Live Concert Review: GUH at The Artel, Kingston, Ontario

Live at The Artel
GUH
live in concert
Kingston, Ontario
June 12, 2010

Escaping the oppressive heat and humidity of my home in the Eastern Ontario summer, I left at the last minute to catch GUH, a Toronto band, in concert at The Artel in Kingston. Even though they’ve been performing live and releasing recordings since 1991 and have toured the world, I had never heard of GUH before this Kingston engagement on June 12, 2010. Having now seen GUH in action, I’m surprised that I had been unaware of the band or that they don’t have a higher profile in the Canadian and international jazz scene.

GUH got my attention almost at the beginning of the first piece they played and held my attention throughout their performance. This music defies categorization, yet it’s easy to hear what it is not. It is not American pop, is not jazz standards, is not the blues, is not perhaps any sort of music to which a label can be attached. The closest I can come to defining the music of GUH is as a sort of progressive jazz-fusion, yet that’s not really accurate either. This music is something very special.

Throughout a concert that lasted almost two hours without an intermission, the full-house audience was rapt as the music carried them into wide and varied musical realms that were both diverse and consistent. There were wonderful musical surprises at every turn as these musicians played their phrases like kites soaring and floating above and through the audience. Not just sonic, this music tends toward a tactile and visual sense that lends to its magic.

Hearing GUH for the first time, I could sense powerful and lasting roots in the progressive jazz of the Forties and Fifties and the later jazz-fusion born of that movement. Throughout this concert could be heard the influence of the most creative artists of that era. Laid over that foundation, I could hear the newer sounds of the jazz greats who came out of cities like Detroit and Montreal in the Seventies and moved forward the leading edge of jazz. Floating through this mix: influences of many genres and cultures adding colour and depth to the sound. There’s something else in this music as well, something subtle and new that cannot quite be defined.

This is not music everyone will enjoy. Its closest relatives are the leading edge of progressive jazz or perhaps the works of modern “classical” composers such as Stravinski or Glass. To some ears, it can sound harsh and strident or even not musical at all. To listeners firmly ensconsced in more standard musical forms, this music may seem quite incomprensible. I know excellent musicians with broadly eclectic tastes in music, who reserve their greatest dislike for so-called “atonal” music. Most musicians I know, no matter how brilliant, claim to have no idea how to play such music, which breaks through the formal bounds in which they’ve learned to play and listen. This is music to which you must either be naturally attuned or which you must learn to understand and love.

I suspect this music is not so new after all, but reaches back into our primitive roots. The formal nature of most music we hear performed today has been built up gradually over several centuries of our rational age, during which influential segments of society had perceived a need to civilize and control every aspect of life, including art. From the sweet melodies of Henry VIII and Versailles through European classical music to the popular musical forms of the Twentieth Century, the old music has been usurped and changed to suit the mood of the day. We are natural multitaskers, designed to receive and evaluate many messages in order to survive what had been a very dangerous world. I believe our “primitive” music reflected that world and took the listener along many diverse paths, real and fantastic. Through a half-millenium of control by one powerful establishment or another, music has been reduced to reflect only one world and is expected to follow only one path and a single beat, with only rare and brief side-excursions. Bands like Dead Can Dance or Girls against Boys in some ways reflect a return to our musical roots. GUH simply takes this trend a bit further.

In many ways consistent and uniform throughout this concert, both in sound and quality, the music also presented the audience with a broad and varied soundscape crossing both time and distance. With eight musicians playing at least ten instruments plus chanted non-verbal vocals, the range and affect of the music was powerful and all-encompassing. This acoustic band managed to fill the room with unexpected volume yet had the control to pull back the sound to suit any mood. Even the twin drum kits seemed to have volume control knobs attached. A full symphony orchestra couldn’t have affected greater emotional range.

I earlier mentioned the varied soundscape that weaves its tapestry across this palpable landscape of jazz. Whole segments were overlaid with sounds reminiscent of the psychedelia of some forty years ago, drifting mistlike through the sensibilities of the audience. At times, the rhythm came together and solidified into a clear reggae/ska backbeat picked up at times by other elements in the mix. The two drummers ranged broadly from primitive tribal rhythms to the bravura booming of drummers in big swing bands and symphony orchestras. A Middle-Eastern flavour permeated several pieces, highlighted by what sounded like some sort of Arab flute but was actually some very clever playing on the bagpipe. Occasionally, this sound shifted from authentic Middle-Eastern to the sort of adaptive musical line to be heard in pieces such as Dick Dale’s “Misirlou” and other Sixties surfing music. These are just the most obvious variations among many heard in this concert.

