BLACK HISTORY MONTH: JAZZ MUSIC IS ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT HISTORIC CONTRIBUTIONS AFRICAN AMERICANS HAVE MADE TO AMERICA

By Dee Dee McNeil

FEBRUARY 25, 2024

Every nation of the world, continent to continent, has embraced jazz. It is a musical legacy that America has labeled its unique Classical music.  Below are some carriers of the jazz torch.  They are all cultures, all races, all sizes and shapes of music.  The one thing they have in common is that they all love jazz, the same way that I do.  Here are some recent jazz recordings that I have reviewed for posterity’s sake.

JAMES ZOLLAR – “THE WAYS IN” – Jzaz Records

James Zollar, trumpet/flugelhorn/arranger; David Hazeltine, piano/Fender Rhodes; Gerald Cannon, bass; Willie Jones III, drums; Michael Rorby, trombone/arranger; Stefano Doglioni, bass clarinet; Nabuko Kiryu, vocals/composer. SPECIAL GUESTS: Jeremy Pelt, trumpet; Jennifer Vincent, cello/bass; Riza Printup, harp; Chembo Corniel, Conga/percussion; Patience Higgins, tenor saxophone.

James Delano Zollar was already in love with horns at age nine when he was playing bugle in his hometown of Kansas City Missouri.  By twelve, he had picked up the trumpet and after high school he studied the musical instrument seriously at San Diego City College and later, the University of California San Diego.  I first heard this talented trumpeter at a Jeannie and Jimmy Cheatham Sunday jazz jam session that was quite popular at the Bahia Hotel on Mission Bay.  Pianist Dwight Dickerson and I used to drive down from Los Angeles to participate in that popular jam session. That’s when I was a fledgling jazz vocalist. Several years later, I would hear James Zollar play in NYC when I visited a gig where Dwight was playing.

In 1985, Zollar relocated to New York City and joined the Cecil McBee Quintet for a five-year stint. His credits blossomed from there, performing with a huge variety of respected jazz artists including the Jon Faddis & Carnegie Hall Jazz Orchestra, Wynton Marsalis & the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, The Count Basie Orchestra with Diane Schuur, Don Byron’s Bands, Jon Batiste, Tom Scott, Tony Bennett & Lady Gaga, Sarah Vaughan, Gladys Knight, the new jazz vocal star on the horizon, Samara Joy, and Latin piano master Eddie Palmieri.  The list goes on, but as you can see, Zollar is both versatile and on the A-list of NYC session musicians, as well as being a recording artist and bandleader himself. 

This album is one I will enjoy listening to time and time again.  They open with “The Fruit” dedicated to Barry Harris and composed by Bud Powell.  Zollar has arranged the tune along with trombonist, Michael Rorby.  This music begins my morning and David Hazeltine’s dancing fingers fill my listening room with Straight-ahead bliss bouncing from his piano. When the horns enter, they dance too. After they perform in-concert with rich harmonics, we meet Michael Rorby on trombone and Stefano Doglioni on bass clarinet, each offering solo introductions.  All the while, Los Angeles’s own Willie Jones III powerfully pushes this ensemble ahead with his drumsticks flying.  Track #2 features just horn and the vocals of Nabuko Kiryu at the introduction of the Horace Silver standard “Peace” and then slips into “Blue Silver” creating a lovely medley. James Zollar dedicates these two songs to Al Zollar, his brother, who insisted on

producing this entertaining and well-played album of swing.  Nabuko re-enters after the Zollar’s solo and scats her way through several bars of traditional jazz.  She very effectively doubles the horn line, using her voice to sing along with the trumpet.

The Zollar composition, “Jim Jim” was a song that reflects a childhood nick name for James Zollar and encompasses shades of the Miles Davis “Bitches Brew” days mixed with the Chicago Pop group, Earth Wind & Fire influence.  It has great energy, and the addition of special guests like Chembo Corniel on percussion lifts this song, along with Hazeltine’s funky Fender Rhodes. Corniel is also brightly featured on their arrangement of the Miles Davis tune, “Swing Spring.”

I love Zollar’s rendition of “Do Nothing Til You hear From Me” where it sounds like the trumpet is actually speaking the lyrics to me. Accompanied only by Hazeltine’s rich and sensitive piano, this is a striking duet!  There is so much emotion blown from the bell of Zollar’s horn! 

With this album release, James Zollar celebrates jazz history, fondly sharing the amazing talents of master musicians who he has played with or who he has been inspired by.  Although many are no longer on this Earth, James reminds us that this music is their legacy on the pages of music history. 

And to all the generations of musicians to come, Zollar hopes this record helps you to find “The Ways In.”   Sometimes, through the music, the arrangements, the excitement and love that jazz radiates, one can not only learn, but find healing and inspiration.  Perhaps James Zollar said it best when he shared in his press package these words.

“This recording is also dedicated to all the beautiful souls we lost during this pandemic, especially to Dr. Barry Harris, who’s passing still seems like yesterday.  It’s all about “The Ways In” to music, to jazz, to life.  To start with, there was Alfred Zollar, Jr., and Dorothy Delores Zollar, my parents and the vast record collection in our home in Kansas City … including old 78rpm records and newer 33rpm LPs.  I listened to Charlie Parker, Ahmad Jamal, Dave Brubeck, Lou Rawls, Dinah Washington, Ray Bryant, Babatunde Olatunde and more.  Down the street, there was the jukebox at Al & Bud’s, my dad’s tavern.  I heard Misty by Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes and Lee Morgan’s Sidewinder,” James Zollar recalls.

“…This particular project is heavily influenced by the cats from Detroit, the Motor City Scene, Dr. Barry Harris (Rest in Peace, my good friend), Pepper Adams, Thad Jones and the Jones Brothers, Charles McPherson, Lonnie Hillyer, Kenny Burrell, Donald Byrd, Marcus Belgrave, Tommy Flanagan, and Ron Carter. Listen for their compositions and influences.  But this recording has other influences too,” James continues.

Certainly, his other influences include his Kansas City roots, the New Orleans and Chicago scenes, the Los Angeles Central Avenue Jazz scene, San Diego, Miami and Tampa, Florida, Newark, Memphis, Pittsburgh Philadelphia, even the Texas Tenors.  Milwaukee is also heavily present on this recording.  In a special way, this project for James Zollar is his own historic legacy in song.  Jazz music has taken him around the world.

Today, as we celebrate Black History Month in February of 2024, James Zollar continues to make moves, make music, make a difference.  He has recorded with a long list of prominent names including Tom Harrell, Weldon Erving, and Sam Rivers.  His credits in motion picture soundtracks include Robert Altman’s motion picture, “Kansas City.”  He was featured in Madonna’s music video “My Baby’s Got a Secret” and Malcolm Lee’s film, “The Best Man.”  He played on the soundtrack of “The Perez Family” and is proud to be included in the Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz (Oxford University Press 1999).

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STIX BONES – BOB BEAMON – “OLIMPIK SOUL” – BONE Entertainment

Franklin “Stix Bones” Brown, drums; Densen ‘Meighstro’ Curwen, piano/synthesizer/strings; Anthony Stevenson & Albert Brisbane, bass; Bob Beamon, percussion; Steven Brown, guitar; Sean Taylor (sxntyir), trumpet; Melvin Smith saxophone; Adiodun Oyewole, spoken word; Khadejia bass, vocals; Rufus Moore, background vocals.

I was very interested in reviewing this album when I heard that Charles Davis of the famed Last Poets was going to be a part of it.  Known as Adiodun Oyewole, I met this prolific poet many years ago (in the 1970s) when I was the female member of the Watts Prophets, and we released an album called “Black in a White World” named for a song I penned and sang.  We were a West Coast based Rap group of that early era of Hip Hop, and Oyewole was with The Last Poets.  We performed a couple of times on the same ‘bill’ as the popular East Coast based group.  This is particularly relevant this month, since this is Black history month, and The Last Poets made an awesome impact on American culture and Hip Hop.

