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.

Nicholas Payton [Payton's Place]

This was the disc that started my Blog off, the very first entry [1st January 2010], but i also played it just over a year ago [23rd February 2011], it's getting nice exposure, and each time i play it i marvel at the invention of Payton, and his ability to create something funky and upbeat, the small combo [mainly quintets] is used very effectively, no one seems to play background accompaniment, each musician muscles in on the action, looking at the track listing, Payton also has a propensity to write for the 5-6 minute market, of the 12 tracks, two thirds fall into this bracket, is there a production line formula developing in his works.

Nicholas Payton is American, born in 1973, he is now 38, and he recorded this disc in 1997 and 1998, one of the great things about this disc is the front booklet cover and back inlay, they are truly superb [photography by Barron Claiborne], aided by a shocking bright red background, colours 'seem' to clash, notice the red, yellow, green, blue on the back inlay, almost the whole rainbow of colours!, and doesn't yellow on the back make the track listing stand out that much more?, plus it's deliciously off kilter, a truly superb album, out of 76 Jazz discs i own, this is my fourth favourite, a stunner of an album.

Right from the word go, as soon as the album opens [i always play a disc like this on random, however the first track i listened to was the first track on the album] it has this phenomenally delicious funky drum and cymbal beat, and here's one of the major strengths of the album, the Drummer [Adonis Rose], and the way he's recorded, he doesn't just play drums, but plays a load of different drums!, and his sounds are caught in the mix in a stunning way, you can hear the different sized toms clearly and sharply, it's dynamite to get the drums right in the recording, there were three tracks which were just terrific to hear, tracks 1, 5 & 9, and here's a synopsis of each,
1 Zigaboogaloo [YouTube video starts after 23 seconds] - Like i said what an opening, a drum intro to just get so excited about [0:00-0:06], and then the Pianist lays down a funky groove with it [0:06-0:16], this is the canvas which the horns paint on, and their theme is also just a funky and bubbly tune [0:17-1:31], so infectious, Payton's solo right afterwards is high spirit, nicely sharp and screaming, and growling at times too [1:30-2:49], Saxophonist Tim Warfield's solo by comparison is quite muted and mellow and low down, i like the way both horns fill in over the second half of the Pianists solo [4:39-5:14], the return of a theme is always a special moment [5:14+], and the ending finishes on a nice loud horn blast! [5:51], and finally what a great name for a track!.
5 Concentric Circles - Again what a title!, and also again, what a wonderful drum solo intro [0:00-0:18], where the treble tom sounds so atmospheric, nice sharp and snappy!, and yet again there's a funkiness to it, the sax solo [Tim Warfield] is nicely jagged and broken, and filled out bubbly by the piano [1:00-2:25], and so is the trumpet solo also [2:26-4:03] Anthony Wonsey [piano] stamps out chords all over the place, very effective, the drummer [Adonis Rose] gets an astonishing solo in [5:25-6:18], timed to perfection, and right at the end the Bassist gets a lovely resonant strike in [7:02].
9 Paraphernalia - This is a Wayne Shorter tune, used originally in the Miles Davis Band, and what a great creation it is, it starts off with the most inventive Bassist [Reuben Rogers] intro [0:00-0:23], full of lovely reverberation, the piece rocks back and forth between the slow rhythm section, and the fast horn section, Tim Warfied [saxophone] has a nice solo [1:30-4:28], which slowly develops in intensity, speed, and volume, Nicholas Payton does the same in his solo [4:29-7:34], lazy and slow at first, and i like the way it's just speeds up, the rhythm section really go mental [6:25+], the Bassist especially, and everyone joins in, a track of great variety, and well held together.

Robert Mazurek [Badlands]

And yet another disc that got airplay during the early days of my Blog [24th Janyary 2011], i picked this disc up in a second hand record shop in London for £4 i believe, and it's proved to be a supreme bargain, took me a while to really get into it, at the time i had a superb Eric Alexander disc in my possession, and he's great, so if he's on it, it must be good, the star of the show of course is Robert Mazurek, some of the best tunes on the album come from his pen. 

Robert Mazurek is American, and now in his mid forties, he recorded this record in 1994-1995 on the Scottish Hep Jazz label, the front and back cover shows the two horns in close up, very nicely diagonally from each other, with excellent use of lettering inbetween, and the back cover's great too, an easy to read track list, superb layout, one of the things that attracted me to the disc in the first place. 

This is quite a traditional Quintet, a Sax & Trumpet led Piano Trio, and the music is of course in the traditional of good Hard Bop, with themes and then solos, especially for the two horns, all members are inventive and very well recorded, i especially liked tracks 3, 5, 7 & 10, and these four tracks include three of the four self penned tracks by Mazurek, so certainly i like his ideas, Mazurek also uses the brittle use of a mute fairly extensively, my favourite track is the longest, the nearly 10 minute title track 'Badlands', 

Here's some samples of the album from CD Universe.

