National Jazz Awards

I was unable to be in Toronto at noontime on Thursday to accept the Journalist of the Year award at the National Jazz Awards, so I wanted to use this space to thank everyone who voted for me and, particularly, the editors I have worked with in the past year: Pete Gershon, who welcomed me into the family at Signal To Noise in 2008; Aaron Cohen, associate editor at DownBeat; and Jason Koransky, who has edited DownBeat for the past decade. Jason is leaving his post this week to pursue a career in law, so I want to make special mention of him for giving me some great assignments over the past 10 years.

The jazz community in Canada is small enough that it's possible to have at least a passing acquaintance with almost everyone in it, and that extends to the journalists who report on the music. Several of the contenders for the award are friends. Len Dobbin always greets me with a warm hug when we meet, and his stories from the heyday of bop are welcome touchstones to earlier generations of jazz musicians. I shared the jazz columnist duties at the Ottawa Citizen with Peter Hum for 10 years and have watched happily as he has gained a larger audience for both his writing—his blog is one of the best in the business—and his piano playing. Mark Miller is one of my personal heroes—not just for his keen critical eye/ear and elegant writing, but for his tireless ability to get jazz into the editorial mix at the Globe and Mail for decades.

Thanks, as well, to Bill King, who has worked very hard to transform the National Jazz Awards into a truly pan-Canadian awards program. Clearly, there is still a lot of room for more recognition of artists from Atlantic Canada, Quebec and the western provinces, but with more than 7200 online voters the NJAs have taken a big jump this year. Bill is a strong cheerleader for jazz in this country, and his annual showcase covered a nice arc of generations, from Montreal icon Vic Vogel to bright light Darcy James Argue.

Thanks For The Nomination

Jazz Chronicles has been nominated as Jazz Blog of the Year in this year's JJA Jazz Awards. Thanks to everyone on the nomination committee who cast a vote for us. For those in the New York City area in mid-June, the awards will be announced June 16th at the Jazz Standard between 3 and 6 p.m. It's always a great party and a terrific chance to rub elbows with some of your favourite musicians and jazz industry members. More information about the awards can be found here.

Now Spinning

Brian Blade: Mama Rosa — Not a jazz recording, but I couldn't resist diving immediately into this rootsy, soulful solo CD by one of my favourite drummers in jazz. The first time I interviewed Brian Blade, about a decade or so ago, he made it clear that his influences were the church, Levon Helm and soul music. Even as he was making waves with Wayne Shorter and other older giants of jazz he was in the studio with Joni Mitchell, Seal and Daniel Lanois. Lanois plays a large role on Mama Rosa—appearing on six of the 13 tracks and holding sway over the general sound of the recording, although Blade produced it himself, along with Adam Samuels. Blade's voice, like Lanois', is effective without being a perfect instrument. His dedication to this music is clear—as clear as his devotion to swinging like a monster behind Shorter, et.al., illustrated in his frequent whoops on various recordings and those times when he plays himself right off his drum throne—and he shows himself to be a better-than-average lyricist, as well. This is a quiet, little gem of a record I'm going to savour over the coming days.

Julian Lage: Sounding Point — Guitarist Julian Lage comes highly recommended by my friend David Adler, who knows a good picker when he hears one. I admire Lage's reach on the recording—everything from pieces inspired by Bernard Hermann's film music to Neal Hefti's "Lil' Darlin'"—and there's no denying his impressive technique. That stated, Sounding Point didn't move me much. I prefer more grit to my guitarists than Lage brings, and my tolerance for gypsy-style playing is low. I'll admit to those prejudices, and recommend this to anyone who enjoys Bela Fleck—who puts in an appearance on three of the 13 pieces—or Birelli Lagrene.

Rob Mazurek Quintet: Sound Is – I've enjoyed cornetist Mazurek enormously both times I've seen him recently at the Guelph Jazz Festival, largely because I found what was going on with his music so mysterious. Particularly with his electronic Brazilian project, his sound is so gauzy and shifting that it's hard to get a fix on him. Heavily featuring vibraphonist Jason Adasiewicz and Tortoise drummer John Herndon, this new quintet is more focused but no less mysteriously compelling. Like late-period Miles Davis, Mazurek prefers to be a colorist, and his vision as a composer and sound organizer always seems to be on a large picture. Without pushing the visual art metaphor too far, Sound Is strikes me as a big canvas filled with strong, bold slashes of movement.

