David Friesen, Joe Henderson, Chick Corea - Voices

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:19
Size: 122.1 MB
Styles: Contemporary jazz
Year: 2001/2015
Art: Front

[ 8:13] 1. Amber Skies
[10:16] 2. Blue And Green
[ 5:54] 3. Underlying
[ 4:39] 4. Jenelle Number Four
[ 8:51] 5. In The Place Of Calling
[ 6:11] 6. Sitka In The Woods
[ 9:11] 7. Voices

Once in a great while, a musician emerges with such authority and such seemingly effortless originality that his place in the front ranks of his instrument is unquestioned. So it is with David Friesen. ~Nat Hentoff

David Friesen has recorded over 78 CD's as a leader/co-leader and appeared as a sideman or featured artist on more than 100 recordings. He has performed and/or recorded with many of the great names and legends of jazz including: Stan Getz, Dexter Gordon, Joe Henderson, Sam Rivers, Michael Brecker, Bud Shank, Dizzy Gillespie, Woody Shaw, Freddy Hubbard, Art Farmer, Clark Terry, Joe Venuti, Mal Waldron, Jaki Byard, Kenny Drew Sr., Chick Corea, Milt Jackson, Slim Gaillard, John Scofield, Philly Joe Jones, Elvin Jones, Paul Motian, Jack Dejohnette, Airto Moreira, and many others. He has performed in concert as a soloist (Friesen is one of two or three bassists in the world that is able to play a solo concert and keep an audience riveted) and with his own groups throughout the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, The Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Austria, Hungary, Slovenia, Turkey, Poland, Japan, Czech Republic, Ukraine, New Zealand, Australia, China and South America.

Friesen's music, which is imbued with certain ingredients of jazz, is also characterized by folk-flavored things and classical and Jewish veins with substantial spontaneity, lyrical strength, warmth and creative discoveries in the musical wilderness. ~Dr. Herb Wong

Voices mc
Voices zippy

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Duke Jordan - The Great Session

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 50:40
Size: 116.0 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1982/1994
Art: Front

[6:36] 1. All The Things You Are
[7:28] 2. Moonglow
[6:38] 3. Satin Doll
[8:55] 4. Thinking Of You
[9:54] 5. A Night In Tunesia
[6:57] 6. Ladybird
[4:10] 7. Blues In The Closet

Bass – David Friesen; Drums – Philly Joe Jones; Piano – Duke Jordan. Recorded June 30, 1978.

One of many recordings by Duke Jordan for Steeplechase, this trio session pairs the pianist with bassist David Friesen and drummer Philly Joe Jones. There's a bit of hyperbole in the album's title, as the play list is hardly adventurous and the arrangements are average, in spite of the strong personnel. The date opens with a rather perfunctory rendition of "All the Things You Are" that incorporates Dizzy Gillespie's famous introductory vamp, and a spacious "Moonglow" followed by Duke Ellington's overly recorded "Satin Doll," a piece even many Ellington fans are tired of hearing. Jones sets up "A Night in Tunisia" with an extended fiery solo, with Jordan and Friesen firing on all cylinders in a romp through this bop standard. Friesen's delicious walking bass is the highlight of "Blues in the Closet." The CD edition adds a previously unissued track, Jordan's warm, low-key ballad "Thinking of You." ~Ken Dryden

The Great Session mc
The Great Session zippy

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Joe Henderson - Black Narcissus

Styles: Saxophone Jazz
Year: 1974
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 40:12
Size: 92,3 MB
Art: Front

( 5:09)  1. Black Narcissus
( 2:41)  2. Hindsight And Forethought
(12:25)  3. Power To The People
( 5:39)  4. Amoeba
( 6:57)  5. Good Morning Heartache
( 7:18)  6. Other Side Of Right

A later album from Joe Henderson's ultra-hip 70s period for Milestone a sweetly electric session with the mighty Patrick Gleeson on keyboards! Gleeson is as strong of a force here as he is on other essential albums from the time  including some of Herbie Hancock's work and the keyboardist handles E Mu Polyphonic synth, which really fits the flowing style of the music! Henderson's great, as always, on tenor blowing the instrument with a searching quality that's a fair bit different than some of his contemporaries, a unique space that further pushed the instrument in the years after the passing of John Coltrane. The rhythm section holds its end up nicely too bringing in some key modal moments with players who include Joachim Kuhn on piano, JF Jenny-Clark on bass, and Bill Summers on drums. Tracks are a bit more open than some of Joe's early 70s work but still done with a hip Bay Area groove and titles include "Black Narcissus", "Hindsight & Forethought", "Amoeba", and a studio version of "Power to the People", which Henderson had done earlier on a live set. (Cover has a cut corner & light wear.)  © 1996-2017, Dusty Groove, Inc. https://www.dustygroove.com/item/25548