Around the centre of GUH’s concert, the band played a traditional Turkish song. I’ve mentioned that in some ways this band’s music harks back to music that predates the much more structured and constrained forms of Western music over the past four centuries. Here’s the beginning of proof. This traditional song from Turkey fit seamlessly into the flow of late-Twentieth Century compositions from GUH.

While the past 19 years has seen some ebb and flow in band membership, I believe most of the personnel at the Kingston concert was among the same group who had originally formed GUH in 1991. The eight players I saw were: Henry Muth on highland warpipes, wooden recorder, and plastic recorder; Brian Cram on trumpet and euphonium; Tom MacCammon on trumpet and percussion; Jason Baird on alto saxophone; Jason Clarke on Electric guitar; Blake Howard on drum kit; Andrew Henry on drum kit; and Julian Brown on electric bass. (I’ll appreciate if someone from GUH – or someone who knows – will send me any corrections to this lineup.)

I highly recommend seeing a live performance by GUH should the opportunity present itself. Experiencing the creative energy of these artists and the power of their music will be well worth your while. This current GUH tour was only Kingston, Montreal, and Toronto, but hopefully they’ll be on the road again soon and will visit your town.

Discover the music of Guh at myspace.com/houseofguh, where you’ll also be able to listen to eight of their songs. You can learn more about The Artel, a very special arts space, at the-artel.ca.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Speak Your Truth (Perry Conticchio)

Speak Your Truth
Perry Conticchio
Liven Up Jazz Productions
2005
12 Tracks

With today’s technology allowing just about anyone to record and release music from the comfort of home, you’d think much of what is released would be amateurish to just plain awful. It’s not true. I receive a lot of CD releases in the mail. Most have not been requested by me and almost all come from independent artists who are not particularly famous away from home. I’ve been writing music reviews since the Sixties, and online now for a dozen years. I’m constantly surprised, and very pleasantly, when I open a new release and start listening. In general, the quality of these releases is as good as anything released in earlier years, and some of it is among the best I’ve heard. This brings us to Perry Conticchio’s Speak Your Truth.

Eight of the twelve songs here were composed by Conticchio, and the remaining four are arranged by him. Jazz composition, and to some degree arrangement of jazz works, requires very special skills. Based on this suite of songs, Conticchio has honed his skills well and is a consummate master of his form. Performed by six musicians at the top of their form, these songs are fully rounded and seamless, flowing across the listener with gentle dexterity. The effect is not of a dozen single songs played in isolation but of a full, rich jazz suite that includes all of these songs in just the right sequence.

While saxman Conticchio takes the lead in many of the songs, he also gives his colleagues plenty of room to strut their stuff. The combo at the core of this music is tight and refined with excellent, well-balanced performances by Conticchio on tenor and soprano sax, Rodney Richardson on guitar, Andrew Elliot Cox on acoustic bass, and Lawrence “bubbles” Dean on drums. Joseph Brotherton plays trumpet on two songs and Wayne Wilentz plays piano on two others. The trumpet and piano blend organically into the mix, never sounding extra or added-in. All of this is a tribute to both Conticchio’s skill as an arranger and the talents of the musicians with whom he works.

While it never sounds dated in any way, this music does have an old feel. I’m reminded of the jazz I was buying on albums during the Sixties and early-Seventies. Although the sound of the songs is unified and the set holds together very well, Conticchio seems to have pulled in elements from a number of the jazz variations of mid-century and made musical allusions to several more, creating his own brand of subtle fusion. It’s in his particular blend of styles that this music sounds fresh and new.

Besides Conticchio’s refined sax sound, this release features exceptional playing and outstanding moments featuring the other musicians. There are some impressive solos on bass and drums, cool piano bits, very Wes Montgomery sounding guitar, trumpet that at times takes me back to Bobby Hackett, and much more. Because of these many high points, this music welcomes the close listener who has a taste for excellence in jazz performance. At the same time, this is quiet club-jazz well suited to become background for a quiet meal and conversation or to be played at home while cuddling in front of the fireplace.

