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The Poetry and Power of Roxy Coss Quintet

8/22/2019

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   I first heard Roxy Coss as part of Jeremy Pelt’s band and then had my suspicions confirmed that she is a force to be reckoned with on her 2016 album Restless Idealism. Her 2018 release The Future is Female only reinforced that opinion and proved that she is not only an exemplary performer and composer but a great bandleader.
   Quintet is her fifth album as a leader and gives her ample space and cause to prove why that format is her favorite type of small jazz ensemble. Quintet also is Roxy’s first release on Nick Finzer’s Outside In Music. More good news is that she brings back the dynamic grouping of pianist Miki Yamanaka, guitarist Alex Wintz, bassist Rick Rosato and drummer Jimmy Macbride. In fact, the first thing I did was check out the personnel listing and was thrilled to see this line-up return. These people are serious and they deliver.
   In fact, Nick described the “great synergy” of this band and proclaimed that “Roxy hit it out of the park with this one.” All true and he would know.
   The album opens with Don’t Cross the Coss which first appeared on Restless Idealism. As she explained in her liner notes then, she frequently has her name misspelled or mispronounced to Cross. Not only that, she continues, “I have strived to not be run over by the world.” After five albums, she need no longer worry about that. In fact, it is good counsel to stay out of her way.
   This is straight Jazz and everybody gets to contribute. Roxy’s smoking tenor sax solos are supported but never supplanted by the Fender Rhodes work of Miki Yamanaka and that exquisite guitar of Alex Wintz—one of my favorites.
   Arthur Altman and Jack Lawrence’s All or Nothing At All is a great piece done by dozens of Jazz great. Roxy, however, turns it into a bit of a samba and Roxy on the soprano sax is worth the price of admission. It is the one and only non-original song on the album. Wintz shines again and Macbride turns loose those cool rhythms as Rosato bounces the bass beside Yamanaka’s hopping Rhodes. Watch the YouTube video and you can see proof of what you expect to see—these guys are digging the ride.
   Mr. President first appeared on The Future is Female. Listen to it and you immediately know that she isn’t referencing anybody we like. The piece is furious, erratic, unpredictable. Sound like any president you know? It is sardonic, not sarcastic. Biting, often bitter. This is dark and deservedly so.
   Free to Be is from her 2017 album Chasing the Unicorn. It is much brighter and much lighter. It is a song she composed to drive herself to freely be herself. This just may be the quintessential Roxy Coss composition. Her soprano sax ascends and the band adds deliriously rapturous passages.
   You’re There--also from Chasing the Unicorn--takes a nice Brazilian turn. The song is the delightfully joyous account of Roxy’s marriage to another favorite, saxophonist Lucas Pino. Rick Rosato gets a great bass solo and I can’t get enough of the play between him, Yamanaka, and Macbride. Then a sterling solo from Wintz adds to the fun. I love this guy’s playing. Then Roxy returns with the tenor and you remember why you’re there.
   Enlightenment is a sweet bluesy piece. It is deliberate but delicate. It is emotional and it is wonderful. It is from her 2010 self-titled debut album and the difference between then and now is all the difference. Her tone is so much richer now and she has these great artists with her now to make it say what I imagine she always wanted to say.
   Breaking Point was also on Restless Idealism. Those shared passages with Wintz are hot. Yamanaka turns a brilliant solo on the Rhodes and Macbride’s drumming is a fantastic layer beneath. Again, that soprano sax is fluttering and delicious. Listen to this one several times and pay attention to each artist’s contribution. I love this song.
   The album concludes with Females Are Strong As Hell, probably the lynch-pin piece to The Future is Female. The piece is precise and powerful. The trades between Yamanaka and Wintz are excellent. One of the features I like, is that the guys—especially Wintz and Macbride—are in furious agreement in support of the piece. Roxy and Yamanaka are brilliant and the guys add their voices to the cause.
   Quintet is Roxy Coss’ finest album to date. Her second take on her original compositions shows her development as a Jazz artist of the top tier. This is a wonderful album of self-actualization and vision. Her playing is superb and her compositions are first-rate. She was prophetic with The Future is Female and she proves that to be true with Quintet.


             ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
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Ezra Weiss Big Band Proclaims We Limit Not the Truth of God

