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Tuesday, October 30, 2012Knee Deep in the Water SomewhereWoke up this morning thinking of the folly of drowning the federal government in a bathtub. For starters, like without the US National Hurricane Center would be much more precarious. Otherwise, who would have suspected that when Hurricane Sandy crossed Jamaica on Oct. 22 a week later it would drop 24 inches of snow on West Virginia? More important, of course, were the storm surge warnings and evacuations. For a recounting of death before such warnings see Erik Larson's book on the 1900 Galveston hurricane, Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History, although recognize that even then Isaac Cline was a federal employee, working for the U.S. Weather Bureau. The Norquist mob would have had him in their sights as well, and may well relish how close he literally came to drowning. Forecasting helps. For the past week responsible authorities have been preparing to repair the inevitable breaks and disruptions that the storm was expected to leave. The cleanup may look messy, but it would be far worse without the preparation and the concern, and that happens because of and through government -- which is right, because only the government represents the interest and will of the people. Private businesses may look out for themselves, and charities may help patch some of the cracks, but only government moves deliberately enough to make a big difference. (That is, of course, when it does try -- something Bush's patronage cronies had trouble understanding.) Ronald Reagan once joked that the most fearsome words in the English language were, "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." Funny line, except in the midst of a disaster. In such times, no one sits around contemplating how the free market is going to come to their rescue. No matter what their political stripes, they demand action from their government: lots of it, and now. I suppose the good thing about a disaster is that it helps focus the mind. Otherwise, some people can get pretty confused. Take, please, Mitt Romney. Ed Kilgore quotes Ryan Grim, quoting Romney (for video, follow the Grim link):
Decentralizing government is fine and dandy in principle, but it doesn't necessarily work, and is certain to fail for disaster relief. The obvious problem is that the states have much tighter budgets -- they have to pay as they go, which means they'd have to save ahead of disasters (most likely through buying private market insurance), whereas the feds not only have deeper pockets, they can refill them as needed. You might try arguing that you can have the feds fund (or at least insure) the states, but you'd still get a whole series of inefficiencies and inequities: redundant or missing expertise, coordination problems (many disasters, like Sandy, cross borders), inconsistent policies and red tape. Even now, with the feds doing most of the work, you have vast differences from state to state -- Florida, which has a lot of practice, is relatively effective in doling out federal money, while Mississippi and Louisiana don't seem to be able to do anything competently (or without the taints of corruption and racism). Romney compounds his ideological delusions about disaster relief with further idiocy about the federal debt. The core fact is that the federal debt, unlike your mortgage or car payment, does not have to be paid off -- not in your lifetime, or in your children's, or in their children's. Sure, that doesn't mean that you can expand it infinitely, but it means there's no clock-running-out scenario. (Also, things get tougher for debts that are denominated in other currencies, as you can see from Greece, Spain, etc. But US debt is exclusively denominated in dollars, and within some limits can be floated in inflated dollars.) Such harping on the debt only works if you assume government have to live like you do -- an assumption that defies our every experience. (Another telling joke: if you owe a bank a thousand dollars, that's your problem, but if you owe the bank a billion, that's the bank's problem.) The point Romney and other deficit hawks are trying to drive home is the idea that we're broke, and when we're broke we can't afford things no matter how much we need them. (So suck it up, and plod along until you can. Better yet, get rich like Romney -- ignoring that he did it all with borrowed money, the debts for which he was able to pass on to the companies he ruined.) But when disaster hits, debt is often the only way out: e.g., you need to clean up the muck and broken windows in order for your your business to earn the cash to pay for repairs. And disaster shakes loose your illusions about individualism, so it's not just about you: if you repair your business but your neighbors do not, your location is soon worthless. Likewise, you depend on access roads being repaired, the power grid; you depend on public sanitation and health; you depend on police and firemen and courts and a solvent government, and those are all things that federal disaster relief make possible. And you depend on the economy bouncing back so people will buy from your business. The Republican dream of drowning the government will make all of that impossible. "Starving the beast" just withers the hand you may someday depend on to rescue you. John Nichols has another piece that quotes the same Romney transcript. Alex Seitz-Wald has another; also later a piece not on what Romney was thinking but on what he's doing in face of the actual disaster: collecting canned goods, the ultimate hack charity drive: Today, we got a look at Romney's charity in action, when he held an event that he swears was not a campaign rally in Ohio aimed at "storm relief" (the choice of a song with the lyrics "Knee deep in the water somewhere" was perhaps ill advised). The Romney campaign encouraged attendees to bring canned goods, clothes and other items to be sent to hurricane victims. "We have a lot of goods here . . . that these people will need," Romney said in his brief remarks. "We're going to box them up, then send them into New Jersey." Most likely he just wanted a photo op to look like he was doing something at a time when the actual president was -- a structural problem which, I think, is one of the reasons why we shouldn't let sitting presidents run for reëlection. Looks like Romney also flipped on getting rid of FEMA, although from what little sense I can make of his new position the least I can say is he didn't make a very clean landing. While we're at it, Republicans are often confused about who actually benefits from that government largesse they incessantly moan about. Like the old canard about how everyone overestimates how much federal money goes to foreign aid, they also have (and prey upon) a truly irrational fear of supporting the needy (and unworthy). In fact, an awful lot of what government does is to support businesses and their owners, and disaster aid is one of many chunks that fit. Indeed, you have to wonder when the rich are going to wise up and realize that they need the government much more than the poor do, and that the wholesale destruction of public goods and values is going to come back to hurt them. Robert H. Frank has a piece that starts to make this case, although he could go a lot further. The piece is called "Higher Taxes Help the Richest, Too." More on that, later. Monday, October 29, 2012Music Week/Jazz ProspectingMusic: Current count 20599 [20576] rated (+23), 655 [643] unrated (+12). Lots of mail, but missed a couple days so the rated count is down, and Jazz Prospecting a bit slim. (Also, the Parker box is a big deal, one I wish I had been able to put more time into.) Also did a bit on Recycled Goods, which is coming due in a week or so: more from my unplayed pile, not that I'm finding enough treasure there to keep me focused. Ed Byrne's Latin Jazz Evolution: Conquistador (2012, Blue Truffle Music): Trombonist, cut his teeth in Eddie Palmieri's band, second album; credits percussionist Carlos Clinton (congas, bongos, cowbell) as co-leader, adds another percussionist (Esteban Arrufatt on timbales and guiro), piano, sax, violin (Maureen Choi), and two bassists. Pretty basic rhythms, but the horns pack more muscle than the usual brass. B+(**) Roman Filiu: Musae (2010 [2012], Dafnison): Alto/soprano saxophonist, b. in Cuba, moved to New York in 2011; played with Chucho Valdes both in and out of Irakere, also in David Murray's Latin Big Band; second album, quintet with piano (David Virelles), guitar (Adam Rogers), bass (Reinier Elizarde), and drums (split between Dafnis Prieto and Marcus Gilmore). Does a nice job of keeping the rhythm wedged open, building up tension and never quite gets resolved. B+(*) Ben Holmes Quartet: Anvil of the Lord (2012, Skirl): Trumpet player, b. 1979 in Ithaca, NY. Released a trio album in 2009, followed up here by adding a trombone (Curtis Hasselbring) and swapping bassists. As Louis Armstrong understood early on, the trombone is the perfect foil for a trumpeter, and that principle still applies here, even moving far into postbop territory. B+(***) Steve Kuhn Trio: Life's Magic (1986 [2012], Sunnyside): Pianist, b. 1938, has dozens of records since 1963, including