Paul Motian Band: Garden of Eden.

At 75, it is perhaps indicative of the dedication and passion of Paul Motian that he is still producing excellent and original music. There is something uplifting about the fact, reminiscent of great artists such as Matisse or Picasso, whose desire to share their vision kept them going right into their eighties. The prefect antidote to today’s obsession with youth and triviality.

Garden of Eden, (ECM – 2004), is an excellent example of a master at work. Music that explores its own history while remaining contemporary and open to ideas. For this outing Paul Motian has drawn on musicians that embody a wide range of experience. Chris Creek and Tony Malaby on saxophones, (alto and tenor), the young Dane, Jakob Bro, Steve Cardenas and Ben Monder on guitars, while on electric bass, is Sonny Rollins sideman and talent in his own right, Jerome Harris.

The album is a mix of classic jazz and self-penned compositions. A couple of numbers from Charles Mingus, ‘Pithecanthropus Erectus’ and ‘Goodbye Pork Pie Hat’, Thelonius Monk’s ‘Evidence’ and a glorious take of Charlie Parker’s ‘Cheryl’. Elsewhere there are contributions from Paul Motian himself, ‘Etude’, ‘Mesmer’, ‘Mumbo Jumbo’. ‘Endless’, ‘Prelude 2 Narcissus’, ‘Manhattan Melodrama’ and the title track ‘Garden of Eden’. American guitarist, Steve Cardenas, contributes ‘Balata’ and there is one standard, Jerome Kern’s ‘Bill’.

With six musicians you could be forgiven for wondering if this recording would not sound cluttered and over busy. Yet while warm and full, it pays plenty of attention to space, seemingly working from the premise that, ‘more is less’. The inclusion of three guitars particularly could be problematic, but they resolve their differences and provide plenty of subtle and intelligent play. Allowing each other the room to step up, then falling back when required. As with the saxophones. At times they provide a band-style accompaniment, then break and soar with some fine playing and improvisation.

Most successful tracks have to be ‘Pithecanthropus Erectus’, ‘Etude’, (a lovely, moody piece of music), ‘Mumbo Jumbo’ and ‘Desert Dream’, (fine guitar work on both), ‘Bill’ (an excellent and lyrical interpretation), ‘Garden of Eden’, (classic Motian, the drum work, guitars and saxophones painting the music in with deft strokes) and the before mentioned ‘Cheryl’. These are my personal choices. No doubt you will have your favourites.

Special mention should go to Jerome Harris. He plays the electric bass soulfully and inventively, his phrasing always original and moving. In fact if I have one quibble with this recording, it is that his work is sometimes a little lost in the mix.

Tagged as ‘central to what jazz is becoming’ and probably correct in that assertion, Garden of Eden is another gem from Paul Motian.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Paul Motian Band: Garden of Eden. BUY

Pat Metheny Group: The Way Up.


The Pat Metheny Group need little introduction. Regards mainstream acceptance and popularity, they are probably one of the more successful jazz groups of the last couple of decades. So The Way Up was released in January 2005 (Nonesuch), to much expectation. A ‘concept’ album in that there were, loosely, four tracks, all forming part of a one musical theme that was to be elaborated on and developed. And right from the start the problem is apparent.

No-one can doubt the musical and performing skills of the three base musicians, Lyle Mays, Steve Rodby, and of course Pat himself. Here they are augmented by contributions from Mexican drummer Antonio Sanchez, Vietnamese trumpeter Coung Vu and Swiss-born harmonica player Gregoire Maret.

