Tribute to Harold Mabern

I was listening to this album the other day, performed by a quartet featuring the late great jazz pianist at PizzaExpress in SOHO London. I vaguely recalled I considered going there or Ronnie Scott's for jazz during my 1998 visit. Not 100% sure which one I went as I didn't write about this in my old post. I suspect I chose the latter since I would have found it too weird for a pizza place to be a jazz club as well. And I just realized this is the brand that our family (oh well, one of the member) like in Hong Kong. In fact, my buddy ordered to-go from it earlier in the year for the party at his place. Of course, the PizzaExpress restaurants in Hong Kong do not feature live jazz.

Grammy and Jazz 2020

The entertainment industry likes to give out awards for sure. I realized I missed the Grammys after I came back from my trip. So I googled who were the winners in the jazz category and found the list from Jazziz, which has actually embedded videos from the winners. Nice! To me, it's always a good opportunity to find out who has released what in the previous years since my other limited sources to learn about new releases were Spotify, jazz magazines that I read occasionally and podcasts. One thing that annoyed me a lot this year is the nominated albums have LOTS of vocals. Isn't there a separate category for vocal already? Anyway, there are still many that I enjoyed. Check out my new playlist:

Of course I excluded all the pieces with vocal, to the best of my knowledge :P
I did include several big band albums, which traditionally I don't care for. I guess it have to do with the modern arrangements, pioneered by the likes of Maria Schneider. Modern big band jazz is no longer "a lot of instruments playing together" but music showcasing a wide varieties of "colors painted by different instruments"

2019年尾三張新唱片

近年認識新唱片有三個渠道，本帖介紹三張分別來自這三個渠道的唱片：

• Binker Golding: Abstractions of Reality Past and Incredible Feathers 這是Spotify介紹的新唱片，主角是英國爵士色士風手Binker Golding, 其實2017年我的Top 5爵士推介有他和鼓手Moses Boyd合作以Binker and Moses名義發表的作品。碟評說本碟靈感源自英國六七十年代爵士樂壇，大家不妨聽聽有沒有那味道？我對那可說無甚認識。
• Nicholas Payton: Relaxin' with Nick 這是爵士雜誌Downbeat內廣告介紹的新唱片，Nicholas Payton在我印象中是比較傳統派的小號手，皆因他算是New Orleans同鄉Wynton Marsalis的「弟子」，不過聽了本碟Stablemates一曲後我就改觀了，另外原來Payton除了吹小號也彈鋼琴及電子琴(Fender Rhodes)。美中不足是本碟夾雜了不少我無興趣的vocal.
• Cecilia Bartoli: Farinelli 這是音響雜誌Stereophile碟評介紹的新作，Cecilia這位Mezzo soprano我可算是追隨多年，她九十年代至今多張作品我都有聽，本碟全部曲目都是巴羅克時代著名閹人歌手Farinelli的拿手好戲，今時今日當然沒有男歌手唱得到，曲目也不如當年受歡迎，作曲家Porpora我就從來未聽過，Bartoli演譯他的詠嘆調"Alto Giove"令我 聽得好感動。

後記：Googled了一下Nicholas Payton和Marsalis方知原來早幾年Payton和Marsalis家族另一位「老大哥」Branford有過筆戰：辯論關於黑人音樂和爵士；長文慎入。

