Tributes & Remembrances with Masterful Interactions

 

One of the great joys of listening to creative music is how many of the artists that came of age in the 1960s and 70s are still with us and are still pushing forward.  OGJB –– Oliver Lake (alto saxophone), Graham Haynes (cornet, electronics), Joe Fonda (acoustic bass), and Barry Altschul (drums, percussion) –– first came together as a quartet in 2015 to do several tours. They recorded "Bamako" in 2016 and it was issued in 2019 on TUM Records. Right after that debut album was issued, the quartet went back into the studio and the results can be heard on "Ode To O", the group's second recording for the Finnish label.

The 10-song program includes three compositions by Altschul, two apiece from Lake and Haynes, one by Fonda, and two collective improvisations.  The drummer's title track is dedicated to Ornette Coleman while "Da Bang" is a tribute to the late violinist Billy Bang. The former piece opens the album in a swinging mode but check out the well-developed melody. Haynes takes the first solo and he dances along with the powerful bass lines and rambunctious drums. The latter track opens with a fine drum soliloquy that dips and swerves, talks and turns, before Fonda drops into a rapid-fire walking bass and the quartet dances forward.  Lake's "Justice" includes a deliberate melody line over the rampaging rhythm section.  The music feels akin to the "protest" music that Charles Mingus created in his powerful songs. Lake and Haynes solo together with the saxophonist squalling while the cornetist shouts back at him. The saxophonist composed "Bass Bottom", another tune with a deliberate melody line but this time it's Fonda funky bass lines and solo over the simple drum pattern that pushes the song forward.

Photo: Enid Farber

The opening moment of Haynes' "The Other Side" feels inspired by Richard Strauss's "Thus Spake Zaruthustra"; it's slow development of the theme gives way to the composer's solo which also includes  his use of electronics to distort the sound of cornet. Fonda's "Me Without Bela" owes its inspiration to the bassist's love of Mr. Bartok's string quartet but when the song moves out into its second half, Fonda drops into a hypnotic and funky rhythm which pushes Altschul and the front line into a fascinating push and pull. The coda of the song is quite engaging and surprising, an abridged version of the opening of the piece.

Check out the two improvisations, especially "OGJB#3" with its playful electronics. Playful is a good word for "Ode To O"; the album is full of playing by four musicians who listen to and inspire each other as well as inspire the listener. Such goos music deserves to be heard both on album and in person.

For more information, go to https://tumrecords.com/058-ode-to-o/. 

Here's the title track:

Braithwaite & Katz · Ode to O - OGJB Quartet

On the first day of February 2021, three musicians entered Studios Ferber in Paris, France, all three associated at one time in their careers with pianist Cecil Taylor (1929-2018). Drummer Andrew Cyrille spent 11 years (1964-75) with the groundbreaking artist, recording on his two Blue Note albums, his work with and for the Jazz Composers Orchestra, and several other Taylor albums. Bassist William Parker also spent more than a decade as a member of the pianist's ensemble, recording 13 albums from the mid-1980s into the early 1990s.  Flugelhornist and trumpeter Enrico Rava performed as a member of Taylor's Orchestra of Two Continents (1984) and his European Orchestra (1988), recording one album with each band.

The 10-song program opens with "Improvisation No. 1", a burst of energy from the opening moments. For those listeners who only know the 82-year young Rava from his ECM recordings, his flugelhorn work is a joy to hear. He rides the rhythmic waves, playfully tossing out lines yet never overplaying. Meanwhile, Parker creates a throbbing bottom from Cyrille to play around with.  "Ballerina" is the first of two Rava compositions; the title does not prepare one for the rapid-fire rhythms and blazing flugelhorn riffs. Even the unaccompanied cymbal and drums solo burst out with unbridled energy.  Later in the program, Rava's "Overboard" opens with a short flugelhorn spot that resembles the melody of Ornette Coleman's "Lonely Woman".  Parker's powerful bass lines atop Cyrille's rolling drums stands out as well.

