Jazz Journal, December 2018 in brief
FROM THE EDITOR
 This is the last print edition of Jazz Journal before it moves entirely online in January to a new website, initially subscription-free (and at the same address, archive.jazzjournal.org). The new format will open a new chapter in JJ’s history, allowing it to burn the candle, illuminate the jazz world, from both ends, by developing a searchable archive of seven decades of back issues and facilitating a fleet-footed flow of the new - in news, reviews and features - that will be compatible with desktop, tablet and mobile. It will immediately bring JJ a wider readership as well as allowing links to sources, a newsletter, site search and many other benefits. It will, eventually, result in an unparalleled resource for jazz fans, students and researchers with the potential to survive us all. I hope to see you all (and more) at the new website in the new year. Meantime, please be in touch at editor@archive.jazzjournal.org with any queries.
ON THE BEAT
The Jazz Centre UK, brainchild of jazz trumpeter Digby Fairweather, was relaunched in Southend in expanded form with the ribbon cut by celebrity supporter Michael Parkinson... "The Coltrane Home" in Dix Hills, Huntington, NY, where John and Alice Coltrane lived and worked in the 1960s, is the subject of a Kickstarter restoration campaign... Independent US fusion label MoonJune Records has come third in the 83rd Annual Reader’s Poll in Downbeat (just behind Blue Note Records and ECM)... The Lord Jazz Discography CD-ROM, version 19.0, is now available. Tom Lord says that over 4300 new recording sessions have been added since version 17.0 along with major leader section revisions and many updates and that version 19.0 includes over 48,621 leaders, over 238,400 recording sessions, over 1,370,600 musician entries and over 1,542,700 tune entries.
PROFILES
Bassist Arild Andersen produces work of “unusual breadth and depth”; pianist Pete Lee “pulls freely from classical and pop music”; saxophonist Eric Alexander holds the line for real jazz
LETTERS
"I streamed all the albums in October and November’s JJ. I think I managed to save four at the most. The rest were either totally unlistenable, with utterly repetitive out-of-tune chords or wispy girly twitters best left in the Uni bars... I read the obituary by Gordon Jack for Jack Costanzo (JJ 1018) and I was surprised that no mention was made of the excellent record Costanzo made for Fontana in 1962 when, I believe, he stayed in London... I’m afraid this is a complaint. Why do you publish reviews of CDs that are virtually unobtainable in this country?... Many thanks to Dave Jones for an excellent article on Kenny Kirkland, full of fascinating insights and useful references..."
STILL CLINGING TO THE WRECKAGE
Steve Voce treats big band economics and discovers a horrifying gap in his Louis collection
MIKE OSBORNE
Barry Witherden recalls "the most mesmerising player in a generation of immensely talented jazz musicians"
PUTTING HIS TRUST IN JAZZ
Eight decades after John Hammond’s celebrated Spirituals To Swing concerts at Carnegie Hall, John White outlines the political machinations behind the events
BOOK REVIEWS
Under Cover: A Poet’s Life In Publishing ... And All That Jazz // Just For A Thrill: Lil Hardin Armstrong, First Lady Of Jazz // It’s All Good - Colossal Conversations With Sonny Rollins // A Jazzman’s Tale
YOU'LL HEAR IT
