Musical Ramblings

MMM#10 - Hugh Masekela

There's something special about South African Jazz. For a people who have suffered so much for so long, and still suffer to this day, the black South African jazzmen produce a music that is surprisingly uplifting and positive. Hopeful.

I'm not an expert on the topic. When I lived in Britain my housemate who was a trumper player made me discover a whole load of trumpet luminaries I'd never heard of including Hugh Masekela. I fell in love with the groove, the harmonies and the horn sounds of Masekela's Hope live record. More recently, through covers by Stanton Moore (on III) and Charlie Hunter (on Friends Seen and Unseen) I was enticed to check out the amazing pianist Abdullah Ibrahim. And by chance I stumbled upon Zim Ngqawana's Vadzimu, equally superb.

So, anyway, while it's still monday morning somewhere west of me, I wanted to share this anthem of South African jazz, a big hit in its time, Hugh Masekela's Grazing on the Grass. This is from a concert in 2000, but you'll find a shorter version, as well as the fantastic Mandela, on Masekela's Hope.

Let's hope that the hope in the sound of South African jazz is well-founded!

MMM#9 - Lettuce

It's time for some Monday Monring Groove. Well, come on, it's not because I'm late that it's not monday morning for someone! Hello readers on the West Coast!

Anyway, this is groove, this is Lettuce, this is music that will make you shake your booty. I'm keeping the best Lettuce track (in my opinion) Nyack for a future podcast, but in the meantime you can get a good taste with Squadlive.

Lettuce is one of those projects that bands that have other lives do. Part of the crew is Soulive, don't really know where the others come from. Suffice it to say that they are hot, as evidenced by this Live in Tokyo, one of the only two releases under their name.

I cannot praise this record enough. I don't know if I should call it acid jazz, jazz funk, groove or what, but I love it. Give it a try and let me know!

MMM#8 - Jacques Loussier Trio

You've had it easy these last few weeks. Sometimes I missed the MMM, and most often I posted cool but essentially unchallenging stuff to listen to. Not so this week.

Not that Jacques Loussier's rewriting of the Bach repertoire for jazz trio are exactly demanding, we're not talking abstract dodecaphonic music here. But still, this Pastorale in C Minor features a nine minute double bass solo, so I'll probably lose a few of you along the way (I'm thinking of Arnaud, specifically, but there may be others...)

Still, this track, especially the album version on Jacques Loussier Plays Bach (which features a different double bass player and a more concise solo) is an absolute gem that I fell in love with litterally at first hearing. I don't even think I'd ever heard Bach's Pastorale in C Minor before, but this is just so springy, and beautifully melodic, I absolutely love it.

I won't get into the whole debate that raged some years back on Loussier's work. I understand that the interpretations he did in the 60s and that made him famous were largely formulaic. But these recordings, especially the 90s stuff with Vincent Charbonnier on bass and André Arpineau on drums, it's superb. Just give that record a try, it doesn't demean Bach by any means, it elevates him to a status of misunderstood genius.

MMM#7 - Ian Siegal

Haven't you ever felt like it's a monday when it's actually friday? Not good. Well that's how I feel today, and it's not just an excuse to post the MMM four days late...

Anyway, I felt like a little blues today. And since there's not much modern blues I actually find any good, I'm very pleased to introduce you to Ian Siegal, a UK blues singer/guitarist with the most stunning voice this side of Howling Wolf. He has just released a new album called Swagger which I very strongly recommend (I'll probably do a full review when time allows). It's modern sounding (a lot more than what I've featured here for the MMM) and yet true to its blues roots. Siegal's voice is a stunning as ever, alternating between that deep rumbling bass that is reminiscent of Chester Burnett and a mellower approach for more soul oriented tunes. It's a sparse band affair which again emphasises Siegal's powerful voice and incisive guitar playing. Siegal is also the vocalist for Lee Sankey's Tell Me There's a Sun, also well worth checking.

This song, Mortal Coil Shuffle, is from the last album, and it's probably the blusiest tune in there, very Muddy Waters like. Here Siegal is on his own however, and it gives the song a haunting quality that I find really interesting. Hope you like it!

MMM#6 - Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson was one of the first jazz pianists whose music I truly fell in love with, back in 1993. I guess I was impressed by his virtuosity at first (the version of Caravan on Live! used to leave me gobsmacked) but soon the dual side of his talent took over: on the one side, the emotion, his incredible capacity to make you weep with one chord (as on the opening section of Hymn to Freedom); on the other side, his amazing swing, the way his playing can simply make you want to jump up and dance (listen to Cakewalk on Nigerian Marketplace...)

While I was away in the mountains with no access to the web, Oscar Peterson passed away, aged 82. Faithful reader Jim sent me an email with the news, which is how I learned of his passing. As sad as it must be for his friends and family, I can't help but think that he had a long and rich life (see the detailed Allmusic biography.)

In 1997, I saw Oscar Peterson live at the Marciac Jazz Festival. He was very diminished by his stroke, and his left hand playing was very limited, but he had managed to reinvent his playing focusing more on the right and and more on the romantic aspects of his playing. It wasn't necessarily the Oscar Peterson I had come to see and hear, but it was a very moving concert. I will always remember the long minutes of encore at the end of the concert, and how he came out three times  to salute, wheel-chaired, grey-faced and exhausted, as if to say "I'm sorry, I simply cannot play any more for you, much as I would like to..." But the crowd (and, I must sadly confess, myself) was relentless. After twenty minutes, he came back for one last tune. It was as if we were all sensing that we may never see him again. Audiences can be cruel...

