Columbia/Legacy to Release New Box Set From Miles & Trane
Miles Davis & John Coltrane’s The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6 comes out March 23
Cover of Miles Davis & John Coltrane’s The Final Tour: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 6
Miles Davis led several seminal groups in jazz history. Although the 1960s quintet with Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Tony Williams gets the most props, the group preceding that influential ensemble featured John Coltrane, Wynton Kelly, Paul Chambers and Jimmy Cobb, who had been playing together since Kind of Blueand were touring regularly throughout Europe. On March 23, Columbia/Legacy will release Volume 6 in its Miles Davis Bootleg Series with The Final Tour featuring that equally influential group in performances in Paris, Stockholm and Copenhagen in 1960, as part of the Jazz at the Philharmonic Tour.
The four-CD set, also available digitally, was produced by Steve Berkowitz, Michael Cuscuna and Richard Seidel, and was mastered by engineer Mark Wilder. The set is authorized for official release by the Miles Davis Estate, the John Coltrane Estate and Columbia Records/Legacy Recordings. Longtime JT contributor Ashley Kahn did the liner notes.
In those notes, Kahn writes about the tour that begat this set: “Much happened on that 1960 tour onstage and off, including powerful, emotionally charged performances in which one can hear the swinging, divergent energy of a band, and the unfiltered reactions of the European audiences: the crowd responses are indeed an inherent part of these historic performances. The common judgment on this music is that it represents a great jazz ensemble audibly straining to hold itself together … An equally convincing interpretation of the 1960 situation is that Miles and his quintet were redefining what a great band could sound like, and how much music it could contain—at one time, in one concert, even in one tune. It’s not that the bandmembers were so much apart, but rather that each were more themselves within the same unit—that divergence could co-exist and make music together.”
Among the tunes performed are many of the most well-known in Davis’ repertoire, including “‘Round Midnight,” “Bye Bye Blackbird,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” “Walkin’,” “All of You,” “Oleo,” “So What” and “All Blues.” The set ends with a rare audio interview with Coltrane by Swedish radio host Carl-Erik Lindgren.
Bootleg recordings of these concerts have been circulating in the jazz community for many years, and this volume joins the other five volumes of the Miles Davis Bootleg Series, as follows:
Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Vol. 1 (released September 2011)
Miles Davis Quintet – Live in Europe 1969: The Bootleg Series Vol. 2 (released January 2013)
Miles at the Fillmore – Miles Davis 1970: The Bootleg Series Vol. 3 (released March 2014)
Miles Davis at Newport 1955-1975: The Bootleg Series Vol. 4 (released March 2015)
In addition, for the vinyl jazz junkies, there will be special limited-edition LPs from the set, including The Final Tour: Copenhagen, March 24, 1960 as a single 12-inch vinyl album, as well as a two-LP 12-inch vinyl edition of Miles Davis & John Coltrane – The Final Tour: Paris, March 21, 1960 that will be reissued exclusively through Vinyl Me, Please, as part of a special subscription series.
Charles Lloyd marks 80th birthday with new Blue Note album
US jazz saxophone legend Charles Lloyd celebrates his 80th birthday on 15 March 2018, and will mark the milestone with a series of special concerts, residencies, festival performances, and the release of a new album for Blue Note Records this summer. The label says “the NEA Jazz Master is entering his ninth decade at a creative peak in what now stands as a mountainous and formidable career, continuing his lifelong artistic journey to explore the spiritual realms of wonder and beauty”.
His special birthday concerts include a four-night residency at The Dakota club in Minneapolis featuring his band The Marvels on 8-11 March, a one-off special with dozens of star guests in his home town of Santa Barbara, California on 15 March itself, and festival appearances at New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, Playboy Festival and he is the Artist In Residence at the Newport Jazz Festival.
Lloyd was born in in 1938 in Memphis, Tennessee, where he apprenticed with jazz and blues legends including Phineas Newborn, Howlin’ Wolf, and B.B. King. While attending the University of Southern California in the late-1950s, Lloyd performed with prominent artists on the Los Angeles jazz scene including Ornette Coleman, Eric Dolphy, Charlie Haden, Billy Higgins, and Gerald Wilson. In 1960, Lloyd became the music director in the Chico Hamilton Quintet, and later joined the Cannonball Adderley Sextet for a two-year stint before leaving to focus on his own career as a leader.
Lloyd signed with Columbia and released his debut album ‘Discovery!’ in 1964. In 1965 he formed his first great Quartet with a young pianist named Keith Jarrett along with bassist Cecil McBee and drummer Jack DeJohnette. The Quartet’s first album Dream Weaver for Atlantic was followed by Forest Flower: Live at Monterey in 1967, a wildly successful album that became one of the first million-sellers in jazz and catapulted Lloyd to international fame.
