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|
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Music: Current count 12719 [12695] rated (+24), 851 [868] unrated (-17).
Should be done with the year-end wrap-up by now, but I'm not. Moving slow,
uncertainly, indecisively. To some extent I'm perplexed that the consensus
picks are bands I've never cared much for (Red Hot Chili Peppers) or have
been warned against (TV on the Radio). But I also haven't made my mind up
on Clipse -- widely regarded as the rap album of the year -- and Ludacris.
Last year I made a serious late effort to bag a few things I wanted to
hear, but I haven't budged a bit this month -- still no Love Is All, to
pick one example.
- Crunk Hits (2002-04 [2005], TVT): The crude beats
here are topped only by the cruder groans, creating a cartoon
crassness that doesn't offend so much as celebrate its niche far
outside polite society -- definitive statement: "if you don't give
a damn, we don't give a fuck"; but when it comes to real crunk,
the girlz rool -- not so much Ciara's "Goodies" as Jacki-O's
"Nookie" and Khia's authoritative "Lick It."
A-
- Crunk Hits Vol. 2 (2004-05 [2006], TVT): Less
crunk, more hits -- not necessarily on the charts, which would
be too respectable anyway, but the hooks pack some punch, and
after a dozen tracks that shake your booty, along comes one
called "Gasolina" that really rips the roof off the sucker;
I've never heard a first-rate album by any of these artistes,
but mixed up in small doses they can be potent.
A-
- Lady Sovereign: Public Warning (2006, Def Jam):
Lyrically it's interesting how much this is a throwback to the
self-referential boast raps of the '80s, as if she has to somehow
recapitulate the history of hip-hop. Beatwise, of course, it is
situated somewhere in this century's Brit garage. Three or four
songs are impressive enough to count as a development from the
EP, but they're in the minority this time. The rest is good
enough to have kept me undecided for too long. B+(***)
- Ted Lewis & His Band: Is Everybody Happy?
(1925-38 [1999], ASV/Living Era): Sang, danced, acted in films
and on stage, is credited with 9 top-ten hits among the 25 songs
here, but is mostly forgotten today. His bands typically included
George Brunies and Muggsy Spanier, and there are other notables
who appear here: Frank Teschemacher, Jimmy Dorsey, Benny Goodman,
Sophie Tucker, Fats Waller. Lewis wasn't extraordinary at anything
he did: the clarinet you notice late on is Goodman, and Waller's
three vocals steal the show. Lewis, whose birth name was Theodore
Leopold Friedman, took his vocal cues from Jolson and toned them
down quite a bit. His "On the Sunny Side of the Street" (a #2 hit
in 1930) is so wan you really feel for him, and his big hit in
1932, "In a Shanty in Old Shanty Town," is as down as the Great
Depression it signifies. B+(***)
- Ismaël Lo: Jammu Africa (1997, Triloka): Trying
to figure out his latest album, and noticed this one on the unrated
shelves. It's similar, but less consistent: the upbeat grooveful,
the slow stuff slick. B+
- Tom Waits: Orphans (2006, Anti-, 3CD):
Half spare parts from soundtracks, tributes, etc.,
half new songs that don't care if they're only half-baked, sorted
into three bins that loosely define Waits -- a guy who started out
fascinated by the picaresque and perverse, then found in Beefheart
and Brecht a workable aesthetic that he only made rougher and cruder.
Sprawling, spaldash sets -- the Clash's Sandinista, Laurie
Anderson's United States Live, and the Magnetic Fields' 69
Love Songs are three good examples -- defy familiarity through
sheer numbers and diversity, compensating for their rough edges with
endless discovery. I doubt that any of these discs would stand high
on its own, but together they refine and reveal each other.
A-
Jazz Prospecting (CG #12, Part 7)
Not sure what happened this past week, other than that I've hurt
my back in a way never encountered before, and I'm trying to close
this week, and for that matter year, out under a lot of pain. So
forgive me if I write little more just now. I did manage to send
in a Pazz & Jop poll, but haven't made much progress on notes.
Recycled Goods has missed its deadline already. More on all that
later. Most of the new jazz coming in has 2007 street dates, so
I figure they can wait.
Circus (2006, ICP): All pieces are improvs attributed
to all five members, who could just as well be listed as the artists
of record, had the packaging steered that way. The four instrumentalists
are ICP veterans: Ab Baars (tenor sax, clarinet, flute), Tristan Honsinger
(cello), Misha Mengelberg (piano), Han Bennink (drums). The fifth is
vocalist Alessandra Patrucco. I suppose the attraction of voice in this
sort of framework is flexibility and dramatic detail, but I've never
found it all that attractive -- Patrucco, dramatizing in a manner I
associate unfondly with opera, less than most. Honsinger and Mengelberg
also add to the vocal content. The instruments are more interesting.
[B]
David Kweksilber + Guus Janssen (2003-06 [2006],
Geestgronden): Clarinet and piano duets, recorded over -- or more
likely picked from -- a series of sessions, mostly live, but one
at Janssen's home. Like all such encounters, especially among the
avant-leaning, this seems small -- thin sound, moderately paced,
tentative, exploratory. Unlike most, the miniaturism maintains
its interest. And it does pick up a bit of groove at the end with
a barely recognizable "Honeysuckle Rose" -- a treat.
B+(***)
Gato Libre: Nomad (2006, No Man's Land): The ten
pieces here have titles like "In Barcelona, in June" and "In Krakow,
in November." All of the places are in Europe, and they represent
a continent's worth of folk themes elevated to chamber jazz. That
they were recorded in one day in a Tokyo studio matters little --
this could be an Enrico Rava album, but it isn't. The trumpeter,
leader, composer is Natsuki Tamura. He's always been a straighter
shooter than his better half, pianist Satoko Fujii. Here she does
him a favor and sticks to accordion, filling in that prototypical
European folk sound without ever showing him up. The other key
ingredient here is Kazuhiko Tsumura's guitar, especially on the
Spanish-flavored tunes, which he has down pat. But Tamura is the
real treat here. He's been working his colors into Fujii's more
chaotic canvases all along, but here he paints his own masterpiece.
A-
Francisco Mela: Melao (2005 [2006], AYVA): Cuban
drummer, moved to Boston around when he turned 30, wound up teaching
at Berklee. This is his first album, recorded in New York, released
in Barcelona, and the main problem I find with it is an embarrassment
of riches. For instance, he has to pick and choose between three
willing saxophonists: Anat Cohen, George Garzone, and Joe Lovano.
Ditto with two lesser known but excellent guitarists: Lionel Loueke
and Nir Felder. And he has to find space for keyb man Leo Genovese.
He composed all but the Ornette Coleman piece. All this makes it
hard to focus on the drums, which don't strike me as particularly
Cuban. The Voice Jazz Critics poll picked this as the debut record
of the year. Thus far I have mixed reactions, but it is the sort
of thing that can make a big impression, especially when Garzone
or Lovano get cranked up.
[B+(**)]
Natsuki Tamura Quartet: Exit (2003 [2004], Libra):
I've had this for a couple of years, but misplaced it. Noticed it
was in my unrated list, and looked around furiously for it, finding
it only after giving up. The packaging is like an LP jacket, but
CD-size, with a nice little soft paper inner sleeve for the disc.
The music has an industrial fusion feel to it, with Satoko Fujii
playing synth, Takayuki Kato guitar, and Ryojiro Furusawa drums.
Some of the noises resemble vocals, but could be coming from
anywhere, and don't resolve into much. In fact, only the drums
are particularly recognizable as themselves.
B
The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project: Simpático
(2005 [2006], ArtistShare): This is latin jazz of a high order, but
I have no real grip on just how high or even what order. Palmieri
is a project I've made little progress on, although I've found two
albums that I like quite a bit -- Palmas (1994, Nonesuch)
and Ritmo Caliente (2004, Concord) -- and don't doubt that
they are more. Seems like the piano is reduced here, the conga is
grooving steadily, and the trumpet gets more play, but then this
is really Lynch's album. He's a terrific player anywhere he wants
to play. Phil Woods guests on four cuts, with at least one notable
solo. Yosvany Terry showed up, but his spots got cut, leaving him
with just an asterisk. Lila Downs sings two cuts, and they're not
bad either.
[B+(***)]
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-
The Benevento Russo Duo: Best Reason to Buy the Sun
(2005, Ropeadope): This is the older advance. It strikes me more
favorably, mostly because it builds up stronger, and there's more
piano to it. Same basic rock instrumental groove. Not experimental
enough to be experimental rock; not danceable enough for dance
music; not improvised enough for jazz, sedate enough for new age,
or hypnotic enough for surf.
B
Sofia Koutsovitis: Ojalá (2005 [2006], CD Baby):
Argentine singer, moved to Boston in 2001 for education, and on to
New York in 2005 to work. She wrote about half of the material
here, including one co-credited to Jorge Luis Borges. The covers
cover the map, with stops in Cuba, Brazil, and Peru, and are
shapelier than the originals -- "You Don't Know What Love Is,"
nearly the only one in English, is particularly nice. The Group
works for her, and "Silence 2" is fractured, multiphased Latin
jazz at its best. The slow ones are a bit more awkward, but
overall a very attractive record.
B+(***)
Martirio & Chano Domínguez: Acoplados (2004
[2006], Sunnyside): Martirio sings Spanish copla, a traditional
pop song laced with flamenco and dolled up here for dramatic
effect. Domínguez supports her with a tight little piano trio,
but the RTVE big band and orchestra bathe the proceedings in
strings and horns. It's hard to know what's traditional and
what's progressive here, which limits are prodded and which
are dutifully adhered to.
B
Greg Davis/Steven Hess: Decisions (2003 [2005],
Longbox): Davis does laptop improvs. Hess adds drums/percussion.
Mostly minor electronica, noises rather than beats, although
thump is an important part of the mix. I like it more so than
most similar things I've heard, but I have doubts about its
universal appeal.
B+(*)
Jerry Leake: The Turning: Percussion Expansions
(2005 [2006], Rhombus Publishing): The label looks to be unrelated
to Rhombus Records, a jazz label I run into occasionally. It is
run by Leake, and called Publishing because Leake's books outnumber
his records by a margin of 16 to 3. Leake teaches at New England
Conservatory and Tufts. His books are mostly about percussion, and
his expertise centers on West Africa and North India, although his
appetite for percussion instruments seems endless: he lists 42 of
them in his credits, with vibraphone, balafon, metallophones, and
tabla most prominent. The pieces are a mix of traditional themes
(mostly African or Indian), elaborations, and jazz pieces (Bill
Evans is favored). Several songs employ voice, which plays out as
another form of talking drum. There's a bit of extra guitar on one
track, bass on two, but the 22 tracks are mostly solo. The result
is a bit scattered, like an encyclopedia -- a set of exercises and
experiments, all interesting, some quite enchanting. Educational
fun.
B+(***)
Brian Groder: Torque (2006, Latham): An attractive,
vigorous brass-reeds-bass-drums quartet, with the leader on trumpet
and flugelhorn, Sam Rivers on flute and saxophones. Groder gets
more play and makes more of an impression, with Rivers tending to
slip into the background.
B+(**)
And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further
listening the first time around.
Branford Marsalis: Braggtown (2006, Marsalis
Music/Rounder): Since Coltrane and Shorter, damn few tenor
saxophonists have managed to restrain themselves from adding
soprano sax to their toolkit. Given his influences, ambitions,
and essential conservatism, Marsalis was certain to follow that
temptation. To his credit, he's learned to wax eloquent, but I
still prefer the big horn by a wide margin, not least in his
hands. On tenor he can get gruff, and when the band, a standard
issue piano quartet just like Coltrane and Shorter, gets rough
in turn, he sounds terrific. But that's just one part of his
blend, which to his benefit is a bit stronger than usual here.
B+(**)
Joe Lovano Ensemble: Streams of Expression
(2005 [2006], Blue Note): Gunther Schuller is only credited
with the three-piece-long "Birth of the Cool Suite," but the
big band assembled there carries on for two chunks of Lovano's
own "Streams of Expression" and a Tim Hagans piece "Buckeyes."
As such, this resembles the widely admired (albeit not by me)
Schuller-arranged Rush Hour. Lovano cut his teeth in
big bands, and he's comfortable here. But I get squirmish,
admiring one section for its slick intensity, getting annoyed
by others, and eventually not caring which is which.
B+(*)
Vittor Santos: Renewed Impressions (2005 [2006],
Adventure Music): It's rare to hear Brazilian music with a lead
horn of any sort, much less a trombone, but Santos's rapid-fire
puffs give some much needed heft to the sly rhythms and flighty
melodies.
A-
Monsters
Helena Cobban
makes the key point about Saddam Hussein:
The worst acts Saddam committed were to gratuitously launch those
two invasions of his neighbors -- Iran in 1980, and Kuwait a decade
later. For those wars not only led directly to death and destruction
on the front-lines; beyond that, each of them also created a broader
climate of fear and intense mistrust within which the Iraqi "security"
forces committed horrendous atrocities against the country's own
people . . . Against Kurds and some Shiites in the 1980s. And then in
1991, horrendously, once again against large numbers of people from
both those groups.
But honestly, without Iraq being in a climate of war at those
times, I am sure that Saddam and the toadies from his mukhabarat
would not have felt such a strong impetus to commit those atrocities.
The root monstrosity was the monstrosity of starting those wars.
One lesson of history is that once war starts everyone does things
that they would never do otherwise. The difference under war between
monsters and bureaucrats turns out to be relatively minor. It's not
even the case that the difference is that the monsters relish war,
as the bureaucrats are equally capable of rationalizing it. Given
what war brings, maybe the standard for determing who is and is not
a monster should simply be who is willing and able to go to war.
Saddam passes that test, but only so long as he ruled Iraq. Bush
also passes that test, but again only while he had the power to
act on his monstrous impulses. Separating such monsters from power
turns them back into annoying but relatively harmless ordinary
assholes.
It bears repeating that what empowers these monsters is our
naive belief that war has some redeeming value. This may have had
ancient roots, as Barbara Ehrenreich argues in Blood Rites,
but the instinct has long become dysfunctional. Karen Armstrong
argues that the Axial age religions were founded in response to
"an unprecedented crescendo of violence." [interview in
Salon:
"In every single case, the catalyst for religious change had been
a revulsion against violence.] Mark Kurlansky's Non-Violence
outlines the long history of the rejection of war, going back to
the Axial age religions, but the rationalization of war continues
unabated to our day.
At present, the vogue for war is so great that many of us are
tempted to reject the characterization of monsters -- even someone
like Saddam Hussein -- on the well-founded suspicion that the any
agreement would just empower our own monstrous tendencies. So it
is crucial that we understand that war is the real monstrosity,
enveloping all who participate in it. And that the solution isn't
to slay monsters -- it's to starve them, by denying them the arms,
the hate, the propaganda, the notion that they can succeed through
force.
Further down, Cobban quotes Riverbend on US intentions in Iraq:
My only conclusion is that the Americans want to withdraw from
Iraq, but would like to leave behind a full-fledged civil war because
it wouldn't look good if they withdraw and things actually begin to
improve, would it?
Actually, I doubt that the Americans can conceive of Iraq getting
better without them. That's one of the staple delusions that the Bush
gang exploits in hanging on there. But it's worthwhile to try to look
at things from other people's perspectives. It certainly looks like
the only intention the Americans had in Iraq was to destroy, to beat
the country back into a primitive, desperate squalor which will take
them decades, if ever, to recover from. In any case, such an endstate
costs the US very little, especially given that Bush sees terrorism
as a political asset.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Killing an Arab
The execution of Saddam Hussein brings closure to a America's
confused and rather pathetic handling of Iraq's warlord since
they captured him in late 2003. It is perhaps the only closure
Bush and Maliki are capable of on the weekend when US soldier
deaths in Iraq are expected to pass the 3000 mark. (The count
was 2996 when Saddam was hung.) But it's not just an opportune
piece of PR timing. It's one more example of how trapped Bush
and his crowd are in their conflation of justice and revenge.
Executing political figures like Saddam Hussein provide scant
satisfaction for either impulse. Their crimes far exceed any
price they can pay with personal life, and their deaths offer
little to the healing process. Indeed, because revenge is so
inadequate, the main thing it does is set the precedent for
further revenge.
The US had two relatively good options with Saddam Hussein.
They could have taken the low road and killed him right away,
perhaps by stuffing him back in that spider hole with a grenade.
Or they could have taken the high road and packed him off to the
Hague to spend the rest of his miserable life in court facing
evidence of his crimes. The former would have settled matters
fast enough that no one would have given it a second thought.
The latter would have set a higher standard for justice than
the US occupation could provide on its own, let alone through
the fiction of an independent-but-subservient Iraqi government.
But the latter was something Bush could not afford, lest he
find himself invited to the Hague as well. The former may just
have been bad luck -- the residue of bad planning and hapless
performance -- but that, too, follows Bush around.
Instead, the US tried to split the difference: to convene
a court no one could possibly mistake as fair and to prosecute
Saddam Hussein for some of his lesser crimes, reinforcing the
suspicion that the US was party to, or at least no less guilty
of, the major crimes. The worst crime of all was starting the
war with Iran, which dragged on eight years, costing both sides
more than a million lives. But prosecuting Saddam for attacking
Iran would show Iran as the victim and raise questions as to
what extent the US and its regional allies supported him in
starting and prolonging the war. And for that matter, it would
raise the question of whether Bush is responsible for the same
sort of crime in invading Iraq.
After Iran, there are numerous other things Saddam could have
been prosecuted for. As it turns out, what he was prosecuted for
was a relatively narrow incident against the ruling Dawa party,
making the trial look more than anything else like an instance
of revenge politics. This might not matter if Iraq were stable
and the Iraqi government recognized as legitimate and equitable,
but that is far from the case. As it is, the trial and execution
only adds to the sum of sectarian revenge that is tearing Iraq
apart. The real challenge with Saddam would have been to try to
use him to start to heal the chasm.
I can't say that would be possible, but it's certainly beyond
the grasp of someone like Bush, who believes that force clarifies
all situations. As governor of Texas, Bush never had a second
thought about an execution, and he wound up signing off on more
death warrants than Saddam was prosecuted for. (Albeit, not more
deaths than Saddam was responsible for. Bush only moved into that
league when he became Commander in Chief.) Of course, we don't
yet know just how this came about, but there is little doubt that
Bush craved a death sentence, and that the show trial was staged
for just that purpose. As usual, the trappings of legitimacy were
intended to impress only the Americans -- Iraqis have seen things
like this before. And so it gives Bush a talking point: that he
brought Saddam Hussein "to justice" -- i.e., that he salvaged at
least something from his war goals.
It makes for a very shallow victory. That he has consigned
Saddam Hussein to history is probably for the best, especially
given that he had no better use for him. A smart move at this
point would be for Iraq to abolish the death penalty, but that
won't happen -- and not just because it would be uncomfortable
for Bush. Following WWII, an American general warned politicians
seeking to keep Germany crippled that they can have revenge or
peace, but not both. Iraq, like Bush, seems hellbent on revenge,
and this execution is just one more example. At this rate, peace
will be a long time coming.
The one irony in the timing of his execution is that the other
big story this week is Gerald Ford, who is being remembered for
his "courageous" contribution to "healing the nation" by pardoning
Richard Nixon. I put the quotes are there because, as I've written
already, there are problems with that interpretation, but it gives
us a reference myth for evaluating this execution. (I'll resist
the temptation to argue that Nixon was a war criminal comparable
or worse than Saddam -- I'd say worse, but settle for the same.)
I'm not a fan of capital punishment, but I wouldn't have minded
seeing Nixon swing. In fact, one of the reasons I turned against
capital punishment was my disappointment that Nixon never got
his just desserts. But it also helped get me past my desire for
revenge, and that moved me, if not our country, onto a much more
peaceable path.
I don't doubt that Saddam Hussein deserved to die, or far worse
if you could figure out what that might be. But it's a matter of
mere faith to say that the world's better off with him dead -- it's
going to be real hard to prove that it's much better. Once he was
removed from power and locked behind bars, he ceased to be a danger
to anyone -- much as Nixon ceased to be a public menace once he
resigned in disgrace. People die in circumstances that are beyond
anyone's control, but executions are always optional: Bush and his
Iraqi cronies chose to kill Saddam Hussein. In doing so, they've
taken a guy who was powerless and turned him into a martyr. We'll
see whether that comes back to haunt them, but in the meantime it
just feeds the revenge cycle. Iraq needs peace, not revenge. So
does America.
One thing that killing Saddam Hussein accomplishes is to keep
quite whatever relationship he had with the CIA and the US over
the years. Juan Cole has a useful
review
of what is known about this.
As a special bonus, here's the way Boots Riley explains it in
"Head (Of State)," from the Coup's Pick a Bigger Weapon:
In a land not very far away from here
George W. Bush was drinking beer
His daddy was head of the C.I.A.
Now listen up close to what I say
The C.I.A. worked for Standard Oil
And other companies to whom they're loyal
In a whole nother land
By the name of Iran
The people got wise and took a stand
Told the oil companies that ain't shit funny
This is our oil
Our land
Our money
C.I.A. go tmad and sent false info
To Iraq to help start the iran/iraq wo
Pronounced war if I have to be proper
The C.I.A. are the cops that's why I hate the coppers
Saddam Hussein was their man out there
They told him to rule by keeping people scared
Sayin' any opposition to him, he must crush it
He gassed the kurds
They gave him the budget
Said you gotta kick ass to protect our cash
Step out of line and feel our wrath
You know the time without lookin' at the little hand
Time came for them to cut out the middle man
Children maimed with no legs and shit
Cuz of bombs over- you know the Outkast hit
And they really want you to hate him dead
When just the other day they made him head
War aint about one land against the next
It's po people dyin' so the rich cash checks
The refrain goes: "Bush and Hussein together in bed/Giving
H-E-A-D: head/Y'all muthafuckas heard what we said/Billions
made and millions dead."
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Jazz Label Checkup
I'm looking at the Jazz Times "Year in Review" list of
"Top 50 CDs" and one thing that strikes me is how concentrated the
set of labels are. There's no information on how they selected the
list. But it does seem peculiar that 42% (21 of 50) come from just
four labels: Blue Note (8), ECM (6), Nonesuch (4), Cryptogramophone
(3). Six more labels landed two records each -- Concord, Palmetto, Pi,
Sunnyside, Telarc/Heads Up, Verve -- bringing us to 66% for the top
ten labels. Four more records were by major artists now on their own
labels: Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Dave Holland, Dave Douglas.
That leaves 13 records for the hundreds of other labels releasing
jazz these days.
The second thing to note is that only one of all those labels is
based in Europe, and that's ECM, distributed in the US by Universal.
For that matter, only two artists (4%) come from Europe (Tomasz
Stanko and Nik Bartsch, both on ECM). For that matter, I only
recognize one Canadian (Jane Bunnett), no one from south of the
US border (Eddie Palmieri's a New Yorker and Brian Lynch is from
Milwaukee), let alone anyone from Africa or Asia (Vijay Iyer and
Rudresh Mahanthappa are a generation removed from India). Only
two albums can be classified as Latin jazz (Lynch/Palmieri and
Bunnett). The list isn't exactly anti-avant -- for instance,
the pianists include Muhal Richard Abrams, Dave Burrell, Myra
Melford, Matthew Shipp, and Vijay Iyer, even if I'm uncertain
about Andrew Hill, Randy Weston, and Jason Moran these days.
But it does seem to be rather narrowly sourced and insular.
For a comparison, I took the list of 52 A- or better new (well,
some vault items) jazz (well, some related world) albums I published
a few days ago, and found 38 separate labels. Of those, the most
places any label scored was three (Atavistic, ECM, Fresh Sound);
eight more labels scored twice (Arbors, Clean Feed, Cuneiform,
Justin Time, Libra, Pi, Smalls, Sunnyside). Only 3 of those 11
labels placed 2+ times with Jazz Times: ECM, Pi, Sunnyside.
I had 11 European labels, plus one from Japan (Libra) and one from
Canada (Stony Plain). I figure that even in my case Europe is
underrepresented because I get nothing from so many important
labels -- some that pop into mind are Criss Cross, Steeplechase,
Leo, Emanem, Hep, FMP, Hat, Dreyfus, Label Bleu, and all the
Italian labels.
Jazz Times Top 50 CDs for 2006, indexed by label:
8 Blue Note: Andrew Hill, Stefon Harris, Patricia Barber, Jason Moran,
Don Byron, Cassandra Wilson, Joe Lovano, Jane Bunnett
6 ECM: Paul Motian, Keith Jarrett, Trio Beyond, Tomasz Stanko,
Charles Lloyd, Nik Bartsch
4 Nonesuch: Kenny Garrett, Brad Mehldau, Bill Frisell, Pat Metheny
3 Cryptogramophone: Nels Cline, Bennie Maupin, Myra Melford
2 Concord: Karrin Allyson, Ben Riley
2 Palmetto: Ted Nash, Dr Lonnie Smith
2 Pi: Art Ensemble of Chicago, Muhal Richard Abrams
2 Sunnyside: Chris Potter, Bob Belden
2 Telarc/Heads Up: Geri Allen, Yellowjackets
2 Verve: Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove
1 ArtistShare: Brian Lynch
1 Groovin' High: Roberta Gambarini
1 Half Note: Odean Pope
1 High Two: Dave Burrell
1 Hyena: Rahsaan Roland Kirk
1 MaxJazz: Nancy King
1 Omnitone: Lee Konitz
1 Planet Arts: Vanguard Jazz Orchestra
1 Random Chance: Randy Weston
1 Savoy: Vijay Iyer
1 Thirsty Ear: Matthew Shipp
1 Trippin N Rhythm: Chris Standring
1 Wingood: Gordon Goodwin
1 Dare2: Dave Holland
1 Doxy: Sonny Rollins
1 Greenleaf Music: Dave Douglas
1 Sound Grammar: Ornette Coleman
For comparison, here's my list A-list, sorted by index:
3 Atavistic: Steve Lacy, Vandermark 5, Sound in Action Trio
*3 ECM: Nik Bartsch, Charles Lloyd, Manu Katche
*3 Fresh Sound: Bob Reynolds, Ramon Diaz, Bill Carrothers
2 Arbors: Harry Allen, Maurice Hines
*2 Clean Feed: Adam Lane, Joe Morris
2 Cuneiform: Soft Machine, Harry Miller
2 Justin Time: World Saxophone Quartet, Rabih Abou-Khalil
2 Libra: Satoko Fujii, Junk Box
2 Pi: Odyssey the Band, Rudresh Mahanthappa
2 Smalls: Omer Avital, Frank Hewitt
2 Sunnyside: Steven Bernstein, Les Primitifs du Future
1 Accurate: Club D'Elf
*1 ACT: Ulf Wakenius
1 Akron Cracker: Carneyball Johnson
1 AUM Fidelity: Kidd Jordan
1 Blue Note: Ignacio Berroa
1 CIMP: Adam Lane
1 Concord: Scott Hamilton
1 Cryptogramophone: Erik Friedlander
1 Delmark: Fred Anderson
1 Domino: Kieran Hebden/Steve Reid
1 Doxy: Sonny Rollins
*1 Intakt: Zentralquartett
1 Koch: Jon Faddis
*1 Leo: Francois Carrier
*1 No Man's Land: Gato Libre
1 Nonesuch: Toumani Diabate
1 Palmetto: Ben Allison
*1 Piranha: Maurice El Medioni/Roberto Rodriguez
1 Playscape: Mario Pavone
*1 Rune Grammofon: Thomas Stronen
1 Savoy: Moncef Genoud
1 Sound Grammar: Ornette Coleman
1 Stony Plain: Jeff Healey
1 Thirsty Ear: David S. Ware
*1 Tumi Music: Saborit
1 Verve: Diana Krall
*1 Winter & Winter: Paul Motian
Fordism's Last Hurrah
The natural tendency when someone dies is to try to say something
nice about the person. How hard this can sometimes be is a constant
theme in Kudzu, the comic strip featuring the Rev. Will B.
Dunn. But really, folks, why are we being so nice to Gerald Ford?
The Wichita Eagle had a gushing editorial on Ford today, flanked
by a Crowson cartoon showing a map of America with a big bandaid
representing Ford crossing the heartland. Walter Shapiro's
Salon
piece sums up the sentiment: "The man who ended our Nixon nightmare."
It's hard to imagine a clearer case of the fallacy of succession: the
idea that what came after caused what went before to go away. Ford
followed Nixon as President in an inside deal that, to the relief of
everyone, first cleared Spiro Agnew out of the way. But Ford's only
contribution to healing the damage that Nixon wrought was pardoning
Nixon from future prosecution, and that too was part of the deal.
The pardon stopped the digging, eventually allowing Nixon to be
rehabilitated -- at least to the point where Bill Clinton, who of
all people should have known better, wound up eulogizing Nixon at
his funeral.
Actually, the people who "ended our Nixon nightmare" were the
ones who exposed it: journalists like Woodward and Bernstein,
politicians like Sam Ervin, prosecutors like Archibald Cox, a
few insiders with a conscience like John Dean. It was only by
exposing Nixon's crimes that we could in any way deal with them.
Ford's only role in this was to clean up the mess -- primarily
by putting a stop to the exposure. Watergate, after all, was
not the worst thing Nixon did. The worst was Vietnam -- another
mess that Ford conveniently mopped up, so we could recover
without learning any painful lessons.
The net effect of the Ford cover-ups was that we never learned
not to abuse the political power of the presidency and we never
learned that US military power is not necessarily able to force
other nations to bend to our will. Those lessons came back to hit
us hard in the Bush administrations, especially the second. Is it
some sort of coincidence that Ford's chiefs-of-staff Don Rumsfeld
and Dick Cheney have been recurrent actors in those nightmares?
I suppose it could be, but one thing Rumsfeld and Cheney must have
witnessed firsthand is how power protects its own, and as such how
much license they have to abuse it -- as long as they can keep it
under wraps. This raises the question of whether, had Nixon really
paid for his crimes, the Bushes would have been so cavalier about
committing their own?
The answer is probably yes, because even if the lesser cover-up
of Nixon's political machinations had been foiled, no one dared to
question the the real problem: the militarization of the presidency,
which resulted from America's addiction to hot and cold wars in the
aftermath of WWII. Nixon was anomalous only in that he personalized
war to such an extreme that he ordered crimes like Watergate. But
every president from Truman on has on their own authority, with no
real public debate or oversight, directed hostile acts against other
nations, and in doing so they've built up as self-contained and as
belligerent as the Ottoman sultans or the Mongol khans. To do that,
they had to operate in secret -- the rationale and the consequence
of the imperial presidency. For a long time this was justified by
the ideology of anti-communism, but since the Soviet Union fell it
has been self-sustaining, directed at evils that for the most part
are mere reflections of itself. That, even more than Nixon, was
what Ford covered up.
There's no need to blame Ford severely for this. He was, at most,
a bit player, a man of no great curiosity or conviction who had some
skills at getting along, presenting a straight face, and asking few
questions. (It's worth noting that Ford had already proven this much
on the Warren Commission.) Whether he was what the cold warriors
needed at the time is hard to say. Mostly they needed time to bury
Vietnam, and he was at least good for some of that. But he didn't
heal anything, and in the long run he did his little bit to make
things worse. One revelation that has come out since his death is
that he was opposed to Bush's Iraq War. But, typically, he never
went public with that when it might have made a difference. When
you read about his "profile in courage" award, please gag.
These thoughts are echoed and expanded on in various letters
responding to Shapiro.
Slackie Onassis wrote:
Ford didn't do the country a service by pardoning Nixon. If
anything, that free pass from judgment let the GOP continue full steam
on their anti-democratic course that made the G.W. Bush presidency
inevitable -- Bush has out-Reaganed Reagan and out-Nixoned Nixon. The
imperial Presidency's more alive than ever, and thanks to the
bar-lowering of Monicagate by the GOP themselves, no President will
likely ever be impeached again.
Btdenver wrote:
Ford restored civility in the short-term at the price of making
administrations unaccountable, fostering the severe incivility of
today. He merely tightened the lid of the pressure cooker that it may
blow up later. His "decency" gave cover to the great indecency of
the GOP, which we now see in full bloom.
If Nixon and his men had been brought to justice, would it have
made it more difficult to lie this country into another war a
generation later? To utterly disregard the law? Ford interposed
himself between Nixon's men and justice and truth. We are all paying
for that still.
Rrk1 wrote:
The pardon healed nothing. It left much wrong doing unexposed and
unexamined, and signaled the political establishment that
accountability, no matter what they did, was off the table. Moreover,
the ever self-promoting Nixon spent the rest of his life resurrecting
his image, and transforming himself into an elder
statesman. Columnists, like Saphire [sic] in the Times, wrote
endless screeds and apologias for decades about Nixon. For the
Republicans the rehabilitation of Nixon was a crusade, a political
holy grail pursued relentlessly, more-or-less successfully, and made
infinitely easier by his pardon.
Expatjourno wrote:
The nightmare for the country was not the exposure of Nixon's
crimes, it was the crimes themselves. Exposure of the many ways Nixon
attempted to subvert the Constitution and the rule of law was only a
nightmare for Republicans, conservatives and people who wanted to
subvert the constitution and the rule of law. For Democrats, for
liberals, for people who believed in the Constitution and the rule of
law, for people who always saw who Nixon really was, it was
vindication.
Far from being a selfless act of statesmanship, Ford's pardon of
Nixon before all of the facts came to light in a court of law ensured
that Nixon's crimes were not in the headlines during the 1976
campaign, which they surely would have been had the pardon not been
issued. So, far from being a "clear-the-air" pardon, it was a
move-along-there's-nothing-to-see-here pardon. Indeed, it was the
ultimate cover-up of Nixon's crimes.
Breadbaker wrote:
Right now, the presidency is held by a man who reads the
Constitution as including two phrases in big bold letters, one that
says that the executive power is vested in a President of the United
States, and another that says that that President is
commander-in-chief. Everything else, in his constitutional view, is in
footnote-size type and need not be bothered with.
What is the source of this? His principal advisers are two men who
cut their teeth running the government in the Ford Administration,
Ford's two chiefs-of-staff, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. These men
came from the school that thought not that Nixon had gone too far, but
that he hadn't gone far enough.
Ford's presidency is remembered as relatively benign in terms
of foreign policy, but Miriam Adams points out:
Even less commentary about Ford's mission to Indonesia as the
honored guest of dictator Suharto's State dinner. The presence of Ford
and Kissinger that night and their "carte blanche" for weapons
transfers there came only hours before the war against the Peoples of
East Timor was initiated in which more than 200,000 civilians were
slaughtered. Famous photos are still archived online showing Ford
toasting his host/dictator wearing flower garlands the night before
that genocide began.
One assertion in the letters is that Ford was in office a whole
month before he pardoned Nixon, and only decided to do so at that
point -- i.e., it was not part of the deal, as I suggest above,
but a decision that he made independently. I don't have evidence
that I'm right, but I find the logic of the deal so compelling
that the burden of evidence should be on the other side. Maybe
it wasn't formalized as a deal, but the basic need for limiting
the damage, especially to the presidential institution, pushed
Ford in the direction of some sort of cover-up. The pardon was
a novel approach, and not necessarily a legally sound one. The
time delay helped Ford establish a facade of independence, and
let the bury-the-hatchet propaganda take root.
Ford was almost a definition of mediocrity, but his death comes
at the same time as the death of a truly great American, James Brown.
It surely is a coincidence that Ronald Reagan died at about the same
time as Ray Charles -- one of the few American musicians of the 20th
century even remotely on Brown's level. I got dragged into a desert
island disc discussion a few years back and someone suggested a pick
for me. I don't recall who now, just that my reaction was I'd rather
have James Brown. If I had to pick two articles of unswerving faith,
they'd be "it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that swing" and "funk
is its own reward": James Brown, more than anyone else, embodied both.
The "hardest working man in show business" set standards none of us
can match. He not only kept it on the one, he was the one.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Village Voice Jazz Poll
Francis Davis converted his year-end column into a jazz critics
poll this year. He invited 40 more/less New York-focused critics,
and got 30 ballots. The big winner was Ornette Coleman's Sound
Grammar, followed by Andrew Hill's Time Lines and Sonny
Rollins' Sonny, Please. The results get scattered after
that, with seven ballots putting Nels Cline's Andrew Hill-themed
New Monastery into 4th place, and five votes sufficing to
place Paul Motian's Garden of Eden at 6th. The results are
here,
and you can navigate to the rest of the pieces from there.
One of those pieces is my own annotated
ballot.
This was submitted a couple of weeks ago, under mild protest that the
year was still young, and I'm still trying to catch up. Normally I
keep my year-end list open another year, adding things as I get the
chance. You can see how this works by scanning the nearly-frozen
2005 list, where the late adds
appear in green. The A-list there comes to 133 records, of which
20 were added late. This year's list, with less than a week to go
before I start breaking out the green font, has 97 records, a drop
I haven't analyzed yet. Looking through the pending list, I see
maybe a dozen that might wind up A-, which would bring the two
years reasonably close into line -- assuming I hit my deadline,
a stretch. The total number of new records is up this year (741,
including pending, vs. 646); the number of reissues of various
sorts is down a smidgen (318, from 336), with the A-lists down
quite a bit (68 vs. 115).
From all these records, a top ten seems arbitrarily short.
Davis added a few more "honorable mentions" to his list. I'll
go a bit further here and give you my up-to-the-minute 2006
A-list, minus the non-jazz records (which start with Todd
Snider and Public Enemy):
- Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar)
- Jon Faddis: Teranga (Koch)
- World Saxophone Quartet: Political Blues (Justin Time)
- Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra: New Magical Kingdom (Clean Feed)
- Mario Pavone Sextet: Deez to Blues (Playscape)
- The Harry Allen-Joe Cohn Quartet: Hey, Look Me Over (Arbors)
- Odyssey the Band: Back in Time (Pi)
- Adam Lane Trio: Zero Degree Music (CIMP)
- Steven Bernstein's Millennial Territory Orchestra: MTO Volume 1 (Sunnyside)
- Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Stoa (ECM)
- Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There (Libra)
- Steve Lacy Quintet: Esteem (1975, Atavistic)
- Joe Morris Quartet: Beautiful Existence (Clean Feed)
- The Vandermark 5: A Discontinuous Line (Atavistic)
- Toumani Diabaté's Symmetric Orchestra: Boulevard de l'Indépendence (World Circuit/Nonesuch)
- Ben Allison: Cowboy Justice (Palmetto)
- Zentralquartett: 11 Songs -- Aus Teutschen Landen (Intakt)
- Gato Libre: Nomad (No Man's Land)
- Sonny Rollins: Sonny, Please (Doxy)
- Fred Anderson: Timeless: Live at the Velvet Lounge (Delmark)
- Diana Krall: From This Moment On (Verve)
- François Carrier: Happening (Leo, 2CD)
- Bob Reynolds: Can't Wait for Perfect (Fresh Sound New Talent)
- Ramón Díaz: Diàleg (Fresh Sound New Talent)
- Maurice El Médioni Meets Roberto Rodriguez: Descarga Oriental: The New York Sessions (Piranha)
- Sound in Action Trio: Gate (Atavistic)
- Ignacio Berroa: Codes (Blue Note)
- Scott Hamilton: Nocturnes & Serenades (Concord)
- Ulf Wakenius: Notes From the Heart (ACT)
- Soft Machine: Grides (1971, Cuneiform)
- Charles Lloyd: Sangam (ECM)
- Erik Friedlander: Prowl (Cryptogramophone)
- Rabih Abou-Khalil/Joachim Kühn: Journey to the Centre of an Egg (Enja/Justin Time)
- Manu Katché: Neighbourhood (ECM)
- Jeff Healey & the Jazz Wizards: It's Tight Like That (Stony Plain)
- Harry Miller's Isipingo: Which Way Now (1975, Cuneiform)
- Omer Avital: The Ancient Art of Giving (Smalls)
- Saborit: Que Linda Es Mi Cuba (Tumi Music)
- Club D'Elf: Now I Understand (Accurate)
- Rudresh Mahanthappa: Codebook (Pi)
- Les Primitifs du Futur: World Musette (1999, Sunnyside)
- Frank Hewitt: Fresh From the Cooler (1996, Smalls)
- Kidd Jordan/Hamid Drake/William Parker: Palm of Soul (AUM Fidelity)
- Maurice Hines: To Nat "King" Cole With Love (Arbors)
- Paul Motian: On Broadway Vol. 4 (Winter & Winter)
- Moncef Genoud: Aqua (Savoy Jazz)
- Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid: The Exchange Session Vol. 1 (Domino)
- Bill Carrothers: Shine Ball (Fresh Sound New Talent)
- Carneyball Johnson (Akron Cracker)
- The David S. Ware Quartet: BalladWare (Thirsty Ear)
- Junk Box: Fragment (Libra)
- Thomas Strønen: Pohlitz (Rune Grammofon)
The reissues category is harder to judge, in part because of how
redundancy, utility, and historical value enter into the equation.
When I did the ballot, I actually skipped over my top rated item to
take Fats Waller, then skipped over some more obvious choices in
favor of Irène Schweizer and Andrew Hill. The following list comes
from the year-end list, merging compilations and reissues together.
(First releases of vault music are generally included with the new
releases, although I didn't always do it that way.)
- Night in Tunisia: The Very Best of Dizzy Gillespie (1946-49, Bluebird/Legacy)
- Fats Waller: If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It (1926-43, Bluebird/Legacy, 3CD)
- Sonny Rollins: Milestone Profiles (1972-2001, Milestone)
- God Bless the Child: The Very Best of Billie Holiday (1935-42, Columbia/Legacy)
- Irène Schweizer: Portrait (1984-2004, Intakt)
- Bob Wills: Legends of Country Music (1932-73, Columbia/Legacy, 4CD)
- Pérez Prado: The Hits (1949-59, RCA/Legacy)
- One O'Clock Jump: The Very Best of Count Basie (1936-42, Columbia/Legacy)
- The Miles Davis Quintet: The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions (1955-58, Prestige, 4CD)
- Andrew Hill: Pax (1965, Blue Note)
- Archie Shepp: The Impulse Story (1964-72, Impulse)
- Serge Chaloff: Boston Blow-Up! (1955, Capitol Jazz)
- Joe Henderson: Milestone Profiles (1967-75, Milestone)
- John Coltrane: The Impulse Story (1961-67, Impulse)
- Pärson Sound (1966-68, Anthology, 2CD)
- Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou: Éthiopiques 21: Ethiopia Song (1963-96, Buda Musique)
- Sonny Rollins: The Impulse Story (1965-66, Impulse)
- Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane: The Complete 1957 Riverside Recordings (1957, Riverside, 2CD)
- Andrew Hill: Smoke Stack (1963, Blue Note)
- Nils Petter Molvaer: An American Compilation (Thirsty Ear)
- Pharoah Sanders: The Impulse Story (1966-73, Impulse)
- The House That Trane Built: The Best of Impulse Records (1961-76, Impulse)
Some of these items are borderline jazz, but that's the way the
world works. In particular, I included Toumani Diabaté because the
record got votes in the Voice poll. Same for Pérez Prado, which I
might have included anyway -- even thought about voting for it
myself. Bob Wills is another case. There's actually quite a bit
of stuff that doesn't get filed as jazz that can be listened to
as jazz -- especially world and electronica, but western swing
works for me.
I've gone through the published ballots and collected 45 new
titles and 27 reissues that I don't have/haven't heard. I need
to track some of those down. The winning jazz vocal record, by
Nancy Kelly, is one. The winning debut record, by Francisco Mela,
would have been but I got tipped off, hustled up a copy, and am
playing it now. (Seems unlikely to dislodge my vote for Bob
Reynolds.)
Publicist's letter:
The Village Voice has published my year-end jazz list:
http://villagevoice.com/music/0652,davis,75410,22.html
My list is an add-on to Francis Davis's year-end column, which this
year has been expanded into a NYC-oriented jazz critics poll:
http://villagevoice.com/music/0652,davis,75409,22.html
A bit frustrated that I could only vote for 10 (well, 15, including
oldies, vocal and debut) albums, I dumped my whole year-end jazz
list into a blog entry:
http://www.tomhull.com/blog/archives/447-Village-Voice-Jazz-Poll.html
New records indexed by label:
Accurate: Club D'Elf
ACT: Ulf Wakenius
Akron Cracker: Carneyball Johnson
Arbors: Harry Allen-Joe Cohn (#6), Maurice Hines
Atavistic: Steve Lacy, Vandermark 5, Sound in Action Trio
AUM Fidelity: Kidd Jordan
Blue Note: Ignacio Berroa
CIMP: Adam Lane (#8)
Clean Feed: Adam Lane (#4), Joe Morris
Concord: Scott Hamilton
Cryptogramophone: Erik Friedlander
Cuneiform: Soft Machine, Harry Miller
Delmark: Fred Anderson
Domino: Kieran Hebden/Steve Reid
Doxy: Sonny Rollins
ECM: Nik Bartsch (#10), Charles Lloyd, Manu Katche
Fresh Sound: Bob Reynolds, Ramon Diaz, Bill Carrothers
Justin Time: World Saxophone Quartet (#3), Rabih Abou-Khalil
Koch: Jon Faddis (#2)
Intakt: Zentralquartett
Leo: Francois Carrier
Libra: Satoko Fujii, Junk Box
No Man's Land: Gato Libre
Nonesuch: Toumani Diabate
Palmetto: Ben Allison
Pi: Odyssey the Band, Rudresh Mahanthappa
Piranha: Maurice El Medioni/Roberto Rodriguez
Playscape: Mario Pavone (#5)
Rune Gramophone: Thomas Stronen
Savoy Jazz: Moncef Genoud
Smalls: Omer Avital, Frank Hewitt
Sound Grammar: Ornette Coleman (#1)
Stony Plain: Jeff Healey
Sunnyside: Steven Bernstein (#9), Les Primitifs du Futur
Thirsty Ear: David S. Ware
Tumi Music: Saborit
Verve: Diana Krall
Winter & Winter: Paul Motian
Reissues indexed by label:
Anthology: Parson Sound
Blue Note (Capitol Jazz): Andrew Hill (2), Serge Chaloff
Buda Musique: Tsegue-Maryam Guebrou
Concord (Milestone, Prestige, Riverside): Sonny Rollins, Miles Davis,
Joe Henderson, Thelonious Monk/John Coltrane
Intakt: Irene Schweizer
Legacy (Sony/BMG): Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Waller, Billie Holiday,
Bob Wills, Perez Prado, Count Basie
Thirsty Ear: Nils Petter Molvaer
Verve (Impulse): Archie Shepp, John Coltrane, Sonny Rollins,
Pharoah Sanders, The House That Trane Built
I've worked my way through almost 500 jazz records to come up with
these lists, four Jazz Consumer Guides, and weekly Jazz Prospecting
notes. Nonetheless, there were 72 records (45 new, 27 old) that
received votes in the poll that I haven't heard -- something to
follow up on, no doubt.
