"Best of" collections are often problematic when attempting to create an overview of a jazz artist. Since jazz musicians often change backing groups, styles, instruments and numerous other aspects of their performance, an attempt to collect a representative cross-section of their careers.

The most extreme example I can think of is The Essential Miles Davis, a two CD retrospective from Columbia a few years back. Given the length and breadth of his career and artistry, any collection that includes the modal jazz of Kind of Blue, experimental quintet work of Sorcerer and the fusion of Bitches Brew cannot allow someone to truly understand his music. Think of it as the Blind Men and the Elephant for music - whatever track you hear gives you a picture of what an artist is like, and it inevitably fails to give an accurate one.

Two of our finest female singers have released compilation CDs that for the msot part, succeed in showing off their artistry. By Request: The Very Best of Karrin Allyson draws on ten of her albums, along with a previously unreleased gem. Many of these were "theme albums", whether it was taking the music of Brazil, or covering blues, standards or Coltrane's Ballads.  As a result, each one of those releases served as a self-contained offering by the singer expressing her artistry at that moment. Here, the tracks are merely selections on the compilations, and while they are without exception fine recordings, you can't help but feel that the singer is better represented by the original CD as a whole.

Footprints was one of Ms. Allyson's best CDs, as she took isntrumental jazz classics and had lyrics added to the tunes. "Next Time Around(Soultrane)", is a Tadd Dameron composition that couldn't get cleared for inclusion on Footprints, but now serves as a terrific example of how talented singers can take memorable tunes and with the assistance of lyricists like collaborator Chris Caswell, being new and even deeper feeling to the piece. Click here to listen to her lyrics added to Duke Jordan's "Jordu", in a new version entittled "Life is a Groove".

Cassandra Wilson often peppers her albums with stripped down, reimagined version of rock classics. With Closer to You: The Pop Side, she collects eleven of those songs from six of her prior albums. Ms. Wilson has become perhaps our finest interpreter of popular songs today, and her versions of songs by the Monkees ("Last Train to Clarksville"), U2 ("Love is Blindness") and The Band ("The Weight") attempt to recreate songs that may have become jukebox favorites. As a result, this CD succeeds where many other compilations fail, since it creates a thematic whole.

Two songs on the CD, "Harvest Moon" and "Tupelo Honey", are among the strongest ballads written by Neil Young and Van Morrison, respectively. Ms. Wilson manages to make them very much her own, particularly the latter, stripping away any excess and leaving only her voice, Brandon Ross' steel guitar, Lonnie Plaxico's bass and percussion from Kevin Johnson and Lance Carter to carry the song. Charlie Burnham's violin plays the familiar beginning and adds tension on the instrumental breaks, but its the spareness of the arrangement, and Ms. Wilson's desky vocal, that makes it so memorable.

 It takes a bold man to attempt a tribute album to one of the best loved and most unique albums in jazz history. The 1963 session between the John Coltrane's Classic Quartet and journeyman singer Johnny Hartman has become the stuff of legend, and for this reviewer's ears, remains the best collaboration between a singer and major instrumentalist in jazz history.

Kurt Elling is that bold, however, and we are the luckier for it. The rich baritoned singer from Chicago, backed by strings and his longtime piano playing partner Laurence Hobgood, has shown with Dedicated to You that it is possible to record music associated closely with another artist, and turn it into your own.

 All six tracks that graced the orginal album are performed here, along with a five songs recorded by Coltrane on his classic 1962 album Ballads. The material is perfect for Elling, a master of using all aspects of his range to bring across a song, sometimes in one phrase. His version of "Lush Life", for example, takes a slighter slower pace than the original, and stretches out some words, while moving from lower to upper range in one line, all to great dramatic effect. Hopgood's piano is also worth noting here, deviating from the more traditional approach McCoy Tyner took forty-five years ago.

Elling tells the story of the sessions in his poem "A Poetic Jazz  Memory", which merges with "It's Easy to Remember". This serves to set the scene extremely well, and reminds us how grat art can appear when we least expect it, when talent, material and timing all merge.

