NOTES ON JAZZ The Best of Jazz 2014

This year was an interesting one the wide diversity of music that was offered from a myriad of artists all operating under the all inclusive umbrella that is known as jazz. Like always, for one to try to limit one's appreciation of such diverse musical richness to a "top ten" is an exercise in futility and speciousness.

Here is my list of some of the most interesting and in my opinion worthy offerings that were released this year. There very well maybe some deserving artists and releases that for whatever reason I was not able to get a chance to listen to, so my apologies.This is a very subjective listing, but I believe an inclusive one making room for different genres; for new as well as established artists.

Here in no particular order is my list of the best " JAZZ" of 2104 :

Ernie Watts Quartet : A Simple Truth- Flying Dolphin Records A masterful album from a masterful musician whose sound is all his own.

Dr. John  Ske De Dat De Dat The Spirit of Louis Armstrong- Proper Records

Jane Ira Bloom Sixteen Sunsets- Outline records

Joe Beck -Get me- Whaling City Sound

Adam Unsworth/Byron Olson/John Vancore- Balance   A brilliant compositional tour de force.

Michael Blake-Tiddy Boom- Sunnyside Records. Just a wonderful album.

David Ullman 8 Corduroy- Little Sky Records   A great new work by the ambitious guitarist/composer

Click here for a sample of  Corduroy 

Matt Wilson Quartet with john Medeski : Gathering Call - Palmeto Records

Dan Weiss Fourteen- PI Records

Denny Zeitlin Trio Stairway tot the Stars- Sunnyside

Dewa Budjana Joged Kahyangan- MoonJune Records

Ben Allison: The Stars Look Very Different Today- Sonic Camera Records

Pete Robbins: Pyramid- Hate Laugh Music

Janis Siegel : Nightsongs- Palmetto Records

Jimmy Cobb: The Original Mob- Smoke Sessions

Freddy Bryant-Dreamscape-GJK Sound

Jeff Ballard Trio: Time's Tales- Okeh/Sony Masterworks

Elizabeth Sheppard- Rewind- Linus Entertainment

Dhafer Yousef: Birds Requiem-Okeh

Steven Richman's Harmonie Ensemble/New York: Henry Mancini Music for Peter Gunn - Harmonia Mundi USA

Michael Wollny Trio- Weltentraum- ACT Music

Zara McFarland: If You Knew Her - Brownswood Recordings

Sammy Figueroa/Glaucia Nasser: Talisman- Savant Records

David Bixler's Auction Project: Slink-Bixler Music

Keith Jarrett/Charlie Haden: Last Dance: ECM Records

Marc Weinstien: Latin Jazz Underground: Zoho 

Click here for a sample of Latin Underground

Enjoy all of this great music and support the musicians by buying their cds and going to see them "live" whenever you get the chance. Have a wonderful holiday and keep listening and reading!

Michael Blake's World Time Zone Plays his latest work "Contrasts in Indivdualism" at the Kitano

Michael Blake at the Kitano

On a Thursday night at the elegant Kitano Jazz club in Manhattan the saxophonist Michael Blake premiered his latest work Contrasts in Individualism,”  a series of compositions inspired by two of the twentieth century’s most influential pre-bop tenor men, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young.

Mr. Blake, a Canadian born in Montreal and raised in Vancouver, Canada, has made New York his home since 1986. The mild- mannered musician has been playing with some of the most progressive musicians on the scene as a member of John Lurie’s Lounge Lizards, Ben Allison’s Medicine Wheel, The Herbie Nichols Project, Steven Bernstein’s  Millennial Territory Orchestra, and the progressive instrumental  group Slow Poke with Dave Tronzo, Tony Scherr and Kenny Wollesen, along with several self-led groups.  