Photo: Luciano Rossetti

Cyrille's "Top, Bottle, and What's in the Middle" opens with solo flugelhorn, then bass, and then drums, hence the title. Yet, that's how the tune moves forward, each member of the trio getting a short solo in that order.  The drummer also contributes "Enrava Melody" –– Rava plays the melody in with Parker offering counterpoint until the composer enters to set the pace for the music to jump forward.  

The album also includes two "Blues For Cecil".  "No. 1" is a funky urban blues that Rava gleefully moves through while Parker shows his "gutbucket" side. The trio goes "free" for a moment before Cyrille's martial, drumbeat pushes the bassist out front for yet another powerful solo.  Listen to Cyrille dancing, bobbing and weaving throughout the second half –– such joy!  "No. 2" opens as a ballad with Rava displaying his blues "chops" while the bassist plays such deep low notes.  

Photo: Luciano Rossetti

"2 Blues for Cecil" closes with the program's only standard, Rodgers & Hart's "My Funny Valentine".  Rava caresses the melody while Cyrille moves gracefully around his cymbals and Parker offers gentle support.  The three musicians created this beguiling tribute to Cecil Taylor not by imitating but by playing who they are as musicians and as human being. Mr. Taylor always expected the very best from his ensemble and Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, and Enrico Rava responded during their time working with him.  This delight-filled album is their gift to us!

For more information, go to https://tumrecords.com/059-2-blues-for-cecil/music.

Give a listen:

Braithwaite & Katz · Blues For Cecil No. 2 - Andrew Cyrille, William Parker, and Enrico Rava

Born in 1937, Mark Whitecage (alto saxophone, clarinet, Díne flute) lived a jazz life. He started playing while still a boy, his father exposing him to the music and sound of Lester Young, Charlie Parker, Ben Webster, and many other "boppers".  By the time he arrived in New York City in the early 1970s, his approach to music had changed. Whitecage hooked up with multi-instrumentalist Gunter Hampel and they toured constantly spending a lot of time criss-crossing Europe. He led a number of his own bands through the 1980s and 90s recording a number of albums as a leader and sideman for CIMP Records. He joined The Nu Band in 1999, a quartet organized by drummer Lou Grassi and trumpeter Roy Campbell, Jr. (featuring bassist Joe Fonda) and was a member up until his passing in March of 2021 at the age of 83.

In January of 2018, The Nu Band performed at the Bop Shop in Rochester, NY. "In Memory of Mark Whitecage" (NotTwo Records) captures 63 minutes of that evening's performance.  After Roy Campbell passed in 2014, the rest of the group asked trumpeter Thomas Heberer to join them and he's been a member ever since.  The exciting seven-song program features songs by each member. The program opens with Whitecage's "Prayer for the Water Protectors"; the composer's Díne flute rolls on unaccompanied for the first two minutes before Grassi's tribal drums and Heberer's growling trumpet move behind him. Fonda's bowed bass lines quietly underpin the music. The saxophonist's "Five O'Clock Follies" opens with a short saxophone intro (opening lines sound a bit like "How are Things in Glocca Morra" from "Finian's Rainbow") and heads right into a rhythm that befits the name of the venue.  Everybody takes a solo, the audience and the band have fun.

The next two cuts are both composed by the trumpeter. "One For Roy" pays tribute to the late trumpeter and co-founder of The Nu Band. The music goes in and out of tempo plus features a great conversation between the alto sax and trumpet.  "The Closer you Are the Further It Gets" is the album's longest piece and it, too, does not adhere to a strict rhythm. Yet, listen to how Fonda and Grassi converse underneath the soloists. They stay quite busy and finally push a rhythm onto the soloists which Whitecage obliterates with his wild duo with Grassi.  

