Charlie Rouse "Unsung Hero"

Charlie Rouse-"Unsung Hero"
Epic EK 46181

Charlie Rouse - tenor saxophone
Gildo Mahones - piano
Reggie Workman - bass
Arthur Taylor - drums (July 13, 1961, NYC)

Rouse - tenor saxophone
Billy Gardner - piano
Peck Morrison - bass
Dave Bailey - drums (December 21, 1960, NYC)

"Unsung Hero" clearly locates Charlie Rouse's major tonal influence in Ben Webster. Rouse's lines are more concise with a bare hint of the stylized vibrato so common in Webster's playing. The opening cadenza in the only tune recorded in the 1961 session, "When Sunny Gets Blue" displays not only the beauty of Rouse's tone, but an extremely well thought out mix of an emotive and intellectual approach to improvisation. Rouse begins the cadenza with one of his signature calling cards, where he scoops up a major 2nd or minor 3rd and moves downwards in a scalar fashion. He continues his beautiful line into a highly emotive climax during the rhythm section's entry to the tune.

Listening to this opening number would make any detractor of Rouse's playing realize why Ellington hired him for his band, a gig for which he literally missed the boat for lack of a birth certificate, eventually becoming the longest tenured tenorman in Thelonius Monk's band. "Billy's Blues" follows, a jive groove on the blues followed by "Stella By Starlight," given a shuffle-ish treatment by the rhythm section of the 1960 sessions leading nicely into the playfulness of "Lil Rousin."

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about this showcase of Rouse's playing, made after the beginning of his tenure with Monk's band, is his multiplicity of approaches. Although his playing has a decidedly hard bop feel and conception, he nods his head not only to the swing players of an earlier era, but occasionally growls and honks like an R & B player. You also hear the influence of Monk in his whole-tone runs and impressionistic use of space. The biggest surprise for this listener was in the thoughtfulness of his ballads and the smoothness of a rhythmic conception normally rendered rough and jagged in some of his best performances with Monk. Another standout track is his rendition of "I Should Care." It holds its own against one of my own personal favorite versions, from Hank Mobley's sessions, "Messages."

Any fan of tasty tenor playing and solid and rhythmic tenor playing will not be disappointed by this early '60's Rouse session. His fusion of Webster's tonal ideas with a solid bop conception and his unique ideation make a great album

As a showcase of

Live Show-Bill Frisell Portland, OR 2/19/06

Bill Frisell's Unspeakable Orchestra 2/19/06 Portland, OR Marriott Hotel
Bill Frisell-guitar
Eyvind Kang-viola
Hank Roberts-cello
Jenny Scheinmann-violin
Tony Scherr-bass
Kenny Wolleson-drums

I first heard Bill Frisell on Zorn's Naked City albums back in the eighties. I remember being amazed at the rapid stylistic and tempo changes and, well, the sheer chutzpah of the recordings. During the nineties, he made a series of albums, all interesting, but too guitarish for my tastes. From the mid to late '90's, Kenny Wolleson and Trevor Dunn were a ubiquitous presence in the S.F. Bay Area music scene, and it was fairly common to see and hear them at a club called Bruno's where, incidentally, I first heard Jenny Scheinmann playing with Scott Amendola's band.

As personalized as a club can be, Bruno's at the time was the center of an improvized music scene running a gamut of styles, from Ben Goldberg's project Off Minor, to Amendola's afro/jazz/romo/fusion, to Kenny Brooks' bebop tenor stylings to Sonny Simmons' occasional appearances to Dred Scott and more. Top it off with the occasional appearance by an Australian swing guitarist, indefinable bass clarinetist Beth Custer and Nels Cline's hyper-powered christma-fuzz wailings, Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant opening with Adam Levy and a reasonable cocktail and you had the makings of a diverse and unpredictable scene.

Well, Frisell's show Sunday the 19th was certainly diverse and unpredictable. I'd always meant to see him, despite my narrow-minded aversion to his albums. Having been a fan of all of the other members of the band over the years, I couldn't pass it up. I'd always enjoyed Scheinmann
s playing and compositional style, enjoyed Wolleson's playing in Junk Genius and Sex Mob, loved Scherr's sound in both Sex Mob and on his fairly eccentric debut album and ate up Kang's invention of NADEs on his debut album, on which he played all of the instruments. Besides, I'd seen Kang play with Secret Chiefs 3 (who I'd never heard) and was fairly blown away by the blend of middle eastern, garage and surf music. To top it off, I thought my wife would like the show.