this one, cut live at the Village Vanguard and originally released on Blackhawk in 1987. Trio with Ron Carter on bass and Al Foster on drums, Kuhn remembers "feeling like a kid in a candy store." Half originals, half swing-period covers, LP-length, light and spry. B+(***) Rob Mazurek Pulsar Quartet: Stellar Pulsations (2012, Delmark): Cornet player, based in Chicago, an essential part of Chicago Underground Duo/Trio (which morphed into Sao Paulo Underground) and a number of astronomy-themed groups: Starlicker, Exploding Star Orchestra, now Pulsar Quartet. With Angelica Sanchez (piano), Matthew Lux (bass guitar), and John Herndon (drums). The cornet is sparkling, and Sanchez makes a strong impression. B+(***) Ferenc Nemeth: Triumph (2012, Dreamers Collective): Drummer, b. 1976 in Hungary; second album under his own name, plus two with Gilfema (a trio with Lionel Loueke and Massimo Biolcati). Above the line, this is styled as a star-laden quartet: Joshua Redman (tenor/soprano sax), Kenny Werner (piano), Loueke (guitar, vocals), but more names pop up in the fine print, including a woodwind section all the way down to the bassoon. Makes for a chamber effect, although the principals are interesting enough on their own. B+(**) William Parker: Centering: Unreleased Early Recordings 1976-1987 (1976-87 [2012], No Business, 6CD): The great bassist of my generation -- he turned sixty back in January -- Parker spent most of the 1980s piling up side credits, which ran close to 300 last time I counted, probably more like 400 now. His own discography only picks up around 1993, with 1995's Compassion Seizes Bed-Stuy a breakthrough, and 1998's The Peach Orchard a triumph. But we now know that he experimented widely from 1974 on -- the 2003 release of Through Acceptance of the Mystery Peace picked up bits from 1974-79 -- and he released limited runs on his own Centering label. The Lithuanian label NoBusiness collected his 1980-83 recordings with Jason Kao Hwang as Commitment in 2010 (cf. The Complete Recordings 1981/1983), and now they've gone much further with this lavish, lovely box set. The first three discs feature intimate groups with saxophonists Daniel Carter, David S. Ware, and Charles Gayle -- the latter some of the finest free sax blowing I've heard -- followed by a short (13:51) song set with vocalists Ellen Christi and Lisa Sokolov. The last three discs move into larger groups, ranging from the atmospheric dance accompaniment to the Big Moon Ensemble, one of the most explosive free big bands I've heard. A- David Virelles: Continuum (2012, Pi): Pianist (also harmonium and organ), b. 1983 in Cuba, based in Canada, has a previous record on Justin Time in 2007 (Motion, not in AMG as far as I can tell), side credits mostly with Jane Bunnett (since 2001). Mostly quartet, with Ben Street (bass), Andrew Cyrille (drums, percussion), and Román Diaz (percussion, vocals), plus horns (Román Filiu, Mark Turner, Jonathan Finlayson) on the centerpiece cut. The vocals are the rub, although they might also frame an Afro-Cuban history lesson that I'm missing. B+(**) Torben Waldorff: Wah-Wah (2012, ArtistShare): Guitarist, from Denmark, sixth album since 1999: quartet with Gary Versace (keybs), Matt Clohesy (bass), and Jon Wikan (drums). Usually a strong groove player, he starts out behind the piano and rarely steps out. B Katherine Young: Pretty Monsters (2010 [2012], Public Eyesore): Bassoon player, studied at Oberlin and Wesleyan, running into Anthony Braxton at the latter. Has a couple previous albums. This is a quartet with guitar (Owen Stewart-Robertson), violin (Erica Dicker), and drums (Mike Pride) -- the violin most prominent. All originals. Runs rough and ragged, with some more reflective moments. B+(**) Unpacking: Found in the mail last two weeks:
Purchases:
Miscellaneous notes:
Sunday, October 28, 2012EditorialThe good news in this election is that loathsome Democrat Vern Miller isn't running for sheriff or anything else this time. I voted against him in my first election (1972), and voted against him four years ago. In fact, I've never found him running against a Republican so vile as to drive me into his column. On the other hand, the Republicans running for my state senate and representative seats have taken a drastic turn for the worse this year. They have a lot of money and they are serious threats to win, although at least they will have to overcome estimable Democratic candidates. Other than that, and a ballot question about fluoridating the city's water supply (something I'm ambivalent about), Kansas is a political wasteland this year. The statewide offices have been reserved for the off-years when turnout is down (and more to the Republicans' taste). The Senate cycle is fallow this year. And our Koch-owned congressman appears to be a lock -- at least I haven't seen any evidence of the Democrat allegedly running against him. And, oh, the state's presidential electors have already been conceded: I haven't even seen any statewide polls on Romney vs. Obama -- just some speculation that the margin will rival Reagan's 1980 trouncing of Carter. I expect it will be much closer, but I'm basing that on nothing whatsoever -- other than that Gore surprised me in 2000 by getting 37% of the vote (to 58% for Bush) on so little campaigning that I entertained the fantasy of Nader (3.4%) outpolling him. Turns out that even though Kansas Democrats are remarkably quiet they do exist -- and thanks to the right-wing Republican purge are likely to increase in number, if not in spirit. In 2004 I wrote a relatively impassioned editorials for Kerry (or more pointedly against Bush) and in 2008 I must have done the same for Obama (certainly against the warmonger McCain). Against Romney, Obama is as clear a choice, even though there isn't much reason to cheerful or enthusiastic about the prospect. Obama has proven himself to be a cautious conservative with only the barest commitment to the general welfare of the majority of the people who voted for him in 2008. He is unimaginative and unresourceful, unwilling to put forth progressive proposals, uneager to stand up to the increasingly destructive program of the far right, or even to point out how much damage thirty years of conservative ascent has already done. And even within his own limited confines, more often than not he has proved inept: obvious examples include the 2010 electoral debacle, and the fact that his own reëlection is in peril despite running against running against a candidate as clueless as Romney and a party as malevolent as the Republicans, despite his evident tactic of sacrificing his party for his own personal gain -- one of many traits he's adopted from Clinton, who proved every bit as ineffective (or uninterested) at halting the nation's unpopular drift to the right. I say "unpopular" because there's no reason to think that the vast majority of the American people actually approve of what the right has done, let alone intends to do. You can check this many ways, starting with the polling, although that's often muddied by the right's ubiquitous propaganda machine (often helped out by the mainstream media). Or you can look at the ways the right tries to obscure and confuse issues, by their savvy catch phrases, their constant repetition, etc. Or you can look at the right's more and more blatant efforts at disenfranchising and intimidating voters. Or you can take notice of such recent gaffes as Lindsey Graham's concession that the Republicans are losing "the demographic race" or Romney's blatant dismissal of the "47%" of the public who pay no income taxes, people he wrote off as "takers," people "unwilling to take responsibility for their lives": given all the other people Romney is writing off, it should be clear that the only way he can win an election is to keep most of that 47% from voting. So that's one thing this election is about: whether this nation will remain a democracy. And oddly enough, because the Republican Party has operated in lock step over the last four years in its single-minded agenda to annul the 2008 election, to prevent the sort of change that that election mandated, to sabotage government and prevent it from being used to ameliorate the suffering and to improve the welfare of the vast majority of the people, and above all to make Obama look weak and ineffective, the only way to save democracy is to purge Congress of virtually all Republicans. (A simple thought experiment: how many views an all-Democratic Congress would have on most issues? All of them. All-Republican? One, maybe plus Ron Paul.) Since Democrats are all over the map, voting a straight ticket might not seem like much of a solution, but Republican groupthink and discipline have created a unique problem: one that is severe enough it should be massively rejected. Otherwise, their obsession with seizing and holding power at all costs will prove ever more corrupting. We saw much of this during the Bush-Cheney years, when the anti-deficit arguments used to hem in Clinton and Obama were suspended, when government oversight was parceled out to lobbyists, when functions were privatized to create patronage. More recently, no matter how much the Republicans decried bank bailouts, they flocked to fight regulation needed to keep future