Eldar â âThe Exorcistâ from Virtue. Hopefully you listened to my interview with this 22 year old piano wizard, who announces himself as a major composer and performer with this new album. 

Dom Minasi â âJust One More Biteâ from The Vampireâs Revenge. This 2006 release was inspired by Ann Riceâs âInterview With the Vampireâ novel. Guitarist Minasi writes with wit and just a touch of mayhem on this tune.  Steve Swell, Herb Robertson and John Gunther stand out on the track, as do Carol Mennieâs wordless vocals.

Wayne Shorter â âWitch Huntâ from Speak No Evil. The penultimate Blue Note session â Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Freddie Hubbard, Ron Carter and Elvin Jones. So good itâs scary. 

Miles Davis â âPrince of Darknessâ from Sorcerer. Miles second great quintet recorded this Wayne Shorter tune in New York in 1967 - Davis on trumpet, Shorter on tenor, Herbie Hancock on piano, Ron Carter on bass, and Tony Williams on drums. The title is a reference to Miles himself, and became a nickname of sorts for the notoriously moody artist.

himself, tapping into his jazz vein. He was quoted in 1985 when asked why he drafted jazz musicians for his backing band:

"I want freedom and the privilege to surprise people. With this new band, I want to destroy the old stereotypes that have been built around me. I feel very at home with jazz. This new group has a jazz influence, but it's not a jazz band. It has a polarity of all the best of my music. I try to achieve the cross-pollination in music that happened in the 1960s."

With that in mind, letâs listen to that band and a few others such as:

Sting â âConsider Me Goneâ from Bring On the Night. When Sting decided to take his initial solo material on the road, he decided his backing band should have a jazz sound. The result was a lineup starring saxophonist Branford Marsalis, pianist Kenny Kirkland, drummer Omar Hakim (formerly of Weather Report), and Darryl Jones, (Miles Davis).

Sting and Gil Evans â âStrange Fruit â from Last Session. Sting and legendary jazz composer/pianist/arranger Evans performed at the Perugia Jazz Festival on July 11, 1987. The concert turned out to be Evansâ final performance, as he died shortly thereafter. The repertoire for the show was Police hits alongside a wide array of covers ranging from Jimi Hendrix to Tony Williams to this Billie Holiday classic. The 19-piece ensemble featured George Adams on tenor sax, Lew Soloff on trumpet, Mark Egan on bass, and Branford Marsalis on tenor and soprano sax. The recording has never been released in the US.

Frank Zappa â âMurder By Numbersâ from Broadway the Hard Way. Perhaps the strangest collaboration of Stingâs career came with Zappa in 1988, when he performed an unusual arrangement of "Murder By Numbers", set to the tune "Stolen Momentsâ by jazz composer Oliver Nelson, and for some reason "dedicated" to fundamentalist evangelist Jimmy Swaggart.

Sting â  âMy Funny Valentineâ from Sting at the Movies, Sting has a soft spot for the standards. He has recorded  âSomeone to Watch Over Meâ and âMy One and Only Loveâ, among others. This track was recorded with pianist Herbie Hancock to play at the end of the Japanese film Ashura., directed by Yojiro Takita in 2005.

Chris Botti featuring Sting â âWhat Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life?â From To Love Again â The Duets. Sting has appeared on a number of Botti studio recordings, and was a guest on the trumpeterâs recent TV special turned DVD turned live CD. This classic ballad has lyrics written by Alan and Marilyn Bergman and music by Michel Legrand. The recording on a 2006 Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist, the award shared by Billy Childs, Gil Goldstein, and Hector Pereira.

Herbie Hancock featuring Sting â âSister Moonâ from Possibilities. It seemed a natural choice for Hancock to ask Sting to join him on this CD, which enlisted pop and rock performers to sing with a jazz band, often reimaging their own work.

His songwriting from 1977 to the present has tapped into jazz stylings from time to time, and his solo recordings have usually had jazz musicians involved in the sessions. At least two of his songs, âFragileâ and âFields of Goldâ, have to be considered candidates for New Standards,. The former has been recorded by, among others,  Kenny Barron and  Regina Carter, Billy Childs, The Daugherty McPartland Group, Freddie Hubbard and Cassandra Wilson.

So here is another of my occasional  âJazz Does Rockâ series of podcasts, a âJazz Does Gordon Sumnerâ salute, with songs made famous by The Police and Sting, recorded here by: 

Cassandra Wilson â "Fragile" from Glamoured. A poignant verion of the anti-war song that became something of an anthem after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.  

