Drummer and composer Johnathan Blake, son of the late violinist John Blake, Jr. (1947-2014), has been a professional musician for over two decades. He has toured with the Tom Harrell Quintet, the Mingus Big Band, and the Kenny Barron Trio - Blake's discography also includes two albums as a leader (Sunnyside and Criss Cross Jazz) and many, many, more (including CDs by Russell Malone, The Black Art Jazz Collective, Omar Vital, and David Berkman).
Giant Step Arts
His third album, a two CD set, is a live date recorded over two nights at The Jazz Gallery in January of 2018 for Jimmy & Dena Katz's Giant Step Arts label. Dubbed "Trion", the word comes from the study of physics and is defined as "a singlet state from from three atoms of different colors." In the case of this recording, the three "atoms" are Blake, Chris Potter (tenor saxophone), and Linda May Han Oh (bass). The drummer has worked with both musicians on numerous occasions and you can hear that in their interactions, their mutual trust, and willingness to put all of themselves into this project. Both discs open with drum solos - Blake is setting the tone, letting one know these songs are built from the rhythm up. The next track, "Synchronicity 1" (yes, the Sting tune) opens with an unaccompanied tenor sax solo: once Ms. Oh and Blake enter, the song is taken for quite a ride. Pay attention to the melodies and rhythm coming from the bass and the drummer's fiery barrage, all of which push Potter to an intense solo. The bassist plays a hardy solo over insistent drums and, then, then the sax "trades 4s" with Blake. The next three tracks come from bassists - Ms. Oh's "Trope (Linda Intro)" and "Trope", plus "One For Honor" from the pen of Charles Fambrough which the bassist recorded in 1991 with a band that included Wynton and Branford Marsalis, Roy Hargrove, Kenny Kirkland, and Jeff "Tain" Watts. Blake, Ms. Oh, and Potter play the piece with tremendous energy with the saxophonist delivering a solo with the thunder of John Coltrane. Blake's "No Bebop Daddy" closes disk one. It's quite a melodic journey for the bassist and saxophonist while the drummer dances below them.
Photo: Jimmy Katz
After the delightful drum statement "Bedrum" opens disk two, the trio takes a wild ride through Potter's "Good Hope." When this piece gets going, with the pounding drums, the rhythmic sax line, and Ms. Oh's solid bass, it's hard to sit still. There's definitely an African feel to this song and Blake takes advantage, telling his own story as he travels around his kit. Potter digs in on Charlie Parker's "Relaxing at the Camarillo", sounding more like Sonny Rollins and certainly not in a "relaxed" mode. The bass and drums swing the daylights out of this track. The piece, actually the band's encore, was unplanned. The drummer pays tribute to his father with "Blue Heart", a previously unrecorded from the elder Blake. The trio makes sure to pay attention to the melody, building both the tenor and bass solos from the handsome tune. Disk two closes with the leader's "West Berkley St.", a real treat with its soulful melody (sounds like a melding of Smoky Robinson's easy style and Felix Cavaliere's "Groovin'"), is a showcase for Potter's tasty tenor (dig his quotes from other tunes).
Listening to "Trion" is like sitting in the front row of The Jazz Gallery. The excellent sound quality and these superb performances reminds one of the power of creative music and improvisation, especially in a live session. Johnathan Blake, Chris Potter, and Linda May Han Oh play with fire and delight. And, this set is all about playing (in all the positive senses of the word). Johnathan Blake continues to grow as a musician, composer, leader, and human being. Play it loud and enjoy!
Here's the Sting tune (arrangement by Chris Potter):
After three albums on ECM, Chris Potter moves to Edition Records for his latest album. The title "Circuits" is your first hint that this will be a much different aural experience. Look at the credits and you'l see that besides tenor and soprano saxophones, clarinets, and flutes, Potter also contributes keyboards, sampler, guitar, and piano. He's joined by James Francies on piano, organ, and synth, Linley Marthe (electric bass on four tracks), and drummer Eric Harland. The drummer, a native of the Houston, Texas, music scene as is the 24-year old Francies, really is the heartbeat of this music. Combined with Potter's melodies and the various keyboards, this is one of the better "fusion" albums I've heard in a while.
