Carlo Wolff » Music

Transitions

Carlo — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 15:23:45 +0000

August has been an important month. The key events: I severed my ties with the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra following a process that resulted in my feeling I no longer could contribute to the board, and we delivered Katy to the University of Colorado at Boulder.

The CJO decision continues to weigh on me, and I’m not sure whether I’m going to reconsider it. It left me in a world of hurt, a place I don’t want to occupy and one I’m struggling to pry myself out of. Sorry for the grammar, sorry for the circumspection. It’s a matter of calibrating the proper balance between personal and professional.

As for Katy, it was difficult to leave her so far away in beautiful Colorado, but word is she’s adjusting, though not without challenges. Our trip there en famille was stressful, though Boulder’s very attractive.

Ties do bind. Sometimes they fray. Sometimes they break. The last is when repair becomes the operative word. September will be a month of repair.

Over too soon

Carlo — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 00:24:01 +0000

Haven’t written anything for my blog it seems like forever, and it’s the end of the month, a change. July was hot, indeed. It was also great: I can’t remember a nicer summer in Cleveland, which is indeed getting warmer. But this evening there’s a coolness, a dryness absent all July, suggesting fall is in the air. Fall is lovely here, but winter’s close on its heels.

Other random thoughts: I’m reviewing/working in/on jazz a lot, writing reviews and features for Jazz Times and doing some marketing work for the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. I’m also listening to rock again. I love the new Tom Jones CD “Praise and Blame” and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ “Mojo” and am intrigued by The National, a New York group running Bowie circa “Low” through a fuzzadelic blender on “High Violet,” their dourly beautiful new album.

Also must direct you to the blog of my wife, Karen Sandstrom, who has crafted a portrait of me at my summeriest, wearing “jorts.” What a drag it will be to wear long pants again. It’s almost time.

Lylah goes worldwide

Carlo — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:55:42 +0000

My daughter, Lylah Rose Sandstrom Wolff, has her first global photo credit. It’s a picture of me that she took in New Orleans in January, in color. Slacker genius that she is, Lylah decolorized it, giving it a gritty, black-and-white treatment. It’s not permanent—I believe in updating, at least seasonally—but it’s cool. It’s on page 8 of the July/August issue of Jazz Times, a monthly magazine to which I contribute. It accompanies a brief bio I wrote for the issue, where I have the lead review, of a Chick Corea reissue of solo piano music that he recorded for ECM in the ‘70s and ‘80s.

What’s great about her first world credit as Lylah Rose Wolff is she hit it age 15. I didn’t go global until the ‘80s, when I was in my late 30s and writing for Goldmine, a record collectors’ magazine. My wife, the amazing multimedia artist Karen Sandstrom, hit the world in 1995 with a preview of the art that would go into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum in Cleveland. That ran in Art and Antiques.

Lylah’s way ahead of the curve. A whiz at Photoshop, she’s wired for contemporary media. She has a Nikon, she’s beginning to turn her bedroom into a studio, and she’s creative and ready to learn. All she has to do is keep on keeping on with her camera, get over any squeamishness that stands in the way of getting a powerful picture (much is distasteful to my very girly girl) and press her case. It’s a powerful one.

Cleveland rocks again!

Carlo — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 18:29:19 +0000

Yes, that’s a cliché, but Justin Carr has given it new life with a 17-minute DVD about Cleveland’s role in rock. In it, I talk about the city and its rock tradition, along with Rock Hall head Terry Stewart, legendary promoter Mike Belkin, and Billy Bass, a remarkable DJ known for his farsightedness at WMMS in the ‘70s.

Carr is an ambitious kid. He’s going into ninth grade at University School and spent nearly two years on the project. It’s a little crude, kind of like rock itself, and it’s the “official” Cleveland rock story in that it doesn’t mention anything underground or alternative.

But it has some cool footage, including some very raw AC/DC and a clip featuring Southside Johnny and Bruce Springsteen from an Agora concert. Check them out on YouTube:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Stimulated

Carlo — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 17:31:48 +0000

I just started Week Two of mental stimulation marked by seeing six movies at the dazzling Cleveland International Film Festival, a great, too-short concert by John Zorn’s Masada Sextet (here’s my preview) and, this morning, reading “Atomic Age,” Martin Benjamin’s first, long-overdue book of photography.

