Johnny Griffin [The Cat]

I discovered Johnny Griffin when i bought the cassette of this in a second hand shop, and really loved it, so i bought the disc, i don't bother with tapes anymore, but they really helped me delve into some out of the way music, it's good to play a Jazz disc today, roughly 5% of my Blog, and 4% of my disc collection is Jazz i would guess, and yet it's such great stuff, but finding the 'great' out of the 'good' is a hard task, at one time i used to own 150 jazz discs, now i own half that much, i've purged myself of a lot of dross, yet i don't seem to be delving into much new Jazz, there's so many genres to concentrate on, i've played this disc 15 times, and it's been in my Blog before [27th February 2010].

Johnny Griffin was an American [1928-2008], he came out with this disc in 1990, the front cover is excellent [by Jules Allen], showing Griffin in a portrait, basically a double exposure, a slow shutter speed makes the picture blurred, but at the same time the flash captures the subject frozen, it's actually fairly hard to get exactly right, but the results here are great, shows Griffin pin sharp, and yet there's movement too.

Well i really enjoyed this disc today, it's been over two years since i last played it, and i guess i've missed just how good it is, and why i initially fell in love with it in the first place, well on this listen i liked tracks 2, 5 & 7-9 the most, with tracks 2 & 9 especially great, here's a synopsis of both,
2 Wistful [7:09] - My favourite track on the album, the drummer Kenny Washington is so subtly good, creating i ticking rhythm at the beginning, Griffin plays the wonderful theme tune [0:10-1:32], a sort of jumpy hiccup of playing, which is really quite affecting, in the middle of the theme comes a 'chorus' [0:52-1:11], after the theme Griffin's off on his solo [1:32-4:12], he can make it cry and get really into it, Washington is excellent here, the best sideman on this record, his choice of hits and rhythms brings out the best in Griffin, the Pianist Michael Weiss takes his solo [4:13-5:30], a good one, though not in the league of truly good, Griffin brings the theme back in [5:30-7:09], and it's so good to hear this repeated, a lovely number.
9 Waltz For Ma [2:37] - A short little closer tacked on the end, almost an encore if you like, a waltz for Griffin's Mother, featuring the duo of just Griffin and Dennis Irwin on bass, it's a lovely ditty, Griffin playing sharp and bright, Irwin a simple bass accompaniment, it's a simple and innocent tune theme [0:00-1:00], afterwards Griffin plays a more complex variation [1:00-1:57], and brings back the theme again [1:57-2:31], it should be noted there's a point where he purposely plays out of tune in the theme, which is really quite cute, it's a touching short tune.

Darryl Brenzel [Pentasphere]

This is my third listen of this disc, the first two times are recorded here in my Blog [30th December 2010 & 7th November 2012], and it's a bit of a slow burner of a record, haven't listened to it a lot, plus some of the tracks are a bit average, but some stuff in my collection really does take time to come to love, i listened to this on a lovely sunny day, lying on the grass on my back, watching airplane vapour trails in the sky, ah the joys of portable music!.

Darryl Brenzel is American, not sure how old he is, this disc came out in 1998, the front cover photograph is excellent [by Karin Sigman], a black & white shot tinted by a mauve / orange filter?, i like it, the lettering is excellent too, and a 'no admittance' sign, some sort of message here?.

The two best tracks here were 5 & 6, here's a synopsis of both,
5 Some Other Time [8:07] - I remember this tune from a Mark Turner disc, a lovely ballad, almost a guitar / sax duet, Brenzel plays the theme tune [0:22+], really strong and clear, he's got a really nice tone, his solo with variations is excellent [0:22-4:28], throughout Brenzel's solo, you can hear Guitarist Paul Pieper trying to muscle in a solo, it's good to have a degree of competition, they throw sparks off each other as they 'dual', and Pieper gets his solo chance [4:29-5:50], Brenzel finishes things off by coming back in a long way from the end, and they both sort of jam at the end.
6 Pentasphere [6:03] - The title track is a more upbeat number, real Be-Bop, it's now a Quintet instead of a Quartet, after a complex opening theme, Pieper gets his guitar solo in [0:48-2:08], and works up quite a frenzy, Brenzel's solo [2:09-3:26] is strong but surprisingly short, as he allows the Pianist Harry Appelman to have a solo as well [3:26-4:44], his solo is really quite straightforward, and the theme comes back to finish things off.