英國號

看了三十年live music, 自以為所有樂器及組合也都見識過了吧，誰知這個星期就欣賞了一個我完全陌生的組合：英國號(English horn),塔布拉鼓(tabla)及結他三重奏，演出者是爵士樂團Mandalaya，成員為英國號手Matt Renzi, 鼓手Nilan Chaudhuri及結他手Amit Heri, 三位均有深厚印度音樂根底，請欣賞以下視頻：
先離一離題：我相信聽音樂也和緣份很有關係，早一陣子隨車附送的六個月Sirius XM衛星電台服務終於結束（另文談論），重新開始聽冷落了多月的爵士podcast "In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond", DJ介紹了一首塔布拉鼓手Sameer Gupta的作品，我聽得津津有味；過兩天就在Spotify找些著名鼓手Zakir Hussain的唱片來聽聽（就是和低音提琴手Edgar Meyer及Banjo手Bela Fleck合作的The Melody of Rhythm) ;接著就去了這場音樂會！
正題是介紹英國號這件我一直以為和法國號相似但原來不是那回事的樂器！法國號我在中學時代已認識，還記得當年培正銀樂隊的指揮介紹過圓圓的法國號是他的主樂器，後來也知這件銅管樂器特別難玩，有位作家寫了一整本書主題就是講他的法國號如何難玩！英國號既不是英國人發明，不是來自英國，甚至不是屬於銅管樂的「號」，其實是木管樂器雙簧管(oboe)的低音版！詳見此文。最後介紹一條英國號playlist

奧斯卡爵士樂

繼2017年的La La Land之後，又有一套和爵士樂有關的電影在奧斯卡頒獎禮大出鋒頭，就是贏得本屆最佳電影的Green Book。一如既往，電影甫獲獎即惹來議論紛紛，以下幾點值得一提：
荷里活被指「左膠」當道，傾向頒獎給題材和少數族群如黑人或同性戀者相關的作品，Green Book似乎也符合以上「條件」：故事主線是黑人音樂家Don Shirley到美國南部巡迴演出時僱用一位白人司機Tony Vallelonga（也有Shirley和白人同性戀者好事被撞破後被補的情節）
有人批評故事老掉牙，倒過來是白人音樂家僱用黑人司機之類的題材，肯定沒有掌聲。
也有「相反意見」指電影焦點放在白人司機多於黑人音樂家，即是「不夠左膠」？
而Don Shirley後人指先人當年在南部根本未有受到幾多歧視，和司機也沒有建立起友誼，有誇張失實之嫌（不過Vallelonga的兒子則力指電影以事實為主）

各位請欣賞一下Dr Shirley的演奏：

Guitar jazz

After several years of immersing myself in saxophone music, all of a sudden several new releases by jazz guitarists in the 2nd half of the year caught my attention. That included:

• Alex Skolnick Trio - Conundrum: I have been singing praises for this guitarist for years. He is one of the very few guitarist who shines in both metal and jazz. This is his trio's first new release in years though and it certainly didn't disappoint. As usual, he blended jazz with different genre including classical music (Erik Satie's Gymnopedie) and country (Culture Shock) Django Tango obviously pays tribute to the late great Django Reinhardt.
• John Scofields - Combo 66: the last album with him that I listen to was the one from the "supergroup" Hudson, which I moderately enjoyed (not a big fan of the vocals) I think I will stick with the ones with him as leader, like this Combo 66.
• Al Di Meola - Opus: Spotify doesn't have all of his albums. Too bad as I am very interested to hear his interpretation of the Beatles' music, recorded in the legendary Abbey road studio! So I am very surprised that two of his 2018 releases are available. Opus features his signature sound which has elements from Flamenco and other world music. Check out the tracks where he collaborated with keyboardist Kemuel Roig.

