Happy Birthday Ishmael Reed

Today, February 22nd, is the birthday of one of our greatest poets & writers, Ishmael Reed. Unquestionably among the most highly original and innovative literary figures in our time, Reed has written in a number of genres with mastery, deft intelligence and an agility of imagination that is unequaled. A profound interpreter of jazz, Reed has been at the helm of the band Conjure for decades now. Their most recent release, Badmouth (available on American Clave), is the among the finest examples of the elusive mixture know as jazz-poetry. A prolific publisher and editor as well, Reed has launched the careers of many now famous writers. Most recently, after many years as a "sideman" in the recording studio, Reed has released a cd under his own leadership, For All We Know. His collected poems is now available and was named a New York Times notable book of the year. For all his many books, if you are unfamiliar with this international genius, the classic Mumbo Jumbo, is a good place to start. Happy Birthday Ishmael, we love you!

. . and his mother called him Bill

For many years as a jazz D.J. on KPOO in San Francisco I was often asked what I thought the greatest jazz album to be. Of course these are the kind of questions that deserve asking simply because they have no answer. They serve as tools for helping define our thoughts about the subject, communicate what we don't already know and in general be more easily understood. My answer has been the same for quite sometime and it has been a surprise to many. Obviously there are some who are looking for the pat response, which these days seems to be the Miles Davis masterpiece Kind of Blue. Corporate sponsored media seems to have anointed this one some time ago along with the entire Blue Note catalog. There are those asking because they want to learn something, those who would like some verification of their own good taste with the opinion of an expert. My answer to all three is emphatic. The greatest jazz record of all time is the one recorded by Duke Ellington in 1967 for RCA in homage to his dear friend and closest collaborator, Billy Strayhorn. That recording is titled . . . and his mother called him Bill. Strayhorn, for those of you who may not know him, was one of the greatest composer-arrangers in the history of this music and he contributed enormously to the Ellington organization in ways that are still untold. The recording is without question among the most passionate the orchestra ever put down. Johnny Hodges in particular. And of course it could be no other way, for they had lost one of their own. The music is often overwhelming in its beauty. My favorites are Raincheck and Rock Skippin' at the Bluenote. However, important criteria for making this decision concerns itself with history. That is to say, here is an album that offers us not just the "here and now" and the "as yet to be", but the whole scope of jazz history as well. More on this later.

Wayne's Blues To Come

"When I was growing up, black connoted gloom, skepticism, no hope, no foreseeable way out of the muck and the mire. And the blues then to me were centered around gloom and darkness, too. The old blues and funk were good for their time and place, but what I'm trying to do now is to get the meat out of the old blues while also presaging the different kind of blues to come. In this particular piece (Charcoal Blues), I'm both looking back at the good things in those older blues and also laughing at that part of my background. The laughter is satirical but not mocking. It's laughter from the inside. During the earlier periods of the blues, moreover, you'd get to where there seemed to be a point of no return. Things were so bad that the only way to go was to laugh - that kept you going. There's some of that, too, in 'Charcoal Blues.' "

Wayne Shorter, Composer, Saxophonist.

Charcoal Blues, recorded by Wayne Shorter on Duke Ellington's birthday, April 29th, in 1964, appears on the album Night Dreamer. Widely acknowledged as a classic, Night Dreamer was recorded during the same period as the phenomenal Jazz Messenger's album Indestructible. Both sessions feature Lee Morgan on trumpet and Reggie Workman at the bass. By the end of that same year Shorter would join Miles Davis, making his debut as a member of the now mythic quintet of Hancock, Carter & Williams. The first recording of this group can be heard on the album Miles in Berlin.

A World of Piano

The ecstatic swing of the great pianist Phineas Newborn is fully in evidence here. The lp of which I write, A World of Piano, is in fact many worlds. From the beguiling and mercurial interpretation of Strayhorn's Lush Life to the enchanting depth of Cheryl, a blues by Charlie Parker, our ears are delighted and enlivened. The inspired accompaniment of Paul Chambers and Philly Joe Jones (side A) and Sam Jones and Louis Hayes (side B) creates the necessary affinities for Newborn to reveal the full powers of his intuitive response. The enormous and fecund insights Newborn reveals into these sets of jazz originals are joyous. Among the composers featured are Clifford Brown, Sonny Rollins, the aforementioned Charlie Parker and Billy Strayhorn, as well as Horace Silver, Dizzy Gillespie and a big beautiful surprise from Leroy Vinnegar, For Carl. Caru, from Roland Alexander closes out the lp. Recorded in 1961 for Lester Koenig's Contemporary record label, Phineas Newborn has offered us an album that defines the meaning of upliftment and inspiration through music. Much more than a jazz record, this is a monument to the beauty and humanity of the African throughout the Americas!

Miles Smiles

Miles Davis once said, "I am not what I do - I do what I am." This blog will adhere closely to this philosophy.