The World Gathers for a Big Jam Session

Diversity’s the word in jazz these days as the ‘90s roll toward their climactic finish. It’s hard to remember a time in which the music was moving in more different directions, some more appealing than others. Here’s a sampling:

Rabih Abou-Khalil, Abdullah Ibrahim, Eddie Palmieri, Cassandra Wilson and Others, “Visions of Music: World Jazz” (*** 1/2, Enja Records). It doesn’t get much more diverse than this collection of tracks featured on a series that ran on the Knowledge TV cable channel. Even within individual tracks, some of the mixtures are extraordinary--oud player Abou-Khalil (who hosted the series) and jazz harmonica player Howard Levy on the opening track, “The Sphinx and I,” for example.

Other combinations are equally startling: Eddie Palmieri performing his “Acuzar” with a band that showcases alto saxophonist David Sanborn; soprano saxophonist Charlie Mariano with bandoneon artist Dino Saluzzi; alto saxophonist John Zorn performing a Villa-Lobos piece with a stirring Brazilian rhythm section led by Cyro Baptista; Cassandra Wilson singing with cornetist Olu Dara in a setting that blends rhythm & blues with African high life. Anyone who doubts that jazz has become a truly global music should spend an hour with this recording.

Mingus Big Band, “Blues & Politics” (*** 1/2, Dreyfuss Jazz). Mingus never really led a big band while he was alive (although he was involved with a number of large-scale performances of his work). His widow, Sue Mingus, has led efforts to preserve his music in the performances of the Mingus Big Band, and it might seem self-serving if this was not such an extraordinary organization. Even more important, the continuing examination of Mingus’ music--superbly enhanced by the work of arrangers such as Sy Johnson, Steve Slagle, Mike Mossman and Howard Johnson--is immensely valuable. And the performances of such familiar works as “Haitian Fight Song,” “Goodbye Porkpie Hat” and such lesser-known pieces as “Meditations for a Pair of Wire Cutters” and “Little Royal Suite” underscore the high quality of Mingus compositions as well as their capacity to stimulate stunning individual performances.

D.D. Jackson, “So Far” (***, RCA/BMG). Who is D.D. Jackson? A pianist who deserves a considerably wider hearing. Mentored early on by the late Don Pullen, Jackson, 32, is a similarly individualistic player. Classically trained, he does not hesitate to play in a rhapsodic, full-keyboard style that also resonates with traces of Art Tatum, Cecil Taylor and Earl Hines. Many of the tracks in this set of solo performances are dedicated to other influences--Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Vladimir Horowitz and Claude Debussy among them. The results are unlike anything else produced by the current flood of pianists. Listening to Jackson can be demanding, but the rewards are more than worth the risk.

Count Basie Orchestra, “Swing Shift” (***, MAMA Records). “Ghost band” is a phrase with potentially pejorative qualities, referring to groups that continue after the titular leader has passed away. In the case of the Basie Orchestra, however (now conducted by Grover Mitchell), several essentials have been observed since Basie died in 1984. First: The Basie approach--with its juxtaposition of driving masses of sound from the horns against a surging, in-the-pocket rhythm--remains integral to the band’s work. Second: New arrangements, here mostly by Allyn Ferguson, have the timeless quality that always has characterized Basie’s units. And that’s what has taken place in this collection of bright new arrangements, fine soloing and driving ensemble playing.

Don Byron, “Romance With the Unseen” (** 1/2 stars, Blue Note). The combination of Byron’s clarinet and Bill Frisell’s guitar produces a timbre that seems made for Benny Goodman-like swing or Buddy DeFranco-like bebop. But Byron and Frisell (with bassist Drew Gress and drummer Jack DeJohnette) have other games in mind--a darker, less homogenous approach to sound and ensemble interaction. Sometimes, as in the oddly off-center rendering of “Perdido,” their musical eccentricities are gripping. More often, despite the players’ skill and the music’s appeal as an intellectual exercise, the music seems unfulfilled. *