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The Best of 1999/Jazz CDs
Friday, December 31, 1999 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
1999 proved to be a down year for contemporary jazz, at least in Pittsburgh.
With the May demise of WJJJ, listeners were scrambling to find their favorite music -- somewhere, anywhere. And it was pretty slim pickings this year on the recording front, as established stars such as Boney James, Richard Elliot, Bob James and David Sanborn put out some pretty mediocre stuff.
So picking the best albums of the year proved to be pretty tough. There was a lot of junk out there. Here are my selections:
(Heads Up International) The writing and arranging was top-shelf, and that made the execution that much more enjoyable.
(Warner Brothers) Why you listened to this band in the first place. Its take-no-prisoners approach to jazz-fusion won over a lot of listeners early -- including this writer.
(Windham Hill Jazz) Saxophonist Scott may have mellowed out, but just a little bit. Though he offers plenty of balladry, there's still plenty of the hard-driving funk that put him on the map.
(Heads Up International) Think of driving down I-79 in your convertible, top down, wind in your hair. This is the soundtrack.
(Blue Note) This stunning one-hour recording is presented in performance order. The album, recorded in 1963, features pianist Herbie Hancock, bassist Eddie Kahn and drummer J.C. Moses. In addition to the quartet, Dolphy also performs a version of "Red Planet" with the University of Illinois Brass Ensemble (which included then-student Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet) and a take of his own tribute to big band leader Gerald Wilson, "G.W."
(Savoy Jazz) The recording is an anthology of the 1958 sessions led by the enigmatic trumpeter/flugelhornist Harden. Coltrane, a sideman on these recordings, was still approaching his universal iconoclasm. Taken from three recording dates with a bedrock rhythm section consisting of Tommy Flanagan, Arthur Taylor and Louis Hayes, the recordings illuminate the development of Coltrane while also serving as virtually the only serious document of Harden as a player and leader.
(Atlantic/Birdology) It would be easy to characterize this recording as merely another chapter in the group's quest for free expression. But that would be inaccurate and do an injustice to Bowie and his acolytes, who use jazz as a point of departure for their collective creativity. Throughout the recording, the group's musical imagination moves across a wide range of styles, including interpretive and inventive pop readings of the Spice Girls' "Two Becomes One" and Harold Melvin's "If You Don't Know Me By Now." Bowie died in November of lung cancer. He was 58.
(Atlantic/Birdology) In jazz, virtuoso is defined by one's ability to innovate and improvise -- that aptitude for creating spontaneous musical ideas that connect melodies with harmonies and rhythms. That helps to partially explain why East Liberty-born pianist Jamal has always reinvented himself through music. Each concert and every recording reveals something different. On "Nature," this musical Odysseus takes another interesting turn and confirms again his ability for musical regeneration.
(Quest Records) The recording explores 11 compositions, ranging from Hoagy Carmichael's "The Nearness of You" and Benny Golson's "Along Came Betty" to a compelling take on Jackson's "Major Dean," which features a jagged trumpet introduction by Eugene "Snooky" Young. The band also revisits Jackson's enduring "Bags' Groove," a composition written in 1952. And like a true bopper, Jackson raises the tempo on Thelonious Monk's "Evidence," swinging the jagged arrangement with fire and desire. Jackson died in October of liver cancer at age 76.
(Blue Note) This recording is Wilson's tribute to the late, iconoclastic Miles Davis. While many of the songs are introspective, a decidedly Milesian characteristic, they offer an inexhaustible supply of beauty to Wilson's developing oeuvre. From a reinterpretation of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" to several of Wilson's own arrangements, including "Traveling Miles," a meditative ode to the musically restless trumpeter, there's plenty here to get excited about.
(Savoy Jazz-Denon Records) It must have been one of the greatest musical experiences of the 20th century to have had the opportunity to hear Pittsburgh's Erroll Garner perform. The way he allowed space to frame his improvisational ideas, the seamless shifting of tempos and the attacking, percussive approach to the piano was the hallmark of the pianist. This two-CD set was recorded in January and September of 1945.
(Concord Records) Tribute albums are so commonplace these days that it takes a striking example to be taken seriously. Consider, therefore, this homage to the late saxophonist John Haley "Zoot" Sims. At 43, Hamilton is a generation removed from the swing period but his phrasing and blues-tinged intonations reveal a deep-rooted understanding of the music.
At 72, Pizzarelli is a Sims contemporary. The two often played together and recorded on more than five albums. Here, Pizzarelli plays a seven-string guitar. The extra string (tuned to A) allows him to play a bass line to his solos.
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1. "Flow," Richard Smith