Ornette Among The Guns

In the 50 years since he scaled stylistic barricades at New York City's Five Spot it's unlikely that Ornette Coleman has ever played a gig in as bizarre a setting as he'll find himself in on July 11. As one of about 2,000 performers at this year's Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest, Coleman and his quartet will perform flanked by tanks, army trucks, artillery pieces and armoured personnel carriers inside a glass-walled display area of the Canadian War Museum. The LeBreton Gallery—the "military technology" wing of the museum—has a distinct aroma of cordite and engine grease and is usually the site of military band performances.

But, who knows, maybe Ornette will dig the silver jet that's poised for takeoff.

DJA Breaks Out

Buzz has a funny way of altering your perception. While I'm sure I'd caught wind of composer Darcy James Argue at some point—hard to miss an up-and-coming young musician here in Canada, after all—the infectious word of mouth that surrounded him at last year's International Association of Jazz Education conference in Toronto has erased anything that went before. The performance by the Canadian version of his big band, Secret Society—featuring an outrageously gifted trumpet section—was on the lips of everyone who caught it, and his views on digital marketing were the best illustration of the gaping divide between his generation and the establishment core of the soon-to-be-defunct IAJE. Few musicians since the initial headline-grabbing burst by Dave Douglas in the mid-'90s had become so ubiquitous as fast as this young Vancouverite.

One of the things that has set Argue apart is his willingness to share his music on his blog, yet the release of his debut CD, Infernal Machines, has been much anticipated by those who have heard him compared favourably to fellow Bob Brookmeyer devotees Maria Schneider and John Hollenbeck. I've been enjoying a digital download of the recording for a few weeks, but—given that this is a big band—have been holding off on a review until I could savor it in its full depth on my main stereo rather than through my computer's speakers.

Although it's Brookmeyer who is mentioned most frequently as Argue's main influence, I hear a lot of George Russell on Infernal Machines, too, especially on "Zeno," where guitarist Sebastian Noel stirs up some power chords behind Ryan Keberle's trombone solo, and in the raucous outro to the opening "Phobos." Gil Evans' tremendous bands from his days as the house band at Sweet Basil in the '80s are another touchstone, and Argue himself swears allegiance to the early Thad Jones-Mel Lewis band in this post.

A strong trumpet section is one of Argue's MO's. Here, it's led by Seneca Black, and features Ingrid Jensen, Laurie Frink, Nadje Noordhuis and Tom Goehring. Argue's voicing of them on "Transit" and "Redeye" is feather-light and creates the feeling of flight—the only time his writing resembles Schneider's.

Where he creates his own space as a big band leader is in his use of elements not often heard in the canon, such as the cajon that chatters throughout "Phobos," the electric guitar noise that snakes through "Redeye," and the political conceit at the heart of "Habeas Corpus"—a piece written to honour Canadian computer engineer Maher Arar, who was shipped to Syria by the U.S. government and tortured for 10 months. On "Jacobin Club," the horns move woozily over Jon Wikan's rattle-trap snare and Mike Holober's spiky keyboard accents, while on "Obsidian Flow" they shimmer in a chorus of Philip Glass-like repetition. Although Argue frequently creates tension by constraining the 18-piece orchestra somewhat, he knows how to turn them loose to great effect, as he does in the climax of "Habeas Corpus."

An exciting stylist with an abundance of ideas, Argue deserves his place alongside Schneider, Hollenbeck and other contemporary big band arrangers who are looking beyond traditional notions of what a large jazz orchestra should, and can, sound like.

Join Us In Ottawa

For the second consecutive year, I'll be leading a Jazz Journalists Association initiative at my hometown TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival. Here's the lowdown:

Jazz Matters
Jazz Matters is an educational initiative of the 400-member Jazz Journalists Association. Jazz Matters brings together leading writers, broadcasters and online journalists from around the world to explore the history of the music, discuss key recordings and performers and debate significant issues.

