A Jazz Thread

[gjw100]

The title track from Carlos Garnett’s 1999 album ‘Under Nubian Skies’, the best of the four albums released during his relatively short re-emergence during the late 90’s. With Russell Gunn trumpet, Carlton Holmes piano, Brad Jones bass and Shingo Okudaira drums.

[gjw100]

Strap yourself in for ‘Black Unity Part 1’, from Pharoah Sanders’ ‘Black Unity’ (1972), with Sanders and Carlos Garnett on tenor saxophones, Hannibal Marvin Peterson trumpet, Joe Bonner piano, Cecil McBee bass, Stanley Clarke bass, Billy Hart drums, Norman Connors drums and Lawrence Killian percussion.

[gjw100]

Three tracks this morning in memory of saxophonist Carlos Garnett, who passed away last week (the day after Wayne Shorter). Garnett is probably best remembered for writing ‘Banks Of The Nile’ and ‘Mother Of The Future’, two of the more enduring spiritual jazz standards from the early 70’s. He recorded regularly with Norman Connors and played on both Pharoah Sander’s ‘Black Unity’ (more than holding his own on tenor with the leader), and Andrew Hill’s ground-breaking ‘Lift Every Voice’. Following in Wayne Shorter’s footsteps, he spent brief periods, with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers and Miles Davis, sharing saxophone duties with Dave Liebman for 1972’s ‘On The Corner’. Of his own solo albums from that period, the excellent ‘Black Love’ from 1974 (which includes the two songs mentioned above) stands out, but the others are of variable quality. It’s a shame that his discography is so slight compared to his contemporaries, but for an explanation we don’t have to look any further than that old enemy of the jazz musician, prolonged substance abuse.

This is ‘Taurus Woman’ from ‘Black Love’, with Charles Sullivan trumpet, Mauricio Smith flute, Onaje Allan Gumbs electric piano, Reggie Lucas guitar, Norman Connors drums, Alex Blake bass and Mtume percussion.

[gjw100]

‘You Might Say’ from Bugge Wesseltoft’s 1998 album ‘New Conceptions Of Jazz: Sharing’, featuring Wesseltoft piano/programming, Sidsel Endresen vocals, Vidar Johansen soprano saxophone, Ingebrigt Flaten bass and Anders Engen drums.

[gjw100]

’Lilja’ from the 2012 album ‘Last Spring’ by Bugge Wesseltoft (piano) and Henning Kraggerud (violin/viola).

[gjw100]

‘Take A Quick Break’ from the 2014 album ‘Trialogue’ by Bugge Wesseltoft (piano/synthesizer), Dan Berglund (bass/effects) and Henrik Schwarz (samples/electronics/percussion).

[gjw100]

He’s actually just reverted to his regular playlist. I think the Shorter stuff started about 4.00pm so you might have to use BBC Sounds app to go back.

Yep, that's what I'm doing, from my phone to Bluetooth speaker. Very good so far.

[Tony C]

He’s actually just reverted to his regular playlist. I think the Shorter stuff started about 4.00pm so you might have to use BBC Sounds app to go back.

[gjw100]

Gilles Peterson, unsurprisingly, turning his 6 Music show into a Wayne Shorter special, tracing his career back from Miles to (currently) his recordings with Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan and anecdotes from people who know and love his work. Well worth playing back via BBC Sounds if you can’t listen now.

Cheers, Tony. I shall give that a listen right now. It will lighten the mood after West Ham' s latest capitulation.

[Tony C]

Gilles Peterson, unsurprisingly, turning his 6 Music show into a Wayne Shorter special, tracing his career back from Miles to (currently) his recordings with Joni Mitchell and Steely Dan and anecdotes from people who know and love his work. Well worth playing back via BBC Sounds if you can’t listen now.

[gjw100]

‘Johnny Utah’ from the 2013 album ‘Synesthesia’ by The Kandinsky Effect – Warren Walker tenor saxophone and effects, Gael Petrina bass and Caleb Dolister drums/percussion.

