Friday, September 16, 2016

Eddie Henderson - Time and Spaces

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 2004
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:05
Size: 119,8 MB
Art: Front

(7:10)  1. Water Babies
(6:58)  2. Spaces
(7:10)  3. Masqualero
(4:42)  4. Tender You
(7:16)  5. Entropy
(5:52)  6. Summer Knows
(5:53)  7. Angola
(7:00)  8. Directions

Long before Wallace Roney became a Miles Davis protege in the late '80s, Eddie Henderson had forgone his training in medicine, falling under the direct and indirect influence of the Prince of Darkness in the late '60s. With groups including Herbie Hancock's Mwandishi band from '70 to '72, Henderson forged a voice whose tone may have been influenced by Davis, but with an adventurous spirit all his own. In the ensuing years, while the spirit of Miles never left him, Henderson developed his own body of work, one that in recent years has seen him returning to a more hard bop style. Until now. His latest release on Sirocco, Time & Spaces , finds Henderson in an almost schizophrenic mood, alternating between the more cerebral post bop of Miles' mid-'60s band and his more fusion-informed work of the later '60s, and a more tender and lyrical disposition. While this could come across as unfocused in lesser hands, it all makes perfect sense under Henderson's leadership. Ably supported by pianist Dave Kikoski (who doubles on Fender Rhodes and synthesizers on two tracks), bassist Ed Howard, and drummer Victor Lewis, Henderson reconvenes the group that was responsible for most of his last recording, '03's So What , for a session that combines the heady intellectualism of Wayne Shorter's "Water Babies," "Masqualero," and "Angola" with a more poignant duet with Kikoski, "Tender You," and the late-night romanticism of "Summer Knows (Theme from Summer of '42)." 

Henderson's own "Entropy," which superimposes a swinging sensibility over a deep, dark groove, may be the revelation of the set, a tune that has its reference point in Miles' work of the late '60s, but is less dense, less brash. Kikowski peppers the piece with abstractions on Fender Rhodes, while Howard and Lewis are more implicit, alluding to a variety of feels without ever settling wholly on them for any length of time. The album closes with a powerful version of Joe Zawinul's "Directions," with Henderson's approach honouring the looser, rockier inflection of the tune without becoming overly aggressive. Over the course of a forty-year career, Henderson has managed to build a strong reputation for integrity and personal vision, even while he remains a little more under the radar than he deserves. Perhaps it is his ongoing reference to Miles that has caused him to be ultimately well-regarded but not considered a creative trend-setter, but that's a moot point. One testimonial of a true performer is the ability to create vibrant music that remains current while honouring the traditions that came before. By mixing the abstract and the corporeal, the tender and the strong, the old and the new, the Time and Spaces , Henderson has created a paradoxical recording that manages to ultimately succeed on its own term as a unified, coherent and cogent statement. ~ John Kelman https://www.allaboutjazz.com/time-and-spaces-eddie-henderson-sirocco-music-limited-review-by-john-kelman.php

Personnel: Eddie Henderson (trumpet), Dave Kikoski (piano, Fender Rhodes/Keyboards on "Entropy," "Directions"), Ed Howard (bass), Victor Lewis (drums).

Time and Spaces

Charlie Parker And His Orchestra - Swedish Schnapps

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1951
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 52:31
Size: 126,6 MB
Art: Front

(2:40)  1. Si Si
(3:17)  2. Swedish Schnapps (alternate take)
(3:13)  3. Swedish Schnapps
(2:39)  4. Back Home Blues (alternate take)
(2:50)  5. Back Home Blues
(3:26)  6. Lover Man
(2:49)  7. Blues For Alice
(2:41)  8. Au Privave (alternate take)
(2:45)  9. Au Privave
(3:12) 10. She Rote (alternate take)
(3:08) 11. She Rote
(3:27) 12. K. C. Blues
(3:42) 13. Star Eyes
(3:22) 14. Segment
(3:18) 15. Diverse
(2:57) 16. Passport (rare)
(2:59) 17. Passport (common)

Musicians like to observe that for all his notoriety as the wellspring of bebop, Charlie "Bird" Parker's music was loaded with the blues. Swedish Schnapps is as good a place as any to make that connection with Parker's music, including as it does two of his most enduring bop heads based on the blues, "Au Privave" and "Blues For Alice." While you wouldn't mistake either composition for a Muddy Waters tune, both relate Bird's off-kilter accents and serpentine melodicism at walking tempos that let you hear what's actually going by, instead of leaving you astonished but bemused. To really drive the point home, there's "K.C. Blues," which finds the altoist at his hollerin' best, and "Lover Man," certainly one of the bluesiest 32-bar standards around. http://www.allmusic.com/album/swedish-schnapps-mw0000265091

Personnel: Charlie Parker (alto saxophone); Kenny Dorham, Miles Davis, Red Rodney (trumpet); Al Haig, John Lewis, Walter Bishop (piano); Ray Brown, Teddy Kotick, Tommy Potter (bass); Max Roach, Kenny Clarke (drums).

