Radio: September 21 Jazz Update - notes and links

Here are the tracks and links from last Friday's jazz update on Up to Date. I'll update this post with notes over the next few days.

If your eyes are tired, you can listen to the segment instead (runs 11:30).




Louis Armstrong and the All-Stars
CD - Live at the 1958 Monterey Jazz Festival (Monterey Jazz Festival Records)
Track - Now You Has Jazz

The Monterey Jazz festival turns 50 this year (with this year's fest kicking off this weekend). To mark its golden anniversary, the festival has teamed with Concord to release a series of live performances recorded over the last half century. The first batch includes performances by Sarah Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis and the aforementioned Satchmo. There's also a festival sampler disc with additional cuts by Jimmie Witherspoon, Pat Metheney, Dave Brubeck and Dianna Krall et alia.

Re-issues bring with them an quandary for the ethical jazz fan: is it better to shell out your hard-earned jazz dollar for music by a past (i.e., dead) master, or to spend it in support of a corporeal artist trying to make a living in the here and now. Concord and MJF Records bridge the gap by donating all the profits from the series to the MJF's jazz education programs. The ethics of jazz education are also a subject of much debate. Ben Franklin has this take; the IAJE would undoubtedly beg to differ.

But I digress... The rest of the selections all have a Kansas City connection, with the first two living and working here, and the second pair spending some of their formative years on the scene (and passing through on a somewhat regular basis).

Charles Gatschet
CD - Step Lightly
Track - Caracas

Alaadeen
CD - And The Beauty of It All - Ballads (ASR)
Track - And The Beauty of It All

The Harold O'Neal Project
CD - Charlie's Suite: Cries and Whispers From My Great-Great-Great Grandfather (PME Records)
Track - Felix Bebop

The Harold O'Neal Project is Harold O'Neal on piano with Rick Gibbins on guitar. Harold will be making three appearances in KC in October.

• October 9: w/ The Dan Thomas Quintet at Epperson Auditorium, Kansas City Art Institute
• October 13: w/ Alaadeen and Group 21 at The Blue Room
• October 26: The Harold O'Neal Quintet at Rush Hour at Mutual Musician's Foundation
• October 31: w/ The Dan Thomas Quintet at Crazy Olives

Eldar
CD - Re-Imagination (Sony)
Track - Prairie Village

• Eldar appears next Friday and Saturday with the Kansas City Jazz Orchestra at Unity on the Plaza.

Radio: August 10 Jazz Update - notes and links

Another month, another passle of new jazz. Here's what Kraske and I covered on the August 10th edition, along with my notes and some links for further reading/listening.

Listen to the segment (9:46)


If you like these segments, let us know. How? Email the show.

Artist - Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra
CD - Sky Blue (ArtistShare)
Track - The Pretty Road

Maria Schneider's music represents some of the most sophisticated stuff you can ever pull from the great grab bag that is this thing called jazz. It's carefully composed and orchestrated, which puts it in an entirely different category than the head arrangements of most small ensembles or the free-for-all of most free jazz. It's also more deft than most big band music, which too often ends up sounding like a whole bunch of instruments playing a head arrangement. The music is definitely jazz and creates a space for inspired solos by Ingrid Jensen, Scott Robinson, Steve Wilson and Gary Versace among the many other fine musicians in the ensemble.

Each of the five gorgeous tracks on Sky Blue has a story to tell. Each takes you on a journey, whether it's through the Minnesota landscape of Schneider's childhood in Minnesota, or through the avian flights of "Cerulean Skies," complete with birdsong. It's well worth the trip. Less is, indeed, often more in artistic endeavors, but Schneider proves that more can also be pretty damn fine.

Schneider is also a trailblazer in another sense, having abandoned the traditional record company contract for the more entrepreneurial road of ArtistShare. So far it seems to be working. Her 2004 Concert in the Garden was the first Grammy winning album to be sold online only. Read more about the pleasures and pressures of the process in this article.

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Artist - The James Ward Band
CD - In Perspective (GroovWard)
Track - Bet That Up

Formed the late 90s at the Blue Room in Kansas City's 18th & Vine District, The James Ward Band has developed a faithful following in town for its mixture of groove and funk infused jazz. The heart of the group is the husband and wife team of James and Angela Ward, with James on bass (and trumpet and bass clarinet) and Angela on keyboards. They share writing duties on most of the tracks, and get great contributions from Gerald Dunn (soprano and tenor sax) and Ray Stewart (percussion).

