Charlie Haden, "Not In Our Name", 2005

With a cover that directly references bassist Charlie Haden's first recording under his own name, 1969's LIBERATION MUSIC ORCHESTRA, this 2005 album features an updated version of the LMO ensemble. As on the earlier disc, the spirit here is one of peaceful protest; while the former outing was in reaction to the Vietnam War, this record takes the George W. Bush administration to task, especially regarding the war in Iraq. Pianist Carla Bley is the only returning member of the original LMO. As before, she proves to be a triple threat with her dexterous playing, intuitive conducting, and inventive arrangements. ~ Release


Arranger: Carla Bley. Personnel: Charlie Haden (bass instrument); Michael Rodriguez , Michael Rodriguez (trumpet); Steve Cardenas (guitar); Miguel Zenón (alto saxophone); Chris Cheek, Tony Malaby (tenor saxophone); Seneca Black (trumpet); Ahnee Sharon Freeman (French horn); Curtis Fowlkes (trombone); Joe Daley Trio (tuba); Carla Bley (piano); Matt Wilson (drums).

Tracks
1 Not In Our Name (Haden) 6:21
2 This Is Not America (Bowie, Mays, Metheny) 6:39
3 Blue Anthem (Bley) 7:49
4 America the Beautiful (Medley) (Bates, Ward) 16:54
5 Amazing Grace (Newton, Traditional) 7:12
6 Goin' Home (from Dvorak's New World Sym.) 7:49
7 Throughout (Frisell) 8:55
8 Adagio (from Barber's Adagio For Strings) 7:20

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TRIBUTE TO PAUL MOTIAN (1931 - 2011) 15

This is the last album of a series of 15, giving a beautiful view of the career of oneof the greatest jazz drummers

2011 Paul Motian - The Windmills Of Your Mind
“This is drums giant Paul Motian's 80th birthday album – though for a legend who helped reinvent ensemble improv with visionaries such as Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett, it might sound like a pipe-and-slippers decision to hook it on such over-exercised tunes as the title, Tennessee Waltz and Let's Face the Music and Dance.
“But Motian enlists Bill Frisell on guitar and Thomas Morgan on bass to turn the usual glides and smooches of these songs into a lurching, spontaneously contrapuntal undertow, in which the rhythm lies as much in what's not being played as what is.
“But over that, Motian has cannily placed the limpid, quietly evocative voice of Charlie Haden's vocalist daughter Petra – an artist more usually associated with alt-rock and a capella work.
“Haden imaginatively inhabits these songs, delivering a definitively unvarnished version of the title track over Motian's snuffling brushwork and Morgan's huge bass sound, and unfolding tenderly revealing accounts of Easy Living and I Loves You Porgy. But hearing this inimitably eccentric instrumental trio chime, boom and lurch through Let's Face the Music and Dance is perhaps the real piece de resistance.” ~John Fordham, Guardian UK  4 stars
Personnel
Paul Motian: drums; Bill Frisell: electric guitar; Petra Haden: vocals; Thomas Morgan: bass.
Track listing
1. Introduction (1) [Paul Motian]
2. Tennessee Waltz [Pee Wee King, Redd Stewart]
3. The Windmills Of Your Mind [Michel Legrand, Alan Bergman, Marilyn Bergman]
4. Let’s Face The Music And Dance [Irving Berlin]
5. Lover Man [Jimmy Davis, Roger Ramirez, James Sherman]
6. It’s Been A Long, Long Time [Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn]
7. Little Foot [Paul Motian]
8. Easy Living [Ralph Rainger, Leo Robin]
9. I’ve Got A Crush On You [George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin]
10. Backup [Paul Motian]
11. I Loves You Porgy [George Gershwin, Ira Gershwin]
12. Trieste [Paul Motian]
13. If I Could Be With You [James Johnson, Henry Creamer]
14. Wednesday’s Gone [Paul Motian]
15. I Remember You [Victor Schertzinger, Johnny Mercer]
16. Introduction (2) [Paul Motian ]
Recorded at Sear Sound, New York City, USA, September 2010. Paul Motian died two months later.
So Many Musicians Inspired by Paul Motian: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/04/arts/music/jazz-records-inspired-by-paul-motian.html
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Elomar - Na Quadrada Das Águas Perdidas

Another unusual post here at the blog, but I find Elomar's work at the top of the cream. Its melodic lines are mindblogging, his harmonic cadences are constructed in a an almost baroque fashion with much joy, incredibly creative, just plain beautiful. One of the last safe guards of our cultural heritage. You don't need to understand what he is saying to get touched by it. Do not miss.


