Enrico Pieranunzi: Fellini Jazz (2003)

Italian pianist, composer, and arranger Enrico Pieranunzi has done something delightful and enlightening on Fellini Jazz: he has gathered together some of the brightest lights in American jazz -- all of whom who have a serious affinity for European music -- and formed a quintet for creatively interpreting theme music from the director's films. While most of the themes here were composed by Nino Rota, there are two original pieces that extrapolate from various melodic and harmonic schema in Rota's work. All of the music here, with the exception of the themes from Amarcord and City of Women (the latter composed by Luis Bacalov), comes from Fellini's films of the 1950s. There is a reason for this. The musical element in Rota's scores from these films was, at the very least, informed by the spirit of jazz. Using the great American musicians who came of age during the great Yankee discovery of Fellini's movies is a brilliant touch, as they become "actors" themselves in this musical drama. Not being Italian, and not being regular players of Rota's scores, they look at Pieranunzi's adaptations with a non-literal, gauzy, nearly surrealist view. And while some would argue that Pieranunzi is not on the same level musically with his collaborators as a pianist, and perhaps someone like Brad Mehldau or Fred Hersch might have been a better choice, they'd be wrong. Pieranunzi -- specifically because he brings the great Italian jazz tradition, with its deep reliance on lyricism and harmonic interplay, to the mix -- is the only player who could have pulled off the gig. This is a beautifully, movingly wrought album that is indeed a jazz date first, but one that is also not so far removed from the music of Fellini's cinema because of its reliance on impression, subtlety, grace, warm humor, and, of course, elegance. Two sets of liner notes accompany the set, one by Pieranunzi about the session and one from Ira Gitler about the films and Pieranunzi. Fantastic and breathtaking. ~ Thom Jurek

Tracklist

01. I Vitelloni;

02. Il Bidone,
03. Il Bidone;
04. La Citta Delle Donne;
05. Amarcord;
06. Cabiria’s Dream;
07. La Dolce Vita;
08. La Dolce Vita;
09. La Strada;
10. Le Notti Di Cabiria;
11. Fellini’s Waltz.
Personel:
Kenny Wheeler - Trumpet, Flugelhorn;
Chris Potter - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone;
Enrico Pieranunzi - Piano;
Charlie Haden - Bass;
Paul Motian - Drums.
Fellini Jazz
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Ravi Coltrane: Blending Times (2009)

Son of legendary jazz greats John and Alice, Ravi Coltrane continues to strengthen his own brand with the much-anticipated follow up to his Grammy-nominated release, In Flux. Blending Times features Ravi's acclaimed quartet, one of the most consistently excellent working bands in jazz and includes a collection of new originals and a very special collaboration with Charlie Haden and Brandee Younger on 'For Turiya', dedicated to Ravi's mother.

Tracklist

01. Shine

02. First Circuit
03. A Still Life
04. Epistrophy
05. Amalgams
06. Narcined
07. One Wheeler Will
08. The Last Circuit
09. Before with After
10. For Turiya
Blending Times
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Joe Lovano: Universal Language (1992)

One of the top saxophonists of the 1990s, Joe Lovano still seems to be improving. His tenor tone is based in the tradition but is fairly original and his chancetaking improvisations are both stimulating and refreshing. His father Tony "Big T" Lovano was a fine tenorman who played in Cleveland. Joe originally started on alto when he was six, switching to tenor five years later. He attended Berklee and then worked with Jack McDuff and Lonnie Smith. After three years touring with Woody Herman's Orchestra (1976-79), Lovano moved to New York, playing regularly with Mel Lewis's Big Band, Paul Motian's various groups (since 1981), Charlie Haden's Liberation Music Orchestra and (in the early '90s) John Scofield in addition to touring Europe with Elvin Jones (1987). Joe Lovano has recorded as a leader for Soul Note, Jazz Club, Label Bleu (reissued by Evidence), Enja, JSL (a date with his father) and a long string of very impressive outings for Blue Note. The 1995 Blue Note set Rush Hour features Joe Lovano and his wife, singer Judi Silvano in top form collaborating with Gunther Schuller on a challenging set of music. Trio Fascination followed in 1998, and a year later he teamed with Greg Osby for Friendly Fire. 52nd Street Themes appeared in the spring of 2000, finding Lovano working with a richly textured bebop nonet.