Jazz records that got votes in Francis Davis' Village Voice Jazz
Poll that I never got (new records, including vocal [*] and debut [#]
slots; 45 total):
- Atomic: The Bikini Tapes (Jazzland) [Szwed]
- Jonathan Batiste: Live in New York: At the Rubin Museum of Art (jonathanbatiste.com) [Fricke#]
- Lincoln Binney: Foreign Affair (XQ/AM) [Johnson]
- Bob Brookmeyer & the New Art Orchestra: Spirit Music (ArtistShare) [Hajdu, Morgenstern]
- Uri Caine: Rimmon (Tzadik) [Macnie]
- Jack DeJohnette & Bill Frisell: The Elephant Sleeps but Still Remembers (Kindred Rhythm) [Hajdu]
- Bob De Vos: Shifting Sands (Savant) [Stewart]
- Electric Masada: At the Mountains of Madness (Tzadik) [Fricke]
- Peter Evans: More Is More (Psi) [Dollar]
- Bill Frisell/Ron Carter/Paul Motian (Nonesuch) [Donohue, Kaplan, Ouellette]
- Roberta Gambarini: Easy to Love (Grovin' High/Kindred Rhythm) [Morgenstern*, Musto*, Stewart*]
- Kenny Garrett: Beyond the Wall (Nonesuch) [Milkowski, Musto, Richardson]
- David Gilmore: Unified Presence (RKM) [Musto]
- Mary Halvorson & Jessica Pavone: Prairies (Lucky Kitchen) [Dollar]
- Curtis Hasselbring: The New Mellow Edwards (Skirl) [Davis#, Henkin]
- Roy Haynes: Whereas (Dreyfus Jazz) [Morgenstern]
- Leroy Jenkins & Driftwood: The Art of Improvisation (Mutable Music) [Mandel]
- Hank Jones/Christian McBride/Jimmy Cobb: West of 5th (Chesky) [Kaplan, Musto]
- Nancy King: Live at the Jazz Standard With Fred Hersch (MaxJazz) [Adler*, Donohue, Hajdu*, Williams*]
- Lee Konitz: New Nonet (Omnitone) [Adler, Blumenfeld, Milkowski]
- Bobby Matos: Acknowledgement (Lifeforcejazz) [Szwed]
- Pat Metheny & Brad Mehldau (Nonesuch) [Moon]
- Neil Miner: The Evening Sounds (Smalls) [Stewart]
- Marisa Monte: Universo ao Meu Redor (Blue Note) [Blumenfeld*]
- Mark Murphy: Once to Every Heart (Verve) [Johnson]
- Zim Ngqawana: Vadzimu (Sheer) [Jenkins]
- Orchestre National de Jazz: Close to Heaven (Le Chant du Monde) [Jenkins]
- Evan Parker: Time Lapse (Tzadik) [Henkin, Richardson]
- Luis Perdomo: Awareness (RKM) [Macnie]
- Ted Reichman: My Ears Are Bent (Skirl) [Dollar]
- Ben Riley's Monk Legacy Septet: Memories of T (Concord) [Donohue, Musto, Ouellette, Williams]
- Ned Rothenberg/Tony Buch/Stomu Takeishi/David Tronzo: The Fell Clutch (Animul) [Henkin]
- Gonzalo Rubalcaba: Solo (Blue Note) [Blumenfeld]
- Catherine Russell: Cat (World Village) [Friedwald]
- Frank Sinatra: Vegas (Reprise) [Hajdu]
- Vanguard Jazz Orchestra: Up From the Skies -- Music of Jim McNeely (Planet Arts) [Hajdu]
- Alexander von Schlippenbach: Twelve Tone Tales Vol. 1 & 2 (Intakt) [Henkin]
- SF Jazz Collective: Live 2005: 2nd Annual Concert Tour (SF Jazz) [Jenkins]
- Marcus Shelby Jazz Orchestra: Port Chicago (Noir) [Morgenstern]
- Grant Stewart: Estate (Video Arts) [Stewart]
- Syntopia Quartet: Mars (Nemu) [Shoemaker#]
- Aki Takase Piano Quartet: Tarantella (Psi) [Shoemaker]
- Joe Temperley: A Portrait (Hep) [Morgenstern]
- Benny Wallace: Disorder at the Border (Enja) [Friedwald]
- Randy Weston: Zep Tepi (Random Chance) [Jenkins]
Reissues (27 total):
- Air: 80 Degrees Below 82 (CD-R) [Johnson]
- Jon Appleton & Don Cherry: Human Music (Water) [Szwed]
- Ornette Coleman: Love Revolution -- Complete 1968 Italian Tour (Gambit) [Hajdu]
- John Coltrane: Fearless Leader (Prestige) [Fricke, Hajdu]
- Ted Daniel: Sextet (Ujamaa Music) [Henkin]
- Eric Dolphy Quintet: Outward Bound (Prestige) [Richardson]
- Duke Ellington: The Complete 1936-1940 Variety, Vocalion and Okeh Small Group Sessions (Mosaic) [Hajdu]
- Gil Evans: The Complete Pacific Jazz Sessions (Blue Note) [Adler]
- Sonny Fortune: Trilogy (Sonny Fortune) [Jenkins]
- Red Garland Trio: At the Prelude (Prestige) [Mandel, Stewart]
- Dizzy Gillespie: The Complete Verve/Phillips Small Group Sessions (Mosaic) [Kaplan, Morgenstern]
- Rufus Harley: Courage: The Atlantic Recordings (Rhino Handmade) [Freeman, Fricke]
- Andrew Hill: Solo (Mosaic Select) [Fricke, Kaplan, Morgenstern]
- I Like Be I Like Bop: Odds & Svends of Early Bebop Violin & Contemporary Violin Curiosities (AB Fable) [Szwed]
- Steve Lacy & Brion Gysin: Songs (HatHut) [Macnie]
- Charles Lloyd: Of Course, of Course (Mosaic) [Seymour]
- Jackie McLean: Demon's Dance (Blue Note) [Shoemaker]
- Bheki Mseleku: The Best Of (Sheer) [Jenkins]
- Kansas City Frank Melrose: Bluesiana (Delmark) [Mandel]
- Oliver Nelson: The Argo, Verve, and Impulse Big Band Studio Sessions (Mosaic) [Friedwald, Seymour]
- King Oliver: Off the Record: The Complete 1923 Jazz Band Recordings (Archeophone) [Blumenfeld]
- Evan Parker: The Topography of the Lungs (Psi) [Macnie, Shoemaker]
- Jimmy Raney: With Bob Brookmeyer (Verve) [Davis]
- Roswell Rudd: Blown Bone (Emanem) [Szwed]
- Eddie South: The Cheloni Broadcast Transcriptions (Jazz Oracle) [Morgenstern]
- Lucky Thompson: Meets Oscar Pettiford (Fresh Sound) [Williams]
- Stan Tracey: (The Return of) Captain Adventure (Steam-TentoTen) [Donohue, Shoemaker]
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
I made my annual stab at a Christmas dinner today. Menu:
- Chicken cacciatore
- Sweet potato frites
- Fried zucchini
- Green beans with parmesan
- Mark Bittman's "shrimps my way"
- Sliced tomatoes with mozzarella
- Amish door date pudding
Figured since I was deep frying, I'd double up. Once again, it
proved to be the bottleneck in serving the meal, with the last batch
of zucchini appearing after most of the plates were cleared. Other
than that, everything was near perfect. Mike took some pictures.
Maybe they'll show up on porkalicious some day.
Redeemed by History?
An excerpt from an opinion column in the Wichita Eagle today,
written by Mark Updegrove, author of a book, Second Acts:
Presidential Lives and Legacies After the White House:
And yet Truman may offer President Bush hope. As Truman said,
"The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know."
Just a few years after leaving the White House, after retreating
to his hometown of Independence, Mo., Truman's stock began to
rise.
The magnitude of his times was appreciated. Truman's strength
of character was acknowledged, too. . . .
If the growing appreciation Truman enjoyed is any indication,
Bush has at least one thing going for him: the indisputable
historical significance of the post-Sept. 11 period, offering
him the greatest leadership test of his generation.
Afghanistan had been "the graveyard of empirse" before U.S.-led
coalition forces crossed over the border and drove out the Taliban.
But it is Bush's decision to invade and occupy Iraq on which his
historical legacy hinges, particularly because he did so without
direct provocation.
Bush has shown the unwavering resolve for which great leaders
are often celebrated -- if they are ultimately proved to be right.
If that is the case, history may celebrate Bush, and, as distant
as the hope seems now, he may be awarded a place in the presidential
pantheon along with Harry S. Truman. If not, history will surely
condemn him for his lack of judgment.
It's hard to believe that Updegrove is so dense that he thinks
the jury's still out on Bush. But he does do us a favor in pointing
out that Bush's immediate post-9/11 "leadership" is the myth that
most needs to be demolished. This was the period when Bob Woodward
lionized Bush at War. Even in the 2004 presidential debates,
Kerry complimented Bush for his post-9/11 act. The fct is that Bush
failed utterly in that critical period. He failed to recognize that
9/11 was a consequence of years of manipulative policies in the
Middle East, including a peculiar daliance with Islamists, prized
in Washington for their anti-Communism. He failed to understand
that a massive military response would lose the political ground,
eventually ejecting the US from the region. And he didn't realize
that his own interests and predilections -- his corrupt use of
government to pay off his political obligations, his confusion of
privilege with freedom, and his adolescent relish of violence --
would undermine his every effort.
None of the results of those efforts are very controversial
now: the Taliban is back in Afghanistan -- pace Updegrove, they
never actually left -- as well as stronger in Pakistan; Iraq is
a seething cesspool of violence; occupied Palestine and Lebanon
have been levelled by Israel with unquestioning Bush support;
efforts to isolate and bully Syria and Iran have only stiffened
their resolve to defy the US; the US military has been broken,
while running up a bill that has massively expanded the national
debt; US ability to project power is diminished, and whatever
moral authority the US once had has been lost. Even to the
extent that these things are trends as opposed to completed
facts, the trends are locked into Bush's famed "resolve" --
his delusional conviction in his own righteousness.
I'm not a big fan of Truman. In particular, I consider his
pivotal decisions to engage in what we came to call the Cold
War with the Soviet Union to have been a long-term mistake.
It should also be noted that Truman, like Bush, went with the
popular flow down the easy slope to war, where real leadership
would have resisted the temptation -- although to be fair,
Truman was far more reluctant to bite off more than he could
chew than Bush, and never seemed to have actually relished
picking a fight, like Bush clearly does. Truman had another
personal trait that worked in his favor: he established his
reputation as an opponent of wartime profiteering, and he is
widely recognized as one of the least corrupt politicians
the US has had. Bush is at the far opposite end of that
spectrum.
But Truman's rehabilitation is also based on two more factors
that Bush doesn't have working in his favor. The first is that
Truman was president at a time when American power was ascendant
worldwide, and not just because the rest of the world had gone
through the horrific destruction of WWII. This made is possible
for the US to do things like the Marshall Plan, which actually
had a lot more -- especially positive -- effect than military
actions in Germany and Korea. On the other hand, US power has
been declining for several decades now, leaving Bush in a much
weaker position, with fewer options, than Truman had. It's also
worth noting that self-conceptions lag actual power, so Truman
was more modest than he needed to be, and Bush more arrogant.
One measure of the extent of decline is that Truman was able
to defeat the governments of Germany and Japan and to hold the
Soviet Union and China at bay, while Bush can't even handle a
couple of guerrilla revolts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The other secret behind Truman's reputation triumph was how
the Republicans, exercising selective memory, adopted him as an
avatar of their own postwar legacy. This was mostly limited to
Cold War militarism, which in Truman's day was primarily opposed
by conservative isolationists like Taft. But Eisenhower and the
Dulles brothers built on Truman's foundation, but tougher and
more aggressive -- the latter traits conveniently masked by
citing Truman as their originator. There's no chance that Bush
will be similarly adopted by his nominal opponents.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
Music: Current count 12695 [12671] rated (+24), 868 [860] unrated (+8).
Mostly an off-week, with most of the ratings coming from deep backlog,
rather than things I have more immediate reason to work on. Accordingly,
the immediate tasks are backing up.
- Carl Allen & Manhattan Projects: The Dark Side of
Dewey (1992 [1996], Evidence): I always assumed that
Dewey was Redman, but the music didn't fit, nor the lineup.
I looked more closely when I recognized "All Blues" and found
out that Miles' middle name was Dewey. So this is basically a
Davis tribute with Nicholas Payton enjoying himself in the hot
seat, Vincent Herring playing Shorter, Mulgrew Miller doing
his best Hancock, Dwayne Burno on bass, the leader on drums.
B+(*)
- Eubie Blake: Memories of You (1915-73 [1990],
Biograph): Mostly taken from piano rolls Blake recorded 1917-21,
plus two 1915 piano rolls by others and two 1973 recordings.
This is actually both brighter and slicker than Brun Campell's
recordings. Rather impressive, even. B+(***)
- Ruby Braff: Very Sinatra (1982, Red Barron):
With no vocals, no one is challenging Sinatra on his own turf.
Rather, Braff picks songs Sinatra picked, and not just because
Sinatra picked them. He relishes the swing, and if anything
takes them back a closer to trad jazz. Played this twice before
I looked at the personnel sheet, admiring the consistent play
without especially noticing anything other than the pretty good
organ. Turns out the band is: Dick Hyman, Bucky Pizzarelli,
Michael Moore (the mainstream bassist, not one of the many
others), and Mel Lewis, with Vic Dickenson and Sam Margolis
slipping in on three cuts. A-
- Brun Campbell: Joplin's Disciple ([2001], Delmark):
Born 1884, died 1953. As a teenager in 1898 Campbell heard his first
ragtime and set out for Sedalia MO to take lessons from Scott Joplin.
He claims to have been Joplin's only white student, and the booklet
notes that he was the only Joplin student to record. No dates on these
recordings, but evidently date from the 1940s. Remarkable historical
document. Don't know ragtime well enough to comment on the finer
points, but Campbell is such a rough gem there may be none. B+
- The Teddy Charles Tentet (1956 [1988], Atlantic):
Charles played vibes, which are prominent but not critical. The group
is large, and tightly arranged, impressive in its details, although
I've never been all that taken by it. Aside from Charles, the
composer-arrangers are all hall of famers: Gil Evans, Jimmy Giuffre,
George Russell, Mal Waldron, and on the bonus tracks, Bob Brookmeyer.
B+(**)
- The Robert Cray Band: Live From Across the Pond
(2006, Nozzle/Vanguard, 2CD): A terrific blues guitarist, a so-so
singer, and a songwriter I all too frequently find myself wanting
to strangle. After twenty-some years, he's entitled to throw out
a live double career retrospective. But that doesn't make me like
the songs any better. Well, not much better, anyway. B-
- Lonnie Donegan: Putting on the Styles (1955-66
[1992], Sequel, 3CD): The Skiffle King, as the first disc describes
him. Donegan was an important figure in the prehistory of English
rock -- his skiffle analogous to the pre-Beatles folk movement
here, except more fun. We know him mostly for a novelty hit: "Does
Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On the Bedpost Overnight)" near
the end of the second disc. Still, this set goes too far. The
third disc turns him loose on standards like "Miss Otis Regrets"
and pop hits like "I Wanna Go Home" that are almost devoid of
interest. B
- Eek-A-Mouse: U-Neek (1991, Island/Peace Posse):
His voice was a novelty at first, but here he works within it, and
it's workable. Beats for the most part are up. "No Problem" is a
great song. B+
- Roy Eldridge in Paris (1950 [1995], RCA/Disques
Vogue): Two sessions from 1950, with all the spare parts. Eldridge
sings on several cuts, working with someone named Anita Love on
two of them. Delightful stuff, always enjoy his vocals, but the
trumpet is what's awesome. B+
- Feathermerchants: Last Man on Earth (2006, Innocent
12th Street): Alt-rock group with a female lead singer, Shannon Kennedy,
and the usual laconic guitars. Group has several records, dating back
to 1999. Pleasant sound, no clear take on how deep they might be.
B
- Dusko Goykovich Big Band: Balkan Connection
(1995 [1996], Enja): The big band isn't quite as sharp as it should
be, but it has a good measure of elegance and suppleness. Also, the
Balkan connection isn't as revealing or inspiring as you'd hope
for, but that may be beside the point. The great tradition the
songs are actually rooted in is bebop. B+(*)
- Coleman Hawkins: In Europe 1934/39 (1934-39 [1989],
Jazz Up, 3CD): Hawkins spent five years in Europe, mostly playing
with local bands, sometimes with American travelers like Benny Carter.
Before he left he was the most important tenor saxophonist in big
band jazz. By the time he returned he was even further advanced as
a soloist. This is the basic documentation, including sidesteps and
multiple takes, as well as the "Crazy Rhythm" sessions with Carter
and Django Reinhardt, which you no doubt already own. I must have
ten copies, but I never tire of hearing them. A-
- John Holloway: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Sonatas and
Partitas (2004 [2006], ECM): The only music teacher I ever
had -- an old geezer named Pankratz -- always named Bach as his
all-time favorite. I aced his tests and the notebook, did my best
to never actually listen to any classical music, and always felt
self-conscious about my singing -- at least since Lannie Goldsten
(or was her name Marva Goldberg? I think she used both) started
kicking me every time I made a peep ("just lip sync!"). So this
does and doesn't bring back traumatic childhood memories -- not
the music because, as I said, I never actually listened to it,
although the sound of violin was enough to send me scurrying.
That's the only sound there is here, and I find it oddly soothing
on a very gray, rainy December day, although I also find it rather
indifferent -- the violinists I do like have a little swing in
their kit. But I'll grade this one leniently: Laura thought it
was wonderful. B+(*)
- Maria Kalaniemi: Bellow Poetry (2006, Alula):
Finnish accordionist, classically trained but plays folk melodies,
intimately detailed, warm and comfy, with occasional vocals --
which leaves them lacking sufficient energy to jump over the
cultural barrier, or sufficient deviousness to tunnel under.
B
- Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: Christmastime Is
Here (2006, Telarc): Included here only because the featured
singers, at least when they can shut up the Children's Choir and the
Indiana University Singing Hoosiers, have jazz credentials -- Ann
Hampton Callaway, Tony DeSare, Tierney Sutton, John Pizzarelli.
Reminds me of a junior high recital, only at a higher standard of
competency. Hard to say how much of a plus that really is. But it
is clear that the jazz singers only made the program through the
label's contacts, and that they were wasted.
C+
- Jamie Lidell: Multiply (2005, Warp): AMG slots
him under electronica, and that's where his label generally resides.
That's also where I found his record at Record Time, and they
generally know what they're doing. But he sounds to me like a
straight soul singer, which I suppose is some sort of accomplishment
for a white DJ/producer from England. Having trouble relating to
this, but it has some appeal and potential. B+(**)
- Wadada Leo Smith: The Year of the Elephant
(2002, Pi): Quartet, with Anthony Davis on piano and synth,
Malachi Favors on bass, Jack DeJohnette on drums. Smith sounds
terrific, especially out of the gate, and Davis has some good
moments, but this drags a bit in the middle. B+(**)
- Tom Wurth (2006, Aspirion): Country singer, on his
first album, has all the basic skills, but tries so hard, the overkill
gets the best of him. He does a credible "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry,"
but passes it off as a bonus track, because he already has 14 songs --
not originals, mind you, just non-standards. He doesn't seem to have
written any of them, which is probably why he's able to slip a great
song like "Bread on the Table" in with a good like like "Good Ground"
and a bunch of stuff that go through the motions -- sometimes, as in
"Bad Case of Missing You," at breakneck speed with fancy piano. B
Jazz Prospecting (CG #12, Part 6)
Time to post the week's jazz prospecting, and what I find here
is downright embarrassing: two Christmas albums. My first thought
was to declare "no jazz prospecting" this week, but I figured it
would look even dumber to run them after Christmas. (Of course,
today's too late for shoppers, but they're not recommended all
that highly.) So "Part 6" is pretty sparse, even after I plundered
the notebook for three more not-really-jazz notes.
I hadn't expected to do much jazz this week, as the impending
deadline is the 2006-roundup edition of Recycled Goods, and most
of what I have to catch up with there is non-jazz. But I wound
up spending a lot of time rummaging through the new 8th Edition
of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. I'll write more
about this in the next few weeks. Thus far I've started building
up the differences chart: I figure I'm about 26% done, and don't
know when I'll get around to finishing it. It's hard on the eyes,
and 3-4 days of hacking at it cuts drastically into whatever else
I'm trying to do. But you can take a look at what I have so far
here. The Crown
and Core lists should be complete.
The Village Voice should have its big year-end jazz poll out
this week. More on that when it happens.
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
Erich Kunzel/Cincinnati Pops Orchestra: Christmastime Is
Here (2006, Telarc): Included here only because the featured
singers, at least when they can shut up the Children's Choir and the
Indiana University Singing Hoosiers, have jazz credentials -- Ann
Hampton Callaway, Tony DeSare, Tierney Sutton, John Pizzarelli.
Reminds me of a junior high recital, only at a higher standard of
competency. Hard to say how much of a plus that really is. But it
is clear that the jazz singers only made the program through the
label's contacts, and that they were wasted.
C+
The Robert Cray Band: Live From Across the Pond
(2006, Nozzle/Vanguard, 2CD): A terrific blues guitarist, a so-so
singer, and a songwriter I all too frequently find myself wanting
to strangle. After twenty-some years, he's entitled to throw out
a live double career retrospective. But that doesn't make me like
the songs any better. Well, not much better, anyway.
B-
Maria Kalaniemi: Bellow Poetry (2006, Alula):
Finnish accordionist, classically trained but plays folk melodies,
intimately detailed, warm and comfy, with occasional vocals --
which leaves them lacking sufficient energy to jump over the
cultural barrier, or sufficient deviousness to tunnel under.
B
John Holloway: Johann Sebastian Bach: The Sonatas and
Partitas (2004 [2006], ECM): The only music teacher I ever
had -- an old geezer named Pankratz -- always named Bach as his
all-time favorite. I aced his tests and the notebook, did my best
to never actually listen to any classical music, and always felt
self-conscious about my singing -- at least since Lannie Goldsten
(or was her name Marva Goldberg? I think she used both) started
kicking me every time I made a peep ("just lip sync!"). So this
does and doesn't bring back traumatic childhood memories -- not
the music because, as I said, I never actually listened to it,
although the sound of violin was enough to send me scurrying.
That's the only sound there is here, and I find it oddly soothing
on a very gray, rainy December day, although I also find it rather
indifferent -- the violinists I do like have a little swing in
their kit. But I'll grade this one leniently: Laura thinks it's
wonderful.
B+(*)
No final grades/notes on records I put back for further
listening the first time around this week.
Hindsight and Foresight
Billmon spent some time recently going back over his
blog postings on
Iraq. His conclusion:
If nothing else, though, the Whiskey Bar archives prove to my
satisfaction that it was possible, even for a nonspecialist (which is
all I'll ever be in the fields of foreign policy or military affairs)
to see at least an outline of the disaster as it started to
unfold. What was lacking in the corporate media was not the
opportunity, but rather the insight, the courage and the independence
to say what needed to be said -- at a time when the both the powers
that be and the paying audience were unwilling to listen.
I can post a similar audit trail. In fact, I did back in March
2005, listing links to material originally posted in my notebook
or previous blog:
Since 2005, see the
War/Terror
thread, which repeats these themes ad nauseum. I'm struck by this quote
from May 2004, although it's probably just typical:
As for Iraq, it has turned into a major security vulnerability for
the U.S., primarily because it shows the world that the U.S. is
deceitful and manipulative and callous and contemptuous of the rest of
the world. The only way that the U.S. can mitigate the damage (which
includes coups, wars, and sanctions) that it has done to Iraq is to
get out and stay out.
I don't know about the mainstream media's courage or independence,
but the insight they all seem to lack is the ability to see the US
as "deceitful and manipulative and callous and contemptuous of the
rest of the world." Those of us who could recognize those traits had
little trouble figuring out where the war was going or why. Those
who didn't were easy suckers. It's important to understand that long
before Iraq was attacked, the first preëmptive attack was against
the "blame America first" crowd on the "looney left" -- and that
clearing out the critics most sensitive to what would go wrong was
the essential first step toward such a disastrous war.
Friday, December 22, 2006
The Road Map to Nowhere
After two straight posts on Israel, this should be a good time to
dump out my marked quotes from Tanya Reinhart's The Road Map
to Nowhere: Israel/Palestine Since 2003 (Verso). This
follows on from her earlier Israel/Palestine: How to End the
War of 1948. Reinhart is Professor Emeritus, Linguistics and
Comparative Literature at Tel Aviv University. She is neither a
journalist nor a historian, but is remarkably adept at pulling
together a coherent picture of recent events from the current
reporting.
Much of her story is familiar, albeit poorly reported here in
the US. I didn't pull a lot out, but did find a few quotes that
should be noted. The first is on the military and the politicians
in Israel (pp. 6-7):
The military is the most stable -- and most dangerous -- political
factor in Israel. As an Israeli analyst stated in 2001, "in the last
six years, since October 1995, there were five prime ministers and six
defense ministers, but only two chiefs of staff." Israeli military and
political systems have always been closely intertwined, with generals
moving from the army straight to the government, but the army's
political status was further solidified during Sharon's
premiership. It is often apparent that the real decisions are made by
the military rather than the political echelon. Military seniors brief
the press (they capture at least half of the news space in the Israeli
media), and brief and shape the views of foreign diplomats; they go
abroad on diplomatic missions, outline political plans for the
government, and express their political views on any subject and
occasion.
In contrast to this military stability, the Israeli political
system is in a gradual process of disintegration. In a World Bank
report of April 2005, Israel was found to be one of the most corrupt
and least efficient in the Western world, second only to Italy in the
government corruption index, and lowest in the index of political
stability. Together with his sons, Sharon personally was associated
with severe bribery charges that have never reached the courts. The
new party that Sharon founded, Kadima, which now heads the government,
is a hierarchical agglomeration of individuals with no party
institutions or local branches. Its guidelines, published on 22
November 2005, enable its leader to bypass all standard democratic
processes and appoint the list of the party's candidates to the
parliament without voting or approval of any party body.
The Labor party has not been able to offer an alternative. In the
last two Israeli elections, Labor elected dovish prime ministerial
candidates: Amram Mitzna in 2003 and Amir Peretz in 2006. Both were
initially received with enormous enthusiasm, but were immediately
silenced by their party and campaign advisors and by self-imposed
censorship, aiming to situate themselves "at the center of the
political map." Soon, their programs became indistinguishable from
those of Sharon. Peretz even declared that on "foreign and security"
matters he will do exactly as Sharon, or later Olmert, do, differing
from them only on social matters. Thus, these candidates helped
convince Israeli voters that Sharon's way is the right way. In recent
years, there has been no substantial left-wing opposition to the rule
of Sharon and the generals, since after the elections, Labor would
always join the government, providing the dovish image that the
generals need for the international show.
The US-backed Road Map insisted that Palestinians first put a halt
to their violence before Israel would be required to make any concessions.
The Israelis could thereby forestall the Road Map by fueling violence
(pp. 20-21):
Nevertheless, the Palestinian Authority and the various Palestinian
organizations fulfilled their side of the bargain, declaring complete
ceasefire for three months, during which they would halt all attacks
in Israel and the occupied territories, as stipulated in Phase I of
the Road Map. The first announcement that the Palestinian
organizations had reached a ceasefire agreement came on 25 June
2003. Hamas spokesmen observed "it was noteworthy that they had
accepted the three-month lull without receiving any guarantees from
Israel that it would cease its military activities against them in
exchange for the ceasefire."
The Israeli immediate reaction was instantaneous and
decisive. Within minutes of the Palestinian announcement, "Israeli
helicopters fired missiles at two cars new the southern Gaza city of
Khan Yunis, killing two people, including a woman. The Israel Defense
Forces said the helicopters fired the missiles at a Hamas cell that
was about to fire mortar shells at an Israeli settlement." In
Jerusalem, "Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Defense Minister Shaul
Mofaz decided . . . that Israel will ignore any agreements on a
hudna, or ceasefire, reached by the Palestinian organizations,
and will instead insist that the Palestinian Authority disarm militias
in any area in which it assumes security responsibility . . . The
Foreign Ministry . . . instructed foreign legations to prepare for a
Palestinian propaganda assault that will blame Israel for violating
the 'ceasefire' while ignoring the PA's [Palestinian Authority's]
responsibility for continued terrorist activity by 'local' cells."
The Israelis use of assassinations (p. 29):
Some months later, on 22 March 2004, the Israeli army decided that
Sheikh Ahmed Yassin's time had come. At 5:20 a.m., Israeli helicopter
gunships fired rockets at the car of the wheelchair-bound Yassin as he
was leaving a mosque in Gaza city after morning prayer. What was
inconceivable even a year earlier had become reality.
Israel also deflected peace overtures from Syria (pp. 37-38):
In fall 2003, Syrian President Bashar Assad sent numerous signals
of his willingness to renew peace negotiations with Israel. About two
weeks after the Sharon-Abrams meeting, Assad made a public overture to
resume the negotiations in an interview with the New York
Times, in which he called for renewed talks and spoke of the
"normalization" of Syrian-Israeli relations.
Sharon rejected this move outright. Israel's reaction to Assad's
New York Times statement came swiftly the following day, when
Foreign Mininster Sylvan Shalom issued a statement using precisely the
same language that Israel used in response to Palestinian offers of a
ceasefire: "Positive remarks about peace are always encouraging, but
words are not enough. We want to see action. Syria must put an end to
terror activities that begin on its territory, and curtail arms
shipments from Iran to Hezbollah. Should Syria do this, and if it is
prepared to engage in talks with Israel without preconditions, there's
no doubt the government of Israel will seriously consider this
option."
Israel's only overture during this period was Sharon's plan to
unilaterally dismantle the Gaza settlements, a plan that Sharon
cooked up with Abrams as an alternative to the Road Map (p. 59):
The intensity of the military operations inside Gaza increased
substantially following Sharon's announcement of the disengagement
plan in February 2004. In February and March there were several
Israeli raids on Palestinian communities in the Strip (reported on 12
February, 8 March and 17-21 March). Israel then carried out two
full-scale military offensives. "Operation Rainbow," in May 2004,
concentrated on the vicinity fo Rafah, and left dozens of houses
demolished. "Operation Days of Penitence" in October 2004 was similar
-- in both scale and horrors -- to April 2002's "Operation Defensive
Shield" in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. The Israeli army
estimated the number of Palestinians killed at 130; about 500 others
were wounded. According to UNRWA, 91 houses were fully destroyed, and
101 others damaged.
Reinhart analyzes Sharon's motives, which went beyond derailing
any peace efforts to denying Palestinians the legitimacy of electing
their own leadership (p. 106):
I would contend that the real motive behind Sharon's campaign
against Hamas's participation in the election was that he was in fact
trying to stall the whole electoral process. In Sharon's eyes, his
biggest "achievement" was that from 2002 onwards he had succeededin
completely destroying the Palestinian social and political
infrastructure that had gradually developed over the years since the
1993 Oslo Accords. Though Palestinian society was far from democratic
during these years, there was at least a functioning system of local
governance, with many thriving semi-independent institutions. All this
was erased in the massive military "Operation Defensive Sheild" in
April 2002, which completed the process of re-establishing direct
military rule in the West Bank. Now, a new process of democratization
and elections was threatening to undo this major "achievement."
Reinhart argues that Sharon never really intended to disengage from
Gaza, but that the US held him to the commitment, in part by sanctions
against Israeli military purchases. This ended once the disengagement
took place (p. 130):
With the US military sactions in the background, Sharon and the
army had no choice but to obey. The army called off the operation [a
planned military operation in Gaza], and three weeks later, the Gaza
pullout took place promptly and smoothly. The drama of sanctions and
pressure was kept fully behind the screens. In public, throughout the
whole period, the Bush administration praised Sharon for his
leadership and courage in implementing the disengagement plan. They
trapped him in his words, and then gave him the sole credit for the
pullout -- but it was US pressure that really achieved it. When the US
really does exert pressure, no Israeli leader is able to defy its
injunctions.
On the elections where Hamas defeated Fatah (pp. 148-150):
Much attention has been paid already in the Western media to the
corruption of the PA and its lack of democracy, as a major cause of
the vote shift. But the crucial aspect, that received little
attention, is its failure in the Palestinian struggle against the
occupation. As BADIL states this, "the Palestinian Authority has
become both a prisoner and indispensable partner in endless diplomacy
whose purpose is to cover up the fact that nothing is done to bring
about a just and lasting peace, and it has failed to take action
against those from its own ranks, who publicly undermine the national
consensus and struggle for freedom from occupation."
[ . . . ]
While the political branches of the Fatah-led PA may have been just
passive int he Palestinian struggle for freedom, some of its security
forces have been active collaborators with the Israeli occupation,
most notably the Preventive Security apparatus, headed by Mohammed
Dahlan in the Gaza Strip and Jibril Rajoub in the West Bank. These
forces, trained by the CIA, have worked during all years of the Oslo
Agreements in tight collaboration with the Israeli security forces,
including collaborations in assassinations of Hamas militants.
[ . . . ]
In voting for Hamas, Palestinians were opting for a party which had
no history of collaboration with the occupiesr, and which they
believed would not be coerced into such collaboration in the
future. But from the perspective of the Israeli army Hamas's victory
entails the complete loss of the network of control it has constructed
in the territories sine 1993. When it accepted the US demand to allow
Hamas's participation in the Palestinian election, Israel -- like the
US -- assumed that although Hamas would be in some measure
legitimized, this would only entail a small change in the PA, which
would essentially remain controlled by the same apparatuses as
before. However, if Palestinians are permitted to implement their own
democratic decisions, their security services will come under the
jurisdiction of the new government,a nd can no longer be manipulated
by Israel; the days of Israel's appointment or training of Palestinian
leaders will be over.
In opposing the Hamas victory, Israel ratched up the propaganda
war against Syria and Iran, dovetailing with US concerns over its
failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. Reinhart's book was finished
before Israel's attack on Lebanon, but the groundwork is clearly
evident here (p. 153):
In its concerted campaign to prevent international recognition of
the new Hamas administration, and to impose tough sanctions on the
Palestinians, Israel has been exploiting the Islamophobic atmosphere
that resurfaced in the US at the beginning of 2006. Israeli security
officials flooded the West with reports on the dangers of HAmas's
future ties with Iran and Syria, painting a disturbing picture of a
global fundamentalist Islamic threat. The conditions were ripe for
such propaganda. On 3 February, the Pentagon released its 2006
Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR), where it lays out its vision for
what it describes as a "long war." It states that "this war requirse
the U.S. military to adopt unconventional and indirct
approaches. Currently, Iraq and Afghanistan are crucial battlegrounds,
but the struggle extends far beyond their borders. With its allies and
partners, the United States must be prepared to wage this war in many
locations simultaneously and for some years to come."
The book ends with a chapter on the joint Israeli-Palestinian
non-violent protest movement against the Wall. I didn't mark any
quotes there, but it's noteworthy that the movement was opposed
not only by Israel but by Fatah as well. As I said, the book was
finished before the events that led to Israel's invasions of Gaza
and Lebanon. No doubt another book is in the works.
Richard Ben Cramer's How Israel Lost convinced me that
Israel's political and military establishment has become so hooked
on conflict and war that they are now primarily devoted to its
perpetuation. The events covered in Reinhart's two books provide
much further evidence of this -- not so much on the why, mostly
how it plays out. It is worth noting that the US-backed Road Map
indeed went no where -- that the plan for peace was a charade,
and the plan for democracy turned out to be hollow.
Thursday, December 21, 2006
The Lifeblood of Zionism
I want to expand a bit on last night's post. The upshot is that the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the result of bad choices repeatedly
made over the better part of a century, based on a faulty political
theory: nationalism, seen as embodying a distinct group of people and
manifested through a state and its armed forces. Nationalism developed
like a cancer from the French Revolution through its apotheosis in
Nazi Germany, and lingers on today at the root of most of the world's
festering conflict sores. Its power comes from the appeal of defining
us against them -- it's self-flattering and other-deprecating, and as
such is quickly reinforced by encounters with other nationalisms. As
such, it is so easily exploitable by demagogues that it quickly became
the preferred stance of the right.
Nationalism developed in 19th century Europe for various reasons
which we need not go into here. The net effect from 1800 to 1950 was
to radically separate Europe into homogeneous nations with a mere
handful of exceptions -- Switzerland, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Russia,
plus a few subnational minorities like the Basques and the Lapps.
Europe's Jews, being a group that fit into no nation, suffered
terribly as a result. Jews responded to the nationalist madness
in four ways: some hunkered down in increasingly orthodox religion,
isolating themselves, trying to ride out the storm; some moved to
more open, pluralistic lands, such as the US, usually reforming
their religion to become more secular; some joined anti-nationalist
movements, such as the Bund, Socialism, or Communism; and some
staked their own claim to nationalism, becoming Zionists. At the
end of WWI the latter were a small minority, but three events
worked in their favor: the British adopted Zionism as a means
of establishing colonial control over Palestine; the US shut off
the main outlet for Jewish emigration from Eastern Europe; and
the rise to power of the Nazis, other Fascists, and the Soviets
put pressure on Jews to flee -- for lack of any alternative, into
the Zionists' arms.
The Ottoman-era Zionist movement was relatively benign -- the
Ottomans ran a multinational state which had long been able to
provide a haven for Jews fleeing from European purges. But from
1920 on the Zionists acted as a nation under the sponsorship and
protection of the British Empire. The Zionist Yishuv (settlement)
vied with native Palestinians, unwanted and unwelcomed in the
Jewish nation, for the same land and resources. As such, the
Zionist struggle was primarily demographic. Zionist success
depended on promoting Jewish immigration and on marginalizing
Palestinian political and economic power. In turn, Palestinian
self-defense focused on limiting Jewish immigration -- tragically,
given what happened to European Jews at this time. That proved to
be a propaganda coup for the Zionists, conveniently skipping over
how the Zionists worked to prevent Jews from moving anywhere but
Palestine. The Zionist focus, after all, was on demography: Jews
emigrating to American did them no good.
The Palestinian leadership missed the significance of all this,
not least because their response to the Zionists was to adopt their
own form of nationalism. In this they lost, badly. A better approach
would have been to open up Palestine and the rest of the Arab world
as a haven for European Jews, forging a bond with them in opposition
to Europe's imperialists and colonialists. That couldn't happen for
lots of reasons: the Arab nations were weak, mostly under European
thumbs; the Zionists were opposed; the Americans were indifferent and
disengaged, and deeply mired in their own racist delusions. But the
main reason was that nationalism seemed to work as the one idea that
unified non-Europeans into unities that could effectively resist
European imperialism. The most immediate example was Turkey, and
there were others -- until they overreached, the most spectacular
was Japan. Later on Vietnamese nationalism successfully resisted
the United States. But in the end nationalism is a formula for war,
not peace. And the Zionists, unlike the European colonialists, came
to stay, so for them every war was a challenge to their existence.
The only way to deal with such a foe is to level the ground, to
find common ground, and nationalism fails there, because all it
has to offer is division.
More and more we see evidence that Palestinians are coming to
see this, although it remains a struggle to see beyond decades of
abuse under Israeli force. I think this is why Israel's extreme
nationalists have come to look so desperate in their efforts to
prolong the conflict. Israel never worried about Iran in the '80s
when Khomeini actually made an effort to export his revolution,
so why now? Surely it's not that the Israelis don't understand
Nuclear Deterrence 101. Why do they worry about Hezbollah, which
like a beehive can be avoided by not sticking your bare hand into
it? Why do they worry about those Qassam firecracker attacks that
amount to little more than the Gazan version of a Bronx cheer?
Why do they work so hard to push Palestinian buttons? It's like
they can't bear the thought of life without war. But without war,
without their supremacist identity, without the persecution they
forged their movement under, what becomes of Zionism? It fades
away, like a bad memory. And just as well, it takes Palestinian
nationalism to the grave with it.
As Laura Tillem taught me, Hitler hated the Jews because they
were internationalists, rejecting the idiocy of nationalism. He
failed to kill all the Jews, but to the extent that Jews took
the lesson of the Holocaust as reason to embrace Zionism, he has
further succeeded in destroying what he most hated about the Jews.
So in essence what needs to happen is for the Israelis to rediscover
their pre-Fascist cosmopolitanism, and who better to point this out
than the Palestinians? Someone, after all, has to stop the cycle
of violence -- a cycle that Bush has escalated both by supporting
the Israeli hawks and by emulating them, bonding with them by
putting us all in the same treacherous and ultimately pointless
project.
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Karon on Holocaust Denial
I've been reading through an interesting post by
Tony
Karon called "What Arab Holocaust-Deniers Should Learn from
Mandela." The main point is certainly right: that Holocaust denial
by erstwhile supporters does the Palestinian cause no good. The
second point -- that Mandela drew constructive lessons from the
Boer War that enabled him and the ANC to relate positively to the
Afrikaners in resolving their conflict -- is food for thought, but
the history is far messier. I've long noticed that at least in
some respects Palestinian political movements have come to mirror
aspects of Zionism -- most obviously in counterposing the Nakba
to the Holocaust, an analogy that has never been very satisfying.
The exile from Roman times is more like it, but a far stronger
argument can be made from contemporary declarations of human rights,
which have clearly been denied to huge numbers of Palestinians.
A minor, almost academic, question is to what extent does
Holocaust denial actually factor into Palestinian, Arab, Islamic,
or pro-Palestinian thinking. Iran's Ahmadinejad has been quoted
(possibly misquoted) on the subject, and is sponsoring some sort
of conference, which occasioned this post. My impression is that
Holocaust denial is very rare among Palestinians, since it has
never been something that they were held responsible for. Rather,
it forms the basis for a basic disconnect: if Israel's raison
d'ëtre is the Holocaust, why take it out of the Palestinians'
hides? That's seductive rhetoric, but it misses the point. The
problem was that at the time of Israel's founding there had been
an extraordinary crime committed against European Jewry, and the
Zionists were able to successfully argue that the just response
to that crime was the creation of a Jewish state, which for
various historical and ideological reasons meant Israel.
That the solution was at the Palestinians' expense was typical
of the times, a consequence of colonialist norms which Europe and
America had yet to shake off. The Zionists succeeded in large part
because no one else came up with an alternative solution -- and
here no one else does include the Palestinians, the Arabs, the
broader Muslim world. I understand that Rashid Khalidi's new book
The Iron Cage delves deeper into the limits and weaknesses
of Palestinian political leadership from the 1920s to the present
day, so he may be a good source on the details. But the weak link
in the Zionist argument was the assertion that only a Jewish state
could protect Jews from further state-sponsored violence. One could,
and should, have responded that a better solution would be for Jews
to secure their human rights under international law recognized by
all nations. If only Arab nations, including Palestine, had taken
the initiative to do this -- to open their doors to immigration,
especially in the '30s when the Nazis seized power and initiated
their racist laws -- they would have undercut the Zionist argument
and come out far ahead. That they didn't do this is unsurprising
given the more general history -- the Arab nations were mostly
under European thumbs at the time. But the fact of Palestinian
resistance to Jewish immigration during the Nazi rise to power,
the Holocaust, and its aftermath -- which for several critical
years much of Europe was still a dangerous place for Jews -- is
the foundation of the idea that Palestinians are intractably
anti-Jewish. And that is the trump card that Zionists have played
repeatedly over the last sixty years.
After all that's happened to the Palestinians, it may seem
patently unfair to insist that they must first contribute to a
fair and just solution to the WWII-vintage Jewish problem, but
I believe that to be the case. Zionism strikes me as a bad deal
for Jews, whom it consigns to live in a garrison state forever
at war with the rest of the world -- the Palestinians suffer
most for being the closest targets. But only if you go back
and examine the history closely and honestly can you recognize
the pointlessly self-perpetuating pain that Zionism has caused,
on both sides of its weapons, on both sides of its iron walls.
And ultimately that pain is the common ground shared by both
Israeli and Palestinian. Which is, I think, where Karon's
argument ultimately leads.
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
F5: Work Like a Farmer, OD Like a Rock Star
I got a note from F5 publisher Josh Oxley yesterday, saying that
"the production of F5 Magazine will be postponed until further notice."
Translating from the Hirohito-ese, that means it's dead, but a little
further context might be helpful. Up to about six months ago, F5 was
run by a company called Hubris Communications and edited by a guy
named Mike Marlett, who -- as best I recall -- actually started the
paper before getting involved with Hubris. I don't know any of the
details of the break-up, but Oxley bought the paper, and Marlett
went on to start a new paper, something called Wichita City Paper.
Oxley is otherwise involved in billboard advertising. He took F5
and toned it down politically and culturally -- among other things,
dropping the "work like a farmer, party like a rock star" slogan.
As editor Michelle Ross explained to me, they wanted to make it a
family paper. Presumably this would be good for advertising.
On the other hand, Marlett took almost all of his writers with
him, and seems to have raised a lot more money, so when Wichita
City Paper came out a couple of months ago it looked to be a much
more substantial operation. I had actually been thinking that I
might like to write for F5 for several years, but never got around
to broaching the subject until, rather accidentally, after the
break occurred. I knew a couple of their writers -- even knew the
owner of Hubris, although that wasn't necessarily a plus. (He is,
after all, the guy who gave his company that awful name.) But I
was thinking more about writing opinion pieces -- Marlett's turf,
and actually he's not bad at it -- than music. But only when I saw
that F5 had no one writing record reviews did I finally make my
move. Looks like I bet on the wrong horse.
