Tabla de contenidos para June 2022 en Jazzwise

This month’s cover star, John McLaughlin, has seen more changes than most in his astonishing career – and the fact he just turned 80 and maintains a daily practice regime and good health is an example to us all. It’s all the more reason to go and see him on one of his four UK dates at the end of May too – he’s one of the few jazz giants still playing at the highest level. And yet such illustrious careers have to start somewhere and at last month’s Jazzahead! in Bremen it was a telling sight to see a surfeit of European nations representing themselves, with Scotland and Jazzwise (with its own stand) representing the UK – a parsimonious state of affairs that show that our home-grown scene is…

Gary Burton Who is Gary Burton? RCA Victor Being only the then 19-year-old vibraphonist’s second release, the album’s title Who is Gary Burton? seems like a reasonable enquiry. But actually putting the answer on the front instead of back cover is either foolishly eccentric or comes from a total lack of awareness of sleeve design aesthetics. It gets even worse with the instruction at the end of the text: [continued on the back]. If that wasn’t enough, the cover image resembles the deep shadow of a misshapen Nosferatu from a German expressionist movie reflected on what looks like a brick wall. Is it Gary? Is he waving and what’s that thing between his legs? It could be an enigmatic art sleeve by ECM gone horribly wrong. Gary went on to…

Charnett Moffett, who died suddenly in April at age 54 following a heart attack, was always destined to be a jazz musician. His father had been serving as drummer in Ornette Coleman’s trio at the time of his birth on 10 June 1967, when Moffett Junior was duly named for the saxophonist, Charnett being a portmanteau name made up of a contraction of his father’s – Charles – and that of the Shape of Jazz to Come free jazzer. In 1996, Charnett would perform on Coleman’s Sound Museum: Hidden Man and Sound Museum: Three Women. Born in New York, he soon relocated to the West Coast – Oakland specifically – with his family. He had an extremely musical childhood and toyed with playing the trumpet, but was advised by no…

The NewYork electronic jazz scene brought to prominence by David Bowie’s Blackstar has also found purchase with Dorset-born keyboardist Emily Francis, whose trio’s second album, Luma, mixes prog with driving fusion grooves, cinematic expansiveness and effects-pedal textures. The Blackstar bandmembers actually explored the outer reaches of their respective sounds after experiencing Bowie’s liberating touch, from Donny McCaslin’s vocal experiments to bassist Tim Lefebvre and keyboardist Jason Linder’s recent electronic Sedatø project. Francis has been on a similar stylistic odyssey since her more conventional, post-EST piano trio debut, The Absent (2015). “I have Blackstar to thank a for lot of things,” she tells Jazzwise, on a Zoom call from the Ascot home she shares with her trio bassist – and boyfriend – Trevor Boxall. A 2017 London Jazz Festival double-bill of…

For new arrivals in London, it is practically a rite of passage to take a train on the Underground that is headed in the opposite direction to your destination. Neil Charles signed up for that magical mystery tour in the ‘Big Smoke’ one evening when he thought he was on his way to Walthamstow in the north of the city. The Victoria line took him south to Brixton. But if he was in the wrong place, he made the right move. “That day I saw Gary Crosby with his double bass; I didn’t know who he was at the time but he was going to the Effra to play with Jay (Phelps) and Shane (Forbes),” Charles recalls. “I asked him where he was going, and followed, and dare I say…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing Alternative Guitar Summit Honoring Pat Martino Vol 1 HighNote HCD 7333 (CD) Adam Rogers, Peter Bernstein, Fareed Haque, Sheryl Bailey, Ed Cherry, Rez Abbasi, Jeff Miles, Russell Malone, Dave Stryker, Paul Bollenbeck, Nir Felder, Oz Noy, Joel Harrison (g), Kurt Rosenwinkel (g, b, d), Kevin Kozol (ky), Alex Austin, Dezron Douglas, Chulo Gatewood (b), Greg Fundis, Alan Mednard, Tobias Ralph (d) and Richard Christian (tablas). Rec. March 2021 No fewer than 14 guitarists and three rhythm sections make up the Alternative Guitar Summit – an annual live event transferred in 2021 to a studio by the pandemic – which got together to honour the then ailing Pat Martino, the Philadelphia virtuoso who brought the lyrical legacy of Wes Montgomery into a funkier, more aggressively…