The string section adds much to the material as well. From the pizzicato opening to the title track, or the coloring added to "Lush Life" and especially "My One and Only Love", these arrangements swirl around Elling and show another side to the familiar material. Only the Coltrane quartet backed Hartman on the original. 

Ernie Watts joins Elling on saxophone, and while his playing is more than acceptable, he plays it far too safe to stand in Trane's shoes. The sole instrumental on the album, "What's New", gives Watts a chance to show his stuff, but he never really shows the kind of playing he contribtued to Charlie Haden's Quartet West.

Dedicated to You won't ever replace the warmth and intimacy that John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman still bring every time it's played, but it doesn't try to. Instead, it joins CD's like Karrin Allyson's Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane and Branford Marsalis' Coltrane's A Love Supreme as current artists winningly taking the classic music of John Coltrane and making of it not only tribute, but triumph.

It's a real delight to welcome Christan McBride back into acoustic jazz. I've been a fan of the great bassist since his debut as a leader in 1994. Since then, he has been more than a little busy, lending his extensive talents to varying projects and combos, including the R&B tribute A Family Affair and the sprawling 3 CD set Live At Tonic, which found McBride adding violin, turntable and perhaps the kitchen sink to his basic group on long, meandering jams.

Kind of Brown  (a tip of the cap to his mentor Ray Brown) finds McBride back on his acoustic bass, playing as part of a quintet called Inside Straight. It's a winning hand, primarily due to the high quality of his collaborators and seven strong McBride compositions.

Drummer Carl Allen teams seemlessly with bassist McBride, creating a rhythm section that can keep the time with the best, but doesn't hesitate to step out and take control as well. Listen to McBride's solo on "Rainbow Wheel" to see that he can play the upright bass with the best.

Saxophonist Steve Wilson lends a warm sound to tracks like "Starbeam" and really stretches out on Freddie Hubbard's "Theme for Kareem". I'm a huge vibes fan, so its great to see McBride incorporating Warren Wolf, Jr. into the band. He contributes a lightning solo to "Kareem", and a tasteful run on pianist Eric Scott Reed's composition "Pursuit of Peace". The lilting "Uncle James" shows that Wilson and Wolf and slow it down as well, contributing tasty sounds to the piece.

McBride was wise to tap Reed for his pianist bench. A veteran of Wynton Marsalis and Freddie Hubbard's bands, he is a great foil for McBride, weaving in and around the bass player here and there.

 In short, Kind of Brown is the kind of CD that reminds us why we like acoustic jazz - its short on bombast, long on style and substance. With Inside Straight, Christian McBride has reclaimed his position as one of our finest upright bass players.

Sunday June 28, 2009 -

A particularly strong lineup for the Gazebo Stage brings me across the park for the start of Day Two. Trumpeter Ralph Alessi’s This Against That band performed a set of complex Downtown new York influenced jazz, with the small confines of the staging allowing for an intimate and challenging performance. Pianist Matt Mitchell was particularly strong, playing off a solid rhythm section and allowing the trumpet and sax solos of Alessi and Tony Malaby to take center stage.

Speaking of piano, SNC favorite Aaron Parks followed, leading his trio through a fluid, melodic set. Parks’ sound is well suited for the smaller stage, as he plays with great grace and passion. The band ended with a cover of Robert Wyatt’s “Sea Song”.

The still underrated George Coleman and his quartet provided a Main Stage set of straight-ahead jazz, with Coleman showing he can still play long, soulful melodies. His song list was spiced by a tribute to the late Freddie Hubbard (“Up Jumped Spring”) and a wonderful group workout on the R&B classic “Where is the Love”. The great Harold Mabern gave the band a real lift during his solos, and played off Coleman like the wily veteran he is.

Nothing could have prepared the crowd for Bonerama, a highly energetic, exciting band from New Orleans fronted by three trombone players. Their set, which mixed blues (“Big Fine Woman”), New Orleans R&B (Fats Domino’s “I’m Walking”) and improvised jazz, was a wonderful gumbo of power-packed horns, spiced with organ and a kicking rhythm section. The set’s highlight began with unearthly sounds being rung from a trombone and turned into a mind-blowing version of Led Zeppelin’s take on “When the Levee Breaks”, with the three horns channeling Zep’s mighty guitar power chords.