I wound up writing 21 F5 Record Report columns. Not sure if
last week's edition actually came out. Certainly the column I
wrote for this week won't appear in print, but you can find it
here, with all the
rest of the columns available through the navigation menu and
the arrow glyphs. I covered 148 records. Much of the material
was cribbed from other work, but even there I did quite a bit
of editing, and I think the reviews came off rather polished.
Not sure where we go from here. I'll touch base with City
Paper, and see if they have any interest. I've wondered about
possibly syndicating these columns -- if nothing else, they
could easily be broken up to provide filler. I could also take
this as a sign to buckle down and get
Terminal Zone back up
and running.
Lineup for the final column:
- Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar) A [jazz]
- David Krakauer & SoCalled With Klezmer Madness: Bubbemeises: Lies My Gramma Told Me (Label Bleu) B+ [world]
- KRS-One: Life (Antagonist) A- [rap]
- Odyssey the Band: Back in Time (Pi) A- [jazz]
- Roy Orbison: In Dreams (1963, Monument/Legacy) B+ [rock]
- Bill Sheffield: Journal on a Shelf (American Roots) A- [blues]
- Ali Farka Toure: Savane (World Circuit/Nonesuch) B+ [world]
I feel bad about the records I've asked for but didn't get around to
covering here. You always feel that there's a future, even when there
isn't one. Maybe I'm not such a pessimist after all. Or maybe the world
is just worse than even we can imagine.
Monday, December 18, 2006
Jackin' Pop Poll
I got a rather late invite to Idolator's Jackin' Pop poll. The
deadline is too short for my taste -- today, 3PM EST -- so I went
with what I have, without an awful lot of confidence in it. Still
have a fair amount of unresolved 2006 non-jazz, not to mention
all that stuff I don't even know about yet. The Village Voice's
Pazz & Jop poll doesn't demand their ballots until the end
of the month/year, so I reserve the right to change my mind by
then -- presumably for the better. In fact, I'll probably keep
changing my mind well into 2007, especially as I find out about
those things I don't know about.
The top ten new albums at this point:
- Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar)
- Todd Snider: The Devil You Know (New Door)
- Public Enemy: Rebirth of a Nation (Guerrilla Funk)
- The Coup: Pick a Bigger Weapon (Epitaph)
- Jon Faddis: Teranga (Koch)
- Ghostface Killah: Fishscale (Def Jam)
- The Klezmatics: Wonder Wheel: Lyrics by Woody Guthrie (JMG)
- World Saxophone Quartet: Political Blues (Justin Time)
- Jesus H Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse (Jesus Christ Rocks)
- Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra: New Magical Kingdom (Clean Feed)
I went with the descending points option (15-11, 9-5), which seemed
good enough for a first approximation.
Top ten singles/album tracks, to this point: none, right now, anyway.
I don't think much of singles or individual tracks, and have skipped the
category more often than not in the Pazz & Jop poll. I did start a
list this year, but don't have enough time to sort it out today.
Top five reissues, to this point:
- Fats Waller: If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It (1926-43, Bluebird/Legacy, 3CD)
- Irène Schweizer: Portrait (1984-2004, Intakt)
- Wilson Pickett: The Definitive Collection (1961-71, Atlantic/Rhino, 2CD)
- Night in Tunisia: The Very Best of Dizzy Gillespie (1946-49, Bluebird/Legacy)
- Big Youth: Screaming Target (1973, Trojan/Sanctuary)
These aren't exactly in rank order -- Chuck Berry's The Definitive
Collection tops them all -- but were selected for their interest and
importance.
Top five artists of 2006:
- Ornette Coleman
- Todd Snider
- Ken Vandermark
- The Klezmatics
- Adam Lane
I don't know exactly what they're getting at here, so I tend to
stick close to the records. Vandermark didn't make my top ten, but
he's got several records docked just off the list, and even the
ones that don't quite measure up show inspired risk-taking. Lane
also has a pair of very good trio albums with Vinny Golia just off
the list. He's the least-known of the five -- I don't even know
his work very well myself, but I'm impressed with everything I've
heard, and have no doubt that he's going to be recognized as a
major mover and shaker over the next decade. The Klezmatics also
have a good second albums this year, plus Frank London's been
busy on his own. Haven't gotten to More Fish yet, which
might have argued for Ghostface.
The ballot also asks for comments. I don't have anything to
add at this point. I'll do a Pazz & Jop ballot in a couple
of weeks, and we'll see what I've learned by then. Don't know
whether I'll have comments then, either, but I'll write up some
sort of year-end summary for the website sometime in January.
More than the ballots, my year-end focus will be on a special
2006 wrap-up edition to be published as the January column.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Music: Current count 12671 [12654] rated (+17), 860 [857] unrated (+3).
What can I say? Had a bad week last week, no ifs, ands or buts about it.
Don't have everything filed that came in -- not that a lot of stuff came
in. Have done a rather sloppy job of collecting notes here on stuff I've
written for F5 or Recycled Goods. Did get started on sorting out the 8th
edition Penguin Guide diffs, which is potentially a huge time sink, but
has a certain brainless appeal to it. This coming week should be better.
Maybe it'll start when I get the website update done.
- Julio Iglesias: 1100 Bel Air Place (1984 [2006],
Columbia/Legacy): Left to his own devices, he can be a magnificent
singer, with "Two Lovers" an prime example, and even the tripey
"Moonlight Lady" gaining stature; on the other hand, he was such
a star at this point that he was attracting duettists -- can't
complain about Stan Getz, but between Diana Ross, Willie Nelson,
and the Beach Boys, something goes terribly wrong.
B-
- Julio Iglesias: Tango (1996 [2006], Columbia/Legacy):
A serious album, based on the old stuff, tangos with not much tang,
ballads with a lot of romantic gush, or so it seems; his voice is
towering, operatic, but he's managed to take a foreign legacy and
make it even more foreign.
C+
Jazz Prospecting (CG #12, Part 5)
Last week was pretty much a personal wipeout, although I suppose
I can take credit for surviving it without fumbling anything too
bad. The long-awaited 11th Jazz Consumer Guide was published with
no major glitches. I got all my files updated, so now I'm ready to
go after #12. I sent a year-end ballot in to Francis Davis for the
Voice's jazz poll. I wrote some annotation to the ballot to be
published as a sidebar to the poll results. I got an F5 column
done. I made latkes, chopped liver, and salt-cured salmon for
Hanukkah. I managed to blog something every day, and got a bit
of jazz prospecting done, although I made damn little progress
on my year-end research. I also finally cracked open the new 8th
edition of the Penguin Guide and started to chart differences.
No final grades on records I held back this week. It's early
in the cycle and best to keep an eye on what's new. Starting to
get 2007 advances. This will probably remain slow over the next
two weeks as holidays interfere with my schedule, guests come
and go, and year-end Recycled Goods looms large.
Jazz Yule Love II (2006, Mack Avenue): If Christmas
music really outsells jazz, as I've seen reports claiming, I guess
this is one way to help pay the bills. Seems useless to me, but I've
heard far worse down at the local mall. The roster includes familiar
names from the label's recent releases, plus two I hadn't noticed:
Oscar Brown Jr. and Bud Shank. No dates provided. Brown died in 2005,
with his last album in 1998. Shank is 80 now, still active, with a
good live record last year joined by Phil Woods. Here he makes the
best case I've heard in years for letting it snow.
B-
Bruno Hubert Trio/B3 Kings: A Cellar Live Christmas
(2005 [2006], Cellar Live): Hubert plays piano. The B3 Kings have
Cory Weeds on alto sax, Bill Coon on guitar, Chris Gestrin on the
famous organ, and Denzal Sinclaire on drums. My impression is that
the two groups alternate rather than play together, excepting that
Sinclaire sings one song with each. There's some good news here.
One is that they're serious enough about jazz that sometimes they
deconstruct these songs until you forget what they're playing.
Another is Coon's guitar, although the others, notably Hubert,
strike me favorably. Still useless.
B-
The Frankenstein Concort: Classical-A-Go-Go (2006,
Sfz): Subtitled "invigorating musical novelties for woodwinds, piano,
and percussion." Featuring Erik Lindgren, the piano player, who is
best known from one of the first landmark experimental rock groups,
Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Don't really know what to make of this
one, which seems neither classical not go-go, but rather something
that works within a closed system of humor I'm not really privy to.
Includes pieces from usual suspects Erik Satie and Raymond Scott,
a gloss on Edgar Winter's "Frankenstein," and originals, including
one close to "Tomorrow Never Comes." Not without interesting bits,
but too clever by some factor beyond my powers of calculation.
B
Jacques Loussier Trio: Bach: The Brandenburgs
(2006, Telarc): I have him rather stuffily filed under classical,
since that's what a quick glance at discography, at least since
1987's Reflections on Bach, reads like. Bach represents
about half the list, but I also note Handel, Mozart, Chopin, Satie,
and Ravel. But there's nothing stuffy about this record. I don't
know the classical readings, so it's hard for me to tell where the
texts end and the jazz begins, but surely the walking bass wasn't
in the original.
B+(*)
Expolorations: Classic Picante Regrooved, Vol. 1
(2006, Concord Picante): Better than the usual back catalog remix
project, probably because most of the originals are so awash in
beats they hardly need remixing. Surprising because Picante had
turned into something of a retirement home for salseros, so maybe
we should hand it to the A-list remixers, who evidently know how
to juice up the clave.
B+(**)
Mort Weiss: The B3 and M3 (2003 [2006], SMS Jazz):
Not sure what SMS stands for, but the website motto is "Straight
Ahead," and that's clear enough. (OK, Sheet Music Shoppe, a music
store Weiss owns.) Weiss played a little sax in his youth, giving
it up when he turned 30, and picking up the clarinet again when
he turned 65. He plays bright, bouncy swing, working here with an
organ-guitar-drums trio on two Charlie Parker warhorses and a set
of old standards. The booklet details a series of legal hassles
with Concord over how the organ player's name and image can be
used to promote the record, but only when you hear the record do
you realize why Concord was so pissed: it's not as if their boy
ever turned anything in to them this downright infectious.
[B+(***)]
David Smith Quintet: Circumstance (2005 [2006],
Fresh Sound New Talent): Young Canadian trumpet player, currently
NYC-based, in a quintet with saxophonist Seamus Blake, guitarist
Nate Radley, bass, and drums. Wrote all the material except for
Mal Waldron's "Soul Eyes." Straightforward: the rhythm section
has a little swing to it, the two-horn stuff meshes nicely, I
like his tone and lyricism, and the guitarist gets in a couple
of nice solos.
[B+(***)]
Hat: Hi Ha (2005 [2006], Fresh Sound New Talent):
One thing I'm sure of is that sooner or later Sergi Sirvent will
wind up producing an A-list album. This piano quartet with Jordi
Matas on guitar may be the one. Right now my main reservation is
his vocal on the closer, "Everyday Is a New Beginning." He's not
much of a singer, although he tries to make up for it in passion.
Reminds me a bit of Annette Peacock, but not as skillful. But his
command of the piano continues to advance, and I have no complaints
about the Fender Rhodes he credits first either. His compositions
offer interesting ideas, and he's moved to the point where it's
hard to pigeonhole him. He has his own sound, he's prolific, and
he's on a role. It's just a matter of time before he gets some
recognition.
[A-]
Oscar Peñas Group: The Return of Astronautus (2005
[2006], Fresh Sound New Talent): Don't know much about Peñas, and
never heard of anyone in his group except perhaps -- rings a bell,
anyway -- keyboardist José A. Medina. Barcelona group, Peñas plays
guitar. Evidently Javier Vercher played sax in an earlier edition
of the group, but the current saxophonist goes by the name Guim G.
Balasch. The other band members are D-Beat Gonzalez on bass and
Mariano Steimberg on drums. Peñas has a thick, metallic tone,
which melts into the fender rhodes and electric bass. Postbop,
more or less. The ballads are lovely. The faster pieces don't
make much of an impression.
B
Michael Blanco: In the Morning (2004 [2006],
Fresh Sound New Talent): Bassist, born and raised in San Diego,
studied at North Texas (evidently a strong jazz program), moved
on to New York. He puts his compositions forth on a broad pallette
with five or six pieces, and he's managed to draw on first rate
players all around: Rich Perry on tenor sax, Alan Ferber trombone
Aaron Goldberg piano, Bill Campbell drums, plus two cuts with Rob
Wilkerson alto sax. Perry sounds terrific, and of course I love
Ferber's solo. But my favorite moment turns out to be the bass
lead on the closer. Educated postbop, impressively executed.
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
Queen Mab Trio: Thin Air (2005 [2006], Wig): Two
Canadians, clarinettist Lori Freedman and pianist Marilyn Lerner,
started recording as Queen Mab a decade or so ago. I haven't heard
anything they've done before, either together or in side projects,
which include classical and klezmer as well as free jazz improv.
This is their second trio album with cellist Ig Henneman, who is
right in the thick of things. It's difficult going, and I'm not
sure just what I think of it, but on second play the discordant
piano gets my attention.
[B+(*)]
Duo Baars-Henneman: Stof (2006, Wig): Like most
avant improv duos, this is slow, thin, and demanding. Ab Baars
plays tenor sax, clarinet, shakuhachi, noh-kan -- the last two
are Japanese bamboo flutes. Ig Henneman plays viola. It's tough
for me to concentrate closely enough, but there are enough spots
of interest to keep it in play.
[B]
Peter Brötzmann Group: Alarm (1981 [2006], Atavistic):
Don't know whether I'm just getting used to Brötzmann or whether this
actually stands out. This is a 40-minute radio shot from a group with
three saxophones, trumpet, two trombones, piano, bass and drums. The
brass is there mostly to roar and blare on the siren-like alarm motif --
something about reactions to a nuclear emergency. It's simplistic, but
at least it's something you can hang onto while the saxophones -- Frank
Wright and Willem Breuker join Brötzmann -- get all exercised. After
the two-part title piece, we get 3:38 of a Frank Wright piece, complete
with vocal -- uncredited but presumably Wright, since a) it's in English
and b) he did that sort of thing. But the real star in the early going
is pianist Alexander von Schlippenbach, who bounds over everything the
horns throw at him. The South African rhythm section of Harry Miller
and Louis Moholo also impress. Beware that the concert got caught
short by a bomb threat.
[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+(*)
Christoph Gallio/Urs Voerkel/Peter K Frey: Tiegel
(1981 [2006], Atavistic): Soprano sax, piano, bass, respectively,
although there are bits of drums (Voerkel) and trombone (Frey).
Recorded in Zurich. Seems to be a previously unreleased work tape,
with thirteen compositions each called "Improvisation" followed
by a number. Gallio went on to form a group named Day & Taxi,
where he has a substantial body of work I'm unfamiliar with. AMG
only lists one album for Voerkel, but a web search reveals a half
dozen or so. Voerkel and Frey reportedly lived in a house with
Irène Schweizer and other luminaries -- Mal Waldron was another
on the list. The music is delicate, articulate, sharply drawn,
with each member contributing memorable moments.
B+(**)
Odom's Six Brutal Truths
General William Odom has a piece where he asserts
Six
brutal truths about Iraq. He has basically been right about the
war from before the start, and he is basically right here, but not
exactly.
Truth No. 1: No "deal" of any kind can be made among the warring
parties in Iraq that will bring stability and order, even
temporarily.
This should be qualified: as long as the US has troops in Iraq
and/or is arming any segment of Iraq. There are two reasons for
this. One is that US interests, which whether we specify them or
not is ultimately why we are in Iraq, are inimical to some, many,
most, or maybe even all Iraqis; therefore US support for any party
in Iraq will be resisted by other parties, and will taint the
supported party. The second is that the promise of US backing
will embolden any favored party, thereby making it less likely
to settle on equitable terms.
Whether a deal is still impossible in the absence of US or other
foreign interference remains to be seen. But if all or most parties
in Iraq are effectively stalemated, a deal is the only way out to
attain what are most likely common goals, such as encouraging trade
and economic development.
Truth No. 2: There was no way to have "done it right" in Iraq so
that U.S. war aims could have been achieved.
True, especially given the war aims that Bush evidently had, even
though they were rarely if ever articulated. US aims in Iraq started
from a severe trust and credibility deficit -- the Crusades, British
colonialism, the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company, US support for Israel,
the checkered history of US and allied involvement in the Iraq-Iran
War, the Gulf War, the sanctions regime, the tendency of US foreign
policy to support business interests in the region, etc. The US had
other problems as well: the US military had the wrong skill set for
what was ultimately a political mission, the Bush administration was
hopelessly ideologically inept and corrupt, and the entire war was
built on a stack of falsehoods and self-delusions.
Truth No. 3: The theory that "we broke it and therefore we own it,"
with all the moral baggage it implies, is simply untrue because it is
not within U.S. power to "fix it."
True. If you do insist on responsibility, there are ways that the
US can make amends; e.g., through financing international efforts
that Iraqis can direct as they see fit. But the US has little, if
any, experience providing aid without self-interested strings.
Truth No. 4: The demand that the administration engage Iran and
Syria directly, asking them to help stabilize Iraq, is patently naïve
or cynically irresponsible until American forces begin withdrawing --
and rapidly -- so that there is no ambiguity about their complete and
total departure.
This is somewhat backward. Neither Syria nor Iran can stabilize
Iraq, any more than the US can. What they can do is destabilize Iraq,
as can other regional powers, like Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel.
To some small extent each of these countries has already done so,
but far less so than the US and its allies have. However, if/when
the US exits Iraq, it becomes important that other nations stay out,
lest they prolong the internal struggles. That is precisely what
should be negotiated, although it's not the limit of what should be
negotiated. The nations in and involved with the region have long
lists of issues that should be reconciled, specifically because
satisfaction on those issues would reduce the temptation to gain
some benefit from Iraq.
Truth No. 5: The United States cannot prevent Iran from acquiring
nuclear weapons.
Probably true, especially if "prevent" is limited to punitive
measures, ranging from sanctions to tactical bombing. More extreme
measures, like a ground invasion or nuclear holocaust, would come
with heavy costs, especially to what's left of America's moral
credibility. On the other hand, the US could work toward removing
Iran's motivations to produce nuclear weapons: by giving up our
own hostile anti-Iranian stance, by working to settle the conflict
between Israel and the Palestinians, by launching a new effort to
extend the NPT to include non-signatories (Israel, India, Pakistan,
North Korea) and work toward mutual disarmament.
Truth No. 6: It is simply not possible to prevent more tragic Iraqi
deaths in Iraq.
That is, it is not possible for the US to prevent more deaths.
This is partly because the US mission of killing "bad guys" directly
causes such deaths. Also because US forces use extensive firepower
for their own force protection. Also because the US concern with
force protection keeps them away from most inter-Iraqi violence.
Also because, frankly, they don't much give a damn.
We've been told repeatedly for over a year now that if the US
leaves Iraq will descend into civil war. During this entire period
Iraq has in fact steadily slipped deeper and deeper into sectarian
violence. The US has not prevented this, nor is there any evidence
that the US has slowed it down. It is quite possible that the US
has, inadvertently or even deliberately, actually promoted the
civil war its apologists see just over the horizon. My own view
is that the US finds civil war preferable to having Sunnis and
Shiites unite against the Americans -- as they were coming close
to doing in May 2004. On the other hand, the time that the US has
bought in playing each group off against the other has only led
to more chaos, more instability, more revenge. Having descended
this far, this won't end overnight when the US leaves, but the US
clearly has nothing to offer to stop it. Certainly, US soldiers
are not going to put their bodies in the way. So the only thing
they can do to lessen the conflict is to get out. And, as we've
been saying for a long time now, the sooner the better.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
The Surge
The agitation for a "surge" of an additional 40,000 US troops in
Iraq strikes me as a rhetorical ploy, designed to set up a scapegoat
argument for Bush's failure in Iraq. After all, the only way to prove
that it isn't the answer is to try it and watch it fail. You can't
really argue with these people, because they insist on a system of
logic that is disconnected from what we've actually seen happen in
Iraq. The US has bumped up troop levels several times in Iraq, with
no positive effect. The US has also concentrated troops in Baghdad,
which is at least a local equivalent of increasing the troop level,
and it has only made the situation worse. Juan Cole explains:
Another 40,000 are just going to anger locals. And, apparently,
they would be sicced on the Shiite Mahdi Army in hopes of permanently
crippling the Sadr Movement headed (in part) by Muqtada al-Sadr. And
maybe they'd be used in a new offensive against the Sunni Arab
guerrillas.
Let me explain why it won't work. It won't work because Iraqis are
now politically and socially mobilized. This means that they have the
social preconditions for effective political and paramilitary action
(they are largely urban, literate, connected by media, etc.) And they
are politically savvy and well-connected. They are well armed, gaining
in military experience, and well financed through petroleum and
antiquities smuggling and through cash infusions from supporters
abroad. The Mahdi Army fighters can be defeated by the US military, as
happened twice in 2004. But they cannot be made to disappear, as they
were not in 2004. That is because they are an organic movement
springing from the Shiite poor, and are the paramilitary arm of a
large social movement with a national network and ideology.
The US has basically fought for time in Iraq by playing the various
groups off against each other. The latest example was Bush's meeting
with SCIRI's Hakim to try to form a wedge against Sadr, or maybe even
Maliki. But the net effect of all these machinations is not only civil
war. It's driving the least connected, most desperate Iraqis into the
most radical groups. Sunni Iraq is totally lost. The only thing holding
Shia Iraq in check is an ambivalence over whether the US is more useful
to fight against the Sunnis or more of a liability. But it seems only
a matter of time before the Shiites flip and turn on the US, as they
almost did in spring 2004.
So why does anyone believe this "surge" nonsense? It's a way of
blaming our failure on our weakness -- on not being able to muster
enough troops and enough resolve to get the job done. McCain appears
to be gambling his entire presidential campaign on that argument.
It's an argument that is logical only if you're trapped inside an
illusion that: a) force compells people to behave according to your
will, and b) that the US possesses sufficient effective force to
make this happen in Iraq. Those ideas remain seductive politically
even as they appear increasingly deranged in the real world. But
Americans seems to have multiple layers of delusion here. You can
argue that the Baker-Hamilton group recognizes the limits of the
McCain argument, even if they're willing to indulge him a bit, but
they're still trapped within their own misconceptions. We still
have yet to honestly ask ourselves just what do we really want to
accomplish in Iraq? And why? What business do we have going over
there, wrecking the place, killing so many people? What benefit
do we actually get from running this absurd form of imperialism?
Friday, December 15, 2006
F5 Record Report (#20: December 14, 2006)
Time to announce another of my weekly F5 Record Reports, but
it's not yet posted on F5's website. The usual
link should
eventually work. Meanwhile, see my archive
copy. The lineup:
- The Baldwin Brothers: Return of the Golden Rhodes (TVT) B [electronica]
- Buddy Guy: Can't Quit the Blues (1957-2005, Silvertone/Legacy, 3CD+DVD) A- [blues]
- Scott Hamilton: Nocturnes & Serenades (Concord) A- [jazz]
- Chris Knight: Enough Rope (Drifter's Church) A- [country]
- Diana Krall: From This Moment On (Verve) A- [jazz]
- Jay McShann: Hootie Blues (Stony Plain) B+ [jazz]
- RockDownBaby: Love & Sex & Rock & Roll (Life Force) B+ [rock]
The Jay McShann is an obit of sorts. Hamilton and Krall were picked
up while checking contenders for my year-end ballot. Krall made it as
best vocal jazz album. Hamilton's is just another good one. So aside
from Guy, this one is all new stuff. Turned another column in today.
This week has been a real rough one, so next week's one will feature
previously rated, although not necessarily, reviewed material. Still
haven't gotten in year-end gear, although I did turn in a year-end
top ten jazz piece to the Voice, based on what I know now. Did get
an invite to the Jackin' Pop poll, but the ballot there is due Monday,
which strikes me as too soon -- especially given my state of preparation.
Pazz & Jop is open till the end of the year, which seems only fair
if you're going to do a year-end poll.
Letter to publicists:
This week's F5 Record Report presumably has a record of interest to
you. F5 is a weekly entertainment tabloid distributed free here in
Wichita KS. I cover 6-8 records per week, sometimes recycling from
other columns. The following URL will get you the latest column,
and the "next article" links will cycle you back in time.
http://www.f5wichita.com/mba.php?id=55
For more info, see:
http://tomhull.com/ocston/music.php
http://tomhull.com/ocston/arch/f5/
The index by label:
Concord: Scott Hamilton
Drifter's Church: Chris Knight
Life Force: RockDownBaby
Sony/BMG (Legacy): Buddy Guy
Stony Plain: Jay McShann
TVT: The Baldwin Brothers
Universal (Verve): Diana Krall
Thanks for your interest and support.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Quotations From Uncle James
Here's a letter published in the Wichita Eagle today under the
title "No rules in war":
We lost the Vietnam War because our military was given strict
orders: Do not kill civilians. Well, the Viet Cong took advantage of
this rule.
I am sure that same rule is true in Iraq. The terrorists take
advantage of it. We would still be fighting World War II under those
rules.
Civilians get killed in war, especially when they get in the way or
support the enemy. This rule is what allows the evil ones to come to
power and make war. Consider the Cold War: The Soviet people knew that
civilians would not be spared. So the war never happened.
I only quote this because the guy who wrote this nonsense is my
uncle, James A. Hull. He was a career NCO in the Air Force -- i.e.,
an aircraft mechanic. He did various tours abroad, including one
in Vietnam. He never got off his airbase there, and the airbase
only took mortar fire once during his year. So he has a somewhat
different experience of Vietnam than other people I've known --
some of whom died there.
The argument that the US lost in Vietnam because we shied away
from killing civilians is grossly wrong on two accounts. One is
that we did in fact kill large numbers of civilians. Some of this
was deliberate and at short range, as in My Lai. Most was done at
a distance by the aircraft my uncle worked to keep flying. We
could have killed more, and I suppose you could argue that if
only we had killed them all we would have won, but won what? The
second is that the alleged reason for the war was to protect the
citizens of South Vietnam. The logical implication of that is
that every time we killed a civilian, we failed in our goal to
protect those civilians. Unless you want to argue for some sort
of better-dead-than-red euthanasia, that produces a conundrum:
what does it mean if we can't win the war except by killing
civilians, when killing civilians means losing the war? The
simple answer is that the war wasn't the right solution for
the problem.
Iraq is no different, at least in this regard. We cannot at
all honestly claim to be protecting Iraqis when we kill so many
of them. Of course, the most likely explanation is that claims
of interest in helping those civilians were completely bogus:
that we were only interested in killing or defeating real or
imagined enemies, and that whatever happened to anyone else
along the way was of little concern to us. When you read books
like Cobra II or Fiasco which interview a lot of
military figures, a few of them talk about counterinsurgency
strategies, but all of them share a simple goal: to kill those
they think of as the bad guys. No one stops to think about why
we can't get along with those bad guys. Once you define a
situation as a war against bad guys, you elicit this kneejerk
kill-kill-kill reaction, especially from guys like Uncle James,
who spent most of his life enabling slaughter without ever
seeing blood spilled.
The last paragraph at first makes no sense, but here's
what it means: the Soviets never engaged the US in war, not
just because they recognized that to do so would result in
senseless slaughter of their civilians, but because we never
forced them into so tight a corner where they had no choice
but to fight. The Vietnamese and the Iraqis, however, did
choose to fight the US, but not because they have no more
respect for their civilians. They fought because we invaded
their countries and tried to run them for purposes they found
offensive and intolerable. In other words, we forced them
into a corner where they had to fight or surrender, so they
fought. Some of them, anyhow; as it turns out, at great cost
to many more. But the real, unasked question here is why did
we do that? That's one I don't know the answer to, but part
of it is probably that the Americans who started these wars
have as casual a view of war as Uncle James has.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Jazz Consumer Guide #11
The Village Voice has published my Jazz Consumer Guide this week.
Hard copy should be at the usual places. The web page is
here.
This is the 11th edition. The 10th appeared on August 29, so this is a
couple of weeks late compared to its usual three month average. This
is the first column to have appeared since the Voice fired my editor
there, Robert Christgau. Also the first Consumer Guide they've run
since Christgau departed. Don't know what the future holds, but thus
far the Voice has managed to keep their jazz coverage, at least, up
to previous standards. The other piece of this, of course, is Francis
Davis's monthly columns, which next time out will expand to include
a poll of 40-some NYC-oriented jazz critics.
As usual, I wrote more than would fit on the page. The cuts will
be held back for next time. Close readers can figure them out, but
I'll save you the trouble, as they deserved to make it:
- Ignacio Berroa: Codes (Blue Note) A-
- Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid: The Exchange Session Vol. 1 (Domino) A-
- Frank Hewitt: Fresh From the Cooler (Smalls) A-
- Andrew Hill: Pax (1965, Blue Note) A-
- Maurice Hines: To Nat "King" Cole With Love (Arbors) A-
Further cuts from the Honorable Mention list:
- Billy Stein Trio: Hybrids (Barking Hoop)
- Sathima Bea Benjamin: Song Spirit (1963-2002, Ekapa)
- Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet: Way Out East (Songlines)
- Frank Morgan: Reflections (High Note)
- Dennis González Boston Project: No Photograph Available (Clean Feed)
- Sonny Simmons: I'll See You When You Get There (Jazzaway)
There's no simple explanation why some things get held back and others
go through. Once a record has been cut, I tend to bump its priority up
next time, so eventually it gets through. I try to get older things out
first, and try to hold related things together. But I also don't have
complete control: Hill was a last-minute cut, picked by the editor over
Rollins, possibly only because it was longer. Some of these records I've
written about elsewhere -- especially in my F5 column.
The same cut process would continue if we bumped the schedule up
to every other month, which I've long argued for, but at least then
more records would get through, and there'd be fewer delays.
Some statistics: This column included 32 albums. which is about
average (31 last time). During this cycle, I wrote
prospecting notes on
255 albums. I also had 74 records on my carryover list, so those
32 albums were selected from 329. Those are, well, stiff odds.
The real odds of an incoming record showing up sooner or later
are somewhat better than that, but probably not double. (Last
year I got 450 jazz albums and reviewed 120. Haven't figured
out whether the incoming is up this year, but it looks like it
is.)
I've done a substantial purge of these albums as I start the
next round, cutting the carryover list to 83. The total number
of records under consideration right now are: 12 in the backlog
print list, 84 in the done (rated) list, 91 in the pending list
(30 of which have gone through initial prospecting).
Again, one thing that all these numbers clearly argue for is
that more frequent publication would be a good thing. The only
shortage I'm finding is in the duds category, which may just
mean that I'm not being mean enough. I will note that the first
reader comment added to the post objected to listing Geri Allen's
latest as a dud. I also got some polite flack from the publicist
over that. The question as to why is fair. The answer is in the
prospecting notes. Allen's The Life of a Song (Telarc) got
an A-. She's enough of a talent that folks should be warned when
she releases a bare B- record. (Savage and Walden have no such
track record, but at least they ask to be taken seriously.) The
no-comment duds format is something Christgau decided on. I've
just been following it. It could be changed. It's not like I
can't think of words to describe records I don't like.
As the statistics above suggest, there is a lot of paperwork
involved in keeping track of all these records. Since I work in
a file system that periodically gets uploaded to the website,
it's all pretty transparent if you're nosy enough to dig up the
files. At the end of each cycle, I leave behind two files. One,
linked to above, is the prospecting file. The other is the
surplus file. The
latter contains two alphabetized lists of albums I've dropped
from active consideration sometime during the cycle -- one a
list of records I've reviewed in Recycled Goods; the other a
list of records I've done jazz prospecting notes on and have
nothing further to add. The other section of the file covers
records that I'm dropping, but where I have something further
to say: maybe an explanation of why it got dropped, maybe a
short review, maybe just an extra comment. The main reason
I drop a record is that I realize that the numbers game will
never let it slip in. There are lots of reasons for this,
including the dumbest one of all: that I just never came up
with anything to say about the record. I usually skip past
records that Francis Davis reviews, especially where I agree
with him. I usually skip things I've reviewed in Recycled
Goods. I tend to drop records that have been on my shelves
a while, especially when artists release later records.
Anyhow, the following are my parting shots for this round.
Many of these would have made good Honorable Mentions. A few
might have made passable duds.
Arild Andersen Group: Electra (2002-03 [2005],
ECM): Awfully arty, with its Greek mythology, choral voices, and
clichéd synth effects like wind and thunder, but interesting as
a groove record, with Andersen's Masqualero bandmate Nils Petter
Molvaer helping out on the programming. Arve Henriksen's trumpet
sounds hollow, but contrasts with the dense, often hypnotic
undertow. An interesting record I couldn't quite get behind.
B+(**)
Michael Blake: Blake Tartare (2002 [2005],
Stunt): The better of two good albums -- the other one is
Right Before Your Very Ears (Clean Feed) -- by the
Lounge Lizards saxophonist. I've been sitting on both with
very little to say about either -- my notes say "good stuff"
but that hardly makes for a review.
B+(***)
Theo Bleckmann/Fumio Yasuda: Las Vegas Rhapsody: The Night
They Invented Champagne (2005 [2006], Winter & Winter):
I always start by resisting Bleckmann's voice -- so sweet you feel
faint -- but sometimes, frequently here, he wins me over. The show
biz tunes and extravagant orchestrations sweep you away, but when
I drift back down to earth, I recall that only foreigners can mistake
Las Vegas for America, and can do so because they're being overly
generous. Francis Davis wrote about this.
B+(***)
Neal Caine: Backstabber's Ball (2005, Smalls):
A bassist's album, with two saxes tucked behind the leader more
often than not, and drums to finish. A good record that I simply
lost track of.
B+(***)
François Carrier: Travelling Lights (2003 [2004],
Justin Time): Got this as background to the newer Happening,
so that's where it remains. Carrier is an alto saxophonist from
Quebec who plays a lively and exceptionally coherent freebop.
Here he works in a quartet with his long-time drummer Michel
Lambert and two eminences grises -- pianist Paul Bley
and bassist Gary Peacock. Both make significant contributions,
while Carrier and Lambert have never failed to impress me.
B+(***)
George Colligan Trio: Past-Present-Future
(2003 [2005], Criss Cross): A traditional piano trio -- mostly
standards, mostly upbeat, quite a bit of fun, not least because
of its sheer physicality -- but a record that got lost in the
traffic jam, including his more immediately accessible work with
electronic keyboards. His Mad Science record, Realization
(Sirocco Jazz) was an Honorable Mention. This could, and probably
should, have been as well.
B+(***)
The Fonda/Stevens Group: Forever Real (2005,
482 Music): Joe Fonda plays bass; Michael Jefry Stevens piano.
They're the ones in charge, but Herb Robertson's trumpet, free
associating over mostly tethered rhythms, is what gets you paying
attention. One of those minor pleasures that unaccountably got
lost on my shelves.
B+(***)
Billy Hart: Quartet (2005 [2006], High Note): The
veteran drummer is versatile enough to play with his young stars --
Mark Turner on tenor sax, Ethan Iverson on piano, Ben Street on bass --
and writes enough to be more than an honorary leader. The young stars,
in turn, advance their postbop art, albeit rather anonymously. Francis
Davis, covering this in the Voice, was suitably impressed. I never
could make up my mind whether this is an excellent formal exercise
or just a very competent sideline. Either way I'm impressed, but not
all moved.
B+(***)
Steve Heckman Quartet: Live at Yoshi's (2001 [2005],
World City): Another record that's sat too long in my queue without
eliciting a review. Saxophonist, unabashed Coltrane admirer, in a
quartet with a good pianist named Matt Clark. Nothing exceptional
about the record, other than that it's very good.
B+(***)
Jason Kao Hwang: Edge (2005 [2006], Asian Improv):
A violinist I like a lot, especially when he draws on his Chinese
heritage to distinguish his tone and rhythm. This is less oriental
than Graphic Evidence (Asian Improv), and less avant than the
Gift's live record, both of which I've rated Honorable Mentions --
but not a lot less.
B+(**)
Keith Jarrett: The Carnegie Hall Concert (2005
[2006], ECM, 2CD): Given that this fails only in the context of
his own catalogue, and annoys primarily in receiving applause
deserved not by the performance here but by his longer history,
I figure it would be overkill to complain more than I have and
knock this as a dud. But my editors like to see more duds, so
I've been holding this one in reserve.
B
Liquid Soul: One-Two Punch (2006, Telarc): It seems
to be structurally impossible for an acid jazz band to make my cut
for Honorable Mentions, even though anyone who goes out of their way
to hire Hugh Ragin is certainly doing something honorable. This is
terror saxophonist Mars Williams slumming with keyb-whiz Van Christie,
and is probably their best album thus far, in case you're interested.
B+(**)
Michy Mano: The Cool Side of the Pillow (2003 [2006],
Enja/Justin Time): Passed over mostly because the jazz content is
minimal -- I reviewed it as "world" in Recycled Goods -- but it's
a jazz label, Bugge Wesseltoft provides beats and keybs, and Bendikt
Hofseth plays tenor sax. Mano is a Moroccan DJ based in Norway,
rapping and chanting to an appealing gnawa-techno fusion.
B+(***)
Paal Nilssen-Love: Townorchestrahouse (2005, Clean
Feed): Three long improv pieces. The drummer gets top billing, and
that's not undeserved -- he's spectacular. But normatively you'd
file this under Evan Parker, who remains a puzzle and a project
for me.
B+(***)
Bobo Stenson/Anders Jormin/Paul Motian: Goodbye
(2004 [2005], ECM): One of those good piano trios I like but never
have enough to say about. All concerned tend to be retiring and
ever so discreet, so you have to snuggle up to the speakers more
than usual to discern its charms. ECM also sent me Stenson's 2000
2-CD Serenity, which is superb. Stenson's name also appears
first on my favorite Jan Garbarek album, Witchi-Tai-To.
B+(**)
Thomas Strønen: Parish (2005 [2006], ECM):
A good record firmly implanted in ECM's nordic aesthetic -- the
drummer's quartet includes Bobo Stenson, Fredrik Ljungkvist,
and Mats Eilertsen. Elsewhere Strønen pushes boundaries, but
here he just shows how well-rounded he is. I dusted this off
with a side-comment to the Pohlitz review.
B+(**)
Stephen Stubbs: Teatro Lirico (2004 [2006], ECM):
Classical music, sonatas and dances from 17th century Italy and
Slovakia. Not my thing, but my wife loves it, and I have to admit
that it's remarkably lovely.
B+(***)
Jabbo Ware/The Me We & Them Orchestra + Strings & Horns:
Vignettes in the Spirit of Ellington (2001 [2005], Y'all of
New York): One of the better big band records of recent years, but long
lost in my filing system, and finally my memory. My notes argue that
the Ellingtonia has a bop edge, but may be more closely allied with
Vienna Art Orchestra and Either/Orchestra, but ultimately falls short
of being sufficiently memorable.
B+(***)
Marcin Wasilesski/Slawomir Kurkiewicz/Michal Miskiewicz:
Trio (2005, ECM): Tomasz Stanko's quartet minus trumpet.
They do little to compensate for his absence, but they are a
disciplined group and make do. I was surprised to see this show
up on Billboard charts when I was working on the smooth jazz
piece, but anyone attracted to piano trios should be happy with
this purchase.
B+(**)
Cassandra Wilson: Thunderbird (2006, Blue Note):
Toyed around with making this a featured dud, but in the end
couldn't develop much enthusiasm for smashing it. She follows
a line of deep, dusky voices that I find much overrated --
Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Abbey Lincoln, although I find
the first two, in particular, much more plausible than Wilson.
Produced by T Bone Burnett, this one doesn't have much to do
with any of the handful or so mostly discrete strains of vocal
jazz. All of which make it a pretty uninspiring object for a
review.
B
Nils Wogram & Simon Nabatov: The Move (2002
[2005], Between the Lines): Trombone-piano duets, some loose and
free, some snap to the beat and pick up speed. Most such duos --
especially trombone, but more generally anything with just two
instruments excepting drums -- are avant improvs that sound thin,
demand close attention, and only occasionally reward it. This is
one of the better ones, but it's been on my shelf too long.
B+(***)
The following are the notes for Jazz Consumer Guide 11 print albums:
- Anders Aarum Trio: First Communion (2005 [2006],
Jazzaway):
I'm convinced that this Norwegian is a terrific pianist,
but I can't find the words to say why. Fans of ECM piano should
check him out -- he even vocalizes a bit like Keith Jarrett, and
that's not the only thing they have in common. At least worth an
honorable mention, if not quite a tour de force. Good title: "Let's
Put Fun Back in Fundamentalism." Maybe I can use that.
B+(***)
- Geri Allen: Timeless Portraits and Dreams (2006,
Telarc, 2CD):
Here she moves beyond her initial interest in Mary
Lou Williams to something like the court historian of Afro-American
musical culture. She pays tribute to Charlie Parker, Billy Holiday,
and Louis Armstrong's better half, but the center of gravity falls
on gospel, with Carmen Lundy, George Shirley, and the Atlanta Jazz
Chorus providing most of the dead weight. This isn't all old or
backwards, but seeking respectability traces just one thread in
a struggle for freedom and equality that contributed much else
to both. She has great skill and learning, considerable pride in
her accomplishments. In some ways it's a mark of her success that
I find this so thoroughly uninteresting. The thick frosting of
sanctimoniousness doesn't help either.
B-
- Ben Allison: Cowboy Justice (2005 [2006], Palmetto):
When he got ticked off, Mingus used to slap political slogans onto
his pieces, figuring that -- this was the pre-Braxton era -- the
titles had to be words and if he had to use words he might as well
say something, like "Remember Rockefeller at Attica" or "Free Cell
Block F, 'Tis Nazi U.S.A." Reading Allison's notes -- photocopied,
because Palmetto pioneered the slipcase promos I've ragged on Clean
Feed over -- I'm reminded of Mingus, and of course of Charlie Haden --
perhaps a more immediate model for Allison, both as bassist and as
composer. But I'm also impressed by Allison's analysis. A sample:
"The title of the tune 'Tricky Dick' was inspird by the misdeeds,
lies and manipulations of Dick Cheney. Tricky Dick was originally
a nickname given to Richard Nixon, who was brought down by a crime
that was comparatively benign by today's standards. Now there's a
new dick in town. It's amazing to me how so many shadowy figures
from the past have reemerged and risen so far in contemporary
American politics." The music comes from somewhere else, including
his choice of instrumentation -- trumpet, guitar, bass, drums --
which he justifies by saying, "I wanted to rock." "Tricky Dick"
moves swiftly on Steve Cardenas's guitar roll, then Ron Horton
kicks in with high notes on trumpet. "Talking Heads" intensifies
the pace and the punch, something like a mariachi. "Emergency"
works a variation on W.C. Handy -- "nothing to do with love lost,
but instead is an expression of the anger and frustration I feel
as a result of the way the Bush administration responded to the
terrorist attacks of 9/11" -- with trumpet seething. Midway, the
opener reprises with "Tricky Rides Again" -- so infectious it
stands out on an album where everything stands up. The bassist
is never conspicuous here, but Cardenas and especially Horton
have never had so many good lines to play. If I had to pull the
CG together right now, this and Lane would be my pick hits, and
the column title would be something like "Bass Instincts."
A-
- Mike Boone: Yeah, I Said It . . . (2005 [2006],
Dreambox Media):
An aural scrapbook, with a touching remembrance
of mom and the golden rule; a discourse on swing and the electric
bass; stories of Barry Kiener, Ben Vereen, and most importantly
Buddy Rich. The music itself is widely scattered, the narration
holding it together, like the thread of a life.
B+(**)
- Boxhead Ensemble: Nocturnes (2006, Atavistic):
Don't know much about this group, other than that the central
figure is guitarist Michael Krassner. The other figure above
the "with" is cellist Fred Lonberg-Holm. Below the "with," as
best I can make out given the badly registered pink type on
the tan background, is someone on prepared piano and someone
else on percussion -- both limited contributions, but plusses
nonetheless. Sonic wallpaper -- tasteful, fractally intriguing,
barely on the substantial side of ambient.
B+(**)
- François Carrier: Happening (2005 [2006], Leo, 2CD):
A French Canadian alto saxist, Carrier first impressed me with a live
trio album, Play, which did just that: tight, edgy, robust,
exhilarating, but the sort of thing that other people could do if
that was all they wanted. That same trio is the core of this album
five years later -- Pierre Coté on bass and Michel Lambert on drums --
and they've grown even more telepathic, but Carrier has moved onto a
broader sonic canvas by adding two more musicians. Uwe Neumann is a
specialist in Indian music, playing sitar, sanza, and Indian talking
drum. He is the backbone of these improvisations, the exotic center
around which everyone else revolves. Mat Maneri plays viola, which
vies with Carrier's saxes -- he plays soprano as well as alto -- as
a second lead instrument. The liner notes talk about microtonalities
in Indian music -- I don't quite get how that plays out, but recall
that Maneri's father has long been noted for his microtonal work.
What I am sure of is that the five long improvised happenings here
never flag or lose interest.
A-
- François Carrier/Dewey Redman/Michel Donato/Ron Séguin/Michel
Lambert: Open Spaces (1999 [2006], Spool/Line):
Several
years old, presumably pulled off the shelf as a memorial on Redman's
death. Otherwise, this is Carrier's trio, working out free improvs
on two nights with different bassists -- Donato on the first 20:57
cut, Séguin on the other two (12:54 and 19:27). I don't have the
ears to sort out the two saxes, but I like how they pull together,
and the overall energy level. Good date for the drummer, too..
B+(***)
- Avishai Cohen: Continuo (2005 [2006], RazDaz/Sunnyside):
Bassist-led piano trio, with Amos Hoffman's oud added on half of the
cuts to heighten the Middle Eastern influences. No political statement,
but my considerable distance the continuum between Israeli and Lebanese
music is more pronounced than its disjunction. The cover depicts a man,
back turned to the camera, walking up a barren hill -- reminds me of
sunburnt badlands in Wyoming at the end of summer, but could be Israel,
or Lebanon, or points east like Syria or Jordan. Without idiots running
around with guns it's hard to tell, and pleasing not to care. I do have
some reservations about Cohen's fondness for classical music, which
show up most prominently on "Arava." But the two electric bass pieces
at the end more than make up for it.
B+(***)
- Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar (2005 [2006],
Sound Grammar):
Nothing for ten years, then he repeats a scam he pulled twenty
years ago with Opening the Caravan of Dreams: launching a
new label with a live album named for the label, or vice versa.
