Jazz!

Rip It Up, Issue 64, 1 November 1982, Page 29

Jazz!

Peter Thomson

Dexter Gordon American Classic Joe Albany Portrait Of An Artist Elektra Musician Dexter Gordon and Joe Albany have much in common. Both are . bebop originals from . the 40s: Gordon a seminal figure in the development of jazz tenor playing and Albany a pianist who worked with both Charlie ' Parker and Lester Young. Both also spent long years virtually lost to the music they helped pioneer.: Albany spent the 50s and 60s in a wasteland of drug addiction and prisons. He began recording again in the 70s yet this album is his first for a major label since 1946. Gordon was also an addict throughout the 50s but recorded some fine albums on Blue Note. He spent the 60s and early 70s an expatriate in Scandinavia. Both men are now undergoing a resurgence of popularity in their [ homeland. American Classic is straight bebop, pretty much unchanged in essence of influence since its inception. On Side One, Gordon's brusque approach is nicely contrasted with Grover Washington Jnr's limpid soprano. Shirley Scott on organ gets a little grating however, neither her imagination nor her 'tone really completing the others. Side Two features Gordon's regular quartet made up by piano, bass and drums. ' If American Classic tugs just a little towards nostalgia, Joe. Albany's set sounds thoroughly fresh, despite its traditional base. Perhaps it's that Portrait Of An Artist seems somehow richer in ideas. Albany is a totally twohanded pianist who is most obviously influenced by Art Tatum but never succumbs to a florid approach (eg Oscar Peterson at times). Here his style often seems ruminative, almost leisurely building lines of thoughtful beauty. Occasionally the tempo is sprightly but, as Albany states on the sleeve, he seems to have particular empathy for ballads. There is excellent support from guitar,

bass and drums but the spotlight remains on, the piano. :’ ; . Peter Thomson David Sancious The Bridge Bud Powell Inner Fires Elektra Musician David Sancious is a musical' hybrid, having been subjected to bebop, classical and R&B by his family, and played rock from. his early teens. He played on Bruce Springsteen's first three albums, and has also recorded with the likes of Stanley Clarke, Jack Bruce and Billy Cobham. The Bridge is his first serious solo recording. Sancious combines the discipline of the jazz musician with the feel for simple melodies of the pop performer. In fact, the title track of this LP comes close to a pop ballad in places. The. pieces here are all based on piano. or synthesiser improvisations. Sancious also plays guitar and percussion. He neatly avoids selfindulgence, with each piece being clean and simple in execution. Variety is the keynote, from the bluesy What If' to the sweet meditations of 'The Eyes Have It' and the sprightly dance of 'Morning'. The contrasts, the imagination and the dexterity at work make The Bridge memorable and eminently satisfying: Earl 'Bud' Powell was popularly described as 'a driven man'. This craftsman of post-war jazz piano tried to walk the fine line between genius and insanity, but fell off it all too often. He spent some harrowing years in institutions, finally dying in 1966 from alcoholism, tuberculosis and malnutrition. Inner Fires is a ■ previously unreleased recording of a 1953 gig with the equally unpredictable Charles Mingus on bass and the utterly reliable Roy Haynes on drums. This was a heavenly trio, Powell burning his way through the compositions of George and Ira Gershwin, 'Dizzy Gillespie, Miles Davis, George Shearing and others. The emotions at work are overwhelming, and the pace of the playing would cripple lesser performers. Whatever drove Bud Powell, it was no ordinary force. Duncan Campbell Mose Allison Middle Class White Boy Elektra/Musician Mose Allison may mockingly

