Mike Stern & WDR Big Band Köln: Mike Stern Selection live 2009

Photo © by George Lange

Mike Stern – g

Tom Kenney – b
Dave Weckl – dr
Michael Abene – ld
WDR Big Band Köln

recorded live at Zeche Zollverein Essen, September 11, 2009

1. Tumble Home
2. KT
3. Wishing Well
4. What Might Have Been
5. Introduction of the Band by Michael Abene
6. Tipatina’s
7. Next Week
8. Avenue B
9. Wing and Prayer
10. Chromazone
11. Upside Downside

In a career that spans three decades and a discography that includes more than a dozen eclectic and innovative recordings, five-time Grammy nominee Mike Stern has established himself as one of the premier jazz and jazz-fusion guitarists and composers of his generation.
In this concert he is featured together with his long time rhythm section consisted of bassist Tom Kennedy and Dave Weckl on drums in a big band setting by the great WDR Big Band in a programme of all Stern originals arranged by Michael Abene.
Don´t miss Mike´s latest Grammy nominated album "Big Neighbourhood" released on HeadsUp in 2009.

Ornette Coleman live at Jazzfest Berlin 1971, 1972 & 1987

Ornette Coleman Quartet

Ornette Coleman: Alto Saxophone
Dewey Redman: Tenor Saxophone
Charlie Haden: Bass
Ed Blackwell: Drums

recorded live at Philharmonie, Berlin during Berliner Jazztage, November 5, 1971

1. Whom do you work for?
2. Broken shadows
3. Street woman

Ornette Coleman solo
Ornette Coleman: Alto Saxophone, Piano

recorded live at Philharmonie, Berlin during Berliner Jazztage, November 4, 1972

4. Love eyes

"The Original Quartet"
Ornette Coleman: Alto Saxophone
Don Cherry: Trumpet
Charlie Haden: Bass
Billy Higgins: Drums

recorded live at Delphi, Berlin during JazzFest Berlin, November 5, 1987

5. Peace warriors
6. Turn around

Rarely does one person change the way we listen to music, but such a man is Ornette Coleman. Since the late 1950s, when he burst on the New York jazz scene with his legendary engagement at the Five Spot, Coleman has been teaching the world new ways of listening to music. His revolutionary musical ideas have been controversial, but today his enormous contribution to modern music is recognized throughout the world.
Celebrating Ornette´s 80th birthday radio berlin opened the treasure chest… (Ornette on piano!!).
Be sure to buy Ornettes latest CD, the 2006 live album "Sound Grammar".

Oregon live at "Birdland", Neuburg an der Donau 2006

Ralph Towner, Guitar, Keyboards
Paul McCandless, Reeds
Glen Moore, Bass
Mark Walker, Drums

recorded live at "Birdland", Neuburg an der Donau, July 27, 2006

1. "Green & Golden" (Ralph Towner)
2. "The Glide" (Ralph Towner)
3. "Castle Walk" (Ralph Towner)
4. "Pepe Linque" (Glen Moore)
5. "Free Piece 2" (Oregon)
6. "Anthem" (Ralph Towner)

Oregon - Live At Yoshi’s is the group's latest CD which features five tunes that are Ralph Towner originals recorded for the first time by the band, a dramatic "free piece" that could have only occurred on an inspired night in front of a spirited live audience, one of Glen Moore’s distinctive and witty compositions, and four pieces derived from the best of the group’s repertoire over the years. This is the first album recorded by the group with an audience present in 22 years. The live situation has evoked OREGON’s improvisational power, and the soloing, which is in abundance, ranges from poetic to incandescent. The record is characterized by some exciting new sounds including Ralph Towner’s FRAME Guitar featured on two of the CD’s most dynamic pieces.

