Summertime supposedly reminds us of jazz, what with all the festivals and the Gershwin tune, to boot. Mostly, with summer upon us, I just thought it would be a fine idea to toss out 20 really good new and recent jazz albums, in case you’re going on vacation or have extra time to explore some of the latest developments in this tradition, which some of us think is the prime music of the past century.
In alphabetical order:
Geri Allen. “Flying Toward the Sound” (Motema Music). A solo date by the pianist, meditating on three of her principal influences: Cecil Taylor, McCoy Tyner and Herbie Hancock. She goes flying at the edges of their high clouds of inspiration, heading toward — herself. Put on your headphones, and enter the inner world of this humble innovator.
Judy Bady/Piotr Wojtasik. “Blackout” (So Jazz Records). Bady is a jazz singer. Her words and notes will hit you like clarion blasts from a powerful horn player. There’s nothing polite here, just exalted soul from a woman who grew up singing gospel and believes jazz to be spiritual music. The date — several originals, plus some Ellington, some Pharoah Sanders, some Stanley Turrentine — is co-led by burning Polish trumpeter Wojtasik and features a knock-you-down New York rhythm section. (Available by writing to sojazz@jazz.szczecin.pl.)
Joseph Bonner. “Triangle” (Candid/Why Not). If I were to program a radio show devoted to jazz of the 1970s, it would begin with the title track of this album by pianist Bonner. A trio date with drummer Billy Hart and bassist Clint Houston, it will drown you in its soul-power. It’s part of a terrific reissue series of the Japanese Why Not label, which documented the New York scene of the ’70s with recordings by Henry Threadgill and Air (check out “Midnight Sun” on the “Air Raid” album), Muhal Richard Abrams, Ted Curson and others.
Bill Carrothers. “Joyspring” (Pirouet). A dozen tunes composed by or associated with trumpeter Clifford Brown. Pianist Carrothers swings like mad with his flexuous trio, which includes bassist Drew Gress and drummer Bill Stewart. They play with delirious control — unpredictable, spring-coiled, joy-filled.
Bill Charlap/Renee Rosnes. “Double Portrait” (Blue Note). I’m in love with this beautiful recording by the husband-wife team of piano aces. Just four hands, playing tunes by Jobim, Gershwin, Lyle Mays, Wayne Shorter, Gerry Mulligan and others. It ends with Frank Loesser’s “Never Will I Marry.” Ha.
Gerald Clayton. “Two-Shade” (EmArcy). No surprise that this excellent young pianist — son of L.A.-based bassist John Clayton — functions comfortably in the tradition. A pulsing “All of You” is straight out of Miles Davis’ ’60s rhythm section. But Clayton and his band mates — bassist Joe Sanders and drummer Justin Brown — also deftly draw from pop and hip-hop grooves and textures on these tracks. Smartly and appealingly, the tradition is being updated.
Steve Coleman and Five Elements. “Harvesting Semblances and Affinities” (Pi Recordings). The alto saxophonist with the diamond attack leads his band through a multidimensional metric grid, a hall of mirrors. They never get lost. Tighter than tight — there’s a mysterious connection to James Brown’s old band — this group plays jazz as physics, or metaphysics. It’s heady and exciting, and driven by a couple of great drummers, Tyshawn Sorey and Marcus Gilmore.
Miles Davis. “Bitches Brew: 40th Anniversary Collector’s Edition” (Columbia/Legacy). The relentless mining of the vaults for more and more Davis material since the trumpeter’s death in 1991 isn’t always welcome. Enough already, right? But this fancy reissue of the world-changing “Bitches Brew” includes a third disc — a previously unreleased live date from August 1970 in Tanglewood, Mass. — that’s totally astonishing.
Focusing on “Bitches Brew” tunes, the band is boiling, funky, free and concise. There’s not a wasted note. Miles is playing like an athlete. Gary Bartz is burning on saxophone. And then there’s Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett on keyboards, Dave Holland just nailing it on bass and Jack DeJohnette flipping out on drums, alongside percussionist Airto.
It seems wrong to say that the album of the year was recorded 40 years ago, but there it is. You’ll have to wait until Aug. 31 for this one to be released. At least you have time to save up.
Orrin Evans. “Faith in Action” (Posi-tone). Pianist Evans has assimilated the whole tradition, from Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk through Herbie Hancock and on out. Now in his mid-30s, hailing from Philadelphia, he’s “just” a great piano player, flying under the media radar. Go ahead. Discover someone new. This trio date should grab you by the coattails.
