The new albums from John Bailey and from pianist/accordionist Ben Rosenblum could stand in as bookends of a successful jazz career, the former a well-seasoned product of a canny and accomplished veteran, and the latter an intriguing and exuberant creation from a precocious young artist.
Saxophonists Mette Henriette and George Winstone possess distinctive, daring voices, and each has a provocative new release.
An old jazz bassist is busking on the street. He’s totally seasoned, been around, and he’s just playing one note. Just one note over and over, and he’s feeling that one note, finding different ways to say something with that one note. A young guy, just out of college, comes up and says, “Hey, man, you know, I play bass, too. Just got my jazz performance degree. Can I play your bass?” The old man gives him his bass and says, “Sure.” So the kid takes the bass, and he starts shredding, playing as fast as he can, as many notes as he can, a total showoff. When the guy finally stops, the old man looks at him and says, “Still searching, huh?”
This joke, passed on to me by my friend Jacqueline Ultan, a superlative cellist, helped crystallize an aggravation about the misuse of jazz that has pestered me for some time. Jazz, the music of freedom and liberation, offers players a unique opportunity to express their feelings, their personal point of view, with no holds barred, but too often, it seems to me, this freedom becomes a platform not for self-expression, but for self-indulgence, for self-congratulation, for showing off.
Two recent releases update a longstanding combo and an often overlooked composition, respectively: Speakers in the House from The Headhunters and Zodiac Suite: Reassured from Jeong Lim Yang. Then, a swinging lagniappe: a holiday offering from Emmet Cohen and friends.
When I moved back to New Mexico from New York City, where I lived a short walk from some of the best-known jazz clubs in the world, I figured that I would have little opportunity to hear quality jazz in Albuquerque. Much to my very pleasant surprise, the Santa Fe–Albuquerque corridor was and is brimming with players who have the chops to play on any stage with anyone—and have done—and there are terrific venues to accommodate them. Exhibit one: the Cal Haines Quartet at the Outpost on December 1.