Karen and I went to the film festival for the first time in it must be 10 years last week, and didn’t hit a clunker. Here’s what we saw: “The Ape” (Swedish); “House of Branching Love” (Finnish); “A Matter of Size” (Israeli); “Fire in the Heartland” (U.S.); “Desert of Forbidden Art” (U.S.); “Marwencol” (U.S.) Each time we went downtown was more fun. The festival was packed, the standby lines long. Here’s a brief rundown of the flicks:

—“The Ape”: Intellectually fascinating study of paranoia and trauma that never resolved, remaining ambiguous and disturbing. The point of view was riveting.

—“House”: Bawdy, funny sex comedy about tribulations and rewards of marriage. Entertaining as hell and ultimately uplifting. The actor who played Wolfi could be a major star.

—“Fire”: About the May 4, 1970 National Guard shootings at Kent State. Well-documented and profoundly sad, it evoked the politics of the ‘60s with minimum preachiness and suggested there still are stories to uncover about that seminal incident.

—“Matter”: Emotionally my favorite flick, it’s a comedy about four giant misfits in a small Israeli village who channel their creativity into becoming sumo wrestlers. It’s a whole new way of seeing fat, too. A blast.

—“Desert”: A documentary about suppressed Soviet-era Modernist art in a museum in Uzbekistan. Great art, amazing story.

—“Marwencol”: From rural, upstate New York comes this documentary about a guy beaten nearly senseless whose “recovery” consists of creating a World War II-inspired community in his backyard, populated by dolls. The most provocative movie I saw, it makes you rethink your notions of art and “wellness.”

Saturday night, I saw John Zorn’s Masada Sextet at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Saxophonist Zorn, who channels what he calls Radical Jewish Culture, and his five co-conspirators played only a little over an hour, but how and what they played! Great, often romantic music with a Sephardic, Spanish coloration; even one highly abstract piece was a kick, because Zorn and Co. so enjoy each other and their shared discipline.

The film festival and Zorn show were breaths of fresh air in a community that often feels ingrown. Seeing crowds downtown was invigorating. Hearing Zorn’s music was similarly mind-expanding. Cleveland felt like an open city this past week. Maybe it’s spring rearing its desired head.

Today I got Martin Benjamin’s “Atomic Age” in the mail. I worked with Marty in Albany in the ‘70s and ‘80s at rock and roll shows, and he’s the best photographer I’ve ever worked with (dig into his website and you’ll find a picture of me—with more hair and way bigger glasses). His book—infrared photos of his wife; shots from irradiated sites; glimpses of remote cultures; startling closeups of what look like perfect strangers—is an event. Like words, but in different ways, images can move and shape and change the world. Marty’s certainly do.

Rock lives

Carlo — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 18:00:36 +0000

In rock ‘n’ roll, comebacks are by no means a sure bet. Some bands never go away, even when they should, like the Stones and the Who. Some go acoustic and minimal, like Ray Davies of the Kinks. Others devolve into their leader, like Roky Erickson, whose 13th Floor Elevators yielded the barbed-wire breakup song, “You’re Gonna Miss Me,” in 1966, a semimajor hit featuring Erickson’s barbaric yawp and a surging rhythm bed that presaged heavy metal in its power and punk in its simplicity.

I saw Erickson at the Beachland Ballroom last night, after catching him Nov. 14 at a Janis Joplin tribute in which he sang “You’re Gonna” and “Ooh! My Soul,” a Little Richard number perfectly suited to his primal scream. Could Erickson sustain a whole set? No problem. He was fabulous.

Not only did he end with “You’re Gonna” (no encore despite wild applause, whistles and the usual hoots), he stomped through a gang of other numbers from his work in Elevators and Roky Erickson and the Aliens, and he was fierce. This was hellfire rock ‘n’ roll snatched from the abyss and delivered by a master. In the beginning, the rock word was Sun Records. The second generation was the British Invasion and the American response spearheaded by the Beatles, the Byrds, Dylan—and misfits like Erickson, a leonine phoenix who works idiosyncratic hard rock as if he’d invented it. He’s on a brief tour with Okkervil River, a startlingly good young band from Austin, the liberal oasis in secessionist Texas, where Erickson made his first mark nearly 50 years ago. I can’t wait for “True Love Cast Out All Evil,” his first album of new material in more than 10 years. It’s due out April 20.

