[JPL] Still Another Jazz Show Oct 30

[Dick Crockett]

STILL ANOTHER JAZZ SHOW    Oct 30

N'AWLINS GUMBO KINGS     “When It's Sleepy Time Down
South”  “Opus One”   
UFO SALOON

MENTAL STRAIN AT DAWN   A MODERN PORTRAIT OF LOUIS
ARMSTRONG     “Mental Strain At Dawn”  “Dream
Sequences”    Random Chance Records

SEAN  JONES    “Come Sunday”      ROOTS      Mack
Avenue Records

GLADYS KNIGHT     “Come Sunday”  “Do Nothing Till You
Hear From Me”  BEFORE ME      Verve Music 

RAY CHARLES      “Oh What A Beautiful Morning”  “Look
What They've Done To My Song”   RAY SINGS /BASIE
SWINGS      Concord Records

PHIL KELLY AND THE SANTA ANA WINDS     “Jeanine”  
“Bluelonius”  MY MUSEUM        Mack Avenue Records

BEN RILEY'S MONK LEGACY SEPTET    “Bemsha Swing”  
“Green Chimneys”
MEMORIES OF T         Concord Records

ELIANE ELIAS     “Jammin”   AROUND THE CITY      
Bluebird Records

JANE BUNNETT      “You Have Changed my Life”     
RADIO QUANTANAMO    Blue Note 

BIG NEIGHBORHOOD       “Anthem For Jolyon Wagg”  
11:11     Origin Records

KEITH JARRETT   “Paint My Heart Red”   “My Song”   
THE CARNEGIE HALL CONCERT        ECM Records

BILL FRISELL  RON CARTER  PAUL MOTIAN    “I'm So
Lonesome I Could Cry”       NONESUCH Records

