John Goldsby and his Trio Do "The Innkeeper's Gunn"

The sax-bass-drums trio, ever since Sonny Rollins' Live at the Village Vanguard and Ornette Coleman's trio of the early sixties, has been a popular configuration for players who look for the harmonic freedom of a chordless instrumentation and the intimacy of interaction that this sort of wide open context can provide.

Bassist John Goldsby heads a contemporary trio that fits right in with the tradition on his new CD The Innkeepers Gunn (Bass Lion BLM008), Goldsby's nimble and imaginative pizzicato (and a little solid arco too) blends well with the sharply projecting alto of Jacob Duncan and the flexible and very capable drumming of Jason Tiemann. There are seven originals by Duncan and Goldsby that have the lively quality of the contemporary at its best, and for a bit of a laugh, Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" done as a sort of reggae.

It's the kind of record that shows off Goldsby the bassist while also showcasing the trio as a quite substantial unit. There's nothing half-hearted here. I'd say that the record makes a great case for hearing these fellows live. But it stands on its own in a very straightforwardly modern way. They will get your attention and keep it with some nicely looping, bouncing and fast-forward moving after-bop. Nice!

Bryan and the Haggards Take Country Music Out the Window

Every once in a while an album comes along that is so unexpected yet so interesting that you want to laugh out loud. That happened to me when I first put on Pretend It's the End of the World (Hot Cup 094).

The promo sheet that came with my copy of the disk proclaim the artists as "New York's Most Decorated Avant-Country Instrumental Merle Haggard Cover Band." Now if that doesn't bring a smile to your face, perhaps you aren't in a very good mood. Point is, though, this is the band "Big V Chord" under another name, with the leadership in the hands of tenorist Bryan Murray (as opposed to the usual leadership of guitarist Jon Lundbom). Everybody from that band appears here: the two just mentioned plus Jon Irabagon (as), Moppa Elliott (bass) and Danny Fischer (drums).

As you have gathered this is a sort of twisted tribute to country artist Merle Haggard. They do his songs in ways Merle may have found puzzling. Sometimes there's a relatively "straight" rendering. Much of the time the band veers off into the avant garde with searing free solos and the sort of high jazz rhythm work that has more in common with Ornette than the Grand Ol' Opry.

Now I happen to find this sort of thing exhilarating. I go for the sort of abrupt collisions of style universes that you hear on this recording. It's healthy for music and it's healthy for the listener to let go of the rigid compartmentalisation that has so prevailed in music consumption over the many years I know about.

Now it's not just that the Haggards do this tricksterish conflation of musical genres; they do it well and they do it with obvious affection for the original music. But they also maintain the integrity of their playing and arranging styles. That is a feat. Nothing sounds forced or contrived.

What it tells you a little about is that the "Great American Songbook" is much too narrow. Classic country, blues, soul, rock, you-name-it. . . so much has been excluded from this imaginary monument to "great music" that redefinition is in order. The status quo, as always, needs shaking up now as much as ever. And I give lots of credit to these guys for doing just that. Plus it gives you a musically enriched program. . . and it's FUN!

Bernardo Sassetti and his "Motion" Recording

As I auditioned Bernardo Sassetti's new album Motion (Clean Feed 177) I caught myself thinking, "Some artists are so subtle, you actually have to listen to them." Then I thought, "What are you nuts? All artists must be listened to!" But, face it, some music is so predictable it almost listens to itself. You set your ears to the coarse grained sample mode. You pop the mental sampler on and register, "OK, there's a bop lick. . . yes, walking bass. . . .ding ding da-ding on the cymbals."

I had a heavy blues listening phase when I was young, and then went on for a while to other musics. Looking back at that time a little later I first thought that emotionally and mentally I needed something completely redundant and predictable because of all the change I experienced in my life in those days. Later, when I returned to the blues and kept it in the things I actively listened to again, I didn't feel that way anymore and by then I tried to listen to that and any other music at hand with the mental sample mode as fine tuned to "continuous" as possible in the world we are in today.

Clifford Geertz once complained that he could no longer entertain only one thought because the telephone would ring and. . . there would then be two thoughts. Nowdays having only the telephone as interrupter and only two thoughts seem charmingly quaint. There are literally hundreds of potential interruptions from computer internet activities and such. Multi-tasking is common and almost impossible to get away from. But still the idea that music must be heard continuously to be appreciated remains completely true.