The show was cool for other reasons. Not only was it a highlight of the Beachland’s 10th anniversary, it also featured two talented Cleveland bands: Living Stereo, a sharp, new wave quartet with complex songs and stage presence to burn, and the Alarm Clocks, a Byrds- and Petty-influenced guitar band of chops, seasoning and occasionally interesting texture. Living Stereo was a hard act to follow (especially for an opener), the Clocks a nice bridge that got better as the mix settled in. Erickson, however, dominated as soon as he took the stage.

I wish I’d caught Pere Ubu the night before, when the storied and fractious underground Cleveland band recreated “The Modern Dance,” its 1978 breakthrough. Friends tell me the house was nearly full, the energy level high, Ubu mainman David Thomas in relatively high spirits. A frazzled-looking, withdrawn Thomas was at the Erickson show. He looked thin and weary, a shadow of his former self. I hope he enjoyed the Erickson revival as much as I did.

An apology to my website

Carlo — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 18:19:57 +0000

I’ve been neglectful of my website. It’s been nearly a month since I updated. I’ve been very busy, but it’s time to catch up.

In mid-December, my wife suggested I e-mail as many people as I could think of to tell them I wanted to engage more. Being semi-retired can be lonely, even when there’s work at home; I’ve been looking for part-time work outside home for a while, and haven’t gotten that. Part of that is the economy; a bigger part is that when you apply online—the only way to search for a job these days—you’re very likely to disappear into the digital void. It’s a buyer’s market, an impersonal one. Anyhow.

I e-mailed about 100 people in my various circles and got a gang of invitations to lunch and coffee, some virtual get well cards (“sorry about your situation; I’ll keep my ears open”) and some good work. The best was an assignment to write the history of rock and roll in Cleveland from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum for its website. I’ve already turned in my intro; it should be online in about a month. I think this will become an ongoing relationship. I might also get some museum-related work in the future. My outreach e-mail was a winner.

Other catch-up: Lylah and I went to New Orleans in January, arriving the night the Saints beat the Cardinals. The city was cool; it’s great the Saints won the Super Bowl. Now the Cavs have to do something similar for Cleveland. Traveling with Lylah was fun; she had a blast photographing scenes from that very scenic place, one of the best in the country for architecture. It’s becoming one of my favorite cities; if you go, be sure to eat at Domenica, in the Roosevelt, and at Acme Oyster House, in the Quarter.

At the Cafe du Monde

A fellow New Orleans tourist snapped this for us

Pleasures of the season: the snow is beautiful but getting old, like the cold. Walking the dog is a pleasure; Pearl likes the snow, likes getting her coat frosted. In the next three weeks, Karen, Katy and Lylah all have their birthdays, so I’ve been busy assembling gifts and the money to pay for them.

Recommendations: Avatar in 3D; the Coen brothers’ A Serious Man (very Jewish, very weird, quite interesting); Crazy Heart (Jeff Bridges is better than the movie, which works despite itself); Jimmy McDonough’s biography of Tammy Wynette; The Nels Cline Singers’ Initiate, and Reclamation, by the Stephan Crump Rosetta Trio.

Leonard Cohen: in the zone

Carlo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 17:52:17 +0000

The cover of Cohen's newest live disk.

Weird to think of “Leonard Cohen Live in London” alongside “Allman Brothers at Fillmore East,” but both are paradigms of the live album, capturing artists at the peak of their powers. Cohen’s was recorded in 2008 when he was 73, near the start of his nearly two-year-long tour; the American leg this fall was his first U.S. go-round in 15 years. Recorded with startling and warm fidelity, this set lasts more than three hours, covers the Canadian poet’s repertoire dating to the mid-‘60s, and finds the man in glorious instrumental company. Sharon Robinson, his long-time collaborator, shines on “Boogie Street” and Cohen turns “Democracy” and “First We Take Manhattan” into dark disco anthems, also investing such chestnuts as “So Long, Marianne” and the ravishing “Suzanne” with vigorous, autumnal color. Over the years, Cohen’s voice, which early in his singular career was so affectless he couldn’t convey the full import of his words, has become a deeply expressive baritone, and his lyrics, which dwell on sin and salvation, paradise and Armageddon, have become ever more meaningful. At 75, Cohen, that stylish mystic, is in the zone, the Clint Eastwood of rock ‘n’ roll.

