Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The Myths of Superpowerdom

Tom Engelhart has an interesting and rather disturbing piece on the latest polls on the Iraq war. At this point, opposition to the Iraq war is, at least in terms of polls, as strong as opposition ever was to the Vietnam war, but the antiwar mobilization is far weaker. Here's his summary:

The Iraq demobilization, then, is certainly part of a larger demobilization, a deeper belief that, as Bill Moyers made vividly clear in a recent speech, your vote doesn't matter; that democracy is a-functional; that none of this has anything to do with you, or your ballot, or your feet, or your sign, or your shout.

Our world has changed radically since the Vietnam era. Today, an increasing part of what matters in public life (and work life) has been "privatized" and subcontracted out, or simply outsourced. The U.S. military has essentially been subcontracted out to small-town and immigrant or green-card America -- to, that is, the forgotten or ignored places in our land; as a result, for most people in draft-less America, the war is not part of our lives or that of our children. (The draft itself has been carefully kept off the table by the Bush administration, despite the desperation of a body-hungry, overstretched military.) In addition, war-fighting has been outsourced to private corporate contractors who deliver the mail and the fuel, do KP, wash the laundry, build the bases, and, in the case of tens of thousands of rent-a-cop mercenaries, do some of the guarding, fighting, and interrogating in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And yes, the political system has increasingly been subcontracted out, with malice aforethought, to thieves, looters, cronies, and absolute dopes. Little wonder that Americans, living through the Age of Enron, scanning the horizon from Iraq to New Orleans to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and watching Halliburton head for Dubai, generally believe their system no longer works; that those high-school civics texts are a raging joke (that, in fact, fierce joking, à la Jon Stewart, is the only reasonable response to the extreme, roiling absurdity of this administration as well as our world); and that, if you took to the streets of the capital, no one in either party would be paying the slightest attention.

No wonder Americans have arrived at a series of striking conclusions on Iraq, but haven't done much about them.

Of course, this goes further than demobilization. This is part and parcel of a disengagement from politics at all levels -- or at least from progressive politics, by which I mean politics aiming at advancing the spread of equal rights throughout the populace. For a couple of centuries one could see that advance as inevitable progress, but something happened to it. Coincidentally, one started talking about postmodernism, as if modernity had hit a brick wall and could progress no more.

In many ways that brick wall was the Vietnam war. The problem there wasn't that the US lost the war, let alone deserved to lose the war. The problem was that the war's promoters managed to hang on to power -- not in Vietnam, but in Washington, where they would eventually turn the war into myths that led directly to Iraq. In classic shoot-the-messenger mode, they sought to pin their defeat on on the antiwar movement: to characterize the loss in Vietnam as a loss of will in America. To do that they had to turn against democracy: they needed to show us that protest doesn't work, that they can hold onto power regardless of the polls. They could do that in large part because the anti-communist consensus dominated both parties, allowing no opposition. Eventually, their efforts jelled into mythology, which had the remarkable effect of moving politics out of the real world and into fantasy. Just in the nick of time, too, given that US power in the world was slipping, as was the lot of most working Americans.

Ultimately that leads to the current state, where the problems are obvious and even the solutions are obvious but no politicians can face up to the obvious because they've all been selected for their skills in navigating the mythic world of US superpowerdom.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

Music: Current count 13000 [12975] rated (+25), 834 [834] unrated (+0). Hit a major round number milestone this week. Actually surprised to have pulled in +25 this week -- didn't seem all that productive. Working on Recycled Goods. Having replaced March's column with a greatest hits stop gap, I had quite a bit of backlog going into April, and that's grown to 80 at this point. Almost two column's worth, so I can hold back a bunch and not get pinched by May. I could use a couple of relatively slack months to get some long-postponed work done.

• Introducing Nat Adderley (1955 [2001], Verve): Fine introduction, in a quintet with older brother Julian, Horace Silver, Paul Chambers, and Roy Haynes. Appealing hard bop, bright trumpet. B+
• Count Basie: Kansas City Powerhouse (Bluebird's Best) (1929-49 [2002], Bluebird): The label goes with what it's got, which in this case means Benny Moten's Kansas City Orchestra in 1929-32 with Basie on piano and pretty much in the driver's seat plus some 1947-49 sessions. The former were formerly available in a full CD called Basie Beginnings, worth searching for. The latter is transitional, with some great solos like the '30s band and some sharp arranging -- final track, "Blee Blop Blues," sounds downright New Testament. One Jimmy Rushing track. B+
• Georg Graewe, Ernst Reijseger, Gerry Hemingway: The View From Points West (1991 [1994], Music & Arts): Interesting group -- a later album, Saturn Cycle, by the same trio is a personal favorite -- but this one is hard to hear. Long stretches of quiet, or faint squeaks of cello, and generally not enough piano, although the leads are captivating. Hemingway, too. B+(*)
• Billie Holiday: The Commodore Master Takes (1939-44 [2000], Polygram): Four sessions, four cuts each, starting with "Strange Fruit" and ending "On the Sunny Side of the Street." Extraordinary singer, but you know that. On the other hand, the bands didn't offer much, especially compared to the earlier sessions with Teddy Wilson and a plethora of stars, or the later ones under Norman Granz. Is Lem Davis your idea of an alto saxophonist? So this isn't essential, and not for completists either, given the alternative of the 2-CD The Complete Commodore Recordings padded out with all the scraps. B+
• Matisyahu: Youth (2006, JDub/Epic): Your basic Hasidic reggae-copping hip-hopper: a concept more intriguing in theory than in fact, mostly because the standard issue beats marshall the words past you before they have a chance to sink in -- or maybe they just lack the weight, given that G-d can be trivial as well as profound. B
• John Phillips (John the Wolfking of L.A.) (1970 [2006], Varèse Sarabande): The Mamas and the Papas go solo, down to one papa, shorn of the pomp and fluff the group ran on when the hits thinned out, with a bit of roots to match the stubble of his beard; more promising than the his non-career delivered, padded with eight bonus tracks. B+(**)
• Jill Scott: Beautifully Human (2004, Hidden Beach): Been playing Mary J. Blige and thinking about whatever it is that makes post-1990 soul music sound so much less appealing than the older stuff -- even stuff from the '80s which is oft transitional. For a while I was thinking that Scott is significantly better than that, but further listening reveals some of the tics that turn me off Blige and others. Scott's edge, like Macy Gray's, is that she's more of an auteur -- she pushes her stories harder. Also, she's not out to impress you with church roots. B+(***)
• Zoot Sims: That Old Feeling (1956 [1995], Chess): Two sessions recorded late in 1956, released originally as Zoot on Argo and Zoot Sims Plays Alto, Tenor, and Baritone on ABC, omitting two tracks from the latter. Both are quartets with John Williams (piano), Knobby Totah (bass), and Gus Johnson (drums), with Sims overdubbing horn section parts on the latter. As a young player, Sims managed to stradle bop and swing without ever getting rutted in either. That may not have qualified him as an innovator, but he was a damn impeccable craftsman, as even the overdubs show. A-
• Tierney Sutton: Something Cool (2002, Telarc): Jazz singer with a piano trio for backup and an interesting mix of standards. Two Patsy Cline songs and a latin-tinged "Comes Love" are the most immediately appealing. The title song takes more work, but comes out acceptably. B+(*)
• Teddybears: Soft Machine (2006, Big Beat/Atlantic): Three Swedes craft catchy beats behind guest vocalists, the best known/most obvious being Iggy Pop and Neneh Cherry -- the latter has the choice cut, the former the odd song out, but it holds up anyway. Other cuts are subtler. A-
• Vieux Farka Toure (2006 [2007], World Village): Don't know if the name is given -- who in their right mind would name a son "old man"? -- but judging from the music it is well earned: the second coming of Ali Farka Toure's desert blues, moderated by the more intricate sound of Toumani Diabaté's kora, with a bit of the father's last guitar patched in as if passing a baton. B+(***)
• Lucinda Williams: West (2007, Lost Highway): Doesn't sound like she's enjoying herself. Still one helluva songwriter. A-

Jazz Prospecting (CG #13, Part 3)

Jazz Consumer Guide #12 came out last week, under the title "No Training Wheels Necessary" -- thanks to Rob Harvilla for that, and for taking a light hand during what could have been a very arduous editing period. I felt a little frustration in featuring long-time faves Molvaer and Vandermark as Pick Hits, but none of the others managed to beat them out. The rest of the A-list is more varied, as are the Honorable Mentions. I have so much stuff left over that I should be able to push a good case for a two-month cycle, but this week has gone into the more pressing Recycled Goods deadline. Accordingly, what follows as Jazz Prospecting was really fallout from Recycled Goods. The latter is in pretty good shape now -- should be done in a couple of days, and posted nearly on schedule.