Modern Jazz Piano: From Monk to Moran – June 29
The language of jazz piano has broadened and evolved in the post-war decades, encompassing such wildly divergent exponents as Ahmad Jamal, Cecil Taylor, Paul Bley and Oscar Peterson. What are the common threads and points of departure? Who are the unsung heroes of the instrument and which recordings changed the sound of jazz?

To explore the evolution of modern jazz piano, join jazz critic Ashley Kahn (author of The House That Trane Built, Kind Of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece, A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album and a forthcoming history of Blue Note Records), veteran jazz writer Mark Miller (former Globe and Mail critic and author of eight books and a forthcoming biography of pianist Herbie Nichols), DownBeat magazine critic James Hale, pianist David Ryshpan, Alan Stanbridge (University of Toronto and author of the forthcoming Rhythm Changes: The Discourses of Jazz) and Jesse Stewart (Carleton University music professor and percussionist).

1959: The Wonder Year – June 30
Try to imagine a year that produced genre-defining artistic statements like Miles Davis’ Kind Of Blue, John Coltrane’s Giant Steps, Charles Mingus’ Mingus Ah Um, Dave Brubeck’s Time Out, Thelonious Monk’s triumphant concert at Town Hall and Ornette Coleman’s New York City debut. What was in the air – culturally speaking – that year? What forces combined to produce some of the most-enduring recordings in the evolution of jazz?

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of this miraculous year in jazz history the panel will include: Ashley Kahn, NPR commentator and author of The House That Trane Built, Kind Of Blue: The Making of the Miles Davis Masterpiece and A Love Supreme: The Story of John Coltrane’s Signature Album; Mark Miller, author of eight books on jazz and former Globe and Mail contributor; DownBeat magazine writer James Hale; broadcaster Ron Sweetman (NME’s Paris correspondent in 1959); trumpeter and veteran journalist Charley Gordon; Jesse Stewart (Carleton University music professor and percussionist); and Alan Stanbridge (University of Toronto and author of the forthcoming Rhythm Changes: The Discourses of Jazz).

That's the boilerplate on the panels. Elsewhere at the festival, things are rocking. Headliners include: Charles Lloyd Quartet, Wayne Shorter Quartet, Maria Schneider Orchestra, Enrico Rava & Stefano Bollani, Dave Douglas & Brass Ecstacy, Al Green, The Bad Plus, Brian Blade Fellowship, Gary Burton Quartet Revisited with Pat Metheny, SMV.

You can find the full lineup here. Hey, Ottawa's great in the summertime (not so much today, with snow back on the ground). C'mon up!

Sussing Cecil

Today, I began in earnest my year-long re-examination of the music of Cecil Taylor, starting with the 1956 recording, Jazz Advance.

As with last year's exploration of Anthony Braxton, the challenge is to try to forget what you already know of the artist's work, the arc of his career, etc., and approach this music with fresh ears. At the same time, you want to consider the historical context of the work at hand, which often leads to the fullest appreciation of just what is being achieved and to what extent the artist is bringing new vision to the art form.

I'm not an academic, so my predominant approach to the music parallels what Nat Hentoff recommends in the liner notes to the reissue of Jazz Advance: to ignore the intellectual to concentrate on the emotional. This is not a problem with pieces like Taylor's interpretation of Monk's "Bemsha Swing." Even 53 years after the recording it is impossible to overlook the joy in Taylor's approach to the composition, the dancer's feigns and double-steps, the way he moves around the notes. For example, the way he reinvents the melody as he "re-states" it as an outro – giving just the barest hint of it, yet expanding on Monk's original line.

Even without the knowledge of everything that has come since (ah, the anticipation of so many pleasures to re-discover!) it is obvious that this Cecil Percival Taylor is a dancer, a poet, a man whose imagination can only be hinted at through what he does at the keyboard.

A wonderful thing to consider on a beautiful spring day.