Simon Spillett returns to look at the ritual of sitting-in
ON THE OTHER HAND
Dave Gelly on celebrity Coltrane, the New Orleans revival and hyperbole in jazz nomenclature
OBITUARIES
Hamiet Bluiett; Art Ellefson; Roy Hargrove; Barry McRae; Chuck Morgan; Jimmy Wilkins
ALT. TAKES
The jazz biz daily hails “new” directions but as Brian Morton points out, genius has to make do with one big idea
RECORD REVIEWS
JJ offers unrivalled coverage of recorded jazz, carrying more than 20,000 words of expert comment and discography on jazz across the board in every issue. See a complete list of albums reviewed in JJ December 2018, including excerpts
Looking for a CD? Please consult our regular specialist advertisers, such as Crazy Jazz and Music Inn
See some of this month's Jazz Journal reviews and what our critics wanted to hear
ADVERTISERS' INDEX See much more essential new release and gig information from the advertisers who take advantage of the exceptional reader per pound rates delivered by the print edition of Jazz Journal:
Elemental Music; Vicky Aram; Strat Andriotis; Légère Reeds; Crazy Jazz; Music Inn, Nottingham; The Sound Machine UK; Beryl Hart; Andrew Lilley; Scott Willcox; Alister Spence; Jamie Lawrence; Warner Jazz; Hubro Records; Mathias Heise
See the contents page of Jazz Journal, December 2018
* * * * * * * *
PREVIOUSLY IN JAZZ JOURNAL
November 2018: Kenny Kirkland; Ronnie Ross; Charlie Wood; Randy Brecker; Lorraine Baker; Paul Booth
October 2018: Chris Potter; Don Ellis; Steve Khan; Peter Ind; Bobo Stenson; Larry Goldings; Sophie Alloway
September 2018: Albert Mangelsdorff; Eberhard Weber; Steve Fishwick; Eddie Jefferson; Rudresh Mahanthappa
August 2018: Trio HLK & Evelyn Glennie; John Coltrane; Gigi Gryce; Peter Zak; Zoe Francis; Marcus Gilmore
July 2018: Bob Dorough; Leo Richardson; Mark Guiliana; Courtney Pine; Alexander von Schlippenbach
June 2018: Jeff Hamilton; Marilyn Mazur; Gary Peacock; Ornette Coleman; Drew Gress; Dave Brubeck
May 2018: Larry Coryell; Sonny Rollins; Ed Jones, Dave Manington; Sam Braysher, Terry Pollard
April 2018: Henry Lowther; Tommy Smith; Chico Hamilton; Bob Wilber; Greg Lewis; Ollie Howell
March 2018: Marcus Miller; Joe Zawinul; Thelonious Monk Marko Churnchetz, Ambrose Akinmusire; Matthew Read
February 2018: ECM: the British connection; Joe Henderson; Roger Beaujolais; Kit Downes; Howard Johnson
January 2018: Akira Tana; Critics' Poll 2017; David Binney; Anthony Kerr; Jon Hendricks; Jack Teagarden
December 2017: Jelly Roll Morton; Paolo Fresu; Tom Millar; Robben Ford; Gary Husband; Lena Horne
November 2017: Pat Metheny; Alice Coltrane; Barry Guy; Freddie Gavita; Helge Lien; Manu Katché
October 2017: Vijay Iyer; John Beasley; Michael Lazaroff; Jazz in Luxembourg; Stan Getz & Gerry Mulligan
September 2017: Karin Krog; Kurt Rosenwinkel; Richard Niles; Dave O'Higgins; Herb Snitzer; Sylvia Syms
August 2017: Weather Report; Clare Teal; Anita Wardell; Richie Kamuca; Nicolas Meier; John Martin
July 2017: Harry Allen; Andrew Hill; Harvey Mason; Iain Ballamy; Andrew McCormack; Maxine Sullivan
June 2017: The return of MPS; Lee Morgan, Matt Chandler; Allan Holdsworth; Stan Robinson; Sue McCreeth
May 2017: Kamasi Washington; Polly Gibbons; Prince; Buddy Rich; jazz on YouTube; Arthur Blythe
April 2017: Eric Harland; Eric Ineke; Howard Riley; Scott Hamilton's instruments; Svend Asmussen; Larry Coryell
March 2017: Scott Hamilton; Chris Ingham; Kate Williams; Trish Clowes; Larry Goldings; Mark Nightingale;
