Hit the wall on jazz prospecting this week. Thought I would start with the older music, which still mostly gets shunted off to the abbreviated Recycled Goods, and that went OK. But I didn't get into the new stuff, and by the time the week was over didn't much feel like listening to anything. Wound up pulling some new non-jazz from Rhapsody, which will be good for another post. Enough here for a post, especially since I found some junk I had misfiled last week. In the malaise, didn't get the lists updated with new mail. Didn't get much, but some of it looks promising.

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Tito Puente & His Orchestra: Live at the 1977 Monterey Jazz Festival (1977 [2008], MJF): A typical set by the great timbalero and his venerable orchestra, featuring signature tunes like "Oye Como Va" and "El Rey del Timbal," rhumbas and mambos, a dash of riskier Afro-Cuban jazz, and a cha cha take on Stevie Wonder. B+(*)

Cal Tjader: The Best of Cal Tjader: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-1980 (1958-80 [2008], MJF): A short set from 1958 with Buddy DeFranco bebop over the vibraphonist's Latin stew, and four choice 1972-80 shots, starting with Dizzy Gillespie and Clark Terry teaching him how to play "Manteca." I remember going through my database once and deciding that Tjader was the most accomplished jazz musician on the list that I hadn't heard yet, so I'm far from an expert, but these cuts strike me as a well chosen primer. B+(**)

Jimmy Witherspoon: Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival (1959-72 [2008], MJF): The last of the Kansas City blues shouters, in a surly mood that could pass for spirit if you cut him some slack; his Jimmy Rushing tribute is heartfelt but not up to snuff; his praise for guitarist Robben Ford is earned but not such a big deal; the bonus track from 1959 towers above the later performance, not just because Messrs. Hines, Herman, Hawkins, Webster, and Eldridge are in the band, but they sure help. B

Shirley Horn: Live at the 1994 Monterey Jazz Festival (1994 [2008], MJF): Very cost-effective: a singer with such voice and poise a piano trio suits her best, plus she plays a pretty mean piano; just turned 60, at the peak of her fame coming off a series of well-regarded albums on Verve, she nails her whole range here -- "The Look of Love," "A Song for You," "I've Got the World on a String," "Hard Hearted Hannah." B+(***)

Dave Brubeck: 50 Years of Dave Brubeck: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 1958-2007 (1958-2007 [2008], MJF): Starts with Paul Desmond for three 1958-66 quartet cuts and closes with three 2002-07 quartets with Bobby Militello on alto sax -- a sense of continuity and balance unlikely in any 50-year span. Gerry Mulligan figures in between, and only one cut lacks a horn, but the unique pacing of the pianist comes through again and again. A-

Art Blakey and the Giants of Jazz: Live at the 1972 Monterey Jazz Festival (1972 [2008], MJF): Not a happy period in the drummer's career, but he plays with great physicality here, leading a ragtag crew of superstars in what could pass as a Jazz at the Philharmonic blowout; Roy Eldridge, Clark Terry, Sonny Stitt, and Kai Winding are natural jousters who offers great excitement but no surprises; the mystery is left to the troubled pianist in one of his last performances, but Thelonious Monk comps engagingly and takes a nice feature on "'Round Midnight." B+(***)

The Soprano Summit in 1975 and More (1975-79 [2008], Arbors, 2CD): Clarinetist Kenny Davern and saxophonst Bob Wilber, two impeccably backward-looking players, ran into each other in Colorado in 1972, finding common ground as a soprano sax duo dedicated to Sidney Bechet. Their summits continued through the 1970s, with occasional reunions into 2001, sometimes with pianist Dick Hyman and other kindred souls -- guitarist Marty Grosz is prominent here, but Bucky Pizzarelli also played. Dan Morgenstern picked these sessions from the archives, including one from April 1975 focusing on Jelly Roll Morton, and two non-Summit sets: a Davern trio with pianist Dick Wellstood from 1979, and a 1976 Wilber group with Ruby Braff. The album never strays from the soprano range, but lively rhythm sections make up for the lack of contrasting horns. Superb trad jazz. A-

Gene Harris Quartet: Live in London (1996 [2008], Resonance): A popular pianist in the Oscar Peterson mode with an occasional nod to Erroll Garner, not as well known in large part because he spent most of his career recording first as the Three Sounds, then in bassist Ray Brown's trio. Jim Mullen's sinuous guitar enlarges this from trio to quartet. Standards like "Blue Monk" and "In a Mellow Tone" stretch out past ten minutes because they're enjoying themselves. B+(***)