8/13/2019

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   Ezra Weiss describes himself as “religiously agnostic but culturally Jewish.” If only we could all be courageous enough to admit that, religiously, we just don’t know then perhaps we could speak across those walls that keep trying to be built between us.
   Still, Ezra is musical director at a Christian church. He’s not hedging his bet, mind you, he is simply and honestly finding common ground (not compromise) upon which we can rejoice. And he will admit that he has learned that there is no artificial barrier of “I and Thou” (sorry, Martin Buber) but we are all one. It is that principle that gives the beauty and the power to his first big band album, We Limit Not the Truth of God.
   Ezra is a composer who defies description and comparison. Someday, his works will be Jazz standards but, today, we get to hear them soon after the conception. Damn right, we limit not the truth of God!
   Ezra has at his call Portland’s finest musicians—and that is saying a lot. The Portland Jazz scene takes its place in the top tier of the worldwide Jazz community and these players show it. Gabriel himself would be pleased to name to his horn section Farnell Newton, Derek Sims, Greg Garrett, and Thomas Barber on trumpets and flugelhorns; John Nastos, Renato Caranto, John Savage, Rob Davis and Mieke Bruggeman on saxes and clarinets; Stan Bock, Jeff Uusitalo, Denzel Mendoz, and Douglas Peebles on the trombones. Then there is the fantastic rhythm section of Eric Gruber on bass, Alan Jones on drums, Carlton Jackson on percussion, and one of two favorite pianists in the world, Jasnam Daya Singh (formerly Weber Iago).
   Seriously, I read the line-up of musicians and couldn’t wait to tear open this CD. Ezra wrote and all arranged all but the final track of the album and it is he who conducts the big band. It was recorded live at the Alberta Abbey in Portland.
   The album opens with Fanfare for a Newborn and features the magnificent trumpet of Farnell Newton. Farnell and John Nastos have recorded with Ezra before and they know how to deliver what he wants of them. Farnell gives a horn call like a baby’s wail and he pulls you right in. Eric Gruber (bass) and Alan Jones (drums) add their own cool touches and Jasnam keeps the piano light and accessible.
   The piece comes across as Ezra’s heralding announcement of the love for his children. And he makes that clear in his narration that follows. “Dear O. and J., This music is for you. Well, not really. It was inspired by you.” And there it is. It is a parent’s admonition based on his loving devotion to his family. Hear the full narration and you’ll understand completely. Ezra wants to describe a world that should be but is not yet.
   Dear O and J asks why we search for “meaning in the invisible when there is so much already here in our visible world.” During Ezra’s meaningful narration, Jasnam accompanies on piano and then stops to focus the attention completely on Ezra’s powerful words.
   Blues and the Alternative Fact is a biting indictment of the relativity and fluidity of truth in the modern world or, at least, in modern America. Mieke Bruggeman (baritone sax) and Stan Bock (trombone) play the lines fluidly while the relentless pounding of Gruber and Jones hammer menacingly. The assault is insistent and unforgiving and is as powerful a condemnation of modern political propaganda as one could imagine. It can only be called prophetic.
   You Just Started Kindergarten is to J who only recently started kindgergarten. The narration focuses on the trust of his child and how he heard of a young immigrant boy who was separated from his father. His only reminder now was a hand drawn image of his now-absent father.
   Jose’s Drawing features the amazing Renato Caranto on tenor sax. It is almost unbearably lonely. Not just a blues, it is a lament of Jeremiad proportions with a hint of innocence. It reminded me of the drawings on the walls of the children’s barracks at Dachau. In the midst of the horror, the children still drew pictures of sunshine and flowers and family. Jose’s Drawing is a hope that beauty and innocence can remain intact despite the imposition of grief and inhumanity.
   I Don’t Mean to Be a Downer is Ezra’s discourse on hope. He tells that the sadness of the time is not because justice is so far away but because it is still so very close. Tantalizingly close.
   Obergefell is a triumphant and hopeful piece based on the momentous June 26, 2015 Obergefell vs Hodges decision of the US Supreme Court which granted marriage equality status to all couples. John Nastos (alto sax) and Thomas Barber (trumpet) get the deliriously joyful job of heralding the news of an historical decision that proved—as many proclaimed on that day—that LOVE WINS. Gruber and Jones are equally exuberant in their thunderous applause from bass and drums. Jasnam’s piano is sublimely subdued with a bubbling rejoicing that bounces in what can only be called worship. This is a magnificent piece.
   What Now continues Ezra’s narrative about the times in which we live. He describes the extended separation of children from their parents simply because of being immigrants. He describes the #MeToo movement. Sand Hook. Lock-down drills. Violence against transgender kids. Tamir Rice. The narration is almost unbearable and the grief is too much to put to music. Jasnam’s cacophonous piano and the thrashing drums add to the dismay. Eric Garner. Michael Brown.
   The suite was conceived in 2015 when the world was full of hope. Now there is only grief. And rage.
John Savage’s flute shrieks the anguish with plosives of exasperation.
   We Limit Not the Truth of God is the only place left to turn. The 1853 hymn by George Rawson is sung a cappella by the Camas High School Choir, Ethan Chessin directing. It is exquisitely performed and Ezra concludes the track with the fundamental truth of God—there is no “other.”
   Please Know That I Love You is Ezra’s word to his children that, whatever may befall, love endures. Jasnam’s wonderful piano opens the piece with Jeff Uustitalo’s trombone and Rob Davis’ soprano sax taking the lead throughout the beautiful track. The piano keeps up a constancy that reminds of the unswerving nature of love. Our love. God’s love. It is the same thing.
   This wonderful album closes with Wayne Shorter’s Footprints. John Nastos and Derek Sims carry the melody and the rhythm section is on fire. The Jazz standard is a great piece with which to let this amazing collection of talent finish. But is Ezra saying something more? Is this the final word to his children, to follow in is footprints along the path of love and understanding? It works for me.
   Please Know That I Love You is part musical suite, part human manifesto, all inspired. The truth of God is truly that there is no “other” and that love is our common DNA that links to each other and to God.
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Beverley Church Hogan's Debut Can't Get Out of This Mood

