As the year draws to a close, adventurous jazz artists (and their offspring) have achieved a new level of prominence.
Thomas Pynchon leads off his new epic novel with a quote from Thelonious Monk! Sun Ra saxophonist Pat Patrick’s son is the governor- elect of Massachusetts! And most stunning of all, Ornette Coleman will be awarded a Lifetime Achievement Grammy in February! Suddenly the outsiders don’t seem so “out,” even it took a half-century to get there.
Here are 10 stellar excursions into improvisation from 2006:
1. Ornette Coleman “Sound Grammar” (Sound Grammar): His saxophone (and violin and trumpet) sings with authority again, for the first time on disc in a decade. Two bassists add to the delirious aural soup. Winning new tunes, old favorites, and the instrumental equivalent of tears and laughter. He’s pushing 80, and he sounds like he’s just getting started.
2. Ron Miles “Stone/Blossom” (Sterling Circle): The Denver trumpeter and composer had so many ideas that he needed two discs and two bands (acoustic and electric) to contain them. Miles deserves to be heard in any context, even when covering the Partridge Family.
3. Trio Beyond “Saudades” (ECM): There are more than enough tribute projects that substitute evoking a long gone artists’ style for substance, but the celebration of the explorations of drummer Tony Williams is a rewarding pursuit for Jack DeJohnette, Larry Goldings and John Scofield, who revel in early-70s intensity.
4. Rudresh Mahanthappa “Codebook” (Pi): This former Boulderite employs mathematics and formulas that I won’t pretend to understand in his compositions. But I know inspiration and invention when I hear it. The saxophonist is on a roll on his recordings and those with co-conspirator/pianist Vijay Iyer.
5. David S. Ware “Balladware” (Thirsty Ear): More celebrated for blowouts than balladry, this is the gentlest disc this fine tenor saxophonist will ever make. We knew he could channel Albert Ayler, but how about Ben Webster?
6. Billy Hart “Quartet” (High Note): Hart has drummed on hundreds of sessions in his career, but he’s only been listed as the leader on a precious few. This time around, he propels pianist Ethan Iverson, taking a break from his celebrated trio The Bad Plus. Iverson shows off his jazz (as opposed to jazz/rock) chops here, and he’s the better for it.
7. Tomasz Stanko Quartet “Lontano” (ECM): Few recording groups explore nuances and the spaces between the notes with more finesse than that of Polish trumpeter Stanko. More than an hour’s worth of beauty and contemplation, this is music for the dawn.
8. The Brian Lynch/Eddie Palmieri Project “Simpatico” (Artist Share): Lynch and Palmieri (trumpet and piano) are the lead voices in this expansive and rewarding Latin big band project, which also allows for the presence of alto sax master Phil Woods. Artist Share is another independent label controlled by the artists themselves. Who needs the majors?
9. Regina Carter “I’ll Be Seeing You: A Sentimental Journey” (Verve): Paying tribute to her late mother by playing the music she liked, Carter uses her violin to express the range of human emotions. Her best disc yet.
10. Andrew Hill “Time Lines” (Blue Note): He disappeared from the big labels for more than a decade, but what a graceful return. One of the major pianist/composers (who recorded for Blue Note in the ’60s) still makes some of the most beguiling music in jazz.
And here are five reissues/retrospectives of note:
Fats Waller: “If You Got to Ask, You Ain’t Got It!” (Bluebird/Legacy)
John Coltrane: “Fearless Leader” (Prestige)
Dizzy Gillespie: “The Verve/Phillips Dizzy Gillespie Small Group Sessions” (Mosaic)
Lou Blackburn: “The Complete Imperial Sessions” (Blue Note)
Charles Lloyd: “Of Course, Of Course” (Mosaic Singles)
Set list
The Ultraphonic Jazz Orchestra appears Tuesday at Treo in Lone Tree … it’s hard to choose where to go on Friday night, with Ron Miles (see above) and his “Blossom” Band at Dazzle, a “holiday jam” with Dotsero at Jazz@Jacks, and trumpeter Hugh Ragin in The Back Room … the Hazel Miller Band throws its own Christmas party Saturday at the Soiled Dove Underground.
Bret Saunders’ column on jazz appears every other Sunday in A&E. Saunders is host of the “KBCO Morning Show,” 5:30-10 a.m. weekdays at 97.3-FM. His e-mail address is bret_saunders@hotmail.com.
