Date = 21 June 2014    

Artist name = The Fat Babies  

Genre = Jazz

Title = 18^th & Racine

Record company = Delmark

Review =

            Why is it that some established forms of improvised music are more valued than others? Though bebop developed in the early 1940s, for example, it is possibly the form of jazz played most frequently. Traditional jazz, however defined, is less highly regarded. One reason for this disparity might be that the more modern music is complex and therefore demanding while the older is sometimes simple and presumably easy to play. Bebop is still capable of yielding surprises; traditional jazz, less so. On “High Society,” can any traditional clarinetist escape the influence of Alphonse Picou’s solo from the distant past?

            Whatever the answer(s) to the question, traditional jazz continues being performed by serious musicians. Vince Giordano’s Nighthawks is probably the most notable traditional group; bassist Beau Sample’s Fat Babies is another one. Founded in 2010 and headquartered in Chicago, this septet plays compositions mainly from the 1920s and early 1930s. Its music is vital partly because most of its repertoire, as represented on 18^th & Racine, is not overly familiar. Yes, “Stardust” is one of the most popular tunes in all of American music and anyone interested in traditional jazz doubtless is aware of “Nobody’s Sweetheart,” but the remaining thirteen selections are less well known. Among them are creations by such stellar musicians as Fletcher Henderson, James P. Johnson, Jabbo Smith, and Clarence Williams.

            So what does the band bring to these more-or-less neglected compositions from long ago? At least two things: First, it plays well and energetically; second, it performs some tunes in a manner consistent with the original recordings of them while refashioning others. Consider the second point. Despite being twenty seconds longer than Jabbo Smith’s recording of “Till Times Get Better,” the septet’s version follows the structure of Smith’s. Both begin with a piano introduction (including three identical opening notes). Then, the cornet states the melody, a musician sings, the clarinet solos, and the cornet concludes the piece. The group takes liberties with Fletcher Henderson’s “The Stampede,” giving the opening melodic statement to the cornet rather than the ensemble and otherwise redistributing the solos among the horns; the new recording is over a minute longer than Henderson’s. In other words, the band’s approach to its material is not predictable.  

            Two selections require special comment. The corny vocal on “I’ll Fly to Hawaii,” recorded initially by Brad Gowans in 1926, makes it irredeemable. This might be the first recording of the tune since the second recording of it--by Julian Fuhs in 1927. The reason for its neglect is obvious. With many old songs worthy of reconsideration, I wonder why leader Sample chose “I’ll Fly to Hawaii” for inclusion on this CD. James P. Johnson’s “Blueberry Rhyme” is a piano solo by Paul Asaro, backed only by drummer Alex Hall on brushes. The composer recorded it twice (1939, 1943), both times as an unaccompanied piano solo. It became something of a favorite of Asaro, who recorded it at least four times as leader, all in 2004. That his and Hall’s version is polished therefore comes as no surprise.

            The music on 18^th & Racine shows that in the hands of spirited instrumentalists, traditional jazz played unpredictably is still viable.

Author = Benjamin Franklin V

Date = 18 Jun 2014      

Artist Name = Lena Bloch       

Genre = Jazz

Title = Feathery

Record Company = Thirteenth Note

Review =

            Among the jazz musicians born in Russia are Buzzy Drootin, Valery Ponomarev, Alexei Kuznetsov, members of the Ganelin Trio (Vladimir Chekasin, Vyacheslav Ganelin, and Vladimir Tarasov), and possibly Charlie Spivak. To this list may be added Lena Bloch, hitherto unknown to me. Born in Moscow, the tenor saxophonist has led, since 1989, a peripatetic life: Israel, Holland, Germany, United States, Germany again, Canada, Germany yet again, and finally United States, this time initially in Boston but then in Brooklyn, where she currently resides. Along the way she received a degree from the Cologne Conservatory and attended graduate school at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. In Europe around 1991 she began playing professionally, including with the rock group Embryo and as leader of her own quartet. Soon thereafter she met alto saxophonist Lee Konitz, who introduced her to music that would inspire her from then until now. This is the music of pianist-composer-theorist-teacher Lennie Tristano (1919-1978) and his associates Ted Brown and Warne Marsh, both tenor saxophonists; himself a Tristano student and colleague, Konitz is the best known musician of what might be called the Tristano School. As Feathery demonstrates, Bloch is, apparently, the most recent instrumentalist influenced by Tristano and dedicated to keeping alive his precepts, as practiced by his acolytes. She creates music well worth hearing and taking seriously.

