"Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk" Playing with the Master's Implied Possibilities

Jamie Saft Trio: Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk-

The multi-instrumentalist/composer Jamie Saft is a unique keyboard artist who has lent his skills to such varied artists as Roswell Rudd, John Zorn, Marc Ribot, Iggy Pop, the Beasty Boys and Steve Swallow. This year Saft has released two significant albums, a twelve hour marathon titled Pramrod Sexena-Giant (Coltrane Dream) and the latest Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk.

Listening to the genius of Thelonious Monk's music is a never disappointing excursion into the deeply creative energy that this iconic pianist/composer left for us. When you listen to Monk play his own music, you hear a man dedicated to melody, no matter how elaborate- singable melody that people can connect with and follow. The music might be rhythmically twisted or the timing skewed to give the entire experience an off-kilter feel that for some might be difficult to relate to, but the music always seems to keep your internal rhythm bouncing. It's danceable and follows Monk's philosophy: "I like to keep the music simple so people can dig it." 

Jamie Saft photo credit Vin-Cin

Thelonious Monk photo credit unknown

When Saft decided to record this album of ten compositions, he and his cohorts wanted to play the music in a way that honored the implied possibilities that Monk's compositions inherently possess. He refused to use the master's music as a mere platform on which to simply improvise, like so many artists seem to have done in the past, or to employ the music as an armature on which to build music that strays far from the written intent of the master's compositions. Saft was key to retain the complexity, the beauty and the feel of the artist's intent embedded in his compositions. Monk's music has intricacy, humor, joy, playfulness, ethos, and the ability to say things within the spaces, the silence that he purposefully leaves between the notes. Saft and his trio seems to have mastered the artist's subtlety and recorded this session with intention, reverence and beauty.

Bradley Christopher Jones, Jamie Saft & Hamid Drake photo credit 

Saft is joined by two master musicians, contrabassist Bradley Christopher Jones, a real revelation on his instrument, and the creative drummer Hamid Drake, his own wellspring of ideas. These three seem to have been able to truly absorb the essence of Monk's music and express it, with the pianist, in a manner that is truly delightful to behold. 

"Raise Four" was only once recorded by Monk on his 1968 album Underground. This 12-bar blues is opened with a brilliant polytonal drum entre by Drake. Saft's piano brings out the repeating melody line with a sense of command and authority. Jones plucky bass work bobs and weaves as Saft and Drake punctuate. These three possess a palpable intuition at work here and it is magical.

"Reflections" offers a slow saunter that follows a jagged, somewhat indirect route to the destination. The trio moves through this composition with a ease and poise of master ballroom dancers, executing their moves like floating on gossamer wings. Saft 's fingers deftly work to filigree the melody with graceful extensions that bring you back to the era. 

"Monk's Mood" , a ballad, was first recorded by Monk in 1947 on Genius of the Modern Music. With an opening pizzicato line from Jones, this one features the bass player's deep toned facility throughout, with Saft and Drake in subtle and subdued accompaniment.

"Thelonious," another composition originally released in 1947, uses a riff that purportedly Monk used frequently at his uptown Minton Playhouse sessions on W 118th Street where he was the house pianist. The trio is loose and in the groove her and Saft's piano is swinging as he pounds some dissonant chords with verve.

One of my favorite Monk ballads is "Ruby, My Dear" again first recorded in 1947. Purportedly, the song was named after Monk's first love Rubie Richardson, but it had lyrics written to it in 1988, and Carmen McRae made it her own under the name "Dear Ruby." Saft's piano lines ring with intention and beauty. His timing is impeccable and his embellishments superb. Drake's drum work is intuitive and effortless and Jones anchors the rhythm with authority.

The remaining songs include the jaunty "Coming on the Hudson" that navigates an obscure path, a one step forward, two steps backward feel. Saft's piano work is quite inventive, giving the composition a sense of modernity that does justice to Monk's off beat lines. Jones offers a facile bass solo that adds to the mix as Drake's cadenced drum work sets the pace.

"Everything Happens to Me" is the only composition on this set that was not written by Monk. Matt Dennis and Tom Adair wrote this standard originally recorded by Frank Sinatra and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in 1940. It has been often reprised  by people like Nat Cole, Rosemary Clooney,  Ella Fitzgerald and trumpet/crooner Chet Baker. Monk recorded this tune in 1959 and released it on his Thelonious Alone in San Francisco.  Drake and Jones take a particularly boisterous approach to  this one, as Saft diligently plays the melody with a seriousness and filigreed panache.

"Pannonica" is a Monk tune written in 1956 and dedicated to his one time benefactor and jazz patron Baroness "Nica" Koenigswarter. It is a sensitive composition that is one of Monk's most liked. The melody is  stated sensitively by Saft's solo piano before the trio comes in. The music has a probing, softly sauntering feel to it. Saft's touch and attack bring a transcendent elegance and warmth to this now standard. I am sure Monk would have approved. 