Seems cheap, but when sounding like no one else has been your
shtick for fifty years, absence makes his returns sound even
fresher, and live heightens the suspense of his inventions.
Actually, he's changed little over the years, still pouring
out the same sour, shrill, piercing notes. What's new here is
his use of two bassists, which keeps the contrast between Greg
Cohen plucking and Tony Falanga bowing in the same register.
It also doubles the chaos, which is what Ornette thrives on.
A
- Kris Davis: The Slightest Shift (2005 [2006],
Fresh Sound New Talent):
Canadian pianist, migrated from Vancouver
to Toronto to New York. I liked her first record, Lifespan,
enough to list it as an Honorable Mention. This one pares the group
down from six to four, losing two extra horns while keeping the
critical one, Tony Malaby's tenor sax. Malaby is remarkably adept
at sliding into groups and complementing but not upstaging the
leader. Davis wrote all the pieces, working dense piano breaks
into the mix. A good example of the left bank of the postbop
mainstream.
B+(***)
- Satoko Fujii Orchestra Nagoya: Maru (2006, Bakamo):
Probably the pick of the four Fujii big bands, even though she only
conducts, leaving the orchestra without her explosive piano. But the
arrangements gain along the way. The mountains of brass move nimbly,
the soloists squawk amiably, and guitarist Yasuhiro Usul gets some
well-used space. Much good humor, almost corny in spots. In many
ways this is more remarkable than the Junk Box record, which I
picked over it -- not least because it was easier to grasp and
I settled on it first. If Basie's big band was atomic, this one's
thermonuclear.
B+(***)
- The Gift: Live at Sangha: Nov 6, 2004 (2004 [2005],
Bmadish).
One long piece, no title, just a night of invention at a
club in Takoma Park, MD. The group is Roy Campbell (trumpet, flute),
William Hooker (drums), and Jason Hwang (violin). Hooker's drumming
is central and vital. Campbell is his usual buoyant self on trumpet,
and a pleasant surprise on flute -- a bit tentative, perhaps, but
his head's in the right place. Hwang is a violinist I've wanted to
hear more from, but he seems to fill in more like a bassist here
than to take charge like Billy Bang or Leroy Jenkins would do. An
interesting night's work.
B+(***)
- Terra Hazelton: Anybody's Baby (2004, Healey O Phonic):
Jeff Healey's sometime singer, she has more growl than purr in her
voice, which probably suits her more for rockabilly like "Long As
I'm Movin'" than the trad jazz her band, with guest spots from Marty
Grosz, plays so well. No complaints about the band, but the most
touching thing here is the closer, a country-ish thing she sings
over nothing but her own strummed guitar.
B+(***)
- Jeff Healey & the Jazz Wizards: It's Tight Like That
(2005 [2006], Stony Plain):
Now that I've heard Healey's first trad
jazz album -- haven't heard his earlier albums, which evidently were
blues or blues-rock -- I'm impressed at how much tighter his band has
become. In particular, Christopher Plock has a much larger role on
clarinet and various saxes, Jesse Barksdale has taken over most of
the guitar, and violinist Drew Jurecka is a major addition. Of course,
guest Chris Barber looms huge here. He gives Healey a trumpet's best
friend: a trombone -- remember that Armstrong never left home without
one. He sings three songs, and he keeps everyone sharp -- he's played
this kind of music fifty-some years. Recorded live, a terrific show.
A-
- Junk Box: Fragment (2004 [2006], Libra):
Satoko Fujii's four new big band albums, like Ken Vandermark's recent
pair of two-disc Territory Band sets, are overwhelming: in such big
universes, anything can happen, everything does, and fatigue sets in
long before one can sort out so many marginal treats. At least with
this trio you can keep the players straight. She pounds out thick
piano chords, while sidekick Natsuki Tamura's surly trumpet adds
tension and growl, and drummer John Hollenbeck referees. This is
basic Fujii -- everything else is elaboration.
A-
- Adam Lane Trio: Music Degree Zero (2005 [2006], CIMP):
The other half of the two-day sessions that previously
yielded Zero Degree Music (CIMP), one of my favorite
records this year. Both have bassist Lane writing and arranging
for drummer Vijay Anderson and soprano/tenor saxophonist Vinny
Golia. This doesn't quite measure up. The first one picked the
pieces with the most powerful pulse, in turn propelling Golia to
some of the most inspired work of his long career. The leftovers
are more complex, more varied, more typical.
B+(***)
- Adam Lane's Full Throttle Orchestra: New Musical Kingdom
(2001-04 [2006], Clean Feed):
I've only heard two of Lane's albums,
and he only has a half-dozen or so, so it may be premature to anoint
him as the new Mingus, but that there's even a contender for such a
unique role is quite a surprise. That he plays an imposing bass, he
composes pieces that are rooted in the tradition but fly off in the
most improbable of directions, and he runs a six piece band at its
advertised full throttle.
A-
- Charles Lloyd: Sangam (2004 [2006], ECM).
Which Way Is East was two discs of home recordings of Lloyd and
Billy Higgins farting around with world music beats, reeds and
flutes. After Higgins died, Lloyd rounded up some pros for a trio with
the same aim: tabla master Zakir Hussain and trap drummer Eric
Harland. With nothing but rhythm to work against, Lloyd breaks free,
and the Coltrane-isms he's earned the right to call his own come home
to roost.
A-
- Christian McBride: Live at Tonic (2005 [2006],
Ropeadope, 3CD).
Three-plus hours of live action is a lot to sit
through, but at $18.98 list this is something of a bargain. The
breakout yields three cleanly distinct discs. All feature the
same funk-fusion quartet, with McBride playing more electric
than acoustic bass, Geoffrey Keezer more electric keyboard than
piano, Ron Blake honking and Terreon Gully drumming. The first
disc is just the quartet, with cuts selected from two sets --
reportedly the best, but really just a baseline. Second disc
brings in guests Charlie Hunter, Jason Moran and Jenny Scheinman,
stretching out for long and insinuating jams. Third disc has a
different set of guests -- DJ Logic (turntables), Scratch (beat
box), Eric Krasno (Soulive guitarist), Rahsaan Peterson (trumpet) --
on even longer jams with hip-hop flavor. Excessive, indulgent,
lots of chatter and applause.
B+(***)
- Pete McCann: Most Folks (2005 [2006], Omnitone):
A guitarist who has a knack of showing up on good albums but not
showing off, McCann delivers a lesson on what he can do ("straight-ahead
jazz, post-bop, Latin, and creative improvised music") and how he can do
it ("gentle nylon acoustic guitar sounds to sinewy and intricate jazz
guitar runs to roots-of-grunge Jimi Hendrix-inspired hooting"). Even
so, he often yields the spotlight to his band, especially saxophonist
John O'Gallagher and pianist Mike Holober -- also sidemen skilled at
making their leaders look good. The only nick is that the eclecticism
leaves you without a thematic thread or a good sense of where he wants
to go -- although that assumption may merely be our problem.
B+(***)
- Nils Petter Molvaer: An American Compilation (2001-06,
Thirsty Ear):
There are precedents for trumpet
over beats: Miles Davis's funk fusion, Jon Hassell's fourth world
exotica. More recently: Russell Gunn, Erik Truffaz, and to some
extent Dave Douglas, Nicholas Payton, Wallace Roney. I'm not sure
when Norwegian trumpeter Molvaer tapped into this vein: certainly
by 1996 when he started work on Khmer (ECM), but earlier
idea probably appear with his Masqualero group, which dates back
the the mid-'80s. Khmer was dominated by synth beats, a
relentless chug-a-lug like a toy engine that pulled everything
forward. The follow-up, Solid Ether (ECM) was more varied,
with a more expansive soundscape. The earlier title suggested an
interest in Hassell, but nothing musically connected the work to
Southeast Asia, and Molvaer's subsequent work feels more Nordic
than ever. After the ECM records, Molvaer's discography gets
messy, especially for Americans. A new studio album (np3)
and some remixes (Recoloured, Remakes) came out on
Universal subsidiaries somewhere in Europe. A live album (Live:
Steamer) and another studio album (er) came out on
Molvaer's Sula label. The latter two albums will get a US release
later this year on Thirsty Ear's Blue Series -- already long on
smart jazztronica thanks to Matthew Shipp's avant-DJ convergence.
But first, at a matter of introduction, we get this primer. I wish
I knew better where these pieces came from -- looks like about
half come from np3, although different mixes are always
a possibility. It's less immediately striking than the previous
studio albums -- more atmospheric, less machine-like -- so it
takes a while for the picture to flesh out. Perhaps most striking
of all is a closing ballad sung by Sidsel Endresen, "Only These
Things Count."
A-
- Paul Motian: On Broadway Vol. 4 (2005 [2006],
Winter & Winter):
A-
- Enrico Pieranunzi/Marc Johnson/Joey Baron: Ballads
(2004 [2006], CAM Jazz):
I suppose one could carp, something to
the effect of why on earth would anyone need another straight piano
trio rendition of "These Foolish Things" -- let alone "A Flower Is
a Lovesome Thing" -- but obviousness isn't a crime, or even a sin
when it's done this tastefully.
B+(***)
- Sonny Rollins: Sonny, Please (2005-06 [2006], Doxy):
Having played out his contract at Milestone, Rollins is a free
agent now, which for jazz legends these days means he's rolling
out his own label. He's been selling this on his website for a
while, so presumably that's where to go. Press release says it's
been licensed to JVC in Japan and Universal in US and Europe, and
they'll roll out their "traditional CD release" on Jan. 23, 2007,
but will have a digital release on Nov. 21. The album holds no
real surprises: the six piece band is more help than he needs
but not good enough to compete, although there's nothing wrong
with spots of Bobby Broom guitar or swashes of Clifton Anderson
trombone; on the other hand, Rollins sounds fabulous, which is
all you really need to know.
A-
- The Matt Savage Trio: Quantum Leap (2006, Savage):
The leader is a 14-year-old pianist and this is his seventh album,
mostly trios with John Funkhouser on bass and Steve Silverstein on
drums -- the latter two reportedly "adults." He's got fans and
hyperbole -- Dave Brubeck called him "another Mozart" -- and has
a deal with Palmetto to distribute this self-released album. He's
credited with writing 11 of 15 songs. I sort of like one called
"Curacao," and don't mind the rest -- but he doesn't have much of
a sound, and the pieces mostly feel like exercises. The covers, on
the other hand, are real songs. His "All the Things You Are" is
quite nice, but he has trouble with "Monk's Dream," then tries to
force his way out and leaves it rather bruised. He's competent
enough you can see why people are impressed, but it's impossible
to extrapolate what he does at 14 into a career, and even if it
was possible you'd still have to compare what he's doing now vs.
what everyone else is doing now.
C+
- Shot x Shot (2005 [2006], High Two):
Philadelphia
quartet, two saxes, bass and drums. Two of the guys, alto saxist Dan
Scofield and bassist Matt Engle, also work with Sonic Liberation
Front, but nothing Cuban here. I suspect that the effective leader
is drummer Dan Capecchi, who wrote the first two pieces and sets
the tone throughout. Mostly mid-tempo, with intertwined saxes and
a lot of internal tension.
B+(***)
- Marcus Strickland: Quartets: Twi-Life (2005-06 [2006],
Strick Muzik, 2CD):
Minor bookkeeping change here: I've decided
to treat "Quartets" at part of the title, not part of the artist
designation. Makes more sense that way, even though the typography
suggests otherwise. Two discs, two distinct quartets. Both have
Marcus on tenor and soprano sax and his twin E.J. on drums. One
has piano and acoustic bass, the other guitar and electric bass.
The latter has two advantages: one is that guitarist Lage Lund
makes much more of a contribution than pianist Robert Glasper;
the other is that the electric bass seems to free up the sax,
although Marcus is voluble and pungent on both discs. He's one
of the brightest mainstream tenor men I've heard in years, and
his brother is equally terrific. Grade tracks the weaker disc,
which is in the ground rules, but the stronger one isn't all
that far ahead.
B+(***)
- Thomas Strønen: Pohlitz (2006, Rune Grammofon):
Norwegian drummer goes solo, jazz cred evidently secured by
improvising it all live. The credits suffice as an outline:
"beatable items, live electronic treatments, music." Not sure
whether the latter is meant as a discreet input or the sum of
the parts. Sounds a bit like Harry Partch to me, with chime-type
objects but no strings. But he shows his jazz cred by swinging
some. Been on the fence over this one for a good while -- it's
rather slight, but in the end it's too fascinating to skip over.
A-
- The Vandermark 5: A Discontinuous Line (2005 [2006],
Atavistic):
The initial effect of Fred Lonberg-Holm's cello replacing Jeb Bishop's
trombone is to move the group from tight horn arrangements back into
rough and ready free jazz. The other change is that the saxes have
moved down a notch -- Dave Rempis to tenor and Ken Vandermark to
baritone -- filling the bottom Bishop vacated while kicking up the
dirt. The result is a slimmed down, fired up Territory Band, a wild
west bar band for bruised brains.
A-
- Ulf Wakenius: Notes From the Heart (2005 [2006], ACT).
This rather quiet, unassuming album has developed into one
of my favorites. I reached for it first in a very stressful moment
and found it blessedly calming. Since then it's been a staple for
similar moments, and increasingly I've been noticing its melodic
charms. The music originated with Keith Jarrett -- more attractive
figures to base improvisations on than fully worked arrangements.
I'm not sure that Wakenius does much with them, but the simple
charms of his acoustic guitar suffice. Lars Danielsson and Morten
Lund complete the trio, with Danielsson playing a bit of piano
as well as bass and cello.
A-
- The Chris Walden Big Band: No Bounds (2005 [2006],
Origin):
I can't help but admire someone who these days can still
conceive of big band jazz on such a grossly ludicrous scale. How
big are we talking? Well, he's got four French horns to work with.
Five cellos. Admittedly, only one harp. I also have to say that
singer Tierney Sutton is a plus on her feature -- as long as she
sings, everything else just sort of blurs into the ghost of Billy
May. In general, the orchestration isn't bad, but it's something
to worry about when your best themes come from Walt Disney. Not
even Sun Ra could make that work.
C+
- Aaron Weinstein: A Handful of Stars (2005, Arbors).
Most of the teenage prodigies who've turned to jazz recently have come
out of the euroclassical straightjacket, flashing technique but little
sense of jazz. This 19-year-old fiddler looks the part, but in taking
Joe Venuti as his muse he's slipped into a surlier crowd. The booklet
says he picked the musicians here, and he did right. Joe Ascione's
keeps this lively with his light swing touch on drums, plus a little
djembe for a change. Even more important is Bucky Pizzarelli in the
critical Eddie Lang role -- he hasn't sounded so focused in years,
which lets Weinstein off the hook. Cameos by Houston Person and John
Pizzarelli don't hurt, even when the latter apes Chet Baker on the
only vocal, the sublime "Let's Get Lost." The kid plays fine, too.
If, when he grows up, he turns into the new Johnny Frigo, we all
should be happy.
B+(***)
The following are the notes on the surplus albums from this cycle:
- Rez Abbasi: Bazaar (2005 [2006], Zoho):
Guitarist,
born in Karachi, grew up in California, lives in New York, drawing
on each, as well as more extensive Indian studies, for his work. I
liked his earlier Snake Charmer quite a lot, but find this
one hard to sort out. The core is an organ trio, with Gary Versace
at the Hammond, but two songs add saxophones, Rudresh Mahanthappa
and Marc Mommaas; three feature Kiran Ahluwalia's "Indian vocals";
extra Indian effects, hand drums, tabla, something he calls a
sitar-guitar. The organ is grooveful. The horns amplify the groove
rather than play against it. The vocals don't do much for me. And
I wish the guitar was clearer. Seems like too many ideas, but at
least that beats the opposite.
B+(*)
- Susanne Abbuehl: Compass (2003-04 [2006], ECM):
Second album by a Swiss-Dutch vocalist, singing slow pieces with
minimal accompaniment: mostly piano, with some clarinet for color
and occasional bits of percussion. She adds words to two pieces
by Chick Corea and Sun Ra. Two more pieces are her arrangements
of Lucio Berio "Folk Songs." More pieces add her music to words
from James Joyce, William Carlos Williams, and Feng Meng-Lung.
And one piece is original start to finish. Quite nice even if
only consumed for atmospherics, although there's probably a good
deal more to it for those with the patience to ferret it out.
B+(**)
- Mario Adnet: From the Heart (2006, Adventure Music):
A Brazilian guitarist, but more notable as an arranger --
he passed his last album off as the work of studio legend Moacir
Santos, orchestrating his "things" for something like a big band.
He works outward from the supple sweetness that has long been
samba's soft spot, layering on various combinations of piano,
accordion, brass, vocals -- sounds progressive rather than
folkloric, but here and there works like magic.
B+(**)
- Arild Andersen Group: Electra (2002-03 [2005], ECM).
Two nicks against this one. One is the extensive use of voices, even
if they're mostly used for texture. The other is that the electronics
often get used for cliché effects -- wind, thunder, like that, or at
least that's what they suggest. That's not to say that they never work
out, but they're where the weak spots reside. Aside from these effects,
the music, built around programmed drums, percussion, guitar and bass,
with Arve Henriksen's hollow-sounding trumpet for window dressing, is
dense and powerful, inscrutably dramatized, often hypnotic. Andersen's
Masqualero bandmate Nils Petter Molvaer helped out on the programming.
B+(**)
- Art Ensemble of Chicago: Non-Cognitive Aspects of the City:
Live at Iridium (2004 [2006], Pi, 2CD):
Continuing on after
the deaths of Lester Bowie and Malachi Favors. The replacements are
trumpeter Corey Wilkes and bassist Jaribu Shahid. They won't be a
ghost band as long as Roscoe Mitchell is ticking. He seems more than
ever the dominant player here -- the newcomers may have the chops to
move in here, but they aren't shaking things up. I never had a very
good feel for this group, but this strikes me as about par.
B+(*)
- Available Jelly: Bilbao Song (2004 [2005], Ramboy):
This is Michael Moore's label and mostly his compositions, even if
he doesn't take full responsibility for the group. Ernst Glerum and
Michael Vatcher, bass and drums, are frequent collaborators, but
the group is defined more by the horns: two brass, two reeds, in
all sorts of fruitful combinations.
B+(**)
- Albert Ayler: The Impulse Story (1965-69 [2006], Impulse):
The patron saint of the avant-garde, a fearsome saxophonist
invoking the holy ghost. Earlier work on ESP, like Spiritual Unity,
is essential. This is for the curious a useful sampler into his last
scattered years, including his discoveries of bagpipes and the healing
force of the universe.
B+(**)
- Baby Loves Jazz (2006, Verve):
This looks like the
first installment of a series that has Baby Loves Disco and
Baby Loves Hip Hop on its tail, and Baby Loves Reggae
somewhere in the pipeline, as well as a book deal with Penguin. I
have no idea what the intended audience might think of this -- looks
to me like Sex Mob trying to corrupt the youth of tomorrow, and I
wish them the best of luck. In addition to Steven Bernstein's crew,
we have John Medeski's keyboards, Lonnie Plaxico helping out on
bass, and vocals by Sharon Jones and Babi Floyd. The vocals are
prominent -- maybe loud is the more apt term. The songs are mostly
standards, widely recognized by the age of 10 if not necessarily 3 --
"Old MacDonald" isn't all that jazzable, but "Banana Boat Song" is
a treat. Includes a "Lullabye" to chill down after the workout.
B+(**)
- Luis Bacalov: Il Postino (1994-2000 [2006], Cam Jazz):
This is mostly the original motion picture soundtrack, composed and
conducted by Bacalov, plus a later version of the title track done
up by the Giovanni Tommasso-Enrico Rava Quartet. The soundtrack won
the Oscar for best original score in 1996, as well as numerous other
awards. It's a lovely piece of work, with clarinet and bandoneon
straddling the boundaries between folk and jazz. One vocal piece,
sung by Alma Rosa. Rava's trumpet at the end is subdued but sweet.
B+(**)
- Lucian Ban & Alex Harding: Tuba Project (2005 [2006],
CIMP):
Never figured out what the purpose of the project
was, other than to replace the bass in a piano-two sax quintet and
get a chance to employ Bob Stewart. The two saxes are Harding on
baritone and J.D. Allen on tenor, so the group keeps to the lower
registers. Ban composed all but one of the pieces and plays them
with roughly structured block chords. Most tuba moves are meant to
be retro, but it's hard to tell here.
B+(*)
- Bang on a Can/Don Byron: A Ballad for Many
(2004-06 [2006], Cantaloupe):
Effectively, this is Bang on a
Can plays Byron, with the clarinettist supervising but only
making only a brief cameo. There is still some clarinet, by
Evan Ziporyn, but piano and strings are more dominant, and
they give the compositions a chunky, clunky feel. "Eugene"
was written for a silent Ernie Kovacs piece. "The Red-Tailed
Angels" was a soundtrack for a documentary on the Tuskegee
Airmen. Both lose their utilitarianism in this chamber music
setting. On the other hand, the band sharpens up the angles,
giving this an edge that would be obtrustive for a soundtrack.
Still, it sounds euroclassical to me, a sort of third stream
backwash, where conservatory-trained jazz musicians return to
the roost.
B
- Patricia Barber: Mythologies (2006, Blue Note):
Most of the song titles I recognize from Greek mythology, not that
I know or care much about that. "Whiteworld" has been to fit the
series, and remains most striking. Other than "The Hours" at the
end, which the chorus runs away with, the music is striking, and
the vocals distinctive. Don't know what it means.
B+(**)
- Gato Barbieri: The Impulse Story (1973-75 [2006], Impulse):
Argentine tenor saxophonist, emerged in the '60s on ESP
and Flying Dutchman, which has some classic examples of his whirling
dervish style. This excerpts four albums of Coltrane-ish powerhouse
sax over roiling Latin beats. Alt-choice: Latino America
(1973-74 [1997], 2CD), his first two chapters.
B+(***)
- Sam Bardfeld: Periodic Trespasses (2004 [2006],
Fresh Sound New Talent):
Subtitled "The Saul Cycle," with Bardfield's
narration slipped into a "Peter and the Wolf" flow. I can't say as I
get, let alone care about, the story. The music seems to pursue flow
for its own sake, with bass and drums pushing violin and vibes along.
So it helps when Ron Horton's trumpet occasionally disrupts the flow,
as on "Harry's Mambo" -- a choice cut.
B
- One O'Clock Jump: The Very Best of Count Basie
(1936-42 [2006], Columbia/Legacy):
Basie's Columbias have never gotten much respect -- after all, his
1937-39 Decca recordings represent the full fury of the territory band
storming through New York; but Lester Young, for one, peaked here with
"Lester Leaps In" and "Taxi War Dance," and padding with the early
Jones-Smith Inc. spinoffs and later live shots doesn't hurt; a useful
primer for anyone who doubts the 4-CD box.
A
- Michael Bates' Outside Sources: A Fine Balance
(2004 [2006], Between the Lines):
Second album by this group --
the first was called Outside Sources and attributed to
Michael Bates. But not really the same group -- this one expands
from three to four, adding a trumpet to make your basic pianoless
avant quartet. Up front are Kevin Turcotte on trumpet and Quinsin
Nachoff on reeds. The leader plays bass and composes all the
pieces, while Mark Timmermans drums. Lately quite a few groups
have been structured like this: the format offers the two horns
lots of options, but it also lets the bass run the pulse, which
sets everything else up. Perhaps as many as a half dozen of my
favorite albums over the last couple of years were set up this
way. The difference between them and this one was that they
usually featured great musicians, especially in the rhythm
section -- William Parker and Hamid Drake, Mark Dresser and
Gerry Hemingway. I don't mean to knock Bates, who is a capable
guy doing very interesting work here, but his group hasn't
pushed itself to the forefront yet.
B+(**)
- Andy Biskin: Trio Tragico (2005 [2006], Strudelmedia):
Biskin's clarinet is paired with Dave Ballou's trumpet, more often in
unison than not, which keeps the focus on the tricky compositions. The
third member is bassist Drew Gress, who adds depth without having much
effect on the general drift. This lack of democracy can get tedious
over the long haul, and this does run long. But it's interesting when
it's working.
B+(*)
- Jim Black/AlasNoAxis: Dogs of Great Indifference
(2005 [2006], Winter & Winter):
The pieces here have regular
rhythms with more or less fuzz, built up from bass and guitar,
around the edges, closer to experimental rock or electronica than
to postbop. The louder pieces are industrial grade, but most are
quieter. Chris Speed plays tenor sax, providing melodic variation,
or just as likely smoothing out the texture. Interesting sonically,
especially the lighter pieces, but nothing quite jumps out.
B+(**)
- Michael Blake: Blake Tartare (2002 [2005], Stunt).
Starts and ends soft, with guitar groove and searching sax in between,
including pieces by Mingus and Sun Ra that punch up the drama in the
middle. Nothing spectacular, but a very satisfying arc.
B+(***)
- Michael Blake Trio: Right Before Your Very Ears
(2004 [2005], Clean Feed).
The ex-Lounge Lizard saxophonist has worked with Ben Allison's
Medicine Wheel lately, so here Allison returns the favor, with Jeff
Ballard on drums. Starts with a screech, which is soon repeated, but
most of the record is well reasoned, tightly wound free jazz, good
stuff.
B+(**)
- Theo Bleckmann/Fumio Yasuda: Las Vegas Rhapsody: The Night
They Invented Champagne (2005 [2006], Winter & Winter):
As Americans we're much too close to Las Vegas to appreciate how
strangely, definitively American the place can seem to foreigners.
Fumio Yasuda orchestrates these songs not as show business so much
as transcendental fantasy, inflating fluff like "Teacher's Pet" and
"The Gal in Calico," but also playing "My Favorite Things" as light
heartedly as "Chim Chim Cheree." Bleckmann sings, so sweet you feel
faint. Bernd Ruf and the Kammerorchester Basel play their parts.
B+(***)
- Willie Bobo: Lost & Found (1969-78 [2006],
Concord Picante):
Dates are approximate -- not specified per cut,
they're gleaned from a booklet that really requires better eyes
than mine. Born in Spanish Harlem, played congas and
timbales, made his reputation in the '60s recording for Verve.
These odds and sods come from after he moved to L.A., where
he had a role on Bill Cosby's show; the finds are scattered
and discrete, of minor interest to non-specialists.
B
- Brazilian Girls: Talk to La Bomb (2006, Verve Forecast):
Not sure what this is. When singer Sabina Sciubba
breaks into German she reminds me of Kid Creole, but that's on
the superficial side -- I'm also reminded of a bull session in
my college German Department, when one grad student asked what
good a German degree might be, and another replied that he could
become a German factory worker. On the other hand, they do get
an enjoyably angular beat out of their continent-hip-hopping,
and I've always been a sucker for Deutschsprechen, even if my
own skills are hopelessly stunted.
B+(*)
- Sneakin' Up Behind You: The Very Best of the Brecker
Brothers (1975-81 [2006], Arista/Legacy):
I remember being
nothing less than shocked when I was reading a history of jazz in
the '80s a few years back and found out that Michael Brecker was
considered the most influential tenor saxophonist of the decade.
I barely knew who he was: a lot of session work, a fusion band
with his trumpeter-brother Randy, and a small number of albums
that never sounded interesting enough to check out. Of course,
I've heard a good deal more since then. I'm less shocked now,
but I can't say as I'm much more impressed. Michael Brecker has
some impressive chops, and he cuts loose with some scarifying
runs here, but I still wonder to what purpose. Like so many
fusion bands, this one has problems with the beat, even when
Marcus Miller lays out a gold-plated funk groove. Only on the
closing live cut does the band hold interest without the horns.
But with the horns you can sort of hear what folks hoped for
from fusion.
B
- Jim Brickman: Escape (2006, SLG):
Pianist, usually
filed under New Age for the usual reasons: no swing, no stride, no rock
chords, no atonality, no smoke stains or dirt under the fingernails, yet
for such static music no intimations of classicism either. Still, I find
it hard to fault his piano. He describes his music as "about relaxation,
reflection and tranquility," and the tonic is functional, even when he
dabs on the string synths. On the other hand, the featured vocals veer
into Barry Manilow territory, reminding me that he has no kitsch either.
B-
- Alan Broadbent: Every Time I Think of You (2005
[2006], Artistry):
Actually, they don't give a recording date --
2005 is a previous copyright date, which presumably gets us a bit
closer to the correct answer. Piano trio with Brian Bromberg on
"wood bass" -- seems to be an early 1700s Matteo Guersam double
bass or reasonable facsimile thereof -- and Kendall Kay on drums,
backed by the otherwise unidentified Tokyo Strings. Not the sort
of thing I often like: the strings fit the lushly romantic mode,
similar to what Broadbent did for Quartet West, but it was easier
to think that the cheesiness was ironical there. Broadbent's piano
tends toward lushness as well, but compared to the strings it is
a disciplinary force. By the end it wears on me, but early on it
had me wondering whether lushness is such a bad thing after all.
B+(**)
- Scott Burns: Passages (2005 [2006], Origin):
Young
tenor saxophonist, originally from Ohio, now in Chicago. Mainstream,
but he can pull some emotion under pressure, and I like his sound.
Quartet, with Ron Perrillo helping out on piano. Was tempted to blow
this off, but "Eddies in the Stream" made that hard to do.
B+(*)
- Don Byron: Do the Boomerang: The Music of Junior Walker
(2006, Blue Note):
No doubt this is better played than the original.
Details like David Gilmore's guitar, George Colligan's organ, and
Rodney Holmes' drums are cleanly, sharply articulated. They crank up
the funk quotient, at points suggesting James Brown. Byron own role
is less clear: he plays tenor sax here -- the exceptions are one cut
on clarinet and one on bass clarinet -- without much grit or grime.
The vocals are another matter. Neither Dean Bowman nor Chris Thomas
King offer much of interest, although they do an adequate job of
going through the motions. It's interesting Byron still cares about
the motions -- I'd say this is populism more than pop.
B+(*)
- Neal Caine: Backstabber's Ball (2005, Smalls).
First, this is the bass player's album -- you can tell because any
time you cock an ear you hear the bass clearly running the show.
The show consists of two tenor saxes -- one occasionally switching
to alto clarinet -- and drums. The sax players aren't out to cut
each other. They play quietly, light breezes on top of the bass
and drums.
B+(***)
- Ann Hampton Callaway: Blues in the Night (2006, Telarc):
In front of Sherrie Maricle's Diva Jazz Orchestra, which
happens four times here, she reminds me a bit of Sinatra -- not
the voice, of course, but the brassy big band singer, at least
until she tries to scat. In front of her usually impresive trio --
Ted Rosenthal on piano, Christian McBride on bass, Lewis Nash on
drums -- the limits of her voice become more of a liability. The
song selection makes me wonder, too.
B-
- Santi Careta Group: Obertura (2005 [2006], Fresh
Sound New Talent):
Guitarist, Spanish (or Catallan) I would assume,
although the first website I found anything about him on appears to
speak Basque (Euskaraz) as a first language. I've also heard his
duo with Sergi Sirvent, but haven't heard the organ trio he plays
in, something called Asstrio. The Group here is a guitar-bass-drums
trio plus moody tenor sax on four cuts and a singer on one more.
The trio is itself rather slight, but Careta's guitar has a nice
ring. But the add-ons don't add much, and are somewhat in the way,
although I'm not quite sure of what.
B
- François Carrier: Travelling Lights (2003 [2004],
Justin Time).
The artist sent this along for background along with
his new Happening. The quartet includes pianist Paul Bley,
bassist Gary Peacock, and drummer Michel Lambert. Carrier, on alto
and soprano sax, is a good deal younger than that group. In these
improv pieces, named for continents and geographical concepts like
"Sea" and "Island," he plays cautiously, often deferring to Bley
and Peacock, who are in exceptional form. I liked Carrier's earlier
album Play quite a bit, although it was little more than a
thoroughly modern sax trio on the road. This shows more depth --
could rate higher with some more careful listening, but for these
purposes it's just background.
B+(***)
- Come On-a My House: The Very Best of Rosemary Clooney
(1951-60 [2006], Bluebird/Legacy):
In the late '70s she made a comeback as a standards singer, which
moved her into the jazz shelves, but back in the '50s she started
recording pop junk for Mitch Miller -- inspired sometimes, but the
ballads and novelties, duets with Bing Crosby, big band bashes with
Billy May and Nelson Riddle, not to mention Pérez Prado go every which
way but together; she was a trooper, and this is a valuable reference.
B+(***)
- Tom Cohen: The Guitar Trio Project (1999-2001
[2006], Dreambox Media):
Cohen's a drummer. He's lined up six
guitarist and six bassists for trios -- not exactly six trio
combinations, but close. One odd thing is that I can't tell
much difference between the guitarists, even though I know
most of them from elsewhere. Songs are standards, starting
with "Caravan" and "Cherokee" -- gets this off to an overly
familiar start. Not bad, but I'm having trouble figuring out
the point.
B
- Freddy Cole: Because of You: Freddy Cole Sings Tony Bennett
(2006, High Note):
Nat's little brother, 14 years younger, but seems
like another generation 40 years after Nat's death. His voice bears
a family resemblance, but is far from a carbon copy. Since it's hard
to describe him without reference to Nat, he inevitably gets the short
end of the stick. Comparing him to Bennett may or may not help: Tony
has a lushness to his voice that Freddy can't match, but Freddy can
handle the phrasing well enough. The songs avoid the most obvious
ones -- I'm not at all expert on Bennett, so that's all that my lack
of recognition reveals. The band, of course, is much better than
Bennett's usual backing, with Peter and Kenny Washington on bass
and drums and Houston Person on tenor sax.
B+(*)
- George Colligan Trio: Past-Present-Future (2003 [2005],
Criss Cross).
This piano trio has a lot of kick to it.
Mostly standards, mostly upbeat, quite a bit of fun. Wish I had
a better handle on explaining it. I'm still more certain that I
know a good piano trio when I hear one than that I know how to
explain why it is so, except by resorting to crude physical
metaphors. But then this is very physical. That fits in with the
factoid that when Colligan appeared on pianist Kerry Politzer's
record he wound up playing drums.
B+(***)
- Alice Coltrane: The Impulse Story (1968-2000 [2006],
Impulse):
Née Alice MacLeod, plays piano and harp, married the tenor
sax great in 1965, recorded seven albums 1968-73 after her husband's
death, then a comeback with son Ravi Coltrane after a long hiatus,
developed a major interest in Eastern spirituality that themed her
music. Two trio pieces with Rashied Ali -- one on harp, the other on
piano -- are most striking here, with her larger groups spacier, and
a slab of Stravinsky a little heavy-handed. Don't know her albums,
other than the comeback, but this seems like a useful sampler, with
subjects for further research.
B+(*)
- John Coltrane: The Impulse Story (1961-67 [2006], Impulse):
So influential we might as well call the last forty years
the post-Coltrane era, but far less so before he moved to Impulse --
his earlier Atlantics are respected, as are his sessions with Miles
and Monk, but a lot of his early work is so-so. This has to cover
a lot of ground, some pretty far out, most worth exploring as much
greater length. Alt-choices: The Complete Africa/Brass Sessions
(1961, 2CD); The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings
(1961, 4CD); Ballads (1962); Live at Birdland (1963);
Crescent (1964); A Love Supreme (1964); Plays
(1965); the complete quartet studio recordings are also in the giant
The Classic Quartet (1961-68, 8CD).
A-
- Mary Foster Conklin: Blues for Breakfast (2004-05 [2006],
Rhombus):
Her voice takes a bit to get used to, but gains
on you over time. That's not unusual for jazz singers -- if they
had ordinary voices, they'd be doing something else. How much she
might gain is something I'm unlikely to find out. This strikes me
as marginal, especially given that the slow stuff she favors can
be turgid, but her "Let's Get Away From It All" is a choice cut.
Dedicated to Matt Dennis, who co-wrote the songs.
B
- Joyce Cooling: Revolving Door (2006, Narada Jazz):
My editor thinks I'm some kind of expert on smooth jazz just because
I've been a good enough sport to listen to what I've been sent. But
I get less and less of it, especially when guys like Anthony Braxton
score Pick Hits. Also when I review records like this one. Cooling's
a so-so guitarist who can handle a mid-tempo blues or maintain a
shallow groove. Her voice isn't bad but it's even less capable of
redeeming a bad song than her guitar. Typical here is "Cool of the
Night," which even with vocal oodles isn't a cheesy enough cliché
for disco. Still, this is a big improvement over her last one.
B-
- Elvis Costello Live With the Metropole Orkest: My Flame Burns
Blue (2002-04 [2006], Deutsche Grammophon, 2CD):
My copy is a large square booklet with two discs on little foam
buttons, but it looks like the more pedestrian jewel box version
contains all the same music, including the bonus CD "Il Sogno
Suite." The live album is bracing, with the Metropoles moving
boldly out front both on string and brass fronts, and Costello
crooning in the tradition to which he was born. Also helps that
he's kept old songbook standbys like "Clubland" and "Watching
the Detectives." The bonus suite is classical music in the vein
I learned to hate as a child, with no vocals, no song structure,
but a smattering of tympani. I have no idea how it compares with
its models, nor do I care, but I found it unannoying enough that
I didn't feel compelled to cut it short when I played it a second
time. That's at least one definition of a B record.
B
- Elvis Costello & Allen Toussaint: The River in Reverse
(2005 [2006], Verve Forecast):
Mostly Toussaint
songs, mostly Costello singing -- all things considered, a
reasonable division of labor. Starts real strong with "On Your
Way Down," which sets us up for a level of message that may or
may not be delivered, but certainly doesn't kick in clearly.
B
- Crimetime Orchestra: Life Is a Beautiful Monster
(2004 [2005], Jazzaway):
Veteran bassist Bjørnar Andresen gets a
"featuring" credit here -- he passed away three weeks after this
session, but to say he was featured is a misnomer. The group is
large -- ten pieces, including three saxes, two brass, guitar,
keyboards, both electric and acoustic bass, and drums. The title
cut -- in seven parts, most of the album -- is straightforward in
its aim to create beauty out of monstrous sound, and in that it
mostly succeeds. The group is mostly -- maybe all -- Norwegian,
with tenor saxophonist Vidar Johansen first listed and perhaps
most important.
B+(**)
- Stephan Crump: Rosetta (2005 [2006], Papillon Sounds):
Another low key guitar album -- even more so because the leader plays
bass, and nobody plays drums. The guitar is acoustic by Liberty Ellman
and/or electric by Jamie Fox.
B+(*)
- The Miles Davis Quintet: The Legendary Prestige Quintet
Sessions (1955-58 [2006], Prestige, 4CD):
The back story is well known. Davis signed with Columbia and organized
a quintet to record 'Round About Midnight. The rhythm section
was Red Garland, Joe Chambers, and Philly Joe Jones. After Davis' first
saxophonist, someone named Sonny Rollins, refused to tour, Philly Joe
brought in one of his homeboys, someone named John Coltrane. But Davis
had a problem: he still owed Prestige a bunch of albums. They cut one
quick in late 1955, then wrapped up with two long days, one on May 11,
the other on Oct. 26, 1956. Prestige carved those sessions up by mood
to get four albums: Cookin', Relaxin', Workin' and
Steamin', but held them back to cash in on Columbia's publicity.
The quintet only cut the one album for Columbia, so Prestige's quickies
came to represent what was eventually recognized as Davis' First Great
Quintet. The five albums fill three discs here, with 36-minutes worth
of previously unreleased bait on the fourth, including three cuts with
Bill Evans replacing Garland. The remarkable thing about the music is
how natural it all sounds. The scion of East St. Louis has given us a
near-perfect synthesis of West Coast cool and East Coast hard bop, as
if it was the easiest thing in the world to do.
A-
- Miles Davis: Cool & Collected (1956-84 [2006],
Columbia/Legacy):
It's possible to spin Miles' legend to include a remarkable string
of developments in post-WWII jazz, starting with bebop, cool jazz,
hard bop, modal jazz, fusion, and several variations along the way.
That those innovations mostly came from others in the end detracts
little from what Miles did accomplish: the title word "collected"
hints at his unique skill at pulling whatever was happening together
and sharpening it under his leadership. Only avant-jazz seems to
have escaped his interest -- probably didn't see much scratch in
that. Cool wasn't a defining attribute, but assembling a superb
compilation of his slow stuff from 1956-65 is a no-brainer, as
three-fourths of this one proves. But pushing the Gil Evans angle
to 1984 turns the ice to slush, and the remix is even more plastic.
B+(*)
- Deep Blue Organ Trio: Goin' to Town: Live at the Green Mill
(2005 [2006], Delmark):
Organ-guitar-drums trios were
far from mbitious even back in their '60s heyday, so groups like
this don't promise much today. Small pleasures, maybe. This one
definitely has more than its predecessor, Deep Blue Bruise
(2004). Mostly from guitarist Bobby Broom, who holds the lead
more often than not.
B+(*)
- Papa John DeFrancesco: Desert Heat (2006, Savant):
Joey's father. Although he started earlier, his recorded career has
followed in his son's footsteps. Joey helps out here, producing and
playing otherwise undefined keyboards. Bass and drums fill out the
group, so the organ dominates, the whole thing depending on how much
you like the grinder's groove. I like it fine on "Cold Duck Time"
and I'm surprised I can't complain about "House of the Rising Sun."
But I also don't see much point, especially given that the groove
doesn't always hang tough.
B
- Hamilton De Holanda Quintet: Brasilianos (2006,
Adventure Music):
De Hollanda plays a 10-string mandolin. Backed
with acoustic guitar and electric bass, this group has a dense
string sound, which they crank up on the fast ones. Instead of
horns, the topping comes from Gabriel Grossi's harmonica, adding
sweet and sour notes on top of the propulsion.
B+(**)
- Jon De Lucia Group: Face No Face (2005 [2006],
Jonji Music):
Leader plays alto and soprano sax. Group includes
guitar, piano, bass and drums, as well as one guest spot on kato
and shamisen. Pieces are longish, except for the Japanese one.
Rhythm is loose and ragged, sax postbop, arrangement postmodern.
Fresh Sound releases a lot of stuff like this, and I'm familiar
with several of the players here from releases there. Not bad,
but not much that distinguishes it either.
B+(*)
- Andrey Dergatchev: The Return (2006, ECM):
Music
for a film by Andrey Zvyagintsev. Don't know when this was recorded,
but the film is from 2003 or before. Usual soundtrack ambience,
haunting tones, very minimal, with splotches of dialog, words,
whatever. One called "Titles-run" is more upbeat, very attractive.
B
- Denis DiBlasio: View From Pikes (2006, Dreambox Media):
Leader plays baritone sax. Never heard of him before, but
a little digging tells me he played with Maynard Ferguson in the
'80s, teaches at Rowan College, and has a handful of his own albums
starting in 1998. He has a trio here with piano and bass, takes
most of the pieces at a leisurely pace, and lets the instruments
enjoy their natural sounds. Plays a little flute too, which is more
upbeat. Recorded at Maggie's Farm, with Matt Balitsaris getting an
engineer credit. Not much to it, but it's a lovely album.
B+(**)
- The Diplomats: We Are Not Obstinate Islands (2004
[2006], Clean Feed):
Money's tight everywhere -- certainly in the
jazz business, but all the more so in the jazz writing business,
especially given that all I'm guaranteed for the next Jazz CG is
a kill fee. When I'm deluding myself that writing this column is
something other than economic suicide, I often comfort myself by
thinking that at least I'm building up an amazing reference
collection -- in my no doubt even more impoverished retirement
I'll have plenty to listen to. To paraphrase Fat Freddie, music
will get you through times of no money better than money will get
you through times of no music. But what used to be my favorite
European label has come up with two ways of saving money that make
my life more difficult, not to mention what I just mentioned. One
is that they're shipping out cardboard sleeve promo copies instead
of something resembling the actual product. The other is that they
ship the promo lit in PDF files via email -- well, don't get me
started on the evils of PDF. So to review one of these records I
have to dig back through my email and save off the attachment and
bring up xpdf, at which point I discover that they're probably
cutting some more costs on their liner note writing. I hope that
at least they'll put some of that money back into the music, but
it's hard to tell from this one. The Diplomats is a meaningless
name. The band consists of Rob Brown on alto sax, Steve Swell on
trombone, and Harris Eisenstadt on drums. The music is free improv
from a gig in Rochester -- not much, although I'm always glad to
hear from these guys, especially Brown. One thing I've always liked
about Pedro Costa is his willingness to pick up a tape that makes
no business sense and put it out just because he likes it. At least
that much hasn't changed.
B
- DJ Logic: Zen of Logic (2005 [2006], Ropeadope):
Just have an advance here, although the record has been out for
months. DJ Logic (Jason Kibler) is the most likely turntablist
to show up on a jazz album, partly becuase he's able to draw so
much music out of his scratches, but also because his interests
in Miles and Trane led him into various jazz circles -- especially
those with an interest in bridging from the jazz end. Not sure who
all does what here, but the guest list includes John Medeski and
Charlie Hunter. Still, despite namechecking Coltrane, this is
very much on his home turf: hip-hop beats, lots of scratches,
a few raps. My only complaint is that I can't find the hook;
otherwise I like this kind of thing a lot.
B+(*)
- Chet Doxas Quartet: Sidewalk Etiquette (2004 [2006],
Justin Time):
Tenor saxophonist from Montreal, with his drummer brother
in the group, as well as a nicely developed keyboard player named John
Rooney -- plays Fender Rhodes as well as piano. Mainstream stuff --
Doxas sounds fine on the hard swinging stuff, but I find some minor
tics annoying when he slows it down.
B
- Vicente Espí Quartet: Tras Coltrane (2006, Fresh
Sound New Talent):
Any time a group covers A Love Supreme --
three-fourths of it, anyway -- they're begging for comparison with
the original, which is to say they're boxing way out of their weight
class. The four earlier tracks are more interesting, in large part
because they have more leeway on them. But any way you look at it, the
group here is pure tribute. The leader plays drums. Jesús Santandreu
gets the starring role. Albert Bover plays McCoy Tyner. Paco Charlín
gets the great Jimmy Garrison lines. They had fun, and if it sounds
a bit old, it's just because Trane was actually a lot heavier than
his postbop followers. They got that right.