8/8/2019

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   Beverley Church Hogan took a circuitous route to her debut album, Can’t Get Out of This Mood. It is a story that every reviewer retells but it is worth the telling.
   Beverley grew up in Montreal and lived right next door to Oscar Peterson. She used to listen to him practice, saying “He gave me a gift without ever knowing it.” She won vocal competitions at the age of 12, having been inspired by Frank Sinatra and Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and stayed glued to her radio to hear the great vocalists of the era. By her late teens, she had already enjoyed weekly radio gigs and was also performing club dates and “USO-type military shows.”
   At the age of 21, she moved to the LA area and landed in Studio City. She got herself a recording contract at Capitol Records. The contract demanded an extensive touring schedule but Beverly was now married and had a one-ear-old baby. She turned down the contract. She never regretted the decision, she says, because she focused on being a wife and mother.
   In 2002, 40 years after walking away from a contract, she performed at the Catalina Jazz Club to a full house. She became the headliner for an annual show and has done so ever since. How lucky we are that she decided to return to the stage and bring her own Jazz interpretations with her.
   She decided to record an album, her debut, and she brought along the excellent pianist, composer, arranger, and vocalist in his own right, John Proulx. The best choice she could have made. Proulx knows how to get the most out of his subject. To that end, he brought along LA top-call musicians like bassist Lyman Medeiros, drummer Clayton Cameron, and percussionist Kevin Winard, a hot rhythm section, to be sure. On trumpet and flugelhorn is Ron Stout, on guitar Graham Dechter, and reedsman Doug Webb. Barbara Brighton produced the album and she knows how to produce a vocalist.
   Beverly says that she chose this set list because it relates to her and to people she associates with the particular songs. She says these songs resonate with her and she resonates with me!
   Sorry, but it is impossible for me to be cool and objective with albums that I love. And I love this album.
   Can’t Get Out of This Mood opens with Rene Marie’s Take My Breath Away, a tremendous start to a fine album. Medeiros and Cameron give a slow intro and Webb joins in with a sweet flute. John Proulx adds his inimitable piano touch. Then Beverley’s first intonations just wash over you. The arrangement is stellar and has the light bossa nova touch of the original. Beverley is so smooth, so evocative.
   Stephen Sondheim’s Losing My Mind follows next. It was a huge hit for Liza Minelli in 1989 but Beverly takes complete possession of it. Graham Dechter adds a coolly rough guitar chop and Ron Stout’s horn is hot. Beverly sings it with a convincing wistfulness that turns into agony.
   Bobby Troup’s You’re Looking at Me was covered by Nat “King” Cole and Beverley gives her own turn on the piece. Proulx’s piano, with some excellent work by Dechter, create a laid-back mood that gives space for Beverley’s languid delivery. Beautiful.
   Can’t Get Out of This Mood, the title track, is the great Frank Loesser and Jimmy McHugh song that was most notably done by Sarah Vaughan. Proulx’s piano and Stout’s muted trumpet stand out but listen carefully to Medeiros’ subtle bass, as well. Beverley phrases like Billie Holiday (who never recorded the song) and it works so very well.
   Rodgers and Hart’s sweet standard Wait Till You See Him is a beautifully melodic piece highlighting Stout’s flugelhorn almost singing in duet with Beverly. Dechter’s guitar has nice touches and the piano, bass, and drums are warm and rapturous. Beverley sings in understated effect to blend with the flugelhorn. Such a warm and welcoming track.
   Stout’s horn introduces I Know You by Heart (Chris Caswell) and the piano and horn carry most of the support as Beverley is left to work her magic. Don’t confuse this with the Eva Cassidy song. This is better. Flugelhorn gets the center solo but it’s Beverley’s voice you wait for.
   Matty Malneck, Fud Livingston, and Gus Khan’s I'm Through with Love was written in 1931 and has been recorded scores of times by vocalists and instrumentalists alike. It is a smoky, easy-going melancholy that Beverley sings with conviction. Webb’s soprano sax has beautiful moments of sheer lament and Beverley adds her determination on top. She has such exquisite control and compelling emotion.
   Speak Low was written by Kurt Weill and Ogden Nash. Beverley sings We're late, darling, we're late but she should know that it was not too late for her to release this gem of a song and album. Webb switches to alto sax and he and Proulx give Beverley the platform that she needs for her expression. The song is about time running out and not wasting the time given us, no matter how late. Dechter gets an excellent guitar solo and then trades off with Webb’s sax for several bars. This was a winner, for sure.
   John Proulx wrote Stuck in a Dream with his writing partner K. Lawrence Dunham and it sounds as if it were with Beverley in mind. It opens with just the solo piano and Beverly before the bass and drums jump in for a cool trio. Lyman Medeiros’ bass solo is excellent and Clayton Cameron works subtle but precise drumming below. The piano and guitar bounce the song out to set up the album’s finale.
    Time After Time by Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne is a beautiful way to end a debut album for a singer who has waited so long to record and release it. This is such a beautiful composition and Beverley sings it as it should be sung with musicians who know how to play it.
                                           And time after time
                                       You'll hear Me say that
                                    I'm So lucky to be loving you
    Beverley’s is a voice and a love that we have waited long—even without knowing it—to have in our lives.
    We are the lucky ones.



          ~Travis Rogers, Jr is The Jazz Owlan’t Get Out of This Mood
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Elizabeth Tomboulian's Prophetic Debut Album

