Pete’s Random Thoughts

Is This America? Music by Pat Metheny

Sun, 4 Jan 2009 15:12:49 -0800

Brad Mehldau - Kenny Barron

Thu, 1 Jan 2009 19:20:41 -0800

At a 1999 jazz concert in Umbria Italy two giants of the piano came together. Watch when Brad Mehidau and Kenny Barron collaborate on a Miles Davis evergreen, “All Blues.” Let’s respond and start a chat on this incredible duo.

Photo Gallery of Death Valley

Wed, 24 Dec 2008 13:42:20 -0800

Death Valley Photo Gallery

Bill Evans - Interview and Play

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 22:59:59 -0800

Bill Evans Trio Helsinki Finland 1970 (or 1969)...

CD Review: Gerald Carelli

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 13:14:23 -0800

Lucky To Be Me

Gerard Carelli

Musicians

Gerard Carelli, Trombone and vocals
John Oddo, Piano/arranger
Jay Leonhart, bass
Dave Ratajczak, drums
Frank Vento, Guitar/banjo
Dan Block, Tenor sax/clarinet
Randy Sandke, Trumpet
James Saporito, Percussion

Tunes

Old devil moon
They say it’s wonderful
New York, New York
It never entered my mind
The surrey with the fringe on top
Lucky to be me
Well worth waiting for
So in love
Always
I’ve got the world on a string
How are things in Glocca Morra?
Once in love with Amy
Leader of a big time band
Some other time

Review

It’s always a rare treat in this age of garbled and gargled vocal interpretations to be able to hear someone articulate and clear without sacrificing musicality and style. Equally, when a vocalist gives the lyric the respect it deserves we ought to stand up and cheer. Gerard Carelli has been around and has paid some dues. A graduate from prestigious North Texas State University 1:00 Lab band to the pits of Broadway in shows like, Cats and Starlight Express, Gerard has done it all. He has worked with everyone from Ray Charles to salsa maestro, Manny Oquendo. His vocal style is charming, appealing and on dead center. And if that’s not enough he’s a wonderful trombonist who can be as gleeful as Frank Rosolino and as smooth as Tommy Dorsey.

He gets some wonderful backing on this CD from an array of very talented musicians starting with another great singer-musician on bass, Jay Leonhart. The arrangements are crisp and non intrusive by pianist Johnny Oddo.

Of particular note on the CD is the one original composition penned by Carelli. I cannot recall too many instances where a love song was written for the birth of a child. Well Worth Waiting for, the only original composition on the CD, penned by Carelli, is a beautiful and touching story about the event of becoming a parent and welcoming the child to the world.

Gerard’s vocal style is a cross between Sinatra and Bobby Darin with the inclusion of that musician styled hipness to help make this CD swing without sounding like some nameless lounge group. My only letdown was that I would have liked to hear him wail a bit more on trombone, especially the uptempoed tunes. I guess I am going to have to do some research on my own to find some of his extended solos.

New Orleans - 2008 - Arkansas -2008

Wed, 3 Dec 2008 15:24:05 -0800

New Orleans Slideshow

Some photos taken on our recent trip to the “Big Easy.” Enjoy!

Thanksgiving in Arkansas Slideshow

Thanksgiving with the Diliberti and Cottrell Families and the Clinton Library

6th Annual Panama Jazz Festival

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:49:31 -0800

Jazz (2008-11-13)
6th Annual Panama Jazz Festival Set For January 12-17, 2009, Founder/Artistic Director Danilo Perez Announces