Magazine Jazz

This is another post in my recent "Blah blah Jazz" series. Every now and then I would visit the local bookstore and read some magazines, which almost always include Jazz Times because of its extensive review section. I listened to the following albums reviewed in the latest issue:
Still Dreaming: this is the name of the album as well as the name of the group led by saxophonist Joshua Redman, who paid homage to his dad Dewey Redman,  and Ornette Coleman, who has collaborated with the senior Redman. The review implied this album sounded more conventional than expected. Well, to me, it has just the right amount of "un"conventionalism. Or I might as well listen to Dewey and Ornette themselves!
Adam O’Farrill’s Stranger Days - El Maquech: As the grandson of Chico O'Farrill, you would expect to hear Afro-Cuban jazz. It certainly has those elements but there are more! I recommend reading NPR's interview with him regarding this excellent album.
Dave Holland - Uncharted Territory: this is a collaboration of the versatile bassist with avant garde saxophonist Evan Parker. If your last name is Parker and you play jazz, you'd better play something that break away from the tradition, like Charlie Parker and William Parker did! (I did manage to find one album with both William and Evan) The first track is totally misleading in the sense that it sounded "conventional" but I can reassure you the rest is not. Very challenging material.
JD Allen - Love Stone: I have read magazine articles mentioning this saxophonist before but never really listen to his music. However, with Liberty Ellman on guitar I figure you can't go wrong. I expected something adventurous to be honest but this album is all about standard ballads, played in a refreshing way though.
Buster Williams - Audacity: finally, an album that I expected to be conventional and sounded conventional indeed. This is straight ahead jazz at its finest. You can't go wrong if you are a fan of jazz.

San Franciscan Jazz

This is sort of part 3 of my latest jazz "series" and this time I will write about my "backyard" SF. As a SF Bay Area resident for over 20 years, my go-to place for jazz is still Yoshi's in Oakland. For SF, the go-to place has gone through many many changes: it was Jazz At Pearl's near China town years ago. I went a few times around 2001 before it went out of business. Then it's Yoshi' SF, which also went out of business because of the high cost. Savanna Jazz got a lot of good reviews but it had to leave the expensive SF for San Carlos, which is further down South on the Peninsula. Fortunately the SFJAZZ center seems to be here to stay 'coz I think that's the type of institution the social elites like to associate with. I did "discover" a few new venues this year:

Black Cat: this club has definitely booked quite a few quality acts and with many show times weekly. The most recent one I saw was the group Beekman from New York, which has just released a new album named Vol 3: live in San Francisco (so I count this as San Franciscan Jazz :P)
Even though I heard good music both times I went, I need to give it thumbs down: for people going there just for music like me, the only place to sit is at the bar, which has limited number of seats, one-side facing the stage and the other side back to the stage! Besides, most people went there to talk to their friends, with jazz as the background. I actually don't understand the rationale. If you just want jazz as background for chit-chat, you don't NEED to go to a jazz club. And the neighborhood is not exactly where I like to hang out at my age :P

Mr. Tipple's Recording Studio: to be honest, one big reason I wanna go was the name. It just sounds too interesting. After being there once though, I can tell you the place has absolutely nothing to do with a recording studio. It's just a bar with live music. I do have to give it thumbs up for allowing people like me (drink only and didn't reserve table for dinner) to sit close to the stage. Yes, most people there are talkers too but at least I can still hear the music, performed by this fine jazz quartet:

The sax and piano solo were impressive. They definitely have their own sound.

Bird and Beckett Books and Records: this is a relatively small local store in the SF Glen Park area. No cover charge (suggested donation is $10) and no talker! Everyone in the audience truly appreciate the music of Adam Gay Quintet last time I went.

French Jazz

After writing about Croatian jazz, of course the next topic is French jazz! I actually experienced it in person at the Duc Des Lombards jazz club in Paris years ago. And we all know quite a few American jazz musicians spent a lot of time in France. The most famous one is probably Dexter Gordon. However, I wanted to listen to French musicians and found these two saxophonists:

This one by Richard Raux sounds more traditional
while this one by Celine Bonacina sounds more modern
And here is a good article about French Jazz on Vinyl.

Croatian Jazz

I made a Spotify playlist named "England!" since they made the amazing run at the World Cup. Oh well. It's all over now so I gotta start listening to some Croatian musicians, which I am completely ignorant about. This is a good article about the Story of Croatian Jazz. The most famous Croatian jazz musician is vibraphonist Bosko Petrovic, who has also founded the legendary Croatian jazz club, BP Club. I am checking out this album which contains his best known composition: "Green Lobster Dream"

Best Jazz Albums of 2017 Part II: the Top 5!

