Jeremy Monteiro - Live at No Black Tie

Jeremy Monteiro - Live at No Black Tie - Jazz Note Records

One of Singapore's premiere jazz artists, pianist Jeremy Monteiro's career has him playing and recording with such jazz giants and legends as James Moody Benny Golson, Michael Brecker, Herbie Mann, Ernie Watts, Charlie Haden, Carmen Bradford, and many more. In the eighties, he formed a partnership with Eldee Young and Redd Holt, who had been part of the Ramsey Lewis Trip before starting Young-Holt Unlimited. In 1986, Claude Nobs, who produced the Montreux Jazz Festival, was in Singapore and heard a recording by the trio. He called Monteiro and invited him to play the main stage in Montreux, provided he also brought Young and Holt. The trio played, and a live recording was issued of the performance. Thirty-five years later, the pianist was joined by another stellar duo, bassist Jay Anderson and drummer Lewis Nash for a live recording at No Black Tie in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Monteiro's influences include Oscar Peterson, Erroll Garner, Chick Corea, and Keith Jarrett. From the introductory notes of Dave Brubeck's "In Your Own Sweet Way" to the closing notes of Herbie Hancock's "Watermelon Man," he impresses with splendid technique, touch, timing, and dynamics. He can astonish one minute and then engender a sense of calm. One bravado performance is "Just in Time," where his solos build in volcanic intensity before Nash takes a solo that dances around the performance's rhythms. Bassist Anderson is equally compelling here. Then there is a delightful interpretation of Duke Ellington's "Prelude to a Kiss," where he delicately states the melody and an understated solo leads into bassist Anderson's masterful, imaginative solo. 

Other tracks include the easy swinging original that is a tribute to James Moody, "Mode For Love," with the fluidity and precision of Monteiro's playing standing out with the sublime support he receives. It is followed by a gorgeous melodic ballad, "Josefina," that he wrote for his wife. Then there is "Mount Olive" that he wrote for Eldee Young and Redd Holt, which evokes when Young and Holt took him to a Black Church one Sunday morning. This track suggests the classic late sixties recordings from Ramsey Lewis and then Young-Holt Unlimited. 

The rest of the album is on a comparable level. "Life Goes On" has an impressionistic flavor, while the trio's interplay is exemplary for "Monk on the Mountain." This number is not about the jazz pianist and composer but inspired by an American who gave up his worldly possessions to become a Buddhist monk. Monteiro's dazzling playing is complemented by Nash's pulse and Anderson's counterpoint. The closing take on "Watermelon Man" brings this superior piano trio recording to a close. It must have been quite a time for the audience at No Black Tie audience when Monteiro, Anderson, and Nash performed.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is an 2016 performance of "Mount Olive" by Jeremy Monteiro with a different group.

Jimmy Heath Love Letter

Jimmy Heath
Love Letter
Verve

Gary Giddins relates in the liner notes for "Love Letter," its origin arose from a query, friend, and photographer, Carol Friedman, who asked if Jimmy Heath would record an album of ballads. The answer is this recording, which Giddins scribes as "Heath's stunningly elegant last testament." On this, his final recordings, Heath is supported by a fabulous backing band of pianist Kenny Barron, guitarist Russell Malone, vibraphonist Monte Croft, bassist David Wong, and drummer Lewis Nash. Augmenting the group on separate tracks are vocalists Gregory Porter and Cécile McLorin Salvant, and trumpeter Wynton Marsalis.

Giddins quotes, from conversations with Friedman, Heath about saxophonists playing ballads, "Ben Webster would play in the lower register of the saxophone and you could hear his breath. But Coltrane found a way to play in the high register of the tenor. Having played alto before, he could hear up there and he learned the altissimo range of the tenor. When he played a melody of a ballad it was ethereal. It was like heaven. Coltrane would play up in the heavens. Ben and Coleman Hawkins and everybody would be downstairs—they'd be down here on earth! Trane found a way to Trane found a way to sing in the high register that I found was unique." Heath has incorporated some both approaches as he often plays in the tenor sax's lower register but without Webster's pronounced vibrato or Hawkins relatively harsh sound.