Vocals and classical guitar: Elomar
Flute: Elena Rodrigues
Classical guitar and Charango: Dércio Marques
Vocals: Dércio Marques, Xangai e Carlos Pita


Disc

Beethoven - Last Piano Sonatas with Friedrich Gulda

I had to post this here, because I want you to listen to the jazz inside Beethoven's last sonatas, specially in his last of the last. Comment if I'm wrong.

I must have heard all of Beethoven's piano sonatas (and yet have not found no match for Gulda's interpretation) at least 100 times, and I can say that it's all there. All of the sentiment in music, the power, the joy, the laugh, the suffering, the pause, the voices... it's all there. I think that if an alien came to earth and asked me: "show me what have you people created in terms of music", I would present Beethoven's piano sonatas. "Mr Alien, there are a lot of other good things, very fine things, but if you take this home you will be satisfied. All of our music is here, the rest is lesser."


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(I strongly recommend you to get all of his piano sonatas, easily found on the internet. And take my word, there is no match for Gulda, don't even bother getting another one.)

Greg Osby & Andrew Hill - The Invisible Hand

& Jim Hall & Scott Colley! (plus Terri Lyne Carrington and Gary Thomas). !




This album gives me shivers. See it for yourself... 




Disc

TRIBUTE TO PAUL MOTIAN (1931 - 2011) 14

This album is the fourteenth in a series of 15, giving a beautiful view of the career of one of the greatest jazz drummers

2011 Lee Konitz - Live at Birdland (with Brad Mehldau, Charlie Haden & Paul Motion)

"A quartet of master musicians and a programme of jazz classics. “Live at Birdland” presents the finest moments from two inspired nights at New York’s legendary club, as Konitz, Mehldau, Haden and Motian play “Lover Man”, “Lullaby Of Birdland”, “Solar”, “I Fall In Love Too Easily”, “You Stepped Out Of A Dream” and “Oleo” with freedom, tenderness, and a love of melody that only jazz’s greatest improvisers can propose." Release
"The older guys sound great, if ultra laid-back, wending their way dreamily through six standards..." Down Beat
"These masters couldn't be better suited philosophically....Mehldau shares the group's reverence for standards and the notion that 'free' can be soft, slow, smart, subtle and sophisticated." JazzTimes
"The quartet's set consists of six jazz standards, all beautifully rendered, benefitting from almost 300 years-worth of musical experience." Mojo, 4 stars out of 5

Personnel
Lee Konitz: alto saxphone; Brad Mehldau: piano; Charlie Haden: double-bass; Paul Motian: drums

Track listing
1 Lover Man - Jimmy Davis, Jimmy Sherman, Roger Ramirez 12:05
2 Lullaby Of Birdland - George Shearing - 10:16
3 Solar - Miles Davis 11:39
4 I Fall In Love Too Easily - Jule Styne, Sammy Cahn* 10:17
5 You Stepped Out Of A Dream - Gus Kahn, Nacio Herb Brown 11:49
6 Oleo - Sonny Rollins

Disc

Modern Jazz Quartet, "Piramid"

This is a strong recording from the Modern Jazz Quartet, with inventive versions of John Lewis' "Vendome," Ray Brown's "Pyramid," Jim Hall's "Romaine," and Lewis' famous "Django," along with cooking jams on "How High the Moon" and "It Don't Mean a Thing." The MJQ had become a jazz institution by this time, but they never lost their creative edge, and their performances (even on the remakes) are quite stimulating, enthusiastic, and fresh. ~Scott Yanow

Modern Jazz Quartet, MJQ
Milt Jackson (vibraphone), John Lewis (piano, musical director), Percy Heath (double bass) and Connie Kay (drums)

Tracks
1 Vendome (John Lewis) 2:30
2 Pyramid (Blues for Junior) (Ray Brown) 10:46
3 It Don't Mean a Thing (If ItAin't Got That Swing) (Ellington, Mills) 5:02
4 Django (John Lewis) 5:23
5 How High the Moon (Hamilton, Lewis) 6:15
6 Romaine (Jim Hall) 7:28

Disc

TRIBUTE TO PAUL MOTIAN (1931 - 2011) 13

This album is the thirteenth in a series of 15, giving a beautiful view of the career ofone of the greatest jazz drummers