Personnel: Joe Henderson - tenor sax; Joachim Kühn - piano (1-3, 5-6); Patrick Gleeson - synthesizer (1-3, 5); David Friesen (5), Jean-François Jenny-Clark (1-3, 6) – bass; Daniel Humair (1-3, 6), Jack DeJohnette (4-5) – drums; Bill Summers - congas, percussion

Black Narcissus

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Duke Jordan Quartet - Duke's Artistry

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 49:35
Size: 113.5 MB
Styles: Bop, Piano jazz
Year: 1976/1987
Art: Front

[5:50] 1. My Heart Skips A Beat #1
[6:37] 2. Midnight Moonlight
[5:48] 3. My Heart Skips A Beat #2
[4:54] 4. My Heart Skips A Beat #3
[8:17] 5. Lady Dingbat
[6:04] 6. Midnite Bump #1 2
[6:08] 7. Midnite Bump #1
[5:55] 8. Dodge City Roots

Bass – David Friesen; Drums – Philly Joe Jones; Flugelhorn – Art Farmer; Piano – Duke Jordan.

Duke Jordan’s long association with SteepleChase has produced a number of outstanding recordings and this is one of them, selected by Billboard as recommended jazz album. Having played with Charlie Parker in his best group in 1947, Jordan the quintessential bop player is a veteran but never stopped improving with age. As a prolific composer, Jordan contributed numerous intriguing tunes to the jazz literature.

Duke's Artistry

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David Friesen - Star Dance

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop
Year: 1976
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 41:29
Size: 110,1 MB
Art: Front

(6:00)  1. Winter's Fall
(4:15)  2. Duet and Dialogue
(3:48)  3. Dolphin in the Sky
(3:45)  4. Star Dance
(3:05)  5. 1 Rue Brey
(4:13)  6. Fields of Joy
(6:06)  7. A Little Child's Poem
(3:26)  8. Clouds
(3:50)  9. Children of the Kingdom
(2:57) 10. Mountain Streams

The Inner City CD reissue series has many fine recordings listed, and depending on your point of view and taste level, any of them might be considered important coming out of jazz in the mid- to late '70s. Bassist David Friesen's debut album, Star Dance, has to be considered pivotal and central in the stance of contemporary music for many reasons, not the least of which being that the playing of the musicians is excellent. It also sets a tone for the coming together of world musics in the spirit of the pioneering ensemble Oregon and has within its grasp both spiritual and earthy elements that few groups were able to merge. With elements culled from Friesen's upbringing in the Pacific Northwest, progressive jazz of the '60s, folk-rooted sounds, chamber music, and New York City funk, Friesen and his band sound as unique unto themselves as any band before, during, or after this time period. Paul McCandless (on loan from Oregon), fellow Pacific Northwest friend/electric guitarist John Stowell, and Big Apple studio drummer Steve Gadd are unlikely bedfellows with Friesen, yet achieve common-ground status within this broad mix of styles. McCandless plays the double-reeded English horn on the majority of these selections, and for the outstanding "Winter's Fall" coalesces with Friesen's sky church bowed harmonic bass alongside Stowell's tiny guitar notes, as Gadd's 7/8 beat takes over the three in a 4/4 funky midsection. 

The title track is a trio sans Gadd, which strikes a much more baroque and rural pose in unison lines. "Dolphin in the Sky" is dedicated to friend Jack Howell, a somber, slow tearjerker as if at a gravesite during a funeral, extracting great emotional depth, especially from McCandless. Dancing gleefully, "Mountain Streams" is a flowing, dense, and textural piece that taps into the natural, feminine side of life. On his more familiar oboe, McCandless plays with the full quartet during "Clouds," as the title suggests in a slow, wafting motif, while "Fields of Joy" is also unmistakably similar to the ancient and present music of Oregon, very composed, traipsing through rows of daisies, and breaking into a samba beat. There's a bass/drums duet improvisation, "1 Rue Brey," and an unaccompanied bass solo, "Children of the Kingdom," which readily reveals Friesen's religious center with strummed harmonics and a thematic-based ostinato for improvising off of. The sonic footprint created by this ensemble is both arresting and disarming a sound that uniquely speaks to a higher power and universal dialect. Now that the album is once again in print, there's no excuse to pass on this excellent recording, fused from many disparate elements and brilliantly performed by all the participants. ~ Michael G.Nastos http://www.allmusic.com/album/star-dance-mw0000877461

Personnel: David Friesen (acoustic bass); John Stowell (electric guitar); Paul McCandless (oboe, English horn); Steve Gadd (drums).