This splendid recording opens with Heath's "Ballad from Upper Neighbor's Suite," on which Heath  exhibits his nuanced tone and phrasing set against an exquisite, delicate quartet backing with Barron being especially outstanding. One should not be surprised by the superb singing by Cécile McLorin Salvant ("Left Alone") and Gregory Porter ("Don't Misunderstand"). There is a purity in Ms. Salvant's voice with the airy backing by Malone, Croft, Wong, and Nash, before Heath's gorgeous solo. Porter's romanticism on "Don't Misunderstand" is enhanced by Barron's sophisticated elegance as Heath sings with his tenor sax.

There is a gentle warmth exhibited when Heath, with Malone and Croft in support, provides a lyrical reading of Dizzy Gillespie's "Con Alma." Wynton Marsalis joins Heath, Barron, Croft, and Nash for a winsome rendition of Kenny Dorham's ballad, "La Mesha." In addition to the sublime beauty of the horns, Barron's solo is one of elegant sophistication. There is a reflective quality to Heath's playing on "Inside Your Heart," the one track on which he employs the soprano sax.

The album closes with Heath's poignant performance of "Don't Explain," a song that Barron, Croft, and Nash recorded with Heath, later overdubbing a solo of considerable beauty and feeling. As Carol Friedman stated about Heath, "His mastery is such that you could swear that the rhythm section—Kenny in particular—is following Jimmy's lead." It is the coda of a remarkable recording, and career belies the fact that Jimmy Heath was 93 at the time. There is nothing in the robustness of his playing and impeccable pitch and timing that suggested any diminishment of his talent. Gary Giddins closes his liner notes, "Farewell, Jimmy, and welcome back. Consider this the second *rebirth*, because people are going to be talking about you all over again." Indeed, with this outstanding recording, people will be talking about Jimmy Heath for many more years.

I received a  download to review from a publicist. Here is "Con Alma" from this recording.

John DiMartino Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn

John DiMartino
Passion Flower: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
Gemini Music Co.

As Russ Musto observes in the liner notes to pianist John DiMartino's new recording, the music of Billy Strayhorn "has become recognized as one of the most important bodies of work in 20th Century American music." DiMartino, a pianist some may know from his stints with David 'Fathead' Newman and Houston Person, first got acquainted with Billy Strayhorn's music when, as a 15-year-old, an older cousin requested he learn a tune. Later he heard Grover Washington's recording of "Passion Flower," Bobby Tucker gave him the music for "A Flower Is a Lonesome Thing." In recent years, he has been performing this music with Paquito D'Rivera.

DiMartino leads a quartet of Eric Alexander on tenor saxophone, Boris Koslov on bass, and Lewis Nash on drums. Raul Midón sings on one selection. From the swing of the opening "Johnny Come Lately" to the haunting beauty of "Chelsea Bridge" and "Passion Flower," the quartet develops the inherent melodic qualities and beauty of Strayhorn's music. Alexander is in excellent form as a ballad master and storyteller in the tradition of Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Houston Person. At the same time, bassist Koslov and drummer Nash add their own contributions.

Whether soloing or adding his flourishes comping behind Alexander, DiMartino displays grace and taste. His solo rendition of "A Flower is a Lonesome Thing" is one of delicate beauty. Then there is his exquisite accompaniment to Midón's vocal on "Lush Life." He also adds a new veneer to such classic tunes as "Star Crossed Lovers," played as a bossa nova, the spirited "Raincheck," and "Take the A Train." With the outstanding backing provided as well as his marvelous piano, John DiMartino's "Passion Flower" is a sublime recording that does justice to Billy Strayhorn's superb music.

I received my review copy from a publicist. Here is "Chelsea Bridge" from this recording.

