A Jazz Thread

[Satchmo Distel]

Duke Ellington - Afro-Bossa, 1963:

[gjw100]

‘Indawu’ from South African pianist Nduduzo Makhathini’s 2020 album ‘Modes Of Communication: Letters From The Underworlds’. With Logan Richardson alto saxophone, Linda Sikhakhane tenor saxophone, Ndabo Zulu trumpet, Zwelakhe-Duma Bell bass, Ayande Sikade drums, Omagugu Makhathini vocals and Naila Makhathini vocals.

[gjw100]

‘Przywitanie Slonca’ from the 2019 album ‘Slzvic Spirits’ by Polish collective EABS, featuring Marek Pedziwiatr keyboards, Jakub Kurek trumpet, Olaf Wegier tenor saxophone, Vojto Monteur guitar, Pawel Stachowiak bass, Marcin Rak drums and Spisek Jednego percussion, with guest Ed ‘Tenderlonious’ Cawthorne on soprano saxophone and flute.

[gjw100]

‘Survivor’s Guilt’ from the 2020 album ‘The New Immigrant Experience’ by composer/arranger Felipe Salles’ Interconnections Ensemble, featuring Jonathan Ball, Aaron Dutton, Mike Caudill, Rick DiMuzio and Tyler Burchfield saxophones/flute/clarinet, Jeff Holmes, Don Clough, Yuta Yamaguchi, Eric Smith, and Doug Olsen trumpet/flugelhorn, Clayton DeWalt, Randy Pingrey, Bulut Gulen and Angel Subero trombone, Nando Michelin piano, Kevin Grudecki guitar, Ryan Fedak vibraphone/marimba, Keala Kaumehelwa bass and Bertram Lehmann drums/percussion.

[gjw100]

‘Shounch (Breath/Inhale)’ from the 2018 album ‘Transition’ by the Zela Margossian Quintet, with Margossian on piano, Stuart Vandegraaff clarinet, Elsen Price bass, Alexander Inman-Hislop drums and Adem Yilmaz percussion.

[gjw100]

‘Into The Sea (RIP My Sister Anya)’ from the 2019 album ‘Anesthesia’ by Russian alto saxophonist Masha Art, with Evgeny Lebedev piano, Anton Revnyuk bass, Ignat Kravtov drums and Maria Kulakova harp.

[gjw100]

‘Watery Universe’ from London-based Italian keyboard player Maria Chiara Argiro’s 2019 album ‘Hidden Seas’, with Sam Ripley tenor saxophone and clarinet, Tal Janes guitar, Leila Martial vocals, Andrea Di Biase bass, Gaspar Sena drums/percussion and Mauro Polito programming.

[gjw100]

‘Wind Chimes’ from Carter Jefferson’s 1979 album ‘The Rise of Atlantis’, with Jefferson on tenor saxophone, Terumasa Hino flugelhorn, Harry Whitaker piano, Clint Houston bass, Victor Lewis drums and Steve Thornton percussion.

[gjw100]

The title track from John Clark’s 1980 album ‘Song Of Light’, with Michael Cochrane piano, Ron McClure bass, Victor Lewis drums and Clark on French horn, an instrument rarely heard on jazz records, particularly in a solo capacity.

[gjw100]

‘Blues For Lupe’ from the album ‘I Want Some Water’ by soprano saxophonist Billie Harris, recorded in 1980 but not released until 1999. With Horace Tapscott piano, David Bryant bass, Everett Brown drums and Daoude Woods percussion.

[gjw100]

That I’ve got this far into the thread without properly featuring Pat Metheny, my favourite artist of all time, is solely down to having to pick from over 50 albums (under his own name or in collaboration with other artists). Narrowing that down to three tunes seemed a bit of a task, so I put it to one side until yesterday, when I decided to stick them all on shuffle and choose the first ones to emerge. First up was ‘Across The Sky’ from the 1997 album ‘Imaginary Day’, with Metheny on electric guitar, Lyle Mays keyboards, David Blamires vocals and acoustic guitar, Mark Ledford vocals and flugelhorn, Steve Rodby bass, Paul Wertico drums and Mino Cinelu percussion.

[gjw100]

Second was ‘Ferry Cross The Mersey’ from the 2004 solo album ‘One Quiet Night’, with Metheny playing a specially-built baritone guitar. Recorded alone in the studio over the course of a single evening – just him, the guitar and a couple of microphones. Coincidentally, I had thought about posting this on the Gerry Marsden thread following his death earlier this year but never got around to it.