When Don Was became head of Blue Note in 2011, he invited Lloyd to record for the label. Lloyd ultimately accepted the invitation, with a mission in mind: “I want to stretch my wings wider and find new thermals to soar on. It is all a continuation of my search and service in sound.”
Lloyd’s life story was told in the 2014 documentary ‘Arrows Into Infinity’. He was named an NEA Jazz Master in 2015, and received an honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music. In 2016, Lloyd was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
Grammy-winning US singer Kurt Elling has unveiled details of his forthcoming album ‘The Questions’. He says the new LP is his “musical response to this moment in history and the widespread anxiety of our times”. Working with his good friend the saxophonist Branford Marsalis, he says it’s a musical conversation, with a message of courage and hope – a facing of fears.
Elling notes, “I began experimenting with ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ in November of 2016, just after the U.S. election. Today I wonder what I can possibly say that’s relevant now.” He adds, “Branford brought in ‘Washing of the Water’ and ‘Lonely Town.’ I was doing some Sinatra shows during his 100th birthday year, and I love his rendition of ‘I Have Dreamed.’ Guitarist John McLean came up with the gorgeous arrangement, and Branford has his big solo moment there. I like to surround myself with people who are smarter than I am who can fill in the blanks. John also arranged ‘Skylark.’ ‘The Enchantress’ began as a song called ‘The Lonely Swan,’” he recalls, “but what brought the new title to mind was a poem by Wallace Stevens (‘The Idea of Order at Key West’) that I draw on. It’s dedicated to Branford’s mother, who died last year and to my aging mother. The lyric becomes clear once you have that in mind.”
He’s chosen a range of songs including those of Bob Dylan and Paul Simon, some classic jazz, Broadway, and the Great American Songbook, plus two originals. This is Elling’s second recording for OKeh Records, seeing its full release on the 23 March. The tracklist is below...
1. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (feat. Branford Marsalis & Jeff "Tain" Watts) 2. A Happy Thought (feat. Stu Mindeman) 3. American Tune 4. Washing of the Water 5. A Secret in Three Views (feat. John McLean & Stu Mindeman) 6. Lonely Town (feat. Joey Calderazzo & Marquis Hill) 7. Endless Lawns (feat. Marquis Hill) 8. I Have Dreamed (feat. Branford Marsalis) 9. The Enchantress (feat. Joey Calderazzo) 10. Skylark (feat. Stu Mindeman)
Arturo Sandoval to Release Star-Studded Duets Album
Out May 18, "Ultimate Duets" features Al Jarreau, Pharrell Williams, Stevie Wonder and more
Arturo Sandoval (photo courtesy of the artist)
In his 40-plus-year career, Cuban-born trumpeter Arturo Sandoval has collaborated with countless major musical figures. He has never, however, made a recording that placed those collaborations into the intimate setting of a duet. On May 18, Sandoval finally achieves that benchmark with Universal Music Latino’s release of Ultimate Duets. The album includes Sandoval’s performance with Al Jarreau of the latter’s hit “After All”—the late vocalist’s final recording.
In addition to Jarreau, Ultimate Duets finds Sandoval performing with a wide range of duet partners from across the musical spectrum, including opera singer Placido Domingo, flamenco-inspired Spanish singer-songwriter Alejandro Sanz, ABBA vocalist Anni-Frid Lyngstad and legendary pop-music polymath Stevie Wonder. Sandoval also included a second posthumous performance, a collaboration with the iconic Cuban vocalist Celia Cruz—the trumpeter’s longtime friend who passed away in 2003.
Sandoval asked each of his collaborators to bring in a favorite song for the duo to reimagine together. The results included a number of surprising, intriguing choices. Wonder asked to record Barbra Streisand’s hit “People,” which he and Sandoval had previously performed at a Grammy tribute to Streisand; Lyngstad joined Sandoval for a new rendition of “Andante, Andante,” a deep cut from ABBA’s 1980 album Super Trouper. Singer-songwriter-producer Pharrell Williams responded to Sandoval’s invitation not by suggesting an old favorite, but by composing a new original tune, “Arturo Sandoval,” on which he and the trumpeter are joined by pop vocal sensation Ariana Grande.
Ultimate Duets is Sandoval’s first album in five years, and his first since he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Barack Obama in 2013.
