Music Review: The Very Best of Dave Brubeck

This article was first published at Blogcritics 

 Dave Brubeck's early music might not always measure up to his later work, but if the Concord Music compilation The Very Best of Dave Brubeck: The Fantasy Era 1949-1953 is any indication, early Brubeck had a whole lot going for it. Featuring 15 songs—14 standards and one Brubeck original, culled from eight different Fantasy albums, these are indeed some of the very best examples of his work from the period before Jazz Goes to College. They are a clear indication of the greatness that was to come, but perhaps more importantly they are magical in their own right.

 The album begins with four tracks from Brubeck's trio originally released as The Dave Brubeck Trio: Distinctive Rhythm Instrumentals. Ron Crotty plays bass and Cal Tjader, best known later as a vibraphonist, is on drums. None much over three minutes in length, the four songs—"Blue Moon," "Let's Fall in Love," "I Didn't Know What Time It Was" and "Body and Soul"--foreshadow the richness and complexity of Brubeck's musical ideas. Of the four, "Body and Soul" with Tjader working the bongos is something special. "My Heart Stood Still," the third Rogers and Hart composition on the album, is a solo piano piece. Its pounding chords and rhythmic changes are vintage Brubeck.

 The rest of the album is devoted to sampling the pianist's work with alto saxophonist Paul Desmond in the justly celebrated Dave Brubeck Quartet. These were two musicians meant to work together. There are live performances of "For All We Know," "Give a Little Whistle," "This Can't Be Love," and a really interesting take on the Hoagy Carmichael classic, "Stardust." Filled with quotations and musical allusions, it is a dynamically inventive collaboration.

 Studio tracks include a whimsical if short version of "Me and My Shadow" and a swinging if short version of "Frenesi." Neil Tesser's liner notes make the point that the short length of nearly all of the tracks on the album was necessitated by the limitations of what could be recorded on 78 vinyl back in the day. Luckily for us, while quantity is nice, quality is what counts, and quality is what you get in all of these tracks. Brubeck's own "Lyons Busy," a song inspired by a local San Francisco disc jockey, Jimmy Lyons who aired the band on his radio show, "Just One of Those Things" and "A Foggy Day" round out the album.

 For those of us who wore out these albums when they were originally released, The Very Best of Dave Brubeck is like welcoming an old friend. For those who weren't around it is an opportunity to hear some of the finest work of a day gone by, indeed some of the finest work of any day.

Music Review: Cynthia Felton - Freedom Jazz Dance

This article was first published at Blogcritics

The first time you hear Freedom Jazz Dance, the latest album from Cynthia Felton you will be impressed by the purity of her vocals and her command of the jazz idiom. The more you listen, the more impressed you will be. This is a vocalist steeped in tradition.  She understands the contributions of the ladies of past generations, and she understands the need to build upon them.  She understands that the true artist needs to find her own voice. And if Freedom Jazz Dance is any indication she has found it, and jazz fans are going to be very glad she has.

The album's 12 tracks, she tells us in the liner notes, are a "collection of my favorite standards to sing."  It won't take long for them to become a collection of your favorite standards to listen to.  She starts with an impassioned a cappella version of the spiritual "Oh Freedom" in a nod to the gospel roots of jazz, before morphing into innovative takes on the Paul Desmond, Dave Brubeck classic "Take Five" and the Rogers and Hart perennial "My Funny Valentine." "Take Five" features some nice tenor sax work from Ernie Watts, and "Valentine" opens with the solo trumpet of Wallace Roney and features some interesting bass 'improv' from Robert Hurst.  A variety of different musicians accompany the singer on the various tracks.

"Better Than Anything" is one of the less well known pieces on the disc; it gives the singer the opportunity to swing the blues and add a little scat. Cyrus Chestnut adds a sweet piano solo and Nolan Shaheed is on the trumpet. "My Love Is" and Charles Mingus's "Duke Ellington's Sound of Love" two more less familiar tunes follow, and Felton's performance has to make you wonder why they aren't heard more often. 