Return To The Fourth World

While you won't find trumpeter/composer Jon Hassell listed in the major jazz encyclopedias or discographies, the 62-year-old Memphis native is as much a sonic pioneer as many you will find in those pages, and he forms an important part of the lineage that includes Miles Davis, Bill Laswell, Graham Haynes, Bill Frisell and numerous European improvisers. He is also firmly entrenched in the sonic world that includes disparate artists like Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Daniel Lanois and Ry Cooder, all of whom he has collaborated with at some point.

Originally enamored of serial music, which he explored in early work with Terry Riley and La Monte Young, Hassell delved into traditional Indian music around the time that Davis was adding tabla and sitar to his band, and by the end of the 1970s he was mixing in electronic elements, at just the right time to intersect with open-minded popular artists like Eno and Talking Heads' David Byrne. Labeling the result Fourth World music now smacks a little too much like a marketing ploy, but there is no question that Hassell was on to something.

In a recent interview with DownBeat magazine, the trumpeter muses on his lack of popularity in North America, but while he hasn't been the concert draw here that he is in Europe, his sound has permeated through soundtracks for vehicles like Martin Scorsese's film The Last Temptation of Christ and the TV show The Practice.

Hassell's 1986 ECM recording, Power Spot, marks a high point in his career, and is a rarity in the German label's catalogue: the only ECM disc made in the Hamilton, Ontario, recording studio of Daniel Lanois. Now, after 23 years, Hassell returns to ECM for the evocatively named Last Night The Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes In The Street (a line from a poem by the Sufi master Jalaluddin Rumi). The music is as evocative as Rumi's sensual image, filled with washes of electronic sound, the whispery violin of Kheir-Eddine M'Kachiche, and shot through with flat-toned bass ostinatos that tie it all back to Davis' swampy electric music, Laswell's Cuban dub experiments and even to Sly Stone's drugged-out masterpiece There's A Riot Goin' On. This is hypnotic, compelling music, and the sonic pool is deep – particularly Hassell's trumpet, which is processed to sound like a breathy flute, and sings with amazing grace and beauty.

I can't recall the last time I enjoyed music so much through headphones.

Cast Your Ballots

Voting begins today for Canada's National Jazz Awards.

Thanks to those of you who helped nominate me in the Journalist of the Year category. Stiff competition there! Best of luck to everyone in the category, and to all nominees.

I'll spare you the self-promotion, but encourage you to participate and help increase the "turnout" from every part of Canada. It's your annual chance to support your favourite players (and non-players).

The voting booth is here.

Big thanks to Bill King for his continuing efforts to make this thing happen each year.

David S. Ware Update

The appeal on behalf of saxophonist David S. Ware has resulted in a kidney donor match, and Ware is slated for a transplant operation on May 5.

You can continue to follow his progress at a link that his manager Steven Joerg has established.

Ottawa Panel Update

For those who saw the name-check in today's Ottawa Citizen with relation to panel discussions at this June's TD Canada Trust Ottawa International Jazz Festival, stay tuned for details. Due to the success of last summer's Jazz Matters panels, the Jazz Journalists Association will indeed be back this year with another stellar lineup of panelists to address topics germane to this year's festival program.

I can't divulge details at this point – that will have to wait until the official launch on April 8 – but keep the noonhours of June 29 and 30 open if you're in Ottawa. For those not in Ottawa, check out my friend Peter Hum's blog for reasons why you should make a point of attending what he calls "North America's heaviest jazz fest."

Bluer Than You

Thanks to writer Michelle Mercer, I had the opportunity to read her forthcoming followup to Footprints: The Life and World of Wayne Shorter. Will You Take Me As I Am: Joni Mitchell's Blue Period will be released by Free Press on April 7. As the sub-title states, this is not a standard biography, but rather an examination of the context of Mitchell's fourth album, Blue, which was released in 1971.

