What makes a jazz performance fresh, or new, or different in its genre? This question frequently is asked on the first Monday morning of the Month on WTJU (at 91.1 FM) as Nick Page and Gerald Watts play brand new releases, randomly selected. They don’t discuss it much on the air, since the reason for the show is to play music; nor do I want to launch into a discourse here. But here are three cd’s that have been released in the past few weeks that I believe start to answer the question, “What makes a jazz cd fresh and new in its genre?”
Eri Yamamoto’s new Album, Redwoods, is outstanding. This is a piano trio that’s different. It starts to answer the question about what a fresh approach to ‘piano trio’ would sound like. The piano and bass and 
drums simply weave their way through each other, in and out of the melody, maintaining a whole – no taking turns with solos. Is it straight ahead jazz? Probably. Is it avant-garde? No – but it is different. Listen to ‘Dear Friends’.
Another outstanding recent release is Joe Gil’s Breathe Deep and Enter Carefully. What’s fresh here is a combination of instrumentation and composition. Joe’s on trombone, leading a quartet of guitar, piano, bass and drums. There may be a fusion element with rock here, but it’s clearly straight-ahead jazz with a difference. One would think the brassy ‘bone would dominate, or take extensive solos. But not Joe Gil – he leads, blends, makes it work. Listen to ‘Mr. Mambo.’
The Tipton’s Sax Quartet is just somethin’ else. It’s fresh because of the instrumentation, and the arrangements are delightful. Yet it’s straight-ahead jazz. ‘Sax quartet’ is not exactly a genre, but there are others around. And they all, to my mind, are weirdly avant-garde. (My wife Liz and I went to a World Saxaphone Quartet concert here in C-ville years ago – and the experience spawned the term ‘Farting Saxaphones.’) The leaders of The Tiptons, Amy Denio and Jessica Laurie, just simply let their imaginations loose a bit, yet guide the group into an organic whole. Try a listen to ‘Fallout.’ .
Jazz is alive and well. As long as there are imaginative musicians and composers like these, we’ll continue to be delighted by fresh new sounds.
-David Lee
WTJU Jazz Sub
David,
I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you for playing my CD on your radio show. Thanks for the review on the CD. It’s nice to see that some people appreciate the trombone and what it can do. Please feel free to play more of the tunes from the CD on your radio show.
Cordially,
Joe Gil
Comment by Joe Gil — September 27, 2008 @ 3:53 pm |