"Children's Song" is a playful, hop, skip and jump sort of song based on the children's song "This Old Man." Humor wasn't very often far from Monk's music. Here the trio plays it with a joyous and dancing drive that has you keeping time with foot. Saft plays the ascending and descending lines that span the keyboard. Jones walking bass sets the direction with aplomb and his booming bass lines are loaded with joie de verve. Drake's roiling drum work provide another exclamation point.

The closing composition is Monk's "Ugly Beauty" which was first recorded in 1967 for the album Underground. Monk's drummer, Ben Riley, suggested that the tune be played as a waltz and notably it is the only waltz in Monk's repertoire. Fittingly, this tender tune ends this album. Pianist Saft revels in the beauty of this music. Drake and Jones dance with impeccable style and grace as Saft's harmonic explorations swell with pathos. Jones fluttering pizzicato makes for a surprising treat. The trio demonstrate just how empathetic three artists can be when inspired by the music that they play. 

If you are as much a fan of Thelonious Monk's music as I am, you will find Jamie Saft Trio Plays Monk, a sensitive and rewarding offering that will have you revisiting the master's music, feasting on this trio's interpretations over and over and over again.

The Best Historical Jazz Released in 2024

It seems that every year the jazz detectives-those aficionados that love this music and don't mind putting the effort and time it takes to unearth musical gems from the past -have taken releasing historical releases to a new level. Archival music has been of special interest to true fans who seemingly cannot get enough of a favorite artists work. Previously, music that was for whatever reason, ignored, poorly recorded, legally hampered, or inexplicably misplaced have become sources of renewed interest. Recordings of artists of import who are still living or perhaps deceased, still generate almost a cult-like following and re-releases and previously undiscovered recordings of their work has become lost gold. Often these treasures were stored in neglected record industry vaults, or  may have been forgotten audio mementos preserved by the artist's family or friends. Bootleg recordings, the unauthorized recording of artists work, and archived radio station tapes, or recorded concert performances that never saw the light of day to the listening public, could also be fertile sources for historical releases.

One of the pioneers who took a special interest in formerly unreleased material and bringing them to life, was the recently deceased (April 20, 2024) and rightfully revered Michael Cuscuna. Cuscuna was with Blue Note Records from 1975-1981 where he convinced management to let him dive deeply into the label's vast treasure trove of recorded jazz legend music. Blue Note was founded in 1939 by Alfred Lyon and Max Marguilis who started to record hot jazz and other forms that were considered at the time uncommercial. The professional photographer Francis Wolff joined with Lyon in late 1939. With Lyon's musical acumen and Wolff's keen photographic eye, the two rode, photographed and recorded the changes of jazz from hot jazz, stride, bebop, hard bop, fusion and beyond. Despite many corporate changes, the label had one of the richest catalogs of the music and an unmatched photographic record of the era's greats, and Cuscuna saw the historical importance of getting the unreleased material out to the public. In 1983, Cuscuna formed Mosaic Records. There, from his modest Stamford, CT base, he curated the release of over three hundred limited released, marvelously informative, smartly packaged boxed sets of musically important jazz that was previously neglected. His first Mosaic release was Thelonious Monk-The Complete Blue Note Recordings in 1983.The New York Times named Mosaic "the most distinctive reissue label in jazz."

Another producer who also made serious contributions to our trove of historical releases in the world of jazz has been Richard Seidel, who amongst other things worked for Verve records for twenty years and curated important reissue releases including artists work from Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Bill Evans and Miles Davis. 

Today, names that seems synonymous with superb historical releases include George Klabin- the one time jazz radio station DJ on WKCR in NYC, record producer, sound studio owner, and self taught audio-engineer who created his Los Angeles based Resonance Records in 2008- has been a major force in the release of historical jazz since the label's inception.

His protege Zev Feldman, co-president of Resonance Records, has tirelessly worked to discover, refurbish, curate, and produce some of today's most sort after, never before released, archival recordings. Feldman has become today's pre-eminent Jazz Detective, a label he now uses on some of his releases. Besides his association with Resonance, Feldman has teamed up with other partners, like the Barcelona based Elemental Music label, with their President and Founder Jordi Soley under the labels of Elemental and Deep Dives Music Group. Feldman also teamed up with the Canadian based saxophonist Cory Weeds who is the founder of the label Cedar Music and the archival label Reel to Real. 