This album is basically 68 minutes of non-stop music, the breaks between the four tracks almost impossible to mark, and if I have it correct, intentionally so. But for all that, and the excellent playing throughout, this is a disappointing and frustrating recording. No doubt there is lovely music here - at times - but there is also an overall restlessness, seemingly a need to demonstrate their wealth of ideas, that eventually alienates rather than drawing in. This no more obvious when they do get it right only to break the musical flow with another flourish, another distraction or a needless diversion. Difficult to refer to track by track of course but there are many fine ‘moments’. None more so than 18 minutes into track three, when Pat provides a strange syncopated guitar accompaniment, while Coung-Vu bends and stretches some lovely trumpet work, suggesting the grandeur and desolation of a twenty-first century urban landscape – and just when you are beginning to get into it – the idea disappears with, first, a rather typical guitar lick from Pat and then the introduction of some melodramtic, cinematic-style orchestration. Track four begins with, for once, a simple but effective piano line from Lyle Mays but soon dissolves into what is basically fairly typical PMG fare. The opening track, ‘Opening’ (sic) begins well, an effective collage of sound before the guitar(s) enter, yet again it soon becomes over busy, treading water regards the group’s previous work.

It has to be said this is an indulgent work, that for all its virtuoso playing, its multiple overdubs, its grandiose ambition never quite comes off. It frustrates and does not enlighten. Definitely a work for hard-core PMG fans

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

The Way Up: Pat Metheny Group. BUY

John Abercombie Trio: Tactics

Tactics, (ECM), a live album from John Abercrombie’s working Trio circa the mid nineties exemplifies all that is best about this guitarist. It sounds easy on the ears at first, so easy in fact it is takes some time before you realise just how good it is.

Recorded at Visiones, NYC in 1996, and featuring Dan Wall on Hammond B-3, Adam Nussbaum, on drums as well as John Abercrombie on guitars it sticks close to the work of the Trio’s two studio albums, While We Were Young and Speak of the Devil. Noteworthy in the light of the trend by other guitarists to use multiple overdubs and studio technique to enhance their play, this recording sounds as tightly woven and pristine as anything produced in the studio, in fact but for the occasional outbreak of applause you could be forgiven for thinking it was a studio album.

A collection of three compositions by John Abercrombie, two by Dan Wall, one from Adam Nussbaum and two standards, it sets out the work they were doing at the time. Investigating the possibilities of the guitar, organ, drums trio. A collection of reflective and intelligently played numbers. John’s finger picked fret-work central yet with excellent organ play from Wall, and drum and brush work from Nussbaum. As with the Trio’s studio albums of this period the emphasis is on subtly and harmonic exploration within a conventional jazz framework.

Notable tracks are ‘Last Waltz’, (John does love a waltz), ‘You and the Night and the Music’, ‘Dear Rain’ (the drum and brush work here as good anything by that master of drum and brush work – Paul Motian), and a great version of Jerome Kern’s ‘Long Ago and Far Away’.

This is perhaps an album for those familiar with the studio work who want some idea of how the Trio sounded live. If that is your reason for listening you will not be disappointed. However such is the standard of play here it can be recommended for anyone who simply loves good jazz.

A full seventy-six minutes of music, the aesthetic of which is admirably expressed by John’s taut crediting of the band as the final track plays out, then signing of with a succinct, ‘thank you, you’ve been a wonderful audience’. It’s always a pleasure John.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Tactics: John Abercrombie Trio. BUY

Miles Davis: Panthalassa: The Music Of Miles Davis 1969-1974

It is always good to have something new from Miles Davis. And though he is no longer with us, of course his music lives on. This recording, produced by Bill Laswell was released in 1998 on Sony. Credited to Bill Laswell and Miles Davis, it is an album of re-mixes and interpretations, mainly drawing on out-takes or material from the late 60s and 70s fusion sessions. A time when Miles was deep into exploring the possibilities of electrified instrumentation and taking up some of the challenges laid down by rock and soul.

I have to say, whatever his credibility as a producer I have never been a big fan of Bill Laswell’s personal work. But here he finds something special and contributes an understanding of where Miles was going at the time. Much has been written about this period of Miles’s work and his subsequent disappearance from the music scene. His electric period is often compared to his earlier acoustic playing and then against his later ‘comeback’ work. Not always favourably. And it is a period that is arguably Miles’s most contended.