For more Leonard Cohen music, click here.

Audio CD (March 31, 2009)
Original Release Date: March 31, 2009
Number of Discs: 2
Format: Live
Label: Sony
ASIN: B001RTP3YQ

The torchy Sophie Milman

Carlo — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:35:27 +0000

Acclaim is building for Milman's third disk.

Sophie Milman is a 26-year-old Toronto chanteuse who may be the hottest Canadian export since Diana Krall. Not only is Milman, a Russian native and a kind of wandering Jew, fluent in English, she sings jazz with an authority common to far more seasoned performers. Backed by Paul Shrofel on piano and Mark McLean on drums, her primary standbys, Milman purrs and powers her way through standards, pop from the ‘70s, even a samba, on “Take Love Easy,” her alluring third album. It’s a swinging affair showcasing Milman’s unusual alto, sparked by idiosyncratic phrasing that might derive from her linguistic suppleness (born in Russia, she grew up in Israel and moved to Toronto when she was 16). Live, Milman stresses her unusual blend of the airy and the husky, imbuing tunes such as “Love for Sale,” Springsteen’s “I’m on Fire” and the Ellington title track with sultry swing. For a strong example of her alchemy, check out her conversion of Joni Mitchell’s “Be Cool” into a feathery, persuasive come-on. Milman is a tiny blonde bombshell whose voice alludes to a fascinating past—and intimates a bright crossover future.

For more Milman music, click here.

Audio CD
Original Release Date: June 2, 2009
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Koch Records
ASIN: B0026OIBQ8

Jewish music

Carlo — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:10:44 +0000

I keep running into other lucky ones who attended the Leonard Cohen concert at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland Oct. 25; we all stand in awe (here’s my preview). In more than three hours, Cohen and his amazing troupe of cosmic musicians rekindled my belief, that I’d thought retro, in pop as conveyor of truth. Not that Cohen was dour; far from it. He skipped, he bowed—often beginning his songs as a supplicant, he as frequently ended them a cocky commander—he clearly enjoyed himself. And the songs—“So Long, Marianne,” “Suzanne” (done sturdy and dark), “First We Take Manhattan” (this coulda been a disco hit), the stunning “Waiting for a Miracle”—are among the best.

Leonard Cohen: The mystic as fashion plate.

Cohen’s was one of two concerts (here’s John Soeder’s spot-on review from the Plain Dealer) I saw in the last week by Jewish musicians. Cohen’s was one of the best I’ve ever seen, and that covers hundreds of shows.

The other was by Sophie Milman, a 26-year-old Russian Jew who grew up in Israel and now lives in Toronto. A tiny blonde bombshell whose contralto-alto embodies the airy and the husky, she’s a true torch singer. Milman fronts an excellent band (Diego Rivera stood out on sax), scats like Sarah, and takes over Joni Mitchell’s “Be Cool” for her own smoldering purposes. (Here’s my preview from Cleveland Jewish News). The hottest Canadian import since Diana Krall, Milman is set to explode. Some paintings fell off the wall of Nighttown during her first set; might that have been a sign?

This pictures Sophie's newest disk.

Fra Fra Sound channels Afrobeat

Carlo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 16:14:55 +0000

The music on this CD is priceless.

Call Amsterdam-based group Fra Fra Sound’s CD “Dya So” world music, call it jazz, call it anything you want. Formed 25 years ago, the septet takes its name from the Surinamese “Fra Fra,” meaning “mysterious” or “hybrid.” “Dya So,” its latest CD, blends high-life, rai, island chickenscratch, funk, percussion virtuosity and an ever-shifting, ever-surprising front line.

Voices bring you into a sunny marketplace in “Along the Crossroad.” For a contemporary strutter’s ball, try the funky, splashy “Omolareso.” For a sexy cha-cha (Robin van Geerke’s piano rocks), try “Le Nouveau Mande.” And if you want to step inside the rhythm? “Bosumede” will guide you. While the core of Fra Fra Sound is Africa, its sound and approach are decidedly, exhilaratingly international. Founded by bassist Vincent Henar, Fra Fra Sound’s latest spotlights the tunes of saxophonist Efraim Trujillo, who sparkles on soprano on “Nahawi,” the sweetest track.

