Kenny Dorham, MI3 and Rob Blakeslee

Hi folks. 

Here are my thoughts on jazz records, old and new.  

why start another blog?  As i don't have enough friends with whom i can debate jazz I felt it necessary to start blogging to find a wider audience. 

My recent purchases that get us going are: 

Kenny Dorham Septet  : Blue Spring  (OJC Riverside 1990 resissue)

Kenny Dorham (t), Paul Chambers (b), Jimmy Cobb or Philly Joe Jones (d) and Cedar Walton (p) with a horn section of Cannnball Adderley (alto), Cecil Payne (baritone sax) and David Amram (Fr horn).  Rec  Jan and Feb 1959, NYC. 

Nice CD this one. The arrangements are nicely constructed, and the musicians give the songs a grace that you expect from Chambers and Cobb or Philly Joe who were creating that famous swing feel that so effectively with the first Miles Davis Quintet.   The magic appears to be the combination of the note placement of the bassist and space given by the drummer(s). 

There are, however, two things that detract. One is the clunky editing at the start of the piano solo on Poetic Spring (at 5:13) which sounds so bad that I thought the CD had jumped.   The second flaw is the distortion  that perodically appears. It suggests hasty adjustments at the mixing desk either at the original recording or upon remastering in 1990.  Listen for example to Passion Spring when it tells during the final chorus (8:15).

Mi3 (Pandelis Karayorgis trio) free advice (clean feed 2007)

Mi3 is the trio by Pandelis Karyorgis (p) Nate McBride (b) and Curt Newton (d). Free Advice was recorded in June 2004 and released in 2007. Karyorgis is certainly one of the more individual sounding pianists around. Not that he is a new boy either.  Boston is the home town for these guys and the abstract cool of the modern avant jazz is their territory. I came across these players when chasing down Mat Maneri recordings ages ago.  The angular approach of the pianist is dominant but the use of some simple structured tunes (Ellington’s Warm Valley, and the Mystery Song  and Sun Ra’s Ankhnaton) provide a setting that makes it easy for the listener to assimilate the style of piano playing.  McBride and Newton fit in very nicely and the result is a thoughtful chamber trio that have their own sound and trajectory.

 Rob Blakeslee Quartet:  Spirit of the Times (9 winds 1998)

From Boston we move to the East Coast with the 9 winds label recording of the Rob Blakeslee Quartet.  Accompanied by Vinny Golia on clarinets, Ken Filiano (b) and Billy Mintz (d). The set was put down way back in 1997 but has developed no cobwebs, sounding as contemporary as news of California finance troubles.  Peopl ewho know the East coast jazz scene will feel at home with this almost unstructured ‘Freebop’.  Characteristically for this music the first tune is dedicated to the great trumpeter Bobby Bradford who one would assume is a model for Blakeslee.   I have found longeurs in 9 wind recording s with Golia before but this CD entertained me with a varied set without overstaying its welcome. I have seen little on why American jazz differs from east to west coast but the contrast between  MI3 and Blakeslee Quartet is case in point. Where MI3 creep forward collectively, as careful as chess players moving into uncertain territory the West coast musicians  project confidently, taking long explorations in the solos over a more steady rhythm backdrop.