8/8/2019

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Elizabeth Tomboulian was raised in Arkansas on blues on folk. Wow, did she beautifully make the transition to Jazz! Love’s in Need of Love Today (Quantum Starsong) is her debut album on she takes on every composer from McCoy Tyner to Cyndi Lauper and all points in between. The album’s title is indeed commentary enough for life in early 21st Century America.
The album is opened with Exactly Like You by Jimmy McHugh and Dorothy Fields. Elizabeth’s husband, Lee Tomboulian is the fine pianist who turns in a cool honky-tonk turn with Cliff Schmidt on bass and Alvester Garnett on drums. Elizabeth is fun and sassy and in total control.
The second track is a wonder. It is a mini-suite of Cyndi Lauper’s Time After Time and Bill Evans’ Re: Person I Knew.  It is an extraordinary arrangement by the Tomboulians and Roseanna Vitro. Elizabeth nails the vocals and Lee’s touching piano work (especially in the Evans section) are beautifully supported by Schmidt and Garnett with a cool muted trumpet by Ingrid Jensen. Who would have thought that Cyndi Lauper could be so excellently interpreted in Jazz?
Another combined piece of Thelonious Monk’s Nutty and If I Love Again by Ben Oakland and Jack P. Murray follows. Elizabeth and Lee duet on some scat and Schmidt gets in some fine solo bass work with Garnett adding his drum solo moments. The Nutty intro and outro are treated in an interesting bossa nova style.
For Tomorrow is from the great McCoy Tyner with lyrics written for the piece by Elizabeth. Lee’s work is gorgeous and Elizabeth’s vocals are warm and hopeful and realistic. The flugelhorn by Jensen is such a great addition. This is a fantastic track.
Ballad of the Snow Leopard and the Tanqueray Cowboy by David R. Rodriquez is an incredible piece and incredibly performed by Elizabeth with voice and solo piano only. It clearly reflects her time well-spent in Texas. The song was made famous by Lyle Lovett and Elizabeth has given a delicate ballad of tenderness and longing. Amazing.
Tristeza de Amar by Meredith D’ambrosio was brilliantly done by Sergio Mendes on his 1966 album The Great Arrival. Elizabeth takes on the samba and gives us a terrific rendition of the great piece. Again, accompanied by Jensen’s flugelhorn and the piano, bass and drums. Elizabeth gets to show off her range and versatility with this one, especially. She makes you a believer.
She takes on a blues guitar as she works Bessie Smith’s Good Old Wagon. Okay, now she proves that she isn’t afraid to take on any genre. She even gets the growly scat down and makes you smile all the while. Lee and the rhythm section work the blues well.
I Get Along Without You Very Well is the Hoagy Carmichael standard. Elizabeth again accompanies herself on solo piano. The piece is remarkable in itself with a melody based on the Fantaisie-Impromptu in C sharp minor by Frédéric Chopin and lyrics from the poem Except Sometimes by Jane Brown Thompson. Elizabeth turns in a wonderful treatment of the great piece.
The title track, Love’s in Need of Love Today, is the wonderfully uplifting song from Stevie Wonder. It first appeared on his 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life. The song is perhaps even truer now than it was then. But Elizabeth has done a magnificent job of choosing songs that are timeless in their status and, even more, in their message.
Elizabeth wrote Cheesy about a woman wondering if it’s cheesy to be so choosy about a man. And this should make Lee feel especially proud because she chose him. Again, it is Elizabeth on solo blues piano and it works so well. Sadly, the song is only two minutes, 46 seconds and is the shortest track on the album. I wanted more!
Elizabeth closes out the fantastic album with a medley of two of the great anthems of the 1960s. She turns the Jazz loose on For What It’s Worth by Stephen Stills for The Buffalo Springfield and Joe Zawinul’s Mercy, Mercy, Mercy that he wrote for Cannonball Adderley. The Tomboulians and Roseanna Vitro arranged these pieces into a coherent and complementary whole. Elizabeth is on guitar once more and the whole group, including Ingrid Jensen on horn, bring the album to a magnificent conclusion, once again highlighting the theme and title of the album.
It is Elizabeth Tomboullian’s debut album but it has the feel of someone who has been doing this for a long, long time. And she does it so very well.
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August 02nd, 2019

8/2/2019

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Lauren Henderson's Alma Oscura

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   I have been a fan of Lauren Henderson’s for several years, so maybe I am not the one to write an objective review. Oh, wait. I don’t write objective reviews anyway, so we’re good.
   Lauren comes off a busy 2018 in which she released the EP Riptide and the album Armame. Now she offers us Alma Oscura (Brontosaurus Records) and it doesn’t get better than this.
   Michael Thurber produces the album and also plays bass on the album, bringing with him several top-flight New York musicians. The musical support by these players never flags and Lauren is free to do what she will.
   The album is opened by From the Inside Out written by Leo Sidran and Alex Cuba. Allan Mednard plays a sweet guitar and Leo Sidran accompanies Lauren on vocals, singing in Spanish as a string ensemble lilts coolly in the background. Mark Dover’s clarinet is one cool addition.
   But then there is Lauren. She has the most remarkable voice and her intonations are impeccable. There is really no one to whom Lauren should be compared. She is intelligent, well-studied, curious, and a Jazz treasure. She proves that over and over again on this album.
   Something Bigger was written specifically for Lauren by producer/bassist Michael Thurber. Jon Lampley’s trumpet gives an excellent introduction to the piece. There is no doubt that Thurber had Lauren in mind as he composed this piece. It fits her perfectly. She sings about rising above pettiness and the assuredness of being something bigger than all that. “You will never see it’s true/Unless you choose to care.” What a great line.
   The title track, Alma Oscura, is wonderful. It was written by Lauren and Thurber. She sings the entire song in Spanish—she is a scholar of Spanish culture, after all—and the guitar and piano make for subtle support of the Emi Ferguson flute. Gorgeous. The songs explores the recesses of one’s own dark soul (alma oscura) while searching for the treasure of her own heart.
   Then the Latin rhythms explode in full glory with El Arboi. The Tree is the harrowing account of an interracial couple who are lynched because of their love for one another. It is heart-breaking but also a bit angry in Lauren’s deliberate enunciation. So very well done.
   Lauren turns to more melancholy with Ven Muerte (Come Death). Another Thurber composition, it was part of a score for Macbeth. It also keeps up the Latin flavors and Lauren proves herself as much at home in Spanish as in English. And she delivers marvelously.
   Where Are You Now? Is about the effects of wrong decisions and the loneliness that can result. Tara Hanish’s cello deepens the loneliness with its heartbeat stutters. The other strings are beautifully agonizing in the unremitting pain of grief and regret. Lauren, however, sings the lament with purpose and exquisite emotion.
   Protocol is a Lauren original. It moves with a bit of a tango movement. The tango is fitting because the dance requires the partners to be touching at all times. But these partners in the song are drifting apart, breaking the tango. Brilliant.
   The album sweetly concludes with Dream. The song is about a relationship coming to an end, perhaps the same love affair as from Protocol. The song is by Lauren and is accompanied by the sweet and longing sounds of the solo piano. In the end, all that left is the dream.
   What a terrific album this is. Lauren Henderson is truly like no other. She imparts the longing and the languishing, the hurt and the healing. Lauren is so very adept at making her audience see what she has seen and feel what she has felt. Aristotle called it catharsis, we call it Jazz. And Lauren is the philosopher we read with such reward.


        ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
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Judy Wexler's Crowded Heart

8/2/2019

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  Judy Wexler has released many magnificent albums and one thing is certain; she knows how to choose the right songs, the right arranger, and the right musicians. One of the saddest things is to see a great vocalist mismatched with any of the above but Judy can never be accused of that, most especially on Crowded Heart.
   She is joined by some of the finest musicians that LA has to offer. Larry Koonse on guitar, Bob Sheppard on flute, and the great Alan Pasqua is on piano and also arranged the pieces on the album. They are joined by Josh Johnson on alto sax, Darek Oles on bass, and Steve Haas on drums along with Stefanie Fife on cello and Aaron Serfaty on percussion.
   The album opens with Circus Life. The guitar-bass-drum intro is an understated stroll into Judy’s opening delivery. She sings of the monotony that threatens life and she sing in a monotonous staccato that creates the right impact for what follows. Alan Pasqua’s piano is augmented by his own whistling accompaniment. Cool.
   Parisian Heartbreak takes a different turn in its melancholic vocals and the Alan Pasqua melodica over the piano, bass and drum trio. Judy’s vocals are touching, even heart-breaking, in their subtle painfulness.  Haas grabs the attention with his rim work and deep tom hits. Something cool about the lower-toned drums in such a heartbreak piece. The ending sustained melodica note is the perfect cap.
   Crowded Heart, the title track—indeed all of the tracks on the album—represent the finest compositions by the finest contemporary artists. Judy has said that she wanted to create an album of “Jazz standards for the 21st Century.” Crowded Heart is an excellent example of that aim. The song features exquisite guitar by Koonse and Pasqua’s piano is always wonderful. Judy gives a bit wistful, a bit melancholic, treatment to the great lyrics.
   Josh Johnson’s alto sax is a perfect duet partner with Judy’s vocals on Painted on Canvas with the andante rhythms of the piano, bass and drums. The song was written by Gregory Porter, an excellent Jazz-Blues-Gospel artist. Listen to Porter’s album Be Good and see what Pasqua and Judy did with their treatment of the song. You’ll be impressed.
   The Fred Hersch song Stars follows. Hersch is certainly a modern standard composer and performer and Judy does him great honor in her rendition of his great work. Seriously, her vocals on his song most assuredly confirms the song’s standing as a soon-to-be-classic. Pasqua’s piano solo is rapturous.
   The Last Goodbye (Alan Broadbent, Georgia Mancio) is a beautiful lament that is reminiscent of the wonderful work of Michel Legrand. Bob Sheppard’s alto flute is a sweet treat. Judy knows how to sing a lament without turning it into something maudlin. She has the gift of interpretation that would make any composer proud.
   Take My Breath Away follows. It is sweet, it is sultry, it is sexy. Larry Koonse contributes meaningful passages that are as evocative as Judy’s vocals.
                                              Come close and touch my hand
                                              Put your hand right there
   Good Lord. Have to admit, I hit replay a few too many times on that one.
   Then comes I Took Your Hand, a mesmerizing song of meeting a stranger at a masked ball. The rhythm section comes across with such sway and determination and swing and is quickly accompanied by Johnson’s alto sax. Judy sings of the waltzing in a way that itself waltzes. Brilliant.
   It’s Only Smoke is a coolly delivered song from Judy and the artists. She lets the Cliff Goldmacher lyrics speak for themselves in her straight-up approach. Larry Goldings’ music is meaningfully treated by Pasqua, Oles, and Haas. Oles’ bass is subtle but so appropriate.  Only in the end so Judy indulge herself with mournful vocalizations. Good stuff.
   The Alan Pasqua/Kurt Elling song And We Will Fly wraps up the album. It is introduced by Larry Koonse’s guitar before the trio takes over. Koonse gets more time throughout the song and he makes every contribution count. Judy’s vocals are as soaring as the song itself.
   And that’s the thing about Crowded Heart, the compositions and arrangements are stellar and the musicians contribute their very best through not-always-flashy but always intelligent and spot on. Then Judy Wexler adds her stunning vocals on top of the already stunning music. Neither Judy nor the musicians detract from each other but allowing space for the other. The approach is a life-lesson as much as musical philosophy.
   In this Judy’s fifth album, she proves to be far more than a great Jazz vocalist, she is a great Jazz archivist. She attempts, and succeeds, at ensconcing ten great songs into the book of modern Jazz standards. The composers should be grateful.
   As a listener, I know I am.
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Lauren White sings of Life in the Modern World