Audio CD (February 5, 2008)
Original Release Date: 2008
Number of Discs: 1
Format: Import
Label: Phantom Sound & Vision
ASIN: B0012OVEHQ

For more on Fra Fra, click here.

The post-bop sax of Bobby Selvaggio

Carlo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 15:53:26 +0000

This is the cover of Bobby Selvaggio's latest CD.

Bobby Selvaggio is a post-bop saxophonist from Cleveland with robust tone, astonishing technique and a talent for composing tunes with complex, braided melody lines. On his fifth CD as a leader, Selvaggio unfurls spiky chamber music (“Whirlwind,” a fabulous exchange with pianist Kenny Werner), an exotic, Middle Eastern excursion (the wittily titled “Timbuktu Step”) and floating, dense forays into Wayne Shorter territory (the mesmerizing “Fastfood Wisdom”).

Selvaggio can get entangled in his own virtuosity, so there are times his brain outstrips his heart; having the more romantic Werner and the more brazen, charismatic trumpet player Sean Jones as foils helps. “Modern Times,” a very good, very rich CD, puns on rhythm and our turbulent times even as it signifies a step forward for serious, contemporary jazz saxophone.

Audio CD (May 26, 2009)
Original Release Date: 2009
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Arabesque Recordings
ASIN: B002AT8BGO

For more Bobby Selvaggio music, click here.

Willie Nile’s latest CD

Carlo — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:50:57 +0000

Willie Nile album art shows him in action.

Willie Nile may be the most stirring hard rocker you’ve never heard, and his new album, “House of a Thousand Guitars,” ranks with his best—except for the title track, a musical roar that name-checks guitar heroes in an uncharacteristic, sadly retro burst of self-indulgence. Otherwise, “House” is wonderful, sparked by the infernally infectious hoedown of “Doomsday Dance,” the fabulous antiwar song “Now That the War Is Over” (a sequel to “Cellphones Ringing (In The Pockets Of The Dead”) and “Magdalena,” a sensuous valentine to a streetwise belle.

Nile’s voice is as high and warm as ever, the guitars pop, and the rhythm section burns; Nile’s records never lacked for excitement. Touted as the next Dylan when he debuted in 1980, the Greenwich Village resident has turned into a master of the pop anthem. This is a great follow-up to his “Streets of New York” CD, affirming Nile’s command of territory grounded in those quaint qualities: heart and faith.

For more Willie Nile music, click here.

Audio CD (April 14, 2009)
Original Release Date: April 14, 2009
Number of Discs: 1
Label: R.E.D. Distribution
ASIN: B001TD1XW6

Willie ‘n’ me

Carlo — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:57:32 +0000

I reconnected with my past last night when I went to hear Willie Nile at Wilbert’s in downtown Cleveland. I hadn’t seen Willie since the early ‘80s when he was the next big thing, a bantam conflation of Dylan and Springsteen who made critics slaver. I was writing for the Schenectady Gazette in those years (Metroland, too) and praised Willie a lot for his shows at the long-lost, fabulous nightclub J.B. Scott’s.

Willie is a great live performer, a true-blue New Yorker who celebrates the city, the young, the innocent, the dreamers. “Vagabond Moon” and the Stonesy “She’s So Cold” should have been hits when they popped out of his 1980 debut, but they weren’t. Later tunes like “Places I Have Never Been” (the title of his 1988 “comeback” album) and the soaring “Whole World With You” should have been, too. Willie spent most of the ‘80s in litigation with Arista, which released his first two albums. The limbo didn’t help. Neither did record-company disinterest.

Anyhow, Willie, who was once described as a “one-man Clash,” soldiers on, rocking hard and passionate as ever, and his writing has gotten even more rugged and true. Willie writes rock that deserves to be classic.

When Willie saw me backstage before his show, he didn’t miss a beat, called my name, we hugged, and it was as if no years had intervened. He’s still charmingly and rightfully convinced of his own talent, sure his writing is getting better. He gave me his latest CDs and a DVD and told me he’s doing really well in Europe, he just performed with Springsteen at Giants Stadium, and he’s about to drop a new CD even though “House of a Thousand Guitars” has been out for only half a year.

It’s a pleasure to hang out with Willie Nile. It’s a pleasure to catch his shows, too. He may be the best folk-rocker most people have never heard. Makes me wish newspapers still published reviews of club acts. They may not draw big crowds, but they can be mighty.