B+(*)
- Geoff Farina/Luther Gray/Nate McBride: Out Trios Volume
Four (2004 [2006], Atavistic):
Electric guitar, drums,
acoustic bass, respectively. Not as far out as I figured, but
I haven't heard any of Atavistic's Out series. A tight,
chunky, rhythmic section is particularly appealing, while the
slower, sparser sections are merely suggestive.
B+(*)
- Barbara Fasano: Written in the Stars (2005 [2006],
Human Child):
Can't go wrong with Harold Arlen. As I recall, the
Arlen records stand out in Ella Fitzgerald's songbook series. I
even picked out Carrie Smith's Arlen tribute in my first Jazz CG.
I never tire of "Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea" or "Come
Rain or Come Shine" or "One for My Baby" and have no complaints
about the versions here. A couple of the more obscure songs may
drag a bit, but Fasano has a serviceable voice and a viable band,
including Joel Frahm on tenor and soprano sax, and this is a fine
survey.
B+(*)
- Fattigfolket: Le Chien et la Fille (2005 [2006], ILK):
Four musicians from Norway and Sweden. Recorded in France.
Released in Denmark. Trumpet, sax, bass and drums -- gives them
two leads, some harmonic options, no chords to tie them down.
Mostly mid-tempo or slower, graceful, elegant, but parts kick
in above the ECM line.
B+(**)
- Pierre Favre/Yang Jing: Two in One (2005 [2006], Intakt):
Primarily the work of Yang Jing, who plays pipa, a
four-stringed lute-like instrument. She mastered it as a soloist
in the Chinese National Orchestra. Takes a while, but it grows
on you. Favre is a Swiss drummer, works mostly in avant-garde
circles but his interests are pretty broad. His effect here is
much less obvious, but at the very least he deserves credit for
making this happen, and probably a good deal more.
B+(**)
- Mark Feldman: What Exit (2005 [2006], ECM):
Most of
the time I play the stereo at moderately low volume, often opposed
to those annoying "play it loud" instructions some labels like to
affix. One consequence of this is that I've developed a pet peeve
over faintly recorded segments which tend to disappear under the
hum of the computer fans, not to mention the notorious Kansas wind
and the occasional tornado siren. This got off on the wrong foot
with a segment long enough I wound up checking the health of the
equipment. When I went back and turned it up, I found interesting
composerly moments, with Anders Jormin's bass reinforcing Feldman's
violin, and pianist John Taylor taking scenic sidetrips. They can
generate some momentum when they want, but not much volume. The
sort of record that gains stature the more you get into it, but
for my purposes, at 70+ minutes, it's more work than it's worth.
B
- Ken Filiano/Steve Adams: The Other Side of This
(2005 [2006], Clean Feed):
Filiano is a bassist I run across with
some frequency, and his presence on an album is always a good sign.
Adams I didn't recognize, although after throwing out some false
leads, I find that I should have known better. He plays all sorts
of woodwinds, with sopranino sax an evident favorite. Past credits
include Composers in Red Sneakers, Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, Your
Neighborhood Saxophone Quartet, Rova Saxophone Quarter, various
Vinny Golia projects, and at least three previous albums with
Filiano. These are just duets: 2-3 cuts each on sopranino sax,
alto sax, tenor sax, flute, and bass flute. They are interesting
in their detailed interplay, but not the sort of thing that might
known anyone's socks off -- the sort of thing I like when I manage
to pay sufficient attention, but I'd rather recommend records you
don't have to pay attention to in order to like.
B+(*)
- The Fonda/Stevens Group: Forever Real (2005, 482 Music).
Joe Fonda (bass) and Michael Jefry Stevens (piano) command the group
because they wrote the pieces, but Herb Robertson's trumpet is the
reason to pay attention here. Robertson gives the group a focal voice,
even if much of what he does is just free association over the mostly
tethered riddims. Even when Stevens solos he tends to work variations
on his comping. Guest Napoleon Maddox contributes a rap to the final
track, another way to focus interest.
B+(***)
- Fred Fried: The Wisdom of Notes (2006, Ballet Tree):
He plays a nylon 7-string guitar, folowing the model of George
Van Eps. Just bass and drums serves him well, delivering an elegant
low key guitar album.
B+(**)
- Mike Frost Project: Comin' Straight At Ya' (2006, Blujazz):
A Chicago group, led by the two Frost brothers -- Mike on
tenor/soprano sax and Steve on trumpet/flugelhorn. With organ and
guitar, they lean toward soul jazz, but the brothers keep returning
to classic bebop. The two percussionists don't resolve this one way
or another, and the fact that one is ex-Vandermark Five drummer Tim
Mulvenna means nothing. A likable record, but not much to it.
B
- Satoko Fujii Orchestra Kobe: Kobe Yee!! (2006, Crab Apple):
Comparably loud to the Nagoya outfit, especially
with Fujii playing piano here, and similar in other respects,
but not as consistently interesting or as humorous. I wonder
whether the horn blares in the second cut cry out "Batman!" in
Japan like they do here -- at least for reviews of a certain
age.
B+(*)
- Satoko Fujii Orchestra Tokyo: Live!! (2006, Libra):
I hate to admit this -- it runs counter to my sense of
how the world should work, and especially to how I want to do
my job -- but the DVD saved the bacon here. It helps to be able
to map sounds to the fifteen faces squeezed onto a small-looking
stage. The sheer amount of paper on the stands in front of all
the musicians and their concentration in following it all speaks
volumes about how all this noise is assembled. It also let me
note some uncredited flute-like instruments Kunihiro Izumi used
for a solo, and seeing often helps clarify bass and drums. But
one shouldn't get carried away: the music itself is often on a
cusp between interesting and annoying. While focus helps tilt
it over the top, I can't get all that excited about music that
makes me work so hard. But I did find the DVD take of "Bennie's
Waltz" exhilarating, and most of the time I had my head turned
the other way.
B+(*)
- Satoko Fujii Orchestra NY: Undulation (2005 [2006], PJL):
This is more what I expected from Fujii's big band, probably
because I've heard this group before, and I'm familiar with most
of the NY-based players. They're loud. Sometimes the sheer power
delivers the message. Sometimes it just overwhelms you.
B+(*)
- Herb Geller/Rein de Graaff: Delightful Duets 2
(2002 [2005], Blue Jack Jazz).
One of the senior statesmen of west coast cool squares off with a fine
Dutch pianist. Delightful? Of course. Fairly predictable fare, too:
"Lady Be Good," "Melancholy Baby," "Ornithology," "How Deep Is the
Ocean," "Perdido," "Embraceable You," "Cheryl," "Cherokee." Nothing
wrong with that, not to mention nothing earthshaking.
B+(**)
- Night in Tunisia: The Very Best of Dizzy Gillespie
(1946-49 [2006], Bluebird/Legacy):
Three small group cuts with Milt
Jackson and Al Haig lay out the principles of bebop, with the rest
of the disc devoted to Dizzy's big band, including six key cuts with
Cuban percussionist Chano Pozo. A narrow slice of a brilliant career,
not the "very best" so much as the truly momentous.
A
- Dave Glasser: Above the Clouds (2006, Arbors):
Mainstream alto saxophonist, has a bit of Paul Desmond's tone
sandwiched between slightly more vintage concepts of swing and
bebop. Plays here with a piano-bass-drums quartet, on a program
that's half original, half standards -- the former are minor
exercises, while the latter offer instant gratification.
B+(*)
- Marcus Goldhaber: The Moment After (2006, Fallen Apple):
In effect, a cabaret singer, although it's noteworthy that
he learned as a child with his mother playing piano and pitching
him songs. He has a light, thin voice that works best on equally
light fare -- "Walking My Baby Back Home," "Old Cape Cod." Also
helps that mom was a Fats Waller fan.
B+(*)
- Ayelet Rose Gottlieb: Mayim Rabim (2006, Tzadik):
These notes are necessarily quick reactions, as opposed to fully
considered reviews, so sometimes my reactions stray from the text.
Sometimes I bring up aspects of the process, like when I complain
about having to work off slipcase promos -- by the way, I always
get fan mail when I do that. This isn't even that: just a CDR in
a purple plastic wrapper, stapled to a relatively fancy press kit.
I assume this is all John Zorn's fault, but let me explain. When
I started this column, Tzadik was very high on my label wish list.
I was told that they never send promo copies out, but that as a
press person I could buy discounted copies at the same price they
sell copies to their artists. Now, if you're a consumer, that's a
good deal -- I've bought a couple of things on my long-term wish
list, and should buy some more if/when I ever find the time/money.
But it's way too expensive to go fishing. And while Tzadik produces
some of the most interesting records around, they also put out some
very strange, even unlistenable, shit. So the writer economics are,
to say the least, dicey, but the "artist price" bothers me too. I
do manage to get a few Tzadik records in the mail, either directly
from the musician or through a publicist the musician hired, and
every time that happens Tzadik's cash register rings in my head.
Gottlieb figured a way around that -- while I don't like working
off this, I can't say as I blame her. As for the music, she seems
to see herself as a jazz singer, but this is something else. She's
taken texts from the "erotic biblical love poem Song of Songs."
Sung in Hebrew, I suspect the translations lose something -- "My
beloved stretched forth his hand from the hole/And my insides beat
wildly"? The voices radiate over clever arrangements of clarinet,
piano, cello and percussion, unpeeling the popular artifacts of
Jewish music to reveal roots that sound timeless.
B+(*)
- Gordon Grdina/Gary Peacock/Paul Motian: Think Like the
Waves (2006, Songlines):
Motian and Peacock need no further
introduction here. Grdina is a young guitarist from Vancouver --
also plays oud in a group called Sangha. Also seems to be involved
in other groups: Loose Acoustic, Box Cutter, Maqam. There's a low
key, somewhat rough, somewhat abstract feel here -- Peacock is a
mentor to Grdina, so they play particularly close, while Motian
is all misdirection, as usual.
B+(**)
- George Gruntz Concert Jazz Band: Tiger by the Tail
(2005 [2006], TCB):
Swiss pianist and big band arranger, Gruntz is
in his 70s now, and his Concert Jazz Band dates back to the '70s.
I've missed his records up to this one, so I have no idea how this
fits in, but a glance through the Penguin Guide indicates that the
size and personnel are highly volatile. He travels a lot and records
with musicians he finds along the way -- this was recorded in NYC,
hence a conspicuous number of Americans, several bringing their own
music. And clearly he prefers unleashing the musicians to see what
they come up with to trying to tame them in pursuit of some artistic
vision of his own. This blows up pretty quickly, with six trumpets
leading the charge, but settles down for some more intricate stuff
before the program ends. If someone like Pierre Dørge is trying to
project a postmodern Ellington orchestra, Gruntz's analog would be
to Woody Herman -- not so far out, but raucous, rowdy, a platform
for soloists and rough-hewn teamwork.
B+(**)
- Chico Hamilton: Juniflip (2003-05 [2006], Joyous Shout):
The legendary cool jazz drummer turns 85 this September, and he's got
four new albums to celebrate with. That's quite a lot to deal with,
especially from a guy I've never paid much attention to -- only have
two of his albums in my database, both unrated Soul Notes from the
early '90s, although I must have a big pile of records he's played
drums on over the last 50+ years. (Well, small pile, anyway. Looks
like most of his session work goes back past Gerry Mulligan and Chet
Baker to Lester Young and Billie Holiday.) All four albums have the
same core group: Cary Denigris on guitar, Paul Ramsey on Fender
bass, Evan Schwam and Andrew Haddo on flute and reeds, and Jeremy
Carlstedt on percussion. Some have an extra flute/reeds player --
Karolina Strassmayer here, Geoffrey Countryman on two others. Most
have guests: trombones here, plus vocals by Bill Henderson (two cuts)
and Arthur Lee (one). But that's all set up. The record does little
for me, although there are things I like fine. The drummer has a
nice swivel, a little too fleeting to be called swing. The guitar
and drums amplify that, but also color it, and I don't much care
for their tones. The reeds provide more bulk, but as color they
are strictly pastel, and none are able to take command. So picture
them as grasses or flowers shuffling to and fro, swivelling from
the drums. That's fair enough as to represent Hamilton, but I'm
looking forward to four 70-minute albums of the same. The vocals
at least break things up a bit, and they're the best things here.
Not sure I've ever said that about Henderson before, so not sure
that's much of a compliment.
B-
- Chico Hamilton: Believe (2005 [2006], Joyous Shout):
This seems to be a little more forthright than Juniflip, both
in the guitar and the saxophone. Nothing strikes me as bad, annoying,
or even boring, although at 72:47 it is plenty long. Fontella Bass
guests, singing three pieces. She never gets much traction, even on
her bread and butter gospel, and not just because Chico chills out.
B
- Chico Hamilton: 6th Avenue Romp (2006, Joyous Shout):
Just have advances of the last two releases in Hamilton's quadfecta,
so I don't have session info. Hype sheet says this is, "an elegy to
'60s era L.A. which moves from Motown covers to a song entitled
'Elevation' that sounds like Coltrane sitting in with WAR (guitarist
Shuggie Otis, son of the great Johnny Otis, guests here)." Actually,
the credits put Otis on a different cut, but they're probably wrong.
But any case I'd worry more about Evan Schwam as Coltrane than anyone
as WAR. While "Ain't No Sunshine" is the theme here -- at least it
gets a reprise -- "Take the 'A' Train" isn't exactly a '60s L.A.
theme song. It turns out that "Elevation" ain't bad, but the sax
influence appears to be Wayne Shorter rather than Coltrane, and it's
a soprano. "'A' Train" is done with the vocal -- presumably Brenna
Bavis, the cut credits are screwed up here too -- and it ain't bad
either. In fact, nothing here is bad, making this the most consistent
album of the series, but what finally lifts it a notch is a guest
shot by trumpeter Jon Faddis.
B
- Chico Hamilton: Heritage (2006, Joyous Shout):
I've played each of these albums twice, which means I've put about
ten hours into the series. A third pass might lead me to appreciate
the subtleties of Hamilton's art more, although I don't doubt that
I get the basic idea: he's always been a slippery fellow, and his
post-cool just scales his approach up through the band. He brings
a long history of references into the mix, but in the end they're
so uniformly integrated that everything reduces to consistency. A
third pass might just as well drive me to a pique of downgrading.
But neither is all that likely -- there's very little to dislike
even if there's also very little to get excited about. This last
volume is meant as an homage to Gerald Wilson, who wrote three of
the pieces. That means more texturing, which is not something this
doctor would prescribe. Two vocals by Marya Lawrence are the high
points. A third by Hamilton is a throwaway.
B-
- Herbie Hancock: Jazz to Funk (1966-69 [2006], Aim, 2CD):
The booklet describes these as "some of Herbie Hancock's rarest and most
interesting recordings from the 1960s," but doesn't give much more than
hints about who did what when and where. As near as I can tell, the
first disc reproduces a 1969 album originally released as Kawaida
under drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath's name. The dominant personality on
the album is Don Cherry, who springs Jimmy Heath into a free frenzy on
soprano and tenor sax -- a dimension I've never heard before. Tootie is
also working way outside his normal bounds, with Ed Blackwell and James
Mtume adding to the percussion. Hancock and Buster Williams hold their
own in this group. Billy Bonner plays flute, and there are chants and
the like, giving this a period feel, not far removed from what Pharoah
Sanders was doing at the time. The other disc appears to be outtakes
from the 1966 sessions for the Blow Up soundtrack. This is more
conventional fare, with tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson standing out
in a group reportedly including Freddie Hubbard, Joe Newman, Phil Woods,
Jim Hall, Ron Carter and Jack DeJohnette. But, as is often the case with
soundtrack music, pieces vary: one called "Far Out" sounds like electric
bass, vibes, congas, and flute, none of which are documented. Nice minor
groove piece, as is the flute-dominated closer "Hot and Heavy."
B+(**)
- Stefon Harris: African Tarantella (2005 [2006],
Blue Note):
I've never been much impressed with the highly touted
vibraphonist, but these "dances with Duke" at least show conceptual
daring. And when Steve Turre uncorks his trombone for some much
needed brass, the opening movements from "The New Orleans Suite"
come to life. But Turre provides the only whiff of brass here,
leaving the suites mired in soft colors -- flute, clarinet, piano,
strings, nothing that might compete with the leader's mallets. As
long as the composer is named Ellington, this is an interesting
twist. But when the composer's name is Harris, the fluff has a
harder time standing on its own.
B+(*)
- Billy Hart: Quartet (2005 [2006], High Note):
The veteran drummer wrote four of nine songs, versus two for the
pianist and one for the saxophonist, so his leadership isn't exactly
honorary. But the group's sound flows from Ethan Iverson's piano and
Mark Turner's tenor sax, and fits squarely in their generation of
postbop.
B+(***)
- Louis Hayes and the Cannonball Legacy Band: Maximum
Firepower (2006, Savant):
Bright, brassy hard bop, pretty
much like the model. Vincent Herring is a fair approximation of
Cannonball, and if anything Jeremy Pelt kicks Nat up a notch. Hayes
has been there and done that -- he played with the Adderleys in
their 1959-65 heyday. He's entitled, but the difference now is
that the popular moves back then still had an audience. This may
sound the same, but it misses that connection.
B+(**)
- Steve Heckman Quartet: Live at Yoshi's (2001 [2005],
World City).
An unabashed Coltrane admirer, Heckman is a well-rounded and polished
saxophonist. He plays tenor and soprano here, and shows considerable
poise on both instruments -- while sitting squarely in the Coltrane
tradition, he sounds distinctive and fresh. And he's got a good piano
player in Matt Clark. Four of eight songs are originals, and they
don't drop off. He's taken his time before recording (b. 1950, no
records before 2001), and developed as a very solid player.
B+(***)
- Gilad Hekselman: Split Life (2006, Smalls):
Guitar-bass-drums trio, led by a young Israeli guitarist, with Joe
Martin on bass and Ari Hoenig on drums, recorded live at Fat Cat in
NYC. Similar to a piano trio, although jazz custom tends more toward
improvising single-note lines. Nice record, similar to another
half-dozen I've heard, mostly on Fresh Sound.
B+(*)
- Joe Henderson: Milestone Profiles (1967-75 [2006],
Milestone):
One of the all-time great tenor sax soloists,
Henderson is famed for his early Blue Notes and his big comeback
on Verve in the '90s, but he wasn't marking time in between. His
Milestone records may have been inconsistent -- haven't checked
the 8-CD box, but surely it's de trop -- but he's in top form
on this wide-ranging selection.
A-
- God Bless the Child: The Very Best of Billie Holiday
(1935-42 [2006], Columbia/Legacy):
Minor nitpick: the booklet has a
page with a short bio and some cross-references: influenced by,
influenced, musical associations. The latter list is: Lester Young,
Buck Clayton, Roy Eldridge, Oscar Peterson, Barney Kessel, Benny
Goodman, Count Basie. The latter is well known trivia: Basie gave
Holiday a job, but never bothered to record her -- something he may
have regretted the rest of his life, if you can imagine Basie ever
regretting anything. Basie doesn't appear here, nor do Peterson and
Kessel, who didn't meet up with Holiday until the '50s. The others
are fair choices, but the main thing is the one who's missing: Teddy
Wilson, who appears on 8 of 14 cuts here, many originally released
under Wilson's own name. This collection splits roughly in half
between Wilson's all-star groups, where Holiday was just one of
the greats, and Holiday's own much more anonymous orchestras. The
former are a lot more fun -- that guy who sounds so much like Benny
Goodman is, after all, Benny Goodman, and that game goes on and on:
Ben Webster, Lester Young, Johnny Hodges, Bunny Berigan, Buck Clayton,
Artie Shaw, a whole lot of Roy Eldridge, and an all-time great on the
piano. But Holiday own half holds up just as well: her orchestras
closed ranks behind her, and no one ever sang songs like "Body and
Soul" and "Solitude" like her. Of course, you don't need this: it's
pulled from nine CDs anyone who cares about not just jazz but any
kind of American music should already own -- unless you sprung for
the 10-CD box instead.
A
- Wayne Horvitz: Whispers, Hymns and a Murmur: Music for a
String Quartet (2006, Tzadik):
Limited info from a CDR --
cf. previous gripes about Tzadik for whys and wherefores. Horvitz
has a sideline in classical chamber music, which is what this is,
more or less. Not much I can do about it. I learned from an early
age to hate the sound of violins, viola and cello. While I can
think of exceptions -- Bob Wills, Joe Venuti, Stuff Smith, Billy
Bang, John Cale, Charlie Burnham -- it's usually because they
play alone rather than in consort. This isn't an exception --
the sound grates on me, but the stately music isn't without its
charms. Your mileage is likely to vary.
B-
- Hot Club of Detroit (2006, Mack Avenue):
Founded by
lead guitarist Evan Perri, this is more explicitly Django-inspired
than the other "Hot Club" bands I can think of -- six of thirteen
songs were penned by Reinhardt. In addition to Perri, the group has
two rhythm guitarists, bass, clarinet and accordion. The guitars
sound is intriciate, meticulously precise, but the clarinet and
accordion soften the background and add a European, or perhaps
specifically Gypsy, folk flavor. But no Grappelli. Wouldn't be a
bad idea to invite Aaron Weinstein in for a session.
B+(*)
- The House That Trane Built: The Best of Impulse Records
(1961-76 [2006], Impulse):
I don't know how to rate something like this,
where the choices are so broad and arbitrary one might as well be
listening to the radio; nine songs, all also on the 4-CD box, five
also on the artist comps, two more on my Other Impulses list (Oliver
Nelson, Earl Hines), which leaves nice work by Art Blakey and John
Handy -- the latter funktoon is actually a clever finale. Don't have
the box, or the book, but just reading the credits suggests that it's
somewhat more mainstream than the artist comps. Also looks to be
chronological, which won't help the flow of the music even if it
does benefit the book.
A-
- HR-Bigband: Once in a Lifetime (2003 [2006], TCB):
HR, usually lowercased, stands for Hessische Rundfunk; i.e., Hessian
Radio. Based in Frankfurt, the group dates back to 1946, with Jörg
Achim Keller the director since 2000. Which makes it an example of
the sort of cultural institution that Europe does a much better job
of supporting than the US does -- just not a very inspiring one. It
does offer the usual big band virtues. And this record has slots for
two guests: organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Jeff Hamilton. The
former is conspicuous and often entertaining, providing a useful
contrast to the brass. I'd give you an analogue to Dørge-Ellington
and Gruntz-Herman if I could think of one.
B-
- Jason Kao Hwang: Edge (2005 [2006], Asian Improv):
Hwang has been around a while -- his CV doesn't give a birth date,
but dates back to 1975 at NYU, so I figure he's closing in on 50 --
but he's only emerged as a major jazz violinist in the last few
years. Although he was born in the US, he seems to have spent much
of his career exploring Chinese classical music. Most of his jazz
work incorporates typical Chinese tones and rhythms, but I wonder
whether a blindfold test would peg the Chinese influence here. Good
quartet here with Taylor Ho Bynum on cornet, Ken Filiano on bass,
and Andrew Drury on drums. His previous Asian Improv record,
Graphic Evidence, was more distinctly Asian, while his record
with William Hooker and Roy Campbell as the Gift pushed much harder
into avant terrain. This is somewhere in between.
B+(**)
- Solomon Ilori: African High Life (1963-64 [2006],
Blue Note):
A Nigerian -- sings, drums, plays pennywhistle -- who
came to the US in the late '50s with the thought of introducing
African music to a nation that only knew it as a deep memory, Ilori
hooked up with Art Blakey on The African Beat, and got this
album as an afterthought. This is neither as high nor as lively as
the later, intensively guitar-charged highlife I'm familiar with,
and I wonder if the drummers were really on top of their game. But
the reissue has three long cuts from a later, much jazzier session,
with Donald Byrd, Hubert Laws, Bob Cranshaw and Elvin Jones jamming
with the drums and pennywhistle. They're fascinating, both on their
own and for the suggested dialogue that rarely followed. But then
who knew? Blue Note shelved them, until now.
B+(**)
- IMI Kollektief: Snug as a Gun (2005 [2006],
Clean Feed):
If Afro-Brazilian music is typified by its rhythms, what
happens when you try to transform it into free jazz? Is it still
in any meaningful sense Afro-Brazilian? That question comes more
from the PDF file than from the music, which has a streak of good
humor but nothing much that nails it down. Brazilian saxophonist
Alípio Carvalho Neto is the is the leading voice here, but the
group is international -- French, Belgian, Portuguese -- with
trumpet and vibes complementing the sax.
B
- Instinctual Eye: Born in Brooklyn (2005 [2006],
Barking Hoop):
Free improv from a multilateral trio consisting of
Kevin Norton (drums, vibes), Frode Gjerstad (clarinet, alto sax),
and Nick Stephens (bass). The two long pieces take some strange
curves, breaking up into noise then suddenly cohering into
something quite unexpected -- intense details, less clear as
to the overall trajectory. The longer first piece has Norton
mostly on vibes, a finely tuned percussion kit that contrasts
strongly with the clarinet.
B+(**)
- D.D. Jackson: Serenity Song (2006, Justin Time):
A good piano trio owing something to Jackson's mentor, the late
great Don Pullen. But it doesn't stop there: most cuts add strings
and/or soprano sax -- a stereotypical way to set up the serenity
theme. I don't much care for the sound of either, which turns this
into a bag of mixed blessings. No complaints about the trombone on
the Mingus-theme piece.
B+(*)
- Javon Jackson: Now (2006, Palmetto):
I slammed him with the featured dud spot last time, and here he
bounces back with the exact same God damn album. Mediocre soul
vocalist Lisa Fischer repeats. So does Dr. Lonnie and funk
bassist Kenny Davis. The new guitarist and drummer make no
appreciable difference. Lame funk. Lazy soul. Clearly, that's
all he intends to do with his talent.
C
- Paul Jackson: Funk on a Stick (2005, Backdoor):
Headhunters-era Herbie Hancock bassist. Funk is its own
reward, and pretty much the limits of this album's ambitions.
Calls in a few chits, even getting Hancock to guest on one track,
and Ernie Watts on another. Sings some, not great, but okay. Tony
Adamo isn't much better. Someone named Jorge Guerrero raps on two
cuts. Miscellaneous credits include Char, Shakara, and Big Boy --
allusions to folks you may have heard of purely coincidental, I'm
sure.
B+(*)
- Keith Jarrett: The Impulse Story (1973-76 [2006],
Impulse):
The most productive years of Jarrett's career, with eight
albums by his American quartet -- Dewey Redman, Charlie Haden, Paul
Motian -- on Impulse, plus his European quartet and marathon solos
on ECM; this sampler should provide a useful distillation given
that most of the Impulses are only available on two boxes adding
up to nine CDs, but a better one would focus more squarely on the
tenor saxophonist, who sounds great when he gets the chance.
B+(***)
- Keith Jarrett: The Carnegie Hall Concert (2005
[2006], ECM, 2CD):
I don't dislike Jarrett. I wouldn't argue with
anyone who ranked him as one of the most important jazz pianists
of the forty years he's been recording. Beyond that it's hard to
say. Few people have recorded as much, as long, at such a high
level -- Cecil Taylor is one that jumps to mind, but that's a
tough comparison to make; looking through my lists, I'd say the
most comparable pianist to Jarrett is Abdullah Ibrahim, and that's
high praise. Nonetheless, I get a little tired with the constant
volley of trio and solo albums that are about all Jarrett has done
over the last twenty-plus years. This one is a solo. The booklet
lists all of Jarrett's ECM solos. How many? Counting this one, 24,
including 11 doubles and one 6-CD set -- 40 discs in all. The few
I've heard, excepting The Köln Concert, all tend to blur
together for me. This doesn't strike me as exceptional, but two
notes: I thoroughly enjoyed "True Blues," but then I have Otis
Spann albums that are at least as true; and I find the applause
distracting and ultimately annoying, partly because it makes me
wonder what he get to elicit that applause. Maybe it was just
being so good for so long?
B
- Raúl Jaurena: Te Amo Tango (2005 [2006], Soundbrush):
Tango may have originated in the brothels of Buenos Aires, but these
days it extends from popular dance to classical music. This sounds
more classical than most, thanks to the Sinopus String Quintet, the
operatic singer Marga Mitchell on four tracks, and to the slow grind
of bandeonist Juarena's dense melodies -- an intensity that works,
up to a point.
B+(**)
- Jazzmob: Infernal Machine (2005 [2006], Jazzaway):
The nominal similarity between Jon Klette's Norwegian band and Sex
Mob seems to be based on a shared desire to advance jazz popularity
by simply juicing it up -- especially as opposed to waterng it down.
In flow and dynamics, this sextet sounds like a swing band, but the
tone is avant, and fusion is skipped over completely. They do this
with two saxes and trumpet, which play together less for harmony
than for comradeship -- pretty much the same reason people drink
together. Anders Aarum spends most of the record on Rhodes, which
qualifies as the avant-sounding successor to the B3. I don't quite
buy it all, but it makes for a good time anyway.
B+(*)
- Ingrid Jensen: At Sea (2005 [2006], ArtistShare).
Elegant, intricate postbop, smartly constructed, beautifully played,
with Geoffrey Keezer's worldy keyboards, a touch of exotic beats
on cajon and djembe, some notable guest guitar from Lage Lund, and
the leader's sterling trumpet.
B+(**)
- The Roger Kellaway Trio: Heroes (2005 [2006], IPO):
No drums, just Bruce Forman on guitar and Don Lutz on bass.
If that's not enough to remind you of Oscar Peterson, note that
the fifth song is "Night Train." A look at the notes cinches it:
they start with an interview where Peterson pays tribute to
Kellaway. Nice touch. Well earned, too.
B+(**)
- Jay Lawrence Trio: Thermal Strut (2006, OA2):
Drummer-led piano trio. Don't know why Lawrence gets top billing.
Pianist Tamir Hendelman co-produces, writes one of three originals,
and arranges most of the covers. Actually, the name I'm familiar
with is bassist Lynn Seaton, though I'd have to look him up to
tell you why. Nothing much wrong with this, but it's hard to see
much reason why we should care about what's merely one more good
mainstream piano trio.
B
- Mike LeDonne: On Fire (2006, Savant):
Live at Smoke, NYC. LeDonne plays Hammond B3, with a good group for
this sort of thing: Eric Alexander on tenor sax, Peter Bernstein on
guitar, Joe Farnsworth on drums. Seems like a throwaway concept-wise,
but they all have fun, and Alexander is in especially potent form.
B+(*)
- Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man (2004-05 [2006],
Verve Forecast):
Peddled as a soundtrack to Lian Lunson's film, actually just a
Hal Wilner-produced tribute album, recorded live at festivals
in Brighton and Sydney. Wilner's Monk, Mingus and Kurt Weill
albums offered fresh perspectives by crossing lines -- mostly
by turning rockers loose outside their genre. Here he has less
to work with: Cohen's grip on his songs is more secure, and the
performers are narrowly cast, with McGarrigles and Wainwrights
out in force, and the range no wider than Antony to Nick Cave.
Messages: the future is murder, and by its omission I guess we
have to conclude that democracy is no longer coming to the USA.
Steven Bernstein leads the band. Cohen appears on one song to
close, sounding more worn than ever.
B+(*)
- Dave Liebman & Bobby Avey: Vienna Dialogues
(2005 [2006], Zoho):
On principle I hate this music, although this
makes me wonder whether I'd be so militant had Mr. Pankratz -- my
intermediate school music teacher, the only one I ever had --
presented 19th century art song with such simple and inoffensive
instrumentation. Avey plays piano, Liebman soprano sax. Calm,
stately, or as Liebman puts it, "like clockwork."
B
- Dave Liebman/Steve Swallow/Adam Nussbaum: We Three: Three
for All (2005 [2006], Challenge):
I think they intended We
Three for a group name, but I'm annoyed enough with the extra
bookkeeping of dealing with ad hoc groups that I'll stick with the
artists-first listing. The news here is that Liebman has finally
turned in a good album after three or four duds in the time I've
been doing Jazz CG. It helps that he's playing more tenor, but his
soprano has something this time, and -- well, I didn't notice the
flutes, so they must not be too bad. The bigger help is probably
that he's got a rhythm section that keeps him on his game. Not
exactly a breakthrough. Just very solid all around.
B+(**)
- Liquid Soul: One-Two Punch (2006, Telarc):
Mars
Williams learned his craft under legendary Chicago avant-gardist
Hal Russell. After Russell died, Williams recruited Ken Vandermark
to fill Russell's shoes in the NRG Ensemble. Vandermark reciprocated
by inviting Williams into the first edition of the Vandermark Five.
When acid jazz came around, Williams split off to form Liquid Soul
with synth programmer Van Christie, and they've been plugging away
at it for a decade now, with generally indifferent results. This
one at least packs a punch, and even builds to a noise crescendo
at the end, showing that Williams hasn't forgotten what NRG was
all about. Formally, this is still pop jazz, spliced together from
undocumented sessions with a long list of minor collaborators --
the only one with any real jazz cred is Hugh Ragin.
B+(**)
- Paul Lytton/Ken Vandermark/Phillip Wachsmann: CINC
(2004 [2006], Okka Disk):
Wachsmann's violin and electronics are
central, which makes this an alternate version of Evan Parker's
Electro-Acoustic Ensemble, with Vandermark in Parker's shoes --
at least that was my thought on "Ljubljana 2," where his chosen
reed instrument is in the soprano sax range (although I suppose
it could be a clarinet, which he plays much more frequently). On
tenor sax he beefs up the rough sound. But the group as a whole
is much leaner, so the reeds matter more.
B+(*)
- Michy Mano: The Cool Side of the Pillow (2003 [2006],
Enja/Justin Time):
Mano is a Moroccan DJ, working in Norway since "his
early twenties" -- however long that is. Sings, plays sentir, works up
a mix of gnawa roots with electrobeats and scattered exotics from the
Oslo melting pot -- Madagascar, India, not sure where else, but the
guitarist is named Niklai Bielenberg Ivanovich and the beatmaster is
named Paolo Vinaccia. The producer is Norwegian jazz pianist Bugge
Wesseltoft, also providing keyboards and programming. One piece is
a rap -- sounds like French but the intro is probably Arabic. Others
may be folk songs, with chant vocals as much in the background as fore.
Jazz content is minor, but Bendikt Hofseth's tenor sax carresses the
vocals.
B+(***)
- Tania Maria: Intimidade (2004 [2006], Blue Note):
A Brazilian jazz singer-pianist with roots in the bossa nova of the
'60s, I'm struck first by the depth of her voice -- don't know how
much is age as she approaches sixty -- then by the lithe ease of
the percussion. Hard to tell at this point what distinguishes her,
as this fits the expectations so nicely.
B+(**)
- Marguerite Mariama: Wild Women Never Get the Blues . . .
Well, Not Anymore! (2006, PowerLight Media):
Don't have a
recording date, but pianist Jimmy Sigler offers a dedication here
dated 2004, then evidently died later that year. He plays on all
but two cuts -- no piano on one, a different group on "Goin' to
Chicago." Mariama signs her liner notes Ph.D. -- the hype sheet
describes her as "a triple threat (music, dance, theatre)." She
surveys Afro-American song expertly from Ida Cox to Stevie Wonder,
has a voice that commands attention, and runs a tight band. Jury's
still out on how wild she is, or whether that really shields her
from the blues.
B+(*)
- Billy Martin: Starlings (2006, Tzadik):
He's the
Medeski-Wood drummer, but this is something else -- not even as
close as the many percussion-centric albums he's released on his
Amulet label. "Starlings" and "Metamorphosis" began life as mbira
pieces in 1991, but are resurrected here in Anthony Coleman's
orchestral arrangements. They've assumed a euroclassical shape,
especially in the horns, and I find them rather annoying. Two
more pieces are played by Sirius String Quartet -- the second
one, a somber piece called "Strangulation," is more interesting.
Two pieces with a group called Whirligig Percussionists are more
like what I'd expect, drawing on Martin's strengths rather than
his ambitions. Some of the sounds remind me of Harry Partch. The
final piece is a short solo of Martin on mbira, the primitive
core of the album. That adds up to a score by conductor of 4-0
for Martin, 0-3 for Coleman.
B
- Donny McCaslin: Soar (2005 [2006], Sunnyside).
He's very fast, and very slick, on tenor sax. His pieces here lean
Latin, with the very able Antonio Sanchez and Pernell Saturnino
pushing the beats. And he's got a lot of able help, including Ben
Monder, Orrin Evans and Scott Colley. But this strikes me as de
trop, especially when layers voices as harmonic icing on top of
the most complex confections. One thing I can't complain about
is the flute: the short closer, "Merjorana Tonosieña," is the
nicest thing here, perhaps because it's so basic.
B+(**)
- McGill Manring Stevens: What We Do (2001-04 [2006],
Free Electric Sound, 2CD):
What I think of, referring back to Cream,
as a Power Trio -- electric guitar, electric bass, drums -- but no
vocals, minimal blues, a lot of jazz movement. The latter is more
clear on the studio disc, a collection of jazz standards that they
don't really murder, despite their liner notes: "Quick! Somebody
call the JAZZ POLICE! Where's STANLEY CROUCH when you need him?"
The second disc is a live set from 2001, mostly originals -- a bit
more power there, a bit cruder. I like what they do soundwise, but
find it a bit unadventurous at such length.
B+(*)
- John McLaughlin: Industrial Zen (2006, Verve):
For the most part, a pretty straightforward fusion album -- what
he's best known for, but not what he's mostly done in the last
couple of decades. He can still impress when he cranks it up,
but it's mostly the guitar and drums -- the spot sax doesn't
help much. Oddly enough, what does help is his Indian interests:
Zakir Hussain's tabla, Shankar Mahadevan's two vocals.
B+(*)
- Scott McLemore: Found Music (2000 [2006], Fresh Sound
New Talent):
Drummer, originally from Virginia, now makes his home in
Iceland, which I suppose could be described as equally inconvenient to
everywhere. He wrote all of the pieces here, providing a near-perfect
left-of-mainstream postbop textbook. The band is equal to the task,
with Tony Malaby on tenor sax, Ben Monder on guitar, and Ben Street
on bass. Sounds a little scrawny for something so near-perfect, but
maybe I'm just a bit jaded these days.
B+(**)
- Medeski Scofield Martin & Wood: Out Louder
(2006, Indirecto):
MMW did a credible job of updating '60s soul
jazz organ combos to the techno era, but after a decade-plus they
wandered off into spinoffs and solo projects, letting their main
ride coast. Scofield's done his share of coasting as well, adding
bright splashes of guitar to other folks' albums while his own
grow empty and listless. So this seems like an ideal pairing, a
useful jolt for all concerned. And to some extent it is, but I
wonder about their Beatles cover, "Julia" -- is it an off note,
or a necessary change of pace that just comes too late?
B+(*)
- Misja Fitzgerald Michel: Encounter (2005 [2006],
No Format/Sunnyside):
The first cut throws you off the game plan,
for while guitarist Michel romps along to an Ornette tune, the
tenor saxophonist is the one who grabs your attention. He's Ravi
Coltrane, every bit as impressive as on his own albums. But after
taking charge, he vanishes until the ninth cut -- a Michel original
that sets up closers penned by Wayne Shorter and an elder Coltrane.
The rest is guitar-bass-drum trio, moving smartly with a sound much
denser than the norm for postbop jazz guitar. But then why would
Michel bother playing 12-string if all he wanted to do was pick out
hornlike single-note lines?
B+(**)
- Charles Mingus: Thrice Upon a Theme (1954-57 [2006],
Aim, 2CD):
More profiteering in obscurities, but this time the discs
aren't so obscure they pose any problems tracking down. In fact,
they're already on my shelves. The 1954 session originally appeared
on two 10-inch Bethlehem releases, which are combined -- different
song order from here -- in Rhino's 1999 The Jazz Experiments of
Charlie Mingus. They're a fascinating set of orchestral sketches,
seeds that Mingus developed over the following decade. The second
disc is a Hampton Hawes piano trio originally on Roulette originally
released as Mingus Three, reissued in 1997. For packaging, and
for that matter for documentation, I prefer the separate discs. Two
arguments for this one are that the aforementioned reissues are out
of print, and list price here isn't exorbitant at $16.98. Still, I
feel like docking it a notch for discographical confusion.
B
- Charles Mingus: The Impulse Story (1963 [2006], Impulse):
A case of doing what you can with what you got, which
ain't much; Mingus cut three albums for Impulse in 1963: one was
difficult and challenging but brilliant, another was typically
first rate, and one solo piano -- not bad if you're curious.
This gives you a bit of each, making it useless. Alt-choices:
The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady (1963); Mingus
Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus (1963).
B-
- Charles Mingus: At UCLA 1965 (1965 [2006], Sunnyside, 2CD):
Mingus wrote some new music for the Monterey festival, but got
stiffed, and wound up performing it a week later at UCLA. "Played live
in its entirety," as the cover says, this feels like a workshop, with
Mingus moving musicians in and out, lecturing, and hectoring. Not all
of the music is new -- he covers his own "Don't Be Afraid, the Clown's
Afraid Too," and rips loose on "Muskrat Ramble." The group has three
trumpets, french horn and tuba, versus just Charles McPherson on alto
sax, so it's brassy, but also a bit ornate. Historically valuable, of
course.
B+(*)
- Mingus Big Band: Live in Tokyo (2005 [2006], Sunnyside):
My usual complaint is that the big band sounds puny
compared to Mingus' own much smaller groups, but this starts off
in such good spirits that maybe I should give that line a rest.
The music must be great fun to play, and that much comes through
here. The ending of "Ecclusiastics" calls forth the great man's
spirit as emphatically as the band has done in quite a while.
Still, I wonder what he would have thought of them chopping off
that last half of the title to "Free Cell Block F" -- never has
it been more valid to point out, "'Tis Nazi USA."
B+(*)
- Marc Mommaas with Nikolaj Hess: Balance (2005 [2006],
Sunnyside).
Music this sparse depends on balance, which is evident
here. Two tenor sax solos, the rest with Hess piano added. The tone
is even handed, the dynamics measured -- the sax challenging but
unaggressive, the piano helpful but less interesting.
B+(**)
- Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane: The Complete 1957 Riverside
Recordings (1957 [2006], Riverside, 2CD):
The recently discovered 1957 Monk with Coltrane At Carnegie Hall
(Blue Note) swept nearly all jazz critics lists of 2005's best records.
Previously known recordings of the two together were limited to a cruddy
Live at the Five Spot tape (released by Blue Note) and parts of
three studio albums on Riverside. This reshuffles the Riversides to
cash in on the interest, weeding out cuts without Coltrane, adding false
starts and a beside-the-point Gigi Gryce blues with Coltrane, sprucing
up the documentation. Whether this is a good idea may depend on your
level of interest. The June 25-26 septet sessions appear on Monk's
Music, an indispensible item in Monk's catalog -- more impressive
as was than split up over two discs here, larded with less essential
music. Most of the extra previously appeared well after the fact as
Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane, while the trio version of
"Monk's Mood" previously ended the otherwise solo Monk Himself.
I'm ambivalent myself, but it's hard to dock the music.
A-
- Michael Moore Quintet: Osiris (2005 [2006], Ramboy):
Not a repeat of Moore's 1988 quintet, the only other time he's used
that lineup. This one's a Dutch group, with Eric Vloeimans on trumpet
and Marc van Roon on piano, but closer to chamber music -- soft and
silky -- than classic hard bop. It has some moments, and may pan out
if you put the time into its postbop intricacies.
B+(*)
- Jason Moran: Artist in Residence (2006, Blue Note):
He's brilliant, but his record is pretty scattered, opting for a
hip-hop sample on one track, an aria on the next. I'm tempted to
say I wish he'd slim this down to focus on his piano, but two of
the experiments make me want to hear more: the percusion duet with
Joan Jonas, and a rough piece of free jazz with Abdou Mboup's djembe
and Ralph Alessi's trumpet joining the trio.
B+(**)
- Rob Mullins: Standards & More (2005 [2006],
Planet Mullins):
I reckon every jazz musician wants to take a
swing at "Giant Steps." Put that together with "In a Sentimental
Mood," "Moanin'," "When I Fall in Love," and something by a guy
named Beethoven, and you get a standards album. Write yourself
a samba, a blues, and something called "Bb Major Etude" and you
got your more. Record it all in a club in Fullerton CA. Put it
out on your own label -- it's got no commercial promise anyway,
at least compared to your day job, hacking smooth jazz. I don't
know much about that day job: I haven't heard any of his eleven
other albums, but I don't recognize anyone on his credits list
who doesn't walk on the pop side -- well, Spike Robinson, but
their album together was called Odd Couple. Still, this
is a fun album: Mullins impresses on piano, but the guy I like
even better is his tenor sax man, Jimmy Roberts. As best I can
figure out, he grew up in Virginia; cites Maceo Walker, Stanley
Turrentine, Junior Walker, and Grover Washington Jr.; has worked
with Etta James, Rod Stewart, various smooth jazzers; has an album
called Bless My Soul that I'd like to hear someday -- most
likely he'll turn out to be just a very good soul jazz man, which
is an honorable trade in my book.
B+(**)
- Charlie Musselwhite: Delta Hardware (2006, RealWorld):
Not as old as he looks, let alone sounds, not that that's
the problem -- age reinforces the blues, both by the accumulation
of suffering and by its survival. But his claim to fame used to
be his harp, and he needs to air it out more. He's too ordinary
a singer to get by on that alone.
B
- Ted Nash & Still Evolved: In the Loop (2006, Palmetto):
Another album name reiterated as group name: Still
Evolved is Nash's postbop quintet, with Marcus Printup on trumpet
opposite Nash's tenor sax, and a rhythm section that frequently
works together: Frank Kimbrough on piano, Ben Allison on bass,
and Matt Wilson on drums. In many ways, this is the ideal postbop
group. Certainly there's much to admire here, but I find the fancy
harmony and slippery rhythm indecisive, when they're probably just
too subtle.
B+(**)
- Paal Nilssen-Love: Townorchestrahouse (2005, Clean Feed).
Three long group improvs, run together in the title. There's
no real reason the Norwegian drummer should get top billing here,
other than that he's quite a drummer, fast building a reputation
that might lead one to seek out an album under his name. Otherwise,
this would have been released under Evan Parker's name: he has the
lead instrument, sets the pace, and is the guy you focus on.
