TO Jazz Notes by Stephen Broomer - June 2006

Randy Weston and his African Rhythms, Zep Tepi
Vernon Reid & Masque, Other True Self
Jake Langley, Movin' and Groovin'
Dave Douglas Quintet, Meaning & Mystery
Erik Truffaz, Face-a-Face
Pat Martino, Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery
Miles Davis, The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions
Other Notable Releases
Festivals

Randy Weston and his African Rhythms, Zep Tepi

A recent visitor to Toronto with the Downtown Jazz Festival's pre-festival programming, Randy Weston's newest album Zep Tepi treads familiar territory for the pianist/composer, who, in a modest trio, constructs pan-cultural balladry. Represented here are older compositions of Weston's, such as 'Berkshire Blues' and 'High Fly', as well as a number of new pieces. Weston's celebrated ivory skill, strongly influenced by traditional African music, is the recording's centerpiece, the 80-year-old jazz legend matching and perhaps inspiring the intensity and sensitivity of his sidemen. The African Rhythms rhythm section is Alex Blake on bass and Neil Clarke on percussion. Blake, a former Sun Ra Arkestra member, sideman to Pharoah Sanders, McCoy Tyner, and Freddy Hubbard, supplies the recording with rousing shifts between the aggressive and the subtle. Attenuation is also evidenced in Clarke's shakers and hand-drums, which augment ballads without overwhelming them. Blake and Clarke accompany Weston with percussive style, complimenting Weston's dually gentle and rapacious playing. (Random Chance)

Vernon Reid & Masque, Other True Self

Best known as lead guitarist of hard-rock outfit Living Colour, Vernon Reid has managed a long, rich career as a jazz and fusion guitarist. His collaborations in the 80s with Ronald Shannon Jackson's Decoding Society and fellow guitarist Bill Frisell showed a complex melodic intuition, and his solo albums, 1996's Mistaken Identity, the as-yet domestically unreleased This Little Room (for Sony Japan), and his prior recording with Masque, Known Unknown, were the work of an ever-advancing artist who brought to the clinical mechanics of shredding a humanity, a sense of the mystic, melodically informed by a combination of funk and free jazz composition. Other True Self, released April 16, lacks the coherence and power of Mistaken Identity, and the melding of synthesized keyboards and processed guitar tones plagues the album. Reid has been Grammy-nominated for his instrumental writing, and with this release, Masque has settled into its potential, with excellent, memorable head-writing. The dedication and skill of all involved is inspired in the improvisatory sonic body of the pieces. Especially of note is 'Flatbush and Church Revisited' (the latter especially masterful in its communication of combined influence, owing to surf, dub, and Santana). (Favored Nations)

Jake Langley, Movin' and Groovin'

With Movin' and Groovin', Toronto native Jake Langley teams with organist Joey DeFrancesco and drummer Byron Landham to play a series of traditional hard-bop tunes, standards, and a pair of originals. Pieces by pianists Bobby Timmons and Duke Pearson, and guitarist Wes Montgomery, are present. Langley approaches the material with bravura, with a tone seemingly channeled from classic Burrell records. Movin' and Groovin' has a progressive gaze to modern jazz tradition elsewhere absent from funk/hard-bop/organ-trio albums: while tributary elements abound in many aspects of the group's playing, a lurking undercurrent of spontaneity sets it aside from many contemporary standards-heavy recordings. Pieces, from Langley originals to Pearson compositions, are treated with heightened vigor. (Alma)

Other Notable Releases

The first 9-disc volume of Allen Lowe's incredible archival project That Devilin' Tune: A Jazz History (1895 ' 1950) has been released on WHRA. Lowe's extensive notes and the set's low price make it an inevitable purchase for fans of early American popular songs. Prestige has released a wave of restored classics (remastered by New Jersey master recordist Rudy Van Gelder), including Coltrane's Lush Life, Coleman Hawkins' The Hawk Relaxes, Sonny Rollins' Saxophone Colossus, and Eric Dolphy's Out There.

Of special note, Toronto promoter Gary Topp is bringing the Sun Ra Arkestra, under the direction of the esteemed Marshall Allen, back from Outer Space for another performance at the Lula Lounge (1585 Dundas St. W.). Their four-day run in October 2005 was among the most beautiful, heartfelt music brought to this city in recent years, and one can be assured that the upcoming June 8 date will not disappoint.