There has also been much discussion of Miles’s method of recording during this period. Working with Teo Macero, it was often a process of piecing takes together, of creating a weave of sound from what was on tape. Considered revolutionary at the time it laid heavy emphasis on the studio as part of the music-making process. So perhaps it is fitting that Laswell, no stranger to this mode of work, should steward this project.

There are four tracks. ‘In A Silent Way/Shhh/Peaceful/It's About That Time’, ‘Black Satin/What If/Agharta Prelude Dub’, ‘Rated X/Billy Preston’, and ‘He Loved Him Madly’. Basically an amalgam of the best tracks from the albums, In a Silent Way, On the Corner, Get Up with It and Agartha.

You have to approach this project with some caution, wondering how anyone could add to the music. Yet this recording succeeds. It succeeds because it does not tamper with the music, does not attempt to use it as a vehicle for someone else’s vision. At best it stretches the sound palette, adding depth and augmenting. It uses developments in studio technology to showcase Miles’s vision. Yes a little bit of dub here, a tweak there, splicing in some previously un-thought of juxtaposition of texture or sound, but letting the power of the music speak for itself. Some might find the use of so much material from On the Corner, (undoubtedly Miles’s most controversial recording), questionable, but the wah-wah on the horn sounds strangely contemporary. And the way in which notes are bent and stretched, their phrasing, brings to mind the work of some current trumpet players, Nils Petter Molvaer, Jon Hassell or Arve Henrikesen for example. The stand out track is surely ‘He Loved him Madly’, a beautiful piece of music under any circumstance. The horn gliding down through the melody, lingering and swaying, weaving its spell, then stepping back lightly to flit and distort in the upper registers. Always musical, never abrasive. A powerful and graceful piece of music that prowls lion-like across your mind.

Some mention should made of the other musicians who contribute, Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Chick Corea, John McLaughlin, Tony Williams and Herbie Hancock; John McLaughlin in particular adding some sterling fret-work.

Confirms how far ahead of his time Miles Davis was. Not a ‘tribute’ work or some sort of pastiche that attempts to introduce a new generation to the work of a master. A stand-alone work.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Panthalassa: The Music Of Miles Davis 1969-1974. BUY.

Future to Future: Herbie Hancock


Back from the days of Head Hunters, Herbie Hancock has shown an interest in picking up popular genres of music and seeing where they took him. With Head Hunters he struck gold, literally, and forged a plethora of imitators. Some of them went on to better things, while others languished and ended up littering the charts with pale pastiches of his work.

With this 2001 release, Future to Future on Transparent Disc, Herbie again turned his hand to popular genres, namely hip-hop and drum&bass to which he added a dash of world.

This recording works best as an exemplar; something to which maybe younger musicians can turn for ideas, or failing that to see what their elders make of their music.

And this is perhaps the problem with this album. Its ambition is a little widely focused. It is never better than good. There is none of the excellence or cross-over successes that marked Head Hunters. Herbie’s choice of musicians cannot be faulted. He gives space to younger artists as diverse as DJ Rob Swift, and Dance artists Carl Craig and A Boy Called Gerald. He also calls on sassy soul singer Chaka Khan plus his old colleagues Wayne Shorter and Jack de Johnette.

Yet the best tracks are those where the other artists determine the direction. This leaves Herbie playing a near supporting role - as though he were a guest on their project. Still there is plenty to enjoy here.

Rob Swift provides a taut contribution named, ‘This is Rob Swift’. Mixing samples of what sounds like a music professor earnestly discussing ‘rhythm’ against neatly syncopated beats and sampling to which Herbie adds some nice electric piano. An ironic touch. Black Gravity, a contribution from A Guy Called Gerald, is funky and textural but never quite takes off. ‘Ionosphere’ remains trippy and pleasant. Of the younger generation only Carl Craig produces something memorable with Kebero Pt 1 and Pt2, a strange middle-eastern electronic chant of sorts. However Herbie’s contribution is that of keyboard effects and an ending motif, and good though that is he seems somewhat superfluous.