Dianne Reeves â âEver Breathe You Takeâ from Blue Note Plays Sting. Two separate albums of Blue Note artists playing his music have been released., and Miss Reeves graces each of them with a Sting ballad. Here she sings The Policeâs biggest hit, with  solos by Bob Belden (who did the arrangements), Mark Ledford and Kirk Whalum. L

Lynne Arriale Trio - "Wrapped Around Your Finger" from Now. Quietly, the Lynne Arriale Trio has been making expceptional music for a number of years, mixing standards, pop songs and jazz classics. This Police song kicked off the latest CD from Lynne Arriale on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, and Steve Davis on drums.

Christian McBride - "Walking On the Moon" from Sci-Fi. This is one of my favorite albums from the polific McBride, mixing covers of Herbie Hancock with those of Steely Dan and the Police. This version comes across as a ballad rather than the reggae sound of the original, That's Jame Carter with the bass clarinet solo, and Ron Blake on tenor and soprano saxophone; Shedrick Mitchell's piano and Fender Rhodes; David Gilmore on guitar, McBride on bass and Rodney Green on drums complete the band.

Kevyn Lettau - "Message in a Bottle" from Walking in Your Footsteps. In her own words: I first learned about The Police in the early 80's from my sister's old boyfriend. At that point I must admit I was a total Rock and Roll ignorant snob. If music wasn't either jazz, Joni Mitchell or old R&B, I couldn't have cared less! But when I really started to listen, I was blown away by the lyrics, the musicianship and the melodies, not to mention Sting's wonderful voice. I was very impressed, but still stayed with the other styles as far as my own singing and studying was concerned. Band members are led by smooth jazz star Russell Ferrante (Piano),  along with Mike Shapiro (Drums), Jimmy Haslip (Bass), Luis Conte (Percussion) and Gary Meek (Saxophone).

Yes, the soundtrack would have to be "Autumn in New York".

The song was composed by Vernon Duke in 1934 for the Broadway musical "Thumbs Up!" which opened on December 27, 1934 and was sung by J. Harold Murray. It's become a jazz standard, with a  who's who of jazz greats recording it from time to time.

Click here to listen to Billie Holiday's version of the song, which for my money is the best. It comes from her Solitude album, which featured a backing band of Flip Phillips (tenor saxophone); Charlie Shavers (trumpet); Oscar Peterson (piano); Barney Kessel (guitar); Ray Brown (bass); and Alvin Stoller (drums).

Music was a little less parochial in those days. The songs making up the top 25 were country, rock & roll, blues, R&B, easy listening, and some oddities in foreign languages. There were, of course, some jazz as well, and so I present the excitement of finding that Sassy herself, Miss Sarah Vaughn, was on the pop charts in the fall of 1959.

 "Broken Hearted Melody" , recorded with the Ray Ellis Orchestra, was her first gold record, and a staple of her concert set lists for years to come. Despite all this success, she allegedly didn't care much for the tune, calling it "corny".  It would be one of her last recordings for Mercury, as she signed with Roulette Records and became, over the next few years, one the label's biggest stars. Her 1960 sessions for Roulette included The Divine One, arranged by Jimmy Jones and a session with Count Basie Band featuring such talents as trumpeters Thad Jones and Joe Newman and saxophonists Frank Foster and Billy Mitchell.

The music was written by Sherman Edwards, and the lyrics by Hal David. David had been writing popular music lyrics since the 1940s for band leaders like Sammy Kaye and Guy Lombardo. In 1957 David met Burt Bacharach at Famous Music in the Brill Building in New York. and began a thirty year partnership, writing some of the most enduring songs in American popular music.

Itâs because he is so obviously in demand and held in high esteem by his peers that his solo CD, In the Moment, is so disappointing. Simply put, its smooth jazz that never shows any real spark, much less blazes with the kind of sounds Washington can lay down. 

Washington wrote or co-wrote almost all the tunes on the CD, which may account for some of the problems. His all-star guests, like Joe Sample, Patrice Rushen and Gerald Albright, have their talents wasted with bland material, and cluttered by unnecessary background vocals. 

Click here to listen to âFreddieâs Grooveâ, one of the few tracks that cooks with any real energy. Washingtonâs bass is out in front, popping and laying down the groove, while Ray Fuller (guitar) and Michael Paulo (sax) take hot solos. By the time the tune is fading out, the synthesized instruments have taken us to the funky place for which we had hoped. 

Maybe Washington needed to get this one off his chest after thirty years of being a stalwart part of other performerâs recordings. Letâs hope it wonât take that long for him to get his groove on with something more memorable.

Sanchez, an ace conga player, works with his usual band mates here, including trumpeter Ron Blake. In an effort to shake things up a bit, he recruited Andrew Synowiec, the guitarist from the Gordon Goodwin Big Phat Band, an LA based group that plays everything from funk to big-band charts to bebop. 