The full track list is as follows:
“Don’t You Worry ’Bout a Thing” (with Prince Royce)
“Corazon Partio” (with Alejandro Sanz)
“People” (with Stevie Wonder)
“Granada” (with Sandoval and Plácido Domingo feat. Vicente Amigo)
“Arturo Sandoval” (with Pharell Williams and Ariana Grande)
New Orleans-based Blues man Jon Cleary is back with a new album this July. The Kent born pianist says 'Dyna-mite' is inspired by the nickname of one of his heroes, Etta James, and features Cleary on a host of instruments across 10 original tracks. He says: "The idea for Dyna-mite and the whole first verse came to me, unbidden and complete, on a plane as we were about to take off for an overseas tour. The rest of the song came pretty easily and I had in the back of my mind an image from an old gig poster on my wall of Etta James, billing her as 'Li'l Miss Dyna-mite'. I've wanted a new tune in the set that had that funky old Caribbean groove and we nailed it in the first take, live vocals and all."
After winning a Grammy for his 2015 debut GoGo Juice, there are big expectations for the English musician, who's made The Big Easy his adopted home. Cleary says he spent his early years with the city's great musicians for company, growing up in the small town of Cranbrook which couldn't seem further away. After graduating from high school he immediately jumped on a plane to New Orleans, and has never looked back - and the city's embraced him as well.
'Dyna-mite' was recorded at Music Shed Studios, The Parlor and Cleary's own Funk Headquarters studio in New Orleans' historic Bywater neighbourhood. It features an array of local musicians, as well as a collaboration with legendary Harlem jazz and blues guitarist Taj Mahal.
Below, you can listen to the first single (the title track) from the album which is out on 13 July.
Erroll Garner “Nightconcert” Out July 13 on Octave/Mack Avenue
1964 concert recording at Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw contains newly discovered Garner original
Courtesy of Octave/Mack Avenue Records
Erroll Garner at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw, November 7, 1964
Octave/Mack Avenue Records continues to add to the posthumous discography of pianist Erroll Garner. The label’s third archival Garner release in three years, Nightconcert, available July 13 on CD and deluxe double vinyl, captures a midnight show at Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw on November 7, 1964.
Garner was backed that night by the rhythm section he’d favored for nearly a decade, bassist Eddie Calhoun and drummer Kelly Martin. Together they played 13 selections from the Great American Songbook—including “Night and Day,” “Where or When,” “On Green Dolphin Street,” and “Laura”—as well as three Garner originals. One of the latter, “That Amsterdam Swing,” has never previously appeared on an album.
The full track listing for Nightconcert is:
“Where or When” “Easy to Love” “On Green Dolphin Street” “Theme from A New Kind of Love(All Yours)” “Night and Day” “Cheek to Cheek” “My Funny Valentine” “Gypsy in My Soul” “That Amsterdam Swing” “Over the Rainbow” “What Is This Thing Called Love” “Laura” “When Your Lover Has Gone” “No More Shadows” “’S Wonderful” “Thanks for the Memory”
The two previous Octave/Mack Avenue releases of archival recordings from the Garner Estate have both received wide critical praise. The Complete Concert by the Sea, an expanded version of Garner’s classic 1955 live album, was named 2016 historical record of the year by the Jazz Journalist Association and nominated for a Grammy and an NAACP Image Award. Ready Take One, a collection of studio outtakes, was also nominated for an Image Award for Outstanding Jazz Album.
Lost John Coltrane Quartet Album surfaces on Impulse!
A previously unreleased session by the classic John Coltrane Quartet, Both Directions At Once – The Lost Album, recorded in March 1963, is to be released by Impulse! records on 29 June with the full co-operation of the Coltrane Estate.The album, featuring Coltrane on tenor and soprano, pianist McCoy Tyner, bassist Jimmy Garrison and drummer Elvin Jones, contains seven tracks including 'Nature Boy', 'Impressions', 'One Up, One Down', 'Vilia', 'Slow Blues' and two untitled originals, both of which are new Coltrane compositions.
The session, was tracked at Rudy Van Gelder's studio in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with producer Bob Thiele on 6 March 1963, the day before the John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman album recording sessions took place at the same studio. Coltrane had taken a ¼-inch reference tape home to listen to and subsequently the studio's multi-track master tapes were lost. The recordings were made at a pivotal point for the quartet as they came right off the back of a two-week engagement at New York's Birdland club, where Miles Davis had been in the audience, and were starting to push in new directions. While previously unreleased live concert recordings of Coltrane have been released over the past two decades on a variety of labels, unissued Impulse! label studio sessions are rare and, along with the studio outtakes and Coltrane Mono reference masters that appeared on 2015's A Love Supreme:The Complete Masters, this is the first time in years that an unissued quartet studio session will be released.
