WNUR Jazz Report, 4/28/97

NEWS

• Sparrow Sound Design and their record labels Southport Records and Northport Records (Southport is the jazz label) have a new and comprehensive web site up at http://www.chicagosound.com. Michael Mason's disc Exploration on Southport, featuring members of the New Horizons Ensemble and 8 Bold Souls, is among our adds this week.
• This report's Top 25 covers the last two weeks.

ADDS THIS WEEK

[Empty Bottle Fest]

• Georg Graewe: Gedaechtnisspueren: 7 Klavierstuecke (Music & Arts)
  Live solo piano recording from San Francisco 1995, on the same tour that brought Graewe to the Lunar Cabaret here in Chicago. Graewe is currently spending a period of several months in Chicago and is preparing for his appearance at the festival with with a new half German, half Chicago quartet with Frank Gratkowski, Kent Kessler, and Hamid Drake.
• Fred Van Hove & Ivo Vander Borght@: Lust (WIMprotwee)
• Van Hove/Nozati/Bauer@: Organo Pleno (FMP)
  The music of Belgian pianist Fred Van Hove has been little heard on this side of the Atlantic, not counting his appearance on Peter Brotzmann's Machine Gun; he'll perform at the festival solo and in a trio with Joe McPhee and Paul Lovens (!!).
• Irene Schweizer: Many and One Direction (Intakt)
  Schweizer will follow up her 1995 appearance at the FMP Festival in Chicago with the COWWS Quintet with a set of solo piano at this fest.

[Other new releases]

• Consuelo-Jon Quintet: Last Sunday Morning (Accurate)
• Garrison Fewell & Laszlo Gardony: Reflection of a Clear Moon (Accurate)
• David Schumacher: Every Corner (Amosaya)
• Dave Douglas Tiny Bell Trio: Live in Europe (Arabesque)
• Jeff Coffin Ensemble: Outside the Lines (Artifex)
• ROVA: John Coltrane's Ascension (Black Saint)
  Live 40th anniversary recreation of Coltrane's landmark piece. ROVA are joined by Glenn Spearman, Dave Douglas, Raphe Malik, George Cremaschi, Lisle Ellis, Chris Brown, and Donald Robinson.
• Kurt Elling: The Messenger (Blue Note)
  Chicago based singer's second for Blue Note, blending prewritten and improvised lyrics, backed by the Laurence Hobgood trio.
• Junk: Junk (Faffco)
• Abbey Lincoln: Who Used to Dance (Gitanes/Verve)
• Hersch/Moore/Hemingway: Thirteen Ways (GM)
• Tim Ray: Ideas & Opinions (GM)
  With Rufus Reid and Lewis Nash.
• Matthew Shipp "String" Trio: By the Law of Music (hat ART)
  With Mat Maneri (violin) and William Parker (bass). Ltd. ed. of 2000. Maneri plays acoustic, not electric violin as usual.
• Elias Haslanger: For the Moment (Heart)
• Carlos Garnett: Fuego En Mi Alma (HighNote)
• Houston Person: Person-ified (HighNote)
• Tatsu Aoki: Live at Blue Rider Theatre (IEL)
  Solo bass.
• Stevens, Siegel & Ferguson: Points of View (Imaginary)
• Mark Elf: A Minor Scramble (Jen Bay)
• Lauren Newton & Joelle Leandre: 18 Colors (Leo)
  Lush & strange voice/bass duets.
• Parker/Guy/Lytton & Marilyn Crispell: Natives and Aliens (Leo)
  A perhaps surprisingly natural pairing, Crispell fills in all the holes and more. Not just a curiosity.
• Niels-Henning Orsted-Peterson Trio: Friends Forever (Milestone)
  With Renee Rosnes and Jonas Johansen.
• Eddie Harris Quartet: Freedom Jazz Dance (MusicMasters)
  Harris's last studio recording before his death in 1996.
• Muhal Richard Abrams@: One Line, Two Views (New World)
  Tentet, 1995 release, widely acclaimed.
• Muhal Richard Abrams & Marty Ehrlich: The Open Air Meeting (New World)
• Ned Rothenberg@: Power Lines (New World)
  All-star cast (Feldman, Douglas, Dresser, Friedlander et al), 1995 release.
• Chicago Underground Orchestra: Playground (no label)
  Advance copy of a recording which has yet to find a home with a record company. Cornetist Rob Mazurek has led a somewhat bewildering variety of groups under variations of the "Chicago Underground" name; the lineup here is Jeff Parker (guitar), Sara P. Smith (trombone), and a rhythm section of Chris Lopes and Chad Taylor. Mazurek and Parker split the compositional duties (plus there's a pair of lesser known tunes by Duke Ellington and Herbie Hancock); musically, the group prides the line between straightahead jazz and freer methods, including elements of funk and modal.
• Rob Brown & Matthew Shipp: Blink of an Eye (No More)
  "and the 2 old colleagues serenade sweetsmell harshheat to fall thru the lens like light and drift / Shipp's fingers bleed as Brown cuts the air sharply..." - liners
• Oliver Lake: Matador of 1st and 1st (Passin' Thru)
  Alternating tracks of solo reeds and chanted poetry.
• Frederick Washington Jr.: Lilac Vol. 1 (Passin' Thru)
• John Clark: I Will (Postcards)
• Julian Priester & Sam Rivers: Hints on Light and Shadow (Postcards)
  Actually a trio with electronics man Tucker Martine. A meditative contrast to Sam's new trio on Rivbea.
• Philip Gelb: Purple Wind (Ryokan)
  Florida-based (but Bay Area bound) shakuhachi player (it's a Japanese flute) primarily in trio with Gino Robair (percussion) and Miya Masaoka (koto) -- plus tracks with Dana Reason and the Shaking Ray Levis. Contact ryokan@purplefrog.com.
• Dan DeChellis: Shapes (Sachimay)
• David Hazeltine: The Classic Trio (Sharp Nine)
  With Peter Washington and Louis Hayes.
• John Ehlis Ensemble: John Ehlis Ensemble (Sivac)
• Ran Blake: Unmarked Van (Soul Note)
  Solo tribute to Sarah Vaughan.
• Don Friedman Trio: The Days of Wine and Roses (Soul Note)
• Michael Mason: Exploration (Southport)
  Debut of free-ish flutist backed by many younger AACM musicians including Harrison Bankhead, Avreeayl Ra, Krik Brown, Steve Berry, Yosef Ben Israel, etc.
• Jim Hall: Textures (Telarc)
  Highly experimental date for Hall, working with different composed forms and chamber-style instrumentation.
• John Schott: In These Great Times (Tzadik)
• Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton: Doc Cheatham & Nicolas Payton (Verve)
• Cristina Zavalloni Open Quartet@: Danse a Rebours (YVP)