While I enjoy listening to this set, I keep thinking how much more enjoyable it would be to walk into a club somewhere and discover Perry Conticchio and the boys on stage. It would be a pleasure to watch such a masterful group of musicians at work. If you can’t make it to a live performance, then this CD is the next best thing.

If you want to learn more about saxman Perry Conticchio, go to PerryConticchio.com. If you go to the Speak Your Truth page, you can hear samples of four of the songs on this release.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Music Written for Monterey 1965, Not Heard… Played in its Entirety At UCLA (Charles Mingus)

Music Written for Monterey 1965
Not Heard… Played in its Entirety At UCLA
Charles Mingus
Sue Mingus Music
2006
11 tracks

This is big music, not just in the size of the band but in the music’s emotional power. This is music with movements, like Mozart or Beethoven or any of the finest classical composers, music that moves you like the best jazz combos, music that draws your emotions to the surface like the most sultry torch-songs, music that lives on outside time and touches everyone who listens. If classical music had not ossified at the end of the Nineteenth Century, leaving only a few so-called modern composers to move it forward, this is what that music would have become.

In 1965, I was listening to new music by Charles Mingus on long-playing vinyl records released by specialized jazz labels. For me, the music was new and wonderful. I revelled in this innovative, powerful jazz that seemed to be moving the music forward. This new release of music written by Mingus and recorded in a live 1965 concert takes me back to that time but also allows me the perspective of hindsight. It’s through this prism of time that I’m now hearing this music.

After forty some years, I can hear the influence of Mingus in the music of so many other great artists, not just in jazz but across the spectrum of popular and more academic styles. More exciting is that today the music sounds just as fresh and exciting as ever, and every bit as innovative as it did so long ago. This refreshing music may continue to influence composers and performers for many decades to come, not just in America but around the world.

Although this release includes only 11 tracks of music, 19 total tracks if you count the bits of speech between the music, it gives the listener almost 90 minutes of music by one of America’s finest composers and his band. To listen is to be entranced by the beauty and power of this music as it carries the listener through highs and lows and from mood to mood. It’s electrifying and it’s elequent and it speaks to the world with the voice of America.

Like Ellington, Copland, Grofé, and only a few others, Charles Mingus has discovered the heart of America and set it to music that transcends time and space. This is the new music of the American spirit, the transition through the Twentieth Century, into the Twenty-First, and into the future. Jazz music will never be the same again.

While much and perhaps all of this music has a large, almost classical feel behind the jazz surface, two numbers near the end of the set stand out as different from the rest. Amid all the contemporary Mingus compositions, with “Muskrat Ramble,” written in 1926 by Ray Gilbert and Edward “Kid” Ory, the band swings into Dixieland mode as it shuffles toward the end of the set. Like a flashback in a movie, “Muskrat Ramble” fits right in and brings added depth and history to this otherwise modern set. The final song is a spoken word adaptation of “First they came…,” a poem attributed to Pastor Martin Niemöller (1892–1984) about the failure of German intellectuals to oppose the Nazis. Mingus adapts this poem to address racism and other problems Americans face, giving a heartfelt spoken performance of “Don’t Let It Happen Here” over appropriately moving musical backing.

Besides Charles Mingus on bass and piano, this concert features Hobart Dotson and Lonnie Hilyer on trumpet, Jimmy Owens on flugelhorn and trumpet, Charles McPherson on alto saxophone, Julius Watkins on french horn, Howard Johnson on tuba, and Danny Richmond on drums. Among them all, there’s not a performance that is less than excellent.

Anyone who would like to travel to the epicentre of modern jazz music, to the point where American music’s past takes on a new polish and becomes its own future, should definitely give this concert a listen. Without this recording, no collection of jazz music is complete.

This album’s jewel-case insert includes delightful, very informative forward notes by Sue Mingus, further notes by Fred Cohen and Sue Mingus, and various other notes, illustrations and commentaries, including an excerpt from the autobiographical book Beneath the Underdog, written by Mingus. More than just an interesting read, these notes bring a certain historical perspective to the life and music of Charles Mingus.