Another reason this album should be celebrated during Black History Month is the inclusion of Bob Beamon, now a seventy-seven-year-old Olympic long jump champion who won that title back in 1968. It was in Mexico City when he set the record of 29 feet- 2 ¼ inches that still stands today as the longest Olympic jump in history. 

Beamon, a native of Jamaica, makes his first appearance as a percussionist on this Soul-Jazz recording. The album opens with a track called “Leap,” I assume that energy driven tune is in celebration of Bob Beamon and his Gold Medal Olympic Award.  Stix Bones sets the groove down on trap drums, joined by Beamon on percussion.  It’s a driving, catchy tune that sets the mood and groove of this album. The second composition is the title tune, also giving a nod to Bob Beamon and his “Olimpik Soul.”  Unfortunately, the saxophonist plays off key quite a bit, taking the sparkle away from this otherwise shiny arrangement.  The lovely voice of Khadejia bass sings an old hit record, originally recorded by William DeVaughan, “Be Thankful For What You’ve Got.”  She vocally paints the song with a fresh face. 

Stix Bones and his popular Bone Squad do a wonderful job of blending jazz, soul and hip hop together in a tight, cohesive package.  Brooklyn born Franklin Brown uses the stage name Stix Bones and his drumming reflects a gospel church influence.  He earned a bachelor’s degree in jazz performance at SUNY- Purchase College and the talented drummer, producer and bandleader has worked with the group Soulfege led by Take Back the Mic founder, Derrick N. Ashong. The B.O.N.E. Squad was the house band at the Paradise Theater in the Bronx.  They have opened for The O’Jays, Babyface, Charlie Wilson, Cedric the Entertainer, Chaka Khan and many more.

When the poem and song called “Price of Freedom” written by Last Poet, Oyewole, blasts into my listening room, and I am captivated by his spoken word, tone, and message. The percussion of Bob Beamon sets the tone as Oyewole says:

            “Freedom is too expensive for anyone to buy.  And yet there are many who always try. …  The price of freedom is your heart to allow yourself to feel.  The price of freedom is your soul, that no one could ever steal,” The Last Poet speaks.

This album is a tribute to Hip Hop, to jazz, and to a duet of masters who have joined Stix Bones and his group to record history with a special nod to The Last Poet, Adiodun Oyewole and Olympic champion, Bob Beamon.

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MIKE LEDONNE GROOVER QUARTET + GOSPEL CHOIR – “WONDERFUL” – Cellar Music Group

Mike LeDonne, Hammond B3 organ/composer; Peter Bernstein, guitar; Joe Farnsworth, drums; Daniel Sadownick, percussion; Eric Alexander, tenor saxophone; Vincent Herring, alto saxophone; CHOIR: Aisha de Haas, Audrey Martells, Carolyn Leonhart, Everett Bradley, Keith Anthony Fluitt, Jamie Leonhart, Jamile, JD Walter, John James, La Tanya Hall & Tanesha Gary.

“Wonderful” is a joyful album that blends the power of gospel music with jazz in a magical way.  Long time organist and pianist, Mike LeDonne brings his rich B3 organ sound and arranging talents to the studio. As a bandleader, he incorporates his deep love for gospel music into his jazz ensemble presentation.

“To me, putting a gospel choir and a jazz organist together seemed natural. … Unbelievably, it had never been done before. Most of the music I love came from the grooves and feeling of gospel and the blues. … When I’ve listened to gospel choirs swinging hard on a refrain or a vamp, I’ve always wanted to get a piece of it,” Mike LeDonne explains one of his inspirations for this album.

LeDonne’s project is all shuffle and groove.   His Groover Quartet is the motor inside this music.  Joe Farnsworth is powerful on drums and Peter Bernstein adds tasty guitar solos.  Eric Alexander, on tenor saxophone, and Vincent Herring on the alto sax bring that gutsy, soulful quality to the production. However, it’s Mike LeDonne’s sweet organ sounds that solidify the groove of this entertaining album.  He embellishes the music with a live choir of voices, like icing on the cake.

LeDonne also dedicates this uplifting music to his wife and disabled daughter.  LeDonne founded the Disability Pride Parade in New York City to showcase the vibrant and diverse nature of the disabled community.  His band plays everything from Ashford & Simpson’s “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing” to John Coltrane’s “Lonnie’s Lament.”  LeDonne has penned the final tune called “Genesis.”  It splashes on the scene with energy as powerful as an ocean’s high tide. That original composition becomes a “Wonderful” way to end this album, featuring the bright technique and talent of drummer, Joe Farnsworth.

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DAGGERBOARD – “ESCAPEMENT” – Wide Hive Records

Erik Jekabson, trumpet/arranger/composer; Matt Clark, keyboard/piano; Gregory Howe, percussion/ composer; Mike Clark, drummer; Henry ‘the Skipper’ Franklin, bass; Mads Tolling, violin; Kasey Knudsen, alto saxophone; Mike Rinta, trombone/tuba; Ben Davis, cello; Jonathan Ring, French horn; William Winant, timpani/marimba.

What better way to start the day than to put on some solid, Straight-ahead jazz and let it soak into the morning air.  This new album by Daggerboard is the perfect way to begin my day.  Opening with the original song of Gregory Howe and Erik Jekabson, “Centrifugal” is a blend of old-school jazz with contemporary overtones.  Funny, the title tune, “Escapement” sounds more like the motion of a centrifuge than the opening track. I participated in lab work during college, and we often had to use a centrifuge to separate matter.  It spins in a certain way, and the introduction of the title tune reminded me of that circular spin and how it gains momentum. However, the arrangement soon settles down to a smooth, unobtrusive groove.  Matt Clark steps forward with a piano solo that puts the ‘J’ in jazz.  Erik Jekabson’s trumpet dances over the chord changes, bringing light and energy to the arrangement.  All the music has been composed by Erik Jekabson and percussionist, Gregory Howe. “Shiva’s Mode” has a very Middle Eastern essence with Howe’s precise percussion riding alongside Mike Clark’s trap drums like horse’s hooves. The addition of Mike Rinta’s tuba and Jonathan Ring’s French horn to this project bring delightful color to these arrangements.  Their tune called “The Balance Board” takes me back to the early1960s when Coltrane was king (1961 – My Favorite Things). Daggerboard offers us a pretty ballad with Jekabson’s trumpet introducing the melody and sirens echoing ominously in the background.  I Flashback to the Peter Gunn television series, a popular detective series that ran from 1958 to 1960, that utilized jazz as their music of choice.  The bass of Henry Franklin is distinctive beneath Clark’s piano solo and throughout the arrangement. Mike Clark shows off his brilliance on drums, building suspense into the song. This is perfect music for that new series, Mr. & Mrs. Smith or any detective show.  

The addition of Henry ‘The Skipper’ Franklin to this project spotlights Black History Month in a wonderful way.  You may recall Hugh Masekela’s hit record, “Grazing in the Grass? “  In 1968, that was the South African trumpeter’s  number one single.  Who’s that on the bass?” Henry Franklin!  ‘The Skipper’ (as he is fondly nicknamed by those closest to him) has performed or recorded with such icons at Gene Harris, Hampton Hawes, Al Jarreau, Curtis Amy, Willie Bobo, Archie Shepp, O.C. Smith, Count Basie, Stevie Wonder and too many more to list here.  While still a high school student, Franklin made his first professional gig with the legendary Roy Ayers and his Latin jazz Quintet. The Skipper was barely eighteen. This would lead to working with other Los Angeles based musicians like Billy Higgins and Harold Land.  He recorded with Stevie Wonder on Wonder’s album, “Journey Through the Secret Life of Plants.”  He’s played with Pharoah Sanders, Sonny Rollins, Bobby Hutcherson, and Sonny Fortune.  Henry Franklin established his own record label in 1990. Consequently, Franklin has released over twenty albums on his SP label.  He has also published an educational jazz bass book titled “Bassically yours.”