Festivals

The Art of Jazz

Admirers of local legends Don Thompson and Barry Harris may be interested in this festival, which descends on Toronto at the end of May. The aforementioned Toronto scene leaders will each be subject to tributes which will feature, among others, Jim Hall and Hank Jones. The duo series will feature the pairings of Rashied Ali/Sonny Fortune, Ravi Coltrane/Luis Perdomo, Kenny Barron/Eddie Henderson, and Sheila Jordan/Cameron Brown, and in addition to clinics, Jane Bunnett and the Spirits of Havana ensemble will be performing. The festival runs from May 17 through May 21.

Toronto Downtown Jazz

The Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival runs from June 23 to July 2. This year features, amongst others, Pharoah Sanders with Kenny Garrett, John Zorn's Acoustic Masada, and Yusef Lateef.

In local news, the Toronto Downtown Jazz Festival is gearing up for this year's edition. Running from June 23rd to July 3rd, the festival's line-up includes Pharoah Sanders & Kenny Garrett, John Zorn's Acoustic Masada, Dave Brubeck, and the McCoy Tyner Septet, and Toronto's own Alex Dean. This edition follows an excellent winter season for the TD Jazz Festival, who brought Chris Potter, The Bad Plus, and Randy Weston (amongst others) to Toronto in commemoration of their 20th Season.

Dave Douglas Quintet, Meaning & Mystery (Greenleaf Music)

From acclaimed American trumpeter Dave Douglas comes Meaning & Mystery, featuring his working quintet of Donny McCaslin, Uri Caine, James Genus, and Clarence Penn. McCaslin takes Chris Potter's place on tenor. Bound to further Douglas' reputation as a writer, the compositions invoke a rhythmic structure that balances the delicately ordered with the intuitively chaotic. The band's near-precognitive dynamic contractions are stunning. McCaslin's call-and-response entry on 'Blues for Steve Lacy' shapes into a solo dirge, soon becoming a celebratory jaunt before pulling back for Caine to again approach the mournful tone of this dedication. The titular reference to the late Lacy is one of many on the album, the others, inexplicit, are worn by the players in their sensigenous improvisations.

>Erik Truffaz, Face-a-Face (Blue Note)

French trumpeter Erik Truffaz's new Blue Note release, Face-a-Face, features two ensembles the 6-piece Ladyland and the 5-piece Quartet and was recorded on tour in Europe between 2003 and 2005. With Ladyland, christened after the double-vinyl Hendrix masterpiece, all players (vocalists aside) are doubling on electronics and samples. The group moves steadily through a repertoire of short pieces, Truffaz's distorting trumpet ever made match to Ladyland's successfully space-laden aesthetic. The second ensemble, Quartet, pairs that distorting trumpet with Patrick Muller's Fender Rhodes. The result is another entry in the overcrowded pop-jazz-funk arena, distinguished by Truffaz's crisp, processed leads.

Pat Martino, Remember: A Tribute to Wes Montgomery (Blue Note)

Also from Blue Note comes Remember, Pat Martino's recent outing in tribute to Wes Montgomery. The album is studded with a respectful sampling of Montgomery originals, such as 'Four On Six' and 'Full House', and compositions by Montgomery's collaborators, Milt Jackson and Sam Jones. Martino's rhythmic sense is well attuned to that of the idol, but his loyalty is misplaced, painting recreations of Montgomery's sonic atmosphere instead of stepping beyond its tonal system. Instead of channelling Montgomery's energy and bringing to the recording a sense of adventure, we hear an accomplished technician 'doing Wes Montgomery' interval solos, anticipated hesitations, warmth, and fluidity. Martino's passion for the material is thankfully apparent, particularly in the staccato raucous in Sam Jones' 'Unit 7'.

Miles Davis ' The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions (Fantasy)

From Fantasy Records comes a collected issue of Miles Davis' Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions. The 1955-1957 quintet of Davis, Coltrane, Paul Chambers, Red Garland, and Philly Joe Jones, reconfigured bebop and shaped a path for not only their contemporaries, but also generations of musicians that followed. The first three discs collect the original albums with sensational fidelity, and excellent previously un-issued recordings abound on the fourth disc, along with intros by television host and jazz-intermediary egoist Steve Allen who, at a Davis Quintet session featuring John Coltrane, announces bassist Paul Chambers 'on tenor'.

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