You can find out more about the late Charles Mingus(1922–1979), at Charles Mingus: The Official Site or at Wikipedia.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Live at the Blue Note in Tokyo (Mingus Big Band)

Live at the Blue Note in Tokyo
Mingus Big Band
Sue Mingus Music
2006
8 tracks

Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, wife of the late Charles Mingus (1922 – 1979), the fourteen piece Mingus Big Band is unique in many respects. Since 1991, the band has performed the music of Jazz composer and bassist Charles Mingus in new York City, first at the Fez under Time Cafe and, since 2004, at the Iridium Jazz Club and tours extensively in the United States and abroad. With almost fifty repertory members, the band operates like a formalized pick-up band, its membership made up of whichever fourteen members are available for a particular gig. This variegation of players has helped the Mingus Big Band keep its performances fresh and vital over the years.

In December of 2005, the Mingus Big Band played a week of concerts at the Blue Note Club in Tokyo. The final concert of that series, on New Year’s Eve, resulted in the recording of this exciting big band Jazz set. For that not to have happened would have been a great loss to the world of Jazz music and to American music in general. On this CD is some of the finest Jazz composition to come out of America, performed by fourteen of America’s finest Jazz musicians.

In turns, this music swings and swirls, jitters and jives, rocks and rolls, races and slows, and does it all over again. At times, it’s pure New York, with all the sense of traffic’s rush and ramble, stop and start, motors revving and car horns shouting out. At other times, it sweeps through the Orient, the Far-East and the Middle-East, becoming at once distant and exotic. There is praise here too, sometimes ecstatic and sometimes pure Gospel, to rock the listener’s soul. There are sound effects (a horse whinnies, birds sing), implicit visuals, and pure, wonderful music. It’s a marvelous cascade of sound that fills the room and washes the listener away into some jazz fantasy. It’s pure magic!

This is big music, symphonic in scale yet with all the heart and soul of American culture at its deepest and most powerful. The music of Charles Mingus speaks of and to the American people, and the players of the Mingus Big Band give his music a powerful, evocative voice that speaks not just to America but to the world.

Even though each song on this release is as wonderful as the rest, I do have some favourites. “Ecclusiastics” is the only song in this set with words and it’s also the longest at 10:33. A number with a certain Christian flavour and fervour, “Ecclusiastics” opens and closes with a Gospel-shouted spoken piece – you might even say sermon – featuring words from Ecclesiastes. The Preacher, Ku-umba Frank Lacy, brings to these ancient words all the energy needed to raise them up from a lovely poem to a power-packed exhortation to action. “Amen!” he says. Yes sir, amen!

Equal in every way to the exhortations of The Preacher, the music of “Ecclusiastics” is full, rich and dramatic and reaches into the corners of American music, echoing Ellington, Charles, Copland, Grofé, and a dozen others, yet always speaking in a single voice and always in the voice of Mingus. It’s something very special to hear.

“Prayer for Passive Resistance” is my other favourite. This song rocks with a drive that stirs the heart and moves the feet. It’s as much Rock & Roll as it is Jazz, shouting out of rebellion and resistance as it grabs at the listener’s soul. This is tough music, the kind you heard in The Blackboard Jungle or in Fifties detective movies. It’s big and symphonic in scope, shifting in tempo and swinging from mood to mood as it carries the listener through the imagined dusky city streets of America.

While I mention two songs that especially appeal to me, every performance on this release is of the same superior calibre. Each listener may have different favourites, but there’s unlikely to be a big difference between the favourite and the next song down the list. In my opinion, no collector of great American Jazz should be without a copy of this CD in his or her collection.

This album’s jewel-case insert includes interesting and informative liner notes by producer Sue Mingus. Reading these notes brings a certain historical perspective to this music and the Mingus Big Band.

You can find out more about the Mingus Big Band at Charles Mingus: The Official Site, the Iridium Jazz Club website, or at Wikipedia. You may also find it worthwhile and interesting to look up Charles Mingus and Sue Mingus.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Soul Eclectic (Sophia Darcell)

Soul Eclectic
Sophia Darcell
GrooveCraft Entertainment Group
2006
12 tracks

Sophia Darcell is an interesting, talented singer. Her recording is well produced and professional, with a solid band backing up her vocals. It’s all there. Or is it? In my lifetime, I’ve known a lot of performers like Sophia Darcell, seen them perform and been impressed by their talent. They’re big stars in the hometown, perhaps even regionally, but they never break out of the box. Some intangible spark necessary to set the artist apart is missing.