The energy didn’t dip when Bettye Lavette made her upstate New York debut with her band. She came out rocking, and quickly moved through a set that included the soulful “Choices”, a pounding take on Dolly Parton’s “Little Sparrow” and a thrilling medley of her early songs that ended with “Let Me Down Easy”, a song she called “her mantra”. A veteran of a 48 year career that only recently has caught fire, Miss Lavette raised the hair on the back of the neck when she performed “A Change is Gonna Come” as she did at the Inauguration Concert on the Mall this past January. She encored with a stirring acapella version of “I Do Not Want What I Have Not Got”.

Dave Brubeck earned a standing ovation merely by taking the stage for his set, which honored the 50^th anniversary of his classic Time Out album. Regally dressed in white dinner jacket, the frail Brubeck’s age seems to slip away when he begins to play with his quartet, and this set was no exception. Beginning with a Duke Ellington medley that finished with Brubeck swinging along with the group, the set really caught fire with “Unsquare Dance” a tune written in 7/4 that allowed drummer (and son) Danny Brubeck and veteran bassist Michael Moore to push saxophonist Bobby Militello on to greater heights. Militello brought a little extra panache to “Take Five”, pushing the solo into different terrain than did Paul Desmond in the iconic original. I couldn’t help but feel that if this is the final time the great Brubeck hits this stage, he left his fans still wanting more.

George Benson ended the festival with a split set. The first portion, backed by a 28 piece orchestra, a chorus and his band, was a tribute to Nat “King” Cole. Benson, who successfully brings out Cole’s vocal trademarks, stuck primarily to the “pop years”, allowing Nelson Riddle’s arrangements to buoy songs like “Too Young”, “Unforgettable” and “Mona Lisa”. There is not a little irony that Benson chose this part of Cole’s repertoire to perform – just as Cole left his days as the leader of a swinging piano trio for mainstream success as a singer, so has Benson abandoned his years of being “most wanted” for greasy guitar-organ combos for thirty years of hits with smooth jazz and crossover R&B sounds.  Pianist and Orchestra conductor Randy Waldman (who has performed similar duties for Barbra Streisand) led the group through the classic sounds, and added his own arrangement to a moving “Smile”.

The “Benson party” he called for ended the set, as he and his backing performed his funky take on Cole’s “Nature Boy”, segueing into hits like “This Masquerade”, “Give Me the Night” and the encore, “On Broadway”.  The crowd danced their way out, ready to make plans for 2010.

(Note - the two live tracks posted here are NOT recorded at SPAC this weekend, but are from other venues intended to give you an idea as to what went down.)

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Day One of the 32^nd annual Freihofer’s Jazz Festival in Saratoga Springs, New York may have been married by passing showers, but the weather didn’t seem to dampen the spirits of the enthusiastic crowd the filled the rolling grounds of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (“SPAC”). Producer Don Melnick clearly had diversity as one of the hallmarks of the show that day, and the crowds were treated to two stages of the many facets of jazz music.

From Brazilian to Latin Jazz, Acoustic to Electric sounds, and veteran and new faces, the talent roster was impressive. As in previous years, a main Stage in the large amphitheatre and a Gazebo Stage across the park allowed both current stars and up and coming talent to perform.  It was a sumptuous musical buffet, and the hungry jazz fans were feasting all day.

As with any buffet, not all the offerings are going to be at the gourmet level, Kendra Shank’s early set suffered from the large main stage setting; she performed a more intimate set later in the day on the gazebo stage. Mark Morganelli’s Jazz Forum Project Brazil played a solid if unspectacular set of Tom Jobim covers, gaining some needed lift when vocalist Monica Olivera guested on vocals.

