Monthly Archives: July 2010

bebop spoken here: MARTIN DREW DIES.

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Another dark day for jazz drumming, so soon after the death of Chris Dagley:

Sad to report the death of Martin Drew after a heart attack yesterday afternoon.

As late as May this year I heard him at the Kings Head in Crouch End with Simon Spillett, John Critchinson and Andy Cleyndert. He was playing as great as ever and also chatted about the LCD gig at the Corner House with Mornington Lockett and Laurence Cottle. Martin did me the honour of posting my review of that gig on his website.

Previously I’d seen him at York’s Early Music Centre with Spillett and Co for another memorable gig.

But of course my memories of Martin go much further back – the Ronnie Scott Quintet with Dick Pierce, Critch and Ron Mathewson and of course the Peterson years.

Whatever band he played with that band swung like no other. A Grandmaster of his craft.

May he Rest In Peace – sadly missed.

Martin was 66 years old.

via bebop spoken here: MARTIN DREW DIES..

Disc of the day: 29-07-10

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Jacky Terrasson: Push (Concord Jazz 0888072316409)
Pianist Jacky Terrasson came up for me around the same time as Gonzalo Rubalcaba – I always linked them for some reason, perhaps because they were both Latin-leaning pianists, perhaps because they were both fast and fancy and had technical facility that tended to boggle this mind, perhaps because both were on Blue Note.

Anyway, the German born, Parisian raised, New York resident Terrasson is making his debut here on a new label, Concord, and as is often the case when an established player switches record companies, there is a tendency to use the initial release as something of a showcase. In this case it is of the pianist’s eclecticism.

With a solid piano trio as its core – Ben Williams (like Terrasson a Thelonious Monk Competition winner) is on bass and Jamire Williams on drums – he also has guests in the form of harmonica virtuoso Gregoire Maret, Jacques Schwarz-Bart on tenor, Matthew Stevens on guitar and Cyro Baptista on percussion. Oh, and he sings on a couple of tracks, too, mainly in a kind of Richard Bona, wordless fashion.

He covers a wide range of material from Michael Jackson’s Beat It and Johnny Green’s Body And Soul (coupled as one piece), Monk’s Ruby My Dear and Round Midnight, to wild fusion things like his original Beat Bop, and the gentle, melodic ballad My Church.

The opener, another Terrasson original, Gaux Girl, finds him in Keith Jarrett or Brad Mehldau country piano territory, while he grooves well on Morning.

There is some good music here but overall it feels like a bit of a directionless mess. I think Rubalcaba has achieved a more focussed and cohesive musical development while Terrasson has a tendency to dominate rather than develop a group sound and still seems to be searching for a direction.

Jazz breaking news: Chris Dagley Dies In Motorcycle Accident

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The shocking death of drummer Chris Dagley at 38 has robbed British jazz of one of its most respected and best-liked performers. Bright, friendly and conscientious, he was a crisp, hard-swinging drummer who took pride in his work and never gave it less than 100 per cent. As a member of Ronnie Scott’s house band, the James Pearson Trio, he was one of the busiest musicians in London. He was killed on his way home from the club in the small hours, when his motorcycle crashed on the A40 dual carriageway near White City.

via Jazz breaking news: Chris Dagley Dies In Motorcycle Accident.

And LondonJazz has moving tributes here

Disc of the day: 28-07-10

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Spin Marvel: The Reluctantly Politicised Mr James (Edition EDN1020)
This is the second album from the Anglo-Norwegian band led by drummer Martin France, and it’s a full five years since the first one, due in no small part, I’m guessing, to the fact that France remains the drummer of choice for countless bands both in this country and elsewhere, whether for touring or studio work. His CV boasts more than 70 albums and he has worked with, among many others, John Taylor, Kenny Wheeler, Django Bates, Dave Holland, Mike Gibbs, Maria Schneider, Arild Anderson and Lee Konitz.

The rest of Spin Marvel on this occasion is Nils Petter Molvaer on trumpet, John Parricelli on guitar, Tim Harries on bass and Terje Evensen adding percussion and sound-audio editing.

The sound they make is what you might expect from this blend of musicians. There is lots of spacey stuff, some rich textures, and, of course, a lot of interesting rhythms. Drums and electronics intersect and interact in a vital way. It sounds like there is a fair amount of spontaneous sound-sculpting, as it were, going on, with possibly fewer pre-arranged compositions or interventions.

To my ears, it sound more original when Molvaer is not playing – on Black Dog Company for example, which is just extraordinary in its intensity and in the virtuoso nature of France’s drumming – because the trumpeter has such a distinctive sound and has established himself so strongly in this field where jazz meets club beats and electronica that it starts to sound too much like an NPM disc. And France should certainly not be seen as an imitator.

And having offered all those caveats, I then find that Molvaer’s contribution to a piece like Reconciled Rotation is nothing like his own discs. Here the band works really effectively with all members bringing interesting things to the party. I particularly like Harries’ richly resonatiing, metallic-edged chords which underpin the trumpet and drum action.

Parricelli plays possibly the most subtle role – and you won’t really hear much which sounds like a conventional guitar. It’s all highly processed washes, gloops and glitches of sound.

The closer, Dust In Eyebeam, is another masterclass in fast and precise but also hugely creative drumming.

Dan dares to be busy, busy, busy

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Dan Nicholls (Pic: Russ Escritt)

Great to have keyboardist and composer Dan Nicholls back in the country again and, as usual, he has more than enough ideas for a handful of bands.

He recently contributed to the groups of Rob Anstey and Chris Mapp at the Lichfield Festival Sundown Jazz sessions. Tomorrow evening he brings his Mirror trio – James Allsopp from Fraud and Golden Age Of Steam on saxophones and Dave Smith from Outhouse on drums – to Birmingham Jazz’s monthly Jazz Club at the Rainbow in Digbeth, Birmingham; on Thursday he is up at the Manchester Jazz Festival with Steve Tromans as the pair revive their free jazz interaction on two Fender Rhodes pianos that was first heard at the Harmonic Festival in Birmingham earlier this year.

The Mirror gig starts at 9pm and entrance is £4. The Manchester gig is part of a lunchtime double bill with another duo called Our Liberated Winter. It starts at St Ann’s Church at 1pm and it’s free.

More on Jazz Club at www.birminghamjazz.co.uk and more about MJF at www.manchesterjazz.com