Peter Lerner: Continuation

Origin Arts
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Continuation

Technology has impacted jazz in a particularly nifty way, by allowing artists and groups to produce their own music with considerable ease. They no longer have to sell themselves to record producers, in order to make their efforts available to the buying public; they can record, manufacture and distribute their own music. As a result, we’re increasingly exposed to musicians who may be appreciated in specific cities or states, but remain unknown outside those areas. The term “territory artists” has described such players for decades.

Origin Records is one of few name companies to concentrate on these relative 'unknowns', and this album features some of the fine musicians who have made their home or operational base in Chicago, Illinois. Jazz guitarist Peter Lerner is a household name there, as are the individuals who support him on this album.

Lerner was turned on to jazz at an early age by Jimmy Hendrix and Stanley Turrentine; the latter's recording of “Sugar,” with George Benson on guitar, set his musical compass. Lerner earned his bachelor’s degree in music from Chicago’s American Conservatory of Music, and has worked as a musician, composer and arranger ever since. He has performed with many of the greats and near-greats, and is a constant fixture in Chicago’s numerous jazz venues. His normal group is usually a trio or quartet, but for this release he expanded to an octet. 

The pianist is jazz icon Willie Pickens, who at age 83 remains a fantastic artist. Bassist Marlene Rosenberg is the album’s surprise star, at least to me; as the saying goes, she owns her instrument. Her beat is as solid as I've heard in years, and her technique is exquisite. Drummer Charles “Rick” Heath IV completes the solid rhythm section. The additional instrumentalists include Geof Bradfield on saxes and flute, Victor Garcia on flugelhorn, Andy Baker on trombone, and Joe Rendon on percussion. 

Six of the nine tracks were composed and arranged by Lerner; the exceptions are Grant Green’s “Jean De Fleur,” Kenny Dorham’s “La Mesha” and “When Sonny Gets Blue,” written by Fisher/Seigel, and arranged by Pickens. The style is straight-ahead jazz, with a genre for everyone: bop, funk, Latin and gospel. 

This is a very enjoyable group, whose members play cohesively and swingingly.

Geof Bradfield: Melba!

Origin Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Melba!

Unless you’re a senior jazz fan, or you “cheated” and checked Geof Bradfield’s website, you probably don’t have any idea who “Melba” is, or was ... which is a shame. 

Melba Liston was born in 1926, loved jazz, became enamored with the trombone (“chose it because it’s such a pretty horn”) and became a professional musician at age 16. She didn’t merely play; she became one of the finest copyists and arrangers during the Big Band years, and worked with some of that era’s finest jazz musicians and bands. The names Gerald Wilson, Dexter Gordon, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Art Blakey and Randy Weston — among many, many others — should ring the necessary bells. Liston arranged for, or played with, all of them during her career. 

Bear in mind that female musicians, particularly when on the road, were almost unknown during that time period.

Tenor sax artist and composer Geof Bradfield is well aware of Liston’s contribution to jazz, and he created this tribute album to honor her memory. He acknowledges a debt to Randy Weston, who Liston and her music to her attention. Her early career was oriented toward the bebop and post-bop genres, but many consider her finest work to have resulted from her long-term association with Weston, and the arrangements she produced during that period. Bradfield’s interaction with Weston led him to dig in to Liston’s scores and work in great detail; this disc is the result.

The album more or less follows the timeline of Melba’s career. Seven “movements” begin with “Kansas City Child,” which dates back to her early years. “Central Avenue” follows, covering 1940s Los Angeles, when she was working with Gerald Wilson and making arrangements for luminaries such as Mary Lou Williams. 

“Dizzy Gillespie” moves into the 1950s, when the Latin influence emerged and the U.S. State Department became involved, using jazz for political purposes on a world-wide basis. Bradfield uses trumpeter Victor Garcia and drummer George Fludas to project the Brazilian influence that became predominant during this period. “Randy Weston” covers an interval of 40 years, and related movements — “Solo Sax,” “Detroit/Kingston” and “Homecoming” — are the album’s most lyrical treats.

The program concludes with Liston’s inner prayer: “Let Me Not Lose My Dream.”

She was quite a lady, and this is quite an album.

Geof Bradfield: Urban Nomad

Origin Arts
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 9.3.09
Buy CD: Urban Nomad

Much time has passed since a tasty, swinging, straight-ahead jazz quartet has come my way; this release by Chicago-based saxophonist Geof Bradfield fills the bill.

Originally from Texas, where he began his schooling, Bradfield moved to Chicago and entered DePaul University. He then went on to Los Angeles, where he received a master's degree from CalArts; moved to, and worked in, the New York area for three years; then returned to Chicago for a short time before he relocated to the West Coast and taught at Washington State University.

Bradfield returned to Chicago in 2003, where he's currently on the faculty of Columbia College and works with his own unit and several other local bands.

He uses both tenor and soprano saxes on this album. Seven of the nine tunes are originals, and all are his arrangements. His tone is clean, with minimum vibrato — Paul Desmond comes to mind — and his technique is flawless. The rest of Bradfield's group includes pianist Ron Perrillo, bassist Clark Sommers and drummer George Fludas. They compliment each other nicely, and their ensemble and solo work are excellent.

I appreciate it when standards are included in an album — in this case, “You're My Everything” and “Con Alma” — because I like to hear how their interpretation and performance compares to what other artists have done. Bradfield performs both tracks beautifully.

This unit is promising.

The Kelly Brand Nextet: The Door

Origin Arts
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 5.1.08
Buy CD: The Door

Kelly Brand is a composer, arranger and pianist and a key fixture in the Chicago jazz scene; this album is the third under her name. 

The liner notes don't clarify what a "Nextet" is, but it doesn't have anything to do with the size of her group, which — for this CD — is a septet. Brand is joined by her husband (and bassist), Kelly Sill, along with Geof Bradfield on tenor sax and flute, Art Davis on trumpet and flugelhorn, Jon Dettemyer on drums and Mari Anne Jayme on vocals. 

Cellist (and daughter) Naomi Sill joins the group on one tune. 

All but one of the songs were composed by Brand, who proves to be both a gifted writer and pianist. The melodies are, to quote famous pianist Marion McPartland (with whom Brand has performed), "written and played with elegance and sensitivity." 

Those descriptors also apply to the artists who make up this group. The melodic lines played by the instrumentalist, either in unison or harmony, are wonderfully soothing while still swinging. The quality of the sidemen is such that their solos meld perfectly with those melodic lines. 

Sill is particularly noteworthy, no doubt due to all the time he has spent performing with many other artists. 

This "Nextet" is not a driving, up-tempo unit, but it's a pleasant group that delivers primo "listening jazz."