Tigran Hamasyan. “Red Hail” (Plus Loin Music). Born way back in 1987, Hamasyan — winner of the prestigious Monk piano competition in 2006 — is already a monster player whose jazz is personal, steeped in the rhythms and folk forms of his native Armenia. He’s also partial to the rock-hard improvisatory schemes of the band Kneebody, two of whose members (drummer Nate Wood and saxophonist Ben Wendel) are on this disc, which burns with energy and confidence.
Fred Hersch. “Whirl” (Sunnyside). Has he ever made a bad album? Equal parts brain and rapture, pianist Hersch shows off a new trio with bassist John Hebert and drummer Eric McPherson.
Azar Lawrence. “Mystic Journey” (furthermore). In the early ’70s, when he was barely 20 years old, tenor saxophonist Lawrence joined McCoy Tyner’s earth-shaking quartet and held his ground, a tough and brawny player. He could be tender, too, as he is on “Say It (Over and Over Again),” a high-point ballad on this forthright new disc. Welcome back, Azar Lawrence.
Rudresh Mahanthappa/Steve Lehman. “Dual Identity” (Clean Feed). Trace a line from Henry Threadgill in the ’70s through the M-Base/Steve Coleman revolution of the ’80s, and you will land at the feet of these two scary-good alto saxophonists. The music is super-precise, unsentimental, gutsy, with scorching grooves that keep moving in unexpected directions.
Brad Mehldau. “Highway Rider” (Nonesuch). This is a marvelous double album by the pianist, some of it scored for a string orchestra and supposedly inspired by Strauss. It’s far-reaching, for sure: suite-like, unfolding like an instrumental concept album. But with Joshua Redman, Larry Grenadier, Jeff Ballard, Matt Chamberlain and other regulars aboard, this special project also feels familiar: intelligent, shadowy, lyrical, strolling about, taking you to a dream-place, as Mehldau typically does.
Natalie Merchant. “Leave Your Sleep” (Nonesuch). Right, it’s not jazz. Still, Merchant’s charmed settings of a couple dozen poems and stories for children — a project inspired by her young daughter — is sufficiently creative to qualify in the cosmic sense. Let’s call it improvisational in spirit. Plus, this two-disc set boasts Wynton Marsalis and his band on some of the tracks, along with lots of downtown New York types. Plus, “… you’ll enjoy it.
Jason Moran. “Ten” (Blue Note). Pianist Moran stands squarely in the jazz tradition, yet sounds utterly unique. It’s a stance he learned from his teachers, Andrew Hill and Jaki Byard. It’s a stance that distinguished Thelonious Monk, whose “Crepuscule With Nellie” is overhauled by Moran on this new disc. “Ten” marks the 10th anniversary of Moran’s potent trio, known as Bandwagon, with bassist Tarus Mateen and drummer Nasheet Waits.
Sam Newsome. “Blue Soliloquy” (www.sam newsome.com). The blues are the bedrock of this remarkable solo album, and they’re the launching pad for Newsome’s extended techniques on the soprano saxophone. His control of the instrument is so complete, his imagination so free — this project should inspire anyone with a “crazy” idea to simply get on with it. Set aside your preconceptions; you’ve never heard the blues like Newsome plays them. (Available from Amazon and CDBaby).
Jeremy Pelt. “Men of Honor” (HighNote). Imagine it, a working band that swings. Trumpeter Pelt leads his quintet through familiar byways, ones pioneered by Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock and Freddie Hubbard in the ’60s. The group’s sound is warm yet stiletto-sharp. Great disc.
Christian Scott. “Yesterday You Said Tomorrow” (Concord). The young trumpeter and his group build intensity like crazy, like a ’60s jazz group, but the materials used are totally different. You can hear that Scott is into Radiohead, pop production techniques, rap and Mohawked guitar-heads. Also Miles and all kinds of jazz. He sounds connected to elder trumpeters like Hannibal Lokumbe, players who know how to balance schooling with raw, unfettered freedom.
Ravi Shankar. “Nine Decades: Vol. 1, 1967-68” (East Meets West). The legend has gone into his private archives, and the first disc in a projected series is mostly given over to a 48-minute raga. Recorded live on the banks of the Ganges River in 1968 — with Alla Rakha on tablas and Kamala Chakravarty on tamboura — the improvisations rise to a boil with their ancient newness. You can hear why Coltrane got hooked.
Contact Richard Scheinin at 408-920-5069.