Luma Bridge The Gap BTG094 (CD, LP, DL) Emily Francis (ky, p), Trevor Boxall (el b) and Jamie Murray (d). Rec. date not stated It’s been a while since the Emily Francis Trio’s debut The Absent (2015), and Luma’s leap forward illustrates the ever-morphing status of the piano trio now. GoGo Penguin’s minimalist, hard-hitting splicing of Esbjörn Svensson and Aphex Twin was 2015’s cutting edge, but the shockwaves of EST’s arena-friendly rock dynamics have faded now, as the most interesting European jazz has instead reconnected to black roots and branches, from Afrobeat to grime. Though Francis saw EST as an unsuspecting Dorset teen, her generation of jazz students leaned more into prog, fashionable again after its punk defenestration. Also finding successive inspiration in Brad Mehldau and Robert Glasper’s hip-hop fusion,…

Landmark Recording Excellent Good Average Disappointing George Duke The Inner Source MPS 0214948MSW (2 CD, 2 LP) George Duke (ky, tb), Jerome Richardson (fl, ts, ss), Louis Gasca (t, flhn), John Heard, James Leary (b), Dick Berk (d, perc) and Armanda Peroza (perc). Rec. April and December 1971 A decided curiosity, this one. Recorded in 1971 with two different bands in two different styles, Duke himself was at the time bestriding two different worlds. He’d left Zappa (although would return for classic outings like Apostrophe) and was now with a post-Zawinul Cannonball Adderley. The original release was two albums, Solus and The Inner Source. The latter has much of Cannonball’s soul-jazz punch, with strong sax from Richardson and trumpet from Gasca while Peroza’s percussion adds another layer. By contrast, Solus…

Facelift France and Holland Cuneiform Records RUNE 495/497/497 (2 CD plus DVD) RECOMMENDED Elton Dean (as, saxello), Lyn Dobson (ss, ts, hca, f, v), Mike Ratledge (ky), Hugh Hopper (b) and Robert Wyatt (d, v). Rec. 17 January and 2 March 1970 Phew, not so much a release, as event that will have Softs fans drooling. There are over two hours of music across two CDs, plus an audience recording from the 2 March gig, and a high quality DVD of the 2 March concert which was broadcast on French TV. This is the most comprehensive record of this brief quintet incarnation of the band, with Lyn Dobson making a significant impact beyond simply playing ‘second sax’ to Dean. Moreover, these recordings capture the band in what many would consider…

Classical Jóhann Jóhannsson Drone Mass Theatre of Voices; American Contemporary Music Ensemble / Paul Hillier DG 483 7418 Since Jóhann Jóhannsson’s death in 2018 at the age of only 48, his label DG has done much to promote the Icelandic composer’s posthumous reputation by releasing several soundtrack albums and retrospective collections. One nevertheless senses there exists among the many musical cues and film themes a work of real vitality, power and significance – a jewel in the crown of Jóhannsson’s creative achievements. Drone Mass may well be that work. On one level, this contemporary oratorio for voices, string quartet and electronics – commissioned by the American Contemporary Music Ensemble (ACME) led by cellist Clarice Jensen, who are superb on this recording – is typically Jóhannssonian in its uncanny juxtaposition of…

