John Corigliano and Bob Dylan. Strange bedfellows?

American composer John Corigliano manages to get regular-Joe-type audiences to listen to, and even like contemporary concert music where others have failed. It's not that he is shilling for popularity. He just has the knack of writing music that has a kind of unforced accessibility. He is not out to advance the borders of what can be played in the medium at hand, but he's not a retrenchant neo-romantic conservative either. At least, not in any typical sense. His compositions The Red Violin and The Ghosts of Versailles made the violin concerto and the modern opera, respectively, things that could actually be "popular," a hard thing to do. And he did not do that by watering down his musical vision.

So when he created a somewhat ambitious work for soprano and orchestra that utilized some of Bob Dylan's most familiar lyrics, it was of a piece with his unselfconscious populism. Mr. Tambourine Man: Seven Poems of Bob Dylan (2000) may irritate purists on the Dylan side and those on the "classical" side at the same time. Maybe. But there is a large-middle ground of folks who could, and perhaps should appreciate it. It gives a modern concert novice something very familiar to grab onto: seven of Dylan's most enduring and engaging lyrics.

Corigliano takes those lyrics and composes a completely idiomatic concert work around them (I mean idiomatically Corigliano). Hearing the familiar words of "Mr. Tambourine Man" totally divorced from the Dylan-Byrds context can at first be a little disconcerting. But then you find yourself listening to the words anew, and hearing the music itself with a more intense concentration than if it were just some "new" music. Dylan heightens Corigliano's music; and Corigliano does the same for Dylan's poetic messages. You must listen several times to absorb this work, which is true of any music worth hearing, I believe. Once you do, you may feel like I did, profoundly moved. And as a witness and participant of the moment we live in.

The version I heard was performed by soprano Hila Plitmann and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by JoAnn Falletta. They do a nice job with it and the sound is spatious. A bonus of Corigliano's Three Hallucinations comes with this Naxos release. A fine painter in tones he shows himself to be. And Naxos CDs are at a much-welcomed budget price. So perhaps you might consider a purchase.

Nik Baertsch's Second: Groovy Minimalism Redux

Since I'll be looking at the first seven releases on Ronin Rhythm here and at my other site www.gapplegate.com/musicalblog.htm, I won't go into the background every time (see the first post on Baertsch from last month).

OK, so today we have a look at the 2006 release Randori which documents Ritual Groove Music No. 2 from 2002. It shows Baertsch moving solidly into a minimalist rock-funk with his small-to-mid-sized ensemble. There are polyrhythms, Headhunters-style grooves with the emphasis on trance, and a superficial resemblance to the Necks' repetition jams but more African inspired and with every instrument playing a well defined role in the total mix. In that way, they are quite apart from the Necks' approach. This is ritual mesmerization without expectations that anybody is going to play a "solo" exactly.

If you find those parameters attractive then I believe you will find excellent listening on Randori. Variety and contrast set off the various grooves and the ensemble churns out infectious, interestingly layered vamps like a well-oiled rock machine. It's not stuffy either. It's fun.

Oh and I should mention that the Ronin series can now be purchased for download as well as on CD.

Fred Anderson, Venerable and as Vibrant as Ever

Tenor Saxophonist Fred Anderson has been an important presence on the Chicago jazz scene for well more than 40 years. A charter member of the AACM, long-time Jazz club owner and an utterly distinctive tenor stylist, his stature in the "new" music world is unquestioned.

His most recent album Staying in the Game (Engine) gives ample evidence of why that is so. If anything, he sounds more vital now perhaps than at any time in his career. The CD gives Fred plenty of space to unwind some long and inspired solos. He's ably accompanied by Harrison Bankhead on bass and Tim Daisy on drums, but it's Mr. Anderson who shines especially bright.

Most if not all improvisers have particular pet phrases or motives that they interject in the course of the flow of the music by preference, habit or to balance the musical syntax. It is perhaps an indication of how inspired Anderson is on this recording that he resorts to such phrases very little. It's a constant barrage of creative energy for Fred on the six improvisations that comprise the set. Indispensable Anderson, I would say. And a perfect introduction to his mastery for those who may have missed it.

Shipp Piano Trio and the New Synthesis

In the many musical niches active out in the world at this very moment, the idea of an absolute purity of style has seemed to have passed. At the time of "high modernism," especially in the '50s and for the most part of the '60s, a particular artist often was expected to develop a distinct style and stick to it. If they didn't, critics were quick to call them to task. When Albert Ayler flirted with the fringes of rock, Ornette Coleman involved himself with contemporary concert music, Miles added rock and funk to his arsenal, there were those who were uncomfortable with it. When fusion came along, many disapproved, although some of the commercial excesses of that style as practiced by a few artists also helped kill it off for a time. A kind of genre fascism came into play. Neotrad practice was as much a "thou shalt not" (play anything that smacks of rock or outness) as a "thou shalt" thing.