disasters from happening, in a blatant attempt to coddle the big bankers. But more disturbing than hypocrisy and opportunism is how they've converted their power base into a form of extortion: give them the presidency and they'll mismanage government, plunge the nation into endless wars, wreck the economy, but deny them and they'll shut down the government, hold up your social security checks, and drag their feet on everything from unemployment comp to food stamps. They've even argued that the current slow recovery is Obama's fault for "creating uncertainty," causing "job creators" to hold back their magic and let the economy flounder -- when in fact Republican-demanded austerity measures have destroyed public sector jobs as fast as the private sector can generate them. Moreover, the Republican mindset has turned even more greedy and nasty in the years since Obama was elected. The key abortion issue now seems to be the rights of rapists to force their victims to bear their children. Public education is being gutted, torn between textbook idiocies and prohibitive costs, and likely to suffer worse now that pious Republicans like Rick Santorum have decided that learning inclines students toward liberalism. Such notions, and the Republicans are full of them, are more extreme than we've ever witnessed in major party politics, and they're backed with more money and more pervasive media than ever. From the beginning, Americans have adopted the notion of countervailing powers as a means of checking tyranny: first in the government's separation of powers, and later in the development of a universal democracy that has repeatedly shifted, and moderated, between progressive and conservative tides. Arguably, the Reagan ascent in 1980 was a reasonable reaction to the successes of progressive movements in the 1960s and 1970s. (I wouldn't argue that, but I can see how corporate interests may have gotten spooked.) Early on, conservative measures seemed to do little damage, but over time they have accumulated into serious problems; meanwhile, the right has no sense of enough: they keep insisting on more, to the point of complete domination. (For example, in Kansas now, business owners are exempt from paying state income tax, joining Romney's freeloading 47%.) The Republican juggernaut stalled in 2008 when it became obvious to nearly everyone that the Bush bubble had burst and took much of the world's economy with it. Then a remarkable thing happened: a handful of talk radio blowhards and behind-the-scenes schemers like Grover Norquist took over the GOP and gave it a fresh life in its own fantasy world. Much of what followed was stark raving nuts, and even now all Romney and Ryan represent are the sanest faces their sponsoring billionaires can put on such an unhinged movement. Even so, Romney's background is from the most predatory and destructive form of finance capitalism, and Ryan's solo claim to fame is his ability to fake a budget that promises to turn the nation into a third world oligarchy. And behind the front men, the advisers -- the people who would make up and run their administration -- are the same con men Bush used (Glenn Hubbard is the most obvious tip of the iceberg here). These are people, a whole party of them, that must be stopped. For better or worse, all we have to stop them with are Democrats, so that's how I intend to vote, and so should you. Woe to us if we fail, but even if we succeed we'll still have much work to do. We can, at least, take solace in seeing the last four years of propaganda and obstruction fail to defeat Obama. And we can look forward to having somewhat more reasonable people to talk to, to argue with, and possibly on occasion to convince. By the way, I see now that the Democratic candidate for sheriff, while not Vern Miller, is a guy whose sole comment on why he ran for office is that God told him to. Doesn't sound like much of a candidate to me, and I don't have anything in particular against the Republican, but I'll vote for him anyway. This is a year when anyone should be embarrassed to run as a Republican -- especially in Kansas. Moreover, I recall how back in the early days of the conservative counterrevolution Reagan used to talk about the "11th Commandment": never speak ill of a fellow Republican. That allowed the Republicans to make gains in unlikely places, including electing mayors of New York and Los Angeles, as well as senators like the recently purged Richard Lugar. Of course, I won't stop speaking out when Democrats like Obama do bad things, but I may hold off until the season's over (now that it practically is). Expert CommentsPosted link to the above on Facebook:
Cam Patterson on Wussy:
Jason Gubbels on Borah Bergman:
Indeed, I liked his 1983 A New Frontier (Soul Note), and the 2008 Luminescence (Tzadik). Probably some notable side credits as well. Steven Manning on John Tchicai:
Friday, October 26, 2012David S. WareTenor saxophonist David S. Ware died in October 18, just a couple weeks shy of his sixty-third birthday. He suffered from kidney disease and came close to dying three years ago, but was rescued by a transplant. He was one of the most impressive tenors of the last few decades, and his long-running quartet -- with Matthew Shipp, William Parker, and a platoon of drummers -- produced more exceptional records than any other, John Coltrane's included. I'm not up for writing a fresh piece at the time, but it occurs to me that it might be useful to collect and organize what I have written about Ware over the years: in Jazz Consumer Guide, and before that in a huge guide to his Quartet stars Parker and Shipp, Bass Fiddles and Nu Bop (filling in some missing records with database grades): David S. Ware Quartet: Flight of I (1991 [1992], DIW): Like Gayle, Ware is a staunch free saxophonist, but he seems to be more rounded, capable of finesse as well as fierceness. Having worked with Cecil Taylor and Andrew Cyrille, he formed a trio in 1988 with Parker and Marc Edwards (drums), and added Shipp in 1990. He's stuck with the quartet format ever since, with Parker and Shipp (and a series of drummers) as one of the longest running, most fruitful partnerships in jazz history. This album is an early peak, with Shipp exceptionally prominent, and Ware more often in pursuit of his collaborators rather than out on a limb. A- David S. Ware Quartet: Third Ear Recitation (1992 [1993], DIW): A- David S. Ware Quartet: Earthquation (1994, DIW): B+ David S. Ware Quartet: Dao (1995 [1996], Homestead): B+ David S. Ware Quartet: Godspelized (1996 [1997], DIW): Ware's sequence of '90s albums (Third Ear Recitation, Earthquation, and Dao with Whit Dickey on drums; this one and Go See the World with Susie Ibarra replacing Dickey) are pretty much of a piece: one long, articulate argument for the saxophone colossus as the voice which cuts through the darkness of the world. Or if that seems too melodramatic, it is also an argument for the community of mutual support provided by one of the longest-running, most intense collaborations in jazz history. What lets Ware project such power and majesty is the solid foundation of Parker and Shipp. Ibarra, too, makes an immediate impact, so if this isn't the peak of the series, it is certainly a majestic rise. A- David S. Ware: Go See the World (1997 [1998], Columbia): Omitting "Quartet" from the artist attribution seems to have been Columbia's idea -- a concession to mammon that is in no way reflected in the music here, ineluctably the work of a very tight group. Ware's part is much in line with his other albums in this series, but I want to spotlight the stretch in "Logistic" where he lays out, because the remaining trio work belongs on a hypothetical Very Best of Matthew Shipp compilation. And a similar stretch on "The Way We Were" is equally powerful, and very different. But of course Ware is still the dominant voice here -- when he blows, heads turn. A- David S. Ware Quartet: Surrendered (1999 [2000], Columbia): A- David S. Ware: BalladWare (1999 [2006], Thirsty Ear): A- David S. Ware Quartet: Corridors & Parallels (2001, AUM Fidelity): Shipp switches to synth here, trading in his stark piano chords for a smorgasbord of noodling effects, but this works both as backdrop and as counterpoint to Ware, who is challenged to blow some of his most expressive sax. And when the beat goes synthetic on tracks like "Sound-a-Bye" Ware just kicks it up a notch. The more regular beats go a long ways toward making this Ware's most accessible album, without in any way diminishing the power or the glory (cf. "Mother May You Rest in Bliss") of Ware's sax. A David S. Ware Quartet: Freedom Suite (2002, AUM Fidelity): When the bebop movement flourished, much was made of the virtuosity of Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie, how their speed and improvisational skills stacked up against their antecedents, but the bebop pianists always had an insurmountable predecessor, namely Art Tatum. Like Tatum in the bebop era, Sonny Rollins stands outside and in many ways above and beyond the Ayler-Dolphy-Coltrane mainstream of avant saxophone. This is one of the few avant efforts both to pay tribute to Rollins and to try to make something new of his legacy, and it succeeds on virtually every level. In part, this