The JWB continues to perform regularly at the Blue Room, and frequently run the Blue Monday Jam session. Grab your axe and git it.

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Artist - Charles Mingus Septet with Eric Dolphy
CD - Cornell 1964 (Blue Note)
Track - Fables of Faubus

Dark days were not too far off for the troubled genius of post-bop, but in this previously unknown recording of a March 1964 concert at Cornell University, Charles Mingus is at his boisterous best, working with a group of musicians he adored, all playing music that they all obviously love. The sextet is clearly in the zone, loose and energized for an upcoming tour of Europe. The set list ranges from Mingus's own work, to Ellington and Strayhorn tunes, to a rollicking waltz through "When Irish Eyes are Smiling." Sadly, within a few months Dolphy would die in tragic circumstances in Germany, his death would contribute to an emotional tailspin for Mingus that would cripple him for the rest of the decade. But on this particular night in upstate New York, the good times rolled.

» Charles Mingus official site

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Artist - Bruce Hornsby
CD - Camp Meeting - (Sony)
Track - Giant Steps

Maybe it's the piano, but there was something jazz inspired about the pop music of Bruce Hornsby and his group The Range. The group hit it big with songs like "The Way it Is" and "Mandolin Rain" in the late 80s and early 90s. But once the bloom was off the poppy, Hornsby didn't settle into an oldies act. He's continued to pursue his muse through a series of adventurous projects, among them a stint as the keyboardist for the Grateful Dead and 1995's Hot House, which included fellow square pegs Pat Metheney and Bela Fleck. 2007 has already produced two surprises: a bluegrass album with Ricky Scaggs (featuring a version of "Super Freak" that could conceivably disturb the eternal slumber of Rick James) and now "Camp Meeting."

He's working here quite confidently with two undisputed jazz masters: bassist Christian McBride and drummer Jack DeJohnette. In addition to two Hornsby originals, the album includes an ambitious set of tunes by Ornette Coleman, Bud Powell and John Coltrane, and Miles Davis among others. The result can't be called anything but a jazz album. That's just the way it is.

Read some more: "Hornsby calls jazz "Meeting" with McBride, DeJohnette".

Radio: Up to Date jazz quickie - Friday

Another Up to Date update is upon us. Hope you can tune in.

Spinning

• Maria Schnieder (pictured) and her Jazz Orchestra's amazingly lush "Sky Blue"
  
• A jazz outing by Bruce Hornsby, formerly of the Range
  
• Lost Charles Mingus now among us
  
• Local jazz goodness TBA

When to tune in

• Friday, August 10 at somewhere between 11:45 and noon Central
  

Where to tune in

• KCUR FM 89.3 on your terrestrial radio
• kcur.org on your interweb ringading

As per usual, a post with notes and links will follow. As always, if you like these jazz segments, scream and shout at uptodate@kcur.org

Radio: July 19 Jazz update - notes and links

I subtitled this Jazz Update "Hello Ladies" but looking over the selections, it could as easily be "In a Sentimental Mood." What can I say? It's summer, so sue me already.

Listen to the segment:



Artist - Sara Gazarek
CD - Return to You (Native Language)
Track - Make Me Feel This Way
More evidence for the ongoing evolution of the jazz standard. On her first album Yours (2005) Gazarek and company featured a selection of standard standards (Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye, Cheek To Cheek, You are My Sunshine, etc.) in addition to four originals. That's what you expect from a young jazz singer's debut disc. This time around the originals are still solid but the cover choices a bit more adventurous: Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Paul McCartney and Billy Joel. Gazarek's technique is exquisite: cool the rain in her native Seattle but tight as a snare drum. As with Erin Bode, there is much "next Norah Jones" talk, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

For a sample of Gazarek's live chops, check out this performance of I'm Old Fashioned.

