Lesser Known Trumpeters

Dave Douglas' Greenleaf Music blog referenced a nice, informative post about some of the great, but lesser known, trumpeter players through the years. It's on a blog called Curt's Jazz Cafe. It's worth checking out; one of them, Louis Smith, I wasn't familiar with.

A Great Time for Jazz

There was a recent post in JazzCorner's Speakeasy Forum that stated that "The players in New York are too busy slinging old hash around at Smalls or bellowing to the rafters at the Stone, while everybody else seems more fascinated by beeps and blips—you know, "texture"—than music." 

I agree to a point, but right now is an incredibly fertile time for Jazz that combines composition with improvisation in interesting ways. Some of the players who I think are emblematic of this area are Taylor Ho Bynum, Mary Halvorson, Ingrid Laubrock, Kris Davis, Satoko Fujii, Myra Melford (note how many are women), John Hebert, Tyshawn Sorey, Ken Filiano, Harris Eisenstadt, Liberty Ellman, Russ Lossing, Adam Lane, Matt Bauder, Nate Wooley, John Hollenbeck, Tomas Fujiwara (note how many are drummers), Tony Malaby and Peter Evans. I'm sure I've left many people out as well. 

There was a recent post in that same Forum about the meaning of Third Stream Music. I think a lot of what these artists produce could be considered a new type of Third Stream, one that integrates many types of musics with jazz and creates an organic blend in which the elements mesh seamlessly. 

This is a great time to love Jazz, even if it puts a strain on your wallet!

Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up, Actionspeak

482 Music, 482-1071
 
Danton Boller-bass
Mary Halvorson-guitar
Brian Settles-tenor saxophone
Jonathan Finlayson-trumpet
Tomas Fujiwara-drums


Actionspeak is like a forward-thinking ‘60s Blue Note release with a twist. The Blue Note influence is accounted for by Fujiwara’s admiration for the compositions of Wayne Shorter, and that “cinematic” quality is evident here. The twist is provided by Mary Halvorson’s guitar, which is given ample room to wind in and around the structures of the songs. She plays it straight occasionally, but her unique sensibilities give Actionspeak a left-of-center edge. Like many contemporary jazz recordings, it’s difficult at times to tell where the composition leaves off and the improvising begins. Settles is the new name here, at least for me, and his hoarse upper register and terse statements remind me of Frank Lowe.
 
This release has really grown on me with repeated listens, and successfully navigates between inside and outside sensibilities.

My Top 10 for 2010

Here are my Top 10 recordings for 2010, in order:

Ashcan Rantings – Adam Lane’s Full Throttle Orchestra (Clean Feed)

 Paradoxical Frog – Davis/Laubrock/Sorey (Clean Feed)

 Day in Pictures – Matt Bauder (Clean Feed)

 Royal Toast – The Claudia Quintet (Cuneiform)

 Summer Works 2009 – Riviere Composers’ Pool (Emanem)

 Three – Gauci/Davis/Bisio (Clean Feed)

 Actionspeak – Tomas Fujiwara & The Hook Up (482 Music)

 Ground Rush – Julian Arguelles Trio (Clean Feed)

 Live in Lisbon – Peter Evans Quartet (Clean Feed)

 The Rub And Spare Change – Michael Formanek (ECM)

 And my Honorable Mentions, in no particular order:

 Searching for Adam – Rodrigo Amado (Not Two)

 Transmit – Ideal Bread (Cuneiform)

 Desert Ship – Satoko Fujii ma-do (Not Two)

 The Horse Jumps & The Ship is Gone – The Vandermark 5 Special Edition (Not Two)

 Saturn Sings – Mary Halvorson Quintet (Firehouse 12)

 All is Gladness in the Kingdom – Fight The Big Bull (Clean Feed)

 Dual Identity – Mahanthappa & Lehman (Clean Feed)

The Claudia Quintet, Royal Toast

Cuneiform 307

John Hollenbeck – drums/percussion

Ted Reichman – Accordion

Chris Speed – Clarinet/Tenor Saxophone

Matt Moran – Vibraphone

Drew Gress – Acoustic Bass

 Guest: Gary Versace - piano

Every once in a while, a recording really grabs your attention and is a powerful reminder of why we love this music. And even though Jazz is the “sound of surprise”, let’s face it: We’ve all listened to a lot of records over the years that were well crafted and well played, but didn’t offer anything new.

Right now I’m listening to Royal Toast by The Claudia Quintet, a group led by John Hollenbeck, and it’s energizing my morning. Hollenbeck composed all the pieces excepting some brief overdubbed solos from various group members, and he gets an amazing amount of textures from such a small group. The compositions themselves don’t follow a theme-solos-theme format, but seem to cycle with variations of instrumentation and rhythm. Gary Versace is a guest on the CD, but he’s so well integrated it’s hard to imagine how the groups sounds without him.

I also recently received Hollenbeck’s large ensemble recording, Eternal Interlude, and I can’t wait to spin it based on what I’ve heard on Royal Toast.

9/01/09 What I'm Listening To

Marion Brown, Duets

Marion Brown, Sweet Earth Flying

Herbie Hancock, Flood

Dave Burrell, High Won, High Two

Lester Young, Complete Aladdin Recordings