Craig Jolley
November 2001

L.A. Jazzin'
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By Craig Jolley

Dave Holland Quintet

Dave Holland – bass, composer, arranger; Antonio Hart - alto, soprano; Chris Potter - tenor; Steve Nelson – vibes, marimba; Billy Kilson -drums; Cal State Northridge University big band.

Keeping a band together usually goes under the “not recommended” column. For one thing it has to be driven by love--the money isn't there. In the mid-eighties Dave Holland assembled a quintet to play his uncompromising, forward-looking music. There have been personnel changes since then, but he has maintained a sense of continuity over the years. His current band is probably his best, both in soloing and as an ensemble. Occasionally players are unavailable for particular performances or tours. In this case Antonio Hart subbed for trombonist Robin Eubanks. Hart played Chris Potter's usual parts (often the lead) while Potter switched to Eubanks' book. Like Eubanks Hart is a strong, versatile soloist comfortable in traditional and freer jazz forms.

Student musicians (ten horns) played behind the quintet on three tunes before intermission. A modal “Razor's Edge” was originally conceived as a quintet piece. For the expanded version Holland added some stop-time passages for the orchestra, played with aplomb. “Blues for CM” (Charles Mingus) had a relaxed, old-time feel with reeds vs. brass riffing and a not-in-earnest “Honeysuckle Rose” insert Mingus might have tossed in. Hart reached back for a Cannonball Adderley sound on his solo. (Hart is rougher around the edges than Cannonball.) An odd meter “Shadow Dance” (most tunes had at least odd meter sections) hinted at Horace Silver’s “Senor Blues” and included some Ellington-tinged trombones. After the tempo shifted around a few times Potter and Hart carried on “dueling saxes” (separately and together) with “Senor Blues” riffs going on behind them.

“The Balance” featured five-way counterpoint that gradually dissolved into an odd-meter theme. Holland took a saxophone-like solo (unlike many bass players he knows all about pace) before Billy Kilson was up with some street feel drum breaks. A huge favorite with the audience (predominantly college students), Kilson stood out on every tune. (Hell, they all stood out on every tune.) Kilson is in tune with room acoustics, and he has that Tony Williams high-hat syncopation thing down. Steve Nelson took a long, four-mallet solo on “Herbaceous” (for Herbie Hancock) that evolved into a percussion duet when everybody but Nelson and Kilson dropped out.

Web site: http://www.daveholland.com

Wadada Leo Smith N' Da Kulture, October 13, 2001

Wadada Leo Smith - trumpet, composer; Harumi Makino Smith - poetry; David Philipson - bamboo flute; Bill Roper - tuba; Miroslav Tadic, Woody Aplanalp - electric guitars; Ollie Elder - fender bass; David Shaffer, Harris Eisenstadt - drums; Jesse Gilbert - percussion; Robert Fenz, Ken Jacobs - film.

One of the few trumpeters (there were many saxophonists) who came to prominence on the 1970's free music scene, Wadada Leo Smith has broadened his art over the last thirty years. N' Da Kulture, a multi-media ensemble, combines American and Japanese music with film and poetry. Smith's message has more to do with abstraction and color than with pictures, words, or notes.

A black-and-white silent film, "Duet for Trumpet and Camera," by Fenz began without musical accompaniment. Aplanalp hesitatingly tiptoed in with a series of electronic sound effects that had nothing to do with the solo trumpet images on the screen. Gradually the other musicians joined in, continuing past the end of the film into a heavily syncopated groove shepherded by Elder's bass. Smith took an intense, 1970's Miles-inspired electric trumpet solo over the groove as if in response to the film.

Roper and Philipson provided much of the minimalist free accompaniment to Harumi Makino Smith's poetry. The drummers occasionally added light, simple, traditional Japanese rhythmic patterns. Most of her text was spoken in highly inflected Japanese (She sometimes ended passages with extended vowel sounds.), but occasionally she appended English translations. In one poem the narrator dutifully took the lives of her children and herself rather than live under the rule of an invader.

Jacobs' "Perfect Film," also black and white, was assembled from unedited, discarded TV network interviews taped an hour or so after Malcolm X was assassinated (1965) at the scene of the assassination, the Audubon Ballroom in Harlem. In contrast to typical TV news broadcasts the footage had not been sanitized to portray a one-dimensional, establishment-slanted perspective. The film's sound came and went (depending on Smith's in-the-moment cues), sometimes alternating with music, sometimes combining with it. Audience reaction to this segment likely varied, depending on individual background. I took it subjectively, relating it to my feelings (not judgment) on perpetration of violence, particularly in regard to recent world events. The film also served as nostalgia, depicting a culture in transition with many of the background street images speaking louder than the on-camera subjects.

Eager to communicate, Smith spoke to the audience after the concert, mixing personal philosophy with insight into the artistry of the films and inviting the audience to share their reactions.