I have finally sampled all (and deep-dived a few) of the Best of Jazz 2017 I posted earlier. And I really dig the followings:

• Akua Dixon - Akua's Dance: This one is probably the most mainstream among all the recommendations even though she played a non-mainstream jazz instrument (cello). After all, she did cover Sade's The Sweetest Taboo, which I actually like (the original too, of course)  Her music reminded a little bit of Regina Carter. I also enjoy the acoustic guitar works on this album. It would have been perfect without that lone vocal track IMHO.
• Binker and Moses - Journey to the Mountain of Forever: I wouldn't expect a duet of sax and drums can sound so exciting. As you know, it's challenging even for a sax trio with bass and drums as the rhythm section without a chordal instrument like piano or guitar to supply the harmony. I admire their ability to pull this off. Of course, it featured more band members in the later part of the album and those tracks are as good. 
• Tony Allen - The Source: this is one funky album that is growing on me.
• Harriet Tubman - Araminta: there are only 2 tracks available on Spotify for this album but you get an idea of what this guitar trio plays: jazz that really rocks. 
• Camilla George Quarter: she is yet another exciting (female) sax players that I hear in the last few years. Again, the vocal track is the only "distraction" for me.

Best Jazz Albums of 2017

又到了一年一度樂壇回顧的時候，和去年一樣也是連結別人介紹的最佳廿張唱片算了，我正在由第19位慢慢開始聽（略去第20位因為是vocal），這位作者的口味實在比較獨特，有前衛的，有New Orleans原始風味的，有World Music元素的，就是沒有Straight ahead的，讓我接觸一些平日較少聽的音樂實在是好事；廿張之中我只聽過#12 Ambrose Akinmusire – A Rift In Decorum: Live At The Village Vanguard，也算喜歡；從Spotify有得聽的砌了這個playlist:
 
其實2017年的新作我實在聽得不多，無獨有偶，最「主流」的要算是Chris Potter樂隊的The Dreamer is the Dream，多得ECM終於肯在Spotify「上架」！其餘喜歡的都算比較另類: William Parker Quartets的雙唱片集Meditation/Resurrection及Cuong Vu 4-Tet的Ballet(The Music of Michael Gibbs)。有空的話再寫寫其他種類音樂的2017精選。

ECM on Spotify!

上個星期爵士古典界最大的「新聞」可能是經典唱片品牌ECM終於破禁：讓旗下作品在網上各大收費音樂平台串流播放！以往讀到任何讚賞ECM唱片的樂評，除非在圖書館借到，否則只有概歎緣慳一面，所以這是對我來說期待已久的好消息！ECM毋庸置疑是唱片界奇葩：獨立不群又能取得商業上及藝術上的成功，即使是同一位樂手為ECM及ECM以外的公司出碟，細心的樂迷都很容易聽出分別！ECM就有一種前衛知性的味道。我在同一天在FB分別讀到兩篇介紹ECM必聽作品的文章[英文link][中文link] 我又特地重讀過去N期音響雜誌專找介紹ECM唱片的樂評，在此分享一下聽了的作品:

1) Keith Jarrett, the Koln Concert: 這張可能是ECM最著名的唱片！全碟均為即興爵士鋼琴獨奏，獨愛鋼琴的姐姐十分喜歡此碟，我就一如過往嫌Jarrett夾雜在琴聲中的招牌「吟唱聲」

2 ) Paul Bley, Solo in Mondsee: 此亦是一張爵士鋼琴獨奏，可以聽到點點藍調的味道，亦有姐姐的stamp of approval

3) Vijay Iyer Trio, Break Stuff: 這個鋼琴三重奏兩張前作我經已十分欣賞，而樂評人認為此碟更上一層樓

4) Chris Potter, the Sirens: 自從2013年起，我最欣賞的色士風手之一的Chris Potter的作品都在ECM發表，這是第一張。2015及2017的我還未開始仔細聽呢。