Lionel Hampton Orchestra: Mustermesse Basel 1953 Part 2 (1953 [2008], TCB): Another Swiss radio shot, with the vibraphonist's big band -- names include Art Farmer, Clifford Brown, Jimmy Cleveland, Gigi Gryce, and Quincy Jones -- doing their usual "Hey-Ba-Ba-Re-Bop": "Setting the Pace," "Flying Home," "Drinking Wine," always "On the Sunny Side of the Street." B+(*)

Dianne Reeves: When You Know (2008, Blue Note): Love songs -- "Lovin' You," "I'm in Love Again," "Once I Loved," including some treacly pop tunes and one piece of Jon Hendricks vocalese. "Over the Weekend" is probably the melodramatic worst. Two cuts flow the violins, but most are just guitar, keyb, bass, drums. George Duke produced. The exception to all the above is the finale, called "Today Will Be a Good Day" -- the only cut Reeves wrote, citing her monther for inspiration; it marches to a different beat, with Russell Malone's guitar rockish, a choice cut. B-

Rebecca Martin: The Growing Season (2007 [2008], Sunnyside): Singer-songwriter, classified as a jazz singer based on her labels, but the thin voice, light guitar, straightforward songs, and primitive arrangements all better fit the folk genre. Band here has impeccable jazz credentials -- Kurt Rosenwinkel, Larry Grenadier, Brian Blade -- but don't really do much. B

Andy Pratt: Masters of War (2008, It's About Music): Singer-songwriter, plays piano, cut his first record in 1969; had something of a breakthrough on his third album, Resolution, in 1976: Stephen Holden gave the record an incredible hype review in Rolling Stone. I got suckered into buying a copy; hated the overweening popcraft and sententious, witless songs. 32 years and maybe 15 albums later, he's still quoting Holden's review. I haven't heard any of the others, but I have to admit I recall the voice -- pretty distinctive. The arrangements are simpler here, with rhythm and voice differentiating three covers -- including a slowed down, shaded Beatles song ("And I Love Her") and a hepped up, choppy Dylan (the title cut). His originals don't stick, but they fit the flow. B+(*)

Cynthia Felton: Afro Blue: The Music of Oscar Brown Jr. (2008, Felton Entertainment): Young singer, certified with: bachelor of music from Berklee, master of arts in jazz performance from New York University, doctorate in jazz studies from University of Southern California. Based in Los Angeles. First album. Long list of musicians includes Ernie Watts, Jeff Clayton, Wallace Roney, Cyrus Chestnut, Donald Brown, Jeff "Tain" Watts, Terri Lyne Carrington; also uses vibes, harp, and violin. Bookends 12 Oscar Brown Jr. songs with two short takes of "Motherless Child." I don't think the album works. It has something to do with the chemistry between singer, song, and band, but I haven't isolated just what it is. Brown was a unique case: he followed up on the basic vocalese idea but mostly aimed at writing novelty songs, which were inevitably hit-and-miss and often even when they worked didn't fit together, novelties being what they are. Perhaps the songs can't support this much seriousness. B-

Mathias Eick: The Door (2007 [2008], ECM): Norwegian trumpet player, b. 1979, also plays guitar and vibraphone here, in a quartet with Jon Balke (piano, Fender Rhodes), Audun Erlien (electric bass, guitar), Audun Kleive (drums, percussion), plus Stian Carstensen (pedal steel guitar) on 3 of 8 cuts. First album, although he's had a lot of side credits since 2001, notably on Jacob Young's two albums. Slow, somber ambient jazz, sometimes sumptously gorgeous, but mostly just plods along, which is fine with me. Balke makes a particularly good showing. B+(**)

Wolfert Brederode: Currents (2006 [2008], ECM): Dutch pianist, b. 1974. AMG lists one previous album. This one adds clarinets (Claudio Puntin) to piano trio. Starts with an easy-flowing rhythmic piece, a mode he returns to now and then. In between are tone poem things, where the clarinet leads. Seems simple, and probably is, but as it sinks it it's very attractive. B+(***)

Five Play: What the World Needs Now (2007 [2008], Arbors): Drummer Sherrie Maricle's small band, a quintet, contrasts with her big band, DIVA Jazz Orchestra. Both groups are all-female, more/less swing oriented. (DIVA's latest album was a Tommy Newsom tribute.) The Burt Bacharach title cut is a bit yucky but helplessly catchy. Other songs include "Slipped Disc" (Benny Goodman), "Jo-House Blues" (Toshiko Akiyoshi), "I Am Woman" (Helen Reddy). Musicians are: Jami Dauber (trumpet, flugelhorn, cornet), Janelle Reichman (tenor sax, clarinet), Tomoko Ohno (piano), Noriko Ueda (bass). The piano shines in solo spaces, the rhythm section swings, and the horns take some chances. B+(*)

