tnycjr201305

Oye!!! (Live in Puerto Rico)
Miguel Zenón & The Rhythm Collective (Miel Music)
by David R. Adler
For years alto saxophonist Miguel Zenón has made
quartet albums with the brilliant pianist Luis Perdomo
as a central focus. Zenón’s music, therefore, has always
been thick with harmony. But intermittently for several
years, Zenón has explored another sound with his
Rhythm Collective, a piano-less quartet with electric
bassist Aldemar Valentin, drummer Tony Escapa and
percussionist Reynaldo De Jesús. Oye!!! captures them
in their native Puerto Rico in 2011.
There’s an intimate vibe to the recording, with
charged-up applause and bandmember introductions
- in Spanish, over a fast groove - at the start and finish.
The disc preserves the live acoustic imperfections yet
still manages a high sound quality. Valentin sounds a
tad far away and yet he’s a monster on every track,
playing liquid solo lines and highly inventive doublestop
work, hugging every turn. Escapa and De Jesús,
too, are unstoppable. The subtle textural differences in
their setups come across beautifully on disc.
Zenón has worked hard to bring jazz and Puerto
Rican folkloric idioms into contact. The Rhythm
Collective, which toured six African countries with
help from the State Department in 2003, has a different
ROBERT HURST
A monster of an album...
Highly Recommended”
20 May 2013 | THE NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
but related take on global cross-pollination. “JOS
Nigeria”, a Zenón original with a bouncy optimistic
feel, has an explicitly African connection. Tito Puente’s
“Oye Como Va” gets stretched and pulled apart, at one
point inspiring Zenón to quote Wayne Shorter’s “Juju”.
Silvio Rodriguez’ “El Necio” is more faithful, though it
still sparks furious off-the-page improvisation.
The band plays with gut-level energy but nails
every note, every displaced accent. In the precise
staccato hits of “Hypnotized” (slower and partly
rubato, inspired by Paul Motian), or the crisply
articulated bass pattern of the fast burner “Double
Edge”, Zenón advances his own adaptations of
traditional rhythmic forms, again proving himself one
of the most distinctive artists on the scene.
For more information, visit miguelzenon.com. Zenón is at
Village Vanguard May 14th-19th. See Calendar.
Soul Duo
Shirley Scott/Clark Terry (Impulse-Passion Jazz)
by George Kanzler
Throughout the ‘60s, trumpeter Clark Terry had a
high profile: as a featured member of The Tonight Show
band, with the quintet he co-led with Bob Brookmeyer,
jazz big band recordings he made with Quincy Jones
ALL-STAR CAST FEATURING
Branford Marsalis
Robert Glasper
Bennie Maupin
Marcus Belgrave
Jeff “Tain” Watts
Adam Rudolph
BoB a Palindrome” is
exceptional... and everyone
is firing on all cylinders…”
MARK STRYKER- DETROIT FREE PRESS
…Hurst’s inspired compositions
and first-rate production values
make this one of the highlights
of the 2013 season."
STEVE BRYANT- AllAboutJazz.com
DAVE SUMNER’S JAZZ PICKS- emusic.com
20% OFF
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and others and occasional guest returns to the Duke
Ellington Orchestra, where he had spent most of the
‘50s as a star sideman. This mid ‘60s one-off recording
date with organist Shirley Scott, an inspired idea of
producer Bob Thiele, is a rare instance of Terry in an
organ combo setting. It clocks in at 37 minutes: either
there were no extra takes from the date, or Passion Jazz
didn’t have access to them.
Despite the title, this is no standard soul jazz
outing. Unlike many of her contemporaries on the
organ, Scott did not play with the typical chugging,
percolating, hard-rolling sound and didn’t even carry
the basslines - Bob Cranshaw or George Duvivier are
on string bass here - and her touch was comparatively
light. Mickey Roker, a frequent Scott and Terry
collaborator, is the drummer. Terry was at the height of
his powers, with a quicksilver wit and a personal
sound so distinctive it was instantly recognizable. He
could mine a cornucopia of tones and timbres from his
horn, commanding its complete range from the depths
to the stratosphere. His solos here flit, dart and jab like
a hummingbird in flight and often proceed in passages
suggestive of the subtleties and nuances of speech -
through choked, squeezed and smeared notes.
The program - four Scott originals, two by Terry
plus two standards - is bright and infectious, from the
opening title blues, Terry manipulating his horn with
plunger effects, intimate growls and piercing wails, to
the closer, Irving Berlin’s “Heat Wave”, equipped with
a shuffle beat and prancing muted trumpet. The vibe
throughout is joyous, a feeling reflected literally in a
central track: “This Little Light of Mine”.
For more information, visit twitter.com/PassionMusicLtd.
Terry is celebrated at A Great Night in Harlem May 17th at
the Apollo Theater. See Calendar.
Live
at Flushing Town Hall
QUEENS JAZZ ORCHESTRA
Fiesta MOJO
Directed by Jimmy Heath
ORdeR tickets tOday!
(718) 463-7700 x222 flushingtownhall.org
Flushing Town Hall, 137-35 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354
This program is supported by National Endowment for the Arts; New
York State Council on the Arts, a State agency; New York City Department
of Cultural Affairs; Bloomberg Philanthropies; Fan Fox and Leslie R.
Samuels Foundation; Paul Ash and Nobuko Cobi Narita; and Macy’s.
satuRday, May 25, 2013, 8:00 PM
$40/$32 Members/$20 Students;
Package: $120/$100 Members
(Reserved Table for 2, Wine & Snacks)
the Queens Jazz Orchestra (QJO, a program of
FCCA), celebrates the musical genius of adderley,
Jacquet, Basie & ellington, all historic jazz legends
who lived in Queens & are seen on FCCA’s Queens
Jazz trail Map © . Fiesta MOJO is a rare Gillespie
piece arranged by Jimmy Heath for the QJO.