Jazz Police - CD/DVD/Book Reviews

Henry ‘Skipper’ Franklin and Crew: “June Night” (2013, Skipper Productions)

Written by Glenn A. Mitchell, LA Jazz Scene

Bassist Henry Franklin has produced a number of well-liked CDs. His new June Night is well-rounded musically and is a thorough effort in making some excellent jazz. His group (or “Crew”) is made up of Theo Saunders (piano), Ramon Banda (drums), Gilbert Castellanos (trumpet and flugelhorn), Chuck Manning (tenor saxophone), and Ryan Porter (trombone), with vocalists Dwight Trible and Mon David performing one song each with Franklin’s crew.

The title tune kicks off the CD and in one word is mellow! The sextet plays very well and the drive is there! Splendid solos include: Castellanos’ exceptional muted trumpet, Manning’s dominant tenor sax, Saunders’ fine piano work and Franklin grooving through his bass solo. Other catchy selections include “Neko,” starting with an attentive bluesy riff with more groovy solos, followed by the fine McCoy Tyner composition, “Four by Five,” and Saunders’ “Queen of Tangents,” sung nicely by Trible. Saunders also contributes “Thump,” which fits well for the sextet.

Duke Ellington’s “Purple Gazette” is given a beautiful rendition. Porter’s trombone playing graces this number very well. On the standard, “Once in a While,” Franklin plays the melody on his bass throughout this familiar gem. Castellanos contributes a wonderful minor tune, “My Daddy’s Jazz.” The players performed fine solos. The last tune is a dedication to Franklin’s close friend, “A Love Song for Midori,” sung in gorgeous fashion by vocalist Mon David. This CD is nice listening.

Reprinted with permission from L.A. Jazz Scene, January 2013

Jessica Williams, “Songs of Earth” (2012, Origin Records)

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

One of the most unheralded poet laureates of jazz piano, Jessica Williams has quietly forged a career on the West Coast, yielding an impressive body of solo and trio work with limited touring and headlines. Her latest project for Origin is drawn from solo performances in 2009-2011 at Seattle’s Triple Door. Songs of Earth includes six original compositions and Williams’ interpretation of John Coltrane’s “To Be.” In addition to composing and performing, Williams served as the mixing and editing engineer and co-producer.

Notes Williams, “Songs of Earth is very different than other albums I have ever made. It contains much more pure improvisation… It contains all of the forms that I heard at the moment I played them. It contains very few (if any) pre-rehearsed lines…it is symphonic in nature and it adheres only marginally to any of my previous works in its forms and structures…I see colors in it and shapes within shapes, archetypal designs and natural patterns within a lacework of fragile simplicity… [and] a mysterious quality that I am personally at a loss to explain.”

The opening “Deayrhu,” notes Williams, “defined all of the pieces to follow when I began compiling this album,” and as such defies simple classification as a jazz, experimental or classical composition, suggesting Ravel, Ligeti, Satie, Mehldau, Cecil Taylor, and Marilyn Crispell—simultaneously, with dark rolling bass chords below crystalline figures (that “lacework of fragile simplicity”), evolving into an elegant epic. The haunting, vamp-driven “Poem” is “the one piece I actually notated,” says Jessica, but primarily for the purpose of recall as the bulk of the piece was spontaneously improvised. The elegant, flamenco-inspired “Montoya” is Williams’ tribute to the great Spanish guitarist, revealing layers of exquisite decorations.

“Joe and Jane” is a memorial tribute to those who have lost their lives in military service, who “are worthy of our appreciation and our dedication to a more peaceful and loving future on this Earth.” Here Williams creates a quirky hymn, somewhat reminiscent of Keith Jarrett with its bluesy harmonies and forward movement. Inspired by her Boston Terrier, “Little Angel” suggests a pup light on his feet, delicate in movements yet curious and playful. “The Enchanted Loom” references a metaphor for the human brain and particularly arousal from sleep (“a dissolving pattern… a shifting harmony of sub-patterns); the music prances, “a sort of raga in 5/4 time,” says Williams as the left hand drones in support of the brightly colored dance above.

Coltrane’s “To Be” provides the dramatic finale, Jessica noting the convergence of influences from Debussy and Satie to Montoya. If “Deayrhu” provided the album’s definition, “To Be” provides its summation, as if an exquisite elaboration of the preceding works – a droning figure in the left hand, hymnal reverence, filigree ornementations, and at times, as Jessica notes, “the roar of the sea” and Mother Earth. The piece fits the set so well that it is easy to forget that Williams is not its composer. Yet, it is her voice that shines as clearly at the end as in the beginning, as if these seven independent stories were always intended to reveal one Song.

More about Jessica Williams at www.jessicawilliams.com , including information about the spinal surgery that will keep her away from the piano for a year (through much of 2013), and how you can help her manage without the ability to work!