A cornerstone of introspective, so-called "confessional" songwriting, Blue quickly became the soundtrack of young women who led with their hearts but kept their heads in the game of romance, too. Its potency leapt generations, as Mercer makes clear in her own opening confession, which sets the tone for the book. As an 18-year-old Kansas farm girl, Mercer judged prospective boyfriends by whether they could intuit the colours in Mitchell's music, see beyond the surface of her words and – the ultimate test – hear the influence of Claude Debussy at work. This is a highly effective opening because it clarifies the author's intention of delving equally into words and music, elements that are inseparable in much of Mitchell's work.

While she's a skilled and experienced music critic, Mercer is at her best when she approaches her subject from the basis of literary criticism. There is less insight about Mitchell's musical roots, though she does include this succinct passage about Mitchell's use of open guitar tuning:

"Standard tuning offered a compromise between simple, easy fingering for chords and the facility to play common scales from a single hand pattern.

This system is at first adequate for most musicians, because there are many combinations of finger positions or notes that can be used to create any chord. Some musicians find lasting contentment in standard tuning. The trouble is, for other artists, standard tunings can invite inertia, a hollow reverberation of old musical discoveries."

Mercer's biggest triumph, though, is capturing Mitchell in the book; not simply gaining her cooperation – no small feat – but in representing her voice so well. Anyone who has heard more than a few minutes of Mitchell discussing her own work is familiar with the mixture of wounded pride, arrogance and creativity that flows from her, and Mercer nails that combination. The only thing missing is the sound of the singer's incessant smoking, although the subject is addressed at several junctures.

Creating a book that inhabits the ground between hardcore academic study and celebrity-obsessed hagiography runs the danger of pleasing neither audience, but Mercer brings enough of herself – to say nothing of Mitchell – into play to broaden the scope into a unique brand of biography. Not without its flaws (I have some issues with the structure of the six sections, and the "Stuff Joni Likes or Even Loves" seems ill-suited to Mercer's goals) the book succeeds in illuminating an important recording.

Farewell, Dr. Art

Yesterday's mail brought an advance copy of Italian pianist Roberto Magris' new recording, Kansas City Outbound – the last recording to feature the great bassist Art Davis. My liner notes for the recording are re-printed below.

Usually, a liner note assignment entails getting inside the music and attempting to help the artist communicate his/her intentions to the listener. Contextualize, in other words. Kansas City Outbound was a different matter because it involved two intertwined stories: Magris' brief relationship with Davis, just prior to the bassist's death, and the mystery of Philadelphia pianist William Langford (aka Hassan Ibn Ali or The Legendary Hassan).

Kansas City Outbound has another backstory, too. Originally intended for release on Soul Note, it was still in production when the venerable Italian label and its parent – Black Saint – were sold to CamJazz. Fortunately, Magris' disk didn't fall between the cracks; it's now released on a label created by the pianist's agent, Paul Collins. It's available from CD Baby or directly from Collins.

Copyright © 2009 by James Hale

As musical relationships go, the one between pianist Roberto Magris and bassist-turned-psychologist Art Davis was short, but intense and oh so sweet.

They met in Los Angeles – Davis’ adopted home since 1986 – in October 2006, when Magris’ agent Paul Collins secured him a number of dates in the U.S. Davis – who continued to keep a full schedule as a bassist in addition to teaching and running a non-profit organization – joined the pianist’s quartet for two evenings at Catalina’s Jazz Club in Hollywood. They played a third time in a trio at the Jazz Bakery, and wrapped up with a set of duets in Santa Monica, where Davis had a long-standing Sunday gig at the Ritz Carlton.

“It all turned out very cool, onstage and offstage,” recalls Magris. “On one side I think that Dr. Art felt my awareness, respect and knowledge of the jazz tradition, and on the other side I felt that he really appreciated my pianism.”

Magris returned to his home in Italy, but eight months later he reunited with the 72-year-old bassist in Kansas City, along with drummer Jimmy “Junebug” Jackson – the 21-year veteran of life on the road with B-3 master Jimmy Smith. Together, they played a tribute to the recently departed Jay McShann at the American Jazz Museum and reconvened the following day in the studio.