5) Bill Frisell, Small Town: 接著的都是結他手領軍（或獨奏）的作品，本碟是一支結他加一支bass，構成的音樂空間比想像中的廣濶。

6) Ralph Towner, My Foolish Heart: 忽發狂想：以古典結他作品聞名百年的Francisco Tarrega如果還在生，或許會彈得像Towner。

7) Dominic Miller, Silent Light: 除了流行曲cover Fields of Gold一曲略為cheesy之外，其餘的都彈出清新嶲永的味道。

8) Avro Part, Arbos: 也來一張（現代）古典音樂，有合唱，有銅管樂團，有小提琴大師參與，俗一點我也要說：「抵聽」

The greatest jazz albums I've never heard

I can understand the rationale behind writing outrageous post title to attract readers because the competitions for eyeballs are just crazy. However, if one wrote about "The Greatest Jazz Albums You've Never Heard", it almost guaranteed to be a disappointment. Regardless of my bias against West Coast/Big Band/Vocal jazz, the lineup are really not that strong, with the exception of these 3:

• Larry Carlton "Last Nite": Carlton played awesome fusion that any fan of guitar cannot resist 
• Stan Getz "West Coast Jazz": I forgot to mention another bias of mine: jazz tunes less than 3:30 minutes long seems to left something unsaid to me. This 13-song album has 2 under 3:30 but you can't really go wrong when Stan Getz played his tenor so I let that go :P
• Lou Donaldson "Blues Walk" Another "you can't go wrong" rule has to do with Blue Note Records: anything they released in the 50s and 60s are simply Good.

RIP Geri Allen

I've just learned that the amazing jazz pianist Geri Allen has passed away. I have enjoyed her performances for decades. For those not familiar with her music, just listen to her album "Life of a Song" and you will understand how talented she was.

It's a very sad day for all jazz lovers.

澳洲遊之電影篇(一)：La La Land

人生首次去澳洲，以前常常聽朋友說那裡距離美國很遠，坐飛機相當長途，西岸到雪梨要15小時！我買的平價機票要在紐西蘭轉機，所以最長一程「只是」12小時，和飛香港差不多，睡不著所以看了四套電影；由奧克蘭到雪梨三個多小時，竟也看了兩套電影！其中只有Office Space是「女神」Jennifer Aniston舊片重温（其實情節已完全忘記，當中的IT人心態自然繼續有共鳴）本文想講話題電影La La Land：該片主題是圍繞一個鬱鬱不得志的爵士鋼琴家Seb：滿腔熱誠的他開jazz club被騙財倒閉，在餐廰開工又被禁止演奏他醉心的正宗爵士樂（老板說no free jazz）無奈地靠著和舊相識一起玩大路「新爵士」音樂才令事業起飛。本片在電影界算叫好又叫座，不過爵士樂手及發燒友就頗有微言。看完之後我也有同感：(1)主角其實在片中作為正宗爵士鋼琴家身份的時候，例如他違反餐廳老板所謂"free jazz"禁令或在jazz club演出時，也沒有彈過多少爵士鋼琴（更遑論free jazz)，他的"theme"就一點也不爵士，全片的配樂（我之前已聽過原聲大碟）只有一條真正（但不怎出色的）爵士track，配樂這位仁兄根本就不太在行，我想演奏此配樂的一班有料爵士樂手的心情大概像為揾錢而降呢地彈奏的Seb一樣吧，認真諷刺 (2)主角以純正爵士守護者自居固然有問題（見1)，有網友對找個白人來「守護」爵士就十分反感；本片嘗試把他的（黑人）band友John Legend塑造成爵士改革者也不像樣，片中他們band玩的音樂絕對無革命性亦不會是未來爵士的取向，其實導演真有見地的話應該採用如Robert Glasper的音樂（此君有揉合R&B及爵士元素的能耐）甚至rapper Kendrick Lamar的音樂也更稱職。總之「未睇過無資格批評」，那我現在就有了。

看看NPR找來的LA爵士樂手怎樣說？

其他電影另文再寫。

Disney goes Metal?