In a world littered with saxophonists who prefer to play a fusillade of notes to express their ideas, Michael Blake has refreshingly chosen to follow a more measured approach.  As a student of the pre-bop masters Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young and predecessors in their lineage, Mr. Blake has a developed a style that incorporates many of the techniques that made them so unique, combining them with his own signature sound that has been strongly influenced by soul, funk, rhythm and blues and rock. The result is a unique voice on the instrument that plays with conviction that is refreshingly free from pyrotechnics or affectation.  An accomplished technician, Mr. Blake is comfortable playing at those difficult slow tempos that often can require holding a note with pristine intonation or uttering a gut bucket growl to make a point. That’s not to say the man can’t swing or dazzle, his tenor can flow like a spring-fed mountain stream occasionally bursting into fast paced waves of swirling eddy currents. Having been touted as an up and coming voice on tenor saxophone for quite a while it’s time to acknowledge that Michael Blake is one of the leading proponents of the instrument today. He debuted this music with his all-star band  World Time Zone which features Ben Allison on bass, Frank Kimbrough on piano and Rudy Royston on drums.

Mr. Blake’s compositional skills were on display with Contrast in Individualism, a commission made possible by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Trust. Comparing and contrasting two iconic players like Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young could be a daunting task for any saxophonist.  Mr. Blake’s told the audience that his own approach was to share what he loved about their music through his own contemporary lens.

The set started out with a song titled “Skinny Dip” a slow, strip club like shuffle that featured some pointillist bass lines by Ben Allison and some raspy Hawk-inspired playing by Blake. His escalating tenor solo built in measured crescendos with tasty licks that had a very sensuous side to them.  Mr. Kimbrough took a solo spot that was contrastingly more jagged but steeped in the blues. Mr. Allison and Mr. Royston kept the rhythm going in the spirit of the song.

Mr. Blake related the story behind the title of his next composition “Some Tiddy Boom Please” a reference to something Lester Young said to a drummer wanting him to kick it (the beat) a little. Mr. Blake starts out with an unaccompanied  saxophone solo that  is both expressive-he hums into his reed creating harmonic distortions- and rhythmically flowing as his horn pours out a funky groove, a pattern of notes that remind me a little of Eddie Harris’ work.  The band picks up the vamp as Blake continues, occasionally using some Hawkish rasp to his tenor. Some nice playing by pianist Kimbrough takes the whole thing into a loose swing mode.  Drummer Royston and bassist Allison have great chemistry and they carry the rhythm with a joyous bounce that is infectious. Blake ends the piece with a rousing solo that has elements of Young, Getz and a playful Blake in it to the delight of the crowd.

Mr. Blake introduced the next composition as a mini-suite titled “Letters in Disguise.” The slow ruminating opening featured some facile bass work by Ben Allison who plays with child-like excitement. Mr. Royston conjures up percussive sounds that somehow fit perfectly as Mr. Blake plays in a slow, sensuous tone that darkly aches with pathos and expression. Mr. Kimbrough then opens the second part of the suite with a quickened pace that bursts us into the daylight. The pianist is an accomplished player who had moments of inspiration during his solo that brought a smile to the faces of his fellow musicians as well as an appreciative audience. Mr. Kimbrough took the song to a new height of excitement that then allowed equally inspired playing by Mr. Blake. Blake’s soloing produced a series of measures that were inventive and at times derivative of the style of the masters he was acknowledging. The song ended as it began with Mr. Blake holding the final softly blown notes from the lowest register of his horn in a guttural hum that faded to a hushed whisper.

The next song was a straight blues in the style of Lester Young titled “Good Day for Pres.” Mr. Blake can certainly play with the beautiful lyricism of the “Pres.” when he wants to. He has a command of tone and attack that is quite impressive and like Lester he knows the value of space.  Mr. Allison, who besides being a talented composer in his own right, is a helluva bass player,  played an impressive extended bass solo, incorporating slides, bends and leaps, as Royston played gingerly on hi-hat and rim accompaniment. Not to be outdone Mr. Kimbrough provided his own impressive Monkish solo that had a way of making this simple blues into a far from simple song. The song ended in a slow, deliberate musical drawl that showed just how in tune these musicians are despite having little practice with the material.