Lafayette Harris Jr. Can't Lose With the Blues

Lafayette Harris Jr.
You Can't Lose With the Blues
Savant Records

Baltimore native Lafayette Harris has become a fixture on the New York scene whose resume includes stints in Max Roach's 1990s band, vocalist Ernestine Anderson and currently with saxophonist Houston Person. Person produced this piano trio with a superb rhythm section of Peter Washington on bass and Lewis Nash drums. Underlying this recording is to "expand the language of the blues" as well as play "some standards with 'blues pride inserted in the song form.'"

With this superb trio, Harris handles a variety of songs that have been recorded by Sarah Vaughan, Bull Moose Jackson, Louis Jordan, Ray Charles, Duke Ellington, and others. The set kicks off with a brisk walking tempo swinger, "He's My Guy," where Harris develops several variations on the theme. A lovely interpretation of the Bull Moose Jackson hit ballad, "I Love You, Yes I Do," is taken at a lazy tempo. It is followed by the effervescent original, "Blues For Barry Harris," with Harris scintillating with Nash's accents helping drive this along. Nash and Washington both solo with distinction here. Harris' touch and phrasing capture the reflective quality of the Louis Jordan hit, "Don't Let the Sun Catch You Crying." A similar feeling is captured on the Cole Porter classic "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," an exquisite duet with Washington. An energetic rendition of the classic Mercer Ellington number, "Things Ain't What They Used To Be," follows.

Other standout selections include an imaginative rendering of Charlie Parker's "Bloomdido," that shows, like his tribute to Barry Harris, that he has learned the lessons of Bird and Bud Powell. The title track is a down-home as Harris gets, and then there is a superb solo rendition of Percy Mayfield's "Please Send Me Someone To Love. "The Juicy Blues," is a brisk, rollicking original that again showcases Lafayette Harris' superb blues exploration and caps this excellent recording.

I received my review copy from High Note/ Savant Records. Here is Lafayette Harris, Jr. from a few years back performing Charlie Parker's "Moose the Mooch."

Rick Germanson Quartet Live at Smalls

Among the latest batch of recordings of Live at Smalls on the Smalls Live label is one by the Rick Germanson Quartet. Pianist Germanson was joined that night by the trumpet of Dr. Eddie Henderson, the bass of Paul Gill and the drums of Lewis Nash. Germanson, best know for his association with Louis Hayes (especially the Cannonball Legacy Band), displays the influence of McCoy Tyner among others in his energetic playing.

On this date, backed by an excellent rhythm section, and benefiting from Henderson’s bright playing (in a Freddie Hubbard vein), he leads off with a driving interpretation of Bobby Timmons’ So Tired. Henderson employs a mute for a fresh and imaginative take on Surrey With A Fringe On Top, lending more of a Miles Davis’ tone here although the performances allude to the melody and chord structure of Surrey with little direct rephrasing or embellishment of the familiar melody.

Shorter’s Waltz is a Germanson original evocative of some of Shorter’s compositions with some strong work by Gill and Nash providing the base supporting more fine playing Henderson and Germanson. Playing solo, Germanson provides a lovely impressionistic rendering of Duke Ellington’s The Single Petal of a Rose, which is followed by another appealing ballad, Say It (Over & Over Gain), with Gill and Nash adding light, understated support.

A Germanson original, Edge brings Henderson back who plays in a fiery mode on this hard bop cooker. It closes another strong live recording of straight ahead hard bop from the Greenwich Village jazz club.

I purchased this. Here is Rick performing Bebop.

DC Jazz Festival Brings 10 Days of Jazz To The Nation's Capital

Ron Carter

The 2012 DC Jazz Festival takes place in the Nation’s Capital June 1 and runs through June 10. The Festival this year will have a variety of signature programs including Jazz Meets the Classics at the Kennedy Center; Jazz in the ‘Hoods at a variety of clubs and museums, presented by Events DC; Jazz’‘n’ Families Fun Days at The Phillips Collection; Jazz at the Hamilton presented by The Washington Post; and Jazz at the Howard.