call himself a Middle Class White Boy but most would regard him as a living legend. Born in 1927 in the/Mississippif Delta/ his* cool distillation of -boogie woogie, country blues and city bebop made him one-of the icons of 50s beatniks. Then in the 60s he was an important influence on British rock with such as the Who, the Animals , and Georgie Fame recording his songs. Ben Sidran, recently in Auckland, reverred Allison as 'the William Faulkner of American Music'. Nonetheless, the evidence here on his first recording in six years suggests that Allison's heritage may lie more in an established style and mode of writing than in performance. His voice, unchanged much over the interim, still sounds capable, if, a might characterless, his piano playing very proficient though hardly distinguished. Middle Class White Boy contains six new originals and five covers (including his usual Duke Ellington, a Muddy Waters and a snappy Tennessee Waltz' in 4/4) Joe Farrell and Phil Upchurch provide impeccable support although Allison's electric piano is sometimes too clipped for his rippling, cruisy style. Peter Thomson Clifford Brown/Max Roach Pure Genius Vol. 1 Woody Shaw ' Master of the Art Elektra Musician Clifford Brown, widely regarded as the definitive hard bop trumpeter, was the antithesis of the common conception of bop era jazzmen. Shy and retiring, a family man not given to the excesses of so many of his peers. His career was cut short by a car crash in 1956. He was 26 years old. That crash also killed Bud Powell's brother Richie, a gifted pianist, who also features on this set, recorded shortly before the crash and only just released from the private collection/of Brown's widow. Roach, who pioneered modern drumming styles, is another player here, and it was he who put this LP together. Sonny Rollins, the big, muscular tenor sax player, finds his feet in this company. Bassist is George Morrow. - ' Listening to this album will tell you more about jazz than any words can. Brown was a giant, proving it as he spins out one effortless solo after another on 'l'll Remember April'. His breathtaking runs on 'What's New' are so aggressive,. but still so sweet and full in tone, and the finish to the track, everyone flat out, is pure euphoria. Thankfully this stuff has finally got out. Woody Shaw (trumpet and fluglehorn) has an honourable , background that includes Chick Corea and Horace Silver's bands. This live set was recorded last February in a quintet form, with • guest artist Bobby Hutcherson (Dolphy, Shepp) on vibes. This was just an easy jam session, with limited rehearsal time, but turned out some very cool sounds. Shaw's compositions make

extensive use of Latin and African rhythms, a nod .to his younger days. The sound is both reflective and exuberant. Hutcherson steals the show on the respectful revamp of the old standard 'Diane', and Thelonious Monk's 'Mysterioso' features some lovely, lazy blues playing. A smooth little gig. Duncan Campbell Billy Cobham's *. Class Menagerie Elektra/Musician Billy Cobham has a new band and it is extremely good. Like his last quartet it is electric and comprises guitar, keyboards, bass and himself on drums. This time though, there are no big names aboard; instead young recruits who cohere into a superbly tight unit under Cobham's robust propulsion. All concerned play.with admirable fire and finesse al : though perhaps guitarist Dean Brown deserves special mention. Whether swinging like the proverbial clappers on 'Observations & Reflections' or getting lowdown dirty on 'Jailbait', he is simply arresting. As the album title suggests, Cobham's musical forte has always been primarily assimilative rather than innovative. To some listeners that may constitute a shortcoming but there must always remain an important place for those artists who consolidate rather than forge new paths. Observations explores nothing new yet satisfies because of its very high standards. Peter Thomson Tom Scott Desire Elektra Musician Throughout the 70s Tom Scott gained considerable prestige for his fine work as saxman and bandleader in support of artists such as Joni Mitchell, Steely Dan and the Blues Brothers. His own albums rarely rose above the pedestrian predictable jazzrock for Californian car cassettesljj^HßH So what's he doing on a classy new label like Elektra Musician? The deal, a challenge from the label's president, was that Scott's band record an album live' in the studio using a two-track, direct-to-disk digital system. The results demonstrate yet again that: the digital process is a wonder of clarity and precision, these ultra-sessionmen really can play every bit as perfectly as you'd expect and although Scott blows with great gusto, his music is still better utilized as a. supporting vehicle. ~ And so, on a couple of tracks, it is. 'Sure Enough' is a catchy slickfunk vocal number for Richard Page, while 'Meet Somebody' is made semi-memorable by Stephanie Sprull. A few of the instrumentals receive virtually big band arrangements and a couple have melodies that rise above a riff. 'Johnny B Badd', .a 50s pastiche, shows a little humour. Overall, another Scott set that, is functional but hardly exciting.