Jazz!

Rip It Up, Issue 60, 1 July 1982, Page 22

Jazz!

The Griffith Park Collection Elektra/Musician Lenny White (drums), Stanley Clarke (acoustic , bass), : Chick Corea (piano), Joe Henderson (tenor sax), Freddie Hubbard (trumpet and Flugelhorn) - the all-star quintet White assembled to support Chaka Khan on her recent back-to-bebop Echoes of an Era. The backing musicianship was considerably superior to Khan's own performance. I wished that the group had made the album without ner. Well they've done even better. Rather than choosing a bunch of oft-recorded classics, all the tracks here are good originals apart from Steve Swallow's 'Remember'. Hence although the musical approach is similar to that on Khan’s album, the pieces themselves don't stamp any restrictive sense of period on the set. The styles range from straight ahead bebop to tender ballads to the fluid lyricism redolent of Maiden Voyage-e ra Hancock. This does mean, however, that the overall feeling one gets does tend to be of the 60s. Perhaps this is as much the result of an all-acoustic lineup.' I, for one, certainly haven't enjoyed the old rhythm' team of White, Clarke and Corea, together or singly, so much in a very long time. In fact everyone concerned plays as well as you'd hope. Peter Thomson John McLaughlin' My Goals Beyond . Red Rodney & Ira Sullivan Spirit Within Charlie Parker One Night In Washington Elektra/Musician The Elektra/Musician label has been founded as a subsidiary of Elektra/Asylum, specifically to release the product of musicians from outside the commercial' pop field, and jazz people in particular. It's a mixture of new releases and reissues. A creditable project. My Coals Beyond was recorded around 1971, just prior to McLaughlin's embracing of Sri Chimnoy, and the formation of Mahavishnu Orchestra. It is a seminal, all-acoustic work, Side One is McLaughlin alone, interpreting Mingus, Davis and Corea, as well as his own compositions, showing a delicate touch far removed from the electric excesses of Mahavishnu. On Side Two, he is joined by Billy Cobham and Jerry Goodman, bassist Charlie Haden and reed and woodwind player Dave Liebman, who toured here last year. Aided by three Indian musicians, they play two lengthy compositions, 'Peace One' and 'Peace Two'. McLaughlin takes the back seat to some inspired playing from Liebman and Goodman. Red Rodney (flugelhorn, trumpet) and Ira Sullivan (flugelhorn, flute, alto sax) are two Americans who have played together since the 19505. Both were brought up in the be-bop school, but Sullivan, the more adventurous of the two.

has experimented with modern forms for several years. It's a mellow fusion they produce on Spirit Within, recorded last September. The compositions are largely the work of pianist Garry Dial) leaning slightly towards the styles of Don Cherry and Sam Rivers. Rodney and Sullivan both sound comfortable in the freer format, adding just a touch of swing here and there, to produce a very satisfying sound. The Charlie Parker album is from a 1953 concert with a notable big band, led by Joe Timer, just two years before Parker's death. That he showed up at all surprised the convenors of the show. He played a plastic sax, had no sheet music, worked purely by instinct, and blew everyone to pieces. Another precious bit of history, lovingly preserved and packaged. 1 Other current and upcoming releases on this label include previously unreleased material from Clifford Brown and Bud Powell, and new albums from Dexter Gordon, Woody Shaw, Mose Allison,'Eric Gale and Billy Cobham, to name just a few. Duncan Campbell Lee Ritenour Rio Elektra/M usician Al Di Meola Electric Rendezvous CBS Larry Carlton Sleepwalk Warner Bros . Three albums by three ultracompetent jazz-rock guitarists. Stifling yawns already? . Yeah, these musical hybrids usually end up destroying both the fire and the feeling of their original constituents. What remains is usually just slick melange, often only a sophisticated muzak. Rio is a case in point. Now Lee Ritenour undoubtedly has the technique to play currants out of a fruit cake, but the mild meandering served up here seems simply programme music. You can imagine this album providing the soundtrack to some glossy documentary promoting vacations in Brazil. It's light, bright, jazzy and never in the slightest disturbing or distracting. When AI Di Meola takes on Latin. American music he at least displays a native's flair and passion. But when he mixes them with Yankee jazz-rock his natural aggression turns academic and