Even though Darcell has had a respectable career to date, with tour dates up and down the U.S. east coast, one previous CD release, and reasonable amounts of airplay, her sound still feels like what one would hear in a local jazz club. There’s a comfort level that will bring in the hometown fans but may not be enough to hook the national audience in any big way.

Darcell has a full, rich voice and she uses it well, seeming to have a very good grasp of the essentials of popular jazz and R&B singing styles. There’s energy and often even passion in her singing. In some songs, she approaches but never quite achieves a level of sensuality usually present in torch songs. Listening to her sing is an enjoyable experience, but the emotions never reach out and grab the listener by the soul.

It’s problematic that, while this is Sophia Darcell’s album, I found myself as often listening to the backing musicians as I was her. In fact, at some points in some songs, the players in the band fully distracted me from her singing. To be fair, this is not so much that Darcell is not good at what she does but that the musicians are at least as good and sometimes add a lot more spice to this music than she does.

I was especially taken by the trumpet and saxophone tracks. Some of Ken Watters’ trumpet tracks are especially sweet, very reminiscent of vintage Freddy Hubbard. As soon as that horn starts blowing, I’m swept right out of Darcell’s vocal and into another lovely world. The sax tracks by Michael Burton and Sonny Calo are as sweet but, unfortunately, often too low in the mix and too often not there at all.

Some of the instrumentation is distracting for other reasons. The drumming sometimes tends toward the hokey, bringing memories of the bongos and congas in Nineties singer-songwriter folk music releases. There’s also a weird, distorted sort of electronic thing that shows up in some of the songs. I haven’t quite figured it out, but it could be created by electric guitar or by keyboard. However it may have been created, like some of the drum sounds it doesn’t belong in the cool, jazzy R&B sound being presented here.

It’s clear that Sophia Darcell has the talent necessary to succeed, and she certainly has access to talented musicians and a professional recording facility. She’s young, so may just need time and experience to discover that spark within herself that will set her on fire. Until then, I can’t see her rising above the regionality of the U.S. eastern seaboard. Still, that’s quite a respectable level of success for a young artist. Darcell has time to take it to the next level. I hope she’ll make the leap.

You can learn more about Sophia Darcell and her music at Sophia Darcell’s Joint or on MySpace.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Tenor Madness (Sonny Rollins Quartet)

Tenor Madness
Sonny Rollins Quartet
Prestige Records
2006
5 tracks

There are only five songs on this CD, but they’re songs no lover of great jazz saxophone should be without. The title song alone makes this a release worth owning. The others are the icing on the cake and the sweet cherries on top. Each time one listens to this set, it yields new surprises and delights. Wonderful!

Originally recorded by Rudy Van Gelder on May 24, 1956 and remastered by him in 2006, these songs feature not only Sonny Rollins on tenor saxophone but a classy jazz combo that included John Coltrane on tenor saxophone (on the title track only), Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. In combination, the sounds they put out are some of the finest jazz of the last century.

“Tenor Madness” features two of the greatest jazz tenor sax players, Sonny Rollins and John Coltrane, wailing together and separately within a marvelous ambience of solid drums and bass with grooving piano. This madness goes on for a thoroughly enjoyable twelve minutes plus. It’s a not to be missed performance.

Starting with the thrum of Chambers’ bass until Rollin’s rolls in mellow on sax, “When Your Lover Has Gone” is a mellow lounge rendition. It makes a sweet listen that would be ideal backgound for a quiet conversation between lovers, yet it’s up-tempo enough to allow for dancing just close enough. The instrumental mix is sweet and lovely.

“Paul’s Pal” has more of a swing to it, bringing the drive of Rollin’s tenor sax up front and dancing across the soundscape. Test yourself. Do you really think you can sit still while listening to this one? It’s unlikely. This song is sure to bring the dancers to the floor. There’s a very nice bass solo in the middle that showcases the talent of Paul Chambers.

The song “My Reverie” has always had a certain subtlety built in, like an expensive mattress that softly embraces you as you settle into it. This arrangement takes that soft comfort to its limits, creating a comfortable ambience ideal to back a candlelit dinner for two.