[gjw100]

Finally, ‘See The World’ from the 2007 album ‘Secret Story’, with Metheny on electric and acoustic guitars, Gil Goldstein piano, Steve Rodby bass, Paul Wertico drums, Armando Marcal percussion, Dave Bargeron trombone/tuba, Dave Taylor trombone, Michael Mossman trumpet/flugelhorn, Mike Metheny trumpet/flugelhorn, Ryan Kisor trumpet/flugelhorn, John Clark Frech horn and the London Orchestra conducted by Jeremy Lubbock.

[Satchmo Distel]

Ode To Charlie Parker - Eric Dolphy

Music Matador - Eric Dolphy (lots going on in this piece, from Spanish to calypso)

[gjw100]

‘Chana’ from Carlos Garnett’s 1974 album ‘Journey To Enlightenment’, with Garnett on tenor saxophone, Hubert Eaves keyboards, Reggie Lucas guitar, Anthony Jackson bass, Howard King drums and Neil Clarke percussion.

[gjw100]

‘Jua’ from the 1974 album ‘Infinite Jones' by bassist John Lee and drummer Gerry Brown, with Chris Hinze flutes, Gary Bartz alto saxophone, Rob van den Broek keyboards and Henny Vonk vocals.

[gjw100]

‘Involuntary Bliss’ from bassist Alphonso Johnson’s 1976 album ‘Moonshadows’, with George Duke keyboards, Gary Bartz soprano saxophone, Flora Purim vocals, Narada Michael Walden drums, Airto Moreira percussion and Alex Acuna percussion.

[gjw100]

‘Made In Spain’ from Rolf Kuhn’s 1974 album ‘Connection 74’, with Rolf on clarinet, brother Joachim on electric piano, Randy Brecker trumpet, Toto Blanke guitar, Palle Danielsson bass and Daniel Humair drums.

[gjw100]

‘Imaginary Lines’ from the 2015 album ‘The Meridian Suite’ by Antonio Sanchez and Migration, featuring Sanchez on drums and keyboards, Thana Alexa vocals, Adam Rogers guitar, John Escreet piano, Seamus Blake tenor saxophone and Matt Brewer bass.

[gjw100]

‘House On A Hill’ from the 2017 album ‘Quantum Man’ by Bobby Selvaggio and the Transcendental Orchestra, with Selvaggio alto/tenor saxophones, Theron Brown piano, Amber Dimoff and Chiara Stauffer violins, Andrea Elson and Christina Spackey violas, Trevor Kazarian cello, Dan Pappalardo bass, Dustin May drums, James Haddad percussion and Chelsea Selvaggio vocals.

[gjw100]

‘Time To Grow’ from the Merje Kagu Ensemble’s 2018 album ‘When Silence Falls’, with Kagu on guitar, Marina Cyrino flute, Blanca Sans Ballart oboe and English horn, Asa Johansson violin, Leonor Palazzo cello, Anders Jormin bass and Jesse Ojajarvi drums.

[gjw100]

‘The Prairie Is A Rolling Ocean’ from the 2018 album ‘Sifting Stars’ by bassist Matt Ulery, with Rob Clearfield piano, Michael Caskey percussion and a 20-piece orchestra of brass, woodwinds and strings.

[Satchmo Distel]

Paul Desmond & Gerry Mulligan Quartet - All the Things You Are (1962), very lovely indeed.

[gjw100]

British rapper Ty (Ben Chijioke) died last year from Covid-related pneumonia at the age of only 47. Although he was Mercury-nominated for ‘Upwards’ (2003), the second of only five albums that he recorded between 2001 and 2018, I always felt that he didn’t receive the level of recognition that he properly deserved. There was a humour and intelligence in his lyrics that is all too rare in hip-hop/RnB circles, and a proper sense of musicality that drew heavily on soul and jazz influences, using live instrumentation rather than lazily-sourced samples. This is ‘Music 2 Fly 2’ from ’Upwards’, with Andrew Horley drums/keyboards, Jean-Phillippe Dary keyboards, Jason Yarde saxophone / bass clarinet, Mark Crown trumpet, Joe Bentley trombone, Trevor Antonio percussion, Bembe Segue vocals, Marcia Escoffery vocals and the Basquiat Strings. (Unfortunately, the video I have linked to isn’t the best but it’s the only one available. After the song finishes there are a few minutes of silence before the album ‘bonus track’ ‘Inner Love’).

[gjw100]

‘What You Want (Taylormade)’ from the 2006 album ‘Closer’ with Andrew Horley drums/keyboards, Jason Yarde saxophone, Mark Crown trumpet, Joe Bentley trombone, Taylor McFerrin beatbox and Joy Jones vocals.