Don Sebesky's Masterwork Giant Box

Don Sebesky’s Giant Box is part of the CTI Masterworks reissues of classic CTI albums marking the label’s 40th Anniversary. Originally issued as a double album, the single CD here makes available the music that Sebesky contributed arrangements/orchestrations to along with some original compositions from him. While it might seem this was a tribute to him from the label’s artists, in fact it was his attempt to showcase some of the label’s soloists he had worked with, and while writing the material he had a feeling who should play specific solos. Sebesky himself the arrangements and compositions here were amongst the most ambitious he had written at that time.

Among those featured on the performances on this recording are Sebesky and Bob James on keyboards; Ron Carter on acoustic, electric and piccolo bass; Billy Cobham and Jack DeJohnette on drums; George Benson and Harry Leahy; Airto, Dave Friedman and Ralph McDonald on percussion; Paul Desmond, Joe Farrell; and Grover Washington, Jr. on saxophones; Milt Jackson on vibes; Freddie Hubbard on trumpet and flugelhorn; Hubert laws on flute; and Jackie Kral and Roy cain on vocals.

The liner notes to the original release are included and while there is considerable classical influence (including his full use of strings, horns and woodwinds) in how Sebesky approaches some of the performances, he affirmatively answers that the ultimate result is jazz. He uses Stravinsky's Firebird to frame his orchestral arrangement for John McLaughlin’s Birds of Fire that is one of the showcases for Hubert Laws’ flute along with Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet and Harry Leahy’s guitar. Paul Desmond’s dry martini alto saxophone is showcased on the interpretation of Joni Mitchell’s Song to a Seagull, on which Sebesky is heard on electric piano.

Sebesky’s electric piano opens his original Free As a Bird with soaring horns has outstanding solos that take flight from James on piano, Hubbard on flugelhorn, and Washington on soprano sax (note how he really digs in on this). James is on organ for the arrangement of Jimmy Webb’s setting for Psalm 150, with Jackie Kral and Roy Cain singing praise for the Lord with Hubbard’s trumpet and Carter’s bass adding to the joyful sounds. Desmond opens the interpretation of Rachmaninoff’s “Vocalise, which is followed by some vibes-piano interplay between Milt Jackson and Bob James along with more Desmond on a lovely performance with some flamenco tinges and lovely use of horns in the orchestration.

Sebesky invokes us with his vocal to fly high as we could if we only could try opening his original medley Fly/Circle. This performance opens somewhat dreamingly that has both Laws and Farrell both displaying a fair amount of reverb in their flute and soprano sax respectively before an interlude with DeJohnette and Carter followed by Farrell’s serpentine solo and a skittering solo from Laws. The closing original Semi-Tough has a funky groove, some skittering piano from Sebesky, a gospel rooted vocal chorus, some gritty alto saxophone from Washington, and George Benson making judicious use of pedal effects in his driving guitar.

The performances on Don Sebesky’s Giant Box display how his ambitious synthesis of classical, jazz and popular music was so realized. His orchestrations frame the featured players here and enhance the solos that exhibit the skill and imagination of some of the greatest jazz musicians of four decades ago with m,ore than a few spectacular moments.

I received my review copy from a publicist for the release.

Freddie Hubbard's Straight Life

Straight Life is the latest reissue of Freddie Hubbard as part of Sony Music’s CTI Masterworks series celebrating 40 years of CTI. On this particular session Hubbard was joined by George Benson on guitar; Herbie Hancock on electric piano; Joe Henderson on tenor sax; Ron Carter on bass; Jack DeJohnette on drums; Richie ‘Pablo’ Landrum on percussion and Weldon Irvine on tambourine. The album has three songs that include two extended performances and one shorter interpretation of a standard.

There is a loose, jamming feel to the performances starting with the title track which is a Hubbard original on which Benson and Hancock take extended solos both built on repeated riffs with DeJohnette and percussion laying down the rhythm over which Hubbard seems to float above with his playing focusing on the middle. Irvine contributed Mr. Clean, is a mid-tempo cooker with a latin tinge as Henderson and Hubbard state its theme. Hubbard has a bit more heat in his playing and employing more of the upper register and is followed by some fervent playing from Henderson with Benson getting really gritty as well. The closing ballad, Here Comes That Rainy Day, is a lovely duet between Hubbard on flugelhorn with Benson on guitar. A nice conclusion to a reissue that may not be an essential part of Hubbard’s recorded legacy, but one with plenty of fire and cool.

I received a review copy from a publicist for the recording. Here is Freddie Hubbard at the DownBeat Awards performing Straight Life.

Freddie Hubbard's First Light Celebrated By CTI Masterworks Reissue

As part of its celebration of the 40th Anniversary of CTI Records, Sony has through the CTI Masterworks imprint reissued Freddie Hubbard’s First Light. First Light was a Grammy Award winning recording, and had Hubbard with a band that included drummer Jack DeJohnette, bassist Ron Carter, guitarist George Benson, pianist (acoustic and electric) Ricard Wyands, percussionist Airto Moreira along with a large orchestral horn and string section that included flautist Hubert Laws.