Elsewhere there is some nice sax playing from Wayne Shorter on ‘Tony Williams’ though the spoken lyrics sound a little preachy and close to New Age sentiment, (as does the track, ‘Wisdom’). ‘Essence’ is an enjoyable song, Chaka Kahn producing her trademark vocals and the album finishes out with ‘Virtual Hornets’ a closer to standard jazz track that, again, has some nice work from Wayne Shorter.

Perhaps the problem is that for a younger generation their music takes place in a sphere that they alone understand. In the urban poetry of hip-hop or the protocols of the dance club or rave.

Full marks to Herbie Hancock for trying though. But I suspect this recording will make few converts among the twenty somethings and leave us older ones feeling just a little perplexed.

(This review refers to the standard release of the recording and does not include the bonus disc of re-mixes)

Copyright (C) David Millington Nov 2007

Future to Future: Herbie Hancock. BUY

Song X: Pat Metheny


Against the run of play, Pat Metheny released the original Song X (Geffen) in 1985. A radical departure from his dreamy, west-coast jazz, this collaboration with legendary saxophonist Ornette Coleman took many by surprise, not least his already legion fans. A wild and at times atonal journey through free-jazz and improvisation it challenged even the most adventurous of listeners.

Including both Jack de Johnette and Denardo Coleman, (Ornette’s son) on drums and percussion and Charlie Haden on bass, it was a huge stab in the dark and risk for Metheny. This version, the twentieth anniversary re-release (WEA 2005), includes six out-takes from the sessions, adding greatly to the original project.

Despite being officially a Metheny project, undoubtedly Ornette Coleman is the driving force here. Focusing his alto sax like laser, he explores bop, post bop, free-jazz and his previous flirtations with north-African phrasing and melodic lines. In fact it would be true to say that at times Pat is relegated to a supporting role. Something he pulls off with great aplomb and originality. Showing what his virtuoso fret-play can achieve when pushed and challenged. It is tempting to say, (in light of some of the criticism levelled at him later), that in the presence of a true master his comfort zone was so shattered that he reached into himself and came up with something special.

The music itself is a roller coaster of ideas, influences and pure throw away playing. It exemplifies Ornette Coleman’s philosophy of music. An exploration of pure sound and spontaneity, of harmonics and rhythm. It is never less than compelling. Never less than innovative. The freedom and opportunity Coleman gives for experimentation and unconventionality provide Metheny with ample space to show what those lightening-like runs and licks can express. His musings and flights, his inverted scales and stretched arpeggios frequently contrast the sax’s wail, its bent and soaring notes. All of which is driven along by Haden’s forward moving bass lines and de Johnette’s relentless and scattered drumming. (Denardo provides the electronics and extra percussion).

The tracks are of such variety and difference it is difficult to know what to consider special. There is the frenetic and atonal ‘Endangered Species’. The jerky uber-bop of ‘Video Games’. A speedy and stabbing tribute to Charlie Parker on ‘Word from Bird’. ‘Police People’ and ‘Mob Job’ both play with conventional 4/4 swing, the later in particular a glorious toe-tapping gem of exuberance. The quirkiness of ‘Compute’. North- African shades on ‘The Veil’. The angular improvisations of ‘Trigonometry’. And not least the achingly beautiful ‘Kathelin Gray’, just Metheny and Coleman, playing like a father and son, student and master, learning from each other while all the time teasing out the exquisite bluesy twists and turns of melody.

This is not music to sit and reflect on. It grabs you and drags you into awareness. It breaks rules, makes new rules and then breaks them. A great recording. If only there was more.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Song X: Pat Metheny. BUY

Khmer: Nils Petter Molvaer

Khmer announced the arrival of trumpet player Nils Petter Molvaer on the jazz scene proper. Released in 1997 on ECM, Khmer is an album that sets out the sonic palette that was to define a new field of exploration for contemporary jazz.

Drawing on the talents of some of Norway’s younger and more experimental musical talents it marks a distinct reliance on electronics and processed sound. Yet for all that it is not simply a work of knob twiddling or bleeps and scratches, but an album of warm and searching music.