The mid-afternoon music made the day truly memorable, 80 year old Jimmy Cobb was nothing less than sensational as he gathered an all0star group to create the “So What Band” and salute the 50^th anniversary of Miles Davis’ modal jazz classic Kind of Blue. Trumpeter Wallace Roney seemed prepared to channel the spirit of Miles, taking the stage clad in a natty large pattered lapel less jacket and shades that recalled late period Davis. Roney has been called upon by Herbie Hancock to play Miles’ parts in a 1992 concert reuniting the Second Great Quintet, so there could be little doubt about his ability to tackle the material. Roney wisely chose not to mimic the muted notes and minimalistic solos of the 1959 recording note for note, instead bringing new and exciting tones to familiar material.

 Javon Jackson and Vincent Herring had the task of taking spots occupied by John Coltrane and Cannonball Adderly, respectively, but more than held their own, with Herring’s solos particularly notable. The fire of the band came from pianist Larry Willis, whose energetic chords and forceful solos pushed songs like “All Blues” and “Freddie Freeloader” up and onward. Each song earned a standing ovation. Cobb is the sole living member of the band from those famous sessions, and the band set him up for a furious solo to end the set. They left the stage with the audience begging for more.

 The crowd didn’t get an encore, but they did get Gary Burton’s much ballyhooed Quartet reunion, featuring guitar ace Pat Metheny, Steve Swallow and Antonio Sanchez. Playing songs from their stellar new live album; the band was in peak form on up-tempo numbers like “Sea Journey” and Metheny’s “Question and Answer”. Burton continues to wield his four mallets like a wizard, whether on the ballad “Coral” or Steve Swallow’s intricate “Falling Rain”.

Latin Jazz too often gets overlooked in major festivals, but a real coup was achieved by grabbing the Grammy-winning Spanish Harlem Orchestra before they headed off on their European tour. The band is a dozen strong, with a percussion section to match any in the business, and they had the crowd up and dancing, providing some needed hip-shaking to the soggy early evening.

Regrettably, the closing acts couldn’t match the group’s fire. The Stanley Clarke-Marcus Miller-Victor Wooten bass troika known as SMV proved to be a better idea on record than on stage. The CD Thunder allowed for overdubs and production detail, but performing live, they were backed only by keyboard and drums. Miller surprised the crowd with his sax solo on “When I Fall In Love” and bass clarinet on “Tutu”, but for the most part, their set seemed an exercise in bass-head flash. I must concede that it is unlikely I will see this many masters showing off their tricks and talents on one stage again, too often the feeling was of a series of master classes or private “cutting sessions” than a group performance of any real soul or grit.

Patti LaBelle, who closed the evening, showed soul and grit to spare, but her performance was sadly lacking in well-thought out and detailed presentation. She sadly seemed to take the Las Vegas approach of dripping a verse here and allowing a backup singer to take her leader there. “Lady Marmalade” was cut unforgivably short for audience participation shenanigans. A medley of “When You Wish Upon a Star” and “Over the Rainbow” ended her set with real feeling, but I couldn’t help but feel that Miss Patti had more with which to leave us.

The passing of Michael Jackson yesterday at the age of 50 leaves decidely mixed emotion. First, given that my 50th birthday looms ahead this Fall, an increased sense of mortality hits me. Next, a sense of relief that a tortured soul may finally have been given some measure of rest.

It's not easy to separate the public persona and acts performed by an artist from his work, but in considering Michael Jackson, I think its imperative. Poets like T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound (and I am NOT comparing their work to Jacko's in any way) were a blatant anti-semite and fascist supporter, respectively, and yet their art will live forever and holds a special place in my heart. So I would prefer to remember his prepubescent enthusiasm and his days as a moonwalking megastar to the horrors of the last fifteen years, when he became a world-wide punchline and then, pariah.

The writer Greil Marcus used a quote from a William Carlos William poem in reference to Elvis Presley that I think serves Jackson well - "The pure products of America go crazy." An appropriate epitaph.

A Jazz Salute to Michael Jackson includes the following songs associated with the Jackson Five or Jackson's solo career:

Charles Earland - "Never Can Say Goodbye" from Funk Fantastique.

Lou Donaldson - "I'll Be There" from Cosmos.

Ramsey Lewis - "She's Out of My Life" from Three Piece Suite.