Given the high level of the material here, and an ensemble thatâs tight as can be, itâs no surprise that the CD is a winner. Itâs impossible not to enjoy Sanchezâs tribute to Willie Bobo, a medley of three of the legendary percussionistâs songs, highlighted by a Santana-esque solo by Synowiec and vocals by Joey DeLeon. Herbie Hancockâs âCantaloupe Islandâ is given a Latin shuffle beat and a tasty guitar solo that serve as a tip of the hat to El Chicano and Pucho & His Latin Soul Brothers, great Latin stars who covered the song before Poncho. The title track was written by Sonny Henry, best known for âEvil Waysâ, perhaps the penultimate Latin cross-over song of the Sixties.  

Click here to listen to âSlowly but Surelyâ, a John Hick composition recorded by Art Blakey in the mid-60âs. The percussion sets a deep groove and soon itâs the pulsating horns of saxophonist Javier Vergara, trumpeter Blake, and trombonist Francisco Torres that drive the song along. Blakeâs solo is particularly memorable. 

There is no new ground broken here, but it hardly matters when the band is cooking like they are here. This is one to bring some heat into a cold October evening, a Mojito in hand.

Heavy words from a jazz master, particularly when he is talking about 22 year old Eldar Djangirov, a keyboard player whose latest CD, Virtue, confirms that he is among the most talented players on the scene today. Born in Kyrgyzstan (what was at the time of his birth part of the Soviet Union), Eldar emigrated to the US wiht his family in 1998. In a short time, he became the youngest guest ever to appear on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" show. Signed to the Sony Classical label, he has released four CDs on the label.

 I had the pleasure of speaking with him last week as he readied himself for a multi-night engagement at Yoshi's in Oakland, California, and Podcast 162 presents that conversation along with music from his releases, including:

"Dream Songâ from Re-Imagination. Recorded three years later after signing with Sony Classical, this CD was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. Eldar adds some electronic experiments, including the addition of DJ Logic on a few tracks. This recording is a solo piano piece, showing Eldarâs debt to Oscar Peterson, Chick Corea and Dr. Billy Taylor. 

"Lullaby Fantazia" from Virtue.  While keyboard pyrotechnics are Eldarâs strength, this track shows off his soulful side, as he glides through the track with a graceful left hand and melodic right hand, reminiscent in sound to Keith Jarrettâs solo work. 

âBlackjackâ from Virtue. Trumpet star Nicholas Payton joins the trio for this up-tempo number, weaving between the strong rhythm section of Ludwig Afonso (drums) and Armondo Gola (bass). Never afraid to move the number along at an accelerated pace, he adds electric keyboards to the sound, showing why he may be the finest young technician in jazz today.

He had graduated from Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers in 1957, and was a sought after sideman, working with Sonny Clark (the classic Cool Struttin'), Donald Byrd, Mal Waldron, and starring on Charles Mingus' seminal Blues and Roots, all over the previous 18 months. He was a rising star on Blue Note Records.

The October 20, 1959 sessions (whihc resulted in the album Swing, Swang, Swingin') featured jazz standards ("Stablemates") and standards, like "Let's Face the Music and Dance". Click here to listen to McLean's version of "What's New?", a ballad composed by Johnny Burke and Bob Haggart twenty years earlier. The song had been introduced by Bob Crosby and His Orchestra with vocalist Teddy Grace that year, rising to number ten on the pop charts. Bing Crosby would take it to number two the same year.

Four months later, McLean would enter the same studio with Freddie Redd to record the music most closely associated with the first part of his career, Music from "The Connection", an off-Broadway play which featured McLean playing and acting onstage.

His list of credits as a sideman reads like a whoâs who of jazz from the last forty years â Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson, Randy Brecker, Billy Cobham, Stanley Turrentine, Herbie Mann, John Abercrombie, and Gato Barbieri, just to name a handful. Soskin has a strong feel for Latin Jazz, having been an integral part of Azteca, a group in which Soskin's keyboard, writing, and arranging talents were showcased, and trumpeter Tom Harrell and percussionists Pete and Sheila Escovedo was the core. 

Soskin has spent 14 years with Sonny Rollins, and still found time to release seven CDs as a leader. The new CD is a top notch quartet session, featuring Ravi Coltrane on tenor and soprano sax, Siskin on piano, Jay Anderson on bass and Bill Stewart don drums. Five covers, including classics like âHeather On the Hillâ, vie with three Soskin originals for the listenerâs attention. All are exceptional performances. 

Click here to listen to âLittle Oneâ, the Soskin composition that ends the CD. His piano languidly begins over slow cymbals from Stewart, leading to a give and take between the two musicians. Coltrane enters a minute later, playing a gentle melody that is accented by the rhythm section with subtle but definite flourishes. Slowly Coltraneâs sax begins exploring new ground, and then Stewartâs cymbals signal a solo for Soskin, a greater part for bassist Anderson, and then a group resolution. All in all, a lovely ending to a notable album.

