Anne Drummond: Revolving

Origin Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Revolving

Seattle-born Anne Drummond’s first instrument wasn’t a flute. It was a recorder: a first for many children because of the relative ease with which simple melodies can be played. Introduced in medieval times, the instrument remains quite popular today. As often is the case, the piano followed; that was her primary instrument when she entered New York’s Manhattan School of Music at age 18. She also had replaced the recorder with a flute by that time, and played it extensively; even so, she earned her degree on the piano keyboard.   

Drummond was raised in a musical family. An aunt exposed the budding musician to modern jazz, using her own collection. Interestingly, Drummond attended the same high school as Quincy Jones and Jimi Hendrix, and her piano teacher at the Manhattan School was Kenny Barron. After hearing her play the flute, Barron invited her to join his band. She did so. 

In addition to being a stellar artist on two instruments, Drummond teaches and composes; she wrote all but three of the songs on this release. She cuts a wide swath in the music field, from penning commercial jingles, to joining classical groups and orchestras. She’s featured here on both piano and flutes (soprano and alto).

Seven artists joined her: guitarist Vic Juris, additional pianists Benny Green and David Chesky, cellist Dave Eggar, bassist Brandi Disterheft, and drummers Kassar Overall and Keita Ogawa. The menu ranges from spritely up-tempo tunes to balladic/mood selections, everything done with a smooth jazz feel. 

You’ll want to listen time and again to this project by master musicians. Don’t miss it.

Benny Green: Source

JLP Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Source

Many factors determine the fame of individual musical artists, and talent is only one of them. If you’re born at the wrong time, and have to compete with those who already been identified as sensational, it’s easy to remain overlooked; such is the case for pianist Benny Green, who was born in New York in 1963 and grew up in Berkeley, California.

The piano icons ruling the roost at that time included Bud Powell and Oscar Peterson, and there just wasn’t enough spotlight left over for guys like Green to be noticed by the public. That wasn’t the case in the jazz world, however; Green’s discography shows how well regarded he was by fellow artists.

As a teen, Green was a member of bop vocalist Betty Carter’s group in 1976 and was featured at the Monterey Jazz festival in ’78. He was quite the innovator. Art Blakey hired him in the mid-’80s, and Green also had stints with Freddie Hubbard, Ray Brown and many, many other name artists. In fact, it’s hard to find someone Green hasn’t played or recorded with.

Green began to release his own albums in the late 1980s, and he continued throughout the ’90s. That said, Source is his first release in about a decade, although he has toured almost continuously.

The genesis for this album was a tour with Japanese guitarist Satoshi Inoue, who chose Green, bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington (no relation) as his rhythm section. Following that gig, Green and the Washingtons played a number of dates before returning to the States; that, in turn, led to this album.

The title refers to artists who were inspirations to Green, and the menu includes tunes that those artists composed and/or regularly performed, such as Sonny Clark’s “Blue Minor” and Carl Perkins’ “Way ‘Cross Town.” Others came from Kenny Drew, Dizzy Gillespie, Donald Byrd, Benny Golson, Horace Silver and Bud Powell. My favorite is the Mel Torme ballad, “Born to be Blue,” which I haven’t heard since the singer’s passing; Green’s treatment of this song is beautiful.

Let’s hear more from this excellent artist!

The 50th Anniversary All Stars: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 2007

Concord Records
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 5.1.08
Buy CD: Live at the Monterey Jazz Festival 2007

2007 marked the 50th anniversary of the Monterey Jazz Festival, and this live album is the first that hasn't been released from the festival's archival files. 

The intent was to assemble a band that had a history with the festival, then record the session and send the group on a 54-date tour; that began in January 2008 (the month this album was released) and concluded in March. The sextet features James Moody (tenor sax), Terence Blanchard (trumpet), Benny Green (piano), Derrick Hodge (bass), Kendrick Scott (drums) and Nnenna Freelon (vocals). These artists, combined, have a history of 28 appearances at Monterey Jazz Festival concerts from 1962 through '07. 

It's a shame this album doesn't live up to the history, or the hype, associated with the festival. Of the 10 tracks here, only four are instrumentals; the other six consist of three vocals by Freelon, and spoken introductions to those vocals. She doesn't come close to previous Monterey Jazz Festival singers such as Anita O'Day and Sarah Vaughn; Freelon's voice isn't unpleasant, but she's simply not on a par with those two ladies. 

And the time taken for the introductions would have been spent better on an additional instrumental. 

It's also unfortunate that Moody, Blanchard and Green aren't nearly up to their usual standards. The only stand-out in this group is Hodge; he puts down a driving beat and has a couple of very nice (although short) solos. 

This is not an auspicious beginning for Concord's MJFR label.