“The Most Beautiful Girl in the World” is like a party. At times it feels like relaxed conversation over cocktails and at other times it’s wild and rollicking. It escalates and pulls back, swings slow and powerful then moves up-tempo and rocks the room. There are bits and pieces of other songs in the solos, and every player gets a solo or two, including some great bits by Jones on drums and Garland on piano. This is an ideal song to end this set.

Of historical interest, this album’s jewel-case insert includes Ira Gitler’s original liner notes from the 1956 release ((Prestige 7047), Mark Gardner’s new liner notes for the 1969 reissue (Prestige 7657), and interesting new notes written by Gitler for this release. These notes give the reader a compelling historical and contemporary perspective on Sonny Rollins and the music he created.

At just over 35 minutes, this is a short set in today’s CD market but it out-values many releases twice the length. This is classic Fifties jazz at the top of its form, played by masters of the craft at the top of their careers. Any collector who doesn’t have this release already should definitely add it as soon as possible.

You can find a wealth of information on jazz great Sonny Rollins at the Official Home of the Saxophone Colossus or at Wikipedia.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet (The Miles Davis Quintet)

Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet
The Miles Davis Quintet
Prestige Records
2006
8 tracks

A long time ago but not that far away, in a world that was beginning to expand ever more rapidly, there existed a tightly knit community where excellent musicians were drawn together to play evolving styles of Jazz. That’s the real beauty of Jazz recordings made a half-century ago. The music feels as new now as it did then and playing with each great horn player is an equally great pianist, bassman, drummer, and so on. The result is magical. This reissued recording from 1956 is no exception.

Originally recorded on May 1 and October 26, 1956, these songs feature not only Miles Davis on trumpet but John Coltrane on tenor sax, Red Garland on piano, Paul Chambers on bass, and Philly Joe Jones on drums. The sound they achieve together is flawless, a flowing resonance of the times in which this music was made but with a sense of timeless grace that holds up even fifty years later.

For a release with only eight songs on board, this set covers a lot of musical territory. Beginning with cool solo piano that is quickly resolved into a warm, comfortable, even sexy mix with Davis’ trumpet sliding soft in and around the keys, the first song sets the listener up for romance. The rest of the set blends seamlessly between this relaxed mood and livelier, swinging, groove sounds that wake the listener out of the trance with an invitation to dance.

In mid-century, the old genres had begun to meld together and then to break the mold and separate again into exciting new forms as distinct from one another as had been the old distinctions. This is as true of Jazz as of any other musical denomination. The old Jazz was giving way to the new Jazz. The music on this release shows the diversity and variations of this evolving music. Throughout can be heard smatterings of folk music and popular songs of the day, each enriching the sound of this Jazz. Among others can be heard allusions to “An English Country Garden” and the Blues standard “Corrina Corrina,” a touch of “Tweedlee Dee” and even a bit of Erroll Garner’s “Misty” threading through the improvisations.

As much as this is a Miles Davis recording, this release is an ensemble work featuring five equally stellar artists working in perfect synchronicity. There are moments of sweet communication among the instruments but there are also superb solo bits by each of these artists spread throughout the eight songs. And all of this only serves to complement the virtuoso trumpet work of Miles Davis. Workin’ with the Miles Davis Quintet would make an ideal addition to the collection of any jazz fan.

Of historical interest, this jewel-case insert includes both Jack Maher’s original liner notes from the 1956 release and new liner notes written by Joe Goldberg in 2006 plus a brief note from sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who made the masters for both releases. These notes give the reader an interesting historical and contemporary perspective on this artist and the music he created.

You can find a wealth of information on the late Miles Davis (1926 – 1991) at the Official Miles Davis Website or at Wikipedia.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: At Ease with Coleman Hawkins (Coleman Hawkins)

At Ease with Coleman Hawkins
Coleman Hawkins
Moodsville Records
2006
8 tracks

By now, it would seem that the music of tenor saxman Coleman Hawkins (1904 – 1969) would seem somehow quaint or old-fashioned. Instead, this music holds up surprisingly well. Hawkins, whose playing influenced several generations of musicians, not just in Jazz but across the genre gap to include Rock & Roll and pop music, created timeless music that has as much appeal today as when it was first recorded.

For my generation, driving music was and probably is epitomized by John Kay rocking out “Born to be Wild” on the radio. The music on this CD takes a quieter approach, but I drove around for several days with these songs on the CD player. There’s a rhythm in this music and a power that fills the space of the car and carries you along. It may be elements of Hot Jazz or Be Bop that linger in these later recordings by Hawkins or it may be something more subtle, but At Ease with Coleman Hawkins makes very cool music to drive by.