What makes newer historical releases so appealing is that they follow Cuscuna's pattern of treating the music and the presentation with great respect for the listeners who will purchase and listen to it. Today, so much music is digitally streamed. The recording is less of a physical object where one can read about the music and the process, see the artists come to life in photographs, and listen to their art. Instead, streaming allows the music to become a transient piece of impersonal data. It has made the leisurely listening to of an extended album for enjoyment almost a lost art. Modern historical releases offer a difference. The packaging is of high quality, the notes informative, the photography is relevant and compliments the music, interviews add personality to the date and offer personal anecdotes from fellow musicians, and the recordings-often offered in CD, Vinyl or Digital packages- are enjoyable as well as important preservations of the music's history.

This year has been particularly rewarding year for historical releases . These are six of my best of historical releases for 2024, there are surely other equally as worthy releases that I have not had a chance to listen to, but these were the best that I had a chance to sample , so decide for yourself.

Art Tatum: Jewels in the Treasure Box: Resonance Records -3 CD Package-August 16-28, 1953

If there was a "God" of the piano, then most aficionados of the music would say Art Tatum was indeed the closest artist that could fill those big shoes. Tremendous facility and an enormous ability to create harmonic interest and surprise, these live recordings truly transport you back to the 1953  Blue Note Chicago Club performances. The under appreciated fluidity of guitarist Everett Barksdale and the arco high jinks of Slam Stewart make this all the more a treat.

Chet Baker And Jack Sheldon: In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album-Elemental Music/Jazz Detective/ Deep Digs Music -1972

The rare chance to hear two master trumpeters like Chet Baker and Jack Sheldon is worth the price of the admission. This recording is titled In Perfect Harmony: The Lost Album and was recorded at United Audio in Tustin, CA.in 1972. Co-produced by Feldman with film producer Frank Marshall, it captures the different tonal qualities and musical approaches these two players use to make the horns and their voices lend to this music. Both can play. Chet's more restrained and sensitive , while Sheldon is more boisterous and humorous. The personalities are evident both on their horns and when they sing. They are ably accompanied by Dave Frisberg on piano, Joe Mondragon on bass, Jack Marshall (Frank's dad), on guitar and Nick Ceroli on drums. It's liking being part of a private party.

Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy-The Mighty Warriors-Elemental Music

September 30, 1995

Mal Waldron and Steve Lacy had one of the more progressive groups of their period. This recording is captured on September 30, 1995 in Antwerp, Belgium. Waldron and Lacy are accompanied by the equally forward looking rhythm section of Reggie Workman on bass and Andrew Cyrille on drums. Capturing these four gentlemen live and in the moment of creativity in front of a mesmerized audience is a rare chance to feel what those attendants may have experienced. There is real artistry to bear witness to here.

Emily Remler: Cookin' At the Queens-Resonance Records- 1984 and 1988

Emily Remler is an enigmatic figure in the world of jazz guitar. She was once quoted by a magazine as saying "I may look like a nice Jewish girl from New Jersey, but inside I'm a 50 year old heavyset black man with a big thumb, like Wes Montgomery." No doubt Montgomery was a main inspiration. At twenty-four years of age she was celebrating her successful debut album Firefly and getting accolades from jazz critics and players as well. Being a successful female guitarist was still certainly an anomaly, especially in jazz. The woman had chops and style, was competitive, and had so much promise. She unfortunately struggled with addiction and succumbed to it in May of 1990 at the young age of thirty-two. This album gives many of us a chance to catch her from two live sets she played in Las Vegas in 1984, age 27 and 1988 age 31. A special player in her prime, these recordings capture Remler's improvisational  creativity on the fly.

Yusef Lateef: Atlantic Lullaby- The Concert From Avignon-Elemental Music/ INA-July 19, 1972

The master saxophonist/flutist Yusef Lateef was an religious artist, an educator and a dedicated musician who studied music from a global point of view. He became proficient as a jazz saxophonist playing with Dizzy Gillespie's orchestra and was part of Cannonball Adderley's Quintet for a period. He predominantly recorded as a leader of his own groups. He found the word "jazz" as an incorrect description of the music he  created, and instead called it Autophsiopsychic. This album, Atlantis Lullaby, is from a concert that he performed in Avignon, France in 1972. Lateef is joined here with pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Bob Cunningham and drummer Albert "Tootie" Heath. There is energy in this music and yet there is plenty of room for beauty, meditation and spiritualism too, Lateef trademarks. 

Al Jarreau: WOW! Live at the Childe Harold-Resonance Records- August 13, 1976

Listening to the great vocalist Al Jarreau is an experience to be savored. His gymnastically pliable voice was a wonder that could navigate the most challenging musical chicanery possible and yet still execute the music with grace and joy. On this release, recorded at the Childe Harold, his Washington DC debut in August of 1976, Jarreau is captured with Tom Channing on Fender Rhodes and ARP string ensemble, Ben Atkins on bass and Tom Drake on drums. Jarreau's Warner Brothers debut record We Got By was out a year and his second album Glow was just out for a month. This is prime Jarreau making his way into real success and fame. Add the addition of an excited crowd witnessing vocal history and you have

real magic!