I've done all the requisite website cleanup for ending JCG moved to the notebook. I'm carrying 12 reviews over from JCG file has another 135 records -- 53 prospected but put back for further listening, 82 unheard (or at least unprospected). Of course, those numbers were already obsoleted by today's mail, but that gives you a rough idea of the starting point.

I should also note that the ratings database has hit the 13000 album mark.

Funky Organ: B3 Jazz Grooves (1997-2006 [2007], High Note): The packaging and the concept reminds me of those compilations Joel Dorn threw out to expedite the recycling of the Muse catalog on his later, now defunct 32 Jazz label. They represented recycling at its crassest -- arbitrary compilations sold purely as mood music, but they sold well enough (and were profitable enough) that Savoy Jazz has kept many (most?) of the titles in print. The connection is all the more obvious given that Dorn bought Muse from Joe Fields, who went on to start the catalogues plundered here. At least there's no attempt to pump up the historical significance: these records aren't meant for people who hope to learn something, even on a subject as trivial as late-'90s soul jazz. The Hammond was funkier in the late '50s and '60s when soul jazz developed out of r&b, and it's been increasingly rote ever since -- a staple crop of minor interest. Even within its limits High Note doesn't exactly have a command of the market: past-prime Charles Earland and Reuben Wilson, minor newcomers Bill Heid and Mike LeDonne, two generations of DeFrancescos. B

Jazz After Midnight (1998-2006 [2007], High Note): Well, no, this is recycling at its crassest. I suppose it's inevitable that "after midnight" translates to ballads, but that doesn't explain the choice of flute (James Spaulding) and organ (Mike LeDonne, Joey DeFrancesco). Indeed, the organ pieces will never be taken for funky. Aside from those low points, there are worthwhile cuts -- especially the opener by Houston Person and the closer by Fathead Newman. Note that both came from better albums, even though neither made my A-list. B-

Ornette Coleman: To Whom Who Keeps a Record (1959-60 [2007], Water): Odds and sods, released Japan-only in 1975 but not in the US until boxed for Beauty Is a Rare Thing: The Complete Atlantic Recordings. Starts with an outtake from Change of the Century with Don Cherry on pocke trumpet, Charlie Haden on bass, Billy Higgins on drums; filled out with leftovers from This Is Our Music with Ed Blackwell replacing Higgins. At this point this sounds so typical of the classic Coleman quartet that it's hard to wax ecstatic and impossible to fault. Art of the Improvisers and Twins picked over the same sessions first; it's hard to figure why these cuts were passed over, unless it's the relative prominence of Cherry. A-

Ray Charles/The Count Basie Orchestra: Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006, Concord/Hear Music): First, let's clear this gripe away: Concord has dropped or fumbled me off their mailing list. I don't know whether that's accidental or deliberate. Don't know whether citing Chick Corea and Taylor Eigsti as duds has a thing to do with it, or they just don't care that Scott Hamilton has two A- albums and an Honorable Mention to his credit. Maybe it's both malevolence and incompetence, as suggested by one of the company's exes who described Concord as "the Bush Administration of the record industry." So, despite asking for this several times, and having been promised it at least once, I'm listening to it courtesy of the Wichita Public Library. As for the record, the first thing to point out is that it is a case of fraud: Charles never recorded with Count Basie; Charles's vocals were lifted from an undated live tape, most likely from the late '70s; the arrangements were newly recorded by the Basie ghost band, now directed by Bill Hughes, 22 years after the Count passed away, and for that matter two years after the singer died. The second thing is that it sounds pretty near-great, passably realizing its "what if" concept. Two reasons for this: first, Charles himself sounds great, even if pieces like "The Long and Winding Road" and "Look What They've Done to My Song" aren't up snuff; second, the Basie-trademarked arrangements were fit to the vocals with a smartness that never would have occurred to them live. It also helps that originating as a live concert Charles recycles some dependable warhorses. Docked a couple of stars for fraud. I could have gone deeper, but don't want you to think I prefer Genius Loves Company. B+(*)

Jaki Byard: Sunshine of My Soul (1978 [2007], High Note): Solo piano, recorded live at Keystone Korner in San Francisco. Nothing strikes me as new or particularly interesting here, but I'm not much of a fan of solo anything. That said, Byard has a strong presence, and he expertly works his way around a broad songbook -- including a Mingus medley, "Spinning Wheel," "Besame Mucho," a bit of boogie woogie. Don't know how this compares to his other solo albums, like the early Blues for Smoke (1960) or the later At Maybeck (1991), both well regarded. B+(*)

Zoot Sims: Zoot Suite (1973 [2007], High Note): Grew up in a vaudeville family, picked up the tenor sax, and made a name for himself with Benny Goodman and Woody Herman, emerging as one of the latter's legendary "four brothers" sax section. On his own, his discography splits into two chunks: he recorded a lot in the late '50s, with 1956 a bellweather year (cf. Zoot!), but he faded in the '60s, with nothing between 1966-72. Norman Granz brought him back in 1975 for Zoot Sims and the Gershwin Brothers, where his distinct tone and innate sense of swing reinvigorated the whole songbook, and kicked off a marvelous run until he succumbed to cancer a decade later. This poorly recorded archival tape leads into the latter period, one of the few great second acts in jazz history. The quartet with pianist Jimmy Rowles, bassist George Mraz, and drummer Mousey Alexander is in gear. The songbook looks back to Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, and Sims' main influence, Lester Young. Sims even unveils his soprano sax "Rocking in Rhythm." Not exactly history being made; more like one of those faint tremors the significance of which emerges later. B+(**)

And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further listening the first time around.

The Microscopic Septet: Seven Men in Neckties: History of the Micros Volume One (1982-90 [2006], Cuneiform, 2CD): Long before Sex Mob, this was the sound of New York's avant-garde yearning to be popular. The Micros matched a sax quartet led by Philip Johnston on alto and soprano with a rhythm section led by pianist Joel Forrester. Both leaders were clever, writing a little and appropriating a lot. Johnston trod on after the Micros' demise with groups like Big Trouble, the Transparent Quartet, and Fast 'N' Bulbous, while making ends meet by hacking film scores. The Penguin Guide sums him up aptly: "the perfect Tzadik artist: intellectual, playful, perverse and generically undefinable." That could also describe Tzadik honcho John Zorn, but Francis Davis adds that Johnston's is "a kinder, gentler postmodernism." Unfortunately, the abundant good humor lacks a killer punch line. B+(*)