Curiously while the record company press release claims this session was unknown about until 2004 and unheard until now, it was in fact previously listed in the sessions referred to in the sleeve note of Impulse!'s 1998 CD box set, The Classic Quartet – Complete Impulse! Studio Recordings, which also featured the track 'Vilia', a Coltrane arrangement of a theme from Franz Lehar's operatta, The Merry Widow. 'Vilia' had originally appeared on an Impulse! Sampler LP in 1965, The Definitive Jazz Scene Volume 3, as well as a bonus cut on the Impulse! CD Live At Birdland reissue from 1995. This new album was given a press launch in early May at the Van Gelder studio with McCoy Tyner and Ravi Coltrane in attendance.
In His New Album, Jazz Master Wayne Shorter Goes Graphic
Legendary jazz musician Wayne Shorter has teamed with comics artist Randy DuBurke on a 84 page science-fiction-themed graphic novel, which will be included in Emanon, a three-CD collection of live and studio recorded music to be released by Blue Note Records August 24.
The graphic novel, also entitled Emanon (the title is “no name” backwards), is written by the 84 year old Shorter, known for his work with such acclaimed musicians as Art Blakey and Miles Davis, with screenwriter Monica Sly. The graphic work is illustrated by DuBurke and will only be released as part of the musical collection.
The jazz and classical release features Shorter’s quartet in concert with the 34 piece Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. The Emanon album/graphic novel is a physical-only triple album release that will be available in a standard edition and in a deluxe edition with vinyl LPs and CDs in a hardcover slipcase.
“Lost” 1973 Live Charles Mingus Recording Set for Release
Jazz in Detroit, featuring saxophonist John Stubblefield, is out Nov. 2
Cover of Charles Mingus album Jazz in Detroit/Strata Concert Gallery/46 Selden
BBE Music and 180 Proof Records have unearthed what are described
in a press release as “long-lost intimate concert tapes” from Charles
Mingus. The tracks will be released as Jazz in Detroit/Strata Concert Gallery/46 Selden on Nov. 2.
Says the announcement, “Transmitted live by producer and broadcaster
Robert ‘Bud’ Spangler for WDET-FM radio, these rare recordings from
reels discovered by DJ Amir Abdullah capture Mingus during his week-long
residency at the intimate Strata Concert Gallery in Detroit, 1973. This
hard-swinging set features the earliest known recording of ‘Noddin’ Ya
Head Blues’ and a rare inclusion of ‘Dizzy Profile,’ a beautiful waltz
never officially recorded by Mingus for studio release.”
The tracks were recorded shortly after the release of Mingus’ orchestral work, Let My Children Hear Music,
and feature a less celebrated band lineup including drummer Roy Brooks
and trumpeter Joe Gardner (both Detroit natives), pianist Don Pullen,
and saxophonist John Stubblefield. Stubblefield was a recent recruit who
performed for five months with the ensemble, leaving soon after this
engagement. After Mingus’ death, Stubblefield went on to collaborate
with Mingus’ widow, Sue Mingus, and became a key figure in the Mingus
Dynasty and Mingus Big Band. This recording at Strata is the only known
documentation of Mingus and Stubblefield on stage together.
A full track listing for the album is still to be announced.
A group of big name jazz musicians have come together to join the
Count Basie Orchestra and celebrate the legendary composer and
bandleader, with a new album called ‘All About That Basie’. Stevie
Wonder, Kurt Elling, Jamie Davis and Take 6 have all contributed to
tracks, with the orchestra led by Scotty Barnhart.
The album, out this week on Concord Jazz, is produced by eight-time
Grammy award winning producer and former Basie drummer Gregg Field.
Field notes that common throughout the entire album is that great Basie
sound: “His band throughout the years was able to successfully cover
hits of the era with their sound and as part of the new album we have
continued that tradition including hits from legends like Stevie Wonder
and Leonard Cohen as well artists as contemporary as Adele,” Field said.
