Shawn Bell and His Hard-Bopping Bone: "Things Yet Unknown"

You don't need to be re-told this, but it is OK to revisit an historically older style if you are sincere, dedicated to it, have something to say in its idiom and do it convincingly. That would pretty much sum up Shawn Bell [on his recent Things Yet Unknown (self-released) album], his trombone, his compositions, his band and the Blue Note Classic Hard-Bop sound. It's a sextet with trombone, trumpet, fluegelhorn, piano, bass and drums. The three-horn front line lends itself to those classic voicings from Dameron through to Shorter-Hubbard-Morgan-Fuller-Mobley and their various combinatory groupings.

This has that sound and it has it in more than a rote sense. The band plays with fire and conviction (and with cool as warranted), all of them. Shawn Bell gets that JJ-Fuller righteous brightness to his tone that is very nice to hear. The originals go right into the center of the style. The other soloists are convincing too, as is the rhythm section.

You don't feel as you listen to the album that anything has been lost or watered down, though I do miss Philly Joe bashing back there! It's a loving immersion in a wonderful style. Dig it if you dare!

Eastern Boundary Quartet Melds Amerfree Improv with Hungarian Strains

The Eastern Boundary Quartet joins a freely inspired Michael Jeffry Stevens on piano and Joe Fonda on bass with two Hungarian practitioners of the jazz arts: Mihaly Borbely on sax and tarogato; Balazs Bagyi on the drums. The group recorded Icicles (Konnex 5258) in Budapest at the end of 2009 and it is a widely encompassing set of band originals, freely stated.

Michael Jeffry Stevens is one of the more accomplished and distinctive of the not-yet-household-name improvisatory pianists out there today and there is ample room on this set for his soaring harmonic-melodic lyricism (hear the title cut, for example); but there is also the harder-edged rocking free propulsion side here as well. Joe Fonda exemplifies the accomplished musical force that combines technique with discernment. Balazs Bagyi drums solidly and musically. Mihaly Borbely has a gorgeous tone and shows a fleet inventiveness throughout.

Every piece on this date shows another side of the band and the compositional ingenuity of each bandmember. Bagyi's "Soft Balkan Wind" brings in the more traditional Hungarian element with minor-mode tarogato brilliantly shining forth to a tom-driven drumming that suggests an indigenous dance. "Borders" goes even further in that direction, but also interjects driving afro-rhythms and dissonant splashes.

In the end it is the meeting of the Eastern European with the pan-national modern-jazz sensibility that makes this album a great listen.

Everyone contributes to this effort. And a fine effort it is.

MAC Gollehon's "Straight Ahead" Virtual Big Band

Trumpeter-trombonist-arranger Mac Gollehon has done something that is far from easy to pull off. He's created big band charts and then realized all the trumpet and trombone parts by overdubbing (except for the bass trombone, which is in the capable hands of Sam Burtis). He's then fleshed out the rest of the group with some notably great players--Victor Lewis, Warren Smith, Ronny Cuber, Ron McClure (where has he been?) and others.

The result is a swinging old-school big band date aptly titled Straight Ahead (American Showcase). The arrangements are in the idiom, and there are choice chestnuts like "Lush Life," "Round Midnight" and "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat," as well as originals.

Ron Cuber plays some absolutely devastating bop baritone, almost of the bar-walking sort. Mac is convincing as a trombone soloist and his trumpet spots sometimes go for the high-notes a la Maynard Ferguson but in general stay close to the pocket.

It's quite a feat, but more importantly it's a lively, swinging big band date that could have been made in 1962. Yeah, it's good and Mr. Cuber kicks some serious butt here.

Christopher Campbell, Sound the All-Clear

Composer Christopher Campbell and six other musicians do something on Sound the All Clear (Innova 750) that, while not being brand-spanking-new in concept, is done very musically and convincingly. They create 12 vignettes, some short, some in the ten-minute range, that use a variety of instruments to create a sound that incorporates world and home-made elements into an aesthetically vibrant whole. Alan Sondheim did something like this on several albums in the sixties and the DIY tradition continued with such outfits as Iowa Ear Music in the seventies and some other ensembles up through to today as well.

What matters is that Campbell and company do it very well. There are brilliant, ever-shifting sonorities on this set that put the music very much above the pale. A plethora of traditionally nontraditional playing techniques and the guiding conceptual hand of Maestro Campbell make for a most lively program.

This is my kind of music: world-encompassing, transcendent, free yet structured, dynamically varied and, well, post-pre-post in outlook. It looks ahead by going back to a stubborn American outsider tradition spanning Ives' experiments, Partch's exotically alien universe, Lou Harrison, Henry Brant, Sondheim and the rest. Campbell goes back in order to go forward. His music doesn't really sound like any of those forebears. It IS a very interesting example that carries on the neo-non-traditional-tradition of those fore-fathers (and some fore-mothers too).

Viva Christopher Campbell and this music!

Gil Evans Centennial Project Announced, Artist Share Coordinates

Artist Share, the web-based program that invites listeners and enthusiasts to help fund worthy musical productions, recently launched a drive to fund the Gil Evans Centennial Project, which commemorates the 100th anniversary of Gil Evans' birth. The object is to produce a recording realizing a number of Gil Evans scores that have never previously been recorded.

Artist Share makes it possible to have an impact on the music scene by helping to fund recordings and their release. Participants can pre-order a CD or download of the project and help in this way, or they can contribute various amounts as a sponsor. It is an interesting way to get music out that might not otherwise see the light of day. CIMP has been doing something similar for a number of years as well.

Go to http://gilevansproject.com/Projects/ExperienceartistID=279&projectID=376&langID=1 to find out more.

Luther Thomas's Probingly Incisive Alto in A Good Setting

There are a number of the late Luther Thomas's recordings on Ayler records. One of the very best is the download digital release of Finally! Total Unity in 3 Phases (aylDL-041). It's a 2006 quartet date that brings some lucid Thomas alto sax within the context of the ubiquitous Jeffry Hayden Shurdut on guitar and drums, Ed Chang on computer electronics, home-made reeds and tenor, and Motoko Shimizu on toys, recorder and voice. The quartet sets up interesting textural clouds of freely articulated sounds that are pieced by some very vibrant Thomas alto.

This is pretty much free improvisation all the way. It is distinguished by an interesting mix of electronics, little instrument sounds and Luther Thomas at his freely expressive best. Click on the Ayler link on this page for further details.

Brian Groder, His "Cartolologia Suite"

Trumpeter, composer, bandleader Brian Groder is happening. We reviewed the album he made with the legendary pianist Burton Greene on these pages (see below). And he has been pursuing his own projects with zeal.

Several weeks ago he premiered his "Cartologia Suite" for mid-sized jazz ensemble in New York City. I was unable to catch it but you get some idea of what was involved by going to his site www.briangroder.com, clicking on "projects," and then streaming a solo piano rendition of most of the work. There is substance there and we can only hope that the ensemble version of the piece will be recorded in the the near future. Oh and you'll find a stream of his "Suite for Dance" on that page too. It's worth a listen, all of it.