Songs from the Heart: Ramsey Plays Ramsey marks a return to the instrumental format that made him a cross-over hit in the 1960âs. However, this music couldnât be further from the R&B influenced sound of âThe In Crowdâ or âWade in the Waterâ. Collaborating with his long-time sidemen Larry Gray (bass) and Leon Joyce (drums), the album marks the recorded debut of music Lewis composed for two collaborative concerts he played at the Ravinia Festival just outside of his hometown of Chicago. Eight of the pieces come from the score he wrote for the Joffrey Ballet Company, while the remainder was created for and performed with the Turtle Island Quartet in a concert entitled âMuses and Amusementsâ.

The CD is not an inconsiderable statement from Lewis, who many â this listener among them â saw treading water after a lengthy career of making exceptional music. Instead, this is trio music at its highest level. A band together this long works almost telepathically at their best moments. Listen to Joyceâs drum work near the end of âTo Know Her is To Love Herâ, or how he colors âSharing Her Journeyâ with cymbals. Or how Gray works his bass in and around the others on âTouching, Feeling, Knowingâ.

Lewis steps out alone on four tracks, most notably the romantic âThe Glow of Her Charmâ. At the age of 74, he has lost none of his ability to play long, melodic lines without becoming saccharine. At the same time, Lewis isnât afraid to move into darker territory on âExhilarationâ, where he begins with a Monk-like piano line and then plays off the rhythm section with grace.

Lewis and his new label, Concord Jazz, are to be commended for making sure that this music is recorded for posterity, allowing an audience outside of the Windy City to enjoy it. Hereâs hoping that Lewis will continue this level of artistic output, and that we havenât heard the last of this trio.

Bradford, who at age 75 stands at perhaps our greatest living avant-garde trumpeter, is best known for his work with saxophonist Ornette Coleman and clarinetist John Carter, both major figures in pushing the limits of their respective instruments. He has also led his own group, the Moâtet, and been a part of Charlie Hadenâs Liberation Music Orchestra. As an educator, Mr. Bradford has taught at Pomona College in California for four decades. His most famous student may be noted saxophonist David Murray, who will sit in with his former teacher on October 3rd and 4^th. 

Bradford will perform with a quintet and an octet, but he indicated when we spoke last week that the different band size would not create any special problems. âThe music is not scored for a particular instrumentation, so the tunes we play will be the same tunes each night. The additional players are really strong, and they enhance the performance considerably.â He added that finding scores for some of the music he played with the John Carter Octet was difficult, with a certain discrepancy existing in some of the written scores. The band â which each night will include Bradford on trumpet, Marty Ehrlich on saxophones and clarinet, and Andrew Cyrille on drums, supplemented by others â will get just one rehearsal on Friday afternoon, âThatâs asking a lot for anyone. No disrespect for New York players â these are the best you could have, but we want to play pieces like (John Carterâs) âCastles in Ghanaâ and that takes work.â

I spoke with Mr. Bradford last week regarding the upcoming gigs, and while a scheduling error made a recording impossible, Podcast 162 is a tribute to Mr. Bradford and his music, including quotes from our interview and musical selections:

Ornette Coleman â âDown by Lawâ from The Complete Science Fiction Sessions. Mr. Bradford chose âDown by Lawâ as a track he particularly liked from the CDs. However, he didnât care much about the remastered sound of the set. âIâm not much of what you would call an audiophile, when they change what we had before. Iâve listened to the original over the years, and played in my classes. So since those are the only records I made with Ornette, Iâm glad people who weren't familiar with the originals can discover the music.â

The core of the Coleman band had been trumpeter Don Cherry, saxophonists Coleman and Dewey Redman, bassist Charlie Haden, and drummers Ed Blackwell and Billy Higgins. For these sessions, pianist Cedar Walton, guitarist Jim Hall, trumpeter  Bradford, vocalist Asha Puthi, and poet David Henderson, who narrated âScience Fictionâ were added. Mr. Bradford was pleased these sessions were reissued, but not because of the remastered sound. âIâm not much of what you would call an audiophile, when they change what we had before. Iâve listened to the original over the years, and played in my classes. So since those are the only records I made with Ornette, Iâm glad people who weren't familiar with the originals can discover the music.â  

David Murray â âWoodshedetudeâ from Death of a Sideman. The record is under Murrayâs name, but Bradford wrote all the music, a suite in memory of his long time collaborator John Carter. He spoke fondly of this recording, which featured Murray on sax, Bradford on trumpet, Dave Burrell on piano, Fred Hopkins on bass, and Ornette alumnus Ed Blackwell on drums. 

