Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2016 i JazzTimes

With the house lights up, the curtain down and ticketholders still finding their seats, you could already hear them tapping. It was minutes to showtime at New York’s Music Box Theatre in late June, and the virtuoso cast of Shuffle Along, or, the Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed was warming up, furiously. Then through the hall came a loud, punctuated cheer—the cast again, still behind the curtain, after the preshow group huddle. The whole audience felt it, like plane engines revving right before takeoff: the buildup to an immense blast of creative exertion. Starring Audra McDonald, with direction by George C. Wolfe and choreography by Savion Glover, this Shuffle Along was not the original Shuffle Along, the landmark musical created by songwriter and stride…

Bobby Hutcherson, one of the most important vibraphonists in jazz history, and a musician-composer who helped define the more interactive and exploratory nature of postbop in the 1960s, died Aug. 15 at his home in Montara, Calif., after a long battle with emphysema. He was 75. Connie Crothers, a brilliant avant-garde pianist also recognized as a foremost advocate of Lennie Tristano’s teachings, died Aug. 13 in New York City. The cause was cancer. She was 75. Charles Davis, a saxophonist renowned for his baritone work who played with artists ranging from Barry Harris, Dinah Washington and Kenny Dorham to Sun Ra, Archie Shepp and Cecil Taylor, died July 15. He was 83. Clarinetist Pete Fountain, a New Orleans institution who became an unlikely celebrity through his appearances on Lawrence Welk’s…

Mesa/Boogie Subway D-800 Bass Head Here’s an aptly named product: Boasting 800 watts and weighing only 5.5 pounds, this supremely versatile Class D head is ideal for the apartment-dwelling downtown bassist. Dial in your perfect tone via four-band EQ (Bass, Low Mid, High Mid and Treble), a Voicing knob for sounds from flat to vintage scoop, and a Deep switch for even more low end. An Impedance control allows for a smooth hookup with whatever wacky cabinet the venue is offering, and Headphones and Aux capabilities turn the Subway into an excellent rehearsal tool. $699 online. mesaboogie.com Phaeton PHT-2060 Trumpet Phaeton’s latest trumpet, the PHT-2060, features the company’s patented Triple Play adjustable weighted mouthpiece receiver. The Triple Play concept includes three screw-in inserts, each of a different weight, in bronze,…

The first Charlie Parker collection I ever owned was a mixtape, dubbed onto both sides of a Maxell cassette. Made at my persistent urging by a Bird-crazy Latin teacher at my high school, the tape was an admirable survey of the alto saxophonist’s known discography. There were rough gems from his Savoy years, choice selections on Dial, a few confectionary morsels from Charlie Parker With Strings. And in what seemed at the time like a collector’s quirk, my teacher had littered the trail with false starts and incomplete takes: an off-kilter “Ko-Ko” a thwarted “Parker’s Mood” I didn’t give it much thought as I wore out the cassette in my car’s tape deck, but this tendency toward all-inclusiveness—toward a blinkered, warts-and-all voraciousness—was the best possible indoctrination to any life of…

One of Ted Nash’s earliest memories is of his father, trombonist Dick Nash, weeping. The date: Nov. 22, 1963. “I was 3 years old” says the multi-instrumentalist and composer, recalling the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. “It actually piqued my awareness of what a politician was, what a president was, to see that it affected my father so much.” Nash’s parents were dedicated civil-rights activists in Los Angeles, and that sense of engagement suffuses his longform large-ensemble work Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom. This piece, now available in a two-disc set from Motéma, presents eight original compositions inspired by both the ideas and sonic characteristics of famous presidential orations from around the world. Presidential Suite was originally commissioned for Jazz at Lincoln Center, where Nash is a mainstay…

Chamber Music America, the national network for ensemble music professionals, has announced the awardees of its 2016 New Jazz Works commissions supported by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The recipients are the Ambrose Akinmusire Quartet, the Geof Bradfield Ensemble, Sylvie Courvoisier/Mark Feldman DUO, Musae, Ryan Keberle and Catharsis, Chris Lightcap’s Bigmouth, the Todd Marcus Jazz Orchestra, Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures and the Wayne Shorter Quartet. Saxophonists Ben Webster and Wayne Shorter and trombonist J.J. Johnson have been named the 2016 inductees to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Ertegun Jazz Hall of Fame. In July, each inductee was honored with tribute performances at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola in New York City.…