Central to its expression is the trumpet, minimalist and moving. Holding the differing elements together. Combined with the rock-influenced guitar of Eivind Aarset, the percussive work of Rune Arnesen, sampling from Ulf Holand and Reidar Skår it is a mix of influences, jazz, rock, trip-hop, ambient and drum&bass. It works backwards to the fusion experiments of the late sixties and early seventies and melds them into a unique soundscape.

Prime among its examples are the tracks, ‘Khmer,’ ‘Tlon,’ ‘Access/Song of Sand,’ and ‘Platonic Years’. Each using, at times, a heavily emphasised rhythm foundation over which treated sound or sampling sketches in colours and textures, then through which the trumpet alternates its plaintive and engaging melodic lines. The melodies are stately and insistent but sparse. A dynamic contrary to much ‘conventional jazz’ yet not without value. It is as though the aesthetic of this music is not about embellishment but about letting the austerity and beauty of the ideas stand on their own. There are no flourishes here. No lightening like splays of notes. But there is an elegance of expression. It does not have you tapping your foot but it does create an inner sense of atmosphere and feeling without being self-regarding or needlessly introspective.

Not perfect, for example, ‘On Stream’ I find falls somewhere outside the ambitions of this album, a little too rock-ish, (though pleasant), and at 42 minutes the entire recording seems bit brief, leaves you hankering for more.

However in its own uncluttered and inimitably north-European way this is a groundbreaking project.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Khmer: Nils Petter Molvaer. BUY

November: John Abercombie

November marks a turning point in the recording career of John Abercrombie. His previous style of fluid guitar lines with a fusion-esque feel are replaced by an altogether more intimate style, bare fingers on the strings, plucked as opposed to struck chords. It signals a maturity in his style and an evolution in the musical ideas he would explore in coming albums.

For this recording he assembles a group of highly regarded musicians. Marc Johnson on bass, Peter Erskine, percussion and John Surman with sax and clarinet. A mouth-watering prospect for any familiar with their work.

The album comprises tracks of guitar – bass – percussion, and guitar – bass – percussion with added wind instruments. In style it is a mix of free jazz and a song-like exploration of rhythm and melody. A major contribution to this outing is the work of John Surman, providing some excellent saxophone, (baritone/soprano), and clarinet play.

In fact it is the tracks on which he contributes that leave the most lasting impression. ‘JS’ a beautiful, blue, see-saw of a song, ‘Rise and Fall’, the sax searching out lines, one moment in free fall, skirting around the lower registers, then rising while the guitar lightly steps up and down the fretboard. ‘Ogeda’ a melancholy and searching piece of music. ‘To Be’ a haunting composition, featuring some deliciously moving clarinet and subtle percussion, showcasing the unique lyrical and imaginative nature of John Abercrombie’s fret work. The opening track, the aptly titled, ‘The Cat’s Back’ is an successful exploration of the possibilities of free-jazz, guitar and bass trading lines over a driving percussion while the clarinet skits in and out of the spaces they open up.

Other notable tracks are ‘John’s Waltz’ a track that seems almost to whisper its intimacy, bass and guitar weaving in an out and off each other. ‘Prelude’ delightfully thoughtful, ‘November’ the title track, an edgy number, the guitar very much to the fore here, harsh at times, raw and yet drifting away as though into a mist, some excellent compelling drum and brush work.

The overall feel of this album is melancholy and intimate. It is a jazz that is at once free and yet not unfocused. Its lyricism is muted, hidden away at times, tempting to you come and look for it. Inviting rather than demanding. An excellent work.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

John Abercombie: November. BUY.

Open Land: John Abercrombie


Every now and then comes a release you purchase without giving a second thought. John Abercrombie has long had my respect. His lyrical style and, it would seem, propensity for exploring music not popularity have perhaps deprived him of the celebrity status of a Pat Metheny or John Scofield. He is, nevertheless, an excellent and innovative guitarist and is a wonderful and imaginative musician to boot.