I have reviewed several of the Daggerboard albums in the past and this one is my favorite to date.  The compositions are creative, inspiring, imaginative, and just good listening.  The blend of horns and electronics are perfectly matched with Erik Jekabson’s orchestral arrangements brightly lifting the production. 

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TRIOS RULE

By Dee Dee McNeil

February 15, 2023

GIORGI MIKADZE TRIO – “FACE TO FACE” – PeeWee Records

Giorgi Mikadze, piano/arrangements/composer; Francois Moutin, acoustic bass; Raphael Pannier, drums.

A flamboyant piano introduction leaps from my CD player.  The tune is “Satchidao” composed by pianist Giorgi Mikadze.  Could it be referring to Louie ‘Satchmo’ Armstrong, I wonder?  His press package says it’s more a nod to a well-known melody traditionally sung during Georgian wrestling matches.  Mikadze’s two handed attack on the 88-keys is exciting and technically dramatic.  Raphael Pannier spurs the original composition forward with powerhouse drums. 

Track #2 settles down to a sweet ballad tempo, with Pannier picking up brushes to ‘swish’ the groove softly beneath the lovely melody of a song called, “Not Easy to Repeat.”  I love the bass lines that dance beneath Mikadze’s piano once he settles into a slow groove arrangement.  Francois Moutin has a distinctive voice of his own on double bass and often employs a contrapuntal melody to conversate with Mikadze’s self-expression on piano.  I enjoy both of their melodic presentations. However, I do wish the bass had been turned up more in the final ‘mix,’ because his musical voice is so creative and necessary to the rhythm section. 

Finally, on Track #3, I hear Francois Moutin step into the spotlight on acoustic bass to deliver his rich solo. This is a tune called “Dolls are Laughing” and it was written by a Georgian composer.  In fact, Mikadze’s trio celebrates several famous Georgian composers on this “Face to Face” record release.  He studied at Berklee and the Manhattan School of Music under a presidential scholarship, where he developed a deep interest in jazz.

“I started to ask myself, why should I play American standards when there are numerous melodies written by Georgian composers?  I love the America Songbook.  That’s how I learned to play jazz.  But I would like to offer the world a Georgian Songbook and share all these beautiful melodies from my country,” Giorgi Mikadze shared in his press package.

Giorgi Mikadze calls home Tbilisi, Georgia.   Tbilisi is the largest city of Georgia, a representative democracy governed as a unitary parliamentary republic. They proudly acknowledge their own language and culture.  This trio album celebrates Mikadze’s first recording using a traditional piano trio.  This format is a departure from his previous ventures exploring Georgian music.  He released an album called “Georgian Microjamz” with an innovative guitarist, David “Fuze” Fiuczynski, in 2020.  Before that, he released “Georgian Overtones” that was a combination of jazz, chamber music and Georgian polyphonic singing.  “Face to Face” is the first time this pianist has produced a purely jazz recording.  It introduces us to his cultural roots, that are absolutely lovely.

“Georgian classical composers of the 60s, 70s and 80s were heavily influenced by the harmony and freedom of jazz music,” Mikadze explains.  

I know that Russia, like some other autocratic countries around the world, once banned jazz music.  Mikadze mentions that many Georgian people tried to find the broadcasts of ‘Voice of America’ to hear the forbidden music of jazz on their radios. Georgians are a strong, revolutionary people with their own ideas, culture, and concepts.  Jazz has long been a representation of freedom and resistance to the status quo.  This album is an amazing and beautiful tribute to Georgian culture, played by three super talented musicians.

The sub-title of “Face to Face: Georgian Songbook Vol. 1” hints that there will be more volumes to follow and that they will celebrate the admirable piano mastery of Giorgi Mikadze and the Georgian music culture. On this project, we lock hands warmly like good friends, sharing their own culture with the American classical music of jazz.

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SAM ROSS – “LIVE AT THE MIRA ROOM, VOL. 11” – Independent Label

Sam Ross, piano/Fender Rhodes; Simba Distle, upright & elec. Bass; Dr. Mimi Mured, drums.

This is one of those albums where you immediately are intoxicated by the piano player’s music and his recording transports you right into the club, along with the enthusiastic audience you hear applauding loudly.  Sam Ross is so good at what he does.  Immediately I am drawn into his swinging piano presentation as he and his bassist swing a song called “Breakfast for Dinner.”  After a couple of choruses of that song, Dr. Mimi Mured drops in on drums and the trio punches harder than Joe Louis at his prime. This is classic bebop! 

Sam Ross has composed every song on this album and even designed the CD cover.  A strong bass line opens a tune called “New Shoes” with the drums slapping the groove into place.  Ross enters with the blues on display and shows us his soulful side.  His press package says that he’s an artist who lives in Long Beach, California and I immediately want to go out and hear him play live.  On this ‘shoes’ tune, the bass takes an impressive solo and Dr. Mured builds the arrangement by adding colorful drums and energy to the piece. Ross can lay a groove down like Les McCann or Gene Harris.  His nimble fingers explore the keyboard and deliver not only soulful rhythms but memorable melodies.  This tune is followed by another original titled, “What is TOP.”   It begins with a repetitious six-note melody, then stretches out and becomes a real ‘cooker’ that invites a spirited bass solo and spotlights the drums on a trading-fours part of the tune, with a full drum solo at the end. “New Socks” is a funk tune that reminds me of something Herbie Hancock might have played, more electric than the other arrangements have been, and Ross is playing a Fender Rhodes electric piano on this one.  The trio closes out with Sam Ross tributing Chick Corea with a tune he penned called “Dear Chick.”  Every song on this album showcases Sam Ross’s composer abilities.  But there is something else that must be told.  It’s a very unusual aspect to this recording.  Simba Diatis, listed as the bass player, is actually an anagram of Midi Bassist and Dr. Mimi Mured does not exist either.  The drummer is a program called Midi Drummer and Sam Ross is actually playing every instrument of this trio. What?? !!  Yes, and playing all three instruments dynamically.  Sam Ross used the lock-down period caused by the COVID pandemic to master production, playing the piano parts, and programming the bass and drums using Loic Pro X.  He did this album solo, all by himself, and it was good enough to fool me. There is no Mira Room.  He simply invited thirty of his friends to attend his solo concert and asked them to react the way they would in a real nightclub. 

Sam Ross earned degrees in both Sociology and Jazz Studies at the University of Michigan.  Of course, he has performed jazz with other human beings at clubs and festivals around the Southern California area. He also prides himself in being a jazz educator and enjoys inspiring his students.  In 2023, Ross won the Downbeat Graduate Student Arranging Award for his version of “Blue in Green.”

This album sparkles with brilliance and ingenuity, and it features Sam Ross in top form as not only a pianist and composer, but also an innovator, arranger and leader of his own unique and well-played trio, a trio that he created himself playing every instruments.  Impressive!

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SKIP WILKINS TRIO – “IN MORAVA / NA MORAVE” –  New Port Line Records

Skip Wilkins, piano/composer; Josef  “Pepa” Feco, double bass; Tomas Hobzek, drums.

Perhaps you have never heard of the Deer Head Inn, located inside the Delaware Water Gap district of Pennsylvania.  It is a revered site that has promoted, sponsored, and invited jazz to its stage for years.  Among the name players who have performed and recorded ‘live’ at the Deer Head Inn are Keith Jarrett, Gary Peacock, Phil Woods, Paul Motian, and Jim Snidero, to name only a handful.  Pianist and composer Skip Wilkins knows the spot very well because, when he’s not living in Central Europe, he lives there.  The Deer Head Inn is Wilkins’ home.

