Jazz LPs: Unconventional & Mainstream

“NEW STUFF.” Jim Self & Friends. Trend TRCD 548.

Anyone who plays three different tubas, the electric bass, bass trombone, an electronic valve instrument, teaches chamber music and flies his own plane might be considered, well, self-sufficient. Nevertheless, Jim Self, a long-respected studio musician who’s in charge here, does have help in the form of two odd groups, one of which includes a harmonica player, the other featuring guitar and vibes.

The inherent gloominess of the tuba is generally offset, either by Self’s ingenious overdubbing of various horns or by the effective blend with Ron Kalina, the mouth-organ virtuoso, or guitarist Jon Kurnick.

The repertoire is wildly varied. Self flirts with fusion on “Kilo,” which is about as elegant as an elephant, but makes the most of Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks,” Fats Waller’s “Jitterbug Waltz” and a beguiling Charles Mingus piece, “Peggy’s Blue Skylight.” He even goes for baroque on “Sinfonia III,” transcribed for vibes, guitar and tuba from Bach’s Two- and Three-Part Inventions.

There are lulls here, but there’s also more than 67 minutes of music, much of it charmingly unconventional. 4 stars.

“HARLEM BLUES.” Donald Byrd. Landmark LLP 1516. Byrd jumped off the jazz wagon many years ago to engage in a long flirtation with fusion, along with an extensive career in jazz education (he is now acting head of the Afro-American/jazz studies department at Oberlin). With this album he returns to mainstream jazz, leading an early 1960s-style hard-bop quintet.

Though brief use is made of a synthesizer, there is little here that was not done more effectively on Byrd’s old Blue Note albums. His sound is neither as personal nor as attractive as it once was; at times, he suggests Freddie Hubbard on a bad day.

The slow, gospelly title tune works well, with Kenny Garrett’s alto sax dominant. Garrett and Byrd interact well on “Sir Master Kool Guy.” Byrd does better when he switches to fluegelhorn on “Voyage a Deux.” But “Blue Monk” is not unlike a dozen other versions, despite good work by Mulgrew Miller on piano. It will be intriguing to observe whether Byrd can recapture his pristine promise. 2 1/2 stars.

“EASY TO LOVE.” Erroll Garner. EmArcy 832 994-2. Rarely is a set of liner notes alone almost worth the purchase price, but Dudley Moore’s extended essay here on Garner (whose ardent disciple he has always been) is truly of award-winning caliber. As for the previously unreleased material by Garner’s 1960s trio, it’s a delight, though Moore’s reservations about his “wayward introductions” have some validity. But when Garner gets going, as Moore puts it, “I sag with the burden of gratitude.” Who among us doesn’t? 4 stars.

“SUN DANCE.” George Robert-Tom Harrell Quintet. Contemporary C-14037. Phil Woods’ drummer, Bill Goodwin, moonlights here as player and producer in an LP for which a Woods-like alto player, the Geneva-born Robert, was recorded in Lausanne along with Woods’ trumpeter, Tom Harrell, and Italian pianist Dado Moroni. The tunes, four by Robert and two by Harrell, are simple functional vehicles, with Robert switching to soprano sax for the bright samba “Cancun” and the engaging 5/4 title number. With bassist Reggie Johnson completing the group, it’s a cheerful outing. There’s no foreign accent in these international sounds. 4 stars.

“JOY RIDER.” Wayne Shorter. Columbia CK 44110. The leader’s horn and the various synthesizers (Herbie Hancock, Geri Allen or Patrice Rushen) are generally well integrated in these seven Shorter originals. The assembly-line funk, repeated bass riffs and incessant pedal point effects follow a similar pattern. In a couple of cuts, notably the hypnotic “Causeways,” skillful writing compensates for a paucity of improvisational freedom. The concluding “Someplace Called ‘Where’ ” is sung by Dianne Reeves almost entirely in quarter and half notes. Whatever happened to rhythm? 2 1/2 stars.

“FROM A TO Z AND BEYOND.” Al Cohn-Zoot Sims. RCA-Bluebird 6469-2-RB. Sims (1925-85) and Cohn (1925-88) were soul survivors (but not sole survivors, since Stan Getz is still around) in the Woody Herman “Four Brothers” generation of tenor sax giants. This compilation of two LPs they cut in 1956 is packed with vital solos and exchanges between them. There are only 12 short tunes, four of which are duplicated via unissued alternate takes. The ensemble sound is thin and the writing uninspired on some tracks, serving as no more than a launching pad for the leaders. 3 stars.

“NATURAL RHYTHM.” Freddie Green-Al Cohn. RCA-Bluebird 6465-2-RB. Green’s guitar makes a world of difference, as do the Basieish piano of Nat Pierce and Joe Newman’s consistent trumpet. For these and other reasons, such as Cohn’s doubling on clarinet and bass clarinet, these 1955 dates came off better than the Cohn-Sims collaboration. There’s more variety--22 tunes, of which Green wrote nine, with neat charts by Cohn, Manny Albam or Ernie Wilkins, some of which have a small-band Basie tinge. Produced by Jack Lewis, these are superior examples of small-band mainstream music. 4 stars.