Christmas leftovers

By Derrick Bang

[Web master’s note: Northern California film critic Derrick Bang — still the eldest, youngest and only son of this site’s jazz guru, Ric Bang — has surveyed the holiday jazz scene for roughly 18 years, with lengthy columns that just keep growing. Check out previous columns by clicking on the CHRISTMAS label below.]

Holiday jazz has become a full-time pursuit, in part because the Web has allowed it to flourish. Back in the day, brick-and-mortar stores wouldn’t display their seasonal music until mid-November, and then everything would get boxed up right after the New Year. But the Internet knows no season, which is both a blessing and a curse: the latter only in the sense that my friends roll their eyes when they hear Christmas music in May. Or August.

For the most part, my annual survey of holiday jazz focuses on new or new-ish releases. That makes it difficult to discuss older albums that come to my attention late: In a column otherwise devoted to current, easy-to-obtain titles, it’s not necessarily fair to extol the virtues of an obscure disc which, being a decade old, may not be readily available any longer.

All this by way of explaining (justifying?) this bonus column’s “catch-up” theme. Most of the albums discussed here will require some dedicated searching, either because they didn’t sell well; or were released in small numbers; or released only in a specific region (or outlet); or have international origins. But as I learned years ago, obscurity isn’t necessarily an indication of quality; if the Web’s involvement in the changing music scene has taught us anything, it’s the need not to judge a disc by its cover. I’ve been burned by plenty of ubiquitous mainstream releases, and delighted by an equal number of seemingly “sketchy” albums that prove to contain plenty of great music.

Fair warning, then: If my enthusiasm prompts a flicker of interest in any of the following titles, be prepared to indulge in the thrill of the hunt. After all, the best things in life are worth struggling for, right?

Onward!

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Once upon a time, during happier economic days, Nordstrom stores often featured live music by local pianists who’d set up at the base of the escalators: an impressive “touch of class” that, sadly, was axed by cost-cutting bean-counters. For awhile, though, it was great exposure for up-and-coming musicians, and the store also released a few seasonal CDs on an in-house label.

I somehow missed Dehner Franks’ Holiday Lights (AEI Music Network), a 1999 release that deserved far better exposure than it received; it’s a lovely, lyrical and frequently lively collection of holiday standards, delivered in a blend of solo piano and small combo formats.

I love Franks’ up-tempo arrangements, best showcased on tracks such as the opener, “Sleigh Ride,” and a rock-inflected handling of the “Hallelujah Chorus.” He cleverly syncopates “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” which also offers a cool bass line, and his samba-hued cover of “Feliz Navidad” is a lot of fun.

He’s well supported by bassist Douglas Barnett and drummer Steve Korn; guest guitarist Dan Heck also brings considerable sparkle to a bluesy arrangement of “This Christmas.”

A few percussive elements are overworked, such as the intrusive cymbal pops in the aforementioned “Sleigh Ride” — not sure whether to blame Korn or percussionist Larry Barilleau for those — but for the most part, this is a tasty collection of music.

Franks’ solo offerings include a slow, sweet reading of “The Christmas Song,” an unusually gentle handling of “Silver Bells,” a sentimental cover of “What a Wonderful World” and a meditative interpretation of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which closes the album. He also includes a charming original: “Holiday Lights,” highlighted by soulful keyboard work and a pleasant trio arrangement that includes a finger-snapping bridge.

Franks doesn’t include this album on his website discography, and that’s a shame; it begs to be played every holiday season.

Chip Stephens Trio: Relevancy

Capri Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Relevancy

Every time I turn around, a swinging new trio has entered the jazz stage (and I wouldn’t have it any other way!). One of the newest is this pleasant combo led by pianist, composer and arranger Chip Stephens. He’s well known in the jazz world, having played with iconic groups associated with Glenn Miller, Woody Herman, Maynard Ferguson, Benny Golson, Curtis Fuller and many others.

All told, Stephens has recorded as a sideman on more than 70 albums. As it happens, I reviewed him on Fuller’s 2010 release, I Will Tell Her; I was impressed then, and even more so here, with Stephens fronting his own trio.

Like many of today’s jazz musicians, Stephens also is a teacher — currently at the University of Illinois — with more than 15 years’ experience at the college level. He maintains a full schedule of performance and teaching.

Bassist Dennis Carroll and drummer Joel Spencer provide Stephens with excellent support on this release, which includes three of his own compositions: “Somewhere Before the End,” “A Day in May” and “Chip’s Blues.” The trio also puts its stamp on “34 Skidoo,” one of Bill Evans’ charts; Rogers and Hart’s  seldom-heard “This Funny World”; and Sammy Cahn and Nicholas Brodzsky’s “Be My Love,” which Mario Lanza made famous. 

Just in passing, I never expected the latter to be done in a jazz mode.  

All the tracks are delightful, done with harmonic variations and chord changes that give them new lives. My favorite is “Chip’s Blues,” a catchy, groovin’ 12-bar piece that is impossible to hear without swingin’ in time to the melody.

Stephens is one hell of a pianist, and this unit is a “must listen to” group!

Bill Anschell: figments

Origin Arts
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: figments

Although I’ve reviewed numerous albums by — or featuring — pianist Bill Anschell, each always involves a bit of fear. Aside from being an outstanding musician, Anschell is an excellent writer and humorist; I know that whatever I say, he would have said better (and funnier). That said, here goes...