This album is named after the European city of Moravia, located in the Eastern-most part of the Czech Republic. This ancient kingdom of Moravia (that Wilkins refers to as Morava) was incorporated into the kingdom of Bohemia and later, in the 20^th Century, it became part of the modern state of Czechoslovakia or the Czech Republic.  This land is a far call from the Pocono Mountain community of Eastern Pennsylvania where the Deer Head Inn is located. What they have in common is that both places love jazz.  Wilkins made his first trip to Prague, a city in the Czech Republic, back in 2007 and fell in love with the countryside and the people.  He teaches there and tours all over Europe, using his apartment in the Czech Republic as a second home.

“In Morava there is a gentleness to the people, an earnestness, a special way of living, a joy for living, and a capacity for experiencing the present moment that carries me away every time I visit.  If the music cries “In Morava,” the people cry with it.  If it shouts, they shout.  I am at home in Morava.” 

Four of Skip Wilkins’ original songs on this album were composed in the Czech Republic. The rest were written in the United States. His titles are inspired by experiences and often come first before the music is even written. The trio opens with “My Beautiful Stranger” that has a rich, captivating melody.  Josef “Pepa” Feco introduces himself with a double bass solo.  Wilkins pumps his left hand to lock in with Tomas Hobzek on drums. 

The tune “Nearly Good Wine” surfaced while performing at a jazz club in Bavaria. The fellows were on a ‘break’ when one of them was asked how the wine tasted that he was sipping?  He responded, “Oh, it’s nearly good.”  Wilkins jotted the response down and later wrote a song to match the title.  It’s straight-ahead jazz, with Wilkins’ fingers flying swiftly across the keys.  While trading fours, we get a strong understanding of the Hobzek drum skills during this arrangement.  Wilkins has included a booklet in the album that explains in detail every song he has written and why.   One guest on this recording, Rostislav “Rosta” Fras plays tenor saxophone.  Sadly, this musician and close friend of the trio players lost his battle with cancer at 44-years young, and never got to hear this album in its completion.  You will appreciate his soulful horn on the ballad Kaja (take one and take two).  This song celebrates the influential Czech pianist and composer, Karel Ruzicka, who lost his battle with cancer in 2017. Wilkins permeates this song with a tender sadness.  The title tune, “In Morava” has piano and bass joining tones during the introduction, playing harmonically, single notes together in a slow, classical narrative that grabs the attention.  When the jazzy polka-like groove kicks in, we are transported to another place and time.  This is an album that locks arms across continents, with both players and compositions representing the best of America and the Czech Republic. 

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DAVE BAYLES TRIO – “LIVE AT THE UPTOWNER” – Calligram Records

Dave Bayles, drums; Russ Johnson, trumpet/composer; Clay Schaub, bass/composer.

This chord-less trio spotlights Russ Johnson on trumpet with bandleader, Dave Bayles holding the project tightly in place with drums that act like nuts and bolts.  Clay Schaub brings his bass to the presentation and now we have a very unique and creative trio.  The first, second and third tunes on this album are composed by bassist, Clay Schaub.  “Fitzroy” begins this trio’s original journey before a ‘live’ audience at the Uptowner, celebrated as the oldest bar in Wisconsin. The trio’s second song is called “Third Birthday” (written for Clay Schaub’s daughter, Miriam) that allows Schaub to take an opportunity to feature a long and creative bass solo. Afterwards, the curtains open to a trumpet solo by Johnson.  The Bayles drums tap-dance across my listening room, spurring on the music. 

Bayles selected his bandmates with the intention of exploring new territory.  He explained it this way:

“The pandemic forced us all to think about things and I wanted to do something out of my familiar zone.  Russ was the perfect person for that, and Clay was the other perfect person.  It’s opened me up to a lot of things musically that I felt I needed to do,” Bayles expressed.

“The job, as far as the music here, is to not get tangled up in judgements of good or bad, but to keep the channel open and carry on with intention and integrity,” the bass man added.

I’m swept up by the hard bop of “The Illusionist’s Sister” a tune that quickly becomes a favorite on this album.  This one was composed by Russ Johnson and his trumpet interplay with Schaub’s bass is spectacular.  Of course, it wouldn’t swing without Dave Bayles on drums, power-punching the tune alive. Johnson also wrote the eighth and ninth song on this album.  On “Waking Hour” they play for over nine minutes and on “Horizontal heartburn” they mix a beautiful melody with a long-improvised trumpet solo and the brilliant drums of Bayles.

Of his role in the trio, bandleader, Dave Bayles says, “It’s not just time keeping.  It’s being another voice in the composition.  It can be gentle at times, bombastic other times.”

Truly, we get a taste of his bombastic attitude on “The Illusionist’s Sister” and on the composition “Shuffle Boil” you get a huge taste of funk. The Bayles drums shuffle you into this Thelonious Monk tune and hold the energy in place like a fiery-hot branding iron.  Dave Bayles trembles drumsticks against subservient cymbals during their presentation of “Comanche,” and on “Quirks” the trio takes us to New Orleans with rhythm and attitude. Bayles is precise and colorful on his trap drums.  He knows just when to add spark and excitement and when to shuffle the rhythm into perfect place.  This is an arrangement that will have you tapping your toes and snapping your fingers. Composed by Schaub, it’s another one of my favorite tunes on this album. 

The trio slides Dave Bayles into the spotlight on their closing tune with a great title, “Horizontal Heartburn.”  Given free rein, Bayles rides his trap drums across space like a rodeo master.  It’s clear why so many jazz icons have called on the Bayles drum mastery like Barry Harris, Frank Morgan, and Charles McPherson. This is a drummer for all seasons.

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ROGER TILTON TRIO – “MOSTLY BOSSA” – Skipper Productions

Roger Tilton, piano/composer; Henry ‘The Skipper’ Franklin, bass; Yayo Morales, drums.

If Bossa Nova is your thing, you will treasure each tune on this trio recording.  They open with Jobim’s classic, “Dindi.”  This is followed by the Horace Silver composition, “Tokyo Blues.”  “Bossa for Debbie” is a Roger Tilton original tune. Each song is executed well, but what I keep looking for is the excitement, the drive, the emotion from this talented pianist.  On “What is this thing Called Love” they swing, and Tilton’s fingers skip over the keys like happy children at play.  Yayo Morales takes a spirited solo on drums.  Finally, on “Blue Bossa” I hear some energy from the pianist.  ‘The Skipper’ takes an emotional solo on double bass and makes that bass talk, telling us stories with musical notes that tumble over each other in precise and melodic ways. The ending of the song is well planned and executed, unlike several other tunes where Tilton just drops the ending like a hot pot in unsuspecting hands.

Tilton plays “Brigas Nunca Mais” with a light and joyful arrangement, buoyed by the Morales drumsticks.  For a brief four minutes, Tilton interprets a Monk tune (Hackensack) and steps away from Bossa to Straight-ahead.  He feels comfortable performing this Thelonious classic, but once again, I keep waiting for the explosion in Tilton’s presentation.  It’s that magic that happens when the audience gasps and breaks into shouts of approval or ecstatic handclaps. The trio closes with one of my favorite Jobim tunes, “Dreamer,” returning to the Bossa groove and floating like a kite on a cool windy afternoon. This is a well-played trio album that is warm and cushy like a stuffed lion.  But sometimes, deep inside, you long to hear that lion growl and roar.  That didn’t happen.

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SATOKO FUJII TOKYO TRIO – “JET BLACK” – Libra Records

Satoko Fujii, piano/composer; Takashi Sugawa, bass; Ittetsu Takemura, drums.

