HurdAudio Rotation: Albright, Solal, Douglas and Haden

William Albright/PRISM Quartet: Music for Saxophones. 2007. Innova: 687.

PRISM Quartet:
Timothy McAllister: soprano saxophone
Michael Whitcombe: alto saxophone
Matthew Levy: tenor saxophone, alto saxophone
Taimur Sullivan: baritone saxophone, alto saxophone

with:
University of Michigan Symphony Band
H. Robert Reynolds: conductor
Michael Lowenstern: bass clarinet
Marilyn Nonken: piano
Matthew Herskowitz: piano

Fantasy Etudes for saxophone quartet (1993)
Heater: Saga for alto saxophone and band (1977)
Pit Band for alto saxophone, bass clarinet and piano (1993)
Doo-Dah for three alto saxophones (1975)
Sonata for alto saxophone and piano (1984)

William Albright (1944 - 1998) was a longtime fixture at the University of Michigan where he received his doctorate and served as chairman of the music department. The labor of love that this recording represents is difficult to miss. The legacy of students and colleagues he inspired over the years is incalculable. The legacy of compositions may leave an even deeper impression as the scope of his works becomes clear. The Fantasy Etudes for saxophone quartet is the opening salvo of this disc. It is an impressive, deeply thoughtful and artfully worked out piece. Albright's reported skills as an organist is at work as he applied his ideas to saxophone quartet. One can hear the instruments serving as pipes as well as an adept improviser weaving his spontaneity into this music. Ideas flow thick and furious as each meticulous detail is worked out without losing sight of the work as a whole. The pieces that follow solidify the impression left behind by the etudes.

Martial Solal/Dave Douglas: Rue De Seine. 2006. Cam Cine TV Music: Cam 5013.

Martial Solal: piano
Dave Douglas: trumpet

Dave Douglas as a jazz trumpet player. For all the press nonsense about his incorporation of "non-jazz" influences or insinuations that he's too "intellectual" to swing and the imaginary conflict with a Marsalis establishment there must be an almost willful deafness to hear how artfully Dave Douglas plays - and plays homage to the traditions of - jazz. Dave Douglas is a jazz trumpet player and he's one of the best of his generation. Recordings like the duo of Marial Solal and Dave Douglas in Rue De Seine are a gift that drive home just how thoroughly steeped in the tradition both of these innovative players are. Hearing the interpretations of the Dave Douglas Quintet pieces (that are so familiar to these ears) is a particular revelation. Solal's solo take on "For Suzannah" is a devestating interpretation of Douglas's beautiful composition. After a few rounds of interpreting originals this pair turns their attention to the standards of Rogers and Hart and Hammerstein to close out this set. Leaving no trace of doubt. These are jazz musicians and they are in rare form on this recording.

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name. 2005. Verve: B0004949-02.

Charlie Haden: bass
Carla Bley: piano, arrangements
Michael Rodriguez: trumpet
Seneca Black: trumpet
Curtis Fowlkes: trombone
Ahnee Sharon Freeman: french horn
Joe Daley: tuba
Miguel Zenon: alto saxophone
Chris Cheek: tenor saxophone
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone
Steve Cardenas: guitar
Matt Wilson: drums

A profoundly patriotic expression built upon dissent and propelled by the disappointments surrounding the 2004 general election. A defiantly beautiful and optimistic body of music borne from the depths of despair and alarm at the forces of greed and cruelty that held onto power. Carla Bley's arrangements are a wonder here (as they are on every Liberation Music Orchestra endeavor). Some of the most deeply soul stirring music I know of.

HurdAudio Rotation: Jazz Greatness

Martial Solal/Dave Douglas: Rue De Seine. 2006. Cam Cine TV Music: Cam 5013.

Martial Solal: piano
Dave Douglas: trumpet

Two players so thoroughly steeped in jazz tradition that they've carved their own names into it with original compositions that coexist well with the standards included in this set. As a long time Dave Douglas fan it's the interpretations of his material that holds particular interest to these ears. The solo piano take on Dave Douglas' "For Suzannah" is one of several jaw dropping moments on this disc. Beyond that solitary number this is a steady dialogue between two enormously gifted improvisers. One can almost hear what they don't play as the silent metronome clicks between these two players or the phrases stripped of extraneous notes and ornamentation. A few more versions of "Body and Soul" like this and we may eventually forget the association with that old Humphrey Bogart film (play it again, Martial).

Charlie Haden/Liberation Music Orchestra: Not In Our Name. 2005. Verve: B0004949-02.