is possible because Rollins' 1958 original was little more than a sketch with some improvisation. But mostly it's because the Ware Quartet works more on fleshing out the sketch than on competing with the improvisation, and because they bring group strength to the fore, whereas Rollins always seemed like he'd rather just do it all by himself. Ware's tone is heavier and more muscular, Parker is more active, and Shipp adds immensely to the mix. A- The David S. Ware String Ensemble: Threads (2003, Thirsty Ear): I knew we were in trouble when the publicist started talking about how beautiful the new Ware + strings album is; then come the notes where Ware concedes that "there are enough records with me blowing my brains out." But this only adds two strings -- Matt Maneri on viola, and Daniel Bernard Roumain on violin -- to Ware's usual quartet, with the oomph still coming from Parker's bass and Shipp's synth. The idea is to focus on the Berklee-trained Ware as a composer, and to this end he lays out on three tracks, and lays back on the other three. But without his roiling sax the compositional ideas are primitive: the title cut rolls gently between paired notes for 13 minutes, the strings adding rich harmonic texture; "Ananda Rotation" is little more than a sheet of background synth, lightly etched with Ware riffs; "Carousel of Lightness" is merely a lazy river of tone; the two "Weave" pieces are drum improvs around sax backbones; and "Sufic Passages" rides its intro bass vamp into a plethora of variations. The latter is the best thing here: it reminds me a bit of Eno's Another Green World, but lushly overgrown. B+ I also wrote a longer piece on Ware's strings album, here. Also, from Jazz Consumer Guide (or, again, the database): David S. Ware Quartet: Live in the World (1998-2003 [2005], Thirsty Ear, 3CD): A- David S. Ware Quartet: Renunciation (2006 [2007], AUM Fidelity): Reportedly the finale of the most formidable quartet since Coltrane's, with stars William Parker and Matthew Shipp and a series of drummers marking epochs within the era. One more live shot to go with Live in the World. A- David S. Ware: Shakti (2008 [2009], AUM Fidelity): A new quartet, with guitarist Joe Morris the second seed. The Indian motifs are part of Ware's spiritual quest, but when he plays it's hard to escape the here and now. While most tenor saxophonists have tried to sound like John Coltrane, Ware simply lived the life, finding his own unique way, elevating everyone around him. A- David S. Ware: Saturnian (Solo Saxophones, Volume 1) (2009 [2010], AUM Fidelity): The inevitable solo tenor sax-stritch-saxello album, practice as slow-motion performance. B+ David S. Ware: Onecept (2009 [2010], AUM Fidelity): His life saved by a kidney transplant, the avant saxophonist's rehab continues: first the solo Saturnian improv with stritch and manzello for variety, now he adds bass and drums -- old hands William Parker and Warren Smith, who can follow him anywhere. He works up subtle schemata, but the main thing you hear is his towering sound. A- David S. Ware/Cooper-Moore/William Parker/Muhammad Ali: Planetary Unknown (2010 [2011], AUM Fidelity): More progress: a new quartet with older players than the old quartet, the old fire too. A- Albums I missed:
Ware didn't appear on many albums under other names: two early records for Andrew Cyrille, at least one album with Cecil Taylor, not sure what else. Only one I've heard is a session with William Parker recently released on the Centering box set: very impressive, but I'm not done with the box yet. Thursday, October 25, 2012Catching UpBeen disconnected for the past week, so I'm catching up. Some links that caught my eye follow. Probably many more that I'll save for Sunday -- e.g., haven't even looked at Krugman yet.
Expert CommentsRobert Christgau:
Posted this on Facebook:
Got some comments back, plus eight likes:
Also a chat message from Jan Barnes:
Also email from Josi Hull and Rhonda Pyeatt. I added:
Kathy joined us for dinner. Steve called later. Tuesday, October 23, 2012Music Week/No Jazz ProspectingMusic: Current count 20578 [20576] rated (+2), 647 [643] unrated (+4). Had a visitor from last Monday evening to Thursday morning, so spent most of my time with her. Thursday I shopped for groceries and prepped for a cookout. Friday drove to Arkansas with my sister to see our cousin, Elsie Lee. Saturday we did our cookout:
Surprise I don't have more recipes available, since most of these are dishes I've fixed many times, including on similar cookout trips. Left Elsie Lee's on Monday. Stopped for dinner with one of her daughters in Springdale, then drove on to Bristow, OK, to see some more cousins. Got in late Monday, but stopped to see Duan and Harold (and his wife Louise) today, before driving home to Wichita. The three cousins are aged 79-87. Their children (my first cousins, once removed), of which I saw four, are closer to my age, but a bit younger. All on my mother's side. She was passionate about keeping track of her scattered family. I'm not nearly as adept, but do treasure those connections, and try to make some variation on this trip once or twice a year. It is very wearing, though, as I more and more feel my age. Drove 900 miles, most on two-lane roads, some on gravel. Made one cemetery stop: the resting place of two uncles, one set of grandparents, and parts of two previous generations, as well as a few others I recall -- Dow Cotter (1881-1960) was probably the oldest person I ever met. I added a few new favorites to an old travel case to listen to music in the car, so nothing ungraded. Took a notebook computer, but never went anywhere with an internet connection, and never turned it on. Read a little, watched too much TV (with way too many political ads, mostly from Missouri), ate too much, slept too little. Tuesday, October 16, 2012Rhapsody Streamnotes (October 2012)Pick up text here. Monday, October 15, 2012Music Week/Jazz ProspectingMusic: Current count 20576 [20551] rated (+25), 643 [642] unrated (+1). Confused week: jazz enough to report, probably spent more time on Rhapsody Streamnotes, which will appear in a day or two -- not sure just when to pull the plug there. Rated count is a bit down. For one thing, I've played a number of jazz records I didn't feel like writing about yet. The two A- records took a lot of time, especially the SLF, and I'm still feeling they're pretty marginal. That's gotten me to wondering whether I've been too lax with A- grades this year, but the current list is at 80, which isn't much out of line with the expectation that I'll wind up around 120. (The 2011 list currently touts 131 A/A- records -- almost picked up another this week, before second thoughts backed me off.) So I'm probably being pretty consistent -- just a bit uncomfortable with how little time I can spend with all of these exceptional records. I'm expecting to get little done this following week, what with guests coming and travel planned for the weekend into next week. So good chance for no Jazz Prospecting next Monday. (May even be hard to put a notice up.) The backlog queue has been piling up, so can't complain there (even though some times I still do). Dan Block: Duality (2011 [2012], Miles High): Reed player, mostly tenor sax and clarinet, but also here alto and baritone sax plus bass clarinet. Second album, nine duets and two trios -- one with bass/drums, the other with Scott Robinson and the same roster of reed instruments (at least that's what the credits suggest) plus Ted Rosenthal on piano (name misspelled; he appears on three cuts). His tenor sax cuts a deep swath, the clarinets impress as well, but the duets vary widely, with voice and vibes losing the pace. B+(**) Chives: Dads (2012, Primary): Trio: Steven Lugerner (reeds), Matthew Wohl (bass), Max Jaffe (drums); first group album, all pieces jointly credited. The one we've heard of before is Lugerner, whose notable 2011 debut sprawled over two discs. This is much less ambitious, and more readily digestible, a compact sax/clarinet trio riffing smartly within the usual framework. B+(***) The Billie Davies Trio: All About Love (2012, Cobra Basement): Drummer, website describes her as "post cool jazz & avant garde drummer" -- could parse that two ways, with a disconnect either way. Album, her first as far as I can tell, is a trio with trombone (Tom Bone Ralls) and bass (Oliver Steinberg). Tuneful -- well, anything with "Afro Blue" is that and this has two takes -- shifted into a lower register, a nice effect, more cool than avant, not my idea of post. [PS: gender error corrected.] B+(**) Grupo Los Santos: Clave Heart (2010 [2012], OA2): Latin-themed jazz group, based in New York, third album -- I liked their previous Lo Que Somos Lo Que Sea quite a bit. I file them under tenor saxophonist Paul Carlon -- wrote 4 of 10 songs here, and has a mainstream tone that always gets my attention -- but bassist/bata-player David Ambrosio wrote the liner notes, and guitarist Pete Smith's email address is up for booking info. (Fourth member is drummer William "Beaver" Bausch, and a couple guests appear, notably tap dancer Max Pollak.) Not sure that the Cuba aficionados will be impressed, but a nice sax album with a little extra. B+(**) Kelly McCarty 3: Roux Steady (2012, 72 