Sam Rivers - Colours

“There is a fascinating little museum in the section of Manhattan known as Soho - the Museum of Holography. Don’t ask me how it works, but what this museum exhibits is realistic three-dimensional images and artworks that seemingly just float on thin air. Just like those cheap old science fiction movies - you see something sitting there as large as life, yet when you try to grab it, all you come up with is nothing. And to make matters worse, for somebody like me who is still amazed that a wireless radio can actually make music, the images can -move-. They tell me that holography is a thing that will be quite common in the future - you might telephone your Aunt Martha and end up with a full-sized, life-like Aunt Martha sitting in your living room.

“Now you might think I’m setting you up for one of those liner-note writer’s analogies - holography is modern and fresh, as is Sam Rivers: holography is based on simple and traditional methods, as is the music of Sam Rivers; holography is mind-boggling, as is Sam Rivers. Well, you’re right, in a way, but what brings to mind that Soho museum in conjunction with Samuel Carthorne Rivers is much more obvious: you can enter that museum, lay down your money, and leave with your very own holograph of Sam Rivers working out on the soprano saxophone. You have a choice of sizes and prices (I, cheapskate that I am, bought a teeny-weeny one), but there it is - a Sam Rivers holograph for your very own.

“Okay, what’s the point? The point is: if there’s something that is advancing art, that is new and unique, it shouldn’t be surprising to find Sam Rivers somehow involved in it.

“There is no end to the facets that make up Sam Rivers and this recording of his Wind of Manhattan ensemble adds yet another new dimension to his recorded œuvres: an entire herd of smoking reeds and woodwinds.

“About the music contained herein, Sam Rivers says, ‘When I had my studio (Studio Rivbea), one of the reasons I had it was because I had all this music and I needed a place to rehearse it and perform it. I had most of this music then, and a lot of musicians played it. I’d say I wrote most of this - about 1973, or veven earlier. And some of the members of the World Saxophone Quartet - Hamiet Bluiett and Julius Hemphill - were part of the group that played that music then. I want people to know that this music has been around for some time and no one’s heard it for lack of record exposure.

“I tell Sam that the music here reminds me, at times, of a pipe organ or calliope. He says, ‘I noticed that. The closeness of the sounds of the instruments does make it sound like that. I was surprised at some of the things that happened on it - it wasn’t altogether experimental, but there were some things that I didn’t think would work when I wrote them, because of my knowledge, earlier in my career, of so-called traditional harmonies. But then I did them anyway, and they really work. A lot of the things that I was always taught weren’t correct for arranging - like the clusters with the same timbre instrument - were not supposed to happen at all. But they do, they sound very good. And there are times when these things sound like trumpets and trombones. All these things surprised me.’

“I ask Sam why there isn’t any soloing on the album, and he explains, ‘These are all very long pieces with the improvising. I wanted to get the music in rather than the improvising and that’s why I took that out. I knew that each composition would fit on an album itself. It didn’t matter to me because I know that I’ve got too much music to get it all recorded, so I can afford to be extravagant. And I did have some good soloists. I know they’re going to be quite perturbed that I took out all the solos.’

“What we are left with is high-caloric music with Sam Rivers’ typical intensity and brilliance. There are rave-ups of counterpoint; joyous, sassy honking and testifying; and bright bouquets of lushness. When you hear writing of this calibre for a reed section, only one name comes to mind and Sam Rivers acknowledges, ‘Duke Ellington is my role model.’ It is clear to see.

“About the specific music on the album, Sam Rivers only wants to point out that ‘Colours’ is a completely written piece - 136 dense bars and every one of them is notated. I’ll also add that ‘Lilacs’ is part of a 24 song suite, ‘The Flower Suite’.

“‘I consider myself to be a pretty rounded musician in all styles,’ says Sam Rivers. ‘Just not ‘free’, which is what I’m -known- for. That’s pretty much the latest part of my thing. There’s no such thing as having music without chords or harmony. Even though you say you’re playing ‘free’, if you put that stuff down, you can put the chords right with it, whether the player knows he’s doing it or not. That’s the point.’