"Close Your Eyes" opens lullaby-like with Hurst's bass and Felton's soft vocal, before she begins to swing with a straight ahead vibel leading to a guitar solo from Ronald Muldrow, and some additional scatting.  The old Nat 'King' Cole hit "Nature Boy" gets a little Latin American vibe from Felton. Patrice Rushen handles the piano and Terri Lyne Carrington the drums. Felton comes in at the end and wails to a dynamite climax.  It is one of the album's many highlights. The Kurt Weill classic ballad "Lost in the Stars" gets a dynamic treatment from Felton.  This is followed by a wild romp through Ray Noble's "Cherokee" accompanied by Edwin Livingston's bass and Nolan Shaheed's trumpet.  The Bergman Legrand ballad "What Are you Doing the Rest of Your Life?" follows and the album ends with its title song, "Freedom Jazz Dance." The first gets an eloquent atmospheric treatment from the singer; the second is a rhythmic celebration with some strong piano solo work from John Beasley. Lorca Hart drives it forward on the drums.  It is a real tour de force.

Cynthia Felton's Freedom Jazz Dance is as fine a jazz album as you're likely to come across for the rest of the year.  She is the kind of singer that can take a great song and make it her own.  Listen to her version of "Cherokee," and if it isn't heresy, it may well make you forget Charlie Barnett.  Her "Nature Boy" will give the 'King' a run for his money.

Music Review: Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas

Article first published as Music Review: Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas on Blogcritics.

Jazz Roots: The Music of the Americas is a two disc collection of 41 classic tracks illustrating the history of jazz from its African origins and its early blues and Dixieland development through to its contemporary manifestations. It covers a wide variety of styles and movements and features the work of many legendary performers and their recordings. Jazz lovers will find more than a few of their old favorites; neophytes will discover for themselves some of the iconic performances that have enchanted listeners for almost a century. This is a collection that defines what is recognized as the first truly American genre.

Beginning with Nigerian born Babtunde Olatunji's "Akiwowo" from his 1959 Drums of Passion album and ending with pianist Eldar Djangirov's 2004 recording of "Sweet Georgia Brown," Jazz Roots is nothing short of series of highlights. It has something for everyone. If you like the early piano, there's Scott Joplin playing "Maple Leaf Rag" from back in 1916; if you like something more modern, there's Dave Brubeck and the quartet featuring Paul Desmond on the saxophone doing "Take Five." Bessie Smith sings lowdown blues; Ella Fitzgerald improvises with an angelic purity of tone. There are the big bands of the thirties and forties: Benny Goodman, Glen Miller, Count Basie, and Duke Ellington. You can't help but get ready to swing when you hear the opening drum solo of "Sing, Sing, Sing," the piano intro of "Take the A Train," or the riffs of "One O'Clock Jump."

Bebop is represented by Charley Parker's "Ornithology" and Dizzy Gillespie's "Manteca." Latin influences are illustrated by the Afro-Cuban bands of the late forties and fifties, Tito Puente and Machito, as well as a more modern take on the style from Tiempo Libre's 2008 "To Conga Bach (Conga)" inspired by Bach's C Minor Fugue from The Well Tempered Clavier, Book 1. Brazilian jazz and the bossa nova craze of the sixties and seventies are represented by Antonio Carlos Jobim and Eliane Elias. Thelonious Monk, John Coltrane and Miles Davis exemplify what the liner notes call "hard bop." A variety of modern jazz movements –fusion, funk, contemporary and others—are also included with tracks from musicians like George Benson, Kenny G, Wynton Marsalis and Herbie Hancock.

While some jazz aficionados may have some personal favorite song or artist they would have preferred to the selection included in the album, it is hard to argue with what producers did choose. Clearly the album is meant for the novice. The intention is to whet the appetite, encourage further investigation. It aims to be neither exhaustive, nor comprehensive. After all to limit the representation of Dixieland, for example to three recordings, even if one of them is Louis Armstrong, can hardly be considered anything more than a taste. When you've got an album that includes Frank Sinatra, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Grover Washington, Jr., Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, and Chris Botti as well as all the other masters already mentioned, it is somewhat mean to complain.

The two disc set includes an informative 25 page pamphlet discussing each of the different jazz styles, listing some of the many musicians associated with that style, and explaining the history and educational mission of the Jazz Roots project which began in 2008 when producer Larry Rosen was asked to create a jazz series for the city of Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts. Rosen in collaboration with Carl Griffin created a series of themed concerts as well as an educational program for students to learn about the music. With the help of Sony Masterworks and Quincy Jones the program was expanded to other cities and to this album which tries to show "through these historic recordings the linkage of the Drums from Africa and the music of Western Europe, to show how that marriage gave birth to The Music of Americas." If future projects are anything like this album, jazz loves and jazz lovers-to-be have a lot to look forward to.