I perhaps oversimplify. I do believe that we see today a returning freedom to dabble in various stylistic combinations without penalty. So we turn to a recent album by Matthew Shipp, Harmonic Disorder (Thirsty Ear), and find a kind of synthesis there.

Mr. Shipp is an avant pianist with a pretty long resume of recordings and associations. He is surely one of the more important and interesting pianists active right now. He is joined on this new CD by bassist Joe Morris and drummer Walt Dickey. Both contribute much to the success of the recording.

It's that synthesis that I'd like to bring in focus for a moment. Matthew and company have their moments of out freedom, as one would expect, and it's all done very well. They also, for example, quote freely from the Bill Evans' version of "Someday My Prince Will Come," engage with Latin rhythms, allude to hard bop. . . . In other words, there's nothing "pure," no absolute borders around the stylistic area occupied. And it's not a matter of the group saying to themselves, "if we play some of this, the CD will sell more copies and get more radio play." Rather it's a stylistic compulsion on the part of the artists to express themselves fully through whatever musical resources are available to them. By letting the walls of stylistic absolutism fall away, they enrich their vocabulary and give the listener a program that not only pleases, it gives a dynamic and creative twist to the music so that it can live and breathe freely. "Freedom" is not a constraint to play by the rules of what freedom is supposed to sound like; it is the opportunity to build musical programs that do not carry with them narrow proscriptions of what is allowable.

Matthew Shipp lets that happen. In the process, he creates a "free" piano trio recording that is one of the best I've heard this year.

Gonzalez & Paulo Craft Thoughtful Duets

I'll admit one thing straight off. I've never heard a Dennis Gonzalez recording I didn't like, or at least find very interesting. Second thing: I'm afraid I've never heard a Joao Paulo recording before this one. Listening to their duos on Scape Grace (Clean Feed) was an affirmation of the new and a confirmation of the already known. Gonzalez plays the trumpet family of instruments with warmth and a directly communicating musicality. Joao Paulo responds with an equally warm and direct pianism that works quite well in this context. They are both on the same wavelength. An almost folk-like series of melodies and harmonies result. It's refreshing to hear after the many hours of review slogging listening I do in a day.

They remain pretty diatonic throughout. So what's wrong with that? After everything has been done or attempted out there in the music world, a return to simplicity can feel like a wholesome blast of mountain air after a long trip through smog and traffic. That's the way this recording feels to me at any rate.

A Most Pleasant Surprise from Warren Smith

Drummer-vibist-percussionist-composer Warren Smith has been showing his worth through countless sessions and dates for a long, long time. Yet I think I've been inclined to take him for granted. But not after hearing his big band recording Old News, Borrowed Blues (Engine). Warren culled together some of his earlier pieces, fleshed out the charts for a 15 piece ensemble, and set to work.

A Reggae number, burners and more ambitious fare fill this disk. The band has a gritty attack and the ability to groove on a dime. They make up in feeling what they may lack in polish, which is only to say that they do not go in for the slick, eviscerated kind of big band music you can hear out there. That's important I think.

I came away from this CD with a great respect for Mr. Smith the bandleader-arranger-composer. His Composers Workshop Ensemble should be heard more widely. One hopes he can arrange further sessions and releases. This one is a kicker and has that infectious intensity of purpose that the best music needs to have to be great.

Engine Records is affiliated with ESP Disk. Google the ESP site to order.

Barnhart and the Anatomy of the Jazz Blockbuster

You can tell when a CD is intended to be a Jazz blockbuster today without a lot of work. The telltale signs are many. Here are a few ways to signify blockbuster:

1. Put the artist on the front in suite and tie, playing his instrument
2. Get as many ringers into the program as you can, like Wynton and Ellis Marsalis, Clark Terry
3. Use a testimonial quote from somebody everybody will recognize, preferably outside of Jazz, like Bill Cosby
4. Start one or more tunes with the funky New Orleans Marching Band Beat
5. Have at least one vocal track
6. Play as many standards as you can
7. Play at least one tune with the Neotrad Swing veneer

All these preconditional formulas are true of trumpeter Scotty Barnhart's Say it Plain (Dig). It's built from the ground up as a blockbuster. Now he happens to be a very good trumpet player and that's plain from his performances on the album. Of course, the truth is that you can't entirely rely on formulas to get blockbuster results. Miles Davis's Kind of Blue didn't have guest appearances by Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. They played no standards. There were no testimonials. Yet it is the blockbuster of blockbusters. Well duh.

These formulas do disservice to the artists who let themselves in for such treatment. Nonetheless the Scotty Barnhart CD shows a talent we should be appreciating. I'd like to hear a CD with him and his group, just flat out playing without the trappings. I think that would be a good thing for his career. I could be wrong.