Anschell is a Seattle, Washington, native who left after high school. He attended Oberlin College in Ohio for two years, and earned his music degree from Connecticut’s Wesleyan University. Jazz was his love; after touring with various groups for several years, he settled in Atlanta, where he served as jazz coordinator for the Southern Arts Federation. Nights were spent with his own trio, as a sideman with groups that were part of that city’s jazz population.

During the next 10 years, Anschell also became Nnenna Freelon’s pianist, arranger and musical director; her album Shaking Free was nominated for a Grammy Award, as the year’s best jazz vocal, during that period. Anschell returned to Seattle in 2002, where he then made his home and became a key member of the Northwest jazz fraternity.

His discography is extensive: He has been a sideman on almost three dozen albums, a collaborator on five others and a leader on four more. figments is his fifth in the latter category, and his first as a solo pianist; it’s also his most inventive release.

To quote Anschell directly (because he says it more succinctly than I ever could):

In the world of jazz piano, going solo can be daunting; it means having to single-handedly (okay, double-handedly, but still—) assume roles more typically covered by at least three players. But, given an open mind and a deviant disposition, playing alone has its benefits. Harmonic progressions and steady time, which keep a band playing in tandem, suddenly become negotiable. Detours from a song’s form or tempo — tangents that might cause a band to implode — can lead to unexpected and inviting places: destinations where imagined figments find a welcoming home.

The album consists of 12 standards and show tunes (some of his favorites), all recorded in his own studio, after other jobs he had played. Even with his innovative reworking, you’ll recognize and thoroughly enjoy them. The varied roster of composers includes Cole Porter, David Clayton Thomas, Arlo Guthrie, Joni Mitchell, and Rogers and Hart.

Anschell used two pianos: a standard, and a “programmed.” The latter was a standard that he stuffed with items from his studio — mouse pads, beads, books, towels, packaging, etc. — to achieve different sounds and create various effects. (Don’t laugh; it worked!)

I haven’t enjoyed anything this much in years.

Holiday Jazz 2007: Quite a cool yule

By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 12.13.07


[Web master’s note: Northern California film critic Derrick Bang — the eldest, youngest and only son of this site’s jazz guru, Ric Bang — has surveyed the holiday jazz scene for roughly 12 years, with lengthy columns that just keep growing.]

OK, I admit it, I’m a holiday junkie. I’ve even got a new nickname: Captain Christmas.

Friends and family members just roll their eyes and shake their heads, when the calendar page flips from October to November, because they know what it means: Every free moment from that point onward is devoted to decorating the house ... first outside (gotta make it by Thanksgiving weekend!) and then inside.

Naturally, the proper mood must be set for such activities, and nothing keeps my spirits raised — particularly as I approach the conclusion of an all-day session — better than a toe-tapping, finger-snapping collection of Christmas jazz.

Having now been accumulating such albums for the better part of a quarter-century, I must have one of the best collections in the country ... with no end in sight.

Although mainstream labels have decreased their new releases during recent years, the flow has remained constant, thanks to Web sources such as cdbaby and www.ejazzlines.com. Both are excellent sites, and the latter even has a section devoted to holiday jazz.

One must apply a bit of caveat emptor to cdbaby, though; since the site stocks and sells pretty much everything submitted, one can bring home an eye-opening grade of trash.

Fortunately, I’m here to help spare the pain. Yes, I listen to the bad ones, just so you won’t wind up with a nasty surprise.

While 2007 has not been a banner year for new arrivals — very few must-have stand-outs — most of the albums cited below would rate a solid B on the standard grading scale. That still makes them eminently listenable, and therefore worth your time.

Moving to it, then...

Searching for cool new sounds is a full-time endeavor, and the Christmas jazz sub-genre is no different. As always, several titles came to my attention just after I published last year’s edition of this annual round-up, so I’ll start with those.

Credit for calling this first album to my attention goes to Shaunna Morrison Machosky, music director at the Pittsburgh-based National Public Radio station WDUQ, who in late 2006 published her list of “the best holiday jazz CDs.” She resisted adding the word “ever” to that title, but since her compilation includes Nat King Cole’s The Christmas Song and Ella Fitzgerald’s Wishes You a Swingin’ Christmas, her taste obviously is impressively wide-ranging.

Machosky’s list concluded with Diane Delin’s Offerings for a Peaceable Season (Blujazz BJ3351), and I was drawn to it by virtue of Delin’s instrument of choice: the violin.

Jazz violin, I hear you cry?

Indeed. This tasty little album proves that strings can swing, particularly when accompanied by solid support from a piano-bass-percussion trio. The tone is mostly quiet and contemplative, with several tracks — notably “My Favorite Things” and “Winter Wonderland” — demonstrating a gentle, Latin-hued samba beat that serves as ample foundation for Delin’s sassy violin chops.

I also like her program choice; she goes for lesser-known carols such as the traditional “Gloucestershire Wassail,” Victor Herbert’s “Toyland” and a lively bop version of the overture to Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” (rapidly becoming a holiday staple).
Delin’s handling of “Deck the Halls,” with its piano and bass underscore, reminds me of Duke Pearson’s classic arrangement of “Sleigh Ride”; the result is impossible to resist.

She’s also a generous leader; an exquisitely pretty reading of “Petit Papa Noel” grants a full three minutes to pianist Dennis Luxion and bassist Eric Hochberg, before Delin’s violin finally weighs in.

She brings the set to a lively conclusion with her own up-tempo reading of “Sleigh Ride,” and I immediately wanted to listen to the entire album again. So will you.