The Coleman Hawkins inspired  “Hawk’s Rhumba " was the next composition. Mr. Blake nailed the Hawk’s tawny, luxurious sound on his tenor. The phrasing was impeccable and the warm, liquid tone was a treat to behold. Mr. Royston, never content to merely hold a beat, colored the song with flourishes of old time chick-a-boom style snares and shimmering cymbals. As Michael said to the audience at the conclusion of this one “If that didn’t get you in the mood I don’t know what would.”

The final composition of the set titled “The Ambassadors” had a slightly Caribbean beat mildly reminiscent of Sonny Rollins’ “St. Thomas.” Over the cadenced trap work of Royston, Mr. Blake played his free flowing tenor, interjecting s unique humming into his reed that created some interesting harmonic overtones. This was perhaps the most modern and contemporary music of the evening. Mr. Kimbrough played with sensitive accompaniment as Mr. Blake wailed. The band stopped in mid-stream allowing Mr. Blake center stage to develop ideas on his solo horn which again included his harmonic overtone work.  The band then, led by Mr. Kimbrough, went into a more funky groove that was steeped in R & B and had the audience bobbing their heads to the beat. Mr. Blake’s compositions and the nature of his band mates is such that the music is not rigid and it seems to develop organically as ideas percolate between these musicians, who have a rare rapport. It is as much a product of the written chart as it is of the ether from which these artists pull ideas and build upon them in sympathetic union.

For that reason Michael Blake’s World Time Zone is one of those bands that is best savored live. Catch them perform Mr. Blake's Contrasts in Individualism if you can.

While not this particular music, here is a sample of Michael Blake's work:

Contemporary Bassist & Composer Ben Allison plays Carnegie Hall and fittingly celebrates New York.

As the epicenter of modern jazz, New York City has always been a magical lodestone, irresistibly attracting talented musicians at every stage of their development and careers. The city offers an unparalleled opportunity for musicians to play and collaborate with legendary performers, teaching mentors and talented peers, providing the fertile environment essential for inspiration and creativity.

The composer/bassist Ben Allison came to New York City from nearby New Haven, CT in the late 1980’s, drawn by the same irrepressible need to participate, to absorb, to create. I first saw Allison performing in the inauspicious basement of the Brooklyn Public Library, at Grand Army Plaza, back in April of 2008 (see my jazz.com review of that show here.) At that time Allison was performing with his group “Man Size Safe,” a tongue in cheek reference to a strongbox reportedly kept in then Vice President Dick Cheney’s office. Admittedly, being attracted to the audacity of the title of his group, I also found the music surprisingly fresh, intelligently conceived and masterfully executed. Allison was able to attract a variety of talented young musicians who bought into his music, making it come to life.

On Friday evening the Ben Allison odyssey achieved a significant milestone, playing a prestigious concert at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Auditorium. His music has steadily matured. His most recent album Action/Refraction made my best of 2011 list and I was anxious to see his latest group perform “live”. On this momentous evening Allison was joined by his long time friends and collaborators, the tasteful guitarist Steve Cardenas and talented saxophonist Michael Blake. His rhythm section was comprised of the effervescent drummer Rudy Royston and the amazingly adroit percussionist
Rogerio Boccato. Firebrand guitarist Brandon Seabrook provided edginess with raw, rock-inspired licks, his clever use of electronics and some unorthodox banjo playing. The performance and drag artist Joey Arias, who dressed in both elegant and proactive attire, lent a farcical, musical theater-like atmosphere to a few of the numbers.