Jeff Lederer first heard the music of Albert Ayler when he was at Oberlin College in the ’70s, studying religion but playing a lot of saxophone on the side.The head of Oberlin’s jazz department at the time, Wendell Logan, told him about Ayler’s 1968 Impulse! album Love Cry, which he then hunted down on vinyl in the college library.“That record spoke to me immediately, and it started off an interest that’s just continued to percolate over time” Lederer says.“It’s still my favorite Ayler record.To say he plays anthems on that album may not be quite right, because the music doesn’t have a martial or patriotic feel. But really, an anthem is any song that draws everybody’s attention to a central point in a hurry—it’s right there, everybody can feel it—and…

A frightening presidential election; surging racial tension in the U.S. and abroad; a scary new era of worldwide terrorism: It’s only natural to crave escapism in 2016, and to hope for the best for humanity. If you’re a fan of modern jazz-funk, Theo Croker’s latest disc, Escape Velocity (OKeh), will fill your needs. To paraphrase George Clinton, the 31-year-old trumpeter, composer and arranger brings forth the good times, with such uplifting tunes as “This Could Be (For the Traveling Soul),” which thumps to a rugged samba-meets-R&B groove; the shimmering “In Orbit,” where Croker blows his trumpet inside an alternately serrating and serene ambiance; and a glowing contemporary treatment of Norman Connors’ 1973 classic “Love From the Sun,” featuring Croker’s mentor Dee Dee Bridgewater channeling her earlier jazz-funk roots. Croker, who…

EARLY THIS YEAR DURING THE 2016 JAZZ CRUISE, JT publisher Lee Mergner sat down with the Israeli trumpeter-composer, 38, whose latest album and ECM debut, Into the Silence, is a meditative musical reconciliation of his father’s recent death. He’d just come from a long sojourn with his family to India, which served as a spiritual and creative retreat. In a lengthy and freewheeling interview, Cohen talked about his journey from Israel to Berklee to NYC, and about his evolution as a trumpeter. Cohen was performing on the cruise with his talented siblings—clarinetist/saxophonist Anat and saxophonist Yuval—billed as the 3 Cohens and well received. The trumpeter, whose placid demeanor belies a great emotional sensitivity, demonstrated a wry sense of humor—a contemplative yin to sister Anat’s exuberant yang. Here are some…

SUN RA & HIS ARKESTRA Jazz in Silhouette (Saturn, 1959) The final album recorded during Sun Ra’s Chicago era demonstrates why he was such an in-demand big-band arranger and writer The all-originals set sits comfortably next to Ellington and Basie in sound and quality, with the notable exception of the tribal “Ancient Aiethopia.” Key tracks include the recorded debut of the longtime favorite “Enlightenment,” the brief and concise “Horoscope” and a raucous “Blues at Midnight” that offers great solos from Allen and others. SUN RA & HIS ASTRO INFINITY ARKESTRA Atlantis (Saturn Research, 1969) Reissued several times, Atlantis should be part of any serious discussion of Sun Ra’s greatest work, though it certainly isn’t his most accessible album. The bandleader solos extensively on the epic title track, which…

For Terell Stafford, it was the sound. Particularly, Chuck Mangione’s sunny, eminently hummable 1977 megahit “Feels So Good ” For Claudio Roditi, it was the image—namely, a magazine cover photo of Art Farmer grasping an unfamiliar instrument. But whatever the reason for wanting to play the flugelhorn, there are a few key pieces of advice these masters have for any trumpeter interested in doubling on the horn. Both agree that, first and foremost, players need to remember that the flugelhorn is not a trumpet, regardless of the similarities. With its wider bore and deeper, conical mouthpiece, it offers less resistance, making it easier to play—in theory. Trumpeters will still find much to get used to. “There is a physical challenge to flugelhorn, but not nearly the physical challenge that trumpet…

I’ve been fortunate to be able to tour a lot in the U.K., and I’ve gotten to meet many British musicians through my playing there. There’s a real essence to these players. My choices here include musicians who don’t just stick to one genre and who cross-pollinate their creativity. They can read, they can play, they’ve checked out African music and world music. They’re curious people. These selections also comment somewhat on the disheartening exit of Britain from the European Union, and on the skewed views of immigrants and community that led to that particular vote. Paul Booth “NO LOOKING BACK” No Looking Back (Basho, 2007) Paul can play anything—flute, saxophone, penny whistle and more. He can swing and he also plays beautiful pop solos. I’m especially drawn to the…