The full track listing including special guests is…
1. “Everyday I Have The Blues” featuring Take 6
2. “Can’t Hide Love” featuring Wycliffe Gordon
3. “My Cherie Amour” featuring Stevie Wonder
4. “Don’t Worry ‘Bout Me” featuring Kurt Elling
5. “Tequila” featuring Jon Faddis
6. “Hallelujah”
7. “April In Paris” featuring Joey DeFrancesco
8. “Honeysuckle Rose” featuring Carmen Bradford
9. “Hello”
10. “Sent For You Yesterday” featuring Jamie Davis
Mi Luz Mayor, a tribute to the pianist’s late wife, is slated for Dec. 7
Eddie
Palmieri poses for a portrait during the filming of RBMA Presents The
Note: Eddie Palmieri, at Red Bull Studios in New York, NY, USA on 22
March, 2016. (photo by Drew Gurian/Red Bull Content Pool)
Eddie Palmieri has announced the forthcoming release of his second album of the year, Mi Luz Mayor,
on Dec. 7. The album was recorded in honor of Palmieri’s late wife
Iraida, and features new recordings of some of her favorite music. The
album will be released via the pianist’s new Ropeadope imprint Uprising
Music. Special guests include Gilberto Santa Rosa, Herman Olivera, and
Carlos Santana, who plays on the album’s third track, “Mi Congo.”
Check out Mi Luz Mayor’s opening track, “Sun Sun Babaé,” below.
"Eddie Palmieri’s influence on the world of modern music is often
celebrated, but just as often underestimated,” the official announcement
from Ropeadope reads (in part). “As he completes his 82nd year with us,
his energy and commitment seem to be increasing, as if to fully
emphasize the power of not just the music but also the cross-cultural
importance of the process. With no sign of slowing, Mr. Palmieri is the
elder of a global culture of musicians, actively teaching young students
and leading the way for the next generation.
“In 2018 Mr. Palmieri returns to his roots in different ways; the summer release of his salsa classics album Full Circle stunned
players and students alike with finely tuned renditions of songs that
Mr. Palmieri recorded in the past. The project was also released on the
Palmieri Salsa Jams App, the world’s first interactive salsa music app
on Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah’s Stretch Music App platform. The app
allows students to manipulate and ‘remix’ all of the tracks, as a
practice tool and as an interactive way to understand the arrangements.”
“Here I present to you the music that my late wife, Iraida, and I enjoyed in our youth,” Palmieri writes of Mi Luz Mayor.
“I would play this music in our home often, during the holidays and on
special occasions. We would dance to this music, but there were also
times where the music spoke for us. Music was the constant force that
touched our hearts and would heal any wounds that life sent our way.
Ultimately, these songs represent our love story. Selecting each
composition and writing new music helped me work through my grief after
she passed away in 2014. Because this music is in her honor, everything
from start to finish had to be of the highest caliber, and I am proud to
say that it is just that.”
Palmieri adds, “The music is a reflection of the profound respect,
admiration and impact both Rene Hernández and Ray Santos have had on my
musical life. Their arranging skills show careful study and the
diligence I endeavor to carry over into my own arrangements. It is the
platform from which I rarely move, where the historical integrity of the
Cuban structures are preserved and expounded upon—that is the
excitement that drives my creative process. The music also embodies the
contributions and arranging talent of Jose Madera—I truly believe he is
an inspiration to the next generation of arrangers. As for the
musicians…I am surrounded by Chiefs, each a master of their own
instrument. I am incredibly grateful to all the musicians that are on
this recording and of course, the special guests, Mr. Carlos Santana,
Mr. Gilberto Santa Rosa and La Voz del Caribe, Herman Olivera.”
The Palmieri Salsa Jams app, and Palmieri, will be featured in JazzTimes’ upcoming November issue as part of our annual Jazz Education Guide.
"Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. 10: Toronto" to Be Released by Laurie Pepper's Widow's Taste Label November 2 In
1977,
Art Pepper's jazz comeback had been moving along pretty quietly,
and he was still playing bar mitzvahs and weddings, when producer John
Snyder helped engineer the alto saxophonist's first tour outside
California. With soul ablaze, with his defiant wit, and with the musical
mastery he'd honed throughout his reckless life, Pepper took his first
step onto the world stage at Toronto's Bourbon Street nightclub on June
16, 1977.
That night's triumphant performances are documented in the new Widow's Taste 3-CD set, Unreleased Art Pepper Vol. 10: Toronto,
which will be released November 2. The absolute love with which Toronto
jazz fans greeted him surprised Art and gave him the boost he needed
from the very start. And the superb young musicians at this gig were
supportive and challenging. He always felt that good musicians had
something to teach him, and these fellows all went on to fine careers.
During the 30-minute interview with Toronto disc jockey Hal Hill, which
is included in the new package, Art praises them, sincerely, especially
the pianist, Bernie Senensky. He enjoyed their youth; the prodigious
David Piltch was only 17. Piltch alternates with the impressive Gene
Perla on bass, and the drummer, Terry Clarke, seems to have played with
every soloist on earth. They solo beautifully. They back him perfectly.