arid. The title track of Electric Rendezvous falls between all the usual stools, however on Side Two he achieves more when he attempts less. Larry Carlton is probably California's top session guitarist, busy enough to quit the Crusaders just as their popularity was peaking a few years ago. His solo approach is exquisitely crafted and shamelessly LA. Viewed from a strict jazz perspective, Sleepwalk is a snooze-off. Yet deep down, cocooned in the cottonwool production, these guys really are getting it on. They've even got some catchy tunes to play with. So there you go. Ritenour is insipid when you want him inspired. Di Meola storms but also gets stodgy. And Carlton continues to tread carefully on the tasteful side of tepid. The state of the market perhaps? • . Peter Thomson Thelonious Monk The Complete Genius A Decade of Jazz: Vol. 1 1939-1949 Vol. 2 1949-1959 Vol. 3 1959-1969 Liberty : The Blue Note label and its multitude of historic jazz recordings have been acquired by Liberty Records, who are in turn distributed by EMI. These double album sets are the first of the catalogue to be locally pressed, and we sincerely trust there are many more to come. The death of Thelonious Monk earlier this year left an unfillable gap in the jazz world. Monk will ever remain a giant of the keyboard: His sound was unmistakeable; that phenomenal right hand could make the piano chuckle or croon, rage or relax. His playing was so eloquent, and often so eccentric, it took very special sidemen to keep pace with him. This set of recordings, between 1947 and 1952, includes saxists Sahib Shihab and Billy Smith, trumpeters Kenny Dorham and Idrees Sulieman, and vibist Milt Jackson. But to really sample the genius of Monk, try the second side of trio recordings, with the imperturbable Gene Ramey and Art Blakey. The influence of the great stride pianists of the 20s and 30s becomes clearer. The jaunty filigree of 'Well You Needn't' and the quirky tenderness of 'Ruby My Dear' are Monk at his finest. The Decade of Jazz collections

encompass 30 years of jazz in three quite acceptable, but hardly imaginative, packages. . -/ Volume One includes contributions by Albert Ammons, Sidney Bechet, Earl Hines, James P. Johnson, Tadd Dameron and Thelonious Monk ; ('Round Midnight' and 'Epistrophy', both also appearing on The , Complete Genius). This takes you from the end of the New Orleans heyday, through the migrations to Chicago and New York, and the formative years of bebop. Volume Two features the.likes of Bud Powell, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins and Horace Silver. The. bop starts to harden up and wail. All sweaty stuff. Volume Three takes you into the beginnings of modern or free jazz, with Eric Dolphy's 'Out To Lunch' and Ornette Coleman's 'European Echoes' giving the strongest pointers. Take these collections in chronological order, perhaps assisted by Joachim Berendt's Jazz Book, and introduce yourself to a new world. Duncan Campbell The Legendary Artist Series: Billie Holiday Sarah Vaughan Robert Johnson Marlene Dietrich CBS More reissues. Sparse, cheap packages, but in three out of four, the contents override that consideration. Enough scandal has been written about Billie Holiday over the years, but her personal legend survives all the crassness, including that execrable film. A prostitute in her early teens, dying of heroin in 1959, she poured her life's tragedy into her songs. Listen to her sing 'Gloomy Sunday', and know what it's like to feel pain. An incomparable artist, who . continues to gain new fans more than 20 years after her death. Sarah Vaughan came along during the be-bop era, performing with Billy Eckstine, Charlie Parker and Dizzy Gillespie. She. often strayed outside the realms of pure jazz interpretation, proving herself an accomplished popular singer as well. An exquisitely earthy, rich voice, bursting with sensuality. As a sample, try her version of Deep Purple'; then see if anyone else can match it after that. Vaughan continues to perform and record, and her ability and stature only grow with the years. Robert Johnson, often dubbed. King of the Delta Blues Singers, was an enigmatic figure, a drifter, womanizer, brawler and boozer, who influenced so many blues singer-guitarists of the 1940 s and 50s. Johnson died at 23 in 1937, allegedly poisoned by a jealous. girlfriend. His eerie voice and keening bottleneck guitar have an almost ghostly intensity. Compulsory listening for all those in-, terested in the roots of modern music. . The Marlene Dietrich album is a recording of a nightclub performance in London, with introductory recitation by Noel Coward. Tres camp, and just the thing for playing in luncheon restaurants. Duncan Campbell