Mark Whitfield [7th Ave Stroll]

This disc is getting lots of exposure in my Blog, [7th January 2010 / 9th November 2011 / 24th August 2012], it's my most favourite Guitar Jazz disc i have, initially i thought it was a bit low key, now i notice all the vibes going on by the quartet, in fact there are two separate quartets rotating throughout this disc, an older crew, and a younger, and it seems to be the mature guys that get to the heart of things here, rather than slowing down as they get older, they have a tendency to get more intense, they use silences to speak rather than just sounds, one note can speak a whole sentence, there's a deeper cleverness going on here, it's one of the best Jazz discs i've ever bought.

Mark Whifield is American, he's now 48, this was one of his albums from his middle period back in 1995, the photography throughout the whole booklet is excellent [by Kwaku Alston], the front cover shows Whitfield in New york i guess, at night, long exposure shot, black & white, yet the lettering is in red, i really like it.

Well the tracks i liked the most were 2-3, 7 & 9, and i would like to give a synopsis on the very best two of these, 7 & 9, they both have the same quartet, Tommy Flanagan = Piano / Dave Holland = Bass / Al Foster = Drums,
7 Sunday In New York [5:38] - Except this one misses Flanagan, it starts with Holland laying down a really grooving bass vibe, and Al Foster adds cymbals and a tic tok rhythm [0:08+], Whitfield plays over this drum and bass undercurrent [0:17+], and it quickly develops a real intensity, there's lots of swing in there too, you can hear Foster moaning in the background, Holland gets to solo, and Fosters work over him is really clever, love the way that Whitfield comes back in with the return of the tube [5:00+], what a trio!.
9 Sunset At Waterside [6:23] - This is my favourite track on the album, it's a simple tune really, played straight and easy, Whitfield comes in with the guitar from the offset, it's the most gorgeous tune, Foster lays the most superb groove to the thing, using brushes and sticks, his drumming is something to truly marvel, no robotic beat here, he goes all over the place in invention, constantly chopping and changing to suit the mood of the moment, one of the greatest Jazz Drummers ever, after playing the 'theme' [0:00-1:34], Whitfield starts playing variations, Flanagan then comes in to give his solo [3:07-3:57], he's no hundred notes a second Pianist, but rather very clever, i love the way at the start he plays a little phrase, and then lets the bass finish it off!, and when he comes back in it's a moment to treasure, it's almost a shame when he lets Holland do a solo, as i would have loved to hear more of his ideas, again it's a lovely moment when Whitfield comes back in with the opening theme [4:34+], a fantastic 6-7 minutes of Jazz. 

You can listen to samples on the AllMusic website.

Joh Yamada [Bluestone]

A disc i bought in 2003, not one of my greatest Jazz purchases, but it's a disc which has slowly built up a reputation for me, i've come to appreciate it over the years, there's nothing really revolutionary here, pretty standard stuff in an old school sort of way, a Charlie Parker and Jackie McLean disciple, gives you some idea of what he sounds like, featured quite heavily in my Blog [21 January 2010 & 3rd January 2013].

Joh Yamada is Japanese, he's now 46, he recorded this disc back in 1997, doesn't seem to be very active in the recording studio, i think he's only got one other album, the photography for this issue is excellent [by John Abbott], a close up on the front cover, i like the way the main lettering is vertical, and kudos to the record company for producing such a nice back inlay too, nice sharp photos, love the blue theme.

