Multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin is known mostly for his work with Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Andrew Hill, and especially Miles Davis (Bitches Brew, Big Fun, On the Corner) and Herbie Hancock (his Mwandishi and Headhunters bands). Great credentials, to be sure, but his own musical creations are just as visionary. He's an admirably tasteful player who truly speaks through his horn; his tenor sax sound is full of earthiness, warmth and soul, and the gutsy hum of bass clarinet is unmistakable. And he ranks quite high in my list of favorite flutists with an astoundingly deep, rich tone that envelopes the listener's ears. Maupin's career as a leader seemed to be on hold from the late '70s until 1998's Driving While Black, but a resurgence of interest in his talent has happened in recent years. Cryptogramophone released Penumbra in 2006. 2007 saw the much anticipated reissue of his 1974 debut, The Jewel in the Lotus. This year -- today, in fact -- the creative music champions at Crypto release Early Reflections.
Those already familiar with Maupin's music might recognize he rarely follows typical song forms, to thrilling effect. But even at their most abstract, his pieces are always anchored by insistent motifs and intriguing colors. Brooding numbers like "Within Reach," "Inner Sky," and "Escondido" expand simple melodies over a lush, lucent backdrop of piano chords and a hypnotic pulse. Maupin's bass clarinet feature on the latter is especially delicate; he always lets his musical ideas breathe, and this use of space and suspense is a true Maupin trademark. The Polish rhythm section -– pianist Michal Tokaj, bassist Michal Baranski, and drummer Lukasz Zyta –- shows a remarkable like-mindedness throughout the album. Their sensitive sound-painting is the perfect accompaniment for Maupin's ballads, and the more "charged" pieces contain some significant risk-taking (and rewards). "Inside the Shadows" and "Not Later Than Now" have some especially sneaky, witty interplay.
Some of the album's most distinctive tunes feature Maupin on soprano sax. On the sprawling "Atma," his pure tone works well in tandem with the reedy voice of Hania Chowaniec Rybka. He revisits "The Jewel and the Lotus" with a sprightly acoustic quartet approach, and his nimble, tearful, uninhibited solo is the high point of the album. But my favorite moment on Reflections is the alto flute melody on the haunting, languid "Tears." Maupin's mysterious, full-throated flute sound is impossibly beautiful.
Since his Penumbra "comeback" in 2006, Cryptogramophone has truly captured Maupin's essence: his expressive tone, his compositional mastery, and his instinct for the spontaneous. Early Reflections is an easy recommendation to longtime fans as well as a powerful entre for newcomers to his music. There's always something fresh about Maupin's playing, and this album opened my ears all over again.
I rarely dig this far back into my past when blogging, but for the sake of background, I'll be revealing a bit about my teenage years in Sacramento, CA. I was studying drums formally and performing regularly with some friends from another high school in a local alt-rock outfit called Harper. Our influences were very '90s: Weezer, Smashing Pumpkins, Deftones, Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, etc. Levi Winegar was the band's rhythm guitarist and manager, but he could also play drums -- and quite well. His main influences were Abe Cunningham of Deftones and Matt Cameron of Soundgarden. (Being less focused, I was trying to bring together Cunningham, STP's Eric Kretz, and something resembling Live's Chad Gracey.) After disbanding around 1999, we all went different directions, physically and musically, and over the years, Levi and I inadvertently switched instruments. Having neither the space for the drum set nor the understanding neighbors, I now play guitar. Levi is up-and-coming in the Kansas City scene as the drummer of Waiting for Signal.
Make no mistake: Waiting for Signal is pure rock -- heavy, dark, and adrenalized -- but unlike most overdriven, testosterone-fueled acts, their sound is also well-crafted and deliberate. Drawing inspiration from Queens of the Stone Age, Interpol, Failure, Dredg, and KC heroes Shiner and Season to Risk, W4S bolsters their songs with thick, chunky chords, queasy guitar lines, and refreshingly strange melodies. "Illogical" is solid and punchy but also distinguishes itself with some crunching, unconventional chords in its verse. They show a knack for the atmospheric with the ethereal, echoing layers of guitar in "Vegas." Ryan Bates's creative lead contributions are almost ambient, giving the tunes a depth seldom heard in bands like this. Nice, too, to hear Gene Abramov's unique vocals, ranging from a haunting new-wave drone to a modern rock scream, especially on the radio-ready "Mistakes of the Century." This tune and "Sending the Generation" are also great examples of how Winegar's ideas keep the music both fresh and aggressive. His playing introduces variety, intelligence, chops, and dynamics to a genre in which most drummers would merely keep (very loud) time.
Head to any of their shows -- there's one tonight, in fact -- and pick up The Catastrophe EP. Several songs are also available at TheirSpace.