Offsuit): Guitarist, plays 8-string, studied at Kansas State, based in Jacksonville; second group album, trio with tenor sax (John Diaz-Cortes) and drums (MJ Hall). Sax has some grit to it, and guitar some groove -- sounds like an organ-sax quartet minus organ, hardly missed here. B+(*) Drew Paralic: Wintertime Tunes of Drew Paralic (2011 [2012], self-released): Composer/arranger, from Brooklyn, fourth album, plays piano but not here. Six songs, two with vocals (Laura Kenyon), group includes tenor sax/clarinet (Mike McGinnis), piano (several players), bass, and drums. First song ("My Wintertime Sky") is catchy enough to be a standard, isolated bits of piano stand out (one song is called "How Bill's Heart Sings"), like the sax, but a bit scattered. B+(*) Sonic Liberation Front: Jetway Confidential (2009-11 [2012], High Two): This is percussionist Kevin Diehl's Baltimore-based Afro-Cuban group, built around the tuned bata drums at the center of Yoruba religio-cultural practice, their fifth album since 2000 (2004's Ashé a Go-Go remains the one to start with). Cut over a couple years with a spreadsheet of contributors, the horns grate sometimes, and the vocals go so deep into their roots they come out of a strange other world. Took me many plays to get into it, but a remarkable band, unique, and worth the trouble. A- Weasel Walter/Mary Halvorson/Peter Evans: Mechanical Malfunction (2012, Thirsty Ear): Christopher Todd Walter was b. 1972 in Rockford, IL. He founded an avant-rock group, the Flying Luttenbachers, which featured Ken Vandermark on at least one album. He's described as a "composer and instrumentalist" -- credits are scanty here, but he seems to be the drummer. Halvorson plays guitar. She is a remarkable player with an erratic catalog that I don't fully appreciate, partly due to a spat with her publicist -- twice now her records have scored high in critics polls (meaning, among other things, that they were distributed widely, just not to me), and this year's Bending Bridges appears likely to be a third. Evans plays trumpet in the "bebop terrorist" outfit Mostly Other People Do the Killing, and likes to record solo albums on the side. Second album for the trio: avant noise, the guitar scratchy but probing, the trumpet poking through the clouds, the drummer on top of everything. A- [advance] Sean Wayland: Click Track Jazz: Slave to the Machine (2012, Seed Music, 2CD): Pianist, mostly electronic keyboards here, b. 1969 in Sydney, Australia; has 21 since 1992 (the two volumes are available separately, at least on Bandwidth, but I haven't tried disentangling them here. Mostly groove pieces, cut with various guitar-bass-drums combos, Donny McCaslin tenor sax (2 cuts), Mark Shim EWI (1), Kristen Berardi vocal (1). B+(*) [advance] Steve Williams & Jazz Nation with Eddie Daniels (2010 [2012], OA2): Alto saxophonist, most of his background is in big band, including North Texas State, the Navy, and the Smithsonian, and now this group. Daniels is a well known clarinet player, has worked steadily since the late 1960s, and is special guest here, also writing 3 (of 8) songs -- Williams has four, and the other is by Mike Noonan. Solid group, few names I recognize, but hard to deny the thrill of the massed brass. B+(*) Shingo Yuji: Introducing Shingo Yuji (2010 [2012], Yujipan Music): Guitarist, b. in Kumamoto, Japan; based in Los Angeles since 2005. Debut album, mostly trio with bass and drums, first two cuts add tenor saxophonist Walter Smith III, who makes an impression the rest of the album shies away from. Five originals; covers from Mingus, Lennon-McCartney ("Help"), and trad. B+(*) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Barry Commoner and the Old New LeftI haven't thought about Barry Commoner, who died Sept. 30 at age 95, in quite a while. I'm not even sure I finished his 1971 bestseller, The Closing Circle: Nature, Man, and Technology, but he had a major impact on new left thought in the early 1970s, not just adding ecology to the list of concerns but showing how they all fit together. When I finally went to college, I spent my first year at Wichita State garnering credits and shopping for a better school. I was most impressed by the sociology department roster at Washington University, but after I applied, got in, and moved there, I found that their three biggest names had vanished: anthropologist Jules Henry (author of Culture Against Man, another book I spent lots of time thumbing through) died. Alvin Gouldner (author of The Coming Crisis in Western Sociology -- the definitive slam down of the Talcott Parsons school) and Commoner took leave, and as far as I know never came back. But Commoner, at least, had recruited Paul Piccone, who was my main mentor for my two years at Wash. U. Piccone edited the quarterly Telos, and managed to wangle a Compugraphic typesetting machine from Commoner's budget. Aside from his synthesis of phenomenology and Marxian critical theory, I learned translation, editing, and typesetting from Piccone -- the latter giving me the profession that supported me for five years after my academic burn out. Commoner and Gouldner may have had an inkling that Danforth intended to crush Wash. U.'s sociology department. One critical blow was denying Piccone tenure in 1977. As far as I know, he never taught again, although he did continue to edit Telos until his death in 2004. (Looks like they're still chugging along: they've published a collection of Piccone's writings, and even have a nice website.) Peter Dreier does a good job of summing up why Commoner was, and is, important. I'm quoting from the print version of The Nation, which appears to be edited down from his longer piece here.
The New Left isn't held in high regard these days. I especially cringe when I read people like Tony Judt, with his Old Left roots and later anti-Communist fixation, try to belittle the movement, but that's partly because he should know better. What's had far greater effect has been a 30-year propaganda assault by the right against what for lack of a better term they call "the sixties." What I think of as New Left was sort of the intellectual crust on top of a much broader-based push for social and political reforms -- a movement that itself never coalesced under a common brand name, like the early-20th-century Progressives: rather, you had movements for civil rights, antiwar, women's liberation, the environment. It's worth noting that as the 1970s unfolded all of those key New Left movements were remarkably successful, both in terms of political effects and in shifting deep-seated cultural norms. Even after thirty years of well-funded counterrevolution, the right's attack on those four cornerstones is limited to fringe issues that more often than not have to be disguised. By some measures, the military has bounced back strongest, but no one entertains the prospect of restoring the draft, and for most people the endless grind of foreign wars has no sensible impact on their lives. In retrospect, the main shortcoming of the New Left revolution was the failure to establish sustainable political institutions. This was in large part because the New Left was deeply distrustful of power in any form. It was also because natural allies nominally on the left side of the political spectrum, like the unions and the Democratic Party, were often viewed as enemies -- after all, it was LBJ who tragically escalated the Vietnam War, and Chicago mayor Daley who organized the police riot against demonstrators in 1968. Meanwhile, the unions had essentially given up on trying to organize the poor after Taft-Hartley became law, and by 1972 many were supporting Nixon (and later Reagan in 1980, including the air traffic controllers Reagan soon locked out). The New Left grew out of an idealized self-image of America as an egalitarian middle class society -- something very different from previous left movements, which grew out of the inequity of economic relations, with the underclass organizing to fight for their own interests. For the most part, New Leftists were satisfied with their own station, but were sharply critical of the hypocrisy of their prosperous egalitarian society for allowing poverty and injustice to persist. The brilliance of the movement was in its relentless uncovering of that hypocrisy, starting with obvious ideologies like racism and sexism and militarism and imperialism and extending ad infinitum: for example, R.D. Laing wrote a piece picking apart the whole concept of obviousness. Eventually, all that analysis hit home -- in the 1970s I worked on a publication called Notes on Everyday Life -- but early on politics was all about helping other people, be they the poor in Appalachia, the segregated in the South, the peasants in Vietnam. Some even got worked up to the point of self-destruction (Weatherman is a case in point) but for most students it became a phase, giving way as personal life (families and mortgages and such) grew ever more complicated. Ecology was a perfect concept for a time when we were coming to suspect that everything is related to and affected by everything else, and also that capitalism's gospel of infinite growth would sooner or later crash into the finiteness of the world. Commoner both introduced the concept and drew the key political