John Carter & Bobby Bradfordâs New Art Jazz Ensemble â âRosavitaâs Danceâ from Seeking. A 1969 session adding Nate Morgan on piano, Louis Spears on bass and Ndugu on drums to Carterâs clarinet and alto sax and Bradfordâs trumpet, creating a quintet to perform this driving Bradford composition. This album has not, to the best of my knowledge, been released on CD. Thanks to Inconstant Sol for the rip. 

John Carter & Bobby Bradford - on âPortrait of J.B.G.â and âCircleâ from Tandem 1. A duo concert recorded  live at the  Piedmont Center for Arts in Worcester,  on April 30, 1982, the evening gave two giants of their respective instruments a chance to play separately and together. Here is a cornet solo by Bradford on âPortrait of J.B.G.â, followed by a duet.  Who or what is âJ.B.G.â. Bradford set me straight â âJohn Birks Gillespieâ.

Were live duo performances exceptionally difficult for the two men? âWell yes, but you know we had spent hours playing together in that context. We didnât have that many gigs, but by playing together we developed a repertory of tunes to play. We didnât just start blowing! We had a book ready. In fact, we performed with a music stand in front of us many times.â

I asked Mr. Bradford what advice he had for young jazz musicians. âTake a serious look at it (a career), and if you are going to narrow down the type of music you play you have to be ready to miss out on a lot of money. You can be real good in jazz, but there is no guarantee that youâll get the work you need to pay the bills. There are a lot of great musicians who would be deliriously happy if they could make $50,000 a year playing jazz. Thereâs a lot of competition. Even when youâre not working, you have to practice. If youâre lucky enough to work in someoneâs band, you are still expected to rehearse for free, even when thereâs no gig.â

Thatâs whatâs good and bad about Wait Till You See Her. The lead performer in the quartet is violinist Mark Feldman, a partner with Abercrombie for over ten years. A one-man string section, Feldman alternately lilts and drives home melodic touches, moving the music into upper octaves as the improvisation of the four members of group takes off for point unknown. 

Joey Baron, a veteran of avant-garde sessions with John Zorn, Dave Douglas and Arthur Blythe, is perfect for this sort of music, and he provides a valuable sense of direction to some of that more wandering tunes. However, he and bassist Thomas Morgan can never seem to bring the tunes into sharp focus. 

Abercrombie, who wrote most of the songs on the album, has to take responsibility for this contemplative, but often unfocused music. A guitarist of his stature and experience should be able to reign in the improvisations to prevent a sense of aimlessness, bringing it closer to a sense of introspective. Occasionally like on "Out of Towner" (click here) his leadership shines through and the results are gentle and shimmering. When he misses,  the quartet is headed for places Iâd just as soon not visit.

Israel will hit the stage at around 3:00 in Boston, leading a large ensemble, including the always exciting Curtis Fuller (trombone), Howard Johnson (baritone saxophone), Bill Easley (flute, tenor, and alto saxophones), Dave Leonhardt (piano), and John Menegon (bass). 

Israel, Chicago born and now residing in Brockton, MA, is assistant chairman of percussion at Berklee College of Music in Boston. I got the chance to talk to him about his work with âFatheadâ, his role as bandleader and educator, and about the many musicians with whom he has recorded. Click here to listen to Podcast 161, which features the interview and music Yoron Israel has had a part in, including:

David âFatheadâ Newman â âHere Comes Sonny Man" from Cityscape. This is the band that Yoron had in mind when he put together the tribute: Newman on sax and flute, Winston Byrd on trumpet, Howard Johnson on Baritone Sax, Benny Powel on Trombone, David Leonhardt on Piano, John Menegon on Bass and Yoron on Drums.

Kenny Burrell â âIâm Falling for Youâ from Lotus Blossom.  The first of many great guitar players with whom Israel has made great music, this 1995 release has Burrell playing in a number of different settings. Here is one of the trio recordings, with Ray Drummond on bass and Israel on drums.

Kenny Burrell - "Soul Eyes" from Guiding Spirit. A different Burrell quartet featuring Yoron's "musical big brother" Jay Hoggard, the pride of Wesleyan University on vibes, Burrell on guitar, Marcus McLaurine on bass and Israel on drums.

David âFatheadâ Newman â âI Canât Get Started â from Life. Newman was more than just Ray Charlesâ main horn man â he was capable of playing in so many different idioms, and was as accomplished on flute as he was on saxophone. Here he tackles a Gershwin tune, with Peter Bernstein (guitar), Steve Nelson (vibraphone), John Menegon (double bass), and Israel (drums) backing him up.

She is no stranger to multitasking. She has received Grammy nominations both as a performer (for her solo album, Real Life Story) and as a producer (for the Dianne Reeves album, That Day). Her extensive touring career of over 20 years includes stints with Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Al Jarreau, and others. Among the acts she has recorded with are Diana Krall, John Scofield, George Duke, and James Moody. She appeared on Hancockâs Grammy winning CD Gershwinâs World, and Shorterâs High Life. Her most recent CD as a band leader is the celebrity-studded More to Say.