8/2/2019

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   Lauren White thrilled us with a look back in her 2016 album Out of the Past; Jazz & Noir. Now she looks into the present with Life in the Modern World (Café Pacific Records, CPCD 15010) and her presence in the present is every bit as soulful as her foray into the past. The thing is, Lauren uses contemporary arrangements of great pieces from decades back to the 1940s.
   She is masterful at reinterpreting and reimagining beautiful older standards as well as some of the more modern pieces. She is at home with Hoagy Carmichael as she is with Michael Franks, with Lionel Hampton as with Paul Simon. In the end, Lauren is in command of each and every piece.
   Plus, she has teamed with two greats in the persons of pianist and arranger Quinn Johnson and producer and vocalist Mark Winkler. Add to them the renowned Grant Geissman on guitar and a bullpen of fantastic artists from both coasts.
   The album opens with the title track, Life in the Modern World. Johnson introduces the piece with a piano riff that serves as the perfect transition from Lauren’s Out of the Past; Jazz & Noir. Grant Geissman’s guitar licks and Michael Stever’s flugelhorn passages are beautifully supportive of Lauren’s narrative lyricism. These are magnificent arrangements with magnificent musicianship from all involved.
   Marvin Smith’s drums provide a rollicking intro into ‘Till I Get It Right. Johnson’s piano leads the horns, bass and drums until Lauren and Mark Winkler sing their call and response. Kevin Axt gives a great bass line. This one swings.
   Signing Off was an Ella Fitzgerald recording with Ella herself writing the lyrics. Talk about a hidden treasure. Lauren sings it with the piano, bass and drum trio and Johnson gives a sweet solo in the piece. Pay attention to Axt’s bass work. It is a perfect showcase for Lauren, just her vocals and the trio make for some sultry stuff.
   Then she takes a leap backwards to 1944 with the Hoagy Carmichael/Johnny Mercer standard, How Little We Know. It was from the great cinema classic To Have and Have Not. Johnson’s arrangement, however, changes up the piece with the cha-cha-cha rhythms. David Mann’s flute punctuates the middle passage with cool airiness. But, once again, it is Lauren’s delivery that deservedly captures the attention. I wish the other Lauren (Bacall) could have heard this.
   Michael Frank’s Monk’s New Tune has the team of Axt and Chris Wabich on bass and drums. Wabich is a favorite. Franks has a way of creating precise and often demanding lyrics and vocals. Lauren takes it in stride and makes it look easy. This was a fun piece.
   Coffee is a contemporary composition by Ken Kresge and Ron Boustead. It appears on Boustead’s own album. It captures the coffee culture of the Pacific Coast perfectly. Alex Budman’s horn is just gorgeous and Quinn’s piano adds so much. None of the musicians go over the top. They add splendidly to the real focus of the album, Lauren’s amazing voice.
   Oh, yeah. Then comes the Lionel Hampton/Johnny Mercer standard Midnight Sun.  Eli Brueggemann wrote the arrangement and the rhythm section gets a chance to get positively funky. Johnson and Wabich trade off on the punctuating beats and Axt lays down a hopping bass line that all merges into what may the most intricate and interesting piece on the album. Lauren takes this well-known and oft-performed standard and just owns it. I mean she just owns it.
   Slow Down is a hot piece that features three horns in the Johnson arrangement. Lauren sings in sync with Stever’s trumpet and Francisco Torres’ trombone. The quirky rhythms are perfect for Axt and Smith. Listen carefully for Axt’s treble touches.
   Ellington’s Sound of Love is that wondrous piece by Charles Mingus. The track is performed only by Johnson, Axt, and Wabich in support of Lauren. What a piece. What a performance. Lauren works it beautifully.
Things change up with In a New York Minute. It takes on a big band feel and Mark Winkler returns for some background vocals. It is sassy and street-smart. The horns nail it with especially spotlighted trombone blasts from Torres. Lauren’s narration is cool and well-placed.
   The album wraps up with Paul Simon’s American Tune. Despite never having heard the original, Johnson gave the arrangement a contemporary feel that lifts it from its 70s milieu. It is a fine treatment that makes the song an exacting commentary on life in the new millennium.
   Indeed, the entire album is just that kind of commentary on how far we’ve come and, in many cases, how far we have yet to go. Lauren hasn’t just given us an entertaining album of amazing vocals and musicianship. She has achieved her goal. 
   She has shown us Life in the Modern World.


          ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
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Larry Grenadier's solo double bass album, The Gleaners

4/13/2019

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   When I first heard that Larry Grenadier was releasing an album on ECM, my first thought was to wonder who will be in his band. To my surprise—and delight--The Gleaners is a solo album for double bass. ECM is just the label to pull it off. Immediately one thinks of those great ECM solo bass albums by Dave Holland and Miroslav Vitous and the expectancy skyrockets.
   Influenced by those albums and more, Grenadier creates an album of imagination and beauty. From the bowing majesty of Oceanic, it is clear—and Grenadier says as much in the liner notes—that this is an introspective work. He calls it “an excavation into who I am as a bass player.” What has been mined are jewels of great worth.
   Seven of the twelve pieces were composed by Grenadier himself with others by his wife, Rebecca Martin, John Coltrane/Paul Motian, two by Wolfgang Muthspiel, and George Gershwin. But Grenadier interprets them through his unique understanding and talent, creating (or re-creating) works of stunning achievement and rare beauty.
   In Pettiford, Grenadier pays homage to Oscar Pettiford who, with Charles Mingus, shared top bassist honors until is passing in 1960. Pettiford the artist helped to bring in the Be-Bop movement. In Pettiford the composition, Grenadier incorporates Pettiford’s stylings into his own.
   The Gleaner is the third Grenadier original with its bowing beauty and lovely melody and ambience. Seriously, it may be my favorite solo bass track ever.  It is followed by Woebegone, a tune that switches back to the fingering felicity for which Grenadier has become so respected and admired.
   Grenadier’s wife, Rebecca Martin, wrote Gone Like the Season Does. The melody is beautiful and Grenadier is faithfully devoted to the piece and his craft and care make the piece a true standout on the album. He shows that same devotion and care to the dual piece Compassion/The Owl of Cranston by John Coltrane/Paul Motian. It is remarkably and seamlessly stitched together and takes the piece(s) to places Coltrane and Motian would have loved.
   Vineland and Lovelair are also Grenadier originals. Vineland is an intriguing, even fascinating, exercise in bowing technique and composition. Lovelair is a slower, fingered work and creates a warm setting from the unique approach to the sometimes dissonant, always interesting creation.
   Bagatelle 1 and Bagatelle 2 are both by the masterful Wolfgang Muthspiel. Haunting and daunting, the pieces go from slowly bowed colorful tones in 1 to the rapid-fire finger-work and intricacy of 2.
   George Gershwin’s My Man’s Gone Now from Porgy & Bess is complete in its painfulness and isolation. Grenadier expands the loss and loneliness through the sadness of the double bass. It plunges the hearer deeper into the despair. So well done.
   Grenadier closes the album with an original, the all-too-brief A Novel in a Sigh. The track is, in fact, not much longer than a sigh. There are only eight or nine sustained discernable tones and it is remarkable. It is a bold and even heart-felt way to end such a bold and heart-felt album.
   Grenadier has never disappointed in any of his work as a supporting character. With The Gleaners, Grenadier proves that he can take his place alongside the ECM greats like Eberhard Weber, Dave Holland, and Miroslav Vitous. Grenadier is cerebral and emotional at the same time, passionate and poetic, exploratory and full of expectancy.
   At least, that is what I have gleaned.

         ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
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Gene Ess reaches Apotheosis

4/13/2019

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   With Gene Ess’ album Absurdist Theater, I said that “Gene Ess is a philosopher.” He is indeed that but he is an anthropological philosopher. In Eternal Monomyth, he took Joseph Campbell and C. G. Jung and explored the quest of the hero.
   In Absurdist Theater, he delved into thoughts akin to Kierkegaard and Schopenhauer and even Camus. He looked for meaning and for hope and finding neither, he found beauty. Now, Apotheosis completes a trilogy of thought and art that finishes the hero’s quest.
   Apotheosis is not used in a theological sense by Gene. He does mean “becoming god-like” in the simplest and worst-used version of the phrase. He doesn’t even mean it in the musical understanding of a grand theme used in connection with a person. He means it in Joseph Campbell’s terminology where completion has been achieved. Buddhism might call it enlightenment and Christianity might call it revelation but even those great terms are not quite right.
   A hint comes from Gene’s quotation from Friedrich Nietzsche including in the CD jacket. “The only thing that can prove today whether one is worth anything or not—that one endures.” Ah, there it is. This album is the completion—the ultimate completion—of the hero’s quest. It is standing over the vanquished foe, even when that foe is ourselves.
   Well aware of the danger of over-extending the metaphor, our hero Gene has a group of fellow-travelers in the band who have been with him for much, if not all, of the quest. That is an important part of the journey, the companions.
   Thana Alexa has been with Gene for four albums now, starting with Fractal Attraction.  Thana may know and understand Gene’s music and vision better than anyone. And she makes it sing. That’s not a bad pun, that is a reality. Her voice intones the anguish, the hope, the danger, the joy of the journey. She is amazing.
   Sebastien Ammann is back, absent from Gene’s line-up since appearing on Fractal Attraction. He is the right pianist for interpreting the music and drive of Apotheosis.
   Yasushi Nakamura is on acoustic and electric bass, a returning comrade from Eternal Monomyth. Gene calls him “one of the best bass players I have ever heard.” He is that and he is also an excellent conduit for Gene’s probing work.
   Clarence Penn is on drums you hard hard-pressed to find a drummer with Clarence’s interpretive feel. Gene calls him “one of the best jazz drummers in the international jazz scene.” Thana and Clarence are the two artists who have accompanied Gene for the breadth and length of the trilogy. And both have shown their own sense of development in the environment of Gene’s compositions.
   The album opens right where it should, with The Return. The hero must make his/her return to the place where it all began. Whether it is the great religious figures or Gilgamesh or Odysseus, the journey can only come to completion on the return home. And certainly, there are faint catches of familiar motifs from the earlier albums. Clarence’s deliberate drumming, Yasushi’s expansive bass lines, and Sebastien’s chording lay out a homelike base for Gene and Thana to explore.
   Sands of Time (Okinawa) takes Gene to his homeland and the island of his childhood. Thana provides a welcoming intonation for the returning hero. Sebastien turns in warm and inviting piano work while Clarence creates cymbal washes that remind of sandy water swirling around the beach-combing man of dreams. Yasushi is as steady as the waves. And Gene explores well-traveled avenues and coves, mountain tops and deep vales.
   Same Sky is the ode to oneness and solidarity among the family of humanity. Gene provides an exquisite acoustic guitar for Thana’s rhapsodic hymn to human compassion and understanding. Some have called it a lament. I disagree. Thana sings
     Mine is the same sky
     We look to
     You and I
 
     How did our eyes
     Learn to see differently
    To feel the need to
    Separate you and me
 
     We hear the names
     We see the hate
     Feel (the) pain
     In times, we’re not treated the same
 
     There is beauty in our differences
     In learning from our brothers
     Only then will we truly know
 