Avishai Cohen 'Aurora' live at Leipziger Jazztage 2009

Avishai Cohen - Bass, Vocals
Karen Malka - Vocals
Shai Maestro - Piano
Amos Hoffmann - Oud
Itamar Doari - Percussion

recorded live at Leipziger Jazztage, August 29, 2009

1. Leolam (Avishai Cohen)
2. Two Roses (Avishai Cohen)
3. Shir Aletz (Avishai Cohen)
4. Shir Hamatera/Hahava (Avishai Cohen)
5. Aurora (Avishai Cohen)
6. Morenica (Avishai Cohen)

"With the latest new album Aurora, Avishai Cohen has reached a certain essence of expression, using voice as a direct and powerful vehicle for his emotions. 
Singing – in Hebrew, English, Spanish and Ladino. The music draws its source in the earth of his home country, at the crossroads of many cultures. Arab-Andalusian and Hebraic, it tells the story of Bedouins of the desert and speaks of life, love, youth and freedom. 
Jazz naturally remains at the heart of this original universe – the ideal meeting place for all kinds of encounters.. Aurora is a work of synergy under the Blue Note label, which for years seems to have been at the centre of all futures in jazz, of which Avishai Cohen is undeniably the most modern and irresistible standard-bearer." (Sebastien Vidal- Journalist / Broadcaster)

Maceo Parker live at 34th International Jazzweek Burghausen 2003

Maceo Parker (as, voc)
Greg Boyer (tb)
Ron Tooley (tp)
Corey Parker (voc)
Will Boulware (Hammond B3, keyb)
Bruno Speight (g)
Rodney Curtis (b)
Jamal Thomas (dr)
Martha High (voc), Charles Sherrell (voc)

recorded live at Wackerhalle Burghausen during 34th International Jazzweek Burghausen 2003

1. Gimme Some More
2. Uptown Up
3. Baby Knows
4. There Was A Time
5. My Love / Hey Jude

In 1990 the opportunity came for Maceo to concentrate on his own projects. He released two successful solo albums entitled Roots Revisited (which spent 10 weeks at the top of Billboard's Jazz Charts in 1990) and Mo' Roots (1991). But it was his third solo album, Maceo’s ground breaking CD Life on Planet Groove, recorded live in 1992 which soon became a funk fan favorite. Planet Groove also served as a calling card, boosting Maceo's contemporary career as a solo artist for a college aged audience, and bringing into being his catch phrase "2% Jazz, 98% Funky Stuff."
At the beginning of 2007 Maceo had a chance to fulfill one of his dreams in working with a Big Band. Working with Grammy Award Winners the WDR Big Band, he broadcast and performed a live series of shows paying tribute to Ray Charles and putting Maceo’s own funky music to a Big Band setting.
This has led to his latest release Roots and Grooves a live recording taken from these shows which also features Dennis Chambers and Rodney "Skeet" Curtis.

Tempelektrisch live at Jazzclub Unterfahrt 2009

Photo ©by Ralph Horbascheck

Axel Schlosser (Trumpet/Flügelhorn)
Christian Weidner (Alto Saxophone)
Nils Wogram (Trombone)
Frank Möbus (Guitar)
Wolfgang Zwiauer (Bass)
Rainer Tempel (Fender Rhodes, Synthesizer)
Jim Black (Drums)

recorded live at Jazzclub Unterfahrt, Munich/ Germany, December 2009

1. "Lucy goes waltzing" (Rainer Tempel)
2. "The Striker" (Rainer Tempel)
3. "Selecâo" (Rainer Tempel)
4. "Trains" (Rainer Tempel)
5. "Pink" (Rainer Tempel)
6. "Elder Statesmen" (Rainer Tempel)

"I bought my first electric keyboard in 1986 and I still have it. Although it was one of the cheapest on the market I had to spend all the money I had on it. I just needed something that was loud enough to be heard in the rock band I was in at the time.
I took classical piano lessons as a kid and teenager and later studied jazz piano, but I also was influenced by the jazz rock music that was around me.
I prefer analogue instruments which are as old as myself. Their sounds, in the ears of today, hardly resemble any natural instrument but have become instruments in themselves. The Rhodes and The Wurlitzer Piano, as well as the Hohner Clavinet, cannot be played the same way a piano is played. In some situations, the Rhodes blends much better with wind instruments than the piano does.
So this album is called tempelektrisch, even though there are more natural instruments in the band than electric ones." (Rainer Tempel about tempelektrisch)

Lars Danielsson & Leszek Mozdzer live at Swedish Jazz Celebration 2009

Photo © Nikodem Krajewski / ACT

Lars Danielsson, Bass, Violoncello
Leszek Mozdzer, Piano

recorded live at Swedish Jazz Celebration, Gothenburg/ Sweden, March 28, 2009

1. Pasodoble (Danielsson)
2. Eja Mitt Hjärta
3. Incognito (Mozdzer)
4. Easy Money (Mozdzer)
5. Prado (Danielsson)
6. Follow My Backlights (Mozdzer)
7. Suffering (Danielsson)