“The point here is that Winds of Manhattan adds another dimension to an immensely talented, determinedly individualistic musician. Sam Rivers is a force in contemporary music. There ain’t no moss on Sam Rivers. And, for yet another dimension, set up your Sam Rivers holograph before you put this album on.

“The future, here we come!!” (Lee Jeske. From the liner notes.)

A1. Lilacs

A2. Colours

A3. Spiral

B1. Matrix

B2. Revival

B3. Blossoms

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Toshiko Akiyoshi & Lew Tabackin - Mosaic Select 33

"The Toshiko Akiyoshi-Lew Tabackin Big Band was the premier recording and touring ensemble of its time in the mid- to late '70s, recording five albums for the RCA Victor label, and stunning audiences with sheer virtuosity and the charts of the Japanese born pianist. A symmetry between Asian culture and American bop made this orchestra most unique, exciting, and above all, highly original. This three-CD set contains the quintuple RCA studio recordings that set a high bar for all others to follow, and gave stiff competition to people like Gil Evans. Akiyoshi wrote music well suited to her rising stars and established veterans, while Tabackin was given more than ample opportunity to express himself on tenor sax, and especially his vibrant flute. This band also grew talent that would go on to become leaders, including Bobby Shew and Gary Foster, those who developed into section leaders like Phil Teele, Bill Reichenbach, and Dick Spencer, and trusted veterans Britt Woodman, Bill Perkins, Don Rader, and King Errison. 'Kogun', with its stunning surf wave/saxophones/Hollywood mountain art work, kicks off the program, as 'Elegy' comes out of the gate roaring in bop style via Akiyoshi's Bud Powell-influenced pianistics. Tabackin is a one-man army of atmospheric flute over tsuzumi drums and moaning sumo-type vocals as a strained, yearning sound identifies the title track in 5/4 time. 'American Ballad' is very much in the Duke Ellington vein with Woodman featured, while the bop/blues 'Henpecked Old Man' reiterates and expands on a theme Akiyoshi wrote in 1964, featuring Shew and Spencer. Where 'Long Yellow Road' is perhaps the most popular of the original vinyl issues, the title track was available on 'Kogun', initially going back to the 1960 Akiyoshi-Mariano quartet with then husband, saxophonist Charlie Mariano. It's an incredible, dynamic, substantive jazz melody, orchestrated in regal, opulent tones by the big band, also soulful, grooving, and full of double stops. 'Opus Number Zero' is a 4/4-to-waltz swiss cheese hard bop, 'Quadrille, Anyone?' a gospel jazz waltz, and 'Since Perry/Yet Another Tear' another Ellington-type epic as drummer Peter Donald and the saxes line up, then shout out. developing a bop-to-blues-to-ballad construct. 'Tales of a Courtesan' is perhaps the least acclaimed of the five albums, though 'Road Time Shuffle' is classic in the Count Basie tradition, 'Strive for Jive' was a popular item featuring Tabackin's Eric Dolphy-esque scattered tenor, and 'Village' perfectly evokes the balance between Eastern and Western cultures, with churning 5/4 Afro-Cuban rhythms surging between Akiyoshi's deft piano and three layered horns in counterpoint - a simply brilliant piece of music. Where the recording Insights, from 1976, succeeded in emphasizing the Japanese koto aspect of Akiyoshi's heritage during the magnum opus suite 'Minimata' with children's voices, floating horns, long-winded bop,and drama under the spare horns, it is not the definitive piece. That honor goes to 'Sumie', a spiritual chart as Tabackin's piccolo is frighteningly haunting. 'Studio J' is yet another memorable jazz chart more easily swung, and a staple in many other jazz big band's repertoires 'March of the Tadpoles' from 1977 is the last of the five albums, but retains unusually disparate high points, with a feature for Tabackin's tenor on the ballad 'Mobile', more bop mixed with Latin samba during 'Deracinated Flower', the flute blues 'Yellow Is Mellow', and the choppy 'Notorious Tourist from the East' in a modal framework built for the players to work out and freely discourse. If you do not already own these recordings and are a progressive big-band fan, it is in your interest to search for this quintessential collection. Mosaic Select has hit a grand slam with this reissue, featuring a band in their early years that has hit on all cylinders since its inception, and never lets off the gas. It comes with an absolute highest recommendation." (Review by Michael G. Nastos for AllMusic. See here.)

