Carla Bley Big Band
Appearing Nightly
ECM

Jon Balke
Book Of Velocity
ECM

Mathias Eick
The Door
ECM

Marilyn Mazur
Elixer
ECM

Terje Rypdal/Ketil Bjornstade
Life In Leipzig
ECM

Alex Spiagin
Out Of The Circle
ECM

Jacob Young
Sideways
ECM

Adam Kolker
Flag Day
ECM

Marilyn Crispell
Vignettes
ECM

Savina Yannatou
Songs Of An Other
ECM

I am putting all of these ECM releases together, because they come to me the same way, in download format. Because of that, I only can listen to them on my ipod, which means that I hear them during my times of hiking or exercising with weights. No idea how these would sound in a car, or in the quiet solitude of a home.

Carla Bley’s big band is captured live and ALIVE during this fun Paris concert from 2006. The usual gang of Billy Drummond/dr, Steve Swallow/b and Andy Sheppard/ts/fl are supplemented by a pugnacious band that features trumpeter Lew Soloff. The charts and vibes are joyful, with the 25 minute Tin Pan Alley medley a good mix of irreverence and nostalgia. Swallow’s solo on “Awful Coffee” and Sheppard’s work on “Greasy Gravy” are just two of the highlight of this band that veers from Ellington to Kenton in seconds flat.

Pianist Jon Balke has put out a quite disc of 18 introspective pieces that seem like audible water colors. Gentle, thoughtful and slight, the pieces have an attractive guilelessness to them. Spacious and calm, they were perfect for a stroll along the hills behind my house.

Trumpeter Mathias Eick meets up with Balke, as well as Audon Klein/dr and Audon Erlien/g on his debut release. The music is filled with warmth, and the interplay between Eick’s autumn sunset horn with Erlien’s folksy guitar is lushly attractive. The sound comes across as mysterious as a stroll along the foggy forests of the Washington coast. Comfortably eerie.

Guitarist Terje Rypdal and pianist Ketil Bjornstad got together in 2005 for a German concert that comes across like a meeting of experimental minds. Most of the music is atmospheric, edgy with variances in dissonance depending on the mood. The emphasis on here is on textures over mood and rhythm. Definitely the WRONG disc for an aerobics exercise workout, and the occasional jarring collisions between the two nix any idea of a spacious walk in the foothills.

Trumpeter/flugelhorner Alex Spiagin has made a name for himself with the Mingus Big Band; here he teams up with guitarist Adam Rogers, ‘bonist Robin Eubanks, drummer Antonio Sanchez, bassist Scott Colley, reedist Doug McCaslin and keyboardist Andy Hey for some energized jazz that leans towards the latin side of life. The title track and “Afternoon Dreams” are both filled with infectious Brazilian grooves, while “Flash” goes hither and yon with elastic joy. The only hiccup is the synthesized drumming of the ballad “Sketches Of Myself”, but it’s a small price to pay for such a fun ride.

Norwegian guitarist Jacob Young studied under Jim Hall and John Abercrombie, and it shows. His sound and style sways between cool and calculated atmospheric sounds and explorative extravaganzas. Mixing the ambient and the edgy. Leading a trumpet/reed guitar quintet, Young focuses on the cerebral, edging towards the sterile on this ambient disc that can sound like music from a dental office, including musical reactions from an extraction or two.

Dry toned tenorist Adam Kolker has graced the orchestras of Ray Baretto, The Village Vanguard and Maria Schneider; here he teams up with guitarist John Abercrombie, bassist John Herbert and drummer Paul Motian for a collection of free floating originals, and a couple of jazz standards. “Last Night (When We Were Young)” and Monk’s “Played Twice” are sanded down and smoothed out. The originals are either mellow and spacious, or just plain gutless, depending on which side of the street you’re on. As Don Henley of the Eagles once said, the difference between mellow and boring is about a million bucks.