Star Dance

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David Friesen, Glen Moore - Returning

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop 
Year: 1993
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:27
Size: 186,8 MB
Art: Front

(4:26)  1. My Funny Valentine
(4:49)  2. Reserve
(4:32)  3. Let´s Pretend
(4:11)  4. Free Bowing
(2:45)  5. Free One
(4:13)  6. Stride La Congo
(3:57)  7. I´m Old Fashioned
(2:38)  8. Past Finding Out
(2:24)  9. On the Road with Jazz
(2:36) 10. Free Two
(4:56) 11. Sweet Georgia
(3:19) 12. Last Time Through
(1:54) 13. Free Three
(3:04) 14. Toby and Tina
(6:18) 15. Blue in Green
(2:16) 16. Bongo Bass
(1:40) 17. Dancing with My Daughter
(5:29) 18. Return
(1:53) 19. Amazing Grace

Returning is the collaboration of two renowned jazz bassists, both from Portland. Glen Moore, a member of the jazz and world music group Oregon, has collaborated with artists such as Rabih Abou-Khalil, Nancy King, and Larry Karush. David Friesen was listed on a recent Jazz Bass Survey by jazz educators as one of the 24 most influential bassists in the history of jazz. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Returning-Friesen/dp/B000003BMF

Personnel: David Friesen (upright bass); Glen Moore (piano, upright bass).

Returning

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David Friesen - Amber Skies

Styles: Jazz, Post-Bop 
Year: 1983
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:44
Size: 123,3 MB
Art: Front

( 8:14)  1. Amber Skies
(10:20)  2. Blue and Green
( 5:58)  3. Underlying
( 4:43)  4. Jenelle Number Four
( 8:55)  5. In the Place of Calling
( 6:16)  6. Sitka in the Woods
( 9:14)  7. Voices

One of bassist David Friesen's better jazz sessions as a leader, this set (which has been reissued by other labels on CD) has some excellent playing by tenor saxophonist Joe Henderson on "Amber Skies" and "Underlying," a rare opportunity for flutist Paul Horn to take a solo in a straight-ahead setting ("Blue and Green"), and was the first opportunity that pianist Chick Corea and drummer Paul Motian had to work together; percussionist Airto completes the sextet. The diverse originals, all by Friesen, feature each of the players quite favorably, and the overall results are stimulating. ~ Scott Yanow http://www.allmusic.com/album/amber-skies-mw0000119934

Personnel: David Friesen (acoustic bass); Paul Horn (flute); Chick Corea (piano); Paul Motian (drums); Airto Moreira (percussion)

Amber Skies

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David Friesen - Paths Beyond Tracing

Styles: Free Jazz, Contemporary Jazz 
Year: 1980
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 44:12
Size: 101,4 MB
Art: Front

(8:56)  1. Song In The Night
(5:02)  2. As The Day Begins
(1:14)  3. Wind in The Wilderness
(5:17)  4. Symphonies
(5:11)  5. Tender Hearted
(5:22)  6. Shapes and colours
(6:29)  7. Blues/Heart Felt
(1:49)  8. Sword of The Prophets
(4:49)  9. Choir

David Friesen's music ranges from hard bop to mood music that borders on spiritual new age but on a higher emotional level. While stationed in Germany with the Army in 1961, he taught himself the bass. After short stints with John Handy and Marian McPartland, Friesen worked with Joe Henderson for two years. He toured Europe with Billy Harper (1975), made his recording debut as a leader that same year on Muse, started a longtime musical association with guitarist John Stowell (1976), and appeared with Ted Curson at the 1977 Monterey Jazz Festival. After working with Ricky Ford, Duke Jordan, and Mal Waldron and touring the U.S.S.R. with Paul Horn (1983), Friesen settled in the Pacific Northwest. He often plays the Oregon bass (an electrified acoustic bass) these days and has recorded as a leader for Muse, Inner City, SteepleChase, Palo Alto, ITM (including an intriguing series of duets during 1992-1993), and Global Pacific, in addition to some smaller labels. ~ Scott Yanow https://itunes.apple.com/be/artist/david-friesen/id5324396#fullText

Violin [Bass], Flute (Bamboo)– David Friesen

Paths Beyond Tracing

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