Swedish Schnapps

Paul Bley - Annette

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 1992
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 64:51
Size: 151,4 MB
Art: Front

(5:52)  1. Touching [take 1]
(8:30)  2. El Cordobes
(6:26)  3. Cartoon
(3:46)  4. Albert's Love Theme
(4:26)  5. Kid Dynamite
(6:47)  6. Miracles
(5:03)  7. Blood [take 1]
(6:26)  8. Annette
(4:26)  9. Both
(2:46) 10. Blood [take 2]
(8:37) 11. Mister Joy
(1:45) 12. Touching [take 2]

Those familiar with the music of Paul Bley, as well as Annette Peacock after whom this album is named, and whose compositions are featured will recall the nervy sense of creativity that flowed through their veins and music. In fact, the manner in which Peacock's work is described also fits Bley; both play music that is austere, exacting, somewhat laconic, minimalist and always wildly individual, which is what makes it so sensual, singular and utterly memorable. And while Bley's music has always been instrumental in nature, Peacock's was defined not just by the primal highs and lows of her voice, but also by the nakedness of her lyrics; the soft scream of her poetry that propelled her songs. So to find her music played here without words is both a surprise and a big challenge. The slashing experimentalism of that music was, however, almost certainly an invention of Bley's as much as it was Peacock's. They were husband and wife during the time most of this music was composed and recorded, though they were not even remotely connected when this album was made in 1992. So Bley 's remarkable intimacy in interpreting these songs instrumentally is astounding, notwithstanding his being ably abetted by another of Peacock's ex-husbands, bassist, Gary Peacock, who brings his robust melodism to this date as well. To complete the trio, which surreptitiously inhabit Peacock's bitter oeuvre is Franz Koglmann, credited with originating the idea before he took some charts to Bley, who was in the unique position of making, just five months prior to this album, another record featuring the music of his another significant ex-other, Carla Bley, on Plays Carla, (SteepleChase, 1992).

Deeply influenced by the early psychedelic era as well as elements of the Way of Zen, Annette Peacock composed works that were characterized as much by hypnotic whorls as by the use of silence and harmonic space between phrases and lines. Right from the early mid-sixties, when Peacock joined Albert Ayler, her earliest work was marked by an invention all her own, an idiom that she called "free-form song." One of these is the miraculously beautiful, "Albert's Love Theme," which she composed to mark her devoted friendship with the great saxophonist. Her songs were designed for sound and silence, a sonic architecture that she continues to work with to this day, as even her most recent work shows. Bley remains true to Peacock's stylistic idiosyncrasies throughout this album. His heart-wrenching performances of "Touching" and "Blood" cast Peacock as a musical doppelganger of author Sylvia Plath. Peacock's originals possess stripped down emotions that bare her soul, and Bley's versions emanate directly from his artistic soul. His astounding work is matched, note-for-note by the ingenious soul-searching minimalism of Peacock's sinewy pizzicato playing, as well as the lonesome, electrifying beauty of Koglmann's trumpet and flugelhorn, capturing Peacock's sensibilities ever so accurately, especially on Miracles." Small wonder this album remains as fresh 18 years on as it was when it was originally released. ~ Raul D’Gama Rose https://www.allaboutjazz.com/annette-paul-bley-hatology-review-by-raul-dgama-rose.php
 
Personnel: Paul Bley: piano; Franz Koglmann: flugelhorn, trumpet; Gary Peacock: double bass.

Annette

Art Farmer Quintet - Plays The Great Jazz Hits

Styles: Trumpet Jazz
Year: 1967
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 45:07
Size: 104,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:35)  1. Song For My Father
(5:27)  2. Round Midnight
(3:58)  3. Sidewinder
(4:47)  4. Moanin'
(3:59)  5. Watermelon Man
(3:13)  6. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
(5:38)  7. I Remember Clifford
(3:38)  8. Take Five
(5:27)  9. Gemini
(4:20) 10. The In Crowd

Really great work from Art Farmer one of a handful of records from the mid 60s that have the trumpeter picking up a slightly sharper edge than before a nice contrast to some of his more spacious albums on labels like Argo or Atlantic! The vibe here is almost a small group take on the Jazztet sound that Art created with Benny Golson but a bit more organic overall, thanks to a tight rhythm trio that features Cedar Walton on piano, Walter Booker on bass, and Jimmy Roker on drums who almost give the record a Prestige Records sort of vibe. 

The great Jimmy Heath plays sublime tenor in the lead and turns out to be a perfect partner for Art, helping hit a different sound than his material with Golson and although the tunes are mostly the jazz hits promised in the title, they get some really fresh readings here – as the pair make magic on tunes that include "Take Five", "I Remember Clifford", "Watermelon Man", "Song For My Father", "Sidewinder", "Moanin", and "Gemini". © 1996-2016, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/711481

Personnel:  Art Farmer - flugelhorn, trumpet;  Jimmy Heath - tenor saxophone;  Cedar Walton – piano;  Walter Booker – bass;  Mickey Roker – drums.

Plays The Great Jazz Hits