Stuff I’ve been working on

Carlo — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:47:01 +0000

I’m writing about jazz again. Just cobbled together a feature about Cleveland-based jazz saxophonist Bobby Selvaggio, who’s working his new CD, Modern Times. Just wrote a short about Fra Fra Sound, an Amsterdam septet whose Dya So CD is cool world music. These are for Scene.

I’m also writing debut columns for a yet-to-be-announced, Cleveland-based news portal that will debut in November. My first two will be about the head of the Civic Innovation Lab and my friend Dave Pech, a photographer who happens to make Ping-Pong paddles.

I just returned from a trip to Phoenix for a lodging conference. I stayed at the Arizona Biltmore, one of the nicest hotels in the U.S. The conference was by no means upbeat—occupancy and rate are way down—but it was great to be warm for a few days after this chilly summer.

Oh, yes. Sunday night, Karen and I are going to be reading at Wise Up!, a benefit for the Cleveland Heights Public Library. I’m going to tell very short stories about jazz—fitting for Nighttown, where Wise Up! will be staged.

Raspberries, James Gang come together

Carlo — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 21:04:58 +0000

They always do the second Sunday of every September, when rock musicians who constitute the cream of legacy Cleveland bands get together in Russell at the country home of Buddy and Carol Maver. Members of the Raspberries, the James Gang, associates of the Michael Stanley Band, Rastus, Wild Horses, The Secret, and more blast through everything from “Route 66” to vintage Santana to jazz classics—saxman Ernie Krivda fuels these—while survivors of the record industry and the occasional journalist soak up the sun. Hank LoConti, founder of the legendary Agora, dropped by. Another storied visitor: Roger Abramson, a legendary Cleveland promoter who once managed Eli Radish.

That’s Wally Bryson on the left, Billy Sullivan on the right.

Like many others at this get-together, Buddy figures in my book, “Cleveland Rock & Roll Memories.” He’s an affable host, a good drummer (his rhythms animated Rainbow Canyon, Charade and Quantrill’s Raiders) and a soulful singer who can still hit the high notes. On Sept. 14, the weather was gorgeous, the vibes good, and the food—the culinarily talented Carol is a generous hostess—was wonderful.

There were the chronic no-shows, like Raspberry throat Eric Carmen, favorite Cleveland son Michael Stanley and the singularly reclusive Joe Walsh (who doesn’t live anywhere nearby anyway). But there were plenty of notables, like Raspberries lead guitarist Wally Bryson, James Gang drummer Jimmy Fox, and the redoubtable guitarist Billy Sullivan.

It’s a bittersweet event, and not because of the music, which, for the most part, is timeless. But the “reunion” itself shows how far the Cleveland music scene has shrunk since its glory days in the ‘60s and ‘70s, when clubs, arenas, radio and records were a seamless, powerful blend. It’s only at Buddy’s that all of those elements come together. It’s telling it’s by invitation only.

Thanks, Woody Herman

Carlo — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 16:49:13 +0000

This set includes period liner notes by Nat Hentoff, Leonard Feather and Willis Conover.

These Woody Herman recordings from the early to mid-’60s boast modernist arrangements, spectacular solos and a judicious selection of pop covers. These roaring, democratic dates suggest that Herman was a thoughtful sort capable of switching between incendiary soloing and giving his great players plenty of solo room themselves. The Mosaic Select box resurrects three albums from the long out-of-print Mercury and Smash catalog, including a live date from 1964. Big-band jazz is one of the nichiest areas in jazz, a niche genre of its own. This box attests to a period when jazz still had affinities with pop; the mid-’60s, after all, was one of the richest periods ever when it came to musical fermentation. This music—not avant-garde but intriguingly experimental and often daring—had wide appeal then and should have wide appeal now. Get it before it disappears again: Mosaic made only 5,000 of these.

Woody Herman (Mosaic Select)
Woody Herman (Artist)
Audio CD (June 23, 2009)
Original Release Date: January 29, 2008
Number of Discs: 3
Label: Mosaic Select
List price: $83.99

Click here to order from Amazon.com.

Jazz on my mind

Carlo — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 17:01:27 +0000

I saw Barbara Dennerlein Friday in a church and Saturday in a jazz club. She plays pipe organ in churches and the Hammond B-3 in jazz clubs. She swings, singularly and unforgettably, in both.