            Bloch is possibly most indebted to Marsh and Brown in matters of tone: like theirs, hers is dry, with little vibrato. She plays cleanly by articulating individual notes and avoiding flurries of sixteenth notes. Each note matters. This tendency is perhaps most obvious on “Baby Suite” and “Starry-Eyed.” On the former, she plays strings of single notes, each note followed by a rest; on the latter, which is really the standard “Star Eyes,” she usually pauses between the notes that correspond to the words “star” and “eyes,” “eyes” and “are,” and “skies” and “are” when sung. This separation of notes creates an airiness that parallels the tone she gets from her horn. Especially at slow tempo, her technique has the effect of forcing the listener (this listener, anyway) to focus intently on her playing. (Altering aspects of a popular tune and renaming it is part of the Tristano tradition. His “Lennie’s Pennies,” for example, is a reworking of “Pennies from Heaven.”)

            Bloch drew on Marsh and Brown for two of the tunes included on Feathery. Though not flagwavers, they are the most

Lena Block - Feathery - Music Charts Magazine Jazz CD Review by Benjamin Franklin V

sprightly performances on the CD. Marsh’s “Marshmallow” is based on the chords of “Cherokee”; Brown’s “Featherbed,” on those of “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To.” She acknowledges Konitz with an original tune titled “Hi-Lee,” which alludes to his composition “Hi Beck.”

            If the Marsh and Brown compositions are up-tempo, guitarist Dave Miller’s “Rubato” is the opposite. Though it contains a section of relatively energetic playing, that section is framed by music performed at a dirge-like tempo. Amazingly, the group, a quartet, engages in effective collective improvisation at this tempo. Billy Mintz’s drum solo is so slow that it barely moves. As with Bloch’s own playing, though, this deliberateness—almost stasis—forces the listener to focus on the sounds Mintz creates. Bassist Cameron Brown—a major presence throughout the CD and the composer of “Baby Suite”—plays arco, while Miller provides chords and joins the leader in unison passages. “Rubato” is an impressive performance.

            Yet all the music on this release is impressive. Feathery signals the arrival of a significant musician, Lena Bloch.   Not only does she help keep alive the Tristano tradition, but her music is among the most stimulating I have heard recently.     

Author = Benjamin Franklin V

Dolly Parton has done just about everything a person can do in one lifetime, and it doesn’t appear that she’s about to slow down. She still tours, the U.S. and the world. She’s still working behind the scenes at her theme parks, and she is very involved in the Imagination Library, where children are provided a free book every month through the age of five. She has an honorary doctorate, she’s worked with Girl Scouts, she has been in movies, written songs, and been nominated for at least one Tony Award, Emmy Award, Grammy Award…the list goes on Dolly recently released her 42nd studio album. I listened to the review copy for several weeks before it was officially released on May 13. She always has something different to offer her fans. We’re talking about Dolly Parton here. A unique, recognizable voice that can sing any kind of song out there. And, the new album definitely shows us that. The album includes the song “You Can’t Make Old Friends,” which features Kenny Rogers, and “From Here to the Moon and Back,” with Willie Nelson. The album has an old Bob Dylan song, “Don’t Think Twice”. And, the album has nine songs that Dolly wrote. Dolly actually started recording in 1959. She became a huge success in the mid 1960s, putting out hit after hit. When the sound of country music changed, Dolly changed with it. But somehow, she never left the sound of real country music behind. She has the ability to let us hear her gospel sound, her folksy sound, her country sound, and for certain a little of that bluegrass side. You can dance to Dolly’s music, you can sing along with it, you can cry with it. But, whatever reaction each song generates, you are for sure going to enjoy it. Here are the songs you are going to get on this new album:  Blue Smoke, Unlikely Angel, Don’t Think Twice, You Can’t Make Old Friends, Home, Banks of the Ohio, Lay Your Hands on Me, Miss You-Miss Me, If I Had Wings, Lover Du Jour, From Here to the Moon and Back and Try. First time through the album, I had a few favorites. Second time through, I changed my mind, and picked different favorites. But by the third time I listened, I realized there is something to like about each and every one of the songs on the CD. This is one of those albums that will find you are really listening to the lyrics. “Try” and “Unlikely Angel” remained two of my favorites, no matter how many times I listened. Dolly is very convincing when she tells the listener, “And if you fail at first just keep on trying, ‘Cause you are not a failure in God’s eyes, So spread your wings and let the magic happen, ‘Cause you’ll never really know if you don’t try”.