I've already featured Hymn to Freedom on the very first Rambling Podcast (the Original Show), but this piece is such a pinnacle of what Oscar Peterson's music is to me that I don't know of any other tune that would be as good a homage. I found a different version, but it's the same, beautiful, Hymn to Freedom. If you like this, you will like Night Train, his bluesiest record in my opinion. I've been listening to it non stop for the last couple of days...

Rest in Peace, Oscar.

MMM#5 - Paul Lassey

This is an unusual MMM, mostly because it's an unusual Monday. It's Christmas Eve and I was looking for something appropriately festive, and failing so far. But fellow harmonica player Paul Lassey just sent me an mp3 equivalent of a Best Wishes card that I simply have to share with you. It's all home made, so you'll have to forgive the drum machine and occasional synth sounds (but they're not too bad, honestly). The harmonica playing though is way cool. Imagine every single possible Chrismas Carol crammed into three minutes of bluesy harmonica boogie and you'll be close to what Paul has just done.

Waaaaaaaaaay cool!

And a great occasion for me to wish you all merry festivities. I will see you in the new year, with some potentially big changes as soon as I can find the time to implement them. But I guess that''ll be the content of a New Year's address!

MMM#4 - Eric Legnini Trio

I haven't posted any jazz so far on the MMM, so it was time for a little bit of that.

The classic trio formation (piano, doublebass, drums) is one of my favourite jazz set-ups, capable of both great dynamism and great sparseness. Eric Legnini is a jazz pianist from Belgium who has been on the scene for a good while as sideman but only released his first album under his name a couple of years back. This album, titled Miss Soul features a very accessible yet exhilarating brand of jazz where the groove is king. Legnini cites Phineas Newborn and Les McCann as inspiration, and indeed the tune featured here is a composition in homage to Phineas Newborn.

The Memphis Dude, which opens Miss Soul is a fast paced tune with an intricate and ornemented melody, a deep bass line and busy drumming to keep it swinging. Legnini's playing is very melodic, mostly "in", but it sounds really gorgeous. I love the way this tune combines a level of intricacy and harmonic exploration with a driving groove that makes me want to tap my feet. Rosario Bonnacorso's bass playing is strong and mean here, a key building block in the drive this tune conveys.

Miss Soul really is one of the best albums I bought in 2007 (even though it was released in 2005) and I strongly recommend it. If you liked this bootleg, you can't fail to like the whole thing!

MMM#3 - Danyel Waro

Danyel Waro is a singer and percussionist from the Reunion Island who is responsible for the revival of a traditional musical genre known as Maloya. Maloya uses various percussion instruments and call and response singing over a very peculiar 12/8 rhythmic structure. It was originally a slave music, and as such has spiritual (if not musical) parallels with early blues.

I first discovered Danyel Waro on the beautiful album that he and Olivier Ker-Ourio did together (Sominnker), but being a jazz project, that album parted from Maloya proper by adding harmony. I later got hold of Danyel's solo albums, and while it's a much rawer sound, it's also extremely powerful music.

What really moves me about Waro's stuff is the power and amplitude of his voice, first and foremost, and the fact that the backing rhythms are joyous despite the usually somber themes mentioned in the lyrics (at least what little I understand of the creole lyrics.) This song, called Labatwar (L'abbatoir, the slaughterhouse) is characteristic of that paradox. It talks about black men lined at the slaughterhouse, and while I don't get the exact gist of it, that tells me all I need to know about the topic. Waro's voice is charged with emotion, high pitched but growling at times. It really does something to me...

Another thing I discovered while listening to Danyel Waro's music, in particular on his 2003 album Bwarouz, is the complexity of the rhythmic lines. The sound may be primitive, but the construction is very elaborate, with several responding drum lines. It's really opened my mind on the role of rhythm...

Hope you enjoy it!

MMM#2: Junior Wells

Okay, it's Wednesday morning. So sue me.

But not before you've listened to this awesome and touching version of Worried Life Blues by Junior Wells (he calls it Oh Lordy, Lord). I've left the banter in, it's so Junior Wells. This is from a 1966 gig with the Myers Brothers on guitar and bass and Fred Below on drums.

What I love about this track is how wonderfully laid back it is. Worried Life Blues (a song originally "did" by Big Maceo, as Junior puts it) is often sung in an anguished manner, but not in this instance. Instead, Junior makes it sound like a man who's resigned to his fate, which is - if anything - even sadder. Junior's voice is rich and warm, very moving. Louis Myers' guitar is the epitome of great blues guitar, before it became about showing off. Simple lines, wonderful tone.

You can find a different yet equally delightful version of Worried Life Blues on Junior Wells' Coming at You.

As you will have noticed, I've decided to drop the grid for now, I find it a little clumsy and it cramps my spontaneity. I'll have to give that a rethink.

MMM#1 - Karl Denson's Tiny Universe

Starting this monday I'm launching a new feature on this blog called Monday Morning Music. Each monday morning, I'll upload one track from a bootleg just to share some good music. In addition, I will put to good use the matrix I theorised about a year ago that I called the body analogy. I think it's much more relevant as applied to single tracks rather than whole albums, let me know what you think.

This monday morning, the music is Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. Karl Denson is a wonderful jazz saxophonist, flautist and singer from the west coast whose work has been in the acid jazz / funk arena for over a decade. He plays with the renowned Greyboy Allstars, but also heads his own band called Karl Denson's Tiny Universe. KDTU as they are often called only has one album out, the excellent The Bridge.

Check out your mind is featured on that album. I think it's a Miles Davis cover, although I've never heard the original. One of the things I love about this song is the way Denson uses the flute, kinda romantic at the beginning - which gives it its heart (1) - but the song builds up gradually and, as it picks up intensity, it's now coming from the bottom, hence the guts (2). The long and intricate guitar solo is both powerful and a little brainy, hence head (1). But overall, the song grooves as hell, which is why it's highest rating is legs (3).