At Fairmount Presbyterian, the petite, 45-year-old German phenomenon played for about an hour and a half, traversing a desultory blues, a few Latin numbers, and a finale that shook the rafters, blending Dennerlein’s volcanic flourishes with Bach’s “Passacaglia and Fugue.” At the Bop Stop, she delivered two sets, serving up deep groove with an homage to Jimmy Smith, a fabulous samba in honor of her half-dachshund, half-terrier dog, and a gang of other originals.

The reason I comment on Dennerlein’s performances is that the guy who sponsored her local appearances challenged me to review her. This is my substitute. There’s no regular outlet anymore for reviews that focus on the unusual artist, the artist who doesn’t draw megacrowds. Part of that is the withering of print. Part is the subsequent conservatism, meaning newspapers aren’t trying to cover everything anymore; they just want to hold on to what they’ve got.

The church show drew about 300, the Bop Stop show close to its capacity of 110 seats. The Bop Stop show swung more and was more conventionally jazzy, showcasing the room’s singularly accommodating design and outstanding acoustics. The place is for sale and opens only for special occasions, like the Dennerlein show. How sad that the best music room in Cleveland can’t do regular business.

By the way, I’m beginning to review CDs and preview shows for Scene again. Seems timely given the number of fine, new CDs by Cleveland-based or –originated musicians like trumpeter Josh Rzepka and saxophonists Mike Lee and Bobby Selvaggio. I’m willing to bet that a promoter willing to mix it up—spotlighting jazz one night, blues another and, God forbid, rock from time to time—could make a go of the Bop Stop. As it, the place is magnificent and shuttered. What a waste.

Keeping up with Sean Jones

Carlo — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 20:04:50 +0000

This isn’t exactly breaking news, but it’s exciting nevertheless: Sean Jones, a charismatic young trumpet virtuoso with fabulous leadership abilities, is the new artistic director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra. He’s actually interim artistic director, because he’s testing the Cleveland waters to see whether becoming official artistic director of the CJO will fit in with his other plans.

In addition to his embryonic CJO career, he’s lead trumpet for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (word is he’ll quit that position, where he’s in the shadow of Wynton Marsalis), a professor at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, and the star of a small jazz combo with which he’s recorded five albums for the Detroit-based Mack Avenue label.

His arrival on the local jazz scene late this summer will be dynamic, breathing fire into a field that’s shriveled in the past five years. I’m sure he’ll be featured in various publications, on TV and on radio, because he’s a complex, fascinating guy.

I interviewed him for the CJO web site. Visit it, scroll down to the bottom of the home page, and listen to our talk.

Remembering the latest king

Carlo — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 14:40:49 +0000

When I called Michael Jackson a has-been on my Facebook page, some people were pissed. All I meant was that since the mid-’90s, the most interesting thing about Jackson, who died June 25, was his dysfunction. Weird-looking, for sure; mysterious and shape-shifting psychologically and otherwise. The child molestation charges he was cleared of, the marriages that didn’t work, the kids in the shadows, the hassles with his family are what grabbed us from the mid-‘90s on more than his music, though that lasts, and the best of it is as good as pop gets.

It seems that when you call an icon a has-been—you could argue that that was true of Elvis after his initial burst in the mid-‘50s, and of the solo careers of Beatles Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and, particularly, the lightweight, charming Ringo—you threaten people’s memories. I remember dancing to Michael Jackson; how couldn’t you? I remember being a kid intoxicated by Elvis, and as a young man dancing and romancing to the Beatles. I even recall being moved by U2, whose inspirations have seemed largely formulaic for the past 15 years. Just because a band is still commercial doesn’t make it creative.

Michael Jackson will rule the news for about a week—tomorrow’s papers are sure to feature lengthy, heady editorial about his meaning—and then return to the tabloids, his natural home these past 15-plus years. Now, when I think of him, I think of his genius, his moves, his singular spirit. Too bad that’s clouded by the soap opera he generated that defined, and then ended, his life.