The audio is quite good, thanks, once again, to Wayne Peet's mastering,
which is precise, skilled, and artful. The 32-page booklet includes,
along with Laurie Pepper's photos, gossip, opinions, and flights of
musically inspired fancy, her chart of problems she heard in the
original recordings and Wayne's notes describing all the additional
problems Laurie didn't hear -- and his work correcting them.
And there's more. In honor of this, the tenth release from her label
Widow's Taste, Laurie offers us a backstage pass, "How to Turn a
40-Year-Old Cassette Tape into a Valuable Collector's Item." She shows
us why and how, "in this age of off-brand-indie-DIY," she manages, with
help, to keep finding and releasing this great music. She says, "My
jewel boxes hold real jewels."
Fifty-one at the time of these recordings, Art had been struggling, as
an artist, to merge the solid swing and shuffle of the blues he'd made
his own at age 15 on Central Avenue with the tender lyricism of his
nature, with the fire and excitement of bebop, and with the
adventurousness of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. John Snyder, producer
and fan, underwrote and ran this East Coast tour -- which culminated in
Pepper's Village Vanguard debut -- to help him do it.
Snyder's encouragement can't be underrated. Neither can Pepper's
courage. When young, as a starring soloist, Art had toured the country
with Stan Kenton's big bands. But later, multiple incarcerations for
drug use and subsequent paroles limited his movements. When he was
working, he could only work at home in California. And part of Art, the
part that was not self-destructive, was profoundly competitive and
ambitious. Here was his first tour as a leader, and he knew this was his
moment.
This latest album joins the catalog of previous albums from the Unreleased Art Pepper series.
Alto Saxophonist Richie Cole Pays Tribute to a Lifelong Hero on "Cannonball," Due October 26
In
recording his first album of songs associated with his timeless hero
Julian "Cannonball" Adderley, alto saxophonist Richie Cole also
reinvents a heady selection of popular and jazz standards. That is the
beauty of "Cannonball," the strongest and deepest of the albums Cole has
recorded since finding a gusty second wind in Pittsburgh, his current
home base.
RICHMOND, Calif. (PRWEB)October 02, 2018
"Cannonball," the new CD by alto saxophonist Richie Cole.
The alto
madness of Richie Cole celebrates one of its chief inspirations with the
October 26 release of "Cannonball" (Richie Cole Presents). An
inveterate bebop stalwart, Cole leads the Pittsburgh Alto Madness
Orchestra and several special guests in paying tribute to his hero, the
legendary alto saxophonist Julian “Cannonball” Adderley. The album
comprises a dozen tunes closely associated with Adderley (including his
own “Sack o’ Woe”), as well as a brand-new Cole original (“Bell of the
Ball”).
While Cole often uses ideas from Adderley’s
arrangements to formulate his own, no one could mistake either of the
altoists for the other—nor would the stubbornly individual Cole want
them to. “I didn’t try to play like Cannonball, I focused on how he
tells a story,” says Cole. “You have to tell stories if you’re going to
connect with an audience and there was no one better at that than him.”
The eight-piece ensemble, too, drawn from
Cole’s home base of Pittsburgh, is very different from Adderley’s famous
quintets. Cole’s frontline partner on "Cannonball" is trombonist Reggie
Watkins—a surrogate for cornetist Nat Adderley, his brother’s longtime
brass foil. Two more horns, tenor saxophonist Rick Matt and trumpeter
J.D. Chaisson, join in for four of the album’s 13 tracks. Guitarist Eric
Susoeff, keyboardist Kevin Moore, bassist/producer Mark Perna, and
drummer Vince Taglieri fill out the rhythm section.
In taking on Adderley’s repertoire, Cole finds
ways to evoke his hero, though often with a twist. Where Nancy Wilson
traditionally joined Adderley on “Save Your Love for Me,” Cole brings in
the vocalist Kenia, who sings his bossa nova arrangement in Portuguese.
The altoist recreates Adderley’s 1961 solo on “Toy,” but not before
letting Watkins have his uproarious way with the song. Meanwhile, a
rendition of “Dat Dere” closely resembling the version on Adderley’s
1960 album "Them Dirty Blues" is subverted with a newly devised
arrangement for all four horns. “It’s like where did this big band come
from?” Cole says with a laugh.
Cole keeps it tight on "Cannonball"; most of
the tunes stay close to the five-minute mark. “I could stretch out and
play my ass off,” Cole says. “But then you lose the thread of the story,
and the audience. . . . I want to play melodies that regular people,
working people, can enjoy.”