conclusions. The environmental movement was quickly defanged by success, as the path from Earth Day to major legislation on air and water pollution and endangered species was almost immediate. But the next step toward facing the limits of capitalism never came close to making the public agenda, even less than the notion that civil rights should advance the economic profile of Afro-Americans. When Commoner ran for president in 1980, he got crushed, as the nation decided to turn a blind eye to reality. I blame the Cold War, and for that I mostly blame the blind and cowardly acquiescence of liberals, including many labor union officials, in signing up for the anti-communist crusade. After the Russian Revolution, the new Soviet leader styled themselves as the leaders of world revolution, but they did very little -- other than to make affiliated communists look foolish -- until after WWII, when their armies occupied most of Eastern Europe and North Korea, and anti-fascist partisans from Albania and Yugoslavia to China and Vietnam had gained power bases. Still, it wasn't inevitable that the US would choose to become the leader of the capitalist world, and would further decide to fight the Marx-inspired underclasses all around the world for the indefinite future. The US was itself formed by the world's first anti-imperialist revolution, and had traditionally avoided standing armies, international alliances, and -- except around its favorite "lakes": the Caribbean and, to a lesser extent, the Pacific -- foreign interventions. Even if the US wished to promote business interests abroad, it could have positively promoted the principles of independence, democracy, labor rights, and equal opportunities as an alternative to repressive systems both on the right and on the left, and it could have attempted to find common ground and interests with the Soviet Union and its bloc with the hope of ameliorating its repression and backwardness. But a bipartisan succession of liberal presidents -- Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon -- chose instead to wage an international class war, supporting any friend (no matter how brutal or corrupt), opposing any foe (no matter how principled and progressive). What happened then was often astonishing. Just a few highlights: the US backed decolonization for Indonesia but not for Vietnam, leading to a 30-year war in Vietnam that killed millions of people (including 50,000 Americans), one that could largely have been avoided by elections, cancelled by the US on grounds that our guy would lose; meanwhile, when Indonesia veered too far to the left, the US staged a coup followed by the murder of several hundred thousand people the CIA suspected of bad politics; in Iran, a CIA coup ended democratic rule and installed a megalomaniacal shah, who 25 years later provoked a revolution creating the first militantly Islamic regime in the Middle East -- to this day, the US is trying to break Iran with economic sanctions and cyberwarfare, and threatening to bomb it; in the Congo, the CIA had its first leader killed, installing Mobutu instead, who siphoned billions of dollars out of one of the poorest countries in the world, leading to a series of wars which have killed millions more; in Chile when a non-communist socialist was elected president, the US staged a coup and had him and thousands of his supporters killed; the US urged Saudi Arabia to export its Salafist Islam, especially to Afghanistan, where the US sponsored the birth of modern Jihadism, starting a series of wars in 1979 that tie down US troops to this day. But the anti-communist crusade wasn't solely directed against the underclasses of the world. It was also focused on the working class inside the United States, and once conservatives like Reagan came to power, that became its primary focus. If you look at the rhetoric they use to smash unions, to rip up the economic safety net, to strip regulation of business, to cut taxes on the rich, it invariably recycles the jargon of Cold War propaganda. Moreover, the same tactics and dubious ethics apply: government is no longer of, by, and for the people; it is something that a handful of self-designated rich guys insist they have to "take back." Broad middle class prosperity is a thing of the past, while poverty is way up, and we're running the largest penal system in the world. Worldwide war is a permanent feature: the only thing government can be trusted to do (maybe because it deposits the incompetence elsewhere). But religion is back -- initially another piece of Cold War propaganda to needle the atheist communists. And science, and for that matter education, is out, or at least being priced out of reach -- the right suspects it makes people more liberal. The effect of the Cold War on our welfare is actually easy to calculate: following WWII the US and Europe had pretty much the same labor rules and welfare policies, the main difference being that the US was flush with cash and Europe was in ruins. Since then the US has fought its Cold War and beat down its working class, while Europe has at most gone through the motions, and so has preserved a middle class egalitarianism that Americans only have a distant memory of. Europe has some problems now, mostly too many politicians beholden to the same money interests that dominate the US, but they are many miles behind their American counterparts, in large part because they don't have that Cold War legacy to beat up their citizens with. The right is so wrong on so many counts now that it's hard to know where to attack first. So it might be time to return to Commoner's essential conclusion, that unbridled capitalism will wind up ruining the environment, which is to say the world we live and work in. To keep the environment livable, we need to understand better how it all links together, but we also need to rein in capitalism, and the right. Survival depends on it. After all, the right's basic argument: since everything we enjoy in the modern world is the product of our capitalist system, the more we do to support and promote capital the better off we all will be. That argument is wrong. Saturday, October 13, 2012Peter Dreier's ListFrom Peter Dreier's book, The 100 Greatest Americans of the 20th Century: A Social Justice Hall of Fame (paperback, 2012, Nation Books). Obviously, lots of ways this is wrong, but before anything else I figured I should jot them down (in Table of Contents order, by birth date, not any sort of ranking):
Dreier has another list on pp. 8-9, of which I'm only seeing p. 9, so I'm picking it up without the necessary introduction. Nonetheless:
Thursday, October 11, 2012MovieWent to see a movie last night, at the cheap seats: Movie: Moonrise Kingdom: A- Might as well note the only other movie we've seen in ages: Movie: Arbitrage: B+ Wednesday, October 10, 2012A Downloader's Diary (24): October 2012Insert text from here. This is the 24th installment, (almost) monthly since August 2010, totalling 615 albums. All columns are indexed and archived here. You can follow A Downloader's Diary on Facebook, and on Twitter. Expert CommentsAnother Brad Sroka poll, this one for albums that Christgau didn't grade A- or higher, from 1970 to the present.
Monday, October 08, 2012Music Week/Jazz ProspectingMusic: Current count 20551 [20514] rated (+37), 642 [642] unrated (-0). Spent the early part of the week on Recycled Goods, not stopping with the October column post but trudging on for a couple days. Result is a healthy rated count with a relatively slim Jazz Prospecting. Streamnotes still struggling from neglect, but I'm listening to Carolyn Mark as I try to write this intro. In any case, Dowloader's Diary has been delayed until this week, and I probably won't run Streamnotes until a week later. (If I cram, that'll mean another slim Jazz Prospecting next week, but as you can see from the unpacking the new stuff has been pouring in.) Made a pitch to revive Jazz CG last week, but no response thus far, so I'm not optimistic. At some point I need to clear my desk of the piles of HM and better CDs I've been saving up. No A-list records this week, after quite a few lately. Couple near misses, and some quality also-rans. Thought I'd like to see the cover I didn't get. Rez Abbasi Trio: Continuous Beat (2012, Enja): Guitarist, b. 1965 in Karachi, Pakistan; based in New York; has at least seven albums since 1995, some referring back to the subcontinent's musical heritage, some (like this one) not: trio, with John Hebert on bass, Satoshi Takeishi on percussion. Five (of nine) originals, covers of Gary Peacock, Keith Jarrett, Thelonious Monk, with a short, delicate, very respectful "Star Spangled Banner" closing. B+(***) [advance] Bill Anschell/Brent Jensen/Chris Smyer: Blueprints (2012, Origin): Piano, soprano sax, bass, respectively; recorded in Seattle, which is at least the pianist's home town. Jensen started out on alto but has become a specialist; he's a mainstream player, always precise and eloquent, should be regarded as one of the main players on his instrument. One group improv, eight standards, none in any way obscure ("All Blues," "How Deep Is the Ocean," "Blue Monk," "Star Eyes," "Yardbird Suite" -- for example). Nothing daring about any of them, and the lack of a