1.1. Elegy

1.2. Memory

1.3. Kogun

1.4. American Ballad

1.5. Henpecked Old Man

1.6. Long Yellow Road

1.7. The First Night

1.8. Opus Number Zero

1.9. Quadrille, Anyone?

1.10. Children In The Temple Ground

2.1. Since Perry/Yet Another Tear

2.2. Road Time Shuffle

2.3. Tales Of A Courtesan

2.4. Strive For Jive

2.5. I Ain't Gonna Ask No More

2.6. Interlude

2.7. Village

2.8. Studio J

2.9. Transcience

2.10. Sumie

3.1. Minamata

3.2. March Of The Tadpoles

3.3. Mobile

3.4. Deracinated Flower

3.5. Yellow Is Mellow

3.6. Notorious Tourist From East

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Onzy Matthews - Mosaic Select 29

"The brilliant West Coast arranger Onzy Matthews was a master of the blues in many hues. He contributed to important recordings by Lou Rawls, Ray Charles and Esther Phillips and made two albums for Capitol, the first of which, 'Blues with a Touch of Elegance' is considered by many to be a big band masterpiece. This set collects those albums plus 29 previously unissued Capitol tracks by Matthews. These big band sessions include soloists Sonny Criss, Gabe Baltazar, Curtis Amy, Clifford Scott, Dupree Bolton, Bobby Bryant, Bud Brisbois, Lou Blackburn, Ray Crawford and Richard Groove Holmes. An added bonus is the legendary, previously unissued two-tune session by Earl Anderza and Dupree Bolton for Pacific Jazz." (From the liner notes.)

1.1. A New Samba For Margo

1.2. A Second Chance (Song For The Two For The Seesaw)

1.3. Bossa Nova Blue

1.4. Little Boat (O Barquinho)

1.5. Lover Man

1.6. Ho-Ba-La-La

1.7. Almost In Your Arms (Love Song From Houseboat)

1.8. Canadian Sunset

1.9. Non-Stop Jazz Samba

1.10. Without Your Love

1.11. Bossa Nova In Minor

1.12. One Note Samba

1.13. Lillies Of The Field

1.14. Joe And I

1.15. Midnite Lament

2.1. Blues With A Touch Of Elegance

2.2. Flamingo

2.3. Pensive

2.4. Feels Like I've Got The Blues

2.5. Dallas Blues

2.6. Somethin's Cookin'

2.7. I Should Care

2.8. Blues Non-Stop

2.9. I Cover The Waterfront

2.10. Satin Doll

2.11. Burnin'

2.12. Blues Non-Stop

2.13. I Cover The Waterfront

2.14. Dallas Blues

2.15. Somethin's Cookin'

2.16. Lefty Louie Blues

2.17. Blues Non-Stop

3.1. Ray-On Blues

3.2. You'll Know The First Time

3.3. Moon River

3.4. Like Someone In Love

3.5. Ballad For Orchestra

3.6. I Left My Heart In San Franscisco

3.7. A Set For Gillette

3.8. Spring Is Here

3.9. Down In My Soul

3.10. Make Someone Happy

3.11. People

3.12. Play Me Some Blues

3.13. White Gardenia

3.14. Lilles Of The Field

3.15. Mexicali Brass

3.16. Blues For The Reverend

3.17. Put On A Happy Face

3.18. I Thought About You

3.19. Guess I'd Better Go Back Home

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Duke Ellington - "...And His Mother Called Him Bill"