     I choose to live a life
     Including you
     If we accept our b rothers
    Only then will we truly grow
​
   That growth is part of the apotheosis, that coming to understanding. And Gene musically achieves the imagery he seeks to convey his message. What begins as just Gene and Thana grows to include piano, bass, and drums. Beautiful.
   Bluesbird is swinging blues that casts reflections of introspection acquired through the journey. While blues, it is not blue. It is a reminder that recalling where we have been has led us to where we are now. And where we are is the springboard to the future. And you’ve got to love the lock-step scat-guitar duet.
   Tokyo Red is another return—this time to Gene’s birthplace. Instead of a remembrance of what was Tokyo in Gene’s infancy, it is an exploration of what Tokyo is now—vibrant and exciting. Just like the music. Gene gives some of his best soloing and Sebastien plays over the rumbling bass of Yasushi and intricate drumming of Clarence. Funky stuff.
   Perhaps the most haunting piece—and this may truly be a lament—is Fireflies of Hiroshima. The piece is replete with Japanese modalism and Thana’s vocalizations add a chant quality to the piece. It is not just a lament for Hiroshima or even Japan. Hiroshima is a rip in the fabric of humanity.
   The piece takes on an ironic sadness, too. Firefly watching is enjoyed all over the world and certainly in Japan. One eyewitness of the horrors of Hiroshima described the sparks and hot ash raised over the bombed city as “deathly fireflies.” Where children may once have sung watching the fireflies, Thana chants something close to a wail of grief. The song reminds us that the hero’s journey is full of tragedy and grief is inescapable.
   Day for Night is the overcoming of that grief. It reminds one of Psalm 30:5, “Weeping may endure for the night but joy comes with the morning.” There is indeed a time for grief but there is most assuredly a time to set it aside and forge ahead. Yasushi gets in some get solo work here—melodic and excusive. Keep your ears tuned to Clarence Penn. He does all things a good drummer does but he also does the little things that make him great. The tune fades out with a sweet piano overturned nocturne. Brilliant.
   The album ends with Two Worlds. It reminds me of Gilgamesh. In the epic’s prologue, it reads: “He was wise, he saw mysteries and knew secret things, he brought us a tale of the days before the flood. He went on a long journey, was weary, worn-out with labor, returning he rested, he engraved on a stone the whole story.” The last paragraph of the final chapter—called The Return—repeats the very same lines. T.S. Eliot wrote, “In my end is my beginning.”
   This is the hero’s journey, the quest which is circular and takes us back home and back to ourselves. Learning to live in the two worlds of spirit and matter, two times of past and present, and yet be a whole person, that is the hero’s journey.
Welcome home.
 
 
          ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
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Patrice Jégou Need Not Worry "If It Ain't Love"

3/29/2019

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   Wow! That is the first word that comes to mind upon listening to Patrice Jégou’s album If It Ain’t Love. And it happens from the very first notes on the very first track. That word never leaves your mind for the whole 16-track album.  This is an unrelenting good time.
   It all starts with the a cappella Romberg and Hammerstein swing of Lover Come Back to Me featured Mark Kibble’s layered vocals and Alvin Chea’s bass. Of course, Kibble and Chea are from Take 6. Then Take 6 joins her for the bluesy Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (Listen for Patrice’s call out to Take 6 in the fade-out) and Kibble comes back again for Lover Come Back to Me. As we used to say, “If I had swing like that, I’d never leave my backyard.”
   The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra joins Patrice for the boogie-woogie of Jersey Bounce, the sway and swag of “Fats” Waller’s If It Ain’t Love, the teasing Duke Ellington tune Just Squeeze Me, and the sweeping beauty of Percy Mayfield’s Please Send Me Someone to Love, all arranged smartly by John Clayton.
    Baubles, Bangles and Beads from Kismet is lush and sultry. Then Patrice is joined by Táta Vega for Allen Toussaint’s great song made famous by the Pointer Sisters, Yes, We Can Can. And this one just sets your hair on fire.  David Paich rocks the piano and Hammond B-3 and David Lang wails the Wurlitzer as Abraham Laboriel thunders with the bass, and Steve Ferrone turns in some right-on drums. The mighty Tom Scott soars with the tenor sax. This single track was worth the price of admission. But Laboriel, Mike Lang, and Ferrone are joined by the amazing Larry Koonse for Remembrances (In Memory of Stan Getz). Javier Almaráz joins Patrice in duet. This was wonderful and it just rolled over me. It may have been my favorite piece on the album.
   Larry Koonse lays down sweet acoustic guitar and Michael Thompson adds his electric guitar in the Gospel Choir of I’m So Glad I’m Standing Here Today. It is powerful and joyful and you begin to think that Patrice can sing absolutely anything she wants and make it her own.
   Koonse and Thompson with Mike Lang stay on for Estate (Summer). Koonse opens with that warm touch of his on acoustic guitar, then comes Patrice’s equally warm intonations of the Bruno Martino and Bruno Brighetti original that João Gilberto turned into a bossa nova hit. Patrice and Koonse turn their own magic loose on this fine, fine tune.
   Some of the sweetest songs are from the expected sources. Bill Evans’ Waltz for Debby is one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Patrice gives a stunningly beautiful performance of the master’s great piece. Johnny Mandel/Alan & Marilyn Bergman’s song Where Do You Start is a heart-breaking song of loss and Patrice makes you experience every tear of a break-up.
   Then she closes the album with the wonderful Dave Grusin/Alan & Marilyn Bergman song, It Might Be You. Alan Bergman was once asked how he wrote such heart-felt and touching lyrics. He answered, “When you work side-by-side with the love of your life, the words come easy.” The Bergmans’ lyrics are well-understood by Patrice and she wrings the emotion of their words right out of a listener’s heart.
   Patrice is able to draw on all of our experiences in her singing. She evokes joy, she emotes sorrow. She is an incredible vocalist of unrestricted style and range. Her pacing is perfect. Her understanding is unmatched. If It Ain’t Love need not worry. It’s all love.
 
                   ~Travis Rogers, Jr. is The Jazz Owl
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