The first track, “For You, For Me, Forevermore” sets the tone for the rest of the album. the song starts off soft and warm with just Tommy Flanagan on piano alternating with Hawkins’ sax. It’s sultry and smooth music made for romance. Out of this warm glow grows something cool and groovy as sax and piano are joined by Wendell Marshall on bass and Osie Johnson on drums. The song takes on a swing that carries the listener along without ever sacrificing the romantic mood set by the opening bars.

It’s difficult to say much more about the remaining seven tracks on this release. Ranging from a quiet lounge-music affect through the Latin swingtime of “While We’re Young” to jazzy blues and close-dancing music and even the almost classical sense of “Poor Butterfly” originally released by The Hilltoppers, these songs all have an intimate feel suitable for a small club or perhaps a romantic couple sharing wine in front of the fireplace.

What impresses most is the grace with which Hawkins releases his notes almost effortlessly. There is a sense that this musician was born with the music inside him and that it just naturally flows from him through his instrument and into the room. The ease with which Hawkins plays makes these performances something very special. The fact that he is supported by three excellent jazzmen enhances his performance to perfection.

While it may serve well as music to drive by, the music on this release is really the stuff of romance. There’s a seductive quality to this music that would make a beautiful backdrop to a romantic evening with a special friend. It has a timeless quality that takes the listener away from the harshness of the real world and into someplace warm and comfortable, perfect for cuddling or for dancing cheek to cheek.

Any jazz fan will want to add this album to his or her collection, but I recommend it for any fan of excellent music of any genre. This is a wonderful set of music that definitely deserved to be re-released.

Beyond the music, this CD includes Ron Eyre’s liner notes from the original album; a brief reflective note by Rudy van Gelder, who was the engineer on the original recording sessions and also made the masters for this CD release; and extensive new liner notes for this release by Zan Stewart. These notes provide an interesting and informative read, filling out the story of both the artist and his music.

To learn more about Jazz legend Coleman Hawkins, go to the Red Hot Jazz website or to Wikipedia.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Black Talk! (Charles Earland)

Black Talk!
Charles Earland
Prestige Records
2006
5 tracks

Groovy! That about covers it, but there’s more to this album than that. When this music was originally released, the word “groovy” had not yet become cliché. Especially when spoken or written in reference to music, to be referred to as groovy was a very special thing. Charles Earland is groovy not just for this music but because he was a pioneer. Even now, nearly forty years after this album was first released, this music sounds fresh, alive, and up-to-date. There’s a creativity here and a power that simply can’t be replicated.

Long ago and far away, or so it seems now, a number of progressive musicians ventured into unknown territory somewhere between Jazz, popular music forms, and Rock & Roll, bringing with them a massive dose of soul. These musical innovators included artists as diverse as Isaac Hayes, Bill Cosby [yes, The Cos in his alternate persona as bandleader Badfoot Brown], and Charles Earland. Earland’s Black Talk, with its highly successful translation of contemporary hit music into a creative new style of jazz, was early and influential in the development of this new sound.

Although there are only five tracks on this CD, they bring the listener more than forty minutes of the finest jazz performance to be heard any time, any place. Any one of these songs makes this album well worth the price of admission.

“Black Talk” took the essential shape of the Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby” and ran with it, taking the music in an entirely new and innovative direction. With its rhythmic breaks, groovin’ organ, and interplay of sax and trumpet, this song sounds very much of the Sixties, yet there’s also something there that even now sounds fresh and new.

“The Mighty Burner” is a nice little jump jive blues number that would as easily have pleased an audience ten or twenty years earlier. Written for WHAT Radio DJ Sonny Hopson, this song straddles the line between great Jazz and great Rock and Roll.

“Here Comes Charlie” takes a more standard direction, with a feel much like many of the better contemporary jazz intrumentals of the day. Like each song on this release, the song leaves lots of room for the players to strut their stuff, and strut they do.

Before or since, you’ve never heard “Aquarius” played like this. Here’s a long [well over eight minutes], lush, opulent version of this new age pop song. The sound is big and lively with a full-bodied flavour available only in the finest jazz performances.