Miles Davis - "Human Nature" from The Complete Miles Davis at Montreaux.

Stanley Jordan - "Lady In My Life" from Stolen Moments.

Susan Wong - "Billie Jean" from 511.

For me, the official start of summer comes the last weekend in June, when the cozy confines of the Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) open up for the annual Freihofer's Jazz Festival. I'll be headed there this weekend, and as always, have put together a preview of the many acts that will grace the two stages on the grounds. This way, even if you can't attend, you can get a decent feel for how varied and exciting the music can be.

Podcast 149 has just some of the performers I'll get to see, both up and coming acts and certified legends like:

Kendra Shank Quartet - "Life's Mosaic" from Mosaic. I've had her CD for several months now, and for no good reason haven't given you a taste of it. Kendra tackles standards with finesse and confidence, finding new and exciting ways to make the listener take notice of old chestnuts. She subtly links tunes for medleys, with her "Reflections in Blue" perfectly connecting to Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies". This track is a Cedar Walton tune, and Kendra is backed by Frank Kimbrough on piano, Dean Johnson on bass, and Tony Moreno on drums. Guest appearances are made by Bill Drewes on saxophone and clarinet, and Ben Monder on guitar.

Gary Burton Quartet Revisited with Pat Metheny - "Walter L" from Quartet Live.  You've heard a lot about this one here already, so let's jsut say that this is a Gary Burton original written for the first guitar player he ever worked with, Walter L. "Hank" Garland. The band? Burton on vibes, Pat Metheny on guitar, Steve Swallow on bass and Antonio Sanchez on drums.

SMV - Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, Victor Wooten - "Tutu" from Thunder. If the Jeopardy! answer is "Thunder", then the question must be, "What do you get if you put three three bass giants on stage together?" This should be a real crowd pleaser. The song was written by Miller for Miles Davis, and features him on bass clarinet, saxophone and synthesizers along with bass.

Aaron Parks - "Karma" from Invisible Cinema.  A track from a welcome new piano player's debut album. He's been a key playerin Terence Blanchard's quintet, now setting out with his own band - Matt Penman on bass, Mike Moreno on guitar, and Eric Harland on drums.

Bonerama - "Hard Times" (single). A New Orleans export that takes calls itself "brass funk rock"; I call it a good time. No fewer than four trombone players make up the band, including Mark Mullins,
Craig Klein, Steve Suter, and Greg Hicks. Matt Perrine on tuba, Bert Cotton on guitar, and Eric Bolivar on drums round out the band.

Bettye LaVette - "You Don't Know Me At All" from The Scene of the Crime. One of the best stories of the past few years was the resurrection of the career of blues/soul singer Bettye LaVette. A veteran of 1960's "Northern Soul" movement, she came back with a vengeance in 2005. This track comes from her most recent album, which finds her backed up by southern rockers the  Drive-By Truckers.

George Benson - "Nature Boy" from In Flight. Benson will perform a tribute to Nat "King" Cole to end the festival Sunday night. Therefore, it seemed appropriate to go back 30 years ago for this Cole classic. The band includes Benson on guitar and vocals, Stanley Banks on bass, Jorge Dalton on keyboards,  and Harvey Mason and Ralph MacDonald on drums and percussion.

 On Monday, June 22 at 8pm, NEA Jazz Masters: Paquito D'Rivera, Barry Harris, Jon Hendricks, Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron and Jimmy Cobb along with jazz luminaries: John Scofield, Joe Lovano, Ray Drummond, Leroy Williams, Lou Donaldson, Louis Hayes, George Coleman, George Mraz, Al Foster, Donald Harrison, Rufus Reid, Claudio Roditi, as well surprise guests will be celebrating the legacy of the Jazz Forum in a spectacular, one-night-only event, JAZZ FORUM@30

JAZZ FORUM@30 celebrates the 30th anniversary of the Jazz Forum lofts, where some of the greatest jazz artists performed between 1979 and 1983. More than twenty stellar musicians will reconvene for one special evening beginning at 8pm on Monday, June 22, 2009 at Rose Theater, Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Broadway at 60th Street, New York, NY or Purchase Tickets online

Mark Morganelli began presenting concerts in his first Jazz Forum loft at 50 Cooper Square in June 1979. By the time the second Jazz Forum loft closed its doors in April 1983, recordings, videos, films and radio broadcasts had documented performances by Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey, Wynton Marsalis, Woody Shaw, Red Rodney, Carmen McRae, Barry Harris, Max Roach and others.