On this listen i really loved tracks 2 & 5-6, here's a short synopsis of them all,
2 Bluestone [9:52] - A gentle ticking / rocking in the rhythm section, bright playing of a simple tune by Yamada, certainly the Pianist Chestnut is quite clever, creating ripples of interest, sounds a lot like Cedar Walton, Yamada switches from playing straight to swinging and back, he isn't one of these players that have to produce a thousand notes per minute, he lets the music tunes do the talking, Chestnut has a solo in the middle [4:34-6:41], and in some ways seems to try to get a little too clever, but he's good too, the gentle ticking of Clarence Penn's drums is a nice addition.
5 Never Let Me Go [6:47] - A really touching tune, came to know it from Keith Jarrett, Yamada plays the main theme gently and breathy [0:23+], and then with more passion [0:56+], really affecting, it's a sax and piano duet to begin with, takes ages for the rhythm section to come in [1:32+], in Chestnut's solo [2:24-4:25] he again tries to outclever Yamada, though towards the end there's some beautiful treble key work, in Yamada's solo [4:25+], he really flows more than usual. 
6 The Sacred Eyes [5:19] - Bassist Rodney Whittaker gets his chance to shine in starting this one off, a slow lumbering idea at first, but i love the way he swings things up [0:46], and with one smash of the drums [0:54] Yamada throws himself into this one, Chestnut again has a really clever solo [2:59-4:16], going off in all directions, a real barnstormer.

Here's a sample of all the tracks on the AllMusic website.

Ron Affif [52nd Street] 

The 52nd Jazz disc in my Blog so far, and very appropriate considering the title of the album, Jazz discs appear roughly every 22 days, still quite a phenomenal minority, i now own 71 Jazz discs, and even though i bought my first Jazz album back in 1992 [20 years ago!], yet still Jazz seems to be stuck in its infancy in my life, a good Jazz album is hard to come by, i used to own 140 discs at one point, but i purged a lot of the dross, Affif falls into a genre of Jazz which is not as popular as the main two, horn based [saxophone / trumpet], and keyboards [mainly piano], also Jazz Guitar can veer towards the 'smooth' Jazz end of the spectrum, a genre that i've never warmed to, but Affif gets over any soulful doodlings of the smooth Jazz brigade, and certainly a Trio is harder to pull off, and he succeeds wonderfully.

Ron Affif is American, he's now 47, not a lot of albums to his name, this is the third album out of five, and quite possibly he's stopped recording since 1999, this album came out in 1996, the front cover shot [photo by Steve Maruta] is a nice portrait of Affif, nice and sharp, with guitar in hand, a red background which is aglow right behind him, i like colours, and the idea to put the lettering in green bands is inspired, along with the blue shirt, it makes a pleasing colourful front cover.

The tracks which i found really compelling were 1, 5, 7-8 & 10, with the very first track a superb gem [Bohemia After Dark], it's head and shoulders above everything else, 

Joshua Redman [Beyond] 

Not a Redman disc that i get to play that often, i think he's quite a genius, and yet his albums are uneven, they seem to fall into two separate camps, discs that i think are fantastic, and discs that are merely good, with the quality of my disc collection, i've eliminated the mere good, but this album is almost an inbetween of the two, i would never call it a great album, and yet there's no way i would want to purge it from library, this disc came after the excellent albums 'Freedom In The Groove' [1996], and 'Timeless Tales For Changing Times' [1998], on those two albums he was really having fun, a nice blast, here he's somewhat more serious, the musical ideas are still in abundance, but he seems to be reaching out to the fringes more, taking one rung of the ladder more toward atonality let's say, plus some of the track titles are very inventive / poetic, it's not an immediately likable album, and maybe i need to do some more serious listening to truly get it, but it's so worth listening to.

Joshua Redman is American, he's now 44, and so well established in Jazz circles, this is his sixth studio album, and it came out in 2000, the strange photography for this issue [by Frank W Ockenfels 3], shows Redman shot with i guess a serious wide angled lens, making his legs / feet look bigger than they are, in a strange room [probably a converted garage], which has the visual feel of a sort of pit [no windows], the front cover is really sparse, and it certainly goes with the feel of the music, i didn't think it's great, but somehow i can't dismiss it as average either.