June 22 Radio BBC RADIO 2 88-91 FM Big Band Special (Mon, 11pm), Jamie Cullum show (Tues, 9pm) BBC RADIO 3 90-93 FM J to Z (Sat 5pm) Robert Glasper’s inspirations plus concert highlights from Lakecia Benjamin (28 May) Zoe Rahman in session (4 June) Concert highlights from SF Jazz Collective (11 June) The best in jazz - past, present and future (18 June) The best in jazz - past, present and future (25 June) BBC RADIO 6 MUSIC DAB Gilles Peterson, Sat 3pm JAZZ FM DAB, Sky, Alexa, smartphone, tablet and online at jazzfm.com (Mon – Fri) 6am-6.30am Business Breakfast, 6.30am-10am Jazz FM Breakfast with Nigel Williams, 10am-2pm Midmornings with Deb Grant, 2pm-6pm Afternoons with Jamie Crick, 6pm-7pm Jazz FM’s Greatest with Mark Walker, 7pm-9pm Dinner Jazz with Mark…

Tomorrow’s Warriors have announced a timely celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with their ensemble the Nu Civilisation Orchestra presenting Duke Ellington’s The Queen’s Suite on Friday 3 June – the day of the Platinum Jubilee bank holiday – at Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London. The evening will see Nu Civilisation Orchestra (NCO) perform a selection of Duke Ellington’s compositions, including ‘The Queen’s Suite’, inspired by his meeting with the Queen in 1958. The 24-piece orchestra is led by talented pianist, composer and musical director Peter Edwards (top right), who will also be performing Edwards’ original piece ‘Above and Beyond the Horizon’. On 18 October 1958, Ellington was presented to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at a private reception to mark the centenary of Leeds Festival.…

An eclectic selection of artists will come together at the Barbican for Time for One More? Celebrating John Cumming on Saturday 16 July 2022, to celebrate the life and musical passions ofJohn Cumming (pictured left). One of the most influential jazz promoters of our time and founder and director of Barbican Associate Producer Serious, Cumming sadly died on 17 May 2020 aged 71, after suffering with cancer. A founder of the London Jazz Festival, and friend to adventurous musicians and creative types on and off stage from the 1960s until his death, Cumming pioneered and produced many musical happenings at the Barbican and in venues around the UK. This concert – along with afternoon performances on the Barbican’s foyer space on Level G – is a celebration of jazz in…

Innovative trumpeter and big band leader Don Ellis, best known for a series of boundary-breaking large ensemble albums and movie scores in the late 1960s/early 70s, has a series of previously-unreleased archival and live albums scheduled by Sleepy Night Records over the next 12 months. These follow the label’s arrangement with Ellis’ son Brav (Don died in 1978, aged just 44) that saw three albums, Don Ellis The Lost Tapes Vol 1-3 released in recent years. The new archival series, ‘In Search of Don Ellis’, launches with the limited-edition release of The Hindustani Jazz Sextet on 24 June; it’s an album of much-rumoured but never heard Indo-jazz recordings from 1966, featuring Ellis on trumpet with Hari Har Rao (sitar and tabla), Gabe Baltazar (sax), Emil Richards, (vibraharp), Dave MacKay (piano…

Ideas tumble from her like spring sun after showers: “Too many stories!” Trish Clowes finally says, hauling herself back from rocketing off on another tangent. Ask one question and she’ll bounce back a dozen different thoughts as she considers your question from every point of view. Just like her playing and writing for her longtime band, My Iris, Clowes can’t stop making connections. Which is fitting given her latest release, A View With A Room, is a play on the title of EM Forster’s famed novel. And Forster’s exhortation ‘Only Connect!’ chimes perfectly with Clowes’ quest to connect the world of jazz with the world we live in. It’s a quest that makes her work as accessible as it is original. “I like references to popular culture,” she says, smiling…

