Detroit's Corey Kendrick, pianist, composer, and educator, kicks off this edition of the Thin Edge with his 2016 KARI-ON Productions' Rootless. Corey's trio - Joe Vasquez (b) and Nick Bracewell (d) - gives us an unusually uptempo romp of Eden Ahbez's "Nature Boy." The esoteric Andrew Hill joins forces with vibist Bobby Hutcherson performing Hill's "Reconciliation" from his 1964 Blue Note Judgment. Veterans Richard Davis and Elvin Jones propel the group. Trumpeter Marquis Hill, new to this show, follows with his penned "Moon Rays" from his new Concord Jazz, The Way We Play. BTW, Marquis Hill's group will knock your socks off! Hank Mobley's The Turnaround returns with "East of the Village," this time featuring Donald Byrd on trumpet and Herbie Hancock's piano.
When I think of "cuddly" musicians, Italy's Enrico Rava comes to mind. Now we have Jim Self, an American playing the tuba and fluba from Los Angeles. Self has performed as a studio musician in the Los Angeles movie studios having appeared on over 1500 soundtracks. At 72, holding his fluba, Self may be even cuddlier than Rava. New from Basset Hound Music, Jim and the Tricky Lix Latin Jazz Band cover Clare Fischer's "Morning" from his CD ¡YO!. Jim's ensemble includes the trumpet of Ron Blake, Francisco Torres' trombone and Rob Hardt's tenor. Joonsam, a South Korean bassist, gets help from pianist Aaron Parks and Ralph Alessi's trumpet playing Joonsam's "2 Tune and Off-Hour Waiting Area" from Origin Records' A Door. From Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers' mighty 1964 Blue Note Indestructible, we are treated to Curtis Fuller's "Sortie" featuring the composer's trombone, Lee Morgan's trumpet, Wayne Shorter's tenor with a Cedar Walton, Reggie Workman and Art Blakey rhythm section. With a two-reed frontline, Connecticut's Kris Allen mashes up "Won't You Come Home Bill Bailey" with seventeen signature Charlie Parker riffs in "Bird Bailey" from his new Truth Revolution Records' Beloved to bring this half to a close.
Interest in Lennie Tristano's coterie has appeared sporadically over the years since his influence in modern jazz began in the late forties, but it has seemed to spike in 2016. Lennie Tristano Sextette (Capitol 1949) is a great example of Tristano's unique approach. We'll hear the Konitz/Marsh composition "Sax of a Kind" featuring Lennie's piano with Lee Konitz's alto and Warne Marsh's tenor, Billy Bauer's guitar, Arnold Fishkin's bass and the drums of Denzil Best. Guitarist Marcos Pin's Broken Artist (Code Jazz Records 2016) - from the RoJ Team - "I Love You Too", an obvious Tristanoish cut, is next with help from Yago Vázquez (p), Pablo Castanho (sax) Alfonso Calvo (b) and ; Andrés Rivas (d). Hot off the press, at least as far as KZMU's library is concerned, comes Thelonious Monk's Monk's Music (Riverside 1957) with "Epistrophy," unusual because it merges artists initially involved in the "Swing" era: Ray Copeland (tr), Wilbur Ware (b) and "The Hawk"/"Bean" Coleman Hawkins (t) with modernists Monk, Art Blakey, Gigi Gryce (alto) and John Coltrane. The album was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2001. One of my personal favorites from way back is Cookin' with the Miles Davis Quintet (Prestige 1957). We'll hear Miles, Coltrane, Garland, Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones, Miles first great quintet, cover Richard Rodgers' "My Funny Valentine."
The Branford Marsalis Quartet with Kurt Elling will get our love Jones going with "I'm a Fool To Want You" penned by Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf and Joel S. Herron. This coming from Branford's new Marsalis Music CD Upward Spiral, with help from pianist Joey Calderazzo. The most convincing Bill Evans Trio since the death of bassist Scotty LaFaro is next with Bretton/Edwards/Meyer's "For Heaven's Sake" from the 1964 Verve outing Trio 64 featuring long-timer Paul Motian (d) and newcomer Gary Peacock (b). Billie Holiday takes us to 1944, further back than ever, with her shellac version of Jerome Kern and Dorothy Field's "A Fine Romance," starring, among many others, Art Tatum, Freddie Green (g) and Ben Webster (t). The reissue is called Lady Day. Moffat's favorite guitarist, Barney Kessel, is next with Bacharach and David's "This Guy's in Love with You" from 1969's Contemporary Feeling Free featuring the vibes of Bobby Hutcherson. Mark Murphy is featured with The Five Corners Quintet and their 2005 Ricky-Tick Records' Chasin' the Jazz Gone By. Mark sings "Before We Say Goodbye," by an unknown composer. Yes, we miss Mark! Chris Conner, from her 1956 Bethlehem All About Ronnie, follows covering Howard and Ballard's "Fly Me to the Moon." Pawel Kaczmarczyk wraps up these romantic twists and turns with a cover of Elton John's "Blue Eyes" from his 2009 Complexity in Simplicity. The Polish pianist's trio is backed by Wojciech Pulcyn: double bass and Łukasz Zyta: drums. The name, Łukasz Zyta, sounds like a character in Francis Ford Coppola/Mario Puzo's The Godfather. Liberty Jam is next, which means we can continue holding hands.
Let's have some fun!
A special thanks to KZMU's Music Director, Serah Mead and the troops @ Republic of Jazz for their help putting the show together: Agenor (BRA), Chris do Brasil (BRA), Domi & Victor (SPA), GAB (BEL), JR (SPA), Javi (SPA), Juan/Jazzzz61 (SPA), Lira (BRA), Luisa, Menos Que un Perro (ARG), Marcos (BRA), Melokan (VEN), Raz (ISR) and Sonia (SPA). Also friend, Raul Boeira, the Brazilian based in Passo Fundo and Spain's Javier Carrete.