Tracks 1-2, 4, 7 & 9-10 were the best, with the standout track being 7 'Stoic Revolutions', which has a phenomenal driving rhythm / beat to it, very much in the spirit of his two previous albums, there's no 'crazy' inventive intro, it's straight for the throat this one, lovely couple of beats of the drum from Gregory Hutchinson and we're away, the rhythm is made of a constant clicking of the cymbals, and a very repetitive and mellow chord hits from Pianist Aaron Goldberg, and it's the Drummer which makes the whole thing work, Redman comes in with the very lyrical tune, a degree of funkiness to the whole thing, he plays the 'theme' [0:10-1:09], and then goes off on a more complex solo [1:16-3:07], the way the rhythm section keeps going on in the same vein is terrific, but they do respond to his ever increasing complexity, there's great joy and vibrancy in his playing, the Pianist Goldberg who has been in the 'rhythm background' for so long, now finally branches out in a solo, [3:07-4:54] and also branches out volume wise as well, it's a relatively short tune [6:11], and therefore only time enough for Redman and Goldberg to cut solos, so Redman comes back in with the original opening theme [4:54+], and extends this with getting quite rapturous with the repetitive theme, and hits the treble stratosphere at the end, a highly infectious track.

Here's Joshua Redman playing 'Stoic Revolutions' on his MySpace page.

Avashai Cohen [The Trumpet Player] 

I bought this disc in early 2005, it was one of those times i went into a big CD store in London [Tower Records Piccadily], decided i need to get more into Jazz, so i went through the Jazz discs A-Z, and this was the one i picked out, perversely i was inspired by the cover, and the fact it was basically a trumpet trio [trumpet / bass / drums] disc, i was very much inspired by Kenny Garrett's TrioLogy disc, it's harder to pay attention to its beauties, but the rewards are great when you really listen, this is a harder listen than the Garrett disc, i guess it's the nearest i have to 'Free Jazz', and it's opened my ears to music on the periphery, it's discs like this which have expanded my understanding of the very foundations of music, and have broadened my comprehension of what music can do.

Avishai Cohen is from Israel, not to be confused with the Jazz Bassist of the same name [also an Israeli], he's now 34, and lives in America, the front / back cover is interesting, not the usual picture you would find adorning the front of a Jazz release, showing Cohen in the kitchen, cleaning components of his trumpet, dishes and ladles nearby, for me the image evokes 'ordinariness', showing everyday normal life rather than superstar Trumpeter, and the music falls in line with this concept, it's a daily way of life, 'Jazz is a lifestyle!'.

Of the three tracks i thought that were superb [1 & 3-4], i felt that track 4 edges it, called 'Olympus', it's actually not a trio track, as Saxophonist Joel Frahm joins in too, it's nearly 9 minutes long, however Frahms presence is nicely held in check, so it still feels very much of a trio, and a double horn Quartet is still a hard listen, i just love the way at the opening, that John Sullivan's bass really makes an impact, and unlike other Bassists, can be lost in the mix, also Drummer Jeff Ballard is well caught, both are extremely inventive, and it's Avishai Cohen that comes in first [0:14+], a tune certainly, but more disguised, it takes a little while for Frahm to join him [1:01+], and at the end of their short duet together, Ballard hits some nice treble tom sounds [1:40-1:49], and then Cohen launches into his solo [1:49-4:40], a lot more freer and lyrical, slowly building up a real intensity, i love his complex notes at [3:06-3:15 & 3:25-3:40], really blowing free, Joel Frahm starts his solo [4:41-6:31], he's more orthodox i believe, just listen to Drummer Ballard in the background really getting into the vibe, and it seems that Sullivan / Ballard would get a chance to solo, but Cohen returns fairly quickly, and Frahm joins in too, with a sort of restatement of the theme, and an outro that fades instead of coming to final stop, deep down some great Jazz music is being played here.

Here's Avishai Cohen playing 'Olympus' on YouTube.