For the Avant-garde taste, brilliant pianist, and composer, Satoko Fujii offers us her Tokyo Trio album.  Along with bassist Takashi Sugawa and drummer Ittetsu Takemura, Satoko makes a startling first impression with her staccato piano introduction and the long seconds of silence, in between, before Takemura’s drums jolt the listener back from straining to hear what is coming next. This opens their first track titled, “Along the Way” with Takashi Sugawa bowing his double bass and pulling tones out of it like sticky taffy, I am intrigued. 

Although Avant-garde groups are appreciated and accepted in Western culture, bands like this are a rarity in Japan.  The clash of dissonant notes and exploration of various tempos and unpredictable chord changes can challenge any listener who may be looking for more melody and structure.  This improvised journey into the minds of three gifted and awesome jazz musicians is like stumbling through the jungle in sandals.  You never know what you may discover, or which arrangement is going to bite you into awareness. Sometimes it’s a little scary.  At other times, there is genuine peace and beauty in the production. 

This is a study of moods and technique, blended like salty cake batter to show another side of a sweet treat.  It’s poetry in music.  Prose delivered by a mime.  I find myself sitting up attentively, awaiting the next musical phrase with anticipation and wonder.  This music will make you pay attention.

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MALLEUS TRIO – “ON/OFF” – Canada Council for the Arts

Ben Brown, drums/composer; Dominic Conway, tenor saxophone/composer; Geordie Hart, upright bass/composer.

The first song sounds like someone standing at a light switch and switching it off and on.  It is titled “On/Off” so, I suppose my perception of the music is what the composers intended.  However, I found this first tune made me nervous.  The same way I would feel if someone was switching my lights on and off in repetition. 

New to my ears, this trio has become a staple of the jazz festival circuit in Canada.  Ben Brown on drums, Dominic Conway on tenor saxophone and Geordie Hart on double bass present a tightly woven package of Avant-garde arrangements.  This is their third album, titled for the first tune. 

Their productions grow from Brown’s rhythmic drums and are cemented in place by Hart’s upright bass lines.  Hart is definitely the solidifying basement of this chord-less project.  Dominic Conway flies and flutters above the fray on his tenor saxophone.  Their production is unorthodox and perhaps a reflection of the Malleus trio’s eclectic versatility.  For fifteen years, bassist and composer, Geordie Hart has applied his talents to a wide variety of music, including bandleader of the Boom Booms who are more soul/pop than jazz.  The saxophonist of this trio, Dominic Conway, is also a member of numerous groups including working alongside of internationally celebrated Vancouver, Canada’s popular improviser artist, Peggy Lee, as well as jazz groups and ensembles that celebrate funk. The trio’s drummer, Ben Brown, has been celebrated in a number of European venues for his experimental music and powerful drum skills.

On Track #4 the Malleus trio settles down into a ballad composition that offers some relief from the ‘on-the-edge’ productions that preceeded this song.  It’s called “Game Theory.”  I sigh in relief.  Brown shows off his mallet skills on his drum kit.  Conway builds the melody, climbing the scale like a man on a musical ladder. On Track #6, the blues finally pokes a defiant head into the picture.  The tune is named “Big City.”  This one transports me into a juke joint.  It’s a place I’m familiar with and this music makes my toes tap.  On the other side of the coin, “Stagger Step” is a dirge.  The trio slaps me from a happy tap to a funeral procession.

On the whole, this band is composed of three friends who know each other very well.  Together they have composed every one of the fourteen songs they offer us.  They fuse together comfortably, improvising and pushing the limits of their instruments and their imaginations.  Fasten your seatbelts!

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CHRISTIAN FABIAN TRIO – “HIP TO THE SKIP” – Spicerack Records

Christian Fabian, electric bass/composer; Matt King, keyboards/composer; Jason Marsalis, drums/composer.

Christian Fabian brings Fusion jazz to the forefront, with his electric bass leading the way. The first tune on this album is the title tune, “Hip to the Skip” penned by Fabian. Jason Marsalis is dynamic on drums and pushes the music ahead like a snowplow. This production is icy-hot, providing warmth like those patches meant to heal aching muscles. Once applied, you just feel better. This music is both healing, happy and regenerative.  It will lift your mood and startle your creative juices awake.

“Jason and I had been thinking for a while about doing an electric project, and it occurred to me that Matt King would be the perfect fit for us. Since Jason came up from New Orleans to New Jersey frequently for work, we were able to schedule our first session on September 14, 2021. … We finished the last recording on March of 2023,” Fabian explains in his press package.

This band covers the Bobby Timmon’s standard, “Moanin’” and they do it their way. Matt King, on keyboard, supplies fresh improvisational ideas and a stinging ‘funk’ groove on this tune.  This is followed by a deep dive into the Joe Zawinul composition “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.” Jason Marsalis opens the familiar tune on drums and is quickly joined by Fabian’s electric bass line. They rejuvenate this song in leaps and bounds, slapping modulations into place like licks upside the head.  Even “This Can’t Be Love” is painted with a brand-new face that crowns the tune into fusion royalty, tagged with a shuffle beat.  King contributes an original composition called, “Incognito” to the mix, with Fabian double-timing the bass line beneath the catchy melody and also improvising madly.  This is Straight-ahead funk with Marsalis supplying the drive and excitement on drums. Matt King sounds beautiful, jazzy, and inspired on the keyboard both on his original song and the follow up traditional tune, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”  This popular song is arranged with a slow, bluesy drive that makes me sit-up and take note. Marsalis contributes a song called “Zig 7” to the production.  It’s a lesson in rhythm and soul.  Matt King adds an organ to the production that sweeps this listener into a fresh place, punctuated by staccato breaks and Fabian’s bold bass. Fabian locks hands with the Marsalis drums, as free as two children skipping through a field of fun.

Here is a trio project that will both entertain and surprise you.  Their press package explains it’s the first time both Christian Fabian and Jason Marsalis have recorded a complete tribute to funk and fusion jazz.  I hope it won’t be their last!

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JAZZ SPREADS LOVE, INNOVATION, & FREEDOM WORLDWIDE

By Dee Dee McNeil

February 1, 2024

Jazz is America’s classical music and was created by African Americans, the descendants of slaves, who have consistently looked for new ways of expression. We are a people who embrace innovation, improvisation, and freedom. We are constantly changing dance styles, verbal slang, clothing styles, architectural designs, art, and music. Jazz music is so powerful, it has been banned in autocratic countries because it always inspires freedom.  It inspires thinking outside the box and coloring outside the societal lines that bind us. It’s not trying to inspire violence or make war. During Black History Month, let’s remember that Jazz is a music of peace, love, innovation, and freedom that grew out of blues, European classical music, and slavery. Here are some outstanding CD releases that mirror the international, unbridled, multi-cultural interpretations of Jazz.

ANTONIO GAVRILA – “TANGO SUITE BUENOS AIRES” – Zoho Records

Antonio Gavrila, piano/composer; Walther Castro, bandoneon; Quique Sinesi, guitar; Horacio “Mono” Hurtado, bass.

The opening composition by A. Piazzolla is arranged in a dramatic way, with Antonio Gavrila’s piano spraying like a powerful waterfall across the chord changes and demanding attention.  He builds this tune, starting with his upper-register notes tumbling over each other, similar to leaves in a gardener’s blower. Then the arrangement streams into the Nuevo Tango tempo.  The original Buenos Aires-born composer (Piazzolla) may not have imagined his tune blending baroque and Latin Jazz in such a modern way, but clearly Romanian-born pianist and composer, Antonio Gavrila has his own sense of Tango.  Gavrila approaches this music with extreme intensity and passion. 