February 2017: Oz Noy; Tony Fruscella; John Etheridge; Victor Bailey; Ahmad Jamal; Ralph Burns
January 2017: Branford Marsalis; Critics' Poll 2016; Tim Richards; Donny McCaslin; Zoe Rahman; Charli Persip
December 2016: Joey DeFrancesco; Chet Baker; Maynard Ferguson; Jim Rattigan; Remi Harris; Nicola Farnon
November 2016: Nigel Price; Marius Neset; Richard Bona; Gonzalo Rubalcaba; Gearbox Records; Stix Hooper
October 2016: Mike Mainieri; Pierre Dørge; Julius Watkins; Bobby Hutcherson; Toots Thielemans; Rudy Van Gelder
September 2016: Gerard Presencer; Derek Smith; Ben Crosland; Gwilym Simcock; Omar Sosa
August 2016: Albert Ayler; Marlene VerPlanck; Houston Person; Roswell Rudd; Ibrahim Maalouf; Nils Landgren
July 2016: Billy Cobham; Dave Schildkraut; Alan Broadbent; Barb Jungr; Joe Temperley; Eddie Cook
June 2016: Sidney Bechet; Soweto Kinch; John Wilson; John Hollenbeck; Roger Beaujolais; Daryl Sherman
May 2016: Richard Galliano; Mike Westbrook; Dominic Alldis; Fred Hersch; Cuneiform Records; Dave Shepherd pt2
April 2016: Hiromi; Eric Truffaz; Markus Stockhausen; Bobby Medina; Dave Shepherd; Ronnie Scott pt3
March 2016: Wayne Shorter; Misha Mullov-Abbado; Terri Lyne Carrington; Gerry Mulligan; Julian Lage
February 2016: Steve Gadd; Terell Stafford; Michael Wollny; Ronnie Scott pt2; Paul Bley; Bengt Arne-Wallin
January 2016: Tubby Hayes; Claire Martin; David Gordon; Liam Noble; Critics' Poll 2015; Cyrille Aimée
December 2015: Michael Janisch; John Abercrombie; Nellie Lutcher; Myra Melford; Pepi Lemer; Juliet Kelly
November 2015: Maria Schneider; Iain Ballamy; Allan Harris; Leo Parker; John Cumming; Milt Bernhart
October 2015: Art Pepper; Leroy Jones, Evan Christopher, Hot Sardines, Horace Silver, Loose Tubes
September 2015: Bennie Maupin; Cassandra Wilson; Billy Jenkins; Tadd Dameron; HatHut Records
August 2015: Xanadu; Charles McPherson; Jane Monheit; John Altman, pt2; Woodville Records; Ronnie Scott pt1
July 2015: Christian McBride; Andrea Motis; Chucho Valdés; Albert Mangelsdorff; Bill Evans; Bud Freeman
June 2015: John Altman; Neil Cowley; Hedvig Mollestad; Michel Camilo; Dave Holland, Lee Konitz
May 2015: Nils Petter Molvaer; Roberto Magris; Stefan Pasborg; Don Byron; Philip Larkin on Ellington
April 2015: Laurence Cottle; Mark Crooks, Nguyên Lê, Rudy Royston, Clark Terry, Benny Green, Lawrence Brown
March 2015: Red Garland, Digby Fairweather, Joakim Milder, Joe Stilgoe, Buddy Collette, Ken Peplowski
February 2015: Peter Erskine, Jan Garbarek, Wallace Roney, Goran Kafjes, Jazz on V-Disc, Acker Bilk
January 2015: Kenny Barron; Lenny White, Henry Lowther, Sarah Moule; Simon Phillips; Critics' Poll 2014
December 2014: Eric Dolphy; Jacob Fischer; Antonio Sanchez, Duncan Lamont; Jack Bruce; Classical Tinge 11
November 2014: Joshua Redman; Sun Ra; Charlie Wood; Richard Pite; Wally Fawkes; Classical Tinge 10
October 2014: Jimmy Giuffre; Charles Tolliver; Dylan Howe; Al Cohn; Classical Tinge, part 9; Kathy Stobart
September 2014: Anat Cohen; Kristin Korb; Jack Parnell; Gary McFarland; Classical Tinge, part 8; festival reviews
August 2014: Stanley Clarke; Steve Fishwick; Cindy Blackman; Randy Brecker pt2; Horace Silver; Dale Bruning
July 2014: Ehud Asherie; Jack Honeyborne; Alexander Bone; Curtis Stigers; Don Fagerquist; Joe Wilder
June 2014: Swedish folk-jazz; James Pearson; Pedro Segundo; Randy Brecker; Spike Heatley; Liane Carroll