Jazz Meets the Classics, co-presented by the Kennedy Center on June 4th, will feature an all-star lineup performing unique and exciting jazz interpretations of works by Bach, Chopin, Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. Headlining the concert is the Classical Jazz Quartet, with NEA Jazz Masters bassist Ron Carter and pianist Kenny Barron, vibraphonist Stefon Harris and drummer Lewis Nash. Also headlining is NEA Jazz Master and 10-time Grammy Award-winner Paquito D’Rivera, joined by Spain’s Pepe Rivero Trio, Michael Phillip Mossman and Pernell Saturnino.

Lena Seikaly

The Jazz in the ‘Hoods program highlights the innovative CapitalBop D.C. Jazz Loft, Bohemian Caverns, and more than 80 performances at over 40 museums, clubs, restaurants, hotels, and galleries across the city with performers like Loide, Michael Thomas, Mark Prince, and Rodney Richardson with Lena Seikaly. The D.C. Jazz Loft Series, presented by Capital Bop, returns to spotlight some cutting edge music and will span 3 days including an all day manifest on June 9. Performers include Marc Cary’s Cosmic Indigenous; Tarbaby, featuring Orrin Evans, Nasheet Waits. Eric Revis; and the Todd Marcus Nonet. I will hopefully have a separate post on Capital Bop’s DC Jazz Loft Series separately.

Elijah Balbed

The free annual Jazz ‘n’ Families Fun Days at The Phillips Collection on Saturday, June 2nd and Sunday, June 3rd will treat families to performances from some of the finest musicians from around the region, including Marianne Solivan, Victor Provost, the Herman Burney Trio, and the Elijah Balbed Quartet. Jazz at the Hamilton, the Festival’s main venue, will feature 10 nights of performances with such noted artists as Randy Weston, Monty Alexander, Roy Hargrove, Jimmy Heath, David Sanchez, Les Nubians, Antonio Hart, Cyrus Chestnut, Jonathan Batiste, Ben Williams, Etienne Charles, John Scofield, Roberta Gambarini, and Marshall Keys.

Jimmy Heath

Jazz at the Howard celebrates the tradition of jazz in D.C. at the newly restored and reopened historic Howard Theatre. Headline artists include multiple Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves and famed Italian guitarist Pino Daniele. The Festival also hosts a performance by the dazzling clarinetist and saxophonist Anat Cohen at the Sixth & I Historic Synagogue, and six concerts co-presented by the Kennedy Center at the Millennium Stage featuring artists such as Malika Zara, the Bohemian Caverns Jazz Orchestra, and Origem.  There is plenty of terrific jazz in a variety of musical flavors for the casual and discerning music lover at the 2012 DC Jazz Festival.

Roy Hargrove

The DC Jazz Festival (DCJF) is the largest music festival in Washington, D.C. A project of Festivals DC, Ltd., a 501 © (3) non-profit organization, the DCJF is one of the most highly-anticipated cultural events in the nation’s capital. The DC Jazz Festival is sponsored in part with a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), and by the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. For more information about the DC Jazz Festival and upcoming programs, visit www.dcjazzfest.org.

All photos © by Ron Weinstock

Thank You Paul Carr For Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival

Joey Calderazzo and Paul Carr

Paul is the moving force behind the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival that just completed its third yearly happening this past President's Day weekend. Sunday, February 19, Paul and his saxophones led a terrific band of Joey Calderazzo on piano, Terrell Stafford on trumpet, Michael Bowie on bass and Lewis Nash on drums that in part was a celebration of Paul's superb new recording, Standard Definition, on which they all play. The live performance was a stunning cap to the weekend's varied program. Perhaps the highlight of this set was a duet between Carr and Calderazzo on Cheek To Cheek. Here are some photos from that set.

Michael Bowie, Paul Carr, Lewis Nash (obscured) and Terrell Stafford

I will be posting more on 2012 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in the next few days.