Noah Howard at Judson Hall

The ESP-Disk thread over at Organissimo has had several recent mentions of Noah Howard at Judson Hall as a possible candidate for reissue on CD, although the ESP web site is selling it as a download. I own the LP and I agree wholeheartedly that this music ought to be available as widely as possible. Howard on alto, Ric Colbeck on trumpet, Catherine Norris on cello, Dave Burrell on piano, and Sirone on bass produced some of the best free jazz of the Sixties on this record. There is an easy flow of deeply felt music building to a burst of energy playing on both tracks, with Homage to Coltrane a particular favorite of mine. It's free jazz for those that think they don't like freee jazz -- music to think and feel by. You should check it out.

And to all a Happy New Year!

Pick - Sonny Criss: The Complete Imperial Sessions

I've been listening to a lot of Sonny Criss today. Two CD's with more than an hour and a half's music sounded like a lot when I started, but the music just got better and better as I went along. Tender on ballads and a scorcher on mid- and uptempo tunes, Criss was a phenomenally gifted player. He burns up Sweet Georgia Brown, In the Still of the Night, and Criss Cross, just to cite a few of this collection's many high spots. I also was dazzled by Ornithology, which in an apparent attempt by Imperial Records to abide by the Truth in Changes Act, is listed as How High the Moon.

Bob Porter's liner notes are not extensive, but he did point out something that I should have noticed a long time ago: one of Sonny's big influences was Eddie Cleanhead Vinson. I've long thought that Vinson's great blues shouting has tended to overshadow his keening, bop-style alto playing, and Criss definitely has a ton of that feeling in his sound. I don't want to overplay the influence thing, though -- this was a master musician with a unique sound, ideas, and attack. It's a shame he didn't get more recognition in his day. Pick this one up if you can find it!

Todd Barkan Interview

There's a very interesting All About Jazz interview with veteran jazz producer Todd Barkan, who has some cogent thoughts about the popularity and marketing of jazz in the U.S. and Japan.

Drums of Passion

Once upon a time in a decade far, far away, a big-time record producer named John Hammond heard some African drumming at a concert and -- here's the fairy tale aspect -- without the use of focus groups or checking with the suits, just because he liked the music, he signed the artist to a record contract. The result? Babatunde Olatunji's Drums of Passion, perhaps the first "world music" record released commercially, sold 5 million copies and became one of the most influential recordings of its time. It's been 50 years, but its impact still reverberates today.

When I was growing up in New Jersey, I listened regularly to WINS in New York. It's all-news now, but in those days, it was a key rock and roll station. In the evening, the jock was Murray Kaufman, or "Murray the K", as he liked to call himself.(Later, he dubbed himself "The Fifth Beatle" -- no way). As background music, he sometimes played an African-sounding piece of music that featured a vocalist singing what sounded like "Akiwawa"; this became a catchphrase in my set. When I started listening to Symphony Sid Torin's all-night jazz show on WADO, he played the same piece, identifying the artist as Babatunde Olatunji and the album from which it was taken as Drums of Passion. He also played Odunde (Happy New Year) and Shango, an invocation to the Yoruba god of thunder. I was hooked. I asked my dad to buy me the album and, good dad that he was, he complied, although my parents thought popular music ended when Glenn Miller's plane went down. Looking back, it was a gateway though which I heightened my appreciation of all kinds of music.

I wasn't the only one. Bob Dylan referenced Olatunji on The Freewheling Bob Dylan" and John Coltrane, Freddy Hubbard, and other jazz musicians listened and learned, as did Mickey Hart of the Grateful Dead. I believe Baba's music was key to the development not only of Coltrane's music but, through Trane, of the whole corpus of late Sixties and Seventies "spiritual jazz", of which I'll have more to say in future posts. Baba joined Martin Luther King's March on Washington but made his greatest contribution to America and the world by making his music available to listeners everywhere. Drums of Passion is available on CD, so do yourself a favor and pick it up. Odunde!

Is Jazz "Difficult"?

The only thing more disheartening than someone asking "Can you explain jazz to me?" or "Can you teach me how to appreciate jazz?" is when a jazz person starts explaining how jazz isn't for everyone or how you need to really work at it to enjoy the music. It's as if it's some kind of nasty medicine that you have to learn to tolerate before you can extract any pleasure from it. Yeah, that's really a way to turn people on the the music that you supposedly love. Come on, people!

I admit, I started listening to jazz many years ago because I had heard it was "cool" to do so. I listened, listened some more, listened to John Coltrane play "My Favorite Things", really started to listen, and haven't looked back. I subscribed to Downbeat and read books and reviews, but I never had to have anyone "explain" it to me or had to take a course in Advanced Riff Physics" to enjoy it. What you need to do is listen. As Duke Ellington said, "If it sounds good, it is good." Does anyone have to have rock explained to them? You either like a particular piece of music or you don't. If you like enough stuff that's labeled "jazz", you're a jazz fan. You don't have to read music or know what a chord progression is. Does it really matter what Coltrane is doing technically when he hits the last note of "Naima"? It either moves you or it doesn't. Let's try to make jazz sound like it's listenable and pleasurable and listeners will come, is the hope of everyone here at Stolen Moments World Headquarters.

Johnny Coles

I've been listening to Little Johnny C today. I bought this record at Melody Records in Manhattan when I was 18 or 19. I don't remember why -- a review in Downbeat, probably. When I presented it to the guy behind the counter, he said, "You've got good taste". Pretty heady stuff for a jazz neophyte!

Johnny Coles is one of those musicians whose name almost always is preceded by "underrated" or "neglected." Even the liner notes for the RVG CD wind up talking as much about Duke Pearson, the pianist for the date, as Coles. The other stick to beat him with was "Miles imitator", as if 100 percent of jazz musicians don't derive from somebody. It's not your influences, it's what you do with them. Johnny Coles developed a very personal style that made him unique -- influences be damned.

Coles was Gil Evans' first call for trumpet in the days when he was turning out masterpieces like Out of the Cool. He was a stalwart of the Mingus Jazz Workshop when I caught him at the Five Spot in 1964. In fact, it was the same group -- Eric Dolphy, Clifford Jordan, Jaki Byard, and of course Dannie Richmond -- featured on last year's memorable 2-CD Cornell concert release. I can still picture Coles concentrating ferociously during a solo while Dolphy and Jordan grinned and played a little "Now's the Time" until Mingus waved them off.

I tell you what -- pick up Little Johnny C, Out of the Cool -- he's phenomenal throughout -- or any other recording with Johnny Coles on it and forget about those tiresome modifiers. Just let the music speak for itself.

First Post

Well, after two false starts, I am resuming my endless quest to start posting to this blog. Although I started Stolen Moments as an experiment related to using social media on my job, I do want/need an outlet for my idiosyncratic views on books, music, movies, etc. Beginning this weekend, I vow to post something other than laments about not posting anything.

This blog's motto: "Listen: There's a hell of a good universe next door; let's go"