What Jazz are you listening to now?

[Old San Antone]

Christopher Crenshaw's The Fifties: A Prism

"All jazz is modern," says Wynton Marsalis—and we owe the 1950s for that. The momentous decade became the crucible in which modern jazz was formed, as styles like modal, hard bop, third stream, and more melted together and artists like Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, and Ornette Coleman reached the height of their powers. Now, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra trombonist Chris Crenshaw has taken inspiration from the era to create The Fifties: A Prism, the newest Blue Engine album.

"When I was presented with the idea of coming up with a suite dealing with the 1950s, I immediately realized this was going to cover all the genres of jazz, from bebop to freedom music," Crenshaw says. Recorded live at The House of Swing by the JLCO with Wynton Marsalis in February 2017, The Fifties does exactly that, refracting all the energy from a creatively supercharged era through a 21st-century lens. The result is at turns playful and moving, melodic and challenging—but it's always swinging.

Released on May 2, 2020, the latest recording by the JALC Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis is another fantastic jazz recording, this time celebrating the music of the  Fifties. Highly recommended.

[T. D.]

I prefer early Evans to late, but pull this off the shelf every once in a while hoping for a revelation.
Enjoying it this time, but I wish they wouldn't play Nardis so darned often...

[Old San Antone]

I prefer early Evans to late, but pull this off the shelf every once in a while hoping for a revelation.
Enjoying it this time, but I wish they wouldn't play Nardis so darned often...

I agree his last trio was very good, closest, IMO, to his classic trio with Scott LaFaro.



On The Nature of Connections, Arve Henriksen is working in harness with some of the most distinguished and dynamic musicians of Norway. They come from different traditions like folk, improvisation and jazz. They bring their specialist competition, where the results are assembled and polished to sparkle. The Nature of Connections almost entirely features pieces composed by the personnel comprising the band on the album, recorded at the legendary Rainbow Studio in Oslo by Jan Erik Kongshaug. The album has closer connections to Nordic folk and contemporary, minimalist chamber music than any of his previous releases.

[George]

I agree his last trio was very good, closest, IMO, to his classic trio with Scott LaFaro.

The sound on that set is lovely, too.

[Old San Antone]

Characters On A Wall - Louis Sclavis Quartet

Louis Sclavis's 13th ECM recording finds the French clarinetist drawing inspiration from two sources – the street art of Ernest Pignon-Ernest, and the interpretive originality of a splendid new quartet.  Pignon-Ernest's works were previously the subject of Sclavis's highly acclaimed 2002 recording Napoli's Walls.  This time Sclavis looks at a broader range of the artist's in situ collages from Ramallah to Rome, in search of "a dynamic, a movement that will give birth to a rhythm, an emotion, a song." In the Sclavis group, gifted bassist Sarah Murcia and expressive drummer Christophe Lavergne join inventive pianist Benjamjn Moussay (a key collaborator on Sources and Salt and Silk Melodies) making this the first time Sclavis has explored – in characteristically individual fashion -  the classic jazz format of reeds, piano, bass and drums  on an ECM disc. 

[SimonNZ]

[j winter]

[Old San Antone]

I really like those "Armstrong Plays ..." records.  He did one of Fats Waller and W.C. Handy that are also excellent.

TD

Wynton Marsalis - Swinging into the 21st Century

Swinging into the 21st" is the name that Wynton Marsalis gave to an extraordinary series of 9 albums he released between 1999 and 2000 on Columbia Records and Sony Classical. In honor of Wynton's 50th birthday, those nine albums (along with the two CD masterwork All Rise), are presented here as a box set for the first time. Each album in Swinging into the 21st features a different ensemble and style of music. From chamber music to studio and live dates with his septet, jazz and blues tributes, film music, scores for ballet, modern classical and orchestral works, to some bonafide swing, Swinging Into the 21st explores Wynton's musical universe.

[T. D.]

[Old San Antone]

Reeltime

Evoking, but not bound by, the musical styles of the period, the soundtrack music for the movie "Rosewood," based on a tragic incident in early 20th century American history, includes blues-drenched vocals by Cassandra Wilson on the title track, a gospel choir fronted by Shirley Caesar, and bluegrass fiddling by virtuoso violinist Mark O'Connor.



