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Jim Self: My America 3/My Country
by Jack Bowers
Tuba maestro Jim Self, who always has a creative trick or two up his ample sleeve, has subtitled the third volume of My America, his recorded tribute to the land of the free and the home of the brave, My Country, to which he could have added the word “music," as this is an album of country and western songs splendidly arranged for a fourteen-member jazz group by Kim Scharnberg. This is by and large bright and ...
Continue ReadingJim Self & John Chiodini: Back into the Future
by Doug Collette
The instrumental pairing of tuba master Jim Self and guitarist John Chiodini is an unlikely one to be sure, but the two veteran musicians have nurtured an equally uncommon chemistry. It is a musicianly dynamic so striking, in fact, that the two inspire not just each other, but the various other players to whom they extend invitations to collaborate. On such meetings-of-the-minds as these two Basset Hound Records releases, the music skirts the edges of tradition, but ultimately finds the ...
Continue ReadingThe Jim Self-John Chiodini Duo: Feels So Good
by Jack Bowers
Tuba maestro Jim Self and gregarious guitarist John Chiodini unite for the fifth time on Feels So Good, a studio date whose title neatly encapsulates its upbeat vibe. Even though it seems at first blush that the tuba and guitar should be playing in different leagues, Self and Chiodini somehow make the odd mixture work. Self usually carries the melodic weight while Chiodini offers counterpoint and rhythmic support. The duo performs on eight of the session's thirteen numbers and is ...
Continue ReadingTube or Not Tuba? Tuba!!
by Patrick Burnette
Sometimes Mike's dreams do come true. Take this all-tuba led episode, for instance. He's always loved the big horn in jazz groups, and here we delve into five albums spanning the decades led by tuba players. (Oddly, though, five of the featured leaders were all born within a five year span). Will the boys come up with deep insights? Please listen to ascertain. Playlist Discussion of Ray Draper's album Quintet Featuring John Coltrane (New Jazz) 4:17 Discussion of ...
Continue ReadingThe Jim Self & John Chiodini Quintet: Touch and Go
by Jack Bowers
A quintet whose front line consists of tuba, guitar and trumpet. How does that work? Quite well, actually--at least when that front line includes tuba master Jim Self, guitarist John Chiodini and trumpeter Ron Stout, ably supported by bassist Ken Wild and drummer Kendall Kay, on the Jim Self and John Chiodini Quintet's album, Touch and Go. The music they make can best be described as smooth and tasteful--although “swinging" would not be out of place either, ...
Continue ReadingJim Self: My America 2: Destinations
by Jack Bowers
Tuba maestro Jim Self's My America 2: Destinations is a successor of sorts to the album My America, recorded and released some twenty years before, also on Self's Basset Hound label. While personnel has inevitably changed (only trombonist Bill Booth returns from that earlier album), Self has employed the services of the same arranger, Kim Scharnberg—and thank goodness for that! Although Self and his eleven-member supporting cast acquit themselves well, it is Scharnberg's ingenious charts that make this engine run. ...
Continue ReadingJim Self: Hangin' Out
by Richard J Salvucci
One can be forgiven for not knowing a saxhorn from a saxophone, or, for that matter, whether a particular horn is a member of a certain family. Yes, there are aficionados (not to mention serious players) who can quite accurately describe the histories of the instruments, their lineages, and their peculiarities or idiosyncracies. Yet for many, it is difficult to distinguish a cornet from a trumpet. With a clever choice of mouthpiece, an adept instrumentalist can render them basically indistinguishable ...
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