Nicholas Payton [Payton's Place] 

Well here's the replay of the original disc that i began my Blog with at the beginning of last year [1st January 2010], well i've come a long way since that day, one thing i definitely notice, is that my Blog entries are now more substantial, i've learned to express myself through this blog more effectively, learned how to do one of the most impossible things, and that's to put sounds into words and feelings on paper / type, back then that was a magical moment, stepping out into the unknown and writing a Blog, i hope that this now marks a lovely milestone, as i write this entry it's a 'circling back to the beginning', music is more of a lateral / circular thing rather than a linear progression, maybe i'm waxing too lyrical or scientific, but for me the essence of music is contained in the axiom 'you only really fall in love with music, when you fall in love with music again'.

Nicholas Payton is an American Jazz Trumpeter, now 47, he made this disc in 1997 and 1998, and i bought it fairly soon after, the booklet front cover shot [by Barron Claiborne] is one of the very best cover shots i've ever seen, a close up of Payton with a trumpet up to his ear, colourful clothing, including a green suit jacket, juxtaposed with a bright red background!, he even has a red hankie in his pocket to go with it!, on the back inlay the track listing right side is in yellow, and i like the lettering slanting at an angle!, it may seem that all the colours clash, but i feel they all work together, the inner of the booklet is a several page fold out, and it's all expertly done, and has a nice theme to it, and the music if anything is even more stunning!.

One of the things i've looked forward to in my Blog, is replaying old discs again, and giving a new take on the music as i write about my continued experiences, it is such a joy to wheel out a treasured disc i haven't heard in a while, and to give it a new spin, i'm a different person than i was 400 odd days ago when i listened to this last, this disc now resides at No32 in my all time listing, that's extremely high for a disc when i've got over 1600 discs in my collection, and that's No4 in my Jazz discs too.

On to the music!, this album has so many magical moments, tracks 1, 3, 5-6 & 8-10 were especial highlights, with track 9 Paraphernalia probably the very best track, here's a synopsis of all these best tracks,
1 Zigaboogaloo - the opening track, and it has the most incredible opening, with the Drummer Adonis Rose beating out an incredibly groovy solo line, full of nice reverberation and complexity, it only lasts 16 seconds, but it sets the tone for the whole album, and of course this groovy line comes back again and again, and the recording!, it's so lively and involving, everything sounds so magical, the rumble beat of the bass drum, and the ting of the smallest cymbal are equally caught to excite the listener.
3 Back To The Source - it seems all the intros are well thought out on this album, this time the Pianist Anthony Wonsey vamps out some nice reverberant bassy chords, again lasting 16 seconds, and Payton has a wonderfully inspired and intense solo [2:43-4:19], with Adonis Rose in fine form to back him up.
5 Concentric Circles - again the opening is inspired, this time the Drummer Adonis Rose has a nice solo lazy drumroll, that hesitates before it kicks into a stuttering beat, this time 18 seconds before the Saxophonist comes in, and again it's the Drummer Adonis Rose that has a clever and nicely complex solo [5:26-6:19], and his drumkit is nicely stereophonically seperated, and what a clever name for a track!.  
6 Li'l Duke's Strut - i played this album on random / shuffle, so this was the first track that played, and the first track always seems to hit you harder and be more inspired.
8 With A Song In My Heart - a duet with the Trumpeter Roy Hargrove on this one, and Payton and Hargrove weave round each other in a very clever way.
9 Paraphernalia - this is the most inspired intro on the album, a Double Bass solo by Reuben Rogers [0:00-0:43], it starts off with with deep and reverberant notes, takes it time to develop into a groove, the Pianist joins in at [0:23], and then the whole thing explodes into a faster meter [0:44], and it's this chop and change of speeds that makes Paraphernalia so fascinating, one moment it's a lazy vibe, the next it's a fast swing, a mention must be made of Paytons solo, in three parts in a way, and it's this middle part [5:35-6:25] which is the most inpired, and the way that it changes from one part into a higher gear for the next is so joyful [at 5:35 & 6:25 of course], getting faster and more intense, lovely, a special mention must be made of the Drummer Adonis Rose, his cleverness and variety in the background makes everyone sound so much more inspired.        
10 Brownie A La Mode - another duet, this time with Wynton Marsalis, again Payton and Marsalis weave around each other nicely, Marsalis is more livelier than Hargrove on the other duet, and more competitive too!, seems to try to be more clever and upstage his host, it ends nice an abrupt!.

Here's Nicholas Payton playing Paraphernalia on YouTube [a Wayne Shorter song], this live version has a very long double bass solo [1:48], not found on the excellent studio track.