"This festival is a testament to Boston's reputation as a music hub and its dedication to jazz and producing and nurturing great artists," the noted drummer said in a written statement. "As a native and recent returnee to the area, I'm thrilled for this chance to give back to the community by throwing a big party for Boston. I hope people come out to fraternize with their neighbors, enjoy the delicious food, and hear some incredible music." 

I spoke with Ms. Carrington last week, and so Podcast 160 is a shout out to the BeanTown Jazz Festival and Ms. Carrington, including musical selections from: 

Friday Night Headliners:

 David Sanborn â âSlam!â from  Closeup.  His blues roots go back to Woodstock in 1969. Yes, Sanborn was a member of the Butterfield Blues Band horn section, making him perhaps the only current jazz headliner to perform that weekend. Headlining on Friday night, Sanborn is capable of some terrific R&B soloing. Check out this scorching Marcus Miller composition, with Miller taking the bass and keyboards, with Sanborn on sax, Vinnie Colaiuta on drums and Paul Jackson Jr. on guitar. 

 Kevin Mahogany â âRoute 66â from You Got What It Takes.. Possessed of one of the great bass voices in jazz, Mahoganey should make quite an impression singing the blues Friday night. Here he is on a classic uptempo number. 

 Amina Claudine Myers appearing with Charlie Hadenâs Liberation Orchestra â âSpiritualâ from Dream Keeper.  A Haden composition dedicated to Martin Luther King, Medgar Evers and Malcolm X is given a large ensemble performance, under the baton of Carla Bley. Solos on this number are by Ray Anderson (trombone), Branford Marsalis (sax), Charlie Haden (bass) and Ms. Myers is on vocals. Other standouts on the cut are Tom Harrell on trumpet, Paul Motian on drums and Joe Lovano on sax. 

Saturday Acts include:

 Donald Harrison â âDancehallâ from Nouveau Swing.   A graduate of Art Blaeyâs Jazz Messengers, Harrison produces great post-bop with a touch of New Orleans soul. This comes from one of my favorite Harrison release, with Christian McBride on bass, Carl Allen on drums, and Albert Wonsey on piano.  

Joe Louis Walker â âUhhh!â from The Preacher and the President. A 1998 release on jazz label Verve,  the San Francisco native shows his debt to Delta and Chicago Blues with some down home playing.   

And finallyâ.

Terri Lyne Carrington â âNo Not One (For Helen)â from More to Say.  Her latest release is full of guest artists from Christian McBride to Everette Harp to Nancy Wilson. This track is a large group Afro-Cuban stomp of a number, featuring pianist Danilo Perez.

I had to share this picture with you, and post the only song that would do â Sonny Rollinsâ composition âDoxyâ as recorded by Miles Davis on his Bagâs Groove album. A jazz classic, Rollins wrote the song by adapting the chords from âJa-Da (Ja Da, Ja Da, Jing, Jing, Jing!)â, a hit song written in 1918 by Bob Carleton. 

In a recent interview, Rollins rememberd writing the tune:

Actually I think I was institutionalized when I wrote âDoxy.â The gory detailsâwell it was back at a time when I was hooked on drugs, and while I was institutionalized my mind turned to music, and I had an opportunity to play with a band, a sort of Protestant Chapel Band â we played hymns and such. Itâs not a pleasant memory. But itâs fruitful in that I was able to overcome those problems. I wrote âDoxyâ during that time.  

Apparently the song has no real bad memories for Sonny â when he eventually established his own record label, he named it Doxy Records.

The first half of the record shows why Glasper is rapidly becoming one of the finest pianist on the scene. Along with bassist Vincente Archer and drummer Chris Dave, Glasper creates elegant trio music, making classicâs like Monkâs âThink of Oneâ sound fresh, and originals like âYes Iâm Country (And Thatâs OK)â seem like songs you want to hear again and again. 

Glasper is less successful in the mish-mash that is the second half of the album. The Experiment swerves between jazz-funk, hip-hop and soul ballads, with a lack of direction that makes it seem â well, experimental. I look forward to when Glasper collaborates with a hip-hop producer or DJ who can turn his ideas into something more concrete and exciting. Perhaps the great jazz hip-hop album weâve been waiting for is just around the corner.

Gerry Mulligan Quartet- "Bernie's Tune". the first recording ever made for Pacific Records was cut in 1952 in Phil Turetsky's house in Los Angeles. The great "piano-less"quartet was Mulligan on baritone sax, Chet Baker on trumpet, Bobby Whitlock on bass and Chico on drums.

