Zappa rules at 70

He should have been 70 by now, as an excellent special edition of MOJO reminds us. But cancer decided otherwise, so Frank Zappa is no longer among us, and that is a pity, for his family and friends of course, but also for fans of truly original music.
Happily there's a release from 'the vault' once in a while. Although the quality of the ones that already came out since Frank's death in '93 is uneven (Joes' Corsage, Menage and Domage are pretty poor..., Qaudiophiliac and Wazoo are brilliant) I look forward to everything that 'vaultmeister' Joe Travers (also drummer in Dweezil's Zappa plays Zappa band) prepares for release.
So I was eagerly waiting for this three cd-offering of a concert in Hammersmith Odeon (London), since it was recorded in 78, the period I started buying FZ-records (starting with Sheik Yerbouti and never ending since then). Well: it delivers fully, for 100 procent. This must be the best FZ cd since he left us all much too soon.
The band is one of the best that FZ ever had: Tommy Mars and Peter Wolf on keys (the synths replacing the horns on Zappa in NY), Adrian Belew on guitar; Patrick O'Hearn on bass, Terry Bozzio on drums and Ed Mann on percussion (and of course on FZ on guitar (my god...) and vocals).
Three hours long, they give you their all, and FZ leads them through some very essential compositions of his, like Pound for a Brown (more than 20 minutes!!), Peaches en Regalia, Envelopes, a stunning 'prequel' to Watermelon on Easter Hay, The Black Page, Black Napkins (what a melody!!!!) and many more. The lecture FZ gives on why he wrote I have been in you is really funny. At least: I laughed out loud!  And these three cd's made me smile from beginning till end. From shere excitement, total enjoyment of so much beauty, so many creamy melodies, such great guitar playing (the solo in The torture never stops is overwhelming!).
I realise there's a big nostalgia-factor explaining why I love this so much. Since I got to learn this music when I was 16, 17, and life was easy...  But nevertheless I sincerely think that these three hours of excellent music illustrate that FZ was a highly original voice in rock music, and remains one of it's greatest composers till this very day.
Enjoy it while you can!!!
Thank you Frank!
Peter
    

Michael Formanek The Rub and Spare Change

Most of the recent ECM releases can hardly be labeled jazz, but this one surely can. And it's a very impressive kind of jazz, I must say, by a group of four fantastic musicians, all of them leaders in their own right.
Though this really is Michael Formanek's date: he wrote all the tunes and surely organised the event. Formanek came to prominence in the nineties with some great stuff on Enja, but then stayed below radar for ten years or so. If Dr. Wiki tells the truth, then he must have devoted his time primarily to teaching at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. His sound on bass is as strong as ever. He is a perfect match for drummer Gerald Cleaver.
But it's the soloing of alto saxophonist Tim Berne and - especially - pianist Craig Taborn that gives this cd its unique flavour. Berne has never been recorded better, and I prefer these tunes of approximately 8 minutes to the lengthy, often fatigueing pieces he records under his own name.  Although there is one very long piece here also, Tonal Suite, which stands the test beyond doubt.
I don't know much of the work of Craig Taborn, though I was very fond of Junk Magic, mainly an electric affair. Taborn here only plays acoustic piano and he really sounds terrific. And very modern. And virtuosic. Listen to his solo on Inside the Box, one of the highlights of this cd.
The music could be described as - hmmm, let's say - very complex freebop with an avantgarde edge. Though it never gets too complicated, don't be afraid. To me this cd means a relief that ECM still produces great new jazz, apart from the inevitable Keith Jarrett. I admit I wasn't sure of that anymore, Manfred!
Peter

Jeremy Pelt

How to play hardbop and still sound fresh and modern? Listen to this cd and Jeremy Pelt gives you the answer. The trumpeter had already published some very strong cd's, some with an electric feel, like the well received Shock Value: Live at Smoke on MaxJazz.
But this all acoustic quintet is his band of choice since the excellent previous cd, November (MaxJazz). This quintet consists of Dwayne Burno (bass), Danny Grissett (piano), J.D. Allen (tenorsax) and Gerald Cleaver (drums). With the exception of Burno, they are all leaders in their own right. But this not an 'all stars' affair. This is really a group effort, and the sound is that of a quintet full of interaction, with musicians listening to each other, with an almost telepathic feeling of how their colleagues will react.
 Like Dave Holland, Jeremy Pelt gives each member of his group the opportunity to bring along a composition, and this works fine. The sound is definitely reminiscent of the second great Miles Davis Quintet, although Pelt has a sound that differs from the Great Master of the Understatement.
Pelt is beyond doubt a virtuoso, and he is very lucky to have next to him in the frontline J.D. Allen, who is a rising star on saxophone. Listen to J.D.'s trio-cd's, and you will agree.
Men of Honor (this time on the HighNote label) should be the breakthrough of a major jazz band. Hope you like it!