Astor Pantaleon Piazzolla is an Argentine legend who changed the face of tango and was heralded as an amazing composer, arranger, and bandoneon player.  He was born March 11, 1921, and died July 4, 1992, but his music lives on.  Antonio Gavrila gives a nod to Piazzolla’s legend by adding Walther Castro on this project to play bandoneon. The South American instrument sounds very similar to an accordion.  Unlike the accordion, the bandoneon has no predefined chords.  Gavrila employs similar Piazzolla techniques in his arrangements, like the frequent use of counterpoint. He also adds unexpected harmonics and sometimes dissonance to these tunes. 

“Piazzolla is a daily inspiration for me.  Not only musically but also as a person. … I learned things about his personality, his very strong character and the confidence he had in his music, … that affected me too.  But I am addicted to his music.  From an early age I was attracted to musical freedom and these things definitely won me over in Piazzolla’s Nuevo Tango.  It is the kind of music with a great openness to new things, inner things.  As I like to say, tango cannot exist without fantasy,” Antonio Gavrila gushes with excitement when he talks about his legendary inspiration.

The first two songs Gavrila’s group plays are both Piazzolla compositions.  The opening tune is “Michelangelo 70” and the second song on his album is “Introduccion Al Angel.”  Then Gavrila branches out featuring music by other composers, including several original tunes he has penned himself.

Music is in Gavrila’s DNA.  His late grandfather, Nelu Ploiesteanu, was a popular Romanian singer.  He recorded over thirty albums before passing from COVID in 2021 at age 70. 

“My grandfather was a very famous gypsy singer and accordion player in our country.  After the second world war, many Romanian musicians brought tangos to Eastern Europe.  I listened a lot when I was a child, and after my academic years, I started to study Piazzolla.  His music greatly affected me because it sounded familiar. Piazzolla’s harmony was something very personal for me because I grew up with that kind of harmony and that style of improvisation,” Antonio explained his infatuation with the Neuvo Tango music of Argentina.  Check out his grandfather’s music below.

There is a signature 3–3–2 pulse that defines Nuevo Tango and Quique Sinesi’s guitar lines often play counterpoint to the driving bandoneon solos.  Both musicians are grounded by Gravila’s double bassist, Horacio “Mono” Hurtado.  “Preludio e la Noche” paints a musical picture of a Buenos Aires citizen walking through a lonely Argentina suburb at night.  Listen to the bass line.  You will hear the steps of this stranger echoing through the darkness. When the band double-times the piece, I can almost picture the man being chased and running swiftly through the empty avenue. Gravila’s piano fingers also race across the keys.  You can clearly here the African beat (3-3-2) used to infuse Nueva Tango music.

Both this unique music, inspired by the Argentina legend A. Piazzolla, and played by the twenty-seven-year-old Antonio Gavrila, (a pianist from Bucharest) reflects how jazz crosses continents and cultures.  It will introduce you to tango music in a passionate, creative way.

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DONALD VEGA – “AS I TRAVEL” – Imagery Records

Donald Vega, piano/composer/arranger; Lewis Nash, drums; John Patitucci, bass; Luisito Quintero, percussion.

A flurry of drumbeats opens this album.  Lewis Nash and Luisito Quintero provide the percussion that perpetuates Vega’s tune titled, “Baila! Dance Like No one’s Watching.”  This piece of original music by pianist/composer Donald Vega makes you want to get up and dance, or at least tap a toe.  The tempo is energized.   

We are all on a journey in this lifetime.  Vega refers to that life travel as an ode to the family and community that empowered him to make a physical, musical and a career path towards his metaphorical journey; a journey that has taken him to where he is today.  At age fourteen, Donald Vega fled his Nicaraguan country and immigrated to the United States.  That was 1989.  As a blossoming pianist, who was trained classically on piano in Nicaragua, young Vega worked locally with jazz legends like Billy Higgins, John Clayton, Francisco Aquabella and Al McKibbon.  He attended Crenshaw High School and the Colburn School of the Performing Arts.  Next, he sought higher education at University of Southern California, then off to the East Coast where he attended the Manhattan School of Music and the Julliard Music School.  In fact, Donald Vega is currently a professor at the Julliard School of Music and based in New York City.

In 1991, Vega was awarded the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award. He was labeled Downbeat Magazine’s 2007 Jazz Student Soloist Award, and garnered 1^st Place at the 2008 Phillips Jazz Piano Competition at the University of West Florida.  That same year he released his debut album as a bandleader called “Tomorrows.”  In 2012, Vega released “Spiritual Nature” and in 2015 he recorded a tribute to piano icon, Monty Alexander, “With Respect to Monty.”  He featured seven of Alexander’s original compositions. 

This recent album, (cut in a single day) showcases Donald Vega’s own, respectable, composing skills.  He offers the listener nine self-penned tunes that are plush with lovely melodies and rich, cultural rhythms.  The title tune is Track #2 and exemplifies Vega’s love of motion and melody in his music. John Patitucci is showcased on bass during the arrangement of “I Know You Can Fly.”  Vega has surrounded himself with music masters, who stand as a testament to Vega’s own awesome and celebrated musical journey.

This album embraces his world travels, his cultural Nicaraguan roots, as well as Vega’s impressive piano playing.  His love of jazz music and the freedom it inspires is obvious along with his wonderful composing talents. Donald Vega is the whole, universal package.  It’s a joy traveling with him during this presentation of “As I Travel,” riding along while listening to his own personal and musical autobiography.

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JONATHAN SUAZO – “RICANO” – Ropeadope Records

Jonathan Suazo, alto & tenor saxophone/composer/arranger/vocals; Ramon Suazo & David Sanchez,  tenor saxophone; Miguel Zenón, alto saxophone; Fabiola Méndez, vocals/Cuatro Puertorriqueño; Christian Nieves, Cuatro Puertorriqueño; Emil Martinez Roldán ‘El Hijo de Borikén’, Soneo; Eduardo Zayaz & Anibal Cruz, piano/keyboard; Josean Jacobo, piano; Francisco Alcalá, drums; Tanicha López & Genesis Davila, voice; Giovanni Ortiz, bass/percussion sound design; Hans Glawischnig, Ramon Vázquez, Juan Maldonado, bass; Rafael Rosa & Gabriel Vicéns, guitar; Juan Aldahondo, electric & acoustic guitar; Kike Serrano & Beto Torrens, afro-Puerto Rican percussion; Miguel Martinez, Güícharo Puertorriqueño/Afro Puerto Rican percussion; Yilianny Polanco, Guira Dominicana; Otoniel Nicolas, Afro Dominican percussion/drums; Florentino ‘Magic’ Mejia, Afro Dominican percussion; Feliz ‘Abuelo’ Garcia, Tambora Dominicana.

Meet Jonathan Suazo.  This is the masterful Puerto Rican sax man’s debut album. Suazo comes swirling into my listening room with high energy and meteoric sparkle.  His project is full of culture and excitement. The rhythms dance, propelling his compositions forward with imagination and inspiring improvisational solos. Suazo adds a chant to the end of the first composition, “iSomos más que tú!” that is compelling.  It invites the listener to the shores of Puerto Rico and an evening of arousing music.  On ”Heroes,” the voice of Genesis Davila sings her story above the powerhouse track.  When Jonathan Suazo enters on his saxophone, I am swept away by his emotional delivery.  Suazo says that his “Ricano” album is an original Afro-Caribbean experience.  The themes move from exploration to integration, community, education and self-acceptance.  This is a musical photograph of his beloved Dominican Republic.

“I started doing a deeper dive into my roots as an important exercise to find something in the source of your identity that can carry the rest of your career forward,” Suazo explains, referencing his time at the Global Jazz Institute.