A View With A Room Greenleaf Music GRE-CD-1094 (CD, LP, DL) EDITOR’S CHOICE Trish Clowes (ts), (ss), Ross Stanley (p, ky, Hammond org), Chris Montague (g) and James Maddren (d). Rec. 31August, 1September2021 Hopefully, one of the last releases – although certainly one of the best – born from the disaster that was the pandemic lockdown. Clowes, without sentimentality, but with much craft and no little passion, has found some sweetness amid the pain and loss. This is music of communication and community forged from a time when both were, and still remain, under threat. Most of the songs came out of live streams that coaxed Clowes into writing new material for her much loved band My Iris, for whom this is the fourth release, but her first for Greenleaf,…

Amaryllis/Belladonna Nonesuch Records 0075597912739/0075597910377 (2 CD, 2 LP, DL) EDITOR’S CHOICE Mary Halvorson (g), Adam O’Farrill (t), Jacob Garchik (tb), Patricia Brennan (vib), Tomas Fujiwara (d) and the Mivos String Quartet. Rec date not stated A new label and a flowering of new material from the ever-fecund Halvorson. There are actually two different albums which can be bought together or separately. Each stands alone but it’s impossible not to compare and contrast how they complement yet challenge each other. To this end the titles are of course significant, as words, often in a poetic context, always have significance for Halvorson. If Amaryllis is the beautiful bulb that can symbolise love, even innocence, then Belladonna is the ambiguous sister from the same botanic family, a bringer of death yet, in the…

My Favorite Things Atlantic R2 666923 (2 LP, 2 CD, DL) RECOMMENDED John Coltrane (ts, ss), McCoy Tyner (p), Steve Davis (b) and Elvin Jones (d). Rec. October 1960 Although the liner notes do not mention it, the choice of the title track, ‘My Favorite Things,’ was a conscious attempt by Coltrane to expose his playing to a wider audience. After playing Cannonball Adderley’s version of ‘Jive Samba’ over and over for a whole day on a diner jukebox, he realised how a modest hit recording could transform the career of a jazz artist and he acted accordingly. ‘My Favorite Things,’ played as a medium tempo waltz, was restructured by Coltrane and is key to understanding its success as a vehicle for jazz improvisation and why it’s not a Julie…

Bass Desires The Sound of Summer Running Verve 539299-2 (CD) Marc Johnson (b), Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny (g) and Joey Baron (d). Rec. 1998 Marc Johnson had already made two Bass Desires albums on the ECM label when he was signed by Verve. On the earlier albums Bill Frisell was paired with John Scofield, while on The Sound of Summer Running he is paired with Pat Metheny. All three guitarists often used to assemble in the living room of Jim Hall’s apartment in Greenwich Village (Hall was revered by all three) to exchange ideas, socialise and jam, and these two albums built on those associations. There is an easy rapport built of mutual respect – this was a group built on empathy and understanding where no-one tries to outdo the…

On Jazz: A Personal Journey Alyn Shipton Cambridge University Press PB £20 Before you even turn the dust cover, an Alyn Shipton book deserves respect. Shipton’s shaping of jazz narratives, particularly for a certain British demographic, is pervasive. As an editor at Macmillan, he was instrumental in bringing the likes of Buck Clayton into a more public domain. As publisher of Grove’s Dictionaries of Music, he shaped ideas of jazz for those who wanted, perhaps, to look it up rather than live it up. As a writer, his books on Diz, Bud and Fats (and Billy J Kramer!) solidified the notion that individuals made jazz. And of course there’s the broadcasting, notably on the BBC, presenting iconic shows like Jazz Library (ideas of curating jazz in dictionaries and libraries trail…

Write in to us here at Letters Dept, Jazzwise Magazine, St Jude’s Church, Dulwich Road, London SE24 0PB or email letters@jazzwise.com A ton of jazz fun and much more… Firstly, congratulations on 25 years of good musical journalism. I am sorry not to have read your magazine before about five years ago! All the best for the future. Also, thank you for The 100 Jazz Albums…. which I have been working my way through. I have, however, in front of me the book Jazz: A Critics Guide to the 100 Most Important Recordings, by Ben Ratliff and published by the New York Times in 2002. and would suggest that the first sentence of the Introduction to your book is not quite accurate. Obviously there has been a lot of good…

