who can play this kind of stuff really well and convincingly.

I'm not using "young lion" as a pejorative here; I'm just using it to refer to dudes who can play their asses off but stay within the tradition enough that someone who didn't go to music school can enjoy what they're doing on a visceral level the way, say, Art Blakey records can be enjoyed. And I mean obviously there are huge nods to the past in some of what these guys do; it's impossible to listen to the JD Allen Trio and not hear Coltrane circa '64. But I'm cool with that. The thing I like best about the players I cited above, in fact, is that they're not in thrall to Steve fucking Coleman or Greg Osby.

I'm thinking about going to see Stacy Dillard at the Jazz Standard in a week or so, and Walter Smith's gonna be at the Jazz Gallery in early August, and Allen'll be at the Vanguard in late August.

Not saying whether it's pejorative or not, just say it may not be limited to a handful of players, that the influence of the "brainiac" tradition your are referring to has eased up and you might like a lot of what you see on just a random night at Smalls- like I did last Saturday http://www.smallsjazzclub.com/index.cfm?itemcategory=30817&calDate=6/25/2011&calDay=25&curntdate={d%20'2011-06-03'}&allrows=true. The guy on sax in the trombone player's band was totally doing a John Coltrane on one number, but it was so on target that it was awesome. I didn't stay the whole night so I didn't get to see Stacy Dillard or Diallo House, who I have been meaning to check out, but you should - make the most of your twenty dollars! Did get to see Jon Hendricks come and make a guest appearance- and Leroy Williams on drums! so I guess I did all right.

Aargh, can't ciick through link, but can cut and paste if you want.

Hurting, you may or may not appreciate this:
When they started that one number, it sound so much like Trane that I asked somebody "which song is this?" to which I got the snappy answer "this is just the intro, the tune hasn't started yet" and then somebody started singing "John COL-trane!" to the tune of "Equinox" and said "I hang around Jon long enough, I'm going to start putting words to everything."

Smalls website is a great resource actually, even if you don't make it to the show.

the influence of the "brainiac" tradition your are referring to has eased up and you might like a lot of what you see on just a random night at Smalls

Yeah, I need to start investigating, because I've been neck-deep in young brainiacs and doddering free jazz relics and hangers-on for so long, I have no idea who's out there just playing heavy hard bop, which is all I'm really in the mood for lately.

DC bassist Ben Williams (who I think lives in NYC these days) is getting lots of praise here as he's back down here doing a gig. Geoff Himes praises him for not using too many notes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/gog/music-events/ben-williams,1210363/critic-review.html

young brainiacs

just wondering who/what this term refers to?

I got Williams' album in the mail; it did nothing for me. Too much hip-hop and R&B stuff. Sort of the same reason I don't like Christian Scott as much as I hoped I would (though his playing on that Ninety Miles album with David Sánchez and Stefon Harris is pretty hot).

the joe lovato record is pretty good

assuming you mean Joe Lovano, real HOOS

Those interested in Latin Jazz should try to check out the Terraza 7 Train Cafe in Jackson Heights. Highlights include the Sunday night jam session with John Benitez along with his son Francis and frequent appearances by the amazing conga drummer and composer Samuel Torres, often with his uncle, veteran Latin pianist and arranger Edy Martinez, who was described to me as "muy sideman." Samuel and Edy are from Colombia so you can bring the family, phil.

i have been enjoying this david murray record

http://open.spotify.com/album/5vbQXx8wxc17mLRULlumgV

i'm not really sure i have anything to say about it, though

okay that is also a pretty great record but i actually meant to link to the david murray black saint quartet record from last year

Is Lafayette Gilchrist on any of these records, thomp?

Don't know which young brainiacs phil is talking about but I assume he is referring to stuff that sounds overcomposed and doesn't have a hard enough groove.

Which is perhaps a subjective call but..

stuff that sounds overcomposed and doesn't have a hard enough groove

Exactly. The Steve Coleman-indebted stuff that gets released on Skirl and Pi and Clean Feed and 482 Music (and btw I have loved releases on each of those labels).

haha, i was listening to steve coleman the other day and i thought to myself, 'damn, this grooves hard, i bet unperson l would hate it'

Library of Congress employee and Jazz Times writer Larry Appelbaum's blog

http://larryappelbaum.wordpress.com/

Sonny Rollins interview and more

cool link, thanks!

Just realized that Lou Donaldson - Pot Belly (which features a great Ted solo) is the sample on Tribe Called Quest - If the Papes Come.

The Afro-Cuban beat of Joven Jazz, Cuba’s fastest rising young jazz band, hits New York for their US debut. Directed by award-winning saxophonist Michel Herrera, the young players of Joven Jazz have already created a sensation at European jazz festivals.

Any of you New Yorkers see these guys last night at the Zinc Bar?