"When Billy Strayhorn died of cancer in 1967, Duke Ellington was devastated. His closest friend and arranger had left his life full of music and memories. As a tribute, Ellington and his orchestra almost immediately began recording a tribute to Strayhorn, using the late arranger's own compositions and charts. The album features well-known and previously unrecorded Strayhorn tunes that showcased his range, versatility, and, above all, the quality that Ellington admired him most for: his sensitivity to all of the timbral, tonal, and color possibilities an orchestra could bring to a piece of music. The set opens with a vehicle for Johnny Hodges called 'Snibor', written in 1949. A loose blues tune, its intervals showcase Hodges against a stinging I-IV-V backdrop and turnaround, with a sweeping set of colors in the brass section before Cootie Williams takes a break and hands it back to Hodges to take out. The melancholy 'Blood Count' was written in 1967 for the band's Carnegie Hall concert. It proved to be his final composition and chart. Hodges again gets the call and blows deep, low, and full of sadness and even anger. The music is moody, poignant, and full of poise, expressing a wide range of feelings as memories from different periods in the composers' and bandleaders' collective careers. Given all the works Strayhorn composed, this one - with its muted trumpet section set in fours against Hodges' blues wailing - is both wistful and chilling. Also included here is a remake of 1951's 'Rock Skippin' at the Blue Note', in a spicy, funky version with a shimmering cymbal ride from Sam Woodyard and a punched up, bleating Cootie Williams solo as well as one from Jimmy Hamilton on clarinet, smoothing out the harmonic edges of the brass section (which features a ringing break from John Sanders). In cut time, the tune shuffles in the groove with Ellington accenting on every eight as the brass and reeds mix it up joyously. There are two versions of 'Lotus Blossom'. Ellington claimed it was the piece Strayhorn most liked to hear him play. The LP version is a quiet, restrained, meditative rendition played solo by Ellington, with the most subtle and yet emotional nuances he ever presented on a recording as a pianist. Finally, closing the album is a bonus track, a trio version played in a whispering tone with only baritone saxophonist Harry Carney and bassist Aaron Bell accompanying Ellington. The piece was supposedly recorded as the band was packing up to leave. Its informality and soulful verve feel like they are an afterthought, an unwillingness to completely let go, a eulogy whose final words are questions, elegantly stated and met with only the echo of their last vibrations ringing in an empty room, full of wondering, longing, and helplessness, but above all the point of the questions themselves: 'Is this enough?' or 'Can there ever be enough to pay an adequate tribute to this man?' They are interesting questions, because only five years later we would all be saying the same thing about Ellington. For a man who issued well over 300 albums, this set is among his most profoundly felt and very finest recorded moments." (Review of the Bluebird re-issue by Thom Jurek. From AllMusic. See here.)

1. Boo-Dah

2. U.M.M.G.

3. Blood Count

4. Smada

5. Rock Skippin' At The Blue Note

6. Rain Check

7. Midriff

8. My Little Brown Book

9. Lotus Blossom

10. Snibor

11. After All

12. All Day Long

13. Lotus Blossom

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Duke Ellington - The Blanton-Webster Band

"Duke Ellington, I like to argue, ranks as America’s greatest all-around musician—composer, arranger, bandleader, accompanist, soloist and musical thinker. Who else did it all with such sit-up-and-notice style, originality and longevity?

"He and his band reached a new peak of musical expression when a refreshed roster first headed into the studio 80 years ago this week. Their recordings from 1940 to 1942, dubbed their 'Blanton-Webster' iteration, created one of the high points of American music.

"In 1940, Ellington began what some regard as his premier period. He had recently hired Jimmie Blanton, a 21-year-old who would revolutionize jazz bass playing, and Ben Webster, who brought the tenor saxophone to new prominence in the ensemble. They both sparked the Ellington Orchestra. 'Every time there was an addition to the band,' baritone saxophonist Harry Carney told jazz writer Stanley Dance, 'the new instrumentalist seemed to give Duke new ideas and something to draw from and add in his writing.'

"Another recent hire, arranger and composer Billy Strayhorn, began his ascent to becoming Ellington’s indispensable musical partner and an invaluable composer in his own right.

"The Ellington band with Blanton and Webster made its first recording on Feb. 14, 1940, but it took a few weeks to hit its stride. In March, Ellington began recording for RCA Victor, whose engineers captured the Ellington sound with resounding richness, fidelity and balance. Remarkably, the label allowed Ellington to choose most of his repertory.

