This is the surplus file for Jazz Consumer Guide #13. These are short reviews of records that for one reason or another have been dropped from active consideration while working on this column. These reviews will be published in the blog when the column comes out.
Many were culled at the end of the cycle, when the "done" file was reduced from 132 records to 66.
The Heckler by Juan Pablo Balcazar Quartet: Heckler City (2005, Fresh Sound New Talent): Some confusion on the group name or title or whatever, almost like this was meant as some sort of film noir soundtrack. Group leader is bassist Balcazar, working with tenor sax, guitar, drums -- all little recognized outside of Spain. One of those records I like quite a bit but can't quite describe and never seem to be able to get back to. Must be postbop. B+(***)
The Crimson Jazz Trio: The King Crimson Songbook Volume One (2005, Voiceprint): Standard issue piano trio, led by drummer Ian Wallace, who played in a Frippless spinoff group called 21st Century Schizoid Band, with Joey Nardone on piano, Tim Landers on fretless bass guitar. I'm surprised both that the songbook holds up so well and that they make so much of it. B+(***)
Hank Jones/Frank Wess: Hank and Frank (2003 [2006], Lineage): Would have been a logical tie-in to consider this for HM at the same time as the Jones-Lovano record, but the two records don't come close enough, and not just because Wess isn't a match for Lovano. Third wheel here is guitarist Ilya Lushtak, who runs an interesting label meant to score gigs with his heroes. He's actually better working on the Ray Appleton-Melvin Rhyne album. B+(**)
Tom Lellis: Avenue of the Americas (2004-05 [2006], Beamtide): Male jazz singer, combines the worst effects of heroes Mark Murphy and Jon Hendricks, but gets a pass on disarming modesty. Got some help from people I respect, and pretty much wasted it all. This should have been flagged as a Dud, but I chose not to waste my ammo on such a nonentity. C
John Lindberg/Karl Berger: Duets 1 (2004 [2007], Between the Lines): The sort of modest, minor, but charming record that gets killed by the numbers game here. One of the world's great bassist-composers, intimately bound to a pretty interesting guy on piano and vibes. About what you'd expect within those limits. B+(**)
Branford Marsalis: Braggtown (2006, Marsalis Music/Rounder): I recall him quoted as emphatically insisting that "Wynton's good for the music." I'm not so sure I agree, but I don't doubt that Branford is good for the music. His label does good work; even if his Marsalis Music Honors series makes players like Alvin Batiste and Michael Carvin out to be more mainstream than they really are (were in Batiste's case), they provide a real service. And Branford's a damn fine tenor sax player, not that he always plays up to snuff. He's weak on ballads; I'd like to hear him without a pianist (and not just without Joey Calderazzo); and I wish he'd lose the soprano. This is his average record, with the usual mix of good spots and not-so-good spots, for all the usual reasons. Actually, maybe a bit better than average. B+(**)
Delfeayo Marsalis: Minions Dominion (2002 [2006], Troubadour Jazz): Most enjoyable Marsalis album in recent memory. The family trombonist doesn't have the ego or ambitions of his older brothers, he makes a nice setting for the guests, and he keeps pretty good company: Branford and Donald Harrison split the sax chores, Mulgrew Miller plays piano, and Elvin Jones took on the drum kit -- a special treat. Good trombone, too. B+(**)
Myra Melford/Be Bread: The Image of Your Body (2003 [2006], Cryptogramophone): Jessica Williams attacked this savagely on a recent blindfold test, which motivates me to scratch both of their recent records from the list. Both are marginal HM candidates, somewhat more annoying than their grades indicate -- a backhanded testament to their talents. Pace Williams, Melford is an extraordinary pianist, but that's not fully in evidence here, with her harmonium experiments and a rather mixed bag of world-fusion helpers. B+(**)
Mike Melvoin Trio: You Know (2006, City Light): A very nice little piano trio -- the sort of thing that folks who like that sort of thing should like quite a bit, but even they may have trouble getting excited. B+(**)
Wolfgang Muthspiel/Brian Blade: Friendly Travelers (2006 [2007], Material): A casualty of convenience: in picking Bright Side as my Muthspiel pick hit, I cited this in a passing line, thereby knocking it off the priority list. The interplay with Blade is at least as enticing as anything on the trio album. The main reason I went with the trio was that I thought the bass resonance made it more accessible, and a slightly better picture of Muthspiel's unique guitar artistry. But I came damn close to going the other way, and if I had the space I'd do both. A-
Anders Nilsson's Aorta: Janus (2005, Kopasetic): A second album that got swept up in the pick hit review, but otherwise is worth citing on its own. More varied than Blood but less representative of what makes Nilsson unique. Saxophonist Mattias Carlson has some good moments. If anyone can turn heavy metal into jazz it's Nilsson, although the result isn't always as satisfying as you might hope. B+(***)
Les Primitifs du Future: World Musette (1999 [2006], Sunnyside): Not really a jazz album, although I kept it in the file based on the label, and the fact that its old-timey Eurofolk has so much slop and verve to it. R. Crumb is involved, in more than just cover art. A-
Matt Renzi: The Cave (2003 [2005], Fresh Sound New Talent): Plays tenor sax and clarinet, in a straightforward trio setting. Studied with George Garzone, then set out to travel the world. Learned from both. B+(***)
Irène Schweizer: First Choice: Piano Solo KKL Luzern (2005 [2006], Intakt): After Portrait I expressed a desire to hear her everything, then balked on the first new thing that came out -- tough, acerbic solo piano, natch. Then got struck from the label's mailing list, missing her later album with Hamid Drake, a couple of Alex von Schlippenbach 12-tone exercises, and who knows what else? Can't we be friends? B+(**)
David Sills: Down the Line (2005 [2006], Origin): Big toned tenor saxman, mainstream group with some recognizable names (Gary Foster, Larry Koonse, Alan Broadbent), and a drummer appropriately named Tim Pleasant. I like records like this so easily I may wind up being overly hard on them. B+(**)
Soft Machine: Grides (1970-71 [2006], Cuneiform): Space crunch here, compounded by the fact that I haven't fully done my homework. This makes a good case for the band's prog fusion as jazz, suggesting that studio albums I heard back in the day hadn't really been heard. Deprioritized after I wrote about this in RG, but interesting enough I've kept it on the list much too long. Still haven't watched the DVD. A-
Mike Stern: Who Let the Cats Out? (2006, Heads Up): Probably should have been a Dud, but so far managed to dodge that bullet three times, even though he got his mug on the cover of Downbeat. Ugly fusion, wasted guests, lousy vocals. B-
Jessica Williams: Billy's Theme: A Tribute to Dr. Billy Taylor (2006, Origin): Solo piano, something she's done a lot of, and manages to sustain a high level of interest despite the lack of color variation. The trick, of course, is rhythm -- few pianists can compete with her. In particular, Taylor can't, which makes me wonder how that angle fits in. B+(***)
Also dropping the following. Don't have anything to add to what was previously said in the prospecting notes (for this or some previous Jazz CG cycle).
Finally, the following appeared (or soon will) in Recycled Goods:
Vusi Mahlasela: Guiding Star (2007, ATO) B+(**)