Multi-Grammy-winning guitarist Pat Metheny continues his epic 10-date world tour this summer as the European leg stretches out for a single UK date on 12 June at London’s Eventim Hammersmith Apollo. Performing music from his critically acclaimed 2021 album Side-Eye NYC (V1.IV) the guitar giant will be joined by two fearsomely talented young players – with keyboardist Chris Fishman stepping in to fill James Fancies original spot in the band. Fishman has forged a strong CV as a multidisciplinary pianist, composer, producer, and sound designer from Los Angeles, collaborating/performing with Flying Lotus, Louis Cole, Aaron Parks, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ambrose Akinmusire, and Justin Brown, he also performs in a multi-instrumentalist trio along with drummer Nate Wood. Alongside him is the versatile New Orleans drum talent Joe Dyson. The group’s lean,…

1. Os Afrosambas by Baden Powell “This beautiful album has immense range – from solo guitar verging on cinematic, to the joyous full band sound of Baden accompanied by Quarteto Em Cy’s vocals. The album was recorded twice - the second time with Baden himself singing after the death of the singer (Vinicius De Moraes) on the original, but losing none of the magic of the first recording.” 2. Double Rainbow by Joe Henderson “The first jazz album I ever heard; its impact has never left me. Originally intended to be a collaboration between Henderson and Antonio Carlos Jobim, but plans unfortunately had to be changed following Jobim’s death. A real tenor giant, Henderson demonstrates incredible versatility, mastering the sound of great Brazilian standards by Jobim on a record featuring many…

Charles Mingus ‘Revelations’ 1957 was a busy year for Mingus, with four albums (including Tijuana Moods and East Coasting) plus the recently-reissued trio set with Richmond, he had acquired two key soloists in Jimmy Knepper and Shafi Hadi who served him well during the next couple of years. In spring 1957, composer Gunther Schuller observed Mingus’ group playing for jazz-inspired dancers while working in Brooklyn, and involved him in a high-profile writing job. Now included on a CD compilation called Birth Of The Third Stream, the original LP’s modest title was Modern Jazz Concert (six compositions commissioned by the 1957 Brandeis Festival of the Arts). The concept involved three ‘classical’ writers – Milton Babbitt, Harold Shapero and Schuller himself – and three jazzmen, each writing something that reflected both classical…

● MARCUS ROBERTS TO PLAY GERSHWIN AT THE GRANGE FESTIVAL The Grange Festival – which showcases opera, jazz and dance will take place in The Grange, Northington, Alresford, Hampshire from 26 June to 8 July – features a rare UK appearance by the Marcus Roberts Trio with trumpeter Wycliffe Gordon on 2 July. The band (pianist Roberts, drummerJason Marsalis and bassist Roland Guerin) will collaborate with musical polymath Gordon on a Quartet set. They will then be joined by the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra on a selection of pieces by Gershwin, Ellington, Ravel and more. Roberts has been blind since the age of five, making his virtuosic playing all the more impressive, with his take on Gershwin’s classic ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ the centrepiece of this concert. For more info on this…

Even if the name Blue Lab Beats is new to you, chances are you’ll have heard their music. Or to put it another way: you’ll have streamed them before you’ve seen them. Their easy beats, constant output and social media savviness has made the London-based beatmakers a big hit among jazz’s online community. Outside of the internet bubble though, the BLB boys are still adjusting to the weird world of internet-fuelled fame as NK-OK, aka Namali Kwaten, explains. There was, he says, the 'is this real?' moment when they appeared on huge, colourful billboards opposite Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium. But their music has made it into less salubrious corners too. “When you get your PRS statement through, you can see where your music has been played, and some of the places…