Artist - Waverly Seven (featuring Anat Cohen)
CD - Yo, Bobby! (Anzic Records)
Track - I Guess I'm Good For Nothing But The Blues

About Anat Cohen: A native of Tel Aviv, Cohen studied at Berklee College of Music where she says became intrigued with bossa nova and other forms of Latin Jazz. She later made the inevitable move to New York where she's picked up notoriety for her reed work. She was recently voted Best Clarinetist of 2007 by the Jazz Journalists Association and this seems appropriate. Her work on the various saxes is excellent but, for me, the clarinet is where she really shines.

About The Waverly Seven: The two-disc tribute to Bobby Darin brings together some of the bright young things of the current New York scene to record songs that are at least twice if not three times as old as most of the performers. In addition to Anat Cohen, the ensemble features her younger brother, trumpeter Avishai Cohen, Joel Frahm, Manuel Valera, Barak Mori, Jason Lindner and Daniel Freedman. Scott Robinson guests on bari sax and Vic Juris on guitar. The youth factor helps out here I think. While they're not breaking any ground, they are putting a nice polish on the old ballroom.

Two numbers from the Waverly Seven's debut performance:
Nature Boy
Charade

Artist - Deborah Cox
CD - Destination Moon (Decca/EMI)
Track - I Don't Hurt Anymore
Originally from Toronto, Deborah Cox had a gajillion seller in 1998 with "Nobody's Supposed to Be Here," one of those mechanized Mariah-esque late 90s make-out songs. Here she's back with something that makes better use of her admirable pipes, a tribute to Dinah Washington. No small challenge that, but Cox is definitely up it. In fact, you have to wonder why she it's taken this long. The string arrangements are a tad gooey, but the swinging big band numbers harken back to the days of Basie and Sinatra at the Sands.

Listen: An interview with Cox on NPR's News & Notes

Artist - Hiromi's Sonicbloom
CD - Time Control (Telarc)
Track - Real Clock Vs. Body Clock = Jet Lag
And now for the palate cleanser. Hiromi Uehada, like Anat Cohen is grad of Berklee, who works comfortably in both acoustic and electric settings. And like another prodigy named Eldar, she was originally inspired to take up jazz by Oscar Peterson records. They've both absorbed other influences into their styles, while maintaining the OP flair. Hiromi's Spiral was one of my favorites of 2006. This project features a new set of co-conspirators, including guitarist David “Fuze” Fiuczynski (of the Screaming Headless Torsos, etc.) and a lot more electrification, but the results are similarly spirited.

Download yourself an EP - 6 tracks from two of Hiromi's earlier releases.

Hiromi in performance:
Time Difference
A piano duet with some guy named Chick Corea

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The next TNLD Jazz Update on Up to Date will be in the 3rd week of August (I've been promised more than 23 hours notice this time). As always, if you like these segments, please let us know. Email the show at uptodate@kcur.org.

Radio: New jazz update - Hello ladies!

Sorry for the short notice, but I'm doing another Up to Date update tomorrow featuring hot new jazz ladies.

Who

• Vocalist Sarah Gazarek and lovely lilting-ness
  
• The Waverly Seven, featuring jazz clarinetist of the year Anat Cohen
• Vocalist Deborah Cox and her tribute to Dinah Washington (no pressure there...)
  
• Keyboard phenom Hiromi Uehara, the brain and fingers behind Hiromi's Sonicbloom

When to tune in

• Thursday, July 19 at 11:50-ish Central
  

Where to tune in

• KCUR FM 89.3 on your terrestrial radio
• kcur.org on your web thingading

Updates to follow tomorrow-ish. As always, if you like these jazz segments, please let us know. Email the show at uptodate@kcur.org

Radio: Up to Date June 5 Recap

TNLD returned to KCUR's Up to Date with Steve Kraske for another sampling of the new jazz on Tuesday June 5. Here's the List:

Artist - Bill Charlap Trio
CD - Live at the Village Vanguard - (Blue Note)
Track - Rocker
Notes - Talk about a pedigree: Bill Charlap's father was a Broadway composer and songwriter, his mother sang with Benny Goodman and later (Mr.) Perry Como. He grew up in New York City, surrounded by music. He's released tributes to George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Hoagy Carmichael and now his first live album, recorded at the Mecca of jazz performance, The Village Vanguard. And yet, and yet... Charlap is a wildly gifted performer, but in all of this tribute to the tradition I'm not sure I've come to know much about Bill Charlap.