The title track certain is one of the high points here as it has some sparkling trumpet by the leader as well as some sizzling fretwork from Benson and flute from Laws with the orchestrated setting sweetening the sound to some extent in framing Hubbard’s playing with the music fading at the end. Following is a melodically rooted interpretation of Paul and Linda McCartney’s Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey. The arrangements are uncredited although likely are by Don Sebesky as this performance suggests similar pop-jazz recordings by Wes Montgomery. Guitarist Benson adds some interesting guitar set against Wyands electric piano.

There is a lovely rendition of the Mancini/Mercer standard Moment To Moment, followed by very appealing muted playing on a Don Sebesky/ Norman Martin plaintive ballad Yesterday’s Dreams. The initial release concluded with some atmospheric playing on Lonely Town from the musical On the Town. On this reissue there are a couple of bonus selections that were not on the original recording. Cedar Walton’s Fantasy in D (Polar AC) from the same sessions that produced this album with Hubbard and the rhythm section exhibiting a bit more fervor and rhythmic pulse with Laws taking a flighty solo before Hubbard takes this out soaring with some more fire in his playing.

This particular reissue of First Light concludes with a lengthy live performance of the title track from Detroit in 1973 with Eric Gales on guitar, DeJohnette, Carter and an uncredited electronic keyboard player (Wyands?) on an extended performance that provides a fuller display of Hubbard’s dazzling brilliance and range. Gales takes a solo that exhibits his blues-inflected playing and DeJohnette takes a brief solo before Hubbard leads everyone out.

There is plenty of Freddie Hubbard’s often dazzling trumpet to be heard here, although there are some that may not be fans of the orchestrated settings for his performances.

My review copy was provided by a publicist for this release.

Sunflower is a Milt Jackson CTI Masterwork

Milt Jackson's Sunflower (CTI Masterworks) was among the initial batch of CDs to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of CTI Records. This recording dates from late 1972 and had the great vibes played joined by a band that included Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on Bass, Billy Cobham on drums, Ralph McDonald on percussion, and Freddie Hubbard on trumpet. In addition there is a string section and classically oriented horns (alto flute, English horn, oboe, piccolo) on some of the tracks with Don Sebesky's arrangements on a re-mastered, remixed and re-edited reissue.

Jay Berliner's flamenco-styled guitar sets the mood on Jackson's For Someone I Love, with Jackson and Hubbard playing with lovely restraint on this ballad. What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life, by Michel Legrand, and Alan and Marilyn Bergman also displays Hubbard melodic side with immaculate support with the strings creating a dreamy cushion. Hancock switches to electric piano for interpretation of The Stylistic's hit, People Make the World Go Round, providing a base for the solos by Jackson and Hubbard before taking a lengthy one himself. Hubbard contributed the lilting title track on which strings reappear and it is followed by a Milt Jackson blues, SKJ, the most straight-ahead performance here with plenty of heat generated. It is performances like this one that really get this writer’s juices going.

Sunflower may be a bit sweet at spots for this writer's taste, but it is strongly played and easy to listen to.


My review copy was provided by a publicist for the label.

Unsung Tenor Sax Hero Hadley Caliman"s "Straight Ahead"

Tenor saxophonist Hadley Caliman would have been a more prominent name in the jazz world if he hadn’t primarily serving as a teacher and mentor around Seattle for the last few decades of his life as he was a teacher at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle while living in Cathlamet, outside Seattle. A classmate of Art farmer at Los Angeles’ Jefferson High School, he studied with Dexter Gordon and on Central Avenue in the 50’s was known as “Little Dex.” He has performed, recorded and toured with musicians such as Freddie Hubbard, Gerald Wilson, Carlos Santana, Dexter Gordon, Elvin Jones, Mongo Santamaria, Joe Pass, The Grateful Dead, Joe Henderson, Don Ellis, Flora Purim, Phoebe Snow, Bobby Hutcherson and many others, and in fact recorded four albums under his name in the 70s. For more on his life you should visit http://www.hadleycaliman.com/index.php from which I derived this biographical information. He passed away in September, 2010 after a two-year struggle with liver cancer.

The Seattle-based Origin Records helped document Caliman with three CDs (one with Pete Christlieb) in the past few years. The last of these three is Straight Ahead, recorded in November 2008 with a band that included trumpeter Thomas Marriott, pianist Eric Verlinde, bassist Phil Sparks and drummer Matt Jorgensen. As the liner notes observe, John Coltrane is an evident influence on Caliman’s playing, but an influence tempered by his West Coast bop background. Listening to his rendition of the F.K. Hollander ballad You Leave Me Breathless, is perhaps the best evidence of Trane’s mark on his tone and sound, but his own sensibility is evident as well. But listening to this I am also struck how on some of the quartet performances, the feel reminds me of Dexter Gordon’s Steeplechase Recordings from the 70s such as the swinging quartet rendition of The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, with Verlinde standing out (quoting Surrey With a Fringe on Top in his solo).

