Gonzalo Rubalcaba-Fé

I first started listening to Gonzalo quite late in the game when I purchase his album Avatar back in 2008. His sound is a challenging mix of afro Cuban styling with the obvious historical influences of Monk, Powell, and even the bebop sensibility of Parker, although the final creation is far from the traditional structure of bebop jazz. It’s his sound and it’s beautiful, passionate, intelligent and filled with the mystery and authenticity of his Cuban heritage. With this background, I approached his latest solo endeavor, Fé (Faith) recently released on his own independent label, 5Passions Productions. I’ve been drawn to solo piano for some time now, particularly Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, Vijay Iyer, Andrew Hill and Bill Evans among others, and this disc is a wonderful addition. Players often speak of a master’s voice in the jazz medium, particularly with horn players; that is, those players who have honed their craft to the level that their sound is uniquely theirs (Coltrane, Rollins, Gordon, etc.) but there are certain pianists whose styles have developed to the level that you know it’s them as soon as they touch the keys. Gonzalo fits right into this distinguished group. I recommend, in particular, the beautiful ballad Jean and his two takes on Blue in Green.

Pat Metheny-Orchestrion Tour

Saw Pat Metheny's Orchestrion Tour last night with my son Nate at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, Pennsylvania. Both of us have seen him several times, with different ensembles, and were somewhat skeptical of this show. It seemed either to have the potential to come off as contrived or flat with an absence of "swing". How can someone of his creative caliber stand before a "music machine" and improvise with the passion of a player within a human combo? To be honest, after having viewed two and a half hours of incredible music and passion, I'm still not sure how he did it. He began the show with several solo acoustic numbers, one of the them dating back to Bright Size Life. Then suddenly, without an interruption in focus, the stage came alive with sound, the Orchestrion swinging away with Pat smiling forth with purity of purpose. He performed the entire five part suite of the Orchestrion record and then dabbled in his catalog, with some straight improvisation pieces, actually channeling some "Ornette" at one point. At the conclusion of the performance, as Pat left the stage to the last of many standing ovations, we sat in wonder, having just received a pure tonic for the soul.

Bill Frisell-History, Mystery

I have tried for some time now to compose a brief piece on this album. The more I listen to it, the deeper I fall under it's spell, rendering me useless in any attempt to write about it. It's not perfect, but it's such a wonderful ride that you're disappointed every time it comes to an end. Every so often, you read a book that you want to immediately start again once the last paragraph has been read. It brings to mind a story Kurt Vonnegut told of visiting his uncle when he was a young boy. It was summer and they sat under a tree in his uncle's yard and sipped lemonade. After some time passed, his uncle looked at him and said, "if this isn't nice, I don't know what is."

Vijay Iyer-Historicity

Some brief notes on this record I can't take off the stereo:

Label: Act Music + Vision

Recorded November 3, 2008 and March 31, 2009

Historicity-Solo piano, bass and drums enter quickly, stuttering pace, building to a coherent groove, seemingly dropping into a pronounced statement. Drums constant ride within beat. Bass constant flow. Jagged, Monk-like phrasings by Iyer.

Somewhere-Leonard Bernstein/Stephen Sondheim-Beautiful. Hesitant slant into melody. Behind the beat. Anticipation. Chord cluster descension-powerful drop from head of melody into improvised portion.

Galang-Maya Arulpragasam (M.I.A.)-powerful, steady, driving beat with Vijay crashing on top

Helix-Vijay Iyer-Soft. Touching right hand over soft chords, bass, brushes. Eventually rapidly falling into descending lines. Repetitive lines descending with dropping bass lines and sticks replacing the brushes. Abrupt ending.

Smoke Stack-Andrew Hill-Magically rendered tribute to a master. Piano solo joined by skipping rhythm section to match the slanted statement of the head. Iyer’s improvisation is inspired, reckless, manic and pure. Falls into a sweeping shuffle. Magnificent. Absolutely magnificent. Softly fades off with drummer Marcus Gilmore’s fills and bass line coasting alone until Vijay re-enters to comp the head.

Big Brother-Steve Wonder

Dogon A.D.-Julius Hemphill

Mystic Brew-Ronnie Foster

Trident: 2010-Vijay Iyer (Trident: 2001 was on his album Panoptic Modes)

Segment for Sentiment #2-Vijay Iyer (originally performed on Memorophilia)

Martial Solal-Solitude

It is wonderful gift to encounter an artist unknown to yourself, but cherished for decades by those with experience. A recent New York Times article by Nate Chinen spoke of the Algiers born and French citizen Martial Solal as a jazz pianist with, probably, no peers. And I, one who loves to delve into this beautiful music from both an artistic and historical perspective, had never heard of him. Never. Not even a slight recognition of his name. Given this dilemma, I immediately purchased a recent solo release entitled Solitude, on the Cam Jazz label. Recorded in April of 2005, when Solal was 78 years old, it seemed like a good place to start to try to understand and appreciate this brilliant technician and remarkable composer who has been compared to the great Art Tatum. The album is remarkable. His unique takes on standards such as Darn That Dream and On A Clear Day and complex originals such as Bluesine provide the listener willing to invest the time with a passionate, artistic portrait of aural beauty. The intricacies of his pieces offer a different perspective, or creative paradigm with each play of the record (or CD). Highly recommended.

Bill Frisell-Live

I recently witnessed the extraordinary performance of Bill Frisell's trio, including Joey Baron on Drums and Tony Scherr on bass, at the Montreal Jazz Festival. The show, which lasted two hours and forty minutes, with a brief intermission, was a beautiful collection of originals and covers, overlaid with a pure Americana sensibility. The communication between the musicians was obvious and powerful. Frisell plays with his back to the audience, but not for a Miles Davis type statement, but so he can better view the work of his bandmates and create and improvise on the fly. After explaining the impact this show had on me to a friend and L.A. musician, Josh Bassett, he directed me to the 1991 live recording of Frisell's trio, which included Baron on drums and Kermit Driscoll on bass. This recording is a terrific example of the trio sound Frisell was starting to create in the early 1990's, eventually morphing into the wide open style of playing clearly evidence in Montreal this past week. Baron, in particular, doesn't quite drive the rhythm section as much as he compliments the weaving interplay of Frisell's lines and Driscoll's accents. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the development of this talented musician.

Charlie Haden Liberation Music Orchestra-Not In Our Name

I must admit that my original reaction to a redo by bassist Charlie Haden and pianist/arranger Carla Bley of their 1969 Vietnam War era project was one of skepticism. The mixture of politics and art, particularly music, has resulted in some wondrous creations, and an equal (or greater) amount of ghastly, overindulgent throwaways. This record, recorded from July 19-22, 2004, and released on August 30, 2005, fits squarely in the former category. It is a beautiful, soft record that, on repeated listenings, offers a powerful artistic statement on the current state of affairs. Besides Haden on bass and Bley on piano, the present incarnation of the orchestra includes trumpeter Michael Rodriguez, Curtis Fowlkes on trombone, guitarist Steve Cardenas, drummer Matt Wilson, Miguel Zenon on alto, Chris Cheek on the tenor horn, Joe Daley playing tuba, and Ahnee Sharon Freeman playing French horn. Although the entire session is solid, particular standouts include a version of Pat Metheny and David Bowie’s anthem This Is Not America, a near seventeen minute blowout of America The Beautiful, and a brilliantly arranged production of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings. This is jazz, folk, and Americana music at its finest.