Richie Cole was born in 1948 in Trenton, New
Jersey. His father, a big band enthusiast, ran a local jazz joint called
the Harlem Club. Young Richie met any number of great jazz performers
there, including Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, and Freddie Hubbard, and
at 10 took up alto saxophone on a horn someone had left at the club.
He played in various school bands and, at 16,
attended a music camp directed by alto legend Phil Woods (with whom he
would record the 1980 fan favorite, "Side by Side"). He went on to study
at Boston’s Berklee School of Music, then continued his jazz education
in the big bands of Buddy Rich, Lionel Hampton, and Doc Severinsen
before forming his own bebop quintet.
Unswayed by jazz-rock trends, Cole in the
early ’70s began a long association with the great vocalist Eddie
Jefferson, with whom he worked until the vocalese innovator’s 1979
death, recording among others the popular album "Alto Madness." Cole
thrived on ’80s encounters with Sonny Stitt and Art Pepper and spread
his alto madness with pianist Bobby Enriquez and saxophonist Boots
Randolph. He turned out a flurry of albums through the ’90s with his
seven-man Alto Madness Orchestra.
For years, Cole lived the life of a wanderer.
Following a romantic breakup, he was talked into moving to Pittsburgh by
his daughter Annie. “She had to drag me there kicking and screaming,”
he says. But as his song “I Have a Home in Pittsburgh” tells you, things
have worked out well for him in the Iron City.
“Pittsburgh is like an oasis, an island,” Cole
says. “There are fantastic musicians here.” One of them—bassist Mark
Perna—helped him create his own label, Richie Cole Presents, on which
"Cannonball" is the sixth release.
Cole and his musical partners will be
celebrating the release of the new CD at Wallace’s Whiskey Room and
Kitchen in Pittsburgh, 7-9 pm on Friday 10/26.
Award-winning UK jazz quartet Empirical announce a follow-up to their
acclaimed 2016 studio album Connection with a two-part, limited edition
EP release. Marking the first release under the band’s own label,
Empirical Music, the two sets, entitled Indifference Culture and
Distraction Tactics, are as much testament to Empirical’s journey since
Connection, as they are a reaction to the ‘new normal’ of the world in
2018.
The EPs take the names of two compositions by Tom Farmer that comment
on the twin societal evils of the rise of social media-induced
narcissism and diminishing empathy for our fellow human beings – trends
that leave us ill-equipped to take on the orchestrators of today’s
culture wars who seek to distract us with a constant stream of fake news
and unprecedented political scandal.
Indifference Culture closes with this track - Shaney Forbes’
‘Celestial Being’, a life-affirming tour de force that contrasts
explosive energy with delicate intricacy. As Forbes explains: ‘This
piece is an imagination of how detailed yet profound a message of such a
Celestial Being is to people on Earth. We conjure up the effect of the
force of their presence and act as a vehicle for transporting this
message as comrades of the Celestial Being.’
Retaining the band’s quartet format throughout, the EPs succeed to
the greatest degree yet in capturing the exhilarating intensity and
exceptional virtuosity that Empirical’s live performance has become
known for. Tom Farmer recalls the recording process: ‘We went into the
studio soon after one of our pop-up residencies. After such an intense
run of gigs we were completely fired up and it was a case of ‘’let’s
just play!’’’ Drummer Shaney Forbes explains: ‘Even though the four us
have been playing music together for more than ten years, we are still
always excited to explore the creative possibilities that come out of
our instrumentation and the fact that all four of us contribute to the
music. It actually feels like we’ve only just begun that exploration.’
Indifference Culture will be released on 16th November 2018 to
coincide with Empirical’s concert on opening night of the 2018 EFG
London Jazz Festival at the Purcell Room.
Gregory Porter will release his first British live album and DVD this
Christmas season; a recording of his concert at London’s Royal Albert
Hall on 2 April 2018. It features a selection of his most recognised
songs, alongside his Nat King Cole tribute material (including ‘Mona
Lisa’, ‘L-O-V-E’ and ‘Smile’ plus ‘The Christmas Song’), all of which
propelled him to be the biggest selling jazz musician of 2017. The show
featured his longstanding jazz trio with accompaniment from a full
70-piece symphony orchestra, conducted by the Grammy-winning arranger
Vince Mendoza. The album is called ‘One Night Only’ and released on
November 30th.