No doubt you've seen the round of obits of producer Teo Macero (NY Times, LA Times, Pitchfork). Some might say Teo wouldn't be remembered as easily if not for his presence on Miles Davis's best-known albums, but many more would say that's a vast underestimation of his influence. His legacy is indeed closely linked to Miles's and we might not be as ready to give a producer the same credit and respect due to a musician, but (1) he actually was a musician himself, a saxophonist and composer, and (2) his storied contributions to Miles's finest works go above and beyond mere session supervision or artistic advisement. Miles's daring, prescient concepts are, of course, the main dish, but Teo's significant, pioneering producer-ly touches give them a more appealing presentation. Arguably, his razor-and-reel sound manipulation shouldn't be remembered as "the entire point of the exercise" as he believed (see the NYT article), but his legacy holds up all the same -– and to the benefit of the music, in my view, the issues surrounding Quiet Nights notwithstanding. And it's worth acknowledging his supervision of Mingus's fine Columbia work (notably Ah Um and Dynasty) and, of course, Brubeck's Time Out.
In any case, if Teo hadn't made his mark as a producer, his musical talents would have likely come to the fore all the same. His compositional and performance skills are well documented on record. Kyle Gann's blog, PostClassic, has a very cool mp3 of Macero performing an original quarter-tone piece. Darcy has some good links as usual, including a video interview of Macero and a personal anecdote. Also check out this WCPN interview with Bobby Jackson from June 2001 and a great Q&A with Perfect Sound Forever from September 1997. (Note Teo's response about "the purists.")
Saxophonist Ron Blake's deep, brawny tenor sound might bring to mind Johnny Griffin, Stanley Turrentine, or a bit of Sonny Rollins, but he speaks a more contemporary language with his own voice. His discography certainly reveals as much, bearing the names of young lions like Roy Hargrove, Marc Cary, and Stephen Scott, as well as veterans like Benny Golson, Art Farmer, and Jimmy Smith. He also has under his belt some notable studio work (Yerba Buena and the El Cantante soundtrack), academic positions (University of South Florida, NYU, and now Julliard), and a tenure in the Saturday Night Live band (it's his third season). Not to mention a striking handful of albums. Sonic Tonic from 2005 certainly caught my attention. His latest, Shayari, is a worthy follow-up -– and departure.
While Tonic mixed in funk and fusion flavors to great effect, Shayari finds Blake at his most elemental. The stripped-down acoustic 13-song session is comprised mostly of trio tunes with Blake and pianist Michael Cain at its core. Instead of relegating the piano to a "chording" instrument, Cain's unique contributions often jump into the foreground, slipping in and out of harmonic, melodic, and even percussive roles. "Waltz for Gwen" and his original, "76," are two of the album's highlights, containing sumptuous voicings, powerful left-hand presence, and luminescent solos. The latter also proves to be a strong showcase for Blake and his muscular, earthy tones. Alternately, his dark sound takes on a heartbreaking huskiness on "What Is Your Prayer For?," an original of his that has the timeless charm and lyricism of a well-loved standard. And "Hanuman" finds him engaging in some spiky interplay without losing a bit of his soulful character.
Shayari's variety and freshness is also a result of the rotating third chair of the trio. Jack DeJohnette's drums add some brilliant energy on five songs, but he almost steals the show on "Hanuman." Percussionist Gilmar Gomes gives a few tunes some enticing textures, especially "Waltz for Gwen." "Of Kindred Souls" spotlights Regina Carter's violin, which takes on a reedy, gutsy sound that blends well with Blake's tenor. And while Cain deftly handles the low end throughout the date, bassist Christian McBride is a welcome guest, particularly on the Bobby Hutcherson-penned swinger "Teddy."
"Of Kindred Souls," incidentally, debuted on record at the same time as Blake: it was the title track of a 1993 album by Roy Hargrove. A decade and a half later, Blake has carved a spot for himself in today's jazz landscape without leaving the tradition behind. And hearing him in a back-to-basics acoustic setting on Shayari exposes both his strong roots and how he diverges from them, powerfully and poetically.
You'd think the new year would prompt me to resolve to update more, but given my recent schedule, I can only ease into it for now. There will be some new music in the coming weeks, but for now, a few videos that I've found in my limited free time:
Wayne Krantz: "Afkap." This tune has plenty of vibe and a fair degree of chops but Keith Carlock and Tim Lefebvre are the ones who really get to lay into this tune, especially when the tempo shifts. And I love the use of major seventh chords in the heads. Check out the previous twosegments of this footage for some of Krantz's insights into conventional jazz language vis-a-vis his approach to improv.
Wilco: "Impossible Germany." I confess I only really bothered paying attention to Wilco once they recruited Nels Cline and released Sky Blue Sky. I'd only really heard about them when Yankee Hotel Foxtrot hit in 2002, but I'm warming up to them now. Nels's solo here follows the same general path of the other versions out there, but this is the best one in my opinion. Less shredding and tonal experiments than his jazz/avant/creative music projects, but still authentically Nels.