Mark Morganelli established the Jazz Forum at 50 Cooper Square in New York City's East Village in June of 1979 to provide opportunities for emerging and established artists and their groups to perform in a relaxed loft-setting. He emphasized jazz education by renting his loft to Detroit piano icon Barry Harris, whose legendary classes grew from 25 to 150 students every Monday night for three years, before Dr. Harris relocated to his own Jazz Cultural Theatre. Weekly large ensemble presentations of Chuck Israel's National Jazz Ensemble, Jaki Byard's Apollo Stompers, and Charli Persip's Superband also happened at the Jazz Forum. There were also weekly jam sessions led by drummer Jo Jones, Jr. During the period when the second Jazz Forum operated at 648 Broadway at Bleecker Street, from 1981 to 1983, the loft played host to many benefits for ailing musicians, several National Public Radio broadcasts, a few celebrated recordings, and the award-winning film "Music In Monk Time," featuring Dizzy Gillespie, Carmen McRae, Milt Jackson, and Jon Hendricks

Happy Father's Day to my Dad and all other jazz loving fathers in the world. Here's a Podcast of tunes on the topic of fatherhood, including:

Deane Kincaide's Band - "Take a Tip From Father" from Classic Capital Jazz Sessions. This 12 disc compilation includes selections from Big Bands well-known (Benny Carter, Cottie Williams, Bobby Hackett) and less known, like this track. Kincaide was primarily known not as a leader, but as a member of the Glenn Miller, Tommy Dorsey and Woody Herman Big Band. Recorded in 1950, and unissued until the compilation came out on Mosaic Records, it's chock full of good advice.

Abbey Lincoln - "Story of My Father" from Devil's Got My Tongue. Abbey both wrote and sings this tale from her highly personal 1992 Verve album. Lincoln said that she composed the song because there were a few things she still needed to write down and to say. "It is like a letter to my mother and my father to say to them, 'Listen I really got it, I really appreciate all you did to help me to live,'" she says. "In a way, it's a monument to myself." Among those given credits are J.J. Johnson on trombone, Max Roach on drums, and Babatunde Olatunji on percussion. 

Stanley Clarke - "Father and Son" from At the Movies.  This 1995 collection of material from the bass ace's movie soundtracks includes this short but sweet piece from John Singleton's film Boyz n' the Hood. 

Lydia Allen - "Song For My Father" and Horace Silver - Title Track from Song For My Father.  A vocal version followed by the classic 1964 Blue Note version by the "Hard Bop Grandpop". Personnel for the instrumental are Horace Silver on piano, Blue Mitchell on trumpet, Joe Henderson on sax, Teddy Smith on bass and Roger Humphries on drums.

Dave Valentin - "Danzon for My Father" from Tropic Heat.  Flutist Valentin suplemented his quartet of pianist Bill O'Connell, bassist Lincoln Goines, and drummer Robbie Ameen with extra percussionist and a horn section, with the result being this dynamic tribute to his Dad.

Vijay Iyer - "Father Spirit" from Panoptic Modes. Probably more ethereal than parental in "spirit", this song from the talented pianist makes a fine ending for the Podcast. The quartet is Iyer, Rudresh Mahanthappa on alto sax, Stephan Crump on bass and Derek Phillips on drums.

By the time you've read this posting, the Summer Solstice will have occurred. For those scientifically inclined, that's the moment when  the sun's apparent position on the celestial sphere reaches its greatest distance above or below the celestial equator, about 23 1/2° of arc. At the time of summer solstice,  the sun is directly overhead at noon at the Tropic of Cancer. Or, you can simply say it's the first day of summer.