The Microscopic Septet: Surrealistic Swing: History of the Micros Volume Two (1981-90 [2006], Cuneiform, 2CD): Comparisons to the Lounge Lizards were inevitable, but Philip Johnston points out: "When the Lounge Lizards wore suits and ties they looked cool and hip and aloof; when the Micros wore suits and ties, we looked like a bunch of unemployed vacuum cleaner salesmen." Volume One's Seven Men in Neckties title reflects the dissheveled eclecticism of their first two albums. Volume Two's title, referring to the music rather than the musicians, suggests that they found themselves, and indeed they finally hit their stride in 1986's Off Beat Glory. Postmodernism can mean distance from the past, as with the Lounge Lizards, or it can take a playfully perverse turn by diving back into a past shorn of its historical bindings and context. Still, their limits are literal: you can conjure up a pretty good idea of what surrealistic swing might sound like even before you play this fine example. B+(**)

Friday, March 23, 2007

The Meritocracy

Before we were so rudely interrupted, I had a Tony Karon quote flagged that I meant to turn into a posting. I finally got back to digging through his blog and recovered it. Like so much having to do with Iraq, it hasn't lost any relevancy:

The U.S. media with very few exceptions enabled the catastrophic war in Iraq by its failure to challenge the core assumptions on which the march to war was based -- assumptions which were patently false -- patently, that is, for anyone daring to break with a nationalist consensus fueled by demagogues in the Administration and among the neocon and "liberal hawk" talking heads (Yes, folks, the Tom Friedmans and Peter Beinarts and George Packers are every bit as responsible for enabling this moral and political disaster as were the Kristols, Krauthammers and O'Reillys -- not that having been wrong about Iraq has harmed anyone's infotainment career . . . )

At that point Karon links to a piece by Jebediah Reed on the track record of war advocate and meritocracy advocate David Brooks:

A few years ago, David Brooks, New York Times columnist and media pundit extraordinaire, penned a love letter to the idea of meritocracy. It is "a way of life that emphasizes . . . perpetual improvement, and permanent exertion," he effused, and is essential to America's dynamism and character. Fellow glorifiers of meritocracy have noted that our society is superior to nepotistic backwaters like Krygystan or France because we assign the most important jobs based on excellence. This makes us less prone to stagnancy or, worse yet, hideous national clusterfucks like fighting unwinnable wars for reasons nobody understands.

Reed then goes on to review the words and fates of four pro-war pundits: Thomas Friedman, Peter Beinart, Fareed Zakaria, and Jeffrey Goldberg. (Reed chose not to dwell on Brooks on the theory that the conservatives run in packs following the party line, while pundits with liberal or moderate or centrist reputations should have been less predictable -- they carried more weight precisely because their prowar stance was not taken for granted.) Reed's main point is how well businesswise these disastrously wrong pundits have fared -- a point he underscores by bringing up Robert Scheer (fired in 2005 by the LA Times), William S. Lind (a marginal arch-conservative), Jonathan Schell (author of The Unconquerable World, now without even his Nation column), and Scott Ritter (the only one I can think of who actually argued that the US could be beaten militarily in Iraq).

I've had a low opinion of liberals since the late '60s when they were the leading figures at rationalizing the Vietnam war. Some of those liberals, starting with Norman Podhoretz, have since mutated into the neoconservatives who marched the country into Iraq. Those people are power-mad fanatics, but they couldn't have succeeded had they not been able to persuade large numbers of more sober conservatives and moderates of the desirability and plausibility of their project. What made this possible was the marginalization of genuine critics and the promotion of the muddle-headed liberal pundits, who effectively legitimized the neocon stories even when they expressed doubts. The main agent in this was the media, which has likewise yet to be held accountable for their own gross errors.

Perhaps thinking of this long-pending post, I've finally started reading George Packer's The Assassin's Gate, which -- at least early on -- is largely concerned with the romantic liberal path to war. It takes an extraordinary amount of self-deception to imagine that a government led by someone like Bush could catalyze a sudden re-ordering of civil society in a nation ravaged by more than two decades of war and privation over which most of its people had no say and no representation. It takes vast ignorance of Iraq and the whole area. It takes a completely clueless self-regard on the part of Americans. It takes the conviction that war can be a constructive force. On some level even Packer has come to the point of realizing that there's something wrong with this fantasy. And there is some evidence that most Americans have grown at least suspicious. But when you listen to the mainstream debate -- e.g., the Congressional debates on war funding -- it's clear that we're still a long ways from understanding what went wrong in Iraq.

The sign to look for to tell when/if we finally turn the corner is when the media start seeking out those who were right all along on Iraq and shunning those who were wrong. It may be possible to push meritocracy too far, but in the present when merit has such low regard we are lost and subject to manipulations. Unfortunately, the media have no motivation to lead the way -- except citizenship, perhaps; what a quaint concept.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Jazz Consumer Guide #12: No Training Wheels Necessary

The long-awaited Jazz Consumer Guide (#12) has finally appeared at the Village Voice. It had been scheduled for two weeks ago, then got bumped at the last minute. The previous one was published on Dec. 13, 2006, so this is actually just a week more than the three months that has been the normal period since the column's inception. Still, it feels longer -- for one thing, Jazz Prospecting for this cycle went on the fourteen weeks and 247 records. In the end, 33 made the cut.

As usual, I wrote about 600 words more than the Voice was able to fit in. The excess will be held back for next time, but I'll go ahead and list the holds here -- check the prospecting notes for more info. The following records, all A-, were held back from the main section:

• Club D'Elf: Now I Understand (Accurate)
• Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There (Libra)
• Gato Libre: Nomad (No Man's Land)
• Rudresh Mahanthappa: Codebook (Pi)
• Bob Reynolds: Can't Wait for Perfect (Fresh Sound New Talent)
• Sound in Action Trio: Gate (Atavistic)
• Frank Wright: Unity (1974, ESP-Disk)

And the following were held back from the Honorable Mentions list:

• Carneyball Johnson (Akron Cracker)
• BassDrumBone: The Line Up (Clean Feed)
• Satoko Fujii/Natsuki Tamura: In Krakow in November (Not Two)
• Dave Liebman: Back on the Corner (Tone Center)
• Russell Malone: Live at Jazz Standard: Volume One (MaxJazz)

Other records have been noted and graded but not yet written up for Jazz CG. This sort of foot-dragging is normal -- part of the reason it all seems to take so long. As readers of the prospecting notes know, there are good records not mentioned above but in the pipeline by Fred Anderson, Steve Lacy, Wolfgang Muthspiel, Vittor Santos, and Sonic Liberation Front, and promising ones by others. I've started to do the pruning that happens every cycle as I realize that there are some records I'm never going to be able to squeeze in. These go into the surplus file. Most of that file just lists records that have been covered in prospecting notes, but I've written a few extra notes where I feel further explanation is warranted:

Omer Avital Group: Room to Grow (1997 [2007], Smalls): The second volume of archival tapes from the Israeli bassist's long residence at Smalls, a legendary NYC afterhours club, where he held a long residence riding herd over a bunch of tough young saxophonists: Greg Tardy, Grant Stewart, Charles Owens, Myron Walden, names worth looking out for. B+(***)

Serge Chaloff: Boston Blow-Up! (1955 [2006], Capitol Jazz): The ill-fated baritone saxophonist's masterpiece was Blue Serge (1956), an elegant quartet where everything goes right. This earlier sextet is much sloppier but nearly as impressive -- the three horns achieving a balance of raw power and feather light touch that producer Stan Kenton often aimed for and rarely achieved. A-

Conjure: Bad Mouth (2005 [2006], American Clavé, 2CD): Long after two '80s albums, another helping of Ishmael Reed texts, read by the man over Kip Hanrahan's music. The first was called Conjure: Music for the Texts of Ishmael Reed, the title becoming a virtual group of sorts. I dig the concept, admire the man, only wish the music was a bit better -- especially from what looks on paper to be a Latin percussion dream team. Only David Murray truly rises to the occasion. B+(**)

Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid: The Exchange Session Vol. 2 (2005 [2006], Domino): Enough of a fall-off this didn't quite merit an Honorable Mention to go along with Vol. 1's A-. Same ideas, but some experiments works better than others. B+(**)