May 2014: Tim Garland; Gregory Porter; Mike Henry; Dan Barrett; Pee Wee Russell; Dick Twardzik
April 2014: Eiji Kitamura; Jason Rebello, Herlin Riley, Dave Newton, Yusef Lateef, Jim Hall, Alice Babs
March 2014: Ronnie Cuber; Alec Dankworth; Jamie Baum; Dianne Reeves; Preservation Hall; Classical Tinge, part 4
February 2014: Jan Lundgren; Derek Nash; Denny Zeitlin; Verneri Pohjola; Lake Records; Classical Tinge, part 3
January 2014: Scott Henderson; Critics' Poll 2013; Robert Fowler; Martin Speake; Jeff Lorber; Tommy Whittle
December 2013: Diana Krall; Arve Henriksen; Charlie Ventura; Chuck Riggs; Classical Tinge, part 2
November 2013: Alan Broadbent; Marc Parnell; Ted Beament; Fresh Sound; Classical Tinge, part 1
October 2013: Stacey Kent; Tina May; Cécile McLorin Salvant; Does Jazz Change The World?; Dizzy Reece
September 2013: Ahmad Jamal; Digby Fairweather; Soweto Kinch; Asaf Sirkis; 10 Things Jazz Should Do Without
August 2013: Stan Tracey; Sue Richardson, Huw Warren; Spike Wilner; Jack McDuff; Chicago now
July 2013: Pat Martino; Gene Quill; Shabaka Hutchings; Eddie Palmieri; Don Weller; Mulgrew Miller
June 2013: Michael Camilo; The Flop 10; Gwilym Simcock; Tubby Hayes; Slim Gaillard makes parliament
May 2013: John Critchinson; Brew Moore; Jamming The Blitz; Branford Marsalis; Larry Stabbins; Sophie Alloway
April 2013: Kenny Wheeler; Nigel Hitchcock; Rudresh Mahanthappa; Neil Ardley; Bristol jazz festival
March 2013: Wayne Shorter, Big Jay McNeely; Mark Lockheart; Jazz Samba 50th anniversary; Dan Kildare
February 2013: Gilad Atzmon, Bob Belden, Tori Freestone, Readers' Poll 2012, Bennie Green, Beverly Kenney
January 2013: Rollins/Getz/Coltrane, Critics' Poll 2012, Manu Katché, Julian Joseph, TCB profile
December 2012: Duško Gojković, Simon Spillett pt 2, Jacob Karlzon, Warren Vaché, Paul Winter
November 2012: Simon Spillett, Jim Mullen pt 2, Brandon Allen, Marcus Printup, Ruby Braff pt 2, Piano Jazz 5
October 2012: Jim Mullen, Spike Robinson, the new NYJO, Ruby Braff, Bobby Worth, Piano Jazz 4
September 2012: Marius Neset, Jazz Book Club, Summer festival reports; Bob Gordon, Thelonious Monk
August 2012: Bob Mintzer, Decibel Records, Elliot Mason, Mark Turner, Kurt Elling, Readers' Poll
July 2012: Joe Temperley, Vijay Iyer, Steve Brown, Enrico Tommaso, Yuriy Galkin, Maynard Ferguson
June 2012: Bucky Pizzarelli; jazz and jingles; jazz and strings; Gordon Beck; Mike Garrick; Robert Glasper
May 2012: Kenny Garrett; Geoffrey Smith; Microscopic Septet; Piano Jazz Revisited Pt 3; John Picard Pt 2
April 2012: Art Themen; ACT Music; Enrico Pieranunzi; Clare Fischer; Piano Jazz Revisited Pt 2; John Picard Pt 1
March 2012: Randy Brecker; Phil Robson; Piano Jazz Revisited Pt 1; Straight Ahead: fears for UK grass roots
February 2012: Critics' Poll 2011; Tord Gustavsen; Jeff Hooper, Andrew McCormack, Jason Yarde, New York Live
January 2012: Ron Carter; Etta James; Dave Kelbie; Matana Roberts; Joe Harriott II; Claude Thornhill; Jack Bruce
December 2011: Jerry Bergonzi; Michael Cuscuna; Ruby Braff; Joe Harriott I; Wadada Leo Smith; Josh Kyle
November 2011: Randy Sandke; Serge Chaloff; Barbara Thompson; Buddy Greco; Graham Collier, Felsted
October 2011: Louis Armstrong; Wynton Marsalis; Dena DeRose; Iain Ballamy; two-bar breaks; absent reissues
September 2011: Alan Skidmore; Guy Barker; Joan Viskant; Eddie Finckel; Joe Mudele; London record shops