Steve Lehman

For those of you who are tempted to think that in jazz everything has been done before, please keep your ears open, and you will definitely come across the sound of the unexpected. Like the sound of the Steve Lehman Octet, which is definitely something you have never heard before.
Surely Lehman's sound on alto sax has traces of Steve Coleman or Greg Osby. But the music he writes for this exceptional instrumentation (two saxes, trumpet, trombone, tuba, vibes, bas and drums) is something really modern, with elements of all kinds of jazz (inlcluding the hard avantgarde stuff) and modern classical music nicely intertwined. The rhythm is very complex (which brings us to... Tyshawn Sorey, who is again shining on drums), the five piece frontline plays strong melody lines, with the tuba intervening as an extra bass, and the soloing is real intense. Mark Shim on tenorsax, Joathan Finlayson on trumpet, Tim Albright on trombone: they are all impressive.
Like his mentor Anthony Braxton, Steve Lehman doesn't limit himself to jazz alone. He also writes for large orchestras and chamber ensembles. Well, this octet sounds like a very contemporary jazz chamber ensemble.
This cd (with an enigmatic title...) is out on the very interesting Pi Recordings. An excellent label, which documents the present day innovative jazz scene as the Italian Black Saint-label used to do in the eighties and nineties. Much to my liking.
Peter

Reut Regev This is R*time

Women in jazz: it used to be a topic, because there weren't any, except for vocalists. But now we have dozens of excellent female jazz muzisicans: Matana Roberts, Ingrid Laubrock, Tineke Postma, Lotte Anker, Mary Halvorson, Sylvie Courvoisier, Regina Carter, Marilyn Crispell, Esperanza Spalding, Teri Lynn Carrington, Cindy Blackman (by the way: is she really Carlos Santana's girlfriend?)... They play saxophone, guitar, piano, violin, bass or drums and most of them are definitely part of the avant-garde jazzscene. But a female trombone player?
Yes, way back when there was Melba Liston, who did some nice work (also as arranger) for Randy Weston until she died in '99. But on the present jazz scene?
Well, be prepared for a nice suprise, because here comes Reut Regev! Don't be misled by the cover of her debut cd, that looks like a Christmas album (I've noticed that on amazon.com the cover is slighty different...), because this is going to blow your mind. Regev is Israelian but has been living in New York for more than a decade now. That the likes Anthony Braxton, Butch Morris and Dave Douglas have employed her for tours or recordings, gives you an idea of what to expect.
But don't be afraid: this music is not the kind of hardboiled avant-garde some of these guys are famous for. This is R*time is very listenable indeed, with the music (all originals, some cowritten with drummer (and husband) Igal Foni) shifting between jazz, heavy rock (due to the excellent electric guitar of David Phelps), and both Eastern and African world music. This cd is really a joy from beginning till end.
The sound of Regev is very modern, a bit like Ray Anderson, but then more dry. She has definitely listened to a lot of trombonists. And she has a great band, with David Phelps on electric guitar, Brad Jones on acoustic and electric bass, and Igal Foni on drums. Percussionist Eddie Bobé guests on two tracks.
Peter 

Steve Coleman is back

Steve Coleman seems to be back at the forefront of the jazzscene, albeit with a new cd that was recorded almost four years ago. Maybe the explanation for his absence is the sad end of the French Label Bleu, for which Coleman recorded extensively the years before.
But the music of Harvesting Semblances and Affinities (on the excellent Pi Recordings) sounds very fresh, even if it had to wait a couple of years to be released. This is a totally acoustic outing, but nevertheless the musical atmosphere is very reminiscent of the funk of the electric version of Five Elements. Very dominant are the wordless vocals of Jen Shyu. Her voice is used as an extra instrument, and I can imagine some people will be irritated by the special flavour of it after a while.
Coleman's alto sax is liquid as ever with his bittersweet sound recognisable as ever. But the real star of the recording may be Tyshawn Sorey. He is beyond doubt the most talked about drummer of the moment, but even four years ago his style was spectacular, as proves this recording.
Bass player is Thomas Morgan (another young talent) and the excellent trombone of Tim Albright is also very prominent in the group sound.
The compositions are inspired by Ramon Lull, a Spanish writer and philosopher of the 13th (!) century,  with a special intrest for mathematic and statistics. Coleman's compositions may be structured according to his principles -  refers to it in the liner notes - and the music sounds indeed tightly structured. But hasn't this been Coleman's signature since many years?

Peter