Gerry Mulligan and his Ten-tette - "Walkin' Shoes" from Gerry Mulligan and his Ten-tette. Mulligan loved to play with different group sizes, including this large group whihc included Baker and Chico from his Quartet, along with West Coast standouts like Bud Shank (Alto Sax) and Bob Enevoldsen (Trombone).

Chico Hamilton Quintet - "The Sage" from The Complete Pacific Recordings of Chico Hamilton Quintet. His first great quintet - Chico, Buddy Collette (saxophone), Jim Hall (guitar), Carson Smith (bass) and Fred Katz on cello.

Chico Hamilton Quintet - "I'm Beginning to See the Light" from The Complete Pacific Recordings of Chico Hamilton Quintet. A young Eric Dolphy (saxophone) got his big break when Chico's brother discovered him and turned Chico on to his flute and sax playing. The rest of the quintet is John Pisano (guitar) Nathan Gershman (cello) Hal Gaylor (bass) and Chico. Recorded in Los Angeles April, 1958.

 Chico Hamilton - "Forest Flower" from Man From Two Worlds. From Dolphy to Charles Lloyd, Chico has always been able to spot the top players. Lloyd on sax and flute, Hungarian guitar whiz Gabor Szabo, bassist Albert Stinson and Chico make up the band.

Chico Hamilton - "Larry of Arabia" from The Dealer. Chico moved to Impulse! Records in the Sixties, and cut this classic with Larry Coryell making his recording debut on guitar. Chico on drums, altoist Arnie Lawrence, and bassist Richard Davis complete the band.

Add Kevin Haysâ trio to the list of piano trios that reinterpret both old and new material with panache. Hays has played with bassist Doug Weiss and Bill Stewart for almost ten years, and their interplay is almost telepathic at times. Their latest album, Youâve Got A Friend, reimagines pop hits like Paul Simonâs âBridge Over Troubled Waterâ and the title track, concentrating not on their memorable melodies, but rather on the way they can present classic material in a new and different way. 

The same holds true for the groupâs presentation of classic jazz written by Thelonious Monk (âThink of Oneâ) and Charlie Parker (âCherylâ). These tunes could be hot, but clichÃd if taken as others have. Here, these are revisionist versions that get more than we might expect from be-bop era material. The rhythm section shines brightest on âSweet and Lovelyâ, with Stewart creating a dramatic setting for the Harry Tobias standard. 

Since today is Beatles Hype Day, the day that the stereo remasters and âRock Bandâ game are released to adoring consumers,  you can click here and listen to a sly and subtle rethinking of Lennon and McCarney's "Fool on the Hill".

Willie Nelson joins that label for American Classic, a sequel of sorts to his 1978 release, Stardust. Backed with a top-notch band of Mickey Raphael (harmonica), Joe Sample (piano), Christian McBride (bass) and Lewis Nash (drums), the Red Headed Stranger tackles eleven songs from the Great American Songbook, plus a new take on his own hit "Always On My Mind". The result is almost always a treat.

At this point in his career, Willie's phrasing is nothing short of exemplary. He rarely drags notes out, and his direct and honest reading adds to the strong melodies. His gentle reading of "Fly Me to the Moon" reveals a sense of whistful wonder that gets lost in more bombastic versions, and "Because of You" and "The Nearness of You" are given faithful presentations.

His duet with Diana Krall on "If I Had You" is fine, but seems more likely an attempt at giving Willie "jazz cred". Another duet, with Norah Jones on the holiday season staple "Baby It's Cold Outside" fails not due to the recording, but rather to an unavoidable sense of creepiness. I simply couldn't get past a man in his late seventies singing songs of seduction with a female coutnerpart young enough to be his granddaughter

This is a modern big band sound, and it's always a pleasure to hear that venerable style made more modern. Owens' group shwos off a serious range, particularly on some of the more frenetic moments.

Brecker was an underrated composer, and this CD shows off some of his best material. He was also a killer tenor saxophone player, so it's only natural that some of the best tracks come from two sax legends.  Liebman delivers a terriffic solo in "Sumo", a piece from Brecker's Steps Ahead period. Lovano takes center stage on two tracks, the bluesy "Take a Walk" and the dramatic closing piece "Everything Happens When You're Gone".

Enter Strick Muzik, which is featuring two formidable releases this month. Marcus, who has recorded two CDs under his own name in addition to working with Jeff "Tain" Watts, Dave Douglas, Roy Haynes and Will Calhoun, has assembled a trio album entiteld Idiosyncracies (although to read the title on the CD, it's "Id I O Syn Crasies"). Recording covers from the likes of Bjork, Stevie Wonder and Andre 3000 alongside his originals, Strickland has made a powerful recording, stripping the songs down to their basic elements.