Charlie Haden: bass
Carla Bley: piano, arrangements
Michael Rodriguez: trumpet
Seneca Black: trumpet
Curtis Fowlkes: trombone
Arnee Sharon Freeman: french horn
Joe Daley: tuba
Miguel Zenon: alto saxophone
Chris Cheek: tenor saxophone
Tony Malaby: tenor saxophone
Steve Cardenas: guitar
Matt Wilson: drums

Each Liberation Music Orchestra recording just gets better with every listening. The fine details of Carla Bley's incredible arranging instincts come into sharper focus each time I hear this music, leaving me all the more impressed. The transformation of Samuel Barber's Adagio for Strings orchestrated for an elite big band as the somber prayer ripples through the wind instruments. The ensemble arrangement of Bill Frisell's Throughout that retains the steady introspection of the original version. The reggae twist on the Metheny, Mays and Bowie's This Is Not America within the larger context of protest music. The anthem reclaimed for the America the Beautiful (Medly) all highlight the astonishing abilities of Carla Bley when her medium happens to be this collection of high caliber players under the direction of Charlie Haden. The moral indignation and longing for domestic and foreign policy with a humanitarian conscious that runs through the Liberation Music Orchestra's long standing "message" adds even more resonance to this listening experience.

Wayne Shorter: Speak No Evil. 1964. Re-released in 1999. Blue Note Records: 7243 4 99001 2 7.

Wayne Shorter: tenor saxophone
Freddie Hubbard: trumpet
Herbie Hancock: piano
Ron Carter: bass
Elvin Jones: drums

The 1960s era Blue Note reputation was built on stellar recordings like this one. It leaves a haze hanging in the air like so many records from that period, only more so than usual with this particular session. The ears are pulled in so many different directions. Each player brings something that completes this sound and the gravity of Herbie Hancock's playing is hard to miss. Then there's that rhythm section of Ron Carter and Elvin Jones and the sound they put in underneath this playing. This is easily a definitive recording that belongs in any serious jazz collection. And in the end it's the Wayne Shorter compositions that really draw the ears in.

HurdAudio Rotation: Down on Earth

Brian Auger: Planet Earth Calling. 1981. Garland: GRZ010.

Studio recording with various combinations of the following:
Brian Auger: hammond organ, yamaha CP 70B, electric grand piano, prophet 5 synthesizer, rhodes electric piano, acoustic piano, miniMoog, cabasa, gogo bells, freeman string dymphoniser, tambourine, vocals, cowbell
Ho Young Kim: guitar
George Doering: guitar
Dave McDaniels: electric bass
Dave Crigger: drums
Steve Evans: electric bass
Tom Donlinger: drums
Terry Baker: drums
Michael Barsimanto: drums
Alex Ligertwood: vocals

It was difficult to contain my disappointment last time this one came up in the rotation. And it hasn't grown on me with a repeated spin. Which "augers" a fair question: why keep this one in the rotation at all? Sometimes one learns more from music that lets one down than from keeping too narrow a focus on things that one finds appealing.

So what is it about Planet Earth Calling that so consistently rubs me the wrong way? The musicianship is generally high on this recording. The arrangements are skillfully done, the solos are well executed and the production value is at a professional caliber. All the "failings" (which is entirely my opinion) fall within the compositional decisions made. Much of which are fueled by the horrifying mash-up of commercially bland genres. It doesn't "rock" and it's a bit too clean to pass for jazz (even though it was languishing in the "jazz" bin when I found it). By deliberately bending toward entertainment it ceases to be entertaining some 26 years after its recording date. Being familiar with Brian Auger's much more compelling records prior to this release compounds my disappointment.

Clusone Trio: An Hour With... 2000. HatHut: Hatology 554.

Recorded live at Kilen, Kulturhuset, Stockholm, Sweden on March 21, 1998.

Michael Moore: alto saxophone, clarinet, melodica
Ernst Reijseger: cello
Han Bennink: drums

A single hour is only a taste of the range and improvisational sensibilities of this outstanding trio. With quiet, introspective moments woven around irreverent outbursts the minutes slip past along an engaging sequence of ideas and varied interpretations of familiar and unfamiliar tunes. The "bird" theme of including "The Peacocks" by Jimmy Rowles, "Duck" by Steve Lacy, "Duck" by Michael Moore, "Turkey in the Straw," "My Bird of Paradise" by Irving Berlin and "Baltimore Oriole" by Hoagy Carmichael weaves in a thread of unifying humor while flashing Moore's deep grasp of jazz history.

Martial Solal/Dave Douglas: Rue de Seine. 2006. CamJazz: CAM 5013.

Martial Solal: piano
Dave Douglas: trumpet

In all my Dave Douglas obsessing - from live shows to an insatiable appetite to scarf up every recording as leader and side man - this is the first time I've heard him play "Body and Soul" and "All the Things You Are." As a duo collaboration between two great creative souls separated by generations and continents one expects the standards to get a spin as a point of reference for such disparate talents. But the Rogers and Hart action comes late in this set. Only the final four tracks are standards. By the time the ears reach that side of the song book the air has already taken on a sheen from the generous interpretations of Solal and Douglas originals.

It's the trumpet and piano arrangements of the familiar Dave Douglas Quintet pieces that have the most immediate appeal for me. "For Suzannah" is done as a short piano solo. And it's the most amazing three minutes on this disc. Beyond that is the intriguing introduction to Solal's music (at least it's new to me). Even "Body and Soul" takes on a fresh, open quality as the collaborative energy carries over to the jazz war horses.