Richmond, CA. (Top 40 Charts/ Panama Jazz Festival) - American jazz saxophonist Wayne Shorter's acclaimed quartet with Danilo Perez, John Patitucci, and Brian Blade, and the legendary Cuban pianist Chucho Valdes are among the headliners at the 6th annual Panama Jazz Festival, which will take place in Panama City January 12 through 17, 2009. The Boston-based Panamanian pianist Danilo Perez, who founded the festival in 2003 and whose Danilo Perez Foundation coordinates its educational component, anticipates more than 16,000 attendees.
"The Panama Jazz Festival has been a magical journey to a dream we've had for years in Panama," says Perez. "We, as a country, see the entire world pass through the Panama Canal every day, and we are honored to be the bridge of the Americas.But today, we are proud to say that every year-for the past six years-the Panama Jazz Festival has been the national event where the world does not pass by, but makes a stop in our wonderful land. The world's best jazz artists, as well as students and volunteers from all over the globe, unite in Panama with one goal in mind: to celebrate the world's diversity through jazz."
The 2009 festival will be dedicated to the late bassist, composer, and arranger Clarence Martin Sr., whose contributions to Panamanian jazz date from the 1940s and have influenced several generations of musicians from many genres such as jazz, classical, and Caribbean music.
The festival will open with a gala concert at the Teatro Nacional by a flamenco jazz group from Spain, sponsored by the Spanish Embassy. Other artists scheduled to perform at the festival are the Puerto Rican saxophonist Marco Pignataro and his quintet, featuring Eddie Gomez and Billy Drummond; American singer Luba Mason, whose quintet includes flute master Hubert Laws, bassist Jimmy Haslip, and vocalist Ruben Blades (Mason's husband, and Panama's Minister of Culture); and the young Panamanian saxophonist Jahaziel Arrocha, who won a Berklee College of Music scholarship at the 4th annual Panama Jazz Festival and currently attends Berklee as a Presidential Scholar.
Auditions for admission and scholarships to the New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and the Conservatorio de Puerto Rico will be scheduled during the week of the festival. Also planned are ensemble, flute, trumpet, guitar, composition, drum, bass, piano, and saxophone workshops by the New England Conservatory Ensemble, led by jazz department chair Ken Schaphorst, and master classes by Berklee professors Jim Odgren and Jim Kelly. All classes will take place at the Ascanio Arosemena Educational Center, on the Panama Canal Administration Campus. Chucho Valdes, John Patitucci, Brian Blade, and pianist Edna Golandsky (with the Golandsky Piano Institute) are among the artist/instructors.  For the fourth consecutive year, the Panama Jazz Festival will offer clinics and courses on music technology under the auspices of the Berklee College of Music Production and Engineering Department (MP&E) and Music Synthesis Department (MS). Courses on recording, mixing, and live sound will be presented by Rob Jaczko, Chair of MP&E; Alejandro Rodriguez, Associate Professor of the MP&E Department; and Neil Leonard, Chair of Berklee's Music Synthesis Department.
The keynote for the 2009 festival is "expansion," notes Perez, as the concert lineup expands from 3 to 5 days a week and the scope of the master classes expands to include a new private lesson component. "We're also reaching out even more than before to other disciplines, such as art and dance, and we're opening a classical music department," says Perez. "We're expanding our scholarship opportunities to Panamanian schools in need by giving admission to the festival to students who demonstrate academic progress. And we are expanding our children's program to include even more communities in need of outreach programs."
A complete schedule of musical and educational events, as well as information about festival travel packages, will be available at www.panamajazzfestival.com. Tickets will be on sale through the festival site as of December 1st.
About the Panama Jazz Festival logo:
"From Vazco Nunez de Balboa's 16th-century dream of uniting both oceans, to our 21st-century dream of uniting cultures and social classes through music, the Panama Canal has affected not only the global economy, but has also allowed an unprecedented biological and cultural exchange since its opening in 1914.
"In the 2009 festival's logo, the silhouette of our country and the visible trace of the Panama Canal is surrounded by a green sea that represents our ecological and musical diversity (EcoMusical diversity), inviting the viewer to experience the balance between human and natural sound.
"Today, we celebrate our country's heritage with jazz music, and even when we face great economic, social, and political challenges, we can say that we are a nation with an immeasurable cultural legacy." - Danilo Perez

Review Shirley Horn - I Remember Miles

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:30:10 -0800

Shirley Horn

I Remember Miles

Tunes:
My funny valentine, I fall in love too easily. Summertime, Baby, wont you please come home, This Hotel, I got plenty o' nuttin', Basin street blues, My man's gone now, Blue in green

Personnel:
Roy Hargrove, tpt; Buck Hill, Tenor' Toots Thielmans, Harmonica; Al Foster, drums; Steve Williams, drums; Ron Carter, bass; Charles Ables, bass

It's all been said about the qualities of Shirley Horn: The critics have showered her with praise. "Shirley Horn is the best singer in jazz today," wrote the San Francisco Chronicle. "Horn conveys more passion in a single sigh than any self-conscious spectacle of vocal gymnastics," declared the Boston Phoenix. "Her singing is very similar to Miles Davis's trumpet playing & cool, dry, intimate, lined with elegance," the New York Post announced. I would have to echo the sentiments of the critics. Her's is a style that grows with the listener, intimate and reflective. Her jazz is pure, straight and intoxicating. When she delivers her interpretation of a line it's done in an incredibly slow tempo that's taken her years to develop and sustain.
I have to sheepishly admit that "I Remember Miles" is my first Shirley Horn CD. However, it's to be far from my last.
The CD opens with an incredibly slow and astonishing version of "My funny valentine," with tasty and effective comping by Ms. Horn. You'll hang on to every syllable and word she sings while she builds a concerto of notes behind herself on piano.
I've always been a sucker for the beautiful and poignant lyrics of "I fall in love too easily." In the hands of Ms. Horn this is taken to another level in another atmosphere. The effect is ever so haunting. Roy Hargrove's solo salutes Miles without imitating him.
"Summertime" has the added bonus of Toots Thielmans on Harmonica. I've learned that she's done an entire CD with Toots. Yes, it's on my shopping list. As I continue to listen I cannot say enough about her ability to play so beautifully to enhance her singing. I doubt if they're too many players that could complement her the way she does herself.
"Baby, wont you please come home" opens with a nice bass solo by Ron Carter. Also, Al Foster demonstrates the art of the wire brushes. At this very slow pace he's able to create whole volumes of light percussive fill ins for Shirley. Buck Hill comes in and raises the tempo and grooves a nice tenor solo. Shirley than takes it out and we're back at the original pace introduced for a perfect ending.
If I have to choose a gem for this CD it would have to be "This Hotel. " What a marvelous rendering of deep lyrics as only Ms. Horn can interpret.
"Blue in green" is so very poetic, again being sustained by a very slow tempo. This time the sensitive light touch is supplied by drummer Steve Williams. Even if Shirley Horn didn't sing she'd contribute much to music with her ability on piano. There's only one vocal line and its so tenderly dedicated to Miles: "Honey, from a horn so sweet."
On "My man's gone now" hang on for this introduction from two basses and two drummers. I wonder if this is Shirley's arranging? It's first rate and grabbing. Roy Hargrove has a wonderful solo paying homage to the master, while holding on to his originality and creativity.
It may be too soon to say, but with Sarah, Ella and Carmen no longer with us, Shirley Horn may be the greatest jazz singer around today. There's a good argument made for the originality and depth of Betty Carter who is so completely different from Ms. Horn. But that's what makes jazz so great, right?