The Music of Lee Konitz, October 15, 2001

Conte Candoli, Carl Saunders, Les Lovitt, Kyle Palmer, Ron Stout - trumpets;

Andy Martin, Dave Woodley, Bob Enevoldsen - trombones; Gary Foster, Pete Christlieb, Jack Montrose, Bill Perkins - reeds; Christian Jacob - piano; Putter Smith - bass; Joe La Barbera - drums; Mark Masters - arranger, conductor; Lee Konitz - composer.

During fifty distinguished years in jazz alto saxophonist Lee Konitz has gradually and continually moved forward. Even his nonet of the 1970's, presumably formed to revisit the "Birth of the Cool" sound of the late 40's, ended up with an energetic, rhythmically advanced feel carried on by Tom Harrell, Billy Hart, and other modern-thinking players. Konitz agreed to come to Los Angeles and play music from several periods of his career. Unfortunately health problems prevented him from making the gig, but a local all-star big band carried on in his absence.

Konitz built his reputation more as an improviser than as a formal composer. Many of his tunes are one-off heads on show tunes that serve as points of departure for his invariably fresh saxophone solos. For this concert his spirit came through more in the light, steady rhythmic sensibility (1950's vintage) of the ensemble, a feel Konitz has long since left behind. Altoist Gary Foster demonstrated that a thinking soloist can build his own style based partly on Konitz the player. Like Konitz, Foster is capable of creating chorus after chorus of beauty and swing.

Conte Candoli, added as a guest soloist, was featured on many tunes including in a trumpet duet with Carl Saunders and rhythm. Candoli took his best-conceived solo on a medium-slow "Lover Man," but unfortunately the arrangement called for him to continue on after he had reached a stopping point. The piece also included a 1952 Lee Konitz solo transcribed for the saxophone section to play in unison. "Gundula", a dark, slow piece of recent vintage, recalled Charles Mingus’ brooding compositions (“Goodbye, Porkpie Hat” for example) and featured Foster in a particularly apt solo.

"Thingin'" ("All the Things You Are") spotlighted the three trombones in a couple of solo choruses each followed by chase choruses. Tenorist Jack Montrose spent most of the evening playing parts. He stepped out on "Palo Alto" ("Strike Up the Band") and showed himself in peak form. He still has his understated rhythmic feel, and his lines flowed wonderfully and naturally.

Bill Mays Trio, October 18, 2001

Bill Mays - piano; Ken Wild - bass; Paul Kreibich - drums.

On the heels of his new trio CD Summer Sketches (Palmetto) Bill Mays came home to visit (He moved New York a few years ago.) and demonstrated he is even better now than he was. Mays’ long suit is versatility (Besides his solo career he is Mark Murphy’s best collaborator.), but he doesn’t do a little of everything; he does a lot. He sticks mainly to standards, but he puts them through unexpected paces, and he doesn’t stay in one pace long. He is attracted to a variety of Latin rhythms.

Mays played a solo chorus (complete with verse) of lovely melodic variation on "Little Girl Blue" by way of introduction to "Girl Talk," a piece that sparked several choruses of quick-witted improvisation. Cuban rhythms were flying all over on "The Lamp Is Low" before a brief “Pent-Up House” bit and an extended dissolve into free association. "Lover Man" took off over a funky back beat, but ended with a fingers duet--Kreibich on snares, Mays on piano strings.

A Latin “Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square” began with an abstract intro and moved briefly into free play on its way to a march motif. Mays combined a couple of Charlie Parker “Rhythm” tunes, "Ah Leu Cha" and "Scrapple from the Apple." After several wailing choruses Mays zeroed in on and expanded the trill that introduces "Ah Leu Cha," throwing in some “Fascinatin’ Rhythm” along the way. A 6/8 "All Blues" started out slightly faster and more intense than the original record. Mays varied the tempo and mood throughout including one chorus of down home blues.

Concert for World Peace, October 28, 2001

Janice Foy – cello; Carolyn Sykes – harp; Leola Wagner – violin.

The first in a monthly series at the Brand Library in Glendale this concert was dedicated to the spirit of peace, tolerance, and multiculturalism. The program featured music with ties to the Spanish tradition: generally minor keys, imbued with that dark, determined, Moorish-tinged feeling. Tibetan, Gypsy, Croatian, Hungarian, and Australian aboriginal traditions also had their moments. Most pieces were brief and written out although there were moments of improv (or at least loose interpretation). A few examples:

Chick Corea’s “Spain”, based in part on a Rodrigo guitar concerto, began with Janice Foy bowing the stately theme before Leola Wagner stepped in with the familiar Corea motif, Foy bouncing her bow on the strings to simulate castanets. Bach-inspired three-part counterpoint distinguished Astor Piazzolla’s “Bordello”, a traditional tango. Carolyn Sykes rendered a couple of flamenco pieces, sometimes strumming the strings for a rhythmic emphasis.