Lynne Arriale The Lights Are Always On Challenge 73532 (CD, DL) Lynne Arriale (p), Jasper Somsen (b) and EJ Strickand(d). Rec. August–September2021 Among the 10 originals that make up thisalbum, one stands out as representing the kind of work at which Lynne Arriale excels in live performance. This is the title track, which unfolds its motific melody continually over its three minute playing time, drawing us into her world of delicate sensibility. She has a marvellous keyboard touch, and while this track exemplifies her gentlest playing, it contrasts with the more assertive‘Sisters’ that follows, and her powerful tribute to the late US Supreme Court female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Contemporary politics and the pandemic have inspired several compositions here, notably thesoul-searching ‘Into The Breach’ which reflects on the Capitolinsurrection of…

Carlos Averhoff Jr Together Sunnyside This Texas-based saxophonist pays homage to his late father – who was the horn player with Cuban supergroup Irakere – and performs a decent if unexceptional set of originals and modern jazz favourites; Abverhoff Snr even joins Jr on Parker’s ‘Donna Lee’ – and VIP guests including Chucho Valdes and Horacio ‘El Negro’ Hernandez flesh out the set. Or Bareket Sahar Enja Records An up-and-coming, Israeli-born, New York-resident bassistcomposer, Bareket has played in the bands of Ari Hoenig and Joel Ross among others, and is definitely one to watch; here he invigorates the too often musoleaning retro fusion genre with his funkily animated keys-led outfit’s sensuous and melodically insistent Avishai Cohen-ish themes. Bliss Quintet Dramaqueen Jazzland Here’s yet another impressivesounding young Norwegian band for the…

Come Away With Me: 20th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition Blue Note 4507772 (3CD, 4LP, DL) RECOMMENDED Norah Jones (v, p, el p), plus various personnel including Jesse Harris, Adam Levy (g, el g), Lee Alexander (el b), Brian Blade and Dan Rieser (d). Rec. September 2000–December 2001 A little over 20 years ago, a 14-track debut album from a relatively unknown singersongwriter and pianist was released on the legendary Blue Note label. Some eagle-eyed jazz fans may have recognised the name Norah Jones from her impressive brace of contributions to Charlie Hunter’s Songs From The Analog Playground, which had been released the year before. The way in which Come Away With Me soaked up a broad pool of jazz, soul and folk influences and judiciously mixed covers – Hank Williams’…

Duke Ellington/Coleman Hawkins Duke Ellington Meets Coleman Hawkins Impulse!/Analogue Productions A-26 (LP) Duke Ellington (p), Coleman Hawkins (ts), Johnny Hodges (ss), Harry Carney (bs, bcl), Lawrence Brown (tb), Ray Nance (ct, vn), Aaron Bell (b) and Sam Woodyard (d). Rec. 18 August 1962 Duke Ellington/John Coltrane Duke Ellington & John Coltrane Impulse!/Analogue Productions A-30 (LP) RECOMMENDED Duke Ellington (p), John Coltrane (ts, ss), Jimmy Garrison, Aaron Bell (b), Elvin Jones and Sam Woodyard (d). Rec. 26 September 1962 The early 1960s were a fruitful time for Duke, his music re-energised and finding a wider audience thanks to a series of small-group recordings – most notably Money Jungle with Charles Mingus and Max Roach, but also four outstanding albums helmed by producer/label manager Bob Thiele: Together For The First Time and…

The 100 Jazz Albums That Shook The World is an exclusive 100-page definitive guide to the most important and influential jazz albums that have gone on to change and shape the course of the music from the 1920s to the present day. Edited and conceived by Jazzwise’s editor-in-chief Jon Newey, this premium quality, print-only publication is the first time a fully annotated top 100 jazz album countdown from 100 to No.1 has been published in book form. It features newly commissioned editorial on each album from Jazzwise’s acclaimed team of writers plus in-depth features on the making of the top three albums, a look at the albums that almost made the cut and a guide to buying the featured titles, whether it’s a wallet breaking first vinyl pressing or a…