For everything you want to know about Dolly, visit her web site at dollyparton.com. You can follow her on Twitter, too, @DollyParton. Country music news and reviews are always available at www.countryschatter.com, and you will find us on Twitter @countryschatter.

Music Charts Magazine Country music CD Review of Dolly Parton - Blue Smoke - by Donna Rea /of the website we all know and love: www.CountrysChatter.com

Date = 21 June 2014    

Artist Name = Sonny Rollins   

Genre = Jazz

Title = Road Shows, Volume 3

Record Company = OKeh

Review =

            Some superior Sonny Rollins performances have been made available in recent years as a result of his decision to release selections from concerts on his own label, Doxy. The first CD appeared in 2008, and the second three years later; the third has just been issued on OKeh, sixty-five years after his initial recording (with Babs Gonzales) in 1949. His desire to circulate this worthwhile music as he ages (he was born in 1930) is understandable; it is also cause for celebration.

            Recorded in France, Japan, and St. Louis, the six selections come from 2001, 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2012 (two). At over fifteen and twenty-three minutes, respectively, the standards “Someday I’ll Find You” and “Why Was I Born?” are the longest ones. (Could some of the former, a Noel Coward composition, have influenced Thelonious Monk when he was writing “Ask Me Now”?) Two Rollins originals are familiar (“Biji” and “Don’t Stop the Carnival”), while he wrote “Pantanjali” only recently. A curiosity, “Solo Sonny” is more a melange than a unified whole.

            Though all of Rollins’s recordings are worth hearing, even the least inspired ones, the music on Road Shows, Volume 3, which is of almost uniformly high quality, supports the view that Rollins usually plays better in live performances than on studio recordings. Aided by effective rhythm sections, his rhythmic drive is impressive on “Biji,” “Don’t Stop the Carnival,” “Pantanjali,” and “Why Was I Born?” He plays only “Someday I’ll Find You” relatively slowly. His tone is as full bodied and attractive as ever. His inventiveness never flags. Though the other soloists (trombonist Clifford Anderson, pianist Stephen Scott, and guitarists Bobby Broom and Peter Bernstein) are adequate, they are largely of incidental interest; they mostly fill time as the high-energy leader rests and recharges. He is the main attraction.

            I find two aspects of this release irritating. One is “Solo Sonny.” Played without accompaniment, it consists entirely of quotations from familiar tunes that lack any obvious connection. Its presence on this CD indicates Rollins’s approval of it, and many listeners will probably consider it a highlight, going so far as to attempt to identify all the compositions from which Rollins quotes. Yet it strikes me as a stunt, an exercise appropriate for a practice session, not a concert. I wonder why Rollins values “Solo Sonny” and decided to release it instead of something else from among the hours of unissued concert performances to which he doubtless has access.

            That these performances deserved enthusiastic audience response is obvious, but too much of it is retained on this CD. The applause totals five minutes, time that could have been given to the inclusion of another musical selection. People listening to this release more than once at a single sitting will have to endure two full minutes of applause between the end of the final selection and the beginning of the music on the first one. Around forty seconds of clapping typically separate tunes, applause that, in linking one piece to another, creates the impression that the selections were played in sequence at the same concert. Nothing would have been lost, and something would have been gained, from significantly reducing the amount of audience response to Rollins’s playing. This sublime music does not need the validation implied by excessive applause.

            These reservations aside, the third volume of Road Shows is a major addition to the rich recorded legacy of Sonny Rollins. I hope he will release, or permit others to release, additional concert material of similar quality.        

Author = Benjamin Franklin V