This is a wonderful and rhythm-driven project. It represents the unique combination of island music, Puerto Rican traditions, and jazz culture.  Suazo’s saxophone dances us from one track to the next, filling my heart with joy. I find my feet cannot be still, as percussionists like Kike Serrano, Beto Torrens, Miguel Martinez, Yilianny Polanco, Otoniel Nicolas, Florentino ‘Magic’ Mejia, and Felix ‘Abuelo’ Garcia buoy this music.  I float away on the waves of a tune called “Verde Luz” by Antonio Caban Vale and arranged by Jonathan Suazo. The beautiful voice of the Spanish vocalist sets the mood, accompanied by Eduardo Zayaz on piano.  When Francisco Alcala slaps the drum beat into place, a sexy horn solo by Suazo is featured on this bolero number. There is mile-high drama in Suazo’s music. It soars, builds, and explodes.  On track #6, another Suazo original composition titled “Don’t Take Kindly” reminds me of the John Coltrane days and the Horace Tapscott jazz choirs. The lyrics and spoken word are all in Spanish, but that did not take away from this unique musical vision.

Here is an album full of intensity and fused with honest emotion. Last year, (2023) GRAMMY.com declared Jonathan Suazo one of ‘Ten Emerging Jazz Artists to Watch.’  I agree. His music is designed to touch your heart and soul.

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CHES SMITH – “LAUGH ASH” – Pyroclastic Records

Ches Smith, drums/composer/arranger/electronics/programming/vibes/tubular bells/ glockenspiel/timpani/tarn tarn/metal percussion; Shahzad Ismaily, bass/keyboards; Anna Webber, flute; Oscar Noriega, clarinets; James Brandon Lewis, tenor saxophone; Nate Wooley, trumpet; Jennifer Choi, violin; Kyle Armbrust, viola; Michael Nicolas, cello; Shara Lunon, voice/vocal processing.

Ches Smith has composed and arranged all of the music on this album.  His ideas are fluid, innovative and inspired.  Born in California, Smith now reside in New York and was celebrated in the New York Times “as one of the wiliest drummers on the experimental scene.”  Sometime when I hear experimental jazz, I can’t find the groove or the melody.  This is not true with Ches Smith’s production.  Not only is it melodic, although unpredictable, it is also very tempo conscious.  There is a fierce sense of groove, probably because Smith is a superb drummer and percussionist. His exploratory music is like watching an abstract artist paint. Ches Smith manages to mix chamber music with colorful electronics, explosive bursts of improvisation, spoken word and various rhythm patterns, both in-the-moment and programmed. The first composition sounds like a freight train climbing up a mountain.  I even hear the blast of its horn and the robot movements of the steel wheels against metal. This tune is called “Minimalism,” and it features a spoken word recited by Shara Lunon who also contributes vocal processing. They should have turned her voice up in the mix on this first tune. Track #3 starts with gong sounds, but quickly morphs into other grooves and moods.  Shara is back to recite the poem and song titled, “Sweatered Webs (Hey Mom).”  Shahzad Ismaily adds a brief bass solo.  He is also the keyboardist.  This arrangement unwinds rich with textures and possibilities.

Ches Smith explained in his liner notes, “…Given to repetition, although as a weapon, staying on a passage ad infinitum to lull the listener into a trance, only to clobber them over the head with a particularly jarring change” certainly describes this production to a tee! 

Smith admits that his beats give credence to his music and structure to the polyphony, the dissonance, polytonality and creativity that’s locked inside each specially constructed original tune.  The electronics allow an other-worldly essence to some parts of the mix and remind us of the era we are in where certain tones and melodies remind us to look at our cell phones, or answer the door. Those tones and melodies are stamped into our brains. Perhaps Smith summed up the concept for this recording with the following words:

“I wanted their sounds to bleed between sections and across compositional arcs, a reminder of the improbability of these idiosyncratic spirits working in service to a group plan.”

As for the interesting album title, Ches Smith wrote on November 2 of 2023:

“Listeners might find parts of this album at least a little bit funny.  As a form of catharsis, laughter is fine by me.  Genuine laughter arrives unannounced, causing a fissure where time stops.  If the bout of laughter is severe, you may find yourself at the point of disintegration. Afterwards, if not too worn out, you can dust away the ash, put yourself back together and continue your life a fresh, newly curious about what is possible.”

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ATLANTIC ROAD TRIP – “ONE” – Calligram Records

Chad McCullough, trumpet/flugelhorn/composer; Miro Herak, vibraphone; Conor Murray, double bass; Alyn Cosker, drums/bodhran; Paul Towndrow, alto saxophone/whistles/ flute/composer.

The transcontinental collective of ‘Atlantic Road Trip’ offers an album that perpetuates the concept of “One.”  ‘One’ love of music; ‘One’ project wrapping arms around cultures; ‘One’ album played by friends and fellow musicians expanding on a project of creativity.

“You need to be on the same page as your co-conspirators and if not, acceptance and compromise should feel as natural as part of the creative process. …With Atlantic Road Trip, I feel that we’ve found that balance,” Slovakian vibraphonist Herak says in their press package.

Chicago-based trumpeter, Chad McCullough first met Miro Herak in 2009. The two became great friends and music collaborators after playing together at the Banff Center for the Arts, a catalyst for Creativity in Chicago, Illinois.  They toured throughout Belgium and Holland on various projects. Just before the Coronavirus pandemic, they asked Scottish alto saxophonist Paul Towndrow, who is also a master of traditional whistles and flutes, to join Atlantic Road Trip. Alyn Cosker (on drums) and Conor Murray (bass) complete their ensemble. 

“We stayed in close contact throughout the pandemic and even remotely recorded a set for the 2021 Glasgow Jazz Festival,” McCullough said. 

The group has toured the UK, the Netherlands, and Belgium.  They returned to Scotland in 2023, where they recorded this album titled, “One.”  Their project reflects Slovakian heritage, including fresh interpretations of traditional folk songs like “Hore Haj Dolu Haj” and “Kopaia Studienku, Pozaeraia do nej” which I can neither pronounce nor understand.   Still, the music is clearly jazz and that is a universal language.  “Nightingale Island” showcases Paul Towndrow’s alto saxophone beauty and gives a platform for Herak’s vibraphone to thickly spread sweetness across the arrangement. The next song is titled, “Hore Haj, Dolu Haj.”

Miro Herak explains that “Hore Haj is a Slovak traditional song about inequality between the rich upper class and the common man.” 

On this tune, the band mixes Slavic dance rhythms with Scottish flute and contemporary jazz harmonies.  The vibes sound bell-like during their arrangement.  They open the piece, with Conor Murray’s bass growling underneath.  Towndrow’s flute sets the mood, a bit mournful and emotional.  When the vibraphone enters, it lifts the traditional tune to happier heights. Alyn Cosker’s drums buoy the arrangement as the horns race contrapuntal across the tune. The horn harmonics and melody on the tune “Auburn” reminds me of bagpipes.

Reedman, Paul Towndrow summarizes the project in this way. “What happens when people are allowed the freedom to move, travel, exchange ideas, adapt and grow?  How can we bring our diverse ideas together in a way that cuts to the heart of our shared experience as humans?  I hope the music on ‘One’ will invite the listener to reflect on these questions as we have done in creating it.”

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TOBIN MUELLER – “AT THE PIANO – VOL. 1.” – Independent Label /Digital only

Tobin Mueller, solo piano

This is Tobin Mueller’s forty-first album release and his 8^th solo piano album.  “At The Piano – Vol 1.” is a compilation of songs recorded and performed at Factory Underground Studio in Norwalk, CT and it’s produced by Kenny Cash.  Several different pianos were used in differing acoustic settings over the span of four decades.  Mueller has included one new composition in this production, “A Prayer for Keith Jarrett” that closes this recording.Every song was composed by Mueller. Over the years, Tobin Mueller has been celebrated as a jazz composer, arranger, performer, and a Broadway playwright. However, Mueller believes his solo piano releases may be the most important aspect of his legacy. Surely playing solo is the most challenging aspect for an artist. Why?  Because, there is nothing to hide behind, no one to musically support your ideas or to fill the empty spaces.  The spotlight is on you, your talent, and your instrument.