So then back to Bernardo Sassetti's trio and their new album. Redundancy is very little in evidence. This is a pianist who takes Evans and Jarrett as stepping stones but then actually goes beyond those influences to be himself. And that self is richly lyrical, harmonically sophisticated, melodically profound, and not inclined toward repetition in any sense. His bandmates Carlos Barretto and Alexandre Frazao, bass and drums, hold tightly to the almost sacred eminence coming out of Sassetti's piano. They hold tight to what he does and really complement it.

There are strings of lusciously subtle ballads here, as well as some rock inflected or Latin inflected numbers, and some brief free type sojourns, even use of some "found sounds" electro-acoustically at one point. Everything is rather remarkable. It's so subtle and sophisticated that you cannot ignore it because you just won't get anything out of it at that level. Listen or just don't bother. If you do listen, you'll be in for one of the nicest and most original of the tonal piano trios out there. We reach levels of sublimity perhaps only the piano trio is capable of attaining. It's extraordinarily intimate, extraordinarily inventive. Extraordinary. I mean that.

Wallace Roney: Don't Take Him For Granted

It's been a number of years since those who would be our musical spin doctors, trendsetters and what have you singled out trumpeter Wallace Roney as the flavor of the month. Such attention cannot all be bad. The artist gets more gigs and recording opportunities as a result. Once the dust settles, however, such an artist either continues to grow and make good music or falls back on a formula that he, she or the agent or record company feel is part of what got him or her all the initial attention. That can be devastating to the artist in the long run, surely. Thankfully, Wallace Roney has not fallen into that trap.

His new album If Only for One Night (High Note 7202) wisely puts him in a good live club situation, NYC's Irridium. He has his regular band in tow, which includes his eloquent brother Antoine on reeds and the hard-hitting yet subtle triumverant Aruan Ortiz, Rashaan Carter and Kush Abadey on piano, bass and drums, respectively.

There are some jazz standards, notably a very nice version of Herbie Hancock's "I Have A Dream," and there are originals. Wallace has the legacy of Miles in his bones, of course. But he consistently hits it harder than Miles in a typical period, though the Miles of Four and More has lots of that too.

He and his band have been growing though. This is excellent live jazz with all that entails. They are out to play and they do. There's enough fire for the NYC Fire Department to contend with. And there is an assurance in Roney's playing as well as the band as a whole. They are in that desirable category where "mainstream" only connotes an aspect of their connectedness to a tradition. It does not connote the careful cloning, polite whitewashing, or the playing it all for grandma approach some artists, too many alas, are apt to fall back upon for either security or due to a momentary (or permanent) lapse in the talent part of the equation.

No, Wallace Roney is mainstream only in the sense that he builds on what went before. And most importantly he does that with the essence of what jazz, especially live jazz, should be. A vehicle for self-expression, an instant form of communication, a conduit of the musical, mental and emotional self. Listen to the concluding, unaccompanied trumpet solo on "FMS." You'll get what I mean! I think most will find this a very worthy addition to their collection. It's brought hours of joyous enjoyment for me so far. May it do that for you as well.

Canadian Brass Get Out the Big Guns for Independence Day

If you are the sort of music lover that needs to have various musics to mark various occasions, then, in the States anyway, July 4th and Thanksgiving may send you on a longer and more complicated search for appropriate sounds, compared to some of the other holidays. Neither holiday has a long tradition of record merchandising to appeal to those who need musical ritual to heighten the day's festivities. Ives' Holidays Symphony actually covers both and a few others to boot, but we already talked about one excellent recording of that last November.

If you have taste and something quite a bit more developed than the tin ear sort of music appreciation, the music should be appropriate but also have a little substance. In other words, Kate Smith singing "God Bless America" won't do. Now pardon me, but in the aftermath of 9-11, I personally have heard enough versions of "God Bless America" to last me several lifetimes. The New York Yankees played that god awful 78 of Kate Smith for EVERY seventh-inning stretch in Yankee Stadium for how many years? Much too many. It's just a terrible song in my opinion. It has a mawkish sentimentality that was appropriate during the WW II years but only seems forced today. "Stand beside her and guide her in the night with the light from above" must be one of the most inane lyrics ever produced. Who is she, first of all? And is that the moon the song is referring to? Anything to get some rhymes going, I suppose.

So when I look for stirring, appropriate music for July 4th, I surely hope that GBA is left out. The Canadian Brass and their album Stars and Stripes (Opening Day 7382) do NOT cover GBA, so immediately I like the thrust. It's their exceptional brass ensemble teamed with a crack drum outfit that goes for the old rudimentary Colonial-to-Civil-War instruments and styles. That works. That works quite well.