The title track catches Magris in a John Coltrane state of mind, improvising with some dark, dense chords reminiscent of McCoy Tyner and drawing Davis back to his collaboration with Trane on Africa/Brass, Ascension, Olé! Coltrane and the alternate takes of A Love Supreme. With a muscular tone and unerring, majestic touch, Davis reminds us why he was the only bassist with an open invitation to jam with Trane’s classic quartet, and an ongoing favorite of Alice Coltrane’s after her husband’s death.

Magris says he chose “I Fall In Love Too Easily” to take advantage of Davis’ “slow, rolling walk,” which is much in evidence here – stark contrast to the pianist’s angular phrasing and unexpected accents.

The otherworldly introduction to “Iraqi Blues” seems to speak to lost souls, and Magris says: “There is no political statement behind the title except the aim to recall the memory of people who died there, no matter who was right and who was wrong.” A strong touchpoint in his conception was Stanley Cowell’s 1969 “Blues For The Viet Cong.”

Billy Strayhorn’s gorgeous “A Flower Is A Lovesome Thing” was brought to mind by Davis’ recording of it with Herbie Hancock on the bassist’s 1995 recording A Time Remembered. Magris’ solo take on it is rendered stately and timeless by his extraordinarily precise fingering and light touch.

The scene shifts to the next day – when the young Kansas City-based drummer Zack Albetta joined Magris and Davis – and, as before, Magris opens the session with an improvisation that he relates to the influence of Denny Zeitlin.

When he recorded it on his 1978 Artists House album From California With Love Andrew Hill rendered his composition “Reverend Du Bop” as a meandering abstraction. Here, Magris tightens the focus while respecting Hill’s signature obtuse angles. Davis is extremely judicious in his note selection before switching to arco for one piquant chorus.

“Rainbow Eyes” is dedicated to the pianist’s beloved, and again, Strayhorn’s influence is much in evidence. Strays for lovers? Always.

Davis sets out the theme of Thelonious Monk’s “Bemsha Swing,” and the trio (with Jackson back on drums) bounces it between them – having so much fun, says Magris, that they almost forgot the arrangement they had worked out.

“Lonely Woman” – Benny Carter’s, not Ornette Coleman’s – was a gift left to Magris by saxophonist Herb Geller after they recorded the 2003 Soul Note release Il Bello Del Jazz together. He plays it pretty here; edging toward a stride style with deliberate phrasing.

Davis begins “Darn That Dream” with a distracted-sounding solo – like a man waking from confusing sleep – and he continues to set up tension through the piece with accompaniment that slips out of phase with Magris’ lead.

“Alone Together” is the sound of a band grooving hard. Davis is way up in the mix, setting a bustling pace and swinging effortlessly.

“Bye Bye Baby” maintains the pace, with Magris striking an unusually bravura stance that finds him chewing up the changes like Oscar Peterson as he duets with Albetta.

Peterson, Tyner, Cowell, Hill, Monk, Ellington… the roll call of great pianists present in spirit in Kansas City on these two days continues with one other who Davis felt Magris conjured the first time they met: “the Legendary Hassan.” Hassan Ibn Ali (born William Langford in 1931) is little more than a legend a couple of decades after his death. His recorded legacy is a mere single disc made with Davis and drummer Max Roach in 1964 and released under Roach’s name. A second recording with saxophonist Odean Pope was never released and the tapes are rumored to have been lost in a fire. But, like Robert Johnson, Hassan’s legacy can’t be contained by two shadowy recording sessions. A ubiquitous – albeit mysterious – figure on Philadelphia’s jazz scene in the ‘50s, Hassan is credited by Coltrane biographer Lewis Porter with opening the saxophonist’s ears to new harmonic possibilities. Jimmy Heath has said, “Hassan was Cecil Taylor before Cecil Taylor.”

“’You play like Hassan,’ Dr. Art told me,” says Magris. “’Your sound and concept remind me of him.’ I’d never heard the name before. I’d completely missed him, even though I’d listened to most of the pianists from the history of jazz, and studied many of them, too. When I was a young musician I learned day by day, listening to LPs and checking out names and styles, including some of the most obscure and forgotten ones, but I’d never heard of Hassan. Dr. Art said that the session with Hassan was one of the best sessions he ever played.”