2006 Marc Copland – Voices - Trio Recording (with Gary Peacock & Paul Motian)

"Peacock's Runner is one of the finest group performances I've heard in a long time. These are fine albums both, that will grow in stature." Jazzwise (UK), 2008"One of the most original pianists in jazz...harmonically he's unlike anyone else. This marvelous trio is fresh, assured and independently minded."/Irish Times, 2007"A trio of jazz heavyweights... Voices” goes a long way in cementing this musician's place in the jazz world as one of the best contemporary pianists of our time."/ejazznews.com 2008

Personnel
Marc Copland piano; Gary Peacock bass; Paul Motian drums

Track listing
1. Vignette (G. Peacock) 6:11
2. Albert (G. Peacock)  3:41
3. River's rum (M. Copland) 6:40
4. Voices (M. Copland)  7:41
5. Runner (G. Peacock)  7:25
6. That's it ? (G. Peacock)  2:49
7. All blues ((M. Davis)  5:35
8. At night (M. Copland) 8:43

Disc

The Trumpet Kings Meet Joe Turner

This album features a most unusual session. Veteran blues singer Joe Turner and his usual rhythm section of the mid-'70s (which includes guitarist Pee Wee Crayton) are joined by four notable trumpeters: Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison, and Clark Terry. On three blues (including the 15-minute "I Know You Love Me Baby") and "Tain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do," the group stretches out with each of the trumpeters getting ample solo space. It is not a classic outing (a little more planning and better material might have helped), but it is colorful and unique enough to be easily recommended to straight-ahead jazz and blues fans. ~ Scott Yanow


Personnel
Big Joe Turner (vocals); Dizzy Gillespie, Roy Eldridge, Harry "Sweets" Edison, Clark Terry (trumpet); Jimmy Robbins (piano); Pee Wee Crayton (guitar); Charles Norris (bass); Washington Rucker (drums).


Tracks
1 Mornin', Noon and Night (Joe Turner)
2 I Know You Love Me Baby (Joe Turner)
3 T.V Momma (Joe Turner)
4 T'ain't Nobody's Bizness If I Do (Grainger, Prince, Williams)


Disc

TRIBUTE TO PAUL MOTIAN (1931 - 2011) 12

This album is the twelfth in a series of 15, giving a beautiful view of the career of one of the greatest drummers in jazz

2005 Paul Motian -  I Have the Room Above Her 

"The sum total of the nuanced, elliptical lyricism at the heart of Paul Motian's compositional method can be heard in the opening seconds of "Osmosis Part III," the first track from I Have the Room Above Her. Recorded for ECM -- with producer Manfred Eicher, guitarist Bill Frisell and saxophonist Joe Lovano -- this date is Motian's first as a leader for the label in more than 20 years. This is the same team that recorded the seminal album It Should've Happened a Long Time Ago in 1984. At that time, Lovano and Frisell were just beginning to establish themselves as bandleaders though they" ~ Thom Jurek

Personnel
Paul Motian: drums; Bill Frisell: guitar; Joe Lovano: tenor saxophone.

Track listing
Osmosis Part III
Sketches
Odd Man Out
Shadows
I have the room above her - Hammerstein, Kern
Osmosis part I
Dance
Harmony
The Riot Act
The Bag Man
One In Thre
All compositons by Paul Motian, except as indicated

Disc

Paul Bley, "Introducing Paul Bley with Charles Mingus and Art Blakey"

Paul Bley was 21 years old when he recorded his first album in 1953. With Art Blakey on drums and Charles Mingus on bass (it was originally released on his Debut Records label), this finds Bley still working within the framework of bebop. This CD reissue adds four extra tracks and the alternate take it includes of Bley's own "Opus 1" is fascinating for what it reveals. In his soloing -- different on each of the two takes -- he can be heard using forceful but brief melodic fragments with little harmonic embellishment. He's continued to explore those possibilities on through the decades. However, it is remarkable to notice here, at the beginning of the young pianist's career, to hear Bley stepping out of the confines of the genre and to witness the development of his distinctive individual voice. ~ Release

Personnel
Paul Bley (piano); Charles Mingus (bass); Art Blakey (drums)

Track listing
1. OPUS 1 (Paul Bley)
2. OPUS 1 (alternate taeke)
3. (Teapot) Walkin' (Richard Carpenter)
4. Like Someone in Love (Burke - Van Heusen)
5. Spontaneous Combustion (Paul Bley)
6. Split Kick (Horace Silver)
7. I Can't Get Started (Duke Gershwin)
8. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town (Gillespie - Coots)
9. The Theme (writer unknown)
10. This Time the Dream's on Me (Arlen - Mercer)
11. Zootcase (Jack Sims)

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