We begin this edition of SAJS with the N'AWLINS GUMBO
KINGS and their new cd,  UFO SALOON. Why? There's no
reason.  Other than  it's a  nostalgic reharmonizing
of “Sleepy Time Down South.” This time the lyrics sung
by Doctor John  sitting in for Louis Armstrong with
the same paddle wheel slo-mo in N'Awlins, beauty
reminds you of Louie and Jack Teagarden and that low
slung love fever for that quiet life in the old South.
    Then we played Tommy Dorsey's “Opus One,” with a
slight and different demeanor with, I swear, Mike
Sizer, Brad Herring, Steve Howard and Brian Piper
sounding like the Mills Brothers. These guys remind me
of the Funk Brothers, those veterans who like to get
down and play some great music like them  N'Awlins
Gumbo Kings.
DAVID MURRAY, DOC CHEATHAM and the JACK PURVIS
MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA in keeping with a fairly
unstructured  and loose, A MODERN  PORTRAIT OF LOUIS
ARMSTRONG.  We played  the title tune of this cd and
another called “Mind Sequence.” This is really the
convergence of two styles, traditional with the avant
gard in jazz, Doc Cheatham who was in his eighties
when he recorded this cd in 1992 and a young David
Murray, a free jazz innovator, originally from
Berkeley. And this blend works so well. 
SEAN JONES concludes this segment with his new cd,
ROOTS.    We played Ellington's “Come Sunday” and
Jones plays it with the control and empathy lf a
master artist. If there is a thing called perfection,
this version is close to it. Orrin Evans on piano  is
another young artist who performs on this selection.
I've been aware of him since his last Palmetto record.
He's known in NYC jazz circles and with his touch and
attention to the smallest detail, a grand minimalist
and when you hear his solo you know it's all a matter
of time for him popularity to spread beyond Gotham
City. Check out Evans version of”Lift Every Voice.”
Tia Fuller, saxophonist also performs well on flute in
“Conversations,” alto saxophone on “Roots” and “Gods
Gift.”  The most smooth is Sean Jones  exception
Flugelhorn performance along with Evans understated
signature on Rhodes on “Divine Inspiration.” It's so
good, it's scary.  You never want it to end.
GLADYS KNIGHT opens the next segment with her version
of  this magnificent jazz spiritual, “Come Sunday”
from her new BEFORE ME cd. She sings it the you're
supposed to, with John Clayton supplying a touch of
Ellington nuance in his arrangement with the Clayton
Hamilton Orchestra supplying ample support.  Then
another  Ellington sparkler, “Do Nothing Til You Hear
>From Me.” Verve has done marvelous work with great
artists, Paul Anka, Mark Murphy, Diana Krall. Smokey
Robinson and Gladys Knight.
RAY CHARLES is next with a new dazzler, RAY
SINGS/BASIE SWINGS.
There's much to show here and we played “Oh, What A
Beautiful Morning” and Look What They've Done To My
Song” and  Shelly Berg for his magnificent
arrangements. There's so much beauty and spontaneity
in this CD and yet it never happened quite like this
in the first place . These recordings, formerly the
property of Norman Granz were made in Germany and
England from concerts in the seventies. The Ray's
singing was great but the band was inaudible and
muffled. A&R at Concord Records lifted the vocal  and
dubbed  some great Basie arrangements underneath and
leave the rest to recorded history, for this will most
certainly win a Grammy!
PHIL KELLY AND THE SW SANTA ANA WINDS  conclude this
segment with the classic Duke Pearson original,
“Jeanine” from the new MY MUSEUM cd.  Nd it fits right
in with the Duke's swinging intention. There are some
great open faced solos on this song with Andy Martin
on trombone, Bob Sommer's on trumpet and Pete
Chistlieb on saxophone. We also played a Phil Kelly
original, “Bluelonius” a slow blues tribute to
Thelonius Monk. It reminds me of  Stan Kenton's  1962
“Adventures In Blues” album on Capitol Records . It
has a nice and slow build with solos with Lanny Morgan
on alto. by Jay Thomas on trumpet  and Brian Scanlon
on tenor.  The arrangement sounds               
vintage Slide Hampton.
BEN RILEY'S MONK LEGACY SEPTET begins the second hour
of SAJS with his new MEMORIES OF T cd.   In case you
haven't noticed there's no piano on the premises.  
How can you play Monk without a piano?” Simple you
say! Not as easy as it seems. These arrangements are
very progressive and work very well. We played “Bemsha
Swing” and “Green Chimneys.” This band of 2 tenors, an
alto and a baritone saxophone provides heft and
balance with Don Sickler on trumpet to offer more 
balance, just enough so  it doesn't tip over.
Therefore,  you have brass and reed syncopation in
place of the piano. Monk's compositions offer great
flexibility and opportunity for improvisation for the
arranger especially with the horn section.
Watching this great man from a far, as in the Masonic
Auditorium in  Detroit in 1964 -66, I'm hazy about the
exact date, but watching him and the quartet with
Charley Rouse and this man Riley on drums, I had the
impression that Monk wasn't a yeller or a screamer at
the band in the vein of Buddy Rich. He was more a
demonstrator, a man of few words and lots of action.
And when he'd get up and dance while the band played
that was his way of saying: Let's get up and dance
around, it's funny. It's a message to the rest, “Have
some fun and express your joy.” This memoir of Monk as
told by Ben Riley is poignant, quixotic and filled
with joyful eccentricity.
ELIANE ELIAS  as Sergio Mendes moves into a jazz/ pop
idiom  this new Eliane Elias is brisk, smart and sexy,
a mix of Brazilian bossa  modern entities as in  Bob
Marley's “Jammin.”   This is a roarin late night jam
and it works up with Randy Brecker blowing the meanest
licks on trumpet and Elias jammin like a Les McCann on
a summer breeze.  As for Eliane, she's got it down on
this one.  And “Segredos”  has a hold on you, baby!
JANE BUNNETT follows up with her new CD, RADIO
QUANTANAMO.   Bunnett is an exceptional soprano
saxophonist and flutist whose expertise is in
Afro-Cuban music, or seemingly the last two or three
projects. She reaches right into the soul of the
music, starting from the traditional to the modern,
recorded in Santiago de Cuba and mixed in Toronto, for
Jane Bunnett is Canadian by birth and able to travel
there. We played “You Have Changed My Life,” a post
modern figure imbued with Afro Cuban with a beat more
obsessive  in tone with  great solos by Dewey Redman,
Larry Cramer, Dave Virelles and Jane Bunnett.
BIG NEIGHBORHOOD begins the last segment with an
elongated, interesting “Anthem For Jolyon Wagg” from
their new 11:11.   The group is comprised of Chris
Fagan, alto, David White, guitar, Doug Miller, bass
and Phil Parisot on drums.  This has an groovy riffs
with saxophone, guitar counterpoint as Fagan jousts
with David White on guitar. Their friends go home in
separate ways as the fog of mystery lifts to a new
post modern neo pop experience.
KEITH JARRETT  joins us with a new THE CARNEGIE HALL
CONCERT cd. This is a wonderful two CD solo
performance by Keith Jarrett and for his close
followers and others who are so inclined, this is an
exceptional piece, back to his roots, and Jarrett's
predilection toward gospel and folk music of the
people. As he roars along in sublime pride and
conveyance for this is the people's Jarrett, the
essence of simplicity, pride and articulation.  We
played my favorite as it is with many Jarrett fans,
“My Song,” elegant in it's beauty and minimalism.  
Therefore it's only fitting and proper that we
conclude with BILL FRISELL, RON CARTER, PAUL MOTIAN 
from the new CD of the same name. We played Hank
Williams, “I'm So Lonesome, I Could Cry” in part
because it's a good lead in to Al Shusterman's “Back
roads Bluegrass” show, for this is what FM sounded
like 45 years ago.  Frisell begins the Hank Williams
song 9n a rather obscure metallic country/jazz equinox
for Frisell has a most unique style, then morphs into
the religious traditional All American aspect to the
inspiring climax.
And thus we bid adeau....til the next go round.

DICK CROCKETT
STILL ANOTHER JAZZ SHOW
10am & 10pm, Pacific
“The Voice” 88.7fm
4623 T Street, Suite A
Sacramento, Ca. 95819-4743
audio streaming
Access Sacramento.org





 
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