While I was perusing stacks of CDs released in the past few months, it occurred to me that the major labels have all but abandoned releasing pure jazz “product.”
Harry Connick Jr. might have a crooner’s disc out on Sony, but if he wants to play traditional jazz, it’ll be for an independent. And when man/myth/legend Sonny Rollins creates new music, he’ll release it himself. Good thing there’s still the Blue Note label (part of EMI) respecting our intelligence, for now, anyway.
The best for first: Charles Tolliver has spent too much time in the margins of the history of jazz the past 40 years. So what a surprise it was when “With Love” (Blue Note/Mosaic) arrived, a zealous big-band recording with Tolliver’s undiminished trumpet mastery in front. If you find a lot of contemporary big-band music to be too studied and nostalgic, listen to the way Tolliver, saxophonist Billy Harper and pianist Stanley Cowell (to name two other long-neglected individualists featured here) dig into these blazing, even comedic charts. I hope Tolliver, who solos with acrobatic grace, has a multirecord deal and that more brave projects like this get bankrolled.
Rollins may not be covering a lot of fresh improvisational ground, but any new music from him demands to be heard. And the tenor saxophonist sounds like his singular old self on “Sonny, Please” (Doxy), his first CD on his own label. Sometimes his sound is simply warm and sometimes it’s cranky, but it’s always fondly familiar. And if the Saxophone Colossus has taken the intensity down a1 notch at this point in his life, he compensates by displaying his vulnerability and experience, especially on the reflective ballads here.
Connick obviously cares deeply for his native New Orleans, and while his heavily promoted “Oh, My Nola” vocally delves into that city’s pop and standards, I prefer “Chanson du Vieux Carre”‘ (Marsalis Music), which is chiefly instrumental. His piano is energetic and clean, the arrangements are tasteful (maybe too tasteful to the point of being too mild at times), and there’s an overall sense of both fun and reverence toward his predecessors, from Louis Armstrong to Professor Longhair. Connick knows how to utilize the ample talent in his band too: trumpeter Leroy Jones nearly steals the disc.
If you’ve ever wondered what Frank Zappa might have sounded like had he decided to abandon guitar for vibraphone (What? You’ve never wondered?), you owe it to yourself to visit “Mike Dillon’s GoGo Jungle” (Hyena). Dillon’s electrified vibes are novel and even far-out on occasion, if not as far-out as he might believe. Still, the purely instrumental tracks (as opposed to those with annoying chants and singing) showcase a charismatic instrumentalist with chops and a few laughs thrown in.
Set list
Dazzle, recently named one of the top 100 jazz clubs in the world by Downbeat magazine, features pianist Ralph Sharon on Wednesday and the Matt Skellenger Group on Saturday … Bonnie Lowdermilk sings at Michaelangelo’s on Friday … The Motet and Future Jazz Project share the stage of the Bluebird March 9 … guitarist Stanley Jordan returns to the Fox Theatre March 13 … It’s an evening with the forever stylish Tony Bennett at the Buell Theatre on March 16.
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.