Here's the full track listing…
1. Mona Lisa
2. But Beautiful
3. Nature Boy
4. L-O-V-E
5. Quizas, Quizas, Quizas
6. Miss Otis Regrets
7. Pick Yourself Up
8. In Heaven
9. When Love Was King
10. The Lonely One
11. Ballerina
12. No Love Dying
13. I Wonder Who My Daddy Is
14. Sweet Lorraine
15. For All We Know
16. The Christmas Song
17. Smile
18. Hey Laura
19. Don’t Lose Your Steam
Upcoming Coltrane Box Draws New Attention to His 1958 Work
Five-disc package will be released on the Craft label in March
Cover of Coltrane '58: The Prestige Recordings
In 1958, John Coltrane was not yet what he would soon become: one of the most important innovators in the jazz tradition. But his work with Miles Davis and Thelonious Monk—as well as his own Blue Train album—had already set him apart as a self-assured, forward-looking hard-bop tenor saxophonist.
A new five-CD set of Coltrane’s music from that year, Coltrane ’58: The Prestige Recordings, is a useful and informative look at the ways in which Coltrane—on the cusp of true greatness, one year away from Giant Steps—was developing as a musician.
The set, available Mar. 29, is being released on Craft Recordings, the catalog label for Concord Music, as part of a 70th-anniversary celebration of Prestige Records, which was founded in 1949 by Bob Weinstock.
For the first time, all 37 tracks that Coltrane cut for Prestige in 1958 will be presented in the order in which they were recorded. Engineered by the legendary Rudy Van Gelder, many of these tracks—which include “Lush Life,” “Stardust,” “The Believer,” “Rise and Shine,” and “Bahia”—didn’t see release until the ’60s, on albums such as Black Pearlsand Settin’ the Pace, after the saxophonist’s reputation had been firmly established.
The box set (which will also be available as an eight-LP package) features such illustrious personnel as Kenny Burrell on guitar; Donald Byrd and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet; Paul Chambers on bass; Louis Hayes, Art Taylor, and Jimmy Cobb on drums; Tommy Flanagan and Red Garland on piano; and Wilbur Harden on trumpet and flugelhorn.
In the wake of these recordings, Coltrane would go on to cut a long series of canonical albums, including My Favorite Things, Crescent, and A Love Supreme. Last year, a “lost” Coltrane album, Both Directions at Once, recorded in 1963, was released to critical acclaim, drawing new attention to his catalog.
Centennial Capitol Release to Pair Gregory Porter and Nat “King” Cole
A duet on “The Girl from Ipanema” will be featured on Ultimate Nat King Cole, out Mar. 15
Cover of the Ultimate Nat King Cole album
Nat “King” Cole would have turned 100 on Mar. 17, and to celebrate his centennial, Capitol Records is releasing a new collection of his music, Ultimate Nat King Cole, which will feature a duet between the legendary singer and the Grammy Award-winning vocalist Gregory Porter.
The duet pairs Cole’s original vocals on “The Girl from Ipanema” with Porter’s retrofitted voice—reminiscent of the time in 1991 when Natalie Cole, Nat’s daughter, sang a virtual duet with her father on “Unforgettable.” (Natalie died in 2015.)
In 2017, Porter released an album titled Nat “King” Cole & Me, which is currently up for two Grammy Awards: one for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and one for Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals (recognizing arranger Vince Mendoza’s work on “Mona Lisa”).
Ultimate Nat King Cole will be released on Mar. 15, as will International Nat King Cole, another Capitol release, and a newly expanded edition of A Tribute to the Great Nat King Cole, Marvin Gaye’s 1965 tribute album put out by the Motown label (like Capitol, a subsidiary of Universal Music Group).
The Ultimate collection will feature such classics as “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66,” “Straighten Up and Fly Right,” “(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons,” “Sweet Lorraine,” and “Walkin’ My Baby Back Home.” And the International set will include Cole’s versions of songs like “L-O-V-E” and “Autumn Leaves” in languages such as Japanese, German, and French.
George Benson has confirmed that his 45th studio album will be titled ‘Walking to New Orleans’ and will be a tribute to the pioneering rock’n’roll sound of Fats Domino and Chuck Berry. The legendary jazz guitarist and singer says he’s always been a great appreciator of both these musicians, saying Berry was a great showman, and Domino “cut nothing but hit after hit”. It will feature songs including ‘Rockin’ Chair’, ‘Blue Monday’, ‘Ain’t That A Shame’ and ‘Nadine’. "We did have us a ball making this record," he tells us.
To support the album (due out on April 26th), George Benson will headline the new ‘Apollo Nights Summer Series’ in July 2019 where the Hammersmith Apollo is transformed into an exclusive Art Deco music and dining experience for two nights, along with Joss Stone, Burt Bacharach and Marc Almond.
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