Art Davis’ words carried authority, just like the man himself carried authority. His stand against discrimination at the New York Philharmonic shone a light on the continuing racism in U.S. symphonies, and his application of cello fingering to the double bass helped revolutionize the way the instrument was played. A giant figure, Davis died just three weeks after this, his last recording session.

“I still keep the image of him standing in the studio in front of me,” says Magris. “I am very proud to have shared a stage with him and to have these recordings. I think that Hassan and Max Roach would enjoy them.”

The New Middle Ages

For a time in the 1990s I conducted a number of interviews with jazz musicians who had, at one point in their careers, been much in the spotlight. These included people like Jackie McLean, Gary Bartz and Lester Bowie. A common thread that ran through these interviews was their belief that they had been ignored – both by the media and by the music-buying fans – during some of their most productive years. Some, like Bartz, were closer to that period than others, and one or two, like McLean – just a couple of years away from his death – were reconciled that those years were well in their past.

I was reflecting on this last night while enjoying a terrific new composition by Joe Lovano called "Jazz Free," which is currently in the book of the SFJAZZ Collective. It begins, as you might expect, with a collectively blown free section and then morphs into solo segments for the various band members over shifting-but-constantly-interesting rhythmic pulses.

One of the most interesting things that has caught my eye recently in the jazz world was the news out of Portland that Lovano's new band includes both Francesco Mela and Gerry Hemingway on drums. I can't wait to hear that combination. Lovano's recruitment of the veteran percussion innovator Hemingway to join one of the most exciting young drummers on the scene shows what an open mind he maintains.

All of which reminds me that it would be easy to think that Lovano's most interesting new work is behind him, and that he will now comfortably coast on his laurels. Obviously, this is not the case; he's still trying new things.

And – like the mid-career work of a lot of artists – we ignore it at our own cost.

Now Spinning

David Mott Quintet – Downtown Runout
Toronto-based baritone saxophonist David Mott is one of my favourite musicians, and one of my favourite people in the music business. I know a couple of the other guys in this band, too, so this is in no way an unbiased review, but that doesn't change the fact that this is an exceptional recording. I heard the band improvise on the some of the 11-part title suite, "Downtown Runout," at the Vancouver Jazz Festival a number of years ago, and it's the kind of multi-layered, pace-shifting piece that Mott excels at. He is a brawny player, but also has tremendous sensitivity, and when he plays the blues you can tell that he was born in Chicago. Bassist John Geggie and drummer Jesse Stewart – my other two acquaintances in the quintet – are a very supportive, creative rhythm team, and this music brings out Geggie's ability to just crush a funky ostinato. It's a skill of his little heard since he anchored the quartet Chelsea Bridge and I've missed it. This is an independent release, so check out Mott's site for details about distribution.

Nathan Eklund – Trip To The Casbah (Jazz Excursion Records)
Unlike Mott, trumpeter Nathan Eklund is a new name to me, but the presence of saxophonist Donny McCaslin caught my eye in the credits. McCaslin is as strong and lyrical here as you might expect, but guitarist John Hart and bassist Bill Moring – also players I'm not familiar with – are also very impressive. Eklund wrote all 10 compositions and exhibits a nice touch with tuneful material that sticks immediately inside your head. Drummer Tim Horner keeps a crisp edge on everything with his light, responsive touch on cymbals. Eklund is a very melodic player with a sound that seems rooted in Clifford Brown moreso than in more contemporary players. Definitely someone to hear more from.

Lisa Sokolov – A Quiet Thing (Laughing Horse Records)
Singer Lisa Sokolov's last recording is one of only five that I've given the maximum five stars to in DownBeat magazine during the past 10 years, so this followup is one I've been looking forward to. Sokolov is a highly distinctive, emotive vocalist – and, as response to my review of her last album indicated, a taste not every listener can acquire. A Quiet Thing is not going to change your opinion of her. If anything, her singing here is even more highly mannered than last time out. Her take on "Lush Life," for example, put me in mind of Jimi Hendrix's "Roomful Of Mirrors," as Sokolov acts out what sounds like narcissistic psychosis; each phrase seems to betray a different aspect of the subject's despair. It's so outré that I'm not sure I'd be drawn back to it quickly, but that's the danger of pieces that are closer to performance art than mere delivery of a lyric. Like Nora York and – to a somewhat lesser extent, Kurt Elling – Sokolov inhabits a song, and when the subject matter is disturbing, as Billy Strayhorn's lyric is at its core, the performance can be disturbing, too. It's powerful stuff, though, and certainly no less affecting than her previous disc; Sokolov has tremendous control over her instrument. Definitely something you need to be in the mood for.