Artist - Esbjörn Svensson Trio
CD - Tuesday Wonderland - (Emarcy)
Track - Dolores In A Shoestand
Notes - Swedes don't seem all that worried about the labels. Likewise extended solos. In this case, good for them. Scandinavian pop meets jazz and finds a groove or ten. Additional musings on EST here.


Artist - Kendrick Scott Oracle
CD - The Source (World Culture Music)
Track - Mantra
Notes - Kendrick Scott is the leader. Oracle is the band. Scott is 26 years old, four of them spent as Terrance Blanchard's drummer. If his album is any indication, the experience was very influential. And that's not smack talk. On his first outing as a leader, Scott has gathered some of his fellow Blanchardians (bassist Derek Hodge, guitarist Lionel Loueke, vocalist Gretchen Parlato) as well as some of New York 's finest (pianist Robert Glasper, guitarist Mike Moreno, multi-reed specialist Myron Waldrin). Scott and Hodge were the rhythm section for Blanchard's 2005 album Flow, and The Source feels in many ways like a later iteration of Flow, minus the trumpet (insert cheap Oedipal reference here). There's much to enjoy here, a collection of songs (all but one composed by Scott) that are by turns meditative and soaring.


Artist - Joel Frahm
CD - We Used to Dance (Anzic Records)
Track - Song for Abdullah
Notes - Analogy Man vacillates between "buttery goodness" and "a ripe juicy peach" when faced Frahm's delicious tone on the tenor sax. Your cardiologist probably has a clear preference but you can't go wrong as far as I'm concerned. Frahm gets equally delectable support here from Kenny Barron, Rufus Reid and Victor Lewis on his fourth outing as a leader. Needless to say they're not serving ribs at this joint and you'd be forgiven for wanting to make off with the flatware. But don't. The staff is keeping an eye on you.

Listen to the segment

• June 5, 2007 - streaming audio - segment starts ~35 minutes in
  (Mac friends may need to check out KCUR's Mac cheat sheet).
  

As always, if you like these jazz segments, please let us know. Email the show at uptodate@kcur.org

Radio: KCUR's Up to Date

TNLD returns to KCUR's Up to Date with Steve Kraske for another sampling of the new jazz tomorrow.

Tentative list

Artist - Bill Charlap Trio
CD - Live at the Village vanguard - (Blue Note)
Track - Rocker

Artist Esbjörn Svensson Trio
CD: Tuesday Wonderland - (Emarcy)
Track: Dolores In A Shoestand

Artist: Kendrick Scott Oracle
CD: The Source (World Culture Music)
Track: Mantra

Artist: Joel Frahm
CD: We Used to Dance (Anzic Records)
Track: Song for Abdullah

When to tune in

• Tuesday, June 5 at 11:45-ish Central
  

Where to tune in

• KCUR FM 89.3 on your terrestrial radio
• kcur.org on your web whatsit

Updates to follow tomorrow afternoon. As always, if you like these jazz segments, please let us know. Email the show at uptodate@kcur.org

Radio: An Up to Date jazz quickie

Sorry for the lack of notice on this one, but I got a last-minute call to do a jazz segment on KCUR's Up to Date with Steve Kraske.

Today's Tracks

Artist - Andy Biskin Quartet
CD - Early American - The Melodies of Stephen Foster (Strudelmedia)
Track - Early American

Artist - Hank Jones and Joe Lovano
CD - Kids: Live at Dizzy's Coca-Cola Club (Blue Note)
Track - Budo


Listen to the segment

• May 14, 2007 - streaming audio - approx. 5 minutes
  (Mac friends may need to check out KCUR's Mac cheat sheet).
  

As always, if you like these jazz segments, please let us know. Email the show at uptodate@kcur.org

Up to Date Jazz Update - 27 April - Play List

Another triumph for jazz on the radio on today's KCUR's Up to Date with Steve Kraske.

Listen to the segment

• Click here (streaming audio) - approx. 10 minutes (Mac friends may need to check out KCUR's Mac cheat sheet).
  