The Mars Volta: "Wax Simulacra." The gospel drums of the newly inducted Thomas Pridgen meets the prog-rock free jazz assault of TMV for their network TV debut. Letterman and the audience probably have no clue what the hell is going on. I recently read a bizarre and scary yet somehow inspiring article in Harp Magazine from late 2006 about TMV's origins. They also made the cover of this month's issue with an interview about the making of The Bedlam in Goliath.
The Hagen Quartet: Ravel's String Quartet, No. 1 in F Major (Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4). I studied this composition in college, and it's the reason I stuck with composing. When someone says "string quartet" to me, this is what plays in my head. I love how the opening of the first movement sounds like a tape playing backwards.
Maybe it's because it's only rotation for a small part of the year, but the soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" never loses its charm to me. The theme to "Linus and Lucy" or the Peanuts characters singing "Christmas Time Is Here" are probably the most recognizable tunes, but I'm partial to the vampy goodness of another Vince Guaraldi original, "Christmas Is Coming."
A Charlie Brown Christmas (Fantasy) Vince Guaraldi (piano) Fred Marshall (bass) Jerry Granelli (drums)
NPR has more of the story behind Guaraldi's association with the world of Charles Schulz's Peanuts.
As you've probably read in a handful of other places, saxophonist Frank Morgan died of kidney failure this past Friday morning, December 14th. He'd been diagnosed with colon cancer after a recent European tour, which he completed in spite of earlier concerns about his health. And, in a way, this triumph mirrors his many other life accomplishments in the face of adversity. His heroin habit and prison sentences kept him out of the public eye for three decades before he made a comeback in 1985. He continued playing (contrary to medical predictions) after suffering a stroke in 1998. And his output was never more healthy and prolific as it was in his later years, even though his physical health was in decline.
The Minneapolis native began as a guitarist under the tutelage of his father, Stanley Morgan, who later became the owner of the Casa Blanca on Los Angeles's main jazz artery, Central Avenue. Stanley once took young Frank to see Jay McShann's band in Detroit, and according to Frank:
When Charlie Parker stood up to take his first solo, my father said that I turned and said to him, "That's it for the guitar, Pops." [from an interview with Jazz of Enchantment ]
Stanley introduced Frank to Bird, who suggested the young Morgan start on the clarinet before playing alto sax. By age 14, Morgan was playing at Central Avenue's famed Club Alabam. At 15 he had an invitation to join Duke Ellington's orchestra, which he had to decline because his father wanted him to finish school.
Unfortunately, Morgan's drug habit kept him in and out of prison from the mid-'50s until the mid-'80s. He was even able to play while incarcerated in San Quentin, however, in a band with Art Pepper and Frank Butler. Morgan certainly painted a peculiar picture of prison life in the liner notes of the 1991 reissue of his debut album:
They had clubs and civic organizations that would come over the Bay Area and pay $7.50 a head to tour the prison and hear us play. They would see the gas chamber and everything. This was every Saturday night and we had our tuxedos on, and they were very humane to us, at least for that evening.
Because he was so often trapped in the penal system, Morgan apparently didn't really get to experience New York until playing the Village Vanguard in 1986. He'd only made his sophomore album, Easy Living, the previous year.
But the stories of Morgan's sidelined career and finding himself again shouldn't obscure his art. He's an incredible player, if incredibly underrated. His buoyant, lyrical bop lines were thickened with a unique warmth. Because of his similarities to Bird, or because of his brief career, Morgan may not be widely regarded as influential, but his music certainly was beautiful and well worth remembering.
Interviews: AAJ (08.09.04) Jazz of Enchantment (a site with interview features on artists with ties to New Mexico. Morgan made his home in Taos for some time.) NPR (an obituary, plus past interviews with Terry Gross and Marian McPartland)
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Multi-instrumentalist Bennie Maupin is known mostly for his work with Lee Morgan, Horace Silver, Andrew Hill, and especially Miles Davis (Bitches Brew, Big Fun, On the Corner) and Herbie Hancock (his Mwandishi and Headhunters bands). Great credentials, to be sure, but his own musical creations are just as visionary. He's an admirably tasteful player who truly speaks through his horn; his tenor sax sound is full of earthiness, warmth and soul, and the gutsy hum of bass clarinet is unmistakable. And he ranks quite high in my list of favorite flutists with an astoundingly deep, rich tone that envelopes the listener's ears. Maupin's career as a leader seemed to be on hold from the late '70s until 1998's Driving While Black, but a resurgence of interest in his talent has happened in recent years. Cryptogramophone released Penumbra in 2006. 2007 saw the much anticipated reissue of his 1974 debut, The Jewel in the Lotus. This year -- today, in fact -- the creative music champions at Crypto release Early Reflections. 
