Paul Motian's Monk In Motian

On Monk in Motian, the late drummer Paul Motian is heard leading a combo with guitarist Bill Frissell and saxophonist Joe Lovano with guest appearances by Dewey Redman and pianist Geri Allen. There is no bass on this, and with the exception of the tracks with Allen are piano-less as well. The CD was originally issued on the German JMT label in 1988 and reissued in 2002 on the Winter and Winter imprint, which I recently purchased from JazzLoft.com.

I really like the open feeling of the performance which the lack of piano contributes to as does Frissell’s really nice guitar. Frissell’s chords and riffs form the anchor of these performances which Motian and Lovano playing off of. There are a number of familiar Monk classics including Evidence, Bye-Ya, and Epistrophy. The ambience is somewhat similar to School Days, the wonderful Steve Lacy-Roswell Rudd group devoted to Monk’s music.

This is packed in a hardback styled cover. It is, as indicated above, not a new release which I purchased it from jazzloft.com.

Brian Settles Presents The Music of Dewey Redman

The "Take 5" series of early evening concerts held at the Kogod Courtyard at the Museum of American Art in Washington DC continues on Thursday October 18 with a performance by Brian Settles who will be exploring the music of Dewey Redman. The free concert starts at 7:00PM and runs until the Museum closes at 7:00PM.

Brian Settles performing with Freddie Redd and Butch Warren at the
Smithsonian American Art Museum's Kogod Courtyard in July, 2012

Brian Settles may be the DC Tenor Saxophonist of the moment. The DC native is quite a presence on the local jazz scene. His first album as a leader with his band Central Union, Secret Handshake (Engine Studio), was selected by Capital Bop, as the best new DC jazz album of 2011. Talking about that recording and settles, Capital Bop observes, "Anyone who’s spent a reasonable amount of time hearing live jazz in the District over the past few years knows Settles, whether by name or not, as the slight, quietly ubiquitous gentleman who’s always stepping out of the shadows at somebody else’s gig and knocking the audience out of its seats. His solos tend to be quick, 90-second cabochons that slither and whisper, never insisting on your attention so much as requiring it."

Secret Handshake is a remarkable recording that reveals new pleasures every time I listen to it. Settles can swing in a straight-ahead fashion, but he is at home in a more exploratory vein. His choice to present the music of Dewey Redman is a fascinating one. Redman was best known for his associations with Ornette Coleman and Keith Jarrett (Jarrett's celebrated American Quartet), and also a member of Old Dreams, New Dreams with fellow Ornette alumni Don Cherry, Charlie Haden and Eddie Blackwell.  Capital Bop observed that Redman also "wrote and performed acerbic original music that incorporated the musics of West Africa and India." 

On October 18, Settles will be presenting his arrangements of Redman's original compositions which should provide for some compelling listening. This is the second in a series of 5 concerts in which the Smithsonian will have local DC talent playing compositions of jazz legends. In September, Donvonte McCoy did a wonderful presentation on the music of Lee Morgan. The series will take a hiatus in November and December, returning January 17 when Elijah Jamal Balbed will present some of the early compositions of Wayne Shorter.  Capital Bop had an excellent overview of this particular series of performances, http://capitalbop.com/2012/09/20/news-smithsonian-trains-take-5-spotlight-on-local-musicians-and-legendary-composers/. 

Here is Brian Settles performing as part of a group led by Freddie Redd and Butch Warren.

Tenor sax Battle between James Carter and Joshua Redman

Nice video (from Carnegie Hall I believe) of the two backed by a big band ripping through Straight No Chaser, and Now's the Time. This has been posted to you tube several times, but this one benefits from some rather heated comments. I prefer James Carter a bit more (he sounds a bit more gutbucket and bluesy), but Redman is no slouch and both are major players.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FrVFihi_sI&feature=related#