It may have been a hit record, but I got real tired of hearing the Spiral Starecase song “More today Than Yesterday” repeatedly on the radio so long ago. This was a sickenly saccharine love song that, in my opinion at the time, could have been relegated to the remainders bin. Here I am listening to eleven and one-quarter minutes [I've typed the whole thing out just to give a sense of how really long that is] of this song, over and over again. It’s wonderful. It’s jazzy. It’s, well… groovy.

Players on this set included Charles Earland, organ; Virgil Jones, trumpet; Houston Person, tenor saxophone; Melvin Sparks, guitar; Idris Muhammad, drums; and Buddy Caldwell, congas. Together, these highly talented artists make a joyful noise.

Did I tell you that I like this set a lot or that the music is just wonderful. It’s true. This music is so creative and innovative that, if it came out today, it would still be setting standards for young artists to aspire toward. Now that’s groovy.

This CD includes both Bob Porter’s original liner notes from the 1969 album and new liner notes written by Porter in 2006 plus a brief note from sound engineer Rudy Van Gelder, who made the masters for both releases. These notes give the reader an interesting historical perspective on this artist and the music he created.

Those who my be interested will find a concise biography of the late Charles Earland (1941-1999) on the SoulWalking website. You can find all that and more at Fuller Up, The Dead Musicians Directory.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.

CD Review: Wise and Otherwise (Harry Manx)

Wise and Otherwise
Harry Manx
NorthernBlues Music
2001
12 tracks

The first time through, as I listened to this set, I kept thinking that Harry Manx sounds like somebody, but I couldn’t put my metaphorical finger on just who he sounds like. Then it came to me, in his voice and vocal style, Manx mostly sounds a whole lot like Kevin Head, an artist local to my area who has had some success nation-wide in Canada, and less often he sounds just a bit like Van Morrison. How Manx sounds instrumentally is something else entirely. This music is a purée of Indo-European blues-rock with a folk-jazz edge that leans toward a sort of Cat Stevens profundity. Now how do you put a handle on that?

For lack of a more accurate description, Manx is most often classified as a blues artist who happens to mix raga and other eastern forms into his western blues music. In fact, this very eclectic artist blends a dozen styles at the intersection of East and West and does it so subtly that their concurrence seems to be perfectly natural. Most of the music on this release sounds not so much like The Blues as it does the sort of evolved folk music Van Morrison had been doing during his very Jazz period.

While most of the songs in this set were written by Harry Manx, seemingly without effort Manx manages to seemlessly integrate songs by artists as diverse as B. B. King (“The Thrill is Gone”), Van Morrison (“Crazy Love”), and Jimi Hendrix (“Foxy Lady”). In each case, Manx takes the song and reinterprets it so that it becomes his own.

While performing with such western instruments as guitar, slide guitar, banjo, and harmonica, Manx also includes a contemporary instrument from India, the mohan veena. Invented only during the latter part of the last century, the veena can best be described as a cross between the Indian sitar and the slide guitar. The veena has a wide range of rich sounds that are at once exotic, mysterious, and intriguing. Over the years, Harry Manx has become proficient at weaving the sounds of the veena into his music.

This music can reach the listener at several levels. A disinterested listener will find the music pleasant and easy to include as background no matter what the activity. A listener with a more inquisitive bent will find aspects of the music intriguing and even exotic, worth turning up louder just to experience those little surprises that crop up from time to time. An aficionado will want to listen again and again and will most likely become an avid fan of the creativity of Harry Manx

Harry Manx is a very good singer. He’s a talented musician, expert at the instruments he plays. He’s a skilled lyricist who tells stories sure to hold the interest of his listeners. What really sets Manx apart, though, is the oblique angle from which he approaches his words, music, and performance, in the process carrying his audience into a very special world they may otherwise never have seen.

The best way to describe the songs on Wise and Otherwise is to have someone hear them and, unfortunately, I’ve not been able to locate some suitable clips online. I do recommend that you give Harry Manx a listen, and it seems the best way to do that will be to beg, borrow, or buy the CD.

Anyone wanting more information about Harry Manx can find it at the NorthernBlues Music website or at his own website. If you’re interested, you can read my previous review of the Harry Manx debut release, Dog My Cat, at the Sound Bytes archive.

Support this independent roots music CD reviews blog.