Strong New Releases With a Continental Flair

With so many jazz albums streaming through the pipeline, there are plenty of opportunities for quality CDs to slip by unnoticed. And that would be a shame, because unexpected delights pop up with surprising frequency. Here are a few examples from the current schedule of releases, all of them--interestingly enough--with European connections:

Didier Lockwood, “Salute to Stephane Grappelli” (****, Dreyfus Jazz). The French-born violinist Lockwood has been around since the ‘70s, performing in numerous stylistic contexts, but never quite receiving widespread recognition or acknowledgment. In this stunningly well-performed set, a tribute to one of the icons of jazz violin, he is joined, appropriately by French Gypsy Bireli Lagrene, who at times has sounded more like Django Reinhardt than Reinhardt himself. Filling out the trio is the great Danish bass virtuoso Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. The results are spectacular--brilliantly fine-tuned jazz performed in chamber-music style by an ensemble of consummate artists. The program includes tunes often performed by Grappelli (“I Got Rhythm,” “In a Sentimental Mood,” etc.) as well as a pair of Reinhardt classics (“Nuages” and “Minor Swing”), and there’s not a single misstep anywhere. An album to savor.

Sud, “Sud” (*** 1/2, Dreyfus Jazz). And there’s plenty more French artistry in this new release by Sud, a trio that features guitarist Sylvain Luc, bassist Jean-Marc Jafet and drummer Andre Ceccarelli. Luc, who comes from a family of traditional Basque musicians, has been around for several decades, working in different genres before finding his way into jazz (and accompanying Al Jarreau on tour and in the studio). His technical skills are astounding, yet rarely indulged in for the sake of sheer musical show-boating. He performs “Night in Tunisia” in 5/4 without a whisper of difficulty, adds a soulful rendering of “This Guy’s in Love With You,” takes a high-flying romp through “There Will Never Be Another You,” and offers a sweetly lyrical version of “Little Man You’ve Had a Busy Day.” Another vital album--especially for jazz guitarists.

Big Band de Lausanne, “Duke Ellington’s Sacred Music” (***, TCB, The Montreux Jazz Label). Switzerland is not necessarily the place one would expect to hear a full-scale rendering of large segments of Ellington’s sacred music, but here it is. With a few Americans in attendance--trumpeter Jon Faddis, drummer Adam Nussbaum, singers Michelle Hendricks and Allan Harris among them--the works were recorded live in concert in 1998 at the Cathedral of Lugano. The most startling aspect of the results is the playing of the Big Band of Lausanne, addressing the Ellington charts with remarkable fidelity to both the sound and the rhythmic drive of the originals. Faddis solos impressively, as do the two singers. And, although the choral work is diminished by a lead soprano who seems to have difficulty finding some of her notes, it is fascinating to hear these works move once again into the arena of live performance. Other ensembles should follow suit; this is music that needs to be kept alive. (The album is distributed in the U.S. by the Allegro Corp. of Portland, Ore., and is also available at https://www.amazon.com.)

Kevin Mahogany, “Pussy Cat Dues” (***, Enja Records). The placing of singer Mahogany’s name in the starring position doesn’t come close to describing what is actually present in this release. The principal spotlight, in fact, belongs to Charles Mingus, since the album is completely dedicated to the music of the late bassist-composer. And, although the larger ensemble is the WDR Big Band, directed by Bill Dobbins, the most prominent voices are those of Mingus veterans Charles McPherson, alto saxophone, and Jimmy Knepper, trombone. This odd mixture of elements results in an extremely uneven album--one that challenges the overall star recommendations. There are some segments that reach the four-star level, others that barely deserve a pair of stars, thus the compromise rating.

Mahogany is primarily present on a pair of odd tracks--”Eclipse” and “Portrait”--both with music and lyrics by Mingus, as well as “Goodbye Pork Pie Hat” with words by Rahsaan Roland Kirk. Despite the verbal intensity of his autobiography, “Beneath the Underdog,” song-lyric writing was not one of Mingus’ major skills, and Mahogany’s sinewy dark tones fail to rescue the material. Curiously, Kirk’s lyrics for “Pork Pie Hat” are right on the mark, and Mahogany delivers them with the right blend of irony and nostalgia. But the real joy of the recording--aside from the spirited work of the WDR ensemble--is the playing of McPherson, who soars above the proceedings (his solo on “Boogie Stop Shuffle” is a good example) with a drive and imagination that trace their roots directly to Charlie Parker. It’s difficult to understand why McPherson has received so little acknowledgment over the years; nobody does the alto saxophone any better.

Martial Solal and Johnny Griffin, “Solal Griffin: In & Out” (***, Dreyfus Jazz). A pair of true veterans in action. Only eight months apart in age (Griffin turned 72 in April; Solal will be 73 in August), they perform as a duo on this new album, recorded in summer 1990. One might ordinarily expect conflicts between Solal’s rhapsodically boppish style and Griffin’s big-sound approach to the tenor saxophone. But the two hit it off admirably, each adapting somewhat to the other in material ranging from ballads and blues to at least one acerbically dissonant Solal tune. If there’s a problem with the otherwise appealing performances, it’s that devoting six of the eight tracks to originals failed to play to the duo’s greatest strength--the ability to shape and reinterpret the standard repertoire, best illustrated by their pointed versions of “You Stepped Out of a Dream” and Thelonious Monk’s “Well, You Needn’t.”