Last Summer

One of the most prolific musicians in the Twin Cities, composer/guitarist Reynold Philipsek and friends (Matt Senjem, Gary Schulte) will celebrate his new recording, Last Summer (Zino-Rephi, 2012) this weekend, May 19th, at the Aster Café in Minneapolis.

In his liner note for Last Summer, Philipsek cites his childhood fascination with the music of the mid to late 960’s – “the soundtrack of my childhood” – and particularly Antonio Carlos Jobim, Wes Montgomery, French and Italian film music, and the orchestrations of Claus Ogerman, Oliver Nelson and Don Sebesky as captured on record by Creed Taylor. “My past few records have been rather stark and purely acoustic guitar recordings, which emphasized the influence of gypsy jazz and my Slavic heritage,” he says. “This music completes the picture of my entire musical makeup.” That entire picture includes over three dozen recordings of mostly original music and acclaimed work with the Twin Cities Hot Club, East Side, Sidewalk Café and area vocalists including Rhonda Laurie and Lee Engele.

Throughout 2012 the Borderbend Arts Collective is presenting a series of programs that celebrates Charles Mingus' life and work. Charles Mingus at 90 is a multidisciplinary program with music, visual art, writing, and other art forms. On May 17, a group of musicians will gather at Fitzgerald’s in Chicago to celebrate the life and music of Mingus, and to benefit the Les Turner ALS Foundation. Mingus was an American musical hero who died of ALS. His bass playing, compositions and philosophy have transcended his genre and left indelible marks on music history. This will be the tenth Mingus Awareness Project concert since its inception in 2007. Mingus Awareness Project concerts have happened in Chicago (at the Velvet Lounge, Jazz Showcase, Hideout, Martyrs' and Hot House) and Richmond, Virginia (at the Camel, Rhythm Hall and Gallery 5).

“Probably the best small jazz festival in the country, if not the world.”—San Francisco Chronicle

It’s no longer a well-kept secret that the northern California town of Healdsburg holds one of the finest small jazz festivals in the nation. Tucked into the picturesque vineyards of Dry Creek, Alexander Valley and Russian River in Sonoma County, Healdsburg welcomes a diverse array of internationally acclaimed and locally prominent musicians every summer, scattering performances around restaurants, hotel lobbies, small theaters and winery grounds, usually over the course of ten days. With two weekends of prime time performances and a week of engaging jazz related activities in-between, the 2012 festival gets underway June 1st, boasting three NEA Jazz Masters – Roy Haynes, Sheila Jordan and Kenny Burrell-- and two of the most inventive pianists in modern jazz – Vijay Iyer and Michele Rosewoman. Add in trombone master Julian Priester and legendary vocalist Freddie Cole, along with a host of other national and Bay Area artists, and it’s clear the 2012 festival will be another winner.

Brad Mehldau trio, photo by Michael Wilson

Brad Mehldau's new Nonesuch release, Ode, is a ravishing collection of original music and his first studio recording with the trio in seven years. The Brad Mehldau Trio, which also features long time musical partners bassist Larry Grenadier and drummer Jeff Ballard, will appear on Wednesay, May 16th at the Kuumbwa Jazz Center in Santa Cruz. Then they stop at the Napa Valley Opera House on Thursday, May 17th. Finally speing three nights at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on San Francisco on Friday, May 18th,through Sunday, May 20th.

Sounds of Space

“Young Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez sounds the way Monk might have sounded if he had been born in Chick Corea’s body and raised on a diet of Bach, Chopin and Stravinsky in a Havana conservatory.” - San Jose Mercury News

I first encountered Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez at the 2009 Detroit Jazz Festival, where he surely earned the unofficial title of “Best Surprise Artist.” Unlike any Cuban pianist I had heard, Unlike any Cuban pianist I had heard, the then- 23-year-old Rodriguez seemed more a melding of Bill Evans, Kenny Werner, and Fred Hersch. He flashed touches of Thelonious Monk in conception if not execution, as well as hints here and there of his Cuban heritage. Knowing Alfredo was working with mentor/producer Quincy Jones, I impatiently awaited the release of his first recording. Fortunately that wait is over, with the release of Sounds of Space on Mack Avenue.

All Our Reasons: The Billy Hart Quartet

Originally cast as the Ethan Iverson/Mark Turner Quartet nearly a decade ago, this ensemble became the Billy Hart Quartet to honor the drummer at a gig in his native Montclair, NJ. The band’s debut recording (Quartet) was released on High Note in 2006, and over time (and on the bandstand at the Village Vanguard), Hart, Iverson, Turner, and Ben Street have developed a free-wheeling collaboration marked by joyful and adventurous explorations as well as a growing book of compositions, filled with the energy that often erupts when a veteran of Hart’s caliber meshes with the relatively “young blood” of such upstarts as Iverson, Turner, and Street. All Our Reasons marks the quartet’s ECM debut, recorded in Avatar Studios under the expert ear of producer Manfred Eicher. All but Street contribute compositions.

Magnus Öström, Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund Photo by Jim Rakete courtesy ACT

If anyone suggests that e.s.t.’s final studio album, “301,” suffers from the absence of pianist/composer Esbjörn Svensson at the mixing and mastering stage, they’re wrong. “301” might sound different had Svensson not died in 2008 in a diving accident, leaving behind two albums' worth of newly recorded material, but it's hard to imagine that it could sound better.

Like "Leukocyte" (2009), which Svensson was around to finalize, and which came out of the same series of recordings made in a Sydney studio when the band was on a brief break from touring, "301" is not a collection of scraps or outtakes. This is the e.s.t. we know and love, the trio that makes us think and feel, groove and raise our fists in the air.