After a pair of Fonda's pieces, the free then rollicking "Christoff and Ornette" and the hard-driving "Minor Madness" (great solos all around), the album closes with Grassi's elegy "Dark Dawn in Aurora".  Opening with a long and powerful solo from Fonda, the band enters on a martial beat and then into strong solos from Heberer and Whitecage (again, he duets with the drummer) before returning back to the theme with the added spice of the trumpeter dancing atop the saxophone melody until the close.

In the liner notes to "In Memory of Mark Whitecage", Joe Fonda writes about his 40-year relationship with the saxophonist first as a young musician soaking up all the stories then as an equal on the bandstand.  Lou Grassi looks back at the 20 years of Whitecage's membership in The Nu Band while Thomas Heberer first met the man as a 24-year old new to America before joining him on the bandstand 25 years later.  The energy, the creativity, the sheer joy of making music even as he entered his 80s, Mark Whitecage made and left his mark on creative music.

For more information, go to http://joefonda.com/the-nu-band.html. 

Here's The Nu Band and "Five O'Clock Follies":

A Duo & A Trio

Photo: Josephine Zeitlin

Pianist Denny Zeitlin first became interested in synthesizers in the early 1970s and used them extensively in 1978 when created the soundtrack for the first remake of "Invasion of the Body-Snatchers".  He has used them now and again over the decades, upgrading his equipment along – in 2013, the good Doctor (he's a practicing psychiatrist) reunited with drummer George Marsh who he has known since joining Zeitlin's Trio in the late 1960s. The percussionist, who moved from the East Coast to the West in 1968, may be best known for his work with mandolinist David Grisman, the Jerry Hahn Brotherhood, Mose Allison, and so many more.  He set his drums up in Zeitlin's studio and the duo began to play electric-acoustic acoustic improvisations. In 2015, Sunnyside Records released the duo's first album, "Riding the Moment" followed in 2017 by "Expedition." 

"Telepathy" (Sunnyside) is an apt title for their third album.  Taken from sessions over a five-year period (pre-Pandemic), the 14-track, 76+ minute, program is an aural funhouse. Zeitlin, who continually upgrades his keyboard setup, blends his grand piano with numerous synths, hardware, and electronic keyboards –– meanwhile, Marsh plays his acoustic drum, adding percussion every now and then.  There is no script, no sheet music, and, believe it or not, the vast majority of these tracks are first takes.  For those of us who grew up in the 1960s and 70s, you can imagine Zeitlin sitting in the middle of the studio surrounded by his numerous "toys". He easily moves from one to another; listen to the joyful "Highlands", the track that opens the proceedings. It's a funky jig complete with acoustic piano, keyboard bass, various synths and dancing drums. Several minutes in, all but the drums drop out and Zeitlin begins what sounds like a guitar solo (no, it's a keyboard patch).  

In the space of one song, one might think he/ she is listening to Chick Corea or Keith Emerson or Joe Zawinul.  Zeitlin has his own sound and is always searching. Listen to the duo romp on "Quicksilver" (dig the pianist's left hand in the first minute as well Marsh's delightful brushes work in the next minute. Thunderous drums and rumbling piano chords open "Black Hole" before the music goes in different directions. In the middle of "Moonflower", a "virtual choir" rises out of the rhythm section and it seems so right.  "If Only" is an atmospheric ballad-cum-conversation played by synths and drums while "The Ascent" has, at times, a frenzied feel that is alleviated by the hypnotic piano melody in the middle. As the music rolls forward, the pianist moves freely between keyboards that hints at a full breakout but the listener hears a gentle finish. The program closes with a bow to the halcyon days and nights of San Francisco in the 1960s with the hard rocking "Fillmore Dreams" with wailing synth "guitar" and thundering drums as well as a taste of the blues.  

It's easy to get totally wrapped up in the many and varied keyboard sounds but do pay attention to Marsh's inventive drum work.  Even though the two musicians cannot see each other due to the way the studio is set up, the music never gets "lost" or bogged down in repetition.  Because these pieces are improvised, there are many moments the listener feels like he is in the middle of the telepathic action.  Yes, "Telepathy" is the correct title for this album but it could easily be called "Great Fun" or "The Sandbox Sessions".  Denny Zeitlin and George Marsh keep your attention throughout the album by letting their the minds free to wander the sonic universe.  Feeling stress?  Put this music on good and loud; your housemate and/or neighbors might complain but you can't help but feel good as the music dances around you.

