An embarrassment of jazz riches

Opinion

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/08/2011 (5157 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I know what you’re thinking — only a chronic whiner would complain that he gets more CDs than there is room to review them.

Nonetheless, I’m going to play catch-up today and write about some recordings that fell by the wayside; not that it will clear up the backlog by any means.

 

Karrin Allyson, ‘Round Midnight (Concord)

Singer Karrin Allyson goes back to basics on this 11-track set of classic jazz and pop ballads from Monk’s title tune to Paul Simon’s April Come She Will.

She opens with the Bill Evans’ tune Turn Out the Stars, arranged to bring out Gee Lees’ nuanced lyrics. Allyson arranged most of the songs here and played all the keyboard parts herself, for the first time in 13 recordings over 20 years. Listen to her introduction to the Charlie Chaplin composition Smile to appreciate what a great pianist she is.

Allyson, popular with Winnipeg audiences, makes excellent use of saxophonist Bob Sheppard, who plays tenor and soprano saxophones, bass clarinet and flute. Guitarist Rod Fleeman, a mainstay from her early days building her career from a Kansas City base, is again along to help, especially on Goodbye and with tasteful accompaniment on Ellington’s Sophisticated Lady.

‘Round Midnight, one of the most recognizable jazz tunes, oozes a feeling of loneliness from just Allyson’s voice and bass on a pared-down arrangement.

James Carter, Caribbean Rhapsody (Decca)

James Carter, the big, bold saxophonist who has mastered virtually all varieties of the reed instrument, makes a success with this crossover orchestral recording, a collaboration with Puerto Rican classical composer Roberto Sierra.

Carter’s improvisational skills are in fine form here, counteracting the tendency of orchestras to overpower a jazz soloist.

The highlight of the six-tune recording is the lengthy title track, Sierra’s saxophone concerti, in which Carter and his cousin Regina Carter, the great jazz violinist, join in some of the best improvisation you’ve heard in awhile. The cousins kick ass.

Charlie Haden Quartet West, Sophisticated Ladies (Emarcy)

This is bassist/band leader Charlie Haden’s laid-back band, favouring dreamy ballads in a film noir style, and the perfect vehicle for a project like this featuring six singers doing standards.

Cassandra Wilson, Diana Krall, Melody Gardot, Norah Jones, Renée Fleming and Ruth Cameron (Haden’s wife) each sing a number, alternating with instrumentals, over the 12-track set.

Gardot opens the album with a half-whispered If I’m Lucky, the title song of a 1946 movie musical. Ill Wind presents Jones in a jazzier mode than usual, and she’s a delight with a spare quartet backing her. My Love and I is sublime with Wilson’s smoky, sultry voice augmented by tastefully arranged strings. The tune includes a very good Haden bass solo.

An instrumental Sophisticated Lady with added strings is a gem, especially with Ernie Watts’ tenor sax and Alan Broadbent’s piano.

However, Fleming’s ever so sultry rendition of A Love Like This is the highlight of this set.

Neil Keep, Mr. E & the Jazz Gumshoes (www.neilkeep.com)

Local singer Neil Keep tackles nine standards, George Harrison’s Something and a couple of his own compositions on this debut disc.

The 49-year-old, who says he has spent virtually a lifetime singing, is backed by a trio (which expands when the pianist, Jonathan Alexiuk, doubles on saxophone, trumpet and trombone).

Something is an unexpected highlight in a jazzy lineup that includes I’m in the Mood For Love, God Bless the Child and Lush Life.

 

 

Keep does a fine job with mainly familiar tunes, putting his own stamp on them, including the Count Basie Orchestra classic Shiny Stockings, whose writer and arranger Frank Foster recently died at 82.

A good singer, good musicians and a good producer in fellow singer Helen White add up to a good debut.

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Winnipeg lost a passionate and knowledgeable jazz fan and patron on the weekend when Ruth (Babs) Asper died. I’ll dedicate this column to Babs, whose insights and love of jazz I was able to enjoy for many years. It’s fitting that Karrin Allyson’s latest recording tops this column, as Babs and her late husband Izzy helped introduce the singer to local audiences by booking her for concerts in the jazz series now known as the Izzy Asper Jazz Performances series.

chris.smith@freepress.mb.ca