B+(***)
- Sebastian Noelle Quartet: Across the River (2005
[2006], Fresh Sound New Talent):
Two quartets, actually. Bassist
Ben Street and drummer Ari Hoenig are constants, but the tenor sax
spot is split evenly between Javier Vercher and Donny McCaslin.
Noelle's guitar shapes the compositions, but either way your ear
gravitates toward the sax. While Vercher tends to play within the
guitar lines, McCaslin can easily jump the rails.
B+(**)
- Ollabelle: Riverside Battle Songs (2006, Verve Forecast):
Five vocalists with a fondness for old-time music, as
opposed to the more recent old-timey variety, even when they write
it themselves. But their arrangements of old fare, including one by
namesake Ola Belle Reed, are easier to gauge. Especially striking
is "Riverside" -- as in "down by the" and "ain't gonna study war
no more" -- both for its complex layering and its weariness.
B+(**)
- One for All: The Lineup (2006, Sharp Nine):
This group has been recording since 1997, with five albums on Criss
Cross and now three on Sharp Nine. Haven't checked all of the
rosters, but five of six players here were on the 1997 album --
only change is John Webber on bass in lieu of Peter Washington.
The group is an all-star throwback to a common '60s hard bop lineup,
with sax (Eric Alexander), trumpet (Jim Rotondi), trombone (Steve
Davis), piano (David Hazeltine), bass (John Webber) and drums (Joe
Farnsworth). The arrangement allows for plenty of solo moments,
and it's rare to focus on one and not notice what fine musicians
these guys are. But it doesn't add up to much: conservative, in
the decent, unadventurous sense; skillful, of course.
B
- Michael O'Neill: Ontophony (2005 [2006], Songlines):
A remarkable record, but the key question remains: how much bagpipe
music can you stand? The booklet has a photo that explains better
than I can what the concept is here: it shows three highland pipes
players in kilts on a rock on the right side, and three Japanese
taiko drummers on the field on the left side, each with one arm
raised high above the head. That pipes and percussion go together
is a thesis we can grant. On the other hand, my tolerance level
does not look forward to a replay. Your mileage may vary.
B
- Charlie Parker: The Genius of Charlie Parker (1944-49
[2005], Savoy Jazz, 2CD):
I have a confession or two. I've always been turned off by the extreme
adulation accorded Parker. He was an exceptionally charismatic person,
in his early death as much as his fast life, and he had a huge, almost
immediate impact on the music. But encountering him late, after I had
absorbed Ornette Coleman and Anthony Braxton, it took me a long time
to hear how anything in Parker matched up with the hype. For one thing,
Parker's regarded as jazz's quintessential modernist, but already by the
late-'70s, when I first heard him, he sounded old -- his innovations so
commonplace they'd become mainstream clichés. He never made it to the
LP era: his records were short 78s -- head, flashy solo, reprise -- but
too arty for the jukebox. He was the pied piper who led jazz away from
its swing-era popularity, making up in intensity what he lost in numbers.
His cult was such that every scraps of live recording, regardless of how
crappy the sound, has been added to the canon -- more clutter for us to
sort through. But after having listened to all the Parker regarded as
great, the case comes down to the Savoy and Dial singles and the Royal
Roost live shots collected here -- not that there isn't more: the title
is actually recycled from an old 14-cut Savoy LP, but only three songs
are duplicated here. Some of the fast ones, like his solo on Dizzy
Gillespie's "Shaw 'Nuff" or his "Bird Gets the Worm" are remarkable
lines of improvisation. At a more moderate pace, his tone and poise
shines through on pieces like "Yardbird Suite." No doubt Bird deserves
at least some of his reputation.
A
- Kat Parra: Birds in Flight (2006, JazzMa):
I get
nervous when I read about a singer's 3 octave range. For one thing,
I'm not technical enough to know whether I should be impressed. (I
do recall reading about Minnie Ripperton's 5 octave range, but I
was never impressed by her singing in any of them.) But the main
thing is that it suggests a preoccupation with voice over music,
a dubious and sometimes dangerous choice. That's unfair given how
much care she puts into chosing her music -- mostly Cuban, even
when the originals come from Jorge Ben or Duke Ellington -- but
is still a recurring thought when I hear her modulate. Where she
comes from and how she got here are probably interesting stories,
but not ones I've been able to find out much about. Evidently she
spent some time in Chile when she was young, now works mostly in
the San Francisco Bay Area, and studied with Patti Cathcart. A
couple of interesting songs here -- in particular, the Ben opener,
which starts in serious trouble and works its way out, eventually
dropping in a rap by someone named Pat Parra. Probably an untold
story there too.
B
- Oscar Peterson/Ella Fitzgerald: JATP Lausanne 1953 (Swiss Radio
Days, Vol. 15) (1953 [2006], TCB):
The pianist gets
top billing for endurance. He backs Ella on the first eight numbers,
then leads his trio with Ray Brown and Barney Kessel for the last
five. On one track, closing Ella's set, Lester Young leaps in and
Charlie Shavers piles on. Nothing here you haven't heard elsewhere,
except maybe Ella's short scat intro to "Lester Leaps In." Still,
Ella's "Lady Be Good" and OP's "The Surrey With the Fringe on Top"
are stellar.
B+(**)
- Madeleine Peyroux: Half the Perfect World (2006, Rounder):
As I recall, this debuted at #1 on the jazz charts, and
no doubt broke onto the pop charts as well, where she's been before.
This tones down the Billie Holiday vibe that I found distracting on
her previous albums, but also because it moves away from the jazz
tradition of Careless Love and into what's called chanson
because it's mostly French, in spirit if not necessarily in tongue --
a Serge Gainsbourg song appears, but also two by Leonard Cohen, one
each by Joni Mitchell and Tom Waits. She's a featherweight singer,
and the arrangements are correspondingly light. This is marginal,
but pleasantly appealing, ending with a winning "Smile."
B+(*)
- The John Popper Project Featuring DJ Logic (2006, Relix):
I've gone back and forth on how to file this, finally opting
for the literal, although the grammar would make more sense if Popper
were the object of DJ Logic's project. Doesn't really belong under
jazz, but sometimes I have trouble telling until I listen -- Logic
does hang out in our neighborhood quite often. Popper is a blues-rock
guy -- sings, plays harmonica in a band called Blues Traveler. He's
out front here, and OK until Logic gooses him, at which point this
this starts to get interesting and turn into fun. Choice cut: NOLA
tribute "Louisiana Sky," which has someone named Greenweedz as a
guest vocalist.
B+(*)
- Philippe Baden Powell: Estrada de Terra/Dirt Road
(2006, Adventure Music):
The son of legendary Brazilian guitarist
Baden Powell, Philippe plays piano and composes elegant pieces that
don't fit into any concept I have. Four pieces are trios. Others
bring in an isolated guest -- bass flute, trumpet, guitar, mandolin,
strings. Some are quite appealing, like the one with Myke Ryan's
trumpet. I suppose that lack of a conceptual hook is why I find
myself feeling so ambivalent about this, especially given that
the skills and evident intelligence make it so hard to critique.
B
- Re-Bop: The Savoy Remixes (1945-59 [2006],
Savoy Jazz):
Seems like every major jazz catalog company has set up deals with
DJs to reprocess their wares -- I guess Fantasy (err, Concord) is
the holdout, but they packaged all the old soul jazz they could
find as The Roots of Acid Jazz, so I wouldn't bet against
they following this trend. Whether this works or not depends more
on the DJs than on the venerable master sources, and any time you
mix a dozen of each you're likely to get hits and misses. (Which
contrasts to matching Jazzanova with the Mizell Brothers, pretty
much guaranteed to miss all the time.) The simplest approach here
is to take a sample -- a bit of Dizzy Gillespie trumpet or Milt
Jackson vibes -- and rep it until you can dance to it. Slightly
more complicated is gussying up Sarah Vaughan's "Lover Man" or
rewiring Charlie Parker's "Koko." Still, what's preserved from the
jazz is incidental: my favorite here is Boots Riley's cartoonish
remix of "Shaw 'Nuff," even though it leaves out one of Parker's
all-time great solos.
B+(**)
- Re-Bop: The Savoy Originals (1945-59 [2006], Savoy Jazz):
Existing only for neophytes to map the remixes back,
these songs were selected for their parts, which makes them an
exceptionally arbitrary label sampler -- how else do you explain
two cuts from a Curtis Fuller album, or three cuts with mallets?
Still, the selections can surprise, as when Herbie Mann turns out
to be Phil Woods, or when Dizzy Gillespie gives way to Stuff Smith.
B
- Jason Rigby: Translucent Space (2005 [2006], Fresh
Sound New Talent):
A relatively large group here, with Rigby playing
tenor, soprano and alto saxes, bass clarinet and wood flute. Still,
it rarely feels cluttered -- don't have a track-by-track breakdown,
but it may be that the two clarinets, flute, trumpet, and for that
matter cello, are sparsely used. Mike Holober's Fender electric piano
does get a good deal of use, and is a plus here.
B+(**)
- Sonny Rollins: The Impulse Story (1965-66 [2006], Impulse):
Another slim slice from an all-time great, three albums
in the gap between his sporadic '60s work at RCA and his long tenure
with Milestone, but useful -- two good albums not real high on the
pecking order, and 25 minutes of East Broadway Run Down, his
most avant album ever; alt-choices: On Impulse (1965), and
the Oliver Nelson-arranged Alfie (1966), where a relatively
large band lets Newk call all the shots.
A-
- Sonny Rollins: Milestone Profiles (1972-2001
[2006], Milestone):
The first half of Newk's career was turbulent, with several gaps
when he broke off and regrouped, including six years from when he
left Impulse to his signing with Milestone. He spent the second
half touring, where he was notoriously hot and cold -- breathtaking
one night, unsettled the next. His albums, roughly one per year,
were quickly tossed off, inconsistent with flashes of brilliance.
Gary Giddins tried to point these out in a review of a mix tape
he imagined. Milestone wanted to release a set to honor Rollins'
25th anniversary with the label, so they compiled Giddins' list
as Silver City -- as magnificent as Saxophone Colossus
or Way Out West or any of his other classics. Which should
make this single -- the second disc in the package is a worthless
label sampler -- redundant, but Rollins never rests on his past:
three of nine songs appeared in the decade after Silver City,
and they fit in seamlessly. No surprise really. Rollins is easy
to anthologize: his sound is unique but consistent across decades,
he totally dominates everyone he plays with, and his refuses to
fall back on himself, so he never becomes clichéd.
A
- Michele Rosewoman & Quintessence: The In Side Out
(2004 [2006], Advance Dance Disques):
"Recorded September 26/27/28" --
but, like, what year? Can't be this year, since that would be today.
Probably last year, but that guess will be harder to establish over
time. The music is hard to pin down, ranging from slippery free bop
to funk and Afro-Cuban grooves. The core group has two saxes: Mark
Shim on tenor and Miguel Zenón on alto or soprano. Bassist Brad Jones
plays electric as well as acoustic. For that matter, Rosewoman plays
electric keyboards (mostly Fender Rhodes) more than acoustic. Guitarist
Dave Fiuczynski joins on half of the cuts, occasionally out in front.
Vocal on the last song, presumably by Rosewoman. Normally, I would say
this is too much, too scattered, but she's been around long enough to
have grown out of the kitchen sink syndrome. More likely it's coming
from alternate universe I just have trouble grokking.
B+(**)
- Nick Russo + 11: Ro (2005-06 [2006], On the Bol):
Ambitious debut project. Russo plays guitar, and in simple contexts,
like just bass and drums, can be quite engaging. He also plays a
little tenor banjo, a very different sound that leads into his world,
or at least Indian, music interests. There are pieces with horns,
most notably Mark Turner. Pandit Samir Chatterjee plays tabla. At
least three tracks have Miles Griffith vocals, mostly scat effects.
Some of this swings easily, some breaks free, some just sort of
scratches along. I'm duly impressed, but don't see how it all adds
up.
B+(**)
- Pharoah Sanders: The Impulse Story (1966-73 [2006],
Impulse):
Coltrane's first important disciple, reflected
in sound and style, but more importantly in direction, which
deflected from out only to orbit the earth, taking particular
interest in Africa and Asia. Four cuts may not seem like much
of a selection, but "The Creator Has a Master Plan," all 32:45,
the ugly along with the transcendent, is in better company here
than on Karma.
A-
- Daniel Santiago: On the Way (2005 [2006],
Adventure Music):
Three-fifths of Hamilton de Holanda's Quintet, the energy
level tuned down without the mandolin and harmonica, and with the
bassist going acoustic. Still, there is considerable bite in his
strings -- no nylon here -- even when he takes it slow, which isn't
all the time. I wonder how real aficionados of Brazilian guitar
will react -- I'm not one, but this strikes me as a notable example.
B+(*)
- Savoy on Central Avenue (1941-52 [2003], Savoy Jazz, 2CD):
Though based on Newark, Savoy seemed to have a pipeline into
Los Angeles. Just how this worked isn't clear from the scanty doc.
This mingles locals like Johnny Otis and Harold Land and visitors
like Charlie Parker, while running the gamut of '40s r&b and
jazz -- often the same thing.
B+(**)
- Anton Schwartz: Radiant Blue (2005 [2006], Anton Jazz):
AMG describes Schwartz as "influenced by Wayne Shorter, John
Coltrane and Joe Henderson as well as Dexter Gordon." That's nicer
than saying he was influenced by Bob Mintzer, but that's about what
it adds up to. He's breaks no new ground, but is so centered in the
tradition the old ground he covers reminds you of everyone. He has
trouble establishing his own sound, although I suspect the recording
has something to do with that. The group includes guitar and piano,
bass and drums. Guitarist Peter Bernstein is a definite plus. Pianist
Taylor Eigsti doesn't make much difference one way or the other. Not
inconceivable this could gain a notch if I gave it a chance.
B
- Jimmy Scott: Milestone Profiles (2000-01 [2006],
Milestone):
The little guy still sounds weird to me -- why is it
that male jazz singers, soul men and blues shouters excepted, always
sound so mannered? -- but the four albums he cut in this 75-year-old
comeback burst are gorgeously appointed -- the musicians include
Fathead Newman, Hank Crawford, Eric Alexander, Grégoire Maret,
Cyrus Chestnut, and Wynton Marsalis (one cut only).
B+(*)
- Sex Mob: Sexotica (2005 [2006], Thirsty Ear):
The final copy at last has some useful information in the booklet:
who plays, what, when. Why's still an open question. About all I've
figured out about Martin Denny's music is that when bongos don't
suffice for exotica, he brings in the bird whistles. They're here
too, but less conspicuously. The group was as expected, but the
whole thing appears to have been further processed by Goodandevil,
thickening up the electronic undertow. This has grown on me a bit,
but still seems like a marginal idea, too inside a joke -- if that's
what it is -- for someone not in on it.
B+(*)
- Elliott Sharp: Plays the Music of Thelonious Monk
(2004 [2006], Clean Feed):
Solo guitar. Don't know whether that's
normal for him -- he's put out several dozen albums, but this is
my first. But the cover art raises questions, with four lines,
punctuation significant: "Sharp?/Monk?/Shark!/Monk!" Actually,
it's pretty straightforward, with the familiar melodies at their
familiar paces, the guitar not far removed from solo piano, or
more like solo prepared piano. He makes it look difficult, which
it no doubt is.
B+(*)
- Archie Shepp: The Impulse Story (1964-72 [2006], Impulse):
Aside from Coltrane, Shepp was the most important figure
to emerge on Impulse. More orthodox than Pharoah Sanders, possessing
an authoritative tone, he worked the inside of the avant-garde, and
cultivated a black power consciousness leading to attempts to bridge
gospel, soul and free jazz; the best disc in this series, because
it pulls his disparate pieces together as a whole in a way that the
albums don't. Alt-coices: Four for Trane (1964); Fire
Music (1965), Attica Blues (1972).
A-
- Edward Simon: Unicity (2006, CAM Jazz):
This is
a hard piano trio for me to pin down, but in the end it's either
too subtle for me to appreciate or too lackluster for me to care.
Simon plays with expertise and finesse, but little surprise. John
Patitucci and Brian Blade provide competent support, but don't
manage any heavy lifting.
B
- Jimmy Smith: Milestone Profiles (1981-93 [2006], Milestone):
His Blue Notes, starting in 1956, made the Hammond B3
the fulcrum of soul jazz, as well as setting the standard against
which Larry Young and others would develop. But he settled into
a groove which sustained him at Verve, later at Milestone, and
on to the day he died. Nothing new here, most songs are live
remakes of earlier hits, some even with Stanley Turrentine and
Kenny Burrell.
B+(*)
- Walter Smith III: Casually Introducing (2005 [2006],
Fresh Sound New Talent):
A young second-generation tenor
saxophonist looks back to Sam Rivers' Fuschia Swing Song
for artwork but he's more postmodern than that -- plays soprano
too, like damn near everyone since Coltrane and Shorter, while
his pianists double on Fender Rhodes; shuttles musicians in and
out; recycles classics that seemed like a good idea, while writing
and borrowing originals that reach out to Africa. In short, this
dwells more on his breadth than his depth, which he hasn't reached
yet. But there's something to be said for breadth.
B+(*)
- So Percussion: Amid the Noise (2002-06 [2006], Cataloupe):
Group name has a macron accent over 'o' in "So" --
don't know what that's meant to signify. Maybe it's an omen that
I need to move from ISO-8859-1 to Unicode. It wouldn't be the first
time I found myself stuck on the losing side of a technology divide.
The group consists of three guys who play percussion and synths. An
earlier record tackled Steve Reich's Drumming, which gives
you some context, but the minimalism here is much less dense, and
the percussion is less dependably rhythmic. Didn't sound like much
at first, but it's grown on me a bit.
B+(*)
- Martin Speake: Change of Heart (2002 [2006], ECM):
English alto saxist. Don't know his other work, but this quartet
with Bob Stenson on piano, Mick Hutton on bass, and Paul Motian
on drums plays out thoughtfully. Stenson is probably the focal
point. This is a good example of his work, and of Motian as well.
The sax runs laconic and/or wistful -- nice, but alto seems a
shade too bright for this music.
B+(**)
- Tomasz Stanko: Chameleon (2006, TC Music):
Recorded in Athens, no date given, in a trio heavily biased
toward synthesizers: Janusz Skowron plays keyboards, while
Apostolis Anthimos switches between drums, guitar, and their
electronic equivalents. That works only a small fraction of
the time, and some of the keyboards are so cheesy they'd take
Chick Corea aback. The trumpeter does his best, triumphing
here and there.
B-
- Bobo Stenson/Anders Jormin/Paul Motian: Goodbye
(2004 [2005], ECM).
A slight fall-off here, which it's tempting
to blame on the legendary but inconspicuous drummer -- Motian
has made a career out of working with difficult pianists, going
way back to Bill Evans. I suspect, however, that the songbook
just doesn't have much lift to it, leaving more empty space,
which idles Stenson and lets Jormin and Motian fill up in their
own idiosyncratic ways. Still, this rewards close listening;
you just have to snuggle up to the speakers more than usual.
Given how many slow, meditative piano albums Manfred Eicher's
produced in the last few years, maybe he should loosen up a
bit and find someone who can play a little boogie woogie.
B+(**)
- Jamie Stewardson: Jhaptal (2003 [2006], Fresh Sound
New Talent):
I'm less impressed by the leader-guitarist than by the
company he keeps: especially Tony Malaby, who again somehow manages
to keep his tenor sax toned down but still quietly carries the day,
but also Alexei Tsiganov on vibes, John Hebert on bass, and George
Schuller on drums. But it's hard to evaluate postbop composers --
Stewardson wrote all of the pieces here, evidently passing his best
lines to his band.
B+(**)
- Stompin' at the Savoy: The Original Indie-Label
(1944-61 [2004], Savoy Jazz, 4CD):
After losing his radio license, Herman Lubinsky sold radio parts
and records in Newark. He launched his record label in 1942, but
between the war and the recording ban didn't release regularly
until 1944. A notorious skinflint, or perhaps just a cheat, he
managed to keep his label in business until his death in 1974. His
early records were mostly jazz, and later on he gravitated toward
gospel, but this box focuses on r&b singles. Early on he had
hits with novelties like Dusty Fletcher's "Open the Door Richard"
and dance grooves like Hal Singer's "Cornbread" and Paul Williams'
"The Hucklebuck," but they trail off over time, and only two songs
on the fourth disc here cracked the r&b charts -- Big Maybelle's
"Candy" is the best known, and Nappy Brown his most consistent
performer. Which means that as the period's r&b labels go,
little here can be described as essential. Nonetheless, it is
remarkably consistent.
B+(**)
- Thomas Strønen: Parish (2005 [2006], ECM):
Norwegian drummer, the founder of Food, generally classified as
a post-rock band, often dabbles in electronics. But this one is
a straight acoustic jazz quartet firmly planted into ECM's old
age Nordic aesthetic -- some irregularities in the percussion
pop up here and there, but mostly the drummer goes with the mild
flow set by Bobo Stenson's piano, Fredrik Ljungkvist's clarinet
or tenor sax, and Mats Eilertsen's bass. Well done, especially
for Stenson, and another facet to a musician worth watching.
B+(**)
- Dave Stryker: Big City (2004 [2005], Mel Bay):
Guitarist, active since the late-'80s; always sounds good, never
quite convincing me that guitar is the future of postbop. This is
a quartet with fleet-fingered Dave Kikoski on piano, Ed Howard on
bass, and Victor Lewis on drums. Got it as background to the new
one, up next.
B+(*)
- Dave Stryker: The Chaser (2005 [2006], Mel Bay):
This one's an organ trio, with Jared Gold and Tony Reedus. Gold
does a good job of keeping things pumped up, and Stryker slides
right along. I thought I might have more to say about his guitar,
but that's clearer on Big City, or his numerous albums
with saxophonist Steve Slagle. But he spent much of his early
career playing with organists, starting with Jack McDuff, so
this is a return to form . . . or norm.
B
- Stephen Stubbs: Teatro Lirico (2004 [2006], ECM):
Actually classical music -- sonatas and dances from 17th
century Italy and Slovakia -- but as long as ECM sends these I'll
take a shot at prospecting them. Stubbs plays baroque guitar and
chitarrone in a quartet with violin, viola and harp, or at least
period variations on those instruments. I'm finding this quite
lovely, although the calm veneer and lack of beat -- or should
I say, the stately pulse? -- eventually dull my interest a bit.
B+(***)
- Ralph Sutton: At St. George Church, Brandon Hill, Bristol,
England (1992 [2006], Arbors, 2CD):
Solo piano. I turned
the volume up to better follow Alyn Shipton's introduction -- the
two discs correspond to two BBC broadcasts -- and that helps. He
recorded a lot of solo piano over five decades, and I can't begin
to comparison shop, but this seems relatively informal, an old
master more at play than at work -- rearranging and transposing,
stringing medleys together, breaking for the odd story.
B+(**)
- Lew Tabackin Trio: Tanuki's Night Out (2001 [2006],
Dr-Fujii.com).
Better known for his featured role in wife Toshiko
Akiyoshi's big band, Tabackin runs a tight trio on the side. This
is a live set from Japan -- been out there a while, but has only
recently become available here. He plays flute on three pieces --
a majority if you discount the two encore covers -- and runs through
a smart set of postbop moves, getting a substantial sound. His tenor
sax, of course, has more muscle tone, especially on the well studied
encores -- "Body and Soul" and "Rhythm-A-Ning."
B+(**)
- The Taylor/Fidyk Big Band: Live at Blues Alley
(2005 [2006], OA2):
Taylor is Mark, who composed some of this, and
arranged all but one song of the rest. Fidyk is Steve, the drummer
and bandleader. Taylor learned his craft from Stan Kenton, and
there's some of that here. The band is big and dramatic, but can
manage a light touch when called for.
B+(*)
- John Tchicai/Charlie Kohlhase/Garrison Fewell: Good Night
Songs (2003 [2006], Boxholder, 2CD):
Two reed players -- Tchicai plays tenor sax and bas clarinet, Kohlhase
plays tenor, alto and baritone sax -- and a guitarist. The effect,
maybe even the concept, is like a toned-down, spaced-out variation on
the Sonny Simmons-Michael Marcus trios -- the horns more polite, which
doesn't mean less interesting, the rhythm folded in rather than
popping out.
B+(**)
- Territory Band-5: New Horse for the White House (2005
[2006], Okka Disk, 3 CD):
The third disc is a live concert
at Donaueschingen of the first two discs' music. Given a little
more budget, the logical thing would have been to provide it as
a DVD, which might be as useful as the Fujii Tokyo one. I imagine
the group more spread out and less tightly scripted, but with 12
musicians there tends to be a lot going on. Somehow I missed out
on Territory Band-4, but the series as a whole has struck me out
more often than not. This one strikes me as relatively solid,
and offers some hope that the electronics will eventually pan
out. Plenty of hot spots, just hard to follow, and there's a
lot of it.
B+(*)
- Tone Collector (2004 [2005], Jazzaway):
The group
here is Tony Malaby on tenor sax, Eivind Opsvik on bass, Jeff Davis
on drums. The record was recorded live in Stockholm at the Glenn
Miller Café. I filed it under Malaby, but further research suggests
Opsvik may be, if not the leader, at least the guiding light. Malaby
doesn't even mention the record on his website. Opsvik lists a dozen
or more groups and projects, describing Tone Collector as "Mostly
free improvising trio, debut cd released on jazzaway records in
2005." That holds out the prospect for more, but this just seems
to have been one of those night when the group met, improvised
something, had it recorded, and let it out. Malaby is rougher and
more forthright than elsewhere -- a frequent sideman, he tends to
fit in rather than stand out. But Opsvik is equally conspicuous --
his bass has real presence here, often setting not just the pace
but the tone as well. Davis does what most drummers do in these
free-for-alls, which is to maintain a parallel commentary.
B+(**)
- Stanley Turrentine: Flipped Out on Love (1971-72
[2006], Aim):
Again, only bare hints in the doc. The first eleven
cuts come from Flipped, an album originally released in 1971
on Canyon, and reissued on CD in 1995 on Drive Archive. That would
place it between his tenures at Blue Note and CTI. The idea seems
to be to go pop, with covers like "Brown Eyed Woman" and "Let It Be"
and a couple of Stevie Wonder tunes. With his creamy tone, He sounds
light and happy on those. The album closes with three songs from a
1972 Gloria Lynne album, also on Canyon, presumably with Turrentine
in the mix somewhere, but he's obscured by the big production, the
backing singers, and the general blight of ordinariness.
B
- McCoy Tyner: The Impulse Story (1962-64 [2006], Impulse):
The pianist was 21 when he joined Coltrane, shortly
before Coltrane signed with Impulse. His first records under
his own name were the piano trios that figure large here, but
this is also fleshed out with cuts from other folks' records --
Coltrane, Elvin Jones, Art Blakey. Not all that well balanced,
but it has some moments, including quite a bit of piano.
B+(*)
- McCoy Tyner: Milestone Profiles (1972-80 [2006], Milestone):
This was his third label period, following stints on
Impulse and Blue Note, the '70s consolidated his reputation both
as a star pianist and as a composer with broad interests. What's
most striking here is how hard the piano sounds -- one solo and
two trio pieces are crashingly loud, while the horns on the rest
are hard pressed to keep up, even when they go into late-Coltrane
overload. It's like he's trying not to do fusion but to beat it
to death.
B+(*)
- Jeremy Udden: Torchsongs (2003-05 [2006], Fresh
Sound New Talent):
Plays soprano and alto sax, leading off with
soprano here. Credits include work with Either/Orchestra and Jazz
Composer's Alliance Orchestra. Studies include Steve Lacy, whose
"Blinks" is the only non-original here; Bob Brookmeyer, who guests
on two tracks, including a duet; and the inevitable, ubiquitous
George Garzone. I often fret when I see a long list of credits --
ten names here -- but this breaks down to two sessions, with most
cuts at quartet or less, but three cuts with six or seven show a
good deal of skill at knitting the sound together than a minimum
of clutter. Among the sidemen, guitarist Ben Monder stands out.
B+(**)
- Adam Unsworth: Excerpt This! (2006, Adam Unsworth):
Young French horn player, hangs with the Philadelphia Orchestra and
has some sort of association with Temple University. This is his
first album, reportedly assembled from ten years of compositions.
His dilligence is clear enough, but his decision to mix solo and
sextet settings breaks the flow and feels like two distinct things.
Not so much the problem as the limit to both parts is the horn, a
rather awkward if not exactly ugly thing. The solo pieces can get
tedious even when you don't doubt his skill or dexterity. But the
sextet is much livelier. Les Thimmig plays bass clarinet and flutes
-- contrasting horns with well-matched limits. With neither horn
player overpowering, the field is rather open for someone else to
stand out, and both Diane Monroe on violin and Tony Micelli on
vibes make the best of their opportunities.
B+(*)
- Send in the Clowns: The Very Best of Sarah Vaughan
(1949-87 [2006], Columbia/Legacy):
One of the most incredible voices
ever, but her records are extremely spotty, with adoring arrangers
putting her on pedestals of statuesque music. Unlike past Sony comps,
this limits her 1949-53 period, which I've always found overbearing,
to two cuts. For the rest, it jumps to 1973 for five from Live in
Japan, then finishes with massive orchestras that do her no favors.
She's always been a difficult project for me. I've listened to about
ten records, and found things I'm impressed with -- even some jazz
settings I like. You'd think someone would issue a comp that would
consolidate her pluses, but I've yet to see one that does. They all
hew to a different siren.
B-
- Fats Waller: If You Got to Ask, You Ain't Got It
(1926-43 [2006], Bluebird/Legacy, 3CD):
Thomas Waller was a dazzling stride pianist, an enduring songwriter,
and one of the funniest singers and showmen ever. Anthologists have
been tussling over these attributes ever since Fats, a round man
with a narrow mustache and an irrepressibly sweeping grin, died,
just short of his 40th birthday. With Solomonic wisdom, producer
Orrin Keepnews has given us one disc of each. Of course, one can
nitpick further -- no "Black and Blue," which might have spoiled
the jovial mood, and the "Strictly Instrumental" disc moves too
quickly into the band pieces, including a couple of emphatically
vocal jive-alongs. But if God had meant you to choose, she would
have restored the entire catalog, which since RCA deleted their
six box, 15-CD almost complete works have been in embarrassing
disarray -- not even the bottom-feeding reissue labels in Europe
have been able to put him back together again. Meanwhile, this
one's a good-enough chance to get acquainted, and entertained.
A
- Vision Volume 3 (2003 [2005], Arts for Art, CD+DVD):
Excerpts from the 2003 Vision Festival, which William Parker and
Patricia Nicholson organize each year. I've had this on the shelf
a long time, figuring that this was one case where I wanted to
take a look at the DVD before signing off on the CD, but never
finding the time or inclination to do so. Finally took a look at
it today. It's poorly shot and badly edited, with lots of double
exposure shots. The sound is sometimes out of sync, and there is
a formatting problem that keeps it from returning to the menu
after playing a section. On the other hand, the dance pieces by
Nicholson and Maria Mitchell (accompanied by Kali Z. Fasteau)
lose out otherwise, and seeing helps explain Joseph Jarman's
two-horn act. Otherwise, a mixed bag: the experiments at best
suggest directions to follow further, and the variety ends them
as quickly as it moves past ones that are less interesting.
B+(**)
- Cedar Walton: One Flight Down (2006, High Note):
One thing that throws me off here is starting with two quartet
tracks with Vincent Herring on tenor sax, then dropping down to
a trio for the remainder. Liner note scribe Thomas Conrad tries
to work his way around this: "It is rare for an album to lose a
hot tenor saxophonist and become a piano trio date and immediately
escalate in intensity." Can't say as I noticed that shift -- maybe
it's not as intense as advertised -- but contrary to my prejudices
the trio strikes me as sharper. Still, this feels like two ideas
for albums shotgunned together.
B+(**)
- Jabbo Ware/The Me We & Them Orchestra + Strings & Horns:
Vignettes in the Spirit of Ellington (2001 [2005], Y'all of
New York).
Huge band, twenty-three pieces not counting
Ware, who composed and conducts. The strings are limited to two
each -- violins, violas, cellos, basses -- but they are secondary
to the horns. The pieces show real muscle and sharp edges, slightly
reminiscent of Ellington circa 1950 when he was hard-pressed to
reassert himself in the face of bebop progressivism, but also this
flows out of later Ellington-inspired groups like Vienna Art and
Either/Orchestra.
B+(***)
- Marcin Wasilewski, Slawomir Kurkiewicz, Michal Miskiewicz:
Trio (2005, ECM).
Slow, thoughtful, very nice, pretty without being cloying. This is Tomasz
Stanko's group without the leader. They do very little to compensate for
his absence -- a tone which appears all the more sharp in contrast to
their background. But they're a disciplined group, and they make do.
B+(**)
- Florian Weber/Jeff Denson/Ziv Ravitz: Minsarah (2006,
Enja/Justin Time):
A piano trio, a bit more conventional
than E.S.T., but similar in touch, feel, dynamics. Minsarah is
probably meant as a group name -- i.e., it will probably recur
on subsequent records. Bassist Denson and drummer Ravitz write,
only slightly outnumbered by the pianist's compositions.
B+(**)
- Mort Weiss Meets Sam Most (2006, SMS Jazz):
Title
could be extended: "Recorded live at Steamers Jazz Club & Cafe";
perhaps also "With Ron Eschete', Roy McCurdy and Luther Hughes."
Most is a name associated with bebop flute, although his earliest
credits suggest earlier sources -- Don Redman, Tommy Dorsey, Boyd
Raeburn -- and even later on he worked with older guys -- Teddy
Wilson, Red Norvo, Louie Bellson. That suggests he's ancient, but
75 is more like it. He recorded several mid-'50s albums with Debut
and Bethlehem, then a few more in the late-'70s with Xanadu. Most
also plays a little tenor sax here, which is a plus, and sings one,
which isn't. Weiss plays clarinet. A bit younger, he started with
trad jazz, but fell for Charlie Parker and Buddy DeFranco, then
dropped out of music in the '60s, only picking it up again when
he reached the usual retirement age. This is minor, but charming,
with Escheté's guitar the secret ingredient.
B+(*)
- Kenny Wheeler: It Takes Two! (2005 [2006], CAM Jazz):
Not a duo. Actually a quartet with two guitars -- John
Abercrombie and John Parricelli. The fourth is bassist Anders
Jormin, all of which suggests a low key album. The guitarist
work out most of the pleasing textures, to which Wheeler's
flugelhorn adds highlights. Can't say much about it, but I'm
struck by how consistent Abercrombie has become.
B+(**)
- Wesla Whitfield: Livin' on Love (2005-06 [2006],
High Note):
Standards singer, has recorded extensively since 1987.
This was recorded in two sessions, one with an octet, the other
with a quartet, both arranged and led by longtime collaborator
Mike Greensill, both featuring Gary Foster on various saxes and
flutes. The difference between the two groups is a set of four
French horns. I think she's a good singer, and I like Foster, at
least on tenor sax, but I don't see much value here -- although
the only real annoyance is the hoked up version of "Alfie" with
all the French horns.
B
- Cassandra Wilson: Thunderbird (2006, Blue Note):
Don't know what to make of her. My first encounter was when she was part
of New Air and, as best I recall, married to Henry Threadgill -- something
you don't read about much any more. (Wikipedia mentions it using past
tense under Threadgill, but not under Wilson.) Before that she worked
with Steve Coleman and M-Base. She's recorded albums under her own name
for JMT from 1985 and Blue Note from 1993. I've heard three before this
one -- a small sample I have no real feelings about. She has one of
those deep, dusky voices that form a line from Sarah Vaughan through
Betty Carter and Abbey Lincoln, although I can't say that she's ever
done much with it. (I'm not a big fan of the other three either, but
with Vaughan and Carter at least I have a pretty good idea why others
are big fans; Lincoln is as big a mystery to me as Wilson.) This album,
produced by T Bone Burnett, fits poorly within any known jazz tradition.
Half originals written with studio hands, mostly Keefus Ciancia; half
the sort of songs Burnett tends to find. The only one I like much is
a slow "Red River Valley" done with nothing more than Colin Linden's
guitar. Don't dislike any of it, but don't get it either.
B
- Nancy Wilson: Turned to Blue (2005-06 [2006], MCG Jazz):
The first thing to say is that she is in fine voice.
That isn't new, but it's rarely been sufficient. The second thing
is that the arrangements, except for the closer with Dr. Billy
Taylor and a gaggle of strings, are pretty clean and unobtrusive --
even the All Star Big Band, which swings three cuts. Each of the
cuts have featured soloists, mostly making their only appearance.
By far the best combination is James Moody and the big band on
"Taking a Chance on Love," but Tom Scott has a good turn as well.
The title cut was stitched together from a Dr. Maya Angelou poem --
the honorific makes a nice bookend with Dr. Billy -- but it's of
below average interest. Toyed with the idea of leaving this open,
but realistically it's never gonna lift those strings very high,
nor that poetry, and if Tom Scott's a plus the average ain't all
that high. But she does sound good, and checking my database --
not all that deep on her -- this is her best record yet.
B
- Winds of Brazil (Um Sopro de Brasil) (2004 [2006],
Adventure Music):
Eleven songs, each a feature for a notable Brazilian
wind musician -- flutes, reeds, brass, harmonica, backed by a large
strings and percussion orchestra. This is classical music in attitude
if not necessarily form, something safely removed to the concert hall
where proper folks give it proper respect.
C+
- Nils Wogram & Simon Nabatov: The Move (2002 [2005],
Between the Lines).
Duets between trombone (Wogram) and
piano (Nabatov), some loose and free, some snap to a beat and pick
up speed. Both are players I've never heard before, but they come
with strong reputations, and they flesh these pieces out in
interesting and unexpected ways. I've heard a lot of stripped
down avant duos, but few as consistently intriguing as this.
B+(***)
- The World's Greatest Jazz Band: At Manchester's Free Trade Hall,
England 1971 (1971 [2006], Arbors, 2CD):
The group
name is functional in several respects. For one thing it cautions
you that "great" and especially "greatest" are limits as well as
superlatives. There is, after all, a limit to how much greatness
any of us can really stand, beyond which the great become targets
for revolution. On the other hand, if you're Yank Lawson or Bob
Haggart -- two journeymen from the swing era, playing trumpet and
bass, respectively -- you can see that the prospect of assembling
a band with legends like Bud Freeman and Vic Dickenson and such
relatively young masters of the trad jazz craft as Bob Wilber and
Ralph Sutton might justify such hyperbole. Lawson and Haggart kept
the name going for a ten-year stretch (1968-78), shifting lineups
around along the way. This group includes Billy Butterfield, who
gets most of the trumpet features, Ed Hubble on trombone, and Gus
Johnson Jr. on drums. In the past, concerts like would have been
edited down to sharpen the impact, but at this late date they go
for history, keeping all the intros and applause, calling out
features for the stars. Sutton's stand out.
B+(*)
- Eri Yamamoto: Cobalt Blue (2006, Thirsty Ear):
This picks up nicely from her piano trio performance on William
Parker's Luc's Lantern -- except, of course, bassist David
Ambrosio doesn't make nearly as much of an impression as Parker.
But most of this is upbeat, where she shows a strong left hand,
and her touch is fine on the chillout closer. Covers of Porter,
Gershwin, and a Japanese folk song, plus a batch of originals.
B+(**)
- Otomo Yoshihide's New Jazz Quintet: ONJQ Live in Lisbon
(2004 [2006], Clean Feed):
One thing I don't know much about is Japanese
noise bands -- the few I've heard have been such an automatic turnoff
that I've had no interest in making marginal distinctions. Another is
Kaoru Abe, a legendary Japanese alto saxophonist who died young in
1978, but I imagine that Tsugami Kenta here has some if not all of
Abe's records. Yoshihide plays electric guitar, which can be a powerful
noisemaker in its own right. Two more Japanese names play bass and
drums, suggesting that ONJQ is normally a quartet. But the saxes are
dominant here, with the margin coming from guest Mats Gustafsson. He's
a slowly acquired taste, but at least I have some practice there, and
his baritone is hard to mistake. Starts with a "Song for Che" that's
hard to recognize. Ends with "Eureka," a Jim O'Rourke song also on
their previous OJNQ Live (2002, DIW). The latter almost starts
to make sense, suggesting that further study may help. But I'd rather
cut them some slack on the grade and cut my losses.
B
- Pete Zimmer Quintet: Judgment (2006, Tippin):
Drummer-led group. Seven credits for this "quintet": two bassists
alternate, except on two cuts that are just duos; the other extra
is tenor saxophonist George Garzone, who gets a "featuring" plug
on the front cover. Garzone's name usually pops up these days as
an educator -- seems like every saxophonist who's ever been to
Boston has stopped in for some pointers. He doesn't record much,
but has a distinctively muscular sound that is the main reason
for tuning in here. He also wrote four of nine, but only plays
on six. The other tenor saxophonist is Joel Frahm, who tends to
fit in neatly while Garzone stands out. Don't know pianist Toru
Dodo, but he does some nice work here.
B+(*)
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Goldberg: Kingdom Coming
What follows are quotes from Michelle Goldberg's book, Kingdom
Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism (WW Norton).
On megachurches (pp. 58-59):
All over America, megachurches -- generally defined as churches
with more than two thousand members -- are multiplying. There were
about 10 such churches in 1970. Today there are upward of 880. Such
churches still represent only 1 percent of American congregations, but
they're growing as older churches atrophy. John N. Vaughn, founder of
the research and consultancy firm Church Growth Today, has estimated
that a new megachurch opens its doors every two days.
These churches are usually located on the sprawling edges of
cities, in the new exurban developments that almost totally lack for
public space -- squares, parks, promenades, or even, in some places,
sidewalks. With their endless procession of warehouselike chain stores
and garish profusion of primary-colored logos, the exurbs are the
purest of ecosystems for consumer capitalism. Yet the brutal,
impersonal utilitarianism of the strip mall and office park
architecture -- its perversely ascetic refusal to make a single
concession to aesthetics -- recalls the Stalinist monstrosities
imposed on Communist countries. The banality is aggressive and
disorienting. Driving though many of these places in states from
Pennsylvania to Colorado, I've experienced more than a few moments of
vertiginous panic wherer I literally could not remember where I
was.
Because most exurbs are so new, none of the residents grew up in
them; everyone is from somewhere else and there are few places for
them to meet. In such locales, megachurches fill the spiritual and
social void, providing atomized residents instant community. Besides
worship services, they offer dinners and parties, family counseling
and summer camp, even sports leagues, gyms, and weight-loss
programs. There's a McDonald's inside the Brentwood Baptist Church in
Houston, and a Starbucks in the Covenant Celebration Church in Tacoma,
Washington. The congregations are often organized into small groups of
people who monitor one another's spiritual progress, developing
intimate relationships in the process. [ . . . ]
Walk into a megachurch during the height of a Sunday service and
you'll see staid suburbanites bouncing and swaying as strobe lights
strafe the air and bombastic anthems crescendo; for a secular
urbanite, the closest comparison is the dizzy ecstasy of a rock
concert or the dawn communion of an all-night dance club. The preacher
usually tells everyone to greet their neighbors, and worshippers of
every race and age turn toward one another an dexchange blessings with
radiant smiles. Nowhere else in America is so indiscriminately
welcoming.
On a visit to a megachurch (p. 69):
Overall, the feeling in Alltel was more saccharine than sulphurous,
but the cozy unity inside depended on the enemy without. Christian
nationalism, like most militant ideologies, can exist only in
opposition to something. Its sense of righteousness depends on feeling
besieged, no matter how much power it amasses. Conservatives control
almost the entire federal government, along with an enormous Christian
counterculture, but go to any right-wing gathering, and you'll hear
speaker after speaker talk about being under attack, about yearning to
"take the country back," about the necessity of fighting ever
harder.
Needing to see their foe as equal to their hatred, they exaggerate
its strength. So gay people become a threat to the most important
thing conservatives have -- their families. In standing up to that
threat, they see themselves as heroes. Their loathing is transformed
into virtue.
On the Jewish question (p. 72):
Like racism, overt anti-Semitism has become unacceptable in most
evangelical circles, supplanted by philo-Semitism and passionate
Zionism. Partly, this is due to the right's identification with
Israel's fight against Islamic terrorism, but more important is the
enormous influence of premillenial dispensationalism, a major strain
within American evangelical Christianity. Dispensationalists -- a
category that includes most prominent evangelical leaders -- believe
that the return of Jews to Israel and the restoration of Jewish
sovereignty over the Temple Mount is a precondition for the rapture,
the apocalypse, and the return of Christ.
That doesn't mean that anti-Jewish sentiment has disappeared from
the Christian right. The dispensationalist scenario, after all,
includes apocalyptic warfare in Israel and the violent death of most
of the world's Jews. (In the Left Behind series, only those
Jews who atone for the "specific national sin" of "[r]ejecting the
messiahship of Jesus" are saved.) Fundamentalist Christians will say
that they're simply proclaiming the frightful truth, but much of their
literature dwells on the details of Jewish torment with disquieting
relish.
In addition, the language that the right uses to describe its
enemies echoes all the tropes of classic anti-Semitism. The day after
the 2004 election, the right-wing magazine Human Events posted
a pseudosatirical piece on its Web site called "Declaration of
Expulsion: A Modest Proposal."
Goldberg then compares a quote from that piece to one by Hans
Oberlindober, a Nazi writing in 1937.
On revealed science (p. 96):
"I make no apology for the fact that I start with the revealed word
of God as the basis of my thinking," Ham told the audience. "That's my
starting point, my axiom. . . . But if you go to the public schools,
where they deny God has anything to do with reality, then it's man who
determines truth." Talking about science without reference to God is
inherently anti-Christian, he said. "You're either for Christ or
against him."
Everyone, said Ham, views reality through a pair of metaphorical
glasses. "You've either got on God's word glasses, or man's word," he
said. There's no way to take the glasses off, to achieve
objectivity. The question becomes which lens you're going to
trust. "The Bible gives us an account of history to enable us to have
the right presuppositions to know the right way of thinking in every
area," he said. "Ain't it exciting being a Christian? We have the
history to explain the universe!"
About Lynne Cheney's 1996 book, Telling the Truth (pp.