Now I can't help but wonder how a selection of songs for brass and drums to mark Independence Day has changed since Charles Ives' dad marched down Main Street more than 100 years ago. One swallow does not make a summer, and so too the Canadian Brass's choice of repertoire does not constitute a scientific plumb line for every concert and band's play list today. Nonetheless it's fun to notice what might be different in 2010 comapared with 1910. Much of the selections perhaps are identical to those heard in a bandshell concert in the park 100 years ago. There are the potboilers like Sousa's "Stars and Stripes," "Hail Columbia" "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and those sorts of things. But "Shanandoah" is not something typically included in ye olden times, if I am not mistaken. "O Canada" is part of the disk because after all this is the CANADIAN Brass, and I happen to think it's one of the nicest anthems going, so who's complaining?

"Dixie's Land" may or may not have been included years ago. It depended on where the concert was being performed of course. And of course a quotation from Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man" is only possible now, since it did not exist then. Well, all that is interesting but it's the album that must stand or die on its own. I am happy to say that this one has plenty of good factors going for it. First of all, the Canadian Brass are a great outfit and they sounds as good as ever here, as do the drums. The recording has nice presence. The arrangements have just enough subtlety to keep the more musical ears occupied, while there are also plain old moments of bombast to get grandma going.

Anyway I was a little surprised to find myself really liking this CD. It's good! This taps on a musical tradition in ways that keep it vibrant and living. And it's something anyone with musically attuned ears will not cringe to hear. It may well delight your guests. It will likely delight you as well.

A Big Wow for Mahanthappa & Lehman's "Dual Identity"

Masters of the saxophonic arts. That would certainly be an apt description of Rudresh Mahanthappa and Steve Lehman. Both have established a buzz among the jazz community as players to hear. With their Dual Identity (Clean Feed 172) CD, they are in a breakout mode. I'll start right off by saying that this is an album one should not miss. The twin altos of Rudresh and Steve stylistically and aurally mesh in the best sort of way. They both run long and exciting modern lines; together they have a kinetic interaction that puts the whole sheebang onto a very high plane. Whether it's matching solo for solo, simultaneously improvising, or working through the serpentine written passages, they shine and blaze like twin suns.

Their bandmates are not slouching either. Guitarist Liberty Ellman fuzes sophisticated post-William's-Lifetime comping and solo distinctiveness worthy of the best of the modern electricians out there. The rhythm team of Matt Brewer and Damion Reid (bass and drums, repectively) take the straight-eight form of a post-rock-funk approach and make something driving, complex and catalytic. Think of them as musical catalytic converters if you like.

This music is NOT polite (which is one of the first prerequisites for the modern jazz scene in my head), NOT cool ('though there isn't anything wrong with cool, either) and NOT pandering in any way to those who look for a smooth ride. This is on-the-edge music, not exactly as much free as post-post-bop ultramodern. All the fire of the medium is brought into play, but harnessed to the interest of creating a self-contained, renewed sense of form.

The sound of the dual altos is cutting and brittle. The note-ing is worthy of the best of the "new" players. That's because they are. Among the best, that is. This is the biggest thing since sliced bread. Bigger because once consumed, it can be consumed again with even more pleasure. Mahanthappa & Lehman get my BIG WOW and a vote for one of the best of the year! But I don't really like the CD, NOT! It rejuvenates the scene for me. What more to say?

William Hooker Trio and "Yearn for Certainty"

William Hooker has been a powerful free drummer on the scene for a long time. His qualities as a leader-conceptualist are out front on the recently released Yearn for Certainty (Engine 2010). It's a live date from Roulette in NYC, 2007.

A rather unusual trio instrumentation of William on drums and recitation, David Soldier on acoustic guitar, mandolin, banjo and violin, and the redoubtable Sabir Mateen on saxophones, flute and clarinet give the music color and texture.

Hooker's recitation of poetic utterances comes across as unpretentious and mood setting. His drumming has a narrative quality; it tells a story, even as it sometimes eloquently flails away. Soldier creates aural rootedness with the various string instruments, but also takes it out on occasion, as with his electric-wah violin on "Commonplace Travel." Mateen blows atop of whatever is going on with authority and big tone, or takes a little time out for some introspective searching, depending on the moment at hand.

This is not your typical free date. There are moments of energy and bash, yes, but just as frequently a kind of present-day-DIY-folk style that breaks up the music nicely into a series of vignettes, keeps your attention and brings fascination and pleasure to the listening event.

Yearn for Certainty is one of William Hooker's best to date.