Jay McShann: Hootie Blues (2006, Stony Plain): Last album by the Kansas City bandleader, who lasted way beyond his standard 15 minutes of fame, reinventing himself as one of the last whorehouse piano players and surviving Ralph Sutton to claim the title. Seems like a typical album, but worth a spin when you read his obit. B+(**)

Harry Miller's Isipingo: Which Way Now (1975 [2006], Cuneiform): A sextet, half South African exiles, half English avants, roaring through a 75-minute Radio Bremen air shot. Trombonist Nick Evans is especially noteworthy, and Keith Tippett's piano get a good airing out, but most of the interest focuses on two South Africans who died tragically young, leaving us with little: trumpeter Mongezi Feza and leader-bassist Miller. A-

Nils Petter Molvaer: Live: Streamer (2002 [2006], Thirsty Ear): I gave this an Honorable Mention when it originally came out on Molvaer's own Sula label, and liked it even more when I heard the reissue. But not as much as my Pick Hit ER, a review that at least mentions this. Live electronica always seems like an oxymoron, but the chance to revisit older material often points up some interesting new twists, and perhaps more importantly lets you choose stronger pieces. A-

Odyssey the Band: Back in Town (2005 [2006], Pi): Third time around for James Blood Ulmer, Charles Burnham, and Warren Wenbow, whose original Odyssey tour de force is still striking enough to knock our ears. Francis Davis praised this. Robert Christgau Consumer Guided it. I had it in my top ten list, and revisited it in Recycled Goods. Seems redundant to keep plugging it at this point, unless I find myself hard up for a Pick Hit. A-

I should also note that I've weeded out another handful of records that Francis Davis praised in the Voice. As the grades indicate, I'm quite fond of most of these. It's just that given the space squeeze I have little to add (see the prospecting notes) and too many others to try to squeeze in:

• Fred Anderson: Timeless: Live at the Velvet Lounge (2005 [2006], Delmark) A-
• Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: MTO Volume 1 (2005 [2006], Sunnyside) A-
• The Andy Biskin Quartet: Early American: The Melodies of Stephen Foster (2000 [2006], Strudelmedia) B+(***)
• Houston Person/Bill Charlap: You Taught My Heart to Sing (2004 [2006], High Note) B+(***)
• The Source (2005 [2006], ECM) B+(***)
• Steve Swallow With Robert Creeley: So There (2001-05 [2006], ECM/XtraWatt) B+(***)
• The David S. Ware Quartet: BalladWare (1999 [2006], Thirsty Ear) A-

Some of those I've written about elsewhere, such as in Recycled Goods. If I had more space, it would be nice to make Jazz Consumer Guide more comprehensive. But, alas, that would also take more time and resources, and I'm somewhat at wit's end as it is.

Publicist letter:

The Village Voice has published my 12th Jazz Consumer Guide column:

  http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0712,hull,76137,22.html

I've also posted an announcement on my blog, which has more info,
including info on space effects: what got held back, some things
I'm skipping entirely. I've also updated my website to reflect
this column and manage the next column cycle: here's hoping that

You're receiving this mail because I have you on a hacked up list
of folks who have sent me jazz records. I don't have a good way
of managing this list -- in particular, no way for interested
parties to just sign up for it. If you're on the list mistakenly
please let me know.

I figure that thanks to you I get a chance to listen to something
like 30% of the new jazz released each year. That means I wind up
hearing something like 700 records a year. The columns come up
more/less quarterly -- we've never been good at scheduling, and
the Voice has had some turmoil lately, but we're still only a
couple of weeks late. I cram as much in as possible, but that
still winds up with something like the 33 records listed this
time. Obviously, most of what I hear doesn't make it into the
column, but I do manage to write up brief Jazz Prospecting Notes
on everything I get, and post them in weekly installments each
Monday on my blog. The prospecting notes are then archived per
cycle. Other lists and tables are used to keep track of things:
what comes in, what gets rated, what's under consideration, and
what's not. And, of course, some stuff gets shunted off to my
Recycled Goods column -- especially old music and world stuff.
It all winds up in a database which sometime in the next week
or two should number more than 13,000 albums.

For more info, see: http://tomhull.com/ocston/music.php

Thanks.

The following are the notes from bk-print for Jazz CG #12:

• Omer Avital: The Ancient Art of Giving (2006, Smalls): After Frank Hewitt, Israeli bassist Avital is the second little-known Smalls regular Luke Kaven has set out to document. Volume 1 was compiled from 1996 tapes and released earlier this year as Asking No Permission. It featured a long list of post-Branford saxophonists -- the best known being Mark Turner. I found it hard to sort the compositions out from the clutter, but a decade later he's got it nailed down. The quintet features Turner on tenor sax, Avishai Cohen on trumpet, Aaron Goldberg on piano, and Ali Jackson on drums. Avital's pieces set the horns free -- neither Turner nor Cohen have pronounced avant leanings, but they enjoy the freedom. Jackson avoids the hard bop clichés, playing light and letting the rhythm slosh around a bit. Piano gets a few nice runs too. Recorded live on two nights at Fat Cat. Seems like I've been complaining about applause a lot recently, so I should note that there is some here, but unlike the Jarrett record, it's proportional, often coming at opportune moments -- always a good sign when the audience swings with the band. A-
• Sathima Bea Benjamin: Song Spirit (1963-2002 [2006], Ekapa): Forty years and an extraordinary run of pianists for the South African singer, more at home in the jazz tradition -- "Lush Life" and "Careless Love" are choice cuts -- than in her Africa-themed originals, which tend to be anthemic. Anyone tempted by Madeleine Peyroux should give her a chance. B+(***)
• Cheryl Bentyne: The Book of Love (2006, Telarc): She's enough of a pro that she delivers a perfectly good rendition of perfectly good songs -- a "You Don't Know Me," a "Cry Me a River," anything by Cole Porter. But she's not great enough to get anything out of a song that isn't already there, and the musicians aren't any help at all -- least of all the City of Prague Symphony Orchestra Strings, who might as well serenade Brezhnev. And the title cut gets turned to ethereal fluff by Take 6. Twice. Concepts aren't a strong suit either. C-
• Ignacio Berroa: Codes (2005 [2006], Blue Note): Following in Chano Pozo's footsteps, Berroa moved to New York in 1980 and found a job in Dizzy Gillespie's band. But his Afro-Cuban roots were attenuated -- he blames Castro for suppressing Yoruba religion and restricting his schooling to the Euroclassics. Even here, the most characteristic Cuban rhythms come not from trad percussion but from Gonzalo Rubalcaba's piano and Felipe LaMoglia's saxophones. He plays traps, but has mastered the coding to produce an effective pan-American synthesis. A-
• Regina Carter: I'll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey (2006, Verve): She describes this project as "a life saver for me. After my mother made her transition last year, it was the darkest period of my life." The songs Carter opts for here point back to the '40s, affections presumably handed down to her through her mother. The Grieg piece leading off comes from a John Kirby arrangement. Afterwards, the pieces range from "St. Louis Blues" to "A-Tisket, A-Tasket" to "Bei Mir Bist Du Schön" to "I'll Be Seeing You," with one original called "How Ruth Felt." Five songs have vocals -- three by Carla Cook, two by Dee Dee Bridgewater, the latter choice cuts. Paquito D'Rivera plays clarinet on five; Gil Goodstein accordion on three of those plus two others. The swing era songs bring out the Grappelli in Carter's violin -- a big improvement after that awful Paganini album. No doubt her mother would have loved this. Come to think of it, mine would have, too. B+(***)
• Maurice El Médioni Meets Roberto Rodriguez: Descarga Oriental: The New York Sessions (2005 [2006], Piranha): Superficially, this is Cuban music sung in French and maybe a little Arabic, the meeting of an Algerian pianist (Jewish, based in France, a figure of some importance in the development of raï) and a Cuban percussionist (Judeophile, passed through Miami to New York, where he records for Tzadik's Radical Jewish Culture series). El Médioni traces his family tree back to al-Andalus, where Jews and Arabs created Spanish music, roots that not even Torquemada could stamp out. That Arab-Sephardic music lay at the base of Cuban music, augmented by much from Africa, waiting to be unpacked in meetings such as this inspired jam session. A-
• Ellery Eskelin: Quiet Music (2006, Prime Source, 2CD): Still working on him. I've played five background records several times each without writing prospecting notes. Two are likely to wind up A-, with the others high B+, the preference going to the ones most wholly dependent on his sax. This new one is relatively more varied, both in his efforts at containing the title's irony and in the addition of vocalist Jessica Constable to his long-term trio -- Andrea Parkins on piano (or organ or accordion) and Jim Black on drums. The voice can be dramatic, obscure, merely instrumental, or absent, adding complication that is not always unwelcome but something of a distraction. But the sprawling music keeps growing on me. B+(***)
• Kali Z. Fasteau/Kidd Jordan: People of the Ninth: New Orleans and the Hurricane 2005 (2005 [2006], Flying Note): Presumably Jordan makes his living trad jazz back home in New Orleans, but driven away by the flood, he's become the Crescent City's unofficial ambassador to New York's jazz underground. A good record with familiar faces William Parker and Hamid Drake resulted -- the Kidd was on his best behavior and the tag team was typically brilliant. Here Jordan helps to steady Kali Z's inveterate eclecticism, providing a consistent sonic center for her piano, cello, and soprano sax. Drummer Michael T.A. Thompson's name didn't fit the spine, but he referees here, and switches to balafon for a duet with Kali's nai flute -- the most attractive cut here. B+(**)
• Von Freeman: Good Forever (2006, Premonition): He's always had a distinctively thin, fragile sound, so the surprise here is how well he keeps it hidden. At 84, he may have slowed down, but that's possibly because this mainstream quartet never pushes him. Even so, sometimes he does reach for notes that aren't there, slipping into a muffled screech. Only then does his sax balladry reverts to form. B+(***)
• Dennis González Boston Project: No Photograph Available (2003 [2006], Clean Feed): Recorded live in Boston on a sidetrip with a quickly assembled group of locals: Either/Or Orchestra saxophonist Charlie Kohlhase, bassists Nate McBride and Joe Morris, and a teenaged Morris student named Croix Galipault on drums. The basses are central, slipping into scratchy duets when the horns back off, or more often setting up a pulse which the horns mimic and amplify. González had largely slipped off the radar playing with his Dallas band Yells at Eels, but this started an outreach that led to a remarkable series of albums: NY Midnight Suite, Nile River Suite, and especially Idle Wild. Compared to them, this is rough and a bit tentative. B+(**)
• Scott Hamilton: Nocturnes & Serenades (2005 [2006], Concord): A set of slow standards, with "Autumn Nocturne" and "Serenade in Blue" tying into the title, "You Go to My Head" and "Chelsea Bridge" more instantly recognizable, and "Man With a Horn" his definitive statement. In other words, pretty much his typical record. The English quartet doesn't have the snap of Back in New York, but sometimes sax is best when you take it nice and easy. A-
• Hat: Hi Ha (2005 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Sergi Sirvent is an up and coming Spanish jazz pianist with a handful of impressive records over the last few years. Here he adds guitarist Jordi Matas to his trio and finds the perfect balance. At first it sounds like a mistake when he tries to sing one, but even that he puts over on pure emotion. A-
• Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid: The Exchange Session Vol. 1 (2005 [2006], Domino): Hebden usually does business as Four Tet, with a couple of the better electronica albums I've heard in the last few years. Reid is a drummer who can list James Brown, Fela Kuti, and Martha and the Vandellas on his resume, but I know him best for a self-released 1976 album with Arthur Blythe called Rhythmatism (reissued in 2004 on Universal Sound). The purported model here was a 1972 sax-drums album called Duo Exchange with Rashied Ali and Frank Lowe (reissued in 1999 by Knitting Factory, and well worth searching out), but the match isn't all that close. Reid enjoys a good beat more than Ali, while Hebden's electronics are more diffuse than the solitary point of Lowe's sax. Three pieces, just 36:45 long, recorded live with no overdubs or edits -- about right for an early '70s vintage Impulse, but they keep their spiritual concerns wrapped up in dense layers of sound. A-
• Mark Helias' Open Loose: Atomic Clock (2004 [2006], Radio Legs Music): Bassist-led sax trio, with Tony Malaby taking charge, and Tom Rainey on the drums. Not sure how much to credit the composition here, since the hard chargers are the ones that work best. B+(***)
• Frank Hewitt: Fresh From the Cooler (1996 [2006], Smalls): Hewitt was a bebop pianist who almost slipped through 66 years of life without leaving a trace. But he built a cult during an eight year residency at Smalls jazz club, inspiring a label to no small degree dedicated to his legacy. This makes four posthumous albums, with more on the shelf -- at least one more from this date, a trio with Ari Roland and Jimmy Lovelace. The songs are jazz standards, but there's nothing overly familiar about them -- even "Cherokee" and "Monk's Mood" skirt the melodies for hidden nuances. A-
• John Hicks: Sweet Love of Mine (2006, High Note): Table scraps, including snatches of Ray Mantilla percussion, Elise Wood flutes, Javon Jackson sax, and three pieces of solo piano, as if no one had the slightest idea what they were doing or what the future might hold. As it was, Hicks died a month later, so take this cockeyed mess as a memorial, note that his improbable helpers looked up to him -- and like he's done throughout his career, he makes them better -- and enjoy the piano, poignant alone, playful together. B+(**)
• Andrew Hill: Pax (1965 [2006], Blue Note): Now that Hill's lived long enough to have become a legend, his old (and now new) label is finally bringing his old catalog back in print. This session has always had problems seeing the light of day: the original was shelved until 1975 when it finally came out as part of a garbage collection project. It isn't garbage. It should have sold fine just on names -- Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard, Richard Davis, Joe Chambers -- but it's actually better than that. Hill's piano is always into something surprising, and the horns take the hint and play much further out than expected. A-