102-103):
Cheney's book abounds in examples of the havoc postmodern ideas
have wrought in American life. At the outset, she wrote of how the
"author of a textbook for future teachers urges skepticism for the
idea that the people now known as American Indians came to this
hemisphere across the Bering land bridge. Indian myths do not tell
this story, she writes. Moreover, she observes, the scientific account
has nothing 'except logic' to recommend it."
It would be hard to make up a better analogy to the intelligenct
design movement. Like the guilt-ridden lefties they revile,
conservatives are demanding official skepticism for an idea accepted
among the vast majority of scientists because it conflicts with
religious myth, and attacking those who would uphold traditional
standards as anti-Christian bigots. This pattern doesn't just apply to
evolution -- it marks the Christian nationalists' entire relationship
to reality. The right has a host of pet pseudoscientific theories that
buttress its biblical worldview. They include reparative therapy to
"cure" homosexuality; a mythical link between abortion and breast
cancer; "post-abortion syndrome," a psychiatric disorder that exists
almost exclusively in pro-life lore; and the efficacy of
abstinence-only education, an entire cottage industry of scientific
distortion.
On the power of truth, e.g. in Iraq (p. 105):
But neither Shirley nor Michael Johnson had any doubt that
evolution isn't true. I asked why they thought mainstream scientists
were misrepresenting the research. "Once truth leaks out, its
powerful," Johnson said. "So you've got to cloud, you've got to make
sure there's a lot of layers of lies and cover-ups in order to keep
confusion reigning and misrepresentation occurring."
Why would scientists want to be so duplicitous? Johnson answered
with an analogy. "You see this principle worked out at times, like
with the Iraq war." Adopting a whiny, mock-outraged voice, he said,
"'There's all these people dying every day! My gosh, we've got to get
out of there!'"
His voice returning to normal, he said that, in fact, "there's been
the least amount of casualties in the history of warfare. This is
world-war terrorism, they're shipping people in from all over the
place, insurgents they're called, to go against the coalition of
armies -- and there's another thing, some of the politicians will try
to convince people we're going this war alone, that this is unilateral
war. No. We have about thirty-three, thirty-four countries that have
joined us. . . . Why do people play with figures like that?
It's because they have something to protect," he concluded. "They
don't like the idea that America is setting up democracy and becoming
more powerful in the world."
You can't argue with that kind of logic.
Quotes abstinence educator Pam Stenzel (pp. 135-136):
At Reclaiming America for Christ, Stenzel told her audience about a
conversation she'd had with a skeptical businessman on an
airplane. The man had asked about abstinence education's success rate
-- a question she regarded as risible. "What he's asking," she said,
"is does it work. You know what? Doesn't matter. Cause guess what. My
job is not to keep teenagers from having sex. The public schools' job
should not be to keep teens from having sex."
Then her voice rose and turned angry as she shouted, "Our job
should be to tell kids the truth!"
"People of God," she cried, "can I beg you, to commit yourself to
truth, not what works! To truth! I don't care if it works, because at
the end of the day I'm not answering to you, I'm answerng to God!"
Later in the same talk, she explained further why what "works"
isn't what's important -- and gave some insight into what she means by
"truth." "Let me tell you something, people of God, that is radical,
and I can only say it here," she said. "AIDS is not the enemy. HPV and
a hysterectomy at twenty is not the enemy. An unplanned pregnancy is
not the enemy. My child believing that they can shake their fist in
the face of a holy God and sin without consequence, and my child
spending eternity separated from God, is the enemy. I will
not teach my child that they can sin safely."
Quotes David Hager, appointed by Bush to the FDA's Reproductive
Health Advisory Committee, where he worked to keep the "morning after"
pill perscription only (p. 152):
"I argued from a scientific perspective, and God took that
information, and he used it through this minority report to influence
the decision," Hager said. "Once again, what Satan meant for evil, God
turned into good."
But Hager almost certainly wasn't arguing from a scientific
perspective. He was using scientific language to rationalize an
evangelical Christian position. He was doing exactly what Ned Ryun
teaches his charges at Generation Joshua: taking "a firm, solid
biblical worldview" and translating it into "terms that the other side
accepts."
People like Ryun have a perfect right to use this rhetorical
strategy, disturbing as it may be to those who don't share their
agenda. Yet when the United States government works this way, it turns
all nonevangelical Americans into "the other side." The nonreligious
are no longer even part of the debate, because the arguments and
rationales presented in public are a sham. Only believers are privy to
the real reasons that the administration does what it does. The
Department of Health and Human Services operates like a giant crisis
pregnancy center, deceiving in the name of some higher good.
On science under Bush (p. 153):
The Bush administration's elevation of the Medical Institute for
Social Health into a new scientific establishment has echoes in Hannah
Arendt's Origins of Totalitarianism. She wrote of how
totalitarian movements created "paraprofessional" associations of
teachers, doctors, lawyers, and the like, which mimicked ordinary
professional groups in order to erode their legitimacy and eventually
replace them. [ . . . ]
The American status quo -- a system that worked, imperfectly but
consistently, according to certain rational rules and respect for
certain empirical realities -- is decomposing. The individual lies or
small curtailments of freedom that we've seen so far are not as
troubling as the larger phenomenon of a government run according to
ideological fictions. If the Christian nationalists have their way,
after all, it won't just be the Department of Health and Human
Services that works this way. The movement's leaders have much bigger
prizes in mind.
On to the courts (pp. 155-157):
Having won control of two branches of the federal government,
Christian nationalists view the courts as the last intolerable
obstacle to their palingenetic dream. Believing America to be a
Christian nation, they see any ruling that contradicts their theology
as de facto unconstitutional, and its enforcement tyrannical. They're
convinced that they must destroy the judiciary's power to liberate
themselves. A series of outrages -- the Lawrence v. Texas
decision, Terri Schiavo's death, the filibuster of Bush's judicial
nominees -- has stoked their sense of crisis.
The entire Christian nationalist agenda ultimately hinges on
conquering the courts. A remade judiciary could let state governments
criminalize abortion and gay sex. It could sanction the reinstitution
of school prayer and the teaching of creationism and permit the ever
greater Christianization of the country's social services. It could
intervene on the right's behalf in situations like the Schiavo
case. It could intrude into the most intimate corners of Americans'
private lives.
To take just one example, if the Supreme Court overturned Roe
v. Wade, it would undermine the ruling Roe was based on,
Griswold v. Connecticut. That 1965 decision, which struck down
bans on birth control for married women (extended to unmarried women
in 1972's Eisenstadt v. Baird), was the first to infer a right
to privacy from the constitution. If the court ruled that no
constitutional right to privacy exists, states would again have the
latitude to make contraception illegal. [ . . . ]
Some Christian nationalists seem to hope that the end of
Griswold would open the door to the criminalization of all
kinds of biblically incorrect sex. In 2003, Rick Santorum told the
Associated Press, [ . . . ]
Note what Santorum was objecting to. Not just abortion, or
polygamy, or even adultery, but the right to consensual sex within
your home. If people do not have that right, then the
potential for Christian nationalist intrusion into people's personal
lives would be limitless.
On training the leaders of tomorrow (p. 173):
Farris teaches constitutional law at Patrick Henry and, via the
Internet, to thousands of homeschooled teenagers. "My purpose, when I
teach kids constitutional law, is to make them mad," he said. "I want
them to see what the truth is, and I want them to see what the Supreme
Court and the Congress have done to them."
Once Farris's students learn about judicial tyranny, he said, they
want to know what they can do about it. "And I say, 'You in the first
row need to be appointed to the Supreme Court, and you in the second
row need to be in the Senate to confirm him, and you in the third row
need to be the president of the Unitd States to nominate him.' That's
frankly why I started Patrick Henry College, because I'm sick and
tired of having to lobby people that I helped get elected. I want to
train them from scratch to believe in the principles of freedom, how
can we expect anything other than slavery?"
A couple of comments on all this. First, we're not talking about
your grandparents' -- well, my grandparents', anyway -- fundamentalism.
That was a recidivist movement, an attempt to get back to basics, which
unfortunately gained its authority by insisting on the literal truth
of the Bible. For the most part, that movement sought to withdraw from
secular society, not to reform or revolutionize it. This builds on the
old fundamentalism, but what's new is the social, economic and political
aspirations of nationalism. The message isn't let's be better Christians.
It's we are a Christian nation, we deserve the trappings of nationhood,
and one of those is political power. It's not clear how deeply this
level of consciousness has spread, but it's clearly there in the leaders
Goldberg quotes. It's also not clear how many current followers of those
leaders will break ranks when they see what that power does. It's worth
mentioning that the most prominently political Christian right minister
here in Wichita recently got thrown out of his church precisely because
of his political activism.
Another thing is that the unification of right-wing movements in
different churches -- protestants, catholics, and even on some issues
jews and muslims -- is a very fragile thing. What these groups have
in common is little more than shared prejudices and paranoias, plus
a sense of political ambition. However, given power, their differences
should come quickly to the fore, breaking them up again. Separation
of church and state is not just a secular doctrine; it's self-defense
for every minority faith, which in the US is necessarily all of them.
So it seems to me that the political movement Goldberg describes is
bound to fail, and mostly of its own successes. This is what always
happens when a political culture becomes so weak and confused that
it allows manifestly bad ideas to be implemented. The Bush presidency
is rife with examples -- their failures, in fact, are merely cases
where we managed to avoid further disasters.
Sunday, December 10, 2006
Music: Current count 12654 [12627] rated (+27), 857 [867] unrated (-10).
Not everything filed, but still not getting much, and running a bit slow
on year-end research.
- The Baldwin Brothers: Return of the Golden Rhodes
(2006, TVT): Four non-brothers, none named Baldwin, all credited with
programming. Their junktronica beats can move you, but they depend
on guests for vocals, and the guests are too scattered to add up
to anything coherent: a disco dolly, a rapper, a soul diva, a lost
cowboy from somewhere out on the range.
B
- T Bone Burnett: The True False Identity (2006,
DMZ/Columbia): Better known these days as the producer moviemakers
go to when they want something rootsy -- O Brother, Where Art
Thou? is his calling card -- than as the singer-songwriter
whose last own album came out in 1992, his reappearnce here may
be because he found his career-spanning Twenty Twenty a
little thin, or just because his stiff moralism got shocked,
mostly by his fellow believers. "Blinded by the Darkness" is
his brief on separation of church and state, and gains power
when he brings the noise. Sample words: "If sin were dealth
with by the laws of man/Everybody would be in jail for life/In
solitary confinement/With no one to go his bail/Or would have
gotten death/Maybe I should save my breath/But this lunacy is
bound to fail." And: "In seven days God created evolution/When
shall I expect retribution/From the counter revolution." Also
like the line: "Cowboy with no cattle, warrior with no war/They
don't make imposters like John Wayne anymore." A-
- Chicago: XXX (2006, Rhino): As full of shit as
Boston, but taller, fatter, even more sprawling. So passé even
their new albums come out on the reissue division. C-
- Nelly Furtado: Loose (2006, Geffen): Canadian
singer-songwriter, favors dance beats, with Latin and other worldly
flavors. A couple of promising pieces here, but nothing that demands
further scrutiny. B
- Grant Green: Live at Club Mozambique (1971 [2006],
Blue Note): The guitarist's funk groove had become so ordinary in
last years at Blue Note that much of what he recorded got stuck on
the shelves, like this live date with Ronnie Foster on organ, Idris
Muhammad on drums, and two saxophonists -- Houston Person is the
better known, but Clarence Thomas played rougher, which is what
shakes this album alive.
B+(*)
- Marcus Miller: Silver Rain (2005, Koch): Pleasing
funk, for the most part, with the leader's bass the most agreeable
part. The vocal bait for radio stations so inclined is distracting
as usual, adding nothing. B
- OutKast: Idlewild (2006, LaFace/Zomba): I'm always
slow on the uptake with them, and most likely it doesn't help that I
didn't get to the theatre on time. The soundtrack tie-in kept their
heads away from radio hooks, and the retro-nouveau shtick left us
not knowing what to expect, but from the moment some woman shoots
her man (or is it some other woman?) up to the movie denouement at
the end, this is pretty amazing.
A-
- Rock Down Baby: Love & Sex & Rock & Roll
(2006, Life Force): That voice is Deena Shoshkes, returning anonymously
after a too long absence, but still instantly recognizable -- at
least to anyone who thought The Cucumbers was the great
album of 1987. Short, with seven songs totalling 21:47, testing
ideas perhaps, but more like rumaging through the attic, trying
on '80s-vintage shoes and hats -- shades of Talking Heads, Devo,
Kraftwerk, and best of all, the Cucumbers.
B+(**)
- 12"/80s (1980-89 [2004], Family, 3CD): Extensive
but hardly encyclopedic sampler of 12-inch mixes by progressive,
more/less dance-oriented new wave artists. Label is a subsidiary of
UMG, and their licensing doesn't range far -- didn't track them all
down, but it looks like everything came from majors, with Virgin
(EMI) the main outside source. A lot of relatively ordinary cuts.
B
Jazz Prospecting (CG #12, Part 4)
Jazz Consumer Guide is coming out in this week's Village Voice.
Should be on the streets of NYC on Wednesday. May appear on the
website earlier, or not. Despite the lack of interaction, I'm
pleased with the way this finished up. As usual, a lot of stuff
got cut, so will be held back for a future column. We still need
to talk about when that might be. Given that I occasionally slip
an A- record into the honorable mentions, whereas Christgau puts
one or two B+ records each column in his top section, and that
the cutoff for the honorable mentions list is about a third of
the way down the B+(**) list, I think there's a case that the
frequency should be bumped up to six times a year. It would also
be good to schedule these out in advance. A firm deadline would
help me focus, and also cut down on the lag time between when I
send a column in and when the Voice finds space for it. It would
also help me pursue more of the interesting things I haven't
bothered with given the uncertainties of the last few months.
As it turns out, for all my agonizing, this column is only two
weeks over its historical three month period. We need to talk
about this in the near future, but things seem favorable at the
moment. One good sign is that Francis Davis continues to write
his monthly column for the Voice, and his next column will grow
to two pages, including a year-end poll of 40 NYC-oriented jazz
writers.
By the end of next week I should have finished my maintenance
turnover from JCG #11 to JCG #12. That will include a post on
my periodic cull from the active consideration list. Also a lot
of shuffling in the backup files, most of which have no interest
to you, although they're useful for me, and they can be tracked
down because I have no reason to hide them. I should note that
every now and then I receive mail from musicians correcting my
errors or challenging my interpretations in my Jazz Prospecting
"reviews." I appreciate that, and will usually make a note in
the more permanent prospecting file (although not in the blog,
which despite being more public I view as more transitory). But
what follows, here and each week, only rarely achieves the level
of a review. These really are just notes -- first impressions,
scattered bits of research, side-comments about things that annoy
me or pique my curiosity, and embarrassingly crude stabs at summary
(e.g., "none all that compelling" -- an example scanned from the
following). Christgau prides himself on never writing about a
record until he knows what he thinks of it. I do that all the
time, here even more so than elsewhere.
Jonathan Poretz: A Lot of Livin' to Do (2006 [2007],
Pacific Coast Jazz): Actually, not sure of the recording date, but
clearly it can't be the same year as the official release date.
Poretz is an unabashed admirer of the cardinal male vocal lineage.
Down in the "Special Thanks" he says, "Thanks to Frank, Tony, Mel
and Bobby for showing me the way." If you have to ask for surnames,
this record isn't for you. In my case, "Bobby" gave me pause -- I
always thought of Darin as a rocker until I started listening to
him lately. Anyhow, we're not talking McFerrin. Of the four, the
closest match is Bennett. Actually, I like Poretz better, but I
can't claim he adds anything new. Probably wouldn't want to, even
if he could.
B+(**)
Daryl Sherman: Guess Who's in Town (2006, Arbors):
Plays piano, sings standards, has ten albums now. Her voice is
similar to Mildred Bailey -- perhaps a bit lighter, but she can
surprise you with nuance. The rhythm section, including Jon
Wheatley's guitar but no drums, swings nicely, which helps most
on the fast ones. Harry Allen and Vince Giordano add sax on three
cuts each -- one in common, so five total.
B+(*)
Norm Kubrin: I Thought About You (2006, Arbors):
About what you'd expect from the backgrounder: "Since 1993 Kubrin
has resided in Palm Beach and has been the resident artist at the
Leopard Room in the Chesterfield Hotel, the music director of the
Colony Hotel, and the resident pianist-singer at Donald Trump's
Mar-A-Lago Club. For the last few years he has been the resident
artist at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Palm Beach and performs
regularly on the Florida concert scene." In other words, Shmoozy
piano balladry, in a trio with bass and guitar, singing ye Great
American Songbook. Good as far as that goes. I was particularly
touched by "Where Do You Start," the breakup song closing the set.
B
The Catz in the Hatz: Resilience (2006, Rhombus):
Featuring singer Steve Johnson, a/k/a Rusty. He touts the same
idols list as Jonathan Poretz, with the minor substitution of "Nat"
for "Bobby." Can't say he sounds like any of them, Nat least of
all. He sounds hollow, which I find growing on me a bit, but not
impressively. The guys in the hatz are OK, with Mike Wiens getting
off a couple of nice guitar solos.
C+
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+(*)
Seth Noonan Brewed by Noon: Stories to Tell
(2006 [2007], Songlines): Noonan is a Boston drummer. Brewed by
Noon is one of three groups he juggles, along with the Hub
("spit-in-yer-face attitude of punk, and the muzo-sophistication
of jazz") and Chips (duet with Aram Bajakian). Brewed by Noon
dabbles in world music, with vocals from Ireland and Africa,
although the three guitars (Bajakian, Jon Madof, Marc Ribot)
seem to be more to the point. Interesting record, although the
four vocal tracks don't do much for me yet.
[B+(**)]
Don Aliquo: Jazz Folk (2006, Young Warrior):
I found info about two Don Aliquos on the web. This one teaches
in Tennessee, has four records, and plays classic hard bop with
a light touch and well-developed tone. The other is based in
Pennsylvania, where this one originally hails from, and looks
old enough to be this one's father. The group here is the usual
quintet, with Clay Jenkins on trumpet and Rufus Reid on bass
making the trip down from New York, plus two fellow academics
on piano and drums. Got distracted midway through when my copy
started to skip. Got it repaired, but will have to spin it
again to decide how exceptional this very mainstream record
really is.
[B+(**)]
Gian Tornatore: Blackout (2005 [2006], Fresh Sound
New Talent): A young saxophonist I like a lot -- his previous album,
Sink or Swim, was a low A- mostly on the basis of his bold,
forthright postbop logic. This one falls off a bit, mostly because
his sax is less dominant, and the rest of the band, including guitar
and Fender Rhodes, doesn't take up the slack. But when he takes
charge, he's superb.
B+(**)
Hironobu Saito: The Sea (2005 [2006], Fresh Sound
New Talent): Japanese guitarist, won a scholarship to Berklee, seems
to be based in Kyoto now, but he does get around. Second album, more
ambitious than The Remaining 2%. Most of it oscillates in
big waves of groove, with Walter Smith's sax keeping him company,
and Eric Harland accentuating the beat. In this mode he reminds me
of John Scofield or maybe Pat Metheny -- guitar's never been my
strong suit, and anyway the reaction he evokes is that I've always
distrusted those guys. Aside from Harland's drums, I find that part
of the album devoid of interest. Some bits fare better. The title
track is a simple thing with ocean sounds fading into a recitation
by Gretchen Parlato that's both atmospheric and sultry.
B-
Ellery Eskelin: Quiet Music (2006, Prime Source, 2CD):
A rather avant tenor saxophonist, originally from Kansas as I recall,
but raised in Baltimore. When he wrote about sending me this record,
I wrote something back about having heard little of his music -- the
main exception is Figure of Speech (1991, Soul Note), which I
admire greatly -- and he generously sent along a stack of his Hatology
releases that had long been on my shopping list. I started thinking I
should work forward, then finally decided that would take too long,
and gave this a spin. This, like most of the records, features Andrea
Parkins on piano (or organ or accordion) and Jim Black on drums. The
fourth member here is Jessica Constable, contributing her voice. I'm
not sure what I think of that, and indeed the experience varies from
the scatlike improv early on to the more formally classical stuff on
the second disc. I'm much more pleased with the sax, and suspect that
in the end I'll favor his trios. But I'm not getting an Aebi reaction
here -- my rule of thumb was that every piece the lady sung cost Lacy
one grade. But it often is awkward both using and working around voice,
and this shows some strain for it. Also, the music isn't notably quiet,
or not.
[B+(*)]
Satoko Fujii Four: When We Were There (2005 [2006],
Libra): Faced with all those big band albums, I chickened out and
threw the plum grade to Fujii's Junk Box trio, figuring it's the
common denominator to an oeuvre that is remarkable in its totality
even if the pieces never seem to quite add up. Still, I worried
that Junk Box wasn't quite up to snuff either. But no such worries
here. This time it's a quartet with Jim Black in place of John
Hollenbeck -- both drummers who can keep a beat as well as free
it up -- and Mark Dresser added on bass. The combination is as
powerful as Zephyros on the straightaways but a lot nimbler on
the curves. There's a lot going on here, and I don't have it
anywhere near sorted, but no quibbling on the grade this time --
unless it eventually goes higher.
A-
Rodrigo Amado/Kent Kessler/Paal Nilssen-Love: Teatro
(2004 [2006], European Echoes): Portuguese saxophonist from the
Lisbon Improvisation Players teams up with two of Ken Vandermark's
mates. The rifling up-and-down tenor and baritone sax is about par
for the avant-garde -- leans a bit to the melodic side, actually --
and I find that casually attractive. The support is first rate,
especially the drummer.
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-
BassDrumBone: The Line Up (2005 [2006], Clean
Feed): This is Mark Helias on bass, Gerry Hemingway on drum, and
Ray Anderson on bone. Their first album together was Wooferlo
(Soul Note) in 1987, which I didn't think much of at the time. But
one in 1997 called Hence the Reason (Enja) was terrific. I
was wondering if this is a once-per-decade thing, but evidently
there are more, buried on obscure labels: Oahpse (Auricle),
March of Dimes (Data), You Be (Minor Music), Cooked
to Perfection (Auricle). There's also a record by the trio called
Right Down Your Alley (1984, Soul Note) -- Oahpse looks
like the oldest, dating from 1979. Helias also plays with Anderson in
the Slickaphonics, and produced most of Anderson's Gramavision albums.
The oldest entry in Hemingway's discography, a 1979 record called
Kwambe, also features Anderson and Helias. So no surprise
that this trio is so tightly integrated and evenly balanced, but
they don't seem to be able to break out of their integration and
jump to some higher energy level. Good to hear Anderson, who hasn't
released much under his own name since his string with Enja ran out
around 1999. Whatever the problem is there, it's not in the bone.
B+(***)
Roswell Rudd/Mark Dresser: Airwalkers (2004 [2006],
Clean Feed): Trombone/bass duos, as limited sonically as you'd
expect. Two great players, capable of sustaining a high level of
interest if the listener is up for it. Rudd has rarely exposed
himself this intimately. Dresser, on the other hand, does it all
the time.
[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
Taylor Haskins: Metaview (2004 [2006], Fresh
Sound New Talent): Trumpeter, on his second album, with another
16 credits since 1996, mostly with Andrew Rathbun, Guillermo
Klein, and Peter Herborn. Much of this is in large groups,
including the Dave Holland Big Band. Claims to have composed
themes for 50+ TV commercials, which is neither here nor there.
This record is a quintet with Rathbun on tenor and soprano sax
and Adam Rogers on guitar instead of the usual piano. That
moves it into a harmonically rich vein of postbop, which I've
never much cared for, but then I've rarely heard it done this
well. Probably because it's not just harmonics -- he has a
definite knack for weaving melodic lines together. Either that,
or he's damn lucky.
[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+(*)
Luis Rodríguez: U-Turn (2006, Fresh Sound New Talent):
Young tenor saxophonist (owns a soprano too) from Puerto Rico. Got a
scholarship to Berklee 1998; moved back to Puerto Rico in 2003. First
album, mostly a quartet with bass, drums, and Luis Perdomo on piano,
but Miguel Zenón joins in on two tracks, and really heats things up
on "On the Road." Music does not have a pronounced Latin influence,
although the possibility that Perdomo, in particular, is slipping in
something over my head is very real; rather, it's postbop of a high
order, easy to enjoy, hard to fault.
B+(**)
And these are final grades/notes on records I put back for further
listening the first time around.
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-
Lisbon Improvisation Players: Spiritualized
(2006, Clean Feed): Saxophonist Rodrigo Amado, on alto and
baritone this time, is the leader, mainstay, or hub of this
variable group. Dallas trumpeter Dennis González is the guest,
adding a low-key lyricism to Amado's tendencies to get rough.
Cellist Ulrich Mitzlaff joins in on the last two cuts. It all
appears to be group improv, and it's a bit hit and miss, with
some low volume sections that are hard to resolve, and some
blaring where they get stuck on one idea. But most of the
time it works, and it's interesting to see how González fits
in.
B+(***)
The David S. Ware Quartet: BalladWare (1999
[2006], Thirsty Ear): Not exactly a standards album, given
that four of seven songs come from Ware's own songbook. The
others are "Yesterdays," "Autumn Leaves," and "Tenderly" --
they qualify, and the other pieces fit nicely around them.
This reminds Francis Davis of Coltrane's Ballads, but
it isn't nearly as conventional, nor as pretty. For one thing,
Matthew Shipp does some tricky work on the chassis -- not raw,
but nothing expected either. And while Ware holds back from
getting rough, he does work the pieces around quite a bit.
A-
David Krakauer: Bubbemeises: Lies My Gramma Told Me
(2006, Label Bleu): Socalled's samples provide a useful postmodern
framing for the leader's clarinet, which otherwise just tends to
whirl away in a dust cloud of mad klezmer. Even better is the rap
that speaks truth to Bubbe. In full charge, this is an exciting
group, but I've played the record many times without convincing
myself it belongs on the A-list. So it must not.
B+(***)
Porkalicious
After having failed miserably at working on a blog for his
film company, my
nephew Mike Hull started a
food blog based
on his Thanksgiving dinner. He started this off with a bit of
family
history, which has already gotten buried under last week's
posts. His theory is to do one post per dish, with recipe, notes,
and pictures. He's asked me to contribute, so I dropped a
line
on what's been cooking here in Cowtown.
I use my website as a portable filing system, and one thing I've
had for a long time has been a cache of
recipes that I've made and wanted to
remember -- some from the family, but most cribbed from cookbooks.
I'm pretty erratic about filling them out -- even more so lately,
since I've been thinking I should restructure how they're put
together. I used to put more notices on meals in my Notebook, a
less pretentious concept than a blog, but I've fallen away from
doing that recently as well. And I haven't been putting much of
anything on food here, either. Don't want to start a third major
thread alongside the the music and politics -- always figured
on separating them, and indeed have two more unused websites for
that purpose, but never got around to it. But every now and then
I'll throw something on food into Porkalicious, and see how that
works out.
Porkalicious Entry: Back Home on the Range
Back in Wichita, I fixed a little dinner on Thanksgiving day myself
for those of us not intrepid enough to trek to New Jersey. No
turkey. Never do turkey. But I had a side of salmon in the freezer,
and figured teriyaki would be easy. Followed a mostly Japanese theme,
winding up with:
- miso soup
- pan-fried gyoza
- salmon teriyaki
- tiny roast potatoes
- french-cut green beans with peanut sauce
- grilled japanese eggplant with spicy peanut sauce
- agedashi (fried bean curd)
- pineapple upside down cake
May have been something else, but I don't recall. I know I made
sushi rice, but didn't get around to serving it. I did serve it the
next day, with masago and broiled unagi, when we reconvened for
leftovers.
This was one of a series of rather substantial meals we've prepared
over the last two months. This started with my annual birthday dinner,
followed with a fundraiser for the local
peace center, a dinner when
the Superartists came to town,
the above-mentioned Thanksgiving bash,
and a contribution to the peace center's annual meeting. Don't have
the full menus, let alone recipes and photos, but roughly speaking it
breaks down like this:
Birthday dinner: Chinese theme, with peking duck, mandarin
pancakes, pseudo-sharkfin soup, chicken wings, sweet and sour country
ribs, broccoli with black beans, and an inferior store-bought coconut
cake (I can make a much better one). May have made some rice and/or an
eggplant dish. Served a dozen people. Had a leftovers dinner too,
which is where the broccoli finally appeared.
Peace Center fundraiser: Turkish theme, served about 25 people in
two shifts. Lamb yogurt kebabs, shrimp with feta cheese, shepherd's
salad, eggplant salad, muhamara (a dip with red peppers, walnuts,
pomegranate molasses), yogurt with cucumbers and mint, bulgur pilaf,
pide bread, baklava.
Superartists dinner: Middle eastern theme, with a lot of grilled
meats (chicken wings, rock cornish hens, swordfish, ground lamb
kebabs), eggplant topped with yogurt, onion/olive/orange salad. Made
orzo for the starch, with sun-dried tomatoes. Don't remember what
else: probably yogurt/cucumber, maybe fatoush. Had leftover
baklava.
Thanksgiving: Japanese, as above.
Peace Center annual meeting: Indian theme, made double recipes of
chicken cashew curry and a pilaf with a lot of peas, plus a batch of
cucumber raita.
Had a lot of help putting these together -- in fact, I almost never
grill unless I can get a guest to do the work. Don't do this all that
often, but this particular string worked out really well. Just goes to
show what you can do if you can follow cookbooks, shop for unusual
ingredients, and hang in there.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
The Wobbly Way Out
Two interesting things about the Baker-Hamilton report. One
is that the major news media's reaction is to stress the summary
findings about how grave the situation in Iraq has become. This
isn't news per se, but it moves the point of plausible denial
several steps back toward reality. It's getting hard to find
anyone prowar who doesn't at least acknowledge that Bush is in
a heap of trouble over there. In this regard, the report reflects
at least as much as it moves a shift in the political consensus.
But the other point is that Baker-Hamilton have moved beyond the
consensus in at least one major recommendation: that solving the
Israel/Palestine problem is central and absolutely critical for
the US to salvage any constructive role in the Middle East. They
do seem to recognize, even if they're not clear enough about it,
that the US has much more to lose in the region than the already
lost cause in Iraq. They may also recognize that blindly catering
to Israel's militarist fringe is bound to leave them as isolated
in the region as Israel is. But they're still too damn coy about
what this thrust means. For instance, they envision that they can
talk Syria into convincing Hamas to negotiate with Israel. That
may make the deal look more palatable, but it's Israel that needs
convincing, and it's Israel that's resisting -- because the deal
that works is one they don't want.
The Wichita Eagle (McClatchy) piece today starts with its title,
"President lukewarm on Iraq recommendations," then goes on to say:
In Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert rejected the group's
suggestion that peace in Iraq requires a Palestinian
state. [ . . . ] Israel rejected the group's
suggestion of a "renewed and sustained commitment by the United States
to broker peace between Israel and the Arabs. The report argues that
U.S. goals in the region won't be met until Washington deals with that
conflict.
"The attempt to create a linkage between the Iraqi issue and the
Mideast issue -- we have a different view," Olmert said Thursday. "To
the best of my knowledge, President Bush, throughout the recent years,
also had a different view on this."
Olmert also rejected opening peace talks with Syria, as the group
recommends.
If, as Baker believes, the key is "flipping" Syria, you have to
explore what's in it for Syria. Returning the Golan Heights, seized
in the 1967 war, is minimal. The root of that war was the nakba --
the Palestinian exodus due to Israel's founding war in 1948. Only
by solving that problem -- and the parameters of solution are well
known, established by UN resolutions in 1967 and acknowledged by the
Arab League in 2002 -- does a Syrian realignment become possible.
The history with Iran is more complex, but again a just peace in
Palestine would remove one of the major obstacles to cooperation
and peaceful coexistence with Iran.
By not being clear enough -- and knowing these guys they might
not even be clear in their own minds, although it's unlikely they're
so dumb they think Iran can turn Sadr and Hezbollah on and off like
a faucet -- they allow the idiots to continue sowing confusion. The
article continues:
On Capitol Hill, Baker and Hamilton -- who acknowledged that Iran
likely wouldn't pick up an offer of talks from Washington -- ran into
stiff resistance to that proposal.
"Others have described this commission as composed of 'realists,'"
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, D-Conn., told the two. "I'm skeptical that it's
realistic to think that Iran wants to help the United States succeed
in Iraq. They are, after all, supporting Hezbollah, which gathers
people in the square in Beirut to shout, 'Death to America.' They are
giving sophisticated (explosives) to the militias, which are killing
Americans every day" in Iraq.
As is so often the case, the question of objectives remains
unraised and unresolved, while questions of means remain poorly
understood, often wrongly.
Over at
TomDispatch
Michael Schwartz has a useful piece in response to the ISG Report,
called "The Myth of More," where he takes on the question of whether
more troops (American and/or Iraqi), more money, more whatever might
make the critical difference. More, after all, is one of those words
that at first blush always sounds like a reasonable answer. Still,
when you look at what American troops have actually done in Iraq,
ask yourself: would anything be better if there were more targets,
more defensive overreaction, more collateral damage? Schwartz writes:
Solving this paradox requires understanding the fundamental horror
of Bush administration policy in Iraq: American troops are not
quelling violence; they are creating it. Instead of entering a violent
city and restoring order, they enter a relatively peaceful city and
create violence. The accurate portrait of this situation -- as
described, for instance, by Nir Rosen in his book In the Belly of
the Green Bird, is that the most hostile anti-American cities like
Tal Afar and Ramadi have generally been reasonably peaceful when
U.S. troops are not there. They are ruled by local leaders in league
with local guerilla fighters. The insurgents -- most often organized
into armed militias -- provide policing functions, as well as
enforcing the (usually fundamentalist) religious laws that are
currently dominant in both Sunni and Shia areas of Iraq.
These cities do not accept the sovereignty of the Iraqi government
or of the American occupation, and therefore when the Americans seek
to impose an outside government and root out the insurgency's military
leaders, the cities explode. On hitting the streets, American troops
usually seek to arrest or kill local militia leaders, while the
insurgents begin to set IEDs or mount sniper attacks to prevent the
U.S. from controlling the town. Because the insurgents are usually
supported by many in the community and U.S. tactics are generally
destructive, American military "successes" produce new insurgents,
recruited to avenge the deaths of friends and relatives. When
U.S. forces withdraw, the city or town returns to something like its
previous status quo (with insurgents once again playing the role of
local police) -- but, of course, it's also more battered, economically
worse off, angrier, more on edge.
I've seen this sort of analysis before. The fact that Iraqi cities
are stable and orderly
except when US-directed forces interfere is the main thing
that makes me think that simply withdrawing US forces will result
in a reduction in violence and a stabilization of local power. That,
in turn, would set the stage for negotiations aimed at rejoining a
national political structure. Outside interests could destabilize
this situation by encouraging inside groups to attack others -- as
indeed the US does now. Those interests in turn could be blunted
by international agreement. I don't know whether Baker understands
this, but the value of his regional summit isn't to get others to
pitch in and help the US in Iraq. It's to reduce conflicts between
outside states so they see less value in interfering in Iraq. But
for that to happen, the nations have to actually agree to reduce
those conflicts, and that really starts with Israel/Palestine.
Friday, December 08, 2006
F5 Record Report (#19: December 7, 2006)
This week's F5 Record Report is up today, on time, at the
usual
link. The
lineup:
- Ignacio Berroa: Codes (Blue Note) A- [jazz]
- Wayne Horvitz Gravitas Quartet: Way Out East (Songlines) B+ [jazz]
- Kekele: Kinavana (Stern's Africa) A- [world]
- The Klezmatics: Woody Guthrie's Happy Joyous Hanukkah (JMG) B+ [world]
- Buck Owens: 21 #1 Hits: The Ultimate Collection (1963-88, Rhino) A- [country]
- Thirsty Ear Blue Series Sampler (Thirsty Ear) B+ [jazz]
- Big Joe Williams: The Sonet Blues Story (1972, Verve) A- [blues]
Got jammed again, and wound up scrounging. Don't have next week's done
yet, so that promises to be another one. Even though I have some ambitions
of pulling a fairly authoritative year-end list together, that doesn't
seem very promising. Still have important things I haven't found time to
play yet. Still having trouble getting things of interest. And still
don't know much about what I've missed. But time is proving to be the
main obstacle.
Letter to publicists:
This week's F5 Record Report presumably has a record of interest to
you. F5 is a weekly entertainment tabloid distributed free here in
Wichita KS. I cover 6-8 records per week, sometimes recycling from
other columns. The following URL will get you the latest column,
and the "next article" links will cycle you back in time.
http://www.f5wichita.com/mba.php?id=55
For more info, see:
http://tomhull.com/ocston/music.php
http://tomhull.com/ocston/arch/f5/
The index by label:
EMI (Blue Note): Ignacio Berroa
JMG: The Klezmatics
Songlines: Wayne Horvitz
Stern's Africa: Kekele
Thirsty Ear: Blue Series Sampler
Universal (Verve): Big Joe Williams
WEA (Rhino): Buck Owens
Thanks for your interest and support.
Christgau's Consumer Guide
Robert Christgau's Consumer Guide, on hiatus since he was fired by
the Village Voice, has returned at
MSN.
It will be appearing every other month, with 10-12 featured
records, a featured dud, and the usual long list of honorable
mentions, choice cuts, and more duds. The page has a link to
a "User's Guide" with more information.
At this stage I'm not sure what the navigation to the page
is supposed to be: I don't see links from higher up the URL
tree. Thanks to
Tom Lane for
being the first to tip me off. I still haven't gotten into
working on an upgrade for Christgau's
website, but I have
some ideas, including a news feed. For instance, Christgau was
on NPR on Wednesday, talking about Crunk Hits 2. We'll
also start posting more of Carola Dibbell's wonderful writing,
especially her fiction.
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Grammy Day
With no effort on my part whatsoever, I always know when the Grammy
nominations are announced. That's when my mailbox starts filling up
with announcements from proud publicists. First one in this morning
was ECM's Tina Pelikan, with a bevy of classical artists plus Trio
Beyond (Jack DeJohnette, John Scofield, Larry Goldings) in jazz. I'm
working on building a year-end list with highly touted and/or hyped
records, so I actually spent a fair amount of time pouring over the
nominee
list. What I found was no surprise: that it lines up rather poorly
with my interests. I put a list together of nominees in each category
that I've heard or have (my grades in parens, ? undecided, a couple
more non-final). The categories tell you something about how they
think of the world. My list probably does no more than to show off
my ignorance.
- Album of the Year: Dixie Chicks [B]
- Pop Instrumental: none
- Pop Vocal: Elvis Costello/Allen Toussaint [B]
- Electronic/Dance: Madonna [A-]
- Traditional Pop Vocal: none
- Rock: John Mayer [B+(**)], Neil Young [B+(***)]
- Alternative Music: Arctic Monkeys [A-], Yeah Yeah Yeahs [B+(***)]
- R&B: Prince [A-]
- Contemporary R&B: none
- Rap: The Roots [A-]
- Country: Dixie Chicks [B], Willie Nelson [A-]
- Bluegrass: none
- New Age: none
- Contemporary Jazz: Béla Fleck [B+(*)], Christian Scott [B+(*)],
Sex Mob [B+(*)], Mike Stern [B-]
- Jazz Vocal: Diana Krall [A-], Nancy Wilson [B]
- Jazz Instrumental: Ornette Coleman [A], Chick Corea [B],
Jack DeJohnette [B+(*)], Sonny Rollins [A-]
- Large Jazz Ensemble: Randy Brecker [C], Joe Lovano [B+(***)],
Mingus Big Band [B+(*)]
- Latin Jazz: Ignacio Berroa [A-], Edsel Gomez [B+(**)],
Dafnis Prieto [B+(*)], Diego Urcola [B+(*)]
- Rock or Rap Gospel: none
- Pop/Contemporary Gospel: none
- Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel: none
- Traditional Gospel: none
- Contemporary R&B Gospel: none
- Latin Pop: none
- Latin Rock, Alternative or Urban: none
- Tropical Latin: none
- Mexican/Mexican-American: none
- Tejano: none
- Norteño: none
- Banda: none
- Traditional Blues: Duke Robillard [B+(*)]
- Contemporary Blues: Robert Cray [?], Dr. John [B], Susan Tedeschi [B-]
- Traditional Folk: Bruce Springsteen [A-]
- Contemporary Folk/Americana: Rosanne Cash [A-], Bob Dylan [A-]
- Native American Music: none
- Hawaiian: none
- Reggae: none
- Traditional World Music: Soweto Gospel Choir [B+(*)]
- Contemporary World Music: The Klezmatics [A],
Ladysmith Black Mambazo [B+(*)], Ali Farka Toure [?]
- Polka: none
- Musical for Children: none
- Spoken Word for Children: none
- Spoken Word: none
- Comedy: none
- Musical Show: none
- Compilation Soundtrack: Brokeback Mountain [B]
- Score Soundtrack: none
- Historical Album: Good for What Ails You [A]
- Classical: none
- Classical Crossover: none
This actually isn't as bad as I expected, but then my expectations
were pretty low. This is the 49th Grammy year, and they've spent their
whole lifespan behind the learning curve. Christgau summed them back
in 2001 in a piece titled
Forever
Old. The best folks on the nominee list this year are old too:
Bob Dylan, Ornette Coleman, Sonny Rollins, Willie Nelson, Neil Young.
And behind them are some who are getting there: Bruce Springsteen,
Joe Lovano, Madonna. It's the ones who aren't old, who aren't icons,
that are dubious ones. The exception may be the Arctic Monkeys, but
even they prove that the rule is business. The Oscars are business
too, but their ability to command more interest it probably because
it just takes more capital to shoot movies. And that moves the art
toward the business -- even low-budget indies that get some Oscar
interest do so through major distributors. That constricts the
number of movies one might conceivably see each year to a few
hundred -- excluding ones you won't get a chance to see, like
Smokers.
(Shameless plug there.) But there are tens of thousands of records
each year, so the compromises of the sort of business filtering
that the Grammies impose are all the more glaring.
Also showing up in my mail today was a notice that Jay McShann
died. When he was younger he claimed to be older, but until today
he was satisfied to be 90. He did a record with Ralph Sutton a
couple of decades ago called The Last of the Whorehouse Piano
Players, and he survived Sutton, so I guess he really was the
last. He was certainly the last of the major bandleaders from the
golden age of jazz in Kansas City. For a long time McShann was
best known for hiring a junkie who played lightning-fast alto sax
and who died more than 50 years before. But when I go back and
listen to McShann's Blues From Kansas City, I mostly hear
underrated blues shouter Walter Brown. And a damn fine boogie
pianist. McShann's latest record was Hootie Blues, cut
in 2001 but released on Stony Plain earlier this year. It's
very typical, which means it's one to remember him by.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Kurlansky on Nonviolence
I have a bunch of books that I've read and collected quotes from,
mostly waiting for me to get around to annotating them. Let's start
with Mark Kurlansky's Nonviolence: Twenty-Five Lessons From the
History of a Dangerous Idea (2006, Modern Library). The book is
a very useful, powerful even, meditation on nonviolence (and violence)
throughout history.
The first point is that nonviolence isn't a particularly modern
idea (pp. 25-26):
One of history's greatest lessons is that once the state embraces a
religion, the nature of that religion changes radically. It loses its
nonviolent component and becomes a force for war rather than
peace. The state must make war, because without war it would have to
drop its power politics and renege on its mission to seek advantage
over other nations, enhancing itself at the expense of others. And so
a religion that is in the service of a state is a religion that not
only accepts war but prays for victory. From Constantine to the
Crusaders to the contemporary American Christian right, people who
call themselves Christians have betrayed the teachings of Jesus while
using His name in the pursuit of political power. But this is not an
exclusively Christian phenomenon. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Judaism
-- all the great religions have been betrayed in the hands of people
seeking political power and have been defiled and disgraced in the
hands of nation-states.
After discussing Martin's refusal to fight in 336 (p. 27):
But others refused service, too, including Martin's friend
Victricius. The Church addressed this Christian urge toward
conscientious objection later in the century, declaring that a
Christian who had shed blood was not eligible for communion for three
years. Thus did the Church acknowledge an objection to warfare, but
not an insurmountable one. Then in the fifth century an Algerian
bishop, Augustine of Hippo, wrote the enduring apologia for murder on
the battlefield, the concept of "just war." Augustine, considered one
of the fathers of the Catholic Church, declared that the validity of
war was a question of inner motive. If a pious man believed in a just
cause and truly loved his enemies, it was permissible to go to war and
to kill the enemies he loved because he was doing it in a high-minded
way.
Kurlansky discusses Islam's founding and first taste of power
(p. 34-35):
Like Jesus, [Mohammed] had no intention of founding a new religion
but wanted to bring the spiritual values of monotheism to
Arabs. . . . Mohammed's approach shunned abstract debate and
encouraged pragmatic solutions. He always emphasized negotiating
solutions, and by tradition there is tremendous emphasis on
negotiation in Muslim history. Mohammed's attempt at a perfect society
in Mecca enforced a complete ban on violence, which made Mecca prosper
as a center of trade. During the hajj, the required pilgrimage
to Mecca, the faithful Muslim was not allowed to carry weapons, even
for hunting, nor to commit any violence, including words spoken in
anger.
Islam, an unusually open faith whose early adherents came from many
backgrounds, including Judaism, began to change after 622, when
Mohammed and his followers moved from Mecca to Yathrib, a town 250
miles to the north, which was renamed al-Medinah -- the
city. . . . But the establishment of Medina had an effect on Islam not
unlike that of Constantine and Rome on Christianity. It was not that
Mohammed was interested in conquest and empire like Constantine, but
Medina had become, in effect, a state -- territory that had to be
defended when it was attacked by men from Mecca who vowed to destroy
it, and in 625 they almost succeeded. The defense of Medina, in
several major battles, began Islamic military history and included the
first Muslim-Jewish conflict, in which Mohammed massacred an armed
Jewish group that rose against him. By the seventh century it was
already an old pattern: the religious doctrine of peace meets the
power politics of state, the rules are bent for the "just war," and
once the first few doses are administered the state becomes an addict
that will tell any lie to get its narcotic. War is simply the
means. The real narcotic is power. As Hungarian writer György Konrád
said of the United States and the Soviet Union in the 1980s, "Men can
invent few libidinous fantasies more enjoyable than those of world
domination." The African-American poet Langston Hughes called the
leading nations "the nymphomaniacs of power."