drummer ensures a leisurely pace, but they're tasteful and lovely, another feather for Jensen's hat. B+(***) Clarice Assad: Home (2010 [2012], Adventure Music): Brazilian singer, also plays piano, b. 1978. Third album, accompanied by percussionists Keita Ogawa and Yousif Sheronick. Three originals, pieces by Gilberto Gil, Caetano Veloso, Dorival Caymi, an Elis Regina medley, a few lesser knowns (i.e., no Jobim). Was playing Abbey Lincoln before, so I was struck by the similarity, but Betty Carter would have had the same effect, especially when Assad scats. B+(**) Natalie Cressman & Secret Garden: Unfolding (2012, self-released): Trombone player, also sings, 21 (so b. 1991?), from San Francisco, based in New York (studies at Manhattan School of Music), first album, wrote 7 of 9 songs (covering "Honeysuckle Rose" and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" with Joni Mitchell's lyrics). The band adds trumpet, tenor sax, piano, bass, and drums for a suitably quirky postbop mix. B Jeff Davis: Leaf House (2011 [2012], Fresh Sound New Talent): Drummer, originally from Greely, CO; second album, plus a dozen-plus side credits since 2007, notably with pianist Kris Davis. This is a piano trio, with Russ Lossing and Eivind Opsvik doing all original compositions by Davis. B+(**) Michael Formanek Quartet: Small Places (2011 [2012], ECM): Bassist, tenth (or ninth) album since 1986, second on ECM after a decade-long break. All-star quartet: Tim Berne (alto sax), Craig Taborn (piano), Gerald Cleaver (drums). Aside from the pianist, the album is a little languid, with the sax painting background colors, tones only slightly brighter than the arco bass. But Taborn's developed into a remarkable pianist, and he shines here. B+(**) Kalle Kalima & K-18: Out to Lynch (2011 [2012], TUM): Guitarist, b. 1973 in Helsinki, Finland. Third album, quartet with Mikko Innanen on reeds (alto and baritone sax, flutes), Veli Kujala on quarter-tone accordion, and Teppo Hauta-aho on bass. The guitar doesn't ring out much, leaving the sax and accordion to duel, the latter holding its own in the noise department. B+(**) Lisa Kirchner: Charleston for You (2012, Verdant World): Singer-songwriter, b. 1953, father was classical composer Leon Kirchner (1919-2009), himself a student of Schoenberg. Her credits include a 1976 Threepenny Opera, but her records didn't start until 2000, now numbering five. Cut in seven studios with changing support groups -- many just piano, only one with a horn -- half originals, half covers, including one Brazilian medley (De Moraes/Powell/Veloso); focused, assured. B+(**) Max Marshall: Instant Camaraderie (2011 [2012], Jazz Hang): Pianist, originally from Chicago, now based in New York; first album, wrote 5 (of 9) originals, adding one from a band member (alto saxophonist Sharel Cassity), Clifford Brown, John Coltrane, and "When I Grow Too Old to Dream." Quintet, with trumpet, sax, bass, and drums: the traditional hard bop lineup with some postbop curves. B+(**) Maria Neckam: Unison (2012, Sunnyside): Singer, third album, writes her own music, occasionally pinching famous poets for lyrics (here: Hafez, Rilke, Neruda). Produced her own album, drawing on a talented core band -- Aaron Parks, Nir Felder, Thomas Morgan, Colin Stranahan -- working in horns on half the cuts, cello on a couple. No doubt a lot of talent and thought went into this, but the result is a sort of art song that I find all but unlistenable. Except, that is, when it isn't. C+ Russ Nolan: Tell Me (2012, Rhinoceruss Music): Tenor saxophonist, third album: quartet with piano, bass, and drums, sometimes electric, plus producer Zach Brock plays violin on three tracks. Four originals, five covers, the jazz sources from Oliver Nelson and Joe Zawinul, pop from Stevie Wonder and the Beatles; lets them kick up their heels. B+(*) Zohar's Nigun: The Four Questions (2012, Rectify): Australian group -- Daniel Weltlinger (violin), Daniel Pliner (piano), Simon Milman (bass), Alon Ilsar (drums) -- playing Jewish music, some trad, some new, the violin in the lead. B+(**) Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
Miscellaneous notes:
Changed previous grades:
Sunday, October 07, 2012Weekend RoundupSome scattered links I squirreled away during the previous week:
Links for further study:
Saturday, October 06, 2012Konczal Letter: Capital FairnessStarted a letter to Mike Konczal, in response to his article Is Taxing Capital Income Fair?:
Thursday, October 04, 2012DebatingUpdate: linked in, then removed, New Yorker cover. Clever, too big, not really the point I wanted to make. I didn't watch the Obama-Romney debate last night. I've reached the point where I find both candidates hopelessly irritating, and I've never had much stomach for political cant. Also, from past experiences, I can't say that I've ever learned much from debates -- except not to trust impressions based on personal style or quirks. Judging from reports, had I watched I would have come away even more irritated, especially at Obama. Ever since his election in 2008, what's bothered me about Obama hasn't been his policies or programs -- inadequate, unimaginative, and often misguided as they are -- but his inability or unwillingness to speak up for anything better, or indeed even to articulate why his own programs matter. The debate just provides more examples of his failing. The front page article itself, from McClatchy, was formally neutral, the headline: "Candidates Cordial, but Pull No Punches." Below I'll argue that Obama did little but pull his punches. (Krugman called him Capillary Man: "his instinct, as people said, was apparently to go for the capillaries.") Consider the four quotes that the Wichita Eagle spotlighted on the front page today, the first sense readers in these parts got of the substance of the debates:
Romney's two statements were direct, mostly true (albeit cynical and at least partly nonsensical). Obama's were evasive and incomplete, offering little reason to trust or even understand him. Romney was shameless, while Obama would prefer that we overlook what he has to be ashamed of. Whether you believe one or the other depends on how much you know about the matter. If you know nothing, you might be taken in by Romney's confidence, faux concern, and pat answers. If you know anything, you already know that Romney is a fraud, and in his debate answers and points you'll find nothing but more evidence. You will also know that Obama has struggled with huge problems in a political climate that has confused and confounded him. Part of his problem is that he is too invested in that climate. Part is that he's unclear on who voted for him and why, and all of that came through in his lackluster performance. No doubt we would be happier to have a smarter, more earnest, more dedicated, more trustworthy candidate, but we have no such option. What we've gotten instead is another embarrassing moment in our democracy. Unfortunately, there will be more before this election is settled. In particular, next debate is supposed to be about "foreign policy" -- basically a contest to see which candidate can most convincingly project himself as a killer. There, at least, Obama will have the advantage of four years of practice. Expect to hear a lot about Bin Laden, but he's only one of thousands of people the US has killed on his watch, under his direction, and sometimes in direct response to his orders. In contrast, the worst Romney can claim is torturing his dog, but rest assured that he will do his best to convince us that he's badder than Obama could ever be. He's committed to more military, more war. He's committed to letting Netanyahu dictate US policy in the middle east. Most of all, he's committed to never backing down, never apologizing, never second guessing his own brilliance. That sounds to me like a perfect recipe for disaster. And no doubt there will be more embarrassments down the road. Hard to pick a debate winner when everyone involved is such a loser. Some post-debate links:
Bonus link: Matt Taibbi: This Presidential Race Should Never Have Been This Close: Written well before the debate, but more true than ever:
Of course, the reason the election is close is because so few understand Taibbi's points. Part of that is that the mainstream (and far right) media keep drubbing you with their "conventional wisdom." Part is that the Democratic Party leadership doesn't lead, or inform, or enlighten, or even campaign very much. The real key to the 2012 elections will be how many people vote -- if the turnout is close to 2008 Obama and the Democrats will win handily, and if it falls off to 2010 levels the Republicans will prevail. And the other is how effective unlimited spending by billionaires turns out to be. The fate of the nation hangs in the balance. Either we get four more years of the same mediocre melange we've enjoyed for the last four years, or the country collapses under the hubris of the superrich and falls off the deep end. The debates will be forgotten, unless you let yourself be suckered by them. Wednesday, October 03, 2012Expert CommentsNot EW, but wrote this to Ben Westhoff, music editor at LA Weekly, reportedly taking over the Village Voice slot:
Heard back from Westhoff. He tells me that he isn't the Voice editor -- Brian McManus is. He promised to send the letter on. Tuesday, October 02, 2012Recycled Goods (101): October 2012New Recycled Goods: pick up text here. Total review count: 3460 (3037 + 423). Expert CommentsMilo Miles thanked me for linking to John Quiggin's aeon article, and asked for more info. I wrote:
Monday, October 01, 2012Music Week/Jazz ProspectingMusic: Current count 20514 [20485] rated (+29), 642 [646] unrated (-4). Another week, another bad one, slouching into another month, historically my favorite. Should have A Downloader's Diary by week's end. Recycled Goods continues from last month's shelf scrounging, not quite as fat (or prime) but hefty enough. Streamnotes is still very slim, so likely to wait until mid-month. Nik Bärtsch's Ronin: Live (2009-11 [2012], ECM, 2CD): Swiss pianist, group includes Sha (bass clarinet, alto sax), Björn Mayer or Thomy Jordi (bass), Kaspar Rast (drums), and Andi Pupato (percussion). Half dozen records together, this live summary pieced together from eight concerts although it could be seamless. Works mostly around a rhythm that is propulsive even when it shifts, and builds complex modulations on that, so stretching out is part of the art. A- LaVerne Butler: Love Lost and Found Again (2012, High Note): Vocalist, b. 1962 in New Orleans, fifth album since 1992 (last one was 2001, on MaxJazz). All standards, arranged by pianist Bruce Barth, backed by Ugonna Okegwo on bass and Rudy Royston on drums, with Houston Person, never less than adorable, guesting on four tracks. Lots to smile about. B+(***) Kevin Coelho: Funkengruven: The Joy of Driving a B3 (2012, Chicken Soup/Summit): First album, the leader described on the back cover as a "sixteen(16)-year-old jazz organ prodigy," with a conventional soul jazz trio: Derek Dicenzo on guitar, and Reggie Jackson on drums. Doesn't have any of the high-falutin' airs or drama I associate with prodigies -- just steadfast service to the groove. B+(**) Philip Dizack: End of an Era (2012, Truth Revolution): Trumpet player, originally from Milwaukee, moved to New York in 2003, cut an album in 2005; this is his second. Looks like two piano-bass-drums rhythm sections, tenor saxophonist Jake Saslow on five cuts, strings on three (one shared with the sax). All this backup isn't overly busy, but it isn't that helpful either -- only the trumpet really stands out. B+(**) Jürgen Friedrich: Monosuite: For String Orchestra and Improvisers (2011 [2012], Pirouet): Normally a pianist, from Germany, has ten or so records since 2000, conducts the Sequenza String Orchestra (11 violins, 5 violas, 4 cellos, 2 basses), on top of which several jazz musicians improvise: Hayden Chisholm (alto sax), Achim Kaufmann (piano), John Hébert (bass), and John Hollenbeck (drums). I go back and forth on it, the dark strings not compelling, the improvs less than striking, still wondering what I am missing. B Adam Glasser: Mzansi (2011 [2012], Sunnyside): Harmonica player, b. 1955 in Cambridge, England; spent some time as a youngster in South Africa, retaining an interest in African music that is showcased here: with tunes from Abdullah Ibrahim, Dudu Pukwana, and others, plus a long line of African vocalists and musicians. B+(*) Beka Gochiashvili (2012, Exitus Entertainment): Pianist, sometimes electric ("Wurly"), b. 1996 in Tbilsi, Georgia, played festivals when he was 11, eliciting praise from noted jazz critic Condoleezza Rice: "Beka is one of the best jazz pianists I've heard anywhere." When someone compiles a list of Rice's greatest whoppers, that exaggeration falls far short of the one about the "mushroom cloud" or "the birthpangs of a new Middle East" -- probably even her reference to GWB has "my husband." He moved to New York in 2010, winding up with this debut album, produced by Lenny White, packed with household names (including four bassists, Wallace Roney, and Jaleel Shaw). Unlike so many ex-Soviet musicians, doesn't seem to be in thrall to classical music (although the vocal by Natalia Kutateladze is). Plays fast and fluid, easy to see how experts like Rice are impressed. B Gerard Hagen Trio: Song for Leslie (2012, Surf Cove Jazz): Pianist, has a couple of previous albums, at least back to 1998; Leslie is his wife, singer Leslie Lewis. Trio adds Domenic Genova (bass) and Jerry Kalaf (drums). Three standards, two originals each by Hagen and Kalaf. Tasteful. B+(*) Marc Johnson/Eliane Elias: Swept Away (2010 [2012], ECM): Bassist and pianist, the latter from Brazil, both well established before they got hitched. While they've played on each other's albums before -- Elias has 25 since 1986, Johnson 10 since 1985 plus a lot more side credits -- I think this is the first time both names are up top. The songs split 5-to-3 for Elias, with two shared and "Shenandoah." Joey Baron plays drums, and Joe Lovano appears here and there on tenor sax in what may be the most underwhelming credit in his career -- all hushed tones and thin vibrato. Elias has also shelved her samba accent, leaving us with relatively placid but expert postbop. B+(*) Greg Lewis: Organ Monk: Uwo in the Black (2012, self-released): Organ player, has been around this block -- soul jazz jerks on Thelonious Monk tunes -- before, but expands to a quartet this time, with saxophonist Reginald Woods joining guitar (Ronald Jackson) and drums (Nasheet Waits). Couple spots seem to stick them up, but "Little Rootie Tootie" shows how it works. B+(*) Leslie Lewis with the Gerard Hagen Trio: Midnight Sun (2011 [2012], Surf Cove Jazz): Standards singer, third album, lives in Paris but label claims to offer "Creative Jazz from California" and her own CV mentions London, New York, and Los Angeles. Has a terrific voice, deep and resonant, but has trouble with the slow ones -- the exception is her grandly gestured "Where or When," saved from excess by the tasteful rhythm section, Hagen's piano trio. The fast ones are helped by Chuck Manning (tenor sax) and/or Joey Sellers (trombone). B+(**) Harold Mabern: Mr. Lucky: A Tribute to Sammy Davis Jr. (2012, High Note): Pianist, b. 1936, came out of Memphis, has worked since 1968 but the '70s and '80s were a little thin, with his '90s records on DIW especially esteemed. Davis was an important entertainer in Mabern's lifetime -- indeed, in mine -- but his reputation hasn't endured well, in part because he released some of the worst records of his period, and even his big hits were often so cheesy it's hard to find a decent anthology -- plus he didn't write, and his best songs are just as likely to show up in his pal Sinatra's songbook. Still, I remember him well enough to vouch for Mabern's feel, but I'm less sure of tenor saxophonist Eric Alexander. One irresistible tune here is the closer, "Something's Gotta Give." B+(**) Ron Miles: Quiver (2011 [2012], Enja/Yellowbird): Trumpet player, b. 1963 in Indiana, moved to Denver at age 11 and is still based there. Ninth album since 1989 -- surprised that this is the first I've heard, although looking at his credits list I see at least a dozen familiar albums, most with Bill Frisell but also Fred Hess, Wayne Horvitz, Jenny Scheinman, DJ Logic, even a pretty good Ginger Baker album. This is a trio with Bill Frisell guitar and Brian Blade drums. Frisell does much to shape this, whether he's shifting the background, or working up one of his Americana twists, but credit the leader, too. B+(***) Nadje Noordhuis (2010 [2012], Little Mystery): Trumpet/flugelhorn player, b. 1977 in Australia, based in New York since 2003. First album, composed through, makes deft use of Sara Caswell's violin for background texture to offset the trumpet -- what many people hope for with strings but few pull off. With Geoff Keezer (piano), Joe Martin (bass), and Obed Calvaire (drums), aside for a diversion on "Le Hameau Omi" with pandeiro and classical guitar, which works just as well. B+(***) Houston Person: Naturally (2012, High Note): Tenor saxophonist, 77 when this was recorded, a mainstream fixture since the early 1960s who now must be counted among the all-time greats. With my idea of a supergroup: Cedar Walton, Ray Drummond, and Lewis Nash. Not that anyone's trying for super -- just relaxed, enjoying themselves, luxuriating in his sound. I know I always say nice things about him, but this is his best since To Etta With Love (2004). A- Irene Reid: The Queen of the Party (1997-2003 [2012], Savant): Singer, 1930-2008, came up in jazz bands including a stint with Count Basie, cut five records 1963-71 then faded until her 1997 comeback, Million Dollar Secret, with Charles Earland on organ and Eric Alexander on tenor sax, jump blues with a post-feminist vengeance. She cut five albums for Savant (plus they released a 1990 date as Thanks for You), so this serves as a best-of, an intro, a memoir. B+(***) Jordan Young: Cymbal Melodies (2012, Posi-Tone): Drummer, has a previous album as Jordan Young Group. Organ quartet, with Joe Sucato (sax), Avi Rothbard (guitar), and Brian Charette on the B3. Two originals (one called "Mood for McCann"), plus a mix of standards (Irving Berlin), jazz riffs (Grant Green, Lee Morgan), and tacky pop (Bacharach, Webb, Sting). Picks up its groove along the way, but not much more. B Unpacking: Found in the mail last week:
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