The show started with a slowly building free orchestration leading into what seemed like a Roy Rogers-type tune I thought I might start singing along with. After a time, the group led into a fairly funky Devo type groove. My first surprise was Hank Roberts. I thought I was back in the land of The Ex and Tom Cora as he bowed an astounding and impassioned Cello solo. Scherr maintained a stripped down funky backbeat and a look of perpetual amusement as Kang and Scheinman did double duty on the strings.

The show continued in ebbs and flows with Frisell staying remarkably subdued for a guitar player, concentrating more on directing the proceedings and changing roles from rhythmic underpinning to weaving mellifluous lines between the soloists. At one point he began to play a Chet Atkins/Les Paul line leading into brief soloing from Scheinmann. He treated the audience to a fairly dry snail joke and we were delighted to a couple of encores, particularly, a tune resembling Miles Davis' early version of "Milestones" with a minor-sounding bebop feel fairly peculiar for an Unspeakable Orchestra.

I was most of all struck by the way the band seemed to breath together and the incredible range of Frisell's music. Perhaps I'd been avoiding his live shows because I would find myself a fan. I am. My only complaint is that the show might have had slightly better ambience in a room like the Alladin Theatre, of similar size to the basement of the Marriott.

Ben Goldberg Quintet "the door, the hat, the chair, the fact"

Ben Goldberg Quintet-''the door, the hat, the chair, the fact"
Cryptogramophone CG126
Ben Goldberg-clarinets
Carla Kihlstedt-violin, voice
Rob Sudduth-tenor saxophone
Devin Hoff-bass
Ches Smith-drums

If Ben Goldberg didn't exist, someone would have had to invent him. The same could be said of Steve Lacy, whose untimely demise of cancer in June of 2004, coincided with the recording of this remarkable set of compositions. The album opens with a warm melody on Goldberg's lone clarinet introducing an orchestral introduction of the rest of the musicians in "Petals."

The following tune, "Song and Dance," reminds me of Henry Threadgill's composing style circa "Rag, Bush and All." Not only the ebullient carnivalesque atmosphere of the rhythm, but also the raspy sound of Rob Sudduth's tenor saxophone. In fact, Sudduth's bluesy free sounding solo recalls Threadgill's earlier work in his band Air from the late 1970's. Goldberg follows Sudduth with a typically unpredictable solo leading into a swift statement from Carla Kihlstedt's classical/rockish violin.

Devin Hoff introduces "Long Last Moment" with mostly descending bass lines that bring to mind Duke Ellington's "Caravan." The tune continues with gorgeously introspective group interplay underpinned by Ches Smith's drumming. Smith chooses an individualistic rhythmic path here and throughout the record, with march-like figures and rockish kicks, an approach more akin to the playing of Jim Black then any typical swing player. "F13" continues with interplay between the the two horns and Kihlstedt's violin. Enough rhythmic and melodic variation sustains listening interest.

It took me a while to enjoy "Facts," which is based mainly on Kihlstedt's singing a dissonant melody: "I am hardly here these days." As part of a musical dedication to Lacy, however, this fits into the whole as he was enamored of poetry, the twentieth century approaches to harmelody and enjoyed the use of the voice in some of his tunes.

Strangely enough, Lacy's tune "Blinks" also reminds me of Threadgill, possibly because of the cohesiveness of the group's interaction in both the composed and improvised portions of the tune. In some ways, this tune is like the sauerkraut in the center of a Reuben, providing an undercurrent of flavor that inspires the rest of the album and gives it a unique twist in Goldberg's oeuvre. From his earlier New Klezmer Trio albums to his work with Junk Genius, he's maintained an unpredictable approach over the years. The restatement of the opening theme in "I Before E Before I" remind us that we're back into the light of the opening.

In his liner notes, Goldberg says that "[Steve Lacy] talked matter of factly about the invisible, and I caught a glimpse of what an artist does. He said, "If you stay in the dark long enough, eventually you'll see the light." With "the door, the hat, the chair, the fact," Goldberg has made a bright statement as a leader, and, if anything this record shows us that he's stepped from "the darkest hour" into the dawn.

To purchase this CD check out www.cryptogramophone.com
For the Ben Goldberg Quintet's tour schedule check out (I will add something later as I couldn't find any info on the web.)

Introduction

Just getting started. I'll try and figure out what to do here in the next couple days.