This leads us to the Crusades, and Pope Urban II (p. 38-39):
Urban's speech became for the West what the tenth-century Hamdanid
sermons became for the East, a textbook model for rallying the
troops. It contains all of the traditional lies by which people are
convinced to die and kill.
The enemy is evil -- in this case despicable. We, on the other
hand, said Urban, have God on our side. It was an Augustinian just
war. Those who did not support the war should be and would be singled
out as immoral for failing to support the cause -- just as in every
war those who refused to fight have been vilified by the
warmakers. Even questioning a war must be attacked as a sign of
suspicious weakness. In June 2005, White House adviser Karl Rove
accused the Democrats, because they were questioning the war in Iraq,
of wanting to "offer therapy and understanding to our attackers." The
fact that no Iraqis had attacked the United States was irrelevant. The
point in 2005, as in 1095, was that a failure to hate the enemy, once
an enemy had been declared. was unacceptable.
On the Crusades (p. 43):
The Crusades were about power, not religion. And the Muslims
understood this. Initially, they began looking for ties and seeking
negotiations with the four new Mediterranean kingdoms the Christians
had established in the Middle East. But slowly they built their own
war propaganda machine. Just as the Christians established a term for
their enemy -- the Saracens -- the Muslims began calling all the
Christian intruders al-Frani, the Franks. Clerics began
teaching that defeat at the hands of the Franks was God's punishment
for their failure to carry out their religious duties. And one of
those duties was jihad. By reviving the culture of jihad
the Saracens were able to build a counter-Crusade and drive out the
Franks. It has happened throughout history: peoples who go to war tend
to become mirror images of their enemy -- another lesson.
More on how the Crusades resonate over history (p. 44):
Most warmakers try to claim that theirs is a holy war, a just war,
that God is on their side, because their cause is just. In the United
States the often-repeated inanity, "God bless America," though
technically a request, is generally used as a declaration, God blesses
America. And war is seldom far behind such assertions -- a holy war at
that.
It is not surprising that the counter-Crusade and its war cries
continue to echo in the Muslim world. Islamic militants from
Palestinian Hamas to Libya's Muammar Qaddafi use Crusade and
counter-Crusade imagery in speeches to rally the faithful. What is
more surprising is that in the West, where the Crusades represent a
humanitarian atrocity, an unconscionable act of aggression, a military
failure, and one of the worst mistakes in the history of international
relations, they also remain a model. Images of the Middle Ages and the
Crusades in the movies, video games, and toys by corporations such as
Disney steep children at an early age in the culture of warfare and
killing. Urban's rallying cry has been copied over and over
again. Contemporary right-wing American evangelists such as Billy
Graham call their campaigns "crusades." In 2001, when U.S. president
George W. Bush announced his "war on terror," his words echoed the
messages of Pope Urban II. He even used the word
crusade. Though George W. Bush may not even have known who
Urban II was, Urban's famous speech had become the standard way to
sell a war.
And then came colonialism (p. 65):
In the vast history of European colonialism, there are few
incidents of nonviolent resistance by indigenous people, leaving
unanswered the question of whether this would have worked. What is
answerable is that nothing they did try worked. The indigenous people
of five continents were facing an intractable enemy from a sixth
continent that was convinced that they had the right to steal the land
on other continents and destroy the inhabitants as peoples and
cultures, and, in fact, that this was the proper thing to do. The
Europeans had not only the public and the clergy, but the
intelligentsia, the thinkers and philosophers, backing up their
program of genocide.
Every war starts with a preemptive attack on the desire for peace
(p. 76):
Another enduring lesson of history is that it is always easier to
promote war than peace, easier to end the peace than end the war,
because peace is fragile and war is durable. Once the first shots are
fired, those who oppose the war are simply branded as traitors. All
debate ends once the first shots are fired, so firing shots is always
an effective way to end the debate. The silence may not last for long,
as the War of 1812, World War I, Vietnam, and Iraq, all unpopular
wars, demonstrate, but there is always a moment of enforced silence
when debate and criticism are banished and this moment gives the war
boosters at least a temporary advantage.
Again (p. 122):
In the United States the antiwar movement flourished until 1917,
when the Americans entered the war. Suddenly laws were passed equating
the expression of antiwar sentiments with espionage. Those who
denounced the war could be sentenced to as much as twenty-five years
in perison, yet 142 were sentenced for life and 17 were sentenced to
death, though the executions were never carried out. Many thousands
were so badly beaten and abused in prison in attempts to force them to
change their stance, that at the end of the war only 4,000, about a
third of the men who had said they would not serve, remained
hard-and-fast conscientious objectors. The government allowed gangs to
beat and even tar and feather war resisters and force them to kiss the
flag. The American press, like that in Britain, belittled war
resisters. Former president Theodore Roosevelt, speaking at the
Harvard Club, called them "sexless creatures." Antiwar movies and
books were banned, while people flocked to prowar propaganda designed
to instill hatred of Germans.
Moving on to WWII (pp. 135-136):
There was something odd about the war propaganda machine. Since
hatred of the enemy is a cornerstone of selling a war, in World War I
the British and American presses, in collusion with their governments,
made up the most outlandish lies about German atrocities. The Kaiser
was portrayed as monstrous, "a lunatic." German soldiers were said to
rape nuns and mutilate children. H.G. Wells, who invented the phrase
"the war that will end war," also invested the myth of "Frankenstein
Germany," the monster state. A story broken by the Times of
London, that Germany had a factory that turned corpses into munitions,
was widely believed, though completely fabricated.
But in World War II, when Germany really was led by a lunatic, when
Germans did mutilate and murder children, when they had death
factories that actually did make soap out of human beings, little fo
this was included in the war propaganda. The governments of the Allied
nations had not abandoned propaganda. And yet the Holocaust, the
systematic murder of six million Jews, was a subject rarely touched
upon in the media. Contrary to popular postwar claims, the Holocaust
was not stopped by the war. In fact, it was started by it. Before the
war, Jews had been stripped of their rights and property and in some
cases thrown into labor camps along with Communists and political
dissidents. Various schemes emerged, including one in 1940, shortly
after the war had begun, to deport Jews to Madagascar, a plan that
failed because it would have had to be negotiated with France and
Britain and this could not be done in wartime. Only in the isolation
and brutality of wartime, in 1941, after the invasion of the Soviet
Union in late June, when Germans had millions of additional Eastern
European Jews under their control, did Germany dare to turn
concentration camps into death camps. And only in January 1942, at a
secret conference in the Berlin suburb of Wannsee, did the Germans
plan Die Endlösung, the "final solution," killing them all. In
the postwar world it became the Holocaust. But in reality the Allies
went to war over geopolitical concerns. If they had wanted to save the
Jews, the best chance would have been not going to war. But as with
the slaves in the American South, there were too few interested in the
plight of Europe's Jews.
[ . . . ] For the Allies, stopping the
Holocaust was militarily irrelevant, and from a purely strategic point
of view this was probably true. But more to the point, neither
Roosevelt, Churchill, nor most of all Stalin wanted to make the war
about saving the Jews, because, as with freeing the slaves, going to
war to save the Jews would not have been popular. The many
anti-semites in the Unitd States, Britain, and France would have been,
or at least it was supposed that they would have been, resentful of
being asked to fight for Jews. Nazi propaganda minister Joseph
Goebbels repeatedly claimed that the Allies were attacking Germany
because they were controlled by Jews. Churchill and Roosevelt
understood the potency of this claim and did not want to give it
credence. Roosevelt had been criticized sharply after the 1936
election, when he slightly opened up Jewish immigration so that of the
300,000 Jewish refugees taken in by the world, who were a mere
fraction of those trying to escape, two-thirds were received by the
United States. This led to accusations that Roosevelt was "too close
to the Jews," or that he was being manipulated by them.
The end of the Cold War (p. 170):
James Madison said, "All governments rest on opinion," and this is
no less true of dictatorships than democracies. The problem with
dictatorships is that the leadership is more corrupted by power than
that of the democratic tyrant who can be voted out. So while the
Soviet Union worked hard at maintaining public opinion, if it felt
challenged, it usually responded brutally, even though this was
unpopular. By the end of the 1980s such a large part of the population
had turned against it that the Soviet Union could no longer
function. On October 7, 1989, East German Communist Party leader Erich
Honecker ordered security forces to open fire on demonstrators in
Leipzig. Egon Krenz, the man in charge of security, flew to Leipzig to
prevent the shooting. Krenz feared that if their security forces
opened fire it would mean the end of the regime. Ten days later, after
Honecker was forced to resign, the regime did resort to
violence. Within a month they were gone and the Berlin Wall was being
chipped away by souvenir hunters.
The twenty-five lessons (pp. 183-184):
- There is no proactive word for nonviolence.
- Nations that build military forces as deterrents will eventually use
them.
- Practitioners of nonviolence are seen as enemies of the state.
- Once a state takes over a religion, the religion loses its nonviolent
teachings.
- A rebel can be defanged and co-opted by making him a saint after he
is dead.
- Somewhere behind every war there are always a few founding lies.
- A propaganda machine promoting hatred always has a war waiting in the
wings.
- People who go to war start to resemble their enemy.
- A conflict between a violent and a nonviolent force is a moral argument.
If the violent side can provoke the nonviolent side into violence, the
violent side has won.
- The problem lies not in the nature of man but in the nature of power.
- The longer a war lasts, the less popular it becomes.
- The state imagines it is impotent without a military because it cannot
conceive of power without force.
- It is often not the largest but the best organized and most articulate
group that prevails.
- All debate momentarily ends with an "enforced silence" once the first
shots are fired.
- A shooting war is not necessary to overthrow an established power but
is used to consolidate the revolution itself.
- Violence does not resolve. It always leads to more violence.
- Warfare produces peace activists. A group of veterans is a likely
place to find peace activists.
- People motivated by fear do not act well.
- While it is perfectly feasible to convince a people faced with
brutal repression to rise up in a suicidal attack on their oppressor,
it is almost impossible to convince them to meet deadly violence with
nonviolent resistance.
- Wars do not have to be sold to the general public if they can be
carried out by an all-volunteer professional military.
- Once you start the business of killing, you just get "deeper and
deeper," without limits.
- Violence always comes with a supposedly rational explanation --
which is only dismised as irrational if the violence fails.
- Violence is a virus that infects and takes over.
- The miracle is that despite all of society's promotion of warfare,
most soldiers find warfare to be a wrenching departure from their own
moral values.
- The hard work of beginning a movement to end war has already been
done.
A thin but important book. One of the strongest memories I have
of the immediate post-9/11 era was of the vicious slander directed
against pacifists. I remember thinking then that even if you thought
war justified at that point, you should still show some respect to
the pacifists, because sooner or later you'd need them. We need
them (or should I say us?) now more than ever.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Panic
Tony Karon has a couple of posts
(here
and
here)
on how the course Bush et al.
have adopted is to panic. The following argues against something
I've recently argued, namely that a US exit from Iraq will create
a stabilizing power vacuum.
Start pulling the troops out, the reasoning goes, and the Iraqis
will be spooked into getting their act together and stopping their
internecine war.
It's a false premise, because it takes at face value to claims by
Iraqi politicians that they really, really want to all just get
along. Plainly, Maliki isn''t just struggling with the logistics and
authority issues that preclude him from doing what the U.S. wants him
to do -- it's a political choice. He's part of a Shiite alliance whose
goal is to consolidate Shiite power in Baghdad. That's the goal for
which it was elected, which makes one wonder whether Stephen Hadley
was born yesterday when he writes ominously of the suspicion that
building Shiite power may be what Maliki is really up to. (It's like
these fools in the Bush Administration didn't realise that they lost
the Iraqi election, and forgot to check what the winners actually
stand for . . . )
If the U.S. begins withdrawing, the Shiite government will move to
launch an all-out assault on the Sunni insurgency and its social base,
which is the Sunni community. That's what Maliki means when he tells
Bush to take off the shackles and let him deal with the problem (by
giving him command of the Iraqi security forces, which remain entirely
under U.S. command). And that's what the Saudis are warning about when
they threaten to back the insurgency, which presumably they're already
doing. (See
below).
The idea that the Shiite-led government is going
to start implementing the U.S. program for national reconciliation
because the U.S. is moving to leave is an epic exercise in wishful
thinking.
Of course, what this really proves is that the US has been renting
Shiite political support, paying for it by arming Shiite militias --
specifically those who wear Iraqi uniforms. The Shiites have played
along, biding their time until they're strong enough to defeat or at
least defend against the Sunnis. When they're ready to stand on their
own -- two days before he got sacked Rumsfeld was still caught up in
his juvenile bicycle metaphors -- they'll kick the US out and start
the civil war in earnest. The US, meanwhile, is still trying to hold
on, on the one hand by tilting back toward "moderate" Sunnis, on the
other trying to split the Shiites by sicking Hakim on Sadr. This sort
of divide-and-devour strategy has bought Bush time, but only at the
cost of incurring ever greater risk. One wonders, for instance, what
Talabani was doing in Tehran last week: representing friendly Iraq,
or working out a side deal for Kurdish autonomy when Iran replaces
Bush as the guarantor of Shiite security? If the latter, which looks
like the better odds to me, that suggests that not even the Kurds
see much of a future in US protection.
There's a certain Chicken Little aspect to all this. For years
now Bush and his apologists have been warning about all the horrible
things that would happen were the US to withdraw from Iraq. Now it
looks like withdrawal is coming, whether we like it or not. And it
looks like it's going to be as deceitful, convoluted, incoherent,
and chaotic as everything else Bush has done in Iraq. So why
shouldn't everyone in the region panic? After all, the panic
starts here.
To my mind, this just further proves the need to neutralize
and demilitarize Iraq and the region, to step back from our ideas
of our national interests there and start to work for the good
of all the people there -- especially those most affected by our
mistakes. But to do that requires a degree of clear thinking and
leadership that Washington, either in the White House or in the
nominal opposition, seems capable of. Not sure it would work
anyway. Sometimes you reap what you sow. Sometimes you're just
fucked.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
Music: Current count 12627 [12602] rated (+25), 867 [890] unrated (-23).
November ended smoothly, with Jazz CG edited (due Dec. 13), Recycled
Goods posted, F5 humming along. One odd thing about this week is that
the incoming mail has almost totally dried up -- I have a couple of
records I haven't added to the queue yet, but I bought them. Don't
know whether this is seasonal, a matter of not prospecting and begging
enough, or something peculiar with the post office. We did get a lot
of snow last week, and that may have slowed the latter down. Looks to
be clear and slightly above freezing this week. I need to start going
for new records for year-end.
- Oleta Adams: Christmas Time With Oleta (2006,
Koch): Soul singer I'm not otherwise familiar with. Plays piano
as well as sings. Looks radiant in white on white background.
Interesting voice. Treacly arrangements. Usual mix of songs.
Don't know why anyone would buy this. Don't know why they send
it to me. B-
- The Clash: The Singles (1977-85 [2006], Epic/Legacy,
19CD): The last time I bought 7-inch singles with any regularity was
during the breakout years of English punk. The Sex Pistols and X-Ray
Spex were two groups that revealed themselves two songs at a time
before they collected three or more great singles in debut albums.
The Clash, on the other hand, was an album group from the git go.
Their first album, The Clash (UK edition, please), burned
white hot from start to finish, its songs barely distinguishable
until they became firmly implanted in your mind. Three more albums
broke like tsunamis, followed by the relative whimper -- actually
an attempt at consolidation -- of Combat Rock, the break-up,
and the partial regrouping on Cut the Crap. The only time
the singles broke loose from the albums was circa Give 'Em Enough
Rope -- in the UK regarded as a sop if not complete sell-out to
the US market. The UK singles then included "Clash City Rockers" and
""White Man in Hammersmith Palais" -- later rolled up in the belated
US release of The Clash. Nor were the singles all that popular:
the best UK showing was #11 for "London Calling," with US singles
faring poorer until "Rock the Casbah" hit #8. So it's not obvious to
box them all up like this. The CDs run as short as 3:38, although
some pick up extra mixes tracking variant releases -- "The Magnificent
Seven" runs through various dub versions totalling 33:13. In the
end -- well, especially toward the end -- it's the oddities that
prove most interesting here.
B+(***)
- Matt Duke: Winter Child (2006, MAD Dragon):
Singer-songwriter, come off on the sensitive side, rather delicate
even. B+(*)
- The Hold Steady: Boys and Girls in America (2006,
Vagrant): Hard not to take songs so detailed as personal, but if
true Craig Finn's for girls who get high and aren't all that straight
about their Christianity. One goes: "it started recreational/it
ended medical/it came on hot and soft and then/it tightened up its
tentacles." Finn knows that boys and girls in America have tough
times, but he feels "jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward
lovers." And when his band, which includes extra strings, horns,
and lap steel, gets cranking, they can blow Springsteen off the
road. A-
- Brenda Lee: The Definitive Collection (1957-79
[2006], MCA Nashville/Chronicles): This tracks her early '60s pop
hits faithfully -- sometimes too much so -- then follows her back
to Nashville for a few middling '70s country charts, but offers
only a whiff of the diminutive Georgian's early dynamite -- no
"Bigelow 6-200," no "Jambalaya," but they offer "Rockin' Around
the Christmas Tree" as a bonus at the end.
B+(***)
- The Best of Brenda Lee (20th Century Masters: The Millennium
Collection) (1959-63 [1999], MCA): Programmed this as a subset
of The Definitive Collection. At 12 songs it comes to 34 minutes
vs. 75 minutes for the only slightly more expensive 28-song set. But
here all you get are top-ten singles.
A-
- Madonna: I'm Going to Tell You a Secret (2004 [2006],
Warner Brothers, CD+DVD): Live album, with cavernous sound and applause,
neither of which help but they don't hurt much either. Seems like a
trifle at first, with the predictable classics rising to the top, and
a new take on John Lennon's "Imagine" that is neither condescending
nor flippant -- it fits right in. But then I took a look at the DVD
and was blown away. Like Truth or Dare, it follows the whole
tour from inception to endpoint, but then it moves on with a segment
on Madonna's kaballah devotion and visit to Israel and Rachel's Tomb
in the Palestinian Occupied Territories. Playing the audio again
after watching the video I'm struck by opening reading from the book
of Revelation in "The Beast Within," especially about how the slayers
shall be struck down. At one point in the movie she says that politics
can't help, that only spirituality can save mankind. I don't believe
in that, but after visiting the church of Madonna, I feel a bit like
the skeptic from the back pew in "Something Got a Hold of Me."
A-
- Johnny Mathis: Gold: A 50th Anniversary Celebration
(1956-2006 [2006], Columbia/Legacy): Front-loaded, of course, with
13 cuts from the '50s, the other 5 no older than 1986, by which
point he had reverted the ambiguous respectability that let him
rise to fame; the classic cuts are on every other comp back to
1958's Johnny's Greatest Hits, to which this adds nothing
more momentous than Chris Botti. B-
- Johnny Mathis: Gold: A 50th Anniversary Christmas
Celebration (1958-2006 [2006], Columbia/Legacy): The
usual suspects, solemnly orchestrated and sung with magisterial
grace; he did as much as anyone since Bing Crosby to build the
Christmas music market, mostly through his 1958 album; this
adds a large dose of his 1986 comeback album, and a nod to
the Mannheim Steamroller era. C+
- New Order: Singles (1981-2005 [2006], Rhino, 2CD):
First disc largely replicates the original, near-perfect 2-LP edition
of Substance 1987 -- two remixes revert to originals, three
songs are added, two from the extended 2-CD edition; second disc
carries on to 1993, then jumps to "Crystal" in 2001, the first of
six late singles that are if anything even more committed to their
dance groove than the early 12-inchers that made them the great new
wave band of the '80s.
A
- Putumayo Kids Presents: New Orleans Playground
(1956-2003 [2006], Putumayo World Music): The kiddie stuff is
bright and bouncy, with only Kermit Ruffins condescending, but
the equally bright and bouncy pop hits are more durable -- "Ya
Ya," "I Like It Like That," "Whole Lotta Lovin," "Ain't Got No
Home" go back as far as 50 years, and still open ears.
B+(*)
- Putumayo Presents: New Orleans Christmas
(1995-2006 [2006], Putumayo World Music): Makes me wonder when the
Big Easy's last "White Christmas" actually was -- probably back in
the ice age -- but I don't doubt that "Have Yourself a Merry Little
Christmas" comes around once a year; only Ellis Marsalis bothers
with a non-secular tune, only to break it with a bebop solo; no
bah humbug here.
B
Jazz Prospecting (CG #12, Part 3)
Finally, some real progress on getting Jazz Consumer Guide published:
it's been edited, and is scheduled for the Village Voice's Dec. 13
issue. It's gone through one fairly severe round of cuts, and may be
cut further during the layout. The way things are going, I'm unlikely
to know myself until it comes out. Further discussions on the future
are still pending. Spent much of last week on Recycled Goods and other
things, occasionally slipping in a jazz record I thought I could move
quickly on. With the future so uncertain, I haven't gone very far out
of my way to solicit new records. December will mostly be a month of
trying to get a handle on 2006. Unfortunately, the main tool for doing
this is looking at other folks' year-end lists. Some are starting to
take shape, but most come out too late to be useful now.
By the way, I've picked up a copy of the Eighth Edition to Richard
Cook and Brian Morton's The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings.
In the past, I've hacked together large charts listing all of the
albums added, removed, and regraded from edition to edition. Most
likely I'll do the same this time. But this time will be different
in that this is the first new edition where chances are I've already
heard many, maybe even most, of the additions. So I'll be interested
in seeing how our views stack up.
Steve Oliver: Snowfall (2006, Koch): First snow
of the season here in Cowtown, so I figured that must be what I've
been saving this for. Oliver plays guitar and synths, and he makes
tolerable background music out of trifles like "Carol of the Bells"
and his own "Crystals in the Snow." Unfortunately, he also sings,
or in one case is credited with "vocal sounds." It's not that he's
awful (although he is), but these songs don't deserve the sort of
attention that voice commands.
C
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+(*)
Charly Antolini: Knock Out 2000 (1999, Inak):
Swiss-born drummer, based on Munich, mostly worked in big bands,
going back far enough to have recorded with Benny Goodman (Basel,
1959). Cut a 1979 record called Knock Out, which this one
presumably refers back to. This one is simplicity itself: a drum
solo to start, then little add-ins from Wolfgang Schmid on electric
bass and Nippy Noyo on percussion, although there are bits that
sound synthesized, and maybe a little guitar. Like Buddy Rich, when
Antolini wants to turn up the heat, he reaches for his brushes.
[B+(***)]
Thirsty Ear Blue Series Sampler (2002-06, Thirsty
Ear): The website lists this as The Blue Series Sampler: The
30th Year, but I find no evidence of that title here. The 30th
anniversary shtick is a stretch. They did some publicity in the
late '70s, but didn't release any records until 1990, and mostly
picked up others' productions until they hired Matthew Shipp and
launched the Blue Series in 2000. Even then, they had no idea they
were going to found a whole school of avant-jazztronica, let alone
open their tent wide enough to make a home for DJ Spooky, Charlie
Hunter, Nils Petter Molvaer, Carl Hancock Rux, Mike Ladd, and
numerous others. This is the third, and least satisfying, of their
samplers -- all that tent-opening has led to some sprawl. Still,
at $2.98 list, it is a bargain, not just to explore but because
it actually flows.
B+(**)
Gypsy Schaefer: Portamental (2005 [2006], PeaceTime):
Second album by a Boston quartet -- Andy Voelker on saxophones, Joel
Yennior trombone, Jef Charland bass, Chris Punis drums -- with a
Dixieland-associated name but variously characterized as modern jazz,
post-bop, and/or "mildly avant-garde." I can more or less hear all
that, but I can't figure out why I should be impressed. Or maybe I'm
just suspicious when the avant-garde goes mild?
B
Dan Willis: Velvet Gentlemen (2003 [2006], Omnitone):
Seven musicians, including Willis on all manner of reed-like things;
Chuck MacKinnon on the trumpet family; mostly electric guitar, bass,
and piano. Back cover claims: "Cross-inspird by the music of Erik
Satie and the precision-randomness paradox of quantum physics --
and infused with creative improvised music, jazz and psychadelic
[sic] '70s and '80s rock -- Velvet Gentlemen is an earful
experience." Something like that. I'm not sure if I'm overwhelmed
by the complexity of it all, or he's actually managed to achieve
some form of heisenmusic. (Ref. to Heisenberg, analogous to a CS
jargon word, heisenbug: "a bug that disappears or changes its
behavior when one attempts to probe or isolate it.")
[B+(**)]
J.A. Granelli and Mr. Lucky: Homing (2005 [2006],
Love Slave): AMG lists him as J. Anthony Granelli. Son of drummer
Jerry Granelli. Plays electric and acoustic bass. Calls his group
Mr. Lucky. This is their third album, but the personnel has turned
over, with Brad Shepik on guitar (replacing David Tronzo), Nate
Shaw on organ (Jamie Saft), Mike Sarin on drums (Kenny Wolleson
or Diego Voglino), and Gerald Menke joining on steel guitar. So
this bears some resemblance to organ-based soul jazz, but it's
subtler and slinkier than that, with Shepik most frequently taking
the lead, and the steel guitar adding lustre.
B+(**)
Ximo Tebar & Fourlights: Eclipse (2005 [2006],
Omix/Sunnyside): Guitarist from Spain, currently based in New York.
AMG lists four albums since Sunnyside picked up his Omix label, but
his records go back to 1988. He plays fast, slick bebop, coming out
of the Wes Montgomery school, with a sweet tone. Dedicates one song
to Pat Martino, another guitarist with that same general orientation.
Dave Samuels complements nicely on vibes and marimba. At its best,
the record sweeps you away. However, there are spots where it takes
awkward, unexpected turns. Will play it again.
[B+(**)]
Scenes: Along the Way (2006, Origin): The trio
member names are also listed on the front cover: John Stowell,
Jeff Johnson, John Bishop. Guitar, bass, drums, respectively.
Johnson and Bishop are mainstays of Seattle's jazz scene, but
file this one under Stowell. His thoughtful, intricate guitar
doesn't fit cleanly into any of the usual categories. More than
anything else, this sounds like one of those piano trio albums
where everything sits right, but I'm left with very little to
say.
B+(**)
Les DeMerle: Cookin' at the Corner, Vol. 1 (2005
[2006], Origin): Going with the spine on this one; the front cover
spells out "Volume One," adds "Live at the Jazz Corner," and lists
the artist as "The Dynamic Les DeMerle Band featuring Bonnie Eisele."
The setup is piano-bass-drums plus singer, but the leader is the
drummer, and he sings some too. In fact, DeMerle and Eisele pair
up like Louis Prima and Keely Smith, even if they play it straight
most of the time. (But not all the time: DeMerle sings one about
a sailor who comes home after three years to find his wife has a
new baby named Bennie. Where'd he come from, the sailor wonders?
"Bennie's From Heaven.") Eisele doesn't enter until the fifth
song, then belts out Ellington, Jobim, "Lullaby of Birdland."
DeMerle's quite a drummer, and pianist Mike Levine bounces in
an all-upbeat program until he gets a lovely ballad at the end.
Nothing groundbreaking, but it's good to be reminded that jazz
was once a form of entertainment. This is a lot of fun.
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+(*)
No final grades/notes on records put back for further listening
this week.
Recycled Goods #38: December 2006
Recycled Goods, #38, December 2006, has been posted at
Static
Multimedia. A bunch of box sets this time, mostly from Sony/BMG,
but I went for a pair of WEA two-disc entries for the Pick Hits.
Aside from the Byrds, which I find problematical, and Bruce Hornsby,
who I simply haven't followed, the boxes came out a shade better
than I expected -- the Weather Report was something of a revelation,
and the Waylon Jennings managed to make him surprisingly likeable,
but they remain marginal-but-expensive propositions. Especially the
Clash, but I must admit I've had their obscure singles running through
my head, like the ones from Sandinista, ever since I wrote that
review up. But for the record, I picked off the Fats Waller and Bob
Wills box sets previously, and those are the ones that I recommend
for gift-giving or self-treating.
In Series this time covers the initial batch of Anthology Recordings
download-only releases. As I explained, I don't care for the concept, but
they're dedicated obscurantists, and I guess that's one cost effective
way to make truly obscure music available. I hope that the better ones
make their way back to plastic soon. They have more out since I got my
package. Nothing I recognize, which doesn't mean it's no good, but I
doubt if I'll spend time pursuing it further.
For those counting, Recycled Goods has covered 1624 albums to date.
This is the first calendar year I've managed to file every month --
the actual monthly string goes back to April 2005. Also the first
calendar year when Static has been able to post every month.
January's column will be a 2006 year-end wrap-up. This gives me
a month to actually make an effort to listen to new music. The old
stuff will return in February, although I'll pick up all the A-list
world music in January.
Here's the publicists letter:
Recycled Goods #38, December 2006, is up at Static Multimedia:
link
50 records, including all the box sets left on my shelf and an
"in series" section on Anthology Recordings' initial batch of
download-only releases. Index by label:
American Clave: Conjure, Kip Hanrahan
Anthology: African Head Charge, China Shop, Moondog, My Solid Ground,
Parson Sound, Sainte Anthony's Fyre, Suicide Commandos
Arbors: Ralph Sutton, World's Greatest Jazz Band
Asphalt Tango: Romica Puceanu, Dona Dumitru Siminica
Concord (Fantasy): Sonny Stitt
Crammed Discs: Konono No. 1, Congotronics 2
Domino: Sebadoh
JMG: Klezmatics
Music Maker: Carolina Chocolate Drops, Guitar Gabriel
Sony/BMG: Byrds, Johnny Cash, Clash, Buddy Guy, Bruce Hornsby,
Waylon Jennings, Johnny Mathis (2), Roy Orbison (3), Lou Reed,
Weather Report
Putumayo World Music: New Orleans Playground, New Orleans Christmas,
Idan Raichel
Sanctuary: Savoy Brown
Shanachie: Candi Staton
Soundbrush: Raul Jaurena
Sub Rosa: Henri Pousseur
Sunnyside (CAM Jazz): Luis Bacalov
Universal (UME): Steve Earle, Brenda Lee (2), Kathy Mattea, Delbert McClinton
Verge (Spool): Francois Carrier
WEA (Rhino): Larry Levan, New Order, Buck Owens
This is the 38th monthly column. Thus far I've covered a total of 1622
albums in Recycled Goods.
Thanks again for your support.
Carter's Salvage Job
I remember seeing Jimmy Carter on TV a few years ago -- I think
this was on Charlie Rose, but I'm not sure -- where he was asked
why he worked so hard on the 1979 peace treaty between Egypt and
Israel. He answered that it was because of the Cold War -- that
making peace for Egypt would stifle Soviet ambitions in the region.
He didn't seem to have the slightest interest then in the rights
of Palestinians, or in supporting international law as a means of
resolving the broader conflict.
Now he has a new book, titled Palestine: Peace, Not Apartheid,
which finally does take up the core issues of the conflict, and as
such attempts to solve it, rather than just slicing off a piece in
the interest of US geopolitical ambitions. Given his past indifference,
I have to wonder whether this, too, isn't mostly a calculated move in
the direction of salvaging US power, prestige, and credibility, in
the wake of Bush's utter disaster in Iraq. Of course, it doesn't have
to be one or the other. It's no doubt true that he's been aware of
the issue for a long time. I also don't doubt that his values are
honest and sincere. But it is striking how propitious the timing is.
The one-two punch of Bush's brutal war in Iraq and his cheerleading
for the most viciously repressive Israeli regime in history has cost
the US virtually ever shred of good will we once enjoyed in that part
of the world. The US position has sunk so low that the only way we
can start to make amends would be to broker a real solution for the
Palestinians. They are, after all, the only people in the region who
still hold out hope for working with the US -- if only because they
recognize that only the US will be able to put effective pressure on
Israel. Carter stepping up gives Bush some political cover, if only
he'll change course and act on it.
It seems likely that Baker's Iraq Study Group will move slightly
in this direction as well. It's been reported that they'll push for
an international summit on Iraq. Clearly, the only thing that keeps
the US and Syria from working constructively together is Israel.
Given US weakness in Iraq, this is clearly an opportune time for
Syria to press the US on return of the Golan Heights. Israel also
looms large in US problems with Iran. A peace deal between Israel
and the Palestinians goes a long way toward defusing the nuclear
issues with Iran. A peace deal also makes it easier to bring more
international support into Iraq, allowing the US to disengage more
gracefully. If you see the Middle East as a cauldron boiling over
in some spots and threatening to explode in others, you should be
aware that the fire beneath largely comes from Israel. On the
other hand, a relatively painless solution like the Saudi plan,
already endorsed by all Arab nations, is ready to be had.
It wouldn't be hard to adopt the Saudi plan as the deliverance
of what Israel has been fighting for all these years. The only
thing David Ben-Gurion craved more than land was recognition --
that Israel should exist, and that the world should acknowledge
and recognize its right to exist. The Saudi plan fulfills his
dreams to such an extent that it's downright churlish that his
heirs should go to such lengths to grab a few extra parcels of
dirt and rock. The plan does leave some loose ends for further
negotiation, but it at least gets the big issues out of the way
and sets the basis for cooperation. Beyond that, most issues
come down to money, and if money's all it takes, that shouldn't
be a problem.
It seems to me that there's a real opportunity for someone,
probably a Democrat, to make political hay here: proclaim yourself
Israel's real champion, embrace the Saudi plan, and promise as
much money as it takes to make it all work. The point, which thus
far the Democrats have totally missed the boat on, is that there
is a powerful myth -- a story line with just enough basis in fact
to be plausible -- that Israel's goal all along has been to live
at peace, respected by its subjects and neighbors. Relevant facts
include that polls have consistently shows a majority of Israelis
in favor of dismantling settlements and recognizing independent
states for Israelis and Palestinians. Someone needs to make that
happen.
Gary Kamiya says something similar in
Salon:
The key is the newly empowered Democrats. But to overturn Bush's
neoconservative Middle East policy, the Democrats would have to think
strategically, put America's long-term interests first, and break with
Bush on the one area where they robotically agree with him:
Israel.
There is no precedent for the Democrats' doing this. But then,
there is no precedent for our current dire situation -- which is why
there is a ray of hope. The unilateral, force-based Bush approach is
dead, killed in the bloody streets of Iraq and the cluster-bomb-strewn
fields of Lebanon. Having enraged and radicalized Arab populations
across the region, and with Iraq melting down into a failed-state
breeding ground of jihadis, neither the U.S. nor Israel can win by
using the blunt instrument of force anymore. If the Democrats
recognize this, and pressure Bush to broker a lasting peace between
Israel and the Palestinians -- or if they can restrain themselves from
attacking him if he miraculously tries to do it himself -- something
could yet be salvaged from the worst foreign policy debacle in
U.S. history.
Actually, I think that if Bush moves on Israel/Palestine it will
be to salvage his standing with the conservative Arab regimes and
their mutual friends in the oil business, as opposed to anything
the Democrats might do. The oil-rich Arabs work hard to keep the
US economy afloat, and what have they gotten for it? Increasingly,
they've gotten tarred by their association. As the situation goes
from bad to worse, at some point they'll have to cut their losses
and put some distance between themselves and the Americans, and
the American oil companies are on the chopping block there.
On the other hand, if the Democrats can find a way to reconcile
their pro-Israel instincts with support for peace, justice, and
international law, they'll start to be able to put together a
coherent alternative to Bush's War on Terror. Israel has long
been the blind spot in their field of vision. Until they see
that peace with respect and rights for all is the only answer --
the right answer for Israel, for the Middle East, and for the
US -- they'll never understand what went so wrong in Iraq, or
with Bush's policies all over the world. That Jimmy Carter has
figured this much out is typically shrewd.
Saturday, December 02, 2006
The Age of Solutions
My "Ends and Means" entry on Thursday got sidetracked a bit when
I wandered into Mark Danner's article. I had intended to talk about
Iraq solutions, but wound up mostly delving into the blindness that
let Bush lead his administration into a situation that now looks to
be even worse than the feared quagmire. That blindness was deliberate,
based on a predisposition to act first and think later, a policy to
a large extent pursued because even before the war it was clear that
anyone who thought about it would balk at acting.
But now, as Danner puts it, we've entered the "age of solutions" --
i.e., a time when even committed hawks are desperately groping for a
change of course. But the blindness that accompanied us there still
persists, showing up in again and again in proposed solutions. For
instance, someone in the Defense Department came up with a proposal
based on too much Powerpoint, succinctly describing the possible
options as: Go Big, Go Long, or Go Home. Is this the best thinking
the US military can come up with on a half-trillion dollar budget?
These are not really options, in the sense of different things you
can try to do. They're more like phases, and these three fit a pattern
I've seen played out hundreds of times in pro football games. First
you try to Go Big and establish an overpowering ground game. Then
when that fails and you've started to lose, you Go Long hoping that
the big play will pull the game out. And when that fails, you Go
Home. There's a succinct word to describe this process: it's called
losing.
Presumably they meant something else, but really, the US did Go
Big at the start -- maybe not Colin Powell BIG but big enough to
route the Iraqi Army in about three weeks, wielded with more Shock
and Awe than you can shake a stick at. Most people who argue that
the US should have Gone Bigger back in 2003 doubt that it would
work now, and nobody has a convincing case for a feasible increase
in troops now that would do the job. (And that's not just because
they don't have a clue what the job is.) And we've been Going Long
ever since 2003. We've gone longer now than the US did in either
World War, or in Korea, and pretty soon we'll pass the Civil War.
That leaves Vietnam, and Going Long wasn't exactly a proven concept
there. By almost any metric you can imagine, the US occupation of
Iraq is making no tangible progress. Moreover, time itself works
against the US -- it just adds to the damage, the resentment, the
brutalization, the desire for revenge. Realistically, fighting for
time is worse than losing, because it makes the eventual loss all
the worse.
Reportedly, the Iraq Study Group will recommend some combination
of a partial drawdown of US forces and international summits. That's
another plan that came out of the Vietnam history books. Unless it
is tied together with a concrete understanding of what is possible
and not, it's no better than fighting for time. There are a few
things we have to understand first about war in general and this
one in particular before we can find a way out. The first is that
war can be sustained indefinitely by an awfully small group if
they are so motivated, so the war only ends when all of
the effective belligerents choose to end it. The second is that
at least in this particular war that decision is not going to be
attained by force of arms. We need to understand that there are
two things that sustain a war: one is the belief that you can
prevail; the other is the belief that you cannot afford to lose.
The US started this war thinking the former, then sustained it
fearing the latter. The resistance regarded US occupation as so
unacceptable that they started a revolt against overwhelming odds.
I doubt that they actually think they can prevail now, but they
clearly can sustain their fight and thereby deny the US any sense
of victory, let alone spoils. The war has in turn unloosed other
groups -- mostly ethnic militias that complicate the struggle.
Knowing these things, the general shape of a solution should
be pretty clear. The most basic fact is that the US cannot hope
to stay in Iraq or have any special influence over postwar Iraq.
As long as the US stays, there will be resistance, and that will
create conditions of chaos throughout the nation, endangering
everyone and adding to the already stupendous destruction. This
is a hard pill for Americans to swallow -- not least because
some factions of the resistance are allied with Al-Qaeda. But
it is not an option. It is something that has to happen, and
the sooner the better. The US has to begin extricating itself
from the nation, and needs to end all direct involvement with
all groups within Iraq, including its arming of Iraqi militias.
The US also needs to join in an international agreement with
all other neighboring nations and any other world powers to get
an agreement that none of those nations will directly back any
faction within Iraq. Without outside interference, Iraq will
break down into a number of local power centers -- some Sunni,
some Shia, some Kurdish. Civil war will continue in contested
areas -- Baghdad and Kirkuk are possibilities, but most of the
country is already under stable local control -- but will not
extend nationwide unless some group is convinced that they can
win. And that is most likely to happen if that group has an
external sponsor. Every nation has an interest in stabilizing
Iraq. The key to doing that is to eliminate special interests.
Iraq should belong wholly and exclusively to its people. That,
and only that, is a defensible argument.
The US may affect this international agreement by making US
exit conditional on it. It's hard to see any reason why other
nations would not find this in their interest. (Israel may be
the exception here, for reasons we needn't go into.) On the
other hand, we should not totally seal off and abandon Iraq.
Civil war will end when the various local factions see no
adequate reason to continue it, but more is involved there
than eliminating the prospect of domination and the fear of
loss. Iraq eventually needs to reconcile and reconstruct. For
that to happen, there should be an even-handed international
system for supporting those processes. This should include a
substantial reconstruction kitty, funded by the US and others.
It can withhold funds from local governments if security is
inadequate, if the governments are corrupt, or if they violate
widely held standards of human rights -- in each case we seek
to provide incentives for good behavior, but we also seek to
balance this off against human needs. And in no case is any
individual nation to be given any sort of preferences.
I suspect that if this general scheme were followed through
Iraq would initially develop a loose federalism with some sort
of national compromise on oil revenues. Iraq's security from
other nations, and other nations' security from Iraq, would be
guaranteed by international agreement. Local governments could
improve their standing by modernizing and serving their people
better. The economic recovery of Iraq would help stabilize the
region. In a sense, this is the Wolfowitz dream, but it should
be clear that it cannot come about under the umbrella of US
power. The first step is for the US to decide to leave. Only
with that is any sort of solution possible.
Postscript: Maybe I should further qualify my Wolfowitz
comment. I believe that it's easier to move a polity to the left
than to move it to the right, at least by argument. (Most moves
to the right are done by force, although force directed against
an imagined common foe works almost as well. This is why rightist
regimes tend to be martial, although it's worth noting that left
revolutionary regimes often follow the same tactics, with the
same goal of solidifying their authority -- a rather rightist
thing to do.) That's because movement toward greater equality
expands the number of people with a stake in the system. So if
you can set up a situation where people have to negotiate common
government, agreement will favor a more equitable solution. You
get to that stage by removing power bases. The US has the greatest
power base in Iraq. Leaving will create a power vacuum, and that
won't be filled up if there is no foreign influx to compensate.
Disarming groups within Iraq might have a further impact, but
that isn't really possible. In any case, selective disarmament
would destabilize further. If anything, you're better off trying
to leave a balance of arms, as long as that's not seen as giving
any faction an offensive advantage. So the idea is to leave the
various groups with just enough arms to defend themselves but not
enough to go on the offense against other groups. In such a power
vacuum, the groups have more reason to negotiate than to fight.
And negotiations will tend to produce more equitable agreements,
because more people can get behind the idea of equality, and as
such of democracy. This tendency toward equality is the sensible
core of Wolfowitzism.
Where he goes tragically wrong is in thinking that US power
provides a suitable umbrella for the negotiation that underpins
democracy. There are any number of reasons why this doesn't work,
ranging from the fact that US power is broadly seen as supporting
US interests abroad to Bush's own peculiar sense of what democracy
and freedom mean. A good deal of the problem the US has had in Iraq
has come from our inability to distinguish between American and
Iraqi interests, and especially to choose the latter over the former.
I'd say that's an inevitable consequence of wielding power. But the
situation in Iraq has changed so dramatically that the only way for
the US to recover any good will is to renounce its power. That isn't
likely to happen, but the situation is such that we can articulate
that as a plausible strategy. That's a rather unique development.
Realistically, even if the US and the international community
were to do what I argue for -- renouncing side deals and only
dealing with Iraq through even-handed international organizations
at the Iraqi's request -- development of real democracy in Iraq
will be problematic. What I expect to happen is that Iraq will
fracture into local groups dominated by Muslim clergy, because
the mosques are the only durable organizations -- aside from the
Kurdish political machines. That's not my ideal solution, but real
democracies are always compromises between groups that have some
power. We've destroyed or fatally tainted every institution in
Iraq except the mosque, so that's where they have to start from.
Friday, December 01, 2006
F5 Record Report (#18: November 30, 2006)
Once again, this week's F5 Record Report is late getting posted.
The usual
link will
probably work sooner or later. Meanwhile, you can find my draft
here. The lineup is
a mixed bag of old and new, including a nod to the late Anita
O'Day:
- Thomas Chapin Trio: Ride (1995, Playscape) B+ [jazz]
- Kieran Hebden and Steve Reid: The Exchange Session Vol. 1 (Domino) A- [jazz]
- Konono No. 1: Congotronics (Crammed Discs) A- [world]
- Anita O'Day: Indestructible! (Kayo Stereophonic) B+ [jazz]
- Chris Smither: Leave the Light On (Signature Sounds) B+ [folk]
- Stoll Vaughan: Love Like a Mule (Shadow Dog) B+ [rock]
- Hank Williams III: Straight to Hell (Bruc, 2CD) A- [country]
- The Best of Delroy Wilson: Original Eighteen Deluxe Edition (1964-70, Heartbeat) A- [reggae]
It's been a busy week, finally wrapping up the Jazz Consumer Guide
for the Village Voice, as well as December's Recycled Goods for Static
Multimedia. More announcements on them forthcoming. And, of course,
another F5 Record Report is in the queue. December should wind up
being my one month of the year to try to catch up with new non-jazz
released during the year. Finally played the Hold Steady CD today,
after letting it sit on my shelves for a month or more.
One unrelated news item is that Christgau's Consumer Guide has
been delayed at MSN, most likely for a week.
Letter to publicists:
This week's F5 Record Report presumably has a record of interest to
you. F5 is a weekly entertainment tabloid distributed free here in
Wichita KS. I cover 6-8 records per week, sometimes recycling from
other columns. The following URL will get you the latest column,
and the "next article" links will cycle you back in time.
http://www.f5wichita.com/mba.php?id=55
For more info, see:
http://tomhull.com/ocston/music.php
The index by label:
Bruc: Hank Williams III
Crammed Discs: Konono No. 1
Domino: Kieran Hebden/Steve Reid
Heartbeat: Delroy Wilson
Kayo Stereophonic: Anita O'Day
Playscape: Thomas Chapin
Shadow Dog: Stoll Vaughan
Signature Sounds: Chris Smither
Thanks for your interest and support.
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Nov 2006 |
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