Clearly, Tobin Mueller can fill all the emptiness with his own brilliance and creativity. You will hear him synthesize different eras and styles into his original songs on this album.  Mueller’s music encompasses Baroque, romantic, impressionistic, blues, and contemporary classical techniques, all wrapped up in a jazzy package. Mueller’s music is a gift to our ears.  “One Body of Man” quickly becomes one of my favorites of his original compositions.  It starts out as a blues and quickly morphs into a dramatic presentation of two-fisted energy and grit.  In the press notes it says this is the one song that’s a duet. I inquired of Mueller asking who was the other pianist?  He said it was Doug Schneider, a Chicago based pianist.  The song is one that Mueller composed for a Broadway musical he wrote and Schneider was a guest artist on this tune.

The fourth cut, “Two Pease in a Chili Pod” features Mueller’s strong bass line, played by his left-hand, that supports the creativity and contrapuntal melodies played by his right-hand in the upper register. Impressive! The fifth track, “Under a Western Sky” is very classical, quite pretty and reminded me of blossoms blowing in the wind.  I find myself fascinated by Tobin Mueller’s melodic ideas. For example, on his original tune called “Slow Dance” Mueller paints a lovely melodic picture at the top of the ballad, then changes the tempo using left-hand rhythm to explore other moods.  His right-hand is very improvisational, exploring solos that a horn might play. His tune “Time as Emergent Phenomenon” could easily become the soundtrack to a film. It’s four-minutes of pure bliss.

Here is an album that unfolds like chapters in a book.  I am captivated and keep turning the tunes (like pages) and listening for the unexpected, the excitement, and the beauty that Mueller produces as a solo artist.  This album brings my ears great reward.

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ULYSSES OWENS JR. AND GENERATION Y – “A NEW BEAT” – Cellar Music Group

Ulysses Owens, drums/arranger; Luther Allison (composer)& Tyler Bullock, piano; Phillip Norris & Ryoma Takenaga, bass; Sarah Hanahan & Erena Terakubo, alto saxophone; Benny Benack III & Anthony Hervey, trumpet/composers; Milton Suggs, voice.

A tune called “Sticks” introduces us to some of the players in this smokin’ hot band of Generation Y musicians.  Bassist, Phillip Norris shines during a powerful solo. Ulysses Owens Jr. is ever-present and drives the band ahead with his unrelenting drumsticks. The band, referred to as Generation Y (or so-called millennials) are often described as those who are controlled by the digital age and were born between 1982 and 1994.  Technology is part of their everyday lives, and their eyes are generally glued to a screen, be it the computer, their phone, their laptop, or television. Clearly, this Generation Y band of musicians have been practicing, creating, and honing their musical skills.  The band is tight as a deadbolt lock. The second track was composed by trumpeter Anthony Hervey, and it swings with a New Orleans zest.  Sarah Hanahan brings her Straight-ahead saxophone groove to the party.  Tyler Bullock shines brightly during an impressive piano solo.  But it’s always Ulysses Owens Jr. who keeps the band locked into the groove with perfect time and creative accents.  I enjoy the rich bass solo of Phillip Norris on Luther Allison’s original composition called “Until I see You Again” and Norris opens the Roy Hargrove tune, “Soulful” that follows as cut #5.  “Bird Lives” flies with the horns racing and Ulysses Owens Jr. pushing the fledgling birds into the air with his power-packed drumsticks.

When Ulysses isn’t touring or recording, he is inspiring hopeful musicians at the Julliard School.  This is his seventh year as a professor. Some of his mentees are featured on this album, a musical juxtaposition that is a tribute to the legacies and tradition to his jazz mentors and a homage to the exciting potential of youth playing their music into the future.  The group is four years old.  This album is the culmination of their performing, growing and eventually recording together. Ulysses Owens Jr. is paying it forward.  It’s a wonderful listen!

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ANNIE CHEN – “GUARDIANS” – JZ Music

Annie Chen, vocals/composer/bandleader/lyrics; Marius Duboule, electric & acoustic guitar; Vitor Gonçalves, piano/accordion; Satoshi Takeishi, drums/percussion; Mathew Muntz, bass/Croatian bagpipe or meh; Alex LoRe, alto saxophone/flute/bass clarinet; Fung Chern Hwei, violin/viola.

This album is a clash of cultures and a scream to humanity.  The songs speak to fears of inevitable environmental destruction, while blending scat-jazz and other jazz sensibilities with Beijing Opera and Chinese culture.  At the same time, the vocal artist, Annie Chen, incorporates two songs written by polish composers.  The first song opens this album and is titled “Rozpacz” that translates to ‘despair’ in English.  Zbigniew Namyslowski was a jazz composer and multi-instrumentalist who passed away in February of 2022.  Chen chose his song because it embodied a taste of the tragic storytelling of a Beijing Opera, something she is familiar with. Consequently, she added portions of the operatic melody to this Namyslowski music, a story that unfolds in the Chinese opera, tales of a king surrounded by enemies who commits suicide rather than surrender. For Annie Chen, this story also mirrors humanity’s selfish dance with the environment, as a cautionary tale of what can happen to our lives if we don’t pay attention now and correct our evil ways, we too will take our own lives.

Not only does Chen incorporate international compositions into this theme, she also has assembled a global mix of musicians for her recording.  Her seven-piece band includes Malaysian native Fung Chern Hwei on violin and viola; Swiss-French guitarist, Marius Duboule and Brazilian pianist and accordionist, Vitor Gonçalves.  On drums and percussion, she uses Satoshi Takeishi who is Japanese. Americans Alex LoRe plays alto saxophone, flute, and bass clarinet, while bassist Mathew Muntz joins the group bringing skills on the ‘meh’ that is a rare Croatian bagpipe.  They play “Underground Dance” featuring unexpected intervals in the melody and, before lyrics are added, Chen scats like a vocal horn. This becomes the story of mankind ravaging our earth, forcing humanity to live underground in tunnels of despair. Her melodic lines race in circles that seem to whirlpool us down, down and cover us in these strange musical tunnels. Annie Chen has composed all of these songs, with the exception of the two Polish composer contributions.

The other Polish composer she features is Krzysztof Komeda who wrote “Rosemary’s Lullaby,” the theme from the 1968 horror film, Rosemary’s Baby.  Chen’s rendition is haunting and sweet, rather than scary. She has written tender lyrics for the piece and sings them to us like a mother’s lullaby to her babe.

I find Annie Chen’s composing skills to be quite intoxicating and her scat-singing reflects jazz in Chen’s own unique way. I support her social commentary. I am however challenged by her voice.  Jazz singing is part of the freedom and beauty that jazz embodies. However, singing jazz is an artform all to itself.  Annie Chen is a human instrument, like all singers. On this project, she performs like a horn and sings the melodies she has written, as written. When a jazz singer scats, they improvise over a melody and create fresh melodies and tonal ideas. Also, the ‘swing’ in the voice of a jazz singer is absolutely necessary.  I don’t hear that in this project. I do appreciate Chen’s Avant-Garde experimental music, particularly her compositions and arrangements. I praise her concept, her vocal range, her composing talents, and her bandleader skills. She will have to expand her vocal horizons for me to recognize her as a true jazz singer. The ensemble that she has brought together is a highly talented group of musicians. They vividly express and interpret Chen’s original music. In fact, I think this album is the epitome of my column’s title. With this project, Annie Chen spreads love, innovation, and freedom worldwide in her own distinctive way. This album will be available Feb 23^rd.

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