Category Archives: Jazz
Scott Fields Ensemble – This That
Scott Fields Ensemble
This That
2001 – Accretions
Origin: Chicago
Style: Free Jazz
On this release, Scott Fields has whittled his “Ensemble” (where the Chicago native- turned Madison, Wisconsin resident calls each of his various collaborations the “Ensemble”) down to a trio: himself as guitarist with Vancouver’s Peggy Lee on cello and Dylan Van Der Schyff with the percussion.
With This That, the whole premise of this album flirts with the idea of what is considered improv and what is actual composed material. Fields performs flawlessly in the attempt that you cannot tell the difference between the two states of musicianship. But even with the blurred lines, you get a sense of structure within these pieces as the sonic architecture is very tight knit and space is given a sense of correlation within the songs.
Fields was influenced by the Art Ensemble of Chicago with the goal to make spontaneous music more controlled and This That is an album that obscures the senses as to what is and what isn’t, as well as what you think could and could not be in the musical stratosphere of free form. An even more electrified version of Derek Bailey (you really get that feeling later on in the album), Fields does what he can to the guitar to build a unique perspective as well as preserving a strong tonal quality to his work, although not quite as textured as Bailey was.
Often compared to Eric Dolphy as noted by both Carl Baugher of Cadence Magazine and Steve Goldstein of Midwest Jazz Magazine (http://www.accretions.com/artists/scott.asp), Fields builds a depth and field that not just compliments but contradicts the cello, skewing the level of reality. Sometimes fighting with one another for the forefront (“This Is This”), while other times playfully meandering between the two instruments and dancing up and down scales (“This Is That”), the three round up a unique conceptualization of the abstract that lies today as the outcast of the Accretions label as Fields has nothing to do with the Trummerflora Collective, but remains as one of Accretions strongest.
Cross-Reference: Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Derek Bailey, Eric Dolphy
Count Basie – At Birdland
Count Basie
Live at Birdland
1961 – Roullette
Origin: Red Bank, New Jersey
Style: Big Band
It’s been years since Basie released April In Paris. Times have changed, key soloists have moved on, and Basie spent time collaborating with the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Tony Bennett, Hefti, Sinatra, and others. Count Basie was simply a superstar at this point.
The charm of Birdland is that it gets back to basics and proves that a re-energized band could still perform as an influential jazz powerhouse in the midst of a new scene developing; Miles Davis, Charles Mingus, and John Coltrane were pushing the Big Band style out of the way to make room for Be-Bop.
Recorded live, Birdland is an organic experience that makes you feel like you are in that room at the jazz corner of the world. You hear the tinkering of glasses, the mumble of people during the performance and an occasional uproar of laughter, free-spirit, or just savant appreciation. If anyone who was there realized that they were experiencing history, then they would both forgive and thank what Count Basie was doing to their social life.
The band is in top form, using the Big Band puncher “One O’Clock Jump” as a sort-of theme song, revisiting it in different forms throughout the performance. You quickly realize the band creeps up on you, diving in to simple rhythms, some piano meandering, playful horns and a conductor that’s waiting for the right moment to make that build up and explode into something that words cannot describe.
After they get warmed up with some hard bop, vocalist Jon Hendricks lends his auction-like scatting ability to “Whirly Bird,” adding a driving depth into the song that rolls like a steam train.
Then comes “Segue in C.” The song begins with Basie’s traditional bouncy bass and piano, adding volume and instruments one by one. Basie takes his time creeping into the limelight. The band know what is going to happen and the impact, even if the crowd is unaware at the time. Then come the soloists to accompany Basie. A velvet sax wailing into the night, breaking cigarette smoke traces that highlight lipstick stains on glasses. The muted trumpets then add dimension, a sly decision, but quickly get scolded for trying to take the spotlight, returning to a louder traditionalistic jazz number. the audience is starting to take notice. But Basie isn’t ready and holds restraint by giving the solo back to the piano. Then the trumpets invite a flute to jump in. The rest of the band dives in giving a slight teaser as to what is inevitable, backing off yet again to give room for a muted trombone to talk to the audience and tell its woes. The rest of the band responds in consolation. Basie teases just a little more, but still doesn’t give the crowd what they want. By this time, the chatter is silenced. And that is when it happens. They all kick in full force and giving it everything that they have.
This seems to be common for their performances at Birdland. Follow the audience, and you get one perspective. Follow the band, and you get another. Pay attention to both and you have a completed history, but every listen is an enjoyable experience if you take it face value or dig into the intricate nature of this band.
The song selection is also incredible, revisiting some of my favorite tunes from the Basie archive, including April In Paris’ “Corner Pocket.” And although not as rich as the studio recording, it is still an impressive number that will have nodding in appreciation.
The re-master that is listed here has an extra eight songs that include alternate versions of songs like “Whirly-Bird,” “Segue In C,” and some songs not on the original version as well as original pieces to the songs returned, including several piano intros that were originally taken out.
You are the fly on the wall when it comes to this release. Close your eyes and you are sitting in Birdland on a starry night amidst some of the most talented jazz musicians in history.
Cross-Reference: Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway
William Parker – Raining On The Moon
William Parker
Raining on the Moon
2002 – Thirsty Ear
Origin: New York City
Style: Jazz
Even though William Parker has had some well-acclaimed releases in the jazz field (Piercing The Veil, Mayor of Punkville, and Peach Orchard), the Thirsty Ear label is highly responsible for shoving the jazz bassist out into the mainstream as much as allowing him free range to continue expanding his thoughts into sound. Joining the label as part of the Blue Series, which still exists as an entity to this day, William Parker brought his sometimes moody and often times eclectic jazz compositions to the forefront of the series with two prominent releases (Painter’s Spring was the other).