The really great album "Pasodoble" was introduced to you earlier on this blog. As a kind of extension of this duo, Lars Danielsson and Leszek Mozdzer recorded the album Tarantella as a follow-up. Some of the duo pieces and passages on Tarantella, such as “Melody on Wood” and “Fiojo”, are built directly upon passages from Pasodoble, and on listening, it’s no wonder that Danielsson calls Możdżer “the perfect pianist for me”. It is simply amazing how Danielsson consistently refines his work, how he continues to open up new areas of sound and place them in new contexts and combinations. “I have taken the character of my music as the starting point, and have looked for the people who will best fit to it.” He found Norwegian trumpeter Mathias Eick, British guitarist John Parricelli, and the American drummer Eric Harland. Of course, Trantella is released on ACT.

Craig Taborn Trio live in Karlsruhe 2009

Craig Taborn - Piano
Thomas Morgan - Bass
Gerald Cleaver - Drums

Recorded live at Jazzclub Karlsruhe, December 3, 2009

1. Over The Water (Taborn)
2. Bodies We Came Out Of (Taborn)
3. Light Made Lighter (Taborn)
4. Crocodile (Taborn)
5. The Soul of Grace (Taborn)
6. Mystero (Taborn)
7. Golden Age (Taborn)

Jazz pianist and organist Craig Taborn began working professionally in the 1990s in a variety of musical contexts, ranging from more straight-ahead jazz to more outside music, with young jazz musicians, seasoned veterans, and even techno artists. In his hometown of Minneapolis, Taborn studied piano, composition, and music theory with area university professors before going away to college. Before he graduated from college, Taborn had already performed on three recordings as a member of the James Carter Quartet. After graduating with a liberal arts degree from the University of Michigan in 1995, DIW released Taborn's first date as a leader, The Craig Taborn Trio, followed by "Light Made Lighter", released 2001 on Thirsty Ear.

Cyminology live in Berlin 2009

Cymin Samawatie (voc)
Benedikt Jahnel (p)
Ralf Schwarz (b)
Ketan "GK" Bhatti (dr)

recorded live at Grüner Salon, Volksbühne Berlin, December 2, 2009

1. Introduction by Cymin Samawatie
2. As ney (Cymin Samawatie; Text: Dschelâl ed-dîn Rumi)
Naagofte (Benedikt Jahnel; Text: Forough Farrokhzad)
3. Porr kon (Cymin Samawatie; Text: Omar Khayyám)
4. Kalaam/ Dassthaa/ Delbasstegi (Cymin Samawatie/ Cyminology)
5. Gosara - temporary (Cymin Samawatie)

"Cyminology is a quartet whose ethnic mix embraces Iran, Germany, France and India. And though its leader, singer and composer Cymin Samawatie, sings in Farsi and uses some texts by 13th and 14th century Persian poets, musically its roots are in jazz, which is where Benedikt Jahnel (piano/composer), Ralf Schwarz (bass) and Ketan Bhati (drums/percussion) share common ground with their leader. The results are often striking. Samawatie has a pure, direct vocal style, unadorned yet expressive, and Jahnel's choices as accompanist and soloist are spare and telling. The quartet, despite its ethnic diversity, delivers remarkably unified performances even when stretching out. Restraint, rather than overt emotion, is their way. Yet, on a CD full of a uniquely beautiful melancholy, the impression persists that they have a broader range than is disclosed here.“ Irish Times: RAY COMISKEY. This week's jazz CDs reviewed: As Ney, released on ECM.