Nicholas Payton [Payton's Place] 

I'm proud of this album, it was the disc that takes honour of place in starting my Blog [1st January 2010], and this is its fourth appearance in my Blog, for me this is one of the greatest Jazz albums ever made, a wonderful mix of tunes, and a small group of Artists red hot with ideas, and all recorded in a wonderful clarity of sound, a big thumbs up must go to the rhythm section, Adonis Rose on drums, so well caught in the mix, vital for a truly great Jazz album, but especially the Bassist Reuben Rogers is a real star, the Bassist is the forgotten man in a Jazz Ensemble, but here he brings up ideas and sounds right to the fore, especially at some of the intros, and that's one of the great things about this disc, it's teeming with ideas in its intros, they are truly inspired, all of the Artists create a perfect canvas for Payton to paint his ideas on, he composed three quartets of the tracks on this album, and he's one of the great Jazz composers.

Nicholas Payton is American, born in 1973 makes him 39 today [wow! i didn't realise he's still so young], he recorded this disc in 1997 & 1998, one of the great joys of this album is the way the whole thing's been laid out visually, some nice thought has gone into it, the design is by Giulio Turturro, the whole booklet inner is a joy to read and look at, the front / back photographs are stunning [by Barron Claiborne], using rich and eye popping colours, and managing to use all four of the major colours of red / yellow / blue / green, nice sharp head and shoulders shot of Payton, the addition of a trumpet from the right adds the visual musical dimension, the whole thing's perfect.

Well looking at the last time i played this album [18th March 2012], i find that it's exactly the same three tracks that come up trumps again, 1, 5 & 9, and i would very much like to just concentrate on the very best of these three, which was track 5 'Concentric Circles', here's a synopsis,
5 Concentric Circles - Starting with an Adonis Rose drum intro [0:00-0:18], just listen to the sharp snap of those toms, so superbly caught, and he really gets the vibe going, Saxophonist Tim Warfield takes the first solo [1:00-2:25], and Pianist Anthony Wonsey throws in some excellent chords at the right time to challenge Warfield, next up is Payton himself [2:26-4:03], and it seems that all the musicians start pushing the envelope of creativity, which pushes Payton all the more, and there's a point near the end of his solo where he gets really frantic, rapid fire notes high in the treble [3:47], now i like that!, Pianist Anthony Wonsey is up next [4:03-5:25], and Adonis Rose has some very nice casual drumming which adds so much to Rose's solo, and then Drummer Adonis Rose himself gets a superb solo in [5:25-6:18], and you can just hear the sheer range of different sounds he can make, a great but short drum solo, superbly caught by the mikes, and Payton comes back in on trumpet just at the ideal moment with a re-appearance of the theme [6:18+], and there's a nice subtle touch of a last bass twang from Reuben Rogers right at the very end, tremendous track, loved it.

Here's Nicholas Payton's album Payton's Place on the AllMusic website, you can listen to 30 second samples.

Joh Yamada [Bluestone] 

Jazz has appeared in my Blog only once a month on average, this seems crazy, i know that a great Jazz disc is hard to come by, there's so much dross and average stuff in the Jazz world, and you have to be quite dedicated to search out the real gems amongst the ordinary stones, but 48 Blog entries for Jazz, and i'm in my fourth year?, there were a few years where i purposely concentrated on Jazz, and a number of recordings would feature each month [before this Blog], but things have died down on the Jazz front, i find it hard to buy a new album, and of course harder to find such albums worth keeping, it's an agonisingly slow progress on this front, this disc is a good example, not something i truly liked to begin with, a fairly average to good disc, but over the years [i bought this in 2003] i've warmed to it, it's not earth shattering pioneer Jazz, just straight ahead BeBop, but there's a lovely innocence to the album, and the beauty isn't in the virtuosity, but in it's simpleness at times, it's a shame that he doesn't record a lot more, this album featured early on in my Blog [21st January 2010].