With the addition of Marthe (who played with Joe Zawinul in his later years), this music hearkens back to the Austrian-born keyboard master's music as well as Wayne Shorter's fusion albums from the 1990. Potter's music actually has a deeper groove. Listen to "The Nerve", dig the Middle-Eastern feel, especially at the opening with the overdubbed flutes but don't ignore the elastic electric bass lines and Francies's delightful piano solo. There's a hint of Jimmy Guiffre in the unaccompanied bass clarinet opening of "Kuotomé" and a delightful sensuality in Marthe's bass lines and percussion. Again, the leader overdubs flutes to flesh out the melody lines. The bassist also appears on the title track, a piece that roars out of the speakers and surges forward on a rhythmic melody line (note the bass clarinet holding down the bass line as Marthe dances along with the keyboard). Potter and Harland engage in a delightful give-and-take during the leader's solo. After those two raise the temperature, the drummer and Francies spar and party as the latter unleashes an excellent synth solo.
Photo: Dave Stapleton
Potter moves to soprano saxophone for "Queens of Brooklyn", a lovely ballad where the leader's bass clarinet plays the counterpoint. The melody then is taken up by multiple flutes (note the dynamic cymbal playing) before the soprano retakes the lead. But, this group seems to be "built for speed" as the next tune, "Exclamation", illustrates. Here, the saxophones and layered synths play a rapid-fire melody a la Charlie Parker while Marthe and Harland parry beneath. For the tenor solo, the rhythm section - minus Francies - go all out, creating an intensity that is breath-taking and gooses Potter higher and higher. The electric piano enters adding more fire to this inferno, leading to an amazing synth solo. The buildup to the finish just might shatter glass.
Photo: Dave Stapleton
The album closes with "Pressed For Time": just listen to the incredible pace that Harland sets - nothing fancy, mind you, just a beat that is so irresistible you can't get enough. Again, the drummer's intensity give the leader the power to unleash a solo that dives and roars, wailing away but never losing control. Francies's solo gives Harland license to go in several different directions, playing with the beat and how he accents them. Have to say, I was laughing at the sheer audacity of how far the trio is able to take this music. And, when it's over, you want more. While the music is not "free", the joy of this sound, this band, is freeing. Freeing for the musicians and for the attentive audience.
"Circuits" is a treat for those who love music with muscle, an intelligently arranged and orchestrated program that succeeds because the solos and the interactions keep the listener at the edge of his/her seat. The album is an impressive showcase for Chris Potter: his decision to include Eric Harland, James Francies, and Linley Marthe proves he's always moving forward, not one to settle into a genre or a groove. We are the lucky ones - we get to enjoy the fruits of his ideas and their labors.
Composer, arranger, educator and guitarist Darrell Katz has lived and worked in the Boston, MA, area now for over four decades. In 1985, he was one of the founders of the Jazz Composers Alliance, an organization with aims similar to those of the Chicago's AACM and New York City's Jazz Composers Collective; among those aims was to promote the work of a variety of artists in the area . JCA also formed an orchestra to work whose early concerts and commissions featured the likes of Julius Hemphill, Sam Rivers, Dave Holland, Maria Schneider, Fred Ho, and others. The JCAO has been featured on the majority of Katz's albums.
His latest aural adventure, "Rats Live On No Evil Star" (JCA Recordings), is a sprawling set of songs that cover many topics and myriad genres. The opening track, the title song, is a multi-part composition originally composed for the chamber music duo Marimolin in 1987. Here, it is expanded for the 19-piece ensemble. The evocative marimba work of Vessela Stoynova, the powerful violin playing of Helen Sherrah-Davies, the wordless vocals of long-time JCAO associate Rebecca Shrimpton, the saxophones solos of Rick Stone (alto) and Phil Scarff (tenor), are highlights; then again, so is the brilliant orchestration and the use of Bill Lowe's expressive tuba along with Mike Connors funky drumming.
Photo: Andrew Hurlbut
After that concerto-style opening track comes the three-part "How To Clean a Sewer" - at 35+ minutes, the music goes in so many directions. Part I, titled "3 or 4 Kinds of Blues", has so much going on, different groupings of instruments "conversing" with each other all revolving around a simple blues melody. Again, the marimba is a major rhythmic and melodic voice as is the violin. Part II, "Windfall Lemons (air, earth, water, fire)", is also blues-based but this time revolves around poem written by Katz's late wife Paula Tatarunis. It's fascinating how Ms. Shrimpton can make such "dark" lyrics sound so inviting. Part III, "Attention", also revolves around lyrics: this time, it's Simone Weil's quote "Attention is the rest and purest form of generosity." Now, one hears the influence of Neal Hefti and Henry Mancini in the arrangement as well as more modern arrangers.