Open Land released in 1999 on ECM, is one of those works that just grow and grow on the listener. With an impressive line-up, Kenny Wheeler, (flugelhorn), Joe Lovano, (tenor sax), Mark Feldman, (violin) added to John’s usual sidemen, Adam Nussbaum, (percussion) and Dan Wall, (organ) Open Land is a feast of musical ideas and contemporary jazz. From the opening bars of “Just in Tune” the scene is set. Guitar, drums and organ step in with the grace of a cat. Putting in place a laid-back rhythm over which the trumpet finds a warm and burnished melody. The album grows from there, exploring free jazz, (“Open Land” and “Free Piece Suite (E)”), a tribute to trumpeter Booker Little, ("Little Booker") and some fine lyrical pieces, notably “Spring Song”. The playing is excellent throughout. Thoughtful and never overbearing, each musician contributing ideas, warming the texture, providing support, improvising when called on and generally lifting the quality of musicianship. Yet the real force is John Abercrombie himself. Something not immediately apparent. At times he stands back in the mix. His fret-playing it would seem content just to suggest ideas, avenues to explore. But it is this very subtlety that gives the album its strength. For the guitar is always there. Working away. Never letting the music flag. On “Spring Song” first impressions are the violin of Mark Feldman. Showboating a little, to be sure, playing long and plaintive lines; wringing, it would seem, as much feeling as possible from his instrument. Yet the guitar is ever present. Adding touches and direction. Its fingered tone, commanding attention when soloing. Bringing the melody back to ground, back to where it should be. On “Speak Easy” John provides a wonderful commentary on Kenny Wheeler’s climbing and dipping trumpet lines. On “Gimme Five”, he combines with the organ to set the swing, playing off, first the violin, then the trumpet, then leading both before coming back to play an almost percussive role. And on ‘That’s for Sure’ his guitar drives the music from below, pushing the other instruments on. Giving them the freedom to play. He finishes with some string bending and nicely plucked chords.

With the exception of “Free Piece Suite (E)” (a combined effort), all compositions are by John Abercrombie. It is too his credit that there are no ‘filler’ tracks here. Each composition stands on its own. It is also to his credit that the guitar never dominates. Each track is built from a musical idea and is not simply a vehicle for virtuosity.

This is a great recording. It will not set your world on fire on first listening. Yet it is music that leaves a deep impression. It challenges at times, but is worth responding to. You’ll find yourself coming back to it again and again. Until it becomes so familiar it feels like an old friend. One that is always welcome and never less than interesting.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Open Land: John Abercrombie. BUY

Paul Motian Trio: Bill Evans: Tribute to the Great Post-Bop Pianist

Paul Motian has been a constant and essential feature of the American jazz scene for many years. From his early days as drummer with the Bill Evans Trio through to the mid period of his career, as one third of the Paul Motian Trio he has constantly shown touch and perception in his choice of material and playing partners.

This album, Bill Evans: Tribute to the Great Post-Bop Pianist, rereleased in 1990 on Winter & Winter, when he was approaching his sixtieth birthday marks perhaps a highlight in a career that has many highlights. Drawing on the material of the legendary pianist and melodist, Bill Evans, he has, together with his trio partners, Bill Frisell and Joe Lovano plus bassist Marc Johnson created an album that is excellent and at times sublime.

Given the high standards of playing this group of musicians has been responsible for over the years and add to that the unforgettable and haunting melodies of Bill Evans it is hard to see where this recording could have gone wrong. But what is truly remarkable is that all four musicians have found ways of expanding their past powers of interpretation and unearthed in these nine Evans tunes harmonic possibilities, rhythmic interplay and originality of voice that with lesser musicians could have resulted in a more subdued tribute. Perhaps Motian’s personal experience of playing with Evans brought an element to the sessions that prevented it from simply treading water as the work of four fans.