• Maurice Hines: To Nat "King" Cole With Love (2005 [2006], Arbors): Gregory's big brother comes close enough to the mark to beg the question, why pick this over originals that still sound as great as ever. Hines is a smooth, agile singer, but can't touch Cole's voice. But the band consistently spans Cole's career, with more muscle than the Trio and none of the dross of Cole's orchestras. And the songs live on: Cole was the hippest of the pre-rock pop stars, by a margin that has only grown since. A-
• Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet: Way Out East (2005 [2006], Songlines): Horvitz has been gravitating toward classical music for a while now, and this comes close without going over the deep end line his string quartets. The pieces exhibit swingless chamber music, often with sudden shifts of time -- "Ladies and Gentleman" is an extreme example -- or with simple rhythmic motifs that provide a backdrop for shmears of sound -- see "Berlin 1914," which is the piece that ultimately won me over. The instrumentation is unusual: bassoon for the bottom, trumpet for the top, cello for the meat, piano for the dressing, electronics for the hell of it. It's not the sort of thing I normally like, which may mean it's even better than I think. B+(***)
• Kidd Jordan/Hamid Drake/William Parker: Palm of Soul (2005 [2006], AUM Fidelity): Homeless after Katrina, Jordan fled to Brooklyn and networked with his old chums. Drake and Parker do their usual thing, and then some: not content to be the world's best at bass and drums, they drag out the tablas, guimbri, and miscellaneous percussion exotica. Drake even chants, reducing Jordan to comping. I'm not sure whether Jordan is mellowing, as septuagenerians often do, or is just delighted to be there. A-
• Diana Krall: From This Moment On (2006, Verve): The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra doesn't split the difference between Billy May and Nelson Riddle so much as they aggregate the virtues of each. That wouldn't mean a thing without a commanding singer, but Krall fills that bill. She sings the title song, "It Could Happen to You," "Come Dance With Me," even the often hoary "Willow Weep for Me" as authoritatively as they've ever been sung, and each come with long, illustrious histories. And while the Orchestra is capable of overkill, it's remarkable how seamlessly she slips in four songs without them. A-
• Nils Petter Molvaer: ER (2005 [2006], Thirsty Ear): Molvaer matches Miles Davis's fusion breakthrough in two respects: he's a master at getting the rhythm tight, and his trumpet adds a bare minimum of human voice without detracting from the machines. His programmed beats grow more complex and varied each time out, opening up new paths ranging from chill out to a striking Sidsel Endresen vocal. This was originally released by Universal as Europe-only, like its predecessor the still hard-to-find NP3. When Thirsty Ear noticed the market gap and the affinity between Molvaer's jazztronica and their homegrown Blue Series, they licensed this and the Live: Streamer from Molvaer's own Sula label, then mixed some of those, a little NP3, and some remix bait into An American Compilation. So three cuts here are redundant. Consumers will have to judge the redundancies and bait, but this is where the others were heading. A
• Frank Morgan: Reflections (2005 [2006], High Note): I suppose if I was real conscientious about this, I'd revisit his discography and try to ascertain whether this is an exceptionally good record for him or a merely typically good one. But I don't have either the records or the time for that. In the pecking order of Bird's children, Morgan ranks somewhere above Lou Donaldson but way below Jackie McLean, and very likely below Phil Woods as well. Where that puts him viz. Gigi Gryce is a question that requires more precision than I can muster. But on its own terms, this is an exceptionally elegant and mature slice of the bop -- not frantic like in the '50s, but Morgan's past 70 now, more than entitled to slow down and smell them roses. Nice, brisk start on "Walkin'"; two Monk songs that he wouldn't have tackled in the old days; gorgeous closer on "Out of Nowhere." Quartet with Ronnie Mathews on piano, Essiet Essiet on bass, and Billy Hart on drums. Lovely tone throughout. B+(***)
• David 'Fathead' Newman: Life (2006 [2007], High Note): Dedicated to the late John Hicks, who write the title song. Fathead's feeling light-headed here, his tenor sax so mellowed out as to render Doug Ramsey's Texas Tenor-themed liner notes nonsensical; his alto is even creamier, while his flute, sugared up with Steve Nelson vibes and Peter Bernstein guitar, floats aimlessly into space. Which is where his "What a Beautiful World" belongs -- I'd rather hear Kenny G's, with or without the Armstrong sample. Closes with a nice "Naima." C+
• Bucky Pizzarelli: 5 for Freddie: Bucky's Tribute to Freddie Green (2006 [2007], Arbors): Check out this "cast of characters": Pizzarelli as Green, John Bunch as Count Basie, Warren Vaché as Sweets Edison, Jay Leonhart as Walter Page, Mickey Roker as Jo Jones. Green was famous for never taking a solo, which doesn't open up a lot of space for Pizzarelli to show off, but Basie's rhythm section redefined swing, and these understudies are competent revivalists. Still, the guy who lifts this above the normal run of tributes is Vaché, whose cornet is a spare, tart reminder of Sweets' trumpet and a whole lot more. A-
• Samo Salamon Quartet: Two Hours (2004 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Easily the best of a fairly sizable crop of guitarist-sax quartets this year, and it's easy to explain why: the other three players work regularly as Mark Helias' Open Loose trio. They're more avant than the norm for this label -- rougher, more muscular, but then so is the Slovenian guitarist, who has an edge here he couldn't have learned from mentors John Scofield or Bill Frisell. B+(***)
• Sonny Simmons: I'll See You When You Get There (2004-05 [2006], Jazzaway): Minimal Sonny, not solo but in duets that only marginally frame his solos -- six with bassist Mats Eilertsen, two with pianist Anders Aarum, two with drummer Ole Thomas Kolberg. The drums hold up best because they clearly add something, whereas the bass and piano are more like admiring reflections. Solo sax tends to slow down because nothing else pushes it along. That can be a plus for an ex-Firebird. B+(**)
• Sergi Sirvent & Xavi Maureta: Lines Over Rhythm (2005 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Piano-drums duets, starting with a run of six Charlie Parker tunes, then originals along similar lines, although these guys don't steal melody lines the way Parker did. Not familiar with Maureta, but his deconstruction of "My Little Suede Shoes" is irresistible. Sirvent continues to impress. B+(***)
• Tomasz Stanko Quartet: Lontano (2005 [2006], ECM): I'm not if I've ever seen an ECM album cover look so bleak and featureless, even though such landscapes seem to be the art director's default. The music is neither bleak nor featureless, but it is slow and subtly arranged -- haunting and lovely, but it does take its toll in attention. Pianist Marcin Wasilewski is a master of understatement, one more trait he's picked up from the leader. B+(***)
• Billy Stein Trio: Hybrids (2005 [2006], Barking Hoop): He's a guitarist no one would have ever heard of had Kevin Norton not urged him into the studio. He played with Norton and Sam Furnace back in the '70s, but with endless refinement this is his debut. He works in subtle harmonic shadings rather than the melodic lines that dominate the craft, so this tends to vanish in its subtleties. But he gets exceptionally sympathetic support from drummer Rashid Bakr and bassist Reuben Radding -- the latter a near-perfect match. B+(***)
• Charles Tolliver Big Band: With Love (2006 [2007], Blue Note/Mosaic): I reckon that Tolliver's reemergence is a dividend of Andrew Hill's accession to living legend status, given the trumpeter's prominence on Hill records old and new. Tolliver appeared on numerous avant-leaning Blue Note recordings in the late '60s, but his own work was limited to his own very limited Strata East label -- The Ringer (1969) is a personal favorite, but it's about the only one I know. (I haven't heard the recent 3-CD Mosaic Select box, which picks up live tracks from 1970 and 1973.) Tolliver's discography shows little after 1975, at least until he reappeared on Hill's Time Lines. Unfortunately, his new record is a loud and brassy big band thang. I don't much care for it: the high energy parts don't move me even when they're bruising, the solos lack finesse, and there's no groove to hang things on. It will be interesting to see how this is received. B
• Warren Vaché and the Scottish Ensemble: Don't Look Back (2005 [2006], Arbors): The Scottish Ensemble is a string group, 12 in number. Three arrangements were by 87-year-old Bill Finegan, "the dean of arranging" -- means nothing to me. The others were by James Chirillo, who conducted and plays a little guitar. Vaché's cornet is frequently lovely, but the strings turn me off. Could be a dud, especially if I wanted to do something on the deadly seduction strings hold for horn players. The last two Vaché records I've heard were A-listed, so this is no more personal than Waltz Again was for David Murray. B-
• The Vandermark 5: Free Jazz Classics Vols. 3 & 4 (2003-04 [2006], Atavistic, 2CD): All the maybes at the end of Ken Vandermark's liner notes might make you think he's giving up on this series of explorations into the free jazz tradition, which would be a shame. Originally released as bonus discs in early runs of four Vandermark 5 albums from Acoustic Machine to Elements of Style, Vols. 1 & 2 (2000-01 [2002], Atavistic, 2CD) essayed pioneer pieces from Ornette Coleman and Don Cherry to Joe McPhee and Julius Hemphill, while Vols. 3 & 4 focus on two saxophonist-composers not of the movement but so creative they couldn't help but parallel it: Sonny Rollins and Rahsaan Roland Kirk. The recognizable themes give you a more accessible framework than usual -- with free jazz every clue helps -- but in the end the band makes all the difference. With two great saxophonists and a trombonist who loves to get down and dirty, they can spin on a dime, punch the chords up, or blow them apart. A