Das Rote Gras live at Bavarian Broadcast 2010

Sylvaine Hélary (Flutes, Vocals)
Daniel Glatzel (Tenor Saxophone, Clarinet, Melodica)
Mathias Götz (Trombone)
Nicolas Cambon (Cornet, Pichotte)
Karsten Hochapfel (Guitar, Cello)
Benjamin Schäfer (Bass)
Gabriel Hahn (Drums, Casio)

live at Bavarian Broadcast, February 24, 2010

1. "Bourrée" (Johann Sebastian Bach/Karsten Hochapfel)
2. "Polizeihundkalender" (Karsten Hochapfel)
3. "Bajao" (Karsten Hochapfel)
4. "Vorratsdatenspeicherung" (Mathias Götz)
5. "Tous les élephants von à l'école" (Karsten Hochapfel)
6. "Salsatanik" (Karsten Hochapfel)
7. "Senfblau" (Karsten Hochapfel)
8. "Prêtre viré" (Karsten Hochapfel)
9. "Funk" (Karsten Hochapfel)

'Das Rote Gras' is a young band, fueled by explosive creative ideas, shooting through time and space. Different cultural backgrounds (Paris, Berlin, Athens, Seoul, Tettnang) and diverse musical influences (from Ellington via Stravinsky to Radiohead) collide in the here and now: Friction! Inhomogenity! Uproar! The big bang! ... but then, slowly but surely softening ... searching for common ground ... getting a feel for subtilites and music's natural laws ... growing into a unique bandsound in the shapes of detailed suites, experimental soundscapes, Moroccan Gnawa-Rhythms and pulsating Wave-Grooves... Always driven by collective joy as well as the strong personalities of every musician but most of all the love of music and all the risks that dwell in its' depths.

Joe Locke Force of Four live at JazzBaltica 2009

Joe Locke, vib
Robert Rodriguez, p
Ricardo Rodriguez, b
Johnathan Blake, dr
Special Guest:
Nils Wuelker, tp

recorded live at Große Konzertscheune, Salzau, July 3, 2009

1. Like Joe
2. No Moe
3. Ruminations
4. Laura
5. Available In Blue
6. Alpha Punk
7. Saturns Child

Joe Locke leads a unique new quartet, made so by the melding of four distinct musical personalities into a fresh sounding ensemble. The influences of New York, Cuba, Philadelphia and Puerto Rico, as well as the many places travelled by these four player/composers, come together in this group.
"This is one of the very best groups I've ever assembled", says Locke. "Whether the music is swinging hard, funky or delicate, these guys know how to squeeze the juice out of the material. Playing with this band is really rewarding." Their great record "Force of Our" was released in 2008 on Origin.

NDR Bigband feat. Jacky Terrasson ‘A Blue Note Tribute to Horace Silver’ live at Jazzfest Berlin 2009 - UPDATE

(Photo of Horace Silver © by Francis Wolff/Mosaic)

Jörg Achim Keller · leader
Jacky Terrasson · piano
Fiete Felsch, Peter Bolte · alto sax
Christof Lauer, Lutz Büchner · tenor sax
Frank Delle · baritone sax, clarinet, bass clarinet
Thorsten Benkenstein, Ingolf Burkhardt, Claus Stötter, Reiner Winterschladen · trumpet
Dan Gottshall, Klaus Heidenreich, Stefan Lottermann · trombone
Ingo Lahme · bass trombone
Ingmar Heller · bass; Ralph Salmins · drums

Recorded live at Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Große Bühne, Berlin, November 7, 2009

Tribute to Horace Silver Suite (arranged by Jörg Achim Keller)
1. Ecaroh (Silver)
2. Peace (Silver)
3. Filthy McNasty (Silver)
4. Lonely Woman (Silver)
5. Nutville (Silver)
6. Song for my father (Silver)

The list of jazz musicians who have been co-laborating with the NDR Bigband reads like an endless Who’s Who of Jazz.
This season’s special edition is dedicated to Blue Note recording artist, piano player Horace Silver. One of the original protagonists of hardbop and funk jazz and, together with Art Blakey, founder of the legendary Jazz Messengers he had one of the biggest popular successes of the jazz history with his composition Song For My Father in 1963. Since Silver’s high age and fragile health don’t allow stage appearances these days, his part is congenially covered by 43-year-old label mate Jacky Terrasson.