By this time, one is already 49 minutes into the album and there are still four more tracks. Each one of the remaining cut stands out but it's the album closer, "Red Sea", that truly stands out. Ms. Shrimpton adapted an essay from Ms.Tatarunis, a remembrance of a fascinating man that poet had met early in life who returned other life much later. The vocalist also wrote the music along with Katz who plays guitar on the track. This trio piece is rounded out by pianist Alizon Lissance, yet another musician on the album who works at Berklee College with the leader and vocalist. This music is quite handsome underneath Ms. Shrimpton's heartfelt vocal. It's a gentle ending to a program that has great energy, at times, blending flashes of anger with long passages of brilliant music.
"Rats Live On an Evil Star" is, like other Darrell Katz recordings, one that you should take time with. Enjoy the music, the hairpin curves, the quick turns, the powerful lyrics yet don't ignore the settings and the orchestrations that Katz creates throughout. The brilliant juxtaposition of the mallet instruments with the "low" sounds of the baritone saxophone and the tuba, the voice with the violin, the sectional work and the short, pithy, solos; that and more makes this album an exciting adventure from beginning to end.
Here's one of the tracks not in the review, "To An Angel":
Ernesto Cervini wears many hats. He's a drummer, composer, arranger, publicist, husband, father, and brother to vocalist Amy Cervini, all the while leading or co-leading several ensembles. One of those ensembles is Turboprop, a sextet that features bassist Dan Loomis (he of the thick tones and penchant for melodies), pianist Adrean Farrugia, tenor saxophonist Joel Frahm, alto and soprano saxophonist Tara Davidson (she also contributes flute), and trombonist William Carn. The sextet has just issued its third album, "Abundance" (Anzic Records) that is an aptly titled collection of originals and standards. The album gets its name from Loomis's "Abundance Overture", a splendid tune with a folky opening melody (played by flute and accompanied by Cervini's sticks. The horns enter, the piece takes on a jaunty feel and everyone plays with great joy.
This is quite a versatile ensemble that often sounds as if it's much larger. Farrugia's "The Ten Thousand Things" is a high-powered romp with moments where the band drops out and you just hear the composer's fine chord work. The band really flies during Frahm's muscular solo, powers by a rampaging rhythm section. The leader's "Song For Cito", perhaps the only song you'll ever hear dedicated to the former manager of the Toronto Blue Jays Cito Gaston. Carn's hardy trombone solo is followed by a high-powered romp from the pianist. "Gramps", the other original by Cervini, is a ballad dedicated to the drummer's grandfather yet it too has an intensity that shows up as the Ms. Davidson moves through her solo. The piece does return to its gentle roots as the ensemble slows to the finish.
On an album loaded with highlights, none shine brighter than the two back-to-back standards. First, there's the powerful "My Shining Hour", a Howard Arlen that Cervini heard on a Geoff Keezer solo piano album. The arrangement opens with a splay of all the instruments before the pianist leads the way into the melody that is played by the reeds and trombone. It's the trombone that gets the lead on the gentle reading of "Smile", the Charlie Chaplin composition that the composer, writer, and director wrote for the soundtrack of his 1936 movie "Modern Times." The spotlight is on Carn for the first three minutes of the piece but do pay attention to how the rhythm section frames his solo. Loomis steps out for a solo - he's so melodic, always going for the emotional heart of the song and not showing off his technique.
"Abundance" is the sound of a sextet that is comfortable with each other, willing to challenge each other, and having a great time making good music. There's much to enjoy when Ernesto Cervini's Turboprop gets together - give them a close listen!
Every once is a while, the reviewer receives an album that wins you over initially on the strength of the joy that the musicians exude. Such is the case with the debut recording by drummer, composer, and arranger Henry Conway III. "With Pride For Dignity" (self-released) finds the Detroit, MI native leading a trio that features Kenny Banks Jr. (piano) and Kevin Smith (drums). It's a cooperative ensemble with all three musicians contributing arrangements and/or songs. Listening to the opening track "Slippery" (composed by Ray Brown and arranged by bassist Smith), the first impressions I had after "how delightful" was how much the overall blues feel sounded like the musical approach of Phineas Newborn Jr. and what a lyrical bassist Smith is. The leader does not impose his will on any song but you cannot miss his presence. The title track (composed by Banks Jr.) is an episodic journey that, at times, feels like the history of jazz going into your ears. Note how the tempo changes happen on a dime, how the music swings with power, and all three musicians are tuned in to each other.