Rosa Passos: Romance (2008, Telarc): Brazilian singer, has recorded more than a dozen albums since 1994, though she may be older than that -- I've heard tell of a 1979 debut album. Grew up in Salvador, Bahia. Gary Giddins, who wrote the liner notes, places her in the bossa nova tradition. Sounds a bit slower and more thoughtful to me -- no matter how slow she goes she still gets traction. Brazilian band, nobody I know, but the sax and piano stand out among the solos, and drummer Celso de Almeida plays with the subtle shiftiness you hope for in Brazilian jazz. B+(***)

Dominique Di Piazza Trio: Princess Sita (2007 [2008], Sunnyside): French bassist, primarily electric, b. 1959 in Lyon. First album, but appeared on a Gil Evans album in 1987, in John McLaughlin's trio since 1991, with Bireli Lagrene, and a few others. Trio includes Nelson Veras on guitar, Manhu Roche on drums. Di Piazza wrote 8 of 12 pieces; Roche one; the others include "Nuages." Sounds to me like the guitarist has the upper hand, with the bass woven craftily into the background, but I'm having trouble unpacking it. Veras has one album on his own. He's an attractive player. B+(*)

Bennett Paster & Gregory Ryan: Grupo Yanqui Rides Again (2006 [2008], Miles High): Paster plays piano; Ryan bass. They met in 1993 as faculty members of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, found a common interest in Latin jazz, and put out their first Grupo Yanqui album in 2001. Current group is a NYC-based sextet, with trumpet (Alex Norris), sax (Chris Cheek), drums (Keith Hall), and percussion (Gilad). This makes all the basic moves, but little of special interest emerges. B

Warren Hill: La Dolce Vita (2008, Koch): Pop jazz saxophonist, plays alto mostly, also soprano. Has ten or so albums since 1991. Plays alto with some authority. Hill also programs drum lines, plays some keyboards, and sings two cuts. The vocals are a waste, and the grooves are standard issue, bright and bouncy. B-

Emily Bezar: Exchange (2008, DemiVox): Singer, keyboardist, from San Francisco or Berkeley, has 5 albums since 1993, maybe more. AMG has her as Alt Pop/Rock, likening her to Kate Bush -- the vocal resemblance is obvious, although I find Bezar a little more idiosyncratic at times, more arch at others, and overall much less interesting. C

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No final grades/notes this week on records put back for further listening the first time around.

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Some corrections and further notes on recent prospecting:

I erroneously identified Eri Yamamoto's Cobalt Blue as on AUM Fidelity. It was released on Thirsty Ear.

I got a couple of letters from musicians with B records -- explaining, cajoling, teasing, hoping I'll give their records another spin. Fat chance. While there are many combinations of good and bad that can sort out to B, one thing the grade notes is that I don't feel any need or reason to listen to the album again. Lack of time factors in -- especially the sense that putting more time into the record isn't going to return enough to write about. That, of course, is a guess. In JCG history, I can think of one record that I originally graded [B] that turned out A-, but there I was tentative for good reason. I can also recall one record Christgau originally graded B then returned to at year-end and re-reviewed as A-. (I had that particular record in my year-end top ten.) That that sort of thing can happen shows our fallibility, but it doesn't happen often. Most of my tentative grades wind up on target, and few shift more than one notch. On the other hand, I recognize that many records improve with familiarity. If I could really focus on records that I quickly dismiss I'd no doubt learn to like some quite a bit. But that's not how I work. What I do is more like triage, where we quickly and somewhat arbitrarily sort out who can survive and who can't. Stakes are lower. Anyone with a B record will probably get a chance to make a better one, and that's the one I'll take time to hear.

A few weeks back, I wrote a rant about Dynamod's Flash websites, which are pretty popular with musicians. They used to have a HTML mode, and still do if you follow the URL with /html/. What changed recently was that their no_flash.php redirect page didn't give you the option to view the site. I just rechecked and they've fixed that problem, offering you a link to see the HTML version. As much as I hate Flash, I don't grade records based on the artist websites. I try to put my irritations aside and say something about the music, at least in the grade.

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For this cycle's collected Jazz Prospecting notes, look here.