In L.A., Musicians Hear the Siren Call--and Hope : Jazz: First-rate local musicians hope for a breakthrough in their chosen field via a recording, but the odds are against them.
Here’s the good news: Los Angeles may have more first-rate jazz musicians in residence than any other city in the world. (OK, Gothamites, with the outside exception of New York City.)
And here’s the bad: Very few jazz players (here or in New York) are making a living in their chosen field. Many, in fact, owe their survival to income from film, television and recording studio work, weekend weddings and parties, and an occasional tour in support of a pop singer.
The siren call for every jazz musician is the possibility of breaking out of this semi-anonymous world via a recording--preferably on a major label. But the Catch-22 that players face is the fact that major labels are primarily interested in performers with potential commercial sizzle: young, widely touted winners of prestigious competitions such as Joshua Redman and Jacky Terrasson; immigrants with a salable story to tell, such as Cuban expatriate Gonzalo Rubalcaba; or already well-established and highly visible artists such as the various members of the Marsalis family.
But for jazz musicians, hope springs eternal. If the large companies aren’t interested, many players surmise, then why not try the small ones? And, in a worse case scenario, there’s always the longshot chance of catching lightning in a bottle by putting out one’s own album.
Most of the time, sadly, it doesn’t work. Lightning doesn’t strike much around L.A. these days. But, if nothing else, the product issued by small independent record companies provides appealing musical rewards for the jazz fan with a little curiosity and a lot of persistence.
In this random survey of small label recordings, the most notable aspect is the minimal number of albums by African American and Latino players. Sadly, this is an accurate reflection of the product being released on small labels in Southern California, suggesting that both the financial and the social integration of the jazz community--for whatever reason--still have a long way to go. Despite the limited creative perspective that results, the collection nonetheless reveals the uncommon array of ear-catching music being produced by a few of the Southland’s intrepid local musical heroes. These albums are generally available or can be ordered at major record stores:
“Skyway” (Soul Note Records) (** 1/2), for example, a new release from drummer Adam Rudolph’s world music-tinged group, Moving Pictures, blends free-blowing solos with gripping percussion undertones. This is a fascinating take on jazz as music that reaches for, and often connects with, the improvisational spirit that drives the expressive voices of the world’s other musical cultures.
Violinist Jeff Gauthier’s “Internal Memo” (9 Winds Records) (**) moves through a different fringe of the jazz mainstream. Gauthier’s compositions are quirky and offbeat, bubbling with unexpected rhythms and occasional warm lyricism. His violin-playing, however, is upstaged by the powerful rhythm section of pianist Dave Witham, drummer Alex Cline and bassist Eric von Essen. Each solos impressively, with Cline bringing dramatic avant-garde fervor to his backup efforts. On one track, the gifted Von Essen adds some effective chromatic harmonica playing to his bass work.
Veteran tenor saxophonist Bill Perkins is a survivor of ‘50s West Coast jazz whose playing has remained persistently forward-looking over the years. On “Frame of Mind” (Inter-play Records) (***) his solos are filled with a slipping, sliding articulation that curiously juxtaposes Ornette Colemanesque phrasing against a cool, Lester Young-based sound. It’s a fascinating kind of risk-taking adventurousness, enhanced by Frank Strazzeri’s hard-swinging, ever-probing piano.
Recordings from former “Tonight Show” orchestra trombonist Bruce Paulson and pianist Dave Ferris take a more middle-of-the-road approach. Paulson’s “Minnesota” (Sea Breeze Records) (**) features a mixed bag of standards and jazz lines played with grooving exuberance by a band that spotlights saxophonist Bob Sheppard and pianist Bill Cunliffe. Unfortunately, the pleasantries of Paulson’s epigrammatic improvisational style are too often brushed aside by the solos of the ever-busy Sheppard, who also figures prominently in Ferris’ “The Quiet One,” (9 Winds) (**). Sheppard’s brusque, aggressive tenor dominates on this album, as well, tempered only by Ferris’ catchy melodies. Perhaps not surprisingly, Ferris plays better on two tracks in which Sheppard is not present. Even there, the pianist’s lines, despite their harmonic interest, are undercut by an awkward, rhythmic ungainliness.
No such problem with Rickey Woodard, who probably could make a Gregorian chant swing. Including his new release on Concord, “Yazoo,” (***) in a group of small label outings may seem like slipping in a ringer. But Woodard is a player who has labored long and hard with a minimum of recognition, and Concord--even with a prolific release schedule--is not precisely a major label. Besides, it’s a splendid, entertaining album, in which Woodard, with trumpeter Ray Brown and the first-rate local rhythm team of Cedar Walton on piano, Jeff Littleton on bass and Ralph Penland on drums plays an irresistibly appealing program of pure, straight-ahead, classic jazz.
L.A. is blessed with a host of excellent arrangers, and Tom Kubis is one of the finest. On “A Perfect Match” (Real Records) (** 1/2) he has orchestrated an album’s worth of charts for a big-band, little-band combination of the Swedish “Bohustan” large ensemble and “The Real Thing,” Sweden’s most popular small jazz group. Kubis’ orchestrations are superb, virtual primers of big-band writing, executed with enthusiasm and commanding skill by the talented Swedish players. And on several of the up-tempo choruses--”Scratch My Back” is a good example--the orchestrations and the players come together with an energy and drive comparable to the best large American jazz ensembles.
Another big-band release, “The Music of Pat Metheny & Lyle Mays,” (MAMA Foundation) (** 1/2) assembles a potpourri of Metheny & Mays music performed in massive, Stan Kentonish charts by former Kenton trombonist Bob Curnow. The group, which includes such accomplished soloists as (among others) trumpeters Bobby Shew and Wayne Bergeron, saxophonist Danny House and guitarist Paul Viapiano, leans heavily in the Kenton direction, sacrificing some of the contemporary qualities of Metheny & Mays in the process. But the recording is excellent, the charts well-crafted, and Curnow’s disciplined L.A. Big Band gives a pretty fair indication of what a Kenton ensemble might sound like in the ‘90s.
* Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good, recommended), four stars (excellent).
