The Oliver Jones Trio: Live in Baden, Switzerland

Justin Time Records
By Ric Bang
Buy CD: Live in Baden, Switzerland

Thank goodness for folks who don’t dispose of recording sessions that, for reasons unknown, aren’t released after completion. This album, which stars Canadian-born pianist Oliver Jones and his trio, features a concert that took place in Baden, Switzerland, on May 20, 1990. 

It’s an absolute gem.

Jones, born in a Montreal neighborhood in 1934, lived just a few doors away from Oscar Peterson. Jones was a child prodigy: At age 3, he could play tunes he had heard on the radio just once. He was only 5 when he made his “debut” at Montreal’s Union United Church. He studied classical piano; for an eight-year period, his teacher was Daisy (Peterson) Sweeney, Oscar Peterson’s sister.

Jones came relatively late to jazz; he worked primarily in bands in Quebec, and toured extensively in the Caribbean and the United States, playing Top 40 songs. He began to sit in with jazz groups during this period, but not until the early 1980s did he devote himself to jazz on a permanent basis.

During the next 20 years, Jones toured the world but continued to live — and work — primarily in Canada. He taught at both Laurentian and McGill Universities during the 1980s and ’90s, and he has won numerous Juno, Felix and other Canadian awards. Although he “retired” in 2000, he remains active.

Jones’ trio for this Baden concert featured bassist Reggie Johnson and drummer Ed Thigpen. Johnson, born in the States in 1940, began his career in the ’60s; he was a Swiss resident at the time this concert took place (and still lives there). Thigpen was born in the States in 1930. He worked with Andy Kirk during the 1930s and ’40s, then with icons such as Lennie Tristano, Bud Powell, Billy Taylor, Oscar Peterson and Ray Brown. Thigpen also toured with Ella Fitzgerald for five years. He moved to Denmark in 1974 and lived there until his death in 2010. 

This album captured these artists at the peak of their careers. The menu includes American Songbook standards (“Fallin’ in Love with Love,” “Emily” and medley of Gershwin compositions), traditional gospel (“Just a Closer Walk with Thee”); jazz standards (“Up Jumped Spring,” “ ‘Round Midnight” and “Hymn to Freedom”); and three of Jones’ compositions. 

These guys really swing, particularly on Jones’ charts. “Blues for Helen” has a mid-tempo groove; “Something for Chuck” is a slow blues number; and “Snuggles” is a burner that is equal to the best up-tempo stuff Peterson ever did. 

You’ll find hours of pleasure in this release, thanks to these super-talented artists. Kudos to Justin Time Records, for unearthing this treasure.

Resonance Big Band: Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson

Resonance Records
By Ric Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 10.1.09
Buy CD: Plays Tribute to Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson needs no introduction: He simply was the world's best jazz pianist, in any generation. His death, at age 82 in 2007, left a void that'll never be filled.

Indeed, he was so revered that no pianists are able — or willing — to claim the capability to succeed him.

But one of his fans and close friends, Arnold van Kampen, happened to catch some YouTube clips of an unknown pianist playing “Indiana.” Research failed to bring up any biographical information or albums for this individual, although van Kampen did learn his name: Marian Petrescu.

The Romanian-born pianist was 36 years old, had been playing since age 4, and was living in Finland. Resonance Records' George Klabin, another Peterson fan, also had become aware of Petrescu, and contacted him regarding a planned a tribute to Peterson; this album is the result.

The big band assembled for this effort is, in itself, a major accomplishment: The instrumentation included five reeds/flutes, four trumpets/flugelhorns, four trombones, a tuba, guitar, bass, drums and — of course — Perrescu on piano. A few tracks also include a string quartet, a second pianist, and a cabasa. Finally, three conductors were involved. The luminaries taking part included Joe La Barbara, Bill Cunliffe and Claus Ogerman.

This package contains both a CD and a DVD of the session, and the 11 tracks are arrangements of classic tunes recorded by Peterson over the years. Although the big band doesn't swing like the combos Peterson headed, it's an excellent unit. Perrescu is a masterful technician, at least as fast and facile on the keyboard as Peterson, but — and it's a huge “but” — he doesn't come close to swinging like ol' Oscar.

This album is a major accomplishment and a worthwhile tribute, but it's for the concert stage. The excitement, joy, feel and pure talent of Peterson are missing.

Holiday Jazz 2006: Yule be swingin'

By Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 12.7.06


[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 11 years, with lengthy columns that just keep growing.]

Researching this annual round-up just became a bit harder.

Whatever the chain’s other vices and virtues, Tower Records always displayed an impressive selection of seasonal music, and — at Sacramento’s Watt Avenue outlet — even divided the releases by genre. Flipping through discs to find new holiday jazz releases was an annual treat, and one I greatly anticipated each November.

But now, with Tower gone, my only local option is Borders. I’ve nothing but praise for their variety of books, but the music section has needed serious help for quite some time; it appears as if nobody even bothers to alphabetize the discs in many sections, let alone divide by sub-category. Have you ever tried to find a soundtrack in that mess?

Fortunately, the still-cherished “search the bins” experience remains a possibility, albeit with a bit more planning. Berkeley’s Amoeba Music sets up a dynamite display of holiday music in late November, and those folks also stock an impressive supply of used CDs and — wait for it — even LPs.

I call it paradise.

Even a visit to Amoeba, however, didn’t reveal all that much in the way of 2006 holiday jazz releases, which makes me wonder if the last decade’s “soft jazz”-inspired deluge finally might be receding. One year does not a trend make, but I am surprised by the relative scarcity of new material.

Thank goodness for the Internet, and for below-the-radar Web outlets such as cdbaby and ejazzlines.com. I’ve long shouted the joys of cdbaby, but ejazzlines is new to me this year ... and they even have a special section wholly devoted to Christmas jazz.

Thanks to such resources, I found quite a few recent and even older CDs to round out this yearly celebration of holiday jazz. As usual, an initially reasonable article therefore blossomed into a monster of redwood status, and I’ll be mightily impressed by anybody who keeps reading to the bitter end.

But the journey, as the say, is reason enough. I had my usual good time with all this music, and I hope some of it winds up in your home, as well.

Those who’ve grown tired of the same old-same old in seasonal jazz will want to run, not walk, to find a copy of the Classical Jazz Quartet’s Christmas (Kind of Blue 10014). This positively sublime album features some of today’s finest jazz stars: Kenny Barron on piano, Ron Carter on bass, Stefon Harris on vibes and marimba, and Lewis Nash on drums.

And you won’t find a trace of Rudolph, Frosty or the Chipmunks.

As befits the ensemble’s name, these guys have compiled an album of classically hued tracks: two stand-alone pieces — the “Hallelujah” from Handel’s Messiah, and Bach’s “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” — and an ambitious, six-movement arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker.

The overall tone may be on the occasionally solemn side, but the jazz chops are magnificent. Harris struts his stuff with a dynamic interpretation of the melody line from Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus”; he yields to Barron’s equally vigorous piano work, and then the entire quartet goes to town.

Bach comes next: Carter gently plucks the opening melody, which expands to include both piano and vibes until kicking into high gear after another minute or so. Many Christmas jazz albums serve nicely as background music, but you can’t help but pay close attention to these four guys; musicians who complement each other so well demand a listener’s full concentration.

As for the nearly 40-minute “Nutcracker,” all I can say is wow. The second movement — the “March” — is particularly delightful.

I’d love to have been in the studio while this album was recorded, because these guys clearly had a great time. And they just might help sway that Bach, Beethoven and Mozart-oriented friend of yours, who hasn’t yet found a reason to like jazz.