It’s Ki time

Carlo — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 14:57:11 +0000

Big news: The first CD by one of my favorite duos, guitarist Bob Fraser and Ki Allen, is finally out and available at CD Baby. Its name is “Calling Card.” It’s a collection of 13 tunes including one original, “Nonetheless.” Ki wrote the melody, Bob arranged it, and Ireta, Ki’s mother, wrote the lyrics. “Nonetheless” nestles comfortably between “I Concentrate on You” and “I’m Confessing,” Great American Songbook standards Bob and Ki freshen with their intimate, swinging style.

I won’t review the album because I wrote the liner notes. But I can’t help telling you it’s a beauty, showcasing a woman I consider the best jazz singer in Cleveland and a guitarist whose gentlemanly approach renders a highly evolved, modernist harmonic sensibility unusually accessible. The album is sweet, often rueful and always highly personal. I hope it gets widespread airplay and brings Bob and Ki the acclaim—and the work—they so richly deserve.

No Top Ten

Carlo — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 01:12:06 +0000

I didn’t come up with a Top 10 for 2008 because politics preoccupies me far more than music. Some music I heard left an impression, like Dylan’s latest Bootleg release, some John Zorn CDs and singles my kids turned me on to by Rihanna, Chris Brown, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, even Kanye’s vocoderized latest. But putting together and ranking a Top 10 and pontificating about it and singles, let alone downloads, was too much effort. I say this with some regret because I’ve been rating music since 1970, when my top album was Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” That I don’t care enough to concoct a Top 10 affirms that I’m growing old and music has morphed so much it’s impossible to keep up with in terms of genre, let alone format. The technology and business model have become more interesting than the content, and I’d rather apply my vocabulary to fresher fields.

Satellite radio brings me all the music I want, especially now that record companies don’t care (or have) enough to send me the very best, only compressed-data downloads access to which I have to arrange and negotiate for. Besides, writing for print media that still run “record reviews” never has been rewarding; one magazine I used to contribute to regularly actually reduced its rates in 2008, reducing motivation even more. I write book reviews these days for various “national” newspapers, which keeps my brain active. God knows how long that will last, but for now, at least, it’s more nourishing in pay and thought process. There isn’t much I can say about new music because a) I lack the energy to slog through new bands in bars like I did 20 and 30 years ago; b) new music is for newer people like my kids; and c) instantaneous media processing obviates the need for people my age to say—guess what—that good music from the dawn of rock through the ‘90s is still good. Redundancy is not the better part of valor.

I reviewed two albums this year: Bar Band Americanus by Charlie Pickett and Wee’s You Can Fly on My Aeroplane. The first is an anthology, the second a retro, deeply obscure reissue. Their tropes are well worn, the execution fine. I bought and listened to the new Guns N’ Roses—once was enough—out of some kind of loyalty to what used to be a promising, occasionally great band. But what could I write about it that would be more interesting than the facts surrounding its gestation? Where would I publish that anyway? Why, again, would I or, for that matter, anybody else care?

Since file sharing took hold, people swap music easily and no amount of record-company control will work. Couple that with the sampling available through on-line music purchase and you wonder what the remaining function of the critic is, other than reviewing shows. I have read good critics since I can remember and will continue to do so, in fields that interest me. I will also listen to new music as it passes by and occasionally go to a show. Ones I went to this year—Neil Diamond, Roger McGuinn/John Sebastian, Neil Diamond, Nine Inch Nails, Nick Lowe—were nostalgia trips, including NIN. I had no interest in festivals, rap revues, the Disney gang (though I think the Jonas Brothers are OK pop). Taylor Swift is my younger daughter’s latest fixation and she’s good. But interpreting her isn’t for me or up to me.

Politics has supplanted my interest in pop. Since mid-2007, I’ve followed the campaigns and was deeply pleased by the election. I continue to soak up political news and am engaged in “change” meetings the Obama campaign spawned. I think a true third force may emerge in politics via the Internet. Grounded in the notion of community, it will be independent of figurehead and/or candidate and serve as counterweight to traditional political mechanisms like Congress, the Cabinet and the Executive branch. I want to be part of that process. Music seems secondary.

My ‘beat’ goes on

Carlo — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:01:21 +0000

I was Googling Mike Belkin for links to his website (http://www.mike-belkin.com) when I came across this review of “Cleveland Rock & Roll Memories” from the Akron Beacon Journal in May 2007. Better late than never to post it. I’m doing a couple of signings for the book next month at the Cleveland Home and Garden Show.