So let's celebrate this day with the appropriately titled song "Summer Solstice", the title track from saxophonist Azar Lawrence. Lawrence has been  unjustly ignored in recent years, given his strong  background. Beginning at the age of 19, he has been supporting acts as diverse as Woody Shaw (he played on "The Moontrane"), War, Earth,Wind & Fire and Ike & Tina Turner. He played sax for Elvin Jones for two years, and was part of McCoy Tyner's band for another five years.

His most notable recording as a sideman came when he was chosen by Miles Davis to perform with his band at Carnegie Hall, concerts that would eventually be released on album as Dark Magus.

As a leader, Lawrence has released six albums, most notably his tribute album to John Coltrane in 2007, Legacy and Music of John Coltrane. Lawrence and his quartet will concentrate on that material when he performs on the closing evening of the Greater Hartford Festival of Jazz July 19, 2009.

It may have been thirty-plus years since Gary Burton's Quartet included guitar hero Pat Metheney, but you couldn't tell it from their performance at Northampton Friday night. Opening the third leg of their reunion tour at the venerable Calvin Theatre, the Burton Quartet was received with the adulation often reserved for rock stars, and they rewarded the audience with a memorable two hour show.

Playing mostly material included on their live reunion CD recorded last year, Burton, Metheney, bassist Steve Swallow and drummer Antionio Sanchez never failed to dazzle, deftly integrating Burton's vibes and Metheney's familiar upper register guitar for a sound that could swing, bounce, rock or float, depednign upon the mood and song.

Burton was in fine form, wielding his four mallets in his inimitable style. As Metheney commented, Burton's great virtues are not limited to his viruosity on the vibes, but include an unerring sense of what tuens to include in the set. The Quartet inclued material written by Carla Bley("Olhos del Gato"), Chick Corea ("Sea Journey"), and Keith Jarrett (a moving "Coral"), along with their own compositons. Particularly memorable were Metheney's rousing "Question and Answer", which showed off the guitarist's fiery side,  and Swallow's playful "Hullo, Bolinas".

The show reached an unexpected highlight when Swallow and Sanchez laid out for three songs. Metheney and Burton dueted on two acoustic numbers, including "Summertime", before returning to an electric sound. Metheney even trotted out a 42-string multiplenecked guitar that created a sound recalling Burton's collaborations with guitarist Ralph Towner.

Sanchez is too young to remember the first recordings made by the Quartet in the early 1970's, but he held his own with the three veterans, filling in spaces with rhythm, and letting loose with two drum solos that elicited a loud response from the crowd and beaming smiles from his bandmates.

The crowd demanded encores, and the Quartet obliged with two uptempo numbers that ended the evening on a high note. The Quartet is off on the Festival circuit for the summer, so don't miss this rare opportunity to see a reunion that is far more than mere nostalgia.

Consider Wynton Marsalis. Talented trumpeter, equally adept at playing classical music and jazz music. Grammy award winner in both categories. Household name.Now consider Joey Pero. Talented trumpeter, equally adept at playing classical music and jazz music. Relatively unknown. For now.

Why? Because Joey mixes and melds the two styles together to create a constantly fascinating album entited Resonance. He plays Bach's "Goldberg Variations" and moves effortlessly to a funky "Palladio". He'll turn Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" into a tour de force for guest Daryl Sherman. He'll whip up the hip-hop influenced "Defying Gravity", that turns into a ballad before returning to a percussive, upper register throw down. At times, there seems to be little he CAN'T do.

Pero has studied with Wynton Marsalis at Juilliard, and he plays a Monette trumpet that was a gift from his teacher. He's cut his teeth at the Rochester Philharmonic, and playing with the Maynard Ferguson Big Band.

This is his debut CD, and its an impressive one. Click here to listen to his version of "Blue Rondo", a tune familiar to Dave Brubeck fans. Pero is on trumpet, with Adam Nussbaum on drums, Andy Snitzer on tenor sax, Artie Reynolds on bass, Paul Livant on guitar and Peter Firsh on piano.