Ben dedicated the show to his adopted home of New York and started the set with his composition “Roll Credits," a cinematic piece from his Little Things Run the World cd from 2007. Saxophonist Michael Blake stated the melody line, with guitarists Cardenas, Seabrook and bassist Allison keeping the ostinato background flowing. Blake is capable of a great range of emotions from his tenor. Eliciting a silky smooth, Dexter Gordon-like tonality one minute, instantaneously changing to a gruff, raw and guttural sound reminiscent of a back alley speakeasy in the very next breath.

Allison’s “Platypus” from his 9th album Think Free was next on the playlist. After Ben briefly extolled on the unique evolution of the Platypus, Brandon Seabrook introduced the song with an electronic guitar riff. The energy from Seabrook is frenetic and palpable and Allison seems to feed off the afterglow of this kinetic player. His solid bodied guitar sound can be searing and jagged in stark contrast to Cardenas’ more fluid, warmer toned, semi-hollow bodied sound. Blake adds soprano to the mix and the tune grooves behind Allison’s bass and Royston’s populsive drums which are explosive at the ending. Rogerio Boccato, who I first saw play with saxophonist Kenny Garrett, is an especially intuitive percussionist. Boccato's arsenal of sounds, in combination with Royston’s rolling toms and Allison’s snapping bass lines create as formidable a rhythm section as you’ll find anywhere.

Allison wrote a new tune for this very special concert and he titled it “DAVE” for "Digital Awareness Vector Emulation”. This is pure performance piece and a likely homage to the Kubrick/Clarke masterpiece “2001 a Space Odyssey” for the new digital world. Joey Arias, dressed in elegant drag, sang the droning automatronic words “I cannot allow you to disconnect me Dave.” as he danced robotic moves and used controlled screeches to match the errie sounds emanating from Seabrook’s guitar and Blake’s soprano. While not my cup of tea, the audience was mesmerized, as the group provided mind bending, experimental, musical performance art.

One of Allison’s most enduring melodies is the rambling “Fred” also from his Think Free cd. Brandon Seabrook played an impressive banjo that included some unorthodox strumming and wild bowing. I missed hearing Jenny Scheinman’s haunting electric violin from the original recording, but the combined voices of Seabrook’s banjo, Cardenas’ guitar and Blake’s soprano offered their own rewards.


From the Dick Cheney repertoire, Allison revived his song “Tricky Dick” with Michael Blake and Steve Cardenas playing melody as Seabrook and the rhythm section set the background.

The fractured “Broken” brought Joey Arias back to the stage, this time donning a provocative skin revealing, black lingerie outfit. Seabrook utilized multiple electronic synth-like effects on his guitar. Arias screeched, amazingly in tune, prancing across and fluttering his black stocking-clad legs from a prone position on the floor from center stage. Quoting the audacious queen Joey “Who needs words when you have vibrations.”

Often inspired by the music and events of his times, Allison’s witty deconstruction of popular songs is one of his most engaging attributes and has let him cross over into a wider audience than is generally afforded most jazz artists. He has included treatments of John Lennon’s “Jealous Guy”, Donny Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free”, Neil Young’s “Philadelphia” and P.J. Harvey’s “Missed” to his repertoire.

On “Green Al,” influenced ever so slightly by the pop/soul singer Al Green and equally borrowing from the cinematic music associated with James Bond movies, Allison somehow pulls off this weird juxtaposition. You find yourself relating to Ben’s creative blend of the familiar and the mysterious. The song featured exceptional performances by Rogerio Boccato, Rudy Royston and a tenor solo by Michael Blake that was particularly fetching.



This concert was as much a celebration of Allison the composer as it was as Allison the musician. Ben appropriately limited his musical selections to his own compositions. A growing body of work that speaks for itself.

The encore was the brilliant “Man Size Safe” from his album Little Things that Run the World. It was a joyous celebration and a good representation of the man's music; interesting, approachable, relevant and fun. The crowd was pleased and gave the group a well deserved standing ovation.
The Ben Allison Group will be on tour through June 22, 2012 at various venues around the country so if you get the opportunity to see them near you be sure to make the effort, you won't be disappointed.