There is so much to savor here from the opening Caliman original, Cigar Eyes, named after a LA bartender which sports a nice funky riff with Marriott bright, round tone complementing the leader. Rapture, from the pen of his friend, tenor saxophonist, Harold Land has a bit more reflective quality and Marriott and pianist Verlinde make valuable contributions as well as the leader. The rhythm section is marvelous here with Jorgensen’s cymbal work accenting the solos. Cathlamet is a lovely Marriott original celebrating Caliman’s home town for several decades, followed by Joe Locke’s Blues For PT, a mid-tempo romp that Caliman goes full bore with his solo. There is a lovely quartet rendition of Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and then the full quintet for a swinging treatment of Lee Morgan’s Totem Pole, with the understated rhythm that make the solos from Caliman and Marriott stand out. This is a terrific disc that shows Hadley Caliman was still moving straight ahead with his music until his end.

JazzNow Seattle, http://jazznowseattle.com/, the terrific podcast devoted to Seattle’s jazz scene by Jason Parker and David Marriott, enabled me to become aware the music of Caliman and many other fine performers on that city’s scene. This recording should be readily available, but you can contact or Origin Records directly, www.origin-records.com, which is where I purchased this from.

Musical Notes from the Internet.

Here are a couple of interesting recent blogs that merit sharing.

A fascinating chat with Henry Threadgill

An intriguing interview with Henry Threadgill on the web blog New Music Box. http://tinyurl.com/Henry-Threadgill-interview. I find it interesting he does not own a computer. Here is a quote from Frank J. Oliveri about him, “If you’re not paying careful enough attention, Henry Threadgill might seem like he’s full of contradictions. While he is an avatar of musical progress, he disdains a great deal of technology. He prefers LPs to CDs. And forget about mp3s; Threadgill proudly refuses to own a computer and to this day there’s no henrythreadgill.com. In fact, he’s most comfortable chatting while drinking a coffee at DiRobertis Caffe, an old Italian bakery and café that has been a fixture of his East Village neighborhood since 1904. So that’s where we spoke.”

There is plenty of discussion on music in general, AACM, founding of Air, being a multi-instrumentalist, writing for an orchestra, and inventing an instrument. Here is just a brief excerpt as Threadgill discussed the hubcaphone.

FJO: What is the hubcaphone? I have some ideas after hearing recordings of it, but I'd love for you explain it.

HT: It's a set of pitched and unpitched hubcaps. They're eight hubcaps strung and hung and played in a percussion style. Almost like a large set of vibes or marimba. They lay flat, and they're all classic hubcaps because that's the only material that has any kind of a good quality sound. Because you know everything from the '60s on is basically trash. In the '60s they were still making things in America that were of quality, but by the end of the '60s, America was on its way downhill in terms of making anything of quality. Radios. Hubcaps. I don't care what it is.

FJO: Except for music.
HT: Yeah. True.

It is interesting that Mosaic has just issued a box set of Threadgill’s recordings with Air, Novus and other labels now under Sony’s ownership. There is also a wonderful box of the recordings of the Black Saint albums including Air, New Air and more recent recordings.


CTI reissues.

Creed Taylor’s CTI label was a pioneering label as far as its recording and presentation of jazz. In some respects, CTI was sort of a precursor to smooth jazz, but that certainly understates the range of the music produced on the label. Taylor’s productions of Jimmy Smith and Wes Montgomery for Verve certainly were a glimpse of what was ahead, but Taylor produced much music that stands up today such as Freddie Hubbard’s Red Clay and Stanley Turrentine’s Sugar.

Marc Myers on his Jazz Wax blog (jazzwax.com) ran a couple of blog entries discussing the new releases of CTI material to celebrate the 40th Anniversary of the release of the first CTI releases. On September 30, he posted his first entry, A Tale of Two CTI's (Part 1), which discussed Sony’s ambitious reissue plays that includes a 4CD box set and many reissues. But, he says “the box set's recordings simply don't sound as vibrant or as distinctive as they should—despite claims in promotional materials that the label remastered the original two-track analog CTI masters.

I’m sure that Sony remastered the material. The problem is the label for some strange reason didn't do as good a job as it has done recently for other jazz artists who were part of the Columbia fold. I know this because I just spent the past week listening to 20 different CTI releases from King Records in Japan and have compared them with Sony's set. The King's CDs are far and away superior in detail and warmth.”

Interesting how the Japanese record company does a better job or remastering that the US based Sony reissues. What did Henry Threadgill say about the quality of US made goods? You can Marc’s blog as well as his discussion of specific King Records CTI reissues which was presented on October 1 in A Tale of Two CTIs (Part 2) and mentions the availability. Be aware that the Japanese imports are not cheap, costing over $40 per CD and I am not sure if the differences can be detected by those of use who listen through our computer or ipod and through headphones. Marc Myers explains his audio set-up but i would think listening to these through a decent set of headphones would show differences. His discussion of audio issues is well worth considering.

I have received a sampler from the 4CD box from the publicist for the release and the music certainly has travelled the decades well. But I do not know what I am not hearing that i could be.