Photo: Adrian H. Tillman
The trio pays tribute to composer/musicians such as Duke Ellington ("Cottontail"), Jimmy Heath ("Gingerbread Boy"), Detroit native, and mentor to the drummer, Marcus Printup ("Hopscotch"), and the afore-mentioned Phineas Newborn Jr. ("Sugar Ray"). Each on of the tunes shines on the power of its melody and the reinvention of a modern ensemble. Both the Printup and Newborn Jr. songs are "deep blues" with the former having an irresistible rhythm as well as the hint of "rent party" piano while the latter has such a jaunty feel with Banks Jr. digging into his solo over the walking bass lines and the "easy" beats from the drummer. "Cottontail" speeds forward on the power of the brilliant brushes work and an inventive bass line (here's where the listener detects the Ray Brown influence on Smith). The leader starts on supplying the rhythm of "Gingerbread Boy" aided and abetted by the bassist and the pianist's left hand. Once Conerway III switches to his sticks, the trio is off on a romp.
The pianist's "The Feel Goods" and the drummer's "Carvin's Agreement" closes the proceedings; the former is a delightful medium-tempo blues and the latter a solo drum piece. Even though there are no ballads on the program, neither does that lack bother this reviewer. At this time of such negativity in the U.S. and elsewhere, the brightness of this music, the obvious joy of the musicians as they move through the songs, the promise of more-to-come, is a breath of fresh air. Plus, this album reminds you of the power that the blues has to settle one's mind and to assure you we're all on this trip together. Kudos to Henry Conerway III and his trio!
Over the past four decades, pianist, composer, educator, and author Kenny Werner has created music that can move one's feet, touch one's heart, capture one's mind, and explore the far corners of our world as well as our worlds of emotions. "The Space" (Pirouet Records) is his 35th release as a leader or co-leader and his fifth solo recording. The program features three originals, two pieces from label owner and saxophonist Jason Seizer, two standards ("You Must Believe in Spring" and "If I Should Lose You"), and a fascinating take on a Keith Jarrett improvisation. The Jarrett piece, "Encore From Tokyo", an excerpt of a piece first heard on the 1976 ECM album "Sun Bear Concerts", is one of those delightful pano romps the composer/improviser creates during his shows - here, Werner's performance finds the joy of the piece, the uptempo yet entrancing rhythm, and the lyricism that hints at Charles Lloyd's "Forest Flower."
The title track opens the album. At 15:57, it's the longest track on the recording, moving from melody to rhythm to a pleasing combination of both, soothing the listener, the "spacious" (no pun intended) sound and clear audio makes every note stand out. Really, what the composer and the pianist expects is that the listener will surrender to the charms of the music, throw away labels, allow the music to bot out out extraneous sounds, close one's eyes, and relax. This is not a "new age" trance dance but an adventure in which the listener is allowed into the mind of the creator. There is no other piece on the album that sounds like this one yet it sets the stage for all that follows, "loosens up" the listener, and you are ready to follow Werner everywhere his fertile mind takes him.
And, it's a treat. From the Jarrett tune to the lovely take of Michel LeGrand's "...Believe in Spring" to both of Seizer's elegant compositions to the gracious flow of the Rainger/Robin classic "If I Should Lose You" (from the 1936 movie "Rose of the Rancho"), this is music that gets its hooks (pun intended) into you. The other two Werner originals are "Fifth Movement" and the album's close track "Fall From Grace." The former, which does right after the Jarrett piece, is somewhat more introspective yet also displays flashes of lengthy melodic flourishes throughout; but, listen to the pianist's left hand as it suggests both a rhythm and a bass line. The latter cut opens with a handsome, stately, melody. The steady left hand chords set the pace and do not let down, hinting at a J. S. Bach air. That slow but steady pace makes the piece very much of a closing statement.
"The Space" deserves tome listened to all the way through time and time again. Kenny Werner continues to create music that follows no one's directions but his own. The avid listener is the grateful beneficiary.
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