May as well plug the poll in here
Nominations Thread for ILX ALL-TIME JAZZ ALBUMS POLL (Closing Date July 28 11.59pm in your timezone)

all welcome to participate.

Listening to trombonist David Gibson's G-Rays (from 2008) on Spotify. With Wayne Escoffery on tenor, Freddie Hendrix on trumpet, Richard Germanson on piano, Dwayne Burno on bass, Quincy Davis on drums.

Thanks to Phil's write-up on James Farm, I'm giving this a listen on Spotify today and really liking it. This is what I'd love to hear more of right now.

The Afro-Cuban beat of Joven Jazz, Cuba’s fastest rising young jazz band, hits New York for their US debut. Directed by award-winning saxophonist Michel Herrera, the young players of Joven Jazz have already created a sensation at European jazz festivals.

Any of you New Yorkers see these guys last night at the Zinc Bar?

― curmudgeon, Friday, July 15, 2011 10:23 AM (5 days ago)

They must be hanging around NYC. Just saw this

Why choose between a night of live jazz, dinner at a Cuban restaurant, and a sunset cruise when you can have all three with today's deal: $38 buys a three-hour Manhattan Skyline Dinner Cruise featuring a live performance by Afro-Cuban jazz band Joven Jazz—an $85 value!

Voucher valid for a three-hour Manhattan Skyline Dinner Cruise featuring a live performance by Afro-Cuban jazz band Joven Jazz.
Valid for the following dates: July 19, 20, and 27, 2011.
Must be 21 or older

https://tippr.com/offer/joven-jazz/

http://eater.com/uploads/stefon-nyc-snl-christmas.jpg

New York's hottest young jazz band is Joven Jazz, featuring the hot Afro-Cuban stylings of drummer Cuba Pudding Junior. Be sure to stick around to experience their one and only human drumline. It's that thing where you take five midgets in a row, tie them together with cellophane tape, and beat your arms up and down.

I wrote a thing for eMusic about 12 essential Blue Note titles released between '63 and '65.

I like that Joe Henderson record on there a lot!

matana roberts - coin coin chapter one: les gens de couleur libres

wow, how great is this? disturbing and gorgeous. is constellation a jazz label now? or has it always been?

I haven't checked in with that label in a long time, I mostly think of it as a post-rock label (even if they probably hate the term) for bands like Do Make Say Think, GY!BE, Fly Pan Am, Silver Mt. Zion, etc etc.

yeah i know but seeing how most those bands are retired (?) maybe they need a new shtick.

maybe it's just a matter of knowing someone - she's worked with those people

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matana_Roberts

i've barely listened to the album properly yet, it was so powerful that i wanted to save it for the right mood.

btw, i see from there that burnt sugar has a 'chopped and screwed' album. anyone know if it's really chopped and screwed??

It's not; it's just a mix CD. You'll note it's also called "Vol. 2"; there is no Vol. 1.

Asked two Cubans I know, one a music fan and one a musician about Joven Jazz, neither seemed to know who they were. Did not press the inquiry further. Did see a good video of Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter, Tony Williams, Freddie Hubbard and Joe Henderson playing "Cantaloupe Island." Somebody told me that Joe Henderson used a plastic mouthpiece which I had never heard.

http://www.michelherrera.com/JJ/Bio-Michel_Herrera.html

He's the leader of Joven

Hm. There's another Herrera who's a percussionist. Maybe he is related but probably not, but maybe he is aware of somebody with his name.

Matana is like Album of the Year material

Hmm I like the one Matana Roberts thing I have (The Chicago Project), now will really have to check that out.

Yeah, the Roberts thing is astonishing. I reviewed it for The Wire and then wrote a story on her for their next issue.

Just got a 2CD set by Billy Bang's Survival Ensemble in the mail; a reissue of New York Collage, from 1978, paired with a previously unreleased live session from 1977. It's on NoBusiness.

Also really good: Nicole Mitchell's Awakening, with Jeff Parker, Harrison Bankhead and Avreeayl Ra, on Delmark.

http://freejazz-stef.blogspot.com/2011/07/stephan-crump-steve-lehman.html

this is nice.

Stephan Crump the bass player, distant relative of a certain ilxor?

uh… i don't know. who?

notice steve lehman pops in in the comments section there too. fan service!

Not sure myself actually if they are really related.

such great screaming on that matana roberts record. she surely has a worn-out copy of sharrock's 'black woman' somewhere.

VOTING AND CAMPAIGNING THREAD FOR ILM POST 1945 BEST JAZZ ALBUMS POLL (Voting closes August 27)

All welcome to vote. Please feel free to campaign for albums in there, thanks!

anyone heard this?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/05/pakistan-musicians-top-western-charts-jazz

Heard about it, but haven't actually heard it.