The following are the notes from bk-flush for Jazz CG #12:

• Muhal Richard Abrams/George Lewis/Roscoe Mitchell: Streaming (2005 [2006], Pi): This starts to pay dividends in the end, but it takes time getting there, with much of the early going shuffling seemingly random sounds about. The latter most likely come from Lewis's laptop, but he plays a fair amount of trombone as well. Wish I had the patience to sort this out, but everyone involved has made records in the past that make sense sooner, so maybe it's just not meant to be. B+(*)
• Cannonball Adderley: Riverside Profiles (1958-62 [2006], Riverside): A useful, typically breezy selection of cuts from a series of uneventful albums, distinguished by the warm tone and ingratiating dynamics of the leader's alto sax. Also by guests like Milt Jackson, and songs like "This Here" and "Work Song" by band members -- the latter by brother Nat, who often stands out. Bonus sampler is the same for all records in this series, so I'll be charitable, ignore it, and won't mention it again. B+(**)
• Mario Adnet: Jobim Jazz (2006 [2007], Adventure Music): A Brazilian guitarist, most notable for his large and intricate arrangements, e.g. of Moacir Santos's works. On the 80th anniversary of Jobim's birth, here he takes on Brazil's most famous composer. A bit ornate for my taste, but I find this growing on me as little details come to attention, not to mention the seductive melodies. B+(*)
• All Ones: Bloom (2006, Number): I suppose you could call this an organ trio, but the sound is less consistent -- Matt Cunitz employs a wide range of electronic keyboards -- and there's no real trace of soul jazz formula. Partly this is because the trio lacks a real lead instrument -- the keyboards comp and doodle, the others are electric bass and drums. Partly it's all improv. But it's also the case that the musicians work more frequently on the rock side, so this draws from lines going back to Kraut rock. All of which make it interesting, but none all that compelling. B+(*)
• Among 3 (2004-06 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Barcelona-based piano trio, with Roger Mas [Giménez] on piano, Bori Albero on bass, Juanma Mielo, plus guests on two tracks. Never heard of these guys, and found out very little. (A Spanish singer-songwriter named Roger Mas is evidently someone else.) The piano trio is fine, although not especially inspiring. The extras add little. B
• Fred Anderson: Timeless: Live at the Velvet Lounge (2005 [2006], Delmark): The weak spot here is Hamid Drake's vocal, but that's just something you put up with to hear his drumming. I can't say as I ever got into Anderson before Back at the Velvet Lounge (2002 [2003], Delmark), but he's been on a streak ever since then: Back Together Again, a duo with Hamid Drake; Blue Winter, a trio with Drake and William Parker; and now this trio with Drake and Harrison Bankhead. I resisted at first, figuring the records have little differentiation, and I shouldn't keep pushing the same thing over and over. But critical consensus seems to be that this is the winner, and I can hear that. Bankhead helps fill things out like a good bassist should but isn't tempted to crowd in like Parker. Also this one is a single. A-
• Bill Anschell: More to the Ear Than Meets the Eye (2006, Origin): Seattle-based pianist, worked with Nnenna Freelon for several years, has several albums under his own name, dating back to 1994. This one, a mix of five standards and six originals, is built around two trios, with sax or trumpet added on half. Elegant postbop, flowing piano, horns a mixed blessing. B+(*)
• Bruce Arkin Quartet: Wake Up! (2006, Fresh Sound New Talent): Arkin plays tenor and soprano sax. Don't know anything more about him. Record was recorded in Barcelona with Albert Bover on piano, Chris Higgins bass, Jorge Rossy drums. Mostly indifferent postbop, but he does pick up some steam on a "bittersweet love song" called "All I Wanted Was You (Bitch)," so maybe he just needs to be slapped around a bit. A meditation on Tookie Williams, executed in California recently, is also worthwhile. B
• Nanny Assis: Double Rainbow (2006, Blue Toucan): Brazilian percussionist from Bahia; sings a couple of originals, a range of soft sambas and such like -- one from Carlhinos Brown is described as "Brazilian rap," but you could have fooled me -- and one piece by Seal. The cover and most of the booklet photos feature him with guitar, but the credits only list him once on acoustic guitar. Hard for me to pin down whatever it is that may separate this from the norm. B
• Omer Avital Group: Room to Grow (1997 [2007], Smalls): Israeli bassist, evidently a fixture at Smalls in the late '90s. A 1996 tape released last year as Asking No Permission was subtitled The Smalls Years: Volume One. That suggests more volumes to come, and this, recorded live a year later, certainly fits the bill, but there's no indication on the cover or booklet here. Same basic lineup, with bass, drums, and four saxes, but a couple of personnel changes: Mark Turner and Ali Jackson have left, replaced by Grant Stewart and Joe Strasser. None of the remaining saxophonists are a match for Turner, which is just as well: their scrawny tones and free dynamics keep anyone from dominating, leaving even the bass some space. B+(***)
• Chet Baker: Riverside Profiles (1958-59 [2006], Riverside): A narrow slice of Baker's discography, transitional between his important Pacific Jazz 1952-57 recordings, where is made his name as a cool trumpeter and wan vocalist, and his long exile in Europe -- one cut here stands him up against "fifty Italian strings," and another features a pick-up band in Milan. Only two easy-going vocals, lots of lovely trumpet. I like this mix better than Riverside's previous The Best of Chet Baker, which shares five songs. A-
• Jeff Baker: Shopping for Your Heart (2006 [2007], OA2): Jazz singer. Third album, starting with Baker Sings Chet in 2003. He works the gamut of olde standards and bebop sprints. I tend to enjoy the former and chafe at the latter, and that's pretty much how this breaks. The band could call themselves the Origin All-Stars: Bill Anschell, Jeff Johnson, John Bishop, and especially Brent Jensen, whose sax especially warms up attractive moderate fare like "Time After Time." B
• David Berger and the Sultans of Swing: The Harlem Nutcracker (1996 [1999], Such Sweet Thunder): Don't know why this decade-old item popped up in my mailbox. Certainly not because I've shown much enthusiasm about Berger's later records. On the other hand, I find little to complain about here. I'm not overly familiar either with the Ellington-Strayhorn score or the Tchaikovsky model, so I find this concise and lively version useful. Enjoyable, too. B+(*)
• The Benevento Russo Duo: Play Pause Stop (2006, Butter Problems/Reincarnate Music): Just have an advance and a hype sheet, but this has been sitting around a while -- albeit not as long as the advance to their previous album. I dislike advances, especially when they don't grow up to be real records -- although if they're not very good that's just as well. As far as I've been able to figure out, the names are Marco Benevento and Joe Russo. Don't know what they do, but it sounds like keyboards and drums. They keep a beat, add some texture, but it all seems skeletal, undeveloped, not all that danceable, let alone jazzworthy. I don't dislike it, but they don't offer much, and when they try to muscle up toward the end, they just get messy. B-
• Gorka Benítez: Bilbao (2003 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Spanish tenor saxophonist, born in Bilbao, based in Barcelona. I've been impressed by him every time out so far, and this has some strong moments, especially the soaring "Y dale!," but it does stumble along early on. Quartet, with Dani Pérez on guitar, mostly keeping pace to shimmering harmonic effect. B+(*)
• Jordi Berni Trio/Santi de la Rubia: Afinke (2005 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Berni's a young pianist based in Barcelona. His trio plays above average but unexceptional postbop, securely in the middle of the mainstream. De La Rubia plays tenor sax in the same vein, although he doesn't have an especially distinctive sound. The record develops nicely, expertly even. Too good to complain about, but I'm not sure what else to do with it. B+(*)
• Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: MTO Volume 1 (2005 [2006], Sunnyside): Robert Altman's film Kansas City made you want to know more about the city's jazz and less about its mobsters. The featured music stars got a package tour out of the deal before returning to contemporary postbop, but lowly associate music producer Bernstein actually put his research to work. He takes the idea of barnstorming territory bands and time travels to and from his home base in downtown New York, treating Prince and Stevie Wonder songs to 1928-style arrangements, while adding postmodern quirks to Count Basie staples. It works not because the transformations are clever, but because he's one of the few who believe that jazz can become popular again by making it fun rather without dumbing it down. The first album by a group that has been playing regularly since 1999, an incubation period that roughly matches Basie in Kansas City. A-
• Tyrone Birkett: In the Fullness of Time (2006 [2007], Convergence): This takes off like a rocket but soon comes crashing back to earth with an overload of holy spirit. He's a PK with a rafters-raising alto saxophone, fronting a bunch of anonymous keyb-guitar-bass-drums players. She sings every other song, and she can air them out too. Both are talented, but their material is pretty dreadful. It seems that someone with more stomach for the stuff than I have could do a study on the dumbing down of Christian music, which presumably correlates with the dumbing down of Christians. I can still handle the gospel, and for that matter the Christians, I grew up with, but whenever I tune in to the words here, they scare me. C+
• The Andy Biskin Quartet: Early American: The Melodies of Stephen Foster (2000 [2006], Strudelmedia): The old melodies benefit from oldish instrumentation -- despite its recent comeback, Biskin's clarinet still sounds like a refugee from the depression, especially when paired with trombone or tuba; guitarist Pete McCann resorts to banjo on occasion, and drummer John Hollenbeck takes the most diehard Foster melody on jingly bells. Still, everything here is more than a little bent. No point making a jazz record unless you take some liberties. B+(***)
• Janice Borla: From Every Angle (2006, Blujazz): Jazz singer from Chicago. Her website lists three albums over the last ten years, but also mentions a first album (Whatever We Imagine) that dates back at least 20, as does her "leading role in vocal jazz education." She's not a cabaret singer -- the songs here come from the bop era with assists from Jon Hendricks and Bobby McFerrin. She can scat. She gets respectful, tasteful backup. In fact, this is expert enough that I feel kind of bad that I don't respond to it more. Professionalism doesn't come easy. Nor does reviewing it. B
• Bridge 61: Journal (2005 [2006], Atavistic): You know about Ken Vandermark, Nate McBride, and Tim Daisy by now. The fourth wheel here is Jason Stein on bass clarinet -- Vandermark plays tenor sax, baritone sax, and clarinet. He was born 1976, grew up on Long Island, bounced around through Central America and Montana and Vermont and Michigan and wound up in Chicago. I'm not so sure what he's doing here. This is advertised as an evenly balanced cooperative, but the distribution of compositions is: Vandermark 4, McBride 2, Daisy 2, Stein 0. I don't hear much that sounds like bass clarinet either -- a couple of muffled solos, a fair amount of comping. As for the others, Daisy and McBride continue to develop, and Vandermark closes with a very strong piece for Sonny Sharrock. B+(*)
• Peter Brötzmann/Albert Mangelsdorff/Günter Sommer: Pica Pica (1982 [2006], Atavistic): A meeting of two major figures of the German avant-garde -- almost two generations, as trombonist Mangelsdorff was 13 years older than saxophonist Brötzmann. Sommer plays drums and "horns," whatever that is, and is basically a substitute for Han Bennink -- an inferior one, if you accept the authority of the Penguin Guide (first edition, back when the LP was available). I find the encounter generally gratifying all around. B+(*)
• John Bunch: At the Nola Penthouse: Salutes Jimmy Van Heusen (2006, Arbors): The label likes to do these double titles. I'm following the spine, except for adding a colon. Doesn't read right to me, but don't know what else to do. The subject for both clauses is pianist Bunch, who will turn 85 later this year. He's been a dependable name for a long time now. Follows in Teddy Wilson's footsteps, and doesn't wander far from there. Dave Green and Steve Brown complete the trio, neither making much of an impression. Nor does Bunch, really -- this is quiet and respectful, lovely when you focus, but a bit too modest to listen to. B
• John Butcher/Paal Nilssen-Love: Concentric (2001 [2006], Clean Feed): Another improv duo, this one sax (tenor or soprano) and drums. Butcher is highly touted in the Penguin Guide, but I have little experience with him, and no firm picture. The drummer I know much better, and not just from his work with Ken Vandermark in groups like School Days, FME, Free Fall, and the Territory Band. This is intense, rough going, hard to grab hold of. Butcher starts to make more sense only toward the end, first with a splotch of soprano. Nilssen-Love seems to get his best shots in early. Not inconceivable that the pleasures might make up for the pain, but it's bound to be tough. B
• The Paul Carlon Octet: Other Tongues (2005-06 [2006], Deep Tone): Carlon's a New York-based saxophonist -- also plays flute and mbira here -- with a substantial interest in Latin jazz. His group is largish, with a couple of uncounted guests -- Ileana Santamaria sings on three songs, Max Pollak's "rumbatap" (presumably tap dancing to rumba rhythms) surfaces on two. Some fancy stuff, consistently listenable, sometimes interesting. B+(*)
• The Serge Chaloff Sextet: Boston Blow-Up! (1955 [2006], Capitol Jazz): A hard swinging baritone saxophonist with a bop edge, Chaloff cut his teeth in Woody Herman's Second Herd, then moved on -- actually, was thrown out, for following Charlie Parker's habits too literally -- to cut a handful of memorable albums before he succumbed to a spinal tumor and died at age 33. Blue Serge (1956) is his masterpiece, a tight, elegant quartet where everything goes right, in part because the other three players -- Sonny Clark, Leroy Vinnegar, Philly Joe Jones -- are so dependable. This album is much sloppier but nearly as impressive. Produced by Stan Kenton, this is a sextet with three horns storming -- at its best the balance of raw power and feather light touch Kenton often aimed for and rarely achieved. A-
• Thomas Chapin Trio: Ride (1995 [2006], Playscape): Wish he had kept to the alto sax, as the warbly stuff -- flute and sopranino sax -- tones down what otherwise is a vigorous live set, from the North Sea Jazz Festival. Chapin died young in 1998, and is so revered that his live scraps have become a cottage industry. More often than not, this one shows you why. Title comes from a Beatles song, and he's definitely got the ticket there -- a choice cut. B+(***)
• Christmas Break: Relaxing Jazz for the Holidays (1992-98 [2006], Telarc): Selected from the label's Christmases past, avoiding any hint of merriment, joy, or, heaven forbid, excitement. Nonetheless, this order is mostly filled by thoughtful solo piano (Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck, George Shearing) and guitar (Jim Hall, Al Di Meola -- the latter is unexpectedly lovely on "Ave Maria"), all of whom have something to add to the melody. Better still is Jeanie Bryson cooing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" over Kenny Barron's piano. Still doesn't break my tinsel ceiling, but comes close. B
• Fay Claassen: Sings Two Portraits of Chet Baker (2005 [2006], Jazz 'N Pulz, 2CD): First disc is a look back at the music of the Gerry Mulligan-Chet Baker Quartet, with Claassen's scat vocals adding little to a set where Jan Menu's baritone sax dominates Jan Wessels' trumpet. Second disc has Claassen singing the songs that Baker sung -- "My Funny Valentine," "Let's Get Lost," "Blame It on My Youth," etc., with a samba and a piece of bebop vocalese the odd songs out. I'm tempted to say she sings them better, but Baker's fragility has only rarely touched me, so that may not be fair. Given how she approaches the songs, it may not even be appropriate.