August 2011: Dan Block; Courtney Pine; DVD review special; Artie Shaw; Ray Bryant, Ottilie Patterson
July 2011: Mike Stern; Monty Alexander; Dave Stapleton; Kyle Eastwood; Ingrid Laubrock; Per Husby
June 2011: Bill Charlap; Rumba Jazz I; Brit piano V; Led Bib; Stan Sulzmann; Ray Smith; Chu Berry
May 2011: Toots Thielemans; Oscar Peterson; Dexter Gordon; Nikki Yanofsky; Ethan Iverson; Brit piano IV
April 2011: Jon Hiseman; Sonny Stitt II; Jason Moran; George Wein; Tony Kofi; Brit piano III;
March 2011: Sonny Stitt I; The Claudia Quintet; Ian Shaw; Geoff Eales; Brit piano II; Coltrane pt 2
February 2011: Bobby Wellins; Critics' Poll 2010; Coltrane: a minority view, part 1
January 2011: Esperanza Spalding; The Brubecks; British jazz piano part I; Vinyl Verdict
December 2010: Chuck Berghofer; Sal Mosca; Ravi Coltrane; Bob James; Cork Jazz Festival
November 2010: Mose Allison; British rhythm IV; The Either/Orchestra; Bob Weinstock
October 2010: Gary Smulyan; Orrin Keepnews; Brubeck IV; Brit beat III; Brecon report
September 2010: Philip Larkin; Bill Mays; Brubeck III; Brit beat II; Festival reports
August 2010: Tommy Smith; Brubeck II; British beat I; Lester Koenig; Edmund Hall
July 2010: Dave Brubeck part I; John McLaughlin; Frank Holder; Steve Lacy
June 2010: Vibes now: Joe Locke, Jim Hart; Frank Griffith's cool school; Artie Shaw centenary
May 2010: Herb Geller; British drummer John Marshall; Django Reinhardt; Alec Dankworth
April 2010: Judy Carmichael; crime writer John Harvey; Milt Jackson IV; producer Alan Douglas
March 2010: Dave O'Higgins; Milt Jackson III; Alun Morgan's Lost In Meditation; John Dankworth remembered
February 2010: Gerald Wilson; Milt Jackson II; Critics' Poll 2009; Dave Gelly on the roots of Milesian modalism
January 2010: Milt Jackson; Paul Booth; Sheila Jordan part 2; Michael Janisch; How To Write About Jazz
December 2009: Michael Janisch; Vanguard Orchestra; Karen Sharp; Gene Krupa; Mark Ramsden
November 2009: ECM At 40; Ken Peplowski; Grant Stewart; Creed Taylor; Lita Rosa; C-melody saxophone
October 2009: Hank Jones; Sheila Jordan part 1; Curtis Counce; Omar Puente; Spike Heatley
September 2009: Liam Noble; Woody Herman part 4; Sandy Brown; Graham Collier; Summer festival roundup
August 2009: Lee Konitz; Woody Herman part 3; Georgia Mancio; Standard Time - John Altman digs deep
July 2009: Mark Murphy; Woody Herman part 2; Do Children Get Jazz?
June 2009: Julian Lage; The Test: Tim Garland; John Levy; Woody Herman part 1
May 2009: Benny Golson; Critics' Poll 2008
---------------------------------
Jazz Journal content
Material is received for consideration of review by Jazz Journal (that term including its website) only under the following conditions: Any party supplying any material for review automatically indemnifies JJ Publishing Ltd and its staff against any consequences whatsoever arising from publication of review of that material and accepts that the material is non-returnable. All letters published in Jazz Journal appear only under the following conditions: Any party submitting any letter for publication automatically indemnifies JJ Publishing Ltd and its staff against any consequences whatsoever arising from publication of such letter. Although every care is taken to ensure accuracy and propriety, neither the editor, nor the publishers necessarily agree with opinions expressed in JJ by contributors, nor indeed by readers in their published letters. | |