Basin Street Blues with Wynton Marsalis

People Time: Stan Getz with Kenny Barron

Sun, 9 Nov 2008 13:24:29 -0800

SELECTIONS

East of the sun, Night and day, I'm okay, like someone in love, stablemates, I remember Clifford, Gone with the wind, First song, No greater love, People time, Hush-a-bye, Soul eyes, Sunrise

REVIEW

This is a major work for Stan Getz. An incredible duo with the amazing Kenny Barron. This recording should go down as one of the classic jazz recordings of all time. It has it all; Artistry, taste, technical prowess and sensitivity for each other. Stan never hogs the recordings, allowing Kenny to fully express himself - and does he ever! This may well be Kenny's finest performance. I cannot single out an individual piece, however, there is a great deal of sentiment and beauty in "Clifford."
We lost Stan too early. He undoubtedly had a lot more to tell us and express on his instrument. I am thankful that we do have his recordings to forever turn to in remembering this wonderful musician.

People Time

Review of "The Hardbop Grandpop"

Fri, 7 Nov 2008 19:28:50 -0800

Selections:
• I Want you
• The hippest cat in Hollywood
• Gratitude
• Hawkin'
• I got the blues in Santa Cruz
• We've got Silver at six
• The Hardbop Grandpop
• The lady from Johannesburg
• Serenade to a teakettle
• Diggin' on Dexter
Musicians
Michael Brecker, Claudio Roditi, Ronnie Cuber, Ron Carter, Lewis Nash, Steve Turre and Horace Silver

Review
Horace Silver is a unique individual in jazz. On this CD we are back to the basics of Silver. These were the types of lines that made us all click our fingers to the funk godfather back in the Fifties and Sixties. For a while in between Horace's music became more lyrical and social in content, which is not to say that the message was lost, but that familiar Silver identification was missing. In Hard bop Grand pop we are once again treated to Silver a la carte.
I had the good fortune to catch up with Horace Silver at the Montreal Jazz Festival this year. Although his set consisted of most the material that has gone into this package, the group was a lot different. This recording is loaded with All-Stars. The front line has Michael Brecker on tenor, Claudio Roditi on fluegelhorn and trumpet, Steve Turre on trombone and Ronnie Cuber on baritone. The rest of the group has, none other than, Ron Carter on bass and Lewis Nash on drums. The group that toured the jazz festivals, although good, were made up of a lot of young Californians who have not yet established a name in the jazz community. An interesting side note on seeing the group perform at the Montreal Jazz Festival was after the set the audience was looking for an encore. After doing one encore the audience wanted more. Horace had to come out on stage to apologize because the group was not ready or prepared to do any more charts for the night. A first, for me!
This music on this CD is tight ensemble playing at its best. The compositions are humorous, springy, viable and from the street to the store front church in origin. Aside from the late Dexter Gordon, I know of no other jazz musician that is so completely adapt to quoting as Horace Silver. It's a natural flow that comes in his playing and you'll never know what quote will come out of his improvised lines: Anything from "Sweet Georgia Brown" to " Down by the Riverside" is possible. The title track is a line based on the chord changes for the old Evergreen, "Back Home in Indiana."
The solo work on this set is spread out proportionately to all the players. Ronny Cuber is a strong baritone player whose solos are biting, pungent and aware of Mr.Silver and his written intentions. Ronny Cuber and Gary Smulyn are, for me, two of the better bari players on the scene today. Claudio Roditi's solos are lyrical and fluid. Mr. Roditi never steps on any of the toes of the notes that he plays. He is indeed the most expressive of all the trumpet players today and still carries the Clifford Brown banner with dignity. Michael Brecker is a steady saxophonist who has done his share of electronic experimenting and here he comes off playing stunningly in the Silver tradition. Steve Turre has some tasty solos; a lot of us are forgetting that he is a trombonist that doubles on shells and not the other way around. Ron Carter and Lewis Nash do a master's job in understating the rhythm behind Horace's driving comping and solo work.
For all the old diehard Silver fans and the young jazz fans beginning to discover this music, this is a splendid sampling of hard bop as it sounds in the Nineties. I rate this CD Four Stars.

Horace Silver's Biography