Came to ask the musical question: do you know what song Thelonious Monk sang on Sesame Street?

there's a new steve coleman album:

http://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/6608

"Miles' Cafe"
will change the name to
"SOMETHIN' Jazz Club"

on 7th. Sept 2011.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dear Sir or Madam
Hi, this is Miles' Cafe. We always appreciate your support us.
We have to inform that "Miles' Cafe" will change the name to
"SOMETHIN' Jazz Club" on 7th. Sept 2011.
I sincerely hope you will continue supporting us same as before.

Seems to me they could have avoided this had they simply bought a dog or cat, named it Miles, and told everyone that was the source of the name.

Somebody told me that the guy who owns the place IS named Miles.

I did a CD giveaway last week on BurningAmbulance.com; in order to win a CD, people had to name some of their favorite alto sax-led recordings. I took a bunch of the suggestions and turned it into a Spotify playlist. Check it out.

Making a birthday car tape for my girl, with two new reissues. Side A: Stan Getz/Cal Tjader, Sextet (1958). With Vince Guaraldi, Eddie Duran, Scott LaFaro, Billy Higgins. Extended work-outs and equally spirited ballads. Not exactly Dark Magus, but like she likes it. Ditto, hopefully, Side B: Bill Evans Trio, Explorations (1961), With LaFaro and Paul Motian. This one's got prev unreleased "The Boy Next Door" plus three alt takes of the LP's tracks. Both on Original Jazz Classics. Also dig Sonny Rollins' Road Shows Vol. 2, streaming til 9/13 release.If you're gonna play call-and-response with Sonny, you better be damn ready, which the regular guitarist def ain't on the opening track, and Roy Hargrove eventually fumbles on the extended penultimate, but he's fine overall, as is the regular rhythm section (yeah, Cranshaw too). Money shot is of course "Sonnymoon For Two", with Christian McBride, Roy Haynes, and Ornette Coleman. Get it while you can
http://www.npr.org/2011/08/28/139978299/first-listen-sonny-rollins-road-shows-vol-2

Not meaning to back away from Getz, I always like him too.

And here's Disc 1 of The Miles Davis Quintet's Live In Europe 1967--The Bootleg Series Volume 1
http://www.npr.org/2011/09/11/140229346/first-listen-miles-davis-live-in-europe-1967-the-bootleg-series-vol-1&sc=nl&cc=sod-20110912

http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/blogs/artsdesk/music/2011/09/13/kris-bowers-wins-2011-thelonious-monk-competition/#more-55614

So I borrowed this from the library: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/news.php?id=80366

Seems pretty nice.

A pleasant listen, like.

New Rudresh Mahanthappa should be great. Not sure about the pedals, but hey

Today is the birthday of Bennie Moten, today known for the song "Moten Swing" and for leading a band that later ended up as the Count Basie Band. He would have been 107, I think. He died in 1935 as the result of a botched tonsillectomy, the same fate that befell Eddie Lang two years earlier.

is there a 2012 thread? or should i just talk about robert glasper's black radio on the r&b thread?

#3 on iTunes, wow

streaming on NPR

Jordan, maybe you should start the 2012 thread?

NY Times interview/coverage of recent Glasper

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/26/arts/music/robert-glasper-experiment-to-release-black-radio.html?pagewanted=all

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/24/robert-glasper-experiment-so-is-it-jazz/

when he got hype last year i listened to one of his older records and it seemed boring. : (

i don't know that i'll be keeping up with many other jazz records. :/

listening to black radio now. i keep wishing i liked it more, because i'm totally in favor of this direction and i like the commitment to studio craft, r&b, writing songs, etc. but a lot of the tracks go by without much edge, and would be kinda boring if not for chris dave.

although the last quarter of the record really picks up, starting with the track that stokley (from mint condition) is on.

mos does his usual bullshitty improv thing but it still adds energy.

meshell's track is nice too.

Questo of The Roots ‏ @questlove

· Open

I'm on my 4000000000th listen of @robertglasper's "Smells Like Teen Spirit" PLEASE cop this yawn y'all bit.ly/ycrjwX
View album
Chris Dave Chris Dave ‏ @Chrisdaddydave

Close

@questlove stop listening to it..they caught me in the middle of tryin to work something out and @robertglasper was like Let's record...smh

someone should start a 2012 thread methinks and if Jordan does not want to, then I guess one of the rest of us will have to do so

This here Matthew Shipp Trio: Elastic Aspects is pretty nice.

Bowed bass but this time it's Michael Bisio.

I think unperson started a 2012 thread, but it got lost in the sandbox of time.

If I am posting on the rolling jazz thread there is a 40% chance Matthew Shipp has a new album out. Kind of lame, I know.

Inconstant cymbal tapping.