Joh Yamada is Japanese, he's now 44, and he recorded this disc in 1997, the photography throughout is excellent [by John Abbott], and one of the reasons it stood out from the disc racks in the shop, a lovely blue background, and showing the saxophone and its keys, nice close up head shot on the front, great use of sideways lettering for the name / title of the album, and the back inlay is of a high visual presentation also.

The track i liked the most was track 5 'Never Let Me Go', a famous standard, Yamada of course plays it as a beautiful ballad, the sound coming out of his saxophone is nice and breathy and atmospheric, the introduction as such is a duet by Yamada and the Pianist Cyrus Chestnut [0:00-1:32], and it's a nice moment when the other two come in, i like the way Yamada uses the higher registers of the sax on the main tune, it suits the main tune perfectly, Chestnut takes a solo [2:23-], simple at first, but gets more complex, nice bell ringing of the keys, Yamada comes back in, and with a slightly more upbeat and complex solo [4:25-5:39], which brings us full circle to a return of the main tune [5:38+], a lovely moment, i can't help feeling he actually sounds like a sort of Chet Baker of the saxophone, or maybe Jackie McLean, a subtle album.

Here's Joh Yamada's album Bluestone on the AllMusic website, you can listen to 30 seconds of each track.

David Murray [Ming's Samba] 

One of the greatest Jazz albums i own, and one of the success stories of my local library, i hired this out in late 1993, and loved it enough to get my own copy, i remember the moment that the whole thing 'clicked' for me, while on a train to London, looking out the window and thinking 'yeah, i get this!', it was a great moment for this album, and even more importantly for Jazz, some Soloist going fairly crazy, and skirting the very edge of tonality can still be music!, it opened up my way of thinking to fall in love with other Jazz albums, it's actually only a half filled album with not even 40 minutes of music on it, but quality more than makes up for lack of quality, with only 5 tracks, most lasting between 7-11 minutes, and one shorter track, but again quantity of tracks is more than made up by the sheer quality of those tracks, how Murray can spin long solos, full of ever increasing complex ideas, and how everyone else follows his line of thinking, what an excellent tight knit unit this is, this album featured in my Blog in the very first month [29th January 2010].

David Murray is American, though now lives in Portugal, he's now 57, he recorded this disc in 1988, the front cover photograph is by Ming Murray, which is his wife of the album name, it's a slightly long exposure shot, which shows nice movement, same with the back insert, i like the lettering, in opposite corners, large and small sizes, it's inventive, the track timings are a label i stuck on so i know where i'm at in each track, and the personnel list are transfers i rubbed on, i always like to know who exactly i'm listening to.

Tracks 1 & 3-4 were the best out of the five, and on this listen it was track 4 'Spooning' that i found extra brilliant, it's a Tango, the Drummer Ed Blackwell creates a martial gait in his drumming [0:00-0:08], and just listen to the way he hits that treble tom!, now that's the resonance i like from the drums, they make the drums sound so varied, and while Murray plays out the theme [0:08-1:42], and Blackwell gets some delicious hits in, and it's the Pianist John Hicks who takes the first solo [1:43-3:18], and in the background the Bassist Ray Drummond twangs away superbly, towards the end of Hick's solo, he gets really impassioned, Murray takes the next solo [3:18-6:29], simple-ish at first, but it isn't long before he starts throwing all sorts of spanners in the works, and there's individual tiny ideas that are chucked into the broth, some very lazy yet delightful bass notes [4:06-4:12], some almost tongue fluttering [4:21-4:35], there's squawking in there [4:43+], lazy legato wailing in higher registers [5:00-5:12], and blasting out what is probably the highest treble note that the tenor sax can do! [5:31-5:43], and almost trying to sound like words / language at one point [5:47-5:56], and yet all the time he stays true to the original theme, even though he de-constructs it to pieces, you can always hear the tune, Murray brings back the original theme in its natural glory [6:30-7:17], and it's so good to hear this again, Blackwell ends with the martial gait as at first as the outro fade [7:16-7:30], a tremendous track of exciting Jazz.

You can hear 1 minute samples of this album on the MP3VA site.