像我這樣的老牌金屬友，聽過見過不少甚麼甚麼goes metal的唱片或視像，也很欣賞像Beatallica這樣把Beatles音樂Metallica化的樂隊。 不過聽到迪士尼竟然也gone metal就有點難以想像和接受，在我心目中迪士尼一直走討好家庭顧客的路線，連他們也玩metal，可能證明metal revival has peaked. Maybe it has nowhere to go but down? 無論如何，Metal Disney一碟的音樂人完全一本正經（或者說是剎有介事）地用正宗power metal手法去演譯這些迪士尼經典歌曲，值得一讚。
老老實實，Disney goes Jazz感覺比較合理。我以前也介紹過。無獨有偶，剛剛Spotify又彈出一首完全無關的Beauty and the Beast!

歐洲爵士樂壇

上一期Stereophile雜誌專題介紹Jazz in Europe，原來在美國聽開爵士樂的我，除了在「名牌」唱片label ECM旗下的歐洲樂手，認識的不算很多。其實歐洲爵士界十分活躍，從一年到晚舉行的音樂節可見一斑。該文介紹了好幾位樂手，我當然第一時間上Spotify聽聽：

• Francesco Diodati這位結他手首先吸引到我注意的是他的結他！和我一樣，他也是Fender Jaguar用家！其次令我注意的是他2010年唱片的名字:Purple Bra!相信和碟名無關，但本碟音樂的確給人耳目一新的感覺。只憑聽，可能以為主角是色士風手而不是結他手！也令我想起我在Berklee的結他導師Bruce Saunders的作品，同樣是強調整體性。
• Enrico Rava和前者相比肯定是老牌得多的樂手，和這位小號手合作多次的同鄉鋼琴手Stefano Bollani似乎名氣較大，當年我在意大利街頭也見過Bollani音樂會的海報。隨機抽樣聽了Rava數張唱片（當然少不了和後輩Bollani二重奏的作品），發覺Rava的音樂相當多元化，有傳統的也有不少極具現代感。
• Francesco Cafiso是色士風手，2004年相當年輕的他已參與英年早逝歐洲爵士大師紀念音樂會唱片Concert for Michel Petrucciani，2006年他找來一班紐約樂手組成New York Quartet推出New York Lullaby一碟，玩出十分美國的爵士味道，不過我更欣賞他2015年一套三唱片集，大部份歌曲一反傳統，只得2-4分鐘左右，可謂點到即止！

大家不妨多點留意歐洲爵士樂手作品。

爵士樂首張錄音誕生一百週年

那是一百年前的二月廿四日，之前有爵士樂雜誌專題討論，然後又讀了這篇BBC的文章，如此長文真難得有心讀完。老老實實，即如我般沉迷爵士，也未必有興趣一再欣賞這張Original Dixieland Jass Band的唱片，皆因和今時今日我們常聽到的現代爵士相差太遠了！當中扮動物聲音效果更令我嗤之以鼻。個人來說，回溯歷史，值得開始欣賞的，最早期要算是Lester Young Billie Holiday 四十年代的Swing爵士樂。

雪的音樂

早幾天我們四大中佬Twins fans去了Reno看她們的演唱會，回程時路上因大雪，數小時只能龜速行駛甚至完全停頓！結果用了十二小時回家。USB flash drive很多Gb的廣東歌也幾乎要重覆！其實出發前開始聽一集In the Groove, Jazz and Beyond很應景的podcast： Snow blues. 當中兩首有Soprano sax(分別由Joshua Redman, Donny McCaslin負責)的作品更是特別動聽：
Joshua Redman Quartet ~ Second Snow ~ Spirit of the Moment: Live At Village Vanguard
Alon Nechushtan ~ Snow-Flow ~ Venture Bound
巧合的是今天我也罕有地拿了我的Soprano出來練習！