The Play List (annotations to come)

Artist - Bukeka Shoals With Ken Lovern's OJT
CD - OJT + B (Jazz Daddy Records)
Track - Middle of the Road

Artist - Robert Glasper (pictured at right)
CD - In My Element (Blue Note/EMI)
Track - F.T.B.

Artist - Metheny Mehldau
CD - Quartet (Nonesuch)
Track - A Night Away

Artist - Michel Camilo
CD - Spirit of the Moment (Telarc)
Track - Hurry Up And Wait

Artist - Terrel Stafford Quintet
CD - Taking Chances - Live at the Dakota (MaxJazz)
Track - Pegasus

Artist - Matt Wilson's Arts & Crafts
CD - The Scenic Route (Palmetto)
Track - The Scenic Route

If you like these jazz segments, please let us know. Email the show at uptodate@kcur.org

Jazz on the radio

I'm doing another Jazz Update on KCUR's Up to Date this Friday.

Details are at The New Low Down.

Up to Date Jazz Update - 27 April

The Great Kraskini and I will be spinning some new jazz on KCUR's Up to Date this Friday.

The Short List:

• Michel Camilo - A great trio album from the Dominican pianist, featuring drummer Dafnis Prieto
  
• Terril Stafford - The trumpter captured live at the Dakota in Minneapolis, with his new quintet
• Robert Glasper - Folks looking for a bridge between hip-hop and jazz can look to this talented young pianist
• OJT+B - KC sounds from Ken Lovern's Organ Jazz Trio and vocalist Bukeka Shoals
  

When to tune in

• Friday, April 27 at 11:45 Central (or thereabouts)
  

Where to tune in

• KCUR FM 89.3 on your terrestrial radio
• kcur.org on your web thingee

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UPDATE 4/27 - Another triumph (for jazzishness)

• Listen to the music (streaming audio) - approx. 10 minutes
• See the playlist
  

Up to Date jazzup - the list

Here's the list of tracks covered on my most recent stop-by on KCUR's Up to Date. For the first time since we started this almost-monthly feature, we got through everything.

Hear the segment (streaming) - The jazz starts about 40 minutes in. The rest of the show is pretty hot, too.

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Artist: Kerry Strayer Quartet with Gary Foster
Album: Play It Where It Lays (Rhombus Records)
Track: Blues O'Mighty

Artist: Steve Kuhn Trio (Ron Carter, Al Foster)
Album: Live at Birdland (Blue Note/EMI)
Track: Clotilde

Artist: Tia Fuller
CD: Healing Space (Mack Avenue)
Track: Fertile Ground

Artist: Frank LoCrasto
CD: When You're There (MaxJazz)
Track: Troubling Differences
23-year-old LoCrasto is one to watch. This is his debut album, but rather than stepping up with flash and blast, he gets attention with an intelligent and thematically unified offering. You might even say theme and variations.

Artist: Dan Balmer, Gary Versace, Matt Wilson
CD: Thanksgiving (Alt rnativ Ja z)
Track: Rain

Artist: Oscar Peterson, Ray Brown, Milt Jackson
CD: What's Up: The Very Tall Band - (Telarc)
Track: Squatty Roo
This CD captures the magic on display at a club date at the Blue Note in 1998. OP had only been back to performing again after a stroke in the early 90s left him paralyzed on his left side. A close listen reveals that he was not quite back to full strength. But that close listen also reveals the amazing chemistry these three giants had. Sadly, Ray Brown and Milt Jackson have passed on and Peterson only manages a few performances a year.

An Up to Date jazz up

Hello, long lost blog readers. Long time no post.

Another spate of new jazz is on its way. The Great Kraskini and I will spin and speak to some new CDs.

The Short List:

• Frank LoCrasto - an amazingly gifted young pianist, composer, arranger
  
• Tia Fuller - Leaving Beyonce behind for the love of jazz
• Oscar Peterson, Bags and Ray Brown, too - I'm down with OP, see?
  
• Also, new local from the Kerry Streyer Quartet and loco guitar organ trio
  

When to tune in

• Friday, March 9 at 11:45 Central (or thereabouts)
  

Where to tune in

• KCUR FM 89.3 on your radio
• kcur.org on your interweb dongle

There's also an "appreciation" of Andy Summers's new memoir over at the New Low Down.