[New reissues]

• John Coltrane: Blue Train (Blue Note)
  The interactive multimedia component of this enhanced reissue will probably be of less benefit to our listeners than the two new alternate takes.
• Anthony Davis/James Newton Quartet: Hidden Voices (India Navigation)
  1980: with Rozie, AkLaff, Lewis!
• Cecil McBee: Alternate Spaces (India Navigation)
  1977: w/ Pullen, Freeman, Moye, Gardner, Nelson!
• Jimmy Rushing All-Stars: Who Was it Sang That Song? (New World)
• Tito Puente: 50 Years of Swing (RMM)
  Sampler disc for a new 3 CD retrospective.

JAZZ SHOW TOP 25

* denotes reissue, @ denotes not real new.

1. Ed Blackwell Trio: Walls-Bridges (Black Saint)
2. Wayne Horvitz & Zony Mash: Cold Spell (Knitting Factory Works)
3. Anthony Braxton & Brett Larner: 11 Compositions (Duo) 1995 (Leo)
4. Ellery Eskelin & Andrea Parkins: Green Bermudas (Eremite)
5. John Zorn Masada Chamber Ensembles@: Bar Kokhba (2 CD's) (Tzadik)
6. Hamiet Bluiett*: Im/possible to Keep (2 CD's) (India Navigation)
7. John Carter & Bobby Bradford: Tandem 2 (Emanem)
8. Assif Tsahar: Shekhina (Eremite)
9. Vandermark Five: Single Piece Flow (Atavistic)
10. Roland Vazquez: Further Dance (RVCD)
11. Prima Materia: Bells (Knitting Factory Works)
12. Barrage Double Trio@: Utility Hitter (Quinnah)
13. Charlie Parker*: Yardbird Suite (2 CD's) (Rhino)
14. Cecil McBee: Unspoken (Palmetto)
15. Duke Ellington: Cornell University: Second Set (MusicMasters)
16. Roger Smith: Unexpected Turns (Emanem)
17. Albert Nicholas/Art Hodes Quartet*: The New Orleans-Chicago Connection (Delmark)
18. Donald Byrd*: Street Lady (Blue Note)
19. David Murray Quintet@: With Ray Anderson & Anthony Davis (DIW)
20. Hamid Drake & Michael Zerang: Ask the Sun (OkkaDisk)
21. Scott Fields: Disaster at Sea (Music & Arts)
22. Sam Rivers: Concept (Rivbea)
23. Northwoods Improvisers: Spinning (Arc)
24. David Murray@: David Murray/James Newton Quintet (DIW)
25. Ivo Perelman: Cama de Terra (Homestead)