E.J. Strickland's long overdue debut as a band leader is a solid quintet CD. All originals, the music has a strong spiritual sound, the band meshing on song after song, sometimes soaring, sometimes whispering. After years of working with Wynton Marsalis, Christian McBride, Herbie Hancock, and Cassandra Wilson, it's good to see him stepping out on his own.

Podcast 158 is a conversation with Marcus Strickland, discussing the "indie scene" in jazz recordings, why he thinks the soprano sax might get a bad rap, and what's next for the brothers and their label. Featured are two tracks form each of their new CDs, including:

Marcus Strickland - "Middle Man" from Idiosynracies. A Marcus original features his powerful sax style, working hand in hand with drummer/brother E.J. Strickland and bassist Ben Williams.

Marcus Strickland - "Scatterheart" from Idiosynracies. Marcus spoke about taking this Bjork tune, which was highly produced as her original, and stripping it down to "the bare essentials" for his trio. Mission accomplished.

E.J. Strickland - "Abandoned Discovery" from In This Day.  The Quintet brother E.J. put together takes on a whole different sound that Marcus' CD. Jaleel Shaw is on alton, Marcus on tenor, Luis Perdomo on piano and Hans Glawischnig on bass. Ravi Coltrane, with whom E.J. often plays, is the producer for the sessions.

E.J. Strickland - "Eternal (intro)/Eternal" from In This Day. Several of E.J.'s compositions feature spoken or vocal introductions. Here the band is joined by Cheray O'Neal's spoken voice reading the poem she co-write with E.J. and Charenee Wade on vocals.

Born and raised in Cleveland, Miss Rubin's  first public brush with Billie Holiday's oeuvre came while competing in the Miss Black Central Ohio Contest. She received a standing ovation for her performance of âGod Bless the Childâ, which convinced her that her true calling was to sing in the jazz tradition. From her early dates with Pharoah Sanders and Barry Harris to her headlining performances, she has shown herself to be a singer of great depth and variety.

By taking on the challenging role of Lady Day herself in the "Yesterdays - An Evening with Billie Holiday", Ms. Rubin also shows she has acting chops. She is called upon to play a foul-mouthed, slowly burning out singer, and to tell stories of her upbringing, loves and musical influences, while sprinkling in a steady stream of Holiday classics. Dressed in a  long, white halter dress with the trademark gardenia in her hair, Miss Rubin succeeds admirably in bringing the legend to life, using her talents not to mimic Billie Holiday, but rather to bring across her spirit, through the turn of a phrase, the trill of a note, or a subtle turn of the head while clutching the microphone. She nails "Strange Fruit" near the show's close, wringing angst and sorrow from every note.

I got the chance to speak with Miss Rubin about the challenges of the role and other aspects of the show  this week, so please enjoy the interview as this week's Podcast. I celebrate Vanessa Rubin and the cast of "Yesterdays" and Billie Holiday with songs performed in the show and other tunes, including:

Billie Holiday - "Deep Song" from The Complete Commodore Recordings. Since Billie's cataloge from Decca and Columbia get the most attention, many singers (including Ms. Rubin) were unfamiliar with her version of this plaintive ballad.

Kenny Burrell -"Raincheck" from  Pieces Of Blue And The Blues. Bassist David Jackson from the Hartford Stage production anchors the rhythmn section for this live session with drummer Kenny Washington. Burrell joins two other guitarists, Rodney Jones and Bobby Broom for a three-headed monster.

Vanessa Rubin - "I Only Have Eyes for You" from Pastiche. Vanessa has recorded several songs that Billie Holiday recorded, although noen of the tunes Lady Day was best known for, including this standard.  This bass heavy version includes Tarik Shah on bass, Aaron Walker on drums, Aaron Graves on piano and a horn section that includes Steve Turre on trombone and Cecil Bridgewater on trumpet.

Vanessa Rubin - "Our Love Is Here To Stay" from Vanessa Rubin Sings. The Gershwins' classic gets a romping rendition backed by an all-star group, including Robert Hurst on bass, Marvin "Smitty" Smith on drums, Kevin Eubanks on guitar and Turre on trombone and conch shell.

Vanessa Rubin - "But Not for Me" from Girl Talk. Two fun-filled duets with the late Etta Jones were highlights of this 2001 Telarc release. These were the last sessions Ms. Jones would record before succumbing to cancer, and Vanessa points out in our interview that few singers captured the quality of Billie Holiday's voice as well as Miss Jones did. Cedar Walton is on piano, Steve Davis on trombone, Javon Jackson on saxophone, David Williams on bass and Lewish Nash on drums.

Billie Holiday - "Gimme a Pigfoot (and a Bottle of Beer)" from The Complete Decca Recordings. One of the highlights of the Hartford Stage production comes when Vanesa as Billie tells the story of her devotion for Bessie Smith and her frustrating encounter with the blues legend in a nightclub early in her career. A rousing finale to the podcast.