The only real problem must have been deciding on which Evans songs not to include. There are no real highlights here, as each track is played with such excellence and sensitivity they all stand out. It would be better perhaps to name my favourites. An absolute contender has to be ‘Turn out the Stars’, Joe Lovano floating lovely feathery and melancholy tenor sax over Paul Motian’s ever thoughtful drum and brush work - Bill Frisell’s curious, at times bluesy guitar shapes and Marc Johnson’s bass working off the percussion with a bounce and lightness of touch. ‘Time Remembered’ also stands out. The minor figures, the melody’s downward pull being interpreted with emphasis on its spaces, its sense of loss. The drum and brush work adding a fluid, almost liquid quality, a splash of cymbal here, a rhythmic phrase rising like a wave only to subside. A military style tapping out of beat that falls back into reflection. Again Bill Frisell pulls shapes and lines from his fretboard that have a feel of the blues as well as conventional jazz, even at times a hint of country-western. (a field he was later to explore). Marc Johnson walks and steps though the melody, with a solo that finds hidden harmonics. And Lovano’s tenor sax is perfectly pitched, sweet without being saccharine, expressive without being intrusive. There are other wonderful tracks. ‘Re: Person I knew’, (a great title), played with an engaging and wistful nonchalance, ‘Very Early’ that simply swings. ‘Five’ the most experimental, distorted guitar and passages of free-jazz. ’34. Skidoo’, a playful and uplifting number.

This is an excellent and essential recording. It shows four musicians at their best. The level of interplay and communication is never short of exquisite. It is a worthy tribute to a great musician and a worthy example of four great musicians playing music that is unforgettable and inspiring. Highly recommended.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Paul Motian Trio: Bill Evans: Tribute to the Great Post-Bop Pianist

It Takes Two: Kenny Wheeler

The album, It Takes Two, by Kenny Wheeler has been on general issue now for over a year. It was released in June 2006 by CamJazz, the Italian label launched in 2000.

Kenny Wheeler is such an understated and subtle artist that his music is not something the discerning listener jumps carelessly into. His playing has a way of sneaking up on you. Of winding its way into your consciousness so, only after some time, do you become aware of how good it is, how perfectly crafted and performed. Add this to the fact that on this outing he is accompanied by John Abercrombie, a supremely lyrical and perceptive guitarist and it becomes apparent that time has to pass before a judgement can be made.

Having said that this is the first of his albums to leave me a just little disappointed. That is not to say there is some beautiful music here, some fine playing and performances. A slightly unsatisfying recording would perhaps be the best description. Outside of Kenny’s flugelhorn, there are the contributions of the above mentioned John Abercrombie, John Parricelli – a British guitarist and the Swedish bass player Anders Jormin.

Highlights of the album are My New Hat, a dreamy number that opens with Jormin’s bowed bass striking a distinctly Moorish motif before the two guitars, (electric and acoustic) enter, creating a space over which the flugelhorn floats in its melody. It Takes Two follows - a typical Wheeler piece of music - the horn uncovering hidden harmonic and melodic spaces, then bending into the upper or lower registers in those sudden turns of which he is so capable, while the guitars trade an almost pizzicato style of soloing and accompaniment. But it is on track three, Comba Nr 3, that the combined talents of all four musicians come best together. A beautiful, haunting melody, full of, again, Moorish hints, southern European folkloric motifs and the north American urban landscape. The spacing of the instruments, their timing, their presence and absence at critical points make the track the prefect vehicle for Wheeler’s unique musical sense.

Other high points are Love Theme from Spartacus, just the two guitars with fingers sliding and the occasional sigh or grunt delightfully adding to its immediacy. One of Many, a lovely flowing piece which John Abercrombie augments with his clear, singing guitar lines. And, Fanfare, an overdubbed horn piece that brings to mind the Gil Evans – Miles Davis collaboration of Sketches of Spain. The two improvised pieces, no 1 and no 2, are interesting but strictly just that, improvisations, that tempt but do not completely convince of their necessity.