For more information, go to www.dennyzeitlin.com/. To hear more and purchase the album, go to https://dennyzeitlin.bandcamp.com/album/telepathy. 

Hear the delight-filled opening track:

 

I have known bassist Joe Fonda for over four decades.  He lived in my hometown for a number of years, often played at local venues, produces a yearly show (an Improvisors Forum) with The Buttonwood Tree (Middletown, CT), and has toured the nationally and internationally with so many different artists ranging from Barry Altschul to Anthony Braxton to Billy Bang to Jaimoe (of The Allman Brothers Band) to Michael Musillami to Satoko Fujii.  He leads or co-leads a number of ensembles and, before the pandemic, was one of the busiest musicians in the Creative Music world.

Fonda has performed and recorded with pianist Carlo Morena for over three decades producing four albums with either Jeff Hirschfield or George Schuller on drums. under the name Step In Trio (from a 2000 album of the same name). In March of 2019, Fonda and Morena came to Firehouse 12 in New Haven, CT, with drummer Felix Lecaros Herrera as the third member of the trio.  The dChilean native also works with saxophonist Eden Bareket and has recorded with guitarist Nicolás Vera. The result of the New Haven gig is "Voila la Tendresse" (Not Two Records). The seven song, 70+ minute, program is filled with intuitive playing and intelligent interplay, emotional depth, and really fine compositions (all but one by the pianist).  Because Morena and Fonda have such a long and rich history plus they entrust Herrera with being the foundation each song, this Trio sounds anything but "typical". 

The title track opens the album on a lyrical note, the piano melody pushed forward by the dynamic drumming and bass counterpoint.  The bassist gets the first solo, a delightful statement that is both lyrical and percussive supported by the driving drums and piano.  There is a touch of dissonance at the onset of Morena's long solo – there is such power and excitement as the Trio ramps up the intensity (at times like Keith Jarrett's work with Gary Peacock and Paul Motian).  About 10 minutes in, Morena's left hand drops into a modified "boogie-woogie"; Fonda and Herrera follow happily and the groove is irrepressible right to the final seconds (Morena tosses in a few choice Thelonious Monk quotes in the final moments).

Photo: Guido Nardi

Fonda opens "Japan" with a long solo that gain blends lyrical and percussive with a hypnotic feel at times. Four+ minutes in, the pianist and drummer enter pushing the music into a Bill Evans-style atmosphere with a gentle stop & start in the rhythm; yet, notice how the music moves into a different area more related to the rhythmic pulses of the piece than an Evans improvisation.  Rumbling piano and bluesy bass licks introduce "Dog With No Name",  tune that moves from Gershwin-style flourishes to raucous blues to bass solos short and long. a swinging piano romp  that gets a bit off-center by the powerful drumming. The one non-original is "I Love Music" composed in 1974 by Emil Boyd – it's a sweet solo piano piece that carrie a lot of emotion.

The program comes to its close with "Chorale", a piece that builds slowly from the piano-bass-brushes opening into a powerful piano solo that pushes the rhythm, especially Lecaros Herrera (pictured) to lock in with Morena for a thunderous climax. Still, it's the pianist who puts the song and the album to bed with a short series of light-fingered descending lines.

Step In – Carlo Morena, Joe Fonda, and Felix Lecaros Herrera – have produced an excellent alum in "Voila la Tendresse".  The music engages the Trio which, in turn, captivates the audience.  Powerful, lyrical, rhythmic, emotional music that deserves your close attention – highly recommended!

To purchase the album, go to https://joefonda.bandcamp.com/releases.  For more information about the bassist and his many projects, go to http://joefonda.com/. 

Give a listen to "Japan":