The focus of the Blue Series was a concept to “marry jazz’s many languages into a cogent new one and perhaps shake up what was, and to a certain extent still is, a stagnant musical climate.” (from the official website: http://www.thirstyear.com/about_and_contact.php).
However, instead of a vast degree of experimentalism, Parker does quite the opposite. What may be one of his most accessible releases is also one of his more uneventful ones. A piece of work that had much promise, simply does not live up to its potential.
The album starts out with this great be-bop tune called “Hunk Pappa Blues.” It’s a cross between this bouncing Mingus style and a delicate Gillespie approach that balances out into a colorful palette of horns and rhythms. The song finally meanders into various soloing, but eventually comes back into focus towards the end. And you really feel that Parker is on to something, which he is.
But Parker tries out something that he has wanted to do since the ‘70s, and that is adding on vocals, an experiment that wanes little results. According to an interview with Jazz Weekly, Parker has always written music with the intention of words to co-exist within the music (http://www.jazzweekly.com/interviews/wparker.htm). And with Raining On The Moon, he did a role reversal to the avant-pop style. Avant-pop takes accessibility in popular culture and turns reality upside down with the influence of popular culture icons. Here, Parker has taken an experimental career and creates something accessible from it.
If you examine the quartet that backs Parker up on this album and who also surrounded one of his more impressive works, O Neal’s Porch, featuring Rob Brown (alto sax), Lewis Barnes (trumpet), and Hamid Drake (drummer/percusionist), you have an interesting blend of talent and style. Add vocalist Leena Conquest to the mix, and you have a flow of songs that run both hot and cold.
On “Song Of Hope,” Conquest uses a form of reinforced poetry that quickly re-evaluates the point of the message over and over again. However, instead of positive re-enforcement, as it should, it ends up feeling frantic and paranoic instead of relaxed.
Coming to her defense though, the song “Watermelon Song” puts Conquest in a better light. Incorporating the simple black folk art style into vocal story telling, this abbreviated jazz number is simple and elegant in a smoke-filled grouping of muted trumpets and softer tones.
The title track to the album is not only a personal statement to the essence of this release, but it is also the most complex, cutting a noche about 15 minutes deep. A more political and social statement than a science fiction-like perspective, Conquest contemplates a utopia-like scenario of peace and tranquility for the world, yet backs up her statements by stressing that it will rain on the moon before any of this happens. The horns dance around her words like vocals within themselves, sometimes falling into an argument between the two then coming back together in an agreement of terms. The longer the song drifts the more poignant Conquest becomes. It makes you wonder what Parker would have said in 2002 if someone told him that a black Senator from Illinois would be President in 2008. It would even be interesting to gauge his thoughts on the series of events today.
The album ends in a very brief experimental African folk song titled “Donso Ngoni,” a song named after the sacred and ceremonial Mali instrument which is a six-string harp. It is a beautiful sound to end a rather sporadic album that seems to try too hard to please everyone.
Cross-Reference: Alice Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Cecil Taylor
William Parker/Hamid Drake – Piercing The Veil
William Parker/Hamid Drake
Piercing The Veil
2001 – AUM Fidelity
Origin: New York City
Style: Free Jazz
Louisiana born and Chicago based percussionist Hamid Drake may not have hit the prime of his life just yet, but he may have found his niche with New York bassist William Parker.
This introduction to the pairing of Drake and New York jazz bassist William Parker could not have come at a better time in Parker’s career. Coming off of the quartet high on O’Neal’s Porch and gaining some ground on Thirsty Ear’s “Blue Series” with progressive musicians like Matthew Shipp collaborating, his room for experimentalism has not been taken lightly.
Drake was brought on during the Painter’s Spring sessions to help collaborate on the song “Flash.” It was then when Parker saw the potential for further work between the two musicians.
On Piercing The Veil, the duo minimizes their depth and expand their scope of the musical landscape. Their free jazz progressiveness should be respected if not awed. At least that’s what critics thought. Hell even Alternative Press had a gushing experience, although mildly written, at the time of its release. (http://www.aumfidelity.com/17review.htm).
One thing you will notice when “Black Cherry” starts us out is the thickness the two sound, almost making us feel like there are two people playing. Drake colors the palette while Parker draws the lines, building off of each other. And Parker’s technique will remind you that he has been properly trained by peers (not classically trained, Parker studied with Jimmy Garrison, Richard David, and Wilbur Ware – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Parker_%28musician%29). This is important to note because in order to break the rules you have to know the rules.
But Parker and Drake no more break them as much as bending them. From Parker’s “acro” bow styling in “Chatima” and meditative African percussive number “Heavenly Walk” to the Turkish folk styling of “Nur Al Anwar” the two do a sort of trade-off on prominent and purpose. Sometimes Drake is left alone to show off his modern percussive styles “Chaung Tzu’s Drea,” while other times, the two see how far they can twist a traditional jazz song, “Loom Song.”
Building traditional with the unconventional is what this duo does best, and this not only may be the intro to their work, but a great place to start in the vast catalog of William Parker.
Cross-Reference: Albert Ayler, Cecil Taylor, Joseph Jarman