Saxophonists Fight Back

Two great stories in the news today about vital, New York-based saxophonists who have fought back from health issues.

David Adler has a post about the return of Mark Turner, who suffered a serious power saw accident last year.

Meanwhile, on the New York Times site, Ben Ratliff reviews a set by Andrew D'Angelo's new band – his first new project after life-threatening brain cancer, which struck him exactly a year ago.

Terrific to have both of them back.

Update: Mark Turner talks about his accident and rehabilitation on this interview with Josh Jackson of WBGO radio in Newark, N.J.

Recession Continues to Bite... and Bite

So far, we've chronicled festival suspensions and sponsorship woes, but today brings bad news on yet another level: poor ticket sales.

Last week, Cassandra Wilson won a Grammy Award; this week, she can't sell enough tickets in Portland to justify staging a double bill featuring her and another award-winning act, Jason Moran & The Bandwagon.

"In my 31 years as a jazz presenter this is the first time I have been faced with such an arduous decision," said Portland Jazz Festival artistic director Bill Royston in announcing the cancellation.

Wilson and Moran were scheduled to perform as part of the festival's tribute to Blue Note Records, marking the label's 70th anniversary.

"The economic downturn has loomed large over this year's event," said Royston, referring to the earlier loss of the festival's previous title sponsor and last-minute rescue by Alaska Airlines.

An Institution Closes

Jazz Journal billed itself as "The World's Greatest Jazz Magazine." It was certainly among the longest lived, publishing continuously since 1948.

Like DownBeat, Jazz Journal was also a family business, and like DownBeat before it, Jazz Journal is now facing closure due to a death in the family. The death of Janet Cook, associate publisher and wife of publisher and editor-in-chief Eddie Cook, has led Eddie to decide to close the doors.

In his announcement, Cook left open the hope that someone would rescue the magazine – as happened with both DownBeat and, following the retirement of Bill Smith, Coda – but no white knights have stepped forward yet.

Summer Taking Shape

If you live in a winter-bound place like me, the concept of summer begins to look very good just about now. Even with a long weekend approaching, the cold days stretch out ahead without much relief in sight.

Best, then, to think of warmer days and summer jazz festivals.

From this vantage point, it looks like this summer is shaping up to be a decent one for the North American festival circuit. The Maria Schneider Orchestra is hitting the road, which is always a good thing, and the band has already announced dates in Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Sonny Rollins will be around, as will Wayne Shorter. Enrico Rava and Stefano Bollani will be playing duets in a number of cities, including Montreal, and Gary Burton has announced a tour for his "Reunion Quartet" with Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow and Antonio Sanchez.

As far as younger players, like The Bad Plus, Brian Blade, Kurt Rosenwinkle, et.al., no solid word, but that's the stuff that winter dreams are made of.

Jazz Grammys

After last year's stunning upset by Herbie Hancock it was inevitable that jazz would return to its usual position as poor cousin at this year's Grammy awards, but we had our year in the sun.

This year's winners include:

Francis Davis for best liner notes for his contribution to the Kind Of Blue anniversary package.

Randy Brecker for his Brazilian recording.

Cassandra Wilson for Loverly, which I thought was far from her best work.

Gary Burton and Chick Corea for reprising Crystal Silence.

The Vanguard Jazz Orchestra for their live recording.

Arturo O'Farrill and his orchestra for his tribute to his father.

Terence Blanchard for his solo on "Be-Bop"

Jack DeJohnette won the Best New Age Recording category for his record Peace Time.