Wonderful.

[Old San Antone]

Composer, arranger, and pianist Mary Lou Williams' musical career reflected the history of American jazz from the late 1920s through the 1970s. Described by Duke Ellington as being "beyond category," Williams was conversant in jazz styles ranging from stride through swing and be-bop to the avant-garde, yet her music was always rooted in spirituals and the blues. This self-produced recording, originally recorded in 1962 and 1963, contains a mix of standards and originals including four original compositions reflecting her devout interest in religious music.

[Brian]

Not sure which listening thread to put this in...guess I'll put it in both!



First ever listen to this one for me.

[Brian]

report after a half-hour: jeez this is long

Like, not bad, but...exhausting.

[j winter]

Going for some jazz from Charlie Watts....

[Old San Antone]

Not sure which listening thread to put this in...guess I'll put it in both!



First ever listen to this one for me.

While I am a big fan of Wynton Marsalis's long form works, I prefer those that do not use the orchestra.  Interesting work, which I think he calls his first symphony, a worthy effort.

[Old San Antone]

Blood on the Fields is a two-and-a-half-hour jazz oratorio, by Wynton Marsalis. It was commissioned by Lincoln Center and concerns a couple moving from slavery to freedom. It received the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Music.

[Old San Antone]

Mingus - Oh Yeah



    Charles Mingus – piano and vocals
    Rahsaan Roland Kirk – flute, siren, tenor saxophone, manzello, and strich
    Booker Ervin – tenor saxophone
    Jimmy Knepper – trombone
    Doug Watkins – bass
    Dannie Richmond – drums

AllMusic Review by Steve Huey
After several sessions with Columbia and Candid, Charles Mingus briefly returned to Atlantic and cut the freewheeling Oh Yeah, which has to rank as the wildest of all his classic albums. Mingus plays no bass whatsoever, hiring Doug Watkins to fill in while he accompanies the group on piano and contributes bluesy vocals to several tracks (while shouting encouragement on nearly all of them). Mingus had always had a bizarre sense of humor, as expressed in some of his song titles and arranging devices, but Oh Yeah often gets downright warped. That's partly because Mingus is freed up to vocalize more often, but it's also due to the presence of mad genius Roland Kirk. His chemistry with Mingus is fantastically explosive, which makes sense -- both were encyclopedias of jazz tradition, but given over to oddball modernist experimentation. It's a shame Kirk only spent three months with the band, because his solo interpretations are such symbiotic reflections of Mingus' intent as a composer. Look no further than "Hog Callin' Blues," a stomping "Haitian Fight Song" descendant where Kirk honks and roars the blues like a man possessed. Mingus' vocal selections radiate the same dementia, whether it's the stream-of-consciousness blues couplets on "Devil Woman," the dark-humored modern-day spiritual "Oh Lord Don't Let Them Drop That Atomic Bomb on Me," or the dadaist stride piano bounce of "Eat That Chicken," a nod to Fats Waller's comic novelties. Elsewhere, "Passions of a Man" sounds almost like musique concrète, while "Wham Bam Thank You Ma'am" nicks some Monk angularity and "Ecclusiastics" adds some testifying shouts and a chorale-like theme to Mingus' gospel-jazz hybrid. Oh Yeah is probably the most offbeat Mingus album ever, and that's what makes it so vital. [Some reissues add three bonus tracks from the session, first released on Tonight at Noon.]

[Old San Antone]

Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus Mingus



Mingus collaborated with arranger/orchestrator Bob Hammer to score the music for a large ensemble of brass and saxophones.

[T. D.]

 
The Tapscott is outstanding. I ordered it upon release direct from the UK label last year, and the CD version (don't know about the vinyl) seems to have sold out. That's why I posted about Tapscott on the "new jazz releases" thread.

[FelixSkodi]

Rio Funk:

Players: Lee Ritenour, Stefan Rademacher, Christoph Spendel, Don Grusin, Tom Brechtlein, and Christian Ostermeier (the reason I came across this session)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fuCSkRqeUe8