J-gro

If you are here, hear this!

You have found the secret cauldron where the next season's issue of jes' grew gets stirred up & out into cupcake molds. Sometimes there is (the) resistance.

Maria Schneider's Data Lords falls into that category.

Whereas Wagner once said “don’t look at the trombones, it only encourages them", I had the sense that Maria Schneider must keep looking at the trombones a lot. And they certainly deliver here.

Bob Moses, When Elephants Dream of Music, 1983.

Shawn Lee's Ping Pong Orchestra, "Ethio", 2011.

with Michael Leonhardt (trumpet, mellophone, cornet, vibraphone).

Steve Turre, "Morning" (Yusef Lateef), 1995.

Bouncy shells & low brass.

Béla Fleck & Edmar Castañeda, Live at Big Ears Festival, 2019.

A banjo and a harp. No trombones, promise.

More memorable titles

Mosquito Coast

The Sorcerers, In Search of the Lost City of the Monkey God, 2020.

A well-spent hour at Banzzaï (France Musique) led me to this memorable title, which is apparently the soundtrack to a documentary about the (re)discovery of ancient ruins in Mosquitia.

With unexpected citations and funny deformations throughout—wait! what are you doing to Antônio & Luiz in the trunk, there ?!—this made for a doubly smooth tour.

Sons of Kemet, Your Queen is a Reptile, 2018.

Shabaka Hutchings (tenor sax) Theon Cross (tuba), Joshua Idehen (poetry), five drummers. Congo Natty (jongleur)

Arve Henriksen, "Patient Zero", 2017.

from a CD called Towards Language which gets thumbs up from the maskèd many (§). The bamboo sound of his mouthpiece-less trumpet led me back to Steve Turre in Vienne in 1997 and the (very different) sound of some sanctified shells.

Charles Lloyd

Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran, "Hagar's Lullaby", "Prayer", "Sand Rhythm", 2016.

Menagerie

Tomoko Omura, "Revenge of the Rabbit," Branches, v.1, 2020.

Tomoku Omura (violin), Glenn Zaleski (piano), Jeff Miles (guitar), Pablo Menares (bass), Jay Sawyer (drums).

Eliane Elias, "A Ra (The Frog)", 2009.

Eliane Elias (piano + vocals), Marc Johnson (bass), Rubens de La Corte (guitar), Rafael Barata (drums)

Michael Leonhart & Avaramina 7, "Theme for a Jaguar Shark", The Seahorse & the Storyteller, 2010.

19 credited & most creditable musicians. :) There is a Steely Dan/War (-ish) feel to at least one song ("Dreams of an Aquarian") on the non-instrumental version of the album.

Camille Bertault, "A quoi bon", Le Tigre, 2020.

Camille Bertault (vocals), Jacky Terrasson (piano), Christophe Minck (D. Bass), Donald Kontomanou (drums), Minino Garaï (perc.), Stéphane Guillaume (winds), Michael Leonhart (producer, brass & perc.); "Tous ego" is a fun reminder that the tiger is the boss of its carosse, even in "Le Tube".

In Memoriam

Ryo Kawasaki (1947-2020), Juice, 1976.

as described on the label

Joaquín Rodrigo (1901-1999) Concierto de Aranjuez

Ryo Kawasaki, 1981. (guitar) | Dorothy Ashby (1932-1986), 1984. (harp) | Miles Davis (1926-1991), 1960. (trumpet)

!jazz

Ox on the Roof

Darius Milhaud, Le bœuf sur le toit, 1920.

Sea-sounds

Dominique Guiot – L'Univers De La Mer, 1978.

most excellent prog food :)

Some bob-foolery

overheard at the 2020 Wikiwiki BotSlam gala, from Easy Rider (1969). (lyrics)

Roger McGuinn, "It's Alright Ma, I'm only bleeding" (Bob Dylan), 1969.

What could possibly go wrong?

Mary Halvorson / Bill Frisell – The Maid With The Flaxen Hair: A Tribute to Johnny Smith, 2018.

I'm one of those people who had never listened to Mary Halvorson until someone who shall remain nameless got me looking into prolific women in jazz. I've included the subtitle, so the title doesn't mislead readers into thinking this CD is all about Debussy. In fact, it is a tribute to a guitarist who once taught Bill Frisell "old fuddy duddy corny schmaltzy stuff". Frisell has since recanted this view and has dedicated songs and now, along with Mary Halvorson, an album to him. Described as a case study in "the bankruptcy of modern jazz guitar", it's ipso facto worth a listen, or even several. :)

Previous issues

• été 2020