Despite this the album leaves me a little wanting. It seems at times to float away, to become so understated in intent that you find your mind wandering and not wandering as it should into places the music brings it. Nevertheless, such has been Kenny Wheeler’s credibility over the years that it may be it just requires more listening time. That it needs to sink in a little more before the entirety of its musical ideas, its palette becomes apparent.

However in the overall scheme of things these are minor quibbles. This is still an excellent and commendable work. An essential for those who lean to chamber jazz. For those who prefer the subtly of a Cézanne over the boldness of a Picasso.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

Kenny Wheeler: It Takes Two. BUY

Herbie Hancock: River:The Joni Letters



Lovers of jazz will need no introduction to Herbie Hancock. Maverick pianist from the days of the Miles Davis quintet, preferred keyboardist of the Davis fusion years and central energy of the seminal funk-jazz crossover album Head Hunters. Herbie Hancock has never been afraid to experiment with forms and genres, to explore the possibilities inherent in different musics. However fans of Joni Mitchell may not be so well acquainted with his work. Though Joni has never been an artist to shy away from incorporating elements of jazz into her folk and rock idiom she has never quite made the step from those idioms to jazz.. All of which makes the new Herbie Hancock recording, River: The Joni Letters an intriguing listen.

For this album Herbie Hancock has assembled an eclectic mix of musicians. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter, his fellow traveller from the fusion years, bassist Dave Holland, drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, and west-African guitarist Lionel Loueke. There are also appearances by a number of leading luminaries, Tina Turner, Corinne Bailey Rae, Luciana Souza, Norah Jones and Leonard Cohen. Mitchell herself guests on a track.

Projects like this can go astray, fall between the contrasting drives of their respective genres. Yet it is to Hancock’s credit that this album delivers. It manages an adroit balance between accessibility and improvisation without sacrificing musical integrity. It plays with Hancock’s jazzier instincts and the limitations of the rock and folk idiom. It elaborates on the subtlety of Joni Mitchell’s melodies and provides a sophisticated setting for her often quite excellent lyrics. It manages to be neither a Joni Mitchell album nor a Herbie Hancock album. Instead it occupies a space somewhere between the two.

That is not to say it is without flaws. The title track, The River, comes over a little too sweet. Punching under its weight. Corrine Bailey Rae’s vocals sound to my ears somewhat girlish, smothering the ironical longing of the lyrics; Also, Norah Jones’s vocals on the opening track, Court and the Spark, appear at times to get lost, to sink below the music. And the final track, one of two bonus tracks, A Case of You, while infectious and cross referencing Afro-Pop, folk and R&B could be considered superfluous.

Stand-out tracks are Nefertiti, (a classic Wayne Shorter piece), Luciana Souza’s reading of Amelia, (melancholy, rich and warm all at once), All I Want, (performed as a true jazz-spiritual), Edith and the Kingpin, (Tina Turner on a song that lets her voice show its range and capabilities), and Joni Mitchell herself on The Tea-Leaf Prophecy. Special mention should be made of Leonard Cohen’s reading the of The Jungle Line. I approached this with trepidation having read that Cohen did not sing but recite the lyrics. However, despite his gravely, melancholy delivery, this track works very well. Just voice and piano, the piano returning again and again to the lower registers in an almost delta blues manner, and the voice, as would befit a man who is a published poet, ringing the nuances and levels of meaning from of the words.

This is not a jazz album in the purist sense. Neither is it a rock or folk album. What it is, is an album of contemporary adult music. Performed skilfully, with elegance and in a spirit of exploration. Those who criticise Herbie Hancock’s flirtations with popular music should consider that in many ways he is being true to the roots of jazz. A music that, (before it entered the universities and museums) was a popular music and never denied its relationship with popular forms of self-expression.

This is an interesting and successful recording. It begs the question what further such projects could produce. A collaboration with Tina Turner, Luciana Souza or even Leonard Cohen?

River: The Joni Letters, is well worth having. A enjoyable addition to any collection for those who love music.

Copyright (C) Peter Hodgins Nov 2007

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