Sonny Rollins
Saxophone Colossus
1956, We recently had a brunch to celebrate my wife's birthday. And while preparing, I threw on Saxophone Colossus for no real reason other than I hadn't really listened to it since I picked it up. Well as it turns out I couldn't have chosen a more suitable album. This is exactly what I'd think of as "brunch jazz." It's upbeat, happy but not insufferably so. It swings and yet doesn't have any feeling of over complication. I mean there's certainly some bits of flashiness here and there, but everything is non-threatening to outsiders of the genre. This is - to put it in a word - happy music. Yup this record would go hand-in-hand with dragging yourself out of bed on a Sunday and drinking an 'adult beverage' with brunch to help shake off the Saturday night. Obviously Sonny Rollins' name is on the cover and he's the real star here. And rightly so. His solos kill but he's never super "look at me" about them. The record kicks off with the sort of tropical "St. Thomas," which is one of three originals here. The most recognizable track will be "Mack The Knife," known as "Moritat" on the record sleeve. But I've got to say - with no disrespect to Mr. Rollins - that probably my favorite playing on this album is the fine drum work of the always awesome Max Roach. Man, he just smokes on these sessions.
DJ Spooky
Optometry
2002, The Blue Series Continuum have always been fascinating to me. Matthew Shipp's loose collective of friends and geniuses will often get together under this name and invite some outsider of the jazz genre to cut an album. And the results are always super interesting. Optometry, the record they released citing DJ Spooky as their leader is utterly fantastic. First of all, seriously look at that band. I mean, I'm sure that putting Spooky's name as the headliner sold more records to folks interested in electronic music at the time. But along with Shipp's wonderful piano playing you've got William Parker on bass, Joe McPhee on horns and the always brilliant Guillermo E. Brown on drums. Of course these guys could cut a great jazz album. How could they not? But by including Paul "Spooky" Miller into the mix, they've created something absolutely astounding. Few records can blur the lines of hip hop and jazz well. This one blurs hip hop, jazz, spoken word, electronics, DJ'ing, found-sound, modern classical and whatever else Spooky could think of into a mind-spinning blend that amazingly always feels rooted in jazz. Somehow, it always feels organic. Opener "Ibid, Desmarches, Ibid" is a total showpiece. This is one that you'll want to hear again before continuing on. "Reactive Switching Strategies For The Control Of Uninhibited Air," is a downbeat track that shows off Shipp's restraint and ability to cross over to a hip hop crowd. There's some great guests here like 20th century composer Pauline Oliveros on "Asphalt (Tome II)" although I've got to confess that I don't really love High Priest's verse on "Absentia Absentia (Dialectical Triangulation III)." I don't hate it but it feels somewhat clumsy within the mix somehow. Having said that, I'd barely call it a misstep. I honestly think that this is one of the most interesting and overlooked jazz recordings of the early 2000's. It's also an utter success at whatever form of modern fusion we might want to classify it as. It's just really good music.
Thelonious Monk/John Coltrane
Thelonious Monk With John Coltrane
1961, This record is straight comfort food. The duo plays with two different bands here: one made up of Wilbur Ware (bass) and Shadow Wilson (drums); and one with Ray Copeland (trumpet), Gigi Gryce (alto sax), Coleman Hawkins (tenor sax), Wilbur Ware (bass) and Art Blakey (drums). So yeah... it's an all-star session for sure. This is all nice downbeat stuff. A great chill-out record. And man, it almost feels like a mini-Greatest Hits with the inclusion of "Ruby My Dear," "Trinkle, Trinkle" and "Epistrophy" all on the tracklisting. The biggest compliment I can give this record is that on first listen it will feel like an old friend. It's comforting and familiar and completely highlights both performers in top form. Check out their dueling of the main motif on "Trinkle, Trinkle" for instance. It's insane stuff. Fun yet impressive. This is a record well worth owning though just seeing Monk and Coltrane equally billed should be a dead give away anyway.