"At its first recording session for Victor, the band laid down 'Jack the Bear,' a showcase for Blanton, who gave his instrument an expanded role and an outsize tone. A well-disguised 12-bar minor-key blues with an exotic, almost unearthly quality, 'Ko-Ko' fascinates with its drama, from its opening tom-toms to its final crescendo, each chorus building in intensity.

"In 'Concerto for Cootie,' Ellington, a master of contrast, provides bravura trumpeter Cootie Williams with three unlike themes for muted, open and growling trumpet, alternately poignant, sweet, bluesy, sorrowful and exultant.

"Alto saxophonist Johnny Hodges, unmatched as a player of warm, lyric, romantic melody, renders 'Warm Valley' ravishingly. Webster’s inspired solo on 'Cotton Tail' became one of his most famous and enduring. In that recording, Ellington opened a window to the future, laying the foundation for what would soon become known as bebop.

"First recorded in 1941, 'Take the 'A' Train,' a feature for trumpeter Ray Nance, marked Strayhorn’s breakthrough as a composer. After this compelling dance number became a big hit, Ellington adopted it as his orchestra’s signature tune.

"What accounted for the luminosity of this period?

"Ellington was seasoned, and so were nearly all of his players—some of the best in the world—with an average tenure of 10 years with him. Blanton and Webster brought increased rhythmic drive and instrumental virtuosity. Strayhorn introduced new harmonic choices. Ellington was energized by signing new management and booking, and by moving in with a beautiful new woman. And the band was invigorated by a recent concert tour of Europe. Cornetist Rex Stewart recalled in his autobiography, 'Boy Meets Horn,' that 'the band started hitting on all cylinders like a wonderful musical juggernaut.'

"During this time and throughout his career, Ellington, unlike most of his contemporaries, wrote most of the music played by his orchestra and composed exclusively for it. He was the supreme creator of music for that essential American institution, the jazz orchestra or big band. Developing his own harmonic language and tone colors, he was a wizard of experiment.

"'A musician’s sound is his soul, his total personality,' Ellington told Nat Hentoff. 'I hear that sound as I prepare to write.' Ellington composed not for the instrument, but for the man and soul behind the instrument. Not for first or second trumpet, but for Cootie Williams or Ray Nance, to tap the gifts of each. When Ellington hired a new musician, he’d quickly learn his strengths and weaknesses, and write to bring out his very best. He alchemized his players’ musical and emotional personalities into a unique new sound, which Strayhorn called 'the Ellington Effect.' Rarely if ever had anyone assembled 15 musicians with such singular soundprints and transformed them into a distinguished e pluribus unum.

"Webster and colleagues deeply admired Ellington, who led an ingenious instance of what the business writer Warren Bennis termed a 'great group'—one in which the leader helps the members find greatness in themselves. In Ellington’s case, the inspiration worked both ways—he inspired his players, and they inspired him. It’s a lesson for leaders in all fields.

"[...] These magnificent works reward repeated, close listening. And they will continue to, I predict, for centuries to come." (From Steven Cerra's Jazz Profiles blog. See here.)

 

1.1. You, You Darlin'

1.2. Jack The Bear

1.3. Ko Ko

1.4. Morning Glory

1.5. So Far, So Good

1.6. Conga Brava

1.7. Concerto For Cootie

1.8. Me And You

1.9. Cotton Tail

1.10. Never No Lament (Don't Get Around Much Anymore)

1.11. Dusk

1.12. Bojangles

1.13. A Portrait Of Bert Williams

1.14. Blue Goose

1.15. Harlem Air Shaft

1.16. At A Roadside Dixie Diner

1.17. All Too Soon

1.18. Rumpus In Richmond

1.19. My Greatest Mistake

1.20. Sepia Panorama

1.21. There Shall Be No Night

1.22. In A Mellow Tone

2.1. Five O'Clock Whistle

2.2. Warm Valley

2.3. The Flaming Sword

2.4. Across The Track

2.5. Chloe

2.6. I Never Felt This Way Before

2.7. The Sidewalks Of New York

2.8. Flamingo

2.9. The Girl In My Dreams Tries To Look Like You

2.10. Take The "A" Train

2.11. Jumpin' Punkins

2.12. John Hardy's Wife

2.13. Blue Serge

2.14. After All

2.15. Bakkif

2.16. Are You Searchin'

2.17. Just A-Sittin' And A-Rockin'

2.18. The Giddybug Gallop

2.19. Chocolate Shake

2.20. I Got It Bad (And That Ain't Good)

2.21. Clementine

2.22. Brown Skin Gal (In The Calico Gown)

 

