Josh Berman & His Gang - There Now

The back cover of a new Delmark release by cornetist Josh Berman & His Gang, There Now, describes it as "a collection of jazz hybrids: both new compositions and arrangements of early jazz standards. The Gang is concerned equally with the great musical legacies of Louis Armstrong, Pee Wee Russell, Derek Bailey and the Art Ensemble of Chicago." To this Bailey has brought together some of Chicago's accomplished players including Jeb Bishop on trombone; Jason Stein on bass clarinet; Guillermo Gregorio on clarinet; Keefe Jackson on tenor saxophone; Jason Adasiewicz on vibraphone; Joshua Adams on bass and Frank Rosaly on drums.

Of the eight performances on There Now, five are Berman’s arrangements of songs associated with the Chicago Jazz of the 20s and 30s including Liza, Sugar and I Found a New Baby, while three are originals by him. WIth this unusual instrumentation and the imaginative arrangements, some may not recognize these songs. An example would be Stein’s free bass clarinet playing with his growls and sheiks that open Love Is Just Around the Corner, before the leader takes the lead with his cornet followed by Bishop’s growling trombone with imaginative horn voicings supporting the solos and a pulse replacing a steady beat.

An oversimplification of what Berman and his Gang has brought here is that some of these performances come off as if the Eric Dolphy of “Out To Lunch” had approached such material. Perhaps it is the presence of Adasiewicz on vibes (Like Bobby Hutchinson on the Dolphy album) that generates this thought, particularly on the leader’s original One Train May Hide Another. Throughout this recording there is a blend of imagination, abstraction, and free, as well as melodic, playing that this ensemble handles in a cohesive and imaginative fashion.

The interplay between the horns through ranges from contemplative to fiery as in where Berman’s cornet adds fore to Bishop’s growling attack on the original Clouds. Free playing follows surging traditionally ensemble passages on Liza, with Stein’s post-Dolphy bass clarinet here spanning a warm woody tone to bluesy leaps and squeals. I’ve Found a New Baby is usually taken at a hot tempo, but after bassist Abrams opens, the theme is stated at a very slow tempo as if they are performing a dirge prior to the middle section which evokes the little instruments and similar soundscapes provided by the Art Ensemble of Chicago and other AACM artists.

Kevin Whitehead’s liner notes provide background and insights to aid those listening to There Now! While this CD may not appeal to those rooted in traditional jazz, those familiar with contemporary post-bop jazz will find There Now! to be a most imaginative and fascinating album that is full of surprises and passion in the performances.

I received my review copy from Delmark. Here is a brief clip of Josh Berman and His Gang in performance.

Jimmy Blythe Messed Around The Blues

Born in Lexington, Kentucky, Jimmy Blythe arrived in Chicago as a teenager in 1916. As Bob Koester notes, not much is known about Blythe outside of his recordings and piano rolls. He recorded extensive in small groups featuring such noted instrumentalists as Johnny Dodds, Louis Armstrong,Roy Palmer and Natty Dominque as well as singers like Blind Blake, Lottie Beaman, Lonnie Johnson, Monette Moore and Ma Rainey. Recordings such as these as well as with Jimmy Bertrand’s Washboard Wizards and Blythe’s Washboard Ragamuffins give a sense of the type of ragtime-early boogie woogie flavor that marked his music.

Delmark’s reissue of Blythe, Messin’ Around Blues, is derived from 19 of the piano rolls that Blythe recorded which outnumber the actual piano solos he recorded. Modern technology probably makes the reproduction of piano rolls on CD much better than reissues of 1920s’ recordings mastered from old 78s. At the same time, the technique of cutting a piano rolls may limit the grittier aspects of Blythe’s playing. Certainly Blythe was comfortable on the blues he performs here like Sugar Dew Blues, as well as rendering the pop songs of the day as My Baby. His recording, Chicago Stomp, was perhaps the first boogie woogie recording. It shows how vigorous his playing could be and can be heard at http://www.redhotjazz.com/blythe.html.

The music presented on Messin’ Around Blues has a stately quality with ragtime and stride flavor, but little in terms of the ragged, boogie style that can be heard on the recordings of contemporaries like Clarence ‘Pinetop’ Smith, Cow Cow Davenport or Meade Lux Lewis as well as Blythe’s own recordings. Delmark is to be congratulated for issuing this, however I suspect this may have a limited audience.

This review originally appeared in the March 2008 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 302). I received my review copy from Delmark.

Frank Melrose's Two-Fisted Chicago Jazz Piano

Frank Melrose was a younger brother of music publishers Walter and Lester Melrose and as Delmark’s Bob Koester notes in the booklet for the Delmark release of Bluesiana, was virtually the only Caucasian artist to record for ‘race” (blues records) in the late ‘20s and early ‘30s, where he recorded with such bands as King Mutt’s (that also included trumpeter Punch Miller), the Windy Rhythm Kings with Junie and Oliver Cobb, and the Beale Street Washboard Band with Johnny Dodds, along with his own sides with the Kansas City Stompers.

An impressive two-fisted pianist, an early jazz discography listed two piano solos he recorded as if by Jelly Roll Morton, and he continued performing until found brutally murdered in 1941. These recordings were made in 1940 and originally intended for Bob Thiele's Signature label but Thiele was drafted. They were acquired by stockbroker and jazz fan Frank Lyons who supplied Delmark the recordings for issue.

This is a straight-ahead ‘Chicago style’ jazz date with a band that included cornet player Pete Daly, a regular associate of Melrose’s from the early ‘30s and saxophonist Boyce Brown, with vocalist June Davis on three tracks. There are pop tunes of the era like Sugarfoot Strut (that Louis Armstrong recorded) as well as some New Orleans classics (Jelly Roll Morton’s New Orleans Blues) and Melrose’s own originals (the hot Corrine Romp[, Bluesiana, with June Davis who comes off as a decent Billie Holiday imitator, and Rosetta, which itself became a jazz standard) .

There is plenty of hot jazz here and Morton’s influence can be heard in Melrose’s composition Original Stomp, with a nice Daly solo some tailgate trombone from Bill Helgart and a pumping bass, rolling piano break from Melrose, in addition to the spirited rendition of Morton’s New Orleans Blues, with Melrose taking the lead at the beginning. The World is Waiting For the Sunrise is a showcase for his rollicking piano backed by just the rhythm, while his introspective version of Body and Soul is one of two piano solos here.

Bluesiana is a delightful example of mainstream small group jazz of the pre-bebop era that certainly will be of interest to those who appreciate earlier styles of jazz.

My review copy was provided by Delmark Records. This review originally appeared in the November-December 2006 Jazz & Blues Report (Issue 288).