It’s a bit difficult to understand how, after more than four decades of playing guitar, Derek Bailey developed a debilitating case of carpal tunnel syndrome. It’s not like holding a pick was something new to him, but the condition (fortunately confined to his right hand) made it such that he was no longer able to hold a “plectrum.” This fact comes out in “Explanation & Thanks,” the introductory piece to the album entitled Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, an audio letter dictated/played by Derek to someone named “Carol.” [source]
From the album Freedom Suite by David S. Ware Quartet. Recorded on July 13, 2002 at Systems Two Studio, Brooklyn.
Composed by Sonny Rollins, arranged by David S. Ware.
David S. Ware – tenor sax
Matthew Shipp – piano
William Parker – bass
Guillermo E. Brown – drums
Recorded by Jim Anderson
Tracks on album: Freedom Suite Movement 1 / Interlude / Freedom Suite Movement 2 / Freedom Suite Movement 3
Sonny Rollin’s Freedom Suite (first issued on the Riverside album of the same name) is a protest jazz masterpiece, albeit one relegated to a back seat behind works by Charles Mingus, Max Roach, and even John Coltrane by some critics. There are several reasons for this. Despite being inspired by Rollins’ first-hand experience of housing discrimination in New York, it was recorded in early 1958, and released before the Civil Rights Movement reached critical mass nationally.
The upshot is that “The Freedom Suite” is a natural, if overlooked reservoir for tenor saxophonists of David S. Ware’s generation. Obviously Ware has long been well aware of the piece, having studied with Rollins before his mid-70s emergence. Yet it is somewhat surprising for Ware to give the piece a CD length reading, as so little of Rollins’ influence is detectable even in Ware’s earliest recordings (the notable exception being his take on Kurt Weill’s “My Ship” on drummer Andrew Cyrille’s 1978 Black Saint album Metamusician’s Stomp). Instead, Ware quickly established a sound extrapolating the Fire Music nexus of spiritual and visceral intensities, placing little to no stock in Rollins’ romanticism, humour, and interest in pop music. – Bill Shoemaker, The Wire [source]
Places is an album by American pianist and composer Brad Mehldau released on the Warner Bros. label in 2000. AllMusic awarded the album 4½ stars and in its review by Richard S. Ginell, stated “the album is about the constancy of his personality and musical language, taking all of your personal mental baggage with you wherever you travel. This is an important album, one that anyone interested in piano jazz ought to check out”. On All About Jazz, David Adler noted “Each piece is named for a particular place (hence the title), which Mehldau attempts to represent in musical terms. In short, Places is a concept album, and a particularly effective one. For the most part, Mehldau holds his prodigious chops in check, preferring instead to conjure moods and memories with subtle nuances”. JazzTimes reviewer, Bill Shoemaker commented “In addition to being a technically dazzling pianist, Mehldau has an arch sense of nuance; by changing the touch of a single note or introducing a single beat’s rest in a long serpentine line, Mehldau can turn a smile or a frown upside down”.
Amazing rendition of “In A Sentimental Mood” by Danish trumpeter Jens Winther, who sadly passed away 24 February 2011.
The album “Standards” is highly recommended to anyone who likes excellent musical talent and superb playing. In other words if you’re into great jazz, buy it!
Composed by Karl Berger / Marc A. Frank / C. Jochen Helfert. From the album Compost 100 with Various Artists.
Ingrid Sertso – Lead Vocals
One of the coolest underground electronic music labels in the world celebrated its 100th release with a double-CD sampler of killer tracks at a wonderful price. What’s best is that since Compost is only trying to showcase its sound, not its catalogue, it hasn’t reissued anything here — it’s all new and exclusive to this release. From the minimal jazz-driven techno of the Trüby Trio with its amazing sampled double bassline on a Zero dB remix of “Galicia” to two new jazzed-out tracks by Beanfield to slippery Latin bossa house of the Salvador Group and a one-off “Discipline 100” by Karl Berger and les Gammaswith Ingrid Sertso providing soaring and seductive vocals, this package is impossible to beat. [source]
Welcome to the strange and beautiful world of Derek Bailey, the late king of freely-improvised guitar. Bailey made a lot of recordings in various contexts: solo, duos, small ensembles and large groups. All are worth checking out. On 2000′s Mirakle he teamed up with Jamaaladeen Tacuma on bass and Calvin Weston on drums. Definitely a formidable pair. Mirakle was a good introduction to this style of play as the funk rhythm section give the uninitiated listener something familiar to hold onto while the more “alien” guitar does its thing. [Source]