[gjw100]

‘Satori’ by Dutch duo Trigg and Gusset aka Erik Van Geer (tenor saxophone and bass clarinet) and Bart Knol (keyboards/programming), with Jort Nijhuis (drums) and Coen Hamelink (trumpet).

[gjw100]

‘Ithaca’, a 2021 single by Eriksson Kaner (keyboards) and Sascha Create (drums), featuring James Akers (tenor saxophone) and Hugo Piper (bass).

[gjw100]

‘Somnambulant’ from composer/arranger/conductor Miho Hazama’s 2018 album ‘Dancer in Nowhere’, with Kavita Shah vocals, Lionel Loueke guitar, Jason Rigby saxophones, James Shipp vibraphone, Billy Test piano, Sam Anning bass and Jake Goldbas drums, with a 10-piece horn and string section.

[gjw100]

‘All The Mornings Bring’ from Oregon’s 2000 album ‘Oregon In Moscow’, featuring Paul McCandless oboe, Ralph Towner classical guitar, Glen Moore bass and Mark Walker drums, with the Moscow Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra conducted by George Garanian.

[gjw100]

The title track from Tim Garland’s 2018 album ‘Weather Walker’, with Garland on soprano saxophone, Jason Rebello piano, Yuri Goloubev bass and the English Session Orchestra.

[diggedy derek]

To put it another way, it's amazing that a major musical force in the pre-Beatles era, who released an operatic major album as recently as 2018, has just died.

[gjw100]

I'd almost forgotten also that he'd been an absolute stalwart of The Jazz Messengers before Miles's band. So many musical lifetimes in one.

Absolutely. Compositionally he was a major force in both bands, which is quite something when you consider that his tenure in the Jazz Messengers coincided with Lee Morgan and then Freddie Hubbard. Miles wasn't a particularly prolific writer, so his repertoire at that time was hugely dependant upon Shorter coming up with the goods on a regular basis. I think it was Herbie Hancock who said that Shorter's tunes were the only ones that Miles accepted without any tinkering at all.

[diggedy derek]

I'd almost forgotten also that he'd been an absolute stalwart of The Jazz Messengers before Miles's band. So many musical lifetimes in one.

[gjw100]

I'm a big fan of the early Donald Byrd album Freeform, I'll have to revisit Shorter's playing on that.

'Free Form' is indeed a fine album, dd. So as you've mentioned it, let's have the title track, which also has Herbie Hancock on piano.

[diggedy derek]

That's such a great album. I didn't know Shorter had played on it.

I'm a big fan of the early Donald Byrd album Freeform, I'll have to revisit Shorter's playing on that.

[gjw100]

A beathtakingly beautiful version of 'The Barbara Song' from 'The Individualism Of Gil Evans' (1964). Shorter's tenor solo begins at about the 5.30 mark, a thing of such delicacy and restraint, drifting in and out of the main melody that at times it's not really a solo at all (perhaps a forerunner of Joe Zawinul's famous Weather Report maxim 'we always solo, we never solo'). I don't think there were any saxophonists around at that time who could have played this piece to such wonderful effect.

[diggedy derek]

For a fair old time, I knew his Miles Davis and Blue Note stuff, and was only dimly aware of his his mighty role in Weather Report. So yeah, what UA said. It's wonderful he enjoyed such an epic career, with so many chapters it's hard to count.

I spoke to him on the phone briefly about three years ago, and he was living his best life for sure.

[ursus arctos]

Shorter vs Bird vs Coltrane is very much a peak/career debate

We were all very fortunate to have had Shorter for as long as we did

[gjw100]

I've posted this before, but it's my favourite of the recorded duets with Joe Zawinul. 'Blackthorn Rose' from my favourite Weather Report album, 'Mysterious Traveller' (1974). If I had to keep just one Wayne Shorter song, it would be this one. A suitable musical epitaph.