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Universal Language

Joshua Redman: Wish (1993) mp3 @ 320K

Joshua Redman's sophomore effort found him leading a piano-less quartet that also included guitar great Pat Metheny and half of Ornette Coleman's trailblazing late-'50s/early-'60s quartet: acoustic bassist Charlie Haden and drummer Billy Higgins. With such company, Redman could have delivered a strong avant-garde or free jazz album; Haden and Higgins had played an important role in jazz's avant-garde because of their association with Coleman, and Metheny had himself joined forces with Coleman on their thrilling Song X session of 1985. But Wish isn't avant-garde; instead, it's a mostly inside post-bop date that emphasizes the lyrical and the introspective. The musicians swing hard and fast on Charlie Parker's "Moose the Mooche," but things become very reflective on pieces like Redman's "The Undeserving Many" and Metheny's "We Had a Sister." One of the nice things about Redman is his ability to provide jazz interpretations of rock and R&B songs. While neo-conservatives ignore them and many NAC artists simply provide boring, predictable, note-for-note covers, Redman isn't afraid to dig into them and show their jazz potential. In Redman's hands, Stevie Wonder's "Make Sure You're Sure" becomes a haunting jazz-noir statement, while Eric Clapton's ballad "Tears in Heaven" is changed from moving pop/rock to moving pop-jazz. The latter, in fact, could be called "smooth jazz with substance." Some of bop's neo-conservatives disliked the fact that Redman was playing with two of Coleman's former sidemen and a fusion icon like Metheny, but then, Redman never claimed to be a purist. Although Wish isn't innovative, it's an appealing CD from an improviser who is willing to enter a variety of musical situations.

Charlie Haden: Land of the Sun (2004) mp3 @ 320K

Those who know bassist Charlie Haden from his avant-garde work with the Liberation Music Orchestra and Ornette Coleman will be in for a shock here. LAND OF THE SUN bears little resemblance to the free, strident music Haden recorded in those groups. With the help of accomplished, intense musicians such as pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba and saxophonist Joe Lovano,Haden has made a record of astonishing consonance, serenity, and beauty.LAND OF THE SUN features music by three significant Mexican composers. Haden's group performs a song each by Agustin Lara ("Solamente Una Vez [You Belong to My Heart]") and Armando Manzanero ("Esta Tarde Vi Llover [Yesterday I Heard the Rain]"), but the remaining eight tracks are byJose Sabre Marroquin (whose lyrical, delicate music seamlessly blends jazz with his country's folk traditions). Though understated percussion grooves occasionally accent a melody,the tunes, for the most part, are ballads and lullabies. Rubalcaba wrote the arrangements here, which prominently feature his own sensitive piano playing and Oriente Lopez's lilting flute ("Anoranza [Longing]" is a gorgeous example of their interplay). As appropriate to an afternoon siesta on a Mexico City veranda as it is for romantic dancing on a New Yorkrooftop, LAND OF THE SUN is soothing, dream-like, and exquisitely made. (116MB)

Richard Galliano: Love Day - Los Angeles Sessions (2008)

Accordionist Richard Galliano did for European folk — specifically, the early-20th-century French ballroom dance form known as musette — what his mentor Astor Piazzolla did for the Argentinean tango. Galliano re-imagined and revitalized a musical tradition, expanding its emotional range to reflect modern sensibilities, and opening it up to improvisation learned through American jazz. In fact, Galliano was more of a jazz musician than a folk one, although he blurred the lines so much that distinctions were often difficult to make. Born in France of Italian stock, Galliano began playing accordion (as his father did) at a young age. He later picked up the trombone, and studied composition at the Academy in Nice; he also fell in love with jazz as a teenager, particularly cool-era Miles Davis and Clifford Brown, and made it his primary focus by the late '60s. Making a living as a jazz accordionist naturally proved difficult; fortunately, after moving to Paris in 1973, he landed a position as conductor, arranger, and composer for Claude Nougaro's orchestra. He remained there until 1976, and went on to work with numerous American and European jazz luminaries, including Chet Baker, Joe Zawinul, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Michel Petrucciani, and Jan Garbarek. After meeting Astor Piazzolla, Galliano refocused on his European heritage, and set about reviving and updating musette, widely considered antiquated at the time. He signed with Dreyfus in 1993, and the label gave him enough exposure to cause a stir first in his home country, then among international jazz and world music fans. Regular recordings followed, some with clarinetist/soprano saxophonist Michel Portal, some with guitarist Jean Marie Ecay, some with his favorite rhythm section of bassist Jean-François Jenny-Clark and drummer Daniel Humair (after Jenny-Clark's untimely death, Rémi Vignolo took his place). In 2001, Dreyfus released Gallianissimo, a compilation drawing from his seven albums for the label.