Nils Wülker Group live at Hamburger Jazztage 2009

Nils Wülker (tp/flh)
Jan von Klewitz (sax)
Lars Duppler (p)
Dietmar Fuhr (b)
Jens Dohle (dr)

recorded live at Fabrik, Hamburg, October, 3, 2009

1. Ideal Situation
2. On and on an on an gone
3. A life in a Day
4. Turning the Page
5. Glow
6. Looking Up

"6 – this is the number of albums by Nils Wülker and the number of musicians involved in his latest work, as well as being the title of the new album. Concise, pragmatic and unpretentious, unmistakably Nils Wülker. On the one hand. Yet “6” might be diametrically opposed to the expectations of the feuilleton. For this is a surprising album – the opening piece “Fast Forward” already points clearly at the contents. It’s groovy, funky and it rocks, with pleasure in the hook line and grinding dirt under the valves. A vibrating mixture of power and lightness – the pace is clearly set for the remaining nine titles." (http://en.nilswuelker.com/)

Enrico Rava & Stefano Bollani live in Murnau 2009

1. "Dear Old Stockholm" (Trad.)
2. "Interiors" (Enrico Rava)
3. "Cheek to cheek" (Irving Berlin)
4. "Felipe" (Moacir Santos)
5. "All the things you are" (Jerome Kern/Oscar Hammerstein)
6. It ain’t necessarily so (George und Ira Gershwin)
7. Certi angoli secreti

Enrico Rava - trumpet
Stefano Bollani- piano

recorded live at Festival Grenzenlos, Kultur- und Tagungszentrum Murnau, October 24, 2009

Enrico Rava, born in Trieste in 1939, is undoubtedly the most internationally acknowledged Italian jazzman. In forty years of his career as trumpet player, and composer, he has produced more than hundred recordings, thirty of which as a leader.
At the age of six, wanting to become a singer, Stefano Bollani (born Milan 1972) would accompany himself on the family keyboard. A few years later, he recorded a cassette of himself singing and playing, which he sent to his idol Renato Carosone, along with a letter explaining his dream. Carosone replied advising him to listen to a lot of blues and jazz, and so Bollani did.
In 1996, he met Enrico Rava at the Teatro Metastasio in Prato who immediately invited him to play in Paris with him: "You´re young, you don´t have a family. Take the risk, give up pop and devote yourself full-time to the music you love." He would come to consider Rava his mentor after the trumpeter advised him to get out of pop music and make improvisation his priority. Taking Rava´s advice, Bollani backed out of Jovanotti´s tour and flung himself into jazz, language of improvisation and freedom.
But even when they first played together, the relationship was never simply one of teacher and pupil: From the beginning, says the pianist, Rava was open to his melodic propositions, and would take them and build upon them in his own solo statements. This is the model they have followed to date. Together they’ve developed a very wide-ranging musical language that is as congruent as it is quick-witted, unpredictable, and poetic. Bollani puts his phenomenal technique in the service of the music always, and Rava sings on the trumpet in an ever-clearer voice.
Together they recorded several duo albums, the news one called "The Third Man", released in 2007 on ECM.

Gerald Clayton Trio live at Radio Bremen 2009

Gerald Clayton, piano
Joe Sanders, bass
Justin Brown, drums

recorded live at Sendesaal Radio Bremen, November 22, 2009

1. Trapped In Dream (Gerald Clayton)
2. If I Were A Bell (Frank Loesser)
3. Sunny Day Go (Gerald Clayton)
4. Scrimmage (Gerald Clayton)
5. Two Heads, One Pillow (Gerald Clayton)
6. Boogablues (Gerald Clayton)
7. Casiotone Pothole / One Two You (Gerald Clayton)
8. Stablemates (Benny Golson)
9. Love All Around / Round Come Round (Gerald Glayton)
10. Peace For The Moment (Gerald Clayton)

From 2006-2008, Gerald Clayton toured extensively with Roy Hargrove in his quintet, big band, and funk group and he is currently a member of the Clayton Brothers Quintet. He can be heard on the Clayton Brothers’ latest release, “Brother to Brother,” as well as Hargrove’s 2008 “Earfood,” and Diana Krall’s “From This Moment On.”

But it is Gerald’s own trio, based in New York City and comprised of Justin Brown (drums) and Joe Sanders (bass), that provides him the most direct opportunity to explore and expand his own thoughts in music. Following upon their touring in Europe and the U.S., where they were praised for balancing a “deconstructivist aesthetic” with “a stronghold on the swing factor,” Gerald and his trio are set to release their debut album, “Two Shade,” early this year on the ArtistShare label.

Gerald relishes a sense of open-mindedness: “I have listened to lots of different musical styles as long as I can remember. I continue to absorb all these influences and in doing so create my own voice—by combining their forces into a harmonic whole…I seek to blend the various styles and sounds I love into a balanced, tasteful musical language.”