Marilyn Crispell anchored the pianist’s chair for Anthony Braxton’s band back in the 80s and 90s. Don’t expect anything too wild on this disc. This solo release emphasizes songlike and pensive reflections, ranging from one to six minutes in duration. Her style is gentle like Paul Bley’s, but the range is almost classical, with some of the pieces almost Schubert-like in romance. A few of the songs go off on rabbit trails, but the majority is perfect for a brisk morning or evening stroll.

If you think that Mediterranean singing consists of Savina Yannatou panting, sighing, screeching and wailing over instrumental wanderings and dronings, then you might like this disc. The melancholy Armenian folk melodies and Albanian lullabies are just too impressionistic and explorative. Take it from a Greek, if you want the real thing, try something from Vamvakaris, Dionisou or Dalaras. You’ll thank me meta’.

Electric Piano
King Mystery
Buffalo Puppy Records
By George W. Harris

What do you do with music that was considered “progressive” back in the 70s, but still hangs on to that style and attitude? Retro-progressive? Classical-progressive? The NYEP, which consists of Pat Daugherty/p, Tim Givens/b and Aaron Comes/dr, has expanded with the inclusion of keyboardist Leon Gruenbaum, woodwinder Till Behler and vocalist Deanna Kirk. What has stayed the same is the early Weather Report/RTF vibe, which includes catchy melodies, fiery and high volumed interplay with jazz/rock rhythms. Nothing new under the sun, but enjoyable, except for the flower child lyrics that sound like something from The Bodhi Tree bookstore back in the 70s.

Bill Cunliffe
The Blues And The Abstract Truth, Take 2
Resonance Records
By George W. Harris

Revisitng Oliver Nelson’s classic “Blues And The Abstract Truth” could be akin to polishing up Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, if not put in the right hands. Fortunately, pianist Bill Cunliffe was not intimidated nor reverent in his approach to the 1961 release. Supplying the session with Terell Stafford/t, Jeff Clayton/as, Andy Martin/tb, Bob Sheppard/ts/ss, and Brian Scanlon as, Cunliffe kept the original attitude of a sophisticated blowing session, but tweaked and turned the arrangements around a bit, and added a couple of his own well suited tunes, to create a respectable, but not awestruck, celebration of the original masterpiece.

Cunliffe, with Tom Warrington/b and Mark Ferber/dr, ably guide the all star soloists through swinging readings of “Stolen Moments” and “Butch and Butch.” The kinetic intro to “Hoe-Down” and slightly abstract intro and outro to “Cascades” modernize the pieces effectively. Sheppard, Stafford and Clayton all provide excellent solos, with Martin’s trombone adding welcome textures. The two Cunliff originals, “Port Authority” and “Mary Lou’s Blues” are right in the pocket with snapping grooves, with Cunliffe’s impeccable piano playing evident throughout. A well done job refreshing up an old friend.

Christian Scott
Live At Newport cd/dvd
Concord Records
By George W. Harris

Caught in concert at the famous jazz festival, trumpeter Christian Scott shows the crowd that last year’s release “Anthem” was neither a fluke nor a yoke in which to hold. His touring band (Walter Smith III/ts, Matt Stevens/g, Aaron Parks/p, Joe Sanders/b Jamire Williams/dr) has fire in its bones as they give fiery readings of 3 songs from his first two discs (“Litany Against Fear”, “Rewind That” and “Anthem”) and debut some provocative and future looking originals. While compared often to Miles Davis, Scott during this concert seems more influenced by the classic Coltrane quartet, with dramatic rhythms serving the foundation for intense and searching solos. “Died In Love” and “Litany…” show Scott exploring harmonic sounds that show that hears looking for new musical territories. Parks and Stevens sound inspired throughout, with the former’s work on “James Crow Jr, Esq” quite inspiring. Stevens, who contributes writing skills as well, solos formidably on “Died” and “Litany” as well as his own “Rumor”. Like the Coltrane band, Scott’s group can get quite liturgical on the ballads, with “Isadora” being at it’s meditative best. It seems like every Scott release will be a transition, since this restless guy is always looking for something more. An appealing prospect, indeed-catch him at Catalina’s in December.