Notes On Jazz Best of Jazz and Beyond for 2024

It's almost the end of the year, and I always try to recap what I consider the year's best in jazz or jazz-related music. My choices are purely subjective based on my taste and having had the opportunity to actually listen to these releases.

Music attracts a broad group of players who bring style, culture, virtuosity, and imagination to each year's offerings and this year is no different. It is up to us as listeners to take the time and effort and sit back and take it all in. From my point of view, it has been a rewardingly rich year for creative music in 2024.

Contemporary improvised music is a broad-stroked genre, often referred to under the name of "jazz."  Whether you like the name or prefer something else, jazz is like a petri dish, a fertilization ground that can germinate new ideas, styles, and approaches to modern creative music. Musicians who play this music today are culturally diverse, technically well-educated, and usually dedicated to the art of creative music. They come here to play with their peers and/or elders. They come here to learn, expand, and leave their mark on the music. They can come from as close as next door to halfway across the globe. Diversity continues to prove to be a real strength in the evolution of this music. 

As one of America's most important indigenously created art forms, the Afro-American roots of this music should always be acknowledged, preserved, and cherished. International influences, like ethnic-inspired folk music, European and non-European musical traditions, and other more subtle cultural musical inspirations feed the art, expanding it with vibrancy and passion. Music is a unifying art form for humanity. Through cooperation, creativity, hope, and beauty, music has the power to transcend geographical borders, erase ethnic differences, and be color-blind to the foibles of racism. Music is power!

I have decided to post my favorite albums from the year in five different categories. Records released from October of 2023 through November of 2024 were included in no particular order.  The categories are Best Contemporary Jazz,  Best of Jazz and Contemporary Vocals, Best Latin Jazz, and Best Big Band Jazz; I will have another post selecting the best historical jazz albums released in 2024, hopefully next week.

I hope this list gives readers a chance to explore some albums and types of music that they might otherwise have missed. Please don't take this list as being exclusionary if one of your favorites hasn't made this list. While I listen to hundreds of albums over the year. There are certainly many releases that I have not had the chance to preview and therefore, whether worthy or not, didn't make my list. So onward and upward and happy listening.  

Best Contemporary Jazz:

Taylor Eigsti-Plot Armor- Ground Up Records

Peter Bernstein-Better Angels-Smoke Session Records

Jim Snidero-For All We Know- Savant Records  

Jamie Baum-What Times Are These-Sunnyside Records

Ben Allison, Steve Cardenas and Ted Nash- Tell The Birds I Said Hello: The Music of Herbie Nichols-Sonic Camera Records

Kenny Barron-Beyond This Place- Artworks/PIAS 

Isaiah Collier and the Chosen Few-The World Is On Fire- Division 81 Records

Chris Potter-Eagle's Point-Edition Records

Julian Lage-Speak To Me-Blue Note Records

Ryan Keberle & Catharsis-Music Is Connection-Alternate Side Records

Charles Llyod- The Sky Will Be There Tomorrow-Blue Note Records

Tomasz Stank Quartet-September Night-ECM 

Grégoire Maret and Romain Collin-Ennio-ACT Music  

Andy Milne and Unison- Time Will Tell-Sunnyside Records

John Surman-Words Unspoken-ECM Records 

Pat Bianchi- Three-21H Records 

Jenny Scheinman-All Species Parade-Royal Potato Family

Michael Shrieve-Drums of Compassion-7D Media

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Ron Horton-A Prayer for Andrew-Newvelle Records 

 

Ben Wolfe-The Understated-Resident Arts Records  

 

 

Tyshawn Sorey Trio-The Susceptible Now-Pi Records  

 

Best Jazz and Contemporary Music Vocals: 

Fay Victor-Life Is Funny That Way, Herbie Nichols Sung-Tao Form Records

Catherine Russell and Sean Mason- My Ideal- Dot Time Records

Lizz Wright-Shadow-Blues and Greens

Best Latin Jazz:

Donald Vega-As I Travel-Imaginary Records

Gonzalo Rubalcaba and Hamilton DeHolanda- Collab-Sony Music Brazil 

Zaccai Curtis-CuBop Lives!-Truth Revolution 

   

Best Jazz Debut Albums:

Art Baden-How Much Of It Is real-Rainy Day Records 

Euan Edmonds-Beyond Hope and Fear-Desafio Candente Records

Best Jazz Big Band Releases:

Mike Holober and the Gotham Jazz Orchestra-This Rock We're On-Palmetto Records

Jihye Lee Orchestra-Daring Mind-Motema Records 

John Hollenbeck and the NDR Big Band-Colouring Hockets-Flexatonic Records