Legendary drummer and founding member of the Allman Brothers Band, Jaimoe and his Jasssz Band play what can truly be called "American music". They combine elements of Jazz, Blues, Rock-n-Roll, and R&B into a unique blend that captures the spirit and stirs the soul. Their repertoire ranges from new interpretations of classic tunes, as well as original songs that are classics in the making. They might go from Coltrane to the ABB's "Dreams", the hot funk of New Orleans' The Meters to the cool of Miles Davis.

Jaimoe’s Jasssz Band features as its core Jaimoe on drums, Junior Mack on guitar and vocals, Dave Stoltz on bass, and Mathais Schuber on keyboards. A rotating series of some of the finest horn players of our time, including Jay Collins, Frank Kozyra, Paul Lieberman, Kris Jensen and Richard Boulger, have joined the band from gig to gig.

The Jasssz band plays the Majestic Theater at nearby West Springfield on Saturday night, June 20, 2009. To get you in the mood for what will surely be a memorable night, click here to listen to the jazz classic "Softly As in a Morning Sunrise". The track opened up a concert dedicated to the memory of the legendary jazz drummer Ed Blackwell in 2007. The CD is available here. 

Another summer movie remake opens today, with Tony Scott's redo of "The Taking of Pelham 1-2-3". The original film debuted thirty-five years ago, and starred Walter Matthau and Robert Shaw in a thriller involving the hijacking of a New York City subway car. Times being what they are, I suspect the sense of dread that existed in the early seventies involving the subways has somewhat dissipated, removing some of the overall tension that made the original film memorable.

Another reason the original film was memorable was its soundtrack, which has been described by Allmusic.com as "one of the best and most inventive thriller scores of the 1970s". Written by veteran film composter David Shire ("Norma Rae", "The Conversation", "Farewell, My Lovely" and most recently "Zodiac"), the score was heavily polyrhythmic, with horn sections building tension and delivering payoffs to drive along the action. Shire utilized the 12-tone method of composition, a technique devised by Arnold Schoenberg in the early 20th century in a theme is created by using 12 pitches in a specific order, and then other theems are created by playing that "row" backwards, upside-down, backwards and upside-down, or transposed.  Click here to listen to the "Main Title", a good example of the overall soundtrack.

 Unfortunately, the new film reportedly has abandoned any attempt to rewrite or pay homage to the original score, relying on Rap Music ("99 Problems" by Jay-Z or Alternative Rock (A Perfect Circle) for a more contemporary sound. Imagine if a Christian McBride, Terence Blanchard or even the hip-hop influenced D.J. Logic could have been brought in to re-image this classic score!

Kenny Rankin, the renowned singer, songwriter and musician, died from complications of lung cancer at Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles on June 7.  He was 69.

Rankin's music career spanned 50 years beginning with a handful of singles for Decca Records in the late 1950's.  A few years later he signed with Columbia Records and found himself playing guitar on Bob Dylan's landmark 1965 album Bringing It All Back Home.  Soon after, The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson became such a fan that Rankin was invited to appear on the show more than 20 times. Carson also contributed liner notes to Rankin's 1967 debut LP Mind Dusters, which included his much covered pop standard "Peaceful."

Growing up in the multicultural hotbed of New York's Washington Heights neighborhood, he absorbed a broad array of musical influences, from Afro-Cuban to Top 40 to Jazz to Brazilian.

Rankin's supple pristine tenor earned him status as a singer's singer, while his songwriting talents have been widely recognized by his peers.  Some of his earlier compositions include Peggy Lee's "In The Name Of Love" as well as versions of  "Haven't We Met" performed by Carmen McRae and Mel Torme.

Rankin's own unique gift for reworking classic songs such as The Beatles' "Blackbird," which he recorded for his Silver Morning album, so impressed Paul McCartney that he asked Rankin to perform his interpretation of the song when McCartney and John Lennon were inducted into the Songwriters Hall Of Fame.

The much acclaimed The Kenny Rankin Album was recorded in 1976 live with a 60-piece orchestra, arranged and conducted by the legendary Don Costa, creating what many now consider the first contemporary "torch" album.

He is survived by his son, two daughters and granddaughter. Funeral arrangements are pending, and a memorial service in Los Angeles is being planned.