3.1. Jump For Joy

3.2. Moon Over Cuba

3.3. Five O'Clock Drag

3.4. Rocks In My Bed

3.5. Bli-Blip

3.6. Chelsea Bridge

3.7. Raincheck

3.8. What Good Would It Do?

3.9. I Don't Know What Kind Of Blues I Got

3.10. Perdido

3.11. The "C" Jam Blues

3.12. Moon Mist

3.13. What Am I Here For?

3.14. I Don't Mind

3.15. Someone

3.16. My Little Brown Book

3.17. Main Stem

3.18. Johnny Come Lately

3.19. Hayfoot Strawfoot

3.20. Sentimental Lady

3.21. A Slip Of The Lip (Can Sink A Ship)

3.22. Sherman Shuffle

 

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Duke Ellington - The Cosmic Scene

Credited to 'Duke Ellington's Spacemen' (recalling Sun Ra), this is session features a relatively stripped back configuration of Ellington's orchestra (three trombones, a trumpet, a clarinet and Paul Gonsalves' ever-present tenor saxophone join the conventional rhythm section) stretching out on various standards and originals. While the arrangements here are absolutely up to par, the feeling of this release is more of the band relaxing and playing than of pulling off ear-defying set pieces. Released on Columbia in 1958 and recorded in the same year.

 

Performers: Duke Ellington (pi), Clark Terry (tp), John Sanders, Britt Woodman, Quentin Jackson (tb), Paul Gonsalves (t-sx), Jimmy Hamilton (cl), Jimmy Wood (bs), Sam Woodyard (dr)

A1. Avalon

A2. Body And Soul

A3. Bass-ment

A4. Early Autumn

A5. Jones

B1. Perdido

B2. St. Louis Blues

B3. Spacemen

B4. Midnight Sun

B5. Take The "A" Train

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Duke Ellington - Ellington Indigos

One of the Duke's finest studio dates from this period. Beautifully arranged and played with a mystical energy that no other in American music could produce, the sound here is a mystical malaise of memories, dreams and fantasies. Paul Gonsalves' tenor and clarinet lines could just has easily have drifted out of 1939 as 1958, yet the recording quality is crystal clear. Ellington's solo playing, his ability to drift around, above and inbetween his ever-tight band, is on display here also: the arrangements balance smaller group section with the whole band playing to create a totally unique interpretation both of standards and Ellington's originals (which invariably fall into both categories anyway).

A1. Solitude
A2. Where Or When
A3. Mood Indigo
A4. Autumn Leaves
A5. The Sky Fell Down
B1. Prelude To A Kiss
B2. Willow Weep For Me
B3. Tenderly
B4. Dancing In The Dark

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Duke Ellington - Such Sweet Thunder

This is a twelve part suite composed by Ellington based on the works of Shakespeare, dedicated to the Shakespearean Festival in the Canadian city of Stratford, Ontario. Written in just under three weeks in 1956 and recorded the following year, there is an excellent sense of creative drive and focus here: much like Verdi Ellington shows how much musical life is in Shakespeare's words. There is a sound here that only Ellington's bands could produce, with such synergy between musicians and their director that ideas can flow directly out from the great bandleader's mind. 

A1. Such Sweet Thunder
A2. Sonnet For Caesar
A3. Sonnet To Hank Cinq
A4. Lady Mac
A5. Sonnet In Search Of A Moor
A6. The Telecasters
B1. Up And Down, Up And Down (I Will Lead Them Up And Down)
B2. Sonnet For Sister Kate
B3. The Star-Crossed Lovers
B4. Madness In Great Ones
B5. Half The Fun
B6. Circle Of Fourths

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